averygoodun42 | Ficlet for mollyssister

This might not be exactly what you were looking for, but it's what came to mind. Happy birthday and I hope you're in the mood for fluff.

Severus watched discreetly as Airell, Corvus and Myrddin strolled down the hill to the broom shed. They were such big boys now, though he refused to call them men. It didn’t matter if all of them were taller than he was, nor that Myrddin, the youngest, was now well out of Hogwarts. They would forever be boys to him.

His lips twitched as Corvus playfully shoved Ari out of the way when Ari failed to open the new wards on the shed. The lips twitched higher as Corvus gave way to Myrddin with a fake bow. He turned the newspaper’s page to hide his smirk as all three boys looked back at him with identical scowls.

“What’s the secret this time?” his wife asked merrily, bringing him a glass of wine and sitting down beside him.

Severus chuckled. “They simply have to remember to ask nicely.”

Hermione snorted. “Forever the teacher, aren’t you?”

“It seems some curses last longer than other, I’m afraid.”

Hermione laughed. “You’re terrible, Severus. You know that, don’t you?”

He took her hand in his. “Of course I do, my love. But they seem to have forgot.”

Hermione sighed wistfully as the shed door sprang open and the boys turned to wave smugly at their father.

“They’ve grown up to be good men, thanks to you.”

Severus smiled gently for his wife while watching his boys mount their brooms and fly off over the trees. “No, my dear,” he said. “They’ve grown up to be good because of you. If I’ve done my job properly, I’ve merely fortified them against life’s harsher winds.”

His wife squeezed his hand gently. “As I said, they’re good men thanks to you.”

He looked over at her and smiled.