The Beginning
Lily – July, 1980
"Are you sure about this, Lily Irene?"
Lily, physically and emotionally exhausted from her labor, but still only half-done with the night's work, looked up from the newborn infant cradled in her arms to frown at her friend. "You know I am."
Pandora Sage-Willow sighed deeply, as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders. "You know I don't judge you for your choices Lily Irene," ("Which is why we're friends," Lily inserted.) "but that doesn't mean I approve, especially of this."
"So calling the Dark to save Longbottom is fine, and you won't blame me for using necromancy or asking the Youthful Power to kill in battle, but you draw the line at a ritual to disguise my son?"
"The why matters, and you know it! To save a life – or many lives – is one thing! But this… this you would do simply to hide your broken vows from your husband!"
"No, I wouldn't," the new mother snapped reflexively. Her friend gave her a look which said as clearly as any words that she was not believed. "Well, okay, I might. I daresay James wouldn't be too pleased with me if he knew, but I'm not, and you know it!"
She turned back to the babe, now suckling. "He's already in so much danger, just by virtue of being my son – can you imagine how much worse it would be if they knew who sired him? I – James would forgive me, I think, in the end – and even if he didn't, I can take care of myself. But how do you think he would react if he found out that he had been protecting a cuckoo-child? Do you think he would allow Severus Snape's bastard to live under his roof? Sev can't take care of a child in his circumstances – he can barely pass messages without drawing undue suspicion. That Fucker would kill both of them in an instant! Or worse, give him to Bellatrix!
"And," she reminded her friend irritably (for they had already discussed Pandora's reservations more than once), "how do you think Dumbledore and the rest of the Order would react if they found out that I'd 'been having an affair' with a Death Eater? Never mind that I've been with Sev longer than Jamie. You know he's on my side, but no one else does! No one would believe it! They'd lock me up or kick me out for fraternizing with the Enemy. And how many more lives would be lost, that might have been saved on Sev's information? I like James – we're friends and we've fought together and if it weren't for him, well… this little one probably wouldn't be here. He loves me, and I am… at least rather fond of him. But my marriage vows are really the least of my concern, here.
"So yes, I'm sure," she concluded, glaring at the older witch. She could tell by the resigned expression on Pandora's normally serene features that she had won. "And we need to do it before the nurse comes to, so hurry up!" The muggle nurse who had been assigned to attend the post-partum Lily had been put to sleep in the next bed, to give them time to execute this ritual in peace, before James was informed of the birth of 'his' son. They really didn't have time for this.
"Very well," Pandora finally acquiesced, fishing a white crayon from her pocket. She began to sketch a ritual diagram on the surface of a nearby table. "You have the essence of Potter?" she asked, cool efficiency belying her reservations.
Lily summoned the potion-vial, containing a shimmering, opalescent mist (alchemically extracted from a sample of her husband's blood), from the bag containing the clothes in which she had arrived to the hospital, and handed it over.
"And you know the child must be named before the ritual can be put into effect," Pandora reminded her.
Lily nodded. As firmly and solemnly as she could, she said, "I name you, my son, Seth Alexander Evans. Your mother is Lily Evans, and your father is Severus Snape. Know these names, for they are yours, given in love and by right of blood. Seth Alexander Evans, my son, be named," she repeated, laying a kiss upon the sleeping boy's brow. An intangible gust of magic gathered, swirled, and departed, leaving the baby's slightly sallow skin glowing faintly for a moment. "As it is witnessed by magic, so mote it be." The glow faded.
Pandora echoed the sealing phrase, then nodded. "Welcome to the world, Seth," she said lightly, then held out her hands for the swaddled bundle.
His mother passed him over slightly reluctantly, and she laid him on the table, in the center of the diagram. He woke with a dissatisfied cry.
"There, now, little one," the older witch cooed, cupping his cheek in her hand as Lily struggled to rise from the bed, still only an hour out of labor, even with liberal use of potions and healing spells to help her recover more quickly than the average muggle.
"Dora! You can't just lay him on the table," she objected, making her way to the two of them.
"Relax, Lily Irene! I put a cushioning charm on it," Pandora rolled her eyes, steadying her friend. "And besides, a little discomfort will be the least of his concern in a moment."
"Oh, shut up, Dora," Lily glared, before turning her attention to the babe. "For what it's worth, Seth," she said softly, "I'm sorry."
And then she began a slow Armenian chant, calling upon the Deceptive Power to steal her own son's birthright, sacrificing his name and his future as Seth Evans to usurp the Potter line, to let him appear, in every way, to be the trueborn son of James Charlus Potter.
At the appropriate moment, Pandora tipped the vial carefully to his lips, and he swallowed reflexively.
The sense of magic in the air grew heavier and more oppressive as they repeated the process again, and then a third time.
"Verts'rek' ir anuny, verts'nel ir apagan, dzevavorel kavi dzevavorel t'arm deghahat. Seth Alexander Evans voch' aveli, hima meky yntanik'i het, vori eut'yuny, na verts'rel!"
The baby, no longer Seth, squirmed and screamed, but his mother was merciless, and she completed the ritual, the magic centering on him and tethering itself to him before she lifted him in her arms to soothe him.
"Hush, my darling boy," she whispered, collapsing back into the bed. "Hush now. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, baby. But it's going to be okay, now. It's going to be okay."
