*Cleaning up my chapters, but this is not the newly edited version yet so may still have a few typos/errors.

Thanks to Tess4aria, Send-it-On, Musicalfan2012, Smile-thebestthingintheworld, Irinaa3, Twichild369, Singingequestrian89, Alisonfaith297, AlgophobianSadist, Darkprince31, Zireael07, Gyoro and Ururun, Sassymagpie, Ujemaima, Jordina, DarkPhoenix-24, MarissaRosee, RedStalkingDeath, Illbeyouralways. and vAMPkIMI for the kind reviews as always!

Tess4aria and Irinaa and others: There is more of Severus/Harry in this chapter.

Chapter 25: In the Heat of the Moment

Mid-June 1982

"Okay, thank you." Lily told her neighbor and shut the front door. As she headed for the kitchen, she found Harry in the bathroom, covered in toilet paper. Lily turned to the lab and entered the room, clearly flustered. "I'm not your mother, you know? I shouldn't have to ask you more than once to do something so minuscule."

"Well, I should hope not." He said, confused.

"I'm tired of discussing this with you. If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times."

"What?"

Lily threw up her arms in exasperation and turned on her heel. She folded her arms and let out a huff of frustration. "All men are the same." She said, storming out of the lab and toward the bathroom.

Severus looked at her in confusion. He really had no idea what had set her off this time. Despite what she thought, he wasn't going to read her mind. Doing so would be invasive. If she wanted something, she had to tell him what the problem was. Lily always seemed to assume he should just know what was wrong with her. It was always something he had done, but half of the time he didn't know what the problem was because she wouldn't tell him.

"I've told you, Lily. I'm not going to invade your mind and read your thoughts. Unless I do that, I cannot read your mind. I may be a wizard, but I'm not superman."

Lily turned back and looked at him, her eyes narrowed in irritation.

"You don't really want me to penetrate your thoughts, do you?" He asked with a smile. She did not see it.

"You try and I swear-"

"Calm down, I was joking. I couldn't do that to you. You will have to tell what you want instead."

"I asked you to put a spell on the bathroom. You didn't do it. Now Harry is covered in toilet tissue!" She said, throwing her hands in the air.

"You are mad at me over Harry getting into the toilet tissue?"

He was a bit surprised, but he shouldn't be. These little things were what spun her in a tizzy sometimes. "Fine, I'll put the spell on the bathroom to keep Harry out."

"When? I asked you to do this already."

"You mentioned it as a possibility. You did tell me to do it."

Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance. Severus couldn't help it, he smirked at her frustration. He thought she was cute when she was worked up over nothing. Lily noticed his smile and assumed he was reveling in her unhappiness.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing."

"It's not funny. Harry has made a mess." Lily was not in the mood for this. "Forget it, I'll do it myself. I should have done it in the first place. I can't count on you for anything." She said in her aggravation and instantly regretted it.

Severus was taken aback. Couldn't be counted on for anything? "Really, is that so?" He spat out in his own frustration now.

"I didn't mean that, I'm sorry. I just don't want him stopping up the toilet with the tissue or god knows what else in there."

"Fine." He went into the bathroom, yanked the end of the toilet paper off of Harry and put a charm on the rest of the roll. Lily made a grab for Harry as he ran out the door.

"No, I need to get this stuff off of you. You even have toilet paper trailing from your shoe."

Severus looked over and suddenly got a flashback of the time when the Marauders had charmed toilet tissue to trail from his own shoe in third year. He clinched his fists.

"James shouldn't have done that to you." She stated, realizing instantly what he was thinking about.

"I'm over it." He lied.

"He was just pulling one of his stupid pranks as per usual." She said, remembering how irritating James and Sirius were in those days.

"No, he wasn't. He was trying to degrade me. That's what he did. It's what he always did."

"They did that stuff to other people too."

"I am well aware of that fact. However, I was their primary target. I wasn't as good as they were. I was not as well-off as they were." Before she could respond, he was heading out of the bathroom.

"I am done with this conversation!" He went into his lab, nearly slamming the door.

Lately, the tensions in the house had grown. Lily knew they were both just stressed out and on-edge because of the circumstances. Truthfully, they were both frustrated with themselves and the unspoken and increasing attraction to one another. Neither had confessed their feeling to the other yet. The implications of such a relationship also weighed heavy on both of their minds. A former Death Eater with a muggleborn? A Slytherin with a Gryffindor? They were defying the odds. Deep down, they liked the idea of being rebels this way.

Lily let out a breath. They didn't argue much, but she did not like the bantering. She did not like making him angry or upset. She wasn't thinking in her own frustration. It was only a suggestion to charm the bathroom until Harry was toilet-trained. Was it really a big deal? She was fighting with him like they were married. They had no real responsibility to each other and he had been great with helping her anytime she asked for it. He even helped her with Harry, though Harry was not his responsibility at all. She knew she was just frustrated with a lot of things at the moment. She had taken out her own stress on him over something trivial. This was her fault.

She opened the door to the lab. "Sev?"

"What?" He snapped.

"Fine." It was silent a second. "I'm sorry. She started to leave.

"Wait." She stopped and he swallowed his pride. "I'm sorry too."

"It was wrong of them. I hated it then and I don't like it any more now." There was a short, silent pause.

"They wanted to make me feel worthless. Prove that they were better people. They won in the end. They got nearly everything they wanted, even if wasn't all perfect."

"What did they win? They did not end up any better off."

"They both seem or seemed to be doing okay to me."

"They both inherited their fortunes if you are referring to money. You have worked hard to overcome the challenges of the hand you were dealt. They weren't any better than you. So what if you became a Death Eater? That's what most of your friends did. You realized it wasn't going to give you anything, that it was a mistake. That's important."

"A major mistake, you mean. I cannot get rid of my mark ever. It is permanently etched on my skin."

"So? I mean, I wish it could go away as well, but it is reminder of a danger that exists. I have my own scars from my mistakes too. It's just how it is."

"They still ended up better. They still got everything they had hoped for. Me, on the other hand, I have not gotten anything I had hoped for."

"What did you hope for?" She asked, curious. What did he think about his life? What had he wanted? What were his hopes for the future? He did not share these thought with her, but Lily knew he was not one to openly share such things. Her thoughts now included him and she often wondered if his future included her at all. She had a feeling it did, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"I don't know. More than what I got, but I guess that's to be expected." He turned to her and looked into her eyes. "I just hated that no matter what, they got everything. In the end, they were always winners."

"If you are about to call yourself a loser, I'm not going to agree with you."

"I may not be a loser, but I am far from a winner."

"Good. Neither am I. We are even. My life hasn't turned out so great either." Something buzzed. "My timer, I forgot. I was washing clothes." She left the room.

Severus turned back to his potion recipe, modifying it. Even? No, she was much better than he was.

"Dada." Harry said, tugging Severus's pants. Severus looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. He was not going to convince this kid that he was not his father. It was everyday thing now. Harry looked up at the ceiling, clearly confused at what Severus was looking at.

"Up there?" Harry asked. The expression on Harry's face looked so much like Lily that Severus felt himself smile.

"Cute," Severus said. "But I'm still not your dad."

Harry got off his chair and pointed to the radio. "misik." He said.

"Music? Yes, it plays music."

"Misik." He said. "On."

"No, it's time for you to go to bed."

"Bed?"

"Yes, it's your bedtime."

"Nigh-nigh?" He asked.

"Yes, night-night." When did he start using words like that? "It's time for your bath."

"Bath. Jammies."

"Yes, you need to get a bath and get your pajamas on before you to sleep."

"Go nigh-nigh."

"Then you go to sleep, yes. Come on, let's go upstairs." Severus grabbed Harry and took him upstairs to draw up a bath.

Lily came up a few moments later. Harry was squeezing his rubber duck while Severus washed his hair.

"Duck."

"What do ducks say?" Lily asked, walking toward them. Severus turned to her with a smile.

"Cack."

"They quack. That's right." She knelt down beside Severus outside of the tub, taking over bathing Harry. Severus got up and headed out of the bathroom. He stopped outside of the doorway though and listened to her sing. She was singing to Harry a story about ducks. It didn't matter how silly the song was, he thought she had a beautiful voice.

Lily got Harry out of the tub and dried him off. "Let's go get on you jammies, okay?" She left the bathroom and headed into Harry's bedroom.

Severus went into his bedroom and sat down with a book. He did not notice Lily in the doorway a short while later.

"I'm sorry for blowing up at you earlier. I am just stressed out. I shouldn't have taken my own frustrations out on you."

"It's fine. We all do it."

"I think I might go so if there is anything interesting on the television. There's hardly ever anything appealing to watch though."

"I think the muggle invention is pointless."

"Maybe, but I guess it gives them something to do. It does take your mind off things."

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Yes. I just keep wondering when this war will end, that's all. It's hard to have to worry about being discovered, knowing we are in hiding and why we are doing this. I know we are okay right now, but how long can this last?"

"As long as we can make it last. Who knows we are staying together? Who knows where you are and will give away the position? We are fine right now."

"I hope so. I really do." She left and headed back downstairs.

"Me too." He thought. "Me too."

Saturday 3 July 1982

Lily set the table with a wave of her wand and Severus put a ladle in the soup to pour out. He looked around for the salt and did not see an old nail sticking out and scraped his hand against it. He grimaced in pain and grabbed his hand. His hand was bleeding. Lily looked up.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just cut my hand, that's all."

"On what?"

"An old nail."

Lily got a wet rag and summoned a potion to her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Let me see it."

"I'm fine. I can handle it."

"Just let me see your hand and don't argue with me."

"Fine." He said a bit annoyed, but let go. She took his hand.

"You cut it good." She took out a potion and squirted it on his hand. He tried not to flinch as it stung. She had given him a wound disinfectant, he knew that much. Lily wiped a wet rag over his wound, which did not make the wound feel better, before saying a spell.

"I could have handled it myself." He said, acting slightly irritated, though he wasn't really that annoyed. He watched as she wrapped his hand up.

She looked up at him and smiled. She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Is it too tight?"

"No." He said. Severus noticed her smile and felt a surge of passion race through him as she stepped closer to him. He wanted to tell her right then how he felt about her. He wanted to pull her to him and kiss her lips. Damn, how he wanted her.

Lily noticed something in Severus's eyes. He was looking at her intently. She felt something race inside her. She wanted to tell him, but she couldn't. She did not want these feelings, but she couldn't stop them anymore. She wanted to grab him, pull him down to her and kiss him, telling him how she had fallen for him whether he wanted to hear it or not. Lily hated these thoughts about him, yet she loved them at the same time. She could not help herself. Damn, how she wanted him. She wanted every bit of him. She wanted him to have every bit of her, but she had to control herself. She was not ready for this yet, but it was killing her.

The two of them locked eyes and Lily noticed how close she was to him. She could feel her breathing suddenly constrict. Every bit of her wanted this, but a small voice told her not to get too close. She wasn't supposed to get this close. They were just supposed to help each other. Falling in love wasn't in the plan. Nothing ever goes according to plan. She reached out and pushed back the hair curtaining his face. To hell with not getting close, she wanted to get close. She leaned in closer.

Severus felt his heard pound in his chest and his stomach gave a flip. As she pushed back his hair, his stomach felt sick in a good way. He felt sick a lot lately around her. He noticed the faint, sweet smell of cinnamon as she neared. He wondered if her lips tasted the same. He had been trying to hold back his feelings for her; waiting for the moment she was ready to hear them. Right now seemed like a good time. He leaned closer. Before he could open his mouth to tell her anything, she spoke.

"Sev?" She swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I never meant for this to happen this way."

"For what to happen, Lily?"

"For-" Before she could finish her sentence, ready to spill all, a crash sounded from the next room.

They both stopped and turned around. "Harry!" Lily said and they both went into the living room. Harry was lying on the floor by the couch, a broken vase by his side.

Lily gasped and picked Harry up. "Are you okay?"

He wasn't crying, though he looked a little stunned. He did not seem hurt.

"He's fine. The vase isn't though." Severus cleaned up the mess while Lily looked for any cuts for scrapes on Harry.

"I should have been keeping a closer eye on him."

"He's fine. Come on, let's go have dinner."

She nodded and noticed out of the corner of eye, the flickering of a streetlamp turning on. In that light, she swore she saw someone move down the street. Lily peered out the window since the person seemed out of place in the neighborhood. As fast as she looked out, the person was gone. Severus came over and looked out.

"What is it?" Severus asked, curious as to what she was seeing outside.

"I thought I saw someone at the end of the road. It looked like a wizard, but I couldn't tell. Whoever it was is gone now." Lily backed away.

Severus looked out, but did not see anything except for two little boys being reprimanded by their mother across the street.

"It was nothing. Let's just go eat." He said, feeling a bit uneasy. Lily seemed nervous. "It'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

"Yes, I'm sure it is nothing." The three of them headed into the kitchen and sat down to eat. The rocky day and the mysterious person left a feeling of foreboding that could be shaken from either one of them.

A/N: Took the title from the song "Heat of the Moment" by Asia. I heard it on the radio on my way home from campus a few days ago and had an aha moment. I hope this reads well.