Dulcius ex Asperis

A/N: I apologize for the delay in bringing you this final chapter. My grandmother passed away, and my mother had major surgery, so I have had my hands full. I have enjoyed this journey with you. It has been quite the trip. I hate to see it end. I want to thank luvsev and WriterMerrin for the work they did to make this fic readable. You gals are the best! :) I hope you all enjoy this final chapter, and if you have not reviewed before, I hope to hear from you. Reviews are love.

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It was during Christmas of the fifteenth year of Severus and Hermione's marriage when they realized that all their dreams had finally come true. Hermione was 50, and Severus was a month from turning 49. Hermione looked as though she was 30, for physically, that was how old she was.

That Christmas of 2009 saw the Snape children of ages ten, eight, six, four, and two. Erik was no longer a baby anymore, and the children were older and more into Christmas than ever. The cottage was bursting with children...only half of what Severus really wanted, but Hermione had said she couldn't handle any more children. It had been a very sad and depressing time when Hermione weaned Erik. Severus had been devastated that there would no longer be any of his wife's sweet breast milk to drink. It had become a very special and precious part of their intimacy away from the children where Severus could feel special and doted upon, and Hermione could feel some relief when she needed to rid herself of extra milk and feel very sexy at the same time.

Hermione had felt badly for Severus and so secretly kept offering herself to her husband, so although little Erik was two that Christmas, Hermione was still lactating for her and Severus' mutual pleasure. Hermione had to admit she agreed when Severus declared some of the best sex they had ever had was when he drank from her breasts.

It was the middle of Christmas day, and the Snape household was insanely chaotic with toys and children running, playing and little hands sneaking into the larder for a bite of mince pie. As she sat resting, watching Erik struggle with a new toy, she could hear her husband's deep voice over the bellows of the older children. Sometimes she was amazed at the patience and skill with which he handled the children. He really had been an evil bastard in the classroom, but after four years of teaching after the war, Severus had felt secure enough to make a go of the Apothecary business. So, with Savion and Xavier just little lads and Hermione pregnant with Hortense, they had gone and started the fledgling business.

The reputation of Severus Snape had served him well. Within a couple of years, business was good and the Snapes were able to get a house-elf to work and live at the store. It was fast growing into a family business. Savion was showing great aptitude for potion making and, at the age of ten, was looking forward to going to Hogwarts and studying, as he called smugly, "the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." Hermione had given her husband a look of exasperation when that had come out one night at dinner.

Xavier was the one to show his aptitude for magic at the youngest age: three months. Hermione had nearly passed out in fright when things in the cottage had started transfiguring by themselves. Severus had rushed home from the new Apothecary store when her Patronus came shrieking about losing her mind. Severus had discovered little Xavier cooing and laughing in his bouncy seat. A few spells later, Severus had told his frantic wife their little sweetheart was a Transfiguration genius, and they had begun to have Minerva over and look over the little lad. These days he mostly got in trouble when he would transfigure his older brother's fork or glass into a snail or a rat. Hermione told Severus on many occasions in private that the boy may be a genius, but common sense would tell him to be a bit sneakier about it since everyone always knew who was doing it. Severus told his wife he was probably going to be a Gryffindor since he lacked subtlety.

Hortense was just like her name. She was the sweetest and gentlest child. She was bookish and quiet, who loved her flowers. She loved her Uncle Neville, who taught her anything she wanted to know about Herbology. She was her mother's little helper, puttering in the garden, always making it nice. She also had the closest connection with the tiny grave in the garden. As the eldest girl that had lived, she wondered a lot about her big sister, Serena, and what she would have been like had she lived. Hortense was a fragile and emotional soul whose heart bled for everyone. She always made sure the house-elf in her daddy's store had enough food to eat and clothes to be warm. That was always traumatic when the little mite tried to give Gabby clothes. She didn't understand why Gabby got so upset, and Hermione and Severus would have to explain and calm the poor creature.

Antonietta, or Annie as she was called, was the coddled one. She was the smallest and the most timid of Severus' and Hermione's children. Severus told Hermione many times she transferred her feelings about Serena onto the child, but Hermione tried her best not to. They were working it out with her. Many times Severus would have to tell Hermione to hold back and allow Annie to make mistakes and learn from them. When she fell, Hermione would want to burst into tears and reach out to help her, but her husband kept his grip firmly on his wife's shoulder, and slowly, they were seeing her become less and less afraid as time went on. At four, she was very interested in art. Coloring, painting, chalk...she continued to express herself through her creations. When she was three, she had painted her father's best frock orange because she thought he needed more color. She had got a swat and her paints taken away for a week. That had been a bad week. Xavier had transfigured it into an orange in his attempts to help the situation, and Severus had had to go down to his laboratory for a while to have what Hermione explained to her children as a "Time Out" for Daddies.

All Hermione asked was that Severus place a Silencing Spell when he went down there so the children wouldn't learn anymore curse words than they were already learning from Ron and Luna's children. Hermione had known who the culprit was the moment Savion had come home from a play date with Fred and Phil, Ron and Luna's twin boys, and hollered "Bloody hell!" at dinner when Xavier transfigured his plate into a snake. Annie, who had been two at the time, had cried and clung to her mummy, sobbing throughout the duration of dinner, sniveling about "scary snakes." Both Savion and Xavier had gone outside with their father for a while and when they hadreturned had sore bottoms.

Little Erik was the most relaxed child for his two years. No magical display of any kind, but that was expected. He was easily soothed and didn't cry much. Savion, who was fast becoming a very powerful wizard and the mirror image of his father and even walked, talked and gestured like him...which scared the living hell out of Hermione...hadn't exhibited magical powers until he was eight. So they waited.

Hermione thought on all these things as she listened to her husband discipline their children. The rule was "No hands in the larder unless you ask permission." After the lecture was over, Hermione watched her three children sulk back into the room where Annie and Erik were playing quietly. Severus was the last to come in, having placed everything back into the larder, when he promptly tripped over one of Annie or Xavier's toys, or perhaps a combination of both, and landed flat on his face.

Now Hermione had never, ever seen Severus trip over anything before, not to mention, she had never seen him fall on his face. The room was silent as everyone stared at Daddy. Hermione dashed over while Severus was propping himself on his elbows. He looked at Hermione and he said, "I have no one to blame but myself. After all, I was the one who said I wanted to trip over children's toys!"

Hermione laughed and laughed, and suddenly the children were laughing as well. Severus got up and hugged and kissed his wife while the older children were pretend retching. Severus and Hermione went to the love-seat to cuddle and have cocoa by the fire. It was a peace that was short lived. Savion and Xavier were fighting again, and before Severus and Hermione could stop them, Savion had Xavier up by his leg with a non-verbal Levicorpus, but he wasn't the victor. As Xavier hung there, he transfigured his brother into a garden snake, and bedlam ensued. As Severus and Hermione were getting the children situated, they heard a strange hissing noise from the corner of the sitting room. There was little Erik, their sweet two-year-old, speaking Parseltounge to the snake that was his big brother.

"BLOODY FUCK!" roared Severus. "Hermione, get Potter over here right now!"

Hermione ran to activate the Floo while the children were chanting, "Dad-dy swore! Dad-dy swore!"

One look from their father, and they all shut their mouths. Severus restored Savion to his rightful form and held him back from trying to strangle his little brother.

"I'll get you, you prat!" Savion yelled.

"With what?" Xavier shot back. "Poison? Daddy'll just shove a bezoar down my throat, you pillock!"

Severus took both boys by the scruff of their necks upstairs to their bedroom for a "discussion" while Hermione was talking to Harry in the Floo.

"Harry, you've got to come now! It's really serious...Erik was just speaking Parseltongue!"

"Get back, I'm coming through," said Harry, who was now the Head of the Auror Department at the Ministry.

Hermione remembered what she first thought after arriving in 1973 as she heard the shouting from upstairs as Severus had it out with his two eldest sons.

I knew I was right when I was thirteen, how I would regret being involved with Gryffindor and Slytherin, she thought wistfully as she listened to the consummate Slytherin and Gryffindor yell at each other whilst the Head of all things Slytherin refereed between them.

Hermione looked around at her house, and she couldn't be happier. It was a right mess with new Christmas toys everywhere, one child crying to be picked up while another sat on a sofa chair, looking as if nothing was wrong in the world as Harry Potter spoke Parseltongue to the little two-year-old.

Finally, the culprits came downstairs repentant, looking red-faced from crying. They sat on the floor with their hands in their pockets and heads down while their father looked down on them imperiously.

Daddy means business! thought Hermione.

Severus came to her side, and Hermione gave him a smile. He smirked and shook his head as they went over to see what kind of news Potter had about Erik.

"I love you, Hermione," said Severus.

"I love you, too, Severus," said Hermione.

~Finis~