Chapter 23 – Epilogue

It was a lovely Sunday near the end of March, and a weekend away from Hogwarts that Dumbledore had kindly granted him for the past five years. Snape sat at the kitchen table of his home on Spinner's End, making lists of things they would need once they moved into their new house in London.

'When's uncle Sirius coming?' asked Markus, his nose barely touching the top of the table where his father sat.

Snape smiled at the five-year-old version of himself. 'You aren't a very patient lad, are you?' Markus had been hounding his father since earlier that morning when he found out that Sirius would be over for a visit.

'But mommy said he was bringing a surprise,' he said, his little lip pouting as though he had been refused something he really wanted.

'Well of course he is,' said Snape, patting his knee as a sign for Markus to hop up on his lap. 'That's what birthdays are all about.'

Markus had dark eyes and hair like Snape, but, unlike his, Snape had insisted that it be kept short.

Snape heard the soft thud of footsteps, and looked up to see his daughter standing in the doorway in her special green dress, her mother in miniature.

'Daddy, when's uncle Sirius coming?' asked Melody.

Snape patted his other knee, and she came running to him. 'You two just don't give up, do you?' he said as he planted a kiss on his daughter's cheek. 'He's coming after lunch.'

'After lunch?' Markus whined, as though the two-hour wait was simply unbearable.

'Yes, and you two had better not get into it like you did last night or there will be no surprise and I'll eat all your cake,' Snape said, his tone clearly at odds with the grin on his face.

'You can't eat someone else's birthday cake, daddy,' said Melody, her expression one of both fear and disapproval.

'Yeah,' said Markus. 'It's against the law.'

Snape scoffed, still smiling. 'Against the law, is it? Well so is throwing ice cream at your sister.'

Markus narrowed his eyes at his father, not knowing whether he should believe him. 'But she said I would look like a house elf in a party hat!'

Snape couldn't help but burst out laughing at his indignant expression. No one could deny that Markus had inherited his father's forceful and sometimes sharp personality. While Snape had mellowed drastically since the birth of his twin children, the snark was alive and well in Markus. Melody smoothed out her green dress that made her eyes of the same colour seem to explode with radiance.

'Do you like my dress?' she asked Snape.

'You look beautiful,' he said, planting a second kiss on the top of her head, from which flowed long tresses of flaming red hair.

Suddenly the front door opened, and both Markus and Melody slipped from Snape's lap and ran to the front room.

Snape followed them and saw Lily carrying two paper bags full of groceries.

'That was fast,' said Snape as he took the bags from her so she could hug Melody, who had run to her and was waiting to be acknowledged. Markus, however, stood back a bit, looking disappointed.

'I thought it was Sirius,' he said as he approached Lily, who drew him into an embrace.

'Disappointed to see his own mother,' Snape said incredulously, 'That's a first.'

She scooted the kids away and they disappeared down the hall, Markus chasing Melody all the way.

Lily kissed Snape, and even now, after a million kisses, she could still make him feel lightheaded. They both headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch and get dinner underway.

Both were excellent cooks, as their talents with Potions crossed over well. By the time they had eaten lunch and Lily had put the roast in to cook, they heard the front door open for a second time, and two over-excited children began screaming with delight.

Snape still hadn't gotten over all the animosity that had existed between them, but Sirius and the kids had formed an instant connection the first time they had met, and he wasn't about to deny his children something that made them so happy. Though Snape fought it for a long time, Lily had insisted that Sirius be made their godfather. Eventually, Snape conceded, realizing that it was pointless to upset Lily over something that was so important to her. After all, he had been godfather to her first son, whom he had loved as his own. And if Lily and the kids were happy, he was happy.

Lily wiped her hands on a cloth and went into the front room to greet him, and Snape followed a moment later.

He stood back a bit, watching Markus and Melody maul him, but Sirius, who had kneeled down on the floor, seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

His smile faded a little when he caught sight of Snape standing in the doorway. He nodded his head and said, 'Good afternoon.'

Snape nodded in return. 'Good afternoon.'

Sirius stood up, and then stooped to pick up Melody. Markus, however, was eyeing the presents Sirius had brought with him.

'Oh no you don't,' said Lily, pointing her wand at the overlong boxes and Vanishing them to the hallway closet. 'Not until after supper.'

Markus frowned slightly, but seemed to forget about them rather quickly.

'What do you kids say to going to the park?' Sirius asked them.

Loud shouts of approval and excitement erupted from the two of them as they jumped up and down.

Sirius opened the front door and the kids ran out. He turned to Lily and Snape and said, 'I'll see if I can wear them out a little.'

Lily smiled and said, 'Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.'

Sirius went off after Markus and Melody, closing the door behind him, leaving Snape and Lily in a peacefulness they had not known in a long time.

Lily turned to Snape, wrapping her arms around him. 'How long do you think they'll be gone?' she asked, a devilish grin spreading across her face.

Snape kissed her, and then said, 'Hopefully long enough.'

--

After they had finished eating and opening the presents, they all went outside to the backyard so Markus and Melody could ride around on their new miniature brooms, though not before Snape had cast boundary spells around the yard so they couldn't fly away.

Lily had, at one point, gone to help Melody after she had fallen off, leaving Snape and Sirius sitting together on the back step.

For a few long moments, they sat in a stiff silence. Then, Sirius said, 'They've grown since the last time I was here.'

Snape nodded in agreement, his attention focused on Lily as she helped Melody.

Sirius cleared his throat before continuing. 'Thank you for letting me see them. They mean the world to me.'

Sirius's sincerity made Snape feel less tense. 'I suppose I should thank you for not rejecting Markus for being so much like me.'

'It's not his fault,' Sirius said, smiling a little, momentarily slipping into his former teenage habit. 'I get quite a kick out of him myself. I love them both to death.'

Snape smiled in spite of himself, though Sirius could not see it because of the way they were sitting. 'It seems that after all these years, we finally have something in common.'