A/N: Severus' next project commences and some more discussions of the past. Sorry for the longer wait between chapters, and I hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter 18 Bribery and Consultation

"Lily…how would you feel about having Phoenixes on the property?"

Lily folded the paper she was holding and set it down calmly in her lap, her brow arched. "Hasn't that been a goal of your's for some time?"

"It has," Severus replied slowly. "But now that I'm fairly close to actually realizing my goal, I wanted to get your thoughts on it."

"You're consulting me about a business decision?" Lily asked perplexedly. She leaned forward slightly, her undivided attention now fixed on the man sat across from her. "Why would you do that? You're obviously far more informed, knowledgeable and experienced than I when it comes to things like this."

"This isn't exactly a business decision…at least, not completely a business decision. You see…Phoenixes are somewhat tricky to manage, more often than not they're temperamental and rowdy. More so than Thunderbirds. So, before I contact a professional Transfiguration practitioner to start the terraforming work…I wanted to get your thoughts on it, since having Phoenixes here would affect all of us. Your kids included."

Lily's lip jutted out slightly, her incisors gently biting down on it as she mulled over his words. "I thought you said they stop in from time to time?"

Severus took a small sip of his coffee and nodded. "They do, but only one or two at a time and for no longer than a couple days or so. Some of the Thunderbirds don't like them all that much so it's tricky for them to stay for longer than that, on the same property, at least."

"I see…" Lily said slowly. She leaned back against her chair as she contemplated Severus' statement. "And how much progress have you made towards accommodating them, let alone actually bringing some phoenixes in?" she asked pointedly.

"I'm still a month or two away. But I've been making progress and I've already laid out my plans regarding the terraforming of the land that'd need to take place. Naturally, the difficult part isn't the planning but the terraforming itself…which is why I'd have to hire outside help. Something I haven't done yet. But the plans are in place…and I wanted to get your opinion first before proceeding any further."

"Far be it from me to stop you, Sev," Lily murmured, still feeling a little bit flustered over being consulted on such a monumental decision for Severus. "I'd be more than happy to have them, and I'm sure Harry and Azalea would feel the same way. I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but Albus has a Phoenix of his own, and ever since Harry and Azalea found out about it they've been dying to meet him. Harry in particular really looks up to Dumbledore, and since he has a Phoenix, Harry looks up to them too…I think that's why he took after your birds so well."

"You're referring to Fawkes…aren't you?" Severus asked quietly.

Lily's eyes widened in surprise and she slapped both palms down on the table. "You know?"

Severus couldn't resist wearing a small, but smug grin. "I grew somewhat acquainted with him in my final year," he said. At her confused expression, he added; "Didn't you know? Potter took every opportunity he had to slap me with a detention or point loss for even the most minor of 'infractions.' If I had so much as a wrinkle in my tie, or one of my cuffs was undone, it was detention for me and off to the Headmaster's office. Naturally, I didn't take all that lying down and I'm not ashamed to admit I hexed him a number of times for his…abuse of authority."

Lily had the good grace to look chagrined at that. Her bowed head and slumped shoulders put a frown on Severus' face. "Don't blame yourself, Lily. I thought we'd come to that Potter…as much as this pains me to admit it…exemplified many of Slytherin's finest qualities. And besides, a useful byproduct of Potter's persistent efforts to send me to the Headmaster's office resulted in me meeting Fawkes," he reasoned.

"Did you speak with Albus at all?" Lily asked quietly.

"I did a bit, but I rather hated him early on, at least at first."

"And do you hate Albus now?" she asked tentatively.

Severus shook his head. "No, not really. I…well, it's difficult for me to say, to be honest. I think loads of things of our former, esteemed headmaster, but I don't hate him, not like I used to," he said calmly.

Lily leaned forward in her seat, her green eyes wide, eager, and thirty for more. "What do you mean?"

"I once thought Dumbledore ruined my life," said Severus, wearing a dark look that chilled Lily's bones and made her lean back in her chair. She drew a shuddering breath, remaining stock still as she awaited his elaboration. "I hated him, after what Black did to me and how he got away nearly scot free…I despised Dumbledore and for a time I even dreamed of what it'd be like to kill him…to see the light leave those twinkling eyes of his. Granted, I thought a lot about killing in those days, not just Dumbledore, but Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew too. Needless to say I never considered acting on those thoughts. I did entertain them though, and they were nice to fantasize about."

He expected Lily to draw away in revulsion, to share her thoughts, mostly swears and condemnations, so what she did next came as a complete surprise to him. She was by his side in a second, his fingers grasped so tightly in her's it was almost painful.

"But you're no longer that boy, Sev. You're the man I love and a man who has worked so hard to overcome your inner darkness, and I couldn't be prouder of you for it," she said softly. When he sighed, she kissed him gently on the lips and was relieved to feel him return her affection swiftly. She drew away but didn't take her eyes off of him, her emerald eyes glimmering brightly with unadulterated awe. "I know you grew up in darkness, Severus; but that is no longer who you are, is it? You're still the Sev I once knew, but you banished away the darkness inside you when I…I thought it impossible. Against all odds, you did it. So, if you think I'm going to hold the various thoughts you entertained ten years ago against you, then you're sorely mistaken."

"So, you don't care that I once fantasized about murdering your ex-husband, his friends, and the most powerful wizard in Britain?"

"If you still had those thoughts, well, I'd stun you, bind you, grab my kids and high-tail it out of here," Lily chuckled.

Severus really didn't see what was so funny about that, so he kept a straight face. Lily's laughter quickly ceased when she saw Severus' stone-faced look, she sobered very quickly.

"But in all seriousness, Severus, I know you're not like that anymore, and I was wrong about your ability to change." She reached over again and grasped his hand much gentler than before. "I was wrong about that before…I'm not ashamed to admit it."

"You may not feel shame, but I do, that I once held those thoughts," Severus muttered quietly. "I—my soul was nearly blackened, Lily. Nearly as dark as night, and it took a long time to recover and become the man I am today. Thoughts of violence and murder…they were common just ten years ago."

He sighed quietly and leaned back in his chair, surprised by the presence of soft 'pillows' behind him—that he knew to not be pillows at all. "Anyways…I got talking with Dumbledore, after our fight, and it was tough at first. I didn't want to say a thing, and when he saw that I was having doubts about joining Riddle, he gave me an offer to make myself useful. I could join the death eaters anyway, and then I could become a spy for him on behalf of your Order."

Lily gasped quietly. "He really asked that? Albus asked you to become a spy?"

"He asked once, and I quickly shot him down," said Severus. "I told him…that if what happened with Black hadn't transpired, and he hadn't so blatantly disrespected me and shown such disregard for my very life, then I might've considered it. Otherwise, he had an ice cube's chance in hell of ever convincing me to spy for him willingly. I showed as much consideration for his job for me as he did for my life. I felt he deserved it, and I still do."

Lily squeezed his shoulder and took a couple slow breaths to calm herself. "And what next?"

Severus gave her a wan look, then released a long-suffering sigh. "In the second half of term, Potter didn't let up in his persistent efforts to send me back to Dumbledore's office…so I kept on going and in the final couple months of our time there we ended up being somewhat…cordial, even, but never friendly. He was happy enough about my decision to not join the death eaters, and promised to keep it to himself. So, we talked a bunch, but I hardly ever had any actual detentions. I noticed one day late in the year that Potter had stopped sending me to detention, and that was when I learned he'd been chastised by Dumbledore about it."

"I remember that," said Lily, who stood up, walked back over to her seat and plopped herself down stiffly. "James had sent over twice as many detention reports to the Headmaster in…March, I think, as I had. And I've always been quite the stickler for the rules, if you remember, so I was kinda surprised by that to say the least. You're telling me that the majority of James' excessive detention slips were yours?"

The slight hint of betrayal and disappointment in Lily's words shouldn't have pleased him, but it did, and he couldn't help but smile at that.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. In March I think I had something like eleven detentions given to me," said Severus, chuckling wryly. "But in any case, I continued meeting with Dumbledore long after Potter's detentions dried up, even if only once or twice a month instead of eleven times."

Lily smiled and brushed out a wrinkle in the tablecloth with her hand. "James did mention that, he wasn't all that pleased that he, and I quote, 'was having his job taken away from him'."

"And now you see that he saw it as his job to give me as many detentions as humanly possible," Severus chuckled.

Lily bit her lip contritely and nodded.

"Anyhow, Dumbledore was content to know that I never would be joining the death eaters, but I declined, more than once, to let him know the specifics of my plan. Would you believe it if I said he offered to help me?"

"That sounds perfectly like the Albus Dumbledore I know," Lily smiled. "How'd he offer to help?"

Severus smiled at that and leaned back in his chair. "After he learned that I no longer wanted to be a death eater, and that I was unwilling to spy for him, he offered to put me in contact with some potions masters that might be willing to take on an apprentice. Naturally, I had no intention of taking him up on his offers…I'd already contacted and begun a dialogue with Mister Whitehall, after all. I didn't need Dumbledore's help, and I told him as much."

"Can you tell me a bit about him?" Lily asked eagerly.

"About Dumbledore?"

She rolled her eyes and shot him a disdainful look. "I'm not even gonna answer that," she said flatly.

The teasing glint in Severus' eyes told her that he'd understood her question the first time. "Well, there's a lot to him, Lily. Michael was a…very complicated man," he said slowly. "He was calm, yet explosive, intelligent, but full of hubris."

"He was a man of contradictions, then," Lily replied, to which Severus nodded. "Like you," she added, grinning cheekily.

"More or less. But above and beyond all that, he had an eye for talent, dedication and hard work. If someone happened to possess all three of those things in spades…then he'd be more than willing to reward them."

"Is that why you were given stewardship of the reserve when he passed…instead of say, Wayne or Maryanne?"

Severus pursed his lips together and gave a subtle nod. "I'd also gotten to know Mister Whitehall quite well, if I'm being honest. He was able to teach me twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, long after Wayne, Maryanne and anyone else working had gone home for the day."

"Can you tell me more about him?" Lily asked interestedly. When he frowned in thought, she added; "I want to learn more about the man who helped you, Sev. He really seems like a great person from what you've told me so far."

"He truly was," said Severus. He sighed and his eyes adopted a glazed, far-away sheen. "But by his own admission…he wasn't always that way."

"What do you mean?"

Severus shot Lily a grim look that was enough to stun her into silence.

"He hadn't lived a life of just sunshine and roses; and before you think I'm being deliberately obtuse with you, that's exactly what he told me and he hasn't cared to elaborate beyond that in all the years I knew him," Severus replied. "Now, I did some snooping of my own and I learned a few more things beyond what he deigned to tell me. They seemed to back up Michael's statements that he had a somewhat…checkered past. He got mixed up in the wrong crowd as a youth, turned his back on family, but managed to right his life before anything unfixable happened. By the time he was fifty or so, he'd managed to sort his life out and was on the straight and narrow, fully committed to his friends, family and his birds. That's about all I was able to gleam of his early life. As I'd said, he didn't like to talk about it much, and I didn't manage to learn a whole lot from other sources."

"So, he pretty much had his life straightened out by the time you met him," Lily mused.

Severus nodded. "Essentially. Granted, he did have some trouble with his bookkeeping from time to time, but he'd more or less been managing everything quite handily and was able to help me with my issues, seeing as I'd supposedly been quite similar to his younger self. The meditation stuff and addressing my anger head-on were things that he'd done, and to my relief, they worked wonders for me as well."

"Someday in the distant future when we're both dead and buried, I'd like to thank him, Sev," Lily said softly.

"As you should," Severus said cheekily. Lily peered over at him only to see him wearing a small smirk and his eyes glinting in amusement. She rolled her eyes, but then he said; "You do that, but I've thanked him more than enough back when he was still living."

Her annoyance quickly gave way to laughter and Severus found himself grinning too.

When their laughter died down, they lapsed into silence and took a few swigs of their cups, finishing off their coffee. As Severus set down his empty cup, he looked up and locked eyes with Lily as she did the same. "He was…well—he was just about the only father figure in my life, Lily, and one that I sorely needed. I did a lot of growing up in my late teens and early twenties, and I can thank Mister Whitehall for helping to…expedite that."

Lily gave a small snort, and, predictably, rolled her eyes again.

"As much as I like talking about my dearly-departed father figure and former boss, I believe we'd better get back to discussing my plan for the Phoenixes…"

For the next half hour or so, Lily asked Severus the details of his plan, and was surprised to hear that they'd changed quite a bit in the time since they'd last conversed about Severus' proposal to bring Phoenixes or Auguries to reserve. As it turned out, Severus had gotten along reasonably well with Fawkes and had kept up his studies of Phoenixes here in America, too. Mister Whitehall's library, which now belonged to Severus, included an extensive collection of books and encyclopedias on a plethora of magical bird species other than Thunderbirds. Granted, books about Thunderbirds took up the majority of the space on his shelves, but if Severus wanted to read about Phoenixes, Auguries or Fwoopers, he wouldn't have to look far. He suggested that Lily read some of his books about Phoenixes so she could learn a bit about the mythical bird species. With a wave of his wand, and a muttered Accio spell, three books of various sizes soared from one of his book shelves, through the downstairs hall, and into the kitchen where they landed on the kitchen table. Lily then banished them back to their room and said she'd start reading them later before bed. They had to cut their conversation short when Harry and Azalea stampeded down the stairs waving their completed math assignments for Lily and Severus to see.

"Can we go outside now, Uncle Sev?" Harry asked eagerly as Severus checked over his math.

"Ask your mother," Severus replied without looking up from young Harry's paper.

"Can I, mum?"

"I suppose we can, though Uncle Sev and I have to chat about a few important things first, m'kay? Why don't you go out onto the front porch with your sister and call for Poesy."

Harry eyes widened happily and he gave an eager nod; but when he turned to leave, Lily 'ah-ahed' him and pointed to her cheek. Rolling his eyes like how his mum did, Harry leaned closer and kissed her for all of one second.

"Now, was that so hard, sweetie?" Lily chuckled.

Harry rolled his eyes again and turned to Azalea, grasping her hand. "C'mon Z'lea, let's go outside."

Azalea nodded and the two headed into the foyer where they started putting on their outdoor clothes, they no longer needed to be reminded by Lily anymore. Severus waited until Harry and Azalea had put on their boots and exited the house, before asking for Poesy to keep an eye on them; he then turned his attention back to Lily.

"What did you want to speak with me about? I gathered we'd just about finished our talk about my plans and—"

"—It's not that, Severus," Lily cut him off. "I was hoping…well, it doesn't have to be right this minute, I suppose…but would you be keen on going dancing with me sometime?"

Severus blinked in surprise, but for a long moment he didn't say anything.

"Sev?"

"Wha—oh, right, right…dancing. Erm—why? I'll be a bit busy over these coming weeks trying to find a Transfiguration artist to—"

"—I know that, and I'll be more than willing to assist you in your search, Sev," Lily said quickly. "But this'll only be one night. Just you 'n me out on the town, dancing the night away."

"I'll still be busy, Lily," Severus said flatly. To his surprise, his even stare seemingly had no effect on Lily who stared right back at him wearing an unimpressed expression. He felt compelled to elaborate.

'"Hiring someone to actually terraform the land is just the beginning of it, I've still got to finalize my plans and sort my finances out over the next few weeks so I'll hardly find the time for something as trivial as dancing. I've still got the regular upkeep of the sanctuary to do, not to mention I don't even like dancing."

Like mother like son, Lily, predictably, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I call B.S. on that one Sev. You were quite adroit on your feet a few years ago during our seventh year ball. You gave…what's her name?—"

"—Diana—"

"—Diana, right. You danced pretty darn well with her, didn't you? Dare I say, you and her were the best pairing that evening!" Lily commended heartily.

Severus flushed a dull shade of red and ducked his head. "She made me practice with her beforehand," he said quietly, to which Lily only grinned.

"Did she now?" Lily chuckled. "Well, Diana might've been a blood-supremacist, but she definitely had the right idea about dance instruction," she laughed, clearing drawing some enjoyment from Severus' uneasiness.

"Terrible, genocidal beliefs aside, Diana was indeed, rather smart. I suppose that's one of the reasons why she chose to go to the ball with me," Severus answered quietly.

"That, and at the time, you were an up and coming spell-crafter, potions savant and a future 'freedom fighter' too boot, weren't you?" Lily said teasingly. "You must've been a very hot commodity for many 6th and 7th year Slytherin gals to snatch up!"

"Can you not do that?" Severus asked, shooting Lily a desperate look. His black eyes were wide and beseeching, but little did he know, that was exactly the reaction she was hoping for.

That only seemed to spur her on. "What? Tease you, you mean? Why should I stop? You're clearly liking it!" her grin took the bite out of her words, but it didn't prevent an even deeper shade of red rising in Severus' cheeks.

Lily reached out across the table and grasped Severus' loosely "C'mon though Sev, seriously, I think you're real good at dancing and I'd love to go dancing with you sometime. Think of it as a belated birthday present for me."

"It's already been a month since your birthday," Severus noted dryly.

"So? Never too late for a belated present, now is it?"

Severus elected not to say anything to that.

"Please Sev? Just one night of dancing and I swear that if you don't enjoy it, we won't do it again, all right? That, and I promise you to help out in any way I can on your upcoming project, I can even try pull some strings to help find a Transfiguration artist for you."

Severus shot Lily an unimpressed glance. "Anyone but Potter or Black would be welcome. So, if you are able to help me…that'd be much appreciated."

Lily's eyes widened in surprise and she couldn't keep her ecstatic expression off her face. "Really, Sev? You'll do it for me? We can go dancing?"

"Just this once," he said curtly. "And preferably, sometime in early March. This next week is gonna be fairly busy for me so I won't have the time for it. If you want to pencil in a date for some night in March, then that'd work well for me."

Lily grinned with delight. "I'll make it worth your while, Sev, and if you really don't enjoy it we won't do it again; but I'm gonna make it my mission to ensure we both have a great night."

Severus gave her a dubious look but didn't say anything in reply.

All of a sudden, a bright, white light in the shape of a hawk burst through the wall, and a voice that belonged to Wayne rang out. "Dale crashed at the peak of Paulson Hill, Severus. Two fractured ribs and three cracked wing spars on his right, middle wing—we need your help ASAP."

Severus quickly stood up and brandished his wand. With a flick and a muttered 'Accio Medical Kit,' he summoned the bag and grabbed it as it soared into the room.

He turned to Lily and gave her with a solemn look. "You can either stay here with your kids or—"

"—I'm coming with you," Lily blurted out quickly, getting to her feet and placing her hand in his. Severus sighed, but then scrunched his eyes shut.

"Stick close to me, but don't interfere with my work," he instructed her.

He didn't need to open his eyes to know that Lily nodded quickly in acquiescence, her ponytail bouncing about erratically. With a twirl of his wand, and a spin on the spot, he apparated the two of them to the top of Paulson Hill. Before Severus had even opened his eyes, he was struck by a cold gust of wind, giving him an unfriendly reminder that it was still mid-March and it was still bloody cold to be wearing a short-sleeve, cotton shirt and Bermudas. A moment later, he felt a sudden warmth wash over him and he turned his right only to see Lily tucking her wand away in the waistband of her sweatpants. They didn't have to search for long to find Dale sprawled out on his side in the middle of a small clearing. About a hundred feet behind him there was a small impact divot in the earth and several knocked over firs and spruces, leading Severus to deduce that Wayne had levitated Wayne away from the heavily-forested area he'd crashed in over to the clearing. Wayne quickly waved them over and Severus wasted no time striding towards him, while Lily opted to keep her distance.

"Severus," said Wayne tightly. "I managed to mend one of the wing spars on his right wing, but the ribs have been a bit tricky to tend to, and the other two wing spars are still broken—"

"—I've got it, Wayne, leave it to me, but I'll need your assistance shortly," said Severus swiftly.

Wayne nodded and Severus dropped the medical kit he'd been carrying by his side and knelt down in the earth by Dale, a bright-white member of the species who'd just turned fifty-five.

"Hey there, Dale, I need you to lie still for me, all right? This'll help."

He popped open the bag and reached inside for a small canister. Severus then unscrewed the canister lid and removed a single pill, light-blue, golf-ball sized, and marked with a small capital C. Dale eyed the pill but shifted his head away warily, groaning in pain from the movement.

"C'mon Dale, lie still for me please," he said soothingly.

As Severus coaxingly stroked Dale's chin and neck area, and as per Severus instructions, Wayne steadied Dale's thumping tail and rearmost wings to calm down the stricken and wounded bird. As Wayne battled to keep Dale's tail still, Lily watched the two men at work from the side of the clearing. She watched closely as Severus lifted the golf-ball-sized capsule to Dale's beak, coaxed it open, slipping it inside and prompting him to swallow it. All of a sudden, Dale gave a mournful cry and plonked over on his side.

"We'll have to act fast," said Severus quickly. "The sedative will only keep him under for five minutes—only wanted to give him a mild dose. You set to work mending the other two broken wing spars and I'll handle the ribs."

"Got it," said Wayne, who knelt by Severus' side and lifted his wand to Dale's right-middle wing.

"All right, let's begin."

The two men worked in nigh-perfect synchronicity, only falling short of perception twice when they bumped shoulders and when Wayne's wand nearly fell out of his grasp. Still, as Dale slept peacefully thanks to the sedative, Severus and Wayne worked diligently to mend Dale's cracked ribs and wing spars. With just half a minute to spare before the mild sedative wore off, Wayne snapped the last wing spar back into place. Lily took a couple steps closer but she accidentally stepped on a twig, which when cracked, caused Severus' and Wayne's eyes to snap towards her.

"Careful, Lily, stay right there," said Severus sternly.

Lily came to an abrupt stop. "Is he all right?" she asked quietly.

Dale groaned and twitched his tail. "He's waking up slowly, so I want you to keep your distance," said Severus.

"They can sometimes be a little disoriented and out-of-sorts when their anesthesia wears off," Wayne supplied.

Lily nodded in understanding, holding up her hands as she took a couple steps backwards.

Dale's eyes were still groggy and bleary, his electric-blue irises crackling with electricity under their hazy outer sheen. Severus' gentle touch on his beak helped to calm him, though.

"Dale, look at me," Severus said softly, yet sternly enough that Dale's head swiveled in Severus' direction. "Focus on me, Dale. You're all right, okay? You're all right. Your wing is better, and so are your ribs." Severus nodded towards the recently-mended middle-right wing. "Try and move it."

Dale peered back at what previously had been a broken wing and tentatively raised and lowered it. Severus eyed Dale intently as the Thunderbird moved his middle-right wing about a few more times, backwards, forward, up and down; making sure it's entire range of motion had been restored. From the little winces of pain the young thunderbird gave, Severus was certain that his wing and ribs were still sore, but at least he'd regained his full range of motion.

A dark shadow passed over the clearing, and without looking up Severus knew said shadow to be Frank. The elder Thunderbird circled above the clearing a few times before landing to Severus' left with a thud. He announced his arrival in typical Frank fashion, shooting off a few harmless bolts of electricity and releasing a loud crow. Severus sighed and shook his head in annoyance as he observed Frank slowly walking towards Dale, who still rested on his side as he tested out his recently-healed wing. Severus and Wayne backed away a few steps as Frank came to a stop by Dale's side. The two birds exchanged a series of trills, croons and chirps before Frank shook his head, stepped back, stretched out all six of his wings and took to the skies. Severus didn't watch his friend fly away, his attention fixed firmly on Dale, who only now was beginning to stand up. The mild sedative was still wearing off and he remained somewhat unsteady on his feet, there was no way he'd be flying anytime soon. "Keep him in his pen for two—no, three days," said Severus. "Don't want to tempt fate and release him too early."

"Fine," Wayne said gruffly, moving towards Dale. "If that's all…I'll take him back to the barn."

"If he ends up needing pain medication, let me know and I'll bring some down," Severus replied, who then looked back towards Dale. "As far as I can see…I don't think he'll be in need of any.

"How's your wing feeling now, Dale?"

Dale chirped lightly and nodded, prompting Severus to nod back at him. Severus walked towards Dale, his shoes crunching over the dried leaves, and raised a hand to Dale's face. "You're sure?"

Dale chirped again, even louder than before. His electric-blue eyes were even brighter now, and Severus could see the resolve they held. As if he were trying to prove himself, Dale lifted his middle-right wing up and down repeatedly, then from side-to-side, demonstrating his wing's range of motion. Severus silently observed Dale as he moved his wing; he nodded when satisfied and then turned from Dale to Wayne.

"Wayne, you can bring him back to the barn now and put him back in his pen, get one of the others to assist you if need be. Dale seems to think he won't need any pain medication…and I'm inclined to agree with him, but if your assessment of him differs, then talk to me about it."

Wayne frowned slightly and lifted his hand to his bearded chin. "All right, boss," he said to Severus. Wayne then faced Dale and his hands came to his hips as he gave the groggy Thunderbird a look of amusement. "C'mon Dale, up you get. Time to go home."

Seeing that the situation was well in hand, Severus nodded at the senior ranger, then picked up the discarded medical kit and turned back towards Lily.

He gave her a nod and slid out his wand from his shirt sleeve. "I'll see you back at the house," he said quickly.

She was cognizant enough to observe that Severus deliberately obscured his right palm from her as he turned. As he slid out his wand and prepared to apparate away, she called out to him. "Sev, wait!"

She waited with bated breath as Severus cracked open his eyelids, one at a time and gave her a sarcastic look. "Come now, Lily. I was there on the day you received your license—surely you haven't forgotten how to apparate, have you?"

"You prat, it's not that!" she said with mild amusement. "Show me your hand."

She could've sworn Severus shuddered at that.

"What hand?"

Ah. So we're going to be playing this game, Mister Snape. Very well, then. I accept. I've played this game many times before…and my memory isn't poor enough to have forgotten how you used to interact with my mum and Madam Pomfrey

Lily smirked lazily at him and made a pointed effort to nod her head directly at Severus' obscured hand, which he'd tucked up against his fleece in an effort to hide it from her prying eyes.

"Surely you know which of your hands is injured, Severus. I'll give you a hint if you need one, it's the hand you're deliberately attempting to hide from me, your right one," she said pointedly, ignoring his expression of carelessness.

"Now, let me see what's bothering you and hopefully I'll be able to fix it."

"I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about, Lily," Severus said, his voice cool and aloof. "Now, let's get back to the house and get out of this cold, neither of us are well-dressed for this weather and we don't want to catch a cold, now do we?"

"Fair enough, let's apparate back to the farmhouse," Lily conceded.

Lily swore she could see him smirk, and then wince, as he gripped his wand tightly in his right hand and apparated away. Lily scrunched her eyes shut, withdrew her wand and apparated after him. She reappeared a split-second later in the foyer and quickly regained her bearings. Severus was there too, and he whirled around in surprise at her sudden reappearance, tucking his right palm against his chest with a slight, almost unnoticeable wince. As she regained her bearings, Lily calmly strode towards Severus wearing an expression of compassion and understanding. She was rewarded with a guarded look from Sev and she couldn't help smiling. She knew that look intimately, having seen it many times before as Madam Pomfrey and her mum quizzed Severus about the various injuries they'd had to treat over his childhood. Injuries either the Marauders or his father had given him. She came to a stop right in front of him, not making an effort to reach for his palm, nor make any other sudden movement that might cause his hackles to raise.

"I told you," Severus said gruffly. "I'm fine. There's nothing with me." He dropped his right hand to his side, no longer holding it over his maroon sweater, but still not showing Lily his palm.

You really haven't changed a bit. You still are the same old Sev.

"Sev, let me see it please," she said softly, wisely keeping any semblance of pity she felt from her tone as she knew from prior experience it wouldn't blow over well with him. "Sev," she repeated. "Please show me your hand?"

"It's fine, Lily. Really. Nothing's wrong, I'm absolutely fine—"

"—Cut the crap, Severus," Lily growled angrily, the vitriol in her tone taking him by surprise. "I'm tired of this. Show me your hand now, if you please?"

Despite not making a conscious effort to raise his right hand, to extend it and place it in Lily's palm, he found himself doing it anyway. Before he even knew what he was doing, his arm was outstretched and his right hand laid with his palm facing upwards in Lily's hands. Alarm shot through Severus and he made to take his hand away, whatever prompt of foolish inspiration that'd caused him to give her his hand quickly reversed, but he found that he now didn't want to. A familiar warmth radiated out of Lily's pale palms into his, a gentle, soothing warmth, a stark contrast to her vitriolic words uttered a few seconds ago.

"Hmm…" Lily hummed quietly, still not relinquishing her hold on Severus' hand. Little did she know, Severus had no intention of pulling his hand out of her grasp, so she still maintained her tight grip. "I've seen something similar before…a lower-grade dark curse of, well, lightning. I take it you weren't wearing rubber gloves?"

"Hadn't the time to don them, we left in a bit of a hurry if you remember," Severus answered. "I take it you'll be able to fix my…ailment, Madam Evans?"

Lily's lips curled upwards in a smile. She lifted her gaze from Severus' scarred hand to look into his eyes, then cleared her throat and in her best impression of Madam Pomfrey, said; "Rest assured Mister Snape, there's hardly an injury I'm not qualified to treat. Now, come with me and let's not make a fuss of this, shall we?"

Stifling a sigh and hanging his head, Severus gestured to the sitting room with his uninjured, left arm. "Lead on, Madam Evans," he muttered, though Lily could hear the smile in his words.

Grinning, Lily lead him by the hand into the sitting room, and after giving the room a once-over, directed him to sit on the couch. "Hop. Onto the couch Mister Snape, and don't move," said Lily, continuing in her best Madam Pomfrey impression.

Severus didn't bother to suppress his sigh this time around and sat down lazily on the couch. Lily knelt down in front of him and grasped his right hand loosely in her left. With her right, she held her willow-wand tip to his palm and tapped it. A cool, diffusive chill spread throughout his hand, up his arm and through his body; and the prickly sensitiveness of his lightning-afflicted skin was washed away by her spell. Severus watched in fascination as Lily cast a second spell, murmuring a few foreign words under her breath that he wasn't able to make out. All of a sudden, the forked tongues left behind by Dale's lightning began to vanish before his very eyes. One by one, each jagged wound disappeared into thin air, leaving discolored skin as a reminder of his painful ordeal. Severus was so intently-focused on watching Lily's spell at work that he'd hardly noticed her emerald eyes trained intently on him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.

He finally lifted his gaze from his hand and met Lily's, a contented smile on his lips. "I'm feeling right as rain, Madam Evans," he murmured gratefully.

Lily flashed Severus a prim smile. "As you should be. See to it that I don't have to deal with your attitude again, are we clear Mister Snape?"

"Crystal."

Lily's smile broadened, her eyes gleaming wickedly as she reached up for Severus' cheeks, cupping his face. "Next time you'll remember those gloves of yours, won't you Mister Snape?"

"I will," he breathed huskily, as his arms wrapped around her waist. "Now that you've seen to me…I'd very much like to return the favor."

Lily pushed Severus' legs apart with her hands and shifted upwards and forwards into Severus' lap, straddling him. "I like the sound of that, Sev."

Severus' hands rested on Lily's hips, his grip almost painful in its intensity, but he pulled her closer and she willingly fell over him. "Mmm…" Lily hummed, as her thumbs stroked Severus' cheeks. She brushed a light kiss over his lips, enough to promise more later, but a message he understood to mean that this was as far as they'd take things for now.

"Lily…" He kissed her back squarely on her lips, and then another on the corner of her mouth, a third against her cheek, and many more suckles and nips down her neck towards her clavicle.

"About our date, Sev…" Lily whispered, tilting her head back slightly as Severus lovingly bestowed a trail of kisses over her pale throat. "After Dale is healthy, you owe me a night out on the town, got it?"

He pried his lips away from her neck just long enough to say. "As the lady commands," before attacking her throat once more in earnest.

Lily moaned loudly and ground her jeans into Severus' slacks wantonly.

"In return…" Severus went on. "There's a small creek somewhat near here…I'd like for you to accompany there sometime." Severus ceased his assault on what'd once been her pale cheek—but was now liberally marred by red hickeys, and stared up at Lily's lustful, shining green eyes.

"Whatever for?" she asked breathily, staring down at him as her hands shifted upwards, tangling in his dark locks.

She tugged his head lower, wanting—no, needing his loving kisses on her neck once again, but he resisted, and still met her gaze head-on with his dark eyes. "Promise me you'll come with, if I agree to go dancing with you…once Dale is healthy," he said evenly, staring up at her.

Lily opened her lips to reply, but thought better of it and pursed them shut again. She instead brought her lips lower and sat down in his lap again, claiming his mouth in a passionate, fiery snog. "Does that answer your question?"

His first response was to smile, then to laugh, lastly to nod his head in approval. "Very much so," he chuckled.

Severus pitch-black eyes twinkled with mirth before turning deadly serious, startling Lily a little bit. "But I may be in need of more convincing."

A lone, thin brow arched up Lily's forehead, and her hands left his hair to brace themselves on his shoulders. "Of course you do," she said witheringly, though her sarcasm was belied heavily by her megawatt smile. "Why am I not surprised? You've never been able to resist my…feminine wiles, have you?"

Severus chuckled and shook his head in amusement..

"Truthfully, Lily, I doubt anyone would be able to resist you for long. You can't blame me for being a man, can you? Not when your, and I quote, 'feminine wiles' are as potent as they are. I'm only a man, after all."

Lily bit her lower lip and grinned. "Nope, I suppose I can't blame you; but only on the condition that you choose not to blame me for being unable to resist you."

Severus' dark rises widened in mild surprise. "Oh, really?"

Lily lightly whacked Severus' good arm. "Don't act surprised you big lump," she teased, grinning broadly. "Tall, dark and handsome can never go wrong, and you—" she lightly jabbed his chest with her pointer finger, "—have all that in spades, Sev. I consider myself quite lucky to be with you before someone else had hitched their cabin to your caboose."

"I'd beg to differ, Lily. If anyone's lucky, it's me. I mean…let's not pretend that you aren't a head turner yourself, Lily. Sayre knows you draw so many gazes in a crowd if I had that many I'd go mad if I were in your shoes."

Not knowing what to say, Lily let her hands fall to Severus' pale cheeks, cupping them and pulling him closer and upwards for a kiss. He kissed her back languidly, and Lily sighed with relief at his loving ministrations. What she'd ever done to deserve a second chance with Severus, she didn't know, all she knew was that she was grateful to have it, and him.

A/N2: So, a bit of Severus in his element with Dale, and some of Lily following that as a healer. I hope you guys liked the chapter and thanks for reading! Up next, a face from their past returns to their lives.