Lily was not there. Perplexed, Severus was sure she would be vigilantly waiting for his return, if only for news of her husband and his pet wolf. Severus was about to ascend the staircase, when a cry sounded that made him wonder for a moment how a Banshee had gotten inside his home. In the next second, he was bounding up the stairs two at a time, wand at the ready. A second muffled cry sounded from the upstairs loo.

Severus pounded on the locked door. "Lily! What is wrong?" Severus had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knew exactly the cause of Lily's cries.

"Severus!" Lily's strangled voice came through the door.

Forgetting he was a wizard, complete with a wand in his hand, Severus physically pushed the door open with brute force. There were small smudges of blood smeared across the white tile. Lily was on the floor leaning against the claw-footed bathtub, clutching at her abdomen. Her dark red hair was soaked with perspiration.

"Lily, I have only been gone two hours! How long have you been in pain?"

Lily shook her head. "A little since Hogsmeade-it has been getting worse all day, but I didn't think anything of it. But- but my water broke just after you left and it just got so bad so quick...I-I didn't know- I couldn't think- "

Bloody Gryffendors! Severus swiped his hands over his face; this could not be happening! Why now? Why him? He was surely being punished for all his transgressions. Karma and Fate certainly had ironic forms of retribution. He was about to help Lily bring James Potter's child into the world.

Lily certainly couldn't Apperate or Floo at this point. Muggle transportation was out of the question also. They would never make it to a Muggle hospital in time.

Severus was more than a little scared. He liked being in control of his surroundings and this was one situation where he was very much not in control. He was not even certain he was capable of doing this task. To be a Potions master, one needed the basics of anatomy and physiology to understand how certain potions worked on the body. Technically, he was a Healer, Third Class. Therefore, Severus intellectually knew the how-tos of childbirth, but actually doing it was another story all together.

"This is not happening on my lavatory floor," Severus said gruffly as he scooped Lily up into his arms and carried her down the hallway to the master bedroom. She grasped him around the neck, nails digging into his flesh, nearly strangling him in the process.

Once Lily was comfortably arranged on the bed, Severus quickly sent his Patronus with a message explaining the situation to both Dumbledore and Madam Promfrey and for them to come as quickly as possible. With any hope he could be saved from this disagreeable task. But for now he had to do what he could for his Lily. He then went back to the loo and grabbed a stack of towels. He quickly tore off his dark robes and tossed them on floor. He rolled up his shirt-sleeves and thoroughly scrubbed his hands in the small sink, just in case.

When he returned, Lily was writhing on the bed, panting, her hands clenching and pulling at the sheets with each contraction. He placed the towels on the bed near Lily, and she grabbed at his shirt and beseechingly looked up at him. "Please! Can't you give me a Potion? It hurts so bad. I don't think I can do this!"

Severus shook his head. "By the time it begins to work, you will not require it anymore."

"Then just Stupefy me! Please!"

Severus just shook his head again as he pushed the robes Lily was wearing up to her hips. A head of dark hair was already crowning. Severus winced, this was going to go rapidly. Lily had been in the early stages of labor for hours without realizing it. There was no help for it now. It would have to be him.

"Lily, you need to push, it's almost over." Severus said, holding her tearful gaze.

She nodded and did as instructed. After several attempts, the dark-haired baby slid easily out into his waiting hands, and Lily fell back onto the pillows, exhausted. Severus glanced at the clock on the bedside table: 11:51 pm. Damn! Why couldn't the little beast wait another ten minutes? Born as the seventh month dies. Lily's child certainly qualified.

He waited until the umbilical cord stopped pulsing, then used his wand to tie it off and cut it. For better or worse, the baby was on its own. Using a towel, he briskly rubbed the baby, causing it to howl furiously in protest.

"Is it a boy or girl?" Lily asked dreamily, her eyes half lidded. "Is it okay?"

"A boy, "Severus replied quietly as he looked the crying baby over, "and he looks fine."

The baby had a thick cap of sleek black hair, but that was the only trace of James Potter he could find. Resembling Lily would make the little brat much more bearable. The baby's eyes were shaped like Lily's, but the color was the muddy blue-brown that all newborns seemed to be born with; only time would tell if they were to become the striking emerald green he loved so much. The long, thin limbs the baby was flailing about as he howled reminded Severus of a spider. He briefly wondered where that had been inherited from, because neither Potter nor Lily were very tall. But then, Lily's father had been rather tall, with Lily taking after her mum.

"A boy," Lily said. "Harry then."

"After your father," Severus said, as he wrapped the baby in a towel and placed him in her waiting arms.

Lily simply nodded as she looked down into her son's small face.

to be continued