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Heads up, there's brief reference to sexual activity here, though it already occurred before the scene takes place. Just letting you know.

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter 107: Things are Good, Until They Aren't

As summer rolled onwards to the middle of a warm, humid July, the Evans' household found themselves blessed with a happier, more energetic, outgoing Lily than the previous summer. She bopped around the house with a skip in her step, a whistle or tune on her lips, a sparkle in her eyes so like the manner she held in previous years, bringing an contagious enthusiasm into the home. She was like a refreshing rain after a drought, vitalizing the whole family.

Though Lily had worn the mask of a smile well last summer, those who knew her best were well aware of how often the smile was muted, or restrained. She'd done her best distracting herself from the trauma of Avery's attack by throwing all her focus into rebuilding the friendship with Severus that she once thought lost. Still, no amount of walks through the park, or lunches at quaint little cafes together could truly chase the shadow from Lily's mind that Avery left.

The trial had weighed exceptionally heavy on her. Despite her best efforts to maintain cheer and positivity, to rejoice and take comfort in how she'd regained her bond with Severus, Lily had been unable to fight off the dread that grew in the days leading up to the trial. Her nightmares increased, though only Severus knew that, as he'd found a redhead limpet clinging to him in his bed all too often.

Her wariness around men had started during that time as well, though not as severely as it became later on at school. She hadn't suffered any breakdowns like she did at school a few months down the road, but she'd been jumpier, more hesitant.

Neighbors' friendly waves to her from the street made her feel self-conscious of her appearance; worried their attentions were only towards the shortness of her skirt or tightness of her blouse. Bumping into men be it on the street or a crowded train left her grasping the hem of her shirt or tugging fretfully at her skirt or shorts, worried the shortness would be taken as invitation for advances she didn't wish to receive. She had suddenly become so aware of the fact that she could be viewed as a sexual object by men, that it left her questioning the motives of nearly every gentleman she encountered.

It was what led to bags under Lily's eyes that she hid with makeup, to made up excuses for why her father or Severus—mostly Severus—should accompany her to the post office or to get a gallon of milk so that she wouldn't have to go alone. She still smiled, still laughed, and it was genuine, but there had always been a trace of fatigue, of weariness lingering there.

Severus kicked himself for not noticing just how obvious the change was to Lily's usual self. True, they had drifted so far apart over the past couple years that he hardly spent much of his summer with Lily their fourth year, but even with that absence, he still should have noticed how reserved she'd become the summer after fifth. It was possible he'd been too busy gluttonously soaking up her attentions, relishing the renewal of their friendship, and secretly, his own desire to push the harrowing event from his mind.

It was selfish to not want to think of what happened to Lily, but the alternative at the time had been his somber mind torturing him with thoughts of what would have happened if he'd been just a few minutes later on the train. Or worse, hadn't stumbled across their compartment at all…

So Severus had dedicated his time to just enjoying what he had with Lily, aware, but not wholly grasping just how much it had affected his dear friend.

Now, those changes in her the previous summer were glaringly obvious compared to the bubbly ray of sunshine she was this summer. Flitting about from room to room, waking him and Petunia by merrily tearing the blankets from their beds with a laugh. She'd sing in the shower, bake scones with her mother in the kitchen. She cleaned out the garden shed with Hank and happily tended to the azaleas and rose bushes.

It prompted Petunia on more than one occasion to accuse Lily of acting like Snow White.

"I'm telling you," she said one morning over coffee, "If this family breaks into choreographed song and dance, I'm going to assume you've all been enchanted and I'll be getting Simone to curse you back to your senses."

Only Severus knew the reason for Lily's return to form, and the knowledge oftentimes caused an embarrassing flush to rise to his face.

Severus had once been told by Marcus that some survivors of sexual assault heal by essentially taking back their 'bodily autonomy'. What it meant was that for some, becoming sexually active willingly allowed them to regain control that their attacker attempted to take, to empower them by reclaiming consent.

Some took this to farther levels than others did; being sexually promiscuous or having casual relationships, others kept it at a monogamous level. Marcus assured him that both were acceptable, he'd impressed upon Severus the importance of respecting a woman's choices in regards to her sexual exploration.

So long as it was safe and consenting, healing through physical intimacy shouldn't be shamed any more than healing through therapy or counseling. It all came down to what made the survivor feel more like themselves again.

It made sense then, that Lily felt like her old self again. In a way, she was reaffirming that her body was her own and hers to do with as she pleased. She had reclaimed physical intimacy as something beautiful and clean, instead of the tainted, twisted act Avery tried to render it as. And by Severus letting her call the shots, she had free reign to decide the pace and do what she wanted as she pleased without fear of being scorned for having reservations, or shamed for having desires.

She certainly felt no shame in acting on those desires, not that Severus minded.

"Well that's one way to wake up," Severus commented, pulling the front of his pajama bottoms back up.

Lily smirked cockily to herself, "Don't act like you didn't like it."

"Never said I didn't enjoy it," Severus said, tucking himself away, "Just not how I'm used to waking up."

It was true. Severus couldn't say he'd ever woken up to a hand wrapped around him before. Neither could he say he'd ever had a naked girlfriend straddle his bare lap soon after and rub herself against his length until they both came. It was a new—though definitely pleasant—experience.

"Should we…" he trailed off, gesturing to the mess between them, several droplets of white splashed across Lily's naked thighs, "Should we cast a spell? What if you get—?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Lily assured, wiping off her legs and pulling her sleep shorts on, "None of your stuff got that close. I got most of it on my stomach anyway."

"And on your chest," Severus pointed out, offering her another tissue.

Lily looked down at the smear on her left breast, "Well you certainly shoot for distance."

Severus smirked, "I should go into the Olympics with this sport. We could have an entire eighteen plus segment of adult's only games."

Lily chuckled, a cute little snort escaping.

"So this was a new one," Severus stated, gesturing towards Lily, then his lap, "For a minute there I thought you were going to slip up and slide straight onto home base, so to speak—"

He glared when Lily giggled into her hands, "I'm not good at sports analogies; cut me some slack."

"Is this home base then?" Lily asked, still laughing as she waved a hand over Severus's crotch, "I would have thought that was the bat."

"As I was saying," Severus gave Lily a pointed look to quell her laughter, "You've never done that before."

Lily shrugged casually pulling her shirt back on, "Eh, just woke from a dream—a really good one, at that. It gave me some ideas; figured I'd try them out."

Severus smirked, "A wet dream? Thought that was a boy thing."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Girls get them too. We just don't make a mess of the sheets like you morons do. And yeah, it was dirty. I wanted to see if it felt as good in real life as it did in the dream."

"So you were feeling a little adventurous this morning?" Severus asked.

Lily nodded, "I guess you could say that. Anyway, I liked it; it sort of felt like we were doing the real thing without actually, you know, doing it."

"Well if you're going to keep surprising me like that in the mornings, I should probably buy some rubbers," Severus said, "Better safe than sorry; wouldn't want to cum too close to you and get you pregnant that way."

"Pregnant without ever having sex," Lily mused, "Would that make me the next Virgin Mary?"

"No, it would just make me the most pathetic dumb cluck in the world," Severus quipped. He mimed holding something in his arms, "Here's a bouncing baby boy, Mr. Snape! All this responsibility and you didn't even get to do the fun part of making the kid. Enjoy!"

Lily chuckled, "Oh come on, if we did have a kid that way, we'd just work like rabbits to make the second one normally."

"Two kids?" Severus questioned, "Worried the first one would get lonely?"

"No, just worried that all only child's grow up to be prats like Potter or sourpusses like you," Lily teased with a playful shove.

Severus gestured to his face, "I have it on good authority that this is not sourpuss. This…is being a realist."

"Or a pessimist," Lily shot back.

"Realist," Severus repeated.

Lily arranged herself on the bed next to Severus, their shoulders touching, "Alright Mr. Realist. If—big hypothetical—if we did ever decided to have children someday, would you really want to stop at one."

"Considering I'm cut out for keeping a goldfish alive let alone a child, I'm surprised you're asking if I'd want two," Severus replied easily.

Lily gasped, "You did use to have a goldfish! Mr. Gill! Oh, whatever happened to him?"

"I put him in a mug to carry around easier with me and mum accidentally poured coffee on him," Severus admitted.

Lily whistled, "Good thing you didn't have a puppy."

Severus nodded solemnly.

"Oh, but you were nine years old then," Lily said, nudging Severus, "You could keep a fish alive now, maybe even a baby. They do just about as much as fish."

"Poop, eat, sit there staring at nothing," Severus checked off on his fingers, "Very fishlike."

"So stop avoiding the question," Lily ordered with a grin, "We're fantasying here: how many kids."

"One," Severus answered, "An eighteen year old with their own flat and a steady job."

Lily scoffed, "Oh come on, how many?"

Severus shrugged, "Well, if I did somehow come round to the idea of kids, one would be preferably. Or at least, if we intended to have more, we space that farther apart so I could learn how to parent with the first kid."

"Make it up as you go, you mean," Lily laughed.

"We could name them, Practice Baby," Severus suggested with a wave of his hands.

Lily cackled, flopping her head over onto Severus's shoulder.

"I suppose two makes sense for most families," Severus considered, "They'd each have a friend in each other; would keep them busy so we wouldn't have to entertain them every waking moment."

"Or they could fight and bicker like me and my sister did," Lily pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's always fun to watch," Severus said, chuckling when Lily smacked him.

"So just two?" Lily asked, "Not aiming for three?"

Severus snorted, "Geeze Lily, even if I suddenly became baby crazy tomorrow, it's not like I'd want a menagerie like the Weasley's have. It would be chaos."

"Oh come on, they only have three boys," Lily argued, trying not to laugh at Severus's look of abject horror.

"And word is they intend to have more," Severus deadpanned, "The Weasley's family is infamous for only producing boys; I hear Molly intends to keep having kids until she finally gets a girl."

"Besides," Severus went on, "The Weasley's are known for having big families. Arthur parents having only three boys was abnormal for that family line; the children from previous generations each had about seven or eight kids when they started families and I hear Arthur's own brothers went on to have five and nine children respectively. Trust me; Arthur and Molly are going to have more kids."

Lily took in the information with wide eyes.

"Nino kids," she murmured, mystified, "That's overkill even for me. My parents had trouble enough keeping an eye on Tuney and me; and there were only two of us."

"You're parent's also didn't have magic to glue roaming troublesome toddlers to their high chairs," Severus quirked, "Though I still think you have to be stark raving mad to have that many kids, I can see how it's less hassle for those who can use magic to child proof everything or trace their kids whereabouts."

Lily nodded, "That's true I suppose. Though having that many kids is still somewhat unusual for the wizarding world from what I've read. I only ever hear or read of families having one, maybe two kids per generation. Sirius's family is considered an oddity among the sacred Twenty-Eight; two boys born to the main branch of house of Black and three girls to his Aunt and uncle."

"That's because keeping the blood 'pure' weakens it," Severus noted, "It's has been long theorized that mingling wizarding blood with that of muggles or other magical beings, revitalizes the bloodline and strengthens the parts of someone's heritage that has weakened through the generations."

"Have a family with weak health?" Severus suggested, "Marry a robust muggle or dwarf to have magical children with strong constitutions. Years of inbreeding causing some…unsightly birth defects in your family tree? Marry a Veela or Fae folk to pretty up your genes. All in all, it's been suspected that purebloods keeping their genes from mixing with their 'lessers' has provided little for their magic to latch onto as their bloodline grows thin and strained from lack of fresh genetics to mix with."

Lily turned to Severus, "But if it's so widely accepted, why do Purebloods act like marrying muggles and muggleborns is wrong?"

"Because their bigots, Lily," Severus said simply, "They got themselves into their mess with their beliefs and they're too stubborn to admit that or to get them out of it. They'd rather keeping grasping at things to place blame on than admit that years of inbreeding and incest just to maintain their purity was a piss poor idea."

"You know, I heard a rumor," Lily brought up, "I know that Sirius's parents are second cousins. Which is…disturbing but thankfully not too closely related. But there's a rumor that Sirius's aunt and uncle were first cousins before marriage. You think it's true?"

"Half siblings, actually," Severus corrected.

"No!" Lily gasped, horrified.

Severus nodded, "It wasn't a well-kept secret in Slytherin. Druella's father Nexus Rosier, had courted Pollux Black's wife before she married Pollux. That didn't stop him from writing her love letters and the like. From what I gather, he had an affair with her, or at least tried to and was found out by Pollux."

"I bet Pollux was none too happy," Lily surmised.

Severus nodded, "In retaliation, Pollux demanded to be allowed to sleep with Nexus's wife, otherwise he would kill Nexus in a duel. He was very proficient in dueling while Nexus was abysmal at it, so there was little doubt that Nexus would lose. Nexus feared for his own life more than his wife's say in the matter and granted the request."

Severus grimaced, "She got pregnant with Cygnus and he was taken from her to be raised by the Black family. As further punishment for the matter, Pollux had Nexus marry off Druella to Cygnus to ensure the Rosier bloodline was taken over even more by the Black bloodline."

Lily's face screwed up in disgust, "Okay, that's terrible and gross. So they actually married knowing they were siblings?"

Severus shrugged, "It was common practice to marry within the family for most purebloods. Kids are probably raised to think it's perfectly acceptable if unrelated pureblood matches weren't possible."

Lily frowned, "Still disgusting."

Severus raised his hands, "Trust me, you won't find me disagreeing with you."

"Well we're not related," Lily stated, "So if we ever wanted to have a family, at least ours wouldn't be so screwed up like Blacks. We'd definitely make something amazing."

Severus looked at her, "What makes you say that?"

Lily shrugged, "Well we both come from strong families; one muggle, one halfblood. So the blood would get some good mingling there. We're also the best in our year—if not the entire school if we're talking about just you, so you know our baby would be smart, brilliant even."

"I know my family doesn't have any major healthy issues to pass on," Lily continued, "Not that it would make much difference if we did since I think those with magic can't catch or inherit most muggle illnesses. And you haven't found any notable illnesses or conditions in your family tree from the paperwork Ponderosa gave you."

"Besides my Great Grandmother being a twisted bitch," Severus pointed out, face twisting sourly at the thought of his only living relative aside from his mother.

"Yeah, but I doubt being a dick is heridtary," Lily replied.

Severus snorted, "The ass apple doesn't fall far from the ass tree," Severus said, "Though I've yet to really meet Potter's family, I bet you anything his father's a right git too. We know Black's is."

Lily waved him off, "That could just be upbringing and not blood. When you get raised in a house that beheads their eldest house houses and mounts their head on the wall, I imagine you turn out to be a twisted little bastard."

Severus blinked, "That rumor is true?"

Lily nodded, "Yeah, Sirius told me last summer. Said he couldn't wait for it to be Kreacher's turn and that he might actually come home just to see it. I thought you would have heard it from Regulus."

"I did," Severus said, "But I thought he was making some dark joke. He never spoke of it ever again."

Lily tapped a finger to her lips, "Makes sense, I suppose. He's really fond of his house elf so he probably doesn't like the practice that much."

Severus shuddered, "Kreacher is hard enough to look at alive with how decrepit he is. Think about how he'd look post mortem…"

Lily slapped Severus arm, "Enough with the dark talk. We're fantasizing about our future, here. You and I have got the genes and brains to make some incredible children."

Severus made a playful, exaggerated scoff, "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"Why," Lily grinned, leaning in to Severus so their noses were almost touching, "You got some deep dark secret hidden in your family's closet?"

Severus smirked lopsidedly, raising a brow, "I think you're forgetting the pink elephant in the room. I have a lousy drunken imbecile in my family tree. What if we get a baby with a drinking problem?"

Lily pursed her lips together, trying her damnedest not to smile. Eventually a sputter of air burst from her lips, blasting Severus in the face with puffs of air and spittle.

"I am so sorry," Lily apologized through her chuckles. She wiped Severus face off, giggling at the revulsion on his face.

"I know that should be a horrifying thought, but the mental image is hilarious," she laughed.

"Hilarious enough to spit in my face?" Severus asked sardonically, even as the corners of his mouth turned up.

"Yes," Lily cried, "Imagine a baby sitting on a barstool with that sort of hang dogged expression going, "Another round over here, barkeep; it's been a long day."

Severus snickered, "Long day, barkeep. Some fucker kept saying 'peek-a-boo' and then disappearing on me!"

Lily let out a loud, obnoxious chortle.

"An-and then the barkeep slides him down a mug of beer," Lily giggled, "But put a rubber teat over the top of it."

"And he's in a business suit," Severus added, "He just got off work, right? But not a baby sized one; a regular grown man's suit, just hanging off the baby as he sits in a pool of fabric."

"Can't even see his hand," Lily tacked on, "Just has the sleeve hanging across the bar."

The pair shared a laugh, the absurdity of the idea hitting them particularly funny. Sure the joke was probably not as hilarious or knee slapping as they both thought it to be, perhaps it was the post orgasmic high that brought such levity and jovialness to them. Regardless the whole conversation was decidedly silly and they couldn't help finding humor in it.

That humor was unfortunately short lived.

Something slammed into the bedroom door.

"Severus!" Petunia cried, fumbling with the doorknob as she opened the door. She must have run smack dab into it in her haste.

"Severus, quick! Where's Lily? We have to—what are you both doing in here?" Petunia took in the pair on the bed, thankfully dressed but sporting suspiciously reddening cheeks.

"N-nothing!" Lily squawked, jumping off the bed as if it were made of lava, "We were just talking."

Severus nodded his head rapidly behind them, still frozen in embarrassment on the bed.

Petunia didn't look the least bit like she believed them, but she quickly waved them off.

"Never mind that!" she cried, "It's an emergency. Kingsley just arrived and—"

"How does your not-sort of-boyfriend warrant an emergency," Lily interrupted in growing irritation, "What, do you need help choosing an outfit? I hardly think you needed to tear in here over that."

"He's not the emergency you dolt," Petunia snapped, "He's here because there's an emergency."

The next words that fell from her lips washed over Severus like icy water and effectively sucked all lingering happiness from the room worse than a dementor.

"The Longbottom's Manor has been attacked."

So safe to say the smut is taking a little break next chapter, eh?

Seriously though, it's fun to right people in a healthy sexual relationship, not cliche unrealistic ones where they're too blushy and nervous around each other even AFTER having sex (you know, like how hentai tends to make women these fragile, timid things that can't say penis outside of sex). You've seen each other naked! Touched each other! Stop acting like virgins still!

So some of you called it a while back that they believed Malfoy was looking for the address Eileen was staying at and that's why he weaseled info and access from Umbridge. You were right; here's a cookie .

The question is: will Eileen and the Longbottoms survive the attack? Bwahahaha!

Review please :)