Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it.
Summary: What if the real reason Lily stopped speaking to Snape was because she was pregnant with his child? And when Autumn Winters comes to Hogwarts, how will she feel when she finds out that she doesn't know who her real parents are? How will Snape react when he finds out he has a daughter?
Prologue
Lily Evans was pacing back and forth on the crimson carpet in the home of muggles Evelyn and David Winters.
This isn't right…I shouldn't be here, she thought, trembling from head to toe in the absence of any outward chill.
Where's Mary? I just want to get this over with and forget it ever happened. The events of the past few weeks flooded back into Lily's brain.
Lily was sprawled across her bed, face-first, convulsing, with tears streaming down her face. It was dinnertime, no one would come in now, no one would miss her.
At least, that's what she thought. Until her best friend, Mary, fellow Gryffindor two years older than herself came bursting up the stairs and threw open the door.
"There you are!" She yelled with relief as she spotted Lily, unable to see her face.
"I've been looking for you everywhere! I've got the most exciting news! Dumbledore just announced there's going to be a ball and…-"
She stopped talking when Lily didn't turn around.
"Lily, are you alright?" Slowly Lily turned to face her. She looked awful. Her normally beautiful red hair wildly framed her blotchy, grief-stricken face. Mary jumped back in shock.
"Oh my God, Lily, what happened?" she asked as she ran to Lily's bed and threw her arms around her.
"I…I…" she started to say, but couldn't as she started sobbing.
"What is it? What's wrong? You can tell me anything, Lily!" Mary started to gently rock Lily back and forth in her arms. Lily suddenly grabbed Mary's shoulders firmly and looked into her eyes. She looked positively mad.
"You…you mustn't…mustn't tell anyone," she stammered.
"Of course not! Please tell me, Lily, I'm getting worried!"
"I…I…I'm pregnant!" Lily wailed. She collapsed on the bed and attempted to rip open her pillow.
"You're what? But how? Well never mind, I know how…who? It was James Potter, wasn't it? I always thought you two would be together eventually." However, the smile disappeared from Mary's face as Lily shook her head vigorously.
"No…S…S…Severus," she rasped, not looking Mary in the face. Mary took the pillow from her and threw it across the room.
"Severus Snape?!" Mary spat, standing up. "That evil, greasy little snake! I'll hex his damned penis off, I will! He forced you, didn't he? Get up, get up, we're going straight to Dumbledore"! She tried pulling Lily toward the door, but Lily held firmly onto to the bed.
"No…we mustn't tell anyone! And he didn't force me…I…I was so stupid…I felt bad for him…it was only one night…how could I?" She started sobbing again and Mary charmed Lily's hair back so that she could breathe.
"It will be alright, Lil, we'll figure this out. Do you plan on telling the bastard?" Mary asked, completely oblivious to the fact that Lily wanted to keep this a secret. Lily sat upright at this.
"Never!" she said darkly. "He must never know. I told him yesterday that we cannot speak anymore. I could never let him and his stupid Death Eater friends know about this child. What if they…sacrificed it? Or raised it to be…to be evil! That cannot happen…I won't allow that to happen!" Lily shouted, quite hysterically.
"Well then what are we going to do?" Mary said. "You can't keep if then…it's half his. All we have to do is go to St Mungo's…a few magic words…it will be gone before you know it."
"What?" Lily asked, not quite believing what her best friend was suggesting. "End the life of an innocent child? A child who didn't ask to be brought into this world? I am no murderer and I am certainly no Death Eater!"
"Well if you insist on having it, you can't hide it from everyone for much longer. Even if you somehow manage a charm so that no one else can see it, Dumbledore will see right through it. He'll know. Not to mention the fact that you live with four other girls, somebody is bound to-"
"There's a way," Lily said, staring at the wall and pointing at a book that looked like it had been thrown down in a fit of rage. Mary went to pick it up and turned to the page that was folded. She read aloud.
"The Anima Ingenero Charm.
A common method of enabling pregnancy in magical couples that cannot conceive on their own, the Anima Ingenero Charm allows one healthy embryo to be transported from one witch's womb to another. Although the DNA of the offspring will be that of the original parents, some witches feel by birthing the child themselves, they can form a unique and special bond with them. The Anima Ingenero Charm must be performed before the third month of pregnancy to be effective. Although anyone powerful enough can perform the charm, most witches prefer to go to a reliable mediwitch, as she can assist the original mother if any health complications should arise."
Mary stopped reading and closed the book, looking at the title: "Unexpected Pregnancies: Where Do I Go From Here?" Under the title on the front cover was a picture of three scared-looking teenage girls patting their stomachs while an older witch, presumably the author, smiled reassuringly at them.
"Where on Earth did you get this?" Mary asked, flipping through the pages.
"The Restricted Section. The one good thing I learned from Severus was how to be sneaky. I picked it up last week."
"How long have you known, then?" Mark asked, almost insulted that Lily hadn't told her right away.
"A week," Lily said, looking at her hands. "I've been feeling very sick lately, so Jillian took me to St Mungo's. I didn't go to Madame Pomphrey because…well I knew what me and Severus did and I didn't want her to…well anyway, I went and they told me I was pregnant. Jil didn't go in with me, so I told her I just had a virus. I'm about a month along now. I would have told you, but you've only been back from holiday for two days and I didn't want to welcome you back like…like this." Any traces of hurt in Mary's face were replaced by pity.
"So you've figured out someone who'd want to…birth the baby, then?" Mary asked. Lily looked ashamed of herself.
"My mum and dad know this couple…the Winters. Mum always talks about how they've been trying so hard to have a baby but can't. It will make them so happy," Lily said dreamily.
"But Lil…muggles? You want the child to grow up with muggles?"
"I want to protect her, Mary. She must never know who her father is. I grew up with muggles, it's really not that bad."
"But what if they're like your sister? She's absolutely horrible!" Mary made a face that actually got Lily to smile.
"They'll love the child no matter what. They've wanted one for so long. They're very wealthy, too, so the child will be well-off." Mary opened the book back up and shoved it at Lily.
"But this says that it has to be between two witches…it doesn't say anything about a witch and a muggle! What if something happens?"
"It's the only way," Lily said emotionlessly.
"And how are we supposed to do this? Sneak into their house in the middle of the night and impregnate Mrs. Winters, just like that? We really should get a mediwitch."
"That's the general idea. And what mediwitch is going to impregnate a muggle without her knowledge? You can do it, you're studying to become one after you graduate anyway!"
"Me!?" Mary asked, her face in disbelief. "Lily, what if you get one of these medical complications the book talks about? The charm looks easy enough, but I won't know how to help you afterwards!" Lily sighed.
"Alright, I promise that if anything happens after, you can take me to St Mungo's. But I want this done as quickly and quietly as possible. No one can know but us." Mary looked at her best friend and sighed. She couldn't let Lily go through this alone. She wouldn't. They were in this together.
"I'll do it. We should go on a weekend. Is Saturday good?" She asked Lily as if she were asking her to tea. Lily suddenly got up and embraced Mary, holding on for dear life.
"Oh Mary! I knew I could count on you! Thank you!" she had stopped crying and looked positively relieved.
"What are best friends for?" she asked, returning Lily's embrace. Lily pulled away and the light was immediately distinguished from her eyes.
"There's…one more thing I'll need you to do," Lily said, not looking Mary in the eye.
"Anything," Mary replied strongly.
"When we get back from the Winters' I'm going to need you to modify my memory. This last week has been torture, I don't know if I'll be able to live with myself if I remember what we're going to do."
"Of course. How much do you want me to erase? Do you want me to get rid of the night you and Severus-"
"No," Lily said strongly. "Just all memories of the pregnancy. I'll let that night with Severus serve as a reminder of how easy it is to make a mistake."
Lily was abruptly shaken out of her reverie by a very distinct popping sound in the room next to her. She ran out just as Mary was running in. Mary saw her friend trembling and put her arm around her shoulder.
"Are you ready?" she whispered. Lily nodded.
"Where are they?" Mary asked. Lily pointed up. She was currently unable to form words.
Slowly the girls tiptoed upstairs. When they entered the large room where the Winters' were sleeping, Mary casted both a silencing charm and a sleeping charm on both of them. They barley stirred.
"You'd better sit down," Mary suggested, pointing to an oversized armchair next to an enormous fireplace. Lily sat down wordlessly. Mary took out a potion from underneath her robes. She went over to Lily, lifted her shirt slightly and spread it on her belly. She took the same potion over to Mrs. Winters and did the same. Then she tucked the empty vial underneath her robes and went back over to Lily. There were no more words that could possibly be said to comfort Lily, so Mary grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it reassuringly. She then pointed her wand at Lily's midsection.
Better get this over with Mary thought. With all the concentration she could muster, she casted the spell.
"Anima Ingenero." A small ball of pulsating red light appeared to be forming inside of Lily's midsection. As Mary moved her wand toward Mrs. Winters, the ball started getting bigger until it was the size of a tennis ball. Lily took a deep breath as the ball of light emerged from inside of her and came out into the open. It floated across the room, lingered for only a moment before it went inside of Mrs. Winters, who also took a deep breath but did not wake up. Lily and Mary stared, transfixed, at Mrs. Winters' stomach, the spot where the red ball of light disappeared.
"…so that's it, then?" Lily asked shakily.
"I…I guess it is. How do you feel?" Mary asked, examining her friend.
"…empty," Lily answered honestly. Mary tugged on Lily's robes and motioned toward the door.
"Come on, we don't have to be here anymore. Let's go." Mary helped Lily out of her chair. "I'll fly back with you, seeing as you're not of age yet." They walked back into the room where Mary first found Lily. "You're alright to fly, right?" she asked, her face full of concern. Lily seemed to come out of a trance and nodded vigorously. She grabbed on to her broom walked toward Mary.
"And once we get back, you'll erase my memory, won't you?" Lily asked, her eyes now determined.
"Of course. We should hurry though." However, Lily didn't get on the broom. Her expression changed into one of realization.
"But…how selfish of me! How are you going to forget?"
"I don't want to forget, Lil," Mary said, promising herself that one day, even if she had to hide it from her best friend, she would find Lily's child and make sure he or she was alright.
A/N: See that lil review button? You know you wanna click it. And if you haven't already, check out my other story, which is more far along than this one (you can find it on my author page thing). Thanks!