Chapter 4

When Severus woke up, the first thing he noticed was that someone was pressed against him.

His wife.

He had his legs intertwined with Skyrah's and her palms were touching his chest. Last morning, there had been some space between them, a space he now craved. His stomach wouldn't be doing flip flops, now.

Severus turned bright red and silently thanked whoever was up there that the woman was asleep. As quietly and gently as he could, he pulled away from her and went to have a shower. While the water poured against his skin, Severus kept thinking. Yesterday had been interesting. Skyrah kept on surprising him, to say the least. Why did she know a muggle song? It just didn't make any sense.

One minute she looked as scary as her father, and two minutes later she was smiling and holding his hand. It didn't make sense, not at all. And then there were those strange feelings she evoked. Why wasn't he repulsed by the Dark Lord's daughter? She was gorgeous. But then again, he had never been interested in the body or in anyone in general. He had only had eyes for Lily. Since he married Skyrah Andraste though, he found he liked her touch: it felt nice, warm. And they had been together for only two days. Saying that Severus was terrified was a massive understatement. He knew he couldn't trust her, but she made it so difficult when she simply chatted with him about trivial things like book genres. He was blessed and damned at the same time: there she was, the woman who could match his cunning and intelligence happened to be Voldemort's daughter.

He was a right mess.

With these thoughts still fresh on his mind, Severus got out of the shower with a towel that covered him from hips to knees. He headed to his bedroom to get some clothes and get dressed. When he stepped in though, he caught a just-woken-up Skyrah stretching her body like a cat. She sat on the bed and yawned, covering her mouth. Then she rubbed her eyes. She looked cute doing that in her messy hair. Not like Severus would say it out loud. Cute wasn't part of his vocabulary. For a moment, Severus only saw a beautiful woman waking up from a restless night, not the daughter of a monster.

When Skyrah acknowledged his presence, she raised an eyebrow, stared for longer than necessary at his chest and bit her lip. Her dilated pupils got him wondering whether she found him attractive.

Ha!

Attractive. Him? No. She was still sleepy. She wasn't in her right mind. Nobody would ever find him attractive. He had figured it out the first time he stared at himself in a mirror. And yet, she looked like she liked what she saw.

"Good morning," she purred.

Her voice was deeper than normal and Severus thought that he liked it even more. It sounded…sexier. Get a grip, he thought.

"You've already taken a shower… You smell… good."

Although his mind didn't know what to think, his body did know exactly how to react. Severus felt a familiar sensation down his groin. Sweet Salazar. He hoped she didn't notice. Unlikely, considering her gaze was fixed on that particular zone. It didn't help that she was licking her lips. Oh, gods, her lips. How come he hadn't seized the moment when he pecked her lips in the wedding, again?

Suddenly snapping out of her daze, Skyrah cried out, "Bloody hell! Just forget what I've said! I'll take a cold shower before I do or say something else I might regret!"

Severus was left alone in the room, alone with his hard member, that is. Shit! Think about a naked Potter, Albus in pink a swimsuit, the Dark Lord… Just stop imagining her.

When Skyrah came back from the shower, she found her husband reading the Daily Prophet.

"Severus?"

"Yes?" he asked, eyes fixed on the newspaper.

He was afraid his body would react again just by looking at her.

"I-I'm sorry about… Well, you know what I'm talking about. I shouldn't have commented on anything after you came back f-from the shower."

Did she have to bring that up? Hoping she would drop the subject, he adopted a casual posture.

"Why? We are married," he said, peeping at her over the newspaper that covered his face.

A deep blush spread from her cheeks to her ears. Severus never thought he'd live to see the day the Dark Lord's daughter blushed and stuttered. It nearly made him smirk. Nearly.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. We have known each other for two days. We are strangers, and this lust was wrong. Yesterday felt like a first date, but I don't want to rush anything."

"Don't you think it's too late for that? We've already had sex, Skyrah. It's what your father wanted us to do," he stated with a monotone voice.

Skyrah lowered her gaze. It was the first time she looked so... ashamed and even disappointed with herself. He pretended to read. In fact, he was trying to fathom why someone like her would lust after someone like him. Sleepy, she was sleepy, he told himself again. She is ashamed because now she is fully awake, and she sees my ugliness.

When she didn't reply, he folded the Daily Prophet and left it on a small ebony table near the sofa. She had wrapped her arms around herself by then, as if seeking solace. For some unkown reason, the sight made him feel uncomfortable.

A sense of protection came over him, and he found himself muttering, "Lust is not something you can control. Feeling bad for that is useless."

He didn't know what had possessed him to say that, but he did not regret it. He had earned a soft smile from her.

Not many people smiled at him.

They had breakfast and sat on the sofa. Skyrah took the potions book and started to turn pages slowly, seeking something in particular. When she found it, she showed the page to her husband and told him, "This potion is complicated, but it can be done in three hours. Not long. It can tell us if I'm pregnant a few days after the coition. Not only that… It also informs about the gender of the baby. I know it is very difficult to get pregnant on the first try, but still… Could we brew it? Please?"

Severus was shocked. He hadn't expected this at all. He had actually forgotten about the heir thing. Skyrah gulped, expectant. It wasn't like he could refuse, so he nodded. She gifted him with a smile, again. A light kiss on his cheek was a bonus. His black eyes widened and, to his dismay, it was his turn to blush. This woman had kissed him like that two days ago when he told her he was going to make the experience pleasurable for her. Severus spotted a pattern: whenever she felt thankful and overwhelmed by emotion, she kissed his cheek.

He wasn't sure of what to think about that.

At his reaction, his wife chuckled light-heartedly and teased, "What's the matter, Potions Master? Not used to cheek kisses?"

No. Not used to kisses. Thankfully, she wasn't expecting an answer.

"We could brew it on Saturday, don't you think?"

"Whenever you want," he replied.

"Saturday, it is. Can we take a walk around the town?"

Severus looked at her as if she had grown two heads.

"You want to take a walk around a muggle town? I understand we had to go to the restaurant to eat something, but this is not a necessity."

She stood with arms akimbo. "I don't care. I want to stretch my legs. I refuse to spend days enclosed at home. I'm going out. You can come with me or stay. Whatever pleases you the most."

With that said, she transfigured her robes into muggle clothes. Nothing fancy; a simple striped shirt with some jeans. She was about to leave when Severus grabbed her wrist and turned her around. He didn't say anything, but his plain black muggle clothes were enough for her to gather she had convinced him. Skyrah smirked with triumph. They left the house and walked around the town. Spinner's End was not a pretty place, so he took her to the nearest park. At least, there were a few trees and a small lake. It was the place he had met Lily. They didn't chat. Both walked in silence, viewing flashbacks of the past days.

She lay down on the grass with her arms crossed under her head and one knee flexed. He copied her posture. Memories of laying on the same spot with Lily came flooding back. It was painful. His heart ached with remorse. Pushing the thought of Lily aside, he tilted his head to look at Skyrah again. She had been staring, and was now pretending to look past him. Her cheeks were tainted crimson, and he'd be lying if he said her cheeks had ever looked more kissable. He had mastered emotional control, though. He did not move. He did not even stare at her cheeks, or worse, her lips. He looked up at the sky and shut his eyes. Their bodies were not in contact, yet he felt her close to him. Her presence, strangely, did not bother him. In fact, he was so relaxed, he could not estimate how long they had been in that position before Skyrah finally sat up.

"There is something I've been meaning to ask you."

Severus gulped and got into a sitting position, preparing himself for the worst. Those words were never good news when they came from the mouth of a woman.

"Who is Lily? Before you woke up from your nightmare you were mumbling her name."

This was on the top of 'the worst things Voldemort's daughter can ask Severus' list. His face sobered and paled considerably. He stayed silent, looking up at the sky as if the few clouds hovering over them held the right answer. Skyrah waited patiently.

"It doesn't matter."

"Sure, that is why you have been pondering for a full minute if you should tell me or not," she said sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest. "You don't fool me, Severus. This Lily is important to you. Who is she? I have the right to know, I'm your wife. And if you don't tell me I might get suspicious… If you don't confess now I can wait until we meet my father. You won't be able to hide then."

Damn this witch! he thought. Using her father as a threat was a low yet effective blow. Suddenly, Severus had an idea. Two could play this game, after all.

"You screamed something interesting the first night too, Skyrah… As your husband, I have the right to know," he mocked her. Her expression was emotionless, once again. Good, thought Severus, She puts her mask on when she wants to hide something, I got her. "It was something about the lines - Don't kill them! Please, I'll do anything! – So tell me, who were you trying to save? Quite frankly, you and I both know that was not a nightmare but a memory. You may be his daughter, but I'm his most loyal Death Eater, which means he trusts me. I'm sure he'd like to know about that little memory."

Skyrah's eyes didn't show any emotion, but at the end of his speech, she found herself snorting, "You are playing with fire, Severus. You threatened me in vain. My father already knows about it. Which makes me think, why would you threaten me if Lily's identity wasn't something you didn't want me to find out? My father would certainly like to hear about her."

Bloody hell! he thought. The possibility that she was bluffing still existed, but something told him he better not find out.

"Talking about Lily is not easy. You are right, as my wife you should know about her, the same way I should know about your dream. You said you wanted to trust me? Show it."

Despite her cold expression, her eyes clouded.

"Fine. I was trying to save my family."

Her family? From whom was she trying to save them? Did she fail? Was that why she cried? Severus was about to question her further when she cut him off, "Your turn."

He shook his head and tried to get more information from her.

"What happened?"

"I asked first Severus. Don't expect me to open up to you with something as personal as that. I told you I didn't want to rush anything. I'm not ready and that's enough for the nonce. Your turn," she repeated.

Staring at her eyes, he confessed in a sober voice, "Lily was my childhood friend."

Her expression softened. She noticed the verbal tense - was. Lily was gone.

"I'm sorry."

She did sound sorry, almost as if she empathized with him, as if she had lost a friend once. Severus didn't want her pity. He rose up, cursing himself for taking her to this place to start with. He didn't extend his hand to help her get up. They walked back home in awkward silence. Once at home, he entered the kitchen, his sneer becoming more profound the more she followed him.

"Do you want to cook together?" she asked softly.

"I cook better alone," he hissed, still angry about the earlier conversation.

Skyrah huffed. "I'm sorry, okay? I can tell you are very fond of Lily. I didn't mean to upset you… I won't tell my father, if that's what you are worried about."

He turned his attention to her. She seemed sincere and even looked regretful. Each time he had been honest with her, she had seemed to open up. Maybe, if he confessed more things, she'd be willing to tell him about her memory and family. That was what Albus would have advised him to do, anyway.

"Your father already knows about her."

"Oh! Joke's on me then! Sorry again. I'll leave you cooking. I'll go and read or something," she babbled. She had reached the doorway when Severus grabbed her wrist. Skyrah swung around. "What is it? I thought you cooked better alone."

Severus ignored her resentful comment. "There's something I don't understand… If your father already knows about your nightmare, why can't you tell me? What's the difference?"

"I'll tell you more if I find it necessary or feel like it, which isn't the occasion right now. Besides, I could ask you the same… Obviously, my father doesn't know everything about Lily; you looked really troubled when I suggested it. And of course, you didn't hesitate to threaten me to avoid the answer… I don't want to fight, okay? We all have secrets, we should leave it at that."

Her words only assured Severus she was hiding something. He'd have to win her trust and spend time with her if he wanted to uncover those secrets, so he did the only thing he could think of.

"We shall cook together."

She frowned at first but then smiled shyly and admitted, "I'm not a good cook. I only said it to spend time with you and forget about that conversation. I'm used to having house elves, after all… Are you sure?"

Severus arched an eyebrow and muttered, "You also said you were bad at Potions, and you are better at it than you believe… I'm taking the risk."

Unexpectedly, Skyrah ran towards him and threw her arms around his neck, making his eyes widen in astonishment. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. When he felt her hot breath on his neck, Severus felt shivers running down his spine. His body stiffened and he didn't hold her back. No one had ever hugged him since he was a kid, by Lily's doing, of course. He was still getting used to her touch. As soon as it started though, Skyrah broke the embrace and walked towards the now full fridge, nearly bouncing in excitement, as if she was a little child on Christmas Day. Her dark hair moved up and down, following her little jumps. When she noticed her husband wasn't following her, she turned around and put her hands on her waist.

"I have just told you I'm a horrible cook. If you don't come, I will unintentionally burn down the house. You don't want that, do you?" she teased with a little grin and a raised eyebrow.

Severus snapped out of it and approached her. It turned out she really wasn't lying: she was a dreadful cook. The wizard had never reckoned someone could be that awful and helpless in the kitchen. He would never admit it out loud, but despite all the trouble, he had had fun with her. When they were finally eating the result, Skyrah mumbled, "Thanks for putting up with me. And sorry for nearly burning the meat."

"I'll keep an eye on you every time you enter the kitchen. I don't want it to blow up."

Severus had been dead serious, but the comment made Skyrah laugh out loud. He didn't understand why, but the sound made the corners of his mouth turn upwards in an attempt of a smile. It had been so long since he had smiled though, that it turned out in a strange grimace, but not quite a smile. Voldemort's daughter didn't seem to care about that though; she simply smiled back brightly and said, "Sounds fair… I should take up cooking classes too, shouldn't I?"

The following days Skyrah and Severus didn't have any more arguments or nightmares. Skyrah kept on surprising him with affectionate gusts from time to time and Severus didn't mind them one bit. He was starting to really enjoy her company. He had always been lonely, but in a few days, Skyrah had brightened up his life once again. He didn't forget why he was married to her, and whom exactly he was dealing with; but it didn't change the fact that he liked waking up next to her, and the way she concentrated while reading, the little touches they shared while brewing potions and the best part of the day… Cooking. She had managed to make him laugh with her little jokes. Sure, he was expecting a sarcastic sense of humor out of her; but her goofy side caught him off guard.

Severus was afraid of her, but what he was most afraid of was of his feelings… A simple touch sent shivers down his spine. In the most unexpected moments, he kept having flashes of the time he lost his virginity and the lust in her eyes when he had just had the shower. He knew he had to stop this; it would only end up in pain. Eventually, the war will be over and the marriage will end with it, that was if he got out of it alive.

It was Saturday. Severus woke up and missed the warmth he had gotten used to feeling first thing in the morning. That could only mean one thing: Skyrah was already up. Weird. He had always been the first to rise.

He opened his eyes and noticed Skyrah was actually in the bedroom. She was staring at him intensely, but she wasn't in the bed. She was already dressed, leaning on the doorway, her hand caressing her abdomen absentmindedly. Today was the day they found out whether she was pregnant.