A soft exhale interrupted Severus' paperwork. It wasn't a sound of hunger, but it was one he was coming to learn was indicative of the fact his sons were going to be awake soon. "Do you know which one is which without the identifying fabric, Severus?" Albus asked from his portrait. The question wasn't meant to ridicule or insult. He was truly curious. (Admittedly, Severus was curious if he could, too.)

When he'd first started as headmaster, he was certain that he'd move Albus' portrait immediately. However, between the letter he'd left for him and the initial conversation they'd had once his portrait showed up.

Well, Severus still thought the man had done some questionable things, and yet Severus was the one who ended up with a Dark Mark. So, really, could he cast stones and judge someone? If his wife could be with him despite the things he'd said and done in her original timeline. Certainly, Severus could move on and leave the past behind him when dealing with a portrait of a man versus the man himself. If he wanted Hogwarts to move forward and become a cutting edge institution of magical education he couldn't dwell. So, he'd forgiven and his friend was, admittedly, a good source of information.

He wasn't sure there had ever been the occasion for one let alone two bassinets in the headmaster's office, but this year here they were.

"Not to this point," he admitted. Of course, he hadn't tried. Oh, there were spells and they could cast a diagnostic at any time to determine which was which. That was a lot to go through, though.

Jarvis Anthony and Garrett Frederick seemed to be as identical as they could be. It would be interesting to see as they grew and developed if their personalities and the traits that made them who they were to become were as identical as their appearance.

Today was Hermione's twenty-third birthday and they were just a little over two months old, born July fourteenth instead of the August seventh originally projected. They were told that was common with twins, they'd been told from the first time she'd heard it was twins to expect two to three weeks shaved from that due date.

It was both the most miraculous thing he'd witnessed, the birth of his sons, and the most frightening. Witches still died during childbirth. What in the world would he do with twin boys on his own? Without her? Nevermind dying during childbirth, the amount of pain she obviously went through to bring his sons into this world.

Well, he would have been on the receiving end of rounds of the Cruciatius again if it meant she didn't have to go through it. And his thoughts on that weren't even just about the delivery. The last couple of weeks she was so obviously miserable. And yet she never complained. Not once. He saw it in her eyes, though, when their sons were using her insides to a violent end. Or when she had to use the facilities fifteen minutes after her previous visit. Or when she willingly went to his former office in the dungeons just to sit because she was sweltering.

"And you are adapting?"

"It is an adjustment, as Harry was obviously not nearly this small when he came to me."

"No. They do seem quite … small."

Albus had confessed that while he was able to see everything in the office the portrait gave him a view of his perspective was not the same. So, things like the size of his sons was not something he could truly gauge properly.

"Normal for twins I'm told."

"I suppose that makes sense. And she is healing well?"

"She is. You've seen her," Severus said.

"I have seen her, of course, and I have gotten the impression she is. I, however, do not know her well so would not bring such a question to her."

"She is fine. Healing. Poppy says she has recovered very well. Supposedly the delivery was relatively easy, though from my perspective that seems to be a bit of a misnomer."

Portrait Albus chuckled. "You're not the first new father I've heard say that. They do go through a lot to give us a family, don't they?"

It was on the tip of Severus' tongue to ask how he'd know, but now wasn't the time to be that petty, or cruel. Albus had made his choices. Severus had made his. How he ended up here, with Harry as his ward, Hermione as his wife, and Jarvis and Garrett as his sons he wasn't sure.

"What is she doing today?"

"Resting. It is her birthday so I thought it was the least I could do. Of course, to Hermione that probably means editing the Transfiguration textbook she's been working on for Minerva."

"Are you going to offer her a Muggle Studies position?"

"I think that I may, next school year perhaps. She'd do a better job than Foster does."

"She would," Albus agreed. Severus was glad the man agreed with him. Foster wasn't an idiot, but like most Muggle Studies professors he'd encountered they didn't get how to teach the subject. Muggle history was of course important, but so were current events, pop culture, and exposure to things. Hermione had wondered, for instance, why a field trip to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh was never done. Or any place that would educate the students but lead to questions that the professor would have to work with. The best way to teach something was to get students interested. He definitely thought she was onto something that a hands-on approach would be useful in this because so many who didn't grow up muggleborn just didn't know.

"And it would give her first hand knowledge as to whether her text book is appropriate or not."

"Agreed," Albus said. "Though from what I've heard around the Ministry there is no question on that being so."

"No," Severus said.

She had managed to get Muggle Studies and Potions done. Transfiguration was next since she and Minerva got along so well. Evidently they were quite close in their original timeline and while it had taken a bit of time to happen in this current one it did.

And Hermione seemed to relish the relationship they had developed as peer to peer rather than student to head of house.

"And the grandparents?"

"My mother has been here at least half a dozen times already. We have connected the floo from her parents' house to the office here so they are able to visit as well. That was only as of the start of the school year we thought of doing it, so they've only come a couple of times. Obviously they saw them before this month."

"If I haven't said so recently, Severus, I am very happy for you."

"I know, Albus."

"Hogwarts loves her."

"I'm aware."

"I'm not sure that you are. I roamed the halls of this castle for several decades. You've lived here for thirty years but you haven't been headmaster for that long. I am still unsure how it works, but I felt things weren't right when she chose Ilvermorny. There was nothing I could do about it and I many more duties than to fret over the choices of one witch. I knew, though. I only have the memories, not the experiences from that timeline, of course, but I knew Hogwarts would sort things out for you two."

"It did."

"I am only sorry that it took so long for you."

Severus shrugged. "She was worth any wait."

He stood then, knowing better than to wake Jarvis or Garrett, but he peaked in on them as both sounded as if they were moving some. They were swaddled in only the way a mum seemed to know how to do so only their small faces were visible. Their eyes were closed as they were still coming out of their nap. Garrett was on the right, Jarvis on the left. Garrett was the one that had a small piece of string tied around his wrist to differentiate him from his brother.

They were both in the habit, though, of having Garrett on the right and Jarvis on the left. She had found a pillow at a muggle baby store that seemed to assist her in the tandem nursing that was her preference. And even there, Garrett took the right breast the first feeding of the day and Jarvis the left. She alternated from there. He didn't understand the wheres or whys of it, and doubted he would but she seemed to know what she was doing.

"They were worth any wait," he admitted.

"Even though Harry is grown and gone?"

"You know, I almost lost her because my knee jerk reaction when Lucius first mentioned a child with her was absolutely not. Why would I want to start over? Why would I want to go through nappies and teething all over again?"

"And?"

"Honestly, until they were here I can't say that I still didn't think it was the stupidest thing I could possibly have contemplated doing. Taking the Mark aside, of course."

"Of course," Albus' attempt to sound stoic and serious failed here.

"But they are here, and they are perfect, and I have a wife who despite what she went through to carry and have them still looks at me as if I am responsible for hanging the stars and the moon in the sky each night."

"She loves you."

"She does."

"It looks good on you, Severus."

He nodded then, resisting the urge to swipe his sons' noses with the pad of his thumb. They were not fully awake, best not to stimulate them to wake any sooner than necessary. They did a lot of their growing when they were resting, he had been told. They were in his office this morning so that she could enjoy a bit of a lie-in on her birthday. She'd woken up early with them, of course, to feed and prepare them for the day, but he'd told her to go back to bed.

"Did you know all along, Albus?" Severus asked.

"Know what?"

"You had your memories. Did you know you were ill?"

"I did not. I did not find out until after I had put the ring on in the original timeline. I think any discomfort and pain was dismissed by myself at that time as due to the curse."

He nodded.

"Severus?"

"Yes, Albus."

"You were the son I never had. I know we had our differences. I know you thought I mistreated you. I think once you have been in this office for a little longer you will come to understand why I made the choices I did when you were a student. I hope that you will never have to make such choices. The times have changed, thanks in part to you and Hermione. If there's one thing that I regret most of all, and there are plenty, it is that you had to wait so long to truly know love. My son in all but blood deserved that much."

"And again, she was worth the wait. And I did know of her."

"You did not have her, though. Knowing and feeling without knowing those feelings will be reciprocated given the changes is not the same as having it."

"You are right. I thank you for saying so. I still think that there was a better way to handle it, to appease their parents without allowing me to be bullied relentlessly. I understand you did the best that you could and I probably gave you no real reason to look for a better way."

Silence prevailed as they both thought on that last statement. Severus knew it was the truth. He had done his fair share of more than just defending himself.

"I look forward to seeing what those boys will do."

"As do I."

With Hermione as their mother and him as their father, the potential for them was quite endless. That seemed a conceited thing to think, but was it conceited when it was true?

They started well and truly stirring then, their eyes opening even, and he knew that it was time to get them to their mother for the sustenance and attention only she could give them. He glanced at his clock. They had gone closer to three hours again, that was becoming the norm where at first if they lasted two hours it was a miracle.

"And Severus, before you go."

"Yes?" He paused by the bassinets to glance at the portrait.

"I know that you aspire to provide your wife and children a home, what you consider to be a better home than Spinners End even though Harry turned out just fine with that address as his."

"Go on."

"I don't know if you looked through my papers thoroughly, but you are in possession of a nice home near Arlingham, right along the River Severn. It's, coincidently, in an area Hermione would be familiar with, near Forest of Dean. It would be a charming location to have your two boys call home and it is well protected."

"I will look, thank you."

"It is yours. I do not want you to think that you have to go through the process of purchasing something. All of my resources are yours, and I have not heard that you had any of them leveled."

"No, I did not," Severus said with a low chuckle.

This time he did graze both of his sons' noses with the pad of his thumb since they were awake. They were both looking at him, trying to wiggle their arms out of the blankets swaddled around them.

"I will go through that paperwork again."

"I will be happy to assist however I can. Instructions were left, of course, for elves to continue caring for all of my properties so that one, and the others, should all be in good repair."

"Perhaps over the winter holidays."

"I look forward to it."

"And Albus," he said, swallowing hard as he glanced at the portrait.

"Yes, Son?"

"Thank you."

"You do not have to thank me. You were owed a debt, both of you. As I said in my letter, the world may not know what you did but I do. I imagine Harry does by now. My estate was a drop in the bucket compared to what you both potentially gave up."

"What you left us was more than paying a debt, but regardless. Thank you. I never thanked you. Not even for that, for your friendship over the years. I thank you. It helped keep me sane when she didn't arrive here as she was supposed to. In the end, she made the right choice because teaching her for seven years knowing what I did would not have gone well."

"That is very true. There is no need for thanks, but you are welcome."

He ensured both boys were secure, covering their faces with the light blankets they used when traveling by floo. He picked up one and then the other, gently. He was much better at this now than he was even a month ago. He had big enough arms to support their heads and hold them both. Being a wizard helped, of course.

"Say goodbye to Grandpa Albus then, boys," he murmured with a slight nod at the portrait before bringing them to the fireplace so he could get them to their mother in the most expedient way. He'd bring them back up when she was finished and they'd been changed. He truly endeavoured to give her the entire day as best as he could.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com