His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine
A New Home
The transition from the Burrow to the flat in Ottery St. Catchpole went smoothly with Arthur helping them move in. Molly was days away from her due date, and despite her desire to help with the move she knew she had to stay at home and take it easy in the final days of her pregnancy with the second Weasley child. Severus knew this was Charlie, the stout dragon trainer who had been the best Gryffindor House Seeker before Harry Potter came along.
It was a four-bedroom flat, which meant Petunia and Lily would have to share. Before, that would have been a major problem. But since the death of their father, Lily and Petunia had come to an unspoken agreement that they would be civil to each other, even try to work out the kinks of their strained sisterhood. She wouldn't say it out loud, but it meant the world to Lily that her sister had finally started to accept the truth that Lily was a witch and always would be.
It was now moving on four weeks that Petunia hadn't spoken to Vernon (four weeks since their father had died), and it was beginning to worry her.
"Look, if it's that important to you, I'm surprised you haven't found a payphone and called him already," Lily sighed exasperatedly one morning as they moved around their shared room.
Petunia shrieked, "Why didn't I think of that?"
Lily poked an old owl treat through the bars of Ares's cage, watched the beautiful owl eat it, and then undid the cage door.
"What are you doing?" Petunia asked curiously.
Lily looked up. "I wrote a letter to Alice last night and Ares was out hunting. I had to wait for her to come back." She gently tied the letter to Ares's outstretched leg and carried the bird to the open window, and Ares flew out. Both girls watched as the owl disappeared from their sight.
"Right then," Petunia said. "I'm going to find a payphone and talk to Vernon."
Lily nodded but continued staring out the window. She felt a deep longing inside her that she knew Petunia shared, but as much as she hated it, she felt the pain lessening with every passing day. She felt as though she was betraying the memory of her father by starting to accept his death. She heard the door click shut and she knew Petunia was gone. Only then did she turn away from the window and sit on the bed, hugging her pillow tightly to her chest.
Several minutes passed before someone knocked on the door. Lily simply glanced at it, not feeling like getting up to let whoever it was in. The doorknob turned and a moment later Rose appeared in the doorway.
"Lily?"
"Mum."
Rose stepped farther into the room and closed the door behind her. "Oh, sweetie…"
After the past four weeks, Lily didn't have any tears left to cry. She gazed up at her mother with pain written in her green eyes. "I miss him."
Rose sat gently on the bed next to her younger daughter and drew her to her chest. Tears escaped her eyes as she said, "I miss him too."
Lily and her mother sat there together, each drawing comfort from the other without saying anything.
Severus left his room a few moments before Petunia left hers, and they almost ran into each other.
"Excuse me," Severus said quietly, startling Petunia.
"Er…" Petunia stopped in her tracks and took a second to really look at her sister's boyfriend. "Severus?"
"Yes?" he answered, their eyes meeting. His dark hazel eyes were not cold, but nor were they warm. Petunia stared into them for an awkward moment.
"Was it my fault?" she whispered.
Severus frowned. "No."
Petunia shook her head uncertainly, testing Sev's answer. "No?"
"No," he repeated firmly. "It was not your fault, Petunia. The only ones at fault are the Wizards who killed him."
"But it was me who said—"
Severus held up his hand and the sixteen-year-old fell silent. "You did not know. Even I did not know for sure until it happened."
Petunia tipped her head but it was clear she didn't really believe him. Sev knew she would blame herself no matter what, because it was her uttering of the Tabooed word that brought about the arrival of the Death Eaters who ultimately took Mark Evans's life. No more words were exchanged between them, and Petunia left the flat to go find a payphone.
Down the street from their flat in Ottery St. Catchpole was an entrance onto the main drag, where cafés, book shops, little restaurants, and some magical stores were all within walking distance. Because a few Muggles lived in the village the magical shops had ward protections against the Muggles, but most stores catered to both. A payphone was halfway between a café and the bus stop.
Petunia fumbled with a coin and shoved it into the slot before punching in Vernon's number from memory. It rang three times before her boyfriend's mother picked up.
"Dursley residence," Mrs. Dursley said in a clipped voice.
"Hi, it's Petunia," she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "Is Vernon there?"
"Petunia!" Mrs. Dursley said, surprised. "One moment. Vernon!"
A moment later the elder Evans girl heard the voice of Vernon Dursley in her ear. "It's about bloody time you phoned me," he said as his greeting. Petunia's face fell.
"Vernon, I would have phoned sooner but—"
"But what? You house has two lines, hasn't it?"
"Yes, but that hardly matters—"
"Hardly matters?" Vernon thundered, and Petunia squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the prick of tears starting. "Doesn't mean you couldn't pick up the bloody phone," he continued angrily.
"I'm not even at home anymore!" Petunia said, angry and hurt. "We got attacked, we had to leave Nurren—"
"Attacked? What on earth are you talking about? There haven't been any police reports from your area—"
"My father died," she whispered into the phone.
This quiet proclamation was met with silence on Vernon's end. After several seconds he replied stiffly, "My apologies."
Not feeling as this was enough, Petunia felt herself growing angrier. "You don't sound very sorry," she said rudely into the telephone, ignoring some passing Muggles who glanced at her briefly before going on their way. "Didn't you think I would have a good reason to not have phoned until now?"
Vernon spluttered. "I bloody well thought you didn't want to speak to me, Petunia! What's a bloke supposed to think after calling incessantly for a month with no answer? That the broad no longer has any interest!"
Petunia bristled at being called a 'broad.' "I'll have you know that if it wasn't for Lily's boyfriend, we'd all be dead," she said icily.
"That Snape freak?" Vernon replied.
Now Petunia found herself automatically correcting the error. "His name is Severus Prince," she shot.
"What'd he do that was so special? I thought you hated him."
"Well, things change," she sniffed. "He's not so bad. He—" she stopped speaking, realizing she couldn't very well tell Vernon that Sev had given Lily a magic necklace that would transport her to wherever he was… "It doesn't matter what he did, Vernon, the fact is that we owe our lives to him."
"I'd bloody well like to know what this bloke did that was so heroic, Petunia, since it seems you've made time during the past month to get to know him."
Petunia detected jealousy. "He's Lily's boyfriend, you thick-headed sod," the elder Evans girl spat. "But now that you mention it, I'd rather find a man who's just a bit more understanding."
"You're breaking up with me?" Vernon blustered.
"I can't think of a reason not to," Petunia replied smoothly. "I've lost my father. I'd hoped to have someone else to confide in besides my family. Someone who could help take away the pain, but obviously that isn't you." Tears streaming down her face, Petunia slammed the phone back down on the cradle and wiped her cheeks, breathing heavily. She turned on her heel and walked purposefully away, going into the first café she saw.
When she sat down she didn't notice that half the patrons were dressed in Wizarding robes, and when a waitress came up to take her order Petunia quietly asked for a cappuccino. When it arrived she stared down at the foam on the top, slowly watching shapes appear in it. She finally looked up when a young teenage boy approached the table and asked if she was okay.
"I'm f—" She started to say 'fine,' but knew it was a lie. "Not so good," she sighed.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" the boy asked. He couldn't be much older than her, maybe even younger. He was tall, though, and skinny, with light brown hair.
Petunia shook her head.
"What's your name?"
"Petunia Evans," she said.
The boy looked at her, surprised. "Are you Lily Evans' sister?"
Petunia narrowed her eyes. "How do you know my sister?"
"We're in the same year at Hogwarts. I'm Cordon Diggory." He held out his hand and shook Petunia's. "I'm not sure if she knows me that well; we're not in the same House. But she's very intelligent—much more skilled at spells than I am. She knows my brother, Amos."
Petunia scowled at her cappuccino. "Why are you talking to me? I'm a 'Muggle,' as you would say."
Cordon smiled. "I know that. Lily's a Muggleborn and I've never seen you at Hogwarts before. It was a logical conclusion. I'm talking to you because, well, you looked like you could use some company." His smile faded as he saw the expression on Petunia's face. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, but it was in the Daily Prophet a few weeks ago that a Muggleborn's family got attacked…"
She took a sip of the coffee. "It was us." Her eyes dropped to look at the table.
"I'm so sorry," Cordon replied sincerely. "You-Know-Who seems to be pretty intent on destroying as many lives as possible."
"I know."
As time passed, Petunia felt more at ease talking with a boy from the Wizarding world. She learned a lot about Hufflepuff, and how wizards came of age at seventeen instead of eighteen, and realized that in some ways, Muggles were actually far more advanced than wizards were, mainly in medicine. She returned to the flat a few hours later, the burden on her shoulders considerably lighter than before. She'd been able to socialize with a wizard without being rude.
Petunia didn't bother to knock on the door before she entered it, completely forgetting that she shared a room with her sister. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts about what had happened that day in the village that she didn't hear Lily the first time she asked.
"What?"
"I asked what happened. You did go phone Vernon, didn't you?"
Petunia's face darkened. "Yes, I did. I broke up with him."
Lily stared at her sister, hardly able to believe the good fortune. At least she wouldn't have a brother-in-law that resembled a beached whale. "You did?"
"He was completely rude about the fact that Dad—well, suffice it to say he was hardly as upset about that as he was over how I haven't answered either line at home in a month. He called me a broad, Lily, a broad! What kind of classless, unsavory nitwit is he?"
Lily could have responded saying that he was a fat walrus, and the largest unsavory and classless toerag in the world, but thought her sister might be a little upset at that. "You were gone quite a while. Did it take that long to break up with him?"
Petunia looked round at her sister. "What? Oh, no, I went into a café afterwards and one of your classmates sat down and started talking to me. I must say it was something different to be approached by someone of—your sort—and…oh, I don't know. It was a nice change. He listened to me about Dad."
Curious, Lily said, "Who was it?"
"He said his name was Cordon Diggory, and that you know his brother Amos," Petunia remembered, unaware that she'd smiled a little while saying Cordon's name.
"Yes, I know him! He's in Hufflepuff. Amos is a year older, so he's your age, but he always hangs around someone in my year. I don't think I've properly met him, but he seems nice enough."
A shadow of a smile passed over her lips. "He was."
A couple mornings later, two Hogwarts owls swooped into the kitchen during breakfast, one landing in front of Lily, the other in front of Sev.
"Supply lists," Sev commented, taking the letter from the bird. It felt considerably heavier than it should have, and when he opened it he stared at the contents for several seconds before looking over at Lily. She was just as distracted with her own letter. Their eyes met.
"Quidditch captain," Lily said faintly, lifting the badge from the envelope and staring at it.
"Prefect," he replied, taking out his own badge. He wrinkled his nose. "Why didn't they make you a Prefect too? You w—" were a Prefect last time, he almost said.
Lily shrugged, ignoring his slip. "I'm happy with Quidditch captain!"
She's happy, he repeated in his mind. Sev smiled and lightly kissed her cheek before continuing reading his letter. A thought crossed his mind. "Lil, the only other girl in our year qualified enough to be Prefect is Alice."
Lily's eyes widened. "Well that makes sense. Dumbledore didn't make me a Prefect so you and I wouldn't spend patrols snogging, and he didn't make Frank a Prefect so he and Alice wouldn't spend all the patrols snogging. Makes perfect sense." She looked back down at the badge. "But why make me Quidditch captain? Why not Gideon? He's a fantastic flier and an excellent beater."
"He doesn't have your instinct, Lil. All the Beaters do is whack the Bludgers around. Chasers have agility and finesse—we have to think on our feet—well, brooms. Besides, if they put Gideon in charge it would be a disaster, since Fabian would spend most of the practices goofing off and Gideon wouldn't do anything to stop him. Think about it—you wouldn't want a prankster captaining the Quidditch team, would you?"
"They could've made you Captain," Lily said softly. "You're a better flier than me."
"Am not," Sev replied bluntly. "At least Potter got kicked off and hadn't a chance of getting the Captaincy. As much as I hate to say it, he is a better flier than either of us, but I'd rather meet the Giant Squid than have him in charge of the team."
Petunia Evans looked at the two in bewilderment before exchanging a glance with her mother that didn't help her at all. Rose knew about Quidditch from when Lily and Sev talked about it over meals during breaks. Eileen was smiling into her mug of coffee over the talk of the popular Wizarding sport.
"Congratulations, Severus," Eileen said. "It's been a while since there's been a Prefect in the Prince family."
Rose spoke to her daughter. "Congratulations on the Captaincy, Lily! You always talked about it like it was one of your favorite things at Hogwarts."
Petunia looked over at her sister. "What's Quidditch?"
Sev and Lily spent the remainder of breakfast explaining the rules of Quidditch to Petunia, both pleased to be able to share more about their world with her. They were cleaning up the kitchen when the Weasleys' owl, Errol, swooped in through the window and stuck out his leg at Eileen.
She pulled the small note off the owl's leg and unfurled it. Her eyes widened. "Molly went into labor," she said. "They need us to look after William."
"I'll go," Lily said immediately. Sev moved towards her.
"I'll go with you," he said.
Eileen looked between them with a small smile on her face. "Let me Apparate you there so they aren't kept waiting." Both teens took Eileen's hands and a moment later they appeared with a crack outside the Burrow. Arthur rushed out.
"Oh, good," he said, his young face terribly pale, "you're here—Molly's inside, we need to get to St. Mungo's straightaway. Bill's asleep in his room, but he knows you so we don't have to wake him up…" Arthur continued to string words together as he led the three arrivals into the house. "Thank you for looking after Bill!" he said before grasping Molly with one arm around the waist and the other hand half-crushed in her grip. They Disapparated to St. Mungo's.
"I wish I could stay here and help," Eileen said, "but I have to get to work. Floo the shop if you need anything—or one of you can run back to the flat and get Rose." She gave the teens a smile and Disapparated back to Ottery St. Catchpole to get ready for work.
Lily and Sev climbed the stairs to Bill's room to make sure he really was still asleep, since two loud cracks of Disapparition had happened within a few moments of each other.
Quietly Lily turned the handle of the door and pushed it open a crack, and seeing Bill asleep, closed the door again. "Out like a light," she whispered to Sev. "Let's go back downstairs—I could use a cup of tea."
Severus sat at the kitchen table and watched Lily as she busied herself with the stove. When she turned around and saw him staring at her, she gave him a small smile. It made his heart swell, knowing that even after the death of her father a few short weeks ago, she still had it in her to smile.
"What?" she asked softly.
Sev shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just thinking."
"What about?" She brushed a strand of fiery red hair behind her ears.
"Everything. You, us, the Weasleys…Mum… The Circle, too. I gave Remus enough Wolfsbane for the summer…I just hope his transformations are going well."
Lily sat down and put her hands on top of his. "I'm sure they're going fine. The Wolfsbane potion keeps him human inside. He won't harm anyone."
"Are you okay?" he asked seriously, his voice low and concerned. He hadn't explicitly asked her that yet, knowing that she was, in fact, not okay.
Lily looked down at their hands. "Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. I'll wake up in the morning and the instant my eyes open, I'll know. There's a hole in my heart, Sev, and though it's getting smaller…it's still so big."
Sev pulled one hand out from under hers and wiped a tear off her cheek. "Oh, Lily…I love you so much." He leaned over and kissed her forehead gently before standing to get the whistling pot of boiling water so he could pour Lily's tea.
She accepted the mug silently, and took several long sips before putting it in front of her and staring down at the wood table. "Was it like this for you, the last time?" she asked quietly, her eyes flickering briefly up to meet his.
Severus reached out his hand and she grasped it. "It was a stabbing pain every time we lost someone from the side of Light, Lily. But the worst pain was losing you."
Her hand tightened on his. "Did he die last time, too?" Her voice wavered a little.
Sev swallowed. "He did."
"How?"
"I can't remember. It was before we graduated…but after we stopped talking. I only remember you being upset and missing class for several days. But other than that…I'm sorry."
Her hand relaxed. "Somehow that makes it better," Lily said, and took another sip of her tea.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Sev felt like he should go check on William. "Hey, I know we're protected here, but I'd feel better if we had Bill down here with us. I'll go get him." He climbed the stairs two at a time, not sure why he wanted to get to the young Weasley's room. Quietly he opened the door and slipped inside.
Molly and Arthur's son blinked at him.
"Sebwus?" Bill asked sleepily, reaching with his little arms for Sev to pick him up. He lifted the child and held him securely against his chest before taking him downstairs. When Bill saw Lily sitting at the table his eyes lit up. "Wiwy!"
Lily turned her head and saw Sev with Bill. Her lips stretched into a smile and she stood, crossing the room to greet the future curse breaker. "Hi Bill!" Exchanging a glance with her boyfriend, Lily then took Bill out of Sev's arms and for the next few hours she was occupied playing with him.
Sev was content to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain interact with the eldest son of two prominent Order members, and he thought long and hard about how things would go after they graduated from Hogwarts. He wanted to find Lily the perfect ring before proposing to her, and although some part of him knew she would say yes, the other parts still had doubts. It was still several years off before he would do such a thing, but it had been in his mind since he'd returned.
It was halfway through the afternoon when Arthur Apparated back.
"It's a boy!" he exclaimed upon entering the house and finding Lily and Severus sitting on the couch with Bill asleep in Lily's arms. Arthur gently picked him up. "We named him Charles—Charlie, for short."
Sev was not surprised, but he smiled. "Congratulations, Arthur," he said sincerely. "When are they coming back?"
"In a few hours, after the Healers have checked them both over." Arthur was simply glowing with pride as he held his older child. Softly the redhead Gryffindor kissed Bill's forehead. He glanced at Lily and Severus and, deciding it was safe because Eileen and Rose were not present, said, "Dumbledore told me you two are early recruits for the Order."
Severus tensed slightly but then relaxed. He had a feeling this war would be shorter, since all of Voldemort's Horcruxes were already destroyed. The only thing left was to find him. Almost unbidden, an idea sprung into his mind.
"Arthur, tell me, how close is the Ministry to catching him?"
The older man shook his head as he spoke. "Not close at all. Leads the Aurors get are practically phony, for all the help they are."
"I had a thought…the name is Tabooed, we've established that after the attack in Nurren. There are only four of them, right? The three who escaped Grimmauld and Riddle himself?"
Arthur tipped his head and shifted Bill in his arms. "What are you getting at?"
"Have the Order set a trap. Find an abandoned area, set up wards, and say his name. Call the three straight to you, if not Riddle himself—and then it would be a simple matter of capturing them and using Veritaserum to find out where he's hiding. I honestly don't know why Dumbledore didn't think of this himself."
Lily was looking at her boyfriend in wonder.
"I'm not an Auror myself, Severus, but I do believe you think like one. I'll contact Dumbledore as soon as Molly's settled back in with Charlie. He made a good decision, recruiting you."
Severus forced a smile, but Arthur didn't notice and Lily wasn't looking at him anymore.
"If you aren't needing us anymore, then, we can go," Sev said, not wishing to impose in the Weasley house longer than needed. "You needn't worry about Apparating us, we can walk."
Arthur studied Sev carefully for a moment. "Thank you, both, for everything," Arthur said. "It really means a great deal to us."
Sev unwillingly remembered reading about the deaths of Gideon and Fabian Prewett in the Daily Prophet during his previous life.
Lily smiled and promised to help with things around the house if Molly needed help, but Sev suspected it was more to see the baby and play with Bill than anything else. When they left the Burrow and started walking down the unused drive towards Ottery St. Catchpole, Lily slipped her hand into his and squeezed it gently.
The afternoon summer air wasn't as oppressive as it could be; in fact it was perfect as they went through the tall grass, hand in hand, each thinking about different things and about each other. They would go back to Hogwarts in almost a month as Prefect and Quidditch Captain, and start their Fifth year, a year that Severus was confident would go completely differently than it had before.
A/N: Credit for Severus's idea comes from Blueowl. Thank you!