Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: Here is the unedited version of chapter 3.
A few minutes later both Severus and Lily arrived at Lily's house Remus looked at her and knew that the muggle doctors couldn't do much for James. Lucky for Severus, Sirius was still at work, and wasn't due home for a couple of hours, though Remus was grateful that his old school nemesis was considerate enough to bring Lily home in her state. As soon as Harry saw his mum coming in the door, he toddled over to her where she immediately gave him a big hug and she started crying when she saw her son.
"Mummy hurt?" Harry asked her.
"No sweetie, but it looks like its going to be a very long time before daddy can come home to us and that makes mummy sad," Lily told her son.
"Thanks for bringing her home Severus, we can take care of things from here," Remus told him hoping that he would leave before Sirius would come home, because he knew that the last thing that Lily needed was to referee between Sirius and Severus.
"He's not going to get any better, he's going to spend the rest of his life locked up in some institution somewhere and he'll never truly get to know his children," Lily suddenly said before she broke into tears again.
"Well, you never could tell they might be able to find a treatment for him in the future where he could come home to us," Remus told her trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
Just then Sirius burst into the door coming straight from work, but when he took one look at Remus and Lily he knew that something was wrong.
"Is it James, is he dead?" Sirius asked not wanting to hear about his condition.
"No, but the muggle doctors just told Lily that James would probably stay that way for the rest of his life," Remus informed Sirius.
"I told you that I was afraid that this would happen, that the muggles couldn't cure James," Sirius told Lily who immediately turned to him at hearing those words.
"I don't need to hear I told you so right now," she answered back while taking Harry upstairs for his afternoon nap.
"What did you go ahead and say something like that for?" Remus asked Sirius once he was out of earshot.
"Well, I was trying to let her know that the wizarding ways are best," Sirius answered him.
"Well, she doesn't need to hear that right now. At least she's tried everything to make him better. How would you feel if you found out that there was a muggle treatment that could cure James and she didn't pursue it because of it being a muggle way. I know that if they had a way to cure my furry little problem I would take it," Remus reasoned with Sirius.
"Fine, but I don't see the point in her going to those muggle doctors anyway since they couldn't help James," Sirius replied.
"It reassured her that she did everything for James anyway," Remus replied sounding frustrated that his friend didn't get what he was saying.
Just then Lily came down the stairs and the two of them ended their conversation. "I'm sorry for telling you that I told you so earlier, I guess I would do the same thing since I would want James to get better," Sirius apologized to Lily.
"Well then I accept your apology and I know that you want James to be completely cured, even though that won't happen," Lily told him right before he left to go to his own flat.
"Do you think that you'll be fine here by yourself or do you need me to spend the night with you and Harry?" Remus asked her while looking empathetic to her plight.
"You could stay the night if you want to, though I don't think that I would need it," Lily answered him.
"I think that I better, considering the state that you were in when Severus brought you home," Remus told her.
"Thanks, for staying with me but you'll have to go home eventually," Lily reminded him.
"I know, but I want you to know that Sirius and I will always be here for you, of course I'll be able to be here more than Sirius with my employment situation and all," Remus reassured her.
"I know that you'll be able to find a job soon, what a minute with me going back to work I'll need someone to take care of Harry and the new baby when he or she arrives. Sometimes muggles hire nannies to take care of their children during the day why don't you do it. Don't worry about the money James left me enough to hire someone to watch the children during the day, even his visits to the muggle doctors there is enough to pay you to take care of them," Lily told him sounding excited at the last part of it, knowing how she could help Remus and have one of her concerns taken care of.
"Wait a minute; I don't want you to do this because you feel sorry for me. Though I would love to be able to take care of your children during the day, but if I do it, I want to know if you're doing it because you want to not out of pity or anything," Remus told her.
"I do want you to do it, besides with my job as a Healer there will be times where I would work nights and finding childcare is harder to find at night anyway. Then you can stay here while I'm on nights, but its too early to decide that now since I don't know when I'll be going back to work, but promise me that you'll think about it," Lily answered him.
"I promise that I would think about it, but I can't guarantee anything, besides I better let Sirius know that I'm spending the night here, so that he won't worry about me," Remus told her.
"Well, then go ahead and do it or else he might think that you've been abducted by Death Eaters," Lily told him as she went up to her room.
Remus then went to the Potter's fireplace to floo Sirius to let him know that he was alright and that he was spending the night to make sure that Lily and Harry were fine, though he didn't mention to him that Lily had asked him to care for the children while she was at work and visited James on her own. He did think seriously about the position, since he wasn't able to find steady work since Hogwarts, though he didn't want Lily to think of him as a charity case. Though the opportunity to spend time with Lily's children would be good for him, as it was when Harry was little.
Meanwhile back at Hogwarts, the Potions Master and the Headmaster were discussing Lily's predicament.
"Is it true what they're saying about James Potter, that he won't ever recover from the torture that he received?" Dumbledore asked the potions master, Severus Snape.
"That's what Lily told me after I found her in a terrible state in Dragon Alley yesterday. It seemed to upset her so much, it was all that I could do to walk her home," Snape answered the Headmaster.
"Well, I guess that you still have feelings for her, but I want you to remember that she's still married to James and I don't want you trying to persuade her to get a divorce. Right now she needs a friend to help her with these trying times, not a lover," Dumbledore told him.
"Fine, but I want to be there for here even though she's got Black and Lupin helping her out, especially with Harry," Snape answered him.
"Yes, I know that but right now she needs all of the friends that she can get," Dumbledore replied.
"Well at least, I'll like for you to know that I would be there for her in these trying times, no matter what the personal cost would be," Severus reassured him.
"Good, I hope that you know that includes you being civil to Sirius Black too," Dumbledore answered him.
"Fine I can learn to be civil around him and even Lupin if it means that I get to be close to her I can even be civil to James and Harry too," Severus replied.
"Good, then you won't be bothering her or Harry," Dumbledore answered him. "I can at least try to get along with James's friends and to be Lily's friend," he answered Dumbledore before he turned around to leave the Headmaster's office thinking of getting back into Lily Evans Potter's life even just as a friend even though he hoped that it would eventually grow into something more. As Severus Snape left the room Dumbledore hoped that he wouldn't get his hopes up too much about Lily, but that he could be a comfort for her in these trying times.
Later on that day, Severus decided to pay Lily a visit to see how she was handling things and when he arrived at her house he was surprised when Sirius Black answered the door.
"What are you doing here? Here to gloat about James's downfall isn't you," Sirius asked him in a gruff tone of voice.
"I'm here to see Lily, not to gloat about James," Severus told him in a somber tone of voice.
"I don't believe you," Sirius told him.
"Sirius who's at the door?" Lily asked coming into the foyer with Harry playing close by in the playpen.
She smiled when she saw Severus at the door and motioned him to come in much to Sirius's disappointment. "I wanted to thank you for bringing me home yesterday since I didn't feel too much like facing everyone with the news that I had received," Lily told Severus while he looked pleased at her gratitude while Sirius glared at Severus.
"Fine, but I still don't trust him around you, Harry and your unborn child," Sirius told her.
"Lily, you're pregnant with Harry's little brother or sister?" Severus asked.
"Yes and this child is the only good thing that's happened to us in the past year. I'll love it enough for me and James put together," Lily answered him looking proud as she said it.
"Well, I hope that he or she turns out to be like you since Harry looks so much like James," Severus told her sincerely meaning it.
"Well thank you, but I'll love it no matter whom it looks like," Lily reminded him.
Severus secretly hoped that the new baby would look more like Lily, since he didn't want to be reminded any further of the boy who had tormented him all throughout school, but is now a permanent resident of St. Mungo's.
If he wanted to get close to Lily, then he couldn't rub that fact in Sirius's and Remus's faces, so he bit his tongue about James's condition. "Do you need any help around here?" Severus asked hoping that he could help her in some way.
"Well, I guess that you can watch Harry while we go visit James in hospital when we go without him seeing his father or when the new baby will be born," Lily answered him sounding surprised at how helpful Snape sounded while Sirius asked to speak to Lily in the study alone.
"Do you think that you can trust Harry with him?" Sirius asked sounding distrustful of his old school enemy.
"Yes, don't forget that if it weren't for him I don't know what would happen to me and Harry, I could be in that hospital ward with Harry and you could be the one taken care of Harry," Lily reminded him.
"What did he do? I remember being the one sending you off to live with Ted's muggle relations for a while and for some reason James didn't go," Sirius asked her.
"Well Severus was the one who bought us the plane tickets to go there out of his money that he saved for a long time from his teaching salary, but you didn't even give us a way to get there. James didn't go because he didn't want to be in debt to Severus for the rest of his life. He wouldn't even be like that if he had swallowed his pride and left with us," Lily informed him.
"Fine, but if anything ever happens to either Harry or the new baby while he baby sits for them, I will come after him personally and he will die a slow painful death," he answered her knowing that if he put up too much of a fuss about it that she would not let him see Harry as often as he would like. Lily was satisified that Harry would have three people helping her raise Harry now with Severus's help.