Hi there. First time posting a story like this, but I hope you all enjoy it.


Prologue


"You're barking mad."

"Now Moony," James Potter pleaded. "I realize this is one of my more outlandish ideas, but…"

"Outlandish?" Remus Lupin shouted. "It's suicidal! If Lily found out…"

"She won't," the other man said firmly. "And I'm doing this. I just need a little help with working out who to ask."

"Well I sure as hell won't do it," the young werewolf replied.

James sighed. "I know. You wouldn't risk it with the lycanthropy. Pads is just as sterile as I am, and Wormtail couldn't be paid enough to go near any woman, much less his best friend's wife. Not that I have issue with his liking blokes or anything, but it's bloody inconvenient right now."

Sterile. It was a common enough thing among older, Pureblood lines, but much like Lily had, James had assumed he was fine when they'd started trying for a baby six months ago. He'd considered the notion of adopting a child, but he knew Lily really wanted the experience of giving birth, and above all else, James wanted Lily to be happy. He'd once heard that muggles had methods of implanting sperm in a woman from a donor so she could conceive, but with Lily being Muggleborn, James wasn't willing to risk the baby being a Squib if the donor wasn't a Wizard. No, it absolutely had to be a wizard.

"It would have to be someone you could trust to keep a secret from Lily. And someone who doesn't need or want their own heir," Remus finally let out with a heavy sigh. "Mind you, just because I'm agreeing to help you brainstorm does not mean I approve of this in the slightest."

"But you won't…"

"Tell Lily? Hell no. Even the wolf is scared of your witch," he finished. "I like living, thank you very bloody much."

"So someone who doesn't want an heir, or need one, and someone who can keep things from Lily," James prompted. "What else?"

"Probably best to pick a half-blood. Purebloods may come back and claim an heir for the Potter money, if you end up kicking the bucket before your kid comes of age," Remus added.

"How morbid."

"We're at war, Prongs," Remus replied. "I'm just considering the possibilities. If you can't do something smart - which obviously you can't - then at least be smart about being dumb. Consider the long term, and consider the worst case."

"Okay, okay, you made your point," James agreed. "What else?"

"Ideally someone who shares at least some of your features," Remus added to the list. "Dark hair, in particular. Lily's a ginger of course, but that's a recessive gene. The kid is most likely to come out with the father's hair color, unless he's also a ginger. What about one of the Prewitt twins?"

"Purebloods," James pointed out. "Also their sister scares me as much as Lily scares you and I shudder to think about what would happen if she ever found out."

"Molly's a bit of a wild one, yeah," the werewolf chuckled. "Anyway, so a dark haired guy then."

Suddenly, James got an idea. It was a horrible, terrible idea and made him want to puke, but the bloke in question fit Remus' criteria perfectly, and more to the point, he'd do anything for Lily, including give her the child she so desperately wanted. "Blimey," he whispered, hardly believing he was even considering this. "Moony… what about Snape?"

Remus paled. "That's a terrible idea James."

"But it's perfect. He fits the criteria."

"And he'd do anything for Lils," Remus groaned. "Damnit James, are you sure I can't talk you out of this idea altogether?"

"Not a chance," James said, suddenly more sure of the idea than he'd been in the first place. Despite how much he hated Severus Snape, and however much his school nemesis hated him, this felt… right. "Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?"

"Of course," came the easy reply. "Want to stay the night at mine… when it happens?"

"If you stock up Firewhiskey," the Potter heir agreed. "I have a feeling that's the only way I'm going to get through the night."

"Consider it done, Prongs."


Severus Snape could not possibly be more surprised than when he opened his door upon hearing a knock to find James Potter standing there. "Potter?" he asked warily, as if he was expecting the man in front of him to deny his apparent identity.

"I need your help," Potter replied.

Scratch that. He could be more surprised. Still, any dealings with James Potter absolutely needed to be treated with caution. Or disregard. "Potter, I'm the last person on earth likely to help you."

"It's about Lily," Potter pleaded as Severus moved to close the door in his face. "Please, Snape, hear me out."

Severus paused, briefly closing his eyes and thinking of the beautiful redhead. Rather than continue to shut the door in his former bully's face, he opened it wider and stepped aside, nodding for Potter to enter. "Is she alright?" he asked warily.

"She's well," Potter assured as the door closed behind them.

He didn't say anything else until Severus had pointed to a pair of wingback chairs in suggestion they sit. "Then what is it you require my help with?" he prompted when Potter made no move to start the conversation on his own.

"Lily...she wants a baby. Badly." Potter began.

"And? I'm fairly certain, disgusting as it is to consider, you are familiar with the mechanics involved in impregnating a woman."

Potter ignored the barb, and met his former schoolmate's gaze. "Snape...Severus...I'm sterile."

Severus' eyes widened, very quickly realizing what help Potter was about to ask of him. Potions Master he may be, but there was no potion to correct sterility. It was a common enough problem among Purebloods, and according to Regulus Black, his own brother's disownment had been an easy decision for his parents because his behavior aside, he too was unable to father a child. There would be no further Blacks out of those idiot loins, thank Merlin.

"You know what I'm asking, don't you?" Potter continued after a moment of stunned silence from his companion.

"You want me to impregnate your wife," Severus concluded. "You cannot, Black cannot, Lupin will not given his… condition. What of Pettigrew?"

"Likes blokes," Potter shrugged. "I didn't even ask him. Remus is the only one who knows anything about this."

"Not Lily?" Severus asked. "Are you implying that you want me to not only impregnate your wife, but do so without her knowledge or consent?"

"I was thinking of Polyjuice," Potter replied. "She'd never know. I don't want her to know. If I tell her I'm sterile, she'd want to go to the muggles and do that artificial insemination thing…"

"...which would likely mean her child would be born non-magical," Severus concluded, agreeing with the unspoken assessment of Lily's character. "And you require an heir. Have you considered adopting a magical child? Lily would love a parentless child as her own, I'm sure."

"She wants to have the experience. I know that if I tell her, and I can talk her out of the muggle way, she'd agree to adopting," Potter sighed, "but actually having a baby, physically doing the damned thing, is what she really wants, and what Lily wants that is within my power to give, she gets."

"Obviously it's not within your power to give this to her," Severus snarked.

Potter frowned. "It's not in my power to give her a child, directly. It is in my power to set aside my pride to give her a pregnancy. A baby of her own, to birth, and feed, and watch grow up from the beginning. So here I am, pride completely aside, doing what it takes to give her what she wants. Will you do it?"

Severus considered. Merlin knew he would never deny that he loved Lily. It actually gave him a bit of a thrill to consider that while Lily had chosen Potter, Potter had not been able to give her this thing she so very much wanted, and he certainly could. The question was one of should. "How do I know that you'd treat this child well, Potter? If you know the child would be my child, the product of a deception, will you be able to treat it as if it were your own, or would he or she grow up under your bullying ways?"

Potter looked shamed. "I should have apologized for treating you that way before we left school, but better late than never, I guess. Severus, I am sincerely sorry I was such a prat to you. I offer no excuse. I was a big idiot back then."

"What changed?"

"My parents were killed," the other man said. "All my life, I just kind of assumed that if my behavior was poor, my mum or dad would tell me so, and if they weren't there to tell me, I could do whatever I pleased. I let them be my conscience, and after they were gone, and I had to decide right and wrong on my own… let's just say that it was a big slap in the face, to realize how ashamed they'd have been if they knew how I'd behaved at school."

Severus accepted the reasoning for the change, but noted Potter had still not answered the question. "So how would you treat the child, now that you have a mind of your own?"

"With all the love I could muster," Potter replied. "I know you've only my word at that and Merlin knows you've got every reason to doubt my word, but honestly Snape, do you think Lily would let me get away with treating her child any other way?"

Severus chuckled at that. "Point made."

"Do you need time to think it over?" Potter asked after another few minutes of silence.

Severus shook his head. Despite all the reasons this was decidedly unwise, and his own maliciousness wanting to reject Potter's apologies and request all in one go, at the end of the day Potter had played his hand well - he'd known when he arrived that the hatred between the two of them wouldn't stand up against their mutual love for Lily. "I'll do it, under one condition."

"Name it."

"No one can ever know. Not Lily, not your precious Dumbledore. Not your friends. Most importantly, not the child," he said succinctly.

"Remus already knows I'm asking you," Potter reminded him.

"Lupin, I believe, can be trusted to keep that information to himself," Severus mused, thinking that for however much he disliked the werewolf, the sandy-haired man could be trusted to keep a secret that, if brought to light, would cause much pain to those he cared most for. The wolf's sense of loyalty would extend even beyond a discontinued friendship with Potter, if it ever came to that. "But from you, I require an oath on your magic to never tell another soul."

"Done," the other man agreed with finality.

And just like that, Severus Snape agreed to become a father.


Feedback is very much appreciated.

Regards, Quinn Kirkpatrick