Clock Strikes Four

A few months into the year and it was suddenly Christmas break. Harlow and Harry were happy to stay at Hogwarts while their mother came to Hogwarts to spend the Yuletide with them.

They were also excited that the Weasley's were spending their time at Hogwarts too, due to Ginny getting dragon pox, surprisingly the first Weasley to get the condition.

The afternoon, after lunch when everyone was gone Harlow and Harry shivered on the steps of the castle for their mother to appear.

Soon a carriage drove up to the castle and the bright red head of their mother stepped out of the carriage.

The twins ran down the stairs, and in her excitement Harlow left a series of sparkling purple footprints on the stairs.

"Mama!" As the twins jumped into their mother's arms they were swept up and spun around by the woman who was somehow still able to lift her children.

"My babies, how have you been?"

Though they both resented being called a baby, and the fact that their mother knew exactly how they were from their numerous letters, they started talking a mile a minute about their classes, their friends and their houses.

But soon they were all a little too cold for standing outside and they all held hands as they entered the castle.

Lily really took it all in. She hadn't been back since she graduated, though a quick look around told her nothing about the castle had changed, save staffing.

And she was proven right when a voice rang out behind her.

"Who is this I see? Why it's Lily Evans! Back in the old stomping ground. Though, I suppose it is Lily, Snape, now is it not."

Lily's eyes grew at the sight of the ghost she had loved so much while she was a student, "Sir Nicholas! Good to see you!"

"Let me tell you it is good to see old friends again."

"Same to you, I trust my children have been behaving themselves?"

"Of course not, they are your children. I trust you know how much of a troublemaker your daughter is. And she has caused the oddest thing to happen."

Harlow felt the side eye she was getting from her mother, "And that would be?"

"Peeves, my dear."

Now it was a full blown stare, "What about him, has he been causing her trouble?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

But they continued, "No, I dare say she has gained the respect of the little demon."

"Respet, Peeves doesn't know the word!"

"I have it on good authority he was seen with your daughter on three seperate occasions where he listened to her and left with a salute to your daughter, and then caused mischief on her enemies."

Harlow looked at her mother, who's face now turned to one of shock and awe as she stared back at her daughter, "Enemies, how do you have enemies, you're eleven?"

"Sorry, I misspoke, I meant whoever Slytherin was going against in Quidditch the next day."

Harlow and Harry simultaneously looked at the ground, they may or may not have left a few things out of their letters.

"You really have that much house pride you're trying to destroy the other team?"

"No, I only mean for him to shake them up. He's never actually hurt someone for me!"

"Just makes it easier for her to knock off their brooms."

Apparently the ghost had not seen Harry waving from behind his mother's back for him to stop.

"What does that mean exactly?"

Harry and Harlow looked between themselves. But Harlow found her way out.

"Wow look at the time," She looked at her wrist where her bracelet from the twins stood, not a watch by any means, "I forgot I have to go help Professor McGonagall clean her classroom before dinner. I'll catch up with you then, see you!"

"We are not done with this conversation! And what did you do to the classroom!?"

"I'm sorry Mama, you're too far away, I can't hear you!"

The woman laughed as she watched her daughter nearly sprint away from the awkward conversation, said goodbye to the ghost that swept away, and then turned to her son to get the story his sister wouldn't give.

"I don't know I wasn't there."

"You know that's not what I want to know, what was Sir Nicholas talking about?"

"I don't know?"

"Do I need to speak to your father?"

"She's playing quidditch."

The woman's eyebrows went up with shock, "How, she's only a first year?"

"The same way he is, dumb luck."

Lily turned as her husband suddenly appeared, and though there was another question flying through the air she couldn't help but swiftly move over to her husband and let herself be wrapped up in his embrace. It didn't even bother her that she could feel him look around to make sure they were not being watched.

"What does that mean?"

She felt his low chuckle from his chest, 'There was an incident during their first flying lesson. It was all good they were defending a friend, McGonagall saw and decided they needed to play. So they gave them the opportunity to try out."

"And there were no better upperclassmen?"

"You;ve seen our children play, do you think there was anyone better?"

Lily smiled to herself, she knew, deep down, there was no one better. They were amazing.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Snape took a deep breath, pulling away from his wife and started leading her and his son towards his office, "Harlow was a little worried you would be upset."

She turned towards her son, "Why? How could I be upset that she did something amazing?"

"Because during her first game, Harlow got a little excited, one of her hits knocked a Ravenclaw off his broom, harder than it maybe should have, he broke his arm. And, well, that made her a little more excited and she ended up knocking over the Slytherin goals. It was an easy fix, I don't even think the crowd knew what happened, but, uh, she thought you may make her stop so she doesn't hurt anyone else."

Lily felt her heart drop for her daughter. It wasn't her fault, and, as they walked into the office she asked her son to give them a moment alone and Harry ran off, probably to go to his common room, she supposed, but she turned towards her husband.

"So it hasn't gotten any better?"

Her husband knew better than to lie to his wife.

"As I said in my letters, it has gotten better, but her being here, being able to use magic, while it has appeared to give her a little more control, everything that happens is very much stronger, you know she would never be able to knock over a quidditch post before, but that day that was the only thing to happen. I really do think Black and Lupin are helping, they think so too."

"They haven't said anything about her being a, you-know-what yet?"

"You know when you say that you sound evil."

Lily could barely laugh at the joke, and hit her husband on the arm playfully, "yes, but really. What have they told her?"

Snape looked over to where his wife stood next to Harlow's favorite couch, "No, I asked them not to bring the subject up to her unless we can be sure. They do believe that if they could find out it might give her the control it gave her mother. It could really help, they think."

"Maybe, I'm just not sure."

"We don't have to talk about this now. Why ruin the holidays?"

"You're right. I want to go explore, do you want to come with me or do you have work."

"I promised the seventh years I'd have these papers back to mail to them at home. I want to get them out before the twenty-fifth. Ruina a few Christmases."

Lily smiled at the man, 'Alright, I'll see you later at dinner."

As he watched his wife leave the room and shut the door behind him Snape felt himself slip into the memories of the night his life changed forever.

It was night. He was focused and wild as he fled through the streets.

He found out. Somehow, he had found out where she was, that he wasn't really his ally. He had a clue how he had figured it out, of course, but he would never speak ill of someone not knowing if he was guilty, of course. Especially one of her friends.

But now he had to run. She needed to be okay. She had to be if he was to go on living. And when the house came into view and he saw the rattled door, a few windows halfway smashed, he nearly fainted.

But there was no noise, nothing coming from inside the house to prove that anyone was there. No immediate signs of life.

He felt his world go sideways, he leaned onto a car parked right next to him.

And then he heard something.

A baby crying.

Somehow he pushed himself up enough to listen closer.

"Harry?" the name escaping his lips was whispered more as a prayer than anything. If Harry was alive, it must mean he hadn't been there, that it must have been someone here she could fend off. He would not have left the child.

He ran towards the cottage, but when he walked inside he paused.

Everything was destroyed. Everything from the paintings hanging on the wall to the furniture was strayed every which way and trashed. It was a truly scary sight.

But what was worse was what he found on the staircase.

Where James Potter was lying dead.

Snape stopped and stared at the body for a moment. The man who had tortured him, tormented him and nearly made him lose his best friend. He was dead.

He turned back to the living room. There she was. The snake, beheaded and lying on the ground.

He had done it, He had killed her.

But that also meant he had been there.

He could still hear Harry upstairs, even though he was young, he didn't deserve to see this. There was a blanket that was nearly tatters lying on the floor, but it would work. Snape took it and laid it over the figure, enough to hide most of his body from the child. Then he took a deep breath. Thinking now that she must be up there in a similar state to her husband, so as a few tears he hated fell from his eyes he stepped around the man's body and went fully to the second floor.

The door to the nursery was only opened a crack, though enough that Harry's cries could be heard from the street below. He couldn't see anything from the sliver of eyesight he had, but he did see a streak of blood across the otherwise white carpet.

For some reason he couldn't figure out how to lift his hand to open the door, but when he found the strength he found the door creaked and Harry's crying stopped. But what he found on the other side made him lose all chance he had at holding in his sobs.

She was there. Barely moving but holding up her wand in a feeble attempt at stopping whatever intruder had come in the room. When she had seen him though, he was a little afraid that she wouldn't put down her wand.

But then a weak cry crossed her mouth and she collapsed fully to the ground in stereo with Snape's sob. Harry continued his cry.

Snape crossed the room the cot and looked down at the infant, having no idea what had happened except his parents were gone. But he knew this man. He had seen this man many times, so his crying stopped and he held his hands out to the man.

Never having held the child, or any child that is, Snape wasn't exactly sure what to do, but he figured he had to move quickly, so he picked up the child and pulled the woman up and into his side before apparating off the premises and to the only place he knew it was safe.

Or, as close to it as he could get. He was a block away from Order headquarters when he knew they could be cared for. But he bumbled down the street, barely being able to contain the tears behind his eyes as he nearly collapsed under the weight of the two. But then he arrived, opened the secret entrance and went in.

Nearly ten people swarmed him at the moment. Questions firing as they tried to take the figures away from him.

"No, no," he stumbled, "Only Dumbledore."

The people backed off a little, leaving the man to stumble to put Lily on a couch as he held Harry on his hip. The boy had at some point started giggling and playing with the man's hair, which he let him. Just a distraction from the sight in front of him.

Just then he felt a presence behind him.

"Let me through, move-MOVE." Then a hand on his shoulder, "She will be fine, Severous, looks like just a minor curse." Then he took the child from his arms, "And this boy looks sturdy as always." A laugh lit up his voice while Snape tried desperately to breath.

As the boy was passed to another set of arms Dumbledore took Snape into a side room, letting the healers do their job.

Standing in front of him the older man could see the panic in the younger one's eyes, "Everything will be okay, Severous, do not fear."

"Was it Pettigrew?" The question came out strained and foregn.

"Yes. Can I assume a worse fate has begotten James."

Shaking hard Snape nodded his head.

"Is he still there?"

"Yes."

"Was there anyone else?"

"No, just the snake."

"Good, now I need you to calm down and tell me what happened today."

With a start Snape snapped out of the memory by a firm hand, the same one who had just calmed his former self down.

"Severous, have you been thinking too hard again?"

"What is it?"

"I simply came to inquire as to your wife's whereabouts?"

"I don't know where she is, she went off exploring."

"Is something the matter, Severus? These flashbacks have never happened when you are in good cheer."

"Nothing is the matter. I just have papers."

"Did that feel convincing to you?"

Snape looked at the man he considered a mentor for the longest time, he knew he could see right through him and that there was no use lying to him.

"I am simply worried about Harlow."

"Ahh...and rightfully so."

Snape perked up and gave the man an inquisitive look.

"I should be worried about her?"

"Well, we both have experience with people who are overeager and upset about their heritage, we should both know the consequences of-"

"You are not seriously comparing my daughter to the Dark Lord?" He was mad at this point, was he really going to let the man compare his daughter to a mass murderer.

"We were both at the quidditch match, Severus, we both know what she is capable of. We both know who, or shall I say, what, she is, and we should both understand the consequences, should she not find out her true nature. I hate to say it, but it is a familiar sounding story, is it not?"

"Her mother and I have discussed it and-"

"Have decided that you will know when she is ready to find out, yes...yes. But what if Lily does not want that day to come? What if she is worried what will come of your daughter when the day arrives, and both of you are too blinded by worry to realise?"

"We won't-"

"Severus," The older man's voice suddenly dropped to a whisper, "just because you are afraid does not mean she does not get to be who she is. If she is not allowed to grow your worst fears will come true, and she will not make it to adulthood, I fear she will not make it out of Hogwarts."

Knowing he was right Snape could not answer him, just sat back down in his chair and leaned his head on his hands.

"I will leave you to think. But remember, we hold off teaching students apparation, or even alchemy, there are, however, some things you are never too young to learn."

Knowing he had won Dumbledore left the room, off to find the woman he had come in search of and try to get the same message through to her, though he knew how protective she was, and how she felt about Harlow's magical abilities, and knew she would be a tough nut to crack.

Back in his office, Snape was left back to his thoughts once again, and slipped into the memory he held dearest to his heart, one he did not let himself think of much, but was the most important moment of his life.

He sat in that bathroom trying to wash the blood off his arms as someone came in to disturb him, he quickly pulled down his robes to cover the mark burned on his arm.

"She's woken up, she's asking for you, can't figure out why."

Snape turned towards Sirius Black standing at the door, "I have to go. Maybe I'll see her tomorrow."

"Dumbledore said you couldn't leave, We're dealing with a bigger problem than you now." As soon as he said that, a second, different child's scream

"It's Gael and Emment's girl. He went there after Godric's Hollow and got them both. We should have watched out for that more carefully."

"He left the child?"

"More like couldn't kill the child, something happened and as soon as we got there one blast took out all three of them."

"One, who was it?"

"Him."

"And there was no countercurse."

"No, he just, crumbled under the blast. We have no idea what happened. Now, today, Lily has lost her husband and nearly her child, she is asking for you so I must insist you go speak to her. And perk up, war's over"

Snape looked at the door, and despite his desperate desire to see her back at her cottage, he couldn't fathom facing her now. It was too difficult, she would ask him questions about what he had seen. He didn't want to be the one to break the news to her. She was so in love with him. But internally he knew no one had told her, it would be up to him.

And she had a right to know, so once Black had left the room he followed the man.

Black led him to the sitting room where a very sickly Lily was lying on the couch.

She sat straight up when seeing Snape walk in the room.

"Sev" her voice was impossibly soft and gritty. Snape noticed how poor of a shape she was in. He waited to respond and looked around the room. Lupin was sitting in a wingback with Harry sleeping on his lap. A few other members of the order were sitting throughout the room.

Then he turned back to the woman on the couch. Her eyes pleading with him.

"I didn't get there in time. I am sorry."

Before the words were even out of his mouth she fell back into the couch, her eyes glazed over and her breathing shallowed. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he couldn't. It was his fault, she would probably never forgive him for this.

But then the second cry was heard again, along with a powerful shattering.

Without looking back to the couch Snape walked out of the room and back to the entryway where he was greeted with a sight for the ages.

Albus Dumbledore was holding a little girl who was screaming her head off at an arm's length. On the floor was hundreds of shards of porcelain that used to take the form of a vase.

"She's a strong one."

Snape looked at the child, her eyes shut in misery with tears streaming down her face, which left an angry red line down her face as though they were burning her.

He stepped towards her and realised they were.

Her magic was strong, emotional.

"Do you think you have a potion to help the burns?"

"It may help but she may have a scar." Before waiting for an answer Snape turned on his heel and walked towards where he had a stock of potions to fix minor problems the Order might run across. He looked through for a moment before pulling out a salve that would heal minor burns, and left to go back to the girl.

However, when he walked in the door he saw the girl had opened her eyes and taking in the dark figure that had entered the door her crying ceased and her arms shot towards the man.

"Two children want you to hold them in the span of an hour. Never thought I'd see the day."

Something deep inside Snape made him reach out and grab the child from him. She shoved her face into his neck and balanced her in his arms. He quietly coaxed her face from his neck and looked into her face. There would inevitably be permanent scar marks. She would never escape this day. But he balanced the pot in his hands and dabbed the salve onto her face.

The angry red of her face slid away to calm down a little.

"How is she?"

"Not good."

As the phrase came out of his mouth four figures burst through the door. Holding a lifeless form in a tattered blanket.

"Why did they bring him here? She doesn't need to see this."

"I ordered losses to come here first, for confirmation."

Snape sat on the lounge beside him, the girl looking curiously at him and once in awhile doing something that caused a portrait to fall off the wall, or a door to close or open.

Soon there were lines of people coming in and out carrying bodies with them. Snape was able to count seven in total. And taking mental notes as they came in, Gael, Emmet and James were the only parents.

But as Gael and Emmet came through, the girl freaked out in Snape's arms, screeching so loud and high pitched that the room shook, and the lifeless forms were dropped to the ground, and Snape had to brace from falling off the sofa. People rushed to the room, helping get the bodies into another room.

Snape had this weird feeling and grabbed the child, who was literally steaming, and pulling her very close to him, humming a low note to send the vibrations through her body. After a few minutes she was able to stop and calm down, seemingly forgetting why she was upset and going limp in his arms with sleep. He took a moment to look down at the child, he had, of course, met Gael and Emmet before, never the child though, she looked oddly like what he imagined their child would look like. Gael's wild curls coming out of her head, Emmet's freckles dotting the entirety of her face, he had seen both of their green eyes in her while she was awake.

"Want a break?" Snape looked up at where stood at the door frame, "I see this one's a handful, you suppose she has the same as her mother?"

Looking back at the destroyed hallway, he nodded, "Likely." He made no move to move the girl from his arms, however.

"She wants to know where you are."

"It doesn't matter. Once she realizes I let her husband be killed today she won't care."

The man looked over at the man holding the child, and suddenly he was transported back to school and watching as his best friends threw Snape on the ground, enchanting his quills, blowing books out of his hands. Suddenly his heart dropped into his stomach. Though he had always told his friends that what they were doing was bad, and never participated in it himself, he didn't do anything about it. He had never tried to help the Slytherin.

"Maybe this is because of what happened today or something, but I feel the need to apologize to you."

Snape looked up from the child, but didn't say anything.

"I know I never helped you, and well, I saw how horrible my friends were to you but never helped you," he paused and took a seat next to him, "I have to admit, when I, well, all of us, thought you had gone to the other side I thought that that may have had something to do with it."

He kept staring at him but after a beat blinked and spoke, "When I started first year, after I got a feel for how everything was with the Slytherins I started sleeping in the kitchens." Lupin's mouth opened but Snape continued, "I thought everyone who lived in my dorm was evil, the first few days I woke up with different colored skin or all my clothes were replaced with girl's uniforms, somehow they knew that I wasn't connected to dark wizards the same way they were, and to make it worse, the only friend I had wasn't a pure blood, and they hated that. So to get away one day I slept in the hallway, thinking that the prefects could watch over me, one of the elves found me and he took me to the kitchens. They gave me food and let me sleep there. I just kept coming every night. I would only go to the room when I was certain I would be alone. No one else cared though. People just let me go by them with no second look. She never knew. I would never have let her know. But, when James noticed her, and noticed me with her, and everything started, I spent most of my time there. Now it came into the hallways. I thought that the Slytherins didn't bother me in the hallways because they were afraid a professor would stand up for me, but now I had these people doing the same thing to me in the open, no one cared. I thought Slughorn would say something, I was in Slug Club, I was pleasant and top of every class, but not one person said anything, not even Dumbledore who I told everything to all the time, no one said anything. But she did. She was the only person. But then, once I did what I did. She stopped. There was one day, James had gotten all the portraits to hiss at me at the same time, and when I got to the end of the Hall Black was there to trip me. On the ground I looked up and the first person I saw was you. You had a scratch on your arm. It was a claw mark. I couldn't sleep that night, I did some thinking and decided that the night before had been the full moon. It wasn't a stretch until I figured out what had happened. I knew how close you and her were, and I wanted nothing more than to make it up to her."

Snape paused for a second, seemingly trying to find his next words, but Lupin beat him to it, staring at Snape with his eyes wide, "I remember that prank. I didn't want to go, I had had a bad night. But the next month was when I was introduced to the potions that helped me..." The glare going through Snape's skull only intensified, "That was you?ยจ

Snape looked down at the wall across from him, "Yes."

"You mean you basically saved my life, and who knows how many you saved from the same fate, and you just didn't tell anyone? Not even your best friend?" There was a rush to his voice, and the sleeping child tried to roll over in Snape's arms and both men breathed a little quieter.

"She wasn't my best friend any more. There was a distance. I had sunk to a level too far for me to dig my way out of. There was a permanent distance though she tried to pretend there was not. I thought she would figure it out on her own, she would have normally. But she didn't."

But before Lupin could respond Dumbledore walked back in the door and looked at Snape through his twinkling eyes, "I cleared out the room, so you can have a chat. Remus, do you mind helping me in the dining room?"

Before Snape could protest both men swiftly exited the room and he was faced with a closed door and an awkward conversation. But he knew it had to happen.

So, shifting the child to one arm he pushed open the door to the sitting room. He could feel his heart trying to escape from his chest and could feel his hands shake as he prepared to see her again. He resented it, really. He shouldn't have to feel like this. His entire life he had suffered to make himself happy. Now, after everything he's done, he should really get at least one day of rest from his eternal tourture.

But when he saw her lying there, her son lying on her chest with her rubbing his back slowly over and over, he couldn't help but feel his resentment fade away.

She looked up, and would have sat up had it not been for the child, but her eyes looked the same as they had when she had greeted him before.

But then her eyes fell to the girl, and she smirked in that way she did that told you she was going to make a joke.

"The great Severous Snape, holding a child, who would have thought the day would come."

Somehow, Snape chuckled and was able to find the ability to respond, "You've seen what she can do, don't want to risk waking her up to change hands, she might burn down London."

After a short laugh Lily's eyes darkened, "Same as Gael?"

Snape looked back at the girl, "I can't be sure, but it appears so."

"Shame, I wonder who will take her in, hopefully someone who can give her a chance of seeing thirty." As Lily spoke these words Snape realised something.

"What's her name?"

Lily's eyes snapped up to him, "You've never met her?"

Snape looked back to the girl, "No, you know Gael and Emmet were kept in the dark about me, like most people they wouldn't bring their child near me."

"You do remember you're a teacher, right?"

"Quiet."

"Harlow."

"Huh?"

"Her name is Harlow. She has a middle name but I can't remember. Maybe they'll find a birth certificate at the house."

There was a short pause as both gazed at the girl, and then, seemingly in perfect harmony, both Harlow and Harry stirred, Snape held his breath looking at the girl, not knowing how she would respond waking up, would she remember? How would they stop her outbursts throughout her childhood, if they continued like this they were dangerous.

"How do you think he found out?"

The question hit Snape like a curse, because in his soul he knew the answer to his next statement.

"I can not be sure, but I can guess it is the same way he found out where you were."

"And that is?"

He looked over to the woman on the couch, still with her child lying across her chest, "No one told you?"

"Sev, I can barely remember anything that happened today."

Snape once again set his eyes on the girl, letting her be his staller while he figured out what to say, finally he realised he just needed to say is, "We believe it was Pettigrew."

Snape hated the way Lily's face paled, even worse than it already was, "Peter? But how could he, he couldn't hurt a fly?"

Snape looked at the floor, not sure how she would respond to him keeping secrets from her, "We've known for while that he was working with the Dark Lord. You're right, there is no way he could hurt a fly, but his need for power took over and he decided to give away your location for accolades from the Dark Lord. We cannot be sure about Gael and Emmet at this point, but he was one of their keepers as well so we can assume."

"But why would he have it out for them? When they took him in?"

"Desire for power is a curious thing. Anyone will turn on their best friend if their want is great enough. Pettigrew was a sorry excuse for a person."

It was a curious event, but at that moment Harry and Harlow locked eyes. And Harlow grew so excited she very literally flew out of Snape's hands and landed on Lily's outstretched legs, reaching out to the boy still in her arms.

"Well, out of tragedy comes friendship. These two, scars and all might be friends one day. They're the same age, maybe they'll meet again at Hogwarts."

"That would be a reunion."

"If she can survive that long. Who do you think will take her in, who is powerful enough to deal with these outbursts?"

"I was about to ask the same question."

Both figures then flew to the door, where stood Dumbledore, seemingly knowing their conversation had ended.

"You don't have an idea yet?" Though he knew it to be false Snape asked the question. He knew the man had a plan simply from the gleam in his eye.

"Well, I had an idea, but I wasn't sure if you would go for it."

"How am I supposed to take her when I have a full time job?"

Lily looked bemused between her friend and the man she admired above all.

"Well, I guess I could take her while you are at Hogwarts? Like, co-parenting?"

Snape looked over at the woman with a horrified look, "No you need to recover and-"

"And that is something that will only take a few days, the healers said so themselves. Plus, chasing her around and dealing with her magic will keep my mind off things."

"So," Dumbledore said, very comically slinging his arm around the man, "What do you say?"

And that day started the rest of his life.

AN: Hello people of the world.

First of all I want to thank everyone for their continued support. All means a lot to me.

So I know some people were confused about timelines and general plot points where I diverged from the original canon. I planned this flashback to take place later but thought I would move it up to try and get some of those questions out of the way.

Anyway, there will be a lot more to explain everything else so you can look forward to a lot of Snily fluff while they try to figure out their lives co parenting two very special children while navigating feelings for each other/ feelings of regret and sadness. So don't worry there will be a fairly large peek into the twin's upbringing. And a lot more to come with all their adventures in quidditch and pranking.

End of long note: please review it means so much!

-MaryKatherine