“Please don't kneel on the floor like that.” Severus was standing in the doorway and came into the room to lift Emily into his arms and sit on the bed with her in his lap.

“I just wanted to pick up that toy...”

“You might have used Accio.”

“Does it matter so much?”

“Emily, don't you realize what your body means to me?” He held her tightly. “This is the body that has carried my children and I hope will carry more.” He buried his head in her neck and his voice dropped to a husky whisper. “This is the body that makes love to me so sweetly and with such passion and intensity.” He looked into her eyes. “This is the body you traded for my soul. It deserves far better than to be on the floor like that.”

Emily was trembling from the emotion in his voice. She kissed him and the fires were fanned. Severus pulled his head back to make sure. “Are you...is it OK?”

“Yes,” she responded, “we can make love, again. They said at the hospital that I'm healed enough for that.”

“But is it all right with you?” He wanted to be sure that nothing was between them. She was astonished by his self restraint and love.

In answer she took his hand and kissed it, then placed it within her robe. She had loosened her clothing when playing with Hope had made her overly warm. He found himself touching bare skin just above her heart, which was beating rapidly.

“Sometimes I think I came alive the first time I touched you, Severus,” she said. “I want you here and now as much as I ever have.”

“Emily...” Before he could recover his hand she had undone his robe and pushed it off his other arm before moving on to the buttons of his shirt. Severus struggled to catch up to her and then laughed with delight as the race they ran yielded so much to touch and kiss. She took advantage of being ahead and Severus remembered the enchantment of her touch. He decided there was only pleasure in losing such a contest if he were allowed to stop and reacquaint himself with the feel and smell and taste of their love.

The last time they had shared this bed they had been surrounded by ghosts and grief and recent loss. Today they were entirely by themselves. As they moved together they only saw themselves in each other's eyes. A while later full contentment came upon them and they knew they were home and together again as they had not been since the dinner party at Malfoy Manor.

“I--” started Severus, but Emily shook her head and put her finger to his lips, not wanting to end the moment just yet. She kissed him and softly caressed his face. A while later he cleared his throat and started again. “Emily, I love you.” He kissed her again.

“Oh, Severus, I love you, too.” She looked up at him with stars in her eyes. Her body glowed and he was reminded of the radiantly beautiful woman of their wedding day. He hugged her to him and gloried in the feel of having her in his arms again. He relaxed as he could only do when she was with him in their bed.

---

When he awoke it was evening and Emily was in the sitting room with Hope, holding a napkin and warily watching the child feed herself mashed potatoes. Both of the females in Severus's life smiled as he joined them.

“She's so grown up,” said Emily. “I feel like I need to reintroduce myself.”

“You have plenty of time to get to know each other again, just as we do.”

Emily set out Severus's dinner and the three ate together. When she decided she was done, the little girl lifted her arms to her daddy and the three played together until the toddler was ready for bed. They bathed her, read her a story and put her in her bed. They then stood and watched her as she went to sleep. Emily's gaze was hungry as she relearned her daughter's features. Severus put his arm around her and eventually led her back to the sitting room where they settled on the couch.

“Two children won't know their parents as she will know us,” sighed Emily. “I don't think the Longbottoms will be able to attend to their son any more than the Potters can to theirs.”

He hugged her closer with the arm that was still around her and kissed the crown of her head. “We've been given a reprieve, but who knows how long it will last?” He kissed her neck and then around the edges of her dressing gown.

Emily sucked in her breath. “Severus?”

He looked up. “Yes?”

“I'm so happy to be home, with you.”

---

Emily and Severus, like many of their contemporaries, rejoiced in the triumph over Voldemort while mourning losses, both personal and public. Many people had been lost in the days before the Dark Lord fell, and some others were lost in a period of lawlessness that followed his demise. The Aurors, Magical Law Enforcement, and Wizengamot were kept constantly busy capturing, trying, and sentencing Death Eaters. Several of these criminals sought to improve their standing and their deals by claiming to know of other Death Eaters. No name was more widely used in that capacity than that of Severus Snape.

It became necessary to hold a full hearing of the Wizengamot on the subject of Severus Snape and his activities. Severus was required to describe, in detail, all of his activities on behalf of both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore. Emily was asked to describe, in detail, what she knew of those activities. She was fortunately spared the question of whether she had ever met Voldemort in person. Finally, Dumbledore himself settled the matter as he had before, stating, “Severus Snape is no more a Death Eater than I am.”

As they dealt with the external struggles, an agonized Severus watched Emily recover from the birth and loss of their son. It was difficult to know how she would be feeling on any given day, since many of the physical effects of childbirth were not completely gone. Much of those effects had been dealt with in the hospital during the first month. However, it was not unheard of for Severus to find her weeping in a corner because of a lingering sign of new motherhood or because she found she could fit into a dress she hadn't worn since before she was pregnant. Not knowing what to do, he learned to pull her into his arms and tell her he loved her, sometimes shedding a few tears for his own loss.