Nineteen years after the defeat of Voldemort, Spinner's End was a much more cheerful place. A large real estate company came in and updated the old houses and the dilapidated playground. Now it was a place bustling with families of the type that had white picket fences, cook-outs, and minivans.
The old Snape house was also much changed. Where nobody used to live there but a reclusive man, now it belonged to a distant relative of that man. She was a sweet-tempered young lady named Rose Harris, with a husband named Simon who worked for the government (though he was never very clear about exactly what he did), and three children.
Now, the family was at the park together. The children were talking about some boarding school they all attended in Scotland, and a few neighbors waved good-naturedly at the family as they passed.
“You won't last two seconds at Hogwarts. They'll send you back straight away,” fourteen-year-old Remus assured his younger brother.
“Why didn't they send you back, then?” said Morgan, who, at seven, was always quick to defend Severus.
“Face it, Sev,” continued Remus, ignoring Morgan. “You're too wimpy for Gryffindor, too dumb for Ravenclaw, and you'd be eaten alive in Slytherin.”
Morgan piped up yet again, “What about Hufflepuff?”
Remus laughed. “He's not stupid enough to get himself sorted into Hufflepuff! He knows Mum and Dad would disinherit him!”
“I'd sooner leave than be in Hufflepuff,” grumbled Severus, digging his toe into the dirt from where he sat on a swing.
Morgan stuck her tongue out at Remus and stomped over to Severus, her face as red as her hair. “You'll be a brilliant Gryffindor,” she assured Severus. “Remus is in Slytherin, so of course Gryffindor is where you'll end up.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Severus, cutting his sister a sideways look.
“Gryffindor and Slytherin are natural enemies.”
Severus grinned. “What house do you fancy, Mo?” he asked, trying to deflect the conversation from himself.
“Ravenclaw, like Dad,” said Morgan at once. “I know Sammy says that only swots go to Ravenclaw, but I'm sure Bethany's headed for Ravenclaw. She's incredibly brainy.”
Bethany and Justin Finnigan were good friends with Severus and Morgan. Sammy and Seamus had stayed in contact with Simon and Rose over the years. Now the Leaky Cauldron was owned by Sammy's mum, one of the many Muggle-borns released from Azkaban after Harry defeated Voldemort. Bethany and Justin were twins, and they would be starting Hogwarts that year with Severus, leaving Morgan without many options for playmates.
“Do you think Valentine will make a good teacher?” asked Morgan reflectively, thinking of another of Rose's friends.
“She did work in Experimental Charms for five years,” Severus pointed out. Valentine would be known this year and forever more as Professor Scattergood, as she was taking over the post as Charms teacher now that Flitwick had retired.
“C'mon kids!” Simon Harris called to his children. “We have a big day tomorrow, you'll need your sleep.”
As the children reluctantly made their way back to the house, Morgan and Remus bickering all the way, Rose noticed that Severus was lagging behind. She watched him. He looked a lot like Simon: light brown hair, a light sprinkling of freckles across his nose. But out of all her children, only Severus had her green eyes.
“Mum?” he said quietly to Rose, after he was certain the others were out of earshot. He paused then, uncertain how to phrase his question. He felt a bit stupid, asking.
“Yes?” said Rose expectantly. She slowed to match her son's pace.
Severus looked sheepishly up at her and said quietly, “You- you don't think I will be a Hufflepuff, do you?”
Rose smiled. “I wouldn't disinherit you, if that's what your asking.” Severus scowled and Rose laughed. She slipped an arm around Severus' shoulders. “Sev, I don't care what house your in. You are my son. That's all that matters to me. However,” she added when she saw him rolling his eyes, “if it means that much to you, I seriously doubt that you'll be in Hufflepuff.”
“Where do you think I'll go, then?” asked Severus eagerly, sounding relieved.
“I have ten Galleons on you making it to Gryffindor, but your father is determined to have you at Ravenclaw. It would be nice if you helped me win, though,” said Rose playfully.
Severus grinned. “Thanks, Mum,” he said, before hurrying off after the rest of the family.
Rose paused before going inside. It had been nineteen years, but still, she always paused.
There were days when it seemed that no time had passed. There were days when she thought that if she just closed her eyes, she would be sixteen again, going inside after running to the store on the corner for more milk or spaghetti noodles. There were days that she half expected to see Severus Snape in his cracked leather armchair by the fire, totally absorbed in a book, startle at her entrance and send his reading glasses flying across the room.
But the moment would end, and she would turn the doorknob and forget all of this because Remus had Sev in a headlock and Morgan was screaming at them to stop fighting and Simon had thrown up his hands in surrender before storming out of the room to take an aspirin. Rose had a life now, a family and a job. She had to catch Dark wizards, keep her children from killing each other, make sure that everyone had enough to eat and to wear, and listen to Simon's many frustrated or amusing anecdotes about the ins and outs of life in Wizarding court. Even so, she always paused on the doorstep. She felt that it was good to remind herself whose house it was.
This was where everything had begun for her. And now, she couldn't think of a happier ending.
The Other Potter by georgeisholey
Chapter Endnotes: THE END! Well, what do you think? Please, do tell! :)