Chapter Four

A/N: First off, I want to give a massive thank you to everyone who hung in there and stuck by this story. I promised I wasn't going to abandon this one, I just needed time away from it to get inspired. Needless to say that inspiration finally came. Feedback is greatly appreciated as always.

Snape, seeing that he was no longer needed after the door was slammed in his face by James, had turned heel and had calmly walked down the steps. As he headed towards the exit of Godric's Hollow he couldn't help but flash the Potter house one finale glance before grasping the wooden gate with his hand to head onto the accompanying sidewalk.

He had an odd feeling about that house…about Godric's Hollow entirely. It was as if the entire area seemed to be coated with some form of misery or foreshadowing of despair. Everything had seemed…so downtrodden, like it was attempting to cry out it's own anguish. Cry out for it's own impending doom…

Still, Snape tried as best he could to quell these disturbing thoughts. He had more then enough to worry about at the moment and adding all this certainly wasn't going to help. His black heavy coat billowed around his feet in the faint breeze. It drug the ground ever so slightly. It may've been a bit too big for him, but it got the job done in terms of warmth from extremely harsh bone-chilling weather…and also in other cases. Which is what it was coming in handy for now.

He hunched over slightly as he quietly passed other people. He made sure never to make more eye contact then was absolutely needed. When he did it was usually a piercing glare. That gave an onlookers the message right away. But his overgrown bat image was more then enough to get others to avoid his presence. In a way, he liked it better this way. That way he could be alone with his thoughts and not be pestered by anyone flanking his side jabbering on about idiotic subjects.

He sighed. Still, the only person who was ever an exception to this rule was Lily. Her company never really did anything to bother him. If anything her presence always seemed to drag him away from his usual depressing moods and make him feel happy…be it only for a little while.

Nobody else had ever had the ability to do that for him. Not that that really mattered to him. All the others had always assumed that he was a weirdo or strange. And their company almost always meant misery or pain for him.

He shook his head at these pestering thoughts and scoffed slightly. It was best for him not to dwell on these thoughts any longer. The more James or his past was brought up, the more it clouded his mind and judgment. His head needed to be clear, not muddled with worries about past rivalries or childhood pain. Such foolish thinking!

He slowly brought his head up from it's hunched position and slowly took in a breathe of fresh air. This helped steady his mind just a bit. To be honest Snape couldn't remember exactly when he'd left his old home for anything. He never really felt any desire to leave it when he thought about it. Everything he needed was right there in his home. And if he needed any more potion ingredients they were all there packed away in jars in a few of the spare rooms that's only function besides housing them was collecting dust.

He always felt it more calming to be by himself. After all, what use did being around other people have? Nothing foolish needs in his mind. Always clouded by the influences of others. He'd learned his lesson long ago about so carelessly trusting others.

Twitching slightly at the thought, Snape suddenly came to a stop to stretch and rest his legs for a bit. Deciding a lean up against a brick wall of a wizarding coffee shop, he sighed and let his eyes wander about once more. Relishing in the silence of a typically noisy area of town.

'Hmm…it seems there's not a lot of people around this area today…strange.'

He thought to himself. And strange it was. Now that he thought about it this whole area should be teeming with life. Every corner filled with the hustle and bustle of men women and children chattering nosily and heading about their day. But today…there was hardly any noise around. Any sign of life in this area. Turning his head to get a better look at the coffee shop, he was stunned to see a 'closed' sign labeling it's status on the doorway.

"That's peculiar." he softly muttered to himself.

It slowly came to him that he'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he'd hardly noticed the unusual scarce amount of people in this area. So very strange. He couldn't help but ponder why it seemed so lifeless. Was today some sort of holiday he'd missed? Not that he cared or anything. He was often known to skip holidays altogether, never giving them a second glance.

Taking a couple of steps away from the brick wall his dark eyes scanned the area, trying to see if he missed any sort of decorations or anything labeling a holiday of any kind.

There was nothing.

While pondering all this his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by low soft voices. From how it sounded it seemed there were more then two. One sounded female. Steadying his breathe, Snape crept as close to the edge of the corner that he could without being given away. Straining his ears he tried desperately to determine what they were saying, but they were either too far away, or their voices were just too low to be able to reach his ears in a clear effective manner.

As their voices quieted, Snape cursed himself on the inside. He had a sudden growing suspicion as to what had been going on around here. And if his thoughts proved correct, it had something to do with those whispering figures.

Not wanting to bring any suspicion on his part, Snape continued to stroll down the sidewalk in a casual manner. He did this for a couple of reasons. One was to not make the figures suspect anyone had been eavesdropping, and the other was for him to attempt, as casual as it may be, to at least get a look at one of them.

He had a sneaking suspicion one of them was the one that had attempted to harm Lily the other night. If this proved true, things did not look well for the rest of them.

Attempting to steady his rapid heartbeat, Snape made his presence known to the others in the dark alleyway as he walked on by it. At first they didn't see anything too wrong with this as they kept huddled up with one another in a small circle they'd formed. Standing there like three stone statues that's only betrayal was a flicker of a robe every once and a while due to a twitch of a foot or hand. As he continued walking, Snape quickly stole a glance at the three, and almost instantly he knew what they were. His first instinct was to flee, to rid himself of their presence altogether, but he forced himself to remain. He wasn't going to leave until he made sure if this one person was in that group.

As if on cue at the thought one of the hooded figures slowly turned it's gaze towards the lonely figure of Snape. It's face was almost completely in shadow, save for a few glints from what light was allowed into the dark alleyway.

As Snape's vision slowly cleared and got used to the harsh darkness of the small alley, he had to steady himself not to let out a small gasping cry. There standing mere feet from him was a figure with yellow tinted eyes. The eyes of a beast. The figure flashed Snape a wide dirty grin from the shadows, along with a light chuckle that seemed to carry across the alleyway with ease. It made him shudder.

Not waiting around any longer to see what these three did, Snape hurried on away from that desolate area as fast as he could without causing any unwanted attention to himself.

As he hurried along his mind began to race once more. His heart thudded in a heavy manner in his chest. It was almost certain who those people were, and even more certain who that creature was that had attacked Lily last night.

And what he meant spelled doom for Lily and everyone else involved with her.

.

.

.

.

Fenrir Greyback….

After slamming the door in his old rival's face and letting out a sigh of disgust, he then turned to Lily to find her setting on the couch. Arms folded across her chest and legs crossed. Her expression was one of distrust and annoyance.

"Well…was that really necessary? Slamming the door in his face like that?"

Her eyes were drawn down into almost a glare. Her foot was kicking slightly in an agitated manner. At that question James' expression turned to one of utter shock. He threw his hands up in the air, which helped display his annoyance.

"Wh- was what necessary? Slamming the door in his face, yes I believe it was Lily." He walked swiftly across the room before turning suddenly to plant himself onto the couch next to her. His hands dangled in-between his legs as he rested his arms on his thighs.

He eyed Lily with a close gaze. His mouth fidgeting as he thought how he would handle the situation as to what that that- git had said to him.

Letting out a breath slowly he let himself start talking.

"Lily…Do you know what he just said to me out there? He said, well, more like implied rather, that I'd harmed you prior to you going over to his house last night."

James straightened up slightly as he continued speaking. His voice low and calm.

"More so to the fact, why did you leave in the middle of the night like that? That was extremely dangerous and foolish of you. Don't you know how many dangers there are-"

At these words James was suddenly cut off.

"Yes I do know that James Potter!"

She'd brought herself up a little and was now pointing to herself as she enunciated her words. Her tone was one of seething, scathing rage. She eyed him with a death glare. Out of all the things he'd done this was one of the worst. First he cheated on her and now he was treating her like a small child in need of constant care. Well, she was not about that let that happen. Not then, and certainly not now.

"And I for one don't appreciate you of all people telling me such things. As if I didn't know it myself. Did it ever occur to you that if I hadn't caught you with those letters from a no-good hussy that this never would've happened?"

She scoffed and turned her head away. Arms still crossed foot still tapping.

But her voice had dropped some of it's anger. It now held a tone of tiredness to it.

"At least he had the decency to walk me back, you know? For that you should be grateful, instead of trying to start something up with him again. This petty rivalry between you two…shouldn't it have already ended?"

At her words James dropped his head and sighed slowly. Perhaps she was right. The slimy git had walked her home and made sure she was safe. It seemed to was much too quick to want to lash out at him again. Old habits died hard he supposed.

"I guess you are right Lily. I was too quick to jump on him. I am thankful that he got you home safely, I'll thank him for that at least."

Lily's posture relaxed slightly and she sighed to herself. It was happening again, what with the sudden mood swings and her becoming tired after doing so little. Lifting a hand to wipe it across her face she turned towards James to find his expression one of confusion now. Confusion mixed with concern rather.

"Lily…Lily is something the matter? I'm-I'm sorry if I-"

"No, no it's not that…" she said as she waved a hand away at him. The truth was telling him that she was pregnant honestly terrified her. After all, how was she supposed to know that he was going to be around to help her with the new baby and not just be off with another whore of his?

Instability really made her nervous.

Seeing the honest concern becoming more and more apparent in his eyes as the minutes dragged on, Lily finally decided against her gut to go ahead and tell him.

Sighing she turned fully towards him. She eyed him in a careful manner as she spoke, careful not to make her voice quiver.

"James…..I-……….I'm pregnant."

It took a few minutes for these words to process in his brain. But when they finally did his expression went from concern to complete elation. He actually had to stop himself from jumping up from the couch to leap into the air. Grinning from ear to ear in all his happiness he couldn't stop himself from grabbing a hold of her in an embrace.

"That's- That that's great!" his happiness almost causing him to stumble over his words.

Pulling away from the embrace, he suddenly thought of something.

"Wait…this is what's been bothering you? But it's such good news."

Lily was quick to sting him again with her words.

"Yes, this among other things."

James was quick to catch on. He dropped his head in a somewhat shameful manner.

"Oh yes…of course. Of course that would bother you…."

In his shame James recalled the words that Snape had said to him earlier. His eyes started to well with tears but he blinked them away before Lily could see.

Curse him! How could he have not seen what it was doing to her? Well no more. No longer would he be the cause of his wife's misery and sadness.

Placing his hands gently on her shoulders he looked her in the eye. His eyes held a look of sincerity.

"Lily…I promise from this day forward I will be a better husband to you, and when the time comes, a good father to our child. Mark my word things will get better."

At his words Lily couldn't help but feel that they were honestly sincere. Who knows, maybe having a child was all that was needed for him to straighten up and be a better person. That's what she hoped for anyway.

She then felt herself wrapping her arms gingerly around him in a shaky manner.

"You promise?" her voice sounded heavy and hollow as her head rested against his chest. She noticed how it sounded nothing like her.

"I promise Lily." he said softly.

"I promise."

As she sat there wrapped up in his embrace another thought that had been plaguing her about this child just wouldn't leave her alone. This thought however, brought with it thoughts of danger and impending doom. But Lily had tried to brush them off as the product of an overactive mind. One especially that had been overworked by anxiety and nervousness these past weeks.

Still……the thought just would not leave her………………………