Severus was leaning against the wall, he knew they couldn't see him, but he had heard his name.

"I don't know what to do." Minerva stated.

"We have tried to talk to Harry, but since Professor Snape refused to talk to him about working here, Harry said he wouldn't take the job and make the man miserable."

"It's not the job I am worried about." Ron stated.

"I know. What can we do? This contract that the old fool made is going to kill Harry unless it gets fulfilled." Minerva sighed. Severus never her sound so defeated.

"I am not sure how, since Professor Snape refused to talk to Harry, he is going to be leaving here, he is packing his bags now." Hermione sounded resigned.

"We need to tell Professor Snape the truth." Minerva stated.

"Yes, I can see that going over well." Ron sarcasm was not as good as his, Severus thought.

"It won't, but if it saves Harry's life." Minerva responded.

"It won't matter, if we tell him, Harry won't marry the man because Professor Snape won't even talk to him. Harry has been in love with him since our sixth year. He doesn't want to make the Professor miserable, even if it kills Harry. He died for a bunch of strangers. He is willing to do it for the man he loves." Hermione informed them. Severus had to agree, Harry did die for a bunch of strangers.

"He is going to die. Why that man put that in the contract is beyond me."

"He did it because he didn't expect Harry to win and for a curse to kill him. He wanted the money from the vaults. You saw the money and items he removed from Harry's vaults." Ron replied. Severus thought the boy sounded smarter than he gave him credit for.

"We really need to find a way to keep Harry here, get them to talk. Maybe we can get them bonded before the contract expires." Minerva hoped it might work.

"I am more worried about Harry doing something to end it before the contract makes him die a painful death." Ron's voice sounded stunted, his emotions reflective in his words.

"He won't die a painful death." Hermione smugly informed Ron.

"Yes, he will. If the contract expires and Harry hasn't fulfilled it, Magic will punish him and it is painful." Minerva stated.

Severus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't want to hear more and began to walk away, he saw out of the corner of his eye the dark messy hair of the bane of his existence. He started to follow the boy to find out what exactly was going on. He noticed the boy was weaving, great, he was drunk. He saw Harry slide down the wall and just sit there. He moved closer to him and saw something was very wrong. He rushed over to him. "Potter?"

Harry's eyes barely opened. "Snape, figures."

"What have you done?"

"Done? Don't worry about it. I won't be the bane of your existence for much longer." His words were starting to slur.

'Poison' Snape leaned down, pulling Harry up to him, forced Bezoar down his throat. "Harry, keep your eyes open, please, keep them open." He started to carry him towards the infirmary. "Come on Harry keep those eyes open." Snape started to run. "Poppy! Poppy!" Snape almost was bellowing her name.

"Severus what is wrong?"

"Harry, poison, I don't know which one. I got a Bezoar down his throat."

Poppy whipped out her wand and started running her scans. "Severus, I need you make a Lung Clearing Potion and a Wiggenweld Potion. The Lung one I will need at least three extra. He took some cyanide with something else, I am not sure of. We will need sodium nitrite to help cure the cyanide."

"I have them in my potions cabinet." Severus went to her floo, tossed the floo powder in, found what he needed, and returned to Harry's side.

Together they work for almost an hour to get him stable. "He will recover. I need to let St. Mungo's know."

"No, no one can know, this is all the old goat's fault."

"I don't understand."

"I don't fully know, so if you can get Minerva, with Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley here we can get the answers."

Soon Minerva, Hermione, Ron were sitting in a room with Severus and Poppy. "We just saved Harry from dying. He took some poison." Poppy told them.

Minerva let out a small gasp. "I am going to kill that man, again, I will bring him back just to kill him."

"I feel we need to know what is going on." Severus told them.

"It's kind of hard. We will be breaking a promise." Hermione glanced at Ron and Minerva.

"Harry almost died. I think we can deal with broken promises later." Poppy snapped at her.

Minerva inhaled deeply and started. "As you know it's been six months since the final battle. I found in some paperwork left by Albus, something I never thought he would have done." She paused. "It appeared that he wanted to bond Harry and Severus without either of them knowing, with some weird clauses. He planned for Severus to be killed by Voldemort, he believed Voldemort would kill Harry, but if Harry did win, Albus planned on killing him, claiming he was a Dark Lord. Everything from Severus and Harry was set to go into his vaults." She paused. "He had been taking funds out of Harry's vaults since James and Lily's death. He had been using all of Severus and Harry's proxy seats."

"My seats? I don't have any."

"The Prince ones, it seems when your grandfather passed away, he left everything to you. Albus took control. There were letters that were forged saying you weren't interested in the estate and other taking control of your vaults and seats. Your grandfather had set up a vault for your apprenticeship, but from what we found out the funds went into Albus' vaults."

"I found a redirect on all of the mail concerning Gringotts, Minerva said something about the statements all arrived on Monday. Gringotts sends their statements on Sunday. He had redirect actually on everyone's Gringotts owls." Hermione told them. "He made sure you never got your information, Professor."

"This contract he set up required Harry to stay here and bond with you. He would be the dominant partner in the relationship. Now the contract did account for if you lived, it made a situation that is almost impossible for both of you to be happy. It seems you have to be bonded by the end of this month and you need to be pregnant by the end of the year. Harry wanted to talk to you about it, but you rejected him." Minerva explained.

"I didn't feel the need to talk to him, about anything."

"That is what led to this." Ron stated.

"If you don't bond, Harry pays the price. You see, you don't lose anything, but Harry loses his life. He set it up so even if you died, Harry would be dead by the end of the year. No one else could bond with him. So you see, if you reject him, he dies a very painful, long dragged out death. It would start at the beginning of next month."

"He took the poison to make it quicker." Poppy said.

"Yes, we were afraid he would try something we just weren't expecting it to be so soon. We only found about this two days ago." Minerva told them. "He had it in a secret drawer I found by accident."

"So I bond with him or he dies a very painful death?" Severus asked.

"Basically, he wanted to make sure that Harry died one way or another. He was counting on you being killed. I don't think he expected to be killed by that curse or you being able to save yourself from Nagini." Hermione told him. "I am sorry Professor but Harry didn't want us to tell you."

"I would have been responsible for his death."

"No, Albus would be. He set it all up."

"He wasn't going to tell me for a reason."

"He loves you, and didn't want to face rejection again. It started in our sixth year. The Half-Blood Prince." Ron quickly explained how and why Harry had the book and what it meant to Harry.

"I offered him the DADA job. He has his Masters in it, Potions, and Spellcrafting, too. It seems our little Harry wasn't so obedient to Albus, which is why I think he did this, as punishment. Albus had notices about Harry's real OWLs and NEWTs, they weren't what we saw, he had almost complete O+, and only his History of Magic was an O. He changed Harry's results." Minerva told him.

Severus looked over at Harry. "He wears a lot of masks. I don't think anyone really knows him. I know he covered all the abuse his relatives did to him." Hermione quietly explained.

"Abuse?" Severus asked.

"Yes, he has been starved, beaten severely based on the number of misaligned bones." Poppy told Severus and Minerva. She got up and retrieved the scans and showed them to Severus and Minerva.

"Can we fix this?" Severus asked, after reading the results. He was feeling sick with what he had just read.

"It won't be worth it if he is going to die in less than six months." Ron told him, causing Hermione to gasp. "Mione, it's the truth."

"I know." She began to cry.

"If I bond with him?" Severus asked.

"He lives, but you won't be happy, you see, he has to be in charge, I think Albus knew that would make it impossible for both of you to be happy."

"Set up the bonding ceremony, we will be bonding by the end of the month. I will talk to Harry when he wakes up. I don't want any of you around for this conversation." Severus instructed.

"Thank you, Severus, I know it will be hard, but he does love you." Minerva reassured him.

"Just do it, make sure it's something we want, not what everyone else wants."

"In other words, keep my Mum from taking over." Ron looked at Severus. He held out his hand. "Peace?"

"Peace." Severus replied as he took Ron's hand in friendship.

Severus stayed by Harry's side for the next few days. They spelled potions into him. Poppy and Severus worked together to fix the damage his relatives did to him. When Severus and Poppy read the scan again, their anger towards the former Headmaster rose.

"I can't believe he allowed Harry to keep returning there."

"He needed him to be willing to walk to his own death, what better way to do it than make sure he had nothing." Severus felt awful about all the cruel words he had spoken to Harry. Yes, some of it was for his role, but he could have kept his role without being so cruel to him.

"If that man was alive, I would find a way to make him pay."

They continued on fixing Harry and after four days they saw Harry starting to wake up. Poppy left them to talk. After a while, Harry finally opened his eyes. "I should have known. There isn't anything you can do to stop this."

"Yes, there is, we will be getting bonded in a few days."

Harry's eyes popped open, he was now fully awake, looked at Severus. "You know what that contract says." Harry had read it and it made him sick with how the Headmaster was forcing Severus into a position the man wouldn't want.

"I do, I read it. I should have talked to you when you came to talk to me, but you see I have a secret I need to confess to you." Severus looked around and back to Harry. "I didn't want to talk to you because I was rejecting you, I was afraid you would reject me, and I was trying to protect myself. You see, I have well, frankly, had feeling for you for a while."

Harry leaned back and smiled. "So this contract, it would work for you?"

"Very much so, I prefer the submissive position. I don't know how he knew that. I actually don't think he did, I think it was has you all believed. It was a way to make sure both of us would be miserable one way or another, too bad for him it got it wrong." Severus had spent the last few days reflecting on everything and was finally at peace with the truth he had kept hidden for years.

Harry sat up, pulled Severus into a kiss. "I have wanted to do that for years." He told him when he finally released Severus. He moved over to one side of the bed. "Join me on the bed, and let's talk."

11 years later:

"Julius, we are going to be late if you don't hurry." Severus was trying to put away the last of the dishes from breakfast.

"Papa, why do I need to take the train? Why can't I just stay here with you and Dad?" Julius leaned against a chair in their kitchen and Severus remembered himself doing that same thing when he was worried about taking the train the first time.

"Don't you want to ride the train for your first day at Hogwarts with your cousin Teddy?" Teddy was a year ahead. Teddy had also just wanted to spend his first day with them instead of taking the train. There were some benefits to living at Hogwarts and having your parents as two of the Professor. Harry was the Deputy Headmaster and he knew if he asked Harry would allow Julius to skip the train.

"What if you give birth to my baby sister while I am gone?"

"It's not time yet, you will be here when it happens. Now go and get your trunk and tell your brothers and sisters to hurry up. Your father will be here in a few minutes to take us." Severus said. He felt like a beached whale being eight months pregnant. He was looking to putting his feet up later. He smiled as Harry entered their quarters.

"Hey, how is everything?" Harry gave Severus a kiss and ran his hand down Severus' side. He rubbed Severus' lower back.

"Running behind, but working on it." Severus leaned against him.

"Do you want me to help?" Harry whispered, giving him another kiss on this temple.

"Can you please? I need to get the girls' cloaks and I need to have you put a feather-light charm on Julius' trunk. Auggie is still under the weather and Michael is wired up, I think he got into the sugar again. We are going to be late to the train if we don't get them downstairs now." Severus started listing off things that need to be done. They had twin girls that were now 8, Auggie was 6 and Michael was 4. His current pregnancy was a surprise.

"Kids, front and center, now. Amber and Andrea, get your cloaks, they are on the hooks. Julius put your trunk down in front of me and I will charm it. Girls help Auggie and Michael after that. We don't want to be late to the train." Harry gave them their instruction, knowing he would be obeyed.

Severus smiled as their kids obey. He always thought he would be the one to be the tougher of them when it came to their kids, but it turned out, Harry took charge and the kids knew better than to disobey him. He knew Harry also took great delight in standing in front of Albus' portrait and telling him all about their kids and how much he loved Severus. Minerva told him, Albus refused to wake up for Harry but Harry did it anyway and Minerva said she knew the man heard.

All of them had taken great enjoyment in telling Albus about bonding, and getting all the money back and even got his card revoked. His portrait was no longer hanging in the Headmaster's office, it was in an unused hall, and his frame was frozen so he couldn't leave.

Chapter Management

40 years later:

"Sev, wake up. The grandchildren will be here soon, with our kids. Our single kids are arriving tomorrow morning." Harry kissed his husband on his lips. "They will be expecting you to give them their usual hot chocolate."

"I'm just resting my eyes." Severus opened his eyes. "I made fresh gingerbread, did you get that out?"

"Yes, I did. I also put the kettle on for tea." Harry headed back to the kitchen. "I have ground up the mint for the hot chocolate too."

"Harry, I hid the little marshmallows behind the coffee." Severus hid them after the grandkids had eaten the last unopened bag during their visit.

"I found them and put them next to your cauldron for you to craft your hot chocolate when they arrive."

Severus made his way into the kitchen. "You shouldn't have let me sleep so long."

"You needed it. You were up all night and most of today bent over cauldrons brewing flu potions for Hogwarts and Diagon Alley." After their youngest started Hogwarts, Severus and Harry worked there until Harry had his thirty years at Hogwarts, twenty as a professor and ten as the Headmaster. They retired and opened their own business in Diagon Alley brewing potions. Julius, ran the other branch in Paris, with Teddy running the branch in Madrid. Harry had his own office where he worked on spells and translating old texts.

Julius married Susan (Bones) and Terry Boots' daughter. They had three sons. All three were Slytherin, which made Severus very proud. The three boys followed Julius and Severus' passion and joined the potion making business. The oldest one Edward married a Veela friend of Fleur's daughter. Their middle, named Conrad, married a French muggle-born wizard, while their youngest, named Felix, was in a long-term relationship with Viktor Klum's son, Ivan.

Teddy married Kingsley's son, Marcus, and they had four girls. The girls were all Ravenclaws, which Severus wasn't really surprised by. Teddy, Kingsley, and Marcus were Ravenclaws. The oldest, Rachel, was the Potion Mistress at St. Mungos. The middle, Corina, was the Defense (Harry brought back a lot of classes Dumbledore had banned, including some of the Dark Arts) at Hogwarts. The youngest, Angelina, worked for the Ministry in the DoM. Each of the girls married their Hogwarts' boyfriends.

Amber married Neville and Luna' son, and they joined Neville in his greenhouse business, which specialized in finding exotic plants for their customers if they didn't have the plant already. Amber was currently pregnant with twins, which surprised them. As their older two children (twin boys) were about ready to graduate from Hogwarts.

Andrea was still single and was off research old spells and texts. She inherited Harry passion for languages and worked a lot with Gringotts on translating old texts. She left a long string of sweethearts that she still correspondent with.

Auggie, who now preferred to be called Augustus, married a nice American he met while attending a conference in Washington D.C. on politics and how to handle the growing resources the muggles could use to discover wizards. They only married last year around Halloween.

Michael was attending Oxford studying law. He wanted to be a barrister and his boyfriend, Lucian Malfoy (Draco's son), was studying to Healer. They had been together since their fifth year at Hogwarts. They planned on getting bonded once they were finished with schooling.

Their youngest was finishing her last year at Gringotts, to be a ward breaker, and her trainer was Bill Weasley. That suited their daughter, Minerva Eileen Lily, or Mel as she preferred to be called, fine as she was engaged to Bill's son, Victor. They planned on getting married this coming summer.

Severus wasn't sure about her marrying a Weasley, not because he didn't like the family. He did like them, but because they were Gryffindors. He didn't want his grandchildren in Gryffindor without someone to watch them, especially if they inherited Harry's luck. "Are the grandkids bring their significant others?"

"No, just themselves, I arranged for them to have their old rooms." Which translated into they would be sleeping in the West wing of Potter Manor, so not to wake them up.

"Our kids?"

"Will be in the East Wing. We don't need a war here." Harry kissed Severus as he passed the man who was checking his ingredients.

Severus hid his smirk. He knew what Harry meant, as they had gone through the same thing when their own children brought home their future spouses and wanted to share a room. They also endure the late night antics of the younger generation and knew their own children would react as they did. So Harry putting them in two different wings was the perfect solution. Though to be honest, Harry still could scare their kids with a look.

"Shame Dumbledore isn't around any longer for me to brag about the kids and grandkids." Harry began to set up some snacks for their grandchildren.

Severus smiled. Dumbledore's portrait was removed from Hogwarts shortly before Minerva retired. Minerva, with Harry, Severus, Hermione, Ron, and some of the Order members worked to fix what Dumbledore had ruined. Minerva refused to retire until Dumbledore was removed from Hogwarts. They gave the portrait to Aberforth, who gave it to his pet goat. The goat ate the portrait, got sick but was fine after that.

Severus found a small package thrust under his nose. "I want you to open it before everyone arrives."

"Harry?" Severus took the small gift-wrapped package. He shook it. He slowly unwrapped the package and found a ring box.

"I know, I didn't get a chance to give you a big bonding ceremony, I know we didn't do anything to celebrate the milestones in our marriage, but I wanted to give you something to show you how much I do love you."

Severus stared down at a ring, with six birthstones set in it. "It's the kids' birthstones." Severus saw something was written on the inside. He held it up. "My Half-Blood Prince, now and forever." Severus pulled Harry into a searing kiss.

"We so didn't need to walk in on that. Old folks kissing." Mel laughed.

"I totally agree with you. Grandpapa, we brought you Honeydukes." Michael held up the package. "Everyone else is in the living room."

"We will be right in. Put some Christmas music on. There are some old records next to the wireless." Harry waited until they were gone. He removed the ring from the package and slide it onto Severus' finger. "Happy Christmas, my love."

"Happy Christmas, Harry. Thank you."