A/N: Chapter kicks off with continuation of Severus and Lily's Christmas festivities, followed by a significant event in history witnessed by them.
Chapter 16 Wonder and Despair
Harry's scare on the broom came with a tidal wave of emotions Severus hadn't expected in the least. Shock, fear, terror, but most of all, protectiveness. He'd felt all those feelings before, though, many times over across the years he'd spent loving, raising and caring for the birds. In relation to Harry and Azalea, though, it was still very much a foreign feeling and one he knew he would have to get used to. His feelings of shock and terror lent further evidence to his belief that he now loved Lily's kids almost as much as he loved Lily herself. It was odd, saying that aloud, or even thinking it, but the proof was in the proverbial pudding and when he told Lily of the incident, she could only smile and nod as he talked about the wave of emotions that crashed over him in that moment. Those feelings of fear and protectiveness that Severus described to Lily were all too familiar to her, and she told Severus that sometimes she experienced them far too often for her liking as a mother. When Severus then compared those feelings to what he held for the birds whenever they got into a difficult situation, Lily thought the comparison apt and served as yet more proof of Severus' growing love of Harry and Azalea.
Thankfully for Severus, there were no more scares in store for him on Christmas. They returned to the house just before sunset and came across Lily in the kitchen helping Azalea with her potions kit. Harry decided to sit in on it, and Severus too; the boys listening as Lily patiently explained the principles of brewing to a captivated Azalea. They had Baked Cod for dinner, a dish prepared by Severus with Poesy assisting on the soup and vegetables. Severus' ego inflated exponentially as his cod proved to be a hit with Lily, Azalea, and even Harry, who usually didn't like fish all that much. After their meal, Lily insisted on helping to tidy up, which freed up Severus and allowed him to relax in the sitting room. He was joined soon after by Harry and Azalea, the former playing with some of his new G.I. Joe figurines and the latter making far less of a ruckus as she read a new book. Meanwhile, Severus switched on the TV and tuned into a nature program, something or other about dolphins, he wasn't really paying much attention.
A short while later Lily came in and flopped down on the sofa beside him.
"Harry, Azalea, why don't you put away your books and toys please," she said softly. "We're going to watch a movie, all right?"
"What movie?" Harry asked, his voice betraying his curiosity.
Lily wandered over to the TV and pushed a tape into the VCR. "Just wait and see, sweetie, just wait and see."
Lily returned to the sofa and sat down next to Severus, her head coming to rest on his shoulder as Harry and Azalea joined them. Without further delay, Lily's movie began to play. The opening shot of the movie was one of outer space, a number of galaxies illuminated brightly in white light floating on a sea of black. All of a sudden, the three galaxies started talking to one another and they were joined by a fourth, smaller galaxy, also speaking. Soon after learning that those galaxies weren't galaxies, but angels; the shot changed again to depict a boy on a sled, sliding down a snowy hill. The boy overshot his target and slid across the ice, the ice cracking under his weight which caused him to fall into the freezing water below. Azalea gasped as the young boy, who looked no older than Harry, fell through the ice and started screaming for help. Luckily, his older brother was on hand and helped pull him to safety. Alas, the older brother's good deed would not go unpunished, since an untreated inner-ear infection lead to the loss of his hearing in one ear.
The incident set the tone for much of the rest of the movie, and summed up the lead's character to a tee. As the years rolled by in a span of minutes, George Bailey grew from a bright, young boy with dreams and aspirations to a down-trodden middle-aged man stuck in a rut. Through it all, his desire to put others before himself and to do what was right for those around him never changed, even when he'd beaten, chewed up, and spit out by the world many times over. Harry and Azalea didn't quite understand all the subtle nuances of the film, but seeing George standing at the bridge, then discovering what the world would be like without him brought tears to their eyes. Throughout that entire sequence, they, like George, begged George's angel to change things back to the way they were and to bring George back to life. The film ended with Clarence, George's angel, reverting things to the way they were. George rediscovered his self-worth after his ordeal and he ran through Bedford Falls on a snowy Christmas Night wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, before returning home to the embrace of his family and friends. George's loving rein with Mary, his family and friends brought rapturous applause from Harry and Azalea.
As the film neared its end, a bell on the Bailey family's Christmas tree rang and one of George's daughters proclaimed that "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."
Lily dared a glance at Severus then and was surprised to see a thin veneer of tears in his eyes, bellied by the small smile that curled his lip. He discreetly brought his arm up to wipe at his eyes with his shirt sleeve. Neither Azalea nor Harry noticed the movement, but Lily did, and she smiled. By the movie's end, Azalea was already fast asleep and curled into Severus' side, Harry too, was on the verge of succumbing to his fatigue, his eyelids fluttering shut before snapping open once again. With a shared look, Lily and Severus both stood to their feet and lifted the slumbering children into their arms. Severus placed Harry down on the bed in his room, kicking aside a few of the toys and books that littered the boy's floor as he walked to the bed. He laid Harry down atop the sheets and with a flick of his rowan wand, unfolded the quilt at the base of the bed and draped it over his body.
Harry remained fast asleep as Severus tiptoed down the upstairs hall into Azalea's room. Inside, Lily was bent over Azalea's bed draping a quilt over her daughter, she then pressed a silent kiss to Azalea's forehead. Whirling around, she was surprised to see Severus standing in the frame, but smiled at him all the same.
"Is Harry all tucked in?" She brushed a few strands of dark hair out of her face.
"Sleeping like a baby," Severus replied, smiling.
Severus reached over to her and pulled her towards him, Lily offering no resistance and all but falling into his embrace. Lily melted into him and leaned up on her toes, pressing a kiss to Severus' pale cheek. "Take me to bed," she whispered huskily.
Severus opened his lips as if to reply, but thought better of it and instead reached lower and lifted Lily off her feet. Lily nearly yelped in surprise but Severus quickly covered her mouth with his palm, preventing her from waking her children.
"You'll need to be quiet for me, Lily. Can you do that?" His voice was deadly serious, and he made no move to pry his hand from her lips.
Lily nodded dumbly, her eyes wide and alive with lust. Severus just smirked back at her and replaced his palm with his lips; he then carried her all the way down the hall to his room.
With New Year's Eve just around the corner, Severus and Lily's focus quickly shifted from Christmas to their impending New Year's Eve celebrations. In the days following Christmas, Severus continued to check in with Frank daily and was relieved to see that his flock leader was on the mend. By the 29th, he was well enough to fly again, and by the 31st, he was up and about pulling acrobatic stunts like it was nobody's business. While Severus continued to closely monitor Frank's recovery and manage his own work, Lily enlisted two pairs of helping hands to take down the Christmas decorations and to begin brainstorming ideas for their New Year's Eve celebrations.
Unlike Christmas, Severus preferred to celebrate New Year's Eve on his own in year's past. Then again, by midnight his staff would've returned home about five hours earlier and he was usually left to his own devices with a glass of scotch and perhaps some fireworks. This year, for the first time since his beloved mentor passed away, he wouldn't be alone. He would have Lily, and Harry and Azalea too, but try as he might he couldn't think of anything they might want to do. He briefly contemplated asking if any of the rangers might want to stick around after work, but quickly thought better of it for fear of disrupting any prior obligations they might've made with family or friends. Severus eventually relented and came to the decision that perhaps a quiet night in was the best thing after such an eventful Christmas. So, instead of planning, he decided that the best course of action would be to leave the day open and to let things pan out naturally.
With Frank on the mend and feeling much better than he was just one week prior, and much of his administrative work wrapped up for the year, Severus was able to relax for the last couple days of 1985. On the last day of the year, he woke silently before dawn, extricating himself from Lily's loose grip on his torso and tiptoeing across the bedroom to his bath. To ensure he wouldn't wake her, he cast a silencing charm on the bathroom and then went about his morning rituals. The morning passed by fairly smoothly, Severus first met with Frank and the other members of the senior flock. The sun was still below the horizon so he fed them under a blanket of darkness then performed a series of cursory checks on his eldest bird, and deeming him fit, he gave his friend the 'all clear' sign. Frank grinned with his eyes and took to the skies, swooping and diving about with joy. Chuckling, Severus returned to the farmhouse to send off a couple order forms for more ground beef and medication, his final two orders of business for 1985.
After sending off the last order form, one for additional decongestants after Frank depleted his stock, he opened the door to his office only to be hit in the face with golden rays of sunlight. Blinking in surprise, Severus squinted and ducked out of the way, peering over at the grandfather clock which read fifteen-past-eight. Severus' eyes bulged wide in surprise, unable to comprehend that time'd passed so quickly; but his feelings of shock quickly gave way to relief as he realized that he was all but finished with his duties for the day, barring any emergencies. Sighing, he smiled to himself and headed out of the living room, following the noises that he heard coming from the kitchen. Severus smiled broadly as he followed the sound of Lily, Harry and Azalea's voices. From their soft-spoken words, they were debating how to structure Severus' breakfast, but Severus wasn't able to discern anything more from their muffled voices beyond that. He paused in the entryway to the kitchen only to see Harry placing some fruit in a fruit bowl, Azalea smoothing down the tablecloth, and Lily taking off a couple rashers of bacon from the frying pan.
Severus felt an odd sensation of…come to think of it, he didn't really know how to describe it. Belonging, perhaps? Though he found that didn't quite fit what he was looking for.
As Lily took the rashers off the pan and turned, she spotted him standing in the doorway at long last and her eyes lit up. The nigh-silent gasp of surprise she gave alerted Harry and Azalea, and they too, looked up.
"Mornin' Uncle Sev!" Harry chirped cheerily, as he set down the final strawberry in what Severus presumed was his fruit bowl.
"Good morning to you too, Harry," said Severus to Harry. "And g'morning to you as well, Azalea, Lily," he added, his gaze shifting to mother and daughter.
Azalea grinned broadly at him as she smoothed down a few more crinkles in the tablecloth. Lily then brought his fully-laden plate over to the table and set it down where it joined three other plates sitting there.
"Busy morning?" Lily asked mildly, her tone laced with apparent curiosity as her eyes met his.
"More or less. I had a few things to take care of…but everything's in order now," Severus replied carefully. He pushed himself off the doorframe and stepped into the room. "I think my schedule should be free for the rest of the day…so, anything you have planned, I'm game for."
"But you can't leave the reserve today, right?" Lily asked quietly.
Severus shook his head. "I've only got three rangers here today, they'll need me in case something goes wrong," he answered.
Lily adjusted Severus' setting then turned towards him with a smile. They walked purposefully towards one another and without a word, she looped her hands about Severus' neck, and pulled him down for a soft kiss of greeting. Harry's gagging noises brought smiles to both their faces, though neither pulled back from their lip-lock for the time being. Eventually they pulled back, though their cheeks were flushed and their eyes were shining bright with love.
"That's okay," Lily said breathlessly. "We can find plenty of things to do around here. Though I hope you don't mind if I head into town, Sev, I need to pick up something for Harry today if that's all right with you."
"I'm all right with that," Severus replied, smiling softly. "You can use the Mustang if you want, just be careful with her."
"Always," Lily grinned.
They then sat down for the meal, and like it had been since boxing day, the main topic of conversation at their little kitchen table was the upcoming shuttle launch. Harry'd felt a little under the weather with a minor cold over the past few days, leading Lily to confine him indoors away from the chilly weather whilst he recovered. He was feeling better now, though, but during the four days he'd remained indoors, he passed some of his time watching the television. The cartoons only ran for so long in the mornings, so around noon, Harry went searching through the other channels on their tv for interesting shows or programs to watch. He eventually found a program on the upcoming shuttle launch, flipping onto the channel just in time to see a compilation reel of previous Space Shuttle launches that ensnared his attention. He remained on that channel for the next two hours until lunch-time, soaking up as much information as he could about the coming shuttle launch as if he were a sponge.
When Harry brought it up with Severus and Lily at boxing day lunch, he was surprised to find out that both his mum and uncle Sev were relatively well-versed with America's space program. He also learned that his mum had been quite the avid fan of spaceflight ever since getting to watch the Apollo 11 launch live on television as a child. After some wheedling on Harry's part, not much was needed, they agreed to sit down to watch the Challenger launch on January 28th.
"I still think it's so cool that a regular muggle gets to go to space!" Harry said, awestruck as he always was when he spoke about the upcoming launch.
"She's no ordinary muggle, Harry," Lily replied, giving her son a chiding look. "She's been training very hard in order to meet all the requirements to fly. Becoming an astronaut, even if only a temporary one, is no easy feat."
The topic of today, it would seem, was the superstar teacher turned prospective astronaut, Christa McAuliffe.
"Have any wizards gone to space?" Azalea asked curiously.
Both Lily and Severus shook their heads in unison.
"Believe me, they've tried," Lily replied to her daughter. "But Spaceflight is awfully difficult, pumpkin. And there are some things where Muggles are far ahead of wizards and witches, spaceflight and exploration is one of those areas."
"I wanna be an astronaut!" Harry declared. "A wizard astronaut."
Lily beamed at Harry. "Believe me, sweetie. You'd have better luck becoming an astronaut if you wanted to become a Muggle one. Though, you'd have to work really hard for it. NASA is very selective about who they choose."
"I thought you wanted to come work for me when you were older," Severus said with a mock-pout, drawing chortles from Lily, giggles from Azalea, and a sheepish smile from Harry.
"I can do both those things, Uncle Sev," Harry said confidently.
His tone reminded Severus of the way Lily used to speak when life revolved around just the two of them. As a child, Lily was utterly assured and brimming with confidence in her own abilities, beliefs and convictions, it seemed she'd passed on that character trait to her son. Though come to think of it, James Potter was equally confident and self-assured as Lily was, perhaps even more so.
"With hard work, I'm sure you can," Severus replied, before taking a bite of his bacon.
Harry beamed at him and Severus allowed himself a small smile, too.
Throughout the rest of breakfast, Harry regaled his sister, mum and uncle with his predictions for the launch, but his enthusiasm would taper off as the morning wound on. Through much of the morning and noon, the kids spent the day outdoors in the snow under Lily's watchful eye, while Severus remained on the porch reading a book. He thought about venturing out into the range for a walk, but decided against it as he was feeling a little lazy that afternoon. He thumbed through his most recent novel, Empire of the Sun, a gift from Lily for Christmas; while idly keeping an eye on Harry and Azalea as they flung snowballs at one another. Lily was stood off to the side, keeping a close eye on them like a mother hen watching her chicks. He watched on with fond amusement as they chucked snowballs at one another, Lily occasionally stepping in to lend her daughter a hand whenever Harry seemed to be getting the upper hand. Severus rolled his eyes at their antics and returned to his reading. As he lowered his onyx eyes to the page, a snowball was launched through the air only to miss its mark and impact the wall behind its intended target.
"You missed," Severus muttered. He hadn't even raised his gaze from the page, and with a subtle flick of his wand, he erected a small shield. "Feel free to try again."
The second snowball would've found its mark if he hadn't put up his shield, but alas for Lily, it impacted the shield harmlessly much to her shock.
"That's cheating!" she spluttered accusingly. She stalked towards him through the snow, Harry and Azalea trailing after her as she stepped onto the porch.
"So? You attacked me unprovoked. All I want to do is get some reading done and you're trying to keep me from that," Severus drawled, making no effort to mask his annoyance. He arched a brow.
You're just upset that you were outsmarted. Aren't you?" Severus didn't wait for Lily to reply before turning to face her wide-eyed kids. "Y'hear that kiddos? Your mum fights dirty, be on the lookout for that from now on!"
"Severus!" Lily yelped, her glare not carrying any real heat but mirth in its place.
Despite Lily's audible protest, Harry and Azalea nodded fervently in response to Severus' warning.
Lily could only sigh and shake her head at Severus. "You can be so impossible sometimes, honestly."
"And yet, here you are," Severus pointed out plainly.
Lily couldn't restrain her smile. "Yet here I am."
She brought down his shield charm with a flick of her wand, and walked towards him purposefully, then kissing him on the cheek. For once, Harry didn't make his usual gagging noise when he saw his mum and Uncle Sev kissing; in fact, this time he was smiling. As was Azalea.
"Let's head inside, it's getting rather chilly out, isn't it?"
"I'll be right in, in a few minutes, Lily," said Severus. Her questioning expression lead him to add; "I'm just gonna go check up on Dylan, Marcia and Wayne, see how they're faring."
Lily nodded, and she along with Harry and Azalea re-entered the house.
Later that evening, Severus said goodbye to the rangers and bid those that were here, a pleasant new year's. He made his evening rounds in peaceful solitude, ensuring that all the birds were fed, healthy, and either sleeping in their pens or soaring the skies in the case of the six seniors. He apparated across the grounds to all the usual points, checking to make sure the enchantments were holding steady before apparating to Scamander Hill for his final order of business, meeting Frank. Severus apparated to the base of the hill, only to notice the skies above darken and the imminent arrival of rain. He frowned, knowing there could be only one cause of such weather at a time like this. He hastily put up a shield charm above him and called for Frank with his whistle. Predictably, his old friend was high in the skies above the reserve, but like a bolt from the blue, he shot through the cloud cover in a dive towards him. Frank's eyes were pinpricks of blue, lightning crackling and fizzling about within his irises as she screamed ever closer. At the last minute he started to slow his earthward dive, landing in the snow and dirt heavily just in front of Severus. It didn't take a genius to see that the elder thunderbird was, quite frankly, pissed off.
"Easy, my friend," Severus said soothingly, holding up his empty hand as a sign of placation. "What's wrong?"
Frank eyed Severus with an uncharacteristic hint of guardedness, before turning to face Severus with a low growl.
"I see…perhaps you can tell me about it then?"
Frank sat back on his haunches and huffed quietly, his anger abating into despondency. For the next few minutes, Severus sat and listened as a series of growls, chirps and trills filled the air. Severus tried his best to decipher what his friend was feeling, but Frank communicated so swiftly he had a hard time ascertaining what was bothering him so. In the end, Frank looked a little better, and the rain'd stopped falling around them, so perhaps just getting his bothers off his chest was all that needed to be done. Severus then fed Frank and swiftly apparated back to the farmhouse where he hoped a hot meal awaited him.
The warm tendrils of a blazing hearth warmed his chilled bones, color returning to his pale cheeks as he warmed himself by the fire. Lily plopped herself down by his side moments later, a soft smile on her lips.
"Knut for your thoughts?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing," said Severus, briefly giving Lily an indiscernible look before turning back towards the flames. "Just…vegetating, I guess. I hope you and your kids have nothing too strenuous planned, 'cus to be honest, I'm pretty worn out."
"Fair enough," Lily chuckled, her head cocked sideways ever so slightly. "And no, you'll be relieved to hear that I'm just as keen as you are on having a relaxing New Year's."
Severus huffed a sigh of relief.
As it would turn out, Lily's plans for the evening were fairly mundane by any ordinary standard. They headed onto the roof of the house late in the evening and watched the firework launches a few miles away in Flagstaff. Twice a year, on the 4th of July and New Year's Eve, the city council would organize firework displays for their residents. This year was no different as the sky was filled with a riot of color courtesy of almost a hundred fireworks. By midnight, Azalea had already succumbed to her fatigue and Harry wasn't far behind; at twelve thirty, Lily and Severus tucked the kids in and then headed back to their bedroom for some private time. Severus knew he'd be in dire need of a bright-eye potion in the morning to wake himself up after a few hours of sleep, but that didn't mean he was about to surrender a night of passion with Lily as they rang in 1986. Stripping each other and collapsing onto Severus' bed in a tangled heap, they made love through the early hours of the morning before finally calling it quits a couple hours later.
The new year brought with it warmer days and cooler nights, which was just fine in the case of all involved. The first few weeks went by fairly quickly, life at the reserve settling down nicely as the rush of the holiday season faded from the present. Severus' birthday came and went, Lily buying her old friend a couple of presents for the occasion with Azalea drawing a few pieces of art, too. At the man's insistence, Severus' birthday wasn't made a big deal of and the burgeoning family contented themselves by sharing a relatively relaxed day at the reserve. With the coming and going of Severus' 26th birthday, Harry and Azalea's focus quickly shifted to an event at the end of the month that wasn't their mum's birthday. That was, of course, the impending Shuttle launch that'd taken the nation by storm. For the first time, a civilian would be going into space on board of one of NASA's space shuttles, a schoolteacher no less. While it didn't rival the Apollo program with regard to national interest and viewership, it did much to revitalize pubic interest in the space program.
Severus, Lily, Harry and Azalea were among the millions that planned to tune into the launch in late January; but inclement weather proved to be a big problem as it delayed the launch by several days. Challenger's scheduled launch date of the 22nd was postponed almost a week to the 28th, but eventually, the launch was given the go-ahead and across the country, millions tuned into their tv sets to witness history. Naturally, Severus, Lily, Harry and Azalea were among their number. Severus went about his morning duties swiftly and diligently, Harry coming along for the ride and keeping a watchful eye on his Uncle Sev as he performed his daily tasks. Last on his agenda was a meeting with Frank, so after that, they returned to the farmhouse and had a late breakfast of cereal and juice. Harry had to be told several times by Severus that his food wasn't going anywhere and that there was no need to wolf it down so quickly. Chagrined, Harry nodded, only to commence wolfing down his cereal once more after about ten seconds of eating at a civilized, polite pace. Once Severus finished his cereal, he asked Poesy to clean the kitchen and then headed into the sitting room where Lily and Azalea were.
As they entered the room, Severus couldn't help but frown as he spotted Lily's annoyed look. He hoped he hadn't done anything wrong, but from the looks of things her annoyance seemed to be directed at the TV set. Perhaps the aerial was being a bit finicky again, he pondered.
"Lily," said Severus calmly.
Lily turned to face him wearing a frustrated look. To Severus' relief her frustration quickly melted into exasperation and then impassivity. She jerked her thumb at the TV and said; "They postponed the launch again."
"What?" Harry asked, his mouth agape with shock. "Really? They already—"
"—They postponed it for another two hours," Lily said flatly. Her withering tone, and her icy-green eyes made it all to clear that she'd have rather slept in a bit more rather than wake for a launch that would end up being postponed anyways. "Apparently it's too bloody cold for the solid rocket boosters to—"
"—Mummy!" Harry squeaked indignantly.
Lily's icily-narrowed eyes widened in shock and she profusely apologized to Harry and Azalea for her 'swear.' While Harry's reaction to Lily 'slipping up' and swearing was shock, to Severus' horror, Azalea's response was to whimper, then cry.
"Oh, Pumpkin, no-no-no, please don't cry," Lily whispered, sweeping across the room to her daughter's side and collapsing on her in a gentle bear-hug.
Severus' eyes watered slightly at the sight of Azalea crying, but he found his attention being drawn away when Harry shuffled across the sofa to him and tapped him on the arm. Harry's expression was unexpectedly forlorn, Severus had a hard time making something of it.
"Z'lea doesn't like it when mummy or daddy swears," Harry said in a low whisper.
Severus' eyes widened a fraction. He glanced over his shoulder at Lily and Azalea hugging one another tightly as mother sought to comfort daughter. He then turned back to face Harry wearing a solemn look, his lips pursed together in a narrow line.
"That's…very understandable," he said in commiseration. "Children shouldn't have to hear, or see, their parents fight…I assume that's where Azalea developed her dislike of such things?"
Harry nodded. "Mummy and daddy used to love one another," he whispered sadly. "But they started fighting and swearing before you allowed us to come here, Uncle Severus."
Severus gave a sad nod of understanding, he knew fairly intimately what it was like to grow up with bickering parents. And while he had no doubt that the fights Lily and Potter did have during their relationship weren't anywhere near as bad as his parents; he knew that having to listen to one's parents fight was never easy. Even though he knew from first-hand experience that Lily was a good parent to both her kids; and loathe as he was to admit it…the same was likely true of Potter, that didn't mean that the fights they did have didn't spill over to affect their kids in some way. Harry's expression of solemn resignation spoke all too clearly that Lily's slip brought up some bad memories for Azalea. Severus could sympathize with them both more than either would ever know.
With the launch being postponed to 9:38 MST(11:38 EST), they putzed around the two hours they'd been given and didn't make much of the rest of the morning. Lily managed to put her kids to task and get them started on their studies; though, Azalea seemed far more interested in drawing than practicing her spelling, Lily noticed. Meanwhile, Severus tried, with limited success, to review some of the reports from the most recent survey last month. His head wasn't in it and he knew it, his thoughts constantly wandering from the survey reports arrayed before him to what Harry said about Azalea's reaction to her parents fighting. Try as he might to make those thoughts go away, he simply couldn't. They struck a painful chord with him that only served to dredge up some very painful memories of his old life.
Severus eventually came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to be able to get much work done, so he called it quits and set the binder of reports back in his desk. Severus took one last look of his office—his eyes poring over the display of Azalea's artwork with interest. He then closed them and folded his hands in his lap, calming his breathing and listening to the steady thrum of his heart in his chest. His breathing stilled. His mind calmed. And he found tranquility.
His eyes were still shut when his ears heard the door to his office open, followed quickly by carpet-muffled footsteps heralding the arrival of the would-be disturber of his peace. The intruder came to a stop just next to his chair, the sound of their breathing rather high up over his head leading Severus to believe that the intruder was none other than Lily. He breathed a sigh, but didn't open his eyes, basking in his tranquility for a moment longer. It was then that he felt the soft touch of her lips on his closed eyelids and her hands in his long, black hair. He smiled, finding reason to open his eyes at last only to see Lily's gorgeous face, smiling as bright as the sun, right in front of him. She shifted closer and all but fell into his lap as Severus leaned up, letting his eyes rake over her glowing face before claiming her lips in a loving kiss.
"Wakey wakey," she said with a small grin. "Feeling tired, Sev? You want a little pick-me-up of sorts?" Her saucy look had Severus' imagination running wild, but he shook his head.
"I'm wide awake as it is, Lily," he said silkily. He glanced around Lily to glimpse the clock on his desk, it read twenty past eleven. "I take it you came to fetch me for the launch?"
Lily nodded emphatically, though Severus couldn't help but notice that her lower lip was jutted out ever so slightly. If she hadn't been sitting right in his lap he probably wouldn't have even noticed. "Believe it or not, that is the reason I'm here," she said poignantly.
"Could've fooled me, with your offer of a 'pick-me-up of sorts'," Severus sniped in return.
Lily's dimples returned as she released full-bellied laughter, a little too close for Severus' ears liking. "All right, you got me there," she conceded. She sobered slowly as her laughter gave way to a solemn look, or just about as solemn as she could appear to be in that moment. "Now, I do believe you promised my son you'd watch the space shuttle launch with him."
"Yes, I believe I did promise that."
Lily grinned at Severus in response and they shared a chaste kiss before she lifted herself off of his lap. They then headed out of his office together, entering the sitting room where Harry and Azalea were sat on the couch in front of the TV set. Said TV was already switched on, and pictures of a unique-looking spacecraft sitting on a launchpad took up the bulk of the screen.
"C'mon Uncle Severus, the shuttle's about to fly!" Harry said exuberantly.
Severus spotted Harry's late Christmas present in his lap, a model of Challenger's sister shuttle, Atlantis. Unfortunately for Lily, the store she'd gone to was all out of Challenger models, so she had to settle for the next best thing and bought one of Atlantis instead.
Severus and Lily sat either side of Harry and Azalea and turned their attention to the TV set where the news anchor detailed the final moments of preparation before the flight. The minutes ticked by, and the news anchor continued to rattle off interesting tidbits of information about the coming mission. Brief camera shots of the crowd showed that quite a substantial number of people had shown up to watch Challenger fly. Even the chilly temperatures didn't seem to dampen their spirits as folks showed up in droves to watch the historic shuttle launch.
"Oooh—here we go! The countdown's starting! Mummy, look! It's gonna go fly!"
Lily kissed the top of Harry's head and turned back to the TV. "I see it, sweetie, I see it. You excited?"
Harry nodded emphatically. "Yeah! I can't believe it's gonna go to space!"
On the TV, the announcer's voice crackled to life once more.
T-minus 10…9…8…7…6—we have main engine start—4…3…2…1…and liftoff. Liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission and it has cleared the tower!
"It's going mummy, the shuttle is going!" Harry exclaimed delightedly, his green eyes wide and sparkling. The rocket motors roared to life and great jets of flame shoot out the back of them.
The shuttle was now airborne, both rocket boosters and the three engines on the orbiter screaming to life violently. The shuttle slowly lifted off the launch pad, clearing the tower to the tune of gasps and squeals from millions of spectators across the planet. A voice from inside Challenger belonging to the pilot now took center stage just as the shuttle rolled onto her back after climbing past the tower.
Houston, Challenger…roll program
Another voice rang out belonging to one of NASA's engineers over at mission control in Houston.
Roger roll, Challenger.
Another voice took over, presumably, also from mission control.
Good roll program confirmed…Challenger now heading downrange.
Engines beginning to throttle down now…at 94%…normal throttle for most of the flight—uh 104%. Will throttle down to 65%…shortly.
Challenger was screaming through the sky now, punching through the air with brute force supplied by those powerful booster rockets strapped to her sides. Challenger completed its roll onto her back, her three main engines powering down slightly.
Main engines at 65%…three engines running normally. Three good fuel cells…three good APUs.
Velocity 2257 feet per second…altitude 4.3 nautical miles…downrange distance 3 nautical miles.
Lily, Severus, Harry and Azalea watched Challenger rocket into the heavens with ever-increasing speed, Harry and Azalea's mouths were agape with awe and wonder, watching the orbiter ascend. Rebelling against the mighty force of gravity, Challenger shot ever-higher into the sky, smashing through the sound barrier.
Soon after, yet another voice crackled to life from the television, presumable from mission control in Houston.
Challenger, go at throttle up
Another voice now, one belonging to the pilot, Dick Scobee.
Roger. Go at throttle up.
The three main engines on the orbiter opened up to 104% thrust and the shuttle hurtled forward, reaching twice the speed of sound and punching through 60,000 feet. Harry's eyes widened in surprise, his fingers gripping his model of Atlantis tightly. Lily hugged Harry to her side, and, like her son, watched on in amazement.
All of a sudden, the sound of garbled noise came out of the TV and the shuttle, which'd been intact moments before, vanished. What was once a shuttle, reduced to nothing but smoke and fire on Severus' TV screen, and several miles up in the skies above Cape Canaveral. A horrified gasp rang out from Lily as massive plumes of smoke filled their tv screen.
Harry stared in wide-eyed shock at the screen, the breath sucked from his lungs as he tried to make sense of what'd just happened. Moments earlier, the shuttle had been there…and now it was gone. His feelings of shock and confusion were short-lived, however, as recognition dawned and he realized that Challenger and the seven souls aboard were no longer there. Tears pooled in his shimmering green eyes before spilling over in painful, wracking sobs. Within moments, he was bawling his eyes out and wailing into someone's protective embrace. Two arms encircling him protectively, one each belonging to Severus and Lily. Azalea didn't quite understand what she was seeing on the TV, but from hearing her brother cry she knew something bad must've happened and she started to sob into Lily's side too. Severus quickly switched the TV off, not wanting to prolong their distress.
"Th-they're dead," Harry cried brokenly, his little frame shaking as he sobbed.
"We don't know that yet, sweetie. I'm sure NASA is trying to find them right now," Lily whispered hurriedly.
Lily tried her best to soothe her son, but it was clear from his expression that he didn't believe her. Frankly, Lily didn't blame him, she had a hard time believing herself as those words came out of her mouth. She and Severus shared a brief look, tears pooling in her eyes as she acknowledge the grim situation at hand that'd befallen the Challenger crew. They remained huddled together for a long time after that, tears and whimpers escaping Harry and Azalea, even Lily too from time to time. Severus tried his best to keep it together, but the haunting image of Challenger firing up her engines and then exploding…the loss of seven people happening in the blink of an eye, it was painful for him to stomach.
"C'mon kiddos, follow mummy, please," Lily whispered quietly. She brought Harry and Azalea to their feet and ushered them from the room.
She was halfway through the doorframe when she paused and gave Severus a hollow look, her eyes red and her nose inflamed. "I'll—I'll be back in a bit, Sev. I want to find out what happened as much as you do."
Severus nodded silently, but as he opened his lips to respond, Lily'd already left the room. His head fell into his hands with a sigh and he rubbed at his temples with his fingers. He then wandered over to the TV and switched it on again. As he sat there watching the program, smoke lingered high in the sky and debris continued to fall from the explosion of the shuttle. It'd all gone wrong so suddenly and spectacularly, it was hard to envision that anyone, neither the crew or NASA themselves had any warning of what was to come. As he sat there watching the program, he heard Lily return to the room and felt her hand on his shoulder. She'd been gone for over an hour at this point, leading Severus to believe she'd put her children down for a nap by now.
"A-Are there any updates?" she asked shakily.
Severus didn't remove his gaze from the TV screen, his brows furrowed in concentration as he listened intently to the newscaster's voice.
"Nothing substantial as of yet…only that rescue operations are underway to look for the crew," he muttered solemnly. "It's…the reports don't look good. NASA claims it was a—a complete destruction of the vehicle…I don't think their chances of survival are that high."
Lily nearly choked on air, her hand rising to her constricting windpipe as she flopped down on the sofa beside him. Severus put his arms around Lily and held her gently, rocking her in a calming motion. Severus knew Lily better than just about anyone on earth, other than her sister and her deceased parents, perhaps; so he was well aware of the source of much of Lily's grief over the destruction of Challenger. Her own uncle had passed away in an airplane accident years ago just before they were set to go to Hogwarts, his loss had shaken her greatly and she'd cried for days on end over his tragic passing. Severus wasn't a betting man by any stretch, that being said, he was all but certain that the source of Lily's stemmed from the painful memories of her uncle's tragic passing. In the here and now as she wept, all he could do was hold her and remind her she wasn't alone.
A/N2: Thank you all for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter!