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Chapter Nine

The healer closed the door softly as he exited the guest room. “She’s resting now.” Merope had balked at the idea of going to St. Mungo’s because of the cost. Severus had taken her to Prince Manor, and she’d agreed to see Severus’ personal healer. Since she had agreed to the course he preferred, which was to have her under his roof, he hadn’t enlightened her that St. Mungo’s was the more cost-effective option.

While the healer had been attending to Merope, Severus had sent an elf off to the Malfoys to reschedule their dinner. He couldn’t give either of the Malfoy children the attention they deserved.

“Mari,” Severus called, summoning one of the younger elves in his household. She was quite adept in assisting him with brewing and had a calming presence. When she arrived, he murmured, “Would you please set a ward on our young guest, tend to her if she needs anything, and let me know when she wakes?”

Mari curtsied and popped away.

Severus escorted Healer Jeffers to his private study. “Are you able to discuss her condition?” He poured the tea Libby had left for him and handed a cup to the healer.

“She gave permission to discuss any matter with you.” Jeffers sipped his tea, looking conflicted. “She’s quite weak, malnourished, and her magical levels are unstable in a way I can’t account for. The child, however, is robust and healthy. Unusual when the mother is so weak. She mentioned that she gives her magic to her baby, but I’ve never heard of a such a thing.”

“Are you suggesting the child is leeching her magic?”

“No, not at all. I don’t sense anything unusual magically in the child, but I don’t understand her fluctuating magic. Though obstetrics is not my primary field, I’ve still attended several pregnant witches and never seen anything quite like it. Now that we know the difference between the core and the channels, and how to assess active magic versus latent, I can tell you that her core is quite robust, but her channels are negligible. I doubt she’d have been accepted into Hogwarts, but she got a wand from somewhere.”

“Family heirloom no doubt,” Severus murmured. “Did she mention the father of the child?”

“She was reluctant to speak of him. She said her husband’s name is Thomas Riddle but her family name is Gaunt. I confess, I’m not familiar with either.”

Severus nodded slowly. “Gaunt is a diminished magical line, hailing from somewhere in Yorkshire, I believe. They’ve often made claims of their noble ancestry but there was never any confirmation. If memory serves, the head of the line died recently. I’m not familiar with a magical family named Riddle.”

“She admitted he was a muggle, but your own research would contradict that,” Jeffers added.

“A latent line then. Did she say if he was alive? Is he also destitute?”

“She was vague on the subject of her husband, only commenting that he’d left her.” Jeffers stared into his tea for long seconds. “You’d think she was your age, my lord, but my scans indicate she’s not yet nineteen.”

Severus was thirty-eight this past August. “A hard life then. And so young to be alone.”

“Will you send her to one of the shelter estates?”

He raised a brow. “Is that advisable?”

“I’d rather she not be moved again, truth be told. The emergency housing you’ve provided is a step up for many, and certainly that’s the case for this young lady, but while you’re quite skilled at apparition, my lord, and it was the only option to transport her to the manor, she’s very weak.”

“Then here she will stay.”

“And after she has the child?”

“I’ll begin some investigation into possible family and, if there is none, see the child properly placed. Will you follow her care or recommend another?”

“One of my colleagues would be a better choice. I’ll bring her round to meet you and Mrs. Riddle later today. She’s accustomed to late call outs. Your method of communicating via patronus should summon her faster than a floo call. I confess, since that write-up on patronus messenger in the Herald, I have wished I was better with my defense spells.”

– – – –

Severus was brewing in his private potions lab, contemplating how to alter his plans. He thought it likely that she’d still give birth on the 31st, but it was uncertain how having a healer and medical care would affect the outcome. He also needed to obtain some information from her about Riddle and her brother so he could justifiably go in search of them.

The conference of the meet queens was currently underway but Hypatia had been understanding that Severus had other things on his mind and left him to his brewing rather than demanding his presence.

He felt Nuada’s presence and immediately turned off the flame on the potion, not caring that it was ruined. “What is this change going to mean?”

“The future before us is uncertain. She’s been paying attention to that newspaper Malfoy started and knew about the orphanage. When she cut out an article about the success in placement of magical orphans, I thought she might have planned to take the child there. We waited for an opportunity for you to cross paths with her. I confess, I magically nudged her to the alley this morning.”

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling oddly irritable. Nuada’s primary task was to ensure that Tom’s birth came about. It certainly wasn’t his fault that things Severus had done had caused an alteration to the timeline. “Will she survive the birth? Live to raise him?”

“Nay.” Nuada glanced away. “Her magic is punishing her.”

Severus frowned. “I don’t follow. I’ve never heard of someone’s magic personally punishing them.”

“There are some offenses that are a blight on your personal magic. Killing the head of your ancestral magic, for instance. Gordian was cruel and bitter because his magic tormented him.”

“And what is Merope’s crime? Surely she didn’t kill her father.”

“Even if she had, Marvolo Gaunt had no connection to any ancestral magics. For Merope, the issue is the love potion.”

“But why? Love potions are detestable but they’ve been used for hundreds of years yet I’ve never heard of this.”

Nuada rubbed his hand over his face. “There are steep magical penalties for harming your soulmate.”

Severus stared, mouth agape. “Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle Senior are soulmates?”

“Yes. It’s why she was so obsessed with him. It’s why their son is so magically powerful.”

“The Treatise on Marriage,” Severus said with a sigh.

“For this situation, it provides context, but you know why you needed to know abut soulmates.”

Severus’ expression twisted. He was still uncertain how he was supposed to handle the whole soulmates issue in the wizarding world. “Would they have had a life together if she’d given it time?”

“Unlikely. Tom Riddle is shallow and vain, and Merope is…” He trailed off an made a vague gesture. “Unfortunate in so many ways. She’s not terribly clever, and she’s beaten down emotionally. We tried to steer Merope onto a different path in other instances, but she always seized the opportunity to have Riddle when she was able. I think it was her one joy in life.”

“And potioning your soul mate is a crime against your own magic?”

“Yes, as it should be. Killing your soul mate is less of a crime than subverting their will. Though killing your own soul mate can make you mentally unstable over time, it’s not as egregious as mind or emotion controlling spells and potions. If she’d put him under the imperious, her magic would have pressed her to make amends, but she potioned him to love her, marry her, and took a child from him.

“Her magic is punishing her and, because of the life she’s had, she’s ill-equipped to offer amends. She has no reserves to endure the suffering her magic is visiting upon her. Instead, she’s focused all her energy on her child. I’ve listened to her talk to the babe… I think she’s so desperate to hold on to a part of her mate, to make life good for her son, that she’s pushing her magic into the baby. She’s done it in every life, and it’s what will ultimately kill her. Her core will fracture when the child is born.”

“And nothing can be done for her?”

“Fundamentally, she is pitiable, Severus. And when it comes to matters of Tom Riddle, she is unswayed by reason, magic, or any other inducement.”

Severus began to ask about Merope’s past when something Nuada had said fell into place. “You said murdering your soulmate can cause mental instability.”

“Over time, yes.” After several moments, Nuada added, “You must ask me, Severus, for I will not volunteer this information.”

“Did Voldemort murder his soulmate?”

“Aye. In every life. We think the magical draw felt like a vulnerability and, with his compromised emotions, he always lashed out. And then ached with the pain of it. And before you ask, it’s best you discover who his soulmate is in your own time.”

– – – –

30 December 1926

“Did you see my Thomas?” Merope asked eagerly as Severus entered her bedchamber. She was still pale and unwell, but two days of care made it so that she was awake more frequently and less weak. She and Severus had had several long conversations about what she wanted to happen and what preparations needed to be made.

“I did.” He didn’t want to do this to her, but there was no choice. “He was unswayed. If I hadn’t had a solicitor with me, I’m not certain he’d have seen me at all.”

Her expression fell, and tears formed in her eyes.

Severus took the seat at her bedside. “Lady, he was quite angry. Why would your husband abandon you and care so little about the child you are to have?” Severus knew why, but he needed her to admit it if possible. He could have the treatment for the baby ready rather than having to “diagnose” the cause.

She looked away and was silent for a long time, and he let her be. “It is so shameful. You’ll think me an awful witch for what I’ve done.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Did you compel him in some way, Merope?”

“Love potion,” she finally admitted in a whisper. “And I used an attractant potion on myself to bring him to me and then a love potion weekly on Thomas once we were married. Potions are the only magical area I excelled in just from reading books.”

Keeping any judgment away from his expression, he asked. “I gather you didn’t use amortentia?” Her using a potion on herself made it doubly necessary to purge the taint on baby’s core.

“No. I hoped he’d learn to love me, so I used potions I found in an old family potions journal.” She sighed mournfully. “And my magic started to hurt right after I became pregnant. I think it punished me for what I was doing. I knew I had to release him.” She sent him an imploring look. “I waited as long as I could, but I stopped the potions. I thought if he saw that we were happy and had a baby coming that he would stay…”

“He wants nothing to do with the child, Merope, and signed papers to that effect.”

She gave a muffled sob. “But you’ll take care of my baby, won’t you, my lord? You’ll see him to a good home?” The healer had confirmed for her that she was correct in her belief that her child was male.

“Of course.” He sent her a reassuring smile. “I had my solicitor visit your brother, Morfin, in Azkaban.”

She cringed.

“He’s legally the head of the Gaunt family, but he’s claimed no rights to the child.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t so polite about it.”

“Not as such, no,” he admitted. The solicitor had provided Severus and the wizarding child welfare representative pensieve memories of the meeting. In point of fact, Morfin had threatened to murder the child if he ever encountered him. “But rest assured that your brother has relinquished any right to the child and I’ll see your baby to a good home.”

She met his gaze again. “Will you name him Thomas? I’d like him to have his father’s name.”

Severus had actually been hoping to not name the child Thomas because in all his lives, Voldemort had loathed having what he perceived as a muggle name. “It will be as you wish.” To stop her from going down the path of naming after her father, he added, “You’ve mentioned that your father was most proud of was being descended from Slytherin. What say we name him Thomas Salazar?”

Her eyes brightened. “Oh, that’s lovely. It’s not too cheeky? I mean, disrespectful like. Naming him after Lord Slytherin.”

Severus chuckled. “I was named after a Roman emperor. The wizarding world is full of cheek, and I think it would suit your baby well.” He almost introduced the idea that he adopt the child, but felt the time wasn’t right. Even if he never raised the issue with Merope, he didn’t anticipate any difficulty adopting Tom.

Merope rubbed her hand over her stomach. “Thomas Salazar. It’s a good name.”

– – – –

Severus met the woman from child welfare in his study. “She confessed to me that she used attractant potions on herself and also fed her husband love potions, and it was after she stopped them that he left her. I worry about the damage it might have done to the child.”

Emeny Allerton shook her head sadly and made a note in her file. “The child will likely be damaged emotionally. It won’t be easy to place him.”

“There are ways to correct the damage, but the sooner they’re done, the more likely they are to fully reverse it. I’ll begin an investigation into what’s needed.” He’d go through the motions of finding the right spells and rituals. “If time is needed to cleanse his magic, we’ll foster him here so that I can monitor his progress.”

“You are most generous, Lord Prince.”

He waved the compliment away considering he wasn’t generous at all.

“Other than final adoption of the child, child welfare’s investigation is already complete. I can say without hesitation that even if the father or uncle should change their minds, my department will have none of them. Both are unfit guardians. Especially that awful Morfin Gaunt.”

– – – –

31 December 1926

Severus paced the hallway, waiting for news of the birth, somewhat surprised that Tom was arriving just as before. Perhaps there was some sort of inevitable magical shift in his mother’s core on this date that determined when he would arrive. Merope had been terribly weak the last half day.

He couldn’t exactly say he was fond of her, but he did pity her. It eased his mind to know that he could provide some comfort to her in her final days.

“Lord Prince,” Jeffers called out. “Mrs. Riddle is asking for you.” Jeffers had accompanied the other healer as they were worried about how fragile Merope was. Jeffers could focus on the mother while his colleague focused on the babe.

Startled by the request, Severus was slow to move, but he soon found himself at Merope’s bedside, diligently avoiding paying attention to the work of the healers. His mother nodded and smiled kindly. She and Libby were assisting with the birth.

He knelt by the bed and took her hand. “How may I help you, Merope?”

Watery, bloodshot eyes, filled with pain met his. “You’ve been so kind to me.”

“I’d count myself a poor wizard if I left you in Knockturn Alley in such a state. And it’s easy to be kind to you, my dear.”

They went through another round of her trying to push. Birthing charms eased pain and helped with some of the difficulty, but they were not as advanced in this time as they would be in the future. For a healthy witch, magical childbirth should be fairly easy, but Merope was weak and her magic was faltering.

Pained, she looked to him again. “I wish he could live here. Live in this kindness and love. Know what it is to be treated kindly.”

Severus sent up a thank you to Magic that Merope had made this request. “Is that what you would wish, Merope?”

“Yes. Right now, I can think of nothing I want more.”

“Then here he shall be raised. You’ll both join our family and live in the manor.”

She gave a mirthless laugh. “I’ll not survive this night, my lord, I know it in my soul.” With eyes filled with pleading, she asked, “Does that change your decision? If I’m not here, will you still keep him?”

“His home will be with me,” Severus promised.

“Severus,” his mother whispered, sounding astonished, though he didn’t pay her any attention.

“You would do that?” Merope persisted. “Raise him as your own son?”

He pushed her hair back from her face, feeling unaccountably sad for her. “I would adopt his as my own, yes. Is that what you wish?”

For the first time since he’d met her, her smile was unburdened. “Yes, that is what I want. Thomas Salazar Prince.” Her eyes became unfocused. “Such a fine name.”

A bare ten minutes later and the orderly scene in the birthing room had devolved into chaos. Severus stood back from the flurry of activity surrounding Merope and waited. She’d deteriorated quickly after asking Severus to adopt Tom. He knew that the baby had been delivered but there was no crying.

A moment later, his mother broke the privacy ward and approached him with a wrapped bundle. Her expression was sad. “He’s fine, but he does not cry.” She handed the baby to him. “Just barely five pounds.”

He was impossibly tiny, smaller than Abraxas had been. He blinked at Severus a few times then closed his eyes. Tom’s magic felt odd to Severus. There was something not right about it. He sat in the rocking chair and accepted a bottle from Libby. Tom ate but it was rather listless.

“She’s gone,” his mother added. “Her core fractured shortly after the birth and she was too weak to withstand the effect. The healers are doing final diagnostic scans and preparing the body.”

Severus nodded. “Did she get to see him?”

“Yes. She held his hand and touched his cheek, and then she was gone.” His mother’s eyes were worried. “Are you certain about this, son?”

“I’m certain.” He began to rock, lulling the baby to sleep. “I’ll honor her last wish.”

Hypatia knelt down next to the chair and placed a hand on his knee. “You’re a good man, Severus Prince, but this is not something you owe. It is not your duty to raise a stranger’s child. There are families we could place him with eventually.”

“I feel this is the right path.”

She sighed. “You’re not even wed, son.”

“Should I meet a wizard I’d like to spend the rest of my days with, he’ll have to accept that I already have a child. This is no revolutionary concept, Mother.”

Patting his knee, she got back to her feet. “If you’re certain.”

“I am,” he murmured as he watched the baby, feeling unsettled and unprepared.

– – – –

4 January 1927

The magical alarm he’d set prodded Severus awake, and he rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bassinet. As usual, Thomas was awake, but he just stared up at the ceiling. He never cried out. It was such a contrast to Abraxas that it was difficult to even watch. The only time he reacted to much of anything was when too many people were around or a large amount of magic was used. He would twitch and tears would pool in his eyes but he’d never make a sound. Severus believed the core damage he’d sustained had made Tom magically sensitive so, for now, only Severus and Libby tended to the baby and only by hand.

As a result, Severus had seen no one but Libby and his mother in the days since Thomas’ birth. He handled his various political and business dealings by correspondence, and most people were understanding of the situation. Septimus was handling all matters with Hogwarts and the Noble Assembly, giving Severus the time he needed to tend to Thomas.

Libby popped in with the bottle a few seconds after Severus sat in the rocking chair. She looked sadly at the baby then popped away. He began the routine feeding.

The potion was brewed that would hopefully heal Thomas, but it was better administered in a cleansing ritual. He’d consulted several rituals and the optimal day was the 9th of this month, and he would need nine participants to form the enneagram required for the ritual. Severus’ own conclave would be in attendance, but this particular cleansing ritual worked best with a broader representation of magic within the inner ritual circle.

The ritual he’d chosen, however, required that he leave points three, six, and nine in the enneagram open and recite an incantation to invite the best candidate to fill those points. The other six positions would need to be chosen by Severus. It was unnerving to not know who would participate in the ritual, but he felt certain this was the best option to see Thomas fully restored.

He’d sent letters to his first choices for those six positions. He was keeping knowledge of the true nature of Thomas’ magical damage secret, simply saying that he’d been harmed during the birth and this cleansing ritual was the best option. He’d been surprised when his first choices for the ritual had all accepted his request.

He brushed his fingers over Thomas’ downy head. “Just five more days.”

– – – –

9 January 1927

Severus was the last to arrive to the ritual space in Kielder forest. It was cold but not as cold as it might have been for early January. The night was clear and the stars bright, the quarter moon looming overhead. Magic not related to the ritual was forbidden so everyone was heavily robed against the chill since warming charms couldn’t be used. Runic wards were permissible so the small altar where Thomas would rest was inscribed with runes for a weather ward to keep the baby from getting too chilled.

He’d been here earlier to prepare the circle, but once he and Thomas were bathed, they could have no physical contact with anyone else. He’d left the circle in Septimus’ hands, and Genevieve and his mother were on hand to help with corralling the ritual participants as well as various family members. Bronwen Potter, Abraxas’ godmother, was watching Abraxas at the Malfoy manor house.

The ritual participants would be in the inner ritual circle. Twenty-seven conclave members, three for each participant, would be in the outer circle, and all others outside the circle.

Thomas gave a whimper from the effect of the apparition but made no other sound. If Severus hadn’t been certain the ritual needed to take place here, he’d have done it at the manor to save the baby the effect of magical travel.

Everyone was silent and already arrayed in the proper places, waiting for Severus to begin.

He strode to the middle with the baby, the first to enter the inner circle. He lay Thomas on the altar, which had a slight lip around the edge. It wouldn’t keep most children in place for long, but since Thomas rarely moved, it wasn’t an issue.

The potion had nothing to do with the ritual, so he tended to that first, placing ten drops of the potion in Thomas’ mouth, getting a faint twist of the lips from the baby. He then nodded to Septimus who closed the outer circle.

Rituals within an enneagram were unique in that there was no honor to the elements, no utilization of the cardinal and ordinal points. The positions in the circle, the purpose of the caster, the intent of the participants, and the will of Magic were all that was called upon. Which made it either fairly ineffectual or powerful beyond reckoning.

“I conjure this circle by my will and my magic, may it be a boundary between worlds that none but those invited who are pure in their purpose may enter. May this be a sacred space that all who should enter it be cleansed and renewed.

“I call upon nine to see this child, born Thomas Salazar, restored to health and into the will of Magic. Through no fault of his own, he was born with his magic harmed and we seek to redress this wrong.

“I, Severus Alexander Prince, Holder of the Kielder and Ravenclaw Magics, would take this child as my son, in blood and magic. May Magic bless our purpose. So mote it be.”

Severus placed his hand on Thomas’ stomach so that he could monitor the baby’s movements while his attention was on the ritual participants. “To the first point, I call upon Ragnok, Chieftain of the Dverger Horde. May he represent stability so that our foundation may always be sound.”

Ragnok entered the circle and bowed, taking the first point in the enneagram. He’d had many dealings with the chieftain over the years, and he was the first being Severus considered for the ritual.

“To the second point, I call upon Henry Potter, Holder of the Lockehaven and Gryffindor Magics. May he represent redemption, that we may always seek to right our wrongs.” The choices of values for the participants was up to Severus as the petitioner, and Henry would misunderstand why this was chosen for him, but it was important to Severus that Henry Potter take the place with the value that Severus himself would have chosen to occupy.

Henry entered the circle, smiling faintly before bowing and taking his position.

“To the fourth point, I call upon Hugh Davies, vassal of the house of Prince. May you represent our the future. May it be brighter and more welcoming.”

Hugh entered, looking somewhat overwhelmed but also pleased. He bowed and took the position two down from Henry.

“To the fifth point, I call upon Lanie, Queen of the elf meet of the North. May you represent our past, so that we may always remember where we began.” No one would know the significance of that but the elf queens, who were all in attendance.

Lanie entered the circle, regal as she bowed and took the fifth position.

“To the seventh point, I call upon Emayn, High Alpha of all werepacks in Britain, may you represent perseverance. May we all strive to meet difficulty with such grace.”

The alpha wolf entered the circle and dipped her head in personal acknowledgment to Severus before taking her position.

“To the eighth point, I call upon Septimus Malfoy, Holder of the Campion Magics. You represent family, may we always remember what we fight for.”

Septimus’ eyes were a little glassy and his lips pressed tightly together as he entered the circle. He nodded to Severus and took the eighth position.

Severus glanced down at Thomas, finding the baby staring up at the sky, not moving at all. It was the effect he expected the potion to have but it was still unnerving. It helped to feel the rise and fall of the baby’s breaths.

“By my will and my magic, I seal this circle with three points remaining for the will of magic. I humbly ask that you bless our purpose and send what we need to see this child cleansed.” Severus recited the incantation in Latin then let silence reign.

He felt the magic building in the circle as each participant added their magic and will to the spell’s intent. After several minutes, there was a bright flash of light at the third point. It cleared to show a unicorn that fairly sparked with magic.

A voice filled the circle, vibrating in his entire being. “I am Unicorn, the first of my kind, immortal and blessed by Magic. I bring purity of purpose. May all look to their magic and do right by one another.”

Severus was astonished, his emotion mirrored in the faces of those within the circle. Even Lanie and Ragnok, the oldest beings present, looked awed.

A moment later, all the moonlight was blotted out briefly. Severus glanced up to see an enormous bird circling overhead, its wingspan completely covering the entire clearing, blocking the view of the stars and moon.

The enormous roc extended its talons and dove toward the clearing, shrinking as it landed at the number six point until it was no larger than gorilla. “I am called Sky,” a voice echoed in the clearing. “Long has this realm passed under the canopy of my wings. I represent protection, may you all find shelter in the wings of Magic.”

Severus was so shocked that he barely noticed how heavy the magic in the air was.

The whole cleared flashed with light and magic, what looked like purple and green auroras flashing in the sky. At point nine stood Lady Magic.

“I am Magic,” she declared, her hair moving from the strength of the wild magic swirling around her. “I have heard your petition and felt the intent of those within this circle. By your will and at your request, all within this clearing shall be cleansed and renewed. I charge you all to keep faith with one another.

“Within this circle, your will and purpose is all that is required to take Thomas into your blood and your magic.”

“So mote it be,” he managed to get out.

It felt like there was a collision in the core of his being as his magic and Thomas’ connected. His eyes widened as he felt a bond similar to what he had with Abraxas, but so much stronger.

This was his son. He felt it in every fiber of his being.

Thomas’ whole body twitched, he gave a shuddery gasp, hands forming into fists as he began to cry.

“Take up your son, Severus. He is cleansed by the will of this gathering.”

Stunned, Severus lifted Thomas into his arms, feeling the tiny body shudder and hiccough, but quickly settling once he was in Severus’ arms.

He pressed a kiss to Thomas’ forehead. “Hello, son,” he whispered. Thomas seemed to curl in closer and drift to sleep. Severus pulled the blankets more snugly about him and prepared to end the ritual.

When he looked up and met the gaze of Lady Magic, she smiled but it seemed somewhat sad.

“Those within this circle were well chosen,” she began, and all eyes were upon her. “Only the eleven within this space may hear these words, and until the time is right, I charge you to keep secret the task I set before you.”

Severus frowned, confused by what was happening. None of this had been part of his plan.

“Severus Prince shall be father to Thomas, but I charge you all to protect and guide, to shelter and succor. For he is a blessing to the magical world. Welcome the return of Myrddin Emrys, known in this land as Merlin, the father of magic.”

Magic, Unicorn, and Sky vanished in a flash of magic.

Holding Thomas tightly, Severus stared up at the purple and green lights dancing in the sky, feeling overwhelmed and unprepared.

Chapter Ten

“So…” Septimus handed Severus a snifter of brandy then took the wingback chair opposite Severus. “Merlin,” he ended on an incredulous whisper.

Severus’ gaze darted to the bassinet where Thomas was finally sleeping again. The circle had fallen at exactly midnight and Ragnok himself had ushered a stunned Severus away and charged Septimus to see them safely home along with ten dverger guards.

“I didn’t know…” Severus began haltingly.

Septimus gave an indelicate snort. “How could you possibly have known?”

“I…I knew there was something.”

Septimus cocked his head to the side in inquiry.

“I was prodded into that alley by my magic and when Merope said that she wished he could grow up here, I knew that was what needed to happen.” Severus decided to reveal the information only those who’d attended to the birth knew. “He was conceived under love and attraction potions.”

Septimus jerked back, looking appalled. He took a heavy swallow of his brandy. “I cannot conceive of what would have happened if you were not accustomed to listening to the call of your magics.” He shook his head in dismay. “Five years ago, that child would have been born with his damage unnoticed. For Merlin’s sake—” Septimus broke off and winced. “What I mean to say is that your family built the magical orphanage. If you hadn’t been sent back, Thomas would have likely grown up in the muggle world. The reincarnation of Merlin locked in a vessel that could not experience love or empathy. What would have become of him? Of us?”

“It…does not bear contemplating,” Severus whispered, staring into his drink.

“I think Magic saved you for this purpose.”

Severus didn’t reply, just took a sip of his drink, appreciating the warmth it brought.

“Magic chose well, Severus, don’t doubt yourself.”

“What do I know of being a father?”

“None of us know anything at first, Severus. You’ll learn. You’re already on the right path.” Septimus settled more comfortably in the chair. “Tell me, what did you think was happening?”

“I thought, perhaps, it was the Slytherin line awakening. That Thomas might be Salazar’s magical heir.” Actually, he’d thought Thomas was Salazar reborn, but why he’d thought that would be exceedingly difficult to explain since Septimus didn’t know about the time loops or their disastrous future.

Septimus nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. “A reasonable deduction. That old bastard Gaunt bragged to anyone who would listen that they were descended of Slytherin.”

Severus summoned the locket from his bracelet and passed it over to Septimus.

Septimus’ breath stuttered as he took it with shaky hands, setting his brandy on the side table. “This is Slytherin’s locket.” It figured that Septimus would so easily recognize it. He was very well researched on Salazar Slytherin.

“Merope had it. Asked me to give it to her son when he was older.”

“So he could be both Merlin reborn and the heir of Slytherin.” Septimus shot a look at the bassinet. “How astonishing.”

“Yes.” Severus accepted the locket back. “Salazar’s heir is significant, I think, and the timing… It’s why I thought Thomas was significant in that way.” With a sigh, Severus pulled the journal he’d studied repeatedly from his bracelet. “Rowena wrote this.” He showed the cover to Septimus.

“‘A Treatise on Marriage’?” He stared at Severus, blinking a few times in obvious confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“I haven’t discussed this with the Assemblies. I felt I shouldn’t. At least, not yet. Rowena wrote about how for all that magic is robust it is also incredibly fragile. That it was vitally important to have children only with those who were magically compatible and preferably through ritual. That a wizard or witch may have any number of healthy magical children with someone compatible via ritual, but born of physical conception they’d likely be limited to one truly magical child.”

“It should be more shocking than it is, but we’ve seen this proven. The families who have more than one child, the younger children tend to be less magical.”

“Yes.” Severus always wondered how Arthur and Molly managed to have five highly magical children. Though there was no doubt that William had been the strongest of them.

“And Abraxas is proof that ritual children are a step apart.”

“Indeed.” Severus rubbed his thumb over the cover of the book.

“How do you determine magical compatibility for the purposes of making children?”

“According to the history laid forth by Rowena, Merlin instructed the twenty-eight to follow their magic in finding their mate. That it would lead them to the one they were meant for. The term soulmate was coined at that time, though Rowena makes clear in her journal that not everyone has a soulmate. Soulmates are joined together for all time and in all lives. There’s something about soulmates that is determined in the spirit realms between physical lives and by agreement of the parties involved, but she could only speculate on that part.

“For the rest, there was a magical mate. A perfect magical compliment. Merlin’s guidance was to follow the guiding of your magic until you found the person who would magically compliment you, and you might possibly be finding your soulmate as well.”

“Fascinating.”

“She said by their time, people had begun to stop listening to their magic, had ceased practicing personal ritual to keep their magic healthy. All four of the founders were children of ritual who had grown up in highly magical homes with parents who followed what were already being called ‘the old ways.’ Their magical strength compared to many of their peers made it obvious to them the importance of following the path of magic. Magical latency was also on the rise.”

Severus took a breath. “And that’s when Merlin returned to Britain.”

Septimus choked and glance toward the baby. “He’s been reincarnated before?”

“No. Actual Merlin.”

“Severus, Merlin was dead by the time of the founders. Arthur’s journals described Merlin as already being older than the sea by the time Arthur ascended to the throne. Merlin died shortly after Arthur did.”

“No, Merlin left Britain and headed for the East, heartbroken at the death of his beloved nephew.”

Septimus just blinked at him then finally managed. “Nephew?”

“You know that Morgan and Merlin were twins, yes? With Merlin being the elder twin born just before midnight of the spring equinox and Morgan born just after midnight. Together, they were supposed to represent balance.”

“I’d heard it speculated that they were twins but not confirmed. Somehow I believe you. I gather you know this through your fae guardian?”

“He confirmed it, yes. Though when I asked who their parents were, he said nothing. I know they’re half fae.”

“Half.” Septimus tapped his chin. “Yes, that would make sense. Fae with another fae would, of course, make more fae. But the right blend of fae and human could have produced wizarding magic.”

“Yes, I gather that’s what happened. Regardless, Morgan had many ritual children in the course of her life, as did Merlin, but Morgan became enamored of Uther Pendragon and inadvertently became pregnant.”

“But if she was Merlin’s twin then she was…”

“Older than the sea? Yes. Probably hundreds of years old by then if not older.”

“The fae are immortal,” Septimus mused.

“After a fashion, yes. And so Morgan gave birth to a child. Because he hadn’t been conceived in ritual, he was magically latent, which apparently caused Morgan to grieve, but it allowed Arthur to walk in both the muggle and magical worlds and be king to both.”

“And his blood relation to Merlin explains Merlin’s interest in Arthur.” Septimus looked like he’d had an epiphany. “And that’s why Arthur could pull the sword from the coronation stone! It’s a fae stone and a fae sword. He was one quarter fae. It makes one think Merlin and Morgan are of a royal fae line.”

“Likely.” Severus hadn’t put that much thought into Arthur as he hadn’t been relevant to Severus’ purpose. The bit about royal fae line gave him pause. Could Nuada be Morgan and Merlin’s father? Wouldn’t he have told Severus? But it would explain why he was so invested in seeing Merlin restored. But, then again, there were other royal fae lines. Saving magic was certainly motivation enough for Nuada.

“Continue with the story, then.”

“Thank you,” Severus said dryly. “So, Merlin grieves after Arthur’s death and leaves Britain’s shores to see magic brought to other parts of the world, but he feels a souring in the magical ley lines and returns to Britain about the time the four were considering building a school.”

“That was half a millennia later!”

“Yes, I’m aware.” Severus blew out a breath. “Apparently, he was now twice as old as the sea. But Merlin assessed the situation in Britain and gave everyone a stern talking to,” he waved the book vaguely, “and told them they needed to stop being stubborn arses and listen to their magic. To return to their personal and family ritual craft. But many could no longer hear their magic. Could no longer find who they were magically compatible with. And their rituals were lost.

“And so Merlin crafted four magical objects to aid them until such time as they had recovered magically. The first was a stone to measure magical power of both the core and the channels. It was simply called the Potentia. It was entrusted to Gryffindor. A version of these was later made that simply measured magical output of the channels and they were called Myrrdin stones.

“Next was what was described as a glass wand that would be held across both hands and magic expressed through it. It would show by color how much magical cleansing people needed. Particularly if they were considering having children. It would inform the type of ritual craft the person needed to engage in to cleanse their magic. This was entrusted to Hufflepuff.

“Next, to Slytherin was entrusted what they often called the soul orb. A glass sphere that would show the person who held it the name of their soulmate, if there was one, or their magical mate. According to Rowena’s notes, it also showed those who were magically compatible for the purpose of ritual children. There were detailed remarks about how to read the orb since there could be blurred entries, but that’s not terribly relevant now.

“And finally, in the many years since Arthur, Merlin had come upon a way to help the magically latent. He taught them that the latency was caused by a fundamental incompatibility or weakness between the two parents and that blood adoption into the right magical line would correct the instability and allow the channels to form in those who were still magically maturing, so anyone under about twenty years of age.

“Rowena described it as a prism, but her sketches look rather like a pyramid. And when placed upon the chest of a latent, it would indicate which magical line would give the child the best chance of magical healing. This was given to Rowena. After he gave them these tools and blessed their endeavor with the school, he left for the west.’”

Septimus looked stunned. “I’ve never heard of any of this. How could it be so lost to time?”

“Rowena wrote that her great regret was surrendering to the will of the masses and not forcing the use of the prism. Society reacted well to the renewal in magic that Merlin’s gifts represented except when it came to them adopting ‘unknown squibs’ into their magical line, especially considering success was not guaranteed. Considering how well the other objects had been received, she thought it was only a matter of time before they’d change their mind about the prism. They did not. A few over the years came to use the prism but they were rarely successful in persuading the proposed adopting family to go through with the ritual.

“In one instance, a wealthy, titled wizard brought his son to her to see if his magic might be repaired and the child had a match in the prism. It showed there was one family that could adopt his son by blood and likely restore his magical channels. The family was poor but known to be kind and were magically very ‘pure’—though she didn’t explain what she meant by pure—and she had hope that this time, they might see a prominent figure in society healed by this ritual. But the nobleman was horrified at the prospect of a poor family adopting his son and refused to hear anything about the ritual. He cast his son out. Rowena thought to find the child and have him adopted anyway, but he was never found.”

Septimus rubbed his forehead, looking dismayed. “And what happened to soulmates?”

“It worked for a time, but people became tired of listening. Especially the wealthy. One of Rowena’s descendants documented that many didn’t want an orb telling them who to marry as it affected their ability to craft alliances. Magical power began to decline again amongst the elite. Both ritual children and children born of soulmates or magical mates are more powerful as you well know from Abraxas. When they stopped ritual craft and went back to marrying for political cachet, their power levels plummeted. But power levels were rising amongst the commoners, which afforded supposed ‘common’ children more opportunities since certain careers were, rightly so, regulated based on power level.”

“Such as?”

“Well, you couldn’t be a curse breaker unless you were violet on the Myrddin Scale. You had to be blue to be an auror or warder.”

“That would save lives. We’ve had discussion in session about deaths related to lack of magical aptitude, but the ministry has never wanted to place those restrictions.”

“The ministry used to have them for most professions, and it still does for a couple, such as hit wizards. The evolution of the changes would have to be in records somewhere. But the Noble Assembly saw those entries suppressed so they could continue to be a bunch of belligerent twats.”

Septimus snorted. “That does rather sound like our ancestors.” He lifted his glass in a mock toast.

Lips twitching, Severus mirrored the gesture.

“Tell me what happened to these objects, Severus? Can they be found?”

“Oh, I know where they are.”

Septimus leaned forward. “Do tell.”

“One of Slytherin’s descendants was angry about the way Salazar’s reputation had been besmirched over the matter of muggleborns at Hogwarts. Since Salazar didn’t truly have an issue with muggleborns, he only had a problem with them not being raised in the wizarding world and not learning ritual and magical theory from childhood. He believed they came into Hogwarts too far behind to truly excel and most were never sorted into a house as a result.

“In any case, he was rightly angry at the wizarding world in general, and particularly at a couple muggleborns who had made it fairly high in the ministry and were smearing the Slytherin name. So he took all four objects and locked them in Slytherin’s ancestral vault, declaring the magical world could have them back when it formally apologized to the line of Slytherin, and they presumably remain there today.”

“Ah.” Septimus shook his head. “And so because you knew about that and then ran into a descendant of Slytherin, you thought the magical significance of these events was bringing a viable heir to the Slytherin magics back to the wizarding world. Well, my friend, I can’t say I would have come to any other conclusion myself.” He tipped his head. “And why didn’t you tell me this business about soulmates before?”

Severus lifted one shoulder. “To what end? I honestly felt that without the orb or the other artifacts that it was pointless. Though perhaps not.”

“I think perhaps magic was prodding you that it was too soon for the whole Assembly, but you could have certainly told me and Henry. And likely Marcellus.”

“Shall I leave that to you, then? I’m a single parent now.”

Septimus snorted a laugh. “You arsehole. Help me find more information to backup the story that doesn’t rely on your fae source and I’ll tell them. We might as well start priming them in case Thomas is the magical heir and we can get access to these objects.”

Severus nodded, suddenly feeling a little lost, as if he were no longer sure of his direction.

“Severus, what troubles you?”

“I’m just trying to…determine how to proceed.”

“Just raise him, love him. He won’t know who he is until he’s older, so let him be a child. Teach him about magic and life.”

Before Severus could reply, Thomas gave a whimper and a moment later, the muffling charm broke with an audible pop.

“He just broke my muffling charm,” Severus said in astonishment.

A thin, wavering cry filled the room.

“His first accidental-on-purpose magic,” Septimus said with a chuckle. “I’ll leave you to tend to your son, Severus, and will see you on the morrow.”

Thomas’ cries were growing in distress by the time Severus picked him up, but he immediately settled, only making occasional discontented noises as Severus crossed to the rocker.

Libby popped in and handed Severus a bottle, smiling fondly at the baby. “Babies crying not normally be cause for celebration, but Libby be glad to hear it.”

“Yes,” Severus murmured as he gave Thomas the bottle. “Never have I been so relieved to hear the sound of a child crying.”

Libby stroked Thomas’ head briefly before she popped away. After his bottle, Thomas wouldn’t settle or go back to sleep. It was nearing three in the morning and Severus felt both magically and physically drained.

Libby finally popped back in.

“When elf babies be fussing, we hold them against our skin. Helps them feel our magics better.”

“I’ll try that. If you’ll hold him while I change…?”

Looking delighted, Libby held the baby while Severus retired to the bathroom to ready himself for bed and change into sleep pants.

When he took Thomas back from Libby, he settled him against his chest and got a funny little hiccough in return. Then Thomas immediately fell asleep. Severus shot Libby a thankful smile.

“If he be like my babies, he be ready to go down in about ten minutes.”

– – – –

The feel of unfamiliar magic startled Severus awake. His wand was in his hand even as he surged up from the bed, pointing it at the tall, shadowy figure standing over the bassinet.

“Step away from him!” Severus hissed.

There was no response, and Severus worried about casting magic with him so near Thomas. Severus edged closer.

The figure lifted a hand in a stop gesture. “How come you by this child?” a deep voice asked.

“Get away from my son!”

The shadows seemed to lift as the man glanced at him. He had thick brown hair and a short beard. His eyes were deep blue in the dim light. His age was difficult to determine but he looked to be near forty. “Is he your son?”

“Yes!” he snapped. “By the will of Magic, he is my son.”

The man’s eyes narrowed.

“Now, get away from him!”

The man looked back to Thomas then reached out and laid a hand over his head. “I felt his presence in this realm just a few hours past and yet this child is more than a week old.”

This realm? Based on the rules Nuada had explained to him, how could a being from another realm have access to this one?

He met Severus’ gaze again. “His magic does indeed resonate with yours but he is not yours by birth.”

“His mother died in childbirth, I adopted him. Magic blessed my petition. Now, I say again, step away from him.”

“You cannot order me away from my own son, mortal. I crafted his first body of my blood and my magic and a newly awakened soul answered my call. Whatever body he inhabits, he will always be my son.”

Astonished, Severus’ wand dropped to his side.

“Do you know who you have taken into your house, mortal?” the man asked, gesturing to Thomas.

“When I adopted him? No. Do I know now? Yes. Magic revealed it in ritual this past evening.”

“Yes, Faery must have been involved to hide his soul in such a fashion. For while you are reasonably powerful, no mortal could hide Merlin’s presence in the physical realm from me.” He sounded angry, and it made Severus nervous. His hand tightened on his wand. “Tell me, mortal, why was my son hidden from my sight?”

“I wasn’t aware that he had been.”

There was another flush of magic in the room, this one more familiar. Nuada appeared a good distance from the intruder, looking sad.

The stranger’s gaze turned hot as he glared at Nuada. “Of course you were involved. Why hide him from me? Why not tell me he’d chosen to be reborn?”

“Son,” Nuada began, and Severus’ eyes widened in shock.

The glare became more intense. “Do not seek to remind me of our kinship if you have wronged me, Father!”

Bloody buggering fuck! Severus wanted to be anywhere but here, and if Thomas weren’t here, there was no way Severus would stay.

“I have not wronged you,” Nuada said hotly. “Merlin took a profound risk being born into this body, but it was the last of this biological line, and he felt strongly that it needed to be this line. For all that he was good and noble, he was always arrogant, they both were, and you know it to be true! He thought he could overcome the damage done by being born under a love potion, and—”

“You let my son be born into a corrupted vessel?” the fae thundered. Magic shimmered over the bassinet, no doubt muffling the racket they were all making. “How dare you not tell me!”

“There was nothing you could have done. It was his choice!”

“But it didn’t work,” the stranger said knowingly. “I’ve felt the tremors of time magic. How many times have you tried to fix this?”

Nuada looked pained. “More than you would forgive me for.”

“How can I forgive you when you would not tell me!”

“You would have interfered, and this is not our realm any longer! Merlin chose his path and we’ve been trying to manage the repercussions of his mistake.”

“And here you are. In the mortal realm,” the stranger snapped.

“I aid. I do not set anyone’s course. Magic cannot risk corrupting herself by breaking her own laws.”

The fae’s lips tightened, pressing into a thin line. “Merlin would not have chosen to come back if he were not needed.”

“Magic is at risk. And all the realms will fall if this one does—spiritual and physical. This realm is the foundation.”

“If he failed repeatedly, it would be like torture.”

“We had to reset the timeline until we got it right. There was no choice,” Nuada said with a note of pleading.

The stranger pointed at Severus. “And who is he?”

“The one who made this possible. Who removed the taint on his magic so that She no longer blocked him from your sight.”

Deep blue eyes pinned Severus in place. “Why?”

“Because I became tired of dying at the hands of the man he would have become. Because I grew weary of repeating the same thirty-eight years of life.” It never occurred to Severus to tell anything but the truth.

“You’re not yet forty years now.” The eyes narrowed. “She sent you back through time.”

“Yes.”

“Do you seek vengeance?”

“I sought an end. An end to the pointlessness of him trying to overcome the deadness inside. Some other option than just doing it over. They sent me back to myself as I’d reincarnated as my own great grandnephew.”

“And now?” the fae prompted. “What is it that you seek now?”

“He’s my son,” Severus snapped. “I feel it in my soul and my magic, and I’ll raise him well. I want him to have a good life…to be happy.”

The fae was in front of Severus in a blink. Severus drew in a harsh breath when a sharp blade pressed to his throat.

“Gwyn…” Nuada said warningly.

The face began to blacken as if covered with thick paint, and war sigils appeared on cheeks and forehead as though they’d been carved through the field of darkness. The eyes turned black, and he leaned down until their faces were only inches apart. “If you harm my son, mortal, I’ll call my hunt upon you for all your days. I’ll hunt you through every realm until my hounds catch and rend you to pieces, and then see you healed and set you loose so I can hunt you again.”

It was a good threat, and Gwyn ap Nudd was truly terrifying. It was just Severus’ damn bad luck that his new son’s soul was the child of the Lord of Annwn. But he refused to be cowed. “Thomas is my responsibility, and it’s a duty I hold dear. But if you appear in my bedchamber unannounced again, you’ll get a stinging hex to your arse.”

Gwyn bared his teeth in an approximation of a grin then lowered the blade. “You can’t keep me from him, but I’ll honor your terms, mortal.”

“Severus,” he corrected. “Stop being so bloody demeaning.”

“What line are you from, Severus?” Gwyn demanded. “What avatar have you?”

“I hold the Kielder magics and our line guardian is the unicorn.”

“You may hold the magics of your line, Severus, but the fae spirits who appear as your avatars are of my realm though they choose to linger here. There will be no secrets from me.”

“There is nothing so gruesome in my life that I fear discovery.”

Gwyn cocked a brow and the black faded from his face. He spun back toward the bassinet, leaned down over Thomas, ran his hand over the baby’s head, and whispered, “Heddwch, Myrrdin. Rydych chi’n ddiogel nawr. Daddy wrth eich bodd chi.” Then he vanished.

Nuada was watching Severus like he was a bomb about to explode. When he started to speak, Severus held up a hand. “I am exhausted. You owe me too many explanations to do it now. And certainly not while I’m half dressed. Come back after breakfast.”

“If that’s what you wish.”

Severus’ lips pursed. “I don’t know what I wish other than sleep.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

Nuada also stopped by the bassinet and pressed a kiss to Thomas’ head. He guessed Thomas was Nuada’s…grandson. After a fashion.

As soon as the magic faded after Nuada’s disappearance, Severus climbed back into bed with a weary sigh.

Thomas immediately began to fuss.

– – – –

10 January 1927

Severus’ was winding Thomas when Nuada appeared in the study. Severus had been avoiding his whole household today, needing time to get himself together, though the much-delayed dinner with the Malfoys was planned for that evening.

Nuada observed Severus for several seconds before taking a seat. “That position work?” he asked, nodding at the baby.

Severus had Thomas seated on his lap, leaning forward over Severus’ hand. “Better than at the shoulder, yes. He doesn’t seem to care for pressure on his stomach when he needs to pass wind.” Before they could devolve into just talking about the baby, Severus jumped right into his questions. “Gwyn ap Nudd was Merlin’s father?”

“Nudd.” Nuada snorted then made a face. “That name only persists because Gwyn became famous in Welsh mythology.”

“Are you avoiding my question?”

“It’s not really a question, now is it?”

Severus glared. “How could he travel here? If he’s the king of a spiritual realm, how does he traverse back to this plane of existence?”

“Gwyn was always…special.” He sighed and rubbed his hand. “Unlike those in his Anwnn, he never died. He still lives. His mother makes his abilities possible.”

“His mother…?” Severus wondered if Gwyn was actually the child of Magic.

Nuada shook his head as if reading Severus’ thoughts. “Faery cannot have children in such a direct manner. Gwyn is the result of the union between myself and Death.”

Severus froze until Thomas made a fussy sound and he resumed rubbing the baby’s back. “Death?” he asked weakly. “You courted Death?”

“That sounds much worse than it was.” He cleared his throat. “And it was before Faery took me as her consort. But my romantic history aside, Death affords Gwyn unusual gifts. Death is both a part of life and not. Magic and not. Death is eternal and less bound by the laws of magic than the rest of us. And so Gwyn may come and go where he chooses.”

Severus tried to wrap his mind around the idea that Death had had children. “Merlin and Morgan’s grandmother was Death…”

“For the most part, her gifts don’t affect you mortals. Though occasionally it happens. A powerful necromancer would be the result.”

“Was Merlin a necromancer?”

“He had the ability and the training but Morgan was the gifted necromancer.”

Thomas let out a rather large burp for such a small babe.

“That’s a good one, lad,” Nuada said with a grin.

Severus shifted Thomas to his shoulder so that he could fall asleep. “How did the son of Death come to father wizards?”

“Remember how I said that humans seemed unchanged by the wild magic before Faery pulled away from this land and stabilized the magical forces here.”

“Yes…”

“Most were unchanged, but some had developed a core of magic but no way to express it. Generation after generation of a select few had cores but no channels.”

“You’re saying the first wizards were latent.”

“Yes, there needed to be something more in the mix to encourage the growth of their channels. Faery believed that a race with the ability to express their magic was the solution to humans realizing their magical potential. Many latent lines had been created but they needed a magical push.”

Severus knew where this was going. “And the fae have active magical channels.”

“Yes, with none of the magical instability you humans have. Because of his ability to travel to this realm, She asked Gwyn to ritually father children with the most compatible human.

“He came to Earth, rode the realm, courted a young woman, and asked if she’d have children with him. In a ritual circle, Faery herself channeled the woman’s magical core so that the children would be conceived.

“Gwyn’s only condition was that he always be able to find his children, protect them if need be, and that they, unlike any other being of this realm, be able to move between Anwnn and Avalon when they were ready to rest.”

“And why didn’t you tell me? Why hide it from me that it was Merlin we were trying to save from love potion damage?”

“My lady worried about mortals knowing who Tom Riddle was, who he was supposed to be, so it was kept to the three of us. She hid him from Gwyn’s sight.”

“Did he remember that he was Merlin after failing life as Voldemort?”

“Yes. He needed Merlin’s memories to have the strength to go on. After several lives as Voldemort, he was too defeated to endure. He was giving up. So she reminded him of who he was.”

Severus just shook his head and rubbed Thomas’ back. “Why you didn’t tell everyone is clear, but why not tell me?”

“We feared increasing your burden.”

“This is becoming an annoyance. I do not care for information being given in dribs and drabs, and then being blindsided in ritual when I find out that I’m raising the reincarnation of Merlin!”

Thomas startled, and Severus made an apologetic shushing noise and lightly rocked him. The baby quickly went back to sleep.

“We did what we thought was best. To be honest, lad, we couldn’t really account for you. You were something unexpected and untried. Though you’ve more than proven yourself, so I’ll try to be as forthcoming as I’m able going forward. That said, there are things She may not allow me to tell you, and I cannot go against my lady.”

“Tell me the truth about Morgan le Fay. You’ve been cagey about her in our prior discussions. And now that I know that she was your granddaughter, that makes me highly suspicious.”

Nuada sighed and summoned the entire bottle of Severus’ fire whiskey, drinking straight from it. “Morgan had less faith in humans than Merlin did. Actually, I’m not even sure faith is the right word. Merlin knew how fickle humans could be but he thought it worth trying over and over. Morgan would retreat from everyone, spend years in seclusion then resume her mission to bring magic to this world. She’d travel with Merlin at times, but alone as often as not. She took things very hard at times. I often thought this realm broke Merlin’s spirit, but it broke Morgan’s heart.

“Despite all the losses they endured, they always came back together, always supported one another. They had fights that could set the heavens alight, but loved each other with such a loyalty too. Ultimately, Merlin was sad to see this realm left behind, but Morgan was not. She wanted none of it. If magic was not in such jeopardy, she’d have never agreed to the plan to send Merlin back. But she disagreed with the vessel selected. Yes, the child of Merope and Thomas Riddle was perfect from every perspective except the potions, but that was such a detriment. There were other lines of Merlin he could have used. The next best line would have been in America, but he might not have made his way to Britain, and that was vital because he needs to open Salazar’s vault to get the artifacts that Salazar’s heir hid away.”

“So he is also the heir of Slytherin?”

“Thomas is, yes.”

“And why couldn’t he make new artifacts if they’re that important?”

“First, because he wouldn’t know he needed to craft them or even how. Merlin had over a thousand years of experience and life when he gave those to the founders. Also, he didn’t craft them, even though the founders assumed he did.”

“Morgan did?”

“No, Merlin’s soulmate did. Lugh.”

“Lugh?” Severus repeated. “Lugh as in Lugh’s spear? That Lugh?”

Nuada chuckled then took another swig of whiskey. “That Lugh. He never left this realm, you know? Refused. Told me and Faery he had a purpose here and we could kiss his arse. His power was muted here with the path to Tír na nÓg closed, but he was still more powerful than anything native to this plane. He showed up the day the twins were born, smiled, and promptly moved to the village where they were raised. He had a hand in their magical education.

“He was more drawn to Merlin than Morgan, and when the twins split on separate journeys the first time, Lugh went with Merlin. They traveled together for two centuries before they became lovers. They stayed together the entirety of Merlin’s 1200 years of life, and Lugh took his life the day Merlin died. They bound their souls in the afterlife and agreed to be reincarnated together.”

Severus put Thomas in his bassinet and cast a muffling charm. He stared at the peacefully sleeping baby. “Lugh is Merlin’s soulmate. And I suppose he’s been born or will be born?”

“Yes.”

“And who is it?”

“I could tell you, Severus, but then you’d be deprived of the joy of figuring it out.”

Severus shot him a sour look.

Nuada held up a hand. “If you don’t sort it out soon, I’ll tell you.”

He made a vague gesture of dismissal. “And you were saying about Morgan? I take it she didn’t wish to return? Is she running about as well?”

“Morgan disagreed with Merlin’s decision, but chose to support him by waiting to see if he succeeded before she was reincarnated. If he was successful, she’d choose a couple to parent her where she could aid in his endeavor. And if he failed and brought damage upon the world, she’d come back to kill him so he could hopefully find another vessel in the future and try again.

Another reincarnation hadn’t occurred to Severus. “So what happened?”

“We didn’t anticipate how quickly the muggles would advance and move on the wizarding world. There was no time for Merlin to try again. Morgan had already been put in place, but it was futile. Time would have to be reset no matter what. And once a reincarnation path is set, it’s set. It’s a fundamental law.”

“Morgan had already come back…” Severus trailed off, mind turning the information over.

“To see him defeated, yes. She was his magical equal, after all.”

Severus’ eyes opened wide. “Fuck!”

And he’d been foolishly thinking that Harry Potter was likely the reincarnation of Arthur.

When the shock had faded a bit, Severus moved back to Thomas’ bassinet and lay a gentle hand on his son’s head. Another intense surge of love nearly overwhelmed him. He’d never felt his way for another living being, and he was suddenly, intensely grateful for the opportunity.

“We’ve got quite the adventure in front of us, Thomas.” He stroked the downy, dark hair. “Let’s make you and your sister allies once again.”

Epilogue

The longer Severus had lived the life of Severus Prince, the less real the life of Snape felt, the more faded the memory of it became. If it weren’t for his knowledge of things he shouldn’t otherwise know and the regular visits from Nuada, he’d think it was all just a fever dream. Also, the more time that had passed, the less his knowledge of the future was relevant or useful. Too much changed for him to be able to reliably predict events.

Severus Prince’s connection to his son was the antithesis of Snape’s painful and fraught connection to Voldemort. There was nothing about Thomas that reminded him of the twisted being Voldemort had become. Thomas was bright and happy, though often deeply introspective in his concern about the future of the magical world. He was also deeply devoted to Abraxas Malfoy.

It had been clear the first time the babies had been placed in a bassinet together that they were soulmates. Magic gently glowed around the two of them whenever they touched for the first several months. Septimus had given Severus a supremely unimpressed look that his precious baby boy was the soulmate of the reincarnation of Merlin.

It had pained Severus on another level to realize that Abraxas was Thomas’ soulmate because of the knowledge of how many times Voldemort had damaged himself through Abraxas’ murder. Nuada had informed Severus that in Abraxas’ prior incarnations, he had been thought to have fallen to some disease or the other. Dragon pox, usually. Though sometimes it was a curse of some sort. The change from life-to-life was a clue that the real cause of death was something else entirely—Voldemort in every single instance.

It also explained Voldemort’s fixation and tolerance of Lucius. Voldemort would have been pained by Abraxas’ death and striving desperately to keep close what was left of his soulmate.

But, in this incarnation, Thomas Salazar Prince grew up best friends with his soulmate. Raising the two boys separate enough to not be pseudo-siblings but close enough to meet their need to be around one another was a difficult balance. Because Abraxas had been born on September 3^rd, the boys were in the same year at Hogwarts and were both sorted as first-year Slytherins.

By the time the boys attended Hogwarts, the new sorting method had been well proven to be effective and to not harm a single student. Hogwarts education was better than ever before for those in the common house, and those who were eventually sorted into a mentorship house finished their education as some of the most magically adept wizards and witches in hundreds of years in Great Britain.

For a brief period of time, up to a quarter of the school’s students were the magically latent, able to participate in classes that didn’t require traditional wand work. It was an experiment to reintegrate the latent into magical society. But when Thomas was three, Severus had taken him to the bank to claim his inheritance as the heir of Salazar Slytherin. Retrieving the items Merlin and Lugh had left with the founders to help the magical world had changed things dramatically for the latent.

The crystal wand that had helped identify which magical line could help someone latent develop their magical channels had been a boon to many. It could only be used by someone without a mature magical core, so Hugh Davies had been unable to avail himself of it. But Hugh had done well for himself in the magical world, having one of the most successful legal practices in Britain. Marcus Malfoy, however, had wanted to be the first to try the guidance of Lugh’s wand to see if there was hope for him to fully develop magical channels.

Septimus had been hesitant because Marcus was so gifted in potions, and he could easily navigate the magical world with his latency wand. Septimus had worried that his nephew-turned-adopted son would be harmed, but Marcus had been intent upon trying.

The wand had shown that magical adoption into the house of Potter was his path forward. Severus was just grateful it wasn’t the house of Weasley. For as much as Septimus had changed and even developed a business relationship with Evander Weasley, they hadn’t changed that much.

However, Septimus and Henry Potter had become good friends over the years of working together to set Hogwarts to rights, and Septimus had agreed to let Marcus and Henry try.

It had taken a year for the channels to fully form and settle, but at the end of it, Marcus was able to get a regular wand and learn wanded magic. He scored only yellow on the Myrddin scale, which was average power level, but not strong enough to work in a career like curse breaker, auror, or hit wizard. They would later learn that anyone latent who went through magical adoption to form their magical channels would never score above green on the Myrddin scale, though orange and yellow were more common. Regardless of the power of his magical channels, Marcus was one of the most talented potion inventors to ever live. He continued Severus work, and eventually developed a cure for lycanthropy.

Children born of ritual was slower to catch on, as people continued to have a bias against ritual magic. They had to introduce several common courses at Hogwarts about ritual craft to change the mind of a new generation. Still, members of the combined assemblies did slowly make the change after seeing the sheer magical potential of Abraxas Malfoy.

Henry and Bronwen Potter had their first child in ritual and named him Charlus. It had been a moment of similarity to a nearly forgotten future that Severus found jarring. Things were so different that he was often startled when something happened that was the same as the prior timeline. Henry and Bronwen had four more children through ritual, all magically powerful, defying the typical one magical child per couple tradition.

Severus’ life had been devoted to his son’s happiness, and in his spare time, he focused on magical and educational reform. Even before he started at Hogwarts, Thomas had shown a keen grasp of the nuance of politics and the issues around the changes Severus had been working toward. Severus focused on raising Thomas to be happy and loved, and not with any particular agenda, but Thomas was infinitely curious and wanted to know everything his father was working toward. Severus never shied away from explaining the realities of the world. He made sure Thomas had a good foundation for understanding the muggle world—both the benefits of it and the potential thread it represented.

Grindelwald still rose as a dark lord and made himself a threat to Severus’ son, so Severus’ dealt with him directly and immediately. He wasn’t going to wait to see if Dumbledore was going to get off his arse and deal with the blight on the magical world. As magically powerful as Severus was, he wasn’t as powerful as Grindelwald, so the duel had been brutal, and Severus had to kill Grindelwald when he had the opening to do so. There was no merciful prison sentence in Grindelwald’s future.

That did unfortunately put Severus in possession of the elder wand, something he had no desire for but couldn’t just get rid of. He’d ultimately given the wand to Gwyn ap Nudd. Gwyn was the child of Death, and it was Death’s wand, so it made sense to Severus that this was the proper way to get rid of the cursed thing.

Gwyn was another major change in Severus’ life, perhaps the biggest change outside of Thomas himself. The Fae lord had, to Severus’ early consternation, been a frequent visitor, desiring to spend time with the latest mortal incarnation of his son. For six months, Severus and Gwyn had engaged in an epic snipe fest at each other’s expense, while being careful to keep the insults and tension away from Thomas’ little ears, even though he was just a babe and not able to understand.

Then, one day, the sniping and snark had turned into kissing, quickly followed by impassioned rutting against one another against a wall. Severus had seen no future for them, but had decided to enjoy the physical side of their relationship for as long as it lasted. The insults and half-hearted threats had given way to passionate nights a couple of times a week.

A year later, Gwyn had asked for Severus to become his eternal consort, which had shocked Severus so badly that he’d become speechless. His lack of response had wounded Gwyn, who had nearly left, but Severus had caught him in his arms, and haltingly accepted while expressing his confusion because he’d never understood the depth of Gwyn’s feelings. He’d never allowed himself to become attached to a being he’d seen as unattainable.

After much discussion, they were effectively “betrothed” for the remainders for Severus’ mortal life. At his death, the betrothal bonds would see Severus to Annwn, where he would spend eternity with his beloved rather than an afterlife in Avalon like most magicals.

Gwyn continued to visit several times a week, and when Thomas was old enough to talk, he called Severus “daddy” and Gwyn “papa.” To Severus’ friends and family, Gwyn was an Italian cursebreaker who traveled for work quite extensively, which explained his frequent absences.

Nuada, of course, knew better, and found much amusement in the relationship while also encouraging it. To Severus, at least. Gwyn took interference from his father with ill-grace.

During his life, Severus fostered several children at various people’s request, including Arcturus Black, but he never magically adopted any child besides Thomas. By the time a latent child was identified as benefiting from magical adoption into the Kielder family magics, Ciprian was old enough to handle the task.

To no one’s surprise, the close bonds of childhood friendship between Ciprian Prince and Marcus Malfoy had led to magical bonding after both had obtained their masteries. They eventually had six children through ritual, none of which were named Eileen. Where Snape’s mother’s soul had wound up was uncertain, but it was no longer in the Prince line. However, of that line, in 1972, a girl named Hermione was conceived in ritual. She was a brilliant spellcrafter and was favored by the Campion magics as the heir, and she would one day lead the Malfoy family.

Albus Dumbledore had been a minor annoyance for Severus throughout the educational reform at Hogwarts, and the board had nearly dismissed him for failing to support the school’s sorting changes. However, when Dumbledore realized he was in danger of being dismissed, he fell in line with the changes. At least, he payed lip-service to supporting the board of governor’s ruling. He never stopped trying to persuade people outside of Hogwarts, especially Severus and Henry, who he perceived as linchpins.

Severus had relegated Dumbledore to ineffectual nuisance and mistakenly underestimated the man’s depth of feeling for Grindelwald. After Severus killed Grindelwald, in a rage, Dumbledore blitz attacked him in Diagon Alley, reminiscent of the attack by the Black family shortly after Severus first arrived in the past.

Whether Severus liked it or not, Dumbledore was a magical powerhouse, and the fight had nearly gone against him. Ultimately, aurors had arrived and subdued Dumbledore, who had been sentenced to Azkaban for five years. Unlike in the original timeline, there were no dementors any longer. The combined assemblies had done away with the dementors several years prior. The true punishment was that Dumbledore would never truly have the the standing he so craved.

Gwyn had wanted to pop into Azkaban and relieve Dumbledore of his head, but Severus had persuaded him to let the authorities of that realm handle the matter.

Severus’ only ambitions for Thomas were that he be well loved and well taught so that he could forge his own path in the world. Thomas, unencumbered by his limitations from his previous lives, was a true magical force. He had strong opinions about almost everything he was exposed to from an early age, but was always willing to listen to differing viewpoints.

Thomas was charismatic and engaging, gathering people who were willing to follow him with seemingly no effort. It would have been a worry to Severus if Thomas didn’t find people’s easy capitulation to him to be something of an annoyance. Thomas sought a challenge in life. He wanted true friends and camaraderie, not obeisance. Abraxas was his true partner, and he did eventually develop a peer who challenged him group in his later years at Hogwarts.

He was extraordinarily gifted in charms, transfiguration, and combat magics, so he acted as a Hogwarts house mentor very shortly after his own masteries were obtained. Thomas claimed his title as the Earl of Slytherin when he was sixteen, and began focusing intense attention on the workings of the Noble Assembly as soon as he was finished with his mastery.

Thomas and Abraxas bonded when they were twenty-two, choosing to live in Prince Manor. Septimus and Genevieve Malfoy had a total of four children through ritual plus the magical adoption of Marcus and two others, while Severus only had Thomas. He’d been relieved to have his son close for a few years more. Thomas had the higher rank, so wizarding tradition stated that Abraxas would take the Prince name.

The first child of the union was conceived in ritual in 1955. The first time Severus held his grandson, Lucius Severus Prince, he’d known with every fiber of his being that the soul of Lucius Malfoy had found its way to where it belonged.

Thomas was elected Minister for Magic in 1960, one of the youngest Ministers in Britain’s history. He was never unseated as Minister. He strongly advocated complete segregation from the muggle world and that latent-born children should be brought back in to the wizarding world as early as possible and raised amongst magical families. He advocated current education about the muggle world so that the wizarding world would not be so ignorant of muggle technology.

His policies weren’t always popular, especially with people who had ideals like Dumbledore, but as muggle technology advanced, more people were comforted by separation from the muggle world.

When Lucius was ten, another child was added to the Prince family, and a third five years later. Despite his busy political career and aspirations for the wizarding world, Thomas always made time for his children and was a devoted father. He also made time to spend with Severus, relying on his father as a sounding board for his ideas and aims for the future.

Lucius bonded to, of all people, Cassandra Weasley. In their children, Severus recognized the souls of Bill, Charlie, and Draco, though only Draco carried the same name, which was a suggestion from Severus for the youngest of Lucius children. Draco being Severus’ grandson in this life was quite the surprise. The child who had been William Weasley was now Nero Prince. Charlie Weasley was now Maximian Prince.

The Black family trajectory was perhaps the most altered of everything Severus remembered from his prior life. Arcturus was the heir favored by magic after his fostering with the Prince family, but Iola ran the family with a firm hand for many decades. With Arcturus’ assistance, they brought thousands back into the family magic, making the Black family a magically resonant force of nature.

Severus was confident that the souls of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin existed somewhere amongst their proper generation, but they were not known by those names, and Severus had not personally met anyone he recognized as such.

The Potter family was the most exactly like what he remembered just more of them. Charlus was born exactly at the same time, but instead of an only child, he was the oldest of many. Once Henry and Bronwen got going with children born of ritual, they didn’t seem to want to stop. James Potter also arrived right on time. He was born the same year, but was the oldest of nine instead of an only child.

James married Lily Parkinson. Lily, Petunia, Sage, and Rose were children of one of the latent lines brought back into the Parkinson family by Marcellus when family magics were first being enriched after Severus’ return to the past. Severus had had no idea Lily was from the Parkinson family. Petunia had also married into the Potter family, bonding to Dorcas Potter and moving to France where they both worked for the Magical World Court.

Hadrian James Potter, the reincarnation of Morgan La Fey, came right on time on July 31^st, 1980. James Potter and Lucius Prince were best friends, but, unsurprisingly, baby Harry’s magic was most compatible with Thomas’. James had seemed a bit befuddled by that, but asked his best friend’s father to stand as godfather to baby Harry.

Severus had just shaken his head over the oddities of fate.

Harry spent an inordinate amount of time with his godfather, the bond as close as the bond between Severus and Abraxas. As he grew older, he was curious about politics and the future of the wizarding world. By the time Harry was starting Hogwarts, he and Thomas had shared with Severus that they’d been discussing the idea of moving the wizarding world into another dimension such as the one the dverger occupied. Thomas was charmed by Harry’s progressive view of the future of the wizarding world. He saw Harry as his political successor one day.

Severus offered opinions when asked, but was content to watch them grow together in reshaping the future.

Harry and Draco bonded right after Hogwarts, before obtaining their masteries, which was the more traditional family custom. They retained their own surnames as each was favored by their family magics as heir—Draco for the Slytherin magics, and Harry for Gryffindor. One of Harry’s sisters was the favored heir for the Lockehaven magics, while the Kielder magics were settling on Ciprian. The Campion magics had already settled firmly on Hermione as heir.

The only magics that were not yet showing signs of favoring a particular heir were the Ravenclaw magics. They were the most firmly attached to Severus, and he thought they likely wouldn’t choose a successor until after his death. With his robust family magics, he could live to be well over 200.

Harry and Draco presented Severus with his first great grandchild in 2005. A beautiful little girl with vibrant green eyes named Aster. When he held her, for the first time, he felt the Ravenclaw magics stir in interest and thought they’d likely found the likely heir for the least settled of his family magics.

In February of 2020, shortly after a debate of the combined assemblies where the advancing technologies of muggles were discussed and the idea of moving magicals to a new dimensions was again discussed, Severus was unexpectedly attacked in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic on his way to the apparition point. Three members from the Elected Assembly, heavily influenced by Dumbledore, surprised Severus with a coordinated attack.

He’d felt a warning from his family magic, but at his age, he’d been unsuccessful in fending off all three attacks and had been felled with a cutting curse across the throat.

He’d lived long enough to feel Thomas’ grief and rage, to be held in his son’s arms as his life faded, which was not at all what he’d wanted. Lucius, Harry, and Draco had also been there. He hadn’t want that to be the last memory of him that his family held.

He remembered holding Thomas’ hand, feeling the attempts to heal him, unable to speak but trying to comfort. In the next instant, he blinked awake in the train station that was the limbo he knew so well.

Lady Magic was waiting for him. “Severus,” she greeted with a sad smile. “Welcome. I removed you from the mortal realm before death had taken you so that you could pass into Annwn as a living being rather than as one of the dead.”

He touched his throat, feeling an echo of the mortal wound. “My lady.”

“You have done so well, and if it were within my power to interfere, I’d have given you another hundred years with your family, but there are powerful matters of fate in motion.”

“My death was fated?”

“Not precisely.” She moved closer and clasped his arms. “You’ll understand in due time. But Thomas and Harry will turn your death to a force for good. Though you were oblivious in your reclusiveness the last half century, but you are beloved by many people in the magical world, and your death will be a catalyst for change. And you are correct that the Ravenclaw magics will settle on Aster.”

Severus nodded, feeling unsettled and numb.

Magic nodded. “I can tell I bring you no comfort, but I had to be here to thank you for what you’ve done.”

“Was it enough? Will time need to be unwound again?”

“It was enough.” She nodded to something over Severus’ shoulder. “Gwyn will take you home now.”

“Severus…” In a blink, Severus was pulled into strong arms. He hadn’t seen Gwyn in several days. “Come, my love, we will away to Annwn.”

Severus clung to his lover, feeling unmoored. “Thomas will need you.”

“And I will go to him as soon as I take you home. It’s time he learned the truth of who I am.” Gwyn had never been as close to the rest of the Prince family as he was to Thomas. The only more-recent connection was to Harry, which made sense considering his connection to the eternal souls of his children. He also had a soft spot for Lucius. “I will reassure him that you are with me, and all will be well.”

Severus let himself take comfort in his lover and future bonded before sending Gwyn on his way to take care of their son. To ensure that grief didn’t consume Thomas.

Annwn was odd to Severus. A completely different dimension that felt peculiar and unsettling. He adapted slowly, meeting Gwyn’s court and adjusting to what his new life would be like. Much like in limbo, he appeared in Annwn as he perceived himself in life. Which was apparently around the age of forty as Severus Prince. Nothing of Snape remained in his afterlife perception of self.

At first, he craved what news Gwyn would bring of Thomas, but he forced himself to not dwell on the realm of the living, to stop asking for constant updates about his grandchildren.

Thomas had been oddly unsurprised that his father was betrothed to the lord of the otherworld. Gwyn relayed that Thomas was grateful that Severus and Gwyn were still together and that he could be reassured that Severus was all right and they would see each other again one day. Gwyn visited the mortal realm less than he had while Severus had been alive, and the family interpreted his absence as grief over Severus’ death.

Gwyn and Severus finally were wed, binding Severus to Annwn. As Gwyn’s eternal consort, it was possible to travel to the mortal realm, but he knew that would be both cruel to the living and difficult to explain. He focused on his eternity with his husband. Annwn was real and corporeal while still being different. So while it was intensely magical, gardens and structures were tangible and permanent rather than lacking in substance the way they had in limbo.

Severus missed brewing as a way to calm his mind, but there was little point to potions in Annwn. He set his attention to gardening instead, passing the time with making something beautiful while helping his husband rule.

He’d been in Annwn for nearly a decade when Gwyn made an unexpected and abrupt departure from their bedchamber. Severus summoned his clothes and waited, feeling unsettled by Gwyn’s odd behavior.

Gwyn returned some time later, expression pensive. “Severus, Thomas has arrived at the station.”

Severus took too long to parse what that meant. “No! He’s barely over a hundred! He needs longer. This isn’t the way it was supposed to be.”

Gwyn clasped his arms. “Thomas has paid the price fate demanded for the many missteps.”

“What does that mean? Everything was fixed.”

“Yes, but…” Gwyn sighed heavily. “There was an imbalance, and our Thomas saved his godson, saved Harry Potter from the avada kedavra curse. He stepped into it, taking the killing blow meant for Harry.”

For the first time in decades, Severus felt near tears. “Who wanted to kill Harry?”

“Dumbledore’s rhetoric lives on. The assassin was from the Prewitt line. A magically insignificant man-child of Harry’s age who hasn’t amounted to much. Draco cut him down, but the damage was already done. Our son was killed.” Gwyn gave Severus a pained look. “He remembers everything, Severus. He was actually afraid to ask for you.”

“Take me to him.” Only with Gwyn’s help could Severus travel between realms.

In a blink, they were back at the station. Magic and Nuada were hanging back, obviously having tried to talk to Thomas.

Thomas appeared younger than when Severus last saw him, but still Severus’ son. His gaze immediately met Severus’. “Fa—” He broke off and winced.

Without hesitation, Severus crossed to him and pulled him into his arms. “I’ve missed you, Son.”

Thomas clutched at Severus, a sob catching in his throat. “Why would you do all this? After everything I did?”

Severus pulled back enough to meet Thomas’ gaze. “Because you’re my son, and I love you. The lives we lived with other names and with other roles don’t matter. I went back to try to fix things, but the minute your adoption was complete, the minute I held you and felt your magic resonate with mine, you were my son, and nothing else was relevant. I have never been anything but proud of you.”

Thomas looked gutted. “I’m so sorry, Father.”

“Please don’t apologize to me for the things that happened in that other life. They don’t matter. They’re gone. Erased. The life I had as your father was as rewarding and fulfilling as I could have ever wished for. I have no regrets.”

Thomas looked so much more emotional than he ever usually allowed himself to be. “I was so certain that a happy childhood was optional, that it wasn’t necessary to my success. I was so arrogant, and the entire world nearly paid the price. I am so grateful that you chose to be my father.”

Severus hugged Thomas again. “Welcome home, Thomas. Come to Annwn with us and plot with Gwyn how you’re going to aid Harry in his mission to save the wizarding world.”

“I will, but first I just want to spend time with you.” Thomas held him tighter. “I’ve missed you so much.”

The End

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Chapters 7-8 | Main Page

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