Lily didn't hesitate a moment, but threw her arms around Severus' neck and said, "Yes!" and then kissed him.
Severus slipped the ring on her left hand. "Should we tell Harry now or wait until morning?" He grinned. "He has been dropping hints lately about making our relationship more permanent than best friends." Severus looked uncomfortable for a moment, but then forged on with what he wanted to say. "I think Harry realized my feelings for you were more than a best friend the night you came back through the Veil. I had your wand and was telling him about the day we got them."
"Sev, I was so stupid to choose Potter over you in the first place," Lily confessed.
"I never told you how I felt either. I was always afraid if you didn't feel the same way; our friendship would be destroyed and I would rather have you as my friend even if it meant losing you to Potter."
"I felt the same way, Sev ever since fourth year, but I was afraid that you didn't and I didn't want to lose my best friend either."
"Shall we wake up Harry then and tell him the good news?"
"Let's," Lily agreed. She took Severus' hand and led him upstairs to Harry's room. She knocked on the door, peeked inside and called his name softly.
Harry sat up and said, "Mum? Is something wrong? What time is it?"
"It is almost midnight Harry," Severus answered. "And there is nothing wrong. In fact, everything is great."
"Sev asked me to marry him and I said yes," Lily announced.
"That's awesome!" Harry exclaimed. "When is the wedding?"
Severus chuckled. "Well, we have not gotten that far, but it will probably be sometime after school is out."
"You could have a spring wedding too during break," Harry proposed.
"We can discuss it more tomorrow," Severus replied as he tucked Harry's blanket back around him. "Right now you should go back to sleep."
Lily gave him a kiss and as they left his room, Harry heard his mum say, "You know Sev, I rather like the idea of a spring wedding when everything is so new, fresh, and green."
"Yes," he agreed. "It does sound rather appealing."
The next morning everyone was up by six to open presents. It was nice not having to worry about any unexpected gifts from Potter, Black or Dumbledore. Harry opened the gifts he gotten from his friends. Luna had sent him a book entitled, "Dirigible Plums: How to Grow Them Successfully. "Her dad sent her some jam made out of these and it did taste rather good," Harry said. "Luna's a bit odd, but really nice."
"Her father was a year behind us," Severus said. "I recall him as being rather eccentric even then."
"Maybe we can try growing them this summer," Lily said. "I'm sure we can grow them here or at Spinner's End."
"Probably best to grow them here as this is where we will be most of the summer," Severus added.
They had breakfast in the conservatory and after breakfast Harry spent time in the library visiting with his grandmother and talking about Ravenclaw.
"Professor Wandmeister was head of Ravenclaw when I was a student," Audra recalled. "She was a jolly old woman who taught Ancient Runes."
"Yes, her picture is hanging in Ravenclaw," Harry replied. "Professor Flitwick mentioned her the first night we were there."
"Speaking of Ancient Runes Harry," Tiberius spoke up. "What are your plans for your electives next year?"
"I know both mum and dad took Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as their electives. I was good at mathematics when I went to a Muggle school before Hogwarts so I think I would find Arithmancy interesting and I've looked at the books we have on Ancient Runes in the Ravenclaw Library and they seem fascinating too." He chuckled. "I think my friend Hermione is planning to sign up for all four electives, but I don't think Professor Flitwick will let her take that many."
"It would be impossible as some of the classes will be at the same time I would imagine," Tiberius replied. "It is fine to want to learn new things, but overloading yourself will not teach you anything."
"I don't see any point in taking Muggles Studies or Care of Magical Creatures unless you want to work in the Ministry as a liaison with the Muggles or with some type of magical creature like on a Dragon Reserve," Harry stated. After he finished visiting with his grandparents, Harry went back to his room to finish up the remainder of his homework. He frowned as he practiced his wand movements for the new spell they had learned before the holiday vacation. His wand seemed to be rather sluggish and he didn't feel as connected to it as he had felt when he'd first gotten it. He worked on his homework until lunchtime when Severus knocked on his door and informed him that Tita had lunch ready in the dining room.
Harry and his dad walked into the dining room where Lily was already waiting. A platter holding ham salad, chicken salad, egg salad, and tuna and mayonnaise sandwiches, a bowl of salad, and another bowl of crisps sat on the table.
They sat down and filled their plates. Harry took a tuna sandwich and an egg salad as they were his favorites. He also filled his salad bowl and took some crisps.
"Would you like milk or pumpkin juice, Harry?" Lily asked.
"I'd like milk, Mum. I don't care for pumpkin juice all that much. It's really too sweet."
"I always thought so too," Severus said. "I prefer grapefruit or tomato juice."
"Tomato juice with lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and garlic salt added to it," Lily joked. Harry noted that his mum looked especially radiant.
"It is the best way to drink it," Severus replied.
"Would we be able to go to Diagon Alley sometime this week?" Harry asked. "I think I need to have Mr. Ollivander check my wand. I don't know, but lately it's been acting sluggish."
"Meaning?" Severus asked for clarification.
"It still responds to incantations, but it seems like there's a few seconds of delay after I say the incantation before it does anything," Harry explained.
"Why don't you get your wand and give us a demonstration, Harry?" Lily asked.
"Sure Mum," Harry said with a nod and left the dining room. He was back within a few minutes. He did the wand movements as he said, "Lumos." It was a few seconds before the end of his wand lit up with a bright light. "See what I mean?"
"Yes," Severus replied nodding. "I can see there is a slight delay before your wand performs the spell."
"We could go first thing after breakfast tomorrow," Lily said looking at Severus.
He nodded. "That will be fine."
They spent the rest of Christmas day in the living room before a roaring fire snacking on hot wassail and cookies. Dinner was served in the dining room with Tiberius and Audra joining them in the empty picture frames placed in there for that purpose.
"I was thinking that now that Voldemort is gone for good; I should have at least one floo here reconnected to the Floo Network," Severus said. The Floo had been disconnected by Tiberius during Grindelwald's reign of terror, making Witches Moon inviolate from both him and Voldemort. "I will stop at the Ministry tomorrow and see about getting us reconnected."
"They may have difficulty verifying that Witches Moon ever had a floo connection because I…err…vanished any existing paperwork in case Grindelwald had spies at the Ministry," Tiberius confessed.
Severus almost had to chuckle at his grandfather admitting to doing some illegal to protect his family. "If they cannot find anything; I will just have to fill out the paperwork for a new floo connection."
"Are we going to dinner and a movie with Draco, Uncle Luc, and Aunt Cissa again this year?" Harry asked.
"As long as it's age appropriate," Lily reminded Harry.
"You can buy a newspaper when we're in London tomorrow and see what is playing at the theatres," Severus replied. "We will be back at Hogwarts on the 29th so possibly we can do it on the 30th if the Malfoys do not have plans already for that evening."
"Okay," Harry agreed.
The next morning after breakfast, Severus side-apparated Lily and Harry to the Dragon's Tale and then they flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. They went to Ollivander's first to have Harry's wand checked.
Mr. Ollivander was at the front counter, but was wearing a full apron with pockets in the front full of different tools which told Severus he must have been working in the back before being interrupted by a customer.
"Holly wand, 11 inches with a Phoenix Feather core," Mr. Ollivander announced as he looked at Harry and then asked, "What may I do for you today, Mr. Snape?"
"Could you please check my wand, Sir? It's not working as well as before," Harry explained as he handed his wand to Ollivander.
Mr. Ollivander took the wand and said, "Avis." A flock of small, chirping birds flew out of the end of Harry's wand. He then said, "Orchideous," and a bouquet of flowers appeared at the end of his wand. "It seems to be working fine, Mr. Snape. Can you tell me why you think it isn't working for you?"
"I can show you," Harry volunteered. He took back his wand and said, "Lumos," and waited. After a few seconds delay, the end of his wand lit up. "It's like that with all the spells I cast," he complained.
"I see. Have there been any recent changes in your life, Mr. Snape?"
"Other than my dad adopting me and my mum coming back through the Veil, no."
"Actually Harry," Severus spoke up. "There has been one major change and I did not think of it until now, but you no longer have the horcrux in your scar and it may be the reason why your wand has become unsuited to you." He looked at Mr. Ollivander. "I also think that it may have been suggested to Mr. Ollivander that that this wand would be compatible with you before you came in here the first time."
Mr. Ollivander looked down at the counter top, feeling ashamed. "Albus did insist rather strongly that I try out this wand on Mr. Potter as he was then, but he said nothing about a horcrux. I was really quite surprised when it was compatible with him as I've had that wand for a long time. I created both Voldemort's Yew wand and this wand in 1937. Both wands contain a feather from the headmaster's Phoenix." He looked up again. "I suspect now that your wand was being influenced by that horcrux and that is why it is no longer fully compatible with you." He went back to his shelves and after several minutes of searching, returned with three boxes. He opened the first and took out a wand, "Ash with a Serpent Scale core."
Harry took it and waved it and he was able to move the wand boxes on the counter, but not much else.
"Not the one," Mr. Ollivander said taking it back. He then presented Harry with his second choice. "Alder with Dragon Heart String core."
Harry took that wand and said, "Lumos." Nothing happened.
"Nor that one either." Mr. Ollivander snatched it back. He took out the third wand. "Oak with a Pegasus Wing Feather."
As soon as Harry touched the wand his entire body felt warm and multi-colored sparks shot out the end."
"That's definitely the one, Mr. Snape. Oak is known as the wizard's wood. It draws off the elements of fire and lightning and it chooses a powerful companion, guardian and liberator. I think we can still expect great things from you, Mr. Snape."
"How much is Harry's new wand, Mr. Ollivander?" Lily asked, opening her purse.
Mr. Ollivander held up his hand. "There will be no charge for it, Miss Evans. I feel I did Mr. Snape a great disservice the first time by allowing the headmaster to influence my decision in his wand choice. Are you planning to keep your previous wand?"
"I'll keep it, Mr. Ollivander," Harry decided. "After all it did serve me well until recently." He slid his new wand up his sleeve into his holster and put his old wand into the empty box of his new wand.
They left Ollivander and headed back to the Madam Malkins' so Severus could order sweatshirts with the Slytherin crest on it for his house. They went into the Leaky Cauldron next so they could floo to the Ministry.
On stepping out into the Atrium, they presented their wands to the guard whose desk sat blocking any admittance to the rest of the atrium. He took their wands and gave them slips of paper to reclaim them when they were finished with whatever business they had. Only Ministry employees who had already been thoroughly vetted were allowed wands inside the Ministry.
Severus, Lily, and Harry continued on to the Floo Network Authority on Level Six. Harry hated riding in the lifts here. They didn't ride anywhere as smoothly as the Muggle lifts did. They got off when the female voice announced the sixth level and the Floo Network Authority.
They entered the office and a woman looked up from her desk and came over to the counter. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I would like to reconnect my manor house to the network. I am head of my house," Severus replied
"Has it ever been connected before?"
Severus nodded. "Some fifty years ago it was, but the connection was terminated during Grindelwald's reign of terror."
"Let me check the files for the original paperwork. What is the name of your manor house?"
"Witches Moon."
She disappeared into a back room where they caught a glimpse of tall, wooden file cabinets as she opened the door. She was back in five minutes. "I'm sorry I did not find any file on your manor house."
"It may have been lost during one of the attacks during the first wizarding war," Severus suggested smoothly.
"Well, no matter, but you will need to fill out the paperwork for a first-time floo connection then." She gave him several sheets of parchment and directed him to a table where there was a quill and ink bottle.
Severus muttered as he sat down. He hated filling out paperwork even though he had had to fill out many more forms than this to patent the potions he had invented. When he had finished filling out the papers; he gave them back to the woman. "Please notify me at either Witches Moon or at Hogwarts after the 29th when the connection has been established," Severus requested.
They left the office and took the lift back to Level Eight to the Atrium where they collected their wands and then flooed back to Diagon Alley so Severus could pick up his sweatshirts at Madam Malkins. He shrank the packages and put them in his pockets. "We will go into Muggle London next so you can buy a newspaper, Harry."
"Why don't we have lunch too before we go back," Lily suggested.
They flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and went out on Charing Cross Road. Fortunately they were able to find a newspaper seller quickly and Harry bought a newspaper. They had lunch at a pub called, 'The Bear and Staff.' Harry had their Macaroni and Cheese with Garlic bread; Lily had their Chicken Caesar Salad, and Severus had their Wild Boar and Chorizo Burger. Harry had hot chocolate to drink while Lily and Severus had tea. After they ate, they went back to the Leaky Cauldron. Once they were home again, Harry took his newspaper and spread it out to look at the movie listings. "Hmm …there's Aladdin, but it's a Walt Disney cartoon."
"I do not think the Malfoys would mind a cartoon. They appear to be interested in anything Muggle," Severus said. Lucius and Draco had gone with him and Harry a few times to sightsee in London while Cissa and Lily had been to some of the museums and on the tours to historic palaces and homes.
"I think they would find the animation interesting," Lily added.
"What are the times for the evening shows, Harry?" Severus asked.
"It looks like the first show starts at 7:30," Harry replied. "Could we go to dinner first and then go to the movie like we did last year?"
"I will floo Luc when we get back to Hogwarts and see if they have any plans for the 30th."
Harry got up, folded the paper up neatly again, and placed it on the coffee table. "I'm going upstairs and feed Keb and Isis and then practice with my new wand so it feels familiar to me by the time school starts again."
"A good idea Harry," Severus said.
"Don't forget we're going over to Petunia's tonight for dinner," Lily called.
"I remember Mum," Harry called back.
They were due at Petunia's at 6:30 so at 6:00 they left Witches Moon and flooed from the Dragon's Tale to the Leaky Cauldron where they apparated into the alley between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk and walked the rest of the way to Privet Drive.
Lily rang the doorbell and in a few seconds, Dudley opened the door. "Hi!" He said as he stepped aside so they could come in. Vernon got up from his recliner and Petunia came out of the kitchen.
"Mum, can Harry and I go upstairs? I want to show him my new computer game." He turned to Harry. "I got a new computer game for Christmas. It's called Doomed Corridors and its awesome!"
"May I?" Harry asked his parents.
They nodded and Petunia called, "Dinner will be in a half-hour boys, so don't get too involved in playing that game."
"Heck Mum, it'll take Harry that long just to learn how to play it," Dudley joked.
Harry gave Dudley a shove and they both ran up the stairs laughing.
"Doomed Corridors?" Severus asked. "It sounds a bit like forbidden third floor corridor on the left side."
"It's populated with villains and monsters that you have to destroy before they destroy you." Vernon explained.
"It's all the rage with the boys in Dudley's year," Petunia added as she brought in the appetizers and four glasses of wine.
"Tuney and Vernon, Sev and I have some news …" Before Lily could finish her sentence; Petunia spotted her engagement ring and shouted, "You're engaged!" She gave Lily a hug. "Congratulations!"
"Yes," Lily replied, taking Severus' hand.
"My congratulations to the both of you," Vernon said as he shook Severus' hand.
"Thank you Vernon," Severus said.
"Well, it's about time too! I never liked Potter; he was an arrogant braggart and a snob!" Petunia snorted. "When is the wedding going to be and do you need any help with the planning?"
"We haven't decided whether it will be during spring break or we'll wait until after school's out," Lily said. "But either way I'll definitely need your help, Tuney."
"Well, let me know as soon as you make a decision," Petunia said.
Lily nodded. "And you're going to be my matron-of-honor of course," she added.
"I would be honored," Petunia replied.
"Either time, spring or summer is fine with me," Severus said. He took one of the Beef Tenderloin Bruschetta with Brown Butter appetizers and took a bite of it. "This is delicious, Tuney. You will have to give me your recipe. I will make these the next time I have Filius over for dinner."
"Filius? That an odd first name," Vernon remarked.
"Filius Flitwick; he's the professor of Charms and a Charms Master. He teaches fourth through seventh year and I was his apprentice when I was studying to be a Charms Mistress," Lily explained.
"He and I both collect, try out, and exchange new recipes when we have dinner once a month," Severus added.
They had brought over the Christmas gifts they had bought for the Dursleys. Petunia opened hers to find the latest in slow cookers. "Thank you! I love these. You can put food in them in the morning and it cooks all day without burning the food. Mum and dad gave me one for a wedding present, but I've been thinking I need to retire it and now I can."
"I do wish some wizard or witch could charm one so it works in the magical world," Lily said wistfully.
Vernon was his pleased with his present, a membership to a wine club. "I just finished taking a course on wines and wine making at the local university."
Petunia got dinner on the table with help from Vernon while Severus called up the stairs, "Harry, Dudley, dinner is ready."
Dinner was roast beef with baked potatoes, lightly buttered carrots, and salad. Dessert was a berry mixture in vanilla yogurt. It looked as if Petunia was determined in her quest to help Vernon keep off the weight he'd already lost and help Dudley to start losing weight.
Vernon had his baked potato with a small pat of butter and chives. "I never again want to be as overweight as I was before," he announced. "Your potion has helped me lose a lot of weight so far and now I feel like a new man," he said to Severus.
"I am glad to have helped you," Severus replied.
After dinner, Dudley opened the present that Severus, Lily, and Harry had gotten him and found a gift certificate to his favorite computer game store. That had been Harry's idea. "Cool! Thank you!"
"You're welcome, Dudley," Lily replied giving him a hug.
They thanked the Dursley's for having them over and left. By the time they got back to Witches Moon, Harry was yawning. "I wish the wizarding world had computers and access to the Internet."
"It would have to be a Muggleborn who does it because most wizards don't even know about the Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin and they were huge or even that the American Muggles have been to the moon," Severus observed.
"I know," Harry said shaking his head. "When I mentioned it to Padma Patil one time, she looked at me like I'd suddenly grown another head or something."
"That's the usual reaction," Lily stated. "I remember when I used to talk about it when I was in school. Sev was practically the only other person who knew about it."
"The wizarding world is very insular," Severus remarked.
"That's for sure!" Harry said, yawning again. "Well, I'm off to bed. Goodnight, Mum and Dad."
"Goodnight Harry," they called.
Severus put his arm around Lily and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I think Petunia was really thrilled that you asked her to stand up with you at our wedding and to help plan it."
"Well, Alice stood up with me at my wedding to Potter because Tuney and I weren't speaking then due to her jealousy issues. I really want her to stand up with me this time. Tuney's always been really good at planning things too. You know I should encourage her to start her own business as a professional wedding planner," Lily said, sitting up again.
"I think that's a great ides, but how would Vernon react?"
"I think he'd encourage her. Vernon's changed a lot since he's lost so much weight. Who are you going to ask to stand up with you?" Lily laughed and shook her head. "You can't ask Filius because I'm going to ask him to give me away."
"I was planning to ask Harry actually."
"He'll be thrilled. Do you think Dumbledore will want to come?"
"I doubt it if he is even still headmaster by spring. The majority of the Board of Governors is obviously angry with him for trying to keep secret what's been happening with these children being petrified and they are not happy with his administration of Hogwarts in general."
"I think Hogwarts has lost ground by not offering more and different courses or by dropping ones that Dumbledore personally disliked."
"I agree," Severus said. "Minerva, Filius, Pomona, and I have complained about it many times at staff meetings, but Dumbledore just continues to ignore us."
"Possibly after his suspension he might be willing to look at things differently," Lily got up and stretched then bent to kiss his cheek, giving Severus a very nice view of her breasts as she did so. "I've got some Charms essays to finish grading. I'll see you in the morning, Sev."
"I will be here in the morning…always," Severus replied softly with a smile.
The floo connection to Witches Moon was reconnected on the 28th so they were able to floo directly to Severus' quarters from there. "I'll need to stop in the Dragon's Tale and explain to George why we are not coming through there anymore so he does not think something terrible happened to us."
Harry went into his bedroom to check on Keb and Isis to make sure they were okay after Matius had brought them back. He had let Hedwig go earlier that morning to fly back as she hated flooing. She would probably be back shortly.
Lily left to go to her quarters and Harry decided to stay with Severus until school started again. Severus flooed Lucius as soon as he finished unpacking. "Are you, Cissa, and Draco free tomorrow evening? We are going to go to a movie and we thought you might like to join us."
"You have timed your call perfectly, Severus. Draco has been after me to floo call you to see if you were available to attend another mov-ee and tomorrow evening will be fine."
"How about we meet at the Leaky Cauldron at 5:30 and have dinner in Muggle London? I believe Harry said the movie starts at 7:30."
"What is the mov-ee will we be seeing?"
"It is called Aladdin which is a Middle Eastern folk tale. I think you will enjoy it."
Lucius nodded and said, "We will see you at 5:30 tomorrow evening then."
After Lucius, Severus floo called Remus and asked him to come through and to bring the book containing the ritual for creating a new body.
Remus removed the ashes from his robe and then stepped out of the fireplace. "Why do you want to see this book? It's considered to be very dark magic. I only have it because I'm trying to develop defensive spells for some of the more brutal dark spells in here and that's how I ran across this particular ritual."
"I wanted to see what exactly the ritual involves to make absolutely sure that none of the Death Eaters could use it to recreate a body for him."
Remus opened the book and found the ritual. Severus read the ritual, pointed, and then said, "Right there …Bone of the father unknowingly given. I know from what Lucius has discovered about him; Voldemort's father was a Muggle named Tom Riddle Jr. and he is buried in the cemetery in Little Hangleton."
"So you're saying his bones should be taken out and destroyed to prevent a Death Eater from recreating another body for Voldemort?"
"It is to make absolutely certain nobody can bring him back. They will not be able to use any other Riddle bones if they do try because the ritual will not work."
Severus floo called Kingsley and told him about the ritual. "I suggest someone might want to go to the cemetery and destroy his father's bones."
"Damn!" Kingsley swore making a face. "You know who's going to be doing the digging on that, don't you?"
"You and Crockford?" Severus asked innocently.
"Exactly, but on the other hard …we definitely don't want to give Voldemort even the slightest chance of returning, do we. I'll contact Mad-Eye and we'll get it done."
"Thank you," Severus replied. He ended the floo call and looked at Remus. "Now Voldemort has absolutely zero chance of returning even if there still is a bit of him floating around in Albania."
Thank you for reading