Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy!

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Harriet calmly washed her sweater and skirt using water from the lavatory sink.

Once the soiled spots on her clothes had been dampened, she wiped the fabrics with pieces of tissue that she'd been able to find in the bathroom.

She frowned as she worked, irritated that the spilled potion was apparently not easily lifted from clothing.

The few cleaning spells that she knew had proved to be ineffective.

Harriet began to feel the pressure to hurry up and finish her task as she noticed that time was passing.

Her father would be worried that she wasn't in the Great Hall.

She would miss dinner if she di-

An odd noise called her attention away.

Schlump, scrape, schlump.

Schlump, scrape, schlump.

Harriet narrowed her eyes and took a few steps over towards the bathroom entryway.

……...What was that?

Schlump, scrape, schlump.

Schlump, scrape, schlump.

She furrowed her brow in confusion and walked through the narrow entrance hall to the lavatory…...only to find herself standing directly in front of a massive troll.

The troll towered over her, tall and ugly.

To her horror, Harriet noticed that her menacing foe also held a huge, ominous-looking club.

With less than three months of formal magical education and no experience at all battling dangerous creatures, Harriet shrieked in response and leapt backwards after the troll looked at her with a scowl and greeted her with a great shout.

Harriet pulled out her wand in an attempt to defend herself, but the troll caught her off guard when it swung its empty hand.

The blow left her physically unhurt.

Unfortunately, the impact did manage to knock her violently over to the side.

Harriet cried out as her wand rolled from her open hand and eventually came to rest beside one of the toilets all the way across the lavatory.

Her frightened reaction seemed to anger the troll and with a chilling roar, the vile creature lumbered towards her with a snarl……

"RRRRRAAAAARRRR!"

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Draco heard that terrible roar as he dashed through the dungeons and rushed towards the girls' lavatory.

The sound sent shivers of fright rippling through him.

Draco fought against his instincts, which begged him to turn around and flee in the opposite direction.

Snape.

He didn't necessarily have to fight, if he could just steal her away from the troll, then they could flee together.

Draco slid into the girls' lavatory a moment later and his grey eyes widened in absolute dismay at what he saw.

Harriet was on the floor, with her hands protectively over her head.

Her wand was…...all the way on the other side of the room.

The troll, gargantuan and hideous, stood over her and raised its enormous club to strike.

Harriet trembled as she tried to scramble away.

She grit her teeth in paralyzed terror when the troll took heavy steps towards her to ensure the accuracy of the blow that it intended to land.

"Snape!" Draco called out with a scowl of grave worry.

"Malfoy!" Harriet shot back.

An expression of blissful relief crossed her face when she realized that she was no longer alone with the troll.

Harriet had never been so happy to see Draco Malfoy in the few short weeks that she had known him, but the troll didn't share her feelings and roared again.

"RRRAAARR!"

Harriet braced herself as the troll pulled its arm back further and raised its club higher in preparation to bring it down on top of her skull.

Draco was ashamed to admit that he didn't know all that many spells or curses yet.

Besides, in that nerve-racking moment, it didn't occur to him how to use the spells and curses that he did know in a way that could help Harriet.

Draco looked at his wand for an instant before he executed the crude but effective plan that formed in his brain.

He charged forward and used all of his strength to stab the troll in the back of the knee with his wand.

Draco squinted his eyes shut at the sickening crunching sound that came from his wand plunging through flesh and tissue.

He managed to inflict about as much damage as a sewing pin, but the surge of pain was an aggravating distraction for the troll.

The formidable beast roared angrily as it dropped its club and fell down on its knees.

"RRRAAARRR!"

Draco managed to avoid being hit in the head, although one of the club's spikes did graze his shoulder.

He grunted as the club's spike sliced through his uniform and opened a small cut while Harriet screamed in the background.

The troll was back on its feet disappointingly quickly as it turned around to focus on Draco instead.

His grey eyes widened in terror as it staggered towards him until he heard a confident voice call out. "LEVICORPUS!"

The troll was instantly lifted off the ground, safely away from Harriet and Draco as it floated high in the air close to the ceiling.

"Dad!" Harriet cried before she could stop herself when she saw Professor Snape holding his wand towards the creature while he stood next to Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall with his black robes hanging elegantly at his sides.

"Both of e over here….NOW." Severus hissed in his low voice at Draco and Harriet.

Harriet pulled herself to her feet and obediently walked across the room to join the adults with Draco.

Their gratitude that rescue had come was plainly visible on their faces.

Severus subdued the troll with another quick spell and the entire lavatory floor shook as it fell down to the floor, temporarily asleep and disarmed.

Once the troll was dealt with for the moment, Draco and Harriet became the sole subjects of attention.

"Well……?" Professor McGonagall asked with an irritated nod, "Explain yourselves, both of you!"

"I….I was cleaning my uniform….." Harriet stammered, "When I heard something….The troll had already come into the bathroom! I didn't-"

"It was my fault, Professor." Draco interrupted.

Dumbledore blinked.

Severus gave his student an incredulous look.

"I went looking for the troll…..My father has read to me about them since I was little…...I thought I could handle it on my own and earn some house points." Draco valiantly fibbed.

Harriet was unfortunately honest to a fault.

"That's a lie." Harriet shot back.

Draco threw her a scowl in response.

"I think Malfoy was trying to protect me." Harriet informed the adults as she glanced at each of them. Her heart was still pounding from adrenaline as she added, "He was just as frightened as I was."

"I was not!" Draco spat with a sneer,

"Fifty points to Slytherin house for your bravery…..however foolish…..Mr. Malfoy." Severus said as he crossed his arms and gave Draco a calculating look.

"For bravery? You may have been sorted into the wrong house." Harriet quipped as she glanced over at Draco.

Professor McGonagall quickly curtailed Harriet's chiding as she added, "Be that as it may, Miss Snape, fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your lingering about after class. What were you doing trying to clean your uniform in this bathroom?! You should have reported to the Great Hall for dinner and visited the lavatory there."

"-Actually, Professor McGonagall….." Severus interrupted, "I did not tell Miss Snape that she was forbidden to use this particular lavatory, so perhaps the fault of her ill-timed location should be placed with me."

"Alright then." McGonagall nodded at Harriet, "Nevermind, Miss Snape, I'll allow Gryfinndor to keep those fifty points."

Harriet brightened a bit at her father's aid until he scowled at her and Draco both as he spoke again, "However…...I did distinctly tell Miss Snape not to dally. Clearly, my advice was ignored…..and Mr. Malfoy chose to recklessly endanger himself and my daughter by seeking out a battle that had already been designated to be handled by capable adults."

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape…." Draco said with a charming smile, "...but I did get here first. Should I have ignored your daughter's cries and let the brute beat her to death?"

"I didn't know there was a monster loose!" Harriet pleaded to the three staff members, "Malfoy was…...was trying to help me!"

"I believe that this conversation is best left where it is." Dumbledore wisely asserted as he stepped in to lead after several minutes of careful observation.

"Great bravery and perhaps great ignorance has been displayed tonight. The victim was allowed to keep house points and the victor received additional points as a reward. Although, we do have several school rules that have been broken and as a result, Miss Snape, Mr. Malfoy, it is the headmaster's decision that you shall both serve detention together." Dumbledore commanded.

Severus's face twisted into a grimace as he and McGonagall looked over at the headmaster.

Harriet frowned at Draco, but he flashed her his very best arrogant sneer in return.

Draco dreaded the disapproving letter that he would receive from his parents after they were notified that he had landed himself in detention, but he was secretly pleased with Dumbledore's decision.

He and Harriet were going to serve detention…..together~.

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Severus endured the dissatisfaction of seeing his wife's tears when he made it home later that evening and told her of the news, only to be rewarded soon after with her gentle kisses as her imagination embellished the details of his heroism.

Albus was already asleep in his room.

Severus had read his eldest son his favorite bedtime story an hour earlier, and the babies were snuggled into their cribs as well, which left Severus alone with Lily in her nest.

He delighted in the gentle affections that he received from his beloved flower after his hard day of work, aggravation, and defending their only daughter.

"You're so brave, Sev…." Lily whispered as she nipped and nibbled his lips.

She lay teasingly on top of him and allowed her heavy breasts to rest tauntingly on his chest.

While they melted together in a passionate kiss, Severus let his skillful hands wander up to knead at Lily's swollen mounds as he pressed his fingers into what he could hold of his mate's ample curves.

"I'm not brave, Lily…..." Severus drawled against his mate's sweet lips, "It takes more than a bumbling troll to frighten me, my love…….."

Severus was being honest, the troll hadn't scared him.

Years ago, his interest in the dark arts had led him to encounter things that most people couldn't imagine in their nightmares.

Earlier that evening though, Severus had been frightened...of harm befalling Harriet.

It wasn't the troll, but concern for his little girl's safety that had sent panic shooting through his brain.

Severus was a proud alpha, he would never admit it, but he was profoundly glad that Draco Malfoy had gone after Harriet.

What would have happened if he hadn't?

What if Severus and the others had arrived too late?

The thought made Severus tighten his grip on Lily.

His possessive embrace earned him a whimper from his omega as she gasped, "Thank you, Sev…..thank you for defending my baby…."

Severus's eyes were dark with lust as he looked up at Lily and growled, "Harriet's our daughter, Lily…….ours…..and you're mine."

"I'm yours…." Lily breathed as Severus slowly pulled her nightgown straps down and off of her shoulders.

He nuzzled into her soft curves until his mouth found one of her nipples and latched on.

"I'm yours, Severus!" Lily cried out as she felt his hands leave her breasts to snake down her body in search of that hidden nest of curls that would send her screaming.

Lily had known when Severus closed their door moments ago and cast a silencing charm on their room that her alpha needed her that night.

Aroused by his bravery and humbled by the unconditional love that he held for her and their family, Mrs. Snape was more than ready to give herself freely to her husband……..