Author's Note: Happy one year anniversary of this story! Yes, one year ago today I started writing this fic, having no idea how long and complicated it would become.

Also, I'm happy to share that someone was kind enough to nominate this story for the Quibbler Awards. Voting begins on Aug. 26, so please vote for this fic if you feel it's worthy of winning in the categories of "Best Alternate Universe" and "Most Original" fic. You can vote here: quibbler . this-paradise . com (remove spaces)

I've updated my Cafe Press shop with new T-shirts, featuring artwork by LilyHBP (thanks, Lily) and more artwork by me. Check out the link on my profile page!

Also, if you like Harry Potter dolls, you may be interested in ordering one that's custom made by me. See my Etsy shop for more details: sindie11 . etsy . com (remove spaces)

Thanks for a great year, everyone! This fic iwill/i most definitely be finished before another whole year passes!

On a side note, who else is pissed at the WB for postponing HBP until JULY 17, 2009?!

Now, onto what you're here for...

Chapter One Hundred-Two

Severus was stunned. For the next several days, he floated through his daily routine like he was only half-awake, thinking it had to be a dream that Lily was actually pregnant. In less than nine months, he would be a father. She would become the mother of his child this time around, and that poor child was already destined to be in Harry Potter's place... unless Severus himself was able to defeat Voldemort.

"Should we tell Dumbledore?" Lily asked for the umpteenth time.

She had been posing that same question all week and into the next. Severus was bone-weary. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes in agitation.

"I... I don't know, Lily!" he exclaimed, causing her to visibly withdraw. Seeing the hurt expression on her face, he amended, "I'm sorry. It's just... this is a really, really serious dilemma we've got ourselves in, Lily. Dumbledore was already insinuating that you were most likely pregnant when I last spoke with him and he told me about the prophecy. Besides, revealing the fact that you are pregnant to too many people is simply going to spread the news faster."

"I know you're stressed about it, Sev, but don't you want people to know? To be happy for us? We should at the very least tell our families."

"All right," Severus gave in. "You can tell your family, but I'm holding off telling my father."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just don't feel completely comfortable telling that sort of thing to him. I honestly can't imagine him being a grandparent, and even now, there is much I choose not to share with him."

Inwardly, Severus was feeling the lingering guilt from his near jaunt into a night of pub-hopping. Only Tobias's insistent words had stopped him, and to have been put in the position of being at his father's mercy was unsettling to Severus. He had hoped to be in control of his own life and not have to depend upon the man who had made his life difficult for so long. As much as that relationship was healed, there remained a scar.

"You don't have to tell him if you don't want to," Lily said, "but you will have to eventually." She offered a hopeful smile, which Severus returned with a grimace.

"Perhaps."

"Well, getting back about whether or not to tell Dumbledore-" Lily started to say, but then the fire turned green in the grate, and the subject of her sentence appeared in the flames.

"Ah, good evening, Severus, Lily," Dumbledore said, the smile on his face oddly smug. "I was hoping to find you home."

"Good evening, sir," Lily returned, forcing herself to calm from his sudden intrusion.

Annoyed at Dumbledore for the second calling in two weeks, Severus questioned, "What is it now, headmaster?"

"I think you will be pleased to hear that I have procured one of the Horcruxes," Dumbledore stated.

All thoughts evaporated from both of their minds. Lily's mouth was hanging open in shock, and Severus had to momentarily recover himself.

"Which one?" he asked, stepping closer to Dumbledore.

"The ring," the headmaster replied. "I found it in the rubble of Tom Riddle's mother's old house."

"How did you figure to look there?" questioned Lily incredulously.

"Do you mind if I step through?" Dumbledore hastened.

"Very well," Severus stated curtly, only because this was business directly related to the destruction of Voldemort.

Dumbledore gave a nod and entered the sitting room of Spinner's End. Grasped in his right hand was a ring with a black stone. Dumbledore held the ring up so Severus and Lily could more easily see it.

"I trust this is the ring you spoke of?" inquired Dumbledore.

"Yes," Severus said, examining the stone, which wasn't yet cracked.

Dumbledore pulled his hand back and held the ring close to his face, eyeing it carefully. "Curious, very curious," he murmured. "I wonder..."

Suddenly, Dumbledore's eyes took on a faraway look. He seemed drawn to the stone, and Severus and Lily watched as Dumbledore made to put the ring on his finger.

"No!" Severus shouted, physically charging Dumbledore in his fright and grabbing at the ring.

Alarmed, Dumbledore staggered backward and snatched the ring back toward his robes.

"Severus, what in the name of Merlin are you playing at?" Dumbledore asked, stunned by the young wizard's behavior.

"Just don't put the bloody thing on," Severus ground out harshly.

"Severus, what-?" Lily started to say, but then realization struck her. Before Severus even began his rant toward Dumbledore, she remembered him telling her about Dumbledore putting on a cursed ring. This had to be it.

"That ring carries a terrible curse. It's a Horcrux, sir, so surely you realize the Dark Magic it possesses. To even think about putting on such a thing is sheer madness. In fact, you were foolish enough to have slipped that very ring on your finger once before, Dumbledore. 'Sorely tempted' were your exact words. I don't know what the hell drove you to attempt such an act, but had you done the same thing now, you would quickly find that your hand would have been irreparably blackened and damaged. You would have needed me to confine the damned curse to your bloody hand, and even then you'd have only had a year to live!" Severus raged at Dumbledore, unable to hold in his resentment.

Severus's breathing continued to be heavy, and Lily stepped up beside him, laying a hand on his arm in the hopes of calming him. Dumbledore's blue eyes shifted from the ring to the couple standing a few feet away from him. Finally gazing directly into Severus's face, Dumbledore said in a remarkably calm voice, "If that is the case, then thank you for saving my life, Severus... both times."

Ignoring Dumbledore's gratitude, Severus stated, "Why did you almost put that thing on just now?"

"Severus, that doesn't really matter right now. If this is in fact a Horcrux, which I am quite certain it is, then it will need to be destroyed as soon as possible."

"How did you know where to look?" Lily couldn't help but ask.

"I have been doing much research on the possible whereabouts of the Horcruxes and what the remaining objects might be," Dumbledore explained. "Voldemort would have chosen locations that were significant in his life, and the objects he chose to use to house pieces of his soul would have been significant as well. This ring belonged to the Gaunt family, who were Voldemort's only remaining pureblood relatives left before his birth. They were the last in the line of Slytherin. This ring was one of the few remaining objects they possessed that was worth anything."

"Then why put it on if you knew what its value was?" Severus persisted. "Let me see the ring... if you please."

Frowning, Dumbledore seemed reluctant to part with it. Severus took the ring carefully, seeing the markings on the stone, which he didn't recognize. He frowned and then felt captivated by the stone. Thoughts of bringing his mother back to life, to be with her once again, suffused him. He shook his head, blinking, and closed his hand over the ring again, passing it back to Dumbledore.

No, but it can't be possible, Severus thought. That's just a children's story.

Just before Severus's death, the Dark Lord had spoken of the Elder Wand, much to Severus's confusion. The Elder Wand was supposedly a legend. As a child, Severus had been familiar with The Tale of the Three Brothers, which spoke of the Deathly Hallows. The Elder Wand... the Resurrection Stone... the Invisibility Cloak...

Potter's cloak? Severus thought with a start. Gazing at Dumbledore, he wondered aloud, "The Resurrection Stone?"

"It is as I thought," Dumbledore murmured quietly. "Yes, but it would appear that Voldemort was not aware of its power. Surely he has no lost loved ones whom he would wish to see again. Now you understand why I almost put the ring on my finger... and why I did in your other life?"

"But that's impossible," Severus tried to rationalize. "It's just a myth, a story."

"Uh, excuse me, but what are you two talking about?" Lily asked, thoroughly confused.

Dumbledore explained The Tale of the Three Brothers to Lily, whose eyebrows were raised with incredulity.

Shaking his head and finding his patience wearing thin, Severus said, "Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let's destroy the bloody thing. Get the sword, Dumbledore."

"Ah, but that is not so easy, Severus," Dumbledore said mildly. "You see, no one has seen the Sword of Gryffindor in many, many years. It must be taken under conditions of need and valor. It does not merely appear to just anyone."

"But you had it hidden in your office," Severus argued. "Once Potter-"

Realizing his slip, Severus stopped speaking and pushed up his mental barriers.

"Go on, Severus," Dumbledore urged. "I'm assuming you're referring to the boy the prophecy referred to... Harry Potter? What did he do?"

With growing impatience, Severus said, "He procured the sword in his second year at Hogwarts, and from that moment onward, you kept it hidden in your office. I do not know the details of how he got the damned thing, but he did. It was the same year when he destroyed the diary, the other Horcrux I told you about. Lucius Malfoy placed the diary in an unsuspecting student's things, and the diary possessed her. The Dark Lord's younger self was nearly brought back to life. He opened the Chamber of Secrets, sir. He was the Heir of Slytherin and all that rot. In the chamber, that is when Potter somehow procured the sword, and he destroyed a basilisk with it. You told the staff a summary of these events, but I do not know the specific details. That sword was integral to destroying the ring and at least one other Horcrux, but you never told me what that Horcrux was."

"Had you informed me of this earlier, you could have saved me some frustration, Severus. Why did you not think to tell me this?" Dumbledore questioned, his voice wavering on stern.

"Now, wait a moment here," Lily interjected, tired of being ignored and perplexed by the exchanges between her husband and the headmaster, "you can't blame Severus. Can you expect him to remember everything that happened? Is it fair for you to put him in the position of being your source of so much vital information again?"

Touched by Lily's boldness, Severus felt justified in his reasoning for keeping certain facts from the nosy headmaster until now. Dumbledore sighed.

"My apologies," he said. "Very well, Severus. We will need to procure the sword... somehow. For now, I think it would do you well to be informed that through a memory from one Bob Ogden, I was able to deduce with a large amount of certainty that one of the Horcruxes is the locket of Slytherin, this being in addition to what I learned of the ring. From this, I am left to assume that Voldemort may have used something belonging to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well. Assuming that the Sword of Gryffindor is most likely not a Horcrux, then that gives us five, including this diary."

Severus was shocked that Dumbledore actually revealed information to him about the additional Horcruxes, but didn't say so. Instead, he inquired, "Then where does this leave us?"

"We are left hanging for now, regrettably, but we have one Horcrux, and we have leads for the others. I will keep the ring locked up tight, and until our next meeting, goodbye."

"Good evening, sir," Lily said, but Severus kept his thin lips firmly shut, watching as Dumbledore stepped into the grate and disappeared in a swirl of robes and green flames.

"Well, we're one step closer to destroying him, Sev," Lily pointed out, trying to be optimistic.

Severus placed a hand on each of Lily's shoulders, brushing her hair off them.

"All right, then," he whispered. "Maybe... maybe this can still work." He motioned toward her stomach, and a smile fluttered across Lily's face.

"Somehow, Sev, I think it will. Despite the situation, I am happy that we're going to be having a child together."

Severus relaxed, too tired from the day to keep his guard up any longer. Resting his forehead against Lily's, his hair sweeping forward over both of their cheeks, Severus actually smiled. "I just hope he or she has your nose. And your eyes."

Lily laughed.