Disclaimer: Everything recognizable from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J K Rowling, no infringement is intended to any copyright holder

Beloved on this Earth

-0-

Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.
–Anthony Brandt

In a distant corner of his mind, Snape was aware of the clatter of footfalls on the loose stones behind him but was too lost in misery to care. Breathing, previously such a simple task, suddenly required an almost overwhelming level of concentration. Every shallow gasp of damp air he dragged into his burning lungs seemed only to occur by sheer force of will. Even thinking about it took effort and he wondered vaguely why he was bothering.

The hand that was still clutching Lois's cold one tightened, and he felt a howl of despair welling up inside him. How could this be happening; how could she be gone? If only he'd given in to the clamouring urge to seek her out two minutes earlier, if only Quade had been just two inches further to the right or Lois to the left, if only she hadn't been up here at all. He swallowed with difficulty, trying to push back the suffocating lump that was rising in his throat. Damn Roupe and her hysterics – precious time had been wasted before Flitwick and Pomfrey had been able to make sense of her panicked gibberish – and damn Potter and his endless ability to attract trouble. But mostly, damn his own black soul for letting her go so she could come to harm in the first place.

The noise came again from behind him, but this time was accompanied by a bitten-off curse. Recognising the voice, Snape tenderly lowered Lois's hand to rest against her still chest and rose smoothly to his feet. The controlled movement was in direct contrast to the sledgehammer beat of his heart.

'Quade.' Snape inclined his head in a barely perceptible gesture. 'You came back.'

'Severus,' Quade acknowledged warily. His eyes flickered cautiously between Lois and the man in front of him. Despite the fact that only Quade held his wand out ready and raised in front of him, it was clear which of the two men was the most dangerous, and equally clear that they both knew it.

Snape bared his teeth in a smile that would have made Voldemort himself think twice. 'How utterly stupid of you.' He took a lazy step forward. Quade tensed nervously, but stubbornly stood his ground. Snape cocked his head at an enquiring angle, the expression of mild interest on his face at odds with the pulse flickering frantically at his temple. 'Would you care to explain why? Who knows – if the story is good enough, it may buy you a few extra minutes.'

Quade's attention had been drawn to Lois's still figure, but his head jerked back to focus on Snape at his words. 'For her – for Lois. She's my niece –' Snape made a rough sound of disparagement and Quade ran his free hand nervously down his robe front. 'I know what it sounds like, but it's true – she's the reason I'm here. I was searching for whatever it was she had – a ring, apparently…' He shook himself impatiently. 'But I'm sure you already knew that.'

Snape was momentarily snapped out of the glorious numbness that was currently the only thing preventing him from falling apart. The white-hot rage that had swept through him at the sight of Quade had been so intense that it had temporarily seared the other, more painful, emotions from him. He tilted his head to look into eyes that were the wrong shape and in the wrong face, but the colour…

He had never spent any time staring into Quade's eyes, but now that he had, he didn't know how he hadn't seen it before. They were the exact same shade of blue as Lois's, the hair too close a match to be a coincidence either, he noted belatedly. It seemed Quade might be telling the truth. Not that it mattered.

He had a sudden crystal clear vision of a dark lidded coffin closing on Lois's blank face. He shuddered and blinked the horrific image away and was instantly assailed by an even worse one. The same coffin being lowered into the frozen ground, mourners dressed in black drifting about him, half of them secretly relieved that they hadn't known her well or long, mouthing words of sadness and regret that altered nothing. The arm hanging loosely by his side tensed, the springy wood of his wand bending close to breaking within his clenched fist. Someone would pay. Quade would pay. He felt the cocooning anger descend again and welcomed it.

'You didn't answer my question,' he said coldly and Quade grimaced.

'Didn't you hear what I said?' Quade dropped his wand to the floor between them and held his hands out, palms up. 'This isn't a trick, I swear to you; I'm back because of Lois. I-I tried to show her her powers, what she was capable of, but I think the connection must have…' He swallowed convulsively, an odd greyness to his features. 'I felt – I felt her dying, Snape, and believe me, I can't handle another memory like that one on my conscience for the next fifty years.'

'How touching,' Snape said in an emotionless voice, his eyes burning madly in his white face. 'But you're a little too late.' He raised his own wand with a hand that shook only slightly and pointed it at the other man. 'She's dead, and so will you be in a moment.'

Quade's eyes opened wide and worried. 'Wait! You're prepared to go to Azkaban without even hearing me out?' he asked, panicked.

Snape gave a harsh bark of laughter. 'You really shouldn't be worrying about where I'm going.'

'She's not dead!' Quade took a quick step forward as Snape's face hardened and he drew his wand back.

'Don't try to use her to save your own sorry neck!' Sanpe shouted, incensed, his eerie calm disappearing in an instant. His hand was shaking so badly by now, he was distantly amazed he was still able to hold the wand at all.

'I didn't have to come back!' Quade yelled, and the panic in his voice steadied Snape again – the stark terror lurking in his eyes was exactly what he needed to see. Quade was right to be scared. 'If I didn't want to help I could have just carried on flying and never looked back!'

Snape hesitated for a second before the icy control returned once more. 'You should have done; only your greed stopped you. You probably hoped you could disarm me and take Potter,' he continued, true hatred in his voice when he spoke the boy's name.

'No,' Quade said, obviously struggling to sound calm. Beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead and he wiped them clumsily away. 'I realised he was gone before I landed. I watched you holding her. I knew no one else was here, I knew you had your wand. She isn't dead,' he insisted, nothing but sincerity in his voice now, even the fear gone. 'And I might be able to save her, but not unless you let me try right now.'

Snape wavered, and lowered his wand slightly. Desperate hope was clear in his pinched features as he twisted to look at Lois lying so pale and still on the dusty ground.

'I used a Prorogen Spell on her,' Quade hurried on, obviously sensing Snape's weakening resolve, 'that's why she seems to be…. why she looks like she does.'

Snape shot back round to face Quade. 'What?' he demanded in a hushed voice.

The spell was so antiquated, so dangerous, and indeed so difficult, it was practically obsolete. It also edged perilously close to Dark Magic. If it wasn't for the fact that there were practically no wizards left alive capable of casting it, the Ministry probably would have added it to the banned list years ago. He felt the momentary surge of wild hope flip-flop sickeningly in his chest and then drop to his boots like a stone. 'Liar,' he said tightly and raised his wand again.

Quade shook his head desperately. 'No, no, I'm not lying! I told you, I'm Lois's uncle, a mediwizard–'

'St Mungo's is filled with mediwizards!' Snape thundered. 'We have a highly skilled one a few floors below us right now, and yet none of them have used it in the past fifty years to my knowledge!'

'I'm an Eadon! You must have heard the tales about us, everyone has, and there's probably been at least a grain of truth in even the most outlandish of them! But all that aside, my family created the spell – do you honestly think I wouldn't have been taught it?'

Snape glared at him, his suspicion deepening when Quade seemed to sway on the spot. He knew the mechanics of a Prorogen Spell, but could this grey-faced wreck standing in front of him truly be capable of performing it? For the spell to work, magical energy had to be siphoned off from a willing witch or wizard in just the right amount to keep the patient balanced a hairsbreadth between life and death. Too much, and the excess magic exploded out from the veins, the resulting death far worse than any the spell had been attempting to save them from. Too little magic and the patient withered away from the inside at an accelerated rate, the release of it revealing an atrophied horror of wizened flesh and bone that was almost unrecognisable. In either case, the death of the patient would mean the death of the mediwizard casting it and the magical donor; most likely the real reason the spell was so rarely attempted.

A willing witch or wizard. Snape closed his eyes in pained realisation. 'Liar,' he murmured again.

'What?'

'I called you a liar,' he snarled, black eyes shooting open. Snape took two furious steps forward and reached out to grab Quade's robes in a white-knuckle grip. The anger blazing through him gave him the strength to lift the bemused mediwizard off his feet. 'If you're casting the spell, where is the magic coming from?' He shook him angrily. 'Not from me, and there's no one else here–'

'Me!' Quade croaked on a strangled breath, the neckline of his robe bunched in Snape's clenched fists. Snape's grip slackened and Quade pulled quickly free, bending almost double as he sucked air into his starved lungs and rubbed at his reddened neck. 'The magic is mine.'

'Explain,' Snape demanded, no pity in his expression as he watched the other man struggle to catch his breath.

'It doesn't matter how,' Quade said hoarsely. 'The only thing that's important is that I'm the one keeping her alive, and, ironically,' he added with a quick despairing huff, 'apart from Lois herself I'm the only one who can make sure she stays that way.'

'How could Lois–'

'She couldn't, not for herself, but for others…' He made an impatient gesture. 'Lois is an Eadon; like her mother, like me. I saw the ability in her, but that's where it will stay without either of us here to teach her how to access it.' Quade's eyes suddenly lost focus. 'Probably for the best,' he murmured distractedly.

'What are you talking about, man?' Snape asked with angry impatience.

'There isn't time for this,' Quade said abruptly. A deep shudder ran through him and he pulled his cloak tighter around him. 'She was almost gone when I cast the spell and she's so weak now the connection between us is barely there. You've probably got less than a minute to decide before it's too late. It might already be too late,' he warned, the pain in his voice making Snape's decision for him.

'Try then,' Snape said, the blood pumping so heavily through him he could feel each beat of his heart. 'But if you hurt her again, you'll wish I had killed you just now.'

Quade made no attempt to respond and hurried forward, dropping to his knees by Lois's side and gently removing the blanket and the makeshift bandage Snape had applied. He swore under his breath at the extent of her injuries now in plain view. Snape, who had seen far worse sights during his years as a Death Eater without batting an eyelid, felt a cold sweat engulf him and momentary darkness dance at the edges of his vision.

'She's lost a lot of blood,' Quade said unnecessarily. 'Even if I can heal this, it's going to need replacing – and quickly. Poppy will have to sort it out, but make sure she does it immediately, okay?' he asked a grimly. 'Don't let her waste time trying to assess her.'

Snape wondered for a second why he was telling him this, but looking into the other man's eyes he suddenly knew. He had faced death too many times before not to recognise the grim spectre staring back at him now – if Quade could save Lois, it would cost him more than his freedom.

'Fine,' Snape answered, quite willing at that moment to sacrifice the world if it meant bringing Lois back. 'Do it.'

Quade let out a shaky breath and reached out a hand towards his discarded wand.

'Wait,' Snape said abruptly. 'Do you want… is there anything you'd like me to tell her,' he asked, aware that Lois would not easily forgive him if he didn't make this offer.

'Oh, I-' Quade hesitated, a hundred emotions crowding his weary features. 'Tell her – tell her… Oh, bugger it,' he said, snatching his wand from the ground. 'Just tell her I'm sorry and that my only regret that we didn't have the chance to get to know each other better. And, Snape,' he added fiercely. 'You'd damned well better look after her or I swear I'll find a way back to make you pay.'

Snape nodded, his throat too constricted to force words past it and every hope pinned on him being given the opportunity to prove himself. Quade turned away to perform a quick cleaning spell on his hands and then arranged himself more comfortably on the hard ground. 'I'm going to have to release her from the Prorogen spell before I can attempt to heal her,' he said. 'Once I do, things will move quickly; you can stay, but don't interrupt.'

Snape watched with hard-eyed intensity as Quade lifted trembling hands over Lois's still body and muttered an incantation. A growling sound of outrage escaped him as Quade's fingers penetrated the gaping hole in Lois's stomach. The action brought her out of her unnatural stillness and a hoarse scream passed her lips before she fell horrifyingly silent again. Snape reached out a furious hand towards Quade, ready to tear him bodily away when the other man spoke quickly.

'Don't touch me, don't touch her. You do and we're both dead.' He looked over his shoulder for a second at Snape who ground his teeth in impotent rage, but nodded to show he understood.

His nerve endings jangling, Snape moved around the pair on the ground until he could see both of their faces as well as the entrance to the tower; the others should be arriving any second now.

A white glow began emanating from where Quade and Lois were joined and Snape felt his fear rise another notch. Lois was silent and unmoving, but Quade was obviously struggling to match her stillness – his entire body was locked with tension and his lips were drawn back over gritted teeth. .

A sudden clattering on the stairwell distracted Snape and had him taking hurried steps towards the doorway to the tower. Dumbledore appeared first. Poppy and Potter right behind him, and McGonagall bringing up the rear. Snape swore and raised his wand to throw up an instant invisible barrier, cursing himself for not thinking to do it sooner.

'Severus, what are you doing?' Poppy demanded, a horrified expression on her face as she caught sight of Lois lying on the floor, the bright spill of red surrounding her like a crumpled silk cloak.

'For heaven's sake, Snape,' McGonagall snapped, her wand hand clutched to her breast. 'Let us through!'

Snape ignored them both and looked instead to Dumbeldore. His spell was strong enough to hold back the other three for long enough for Quade to do his work, he hoped, but he knew Dumbledore could have it down in moments. He met the headmaster's calmly questioning gaze with blazing eyes. Although he was sure now of Quade's final fate, he wasn't sure how it would come about. What he did know was that he couldn't risk any of them barrelling in and distracting him or, worse still, trying to stop him carrying out his grim task if things got unpleasant.

'What do you need, Severus,' Dumbledore asked quietly.

'Dumbledore–!' gasped McGonagall.

'Headmaster!' Poppy protested.

Snape closed his eyes on a silent murmur of thanks for the other man's trust. 'Blood,' he said, turning to focus on a visibly unhappy Madam Pomfrey. 'He said she's going to need a lot of it and quickly. You'll need to contact St Mungo's – Blood-Replenishing Potions are too unstable to be kept in my stores, but they should be able to Floo you sufficient supplies.'

He was barely aware of Dumbledore's murmured reassurances to Poppy or her hurried exit as he spun back towards Lois and Quade. He didn't know if it was wishful thinking, but he thought that Lois's chest might be rising and falling slightly. Desperate hope stuttered within him, and he stamped it ruthlessly down, fearing that he was somehow tempting fate. He switched his attention instead to Quade who certainly looked unwell now. He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his face, the strange, white glow now not only emanating from where his hands connected them, but also from his sunken eyes.

'I think you can lower the shield now, Severus,' the headmaster said, making no attempt to remove it himself and distracting Snape from his study of the mediwizard. Snape reluctantly moved towards the doorway and murmured the spell to remove the barrier. Only Dumbledore and Potter remained and Snape reached out to dig sharp hands into the young boy's shoulders when he immediately tried to dash towards Lois. 'Stay back, Potter,' he hissed. 'Unless you want her death on your hands.'

Harry froze, a gleam of agony flooding his features, but he did as he was told. The three approached Lois and Quade cautiously, none of them daring to speak and only the chattering of Quade's teeth breaking the silence. The mediwizard was shaking now as though in the throws of an ague, and Snape could no longer tell if Lois's movements belonged to her or Quade. His throat spasming painfully, Snape closed his eyes and prayed as he had never done before in his life.

---

Lois awoke to instant awareness, her body tensing against pain that didn't come. Or not physical pain, at least. She felt hot tears welling and was grateful for the darkness that hid them. A familiar squeak of soft-soled shoes had her lifting a trembling hand to her face to try and wipe away the evidence of her tears. 'Severus?' she asked in a croaky whisper, aware that she might not be the only occupant of the hospital wing that night.

'No, dear,' came Poppy's gentle voice. 'It's just me.'

Lois sucked in a shuddering breath and winced as a sharp stabbing pain suddenly made itself known.

'Careful,' Poppy admonished and then light lit the gloom. She bustled over when Lois began to struggle against the tight bed sheets holding her captive, and gently helped her up higher in the bed to rest against fluffy pillows. 'You're not quite up to deep breathing yet.'

'Can I have a drink of water, please?' Lois asked when Poppy just stood staring misty-eyed down at her.

'Oh, what am I thinking? Of course you can!' With a flick of her wand a metal water jug appeared on the bedside table, rivulets of condensation beading the outside. With another quick movement she was holding a glass of deliciously cool water to Lois's parched lips. She drank greedily until the glass was gently eased away. Lois made a murmured complaint and Poppy grimaced sympathetically. 'Not too much all at once; we can't risk overloading your stomach.'

Lois nodded and sank gratefully back down, astonished at how drained of energy she felt after attempting such a simple task. A strained silence fell and Lois raised bleak eyes to meet Poppy's troubled ones. The plump Matron was ringing her hands worriedly against her starched apron and seemed to be struggling to find words.

'Am I the only one here?' Lois asked, not quite ready yet to ease the other woman's discomfort.

Poppy nodded, but her voice was still hushed when she spoke, as though the years had ingrained a habit of quiet tones in the Infirmary that wasn't easily broken. 'Young Lewis went back to his dormitory this morning and the rest of my patients today haven't needed anything more exciting than a sore throat potion. It's amazing how healthy the students tend to be on a Saturday morning, especially when there's a Quidditch match on,' she said, the lines of strain bracketing her lips making a mockery of her attempts to appear relaxed.

'It's okay, Poppy,' Lois said. She turned her head away from Poppy's worried face and stared intently at the picture on the far wall of an elderly nun watching over a small child. 'I know he's dead.' At her softly spoken words, the nun looked up from her sleeping patient, her wrinkled face taking on a sympathetic cast. Lois bit back an unexpected flare of fierce anger. There was precious little privacy within Hogwarts walls, but at least the Hospital Wing's occupants should have the decency to let a person grieve alone. She let out a careful sigh and raised her eyes to the ceiling instead.

She felt a soft hand take possession of her own and fought against the urge to pull herself free. 'I'm sorry, Lois. I had hoped Severus…' Poppy trailed off and Lois felt another crack developing in her weakening control. She carefully shored her defences back up – she refused to consider what his absence signified.

Poppy drew her attention by squeezing her hand and in a kind voice began, 'I know this has all been a terrible shock to you, but you have to take comfort in the fact that he died saving you –'

'How is that supposed to comfort me?' Lois demanded bitterly. 'He died because of me – he was the last living family I have and now he's gone just like the rest of them and it's all my fault!'

'No, Lois,' Poppy said firmly. 'The only person who can be blamed for Hugo's, I'm sorry, Niall's death, is Niall himself.' Lois shook her head, but Poppy refused to be silenced. 'It's true, and you know it's true,' she insisted. 'And you also know that if you hadn't been there, Harry Potter would be gone now.' Lois shook her head again, weaker this time, and Poppy sighed heavily. 'From what I understand, and that's by no means very much, your uncle had suffered greatly over the years because of the rash decisions he'd been forced into when he was younger. It was a terrible price to pay, but perhaps saving you set him free.'

Lois's dry eyes burned from trying to hold back her tears. She was almost grateful when she felt a film of moisture flood them at Poppy's words and blinked to ease the stinging pain. 'I felt him go,' she admitted on a whisper and was thankful when Poppy didn't ask her to explain that impossible statement. 'He wasn't angry or in pain, although he had been.' She gave a small shiver as she remembered that shared pain, and the dull ache in her stomach throbbed in response. 'He seemed…' she paused then, mental agony overtaking the physical. 'He seemed… happy. How could that be? How could he be happy, Poppy?'

'I don't know,' Poppy said sadly. 'But if I had to guess I would say it was because he was at peace with himself at last.' She bent her head to capture Lois's averted gaze with her own. 'And maybe because he knew his last action made up for a lot of his previous ones – he gave you back to us.'

Lois allowed herself to be gathered into Poppy's careful embrace. She had barely any memories of a mother's touch and she held herself stiff and unresponsive for silent seconds until she felt the final thread of her control snap and she turned her face to sob piteously against the cushioning comfort of Poppy's chest; tears of gratitude for the life that had been returned to her, tears of grief for the life that had been lost.

---

Snape swept down the Infirmary, his roving gaze taking in the empty beds. Finding them all empty, he made his way towards the private area at the back that was reserved for staff and the most embarrassing of student ailments.

The air of barely repressed panic that had been dogging him during the terrible night and half the morning slipped away with a shuddering breath of relief. He stood frozen on the spot and drank in the glorious sight of Lois's bright hair spilling out across the starched hospital pillows, her pink-tinged cheeks glowing with life. It was only when he realised he could make out the soft sound of breathing escaping her gently parted lips that it struck him he'd been holding his own breath, unable to believe till he'd seen her with his own eyes that she was truly alive.

He closed his eyes on a silent prayer of thanks and took the final steps to reach her side, but suddenly found his way blocked by the plump form of Poppy Pomfrey.

Snape reined in his skyrocketing impatience, and settled for glaring down at Poppy. He quickly attempted to rearrange his scowling features into something more pleasant when the Matron scowled right back at him. 'I see she's not awake,' he said quietly. What he really wanted to do was lift the other woman bodily out of the way, but, after the night he'd had, he was wary of incurring further retribution for his unthinking actions. His hot temper had kept him away from Lois long enough.

'No,' Poppy said brusquely, 'and neither should you be by the looks of you.'

Snape turned his head to examine his reflection in the old mirror on the wall across the room and grimaced at the haggard face that stared back at him. The large bruise darkening his jaw worsened the general air of disrepute. He lifted a hand to rub gingerly at it. His mirror image winced, and Snape turned irritably away.

Poppy tutted and raised her wand to his bruised face. With a few murmured words, Snape felt the pain ease away to be replaced by tingling warmth. 'The bruising will fade over the next few hours,' Poppy said with a critical look at the purpling skin, 'but at least you won't have to suffer the pain until then. Not that you don't deserve to.'

Snape's lips tightened. He felt suddenly like his younger self, having to suffer through lectures that were more painful than the duelling-induced injuries that had brought him to the Infirmary in the first place. 'So should I thank you, or will haranguing me be payment enough?' he asked darkly.

But Poppy wasn't listening; her attention had been drawn to his rumpled robes and she was frowning with displeasure at a tear that ran from his shoulder sleeve almost to the waist. She wrinkled her nose when she spotted the mud-caked hem. Snape tried to shake out the crease with an irritable movement, and watched with chagrin as a large chunk of dried mud fell to the ground with a thud and crumbled across the previously spotless floor. Snape bit back a curse and shed his outer robes altogether, folding them carefully so that no further debris could be dislodged.

'I suppose that's an improvement,' Poppy said, taking in his equally rumpled trousers and shirt through narrowed eyes. 'But not much of one. Honestly, Severus, go back to your chambers. Get some rest and get yourself cleaned up before you see Lois. You'll frighten the life out of her looking the way you do at the moment.'

Snape gritted his teeth, only the many years of friendship they shared preventing her from catching the full brunt of the tongue-lashing he was itching to deliver. 'I am not one of the students to be ordered away,' he said with a definite hint of warning in his tone. 'And I think we can safely assume that if my face hasn't managed to send her screaming from the sight of it so far, it is unlikely that creased clothing and a few bruises will do so now.'

'You need some sleep.'

'No, what I need is lying two feet away from me.' Her face softened and Snape seized upon her weakening, his voice taking on a cajoling tone. 'Step aside Poppy, I assure you I won't disturb her.'

Poppy scowled, all hint of softness gone, although her eyes gleamed with some secret amusement. 'And if I don't? Are you going to curse me too?'

'I very well might,' Snape said silkily. Poppy puffed up like an angry hen and the two stood toe to toe, glaring at each other.

'Severus!'

Snape and Poppy sprang guiltily apart to direct their attention to the figure blinking dazedly across at them from the bed she lay in.

With two quick strides, Snape was at her side, hands reaching out to prevent her from attempting to sit up. His hungry gaze took in her sleep-flushed face, roving across her features one by one as though committing them to memory. Lois made a murmur of protest and he dragged his attention away from her lips to see wariness reflected back at him from eyes shadowed with uncertainty. With regret, he removed his hands from her shoulders and sank down into the chair that Poppy had thoughtfully placed behind his knees. He turned to offer automatic thanks, only to see her disappearing out of the room, the door closing silently behind her.

'Did I just hear you threatening Poppy?' Lois asked groggily. She grimaced at the husky sounding words and Snape, still unable to find his own voice, ignored her question and reached to pour her a glass of water instead. Lois stared unhappily at the glass he held out until Snape eventually lowered it awkwardly back to the nightstand.

'I thought you might be thirsty,' he said when she made no move to explain why she hadn't taken it. 'Or perhaps you shouldn't be drinking yet?'

'No, it's not that,' Lois croaked, sneaking a quick peep up at him from under lowered eyelashes. 'Is Poppy coming back?' she asked abruptly. Her hands began plucking fretfully at the sheet covering her from neck to toe and Snape jerked up from his chair, adrenaline pumping through him.

'Are you in pain?' he demanded, already at the door, 'Poppy!' he bellowed, panic overtaking him when all he found was an empty row of beds and no comforting presence of a mediwitch anywhere in sight.

He was in the process of weighing up the risks of leaving Lois alone to find Poppy himself against summoning a house-elf to do the job, when Lois's quick denials registered.

'No, Severus, no, I'm not in pain. Stop shouting, please – you'll have the whole school in here!'

'Well, what is it?' he snapped, sinking back into the chair beside her and his gaze intent on her tense face.

'Nothing…' Lois began, a decidedly ill-tempered edge to her voice now. She shifted uncomfortably on the bed, and Snape half rose, ready to go and track down the absent matron despite her protests.

Seeing his movement, Lois pushed the covering sheets away to reveal her pyjama-clad body and gazed up at him balefully. 'I need to go the bathroom,' she announced, staring fixedly at a point just behind his right shoulder. 'And parched though I am, water is definitely not a good idea at the moment.'

Snape felt a huge smile of relief spreading across his features, but had the good sense to smother it behind an impassive façade when her eyes flickered briefly to his.

'So if you could just go and get Poppy,' And never come back, her tone implied 'I'd appreciate it.'

'No need for that,' Snape said. He rose purposely from the chair, but then paused and stood staring down at her, a pensive frown creasing his brow. 'What would be the best way to do this?'

'I just need some help to get to the bathroom – I can take it myself from there.'

'Is it safe for you to be moved yet?'

'Yes!' Lois hissed between gritted teeth.

Snape hesitated. Should he get Poppy or should he risk–

'Sev-er-us!' Lois moaned, and raised beseeching arms towards him. Despite his doubts that she was being entirely truthful, there was no way Snape could resist that particular temptation. All thoughts of using magic to transport her to the bathroom sailed right out of his head, and he bent down to ease gentle arms under her legs and back.

The sweet, familiar smell of her made him almost dizzy and he fought the urge to bury his face in her neck and simply breathe her in. The stiff way she was holding herself in his arms told him she wouldn't appreciate that particular action even if she didn't have rather more pressing matters on her mind right then.

'Ready?' he asked, bending his knees to take the strain.

She made a groaning sound of protest when he lifted her, and he froze, uncertainty halting his movements.

'I'm okay,' she insisted in a worrying weak voice. Coming to a quick decision, Snape covered the few steps to the bathroom. The best course of action was surely to get her back to bed as fast as possible.

Once inside the private bathroom, he set her gently down on a padded stool and allowed himself to be ordered outside when Lois assured him the room was magically equipped to see to all her needs. Snape didn't doubt that, but he still insisted on stationing himself right outside the door despite her protests. He also secured a promise that she would call him the second she was done, although he wasn't convinced she could be trusted to keep her word on that one. He was therefore relieved when he heard her calling his name a very short while later. His relief soon turned to worry when he saw how pale and fragile she appeared after so short a time on her feet.

'Back to bed with you,' he said grimly, and scooped her limp form into his arms. Unlike the journey there, she sank bonelessly into his arms, and Snape had to fight down the reckless urge to tighten his hold. He was so busy trying to ignore his rampaging desire to keep on walking with her out of the hospital wing and out of Hogwarts forever, that he almost dropped her when a whisper soft touch suddenly brushed against his clenched jaw.

'What happened here?' Lois asked, gentle fingers tracing the outline of the fading bruise.

'Nothing,' Snape said harshly, her touch sending pinpricks of fire racing through him. He could have kicked himself when her hand dropped like a stone, and a guarded stillness appeared on her face.

'A stray punch caught me off guard,' he offered, setting her carefully back down on her bed and pulling the sheets over her. He watched worriedly as she sank wearily back against the pillows, but he was relieved to see her colour was already coming back.

He was also relieved when she seemed to accept his explanation as the olive branch it was.

'From when you and Hug– I mean when you and Niall…' she trailed off and Snape cursed his thoughtless tongue.

'No,' he said calmly into the heavy silence. 'This happened later.'

As he'd hoped, his answer roused Lois's curiosity and some of the darkness faded from her eyes. 'Later?'

Snape filled a fresh glass with water and popped a straw into it so she wouldn't have to sit up any higher than her current semi-reclining position. He held the tip of the straw out to her, unable to hide the shudder that swept through him when her lips brushed his finger. Lois smiled a small, satisfied smile and then turned her attention to drinking greedily from the cool water.

Thirst finally quenched, she pulled away with a sigh of pleasure and murmured thanks. When she was settled comfortably again, she raised questioning eyebrows. 'Are you going to finish the story or not?'

Snape scowled, not happy with the direction the conversation was taking. He had more important, and less embarrassing, things to discuss, such as finding out if she could ever forgive him.

Obviously it wasn't going to be that easy. Nothing worth having was ever easy, he reminded himself, and silently cursed whichever imbecile on high had decided that was how the world should work. Banking down his frustration, he settled back in the hard chair with the air of a man who was relaxed and totally at ease with the situation he found himself in.

'I understand from Dumbledore that you're aware of everything that happened yesterday up until the point you were healed?'

Lois nodded jerkily and Snape reached out to rub his thumb in soothing circles around her tightly clenched fist as though he had every right to. He was slightly surprised, and very pleased, when Lois didn't immediately pull her hand away. 'Well, not long after you'd been transferred down to here, the Ministry Aurors arrived expecting immediate answers. When we weren't prepared to accompany them to the Ministry of Magic to provide them, they became rather…aggressive.'

Lois made a shocked sound of protest. 'The Aurors attacked you, Severus?'

'Not precisely.'

'Where was Professor Dumbledore?' Lois demanded. 'Surely he wouldn't have – what do you mean, not precisely?'

Dammit. 'It did happen rather quickly, Lois, and my main concern was remaining at your side.' Her beaming smile made his heart race in his chest and loosened his tongue. 'Looking back it's difficult to recall now who threw the first punch –'

'Oh, Severus.'

Snape scowled into her disappointed face. 'It was an ex-student, Lois! A puffed up little know-nothing trying to throw his puny weight around! One year out of Auror training and he thinks he can strut back into this school and order me around like a first-year! His questions could have easily waited until we had some news about you – in fact, most of them could have been answered by someone else altogether!'

'But, Severus, punching an Auror…' She shook her head, apparently too disillusioned with him to be able to continue. His hope that that might mean the end of the discussion was dashed when she rallied to say, 'I didn't even know grown wizards got into fights like that. Why weren't you cursing each other? Not that that would have been better,' she added hurriedly.

Snape's scowl grew deeper. 'Trust me, nothing would have given me greater pleasure, but Dumbledore had disarmed us by that stage after some earlier… heated words.'

Lois groaned and pulled her pillow up around her ears to cover her face. 'Were you knocked unconscious?' she lowered the pillow to ask. Snape was slightly hurt by her hopeful tone. Was she so angry with him she wished him physical harm? If she did, he couldn't in truth deny that he deserved it.

'No, I was fine,' he said, but couldn't help the stiffness of his tone.

'Oh.' Lois looked down at her hands that were busily smoothing non-existent creases out of the sheets covering her. 'I suppose it was quite a night and you needed your rest after all that,' she murmured in a small voice.

Snape gave a disparaging snort. 'Fine chance of that locked up in a Ministry cell.'

Lois suddenly lost interest in the bedspread and raised glowing eyes to his. 'They locked you up over a fight?' Despite her concerned words, her voice was decidedly gleeful and Snape felt his spirits nosedive even further. 'Couldn't Dumbledore have done anything about it?'

'Unfortunately, after I'd hexed him, not even Dumbledore at his most persuasive could convince Fudge not to press charges.'

All sign of satisfaction was wiped from Lois's expression and voice. 'You hexed the Minster of Magic?' she breathed.

'We'd just got the situation with the Aurors sorted out – and our wands returned,' he added, 'when Fudge turned up, blathering on about the importance of self-control, determined, as usual, to drag matters out unnecessarily. That man loves the sound of his voice far too much.' His features twisted into scowling lines of disgust.

Lois was trying to look disapproving, but the glow of happiness was lighting up her pale features was making it difficult. 'So that's why you weren't here when I woke up last night?'

Everything suddenly fell into place and Snape reached out a hand to capture hers. 'Achelois, believe me, if the choice had been mine I wouldn't have left your side for a second. I cursed my stupidity all night and practically sprinted from the Apparation point to the hospital wing. I didn't even stop to talk to Dumbledore – the only reason he was able to pass Poppy's report onto me before I got here was because he ran half the way here with me. I only lost him at that tricky third floor corridor.' He felt a sudden twinge of guilt. A man the headmaster's age really shouldn't have been expected to finish a chase through the grounds by tackling three flights of stairs two at a time.

Lois raised damp blue eyes to his and he forgot all about Dumbledore. 'When I woke up and you weren't here, I thought I'd dreamed the things you said last night–'

'I meant every word,' Snape said solemnly. 'And I'm sorry I ever let you believe I didn't. God, Lois, if I'd lost you…' He ground to a shuddering halt, not trusting himself to say more. With a muffled curse, he buried his head in the hollow of her neck and wrapped careful arms around her.

Lois gently extracted herself from his hold. 'But why would you have said all those things that day in your room if you didn't mean them, Severus? If y-you just feel guilty now about taking back what you said when you thought I was dying… I… I won't hold you to–'

'NO!'

Lois jerked slightly in surprise, and then winced, a hand reaching down to press against her stomach.

'Careful!' Snape barked. Lois raised her eyebrows in an offended gesture and Snape grimaced. 'I mean, I apologise for startling you, but please could you try and be more… careful.'

'Will do,' Lois said in a slightly breathless tone.

Snape looked worriedly down at her through hooded eyes. 'Perhaps I should call for Poppy.'

'No,' Lois said quickly. 'I'm fine – it was just a twinge. Go ahead with what you were saying.'

Snape sighed and sank back in his chair, his fingers reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. 'I wasn't being honest with you that day in my rooms,' he began abruptly 'But your safety was more important than what either of us wanted.'

'My safety?'

'I was reminded, ' Snape said, battling against the urge to blame Moody for all that had happened, 'that I was putting you at risk simply by being with you.'

'That's why you sent me away?' she murmured. 'I hoped, but…' Her questioning tone gave way to anger. 'Severus, I asked you if it had anything to do with you being a spy! Why didn't you talk to me, find out whether I was willing to take that risk?'

'Because I wasn't!'

Lois aimed a weak punch at his arm resting on the bed beside her. 'It wasn't your decision to make! It was ours.' She blinked rapidly and Snape felt his chest tighten when tears welled in her eyes. 'You should have told me the truth,' she said in a near whisper.

He was surprised when a gruff bark of laughter escaped him. 'Because you would have accepted that so much easier?' he asked with a sardonic tilt to his eyebrow.

Lois sniffed, and dashed her tears away. 'Maybe not,' she admitted grudgingly. She sniffed again and reached out a hand to rub absently at the spot on his arm where she'd hit him. 'You don't feel that way any more?' she asked hopefully.

'Lois, I can hardly try and deny now that I love you, but it doesn't alter the fact that you deserve better.' She shook her head angrily, but Snape reached out to still the movement, grasping her chin in gentle fingers. 'More importantly I couldn't bear what he would do to you if he found out I was a spy.'

'You can't push me away because of that! I'm well aware of the danger, Severus; I wouldn't take any foolish risks and, anyway, as yesterday very convincingly proved, not being with you is no guarantee of my safety.'

'What about Voldemort?' he said, driven, one half of him screaming to be quiet and simply accept the miracle he'd been granted, his other, more pessimistic side refusing to be silenced until he'd pointed out every last problem and given her the opportunity to escape. 'I can't promise you forever, Lois, what would you do if you lost another husband?'

'W-was that a marriage proposal?' she asked shakily.

'No. Yes. I don't know,' he growled in frustration. 'Answer the question, Achelois, what would you do? I don't want to cause you any more pain.'

'Severus, ' she said, struggling to sit up slightly higher in the bed and pushing his hands away when he tried to prevent her. 'I've lost everyone I've ever loved – to disease, to madmen who want to take over the world, to pure damn bad luck and do you know what that's taught me?'

Snape shook his head silently no.

'Nothing.'

He looked at her blankly.

'Because there's no lesson to be learnt, Severus, no miracle cure to avoid heartache. Life is about loving people and ultimately either losing them or them losing you. None of us live forever and whatever pain I've experienced when they died, I wouldn't swap it if it meant losing a second of the time they were in my life. I loved David and losing him nearly killed me.' Snape flinched slightly at that and Lois carefully leaned forward to cup his face in tender hands. 'But losing you when you aren't even gone would be the end of me.'

'But I don't deserve –'

'Most people don't get what they deserve in life,' she interrupted, dropping her hands to capture his. 'They just get what they get and you, Severus – you got me.' She looked up at him with a sad little smile. 'Aren't you happy?'

'Yes,' he said. 'God, yes. But that still doesn't alter the fact that I don't deserve you. I don't deserve to be happy –'

'What about me?' Lois snapped, suddenly furious. 'What about what I deserve? I happen to love you – quite an astonishing amount actually – and after all the rotten luck I've had so far, I think it's about time I got a break, and if that means dragging your undeserving hide along with me to the good life, then so be it!' she shouted, her eyes flashing fire. Even given the seriousness of the situation, Snape couldn't stop the slight smile that crossed his features, touched by the depth of her love for him. His flash of humour was instantly quashed when Lois sucked in a pained breath and flopped back against the pillows, her burst of energy obviously draining her.

He sighed, not even asking if he should alert Poppy, and instead settled her more comfortably in the bed and pulled the sheets that had slid free securely back around her.

'There's nothing I can say that will change your mind, is there?' he asked, leaning over the bed so that she wouldn't have to strain to see him.

'No.' Lois shook her head against the pillows, her lips pursed so tight McGonagall would have been impressed. 'So stop wasting both of our time and accept that we're stuck with each other.' She didn't sound exactly thrilled by the thought.

'Very well,' Snape said, and got out of the chair to go down on one knee beside the high bed, realising with chagrin that he could no longer see her from his new position.

'Severus?' Lois's confused voice came from above him. There was a rustle of sheets and he reached up to still her with his hand. 'Severus, what are you doing?'

'What do you think I'm doing,' he muttered grumpily, suddenly deeply regretting the romantic impulse – the first and probably the last one of his life – that had brought him here.

'Are you proposing?' she asked, disbelief evident now.

'Yes,' he bit out. This was closely followed by a string of curses as he realised he didn't have the engagement ring on him. He pulled out his wand and Summoned the ring box from his chambers, waiting with stomach-churning nervousness for it to arrive. Knowing his luck, Peeves would intercept it in mid-flight and flush it down a toilet somewhere.

He heaved a huge sigh of relief when it came zooming through the half open doorway and halted inches from of his face. Snatching the box out of the air, he snapped open the catch to reveal the emerald engagement ring nestled within.

'You know,' Lois said thoughtfully, 'I think this might be a smidge more romantic if I could actually see you.' Her mock grumble was met with silence when Snape found his tongue had attached itself firmly to the roof of his mouth. 'Umm, Severus, you are still down there aren't you?'

The worry in her tone released him from his frozen silence. Surely she wouldn't have sounded that anxious if she were about to turn him down. He hoped. 'Shut up,' he commanded. 'And allow me play the romantic hero for once. I would think you would appreciate how rarely this is going to happen and have the good sense to keep quiet until the mood passes.'

When she didn't respond, Snape carefully craned his head and saw a huge grin spreading across Lois's face. He sank back down with a silent sigh of relief. Seconds later her left hand dropped over the edge of the bed towards him and he immediately grasped it in a slightly damp grip.

'Hey, I'm not complaining,' Lois assured him. He would have been able to hear the smile in her voice even if he hadn't just seen it for himself. 'And I'm certainly not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, I just thought it might be more of a tale to tell our grandchildren if I had a picture to go along with the sound.'

'Very well,' he huffed and muttered an incantation.

Lois erupted into a fit of giggles at the sight of Hogwarts stern Potions Master, balanced precariously on one knee, appearing inch by inch in midair in front of her.

'I cannot do this if you are going to laugh,' he grumbled, reaching out to hurriedly grab the side of the bed as he wavered dangerously. Lois's giggles turned to a squeak of alarm as he turned his wand towards her. He smiled when her eyes widened with relief as both he and the bed dropped smoothly several inches until Snape was back on solid ground and their heads were almost level.

'Better,' Snape said in highly satisfied tones. He returned his wand to his pocket, and reached out to pull her hand back into his, staring intently into her bright blue eyes. 'Achelois Scott, will you marry me?'

Unexpectedly her lower lip trembled and tears gleamed like diamonds in her eyes. Not quite the response he'd been hoping for. 'Yes,' she whispered. Actually, exactly the response he'd been hoping for.

He slid the ring onto her finger before she could change her mind, and lifted her hand to kiss the spot where it rested and then moved to place a soft kiss on her lips. When the kiss rapidly spiralled out of control and he felt her arms lifting to twine tightly around his neck, he carefully pulled away and settled her arms safely back by her sides. Lois reached out to tug at his hair in retribution, a dazzling smile on her face. She playfully tightened her grip, and the ring caught in the sunlight streaming in from the window, causing the emeralds to blaze.

'Oh, Severus,' Lois said, momentarily distracted from her attempt to pull him back down to her. 'It's beautiful!'

'It belonged to my grandmother, but if you'd prefer something new…'

'No, no, this is perfect.' She hesitated, a faint frown creasing her brow. 'You loved her? Your grandmother I mean?'

He nodded. 'I did.'

'Then it is perfect.' Lois held her hand up and beamed happily. 'I can't wait to tell–

' She came to an abrupt halt, a horror-struck expression appearing on her face. 'Oh, God, Harry! And Elena! How could I have forgot!'

Snape shook his head, confused. 'Forgot what?'

'To ask about them! All I could think about was Niall –' She broke off again, fresh tears welling.

'Ahh!' Snape sighed and reached out to run a soothing hand across her stiffly held shoulders. 'I assumed from my conversation with Dumbledore you knew all of this, Lois –'

'I never even thought to ask Poppy!'

'Perfectly understandable,' he said firmly. He knew that they would have to talk about Quade – Niall he amended mentally – at some point, but he was keen to delay that discussion. Lois was too fragile, physically and emotionally right now to deal with it, and selfishly he didn't want her future memories of this day to be completely overshadowed by sadness.

'To put your mind at rest, Potter has more lives than a cat and is, as ever, perfectly fine,' he said, his lips twisted derisively. 'Roupe's injury was slightly more serious, but she too is now completely healed, and presumably resting comfortably in her rooms as we speak.'

'Thank goodness,' Lois said shakily.

'Although if the headmaster has an ounce of sense he'll have her committed to St Mungo's instead of allowing her to continue to teach at this school,' he added, his tone arctic.

'Severus!'

'Lois, that lunatic woman was the reason it took me so long to get to you!' Snape lurched to his feet and began to pace around the small room. Arriving at the opposite wall, he spun back round and paused when he spotted Lois, reaching for his wand to resize the bed to its normal proportions. He shouldn't have brought this up, he thought frustratedly, because there was no way now Lois would let it rest without a full explanation.

'What do you mean?' she asked as if on cue. Snape sighed heavily when she began to fidget uncomfortably and sat back down in the chair beside her. With gentle hands he reached out to assist her to sit up in the bed before he continued.

'I was in the Infirmary looking for you after you hadn't made an appearance at the Quidditch match –'

'You were looking for me?' Lois interrupted, a curious light in her eyes. 'Why?'

'Because I'd realised I couldn't let you go and, having accepted defeat, I planned to beg your forgiveness and ask you to marry me.'

Lois sucked in a shocked breath and then let out a small moan of pain as her stomach protested. Snape swore and reached out to steady her, but she slapped his hands impatiently away. 'You were going to ask me to marry you? Before I was hurt?'

'Lois, which story would you like me to finish?'

'Elena,' Lois said grumpily, her lower lip protruding in far too enticing a manner for Snape to resist. When he lifted his head, her good humour seemed restored, although it took Snape a few seconds to drag his control back into place.

'As I was saying,' he began gruffly, 'I had just arrived at the Infirmary when Flitwick came rushing in, Roupe floating behind him on a stretcher, and saying Filch had found her unconscious on the seventh floor. Poppy brought her around at which point she became hysterical, shouting nonsense about you and Potter and demanding to be taken to her room. It took us ten minutes to calm her down and another ten to get any sense out of her, and only then after she had been transported to her chambers.'

Lois looked at him amazed, clearly unable to imagine the unflappable Elena Roupe in a panic.

Snape nodded in agreement. 'A most unexpected sight; it seems that our impressive Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is perfectly happy to face Voldemort's finest, but show her a hospital or expose her to even the mention of illness and she becomes a jibbering wreck.'

'That's why she wouldn't ever come into the Infirmary?' Lois breathed. 'And why she was acting so oddly when I found her. I suppose it explains why she wouldn't even let me give her any Pepperup Potion when she had the flu. I thought it was because she didn't trust me and all this time she was more frightened of me than I was of her,' she said in awe. 'Like a spider – although I have just as much trouble believing that's true either.' She pulled a face and then murmured, 'Poor Elena.'

Snape rolled his eyes, holding his tongue with great difficulty. A small smile crossed Lois's lips and she reached over to grasp his hand. 'The important thing is they're both okay.'

'No,' Snape said, suddenly having difficulty in keeping his voice even. 'The important thing is that you're okay.'

Lois's smile widened and she used her grip on his hand to tug him closer. 'As if I'd ever go and leave you,' she said softly, and Snape shuddered between lingering kisses, hating even the thought of it. The kiss was only broken when Lois tilted her head on a sudden thought and dislodged her lips from his.

'Severus, how do wizards get married?'

'However they want,' he said with a shrug, not particularly interested in the technicalities right then. He ducked his head back to capture her lips again and then hesitated. Lois made a questioning noise of protest when he drew back. 'Why?' he asked, suddenly cautious. 'Do you want a big wedding?'

'No, I don't think so,' she said thoughtfully, before brightening as an idea struck. 'Oh, we could go to Gretna Green and get married over the anvil!'

'What?'

'Gretna Green; it's where underage Muggles used to elope to get married by the blacksmith. The law has changed now so that doesn't happen anymore, but you can still get married there….'

'Yes, I'm well aware of the history of the place, what I meant was that neither of us is exactly underage.'

'Well you certainly aren't, you cradle snatcher you.'

'Ten years, Achelois – hardly cradle snatching.'

'Keep telling yourself that, old man,' Lois teased, before continuing. 'I just thought it would be romantic and we are in Scotland…'

'I'm Welsh.'

'So? I'm English – but when in Rome. And even better,' she coaxed, 'we can just sneak off and do it, which means you won't have to go through all the fuss of a big church wedding.'

'That's true,' he agreed, more interested now. 'We wouldn't even have to tell anyone until after we'd done it either.' He realised with satisfaction. No one would be able to talk her out of it until it was too late to do anything about it.

'No we have to tell everyone!' Lois yelped, scandalised. 'Otherwise how will we get presents?'

'You mercenary baggage!'

'Hey! There have to be some compensations for marrying you!'

'Right then, we're agreed,' he said, refusing to rise to her bait. 'I'll get the paperwork in order. I'll need to arrange for some Muggle documents for me and as soon as you're fit enough, we'll travel down on the weekend and be back for school on Monday.'

'You don't let the grass grow under your feet once you've decided do you?' Lois said, looking vaguely shell-shocked. 'Why don't we wait till the Easter holidays? That way we can have a honeymoon as well?'

'No, no,' he said firmly. 'I don't want to delay – we'll get married first and have the honeymoon later. Will that be okay?' he finally thought to ask.

'It doesn't sound as though I've got much choice in the matter does it?' Lois groused good-naturedly. 'Are you really Welsh, Severus?' she suddenly asked curiously. 'You don't sound it.'

'The Snapes would never be so uncouth as to have an accent,' he said, looking down his nose at her with mock hauteur. 'In any event I was only born there; I was sent to boarding school from the age of five.'

'What!' Lois squawked. 'Five? That's barbaric! We're not sending our children to a boarding school without us, I hope you know,' she said sternly, daring him to disagree.

Snape inwardly blanched, but with effort managed to keep his face totally expressionless. Children. How could he have forgotten? Dear Lord, nothing was simple with her. Soon he would have not only Lois, but also babies to worry over and protect; he couldn't deny the small surge of pleasure underneath the fear that thought caused. 'Of course not,' he said mildly.

Lois gave a satisfied nod, but then paused a searching expression on her face. 'You're being very obliging,' she said, her eyes narrowed suspiciously

'That is because you are recovering from a life threatening injury.'

'And when I'm better…?'

'I will not be so obliging.'

'Better get my money's worth while I can then,' Lois murmured, taking a deep, fortifying breath and then letting out a low groan of pain.

'Damn it, woman!' he said sharply. 'Be more careful before I am forced to make Poppy drug you unconscious and only bring you round once you're healed.'

Lois waved away his concern, but her eyes were beginning to look shadowed with tiredness. 'I'm fine,' she insisted. 'But since all of this happened, I've been thinking about what Niall did, about how he was able to heal me.'

Snape felt a niggling sense of unease begin to unfurl in his stomach and sat back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest and his eyebrows drawn together in a forbidding frown. Lois cleared her throat and began to play with the neckline of her pyjamas. 'Most of the time I didn't know what was happening, but every now and again I saw flashes of something... Severus, if I tried harder, learned more about my family's gift, maybe I'd be capable of –'

'No.' The word was bitten off and Lois stared at him helplessly.

'No what?'

'No, you are not to experiment any further with your abilities.'

'Hey! You don't have the right to tell me–'

'Do I not?' Snape interrupted coldly. He sighed when Lois's lips set in mutinous lines. 'Very well, I accept that I am being unreasonable,' Snape began more softly and Lois's tense features relaxed correspondingly. 'And that it is your right, possibly even your duty to explore the ability your family appears to have –'

'Yes –' Lois began eagerly and Snape held up a quelling hand.

'Nevertheless, I am going to be unreasonable, I am going to be selfish, I am going to be very unfair and ask that you leave this alone.'

Lois opened her mouth to speak, but seemed unsure how to proceed.

Snape sighed tiredly and gave in to the urge that had been plaguing him since his arrival in the Infirmary. He bent down to pull off his boots, and then took out his wand and muttered a spell to enlarge the small bed Lois lay in. He had the fleeting thought that the poor old cot might never be quite the same again after its transformations today. The thought was swiftly followed by the cheering image of some malingering Gryffindor student being tipped to the floor by the magically altered bed at some future point. He'd have to look into that.

He stood up, carefully lifted the bed sheets surrounding Lois, and eased his aching body down next to her. The painful tension the long night had wrought began to leech out of him when he stretched his weary legs out, and felt Lois snuggle instinctively against his side. He conjured a pillow and set it behind his back, then pulled the covers over both of them before finally turning to meet her troubled stare.

'Lois,' he began heavily, 'life is full of mysteries and missed opportunities and paths not taken. Could this not be one of yours?'

'But, Severus, if I could learn how do it –'

'No! If you learnt how to do it I couldn't trust you not to risk your own life every time you came across someone in need. And you would, Lois; your tender heart would make it an urge almost impossible to resist.'

She shook her head unhappily, but not in outright rejection, and Snape moved closer, his gaze intent on hers. 'I don't want you to have to be constantly making that choice. Or to have to live with the guilt of not making it.'

Lois raised a hand to rub at her forehead in a weary gesture. 'You're right,' she said finally, and Snape felt the last of the terrible tension drain out of him. She sighed and sank deeper into the pillows. 'It wouldn't be fair to you or our family,' Snape fought to keep the panic from his face at how matter of factly she used the word, 'but more truthfully I doubt it's something I could even do without my mother or Niall here to teach me. I just felt that with the war coming I should do everything I can to help.'

'And you will,' Snape said bracingly. 'You'll do what you do best and heal the sick, just not in the same way as your family.'

Lois nodded, and he watched with soft indulgence as her lids drifted closed. She opened them slowly and her eyes glowed up at him. 'What I do second best,' she said with sleepy bravado. Snape's left eyebrow lifted in a questioning gesture, and was almost immediately joined by his right eyebrow as they both shot skyward.

'Miss Scott!' He reached down under the sheets to capture her exploring hands. 'Remember where we are and what you are recovering from!'

Lois laughed softly and pulled her hand free from his loving hold to run it caressingly over his chest. Her fingers ran in slow circles and came to rest over his thundering heart. She smiled and lowered her head to rest against his chest in contented silence. When she spoke again, her voice was muffled by his shirt and slightly slurred by tiredness. 'While we're extracting promises, I've got one of my own. No more spying, Severus.' She opened her eyes with great difficulty, and directed a stern glare up at him. The effect was spoiled somewhat by the huge yawn that overtook her.

He nodded. In truth he had already come to the same decision; he couldn't remove the risk to her totally, but reducing his direct contact with Voldemort would be a start. 'I will still be working to defeat him in other ways,' he warned, having no intention of sitting the war out altogether.

'I know,' Lois said with two very slow nods. 'But just remember you have to discuss everything with me before you make any decisions that affect us both.'

Snape hid his smile behind a haughty tilt of his nose. 'As do you.'

'Ah, well in that case, all this talk of family has got me thinking about Harry.' Snape froze. 'I don't want him going back to the Dursleys over the summer holidays.'

'As you are aware, Lois,' Snape began as cautiously as a student approaching one of Hagrid's creatures at feeding time, 'there are very good reasons why Potter must spend time with his family, which are completely outside of our control.'

Lois shook her head stubbornly. 'There must be ways of making it safe for him to stay with the Weasleys, but if that puts them at too much risk, with us.'

'Are you insane?' Snape growled, his eyes looking slightly wild in his horror. 'I am not having Potter in my house!'

'Our house you mean – my worldly goods I thee endow ring any bells, Severus? And, anyway, even it if was just yours, which it isn't, aren't I allowed guests?'

'Of course,' he said with sweeping generosity. 'Just not him. Or his godfather. Or any of his or his godfather's friends.'

'Well, you're a smart man,' Lois mumbled around another jaw cracking yawn. 'You've got a few months yet to come up with a better plan and if not…' she trailed off warningly.

'You're going to lead me a merry dance aren't you?' Snape asked with a sigh, already resigned to his orderly, solitary and pleasantly predictable life being gone forever.

'Yeah, I am,' Lois admitted with a tinge of apology, snuggling closer to him in consolation. 'It'll be much easier on you if you don't fight it though – just give in and ride it out,' she advised sleepily.

'You silly fool,' he murmured. He let out a deep, contented sigh when her breathing slowed and deepened as sleep overtook her and she lay more heavily against him. 'Why on earth would I fight it?' he asked softly, dropping a gentle kiss on forehead and joining her moments later in sleep.

.
A/N Okay, folks, that's pretty much it, but hopefully in the next few days I'll have the epilogue up for a quick peep into how life's treating them down the line, and then we're really done – Hoo-bloody-rah!

I'm really sorry for how long it's taken me to post – RL has been a bit mad for me this year, but to everyone who's sent encouraging emails and reviews over the months, thank you so much. I honestly doubt I'd have finished it without all the wonderfully kind encouragement. :) Btw, if it's any consolation, my punishment for being so slow has arrived in the form of the hit counters that appeared in the recent upgrade. Being able to see the hit to review ratio when posting new stories (I've got a separate account for other fandom fics) is brutal. Thank God it didn't exist on the free accounts when I started the story! ;)

Finally, a million, billion thanks to the lovely Axelle who not only regularly pushed and prodded to get the story finished, but then also went the extra mile and beta read the end result.