Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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As autumn approached and another academic year began, Lily and Harriet were deeply saddened that Severus had to return to work.
Since he had a family waiting for him at home, Professor Snape no longer held lengthy office hours.
Severus was quick to hurry home as soon as the school day ended, yet that didn't fill the void of his absence in Lily and Harriet's hearts.
In September, the leaves on the trees of the thick forest that surrounded the Snapes' cottage began to change color.
Through shades of rusty brown, bright orange, and vivid red, it was easy for shapes, animals, and other details about the world to become camouflaged.
Those leaves did not however, manage to conceal the figure of James Potter.
He had wandered to that part of the forest one evening on his extensive search to discover the location where Severus had hidden his little family, the little family that James suspected had been stolen from him.
The Snapes' cottage remained cloaked under a powerful concealment charm, but although anyone prowling nearby couldn't see the small residence, that didn't mean that its inhabitants couldn't notice threats that came too near.
On the evening that James Potter unknowingly crept outside the home that Severus shared with Lily, two faces frowned at him from the window.
"Just ignore him, Sev." Lily whispered to Severus while they watched James from their safe positions behind the glass, "He'll grow tired after a bit…..he'll leave…...he won't come this way again."
"...Or, Potter will remain unsatisfied and return to this very location, desperate to discover what he seeks. He'll hunt us, Lily, and hunt us and hunt us……..until he gets what he wants." Severus brooded ominously.
Lily looked over at Severus with a frown while he suggested, "I may…..however…….be capable of making sure that Potter doesn't bother us any longer?"
"Severus Snape!" Lily gasped.
Severus flinched like a scolded boy when his beloved called him by his full first and last name.
"No matter our situation, you know that I would never condone you to commit murder!" Lily exclaimed as Harriet laid her head down on her mother's chest.
"It wasn't murder that I was suggesting, Lily." Severus replied with a tense frown.
"Then what were you suggesting, Sev?" Lily asked with an incredulous scowl.
Severus gave his answer unwaveringly, "I was suggesting…...my love…..that we give Potter exactly what he wants, a visit with the child that you bore."
Lily's scowl melted into a frown as she looked at Severus and asked, "I'm sorry Sev…..but I'm afraid I don't understand?"
Severus's black eyes glittered with cunning as he glanced from Lily to Harriet.
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James Potter had vowed to himself that he would comb the world over until he had found either his living son or what had become of his dead child's remains.
His search grew longer with each passing day.
James Potter's quest had been remarkably futile until the night that he returned to his parents' fine estate to find a letter that sat waiting for him on the mahogany desk in his spacious bedchamber.
James narrowed his eyes behind his glasses as he walked over and opened the envelope.
His suspicion rose as he read over the parchment that he hastily unfolded:
Good evening,
I'll send an address at which you can meet me, if you're truly serious about your endeavor. At eight o'clock promptly on All Hallow's Eve. Be warned, what you find may not be what you seek. Some matters are better left unsettled.
Name not listed but known
James frowned to himself as he reached the end of the page.
An onslaught of urgent questions raced through his mind.
What did that letter mean?
……...What did any of the words on it mean?
Had that letter been from his old enemy?
……..Or someone else?
Was it from someone more sinister, more vile, a real and true threat?
The envelope bore no addresses.
The handwriting itself had been altered with a cloaking spell to look exactly like typed letters.
James tossed the untraceable communication back onto his desk and sat down with a sigh.
Regardless of whatever trap may be waiting for him, he had already decided to comply with the letter's offer.
He would go to whatever address necessary on All Hallow's Eve and meet the mysterious letter's author, hopefully.
James Potter had the courage to face whatever was in store for him, yet he continued to show the same ignorance that had followed him throughout his school years.
James Potter just couldn't grasp Severus Snape's artful knack for scheming.
Severus was willing to do whatever it took to keep Harriet and Lily safe, and if he found another opportunity to best James in the process, then he would be more than willing to take it.
That was the decision that Severus had already made, the same decision that James remained entirely unaware of…….
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As the weeks until the dreaded meeting dwindled away, in between teaching classes, caring for Harriet, and working for both sides of the war, Severus chose to spend his few, free moments of each day either loving Lily or discussing with her their plans for the future.
A few simple words and kisses from his flower were all that Severus needed to put his troubled heart to rest.
There were few things that could truly unsettle Severus Snape as long as he had Lily's love.
The evening that Harriet fell ill though, that frightened him to his core.
Severus and Lily had spent a lovely hour together in bed, cuddling and chatting before Harriet's cries had called their attention.
The fever that she had spiked had been as concerning to them as the deep cough that came from her little lungs.
Severus had contacted a healer right away.
To his displeasure, the healer had refused to make a house call although she had told Severus and Lily what they should do to treat Harriet before they resorted to the emergency department of St. Mungo's.
They had spent the last six hours trying everything to help their ill little girl.
Severus and Lily's faces were drawn with worry and lined with exhaustion.
The only thing they had left to try was to give Harriet a healing potion.
If the potion failed, Severus and Lily would have had no other choice but to take their daughter to St. Mungo's for treatment.
In the middle of the night, Lily cuddled Harriet in bed against her chest while she and Severus continued their battle to have their baby accept the potion.
Little Harriet whined as she turned towards her mother while Severus sat in front of Lily and tried to feed their suffering daughter a bit of the medicine with a small spoon.
"Come on, love." Lily coaxed as she let her fingers idly brush through Harriet's soft strands of fluffy hair, "Can you take just a little sip for Mummy and Daddy? You'll feel much better after you do."
Harriet whimpered and shoved her little face further into Lily's chest while Severus frowned.
He watched the perspiration bead on Harriet's face from her fever until Lily wiped her daughter's cheeks gently with her hands as she spoke, "Sweetheart, Mummy and Daddy have to give you your medicine, alright? You know that we love you, darling, and we want you to feel better. Come now, can you take one little swallow for us?"
Harriet glanced up at Lily from her hiding place between her mother's breasts.
Lily smiled down encouragingly at her sick little girl.
Harriet frowned for a moment, but when Lily sensed that she would cooperate at last, she braced Harriet and gently angled her daughter's head so that Severus could slip the tiny dose of healing potion into her mouth.
"...Good girl." Severus purred in a low drawl as he watched Harriet finally sip the spoonful down although she squinted her eyes shut in disgust at the taste.
"You did well, sweetheart!" Lily praised her daughter as Harriet swallowed, "Mummy and Daddy are so proud of you!"
A small cry of misery left Harriet's lips as the pained baby turned towards her mother and cried into her while her tiny body shook with sobs.
Lily gently stroked her little girl's back while the force of her weeping gradually faded away.
As she glanced over at Severus though, Lily couldn't help but smile wryly.
His black eyes were as soft as molten ore as he frowned at Harriet in grave concern.
The anguish on Severus's face while he looked at the suffering baby told Lily just how much he had grown to love her little girl.
It made her fall for him even more as she appreciated the depth of Severus's heart.
Loving her was one matter, but a child he hadn't fathered?
After Harriet's cries quieted and a silence fell over the room, Lily looked down at her as she whispered, "...She's fallen asleep."
Severus pulled his wand out from the pocket of his robes and placed the tip against the bottom of Harriet's little foot.
The tip glowed the slightest shade of orange for a moment before Severus sighed, "...Her fever's lessening at last."
He and Lily both looked at each other with the comfort that only parents who have nursed a sick child all night know as they both silently celebrated their victory.
"I love you, Sev." Lily whispered as Severus gently laid his hand over Lily's on Harriet's back.
Severus raised his eyes to meet Lily's as he leaned in and gave her a deep kiss.
Careful not to wake Harriet, Lily moved over and let Severus crawl into bed beside her to hold them both against his chest.
"Do you think that we should take her to the muggles for vaccinations?" Lily asked as she looked down at their sleeping little one.
"Vaccinations?" Severus blinked.
"You know?" Lily asked, "For smallpox and rubella and things like that? I was vaccinated when I was a child."
"That's because your parents are muggles." Severus nodded, "My mother didn't take me to the muggles. Witches and wizards don't suffer from those diseases."
"That's not entirely true." Lily disagreed as she stroked Harriet's hair again, "I had the mumps when I was four and it hospitalized me for two days. I don't remember much of it, but the whole fiasco frightened Mum and Dad terribly."
Severus frowned at Lily and she frowned back.
"Lily……...You're her mother." Severus said very seriously, "You'll be my wife…….I support whatever decision you make, my love."
Lily leaned over and gave Severus another sweet kiss before she pulled back and smiled sadly, "I'm sorry our wedding planning was interrupted tonight."
"It was a worthy disruption." Severus nodded, "There's no need to be sorry, Lily. We can talk about the wedding another time, for now though, I believe that we could greatly benefit from some sleep."
Lily kissed Severus's chest as she settled against him.
He cleaned all three of them, along with the sheets and the bed, by using a simple spell before he leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes.
Severus could put aside the war.
Severus could put aside the stresses of his many different roles.
All of that was background noise compared to what really mattered……..Harriet would recover and Lily loved him.
As Severus held Lily and Harriet against his chest, he enjoyed a blissful sleep until the sun rose.