...

Amidst dim flickering candlelights in his new living quarter by the Infirmary, Harry Potter watched Madame Pomfrey pointing her wand, sending potion bottles flying in and out of his mother's bedroom to the living area, as the nurse murmured song-like incantations at the pale lifeless body on the blood-soaked linen bedsheets with its hollowed features accentuated even deeper by the poor lighting. The ghastly image shook the boy as he let his mind wander and wondered, just as he had so often lately, how his dogged child-like Gryffindor conviction could have blinded him, completely and utterly, from seeking out, or even simply seeing… the truth.

For this certainly could not have been the first time this stoic princely martyr was reduced to a crumpled heap of bloodied limbs, screaming out roars of agony, one way or another, on his behalf.

Granted that Hogwarts was vast, and no student was expected to hear everything behind their Professors' closed doors.

Granted that he had been too young and too busy wrestling his own demons, not to mention defeating the most evil wizard ever lived.

But amidst his many marauding nighttime prowls, how could he have missed these agonizing roars, hammering the castle's stony walls that its every rock seemed to even shiver at the hair-raising cries?

And to think that he actually had not even tried to listen...

Before the boy could plummeted deep into the spiralling guilt trip, a dead grip on his hand woke Harry from his chilling journey, and he turned to face the familiar pair of green eyes, identical to his own… in both their colour… and the troubled state they were in.

"He's going to be fine," assured Lily's trembling voice that betrayed its owner's suffocating fear, "He's a survivor."

Not always, mum. Not always, thought Harry as the dreadful memory of that night in the shack he had wished to bury resurfaced and hooked its feral claw deep into his heart. "Yes. He'll be fine," the boy found his empty affirmation as… convincing as his mother's.

A long silence took its weighty place between the two figures; one the reason, the other the result, of the dying man's sacrifice, before the former gave a whisper… almost to herself, "Had it been… frequent? This—this ordeal?"

Just before Harry could mutter the painful admission to his old self's ignorance, the exhausted nurse barged in, and gently took hold of Lily's arm, "He's stabilising. There's nothing much I could do now. It all rests upon his strength. But don't fret; I am most confident we shall see improvement in the morning." Seeing that her reassuring words had failed to give even a tiniest spark of relief to Lily's worried green eyes that had not wavered from her unconscious wizard the whole night, Madame Pomfrey gave a tired knowing smile and added, "Since there's nothing I could say to convince you to get some rest, why don't you monitor him for me tonight, my dear girl? I understand from Professor Dumbledore that you are in training to be a Healer." Upon Lily's grateful nod, the kind Hogwarts nurse gave the green-eyed witch a list of instructions before turning to the boy and took an incredibly strong hold of his elbow as she half-dragged him out to his own bedroom door just across the living area, "As for you, Mr… ah… Harry, you go back to your bedroom now."

"What? But—But I want—"

"Go. To. Bed."

"Wh—"

Yet, Harry's vehement protest was silenced the very second his whirling mind could process Madame Pomfrey's meaningful whisper: "Judging from their past… enthusiasm, do you really want to be here when he wakes up… next to her… after a week of separation? I surely don't."


At the sound of Harry's muffled goodnight as he clicked his door shut and, unbeknownst to Lily, casted a secret mighty Muffliato at her back, the broken redhead slumped onto a chair next to her battered Slytherin and succumbed to the tidal surge of tormented tears she had been holding back while putting on her best Gryffindor hat the whole night. "Sev… Oh, Sev… What have they done to you…?" Resting her tear-soaked cheeks onto his cold pale hand that her warm breath had failed to breathe some life into its usual nimble self, Lily sobbed quietly, "…What have I done to you?"

A murmur escaped his chapped thin lips. But as the green-eyed witch leaned in closer, it turned into a desperate cry, "Keep her—them—safe! I thought you were going to keep her… safe! … I've put myself in mortal danger so you can raise him like a pig for slaughter! …No, my Lord, Albus has not informed me of his plan for the boy. I had not—arghhhhhhhhh!"

A nightmare. The same nightmare that he had roared out for hundreds of times in the middle of their peaceful slumber. The same nightmare that had shaken her to the core the very first time he had shown her just a wretched glimpse through the Penseive.

The nightmare he had lived.

Climbing in next to her lover's beaten limbs, Lily, as she had done so many nights before, cradled his twitching form, damp from sweat, close as she kept on whispering, "I'm here, Severus. I'm with you." We'll get through this together.

Severus' ragged shallow breath caught the witch's tangled red strands as his parched bloodied lips grazed the side of her ivory neck, mimicking the movement that formed the only word—his reason, his solace, his mandate—coursing through his being, "…Always."

Like daggers through her soul, Lily Evans wiped the last drop of tear off her face. With another deep steadying breath, the maddened anguish in her emerald eyes soon disappeared, replaced by a calm determination;

"Yes, my love. Always."


The searing pain snapped his bloodshot eyes open to a pitched black room… and hammered a dreaded reality into his splitting dazed head: it had been… just another dream.

For his limbs still felt as crippled, used, and heavy.

For his mind as tortured, old and foggy.

For his bed as foreign yet familiar, and lonely.

For his side as cold… and empty.

Running his twitching hand over his deadnened eyes, Severus tightened his iron grip on his throbbing temples. A burning choke—a familiar friend of many nights spent waking up to the ghost of an empty bed— rose to his throat, and, alone in the company of nothing but an empty room, his hollowed soul let its blazing trails roll freely from his squeezed-shut eyes. LilyAm I going mad? I can still feel your touch. I can still smell your hair. Was it a dream again, Lily?

If it was a dream, I don't want to wake up… ever.

A tiniest creak of the door hurled the master spy back to his sharp survival instinct. Biting through the excruciating pain splitting through every cell in his body, Severus stealthily crept out of the bed and retreated to the corner of the room, completely disguised in the dark; wand pointed at that sliver of light peeking through the darkness. His wounded body poised to strike at any given moment.

But it was he whom was struck down mightily.

His fogging Pain-Potion-induced brain struggled to comprehend the vision in front of him. The vision that seemed to spring out of his fantasy.

Then, he leapt. Like a panther lashing at its prey.

Like a snake seizing its captive.

Like a delusional man, clawing for a fading mirage of an oasis.

Yet, this mirage of his burning passion gave a startled yelp as his strong arms seized her by the shoulders, pushing her against the door she had just carefully closed. Tethering at the brink of consciousness; no longer able, nor care, to define reality from fantasy, Severus hoisted the redhead up by her arms and ground himself against her as if to ensure that she was not a mere illusion as he hissed dangerously, burying his face into the red strands he ached for, "Who are you?"

"…Sev?"

"Don't you dare use that name!" roared Severus as he shoved her even harder against the wall, "Who are you! You're not Lily! You can't be! She's… she's gone."

At the broken quiver of his voice as he muttered the last word, the lithe fragrant body desperately trapped between his broad frame and the unmoving door suddenly halted her futile attempt to fight him off. Instead, in a void of time filled with their ragged breathing that could have lasted a second or an eternity, he felt her fingertips gently tracing his tense jawline before her soft hands trapped his hardened face, pulling him closer.

Then, her lips searched… and found his.

That intoxicating sensation was all it took… for him to snap totally out of reality.

With an animalistic growl, Severus hooked his strong arm around her delicate waist and hauled Lily's body up hard against the solid wooden panel while trapping her thin wrists on top of her flaming crown. "Say it," grunted the maddened Slytherin harshly at the feeling of her silky thigh opening up and locking his waist tight, as she ground her bare heated core against his throbbing erection.

"Sev…?" Her voice held a slight note of question, yet its raw blazing desire was glaringly clear. With a forceful yank, the thin straps of her pale silver silk nightgown formed no resistance to the man's savage grip, as the flimsy material glided down her sensual curves and pooled around her bare ample hips.

Pinning her wide-open body with his weight pressing her flat against the door that was her sole support, Severus let go of the witch's waist and ran his large hand up her side, feeling a delicious tremble on her heated skin as he palmed her heaving breasts roughly. Gone was the unhinged man's ability to even recall a simple Vanishing Spell, the wizard, driven to madness by the need to possess, tugged impatiently at his belt buckle before releasing his glistening rock hard member jutting out against her hot wet entrance. His teeth grazed her pale moonlit neckline, tracing up to nibble sharply at her earlobe as his rumbling hoarse voice demanded forcefully, "Say my name!"

"…Severus." This time, there was not a trace of question…, only invitation.

As the last syllable escaped her parted plump lips, he slammed into her. Deep. Hard. Parting her exquisitely tight moisten flesh, burying himself to the hilt in one powerful thrust.

The wizard let out an animal roar as he felt her velvet wall clamping down around his rigid member. Yet, her incoherent moans of pain and pleasure were lost to his ears. For he could no longer hear, nor see. Not even to think. The only thing that mattered was the feeling of her dripping heat, perfectly enveloping his madly pistoning shaft. The need to possess her. To claim her.

To fool himself she was… real, before the cruel reality could take her away from him... again.

Knowing his release was precariously close with the earth-shattering pace and depth he was plunging inside her, Severus made no attempt to slow. Instead, he pumped even harder and faster. Jabbing his coarse thumb forcefully at her engorged sensitive nub, the wizard grunted out his hoarse command as her wall began to pulsate tightly, rapturously milking his hammering rod, "Come for me, witch! I want to see you come. Come for me!"

This time, he heard her cry… of pure ecstasy, as a mighty spasm of her heated passage sent him into frenzy. Giving every little bit of his broken self, he drove into her harder and faster with every ounce of power he had left.

With a final vehement thrust, Severus erupted with a glorious roar.


"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" asked a beautiful blonde witch in an elegant black satin robe with delicate silver serpent embroidery. Bracing herself against the cold wind gusting over their vast bedroom balcony, one hand holding a thick fine wool blanket, Narcissa Malfoy rushed to a pale figure, sitting alone… staring dejectedly at the midnight sky. "Lucius, you are not well. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

The slumping figure turned to face his worried wife who was busy wrapping the cloth around his shoulders, trying her best to rub some warmth into his cold ashen skin. He gave her a weary smile, "I just need some fresh air, Narcissa. Don't fret. I am alright."

"Fresh air? By Salazar, Lucius, this is freezing, not fresh!" countered the agitated witch sharply, "You need to rest. Especially after…" Her words trailed off as the unmistakable twitch seized her husband's limbs, before she swallowed the searing pain shot through her heart, and added, pleadingly, "Oh Lucius, please. Please come back inside."

"In a moment, my dear. I need to clear my mind."

Looking at the defeated form of his wife, retreating back to their empty bed; her shoulders trembled, betraying the tears she had wished to hide, Lucius Malfoy sighed. In a moment, Narcissa. I will save youand our baby.

If only I knew how much I could trust that stolen glimpse… of the rat's memory.


A slight tickling on his cheek woke the raven-haired wizard… to the sea of red strands spreading messily on his numbing shoulder, as the dark sky outside dyed the thick deep crimson velvet curtains standing guard a large bay window into deep black veils. Freed from the fogging haze of a heavy dose of pain potion and the pain itself, Severus' mind snapped back to its usual sharp self as it raced to recollect bits and pieces of vital information…that sent him jolting upright.

His sudden movement stirred the redhead by his side. Lily grunted softly, stretching her warm naked body deliciously against his taut one, as she half-opened her eyes and gave him a sweet sleepy smile, "Mmmm… lie back down. You're too weak to be up and about this early." A glimpse of mischief glinted in her half-lidded green orbs. "And Merlin knows I don't want to levitate you back to bed... like I did last night. You passed out on me, Sev."

Her silky arms snaked up his torso trying to pull him back to the welcoming warmth, yet Severus jerked away as if the loving touch burned him to his core. Feeling as though he had been hit by an almighty Stupefy, the stunned Slytherin snapped his head right back to the witch, grabbing her bare shoulders tight, "Lily… you… you're… you're here." Precious air seemed to have fled from his lungs; raging blood seemed to have abandoned his veins; all coherent thoughts seemed to have deserted his brain as he struggled to croak hoarsely, "Oh, Lily… please don't tell me… it was really … you."

"If you'd not been injured already, I'd have smacked you in the head for that!" Mild annoyance rang clear in Lily's voice. Yet the Gryffindor's tone softened as she registered the turbulence in her lover's dark disturbed eyes. "Severus… With the rate I was screaming out your name, I think you're the only person in the castle who, somehow, failed to register my pre—."

His strong arms crushed the word out of her lungs as Severus effortlessly pulled his witch up and pressed her warm body onto his firm broad chest where his heart was pounding madly. "Oh, Merlin. Lily… Lily… Are you alright?" The veteran spy gasped as his eyes registered bruises and deep red biting marks on her fair neckline… as his fingers felt faint scratches marring her silky smooth back. Like a hammer to his heart, the shaken wizard froze, turning away as if he dared not to face her questioning eyes… before he erupted, punching the thick headboard with all his might. His tortured voice brimmed with self-loathing, "Merlin, what have I done! What the bloody hell have I done to you!"

Unperturbed by Severus' sudden explosion, Lily shook her head slightly as she gently cupped his cheek, slowly coaxing those troubled dark eyes to set on her green sparkling ones once more, "Apart from fulfilling one of my… bolder fantasies?"

"Are you kidding me! For fuck's sake, I… I… I fucking ra—"

"Nonsense, Severus! Your… action was… well, I admit, rather unexpected, but not in the least unwelcome."

"Lily… That's… that's not the way to treat a woman. Not that I've ever cared. But, not you. Not you!"

"Severus. Listen to me now." The witch gave a melancholic smile, planting loving kisses onto her wizard's stricken face, whispering soothingly, "I could never say I fully understand what went through your mind or what horrendous path you have wade through. But I can imagine the lonely nights you've waken… alone… all by yourself. Perhaps, only with… my memory." She caressed his face tenderly, locking her sad green eyes with his, before dropping both her hands and her gaze to her lap and sighed, "But Sev, I am not that fragile little flawless porcelain doll you've dreamed up. I doubt I could ever be that… picture perfect."

Despite her best attempt to mask the nagging fear with a Gryffindor confidence, a quiver of insecurity in her voice could not go amiss the veteran spy's sharp senses. Looking up beseechingly at her lover, Lily placed a finger onto his protesting lips, and declared… as bravely as her inner Gryffindor fighting a woman in love could, "Still, if you want me, I'm here, Sev. With all my flaws, and my uncombed hair, and my, most embarrassingly, morning breath. A real flesh and blood… for you to take… until you're convinced that I'm not a dream. I'm real… and I love you."

The room fell silent as the first rosy ray of light peeked meekly though their closed curtains. Its golden hue caressed Lily's fair rosy cheeks and teased her chaotic red locks, revealing golden sparkles in her sweet emerald orbs that were locked with his dark ardent eyes.

It was picture perfect.

But to Severus, everything was incomparable… to the heart of the real woman in front of him.

Overwhelmed by the unconditional acceptance he had never dreamed anyone, even this feisty redhead he loved with all his heart, could bestow upon his dark cursed soul, Severus gently took her clenched hand on her lap and massaged it softly. Lowering his face as if to bow, he kissed and caressed every digit with all the blazing feelings rekindling his revived heart. "You could never be that girl I've always dreamed about, Lily," the wizard traced his lips sensually up her smooth arm to the reddish marks he had left, as he murmured tenderly against her warm skin, "She would have left me… running away in horror, quite rightly, last night. But you… You're… much more. Much more than my abysmal imagination could do justice."

Severus allowed himself a small smile as he breathed in her fragrant tangled hair… before a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

"Ouch! What was that for?" protested the indignant Slytherin to his smirking Gryffindor who had just pinched his shoulder… half playfully.

"So you remember, Sev. Next time, after such a mind-blowing… ride, don't you ever ask me again if I was there!"

At her teasing comment, the lovers smiled adoringly at each other… before Lily's turned quickly to horror. "Oh Merlin, Sev! Lie back down immediately! You're bleeding!"


"Prongs, you are mad!" shouted a strikingly handsome wizard with dark lightly curled hair as he slammed his coffee mug onto a wooden kitchen table, shaking his head angrily. "What do you mean Lily's with the greasy git? That's insane!" Sirius Black did not bother to hide the contempt oozing out of the word he spat, before he added… almost posessively, "Even though you were stupid enough to break up with her, she's still our girl."

Unable to even utter the truth that it had been her that had altered their memories and had actually dumped him just over a week ago, James Potter made a frustrated gesture to Vanish his friend's pool of coffee, but ended up Vanishing the whole mug, before he barked crossly, "You're not making this easier for me, Padfoot!"

The three Marauders had agreed to meet at James' cottage before disapparating to Hogwarts together for an urgent Order's meeting. Yet, Sirius' light-hearted banter on whether he had managed to find a replacement for the feisty green-eyed witch had struck harder than he had thought. Bound by Dumbledore's Tongue-Tying curse… and his own pride, the defeated Gryffindor could only have muttered bitterly that their Gryffindor Princess had now turned a Slytherin Lady, and that particular Salazar's disciple might just be the reason for this particular meeting.

Sitting down next to his broken-hearted mate, Remus placed a comforting hand onto James' shoulder. "I know it hurts your pride. Badly. And I guess it will for a long while. But hey, I'm actually proud of you, James."

"Yea? What ever for?"

"The fact that you're here; not at Snape's duelling to kill, actually tells me you've… grown up."

Scoffing at his friend's comment, James swallowed the sickening feeling in his gut. "Trust me; the thought crosses my mind every bloody minute."

"Lily aside, why do you think the meeting is about Snape? I'm sure Dumbledore is not calling for all of us to steal Lily back for you, mate. Has it got anything to do with… that thing that boy said?"

"You know I can't say that, right? This bloody curse. Merlin knows I've tried."

"So it's a yes"

A slight nod.

"So, Snape and that boy are really on our side?"

James Potter looked away. Hurt evident in his wounded brown eyes.

"…James. Are they on our side? You have to be sure. Lily's life is—"

"Lily's fine, alright!" roared the former Head Boy heatedly before he added… almost brokenly, "the fucking bastard… defected for her."


"It's your fault!"

"I'm sorry? How is it my fault that you smacked me and my cuts bled, Ms Hot-headed Gryffindor?"

"I didn't smack you. I pinched you. And you asked for it."

Slightly amused—only 'slightly', not more—at the sight of his patented self-satisfied smirk painted perfectly on his beloved redhead's face, Severus growled and pushed his smug witch who let out a small yelp as she landed on her back… to their welcoming bed. Covering her body with his, he sensually nuzzled her neck and whispered huskily, "Next time, Lily, I'll make sure you are thoroughly… ravaged… that you have to ask me to… pinch… your… legs," the wizard punctuated each word with a sharp nibble as his hands roamed her naked skin in their familiar quest, "So that you could still feel them."

"Such bold promises."

"Such insolence!"

Yet the banter faded as Lily's trailed her fingers along Severus' fresh scars. Some were deep and still oozing with blood; some were slightly healed; but, evidently, all must have been excruciating. The witch felt hot tears began to well up in her eyes. Burying her head onto his neck, trying to blink the tears away, Lily pulled his battered body tight on top of her. "Oh Sev, I don't want you to go back there. I can't bear…" The Gryffindor's voice quivered with terror… before it sounded the most un-Gryffindor sentence in its existence, "We can just… run away."

"Believe me, I've thought about that a thousand times," replied the Slytherin as he gently pulled up to look at his witch almost longingly, "But, I can't. Not anymore." Meeting Lily's questioning eyes, Severus added cautiously, "The Prophecy. This time…, it speaks of… me. And, perhaps, … the boy."

"…No." A mere whisper. A momentous denial.

Sensing his witch's breath hitching as her green orbs started to glitter with suppressed tears; terrible shock and shattered hope painted painfully on her face; Severus could only do what he did best: manipulating the truth. "Shh… Don't worry. It will not end like last time." The wizard ensured her despite not being sure himself. "I've been through it once, remember? I assure you I am not one who repeats a fatal mistake twice." The master spy kissed his witch's forehead gently, combing her tangled red locks lovingly with his fingers, "Rest assured. The plan is laid, and soon it will all be over."

"I can't lose you. We can't lose you."

"You won't. I'm always here," Severus planted a chaste kiss on her chest, where her heart was beating fearfully. Alive or dead, thought the man bitterly before he added more seriously, "And although I hate to admit this, Hogwarts is the safest place for us right now. I've temporarily diverted their attention to Spinner's End. Still, before our final attack, it's best we keep to ourselves. You never know who's going to talk."

Sitting up and scanning the room quickly with his experienced eyes, confirming his suspicion, the wizard let out a small sigh of both relief and resignation, "This had been my… private healing quarter… during the several times I had to be, ah, under Poppy's constant watch. It's similar to the Room of Requirement. It's only here when it's needed. I must consult with Albus how to strengthen the prote—."

But Lily's sudden cry as she sat up, burying her face in her hands, halted the man mid-sentence, "That's why… Last night…" Her voice shook with emotion as realization shot daggers of guilt right through her heavy heart, "Oh Sev, I'm so sorry I put you back… in the same position… In the place… you hated most…"

Smoothing her hair lovingly, Severus cupped her distressed face and caressed her cheeks with his thumbs tenderly, "No, Lily. It's neither the same position, nor the place. You've forgotten one obvious fact." His burning gaze locked with her watery green orbs tightly before he pulled her flat against his chest and firmly declared, "You. I have you in my arms."

Letting her tensed body relax into his protective embrace, savouring the peaceful sanctuary his strong arms offered, the witch did not know how long time had passed before she murmured dreamily, "…Not only me, Sev. It's not only me anymore."

The wizard raised his eyebrows curiously, searching his witch's enigmatic smile.

He saw her plump lips moved.

He heard the melody in her voice.

But his brain seemed to stop functioning altogether.

For he found that he could not comprehend a simple three-worded sentence.

Sitting in daze, dumbfounded, Severus was snapped back to reality when his witch clapped loudly in front of his face. Laughter evidently shone from her twinkling green eyes as she whispered teasingly into his ear, "Are you still here, Severus? Or should I start calling you… Daddy already?"

As if somebody literally pulled the rug from under his feet, the staggered Slytherin could not form any reply. His battered mind was struggling to cope with such a sudden change of truth. The truth he had endured. The truth that had pierced his eyes and pounded his heart for almost a decade. The truth… that now had turned a long-forgotten tale. "…You…You're… pregnant? Mine? My so— Ohhhhhh, fuck!"

Then, the man bolted for the door.


The Boy-Who-Lived almost died of a heart attack as his bedroom door was blasted open violently, waking him from his deep Dreamless Potion-induced sleep with a major mother of all starts. Groping blindly for his glasses, his blurred vision registered an incoming storm of something half pale-half black; yet, before the unfortunate boy's fogging mind could even connect the vague dots, the figure reached him and clamped its dead grip onto his shoulders as it shook him forcefully. "Can you not hear me? Are you alright! Are you still here! Are you alive! Speak! Talk to me, boy!"

"…What? What? What happen?"

"Can you remember your name? Who are you? Can you see me? Do you feel anything different? Do you—"

"Whoa… whoa, whoa, Professor! Slow down, would you? For Merlin's bloody hairy balls' sake, what is going on here!" shouted Harry, too confused to be furious with the brutal way he was snatched from a much needed slumber… after the sound of a certain banging door kept him unpleasantly awake in the middle of the night.

"Why didn't you answer me when I called you just now! Can you not hear me?" Severus torrent of questions sounded less erratic as he registered the usual perplexed and deeply annoyed state of Harry who was, equipped with his glasses now, glaring murderously at his intruder.

"I casted a double Muffliato on my room; another Silencio on the living room; and took a Dreamless Sleep Potion!"

"...Why on earth would you do that?"

"Are you serious, sir? Perhaps, you should do so yourself and save me the nightmare next time!"

The look in Harry's exhausted accusing eyes stirred a ripple of laughter through Severus as the man began to realize, almost smugly, what the boy was referring to. Trying his best to suppress his rising laughter, the sour Potions Master stood up; his usual calm demeanor restored, and turned abruptly to the pile of splinters that once had been a door, "Very well. I'll keep that in mind." With a wave of his hand, the wooden shards reassembled themselves and flew back to be reunited with the doorframe as if nothing had ever happened. Closing the renewed thick panel with another wave, Severus spoke without looking back, "I'm glad you're still here."

Utterly infuriated and deeply disturbed, it was Harry's turn to smash a jar of Dreamless Sleep Potion on the door… at the place where, just seconds ago, Severus' head had occupied.


"I'm this close…," the Gryffindor's frost-bitten voice sent chills down the ill-fated Potions Master's spine, who had tried, in vain, to stealthily creep back into the brightly-lit room with its thick curtain drawn wide open. Like a deer caught in the headlights, Severus swallowed, raising his hand as if trying to placate the volatile situation, and turned to face his incensed witch who stood with her arms folded across her chest. Her lips pursed tight. "I'm this close," repeated Lily as she brought two fingers together, signifying a space… of a fleck of dust, before she continued heatedly, "To go completely… ballistic at you. Explain yourself immediately, or face my Gryffindor wrath!"

Sadly, the sight of his delectable witch, reddened with anger, wrapped loosely in his own white wrinkled shirt with her wild tussled red locks shone brightly against the morning sun did nothing to his waning concentration. Suffering a severe sensory overload with radical roller coaster rides of emotions in less than an hour; not to mention his own post Crucico-ed condition, Severus dropped onto the bed like a cannonball. One hand massaging his temple; the wizard felt a deep rumble ignited in his throat before he let the suppressed laughter escape unrestrained, filling the room with its rich velvet quality.

Not in the least amused by her lover's bizarre reaction, Lily advanced with menace, towering—stretching as tall she can— over his lying form. Green eyes ablaze, scorching anything in their path with Fiendfyre ferocity, the witch fired away with fury, "I'm sorry. But I fail to see any bloody humour in this! Your sodding first reaction was 'mine?' followed by your eloquent 'oh, fuck'? For Merlin's sake, Seve—"

Once again, her words disappeared in his tight embrace, as he abruptly pulled her down on top of him. His chest still rumbled with laughter.

Restraining the fighting witch who assaulted him with half punches to the chest, Severus kissed his feisty redhead deeply… until her boiling vehement protest simmered into a heated glare. "You have thirty seconds," maintained Lily sternly yet her eyes held a trace, albeit fleetingly, of something close to amusement.

Severus' face brightened as his lips stretched out into a boyish grin—an expression saved for only one witch in the world—as he caressed her cheek lovingly with his circling thumb, "Lily, I'm… terribly sorry. I know my reaction was somewhat… less than ideal. All my words just came out wrong. Of course, I never doubt that he, I mean the baby, is… mine," the emotionally-wrecked wizard sighed with both utter elation and crippling concern as he placed his hand, almost reverently, onto his witch's stomach, "Please don't take this… the wrong way; it's just… after years of caring for your child with… you know. The notion of having all of that for myself is… most incredible. And then, as soon as I could start thinking clearly, another predicament struck me. Don't you see the dilemma, Lily? If the baby is ours, I mean I know it is, then what will happe—"

The wizard needed not finishing his sentence. For blood had drained completely out of Lily's rosy cheeks. "Oh Merlin, is Harry…?" Bolting upright, on the brink of repeating Severus' previous commotion with Harry, the witch was pulled right back, landing flat on his chest, as the Slytherin's strong arms locked her tightly. "Don't fret. He's fine," whispered Severus soothingly before he chuckled smugly, "He's probably busy cursing me to the next week… for keeping him up and blasting him awake."

"…How?"

"How did I keep him up? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk… My lovely Lily, with all the tantrums you've thrown at me this morning, I expect you to also remember—"

"No! You incorrigible man! How… how can he be… okay?" Suddenly, the wistful conversation with the boy dawned on Lily's racing mind. "Could it be… I mean, that he's…," throat parched, the witch stammered, hesitantly, "That he was… yours… all along?"

Jaws dropping, Severus gulped and stared at his witch incredulously, "Oh please! Who do you take me for, you preposterous witch? Do you think I could ever forget such a life-changing… action?"

"Then, why?"

"I truly have no clue," replied the smug Slytherin candidly, "But I will find out. I'm sure there's an explanation to this." Combing Lily's ruffled red strands with his fingers, Severus smirked his signature smile and added; a glimpse of mischief flickering in his dark smothering eyes, "But for now, let me make it up to you."


"Headmaster, can I have a word?"

"Yes, of course, Poppy. What brings you here to my office in such an early hour? Surely, not for my Lemon Drops, I trust?"

"Ah… no, Albus. It's about… Lily Evans."

"Oh yes, it's good that you remind me. I need to congratulate her and Severus. I do hope the baby will take afte—"

"That's my point! There's no baby! At least… not yet."

"…I'm sorry?"

"I mean, she is pregnant. I've tested and confirmed that myself several times," Poppy Pomfrey's voice shook with grave anxiety, "But… but… there's something wrong with the foetus, Albus. Somehow… it seems… it… it has no… I don't know …it has no… soul."


A/N: Do you think I'd let Sev off easily? No way.

Hope it's worth the wait for those who want the lovers to be reunited :) I went easy on the plot cuz I also want to indulge myself a bit. But...
Next Chapter: The Order's Meeting & The Plan! You'd better hold on tight! ;)

Please... pls pls pls... I'm begging you, R&R! (Otherwise, the baby's predicament "might" remain a mystery! Muwahhahahahah... [evil Slytherin laugh]) Nah, I'm joking. But I do love to read what you think, so please, leave a review.

Thanks everyone for your previous amazing reviews. You know who you are :)