Christmas Surprise

Tonks had decided that she would stay with Severus to help him and Twinkle take care of Lily, so she had sent a letter to her mother saying she would be spending her vacation there. That Lily needed better interaction rather than her father, which had started another fierce argument when Severus had seen the letter one morning as he had gone into the kitchen for coffee. Lily had come downstairs assisted by Twinkle since she was still in a frail state since the next full moon would be a week after Christmas, on New Year's Eve. She had managed to convince her father that was the best way to phrase it so that Mr. and Mrs. Tonks as well as Narcissa and Draco did not get suspicious on why Tonks could stay but none of them could visit.

A few days before Christmas Tonks had gone into Lily's room to find her at her desk, the first time since she had gotten there, that Lily was dressed in actual clothes and not just her night gown or a baggy shirt since she had spent most of the time resting. Instead today Lily was wearing a pale blue sweater and jeans. "What are you doing?" Tonks asked as she stepped inside and leaned against the wall beside Lily's desk as her friend looked at her with a hint of tears in her eyes. "Lily!" Tonks knelt before Lily with a concerned look on her face. "What happened? You aren't in pain, are you? Do you need me to get your father?" she asked in a rush since she had been there, she had seen that Severus kept a steady supply of pain potions ready for when Lily needed them.

"I have to find a way to phrase a letter to Harry, so he doesn't come…" Lily said looking down as a few tears fell down her pale face. "He said in a letter before you came that he was planning to try and run away from the Weasley's to come see dad and me because he misses us, and he is worried about me…" Lily said as her voice shook.

'She doesn't want him to know out of fear that he will shun her…' Tonks thought as she remembered that had been the reason Lily had not told her before when Tonks had shown up wand raised ready to hex and curse the potions master and take Lily to the hospital. "And telling him the truth is out…" Tonks whispered as Lily nodded.

"Because then the Weasley's might contact the headmaster at Hogwarts insisting that I not even be allowed to attend because of what I am." Lily said but Tonks could tell that was the underline of Lily's fear. The main thing was if Harry were to reject her for something out of her control.

"If they did that then I would just teach you myself!" Tonks said as she grinned ear to ear only to see it did not brighten her friend's mood. She hated seeing Lily like this, she only wanted Lily to be happy and always smiling because she had a strange smile that seemed more and more rare as time passed. That was when it occurred to Tonks. She squinched up her face only for her nose and lips to morph into that of a duck beak. "QUACK!" She said in a loud tone causing Lily to look at her as Tonks crossed her eyes and quacked again.

That had done it. Small at first, but soon there was a full, true smile on Lily's face as she even started to laugh a little as Tonks quacked a third time. Something that made Tonks feel beyond happy, to see Lily smiling and crying even if she was having to make a slight fool of herself, she found she did not mind in the slightest. 'If it makes her happy, I'll greet her every morning with a different animal nose.' Tonks thought to herself.

/

That afternoon Lily went outside, insisting she wanted to be alone for a little while after sending the letter to Harry telling him that they would just see one another on the Hogwarts Express the following September. As she walked she listened to the crunch of the snow under her boots that she was wearing as snow clung to her black hair, her black winter cloak her father had gotten during one of his trips to Diagon Alley for ingredients for all the potions he brewed for her. "Was it really alright for me to tell Tonks the truth?" Lily asked since she was among the trees now and knew her father and Tonks would not be able to see that she appeared to be talking to herself. She wasn't, she was talking to her guardian angel again.

"It was. It is a step toward you accepting what you are by birth which in turn will allow others to accept you when the time is right." The guardian angel said as she was gliding along on the snow, leaving no evidence of her passing.

"I am not so sure." Lily said as she stopped by a tree only to lean against it.

"You need to believe that things will work out." The guardian angel urged as she went to reach out to Lily only to hesitate and let her hand fall back to her side.

"How can I when I spend most of the time severely weakened by a curse that I have only minimal knowledge of? That and how I doubt things will change when I start school because of something I have no control of!" Lily ground out as she sank down along the tree, so she was sitting in the snow.

"Lily…" whispered the guardian angel before kneeling before her. "If only you knew just how special you are. What your existence means to so many."

"I just wish you could explain more of it…" Lily whispered as she looked to the side watching as the snow fell. "Ever since that day I was found in the Divination classroom alone even though I had been there with one of the professors everything has gotten stranger." She admitted.

"When the time is right, I will reveal all that I can when the time is right." She assured Lily who merely sighed at being told that yet again.

/

Tonks had been hesitant to let Lily go outside unattended, but Severus had assured her that it was good for Lily. It was also showing more on how she was recovering more and more before she got sick again. "That may be, sir, but at the same time, she only just got to where she could walk around without either of us or Twinkle supporting her." Tonks said as she walked over to the couch and sat down facing Severus as he was sitting in the arm chair to the right. "Is there really nothing we can do now? To ease her suffering." Tonks said barely able to speak above a whisper when saying the last part.

"No there is nothing." Severus said as he turned slightly to look toward the window as it was snowing lightly. "All we can do," he turned back to fully face Tonks. "Is be there for her. And keep her secret." He said shaking his head since he hated that being all that he could do for his child.

Tonks nodded, her expression showing defeat at the thought of being unable to do anything for Lily. There had to be something, some way to cure her since she was only a half werewolf from what they had told her. "Though, sir." She said after a moment of silence, drawing the attention of the usually cold potions master. "She told me the other day that she was sending a letter to Harry, and that she was worried if the Weasley's found out they may contact the headmaster and not want her to attend thinking she is dangerous." Tonks said immediately regretting it because of the anger she saw flash on Severus' face.

"And that old fool would agree with them." He said in a low tone. "Not even caring that Lily has never once harmed a single person." He said shaking his head. "Which is part of why I took leave of my teaching position until the start of the next term. So, I can fully focus on her, and she can know freedom." He admitted as he heard the door open. Turning he saw Lily turning to close the door. He was on his feet in a near rush as he went over to her, but Lily merely turned away from him and ran up the stairs as the sound of her door closing softly met his ears not long after she had turned and had left his sight.

"There has to be something else wrong, sir." Tonks said from not far from Severus' side as he had not even noticed she had stood and come over closer.

"Only other thing is her nightmares she has." He said with a sigh as he hung his head slightly and shook it before speaking again. "Twinkle?" he asked only for the small house elf to appear beside him. Before she could speak he spoke again. "Fix some hot chocolate and take it up to Lily and if need be help her get into warm clothes since she looked like she was a little damp from being out in the snow."

"At once, master Severus." Twinkle said bowing before she vanished with a faint pop.

"Nightmares?" Tonks asked wondering on that, but she had figured to wait until Severus was done talking to Twinkle. "What kind of nightmares has she been having?" she asked since it had not seemed that Lily had any in the time that she had been there. And she had never heard of nightmares affecting someone more than being shook up when they woke up the following morning or even in the middle of the night.

"She won't tell me." Severus sighed, worry evident even in that small action.

/

Lily found herself in darkness as she turned in a circle, unable to see anything. "Hello?" she called out nervously as she soon saw a faint light in the distance. Without any hesitation she ran toward it, but even as she moved, the movements felt sluggish. Like she was wading through deep thick mud or trying to run through water. As she got closer to the light it seemed to be growing brighter. That is when she saw a figure, one almost eerily thin under their cloak. "Hello?" Lily asked again only for the person to start to speak.

Semper in fine cycle,

Vita, morte, vita, mors.

Nudatur sua virtute,

Excussosque iubet laxare mors est.

Usque ad exercitum natus,

Quod statim cum una direpta.

Omnia tandem

Mors ad te.

In baculo potest vinci,

lapis possit defuncta revocantur,

Morbi a morte protegens.

Mortem omnibus esse redeundum.

No sooner had they finished speaking, the figure turned toward Lily as she saw nothing but darkness within the hood. She tried to back away, but she was rooted to the spot as she tried to speak only for her lips to move but no sound came from them. The figure was upon her, leaned over her as they reached out only to catch her chin in a hand that was cold as ice and made her look up into the hood only for the light to be devoured by the darkness but she could still feel the ice from the hand as it felt like she was suspended in the darkness…

Lily sat up gasping as she had accidentally sent Xander sprawling down to the foot of the bed where he gave her an angry meow and even swatted at her leg that was shielded by the blanket. Not that she fully noticed as she was staring at the quiet darkness that was around her room. Closing her eyes, she drew her knees up showing more of the pale pink nightgown she was wearing as she wrapped her arms around her legs and hid her face behind her knees. "What is wrong with me?!" she whispered as she quietly cried not wanting to wake her father or her best friend. 'Why do I keep having these nightmares? Are they linked with the wolf inside of me that my dad is trying to figure out how to remove?' she thought since it seemed at times the nightmares were worse around the time of the full moon, but that was still several days away. 'With me having these dreams, there is no way I will be able to live in the dorm of whichever house I get sorted into next year…' Lily thought as she drew her knees closer.

/

Lily was not sure when it had happened, but at some point, during the night she had managed to get back to sleep, and by some luck she had not had any more dreams. She quietly got up from her bed, seeing Xander was curled up over on the chair in front of her desk. 'He is probably still mad at me for last night…' she thought in a sad tone, even as she realized that today was Christmas. She went over to her closet and got out a light blue sweater and jeans that she quickly changed into.

No sooner had she shifted to putting her shoes on, her door was thrown open as Tonks came bounding in with bright bubble gum pink hair that was spiked out in several directions. "HAPPY CHRISTMAS LILY!" Tonks yelled as she rushed over and threw her arms around Lily causing the younger girl to squirm insisting she couldn't breathe.

Once Tonks had released Lily, she smiled at her, almost like she knew something that Lily did not. "Why are you smiling so much?" Lily asked doing her best to hide that she was still tired. "You didn't do something to upset my dad and are trying to hide from him again, did you?" Lily asked as Tonks gave her a mock hurt look.

"Of course not. Though he may not be happy with someone else…" Tonks said in a nervous tone only to move so she was no longer blocking the door, revealing the last person Lily had expected to see.

Harry.

He looked the same as he had before. His black hair untidy and in every direction at once, even slightly in his emerald green eyes that were behind his round glasses. He had grown some in the past few years and now stood an inch taller than Lily where before they had been the same height. But before she could register anymore, Harry ran into her room and slammed into her holding her close in a fierce hug.

"I missed you so much." He whispered since every day that he had been away from her had hurt. More so hearing the ones that were supposed to be his new parents saying awful things about Lily and Severus.

Once she recovered from the shock she put her arms around Harry to return the hug, though she did not have the strength he did to put into it as she buried her face against his shoulder slightly. "I missed you too…" she whispered as her voice shook. Surely, she was dreaming, a cruel dream. There was no way he could be there, he had to still be at the Weasley's. 'I don't care if this is only a dream!' she thought to herself as she continued to hug Harry for all she was worth. If this is really a dream, I will just enjoy it.' She thought as she continued to hold Harry for all she was worth.

"Why don't we head down to get some breakfast before opening presents and breaking the news to your father that we are harboring a run away." Tonks said as Lily leaned her head up to look at her friend as she knew her father would be angry that Harry had run away and come to the house. One reason because the full moon was in about a week, meaning any day Lily would start to become weaker again and fall ill. Which meant if Harry stayed he would have to leave by the end of the day to not risk him seeing her in that state.

"Okay." Lily said pulling from the hug as Harry lowered his arms but when her hands went to rest down at her side, she felt Harry gently take her hand in his, the way he had done so many times when they had been little kids. She looked at him and smiled shyly at him, since it had been so long since she had felt his warm hand holding her own.

The three left Lily's room, taking great care to sneak quietly past Severus' room as they headed downstairs to see that Twinkle had been up all-night decorating. Since Lily had gotten older, the house elf had toned down the decorating a great deal. She still hung tinsel on the stairs and put up just one tree now instead of how it had been the first Christmas Lily remembered. Even just thinking back on that, when Professor McGonagall had brought her home only for them to find her father and Twinkle fighting, it still made her smile.

As they walked through the living room, Lily saw that there was an even larger mountain of gifts under the tree, she figured it was due to how Tonks was there and now even Harry since chances were that Twinkle had been in on this and had retrieved his gifts from the Weasley's. Which was confirmed when they walked into the kitchen and Twinkle came bouncing over seeming to be even happier than usual. "Happy Christmas, Mistress Lily!" she said hugging Lily around her waist.

"Happy Christmas, Twinkle." Lily said using just one arm to return the hug, not wanting to let go of Harry's hand, afraid that he would vanish if she did.

They moved to the table as Harry sat to Lily's left, and Tonks to her right as they started to visit once introductions were fully out of the way. By the time Severus made his appearance, the three of them had already ate their breakfast of eggs, toast and warm pumpkin juice. He did not seem to register that Harry was there until he sat down and took a few sips of his coffee.

"Happy Christmas, Lily, Tonks, Harry…" he had mumbled as he sipped his coffee as it seemed once the coffee had fully entered his system a moment later he realized what he had just said. "HARRY?!" He yelled as he dropped the coffee, shattering the mug as coffee went across the table as Lily, Tonks and Harry moved back to avoid any of the hot liquid falling on them as it dripped to the floor. Twinkle raced over to clean it up as Severus stood. "Living room…NOW!" he ordered as he pointed to the door as the three children scrambled out into the living room where they all sat on the couch as Severus raced to the fireplace and closed the Floo network so that he could first scold them then he intended to send Harry back.

Once the Floo was closed, he turned on the three sitting on the couch in the same order they had been in the kitchen. "Whose idea was this? Do you not realize how serious this is?" he asked glaring at each in turn, even Lily.

"I know it was reckless…" Harry spoke in a nervous tone, seeing what he had almost forgotten in his years away from what he felt was his true family. That Severus could be very scary and intimidating at times. "But I could not wait to see Lily, and I wanted to make sure she was okay after all the short letters I had received." He said as he noticed Lily look down slightly. "I promise I will go back to the Burrow this evening, just please let me spend today with you, Tonks and Lily." Harry pleaded as Severus reached up resting his hand on his face as his face looked even more weary than usual due to how he had not gotten to drink all his coffee.

"Who helped you with this? I doubt that you got out of the Burrow without the assistance of at least one of the older boys." Severus said as he was sure he would be in a world of trouble, but one image stuck with him. The pure and true smile that he had seen on Lily's face in the kitchen. Where even the sadness that seemed to haunt her blue eyes seemed gone now that Harry was there.

"Charlie, Fred and George…" Harry admitted. "I told them what I intended to do so they said they would cover for me until this afternoon or evening."

Severus was not surprised that the twins had a hand in helping Harry with something like this. The two were only in their second year, but the short while he had been there for the start of their second year he had thought they were nothing but trouble makers. "Very well. You may stay until this afternoon. I would rather not risk any trouble." He said as Lily smiled. Before he could say more he felt her slam into him, something that he felt more than he had in the past since she was no longer a small child, but a ten-year-old.

"Oh, and my Aunt Narcissa and Draco should be coming soon too!" Tonks said only for Severus to glare at her. He feared that having so many people would push Lily's limit on what she could endure since she was still not at full strength. Though he soon relented at seeing how happy Lily seemed to be now.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, all due to how Lily and Harry stayed in the living room visiting about all that had happened since they had been forced apart. Tonks sat with them sharing her own take on some of the stories that Lily was telling on what all had happened with Lily being confined to the dungeon quarters until her father had taken leave for the year. It wasn't until around noon that Narcissa arrived with Draco using the Floo network. When they first stepped out, Narcissa didn't notice Harry, same as Severus that morning. But when she did she excused herself to go into the kitchen, leaving Draco to settle down and enjoy visiting with his cousin, Lily and Harry. Once in the kitchen, Narcissa went over to the table where Severus was sitting supervising Twinkle making sure she did not go over the top with lunch.

"What is Harry doing here? Won't you and Lily get in trouble?" she asked as she sat down, shrugging off her black traveling cloak she had been wearing only for Twinkle to come bouncing over and take it from her to put away.

"He insisted that three of the Weasley children helped him escape. And from what I can tell, he is miserable there, so I figured allow the boy a few hours with Lily." Severus said as he shook his head, knowing full well that there were only a few more hours at most.

"I just hope they do not try causing trouble for you and Lily when neither of you apparently were aware of this." Narcissa said as Twinkle came skipping back into the kitchen to continue preparations for lunch. "But at least Lily seems to be feeling a bit better today, granted she is still a little pale. Why don't you take her to St. Mungo's?" Narcissa asked, worry evident in her tone and in her eyes as she looked at Severus.

"I don't because I am taking care of her." Severus said in a flat tone. All due to how he wondered if he was really doing what was best at times, or was he just making Lily suffer due to his fear of what would happen if what was wrong with her was discovered. "I think part of it is she has been battling a cold and the flu. At times it borders on pneumonia." He said which was not a lie, since at times she had caught those illnesses just after the full moon since it left her in a severely weakened state every time.

"Very well, so long as you have it under control so that poor girl can get better." Narcissa said as in truth even though there was no blood relation, she had grown to care for Lily. She was a sweet girl who had been accepting of Draco right after they had left Lucius.

/

"So, are you feeling much better now?" Draco asked as he looked toward Lily with a hint of worry. "In your last letter you said you were starting to feel better but that you were still recovering."

"Yeah, my dad gave me a new potion a few days ago and I am feeling better." Lily said with a weak smile. "I am just to be taking it easy for a while." She said as she hoped that Draco and Harry believed her.

"That's a relief." Draco said before looking to Tonks. "Though I am surprised you are still in one piece. Aunt Andromeda was worried that Severus was going to hex you when she saw the note you left saying you had come to take Lily to St. Mungo's." he said shaking his head. "But mom and I assured her that we didn't think Severus would do anything too drastic." He said only to notice that Lily and Tonks looked at one another and then laughed a little. "What? Did I miss something?"

"Well…" Lily started trying to stifle her own laughing. "My dad did almost curse and hex her into oblivion had I not convinced him to spare her." She admitted but figured it was best to not tell the whole story.

"Yeah, I had almost forgotten how scary he can be." Tonks said with a laugh. "But now I know he is just a big softie."

"Who is a softie, Miss Tonks?" Severus asked from right behind where Tonks was sitting on the couch causing her to jump and trip over the edge of the table only to face plant to the floor as the table crashed to the floor. Though Severus smirked at the sight since it proved he could still scare people which he felt would come in handy once Lily started attending school.

"Ow ow ow ow…" Tonks whispered as she sat up as Lily got up from where she was sitting and knelt beside Tonks. "Don't worry, I'm fine." Tonks said with a smile when she saw the worry on Lily's face. "Nothing new because I trip over my own feet all of the time."

"That's an understatement." Draco said shaking his head. "Somehow you managed to trip going up some stairs and actually went up a few steps before rolling back down." He said as secretly he thought that was either pure clumsiness or a strange skill that Tonks had.

A few minutes later Severus went over and helped Lily up from the floor and helped her back over to the couch since she had lost a bit of her strength for a moment there. When she caught sight of the worried looks that Harry and Draco gave her she smiled. "Don't worry. I'm still physically recovering from this last bit with being sick." She said as she felt horrible not telling the truth, but she was afraid to.

"It won't affect you with studies once we start will it?" Harry asked since from the letters he had gotten, Lily had been sick almost constantly since he had been forced to live with the Weasley's. He glanced to Draco to see from his expression, that it seemed that Draco was wondering the same thing.

"I will be fine." Lily said giving a small smile as her father sat down beside her after having helped her onto the couch. "Since I've been under the weather, dad has been letting me already read through some bits in relation to the classes we will all be taking starting in September." Which was not a lie. When she was up to it, her father did let her read through some books he had in relation to at least the classes that first years studied. But he was very adamant that he did not want her studying too much and risk her ending up ahead of her classmates and be bored during lessons.

/

Despite the protests that came from Harry, Severus did manage to convince him to return home that afternoon. Narcissa and Draco stayed until a while after dark, until Severus had noticed that Lily was starting to stifle yawns due to how she was still not fully recovered and was trying to strain herself in remaining in the living room with their guests. After they had left through the Floo, Severus gathered up Lily in his arms before he headed up to her room, calling Twinkle who assisted Lily in getting into her night dress before Severus went about positioning her on her bed and even bringing the blanket up around her.

It was then that he really noticed just how frail and thin Lily was. Her arms barely had any muscle, same with her legs, her pale face was drawn, a faint red hue on her cheeks hinting that it was as he had feared. While today had been good for her, it had also caused her to overdo it. She was not ready to fully handle so much in a single day. A fact that had him beyond worried because of how she would soon have to also handle the demands of the studies at Hogwarts.

Tucking the blanket around Lily, he wondered if he was just worried too much about this. But how earlier she had lost her strength, was her condition worsening instead of stabilizing? There were days he had noticed that she seldom or barely ate or even drank water or even pumpkin juice. Was she on borrowed time? Part of him wanted to track down her biological father and curse him into oblivion for passing his curse onto his precious daughter. Shaking his head for a second, he soon looked toward Lily as she was asleep, the gentle rise and fall of her chest and how peaceful her face was, it almost made him forget how ill she was. He just wished there was something more he could do, but for now all he could do was try to find a cure for her. Leaning over his sleeping daughter, Severus gently kissed her forehead before whispering, "Sweet dreams, my precious Lily." Before he straightened and left her room.

A/N: I HAVE RETURNED FROM MY HIATUS! I am so so so so so SO sorry to everyone who has been waiting for this chapter since the last one was uploaded. I had some personal things going on that had to be addressed, but now I think I am back and ready to keep writing on this story. Part one of the story is concluding soon, but do not worry, I have no intention to not keep going. I have already started to work on the next chapter, so hope that the wait will not be too long. For updates on my forthcoming updates on this and my other active stories or series, check my profile as I try to keep updates posted on there. Finally, a very special thanks to NatNicole, and HoneyBear84 for reviewing the last chapter, as well as everyone who is reading, has favorited and/or followed the story to this point. More updates coming soon!