Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 29 ~ The Final Chapter
Hermione was sitting in the study of her mansion doing some spell research when she heard a thunder clap, followed closely by another, then another. She scowled and slipped a marker into the book, stood up and threw open the study door, stalking into the hallway and down towards the main entrance. She looked around, an eyebrow arched. Then she put her hands on her hips.
“All right you three, I heard you. Get out here now! I’m not kidding,” she said.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw three shimmers pressed against the far wall, attempting to slip up the hallway.
“Severus, Alphonse, Jeremiah, I see you over there,” she said, tapping her foot. “Get over here right now, young men.”
Three black-haired, amber-eyed boys suddenly appeared. They were all dressed in blue jeans and t-shirts and splattered with mud. Their heads hung dejectedly as they approached their mother slowly. They lined up in front of her.
Hermione looked at them, frowning.
“Now what have I told you about apparating?” she asked them.
“That we’re not supposed to do it,” all three boys responded in unison.
“And why aren’t you supposed to do it?” she asked them.
“Because we’re too young and we might splinch,” they said, again in unison. All three of their answers had a singsong quality. They had obviously recited this answer many times over the span of their eight years.
“That’s right,” Hermione said.
“But Mum,” Severus said, his amber eyes looking at her levelly. “We’ve been apparating since we were five. We’ve never splinched. Dad said it’s because it’s in our blood.”
“Your father also told you not to apparate either,” Hermione said sternly.
“Actually, he told us not to get caught apparating,” Alphonse said to Jeremiah in a low, somewhat silky voice, nudging him and smirking. Hermione heard him and sighed. Yes, that sounded exactly like something Severus would say. Very Slytherin advice to his sons.
“And what happened to your clothes?” Hermione asked them, eyeing the mud spatters and pulling out her wand.
“We were digging up some plants to dry out,” Jeremiah said, brushing at the spots of dirt on his trousers.
“Yeah, to add to our stores,” Alphonse said as Hermione scourgified the three of them. Her eyebrows went up.
“Stores?” she asked.
“Yes, Mum. We have our own Potions stores, like Dad’s,” Severus said proudly.
Hermione looked at them suspiciously.
“And just where is this Potions stores of yours located?” she asked, slightly miffed she wasn’t aware of this.
“Downstairs in the cupboard, next to Dad’s storeroom. He knows,” Jeremiah said rather stubbornly.
Hermione scowled. She was going to talk to her husband when he came home this evening.
“Exactly what kind of plants were you digging up?” Hermione asked the triplets.
The boys looked at each other, none of them wanting to answer her. Hermione gave them her best “I’m not fooling around” look, and they folded.
“Mandrakes,” all three said at once.
“What! Are you three out of your minds! You can be killed harvesting mandrakes! Their screams are lethal! What were you thinking?” Hermione yelled at them, making them wince.
“Mum, we’re not that stupid. We cast a silencing spell on them before we pull them up. They only scream a couple of minutes,” Severus said. “Dad told us how to do it.”
Hermione was going to be a widow. And soon.
Being the only Gryffindor in a house full of prospective Slytherins was really a pain sometimes. Severus was grooming the boys in all the Slytherin ways of thinking. They were smart, secretive and resourceful. Anytime they got in trouble, they invoked the name of their father as if he were a deity of protection.
“I don’t care what your father told you. You are all officially on lockdown. Now, up to your rooms and hit the books. I want a foot of parchment on the dangers of harvesting Mandrake Root and another two feet on the dangers of Apparition. Upstairs right now, march,” Hermione said pointing to the stairwell.
The boys all skulked off, their hands deep in their pockets.
“I’ve written so many parchments on the dangers of apparition I can write one word for word by heart,” Jeremiah said as they mounted the stairs, Hermione glaring after them.
“You should do what I do,” Severus said, brushing his silky black hair out of his eyes, “ I save the old ones and just give them to Mum over and over again. I just don’t date them.”
“Pretty sharp, Severus,” Alphonse said, clearly impressed, arching an eyebrow at his brother speculatively.
“I know,” Severus said, grinning slightly. All three boys turned on the landing, and checked to see if Hermione was still watching them. She was. They’d escape their rooms later. There were several more mandrakes to collect before they had their quota.
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Hermione was waiting in the study when Severus apparated home from Hogwarts that evening. He knew immediately she was on the warpath when he kissed her hello, and she accepted the kiss stoically, her lips held so stiffly they felt as if they were made of wood. The Potions Master scoured his brain, trying to figure out what in the world he had done now, and how he was going to placate her. He walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a small drink, then carried it to the armchair and sat down. He took a sip of it, then looked up at his wife. After nine years of marriage and three sons, she was still beautiful, still desirable to him. Especially when her amber eyes flashed at him the way they were now. Although he definitely preferred them flashing at him when he was on top of her.
Hermione walked over and stood in front of her husband.
“Your sons were harvesting mandrake root today,” she said heatedly.
Severus looked up at her. He didn’t look shocked.
“Did they get a good yield?” he asked her. That was not the right response.
“I don’t know if they got a good yield, Severus. The point is that harvesting Mandrake Root is dangerous,” she said.
Severus arched an eyebrow at her.
“So how many sons did we lose?” he asked her, taking another sip from his glass, his black eyes sweeping over her as she stood in front of him with her arms folded. She was dressed in a wife beater and sweatpants. She must have been working out before he arrived. She’d be good and limber.
“We didn’t lose any sons. That’s not the point,” she seethed at him.
“So I can assume they safely harvested the roots then?” he asked his wife, his black eyes meeting hers.
Hermione faltered. “Yes, they did,” Hermione replied, still angry, “and they said you told them how to do it.” Accusation was in her eyes.
Severus sighed.
“Hermione, my sons dig up all kinds of plants. It only made sense to teach them how to identify a mandrake plant, and how to treat it. It was better to tell them, than to let them run across one unprepared. Our sons are not idiots. They have you for a mother,” he said. “As long as they know how to harvest the plants, you shouldn’t be concerned. I would think you would be more concerned if they didn’t know.”
Hermione looked at him. Sometimes she hated his logic. Well, he pretty much blew that one out of the water. Ok, one issue down, one to go.
“And they are apparating again,” she said, “when I expressly told them not to.”
“Did you catch them at it?” Severus asked her, finishing his drink.
“No, but I heard them. Three thunderclaps in quick succession,” she replied.
“Good enough. Did you punish them for it?” he asked her.
“Yes,” Hermione said, “I always punish them for it. But they don’t stop. They don’t listen. I want you to talk to them.”
Severus looked at her.
“I can talk to them, Hermione, but you have to remember, they are half Lemurian. Trying to keep a Lemurian child from apparating is tantamount to trying to stop a dragon from breathing fire. It’s in their blood. Lemurians don’t splinch,” he said softly, looking up at his angry wife. He felt like fucking her.
“But it’s against the law, Severus,” Hermione said plaintively. “We can get in trouble for it if it’s found out. They have to be seventeen to apparate. You know the law.”
“They only apparate on our private property, Hermione. They know better than to do it in public. What happens in the privacy of our home is no one’s business,” he replied, scowling a little. Hermione could be such a stickler sometimes.
“But still Severus, they are British citizens. They have to respect our laws,” she said.
Severus sighed.
“Very well, Hermione. I will talk to them,” he said eyeing her.
“Good. And this time no Slytherin advice about not getting caught,” she said sharply.
Severus smirked.
“As you wish, wife,” he replied.
“Thank you, Severus,” Hermione said, leaning down to kiss the dark wizard on his cheek. She stood up and started for the study door.
“Wait, Hermione. Where are you going?” he asked her.
“To bed,” she replied, looking over her shoulder at him.
Severus stood up and walked over to his wife. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close against him.
“I was hoping you might keep me company for a while. The boys are asleep, are they not?” he said silkily, pressing his lips against her temple and looking down at her, a familiar gleam in his black eyes.
“How much company?” she asked him, knowing what that gleam meant. Her husband was still sexy as hell. “Quick company? Or a long visit?” She felt him hardening against her belly, and became instantly aroused. Severus was a good lover, no matter what kind of “company” they kept.
Hermione had never wanted any other wizard since the night he deflowered her long ago. Albus married them three months later in a small ceremony on the school grounds. The couple was married for a year before Hermione became pregnant. She had been huge. When she delivered, Severus went from joy to amazement then to shock as she birthed three sons in succession. Despite the fact that Hermione herself was an only child, it seemed triplets ran in her family.
They purchased a mansion in the Shropshire area and Hermione began a small custom Spells business that really took off. Severus was still employed at Hogwarts, while he marketed his own potions and both had a nice amount of residuals coming in each month. Neither had to work, but they both enjoyed it. They were setting a good example for their sons as well. Severus, Alphonse and Jeremiah’s powers began to manifest at three years of age, the first manifestation being floating house elves. The boys had levitated their babysitters and flown them around the mansion halls as if they were elf-shaped balloons.
Hermione had her hands full trying to teach the boys not to use their powers. She got them under relative control by the age of five. Of course, they still used magic, but did so quite sneakily, in the Slytherin fashion, fully supported by their father. Severus had grown up the same way, and disciplined them properly, teaching them to hide their gifts just as he had.
Severus brought his hands to Hermione’s breasts and began to fondle them. He knew she loved that.
She sighed as he said, “Quick or lengthy, I don’t mind…as long as we have some kind of visit, wife,” and dropped his head to her throat sucking on it gently as he continued caressing her breasts, massaging their fullness and feeling her nipples harden beneath his palms. Hermione began to unbutton his robes. She was an expert at it now, able to undo the fastenings with dispatch. Her hands flew down his robes, pulling them up as she went until it was completely open. He wore his dress shirt and black pants beneath it. Severus shrugged the robe off his shoulders and backed Hermione up against the back of the armchair, leaning her back, pulling up her shirt and latching onto her breasts hungrily with his mouth as he pulled at the string that tied her sweatpants. He was going for the hot and heavy quickie, his breathing becoming harsh as he yanked her sweats down roughly, then working at the fastenings of his trousers, opening them and pulling out his swollen cock. He lifted her legs up over his arms, letting the armchair support her body, pulled her knickers aside and thrust himself inside her hard, making her gasp at the ardor of his penetration.
“Yesss,” Severus hissed, staring down at her as he started fucking her hard, jerking his wife over the back of the chair rhythmically as he plunged his cock into her, his hips pistoning between her thighs, his eyes locked to hers as she gasped and moaned.
“I love fucking you,” he growled, his cock sliding through her wetness deliciously, wrapped in the soft inner folds. “Especially when you greet me pissed off after I’ve had a hard day. Now I’m having a harder one, Hermione. Harder and better. Can you feel it, wife?” He slammed into her making her cry out.
“You still love me?” he hissed, driving into her.
“Yes, Severus,” she groaned.
“You’d better…because I’ll never stop loving you,” he panted, bending over her and pouring on the power. Hermione started shrieking.
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Upstairs on the landing, three faces pressed against the polished wooden dowels of the banister, listening to their mother’s cries of passion coming from the study.
“They’re at it again,” Severus said to his brothers, a smirk on his face.
“They’re always at it,” Jeremiah said, rolling his amber eyes toward the ceiling.
“I used to think Dad was beating her up when I heard her screaming,” Alphonse said. “Good thing we found that book that explained what they were doing all the time. I was worried.”
“He is beating her up…kind of,” Severus said, his amber eyes shifting toward the study door, “but she likes it.”
“Think we’ll get a sister out of this one?” Jeremiah asked his brothers.
“Well, if we mixed the fertility potion right, it should take. I put in just the right amount of Mandrake Root this time, and been dosing her morning orange juice every day for the past two weeks. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed,” Alphonse responded.
The boys listened as their mother let out a howl, followed closely by their father’s hoarse shout.
“Dad sure sounds funny at the end,” Severus commented, scowling a bit
“So does Mum,” Jeremiah observed, “We better get out of here. Mum will be coming out looking all starry-eyed. She’d die if she knew we heard them.”
“I’m going to tell her one day, when I’m grown up,” Severus said, grinning evilly.
His brothers shook their heads at him.
“You’re really twisted, Severus,” Alphonse said at they walked back toward their bedrooms.
“I know,” Severus smirked as they headed for bed.
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Severus lowered his wife’s legs weakly, resting his body against hers as he panted. He pulled Hermione forward and planted a kiss on her lips. Both were covered in perspiration.
“Damn, that was good,” he breathed at her.
“It’s always good with you, Severus,” Hermione replied, her amber eyes still glowing with passion.
He smiled at her.
“Gods, I love you, Hermione,” he said, kissing her again. Not only was she a good wife, a good mother and a good lover…she was wonderful for his ego.
“I know,” she smirked at him.
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The three boys sat outside the infirmary, kicking their legs absently, bored to tears with waiting.
“What’s taking so long? She’s been in there for hours,” Jeremiah hissed, plucking at his shirt.
“These things can’t be rushed,” Alphonse said wisely.
Severus punched him in the shoulder.
“How do you know?” he asked.
Alphonse looked at Severus reproachfully. “Because I researched it, that’s how.”
Severus snorted. “You’re as bad as Mum is,” he griped.
Suddenly the door to the infirmary opened, and their father walked out. He looked like he had been in a fight. His eyes were all red, and his hair was stuck to his head with perspiration. He looked a little gray too.
“I’ll never get used to that,” he muttered, then he looked at his sons.
“Well boys, you have a new baby sister. Her name is Damascus, and she’s beautiful. She has your mother’s hair and it looks like she will have my eyes. Thankfully, once again my nose has not been passed on to my progeny,” he said, smiling at his sons as they high-fived each other.
“That’s really great Dad!” the boys said, jumping up out of their seats.
“When can we see her?” Severus asked excitedly.
“Now,” their father replied, “but you have to be quiet. Your mother is very tired.”
All three boys nodded and followed their father in. They walked through the empty infirmary. Madame Pomfrey was standing by Hermione’s bedside, smiling down at the witch and the bundle she held in her arms.
“She’s absolutely beautiful, Hermione,” the healer gushed.
“She is, isn’t she?” Hermione replied, looking at her newborn daughter. Damascus sneezed.
“Hi Mum,” three voices piped. Hermione looked up and her eyes softened as she drank in the sight of her boys.
“Hi boys,” she responded, “Come see your new sister.” She held the baby out so they could take a good look at her.
“She’s a lot more wrinkly than I expected,” Alphonse said, looking at the newborn critically before Severus elbowed him in the ribs.
“She looks like she’s supposed to look,” he hissed at his brother, then looked at his baby sister, softness in his eyes. “Hi Damascus, I’m your big brother Severus. You’re going to have a great time with me.”
“He’s one of your big brothers,” Jeremiah cut in, “You have three, and all of us will look out for you.”
The baby gurgled.
“She likes me!” Jeremiah said joyfully.
“She was just making baby noises. She doesn’t like anybody but Mum right now. She has the milk,” Alphonse said. “She won’t start liking us until she’s like three months old and can tell differences and stuff.”
“But we all look alike. How will she be able to tell the difference?” Jeremiah said.
“Don’t be stupid. We don’t act alike. She’ll be able to tell. She’s bound to be smart. She looks just like Mum. She’s probably is intelligent like her too,” Severus said, staring at his sister with a smile on his face.
Jeremiah studied the baby.
“She’s going to boss us around, just like Mum does Dad,” he said.
“Mum doesn’t boss Dad around. He just lets her think she does to keep the peace,” Severus said, then covered his mouth as he realized his mother heard him. Hermione raised her eyebrows at her son, then smiled.
“Dad does what Mum wants because he loves her,” Alphonse said sagely, “and if he didn’t, she probably wouldn’t let him…”
He never got a chance to finish the sentence because two sets of pointy elbows hit him in the ribs.
Hermione and Severus looked at each other over the boys’ heads, Hermione blushing a little and Severus’ eyes looking a little hot. She’d never realized just how much her boys knew about her and Severus’ private relationship. They needed to make sure to use the silencing spell whenever they had sex from now on. She looked down at her daughter.
Damascus had been quite a surprise. Hermione was taking precautions. She didn’t know what went wrong. But Severus had been delighted she was pregnant again. He was a bit relieved when she didn’t have another set of triplets however.
“All right boys,” he said, “Time to let your mother rest. She’ll be home tomorrow,” he said.
The boys each leaned carefully over the baby and kissed Hermione goodbye, then followed their father out into the hallway. He would take them home and return to the infirmary. As they walked through the halls of Hogwarts, Severus looked down at them, his eyebrow arched.
“Boys, is there something you need to tell me?” he asked them. They looked up at him, perplexed.
“About your baby sister?” the Potions Master added, his black eyes glittering.
The three boys swallowed. Dad knew.
“Um…well. We sort of helped her along,” Severus admitted.
“With a fertility potion using Mandrake Root,” his father replied.
“Yes,” all three boys said in unison.
“How did you know?” Jeremiah asked him, curious. They had been so careful.
“I took a sip of your mother’s orange juice one morning. Her sense of taste is not acute as mine. I recognized the potion immediately. You brewed it yourselves?” he asked them, studying the boys thoughtfully.
“Yes sir,” they answered. What was he going to do to them?
“Quite an accomplishment for eight year olds. A very Slytherin act as well. I take it you wanted a baby sister, because of how you brewed it.” Snape said.
The boys nodded. Young Severus looked up at him.
“If you knew we were spiking Mum’s orange juice, why didn’t you say anything?” he asked his father.
Severus stopped walking and lifted an eyebrow at his sons.
“Well, in this case your desire coincided with mine. You see, I wanted a daughter as well,” he said, giving them a small conspiratorial grin.
“We see,” they replied in unison, smirking back at him.
“Are you going to tell Mum?” Jeremiah asked him, his amber eyes worried.
“No,” Severus replied, “And if you are wise, boys, you won’t tell her either. At least not until your sister is full grown and you live elsewhere.”
The boys nodded, understanding completely. Their mother would kill them, or at least hex them. She’d been known to do that from time to time.
Severus began walking again, his hands clasped behind his back as he strode toward the main doors, his sons beside him. The boys also clasped their hands behind their backs, looking thoughtful.
All four Snapes strode out of Hogwarts, and across the grounds, headed for home and whatever new adventures life held in store for them.
THE END
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A/N: And that is the end of “The Ring” I hope you enjoyed it. I know I skipped ahead a few years, but that’s where the keyboard led me. The young Snape triplets are something else, aren’t they? Lol. Maybe one day I will write about them. Please leave a final review