Thanks to 8thWeasleykid, Musicalfan2012, IndianaBliss, Watcher of the Hearts, Smile-thebestthingintheworld, HughSoSexy, Twichild369, Harrylee94, Ravenclawbabe, Gyoro and Ururun, Reader123, Darkprince31, Tess4aria, MarissaRosee, Sassymagpie, vAMPkIMI, Sab756, Ujemaima, Jordina, xLoveChuuChuuTrainx, Shinywhiteboards and Breakawaymagic for the kind reviews as always! I appreciate all of them. : D

IndianaBliss and curious others: Yes, his mark is gone. There will only be a scar now. This means that yes; he will not be able to work as a spy when Voldemort returns. I decided that it would better this way.

WatcheroftheHearts: I don't know if it was the best, but thank you. I tried to make it good.

Harrylee: *smiles* At least I'm not the only one who likes cliffhangers.

Jordina: Lily under disguise, yes. I did consider it, but then again, why would she need one in a small muggle town? Since Death Eaters do not like muggles, the likelihood of encountering one is quite slim. Wandless magic, something else I thought about already too. I originally had her try, but was unable to retrieve her wand. I took those lines out because they just did not flow well and seemed too stuck in. You can imagine she tried it, but Bellatrix would be have been prepared for that and blocked that ability anyway.

Yes, you are correct, that is exactly what happened, though I think you meant Harry didn't die in canon because of Lily's sacrifice. ;) Pure luck, fate, whatever you want to call it saved Severus's life. As for being a genius, I actually don't know my IQ. I would guess it to be average. Now my little brother is one (literally). His IQ puts him in the superior intellect to genius category. The kid is good at everything too. He picks up everything so easily. Makes me sick sometimes. ;) Yes, he still has her wand, doesn't he? What to do with it? The family who lived? Well, sort of, but they aren't exactly married and Harry isn't Severus's son or even his step-son. But they are certainly newsworthy and that could be an issue.

Shiny: No need to apologize. I do understand. I am actually surprised that my school has been so…smooth. It's been fairly easy, which is not normal. Usually I am overwhelmed by now, wondering why on earth did I want school to start again. ;) Good luck to you though. I hope it smoothes out as the year progresses. And yes, Amor Vincit Omnia, Love Conquers All. Indeed it did. Even death.

Congratulations breakawaymagic, you were my 400th reviewer. Thanks to all my readers and reviewers for helping me get so many reviews! I lost track of my 300th reviewer, but whoever it was, thank you too!

Chapter 28: Freedom

"Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery." ~Dr. Wayne Dyer

Severus sat down next to Lily and put a bag of ice wrapped in a cloth to the back of her head. "Are you going to be okay? You don't look like you feel well."

"I'll be fine. It's just my headache." She said, trying to breath out her nausea.

"It appears to be just a mild concussion. No damage."

"Mild to the spell, but painful for me."

He smirked. "You sure you don't need anything? Maybe a cold drink?"

"I'm alright, but thanks." She smiled at him and touched her upper chest. It still hurt a bit where the curse had hit her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, watching her grab at her chest.

"Nothing really. It just hurts." She pointed to the small pea-sized hole in her shirt.

"Was that where the curse hit?"

She nodded. "It's just burning." She pulled down her blouse a little to reveal any injury and saw a large mark on her chest. It looked like a second degree burn mark.

"That doesn't look good."

"Do you think any regular potion or cream can help our marks? I'm really surprised I have a mark at all. I thought the killing curse left no marks? Even more odd is that my blouse has only a pea sized hole, but the mark is much larger."

"I have no idea. I've never known anyone to really survive the killing curse and somehow the three of us managed to do just that."

"Yes, we did." She said. "I wonder if it has to do with him being weakened when he struck me with the curse."

"Maybe. Harry's scar concerns me though. The thunderbolt is a symbol of power."

Sirius re-entered the house. "What are you doing?" He asked Lily, looking over at them.

Lily saw him looking over at her open blouse and pulled it up quickly. "Don't look down my shirt!"

"I was not looking down your shirt. Why would you think I'd do that?" Sirius asked in shock.

"Because you've always done things like that."

"You can't say you've never let anyone look down your shirt. You let Severus look down your shirt. You will make him horny that way?"

Severus glared at Black. "She wasn't flashing her breasts at me, you idiot, she was showing me her injury."

"My goal was to see what you two were doing, not look down her shirt." Sirius spat, looking daggers at Severus.

"Your goal is to be a piranha. You want to devour any adult female you can get your hands on and I doubt Lily is excluded from your list."

"Hey, I do not go after the ladies, they come to me and I know you wanted to look. She was all but giving you an open invitation."

"Don't pretend to know what I think, Black. You don't have the mental capacity to do so."

"Oh, give it a rest and just admit you want to shag her."

"Well, if he wants to sleep with me, he's not blunt about it so get over it." She interjected before Severus could spit something harsh back. She did not want to listen to this right now.

"That doesn't disgust you to think that he would want to get you to bed?" Sirius asked, looking rather disgusted at the thought.

Lily could not think of a good response. It didn't disgust her at all. Not that she was ready to sleep with him because she was not anywhere near ready for that much intimacy, but the thought did not disgust her. If she said it didn't disgust her, Sirius would never let her hear the end of it. She was not sure she was ready to make the relationship between her and Severus public yet. This would have to be treaded carefully. Thankfully, Lily did not have to answer because Dumbledore arrived.

"Sirius, if you would, please step out of the house. I would like to speak to Severus and Lily alone."

He left, closing the front door behind him.

"So, you three managed to be attacked and survive. Harry was able to destroy Voldemort."

They nodded. Lily showed Dumbledore Harry's scar and began to explain her version of what happened.

"So, Severus managed to put himself in front of the killing curse, aimed one back at Bellatrix, but missed just barely. From the state of the lamp over there, I would assume it got the brunt of that curse."

Severus and Lily looked over at the lamp, or what was left of it anyway. The thing had been blown to pieces and a bit of the broken bulb hung from the shade.

"The curses hit each other and rebounded? That would certainly weaken their state and your sacrifice certainly would weaken them even further at that point. It hit your arm, you say?"

Severus held out his arm, showing where his Dark Mark used to be.

"It hit your mark." Dumbledore looked between them. "That explains it then. That's why you didn't die."

"The fact that it hit my mark is why I am alive?"

"Yes. The killing curse is an evil. The Dark Mark uses very dark magic as well. When it hit your mark, the already weakened curse was sort of swallowed up by the mark. The curse destroyed the other form of dark magic. That's why your arm now looks like that and that is why you managed to survive. Extraordinary feat if I may say so. Luck was on your side. Even though you did not die, your sacrifice was still enough to protect Lily, the one you attempted to die for. She in turn attempted to sacrifice herself for Harry. Together your sacrifices saved Harry and defeated Voldemort. You all may end up famous."

They both shook their heads no at the same time.

"No fame. I don't want it." Severus said.

"No fame. I want to be able to breathe and relax. I want a quiet life now."

"I understand that, but unfortunately I will not have to say anything. This will get out on its own. I can work to keep your location safe and put in stronger charms. I will be oblivating both Bellatrix's and Peter's recent memories of your location. Those alone will not stop word from getting out. Voldemort is gone and the news is already out that a baby, helped by two other adults, has defeated him. You all got hit by the killing curse and lived to tell about and not only that, the three of you have managed to temporarily defeat Voldemort. It is a great day, a day of victory. For the time being, the world, both muggle and wizard alike, is a safer place to live in."

"So, we have no choice in becoming famous, no matter how much we ask for privacy, we won't get it?" Lily asked. The question was more rhetorical because she already knew the answer. "No happy end after all."

"The happy end is up to you, but I would just lay low if you don't want bombarded by the media. You live in a muggle neighborhood. They won't know you all are famous so you will be safer here."

"So, you want us to stay here?"

"If you want, but you are now free to separate, if you so desire. For now, things are calm."

Lily looked at Severus with a grin. "Actually, I think we will stay here."

Severus nodded. "Yes, I'd like that." He smiled at her before turning back to Dumbledore. "Do you know how Pettigrew and Bellatrix managed to find us?"

"I believe so. The other Death Eaters already in Azkaban managed to distract the dementors when they came to bring Peter food. Peter would turn into a rat and escape. He would return by the next meal, sneaking back in when they opened the gate. He managed to sneak into my office and did a lot of digging. He found the counters by doing this and told Bellatrix your location. I assume he discovered your location this way as well."

"Bellatrix followed you earlier and waited until she was sure you were inside the house before breaking the charms and breaking into the house to attack. Peter was the guard, ready to summon others if necessary, but you caught him and he knew you had been the one who had been helping Lily. He heard Bellatrix use the killing curse and Voldemort arrived moments later. Neither one expected to hear that Voldemort was gone or that all three of you managed to survive."

"Won't Peter be able to sneak out again?" Lily asked.

"No, he will be in a special holding cell along with Mrs. LeStrange."

"But they will find out about Severus. What if they come back?"

"Well, they will be angry, but they cannot touch you right now. You and Harry are protected."

"Severus is the one they will be after more so than us."

"He will be safe here. The sacrificial wards can be in put in place for you and Harry, though Harry's will only last until he comes of age in the wizard world. With those in place, Severus will be safe here too. No one will be able to touch any of you here."

"Okay. Anything, whatever it takes. I am ready for this to be over."

"It is over."

"But we are still not safe."

"You will be safe this time. I will have people patrolling the area over the next few weeks if it makes you feel any better."

Lily nodded and grabbed at her still aching head. "What about Harry's odd scar? What does the thunderbolt mean?"

"I am not quite sure, but I do believe it has something to do with Voldemort's defeat. I have a few theories, but none I can prove. I do think he will be okay for now."

Dumbledore chatted with them a little while longer before departing. Sirius and Remus came into the house once he left.

"Well, it has been a long day. Let's celebrate. Do you want to go eat at one of those muggle restaurants?" Remus asked them.

Lily shook her head. She was not hungry. "No, thank you. You all go ahead."

"There's this one place that serves some good seafood. Mary took us there a couple of times. Good ole fashioned deep fat fried fish and greasy, crispy chips." Sirius said.

"Please stop." Lily said feeling more queasy at the talk of greasy food.

"What? You don't like fish and chips? We can go somewhere else. There's this other place we went to. They had a seafood platter. Things like crayfish tails, crab, scallops and all sorts of other fish with horseradish on a platter, pasta dishes and chicken. I had a steak tartare that oozed-."

"Would you shut up already?" Severus interrupted. He noticed Lily had grown considerably pale during Sirius's talk of food. She looked like she might throw up.

"I wasn't talking to you." Sirius snapped.

"You are making her sick. She doesn't feel well. She already asked you to stop."

"Don't answer for her, Snivellus."

"Sirius, stop it!" Lily snapped, taking a breath. "He's right. I have a bad headache. I am dizzy and I currently feel like I might vomit, so please stop. The last thing I want is food right now."

"Okay. No food."

"Do you want something for your stomach?" Severus asked her.

Lily nodded. Severus got up and went into his lab to get the potion.

"You all go eat. We are fine." Lily said. "I know Severus won't go with you all if I'm not going."

"I don't know if I want you alone with him."

Lily rolled her eyes. Remus nudged Sirius in the side.

"They are fine together." Remus said. "What do you think will happen?"

"I still think Snivellus wants to sleep with her. How do I know he won't-"

"Stop!" Lily snapped. "Stop calling him that and I know what you are about to say. I don't want to hear it!"

"I have seen how he looks at you. In fact, the way you were looking at him today, I wonder what you two have been doing here by yourself. Have you two been-"

"Sirius!" She yelled and shut her eyes, her headache intensifying. "I am not in the mood for this right now."

"Fine. I wasn't thinking. I was just curious about the way you were looking at him. I mean, who would sleep with him?"

"You're an ass." Lily said, surprising Sirius.

"What?"

"You heard me. Just grow up."

"She hit her head. She doesn't feel well, Sirius, just leave it." Remus said, hoping to shut Sirius up before Lily punched him in the face. She looked like she might.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were defending him."

"I shouldn't have to."

Severus came back in and handed Lily some stomach soothing potion.

"You don't have to stay here anymore. You and Harry can move away from this. He's going to be trouble. He's a traitor."

"I want to stay. We want to stay together. It's none of your concern."

"There is something more going on, isn't there? Did he do something to you? I bet Snivellus-"

"Get out!" Lily said, pointing to the door. "Just get out! I'm not going to listen to this! Just go!"

You go, Lily. Tell him off. Severus thought to himself.

"Fine, but I think you making a big mistake living like this."

"She said get out." Severus said, looking into Sirius's eyes. "I want you out too. Until you can show some respect to her and her decisions, I don't want you coming back."

Sirius glared at him, ready to retort, but clearly thought better of it and turned for the door.

"I wonder what James would think about this."

"I wonder what he would think about how you are speaking to his former wife." Severus snapped back.

Sirius walked out and slammed the door. Remus shook his head.

"Maybe he'll grow up one day. I hope you feel better, Lily. I will leave you three in peace." Remus stated and headed for the door. "And you have no idea how happy I am to hear that you all survived. Amazing feat, truly amazing. Have a good evening, all three of you."

"You too, Remus." Lily said with a smile.

After Remus left, things got quiet. Severus sat down on the couch next to her. Harry was playing with his blocks on the floor, knocking them down, completely oblivious to everything that happened today or the reality of the fate that awaited him in the future. Lily took the potion and sat back against the couch.

"Where's Bellatrix's wand? I want to see it."

Severus handed it to her with a smile. "Have at it."

She smiled at him. He knew what she wanted to do with it. She broke it in her frustration of the day. He took the broken pieces back and set them on the table.

"What are going to say if they ask about it?" He smirked at her. It wasn't as if he really have a shit about Bellatrix's wand, but he was curious to know what Lily would say if questioned.

"I stepped on it." She said nonchalantly and looked at him with a smile. She rubbed her arms, feeling cold. The temperature outside had dropped significantly.

"Are you cold?"

"I think it is a little chilly."

"Well, it's supposed to be a bit cold tonight."

"I think the radio said it was supposed to be warmer tomorrow. It should be a nice day."

"Good." He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I cannot believe it." She shook her head. "We are still alive. It's still just, I thought we were all going to die. Instead, here we are, sitting here and your mark is gone, Voldemort, yes, I said it, is gone. He's really gone. He cannot come after Harry."

"Yes, he is gone. Harry is safe. We are safe."

"Do you think he will come right back?"

"We are safe."

"But what about you? I know what Dumbledore said, but he will kill you."

"We are safe." He said again and hesitantly put his arm over her shoulders.

She sighed heavily, tears pooling her eyes at the reality that everyone was okay. She swallowed them back happily and scooted over to him until her hip was against his. Lily laid her head on his shoulder. He gently rubbed her arm. It may have only been six in the evening, but they were both completely exhausted by the day's events.

"I think I will turn in early tonight." Lily said, taking his hand in hers.

"Me too. It has been a long day, hasn't it?"

She nodded. Harry came over to them.

"Hungry, Mama."

"I'll feed him. You just rest." Severus got up. "Come on, Harry, let's go eat some dinner. How about a sandwich?"

When Harry disappeared into the kitchen, Lily let out a deep breath and laid down on the couch. Her head still hurt, but the stomach soother had helped and she no longer felt sick to her stomach. She must have dozed off because she was awoken suddenly to something touching her nose.

"Mama." Harry said. "Wake up."

"Let her sleep." Lily heard Severus say quietly.

"It's okay, I'm awake."

"I'm sorry. I was going to distract him, but I wasn't quick enough."

"It's fine."

"Are you feeling better?" He asked, brushing her hair from her face.

"My head still hurts, but the potion worked."

"Would you like anything to eat?"

"Not yet."

"Something to drink?"

"Yes. Can you get me some cold water?"

"Of course." He got up and went into the kitchen to get her a glass of water.

She sat up, taking the glass eagerly. After she took a few sips, she set it on the table. "I think I will go ahead and give Harry a bath. Maybe take a hot bath myself after today."

"Okay. I think I will clean up down here."

Lily took Harry upstairs and Severus cleaned up the mess from the day's events. She brought Harry back down a little while later and then went up to take a bath herself. Severus let Harry play with a puzzle.

"Help." Harry said, getting frustrated with his large puzzle.

"You can do it. Turn it like this." Severus turned the puzzle piece slightly. "Now put the piece in its spot."

Harry put the piece in its spot and clapped his hands at his accomplishment. "I do it."

"You completed the puzzle." As silly as the accomplishment of a large, ten-pieced puzzle was, he could not help just smile. Things were finally okay. Life was finally moving forward for the better. He looked over at the time and realized that it was nearly right. Lily had been in the bath for more than an hour. He hoped she was alright.

"It's time for bed." Severus said. "Upstairs."

"No. No seep."

"Yes, it is past your bedtime, let's go."

Harry stubbornly refused to move. "No night-night."

Severus picked him up and took him upstairs. Harry fussed. "It's bedtime. End of discussion."

He put Harry in his crib and read him a short story. Harry was sound asleep before he finished. He left Harry's bedroom and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Lily? Are you okay?"

No one answered. He knocked again "Lily?" Panic hit him a little. He knew she had suffered a concussion and wondered if she was okay. He opened the door. She was lying in the tub, covered with bubbles. Her head was propped up against the tub's edge. He realized she was okay, but that she had fallen asleep.

"Lily, wake up. Lily!" He nudged her shoulder slightly.

Lily opened her eyes and looked over groggily. "What are you doing?"

"Checking on you. You've been here for a long time. With your concussion, I wanted to make sure you hadn't passed out or gotten sick or something."

Lily started to sit up and realized she was still in the tub. She pulled bubbles toward her to cover herself.

"I'll leave so you can get dressed. You aren't supposed to sleep long with a concussion." As Severus turned, Lily started to get up slowly. He left the bathroom and she got dressed. She went into her bedroom and sat down on the bed. Severus came in.

"I don't have much of a headache anymore. My dizziness is gone. I will be okay, really. I think a good night's rest will be what I need."

"Okay, but you may have me trying to wake you up every few hours."

Lily could not sleep well that night. She kept waking up every hour. Finally, it was two in the morning. She got up and noticed her headache was gone. She went to the window and looked outside. It was quiet, but after the day's events, she was uneasy. She knew people were looking out for them right now, which eased some of her concern.

Severus entered Lily's bedroom to check on her. He noticed her at the window. "Everything okay?'

She shrugged. "I am fine. My headache is gone."

"That's good." He looked out the window and saw Moody at the end of the street. "We are fine, really. We are going to be okay."

"I know." She sighed. "We are going to be okay." She reminded herself and turned to him. "I've never really been a part of this world that was free of You-Know-Who. Is it strange to feel that in many ways the weight has been lifted off my shoulders and yet, I know it's not over forever and the burden is still there? How long will it last? Can it last? And now that we are free from You-Know-Who, what do we do now?"

"What now?" He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile. "Whatever we want."

"Anything we want."

"Within reason."

"Of course we aren't going to do something illegal, but maybe taboo."

"I sense some rebellion against the status quo."

She sighed happily and smiled at him. "Absolutely." She looked up at him eagerly.

"Can I join you in this rebellion?" He asked, looking down at her with a smile.

"You already have." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his lips zealously. He took hold of her waist and returned the favor fervently. Freedom and rebellion never tasted so sweet.

A/N: Today, it is not a concern to let those will mild concussion or head injuries rest. In fact, I think they recommend it, but I know that even when I was young, common knowledge was to not the person sleep or sleep very long anyway for about 24 hours. Since this is set in 1982, I figured it would be more accurate. And Dumbledore: He probably already wonders about Harry being a Horcrux or having a connection to Voldemort, but since he cannot quite prove this yet, he will not say it and Lily would not be able to handle it right now even if he could prove it. No need to open the can of worms until you get to the fishing hole, right? (Sorry about the silly metaphor. I grew up in Appalachia. Enough said.)

Also: Starting tomorrow, America is having a banned book week. Since "Harry Potter" is one of the consistently challenged books and is currently banned in some school libraries here, I thought I would bring it up. We had an issue with banning books at my old high school shortly after I graduated. I cannot say what books they wanted banned because it briefly became a national mention and a quick search would give away not only my location, but the high school I graduated from as well.

I have been debating this so I'll ask my readers what they would prefer. Would you like to me skip straight to Harry's Hogwarts Years or would you like me to go through bits of his childhood here and there and then go through the school years when I get to that point of the story. This will be later, btw. When Harry is about 3 or so, not right now. I've just started the good stuff. ;)