This plot bunny came from two ideas really. The first is the cover picture, that I found on Facebook recently. And the second is my boss baby, who seems to enjoy creeping us out with a similar movement.

DISCLAIMER: JK is our queen. This is born from her ideas, i am but her loyal subject. And I mean no disrespect at all ;)

Severus could hardly take in his surroundings. The cottage, of which only five minutes ago he was denied the existence of, was in shambles and yet he charged in.

Just past the broken front door, lay a man with dark hair, a man he had loathed most of his life. It was very recent, their mending of fences, so tentative, they had never been alone in the same room without cursing each other. And yet, he could feel the tears start to push their way out of his eyes.

He passed quickly through the tiny cottage, spotting the remnants of a happy if sheltered existence the small family had led, for the past year. Toys on the floor, a knitting project, thrown on the couch, half a meal still left on the table. He rushed past it all, to the stairs that he began to climb two at a time, his sallow cheeks now soaked.

The landing at the top of the stairs had three doors, but he did not hesitate. Only one was open, burst off its hinges, revealing the child's bedroom within. He could hear the screams of the baby boy, still in his crib, but he did not pause at the sight of little Harry. His eyes found Lily though. They always found Lily.

Sprawled out on the floor, off to one side as if she had been kicked, her beautiful green eyes wide and vacant. He could not help the sob that escaped him, as he threw himself next to her and gathered her up in his arms. He had given everything up to save her and everything had not been enough. He had not been able to protect Lily Evans. He thought as he sobbed over her, clutching her to him. She was still warm, it could not have been very long since the Dark Lord had gone. He tried to pull her closer when he realised her odd shape. Her middle was round. Very round.

Round with child.

Through the tears that continued to flow, Severus stared for a moment at her baby bump. Voldemort had killed a pregnant woman. Even Severus, who had been known for his depth in the Dark Arts, knew a line had been crossed. Not even he, on anyone's orders, would have taken two lives at once, in such a horrible fashion.

That was when the bump changed. A small rise appeared, moving across under Lily's sweater.

Severus gave a start, his sobs stopping at once, adrenaline kicking in as he pulled his wand, and lay Lily's head back down. He did not think about what he was doing, he just moved , as if this is what he had been planning all along. He lay a hand on Lily's stomach, feeling the bump and gasped when a small fist (or was it a foot?) pushed back.

"Diffindo." he said softly, tapping his wand against the bump. Instantly, the sweater and skin burst open, but Lily could no longer bleed. Fresh tears appeared, but Snape stayed focused on his task. He dug his hands into her flesh, and found the small body within. Carefully, he pulled.

For a moment, he thought he would be unable to pull the infant out. It was stuck so deep within Lily's still warm womb. He had to rip more of Lily's stomach, tearing at her skin to open the way for the tiny human that then almost fell out into his hands. The baby was not yet full term, he thought wildly, noticing just how tiny the newborn was.

The baby wriggled a little at the newfound cold. It curled in on itself, and Snape cast around for a way to save the tiny thing. It needed to breath, to find air, to join the world of the living its mother had left so recently!

He raised his wand again, holding the baby against him, and pointed, focusing on all the liquid currently sloshing in the infant's lungs.

It took an infinite moment of indescribable fear in Severus' mind, but finally, the baby wailed. A weak cry, like the one of a helpless and dying creature escaped it.

"No. Enough of your family has died today. You are going to stay with me, and you are going to live" he said furiously, as the tears poured down his face again.

He tapped his wand on the umbilical cord, still tying the baby to her mother, muttering the Severing charm again. His eyes, briefly left the baby to search for a blanket, a towel, anything to wrap it in, keep it warm, and instead fell on Harry, in his crib, still crying.

Snape stood slowly, and took a blanket from the crib.

"Hagrid will be here soon, " he told the boy, knowing full well that the one year old could understand him no better than his sibling could.

Carefully he wrapped the infant in the cloth, keeping it as close to him as he could. As he did, he took the time to inspect the infant.

It was a baby girl, he realised with a start. A tiny, fragile, impossible baby girl. He noticed her little breaths, coming in pants, and raised his wand a third time, focussing on a charm usually used for treating those who've had the wind knocked out of them, to renew regular breathing. She responded immediately, her breathing evening out and her eyes opened to stare at him.

She had no hair at all, black or red, and her eyes were still the dark blue of birth. But her tiny face, as underdeveloped as it was, revealed her parents. Lily was there, in the pout of her lips, he thought, and James… he hated to see it and even more to admit it, but James was there in her nose, long like his.

The baby now swaddled as best he could (he had after all, next to no experience with babies, and especially premature newborns) Snape laid her for a moment in his arms before looking up at the love of his life, or what was left of her.

Amazing that he had spent the last ten minutes in the same room as her without glancing at her once. Her blood was now staining the carpet, her eyes always staring emptily at the ceiling. He swallowed another sob, and reached a hand to her face, caressing it gently.

"I wasn't enough for you Lily. But I promise. I'll protect her with everything I have. Absolutely everything."

With one final glance at Harry, whose features were so like the man he detested, he clutched the baby girl closer and left.

He quickly realised travelling with the baby would be difficult. He decided it was probably not in her best interest to Apparate. So he had set off on foot, watching the skies. He heard more than saw, the big motorcycle fall from the sky, and heard Hagrid's deep voice in the night, but he did not stop. The baby had been relatively quiet since her birth, though she wriggled against he hands almost without pause.

He tried to think about what to do next. His knowledge of children was so poor he did not know which way to turn. Perhaps he should get her a bottle, or maybe she wanted a nap? He needed to get her out of the night air, it was cold, but maybe the fresh air was good, he did not know…

Furious with himself and hating the fact he did not know what to do or where to go, he pause at the corner of the street. He tried to come up with a plan, focussing on what he did know.

He needed to get back to the school. He needed to tell Dumbledore, he had saved Lily's daughter. And he needed to find help, to take care of her.

He looked down at the bundle in his arms. The baby girl was still wriggling, her mouth open, though no noise came out. A moment later, it was closing like she had yawned. Maybe she had? Her eyes were closing again, she stopped moving so much. Panicking, he swore loudly.

"No! Don't you dare die on me too!" he hissed, and throwing caution to the wind, he twisted into nothingness.

A second later he was at the gates to the school. He glanced down immediately but needn't check that the baby was still alive, for as soon as they had landed she let out an almighty wail.

For such a tiny thing, she could scream. He tried to hush her best he could, while opening the gates, and hurrying up the lane to the front doors.

She did not calm down, and somewhere inside him, he felt a little reassured. She was fighting, she was screaming. This was surely better than the alternative.

He met McGonagall at the front door.

"Severus what…"

"Can you help? I don't know what to do!" He said, his voice hoarse from all his recent crying. She nodded and held her arms out to accept the tiny girl. With what he could only describe as an expert hand, she began to rock the infant against her breast.

"There now, you're alright. Its ok, you're safe now." She cooed softly. Within moments, the infant had calmed to small, sobbing breaths.

For a moment, Severus could only stare. He had not expected Minerva McGongall to know what to do with a newborn.

"How…"

She glanced up at him suddenly.

"I have eight nieces and nephews if you must know." She said with a smirk that might have been pride. Her attention turned back to the child. "Where is it from? Whose is it?"

For a moment, Severus considered telling her the truth, that the baby was Lily's, that he had saved her life, everything. But only for a moment.

"She was by the gate, I heard her wail, and went looking." Minerva glanced up at him.

"She, is it? Are you sure it's a girl?" He nodded, simply because he did not think that his voice would hold.

"Well, she is tiny then. I mean, I've never seen a baby so small. Let's get her up to Poppy, she'll know what to do."

In all the flutter of panic, he had not thought about the Hogwarts matron, but he was grateful Minerva had. He followed, unwilling to let the child leave his sight.

Within a few hours, Madam Pomfrey had conjured a small crib in her ward, given the baby a bottle of warm milk, as well as a potion to promote growth, and a bath. She had immediately declared the baby tiny as well, definitely premature, but in relatively good health.

"She is a fighter, if she has survived this long after being born." She had said as she put a diaper on the baby before swaddling her in a new clean blanket, before lowering her into the crib. "I'll keep her here for a few days, just to make sure she's alright. And we will need to tell Dumbledore. Though I daresay he has quite a bit to deal with right now."

Severus sat down next to the crib, his chin resting on his hands, observing the child, asleep. For such a tiny thing, she certainly was adept at holding his attention. He was thinking about what to do.

He could keep the child. He could protect her and keep her and raise her. He did not know yet if her true identity could be revealed to anyone other than Dumbledore. He did not know if she was more like Lily or more like James. As much as he hated to admit it, half of the girl before him had come from James. He suddenly wished he could stop hating James Potter as much as he did. If only he could forgive the father, he might be more willing to accept the child, to whom his heart already belonged.

He stopped for a moment, and thought about that. She had his heart. Suddenly it seemed like he had not lost everything. He had done all he could to save Lily, and while he had not been able to do that, he had saved her daughter. He had no doubt in his mind that had he not come, the baby would have died, entombed in Lily. He had saved her life, given her the chance to live. It was an amazing thought, that he, who had taken and lost so much, might have just done a proper, good action for the first time in a very long time. And if it was to be such an action, let it at least be for Lily, he thought miserably.

Minerva and Poppy had left, and yet could not find the strength to leave. He could see the sky outside the window turning from inky blackness, to royal blue, killing the night that had taken Lily Evans from him.

He found he had no more tears to cry. He leant his head against the back of the chair and let his eyes fall shut, as the long day and night finally caught up with him.

He woke only a few hours later, the sunshine now pouring through the windows, and a sharp weight against his shoulder. He glanced up startled.

An owl was sitting on the back of his chair, prodding him awake with his wing. And attached to his leg was a letter.

He hesitated for only a moment knowing who the letter was from.

"Dear Sev,

Thank you for the potion for Harry, it worked like a charm! He slept all the way through last night, no screaming at all. When did you get so good at potions for children?

It's still pretty boring here, James hates it, but he knows it's for the best. I know it not easy for you or for him, but I'm glad we're all on the same side. I trust you Sev, and I hope in time, so will James.

There is something I want to talk to you about, and James has finally agreed to it. I don't want to put it in a letter in case this goes astray. It's a good thing, something that should have happened a long time ago. I will see you soon!

Best,

Lily."

He heart broke again at the words written the morning before she had died. What had Lily wanted to discuss with him? A mystery that had died with her, he thought as fresh tears fell down his face.

He glanced at the still sleeping baby. He would protect her. He would protect her and her identity with every last breath in his body. He just hoped, this time, it would be enough.