AN: Written for QLFC Round 9

Appleby Arrows

Seeker

Word before AN: 1619

Beta: Captain Hope and Ikuni

Nine For A Wish

Severus woke up on the morning of his twenty-fourth birthday feeling no different than he had on his last few birthdays- angry and disgusted with himself. It was exactly how he had felt every day since the prophecy. Every day since Lily had died.

He got dressed and skipped breakfast in favor of taking a walk outside around the lake while it was still quiet. He could use a bit of fresh air before he started what he was sure would be another bad day. At least since it was Friday, he would be able to finish it off with a few glasses of Firewhiskey. Or the whole bottle; it was his birthday after all.

The air was heavy with fog as Severus made his way towards the Black Lake, and as soon as the dark water came into view, so did something else. Several crows had landed on the ground just in front of him. Nine of them to be exact. And they all seemed to be staring up at him, watching him as if they were expecting something.

Immediately a poem he'd heard as a child came to his mind. "One for sorrow, two for mirth," he muttered the poem quietly until he got to nine. "Nine for a wish."

Severus Snape was not a superstitious man. He didn't believe in luck, no matter if it was good or bad. He believed in what you could see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears. If you could touch it or take hold of it, then it was real.

And yet, despite not believing it, Severus had an unusual feeling that he should try anyway. What harm could it do if it wasn't real anyway?

He took a quick look around to see if anyone else was outside before turning his attention back to the birds. They hadn't moved. Not one of them. All nine were still staring fixedly up at him. 'How odd,' he thought.

With a sigh and a feeling that he was being utterly ridiculous, Severus spoke aloud. He didn't need to think about the wish. He'd already thought about it a million times over. He could want nothing more than this.

"I wish everything was different. I wish she was alive and here with me now. I wish I had never driven her away and that I'd never fallen in with Voldemort."

Nothing happened. There was no gust of wind that swirled around him or lightning or thunder in the sky. There was no feeling of peace or happiness that flooded over him. There was just Severus Snape, standing at the edge of the Black Lake, and in front of him were nine crows.

Severus rolled his eyes as he huffed out a breath before turning and walking away.

He climbed the steps back to the front entrance of the school and headed to the dungeons. He ignored McGonagall as she called out for him at the doors to the Great Hall, and nearly collided with a couple of Slytherin third years as they came too quickly around a corner.

"Watch where you're going," he snapped.

"Sorry, Professor," both boys said as they nervously hurried on their way.

Severus opened the door to his quarters, stepped inside, and was immediately hit around the knees by something tiny and redheaded.

"Hazel, sweetheart, leave daddy alone and come eat your breakfast."

It felt like all the breath in Severus's lungs had been knocked out of him as he pulled his eyes away from the girl who was now looking up at him with a bright smile, over to the woman who stood in the doorway of his kitchen.

Lily.

"But...how?"

Lily smiled and pointed to the girl. Hazel? "You know she won't let go until you pick her up. And hurry, you've got class in forty-five minutes and you haven't had breakfast yet either."

She disappeared back into the kitchen, and Severus took a moment to slow his heart rate. He reached a hand up and pressed two fingers to his neck.

Yes, he was actually still alive.

"Daddy?"

He looked back down at Hazel and then he did something he was sure he had never done in his life. He reached down and picked up a child.

Hazel immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly. When she moved back, he studied her. She had long red curls just like Lily with a smattering of freckles across her nose. Her eyes, however, were as dark as Severus's own and she had lashes so long they nearly touched her cheek when she closed her eyes. She couldn't be more than two, perhaps three but Severus didn't think so.

"Let's go, Daddy!" she exclaimed, her smile still bright. "I'm hungry."

"Let's go get you something to eat then," Severus said as gently as he knew how.

He carried her into the kitchen where Lily had just placed a plate of eggs on the table. She was exactly how he remembered her and he couldn't stop staring.

"This can't be real," he murmured.

"What can't?" Lily asked as she walked over to him. "Are you alright? You look even paler than usual. You really should get out in the sun more often."

Very carefully, Severus lifted his hand and touched her face, brushing his thumb against her temple and then tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered.

She smiled again but it turned into a slight frown as her eyebrows creased in worry. "Are you sure you're alright? You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Maybe you should take today off. It's Friday, after all."

In his arms, Hazel squealed with excitement. "Yes! Yes!"

Severus found himself nodding along with her. "I think that would be a good idea," he said. "We could just spend the day here. Just the three of us."

"Alright," Lily agreed, "I'll let Dumbledore know that we're both canceling our classes. I only have one Muggle Studies class today anyway."

Severus watched her leave the room before turning his attention back to Hazel who was now getting restless in his arms. He put her down in one of the chairs at the table and put a plate of food in front of her. Then, he took the seat beside her and simply watched as she ate and talked about this or that.

After breakfast, Lily took Hazel to get her cleaned up and Severus took a moment to look around the parlor. Before, it had been sparse with only two chairs sitting across from the fireplace with a small table between them.

Now, there were signs of life everywhere he looked, and apparently, it was his life. There were still two armchairs but there was also a sofa, a coffee table, and two end tables. A lovely bouquet of flowers sat on the table by the door. On the mantle sat several framed photographs, both muggle and magical.

One was of Lily and Severus on what must have been their wedding day. They were laughing and happy as their friends and loved ones threw rice for them. Another was a family portrait from right after Hazel was born. Beside that was one of the Dursleys.

There were other portraits hanging on the wall, and Severus took a moment to look at them all. A lifetime of photos that never would have come about had Severus not made that wish.

"Going down memory lane?"

Severus turned around to see Lily smiling at him.

"I suppose so," he answered as he walked over to her. "I just find it so unbelievable that you're here with me."

She laughed. "Where else would I be?"

"With James Potter."

"Hardly," she said with a scoff as she dropped down onto the sofa. "It still makes me sad though," she went on, "when I think about how he and all the others died in the war."

Severus sat down beside her. "I don't want to talk about anything sad. Let's just have a good day and be happy."

"Of course, my love," she said as she entwined her fingers in his and leaned her head on his shoulder. "What would you like to do then?"

"Anything you want."

So they did. Severus, Lily, and Hazel spent the day together. They Flooed out of the castle and went to their home in the country, where they had a snowball fight, and then they built a snowman which Severus bewitched it to walk around, like the muggle cartoon.

They drank hot cocoa by a roaring fire, and when it was time for bed, Severus and Lily tucked in a very exhausted yet happy Hazel before returning to the living room. The two of them stayed up for hours by the fire, with a blanket covering them both as they talked about everything. Their hopes and dreams, what they wanted for the future, and the happiness they felt for each other. Lily brought up the possibility of having another baby soon and Severus was thrilled with the idea. And when they ran out of things to talk about, Severus simply held her until they both fell asleep.

It was cold when he awoke next but he didn't mind. He kept his eyes closed as he stretched his arms out above him and smiled at the prospect of a whole weekend with Lily and Hazel.

But when he opened his eyes, he was back in his cold, dark room at Hogwarts.

All alone.

He pushed away his covers and sat up. "Damn crows," he muttered angrily.