As I had expected, I was the first one to wake up. (Y/N) and Elora were sleeping soundly, so I found it necessary to let them rest a little while longer.

For the time being, I decided to visit Diagon Alley in hopes of replenishing the various ingredients missing from my private stores.

I woke up to the sound of Elora's babbling. I believe she was trying to get my attention, because she was staring right at me once I opened my eyes. She then began giggling once she realized that she had gotten my attention. I responded with a laugh of my own and picked her up to get her changed and fed.

°••°°••°°••°°••°°••°

Severus had left me a note on the kitchen table saying he went to Diagon Alley for a few potion related errands. So I decided to use the time before he returned to take a walk around the school with Elora.

The school was nearly empty due to the fact that most students had left for the holidays on the Hogwarts Express this morning.

Around 20 minutes later, I heard someone call in my direction,

"Professor (Y/L/N)!"

I turned my head to see a student, as well as three others, run in my direction, only to stop a few feet in front of me. I recognized them immediately. They were a 3rd year friend group that I had gotten to know during Severus' class.

"Hello you four! I'm surprised to see that you're all staying at Hogwarts for Christmas." I smiled at them.

"We're surprised to see you here at all! Oh! Is this your baby?" Rachel, the one who called my name earlier, asked.

"Yes, this is Elora." I turned Elora around in my arms to have her face them.

The group awed at Elora and began asking question after question. Mainly ones such as,

'How old is she?'

'How did you keep it a secret at school?'

'Will she be there in classes when I begin teaching again?'

And the last one being,

"Who's her father?"

I was caught off guard by the question, being that it was also asked by a student. I stuttered a bit before responding,

"Em.. her father, is um-"

"(Y/N)?" All five of us turned around to see Severus walking our way.

Elora must have seen him as well because she began squealing and reaching for Severus now.

"Wait a minute.. Is Professor Snape-"

"Am I what?" Severus asked, one eyebrow raised at the students.

Elora interrupted with her whining and I finally gave up trying to keep her still,

"Can you please take her?"

Severus seemed skeptical since there were students present. But it was only a matter of time until word got out, so he ended up taking her.

"Oh my gosh, wait. Professor Snape are you her father?" Rachel and her friends looked eager to find out.

Severus gave me a 'wtf' look and hesitated to respond. I sighed and decided I might as well,

"Yes, he is her father."

Rachel and her friends were gobsmacked. But before they could ask anymore questions, Severus spoke,

"I need to speak with Professor (Y/L/N) in private."

Severus held Elora in one arm whilst pulling me in in the direction away from the four students. As soon as we rounded the corner and the coast was clear, Severus sighed,

"Why did you tell them that?"

"They were going to find out sooner or later, so we might as well tell the truth if someone asks. Besides, I guarantee lots of students saw you holding Elora in the Great Hall last night. And, don't you think it would be nice not to have to keep it a secret?" I brought up valid points to strengthen my argument.

"I suppose you have a point." Severus replied with a sigh and adjusted his hold on Elora while doing so.

"Great, thank you, Severus." I smiled at him.

"Oh! There you two are. I was wondering where I might find you." I heard the familiar voice of Professor McGonagall say from behind us.

"Hello, Minerva. How are you?" I turned in her direction and greeted her.

"I am doing wonderfully, thank you for asking dear! Now, I was looking for the two of you because I had a thought about something I believe you'd both quite like." Minerva stated before awaiting a response.

I nodded for her to continue whilst Severus seemed curious about what she was going to say.

She cleared her throat before continuing,

"When was the last time that the both of you spent a day all to yourselves, not worrying about anything?"

I widened my eyes at the thought. It's been quite a while now that I think about it. Severus didn't look too sure about how long it's been either.

"By the looks on your faces I believe it hasn't been recent enough, am I correct?" Minerva asked us knowingly.

I nodded sheepishly at her.

"Right, well, how about you two spend the rest of the day doing whatever it is you feel like doing and I'll watch over little Elora." Minerva offered with a genuine smile.

I stuttered and looked over at Severus to see what he thought. He seemed as shocked by the idea as I was, but definitely considering it.

"That's very kind of you, Minerva. I believe Severus and I could use a little time for ourselves. Thank you so much." I was already intrigued by the idea.

"Wonderful! I can watch over Elora already if you'd like? Perhaps I could show her some transfiguration spells to entertain her?" Minerva seemed just as excited as she was when Gryffindor won it's last quidditch match.

"Of course! Elora would love that." I responded as I handed Elora over to her.

"Well then, off with you two!" Minerva shooed us away and stepped into her office with Elora shortly after.

Severus and I looked at each other awkwardly, not really knowing what to spend our time doing, being that it's been a while since we last had a date of any kind.

"So.. what do you want to do?" I asked as we walked down the hall.

Severus thought for a moment before responding,

"We could take a walk down by the Black Lake?"

"Oh! How about a picnic of sorts? We could sit and eat down by the old willow tree, like we did years ago." I offered excitedly.

Severus smiled lightly and nodded, to which I cheered silently and pulled him in the direction of our Quarters to grab some things.

°••°°••°°••°°••°°••°

(Y/N) wasted not one minute gathering the typical items needed for a picnic. In under 5 minutes, she was already leading me out of the castle and down to the Black Lake. The two of us walked up to the willow tree and set our things down. (Y/N) pulled out the blanket she had tucked under her arm and placed it on the ground for us to sit on.

"Sit down, Severus." (Y/N) patted the spot she wanted me to sit on before sitting down on hers.

I made myself comfortable before inhaling the fresh air. (Y/N) opened the picnic basket she brought with and removed two premade sandwiches from it, handing one of them to me. We ate in a comfortable silence while listening to the sounds around us. The light rustling of the tree's branches was quite calming.

The silence ended once (Y/N) finished her sandwich and began rummaging in the picnic basket once more,

"I brought something else that I think you'll like."

I raised a brow at her statement and waited for her to show me what she was referring to. She eventually lifted up a newer issue of the Daily Prophet and flipped it over.

"A crossword puzzle! Remember when we used to solve these every night together? We should do that again." (Y/N) seemed ecstatic and shuffled over to sit directly next to me.

"Here, you go first." She handed me a pen and smiled.

I took the pen from her and chose a column to start with.

°••°°••°°••°°••°°••°

After nearly an hour of endless crossword puzzling, we finished the page.

"I missed this." I told (Y/N) as she set the newspaper back into the basket.

"I did too." She responded with a smile.

"Hey, let's skip some stones on the lake. I haven't done that in a while either." (Y/N) offered as she stood up to walk over to the edge of the water.

I followed and stooped down to pick up a nicely sized stone. (Y/N) did the same and positioned herself to skip it.

Once she threw and released the stone, it skipped only once before sinking. She seemed disappointed.

"Here. Hold it like this." I placed the stone in her hand and pulled her arm back to the correct starting position.

I then stepped back into the same stance and threw my stone as an example. It skipped three times before disappearing into the depths of the lake. (Y/N) threw hers directly after me and was able to skip it twice this time.

"When did you learn how to skip stones?" She asked me quizzically.

"During my time as a student, I came here to read in peace, as well as skip stones on occasion. You could say I have a knack for it." I responded with a smirk of confidence.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes at me in a playful manner before replying,

"Alright mister stone skipping champion. How about we sit down again and have something to drink?"

I nodded in agreement before returning to the blanket with her. We drank a bit of the wine that (Y/N) had brought along before laying down on the blanket, next to one another.

The sun had started to set and the brightest stars and closest planets were beginning to become visible.

"Don't you just love the sky, Sev?" (Y/N) asked me suddenly.

"I enjoy gazing at it once in a while, yes." I responded as I turned my head to the side, facing her.

(Y/N) sighed deeply and stretched her arms out,

"I absolutely love it."

°••°°••°°••°°••°°••°

The sky gradually became darker, so I decided to light a couple tealight candles and set them in little jars around the blanket. I got distracted by this little task and didn't realize that Severus had gotten up from the blanket. After looking around a bit, I spotted him at the edge of the lake.

I decided to join him and see what he was up to. Upon stepping up next to him, I noticed that his eyes were closed. I placed my hand on his shoulder and watched as he opened his eyes and looked over at me.

"Hey." I smiled at him.

He replied with a smile of his own,

"Hello."

I wrapped my arm around his torso in a side hug and asked him,

"What were you thinking about?"

Severus reciprocated the side hug and sighed before replying,

"I thought about what you told me last night. About the emotions I have trouble properly dealing with."

Severus paused before continuing,

"I want to change. I want to become a better person.. father.. lover.. And I've realized that the only way I can change is if I deal with those emotions. I need to start by letting go of the past and realizing that having you and Elora is all I need to be happy."

By this point Severus and I were now in a loose embrace. Tears had even begun pricking at my eyes.

"Oh, Severus.." I pulled him into a tight hug, proud of how well he was already dealing with his emotions.

He held me close to his chest for a moment before pulling back to look at me again,

"You've already changed me in ways I would not have been able to do myself. And for that I am grateful."

I didn't know how to respond anymore, so I just hugged him closer. I never wanted this moment to end.

Eventually, Severus pulled back though. He wiped a couple tears from his face and smiled.

"(Y/N). There are so many things I have to say about you. So many things I want to thank you for. So the least I can do to repay you is ask you this one question."

Severus knelt down on one knee and opened up a box he had taken out of his pocket,

"(Y/N) (Y/M/N) (Y/L/N)..

Will you marry me?"