Lana
James Potter kept his word with Lily; he never pressured her to leave Severus, and he spoke with her often with words of encouragement. Lily was now showing, two months after she told Severus, but fortunately her robes still hid the bulge.
It was decided Lily would, once unable to attend her classes, be moved to a private room between the Gryffindor and Slytherin towers and would receive her lessons from James, Remus, and Severus.
James, Remus, Sirius, Severus, and Lily decided to stay for Christmas holiday, along with 5 other students. Peter insisted he had to go home to take care of some business that awaited him, but Severus knew the truth. The Pettigrews were in Voldemort's inner circle, and Severus had once glimpsed the edge of the Dark Mark burned into Peter's arm. Unsure if he was to tell Dumbledore or Lily, he kept quiet, not wanting to jeopardize his and Dumbledore's plans.
The weekend before the holiday was a Hogsmeade weekend, mainly for gift shopping. Determined to get Lily a great gift, Severus accompanied her with her own shopping, mainly for the baby. Lily abhorred pink, so the two had decided purple and yellow would be more favoring colors. Lily's family still didn't know, as she was planning on telling them after the baby was born.
"Severus, I'm gonna go into Myrtle's Mayhem for a while, ok?" Lily asked, pointing to a store that sold all kinds of clothing.
"Sure… I'll meet you at Three Broomsticks in an hour, is that enough time?" Severus replied, happy to have some time to look for Lily's gift alone.
"3 o'clock then?" Lily looked at her watch.
"Guess so." Severus nodded goodbye and made his way over to the nearest gift store. He looked at various trinkets, finally settling on a crystal figurine of a dragon with diamonds for eyes that like most things in the world of magic, moved, along with a bouquet of ever-lasting lilies. Checking his watch, Severus purchased the items and made his way over to the Hogsmeade pub with 3 minutes to spare.
He was unable to find Lily and assumed she was running late, so he sat down in an empty table and waited for nearly an hour. Finally, riddled with worry, he left the pub and went looking for her in various stores. After checking all the ones he knew she'd be in, he finally gave up and went back to Hogwarts, thinking she might have been so late she decided to go back.
After asking a Gryffindor sixth year to see if she was in her dorm, he paced up and down in front of the picture of the Fat Lady. After five minutes, the sixth year came back and told him even though James, Sirius, and Remus were in the common room, Lily was not, nor was she in her dorm. Severus then ran up to Dumbledore's office, finding him there alone.
"Professor… I can't find Lily… She was in Hogsmeade, and she left for an hour and we were supposed to meet, but she wasn't there. I waited for her for over an hour, and I've looked all over, but I can't find her."
Professor Dumbledore stood up immediately, then walked over to Severus. "Are you sure you've checked everywhere?"
"Yes, and I can't find her."
Dumbledore started pacing a bit, finally looking back at Severus. "I'm going to Hogsmeade to look for her. I want you to search the castle; get James Potter, Sirius Black, or Remus Lupin to help you. You'll understand why, just tell them to use the map. Meet me back here in two hours time." Severus nodded and walked out of the office with Dumbledore, then down to the picture of the Fat Lady once more. Saying the password, she swung the door open and Severus could see Remus sitting on one of the couches.
"Remus!" he yelled, "I need to talk to you."
Remus walked over to the door and climbed out, then closed the painting.
"What do you need? Is Lily ok?"
Severus shook his head, "We don't know where she is. I went to Dumbledore and he told me to get one of you guys and have you help me look for her in the castle. He told me to tell you to use the map."
Remus nodded, obviously understanding his directions. "Just a moment." He then disappeared back into the common room and came back a moment later with a map of Hogwarts. Once Severus took a better look, he jumped.
"The dots… They're moving!"
Remus nodded, "We made it back in second year. It's enchanted, the little dots are people. If anything can find Lily, this can."
Severus nodded, examining the map. "She's not on this floor."
Remus agreed, "We should start from the top and work
our way down, that way if she comes into the castle while we're searching,
she'll show up on the map regardless of when or where she is."
The two searched for the full two hours, walking
around each floor, keeping an eye on the map at all times. Once they had
searched the first floor, both Severus and Remus were silently praying
she was ok.
Severus met Dumbledore precisely two hours after he had left, to find Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, there instead of him.
"Professor?" Severus questioned.
"We found Lily, Severus. Professor Dumbledore is in the process of brining her back right now. However, she was unconscious and still is, so we're not sure if anything has happened."
Severus' eyes widened, "But- she's ok? Right?"
Professor McGonagall merely shrugged, "We can't be sure until Madame Pomfrey checks her out, so I would recommend you either go back to the Slytherin tower or come down with me to the hospital wing."
Severus nodded, following her out of the office and down a few floors to the hospital wing, where Professor Dumbledore was standing patiently.
"Severus, come in…" he numbly followed Dumbledore into the ward where Lily was, still unconscious.
Severus looked around for a moment, taking in the brightness of the wing. Everything was white; your typical hospital room. He cringed as his eyes came across Lily, lying between stiff white sheets, her mouth slightly open.
"Is she going to be ok?" Severus asked, "Is the baby ok?"
Professor Dumbledore wiped his red rimmed eyes, not
daring to meet the boy's stare. "I found her about a quarter of a mile
outside of the village, sprawled out under a tree. I thought for a moment
she was sleeping, but her eyes were slightly open. Madame Pomfrey checked…
Severus, I'm sorry. She lost the baby."