{Chapter 6}
I'll Be There For You

"I still think he's too young for that, James." Lily said with a sigh, knowing full well her words wouldn't have any impact on the proud father she sat across the living room from.

"Harry is a brave boy, aren't ya, my boy? A true Gryffindor through and through!" James sat on a training broom with his son in front of him.

"Yes!" The child squealed, swinging his legs back and forth with eagerness. "Findor!"

"Now you can't argue with that, Lily!" James was chuckling with pride.

"Up!" The boy ordered. "Up, Papa!"

"Of course, Harry!" James lifted the twitching broom into the air, hovering enough so his feet weren't touching the ground.

"Look, Mummy, no hands!" James exclaimed. Harry had his arms raised above his head and was babbling some baby language to himself.

"JAMES POTTER!" Lily screeched with a sudden red face. "YOU HOLD ON TO HIM RIGHT NOW!"

"Gosh, Lil', sometimes you ruin all our fun." James sulked. "We're barely even off the ground." But he obliged to the command of his wife.

"No fun!" Harry blew a raspberry at his mother.

"Harry!" Lily scolded. "That's naughty!"

James laughed. "Padfoot taught him that."

"As if I didn't know!" Lily rolled her eyes, then she let out a giggle.

"He spent two hours-" James paused in mid-sentence, his eyes gazing out the window.

"Two hours?" His wife asked, waiting for him to finish.

"Lily!" He leapt off the broom, nearly tripping from the sudden movement. He thrust his son into the alarmed woman's arms. "Take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"*

Lily did as he said and ran up to the second floor. Where's her wand?

Stupid! You should always keep your wand with you!

Where is it? She asked herself over. Where is it? They had no chance without her wand.

Then she remembered... it had been left in the kitchen. Did she have time to retrieve it?

She heard a crash from downstairs.

Oh, God! No, no, no! She found herself screaming. He's going to kill my son. No... I can't let him...! What can she do?

The window! Lily hurried to it. Could she jump from it? How many feet high up was it? Fourteen? Sixteen? No... it was too high...

She set Harry in his cot. Harry, who was so calm while his mother was screaming and wailing. Her brave little boy.

She wouldn't let him take her baby. Lily started barricading the door. If she could buy them time, maybe she could think of a wandless spell that would help them. She struggled with the armchair, grunting and whimpering in a frantic status. "Not my baby!" She whispered, as if saying it would protect Harry. She piled boxes on and around the chair as fast as she could, panting from the swift movements.

She heard the creak of the floorboards as He stepped down the hall toward the room she was trapped in. She had no time. He was coming for them. Lily sobbed realizing James was dead. There is no chance Voldemort let him live. James would have fought to the bitter end.

They were next.

Harry's next!

Lily rushed to her son, picking him up in her arms, kissing him on the forehead with tears in her eyes. God save us. Merlin save us.

The doorknob turned with a click and the dark wizard pushed himself into the room. With a wave of his wand, he removed the barricade, stacking the boxes in a lazy pile with haste.

The once handsome now looked like the monster he was. His skin was grey and scaly like that of a reptile. His eyes glowed red. He had no nose; just two slits for breathing. Lily knew that when he spoke, he hissed like a snake would. Was that what he wanted to be?

Lily set her son in his cot and shielded him with her body. "Please, not Harry..." she begged the monster in front of her. She knew it was worthless, the man held no love for someone. He may as well had no heart, but she didn't know what else to do.

The dark wizard told her to step aside. Why? Why didn't he just kill her like he had James.

He just wanted Harry, Lily figured, but she refused to give up her son, even if it would allow her to save herself. He would do something like that without a second thought, but Lily could not.

She continued to beg for her son's life. She offered her own life in replacement, but Voldemort was not the kind to reason. He had come here for one thing only; to kill her little boy.

Lily wailed. There was nothing she could do! The tall wizard before her was going to kill her and then he would go after Harry. Her pleas had no effect on him. He didn't understand love. He never cared to. How could anyone become like this? How can someone go through life without love?

"Stand aside- stand aside, girl-"* He ordered ever so calmly.

Lily shook her head determinedly. She would rather die than to do that. She would never give her son to him. Never. "Please! Have mercy!"

Green light blinded her.

Lily woke from the nightmare. Her heart pounded painfully against her chest as tears streamed down from her eyes. She rolled over to the edge of the bed and threw up onto the floor.

"Not Harry!" She sobbed. "No!" The event played over and over in her head.

Harry's okay. Harry's okay. Harry's okay. Her mind repeated until it finally sunk in.

But James...Her husband... He was gone.

She wept as soundlessly as she could as to not wake her sleeping son who was in his crib across the way. Then she cried harder when she realized she made a mess on Severus' rug and she couldn't even clean it up with her wand because she no longer had magic.

She had to clean the mess up before it stained, but Lily didn't even know where the cleaning supplies were kept. Severus had given her a minor tour of his new house in Oakdrift that day when she moved in. He hadn't been completely thorough though. He had shown her the main rooms, the linen closet where she was welcome to use his towels, and his dank Potions Cellar.

It was a really wonderful two-story house. Early on, Lily had found out that Severus had many wards cast on upon it. One was a concealing charm. She could step out onto the lawn, wave to a passerby, and she would appear invisible to them. They couldn't even hear her. The outside was white with a sage green trimming and an ordinary looking porch. The front lawn was nice and green, with bins of red tulips that Severus kept alive with some sort of rejuvenating spell. An apple tree also stood proudly in the center of the yard.

Inside, on the first floor, was a small kitchen with a round wooden table for dining at, and a pantry closet. Off the kitchen was a small bathroom that only contained a loo and a sink; and not far from that, a door led to his potions cellar, the place where he spent most his time in.

Severus also had a spacious den, which had been turned into a library with shelves and shelves of books, mostly about potions and magic. She had cringed when she'd seen the massive collection of books on dark magic. It was brightly lit, brighter than any other room. Severus had lined the flooring with thin green throw rugs, each with a disgusting snake positioned in the center of it. His furniture was much lovelier, though: three comfy armchairs and a sofa, all white with emerald green specks.

His fireplace for Flooing was located in a small room just off his den, and that was all he used that room for, so it was bare.

On the second floor, there were three bedrooms. Two had their own luxurious bathrooms, complete with a soaking tub, a shower stall, and dark green marble tiling. The walls were white and encased in them were an assorted amount of glorious green imitation gems. Lily really admired it.

The bedrooms were so big, Lily could dance in them if she wanted to. Severus claimed that the two master rooms were each seventeen by fifteen feet; Lily couldn't believe the size of them. Growing up, her room had been twelve foot square, and she thought that had been plenty of space. Each room had a nice sized bed that would magically heat or cool to the sleeper's comfort, a white armchair, a desk and chair, a walk in closet and a big window that overlooked the tiny neighbourhood of equally elegant houses.

"Where did you get the money to buy the house?" She had asked, sitting on the most pleasant bed she had ever encountered.

"You heard of Tobias passing on?" Severus had asked this bitterly. He had stood in front of her, watching Harry closely as he crawled around on the floor near Severus' feet.

"I did..." Lily had known that he and his father hadn't gotten along well.

"Apparently, my old man wasn't completely useless." He'd said, lifting the bottom of his robes to avoid the toddler's grasping hands. "He put my name in his will, alongside with a large amount of money that was awarded upon his death through some muggle financial service called Life Insurance."

"Harry won't hurt you, Sev." She'd said gently. "He just likes your robes. James only wore robes to meetings after Hogwarts. He liked muggle clothing better. He claimed the robes were too bulky; I happen to agree with him."

"Yes, well, I am sure his hands are fully clean." Severus had said with sarcasm, looking at Harry in disgust.

"I also received the house on Spinner's End." He'd gone on. "But there was no way in hell I was going to move back there. So I sold my flat, and Spinner's End. Then I bought this as soon as I saw it."

"And you could afford Riffer after that?" Lily had known house elves were expensive; only very rich wizards could afford them. She had picked up her son, clearly noting that Severus wasn't accustomed to children.

"Riffer was a gift." He'd simply answered, and she had been able to tell by his tone that he wouldn't go further than that.

"Gift!" Harry had cheered. It was his favourite word. Remus spoiled him with gifts. Harry held his hands out to Severus. "Gift!" He repeated, laughing.

"I still have plenty stored in Gringotts," Severus had ignored Harry. "enough to last many years, but I can't simply sit around and do nothing, especially after the last few years..." He'd said this quietly, and paused as Harry had tried grabbing at his arm. He'd taken a side step before saying, "I have just sent in my application to become an official Potions Master."

"That's really nice, Sev." she had told him softly. She had kissed her son on the cheek before giving him a playful bounce on her hip. "Being official has it's advantages." She added.

"I already make a fair amount from the Malfoys and other associates who order the most expensive potions." Severus had said proudly. He had left after that so she and Harry could arrange themselves comfortably in the spare room he was allowing them to use.

Now Harry was sleeping soundlessly as she tried drying her tears. She went to the bathroom to wash herself up. Then she went and cleaned the mess as best as she could using the light from the bathroom (that she lit with a match) so she could see. Lily rinsed out the towel she had used and threw it in a laundry hamper.

Lily wasn't going to be able to sleep now, as she was wide awake and she didn't want to meet that nightmare again anytime soon. She crept down to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. That's when she realized the stove that Severus had there was an electric one, and he didn't have the electricity on because he had a house elf to magically cook everything. Settling for a glass of cold grape juice that she was able to get from the fridge, she sat down at the dining table.

Lily jumped at the sudden sound of a creak from a cupboard of the kitchen. Riffer emerged. "Mistress Lily." Riffer greeted in a whisper. Though it was pointless; his whisper was not so quiet.

Severus' young House Elf looked like most House Elfs did. He had a large nose, big round, teary eyes, and his ears were long. The pillow case he wore wasn't dingy or gross, either. Severus made sure Riffer was well taken care of. He looked much better than Lucius Malfoy's House Elves ever did, who barely went through a day without a blunt hit somewhere on their little bodies. That man was so awful!

"Oh, dear! I woke you!" she frowned. "I'm so sorry, Riffer."

Riffer smiled widely. "Riffer is okay, Riffer is! Would Mistress Lily like something? Riffer can make Mistress Lily something!" He still spoke in a whisper, likely to avoid waking a sleeping Severus.

"I wanted to make myself tea, but I'm beginning to discover that I'm completely useless in this house." She told him glumly.

"Mistress Lily is not useless!" Riffer scolded before heating up a kettle of water with a wave of his hand. A plate of almond raspberry biscuits appeared before her and then a canister of sugar, followed by a cup of cream, and finally the tea.

"Riffer, you are so kind, thank you." She nibbled on a biscuit politely, but she wasn't too hungry.

Riffer bowed. "Anything for Mistress Lily."

"Oh, please don't do that, Riffer, I am not a princess or anything." It sincerely made her uncomfortable when house elves bowed to her.

"Riffer always bows to Riffer's Master and Mistress."

"I don't want you to anymore." She argued.

"Riffer must." He insisted.

Lily pursed her lips in frustration, but she was in no mood to argue further. "Riffer, before I forget, I made a mess on Severus' rug in the bedroom I am sleeping in. Could you make sure it doesn't stain, please?"

"Riffer will make sure, Riffer will!" The house elf bowed again and instead of disapparating like he would normally do in the daytime, he hurried out of the kitchen on foot to stay as quiet as possible.

Lily soon found she missed Riffer's company. He kept her mind from wandering too far about her lost husband and friends. She stuffed a biscuit in her mouth in an effort to have something to swallow the painful lump forming in her throat.

Recently, her pulse had become extra high. She knew it was from stress. Severus offered her potions for it, but she didn't have the stomach to take them. In fact, she hardly ate anything, and when she did, it usually came back up soon after. Lily was starting to develop a headache from the lack of nutrition and the abundance of stress.

"Lily?" Severus' came up from behind her.

"Did I wake you?" Her voice was croaking from the unsuccessful attempts to not cry.

Severus pulled a chair up to her so he could sit next to her. "No, I was just about ready to go up, actually."

"You're just now going to bed?" She knew it was after two in the morning.

Severus grinned. "I am nocturnal, Lily."

"Oh..."

"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked.

Lily sniffed. "I was thinking about...well, you know."

Severus put an arm around her. "You really need to get some sleep." He said softly. "Do you need a sleeping potion?"

"No, Sev..." she sobbed. "I need Remus!" Lily suddenly wailed.

"Right..." he agreed uneasily. Remus was much better at comforting her than he was. "But, Lily, it's a full moon..."

Lily leaned over to the left to see out the den's window. She hadn't noticed it before, but Severus was right, it was a full moon. Feeling hopeless and extremely upset, she lay her arms on the table and tucked her face in them, weeping loudly.

"Oh, Lily..." Severus rubbed her back. "Don't cry, please."

But she did cry. She cried until she exhausted herself. Severus stayed with her the whole time, and when she finally closed her eyes to hopefully, but doubtfully, fall into a dreamless sleep, he carried her up to her bed and tucked her in.

Snape looked down at her red face. His stomach was fighting a war inside him as he felt her pain. Lily was usually so strong. She was one of the strongest people he knew, and it pained him to see her this way. For her to be so sick with grief was just not like her. Lily was always there to console others with their problems. She healed Lupin's wounds both inside and out; When Snape had lost his mother suddenly in the fourth year of Hogwarts, she had been there for him; not that his mother meant much to him, but she was still his mother, the woman who had given him the blood of a wizard. Lily had even been there for Sirius Black when his younger brother Regulus Black had gone missing. Black had astonishingly showed a tender side to himself then.

Lily needed help herself now, and Snape was going to have to pull her back together, for if this continued, he knew he would lose her.

"Don't worry, Lily, I'll get you through this..." he whispered to her.

Lily was taking advantage of Harry's nap to sit in the kitchen and peel a Mandrake root for a batch of pepper-up potions. Molly Weasley always requested Lily to make her family's potions. It seemed the Weasley family went through an enormous amount of healing potions. Mrs. Weasley hardly had time to brew up such potions herself - having seven children, and all but one being under the age of ten. Lily didn't know how Molly did it. The woman amazed her. Harry alone, was enough to deplete Lily's energy.

She got her cauldron out and set it on the table to start boiling the mandrake root before she remembered she couldn't brew this potion anymore. She lacked the magic to do it. She frowned. It was so hard to get used to the idea of being absolutely useless in this world. She could do simple ones, like a minor fever reducer, since it didn't contain anything magical; but most potions needed some sort of magical plant or creature part to make.

Lily picked up her wand, the instrument she still felt she needed to carry around with her everywhere she went. It felt warm and fuzzy against her hand, as if nothing was wrong. Lily didn't understand it. If she was magic-less, shouldn't the wand be stone cold?

"Mistress should allow Riffer to do Riffer's job." The house elf came in and stood next to her. "Master says so." Riffer added.

"This isn't normal work, Riffer." She told him, jarring up the ingredients before her. She would have to ask Severus to brew the potions. "This is for potions."

"Mistress is not in the cellar doing Mistress' work?" Riffer asked.

"I am up here for Harry. I'm waiting for him to finish his nap."

Riffer smiled and his ears wiggled. "I can wait for Harry Potter, Mistress!" The House Elf loved the young boy who had escaped death unscathed just about five weeks ago.

"Oh Riffer, you don't have to, you silly thing."

"Mistress should work in the Master's Potions Cellar, yes Mistress should! The kitchen is where Riffer works!"

"I do have to go down and ask Severus something." She reasoned with herself. "If Harry wakes up, you will let me know though, okay?"

"Yes, Riffer will let Mistress know when Harry Potter awakes from Harry Potter's nap!" Riffer nodded excitedly.

"Thank you, Riffer." She got up from the table and filled her arms with the potion ingredients she had been working with.

The door to Severus' Potions Cellar was just right off the kitchen, the room having been originally intended as a food storage. She knocked on the door, and after a few moments it creaked open.

"Lily, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, you don't need to knock to come down here," he called lazily. She couldn't see Severus, but she knew his rough location, which was by the shelf of his most precious, rare, and expensive ingredients.

Lily descended the stone stairs and put on one of Severus' thick robes that hung on the wall. No one was allowed to pass the stair landing without wearing one of these. She then placed the ingredients on a nearby cabinet so her arms were free.

The cellar smelled of must, as most did due to lack of air flow. If she could cast magic, she would cast an air freshening charm. The Potions Cellar was large. It had so many shelves of ingredients, tools, and potions that anyone would honestly believe they had just walked into an actual Potions shop.

She saw his tall figure standing where she had thought he was. His back turned to her as he (presumably) scanned his eyes over his ingredients, murmuring to himself. Not wishing to wreck his train of thought, she waited for him to reach for a jar of Australian box turtle hearts before saying anything.

"Would you do something for me?" Lily asked, following Severus to one of his work stations. He had a long table that was separated off into twelve working areas.

"Anything for you, Lily." He said without looking her way as he squeezed the heart of a turtle over his brewing potion; draining its blood into the cauldron. Then he chopped it into pieces with an ancient, silver-bladed knife.

"The Weasleys need a few potions brewed. I just about got all the ingredients prepared, but I can't brew them."

"The family of rabbits?" He asked dryly.

"That's an awful thing to say, Sev." She narrowed his eyes at him.

"A little self control wouldn't do them no harm." Snape smirked to himself.

"Oh, Sev, that's their business, and they gave us a decent income before..." she suddenly choked on her words, as tears stung her eyes. "James..." she whispered.

Snape reduced the flame under his cauldron. "Lily..." he walked to her and embraced her. "I'm so sorry, Lil'." He whispered, patting her back soothingly. "It'll be alright."

Lily wrapped her arms around Snape's waist and sobbed into his chest. "I just miss him so much!" She said through a sniff.

"I know." It might have been Potter's death she was mourning, but Snape felt awful for her. He wished there was something he could do to ease her suffering.

"I don't know what to do, Sev." Her tears continuing to flow. "I feel so useless in this world now, and I don't even have James here to help me."

Snape didn't know what to say. Lily usually didn't go to him with her problems. Lupin was the one to comfort her when she missed Potter. She and Lupin shared that same grief. Snape couldn't match it; even if Lily was upset, he still hated Potter.

"I'm thinking about moving back to a muggle city."

"No, Lily, don't do that!" He tightened his grip on her. "Lily, please. You have so many friends here, you don't need to live with the muggles."

"It's just that... " she paused, making a wet sniff. Snape summoned a clean handkerchief for her. "I can't do anything here anymore, and all I am is a burden to you." She dabbed her puffy eyes.

Snape pushed away from her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Lily," he started firmly. "You are not a burden to me, do you hear me?" His black eyes bore into hers. "Don't you ever say such a thing to me again!" He then pulled her back to him. Softly, he said, "You are my friend, Lily, and always will be."

"But I can't even make a living here." She protested tearily, and broke away from him.

Snape frowned slightly, not wanting to let her go. "You did say you prepared the ingredients for those potions the Weasels-"

"Weasleys, Sev." She couldn't help giggling.

"Weasleys..." he drawled, with a grin, happy to have slightly amused her. "I prefer the name Weasels."

"It's not nice though." She shook a finger at him.

"So, anyway..." he shifted his eyes, uncomfortable with her scolding. "You can still prepare potion ingredients. "

"But what good does it do if I can't brew them?"

"Lily, we can work on them together. Just like we used to do at Hogwarts. You loved the ingredient preparing better than I did anyway, and I, the brewing better than you. We can be partners."

"Partners?" She asked, only slightly brightening up.

"Sure! We can combine our clientèle, and I am sure we'll have many potions to make. You will be so busy that it'll keep your mind off...things." he held his breath as he waited for her response.

"Will I be really that useful? Or are you just saying so?" She raised her eyebrows suspiciously. Sometimes Lily knew him too well.

"You will be very useful. Besides, we both could use the company, don't you think? You certainly could use someone to talk with." He smiled. "Besides a broom flying infant that is."

"Sev, if you really mean it..."

Snape could almost click his heels with the feeling that suddenly rushed through him. Almost... Proper wizards kept a calm disposition at all times.

"Of course I mean it!" he said, his eyes lighting up with happiness. "Come!" He grabbed her hand and led her to the cauldron he'd been working with when she arrived. "I'll show you the potion I am trying to invent. It's an antidote for boomslang poisoning."

* * *
"What are you doing for New Year's, Lily?" Snape asked, as they each ate a bowl of his favourite soup; french onion, extra chunky.

"Remus and I are taking Harry to see the fireworks in London. Would you like to join us?" Lily was making a huge effort in hiding her depression around Harry.

"Fire!" Harry screeched and threw a piece of onion across the kitchen.

"No, no, Harry." Lily scolded her son gently. "We don't throw food. Watch Mummy, Harry." She dipped her spoon into her soup and delicately placed it in her mouth.

"Yick!" Harry scrunched up his face in disgust, showing a set of white, baby teeth. He flung another piece of onion.

"So we have established that he doesn't favour onions." Snape stared coldly at Harry, annoyed by the boy's atrocious manners. Not that he had room to talk. Once upon a time, Severus Snape had had a matching demeanour, thanks to his good-for-nothing father. Since then, he had learned to act as a respectable wizard should.

Lily took Harry's bowl of soup from him so he wouldn't throw any more food, then picked up the two pieces he had tossed from his bowl. She went to the pantry for a box of cereal and put a handful on the tabletop of his high chair.

"You're not going to tell Riffer to get him something else?" Snape asked, eyeing the cereal.

Lily didn't answer him as she put the box of cereal away.

Maybe she hadn't heard him.

"Lily?"

"I make Riffer do enough as it is." She said quietly before sitting back down. "Eat it. Don't fling it." She told Harry.

Harry seemed happy enough, but cereal wasn't a balanced meal. Narcissa's constant rambling of the Malfoy heir, Draco, had taught Snape that. Apparently, the first three years of a child's life was their most important ones of all.

"What does little Harry like to eat, Lily?" Snape's black eyes wouldn't leave the toddler as Harry played with his food.

"Don't bother with it, Sev. He's fine." Lily tried assuring him.

"He surely can not eat cereal for the rest of his life." He sneered at the boy. Why he was even willing to care was beyond him. He surely didn't like the spoiled spawn of James Potter, but he wasn't going to allow the boy to starve under his roof. "Tell me what the boy will eat, and I'll have Riffer make it."

"Severus-"

"Riffer." Snape's call was barely audible, but his elf appeared with a loud "CRACK" just the same.

"Master!" Riffer proudly bowed with a smile.

"I'll just have Riffer cook until he makes something Harry will eat." He said craftily, knowing Lily would say something to avoid having Riffer slave away for hours.

"Harry likes roast chicken legs and mashed potatoes with gravy." She finally answered, eyeing the house elf pitifully.

"And will the child eat a vegetable?"

"Carrots, but uncooked."

"Riffer, roast a chicken leg for Harry. Prepare a small portion of mashed potatoes with gravy, and diced raw carrots." Snape ordered his house elf.

"Oh yes, Master, sir!" Riffer cheerfully said and went to work.

"There will be no more of that Lily." Snape gave her a sharp look to make sure she knew he meant what he said. "You and Harry both are going to start eating better. Don't think I haven't noticed your lack of appetite lately. You will eat more, even if I have to force feed you."

"It'd be different if I didn't have to have Riffer do everything for me." She said miserably.

"Riffer is not here to lounge around, Lily. If you need something done, tell him to do it. Otherwise, I'll make him do it. Either way, Riffer is going to work like the house elf he is."

Lily mumbled something Snape didn't make out.

"What is that?" He asked quickly.

"I am not used to being waited on hand and foot." She still mumbled it, but at least he could understand her then.

"Riffer, give Lily your honest opinion about how you feel when you serve her." Snape ordered.

"Oh, Riffer is so happy when Mistress Lily asks Riffer to help! Yes, Riffer is!" Riffer cheered happily. "Riffer loves Mistress Lily. Riffer does!"

"He can't be serious?" She asked Snape dubiously.

"I ordered him to be serious." Snape said slowly with boredom. "Can we get back to our dinner now?"

Lily eyed the smiling house elf before she nodded.

Snape cleared his throat, knowing what he was about to say she wouldn't be too thrilled with. "Lucius came by today. He invited me to their New Year's Party, and I'm going to go."

"Severus, you can't socialize with those people!" She shrieked. "They are on the dark side!"

"Lily, they were under the Imperius curse, and their names have been cleared." He spoke quietly, his eyes falling to his soup as he lied to the woman he loved.

"You don't really believe that?" She asked in disbelief.

"You saw the evidence." Snape said.

"You mean lack of evidence!" He made the mistake of glancing at her. Lily's green eyes were narrowed angrily at him. Glowing, even.

"Whichever." He said carelessly. "The Ministry has claimed that they are innocent. We must all make an effort to move on."

The noise she made after that said she disagreed with him.

"Look, Lily," he said gently. "my heart aches for you, but keeping in touch with the former Death Eaters might prove to be a brilliant idea should the Dark Lord return."

"What do you mean?" Curiosity took over her anger.

"You were there for my trial." he simply said. Albus had fought hard for Snape's innocence since Snape joined the Order to protect Lily, serving as a secret double agent. He owed the old wizard his life for helping him. If it weren't for Albus Dumbledore, Snape would be rotting in Azkaban, and probably right alongside that foul mouthed, traitorous Black. Or worse, Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. He had to fight the urge to shudder when he thought of that heinous woman.

"What makes you think Voldemort will allow you back into his circle?" Lily asked. "Surely he'll find out that you were on the Order's side?"

"My trial was kept private." He answered. "For that very reason."

"But Remus and I were there!" Lily protested.

"Yes. By Albus' request." He then smirked "You didn't think I had so little support, did you?"

"Well, yes, I thought so..." she was slightly taken aback. He hardly ever made fun of her thoughtlessness. It was a part of him Lily was still getting used to, obviously something he had picked up from being with the Death Eaters for nearly five years. Severus had always had a natural dark humour, but no doubt spending so much time with Lucius Malfoy hadn't helped him in the slightest.

"I apologize, Lily." Snape said meaningfully, when he noticed the frown on her face. "But I have more-" he stopped himself short. Those people weren't his friends. Other than Lucius and Narcissa. "I have more support than you think, Lily. They aren't really my friends, though," he admitted. "They just admire my skills, as much as the Dark Lord had. We also grew up together and when you spend so many years with the same people, you end up... bonding."

Lily swirled her spoon through her soup absently.

"You surely understand?" He asked softly. "You hated Potter and Black during the first two years of Hogwarts. That's not much different from my situation, you know."

"Yes." she whispered in agreement, no less thinking about her dead husband.

"I have decided it would be wise to keep my connections strong with them."

"What about Harry?!" She cried. "Won't they want to hurt him?"

"My house has many powerful protection wards. You will not find a safer place." He assured her. "Besides, didn't Albus mention Harry was safe as long as you were alive?"

"I guess so, but it doesn't make much sense to me." she said helplessly. "How can magic-less me protect someone from a harmful spell?"

"Magic isn't all black and white, Lily."

"Can't they just kidnap him?" She asked with wide eyes, unwilling to set her mind at ease.

Kidnap?

Did she really just ask that?

"Lily, you read too much muggle fiction. Wizards hardly resort to such a thing."

"But it does happen." She argued.

Snape sighed. "Yes. Not very often though."

"So how would you stop one of your 'friends' from snatching my son?" She had fear in her eyes. She wanted him to help her protect her son. "Isn't there a spell for that too?"

"Just let me think, alright?" He asked a bit too harshly which caused her to look down to her soup. She had hardly eaten anything. "Finish your soup." He ordered with a tender tone. "I am sure there's something I have read that will do what you're needing."

Snape once read a list of countries that had the most kidnappings and murders, he just needed to remember which one had the most. That was likely the country to have the spell. If there was one, anyhow. If muggles were kidnapped and murdered there, perhaps wizards were too.

The Philippines? India? Venezuela? Mexico?

Yes, it was Mexico. Now, what had he read about Mexico... Known for their Chiles En Nogada, a patriotic dish with chopped meat, fruit, and spices. It was a favorite dish of the Wizards there. But what did the wizards do about the kidnappings? He scanned his head for the word kidnap.

"Severus?" Lily broke into his thoughts.

"Hush." He said softly. "I'm thinking."

What was the word for kidnap in the Spanish language? He had a photographic memory, but he had so much information stored, it often took him a bit to find what he wanted.

There it is... 'Raptar'. He thought as a page of a book flashed into his immediate mind. He scanned the page. Apparently, there were plenty of abductions there. Mostly done in a city called Ciudad Juárez. A wizard by the name of Alejandro Rodriguez had come up with an anti kidnapping ward.

"Found one, Lily." He finally announced taking his wand out of his robes and standing up. "I'll cast it on you and the boy, alright?"

Lily nodded and stood.

"There is just one problem with this spell, Lily." He warned.

"What's that?"

"You wont be able to apparate with anyone but those on the trusted list, this includes side by side Flooing. Although flooing by yourself will still be possible. Who would you like to list down as the people you trust?"

"Well, you, of course." She smiled, slightly biting her lip. "Remus, Albus, and Molly and Arthur."

Snape nodded. "I'll put Harry down too, so you will be able to floo together."

"Oh, smart thinking, I wouldn't have thought of that."

"The same people for Harry then, Lily?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Hold my hand." He reached out for her, and she took his hand. He smiled faintly as he felt her soft palm in his. "And now hold Harry's hand." He instructed. Harry's hands were a mess, who, by this time, was eating his meal that Riffer had prepared for him. Lily didn't seem to mind her son's disgusting hands though.

Let's just hope I can pronounce this correctly...

"Viajare solo con las que confio." Snape chanted as he touched Lily's forehead with the tip of his wand, then Harry's.

Nothing happened.

"I truly detest the Spanish language." Snape groused. He was much better with Latin and Dutch. After four more attempts, he finally said it correctly. "Viajaré sólo con los que confío." Snape felt his wand vibrate against his hand. He touched Lily and Harry's foreheads again. Lily blinked, and Harry squirmed.

At last, it's working.

He then had to heavily focus on the faces of the trusted people, while naming them off verbally.

"You are well protected now, Lily." Snape said when he was finished. He gently squeezed her hand before releasing it.

Lily hugged him. "Thanks so much, Sev!"

"Don't you ever worry about a thing, Lily." He said into her ear as he hugged her back "I'm here for you."


A/N:

*Asterisked quotes from 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' by JK Rowling, Chapter Seventeen: Bathilda's secret

A VERY special thanks to keyty_ for the Spanish translation of "I shall travel with only those I trust." (Viajaré sólo con los que confío)

Preview for the next chapter(it's a long preview!)

"The Potions Mistress"

"Is everyone done with their toasting?" Trixi asked from where she stood at the door. "I can show you the next step." Her eyes fell to the floor as sixteen pairs of eyes looked at her. "If you'll allow me..." To Trixi's amazement, the remaining students followed her up to Professor Snape's desk.

"I consider this the simplest step of them all." She told them. "The toasted pumpkin seeds, and two teaspoons of beetle eyes." she mixed the two in Snape's mortal and pestle and proceeded to grind the ingredients together. "Look simple enough?" She asked them and most of her classmates nodded. Minutes later, she was finished. "This is what you want it to look like." It looked like beach sand with a little black mixed with it.

Everyone went back to their seats to do the task and Trixi sent three jars of Beetle Eyes to be passed around the room.

"What do I do when I have added too many Beetle Eyes?" Gabriella Norman asked.

"How on Earth do you add too many?!" a boy from Slytherin demanded. "It's two teaspoons! One! Two!"

"Be thankful Professor Snape isn't here?"