PRELUDE

Severus stepped out into the early morning sunlight and inspected the practice arena he'd prepared in the back garden of Spinner's End the previous evening. With her magic being restored to her, he felt that Lottie needed to work quickly so that she could regain control of her abilities. They had been so busy in the last few weeks getting settled into the house on Spinner's End from having lived at Hogwarts that there'd scarcely been time to adjust to all the changes, let alone give her time to practice anything but the most basic of spells.

He was confident that she would practice on her own, but even by her own admission, she hadn't been good at defensive spells. He'd rather have had more than the few weeks between the end of the school year and his work for the start of term, but they would have to use what they had.

Because he'd bought the surrounding property to the house, Severus easily charmed the garden so that there was no risk of exposure to the wizarding world. Once he was happy with the set up of practice dummies and rebound walls where Lottie could work, he sat in one of the chaises and enjoyed the quiet.

At times, it seemed as everything happened at an accelerated pace lately, but Severus supposed that since the bulk of his life had been perfectly and rigidly controlled before, both by Voldemort and Dumbledore, that fate decided to catch him up on living itself. It wasn't an unpleasant reality just very different. He'd gone from single, miserable sod to having a family in what felt like the blink of an eye.

What was once a very regimented existence was now thrown into the blissful chaos of babies waking at all hours of the day and night, feedings and diaper changes, and two little girls that made him happier than anything he could have ever imagined.

Perhaps when he was a young teenager, he entertained the idea of having a family, but that was only with Lily and he never even considered it after their friendship fractured. That all changed when Camelot got pregnant and though the conception was accidental, the changes in himself and his outlook were by design. Now he felt as if he deserved to be a happy man, and in turn, he found a woman who loved him for who he was, blemishes of his character and all. It gave him a strange sort of tingle in his spine whenever he noticed her looking at him because she usually smiled when their eyes met. Unless, of course, it was morning and she hadn't had any coffee, then she would stumble around barely conscious and the best he could hope for was to have a baby or both handed to him.

Even as he thought about it, he heard the door open and his lover stepped out bringing the girls with her.

"I wondered where you got to," she said, yawning. "It's amazing how quickly one gets used to having another body in bed. What are you doing out here?"

"Getting things ready for you to practice defensive spells," Severus said, sounding every bit the stern professor. "Once you are dressed and prepared for the day, that is."

"They just ate so how about you take these little girls from me so that I can have a few minutes sort out breakfast for their parents?" Lottie suggested, not yet awake enough to rise to the challenge of his tone.

As Lottie handed off their precious daughters, Severus smiled down at them and he was rewarded with coos and smiles from his little girls. He was suddenly seized with pain as Lily grabbed and pulled at a lock of his hair and he had no free hand with which to extract it.

He moved Audrina over to the bassinet that he set up underneath a canopy so that he could take his hair out of his daughter's hand which had made its way to her mouth with his hair still wrapped in her tiny fingers.

"That's disgusting, Sweetheart," he told her as he ran his hand through his hair to keep it away from his face and she laughed. He rubbed his finger on her velvety cheek and smiled. He got such a feeling of happiness hearing his daughters' voices.

After a few minutes of cuddling each of his girls, and then putting them into their swings which automatically started gently swinging as the baby sat upright in them. By the time they were settled, Lottie had returned, dressed and holding two cups of coffee as a tray floated behind her carrying their breakfast.

"Here," she said, handing him one of the mugs. The tray set itself on the table under the canopy next to the babies' swings. "I noticed you hadn't had breakfast either. Everything all right?"

"Just fine," he replied, taking one of the plates from the tray. "I want to work on defensive spells with you. Do you know how to do the Patronus Charm?"

Lottie shook her head taking her own dish and cutting into the pancake. "No, I was never able to perfect it."

"You will before I return to Hogwarts," Severus said with a grim resolution. He doubted she'd ever need it for defense but there was nothing wrong with being prepared. "With practice, I'm certain your rehabilitation will be fully successful."

"If you say, then it must be so," Lottie replied with a smile as she demolished her breakfast. Now that she was nursing two infants, running a household, and trying to reestablish herself in the Wizarding world, she almost couldn't get enough to eat.

Once they were sated, he pulled his wand and demonstrated the wand movements without actually performing the spell so that she could mimic them. She took her position next to him and repeated him as closely as she could.

"Straighten your shoulders," he instructed as he moved behind her and helped correct her stance. "Wand arm up."

Once he was pleased with her position, he whispered into her ear, "Remember to make the memory you choose as powerful and positive as you can recall. Let the power build into your whole being before you release it. Close your eyes and replay the memory in your mind and as soon as you can no longer hold it in, speak the incantation 'Expecto Patronum' and release the spell."

He stepped well away as she released, "Expecto Patronum!"

The end of her want glowed and a wisp of smoke dripped pathetically out of the tip.

"That was a good first attempt but you weren't ready," he instructed. "Let the memory absolutely fill your mind. Let me show you."

Severus brought up his wand and made the deliberate movements while he thought of the memory that made him happiest. The mental image of his twins when he first held them together filled his mind and he actually felt an ache in his heart from the happiness it gave him.

He spoke clearly and the familiar white mist erupted from his wand, but he didn't recognize the form. His doe was not there. He inspected the thin winged thestral that dipped his head in acknowledgment of his master. Unlike its physical counterpart, Severus' newly formed patronus was silvery and mist-like.

"He's beautiful," Lottie commented as Severus sent it on its way.

"He's new," Severus said, matter of factly. "It's known to happen after a great change in one's life. I suppose I should not have been surprised. My life has gone through many great changes."

"What do you mean? Why would a Patronus change, and why yours, now?" Lottie asked, genuinely curious as to how the form of the charm worked.

"My previous animal was a doe," Severus said. He motioned for her to follow him as he sat for a few minutes. "She was tied to my love for Lily. While I'll always have a very special place in my heart for her, I'm not so mired in a guilty love for the unattainable that I suppose I rather outgrew the doe."

"A thestral does seem to suit you," Lottie decided after a moment. "After all, you've faced death and overcome it already. And much like the thestral, you're rather a lot more gentle than you appear."

Severus held his hand out to her and helped her stand. His ears had gone scarlet as he said, "Enough. Come, now. It's time for you to try again."

Lottie brandished her wand once more and tried the spell again. She let her mind fill with the memory she'd chosen and waited until she felt the magic about ready to burst from her chest. She then let the spell go with a forceful "Expecto Patronum" which shot out a violent purple stream of light that lifted her off her feet and she landed on her back. Severus moved swiftly to her side and checked her after she didn't move for a few seconds. She came to after a bit and he helped her sit up as she cleared her head.

"Ouch."

Severus smiled. "Do you suppose you could get the spell somewhere in between?"

She dusted herself off and got up. "Yeah, I think so. I'll try again."

"Now try to let loose just a moment before you did last time," Severus instructed. He stepped back, giving her room to perform the charm.

She again raised her wand, filled her memory and then sent the spell out with a forceful, yet restrained, "Expecto Patronum!"

The mist erupted from her wand and after a moment of swirling around formed into a great silvery phoenix that rose high in the air and then swooped down over them before settling itself over her head. Lottie brushed some hair from her face as she looked up at it.

"Wow. I never would have expected that," she said.

Severus wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her and said, "It fits you perfectly."

He couldn't have imagined a more appropriate Patronus for her. He was not the only one that stared into the face of death and lived despite it. With the loss and then return of her soul, she had been reborn, like the phoenix that now represented her in magical form.

"Do you really think so?" she asked as she finally sent it on its way.

"No," Severus replied as he released her and went to pick up Audrina, who had begun fussing. "I know so."