Happy Birthday, Dear Severus. Severus Snape is decidedly having the best birthday of his life.

Severus Snape was, as of two weeks ago, a married man. His courtship of Hermione Granger had not been a long one, but when you'd love a woman every day for four years and were pushing fifty, you didn't feel the need to wait. He proposed on Samhain, and they'd been married on Christmas Eve in a small church service down the street from Hermione's parent's home.

He had vowed to love his wife, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, but he'd also promised, in the quiet stillness of their bedroom late at night, to not plot revenge on her ex, one Ronald Weasley. She'd also forced Harry and Ginevra Potter, and George Weasley to make the same promise. Hermione was still upset that Ron had led her on and cheated on her for nearly five years, but she also wanted to move on and not give into petty urges.

Luckily for Severus, fate was on his side the day of his forty-ninth birthday. Severus was leaving the apothecary in Knockturn Alley, where he sourced his more dubious ingredients for the experimental potions he and Hermione developed in the Department of Mysteries when he spotted a drunk Ronald Weasley stumbling out of a brothel, having clearly in last night's clothes, reeking of sex and spirits.

Severus' lips upturned in a sinister smirk that would have caused some of the most dangerous Death Eaters to piss their trousers. Drawing his wand, he cast a non-verbal obscuro spell, and suddenly a black blindfold appeared over Weasley's red-rimmed blue eyes, causing him to trip and bellow, "Gerroff me! Who's there?" he slurred, attempting to draw his wand. Ripping it out of his robes, the wand flew out of the man child's hand as Severus cast a non-verbal expelliarimus, disarming the oaf.

"Weasley," he murmured in the boy's ear, dragging the boy down a small alleyway.

"Snape!" he spat, "let me go, you greasy, miserable Death Eater. I'll have you dragged in front of the Wizengamot for this."

"You'd have to remember the incident to do that Weasley. Once I'm finished with you, you won't remember a thing. Just that you passed out drunk in the street after a night of debauchery."

"What?" Ron said, fear now colouring his voice, "What are you going to do."

"I'm going to make sure you can't stick your pathetic prick anywhere else Weasley," he sneered. "Languidus aeternum," Snape enchanted the spell that would render Ronald Weasley impotent until the jinx was reversed.

He then stunned the man, removed the blindfold and quickly removed the memory from Weasley's memory with a quick charm. When he woke up in a few hours, Weasley would think he had passed out in the street, and the next time he tried to fuck a witch, he'd be in for a nasty surprise. Severus stood up, straightened his frock coat and raised his wand to call his lioness patronus, "Weasley, I've found your poor excuse for a brother in Knockturn Alley near Mr Mulpepper's."

A minute later, the distinct 'Crack' from apparition could be heard, and George Weasley materialised, "Severus! Did you find Ron here?"

Severus kept his face neutral, "Something like that."

A wry grin spread on George's face, "I don't want the details as long as it's not permanent. You better hope 'Mione doesn't find out or she'll skin you."

"It is not permanent; St. Mungo's could reverse it in a second. As for my wife, as long as you keep quiet, she'll have no cause to know anything," the Dark Man threatened lightly.

"Merlin, she won't hear from me. 'Mione is brilliant but bloody scary."

"Indeed. Well, I did find your brother stumbling out of the brothel, drunk and in last night's clothes, so you should probably take him back to your flat to clean up and sleep it off."

George snorted, "I'm about ready to fire him you know. He hardly shows up to work anymore, or I have to send him away because he's hungover; if only it wouldn't upset Mum. Anyway, I best haul his ass off to bed. Do you have time to stop in and discuss the recipes for the new Wonder Witch line or do you have to get to the Ministry?"

Not wanting to be around in case Ronald woke up, Severus begged off, saying he had been in the Alley for some ingredients for a potion under stasis and needed to get back to it. As Severus walked into the morning light of Diagon Alley, he still could not believe the changes that life had brought about in the last few months. Not only was he married to the witch of his dreams, but he was friends with all of the Weasleys, except Ron, now.

He was most surprised to have struck up a good friendship and working relationship with George Weasley, his erstwhile annoying pupil. He learned from Hermione and Harry that George had not developed a single new potion for Weasley Wizard Wheezes in the last ten years. While a competent brewer, George had a flair for developing charms, while Fred had developed the potions. One Sunday at the Burrow, Severus was enough in his cups actually to offer his services to George. Severus developed the recipes and calculations, while George and his team could brew the final product. Severus received 25% of the profit. George was also surprised to learn that Severus had played Beater for Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts, which meant that at when Hermione and Severus were invited for dinner, George no longer had to play the position alone, since none of his brothers would dare take up Fred's spot.

Severus was grateful for the Weasleys and their kindness, not for himself necessarily, but for Hermione's sake. She had been terrified that with the dissolution of her relationship with Ronald that she would be forced to cut all ties with her beloved adopted family. Instead, Molly Weasley had been furious with her youngest son, and she always made sure to invite the Snape's when Ron was not allowed, typically alternating their attendance at family meals.

When Severus arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, he pulled some floo powder out of his coat pocket and threw it into the fireplace calling out "Ministry of Magic."

Arriving in the atrium, he skipped the lifts, opting to take the stairs down to Level Nine – The Department of Mysteries. Striding into their shared laboratory, Severus found his wife gazing up at a complex web of Arithmancy matrices while chewing on an eagle feather quill. Her fair was fixed on top of her head, wispy tendrils falling, framing her face, with her wand shoved in the knot. She had a look of intense concentration as her eyes flitted from the matrices to the equations she scribbled on sheets of parchment on her desk.

She never looked more beautiful to him than in times like this. So intensely focused on her work, eyes bright with knowledge and the hope of discovery, completely oblivious to the world around her. It was a testament to ten years of peace that she could lose herself in work and let her guard down like this now. He knew that had not always been the case for her.

She finally noticed his return when he walked behind her, arms flitting up her biceps as he placed a light kiss on her temple. Hermione hummed in satisfaction and leaned into his chest. "Did you get the ingredients you needed for the Polyjuice?"

"Yes, and I'm determined to finish the damn thing today finally! A Birthday Present to myself for finally getting Potter off my back about 24-hour Polyjuice potion."

"If you complete the potion before the baby is born, he may make good on his threat to name him after you."

Severus groaned, "Don't remind me."

"Mmmm, if you do finish the potion, maybe don't tell Harry right away. Ginny's due in two weeks."

Severus started trailing kisses down her long neck, nibbling and sucking, causing her to moan, "The ingredients will keep under stasis. Maybe I should give myself a different birthday present."

Hermione turned in his arms as he continued his ministrations, "Severus! We're at work!"

"So," he drawled, "no one ever comes down here because they're all so afraid of me, and I can ward the door."

"Oh alright, fine," she acquiesced, "but only because it's your birthday. Be quick."

"Quick?! Witch, you don't tell a master how to paint his masterpiece!"

"Yes, well I have a meeting upstairs in an hour," she snorted.

"Then I have 55 minutes to see how many times I can make you scream my name," Severus said, lifting Hermione onto her worktop and hiking her robes up to her hips before lowering his head and kissing the inside of her thighs."

An hour later, Hermione was pulling down her robes after casting a light cleansing charm. Re-doing her hair knot on the top of her head, she gave Severus a searing kiss. "I don't know if I'll be back down today. I think this meeting is going to take all day. Don't forget that Molly has insisted on hosting a small birthday dinner for you. I've set the alarm for quarter to 6."

With a final kiss, Hermione sashayed out of the lab, smirking knowing her husband was most definitely staring.

Severus, could not believe the day he was having. So far, this had been the best birthday of his life, and it wasn't even noon. Lightly humming to himself, he retrieved his potions ingredients and moved to his cauldron, removing the stasis charm to continue Attempt #4 of his 24-hour Polyjuice Potion.

At half six, Severus was bottling the potion and cleaning his workspace. He was confident that this brew was the one. Attempt #1 had been dormant, not allowing for any transformation; Attempt #2 was considered a success, having extended the life of the potion by 6 hours; Attempt #3 had melted a very expensive copper cauldron. Now with this Attempt, he reverted to pewter and added powdered griffin claw and Ptolemy.

Casting a tempus charm, he knew he had a couple of minutes to spare before he had to leave for the Burrow. He would have to wait and test the potion tomorrow. Maybe he'd have some fun and steal a hair from Bill Weasley if he was at dinner tonight.

A quick freshening charm to relieve himself of the smell of potions fumes and remove some of the greasiness in his hair, Severus walked the nine flights to the main level and flooed to the Burrow.

"Severus!" Molly called out, rushing over to him and hugging him as if she had not seen him in years, as opposed to two weeks ago at his wedding. "You're early! Only Ginny, Fleur and the children are here so far. I've made all your favourites, roast, and lots of Yorkshire puddings with gravy…"

"Just wait until you see the cake Professor, the house may burn down with the number of candles she's piled on there."

Pulling himself out of Molly Weasley's firm grip, Severus looked up to see a smirking Ginny Weasley standing in the doorway, trying to hold the child who was wriggling like a niffler in Gringotts.

Arching an eyebrow, Severus just said: "Thank you for reminding me just how old I am Ginevra."

"You've been a grouchy old man for years' sir; your age is just starting to catch up to your personality."

The pair let out loud laughs as the Niffler/little boy wriggled free from his mother's arms.

"Uncle Sev'rus!" James Sirius Potter screamed running for the man's legs, "Happy Birfday!"

Scooping the boy up and bopping him on the nose, Severus said: "Thank you, James."

Holding the boy who called him 'Uncle', Severus wondered what the Marauders would think of his close relationship with their namesake, before feeling a twinge of guilt that his childhood nemesis would never know the special little boy in his arms.

Following the Weasley women into the kitchen, Severus was shocked to see himself in the miniature sitting at the kitchen table next to the eldest Weasley grandchild, Victoire Weasley. "Edward," Severus drawled at 10-year-old Teddy Lupin, "Only nine months until Hogwarts young man."

"Yes sir!" a little voice that sounded so odd in his reflection piped up.

"Promise me that you will impersonate me at least once in front of Headmistress McGonagall."

"Yes, sir!"

"Now, have I ever told you about the time your father taught at Hogwarts?" Severus said, feeling another twinge of guilt, "In your Uncle Harry's third year, he was teaching the class about boggarts. One student said that his boggart would be me. I used to be a very strict and scary teacher. So, your father had him shove me into a vile emerald green dress, a hat with a stuffed vulture, a fox scarf and a red handbag."

Teddy was laughing so hard at the image he lost control of the transformation and returned to his normal blue hair, and eyes and a round face that matched his fathers at that age. While the inhabitants of the kitchen continued to laugh at the image of Severus Snape wearing old Augusta Longbottom's clothes, Harry, Hermione and Arthur walked into the room with bemused looks on their faces.

Walking up to her husband and placing a kiss to his cheek Hermione inquired what was so funny.

"Uncle Severus told me about the boggart in my Da's class."

Harry started laughing, remembering the sight while Hermione had a smile on her lips, "What brought that on?" she asked the room.

Having gotten control of his laughter, Teddy morphed back into 'Mini-Snape'.

"Blimey!" Harry yelled, "that's bloody frightening!"

Just then, George and Bill walked in, curious about the noise. One look at Teddy and the laughed started all over again, "That's a great party trick Teddy," George chortled ruffling his hair. Teddy scowled at the red-head, and that just made everyone laugh louder, except Harry who moaned, "Just transform back Teddy, Please!"

Dinner was excellent as anything Molly Weasley created was, and after the black forest cake (his favourite), piled high with forty-nine candles, that made Ginny and George jokingly cast aguamenti charms at him so his hair wouldn't catch on fire, was eaten, there were some small gifts to open. Jamie drew a picture of him on his Uncle Sev'rus' lap, reading a book together; George gave him a new beaters bat; the Potter's gave him a block of his favourite dark chocolate from Honeydukes; Bill and Fleur a new tome on curse breaking; and Arthur and Molly a knitted forest green scarf that matched the socks he'd received for Christmas.

After the gifts and displays of affection, even the cold, stoic, surly Potions Master was feeling a little emotional. The last four months with Hermione had brought so many wonderful people into his life, so much love and happiness. To think, if Ron Weasley hadn't been such a buffoon on Hermione's birthday, he would still be living a lonely existence, pining over the woman who was now his wife, soaking in the precious time she was able to give to him. Looking around the room, his eyes finally laid on his wife's as she took her hand in his under the table.

"One more gift love," she murmured, producing a small, black, rectangular box with a silver bow on top.

Untying the ribbon, and lifting the lid from the box, Severus found a small ruby red garment. Holding it up his eyes widened in awe as he held a small baby jumper that read "Future Gryffindor Beater."

His jaw dropped at the same moment the jumper fell from his hands, and he looked towards Hermione in wonder. "Truly? You are with child?" Hermione nodded, the smile on her face so wide, beaming with happiness. Severus jumped from his seat, pulling her to him, kissing her soundly before twirling her around the kitchen smiling. The sounds of the other reactions completely missed by him as he focused on his wife, who was pregnant with his child. He, Severus Snape would be a father, something he never thought would happen.

"You're happy Sev? Truly?"

"Oh Mia," he murmured, "You have made this grumpy old git the happiest man alive."

As he put her down, Severus looked at George and Harry, holding up the jumper, grinning.

Scowling, Severus summoned the jumper from them and charmed it emerald green to read "Future Slytherin Beater" before wrapping it back up in the box and kissing his wife on the top of her head. It truly was the best birthday.