The air shimmered as Severus Apparated just outside the Silverthorne Manor gates. The anger burning in him had quieted into something else—protective, fierce, but no longer explosive. Inside the manor's planetary wards, warm golden motes drifted like quiet fireflies, sensing his return.
The moment he stepped through the threshold, the wards pulsed in greeting.
"Severus?" Elarisse's voice echoed from the left hallway. She emerged from the potions wing, raven hair in a loose braid, a faint smear of silver salve on her cheek. "You're back earlier than I feared."
Snape only managed a stiff nod.
Elarisse's green eyes softened knowingly. "Did Dumbledore fight you?"
Snape opened his mouth—then paused.
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He barely had time to brace before a little bundle of energy collided with his legs.
"SEVVY!"
Mavis crashed into him with enough force to nearly topple him over. Snape's arms automatically came down around her, steadying her small frame.
His voice came out far too gentle for his usual standards. "Careful, little serpent. You'll bruise yourself."
She just giggled and hugged him tighter, face pressed into the fabric of his robes.
"You're back!" she said brightly. "I missed you!"
Elarisse crossed her arms with a smug smile. "I told you she'd be listening for you."
Snape cleared his throat, patting Mavis's head with an awkward tenderness. "Yes, well. I had business."
She tilted her head up, eyes shimmering with a soft golden glow—the early sign of Silverthorne magic awakening.
"Did you fight a monster?" Mavis whispered dramatically.
He almost smiled. "No monsters. Only bureaucrats."
"Same thing," Alaric said as he joined the group, silver hair tied back, wand tucked behind his ear. "Welcome back, Severus."
"Where's Isolde?" Mavis asked, still clinging to him.
"In the greenhouse," Elarisse chuckled. "Probably making love potions wilt by looking at them."
Snape snorted.
Elarisse stepped closer. "Did things go... as hoped?"
Snape gently separated Mavis from his robes, crouching so he could look her in the eye. "You are staying here," he said simply. "No one is taking you away."
Her breath hitched. She threw her arms around his neck again and whispered, "I knew you'd fix it."
His arms tightened around her just slightly.
Elarisse's eyes grew glossy, and Alaric looked quietly grateful.
The Silverthorne Manor felt warmer than usual.
But peace never lasted long.
Three days later, chaos came knocking.
Literally.
A thunderous banging shook the front door. Alaric opened it to find five stern Ministry officials, two Aurors, and Dolores Umbridge herself standing there in her nauseating pink coat.
Snape, who had been teaching Mavis how to properly cut daisy roots, stepped into the foyer with the measured calm of a man seconds away from murder.
"Alaric Silverthorne," Umbridge chirped. "We've come to collect the child illegally taken from her rightful guardians." Her smile was sugary venom. "Please surrender the girl—Mavis Potter—for Ministry processing."
Snape stepped forward.
Elarisse and Alaric exchanged a glance but let him handle it.
"Madam Umbridge," Snape said in a silken tone that could flay flesh. "You are standing on Silverthorne territory. And she is not 'the girl.' She is Mavis Potter–Silverthorne."
Umbridge tittered unpleasantly. "Now, now, blood adoption is a sweet idea, but not legally binding without Ministry—"
Alaric flicked his wand.
Ancient runes surged across the air, glowing fiery gold.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltRkFpLvFF
An enormous sigil—the Silverthorne Crest—appeared above the doorway, shimmering with opal light.
A deep magical voice boomed:
"BLOOD OF HOUSE SILVERTHORNE RECOGNIZED. GUARDIANSHIP LEGALLY AND MAGICALLY SLAID."
The Ministry delegation froze.
Elarisse stepped forward, every inch the regal witch she truly was. "Our wards do not lie. Nor does the ancient magic your Ministry claims to respect."
Snape folded his arms. "Furthermore, I have filed testimony with the DMLE documenting the Dursleys' neglect. Interfering now would require a Wizengamot review."
"I—I—" Umbridge sputtered, face reddening.
"And," Snape added coolly, "you would lose."
One of the Aurors—Tonks's father, Ted—gave a discreet nod of agreement behind her back.
Umbridge made a strangled noise not unlike a dying puffskein.
"Well!" she snapped. "This is not over!"
Snape smirked. "For your sake, I dearly hope it is."
The door slammed shut.
Alaric let out a long breath. "I knew we'd have trouble eventually."
"They will not return," Snape said crisply. "They know better."
Elarisse smirked. "Severus, that was the most satisfying Ministry interaction I've had in a decade."
Snape merely lifted his chin. "I do aim to please."
That night, after dinner, the three adults gathered in the study. Mavis was upstairs with Isolde learning how to braid Veela-silken ribbons.
A comforting fire crackled in the hearth as Alaric set tea on the low table. Zirael sat down next to Alaric's chair.
Snape leaned back in the armchair, posture stiff but thoughtful. "She's showing signs of strong early affinity."
Elarisse nodded, petting Aeris on the head. "Life magic is awakening. Her aura flickers between gold and silver."
Snape steepled his fingers. "She will be powerful. More than Lily was."
His voice quieted at the name.
Elarisse placed a gentle hand on his arm. "You can speak of her here. We know."
Snape swallowed. "Mavis... she has Lily's gentleness. And James's stubbornness." He exhaled, almost fond. "But she is something else entirely. Something... ancient."
"Silverthorne magic recognized her immediately," Alaric said softly. "It resonates with her soul."
"We've never seen anything like it," Elarisse murmured. "Opal sparks in her magic at age seven. That should be impossible."
Snape looked into the fire. "Nothing about Mavis has ever been ordinary."
There was a pause.
Soft, warm.
Then Alaric smiled faintly as he stroke's Zirael's head, "And I'm glad we're the ones raising her."
Zirael purred while Aeris chirped happily.
Snape didn't disagree.
It was nearly midnight when a piercing cry echoed through the hallway.
Snape was the first to his feet.
He reached Mavis's bedroom as she bolted upright in bed, eyes wide, breath coming fast—frantic sobbing caught in her throat.
"Papa? Mama? Please—please don't leave—!"
Snape sat beside her immediately, catching her trembling hands.
"Mavis," he said quietly. "You're safe. It's only a nightmare."
She blinked through tears. "I—I saw them again. My first parents. They were... they were—" Her breath hitched painfully. "A-and then the Dursleys. Uncle's shouting. The cupboard—"
Her voice broke.
Without hesitation, Snape pulled her into his chest.
"Enough," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her tiny, shaking form. "Breathe, little serpent. I'm here."
She clung to his robes, shaking harder. "Don't go. Please don't go."
His chest tightened unbearably. "I'm not going anywhere."
Mavis sobbed quietly into him. Snape rested his chin gently atop her head, rubbing soothing circles on her back—something he had learned from Elarisse.
Slowly, her trembling eased.
After a long while, she whispered, "Sevvy... why did they hate me?"
Snape closed his eyes.
"They were foolish," he said softly. "And cruel. Not worth a single tear you shed."
"But—"
He tipped her chin up.
"You are loved."14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQY74FfJLnb
Each word was slow. Deliberate. "By the Silverthornes. By me. You will never be unwanted again."
Her lower lip quivered—and then she hugged him fiercely.
"I love you," she whispered.
Snape froze.
And then, very carefully, he wrapped both arms around her again.
"...And I care for you," he said quietly. "Deeply."
She smiled against his chest, finally calming.
He stayed beside her until she drifted off again, small hand curled around his sleeve as if afraid he'd vanish.
He didn't move.
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