Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any part of Harry Potter. I do, however, own any places or things you do not recognize.
A/N: Please leave all questions in a review and I will answer them as I can while remaining spoiler free for future chapters. The prologue and first several chapters are short set up pieces, so bear with me. I will try to post a new chapter as often as I can. No, this will not be a Severitis story per se, although you will find elements of such here.
Finally, I will warn for any unusual content. This story is rated T and I do not intend for it to become M at all.
Prologue - 1980 - Paris, France
It was late fall of 1980 when the unfamiliar owl brought him the parchment sealed with the Potter crest. The weather had just turned from Indian summer to crisp harvest, and he was looking forward to the Christmas holidays with relief. His second year at the Academie de Potions in Paris was more strenuous than the first as he approached the final six months of his apprenticeship and mastery the following summer.
Idly, he fed the owl a piece of sausage from his plate that had not been dipped in maple syrup as he read the missive, his face losing its usual emotionless features and cycling through curiosity, puzzlement, and finally settling into a frown. He rose and crumpled the parchment, throwing it in the fireplace before reaching for the box of floo powder on the mantel.
"Godric's Hollow, password fire drake!" Severus said clearly, then stepped into the green flames and whirled away. He stepped out of the fireplace on the other end and spelled his robes free of ash before moving into the house from the library. He headed towards the sound of voices and found himself in the kitchen, along with Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius, all having the sort of argument you usually saw at family dinners after too much wine and fire whiskey.
Severus leaned casually against the doorframe and waited for the inevitable to happen. Within minutes, Lily had whipped out her wand and the oldest Black son was sported a donkey head as a loud bray echoed through the room. James cracked up and Remus threw up his hands as Lily finally noticed him. "Thank god, a voice of reason!" She exclaimed. Sirius let out a snorting bray and she point her wand threateningly. He settled down and James sat down at the table, wiping tears from his eyes. "Never gets old, Lils."
"You watch yourself, or you'll be the next ass around her, Prongs," Remus said. He lifted his coffee cup in salute to Severus, who nodded in response. "Now, can we finally discuss this rationally, please?"
"Yes, and what is *this", precisely," Severus drawled. He moved around the kitchen easily, finding a cup and filling it with the strong tea James liked, using his wand to raise the temperature from lukewarm to scalding.
"Lily's pregnant, Dumbledore's an idiot, and Sirius isn't far behind," Remus summed things up for him without giving him any real information.
Only his own sense of self-preservation kept Severus from spitting tea everywhere and instead offering congratulations to his best friend and, well, woman he'd lost to Potter, though it had never been a contest, Lily had always preferred the romantic attentions of James and that was fine, he told himself. With repeated use he was sure the words would become belief. Eventually.
A long day followed in which official godparent papers were filed for the future Potter heir, The three marauders learned more about what idiocy Dumbledore was peddling, and Severus's headache grew with each passing hour. Around sunset he took his leave, weary of prophecy and old friends and most of all, the idea that his magic was now tied to the well-being of James Potter's son or daughter. It didn't matter that Lily was the child's mother...he had just given up a small piece of himself to protect what would, inevitably, mean more to her than friend or mate.
tbc...
