Chapter One: Park
Summer vacation had just started for the students and staff of Hogwarts, and so Severus had just a few days before taken his daughter, Lily, home for the holiday along with a small house elf named Twinkle who had been helping Severus in raising his daughter. Though it was now 1985 and the child would five shortly before the next term started. Though as Severus walked around the small two story cottage that they had lived in for the last three years together when not at the school, he noticed how this place had a definite feel of a home, something that surely Dumbledore had wanted for the two of them when he had sent Twinkle to take them here. Though as Severus looked at some pictures that lined the hall and even that were on the mantle of the fire place he saw the milestones of his daughter. More so with birthday pictures, and even some that Dumbledore had snapped without Severus knowing during one of his many visits. One that Severus truly treasured, being one that had been taken at the end of the last summer holiday where his small daughter was being held close to him as they were on the couch sound asleep.
'She looks so much like me…' he thought as he knew the truth, that Lily was not actually his but at the same time, in his heart, she was his. His precious one. It was the work of a spell that had it so she looked like him from what he had been told shortly after she had been left with him. All due to how it had to be concealed who her true family was. 'Even if they do come back for her, I will not let them take my Lily.' He thought to himself as his eyes soon fell on a picture of his daughter when she had been learning better how to walk without falling so much where he had known at the time that she could walk but she still had trouble.
So he had knelt across the room and taken a picture of her as she walked toward him, a giant grin on her face as she took it one step at a time as her mouth moved silently mouthing something he remembered all too well. "Da! Da!" she had called to him as she made her way to him. Her light blue eyes that seemed to have a bright glint to them at times with parts of her black hair that was in pigtails at the time.
Though he was taken from that thought when he heard a sudden cry from the upstairs as he turned and rushed up the stairs to the room where he had put his daughter to bed not to long before as she was curled in a ball screaming and crying in her sleep. Something that had started not to long before school had let out.
"Lily!" Severus said in worry as he rushed over and was slightly on the bed so his right knee was on the mattress as he reached out to her and gently shook her but she continued to cry for a few more minutes before she slowly opened her blue eyes to see that it was her father.
"Dad!" Lily cried as she shifted and flung her small body against her fathers and clung to him for all she was worth as she felt her father bring his arms around her holding her close to him. "It felt so real…" Lily said as her small body shook from her crying.
Severus continued to hold Lily as she cried as he started to whisper to her that it was alright, that she was safe. Though part of him was all but screaming that something was not right since it seemed more and more frequent that she was waking screaming or crying out. 'Surely this is not something that is normal for a child her age…' he thought to himself as he thought of something. "Twinkle!" He called as there was a small pop sound as he did not even have to look to know the small house elf was there. "Go to Hogwarts and request that Professor Dumbledore come here right away, that there may be something wrong with Lily." He said as Twinkle nodded before there was another small pop sound meaning the house elf had left. Though as he felt Lily calm while still in his arms he decided to ask. "What did you see that scared you so much?" he asked
Lily was perfectly still for a brief moment before she buried her face more against her father's chest as she was still crying ever so slightly. "I-I was alone in the dark…" she whispered in a quiet voice. "I felt pain in my arm…" she said as it showed she was more versed than some others her age due to her being raised at a school and around professors most of the year and how Severus focused on instructing her early on because she had shown faint hints of magic shortly before they had left for the summer vacation.
Severus leaned back and went to examine his daughters arm only to find that it was perfectly fine. "Lily," he said as the small girl looked up at her father with her bright blue eyes through the curtain of shoulder length black hair. "There is nothing wrong with your arm." He said but Lily was shaking her head frantically.
"I am not making it up dad!" she cried out only for there to be the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway as both looked to see that it was none other than Albus Dumbledore. He currently wore bright almost blinding red robes and a matching hat as he stepped into Lily's room. "Bee!" Lily said since she had a hard time with Dumbledore's name but refused to call him by his first so she called him Bee since he had told her recently that his last name had the meaning of bumblebee.
"Twinkle said that something had happened to her." Dumbledore said with a bit of a skeptical look on his face since it seemed to be a near common occurrence at times that the young Lily had odd dreams where she would wake crying or screaming for her dad. "Was it another nightmare, Lily?" Dumbledore asked as he walked over closer as Lily shook her head at the headmaster as she had a near frantic look on her face.
"I saw something that was not a dream!" she said frantically as she looked between her dad and the headmaster only to see that both of them were skeptical so she became desperate for them to listen to her. "I saw a boy with a scar on his forehead!" she said as suddenly both adults had confused looks on their faces. "He was alone and he was hurt." She said as Dumbledore walked over closer to her as he knelt down slightly so he was closer to her level looking into the eyes of the terrified four year old.
"How old was the one that you saw?" Dumbledore asked as he had a feeling that he knew exactly who the child had seen, but he prayed it was not the case. More so since the one he feared she had seen was one he had left with family as a form of protection to try and insure the child's safety.
During this Severus had sat down on the bed only for Lily to move to his lap only for her dad to instinctively wrap his arms around her as though trying to protect her from anything and everything in the world. Something that brought a faint twinkle to Dumbledore's eyes before it dimmed as he focused on the small child.
"He had hair the same color as mine. But it was all over the place. And on his forehead was a light bolt." Lily said as she felt her father tighten his arms around her as Dumbledore had a grave look on his face as she was about to ask what was wrong but Dumbledore was on his feet as he turned on his heel.
"Severus, tomorrow take Lily to the park, from there if you see the family there but not the boy, find him." Dumbledore ordered as Lily was looking at the older wizard with a confused questioning look on her face only to feel her father tense as she inclined her head to look toward him as she was about to ask her what was going on but her dad soon shifted to put her back to bed.
"Go back to sleep, Lil." Severus said as he looked down at his daughter who was still giving him a look that conveyed something he was sure meant that she would not want to sleep alone due to how she had woken from what she believed was a nightmare. "I am going to go speak to Professor Dumbledore before he leaves then I will be back to kiss you good night." He said as he stood from the bed holding his small daughter against his chest as he shifted her blankets before setting her down on the bed then tucking her in, being sure to pick up a teddy bear that was on the floor. One that looked like a muggle teddy bear but it was one that when she hugged it the teddy bear would play a soft melody to help her sleep more peacefully.
"But not…" Lily yawned as her father drew the blanket up and even tucked in her teddy bear beside her. "No alone." She said in a pleading tone but her father gave her a faint smile as he used his right hand to brush some of her black hair back out of her face.
"I will be just downstairs then I will be across the hall and I will be sure to be by you when you wake." He said as Lily nodded only to shift under her blanket so she was curled into a ball on her side hugging her teddy bear as a faint lullaby started to fill the room as Severus saw that she had drifted off to sleep.
He lingered there for a moment longer before he walked from the room, quietly closing the door behind himself as the light in the room extinguished itself as he had whispered a small spell to allow the room to be dark besides the faint light of the stars outside filling the room. Walking down the stairs he found the headmaster near the fireplace waiting for him as he stopped beside the couch facing the older wizard. "You really want Lily and me to go to the park just to see if that boy is alright?" Severus asked with a hint of annoyance since the one his daughter had described was none other than the son of the woman he continued to love, and the man who had made his school days a living hell.
"Yes, though I am sure it was nothing." Dumbledore said as he glanced to the side as his expression betrayed how he was not fully certain that it was nothing due to how it was odd that Lily would have a dream about Harry because she had never met him. Except possibly when they were babies but there was no way that she would have memory of that so that was what was concerning to the older wizard. Could something have happened? If so they needed to act quickly to insure that it did not get worse since he was already aware that Lily Potter's sister despised magic, but that had been the only option open at the time for the boy's safety.
Severus kept his dark eyes on the headmaster a moment longer waiting to see if the older wizard was going to continue speaking or not, but when he did not, the younger wizard opened his mouth ever so slightly as a sigh passed his lips as he heard a faint sound from the upstairs. "Very well, we will go after breakfast in the morning." He said turning slightly from the older wizard. "Though if it is nothing leave the boy alone?"
Dumbledore nodded at the younger wizard who was only half facing him now. "Yes, if Harry is fine then leave him there, however if anything seems amiss, do not hesitate to collect him, bring him here and contact me with your findings." The older wizard said as Severus nodded.
"Very well, though I am heading to bed, assuming that my bed is not already occupied." He said with a faint glint in his eyes since he was almost certain the noise he had heard a moment before was Lily sneaking into his room not wanting to be alone.
"Good night, Severus." Dumbledore said as he used his wand to light a temporary fire in the hearth as he threw in a pinch of floo powder and stepped in only to say his destination and be gone as the fire died in the hearth.
When darkness took the living room again, Severus shook his head only to turn and head for the stairs and go up them and head toward his room to find the door was slightly open which confirmed what he had suspected. He pushed the door open a bit more as he stepped into the room as he walked over to the nightstand beside his bed as he turned on the light that was on top of it and looked toward the bed to find the sleeping face of Lily there as she was curled up slightly concealed by the blanket that she seemed to have nested in slightly before falling asleep. Though seeing his angel there, Severus could not help but smile as he shifted the blanket and got into bed beside Lily only to feel her inch closer and curl up against his side and even rest her small head against his chest on the left side as he shifted to kiss the top of her head as he had his arm around behind her. "Sweet dreams, my precious Lil." He whispered as he felt himself drifting off to sleep only to faintly hear a small voice speak.
"Good night, daddy."
/
The pale light of the dawn fell through the window onto Severus and Lily as they were both sound asleep for a few moments longer, but Lily was unable to stay awake as she bunched up slightly against her dad's side before opening her bright blue eyes as she blinked several times while she remained huddled up close to her dad. Though she soon felt her stomach start to growl so she shifted under the blanket and got out from under it to head toward the other side and climb down as she soon was on the floor as her long tan colored night gown shifted as she walked toward the door to her dad's room only to quietly sneak out and shut the door behind herself. All due to how she was sure her dad was still tired from the night before, however she could not really remember what all had happened, due to it being a blur to her.
Though she did not linger on that as she walked to the stairs and headed down and toward the kitchen only to find Twinkle in the kitchen already working on a breakfast. But at hearing the small child in the kitchen Twinkle turned and smiled widely at Lily as the little girl came over by the stove trying to see what Twinkle was fixing. Something that led to the house elf smiling even more. "I is fixing eggs, bacon and toast, Mistress." Twinkle said as Lily smiled up at her.
"Thank you, Twinkle." Lily said in a happy tone as she then turned and headed over to the fridge only to hear a soft sound of Twinkle getting into the cabinet to get out a glass and then the house elf coming over to Lily as the two were close in height, but Twinkle was just a little shorter than Lily.
"Why not sit down and I will fix your orange juice." Twinkle offered as Lily smiled again and nodded before heading over to the table as she heard a sound from the upstairs indicating that her dad was up. As Lily was climbing up onto the chair her dad came down with his slightly grown out black hair a bit of a mess around his face as he looked like he was still tired.
"Twinkle…coffee…" he said as the house elf finished placing a glass of orange juice in front of Lily.
"At once, Master Snape." Twinkle said as she rushed to get a cup of coffee that she returned with a second later for Severus as Twinkle placed it on the table as Severus sat down only to pick up the mug of coffee and sip at it only to look across the table at the smiling face of his daughter who seemed to be oddly cheerful considering the night before she had been beyond worked up about a dream she had during the early hours of the morning.
"Good morning, daddy." Lily said in a happy tone as she smiled brightly at her dad who seemed to slowly be waking up. "Are we still going to the park today?" she asked as Severus raised an eye brow at her since it seemed odd to him that she would remember something like that and yet it appeared she did not remember anything else from the night before. "If I promise no disappear?" she asked since in truth Lily had the habit of starting random games of hide and seek with her dad which had led to her getting into trouble during the school terms since the castle was so big that it had a near infinite number of places for a mischievous child to hide.
Though pushing that from his mind as he took another sip of coffee Severus savored the taste of the plain black coffee for a brief moment before he spoke. "Yes, though it will be a little bit since we have to eat breakfast and then we both need to get dressed." He said as he knew Twinkle would help Lily get dressed while he got himself dressed. "And when we do go," at this point Twinkle put the two plates of food on the table for her master and young mistress. "I want you to be too far from me because if things happen we will have to leave quickly." He said as Lily gave him a questioning look then nodded at him with a smile on her face.
"Okay, daddy." She said as in truth she at times seemed to go back and forth between calling Severus by dad or daddy. Dad was usually when she was scared or worked up, daddy was when she was calm or happy. Though she soon focused on eating her breakfast that was a single helping of scrambled eggs, a little bacon and some toast, where her fathers was the same but bigger portioned due to how he was a grown man.
It did not take too long before Lily was do and sliding down from her chair and rushing from the kitchen as Twinkle bowed to Severus to dismiss herself before rushing after the small child. Something that brought a faint smile to Severus' face as he thought of how much his life had changed since Albus had given her to him to raise as his own. 'She is my everything, my whole world.' He thought to himself as he had once wondered if his attachment to her had been due to her having the name of the woman he still loved, but the first time that Lily had reached out to him and hugged him as he held her close, his heart had become hers.
Severus slowly stood from the table moving the plates and glasses to the sink so that it would be easier on Twinkle as he turned and headed out of the kitchen to the living room and then up the stairs. He passed his daughters room as he heard her happy voice through the closed door as a faint smile formed on his lips even more so when he heard her sweet innocent laugh, something he felt was the purest sound in the world, though he knew that in truth his opinion of that was biased since he loved his daughter. 'Even if blood does not bond us, the love I feel for her and the love she feels for me makes our family that much more real.' Severus thought to himself as he walked into his room and proceeded to change into a muggle grey sweater and snug fitting black jeans only to fix his hair so it lay in its normal way, smooth around his face.
Once he was sure he was ready he walked back toward the door and saw across the hall that Lily's door was open meaning that she had gone back downstairs to wait for him along with Twinkle. So he turned and headed down the hall to the stairs and down only for him to see her sitting on the couch wearing a light green knee length summer dress as she looked toward him with her blue eyes and smiled at him before she slid off of the couch and ran over to him only to throw herself against him in a hug as Severus moved his right arm to go around her slightly so that his hand rested on her back. In that moment Severus found himself wondering how he ever lived his life without his Lily there to brighten his world. 'Even a simple smile seems to brighten the world around her…' he thought as he felt her lean back as he lowered his hand as Lily reached up taking his hand before the two of them left the small house only for Severus to pick up Lily as she bunched up against him as he disapparated with her only to appear about two blocks from the park.
There was not that many people there, but as soon as Lily caught sight of the park play area she squirmed wanting down, something that Severus obliged in by kneeling down and letting Lily go off and play. Though it was not to long before Severus spotted the ones that he was sure Dumbledore was wanting him to see but not interact with. A woman he recognized as the sister of Lily Evans from the times he had interacted with her when they had been kids. She looked the same, only now she was an adult and seemed to be stuck up in Severus' opinion. Though with the woman was a boy…or what he thought was a boy due to it looking like something that held near no shape besides being round. Though as the woman, Petunia, walked by with the boy it was then that Severus saw for sure that the thing was a kid and more so due to how it was throwing a fit.
Though as Petunia put the boy down and let him go start playing with the other kids, Severus thought for a moment that surely the other boy, Harry, was still in the car because when he glanced he saw that a big man with a mustache, surely Petunia's husband, was just getting out of the car. However he merely locked the car and walked over to join his wife on a bench not too far from where Severus was sitting. 'That is a little odd…' Severus thought due to how surely Harry's family would have brought him along with them to the park since it was such a nice day out. However Severus' attention was soon take from that when he heard a sound that shocked him, a slight yell.
Lily had been playing on the swings along with a few other kids but when a big boy with blonde hair came over as she slowed down so she was just sitting on the swing facing the boy as he was giving her an annoyed look. "Hi." Lily said with a smile only for the boy to walk, over to her as she stood her ground since she thought he just wanted to talk.
However a few seconds later when the boy was right in front of her he glanced to see that neither of his parents were watching before he pushed Lily backward off of the swing onto the dirt as she yelled slightly out of shock as she fell to the ground as the boy held onto the side of the swing. "This is my swing, get lost!" he said as Lily sat up giving the boy a hurt look since she did not understand why he was being so mean to her. Though Lily glared at the boy as he sat and started to swing so that she had to back away from him but her frustration grew and grew until the swing suddenly stopped while at full height as the boy was left there only for him to start crying for his parents. However before his parents or even Severus could get over to the children, the swing gave a violent jolt sending the boy falling to the ground as the swing came back down and was still in front of Lily.
"Diddy!" a woman, Petunia, called out as she rushed over while her husband was close behind her as they helped their son up as he was unharmed besides being severely shaken. Though while Petunia was fawning over her son, her husband glanced around only for his eyes to fall on Lily who was still standing slightly dumbstruck beside the swing.
"What did you do to my son!" the man asked as Lily looked toward him, her blue eyes wide in horror at seeing the rage in the man's face but as she backed up she found herself against something solid, not caring who or what it was, she rushed to hide behind it. While she was hiding he heard the one she was behind talking to the man that had scared her. "Are you her guardian?" the other man asked in low tone.
Severus remained where he was, being a shield between his daughter and the muggle before him. "I am, though I suggest you tend to your own child and never scare mine again or you will know the meaning of fear, muggle." Severus said in a low tone only for Petunia's eyes to shot toward him as though he had uttered something horrible. Though without a word, Severus turned and picked up Lily figuring now was a good time to go and check into the one matter for Dumbledore and then he planned to take Lily home and make sure she was alright since that had been the first real display of her magic and he was sure it had startled her, even more so when he had her up in his arms she buried her face against his shoulder and the base of his neck.
As he was walking away, Severus whispered to Lily. "I just have one thing to take care of and then we will go back home." He said as Lily continued to hide her face as he felt bad for her since magic at times showed up when a child was under stress or sometimes in the worst of ways. Granted he never had any doubt that she would have magic, but at the same time he had hoped her magic would show itself for the first time when she was not around muggles. But there was nothing that could be done now since he had the favor for Dumbledore to take care of. Severus disapperated once he was out of sight of any muggles to just a short distance from Privet Drive. Once there he felt Lily shift as she leaned back only to look around as Severus carried her down the street toward the house.
"Where are we?" Lily asked looking around only for her father to turn and step over a hedge and into a yard as she saw a number four on the house as her father neared the door only to move one arm to get out his wand only to point it at the door and utter something under his breath as the faint sound of the lock being undone met Lily's ears only for her dad to open the door. Once the door opened Lily's blue eyes widened as she squirmed but her dad would not put her down as he closed the door behind them.
"Lily, stop squirming." Severus said since he did not understand what had gotten into her only for Lily to look at him with a worried look on her face. "What is wrong?" he asked only for Lily to shift and point toward a hall that led to what looked like a kitchen. Severus had his doubts but he walked down the hall only for Lily to squirm as they walked past a cupboard positioned under the stairs. "Lily what did I say abo-" Severus started to say but then he caught the look on Lily's face only to get the feeling that he was squirming for a reason. However time was of the essence so he could not indulge her at the moment and let her down because he did not know when the muggles would be back.
"Daddy! The cupboard!" Lily said in a determined tone only for her dad to give her a confused look resulting in her taking he matter into her own hands. She squirmed so much that he had no choice but to put her down as she turned and rushed to the cupboard and undid the lock on it only to open the door just as her dad came over behind her. "Hello?" Lily said as she went to step into the cupboard but her dad caught her and held her back as he held up his wand with his other hand as a light formed on the tip illuminating something that shocked both Lily and Severus.
Inside of the cupboard was a small mattress with a torn piece of quilt and slightly under the torn quilt was a boy who looked about the same age as Lily if not slightly smaller in stature, with brilliant green eyes, eyes that Severus would know anywhere. The child before him and his daughter was Harry! "H-Harry…" Severus said in shock as the boy looked toward him only for Lily to pull away and walk closer smiling at Harry as she held out a pale hand to him.
"You want to come?" she asked as Harry looked at her in shock due to how no one had ever been kind to him, not even his own family. Yet here this girl was before him, smiling a pure smile and offering him an escape. With a little hesitation, Harry reached up with his right hand as he placed it in Lily's, never taking his emerald green eyes off of her as she helped him up from the mattress and out of the cupboard to be standing before her dad only for Severus to notice then that Harry's left arm looked badly bruised as he thought of the night before as he felt slight panic at the thought but pushed it aside only to scoop up both Harry and Lily. Though as he carried them from the house and back to where he had apparated to before, the whole time Harry did not let go of Lily's hand, almost acting as though it were a life line, even as Severus disapparated with the two.
A/N: I am sorry about the delay with this update. I had planned to have it up by yesterday but some unexpected thing came up. Hope everyone enjoyed it. I want to thank Toraach and for their reviews. I will try to not take as long with the update for the next chapter.