Author's Note: Hello all! So here is a new fanfic for you all to read. I promise it won't be as long as "Dreams" or "Eyes of a Tiger" which, I'll admit, was a little ridiculous in length (almost 500 pages typed). I think it's becoming obvious that I have a "problem"- an obsession, if you will, with Harry Potter. Well, technically with Severus Snape. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new fanfic and please Read and Review, because you know I thrive off reviews. Also don't expect many updates because I don't have internet at the moment. (I'm borrowing someones, so to speak, to upload this). Thanks all and Happy Reading! J

~TheVampyre13

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and all that jazz.

Prologue

(About 2 years before baby Harry Potter first vanquished the Dark Lord)

It was a dark and stormy December night and Severus Snape pulled his cloak tighter around himself as he made his way up the streets. Rain poured down from the sky, making it nearly impossible to see with his Death Eater mask on. Annoyed, he ripped the mask off his face. The only reason he was wearing it was because he'd just been to an assembly of Death Eaters. The Dark Lord had summoned them to discuss his plans to overthrow the Minister of Magic. The reason he was now making his way up the street through the hellish storm was because one Death Eater, a young woman by the name of Lynn Rahl, had not shown up when the Dark Lord had called them.

Snape only knew the girl by sight. They'd worked together on a few assignments but had never really talked. He knew her name was Lynn Rahl, she was in her early 20s, she'd been in Slytherin, she lived at 321 Bakers Lane, and she was pregnant. Not very pregnant, but still pregnant.

He couldn't see the houses well but from what he could see they appeared shabby. Even worse that his own house, which he knew was rather shabby itself. When he finally reached house number 321, there were no candles burning in the windows or any source of light at all. Growing slightly wary, he pulled his wand out. He tried the front door but it was locked. He easily unlocked it with a spell. He then lit his wand tip and stepped inside.

He stepped directly into a small sitting room. The roof was leaking badly and the carpet was soaked with rain water. The sitting room was void of anything except a small couch which looked old and was ripped in a few places. A sudden quiet nosie alerted his senses and he stood absolutely still, listening. Perhaps it was a rat? He didn't doubt that there were rats or mice somewhere in this house. But no- there it was again! Bigger than a rat. A dog perhaps? It was coming from the next room.

Wand held aloft, Snape made his way into the next room, which was a bedroom and the only other room in the house. The room at first appeared empty, but the light of his wand fell upon a figure on the floor. He took an automatic step backwards when he saw it was Lynn. She lay in a pool of blood and her clouded green eyes stared unseeing up at the ceiling. She was dead.

The noise came again and Snape aimed his wand towards the source of the sound. That's when the light of his wand landed on the infant, laying a few feet away from its mother. She was small and bloody, but she was alive. Shocked, Snape removed his cloak and wrapped it around the small baby, whose skin was blue-ish from the cold. He knew he had to get the child out of here. With one last glance at the dead girl on the floor, Snape held the child close to his chest and Disapparated.

The moment they Apparated into his dark sitting room, the baby began to scream at the top of its lungs. He rocked the child in his arms frantically, shushing it. That's when it occurred to him that he really had no idea what to do with a half-dead, screaming, child…but he knew someone who would.

"I'm going to have to Apparate with you again if you want to live," he said to the child, who was just beginning to cease crying, which might actually be a bad thing. Gnawing his lip anxiously he prepared to Disapparate. He could only hope that the presence of a child in need would diffuse any anger she felt for him.

This time when they Apparated it was into the grassy front yard of a house that had protective enchantments around it. The windows in the house were dark, but as soon as Snape Apparated the child began to cry again. Presently a light appeared in one of the windows and a moment later the front door opened. Snape refused to look at her as the woman approached, instead keeping his eyes on the screaming child.

"Oh my god. Where did she come from?" the woman asked, taking the child from him. The child immediately ceased crying.

"Her mother's dead. She was born early, I think. I mean, I don't know for certain. I'm not good at the whole baby thing, I…" he trailed off, feeling like an idiot, like he always did around her.

"She's not yours, is she?"

Snape shook his head silently, still not looking at her.

The woman started towards the house where she had left the door open, taking the baby with her. Snape hesitated a moment before following her.

She took the baby into a kitchen. She flipped a switch on the wall and light flooded the room. Snape blinked up at the light fixture. He'd almost forgotten about Muggle electricity. He'd used it when he was young but in the past few years he'd been living solely as a wizard, with candles and lanterns and torches.

"Hold her a moment," the woman said, placing the child back in his arms. The baby stared up at him, frowning, while the woman began to run warm water in the sink. A moment later she took the baby back and placed her in the warm water.

Snape looked up at the woman for the first time since he appeared in her yard. Her pale, slightly freckled face was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her long red hair seemed straighter now than it had when she was younger. She wore Muggle clothing- jeans and a black sweater. For a moment her emerald eyes met his black ones, then she glanced away, back down at the baby.

"Severus, go into the bathroom and get the soap. It's in a red bottle," she instructed, pointing towards a door down the hall. He started to, then paused.

"Where's Potter?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Not here," she said dismissively, "He went to go help Sirius with something. The soap, please, Severus."

He obeyed immediately- he couldn't say no to her, especially when she said please. He returned with the soap, which smelled of raspberries, and stood nearby while Lily bathed the baby. She cooed to the child in a motherly fashion and the baby didn't cry anymore. Once she had finished cleaning the child, she sent Snape into the other room to fetch a soft, fuzzy blanket from her room. He obeyed, going into the next room where a large, king-sized bed took up nearly the whole room. The bed was decorated with red and gold satin and Snape couldn't help but think to himself that this was where James Potter had sex with Lily…his Lily. The thought made him want to punch the wall, but he refrained. He grabbed the blue fuzzy blanket off the bed, the only thing that was not Gryffindor colors.

He returned to the kitchen with the blanket and Lily dried the baby off before wrapping her in the blanket. She held her a moment, gazing down at her, before heading into the sitting room. Snape followed. Lily rearranged a few pillows on the large couch and placed the baby on the couch in a way that she would not be able to roll off. Lily then motioned for him to follow her back into the kitchen. He lingered in the doorway, wanting to keep an eye on the baby. Lily retrieved a cup from the cupboard and used her wand to transfigure it into a baby bottle. She got some milk from the fridge, poured it in the bottle, and heated it up with her wand. Then they returned to the living room.

Snape picked up the child and Lily handed him the bottle. Feeling clumsy and awkward, Snape held the bottle to the baby's lips. The baby stared up at him unblinkingly, not attempting to drink the milk. With a small smile, Lily readjusted his arms so that he was holding the child differently. Then she led the bottle to the baby's mouth. A moment passed, then the child began to suck hungrily. Snape let out a short, uncertain laugh, looking down at the feeding child. The child blinked sleepily up at him with large emerald eyes that were almost an exact match to those of the woman sitting across from him. He could see little wisps of blonde hair framing the baby's face.

"Who did she belong to?" Lily asked quietly.

"Lynn Rahl. You wouldn't have known her. She was in Slytherin and…she was just a kid herself really. In her early 20s."

"She was a Death Eater?"

Snape didn't say anything, but met her gaze. She glanced back down at the baby after a moment.

"She died giving birth?" Lily asked.

"I…assume so. I didn't check for signs of foul play. I was sent to check on her when she didn't arrive for a…meeting. She was lying in a pool of blood. The child was a few feet away."

"You don't know who the father is?"

"No. I didn't know Lynn that well."

"What're you going to do with her?"

"Well I figured I'd send someone back for her body once the storm let up-"

"Not the woman, the child."

"Oh," Snape said, again feeling like an idiot, "…I was rather hoping that you might take her?"

"Severus…I wish I could. There's no way I can raise a child in the midst of all this. We have to change houses every few weeks. You know he's after us. The fact that you found me is a bit unnerving actually."

"I always know where you are…but I would never betray you."

"…Isn't there someone else you could take the child to? Someone who's not a Death Eater?"

He was silent a moment, thinking.

"Yes, I suppose. I have a younger cousin who lives in Diagon Alley. She owns a bookshop. The child will be safe with her."

Snape got to his feet with the child who had just fallen asleep in his arms. She immediately began to fuss and she turned her little head towards Lily.

"She doesn't want to leave," Snape said with a soft laugh. Lily smiled.

"…You should leave. And you can't come back here again. If James caught you…"

"I can handle James," he said hotly, "I'm not like I was when I was in school. …but you're right. I won't come back again. The only reason I came now is because I needed help for the child."

Snape prepared to Disapparate and Lily looked up at him, her green eyes reflecting sadness.

"Goodbye Severus," she said quietly, "Take care of the child. Keep an eye on her."

" I will. Goodbye. …and Lily?"

"Hm?"

"…I'm sorry."

Then he Disapparated with a pop.

He appeared with the child in the middle of Diagon Alley and immediately began making his way towards his cousin's house. The child was crying again and he tried talking softly to her and even cooing to her as Lily had.

"Don't worry, that's the last time we have to Apparate, I promise," he said quietly, almost gently. He hurried down the street, trying to remember exactly where it was. Then he found it- Cain's Books. The shop itself was dark, but Snape knew she had a room in back that she slept in. He knocked loudly on the door for about two minutes before it was opened by a black-haired, black-eyed woman. She wore only a nightgown and she looked sleepy and irritated. She threw open the door, her wand immediately at his throat.

"Severus? Is that you?" she said uncertainly.

Ellen Cain had a faint Irish accent. Her mother had been sister to Snape's mother Eileen. Ellen's father had been an Irishman and she'd grown up with his accent. Snape used to tease her about it when they were younger.

"Yes, yes. Lower your wand, you're frightening the child," he said, looking down at the baby who had begun to bawl. She sure does cry a lot, he thought to himself.

"Child? What child?" asked Ellen Cain, stepping aside to let Snape in. He made his way through the rows and rows of books to the back of the store where Ellen had a small sitting room, a kitchen, and a bedroom. He sat down on the small couch in the sitting room, the child resting in his arms, and Ellen sat down beside him. He immediately passed the baby off to her.

"She's an orphan. I'll spare you the unpleasantries. Suffice to say her mother is dead. She was born early, I believe, but apparently not too early. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. I took her to a friend who cleaned her up and cared for her a bit. She hasn't anyone to go to except the orphanage and I'd rather her not end up there. I can't care for her. …She'd be safe here," he said added, looking around, "You don't have any Death Eater affiliation. You're pure blood. No one wants you dead."

Ellen was looking down at the baby and he could already tell from the tender look in her black eyes that she would take her.

"You're right," she said after a moment, "She'll be better off here than in an orphanage. I'll take her."

"Thank you," Snape breathed, relief emenating through him.

He left his cousins house a short while later without the baby. He stopped under a streetlamp to check his watch. He'd spent almost two hours caring for a baby he had no relation to. It was most unlike him. He ran his fingers through his black hair. It felt almost…nice, knowing that he had saved the child from a life of growing up in a Muggle orphanage. Ellen was a witch, she'd raise the child properly. He had decided almost immediately upon finding the child not to tell the Dark Lord about her. Lord only knows what he would have done with the child if he had got his hands on her…