"Will you just lay your card down already?" his father said with a heavy sigh.

Yes! He had his dad right where he wanted him.

"Harry? Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, I heard you," the young Gryffindor said with a shrug, his eyes falling back on his cards. He could tell that his dad was getting rather annoyed with him, but annoyed was good in this instance. If his dad was annoyed, then it meant that his dad would be focusing on that instead of Harry's cards. And Harry really needed his dad to focus on that annoyance instead.

"Well?"

Harry shrugged again. He just needed to get his dad a bit more annoyed, and then he could move in for the kill. Just a bit. That was all.

"Nice cards, Harry," he heard in utter horror as his mum revealed all.

"MUM!" cried the young man before he whirled around, noticing her amusement.

"It's adorable that you think that getting him frustrated is going to knock him off his game, but, well, love, he does have the unfair advantage after all," Aurora said with a smile.

"I could have won!" Harry grumbled.

"Not when he had a royal flush, love," she said, pouring herself a glass of wine in the kitchen.

"What?" Harry's head snapped back towards his dad. That was impossible! His dad couldn't have had a royal flush. Harry had removed one of the higher cards from each suite. "You cheated!"

His dad shrugged, laying his cards down on the table. Sure enough, Harry saw the royal flush. "I'm a Slytherin, Harry. It's what we do." His eyes then narrowed on Harry. "However, correct me if I'm wrong, weren't you cheating as well by hiding the cards in the first place?"

"Well . . . that's different!"

"Indeed," his father remarked before rising and pouring himself a glass of elf wine.

"That wasn't fair," Harry grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Shouldn't have cheated first then," his dad stated.

"He's got a point there, love."

Harry glared at his mum. Even if it was true, he didn't need her to agree with his dad.

"Traitor," he mumbled.

"I think the word you're looking for, love, is fiancée," she replied with a grin before she kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Yeah, yeah." Harry rubbed his cheek where she had kissed him with a sigh. She always got lipstick on his cheek. Though, his dad usually got it much worse than he did.

"So, now that the card game is over, boys . . ." she drawled. "What do you say to a walk down to Hogsmeade? Maybe get a bit of a light supper?"

"If that's what you want," his dad replied, rinsing out his empty wine glass.

"It is. We've been cooped up for too long. I want to see my stars. After all, there should be a beautiful meteor shower tonight, Orionids, I believe."

Harry caught his dad's head jerk slightly towards her. It had been awhile since she had even mentioned anything to do with stars, least of all wanting to watch them.

"I'm going to grab a heavier robe. Do you want me to grab yours, Severus?"

Harry watched his dad shake his head silently as he stared back at her. A moment later, she was down the hallway and into the master bedroom.

"Does that mean . . ."

His dad's eyes darted to him instantly. "I'm not certain, but perhaps it's a good sign."

Harry nodded in response. He'd take it as one too.

As they waited for her to return, Harry thought back on the past few months. In the beginning, she just sat there for many nights in her own little world. Sometimes she would give a glimpse of her old self, but it would always just disappear again later. And then came the more semi-coherent states followed by fear that her earlier sickness had returned. But that too vanished. He couldn't understand it. What had changed from the start of the year to now? Well, she was talking more with that healer of hers. Was that it, he wondered.

No. It had to be more than that. Something in her thinking had changed. She seemed more like herself, like before she had been taken.

He glanced up when he heard her boots clicking against the stone floor as she approached. A smile tugged at his lips. She was wearing one of his dad's heavier outer robes. When she finally reached them, she paused before she twirled around slowly, the bottom of the robes billowing out in their usual way. Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you mocking me, witch?" his father asked with a raised brow.

"Oh, heavens no. I'm billowing." She then balled up a bit of his robes before she waved the bottom half back and forth. "And now I'm sweeping. Or is it dusting? I can never tell."

Harry's sides hurt from laughing so hard. Leave it to her to say that to his dad.

His dad glanced at him before he rolled his eyes. "Adorable."

"Why, yes, I am. Thank you for noticing, love," she remarked before kissing Severus's cheek.

Harry smirked when he saw the lipstick stain left behind. Least it wasn't him this time.

"So, I'm thinking we should head over to the Three Broomsticks, get a bite to eat, and then head back here to watch the shower. Sound like a plan to you two?"

Harry glanced at his dad and shrugged. He wasn't going to be the one to tell her that he found watching the night sky to be boring.

"It sounds like a perfect evening."

Aurora rolled her eyes instantly. "What flatterers you two are." She knit her hand together with Severus's and headed for the door. Harry quickly followed after them. Whatever had changed in her, he was glad that she seemed to be more at peace with herself.

He then paused and stared after them. That was it. She had made peace with what had happened to her finally. At least that was always what McCoy was going on about. It made sense now.

Several hours later, Severus could hear the hooting of the owls from the owlery as they lay on their backs (Aurora's idea of course) staring up at the stars. He hadn't seen a single one of her meteors that she was so excited for. But he had seen the happiness on her face.

"Ooh, look! Look, Severus!" Her hand flew up in the air as she pointed towards a dark part of space. "Right there! Did you see it?" She then turned and glanced at him. "What?"

He snorted in response and shook his head. "They're just pieces of debris burning up in the atmosphere, Aurora. Hardly something to get that excited over." He then caught Harry's wince and frowned. What? It was the truth.

"Just pieces of debris?" she repeated, crossing her arms and giving him her most stern look.

Uh oh. Now he stepped in it. He heard Harry's groan from the other side of Aurora.

"I'll have you know that meteors—"

"I can do without the lecture, Professor," Severus stated before he yelped when he felt the sharp sting in his side from her Stinging Hex.

"You may think they are just pieces of debris, but those pieces up there could kill you if they managed to fall on top of you. Not only by the fact that they'd burn right through your flesh and bones like it was nothing, but by the jaggedness of their edges. They're falling at a rate of 66 kilometers per second as they're burning up in Earth's atmosphere. And the little chunks of rock left behind, they contain no metal found on this planet. They're hard and dense, and they—"

"I apologize, Aurora. I meant no—"

"Just pieces of debris," she mumbled, shaking her head. "What if I had told you that potions were nothing more than just mashed up bits of insect and animal parts?"

He frowned.

"Gets your blood boiling now, doesn't it?" she stated with a huff. "So, don't tell me that meteors are nothing more than pieces of debris. They are much more than that. Just as how your potions are more than just insect and animal parts."

"I stand corrected," Severus said quietly.

"That you do." She then gave a final sigh before her eyes once more looked upwards.

It had been awhile since she had given him a verbally tongue lashing. Severus smirked inwardly. She was the only one other than Minerva who would. The others would just cower at his words. But not Aurora. She wasn't afraid of his bark.

"We should head back to the castle." She slowly pushed herself up off the ground to stand.

His eyes narrowed on her. From one moment to the next, she had decided to go inside instead. He thought for a moment on possible reasons. Was it that she was cold? No. It couldn't be that as she was still wearing his robes. Well, then was she worried about Harry breaking curfew? No she'd know that they could always excuse him if they needed to. So then what had changed? His eyes then narrowed when he saw someone approaching them from the owlery.

Oh. That's why.

"Come along, Harry," Severus said soon after. If they ran into her, there was no telling what would happen. Well, there was. Someone would likely end up in the hospital wing, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be Aurora this time.

"Is something wrong?" Harry too seemed confused. Not that he blamed the boy. Harry didn't understand the full backstory as Severus did.

"No. Let's just go, love," she said gently, picking up her pace as they headed towards the castle.

"Aurora!" a shrill voice suddenly called out from across the grounds as a witch rushed towards them. "Aurora, wait! I have something to tell you!"

Severus quickly rested his hand on her arm. It was an action she had always done for him over the years. While he had in the beginning found it entirely irritating, he now found that action comforting. So he'd return the favor to her.

"The baby's a girl!" the witch behind them yelled out of nowhere.

Severus felt Aurora's whole body tense before she whirled around. He did not like the look on her face right now as she was glaring down the hill murderously at the Divinations professor. He winced in sympathy for half a second before he once again placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on her arm. He watched her eyes dart towards him in response.

"It's not worth it," he stated calmly.

"Wait, did she say baby?" Harry asked. "I thought I heard her say baby. Are you pregnant?"

"It's a girl, Aurora," Sybill declared happily. "A beautiful girl."

"That's it," she growled, looking downright upset. "I'm going to kill her."

Severus stepped in front of Aurora, though, and held her back. While he had no doubt that she would kill Sybill if given the opportunity, he also knew that she would eventually regret it. Probably in a hundred or so years, but she would regret it at some point.

"Dad! Did she say baby? As in, you know, little crying infant?" Harry asked, the excitement seeping into his voice. "I'm going to be a brother?!"

He sighed inwardly and glanced towards his son. Harry was not helping matters at all.

"She's been going on about that damn thing for the past week," Aurora said angrily. She then stood up on her tiptoes and yelled over Severus's shoulder. "I'm not pregnant, you crazy alcoholic!"

"You are! I've seen it!"

"No, what you've seen is the inside of your damn sherry bottle, Sybill!" Aurora snarled, causing Harry and Severus to wince. "I am not pregnant!"

"You are, though! You're practically glowing, Aurora! Oh, this is so perfect! So wonderful. A new baby to celebrate your upcoming nuptials this spring."

"We're not getting married in the spring," Aurora argued.

"Then it was the winter then," Sybill said dismissively. "It's no matter. You're pregnant. Go. Go speak with Poppy if you doubt me. But I can see it clear as day."

Severus glanced down at Aurora and sighed. "It wouldn't hurt anything to check."

"I'm going to be a brother! I'm going to be—" Harry cheered in the background, causing Aurora to sigh heavily in defeat. "A brother!"

"I hate her."

Smiling faintly, Severus nodded. "I know you do." He then lowered his voice so only she would hear him. "That's partly the reason I love you."

"And what's the other part?"

"You'll have to wait for our vows to learn that," he drawled. His mind wasn't as shocked as he had thought it would be this time. Though, he assumed that was partly because Trelawney was known for telling incorrect prophecies. She had only ever gotten maybe a few right over the years he knew her. So, there was always the scenario that this too was incorrect. But did he want it to be? He wasn't certain. He knew Aurora had always wanted a child. They had even spoken about it recently with Healer McCoy. And the healer had stated that it wouldn't have been the worst thing possible for them in terms of their recovery.

Severus then winced inwardly again. If his mother ever found out about this, she'd hit him upside the head and tell him he was an idiot for not waiting. Well, on second thought, maybe she wouldn't. It wasn't like she and his father had waited either. And she hadn't been real upset about Harry, and he wasn't born in wedlock either. So maybe . . .

"Severus?"

He glanced down at Aurora again the moment he heard her say his name.

"If not, then you can hex her," he stated softly. He heard her quiet laugh and smiled.

If it turned out she wasn't pregnant, then he'd hex Trelawney himself, he realized, for getting their hopes up. He then paused as he realized that he had said 'their hopes.' He hadn't been sold on the idea of another child so soon because he wanted Harry to be their sole child for a bit, but the boy didn't seem choked up or at all worried about a new baby in their lives.

"I'm going to be a brother!" Harry continued to sing beside them.

Severus sighed inwardly. If she wasn't pregnant, poor Harry would mope about for months. He was certain of this. But if she was . . . They could still be a family, learning what it meant to be one even with a new child in their lives. And . . .

Oh, he just needed to know now! Damn Trelawney!