Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Lily and Severus battled to overcome crippling shock and paralyzing fear as they attempted to appear unbothered by the Dark Lord's sudden appearance in their home.
Severus quickly waved his wand to set the table for dinner while Lily snuggled Ellery against her breasts until his frightened cries turned to soft, displeased whimpers.
Harriet blinked as she watched her parents rush around.
When Severus came to Voldemort and offered him a place setting, the Dark Lord raised a hand and grinned as he spoke, "How kind of you, Severus! You have no need to trouble yourself on my behalf…..I have ascended to a higher form of existence. Mortal sustenance will offer me no benefit."
"Of course, my lord, forgive me." Severus nodded respectfully.
Voldemort looked on with a wicked sneer as he handed Harriet to her father once the table had been prepared for the evening's meal.
Severus tried to ignore the piercing gaze of the world's most dangerous wizard as he placed his young daughter in her high chair and helped Lily serve the food.
While her parents scrambled to take their seats, Harriet blinked over at Voldemort.
Voldemort's sinister, serpentine eyes flashed as he peered at the innocent child like a shark eyeing a helpless guppy.
Harriet showed no fear as she idly kicked her little legs and asked the Dark Lord, "...Do you like cookies?"
Severus and Lily quickly looked over.
Voldemort's grin widened as Harriet narrowed her eyes at him while she waited impatiently to hear his answer.
Lily frowned warningly at Severus as he cleared his throat and called over, "My lord, please pardon my daughter…..Her speech has improved as she's grown and she often chatters."
"There's nothing to pardon, Severus." Voldemort chuckled as he looked at Harriet in ominous amusement, "Curiosity leads to learning, learning produces knowledge, and knowledge opens the door to usefulness." He glanced at Harriet again and laughed at the adorable, angry pout on her small face as he answered, "No, little one, I never much cared for cookies."
"Why……?" Harriet pressed.
Lily let out an anxious sigh as she watched her naive toddler hold a nerve-wracking conversation with a man who would find delight in cracking her skull.
Voldemort threw Severus a smirk before he looked back at Harriet and nodded, "...I'm not particularly fond of sweet things……They bore me, my dear."
"Then you should eat my Mummy's lemon cookies." Harriet informed Voldemort very matter-of-factly, "...They're not very sweet at all."
Despite the tedious seriousness of the moment, Severus felt the corners of his lips threaten to curl into a smirk.
Lily narrowed her eyes at her daughter's remark.
"...Perhaps I shall." Voldemort grinned at Harriet.
During the pause in the conversation, Severus and Lily took their seats and began their meal, in hopes of preventing Harriet from pestering Voldemort further.
That was possibly the most uncomfortable dinner Lily had ever eaten in her life.
Between knowing that a murderous dictator sat at the head of her table, trying desperately to think of ways to keep her children safe, and sensing Severus's struggle to conceal her thoughts with his impressive mastery of Occlumency, Lily had to force down the meal she had spent hours making.
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Severus and Lily both entertained the futile fantasy that Voldemort may choose to depart from their residence after dinner concluded.
Beyond his promise of a gift for Ellery, the Snapes knew that their nemesis usually did not waste time.
Unfortunately, the Dark Lord's true intentions behind his surprise visit remained a mystery as he sat on the sofa after dinner and watched Harriet draw a picture of a flower while she sat on his lap.
Severus sat in an armchair close to the sofa with a scowl of abject seriousness on his face as a hundred fears raced through his mind.
Why had his dark master not announced his impending presence?
Why had he not chosen to visit Lucius instead?
…..Had Voldemort discovered his work for the Order of the Phoenix?
Would it be the night of the Snape family's assassination?
Severus knew well enough that Voldemort was easily capable of brutality that severe.
Lily sat in the chair across from the sofa and nursed Ellery while he laid in his sling.
It bothered Severus to see the sad frown of worry on his wife's face.
Severus never wanted his darling flower to be upset or anguished or…………
"Done." Harriet declared as she placed her stick of coloured wax down on the wooden board where her parchment had been positioned.
Everyone looked at Harriet's picture, which was little more than a series of vaguely connected scribbles in the rough, unpolished silhouette of a flower.
"A rose?" Voldemort asked as he laid one of his pale, skeletal fingers on the picture.
Besides Harriet's use of red towards the top of her creation, Severus realized it would have been highly improbable for anyone to recognize a rose had been the chosen subject of her art……unless they had used Legilimency to read her thoughts.
Harriet nodded as she stared down at her drawing and pouted, "It doesn't look much like a rose, does it?"
"Perhaps not." Voldemort smiled cruelly.
Harriet's little pout turned into a disappointed frown until he slipped his hand underneath hers and whispered, "Let's remedy that, shall we?"
Severus and Lily exchanged nervous glances while Voldemort pressed his index finger against the parchment as Harriet looked up at him and then back down at her drawing.
Her large, emerald eyes widened as Voldemort lifted her art from the page with his wandless magic.
Harriet, Lily, and Severus watched as Voldemort motioned with his hand.
The papery confines of Harriet's clumsy rose were shed as purple smoke enveloped the mess of scribbles.
As that purple smoke receded, the fullest, lushest, red rose that any of the Snapes had ever laid eyes on stood suspended in the air a short distance above the parchment.
The rose had such a vibrant colour it almost seemed too beautiful to be real, but Voldemort reached through the wisps of purple smoke to grasp its thornless stem.
Severus and Lily glanced at each other again as Voldemort presented Harriet with the flower.
An excited gasp of amazement issued from the little girl's lips as Voldemort looked down at her and spoke, "Never doubt the power of magic, my dear child. If there's something you want in this world, there's a way I can help you attain it……..Remember that and you'll go far in my ranks one day."
"Look, Daddy!" Harriet laughed as she called over to Severus with a happy, toothy smile while she clutched the flower, "A rose!"
"Yes, Harriet." Severus replied in a voice so low it was barely audible as he furrowed his brow, "...Daddy sees."
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Once the initial excitement from Voldemort's clever display wore off, Harriet eventually fell asleep.
She casually lay against the Dark Lord's chest with her rose in her hands and a pout on her chubby little face.
"The child……should be taken to bed." Lily, er, Laima, nodded as she stood from her seat and walked towards Voldemort to retrieve Harriet.
Ellery had finished his meal by then and had fallen asleep as well while his mother's heartbeat echoed in his ears.
Lily felt relief swell in her chest as she dreamed of satisfying the primal urge to remove her children from the room as quickly as possible.
She silently hoped that Voldemort had forgotten about his initial promise of a present for her son as she bent down to rescue Harriet from his grasp.
The Dark Lord glanced up at her with a wide smile as he asked, "Laima, wife of Severus, let's make a trade, shall we?"
Lily could not uphold a stoic demeanor as well as her husband.
A shadow of maternal rage crossed her face as she realized the monster had asked to hold her infant.
Ellery was small and frail, the same size that Harriet had been that night the Dark Lord had come to bestow his gifts upon mother and child.
Lily remembered the abject horror she had felt then and although the memory nauseated her, she knew that ultimately, she had little choice.
"Yes…….my lord….." She said slowly.
Silently, Voldemort passed Harriet to her mother as Lily grit her teeth and handed over her precious baby boy.
Severus frowned as he watched closely.
Ellery continued to sleep, although he furrowed his little brow in disapproval at the sudden loss of warmth that came with being removed from his mother's breasts.
"Don't worry, son of Severus, I'll be quick." Voldemort chuckled at the baby.
Severus and Lily exchanged nervous frowns as Voldemort removed his wand from his robe's pocket and pointed it at Ellery.
"For the son of Severus, I'll give knowledge and cunning……" Voldemort mused before he murmured something under his breath.
Severus and Lily watched as a shimmering, blue-hued fog drifted from the tip of Voldemort's wand and settled gently over the baby until it disappeared from sight.
"May he be as wise and loyal as his father……." Voldemort said with an evil grin before he looked up at Severus and smirked, "I would gladly welcome a second Severus into my elite!"
"Thank you, my lord," Severus nodded.
"Thank you……my lord." Lily nodded as well.
Voldemort kept his eerie smile as he handed Ellery back to his mother.
Relief swelled in Severus and Lily's hearts as the Dark Lord left their baby seemingly unharmed.
Voldemort watched Lily carry the children upstairs until she disappeared from sight before he looked at Severus and laughed.
"Any more, Severus?" Voldemort cackled.
"I beg your pardon, my lord?" Severus asked.
"Will your family continue to grow?" Voldemort smirked, "I never imagined you taking a mate, much less having more children than Lucius!"
"I'm not certain, my lord." Severus nodded, "We are deeply appreciative of your kindness, though I'm not sure why you've chosen to show my family such generosity."
Voldemort waved his hand as he explained, "I've spoken truthfully when I've named you as my most trusted servant, Severus. I see great value in you and your bloodline…...Your daughter and son will be by my side one day after you have passed from this world….I see no better way to train the next generation than to exert my influence on them from the cradle to the grave! Is there any more efficient path to breed loyalty?"
"I suppose not, my lord." Severus nodded.
Voldemort's words made him ill, but Severus skillfully maintained his Occlumency.
"...Which brings me to the true nature of my visit this evening, Severus…." Voldemort added as his smile faded.
Severus felt his heart clench as he lifted his chin and waited for Voldemort to continue.
He knew his time had come.
Voldemort had heard something from someone.
The entire evening had been a farce.
Severus had failed.
Voldemort would dispatch him to oblivion, then he would rush up the stairs to slaughter Lily and the children.
The pain that twisted Severus's heart as he waited to die, knowing there would be little he could do to stop his enemy was indescribable.
Regardless of how futile his defensive attempt would be, Severus prepared himself to draw his wand and fight back as best he could.
"I'm making you my general, Severus!" Voldemort exclaimed with a mirthful laugh.
Severus blinked incredulously as he asked, "...My lord?"
"Yaxley is a mad dog……Lucius is little more than a bank account, he only offers me his service for the prestige that comes with being one of mine. You are the one I can truly trust, Severus…..You are my spy on the inside, loyal, clever, stealthy…...I am placing you as my second in command." Voldemort explained with a wicked smirk.
"...Is that title not held by Bellatrix?" Severus frowned.
"It was…..and it may be again, one day…. Due to recent events, however, it has been my decision to change that, for now, at least." Voldemort said with an arrogant sneer, "Tell me your thoughts on the topic, Severus….."
Although he found himself further entrenched in seemingly inescapable peril, Severus clung to the meager hope that he may one day find a way to save his family by continuing to uphold his position as a double agent.
"My lord, what can I possibly say to express my immeasurable gratitude?" Severus asked as he bowed his head, "I am deeply humbled."