Lily Potter woke up the next morning with a small smile on her face. Her mind immediately drifted back to the kiss from the previous night. Severus had been tentative at first, but his kiss was tender and full of love. He didn't force her, and he was gentle. She loved it because she knew that she was ready to move into a relationship that was full of love, not forced like the one she had with James, and not the side-relationship that she had with Severus previously. If there was anything that the last decade had taught her, it was that although she was a gifted witch, and an independent woman, she still wanted someone by her side that would love her unconditionally. In her heart, she knew that was Severus.
If anyone outside of their family was looking in, they would probably think that Lily was moving too fast or that she felt compelled to live there, but that wasn't even true. It felt right. Her feelings for Severus were genuine, and although it would take awhile for her to be completely comfortable around him, she knew that Severus was the man she wanted by her side in to tackle their challenges head on.
Lily stretched before she climbed out of bed, her nightgown barely touching the floor. She pulled on her robe that she laid on the bottom of the bed the night before and walked out into the hallway. She listened carefully for sounds of others that were awake. From across the hall, she heard Severus fumbling around inside some of his drawers. She smiled and checked her wristwatch. 6:17. He was always up early. Plucking up her Gryffindor courage, she quietly shut her door behind her and knocked on Severus' door.
"Just a minute," he called in a low voice.
The door opened after a few minutes to a man in dark green pajamas with a black V-neck style shirt. Lily blushed. Severus beckoned for her to enter, quietly shutting the door behind her.
"Are you alright?" Severus questioned, immediately taking hold of her shoulders and looking for any possible injuries.
"I'm alright, Severus," Lily said. "I just wanted to see you."
"Oh." Severus seemed genuinely startled by this declaration.
"Unless you would rather me leave," Lily said and started towards the door.
"No! That isn't what I meant," Severus said, grabbing her arm. He pulled her into a hug. "It's rare that anyone wants to see me simply to see me, so I thought that something was amiss."
"No, dear," Lily said, giggling into his chest. "I'm perfectly fine. I wanted to see how you were, after last night."
Severus froze.
"I think you know that I am not opposed to kissing you," he said stiffly as he turned towards the window.
"Severus," Lily said.
"Yes?"
"Neither was I. I…" Lily started, then looked down. Severus turned again and walked over to her, placing one hand on her lower back, and with the other, he lifted her chin up so she was looking him in the eyes.
"You what?" He coaxed.
"I want you to know that my feelings for you haven't changed. Last night, the kiss, everything seemed to fall into place. I know that I've only been here a month, Severus, but you are the man that I've loved for years. It's like rekindling a dying flame. It can't go out. I don't know if you feel the same or…"
Lily was interrupted as Severus captured her lips in his again. He kissed her rougher than the night before, but he still held her as if she was his world.
"I feel the same, my dear."
"I don't want to rush things, Severus, but I do want to be with you."
"I know. I will let you choose the pace at which we go. I am a patient man," Severus said with a small smirk.
"Thank you, Severus. I'll let you finish getting ready now."
"Of course, dear." He gave her another kiss. "We'll move your things to next door today, alright."
Lily nodded and exited the room to go and get herself ready. She was incredibly happy.
Hermione and Harry helped their parents move clothes and various objects from room to room, as Lily was now moving into the official Mistress' Bedroom of Prince Manor. At this, Harry and Hermione were suspicious that Severus had already married, but after a wink from Lily, they decided that this wasn't the scenario. Harry for one was oblivious to the change in behavior between Severus and Lily. Hermione knew that something had happened but she didn't want to pry in their lives.
They had just finished transferring all of Lily's possessions from her original room to the new bedroom when Severus felt the wards change. Lucius and Draco had arrived via the library floo. Severus wanted to hit himself. He hadn't owled Lucius back yesterday. Well, this way Draco could study for exams with Harry and Hermione, and Lily could officially meet Lucius.
"It appears as if Lucius and Draco have come to visit. Children, will you go greet them? They're in the library. Tell Lucius that Lily and I will be with him in a moment. You can go study in your rooms with Draco."
Hermione and Harry ran out of the room, excited to see their companion. Severus turned to Lily and noticed her worried expression.
"Everything will be alright. Lucius is a friend. He won't hurt you."
"His sister-in-law did," Lily whispered.
"Bellatrix?" Severus asked, his blood running cold.
Lily nodded. Severus pulled her into a hug, attempting to sooth both Lily and himself. After a few minutes, he pulled out of the embrace and dried the tears that had fallen from her eyes during the hug. After reassuring her again, he finally walked with her towards the library, where Lucius Malfoy sat waiting. Severus entered the library first, with Lily close behind. She didn't leave his side as he shut and locked the doors from the inside, so that the Slytherin trio didn't walk in on the middle of their conversation. He also locked the floo and put up silencing charms around the entire library so that way no one could hear their conversation.
"Hello Lucius," Severus said. "This is Lily. Lily, this is Lucius."
"Madam," Lucius said, standing and giving a small bow. He walked over to Lily and kissed her hand. He knew and could tell that she was nervous, so he wanted to be as formal and polite as possible, while still being warm and welcoming. Narcissa had thoroughly lectured him on this earlier that day. Lily gave a small smile and let herself be ushered over to a chair by the fire next to Severus.
Severus poured them all a cup of tea before sitting down.
"So, Severus," Lucius began. "I'm sure that finding Lily alive was a complete shock to you. I was completely caught off guard that the Dark Lord had been hiding her in the lowest dungeon that I had, but that was the only one that had a tunnel to the guest house that the Dark Lord was residing it, so I guess that it makes perfect sense."
"You never once thought to do a sweep of your home for unknown prisoners?" Severus cried, outraged.
"No, Severus, because I don't want to lose the Dark Lord's trust! So, for that I apologize to you and to you, Lily. I was careless and you deserved much better."
"You are forgiven," Lily said quietly from her seat. They were the first words that she had spoken to anyone besides her family. "I believe the reason for this meeting is to determine where your loyalties will lie. This war will continue to go on unless Dumbledore or Lord Voldemort is killed."
"You're right, my dear. I personally know that while I once stood for and believed in the same things that the Dark Lord does, I can no longer support him out of fear of my family. I also know that if I vocally denounce my support for him, I would be dead within seconds. He would also try to imprison or torture you and the children. There is so much as stake. I can continue to be a double spy for both sides, and simply give less information to the Dark Lord, however, we will need to kill both the Headmaster and the Dark Lord. The prophecy states that…"
"Sorry to interrupt," Lucius commented. "But I feel the same. I am not the same person that I was in my youth and I have to admit that I was brainwashed in the beginning by pureblood beliefs. I am with Severus in this idea. Please continue."
"As I was saying, the prophecy states that neither can live while the other survives. This means that Harry must be the one to kill the Dark Lord. I have a feeling that the Dark Lord is training Harry so that when the time comes to become the most powerful being there is, he will know his weaknesses and how to best kill the boy. That is my theory. I have no idea if it is right or not, but that is what I have come up with."
"Both of you know what Draco, Harry, and Hermione had found and heard about the Dark Lord's past, and about Dumbledore's past. The Headmaster had left out parts of his past, I know that for certain. What we don't know, however, is what it is that he left out."
"I think we need to wait and see what happens in the coming years. This is not something that we can plan out overnight. We need to try to weed out as much information from Lord Voldemort and Dumbledore before we continue. Obviously, we don't support either, for fear of our families, and overcoming our ignorance. For now, no harm is being done to us," Lily said. Both men gave her a strange look.
"I beg your pardon," Lucius said. "You were just imprisoned by the Dark Lord in my home for a decade. I believe that is indeed harmful."
Severus nodded in agreement with Lucius. Lily simply shrugged and sipped her tea. "There is nothing more than I can do about it now. I have been meditating nightly to help avoid nightmares. It is a thing of the past; I just need to overcome it."
"Very well," Severus said, knowing it was best to not argue with Lily at the moment. "I agree with Lily. We need to get more information before jumping to any conclusions. We will also need to think about the consequences that this will have on us and our family, but we can do that at a much later date. For now, shall we discuss something else?"
Nearly 3 days later, the trio were well on their way back to Hogwarts via the Hogwarts Express. Severus would also be returning to Hogwarts with them, only this time, he would be bringing Lily with him. Lily would need to stay hidden in Severus's chambers, but she would be free to go between Prince Manor and Hogwarts for the time being. She didn't want Dumbledore knowing of her return yet, if at all. Harry, Hermione, and Draco relayed almost all of this information to Neville after swearing him to secrecy. Naturally, he was fairly shocked at this situation.
"You mean, your mother is alive? I thought that You-Know-Who killed her?" Neville exclaimed.
"Yeah, we thought so too, but she's alive, and fairly happy again, I believe. Anyway, are you ready for exams? They're not that far away. We're going to be studying daily in the library after all the classes are over. Would you like to join us to study for them? I'm sure we could trade charms help for herbology help, but the offer's completely up to you."
Neville grinned.