The war escalated in 1979 for those living in magical Britain. The world was in utter chaos. Despite the Loyalty testing submitted by the Wizengamot, one could hardly know if the tests were accurate enough. You couldn't trust your neighbor, in fear of your own life.
Luckily for Severus, he was away from most of the chaos. Being tucked away in Scandinavia had its perks. He had returned towards the end of the year to visit his mother, and to attend a few Death Eater revels.
That's when he learned about the future baby Potter, and it made his skin crawl.
Lucius was hosting a lavish affair at his estate around Christmas time. Severus hated these parties. Although it wasn't nearly as terrible as that fateful night, where he watched his drunken friends carve up that poor muggle prostitute, it still was just as trashy - only it was done behind closed doors.
Severus sipped on his brandy as Lucius drawled on about recent news. "I'm sure you've been following the Dragon Pox outbreak."
He shook his head. "I've been too engrossed in my studies, Lucius, to worry about the medical bouts of Britain."
"Ah, of course. So, you've heard about the Potters?"
Severus throat clenched suddenly at the name. "Oh?"
"The elders Fleamont and Euphemia have passed. Apparently when old Potter got sick, Euphemia refused to send him to St. Mungos. Said she handled cases before and could care for him herself."
Severus rolled his eyes. "Isn't that wise of her? I'm assuming she caught it?"
"She didn't last a week before she fell ill. Honestly, with their wealth, you think they'd have the resources to stay away from each other."
Severus was apathetic to the news. Dragon Pox was a cureable disease despite it being contagious. It served them right for not going in for proper treatment. It also didn't help that they sired James. It was disappointing that he didn't end up in the same fate as the old couple.
Just then, Narcissa approached the two men. "It's good to see you, Severus. I hope all is going as planned at Durmstrang."
"Thank you Narcissa," he replied, "You're looking well."
She smiled faintly. "If only I felt that way." She looked towards her husband, who pulled her in close. "Did Lucius tell you the news?"
Severus raised an eyebrow. Lucius shook his head. "Why don't you share? It is because of him, anyways."
Narcissa smiled and tears beamed in her eyes. "Lucius and I are expecting."
Severus quietly gasped and raised his glass in a toast. "Well, then a congratulations is in order."
She laughed, quickly wiping at her eyes and regaining her composure. "Thank you, Severus. The baby is due close to the beginning of summer, so we still have some time to prepare. Although, I'm hoping once the baby comes, Lucius can settled in at home for a little longer than he has been recently.
Severus saw Lucius visibly stiffen. "Narcissa, now is not the time to discuss these issues."
"Now is never the time to talk about important things, apparently," she said sarcastically.
Lucius glared at his wife and excused himself, muttering under his breath about pregnancy hormones as he escaped the premature argument he'd have with his wife later.
Severus felt awkward seeing Narcissa so emotional. Her tears had returned, and she was wiping them away, hoping no one would see her so vulnerable. Lucius had a point about those pregnancy hormones…
"So, Lucius was just telling me about the Potters. I hope you managed to stay away from them."
Grateful for the distraction, Narcissa chuckled. "I've been keeping safe inside the manor. I'm not going to risk this baby when Dragon Pox is so rampant around the country."
"I'm assuming your Healer makes house calls?"
Narcissa nodded. "Thank Merlin he does. I've been so paranoid after we went to the Potters funeral a few weeks ago. Who knows how many people were exposed to the disease because of them."
"How was the funeral?"
"Extremely tense and awkward. The Potters were pureblood, so we were obligated to attend. It was very daring of James to bring his wife." She paused, probably to read Severus's reaction. "You know, because she's muggleborn."
"Of course I know," he said quickly, and paused a moment before asking, "How is she?"
Narcissa studied him carefully, unsure if she should continue the conversation, but eventually sighed in defeat. "She and James are expecting as well. Same with the Longbottoms."
The bile rose up in his throat. "Well, they sure didn't waste anytime."
"Now, Severus -"
He raised a hand to stop her from saying anymore. "As much as this news makes me cringe, you don't need to comfort me. Lily deserves to be a mother. I'm sure she will be great."
Narcissa glanced at him sympathetically. "Of course," she said. "I'm guessing you haven't heard anything from Hermione?"
He groaned inwardly, unsure if hearing her name was worse than the bile rising up in his throat about the Potter child. "Nothing."
"I'm sorry, Severus," she said with sincerity.
He pretended he didn't hear her, which wasn't hard to room was beginning to get a little rowdy and noisier as more and more alcohol was consumed. "You probably should go upstairs and settle in for the night. I wouldn't want you to get injured while your husband's friends get utterly drunk."
Nodding, she turned towards the stairway, but paused before turning around to face him. "Are you ready to leave? You could join me, if you'd like."
Her invitation hung heavily between them. Severus furrowed his brow at her implication. Never in his life did he look at Narcissa outside the context of belonging to Lucius. But after her quiet emotional display earlier, he realized she was lonely. Lucius was a key wizard to the Dark Lord and his momentum in Britain. It didn't connect to Severus that he was away from the manor more often than not, and when he was there, the conversations with his wife were all heated.
He didn't know what she implied by asking him to stay. But she knew how he felt. Narcissa, for some reason, was the only one who asked how he was doing, and she could read him fairly well. She knew that he was just as lonely as her. With the news of Lily, and with the little news he had from Hermione, he felt that his world was an empty vacuum all around him.
Despite the risk, and not knowing what to expect, he nodded. "Meet you there in ten minutes."
The mood inside the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was very somber. Barty Crouch was assessing his staff members, or what was left of his team. The last battle had left many casualties, five in all this time around. At this rate, there wouldn't be enough wizards and witches to replace the fallen ones.
The war was escalating greatly, and Barty was not sure if they could win.
The door opened in the corridor and Barty turned to see who was coming in. In a way, it was a relief to see Alastor Moody, but then when he saw his condition, it made him feel worse. Alastor had his leg damaged by a curse. There was no way to save the limb from the damage the spell inflicted, so they amputated it off.
He now hobbled inside the Auror's office with a wooden leg. Barty sighed. He didn't want to think how that new leg would affect his agility when another fight broke out. Maybe it was time to have him on desk duty.
He looked at the closet cubicle, where one of his Auror's used to work. This was once occupied by Wade Stephens. He was a good lad. Extremely quick on his feet. It was a cowardly curse that hit him from behind. What low life would attack when his back was turned?
Memos were still flying into the office and landing inside the deceased's cubicle. Barty gathered the stack of papers, wondering if any of them were of value. Nothing really felt important when your life was on the line in the midst of war.
He carried the papers and went inside his office, absentmindedly perusing the stack. An old magazine, a few issues of The Daily Prophet, a few letters and bills. Skimming the text did not reveal any useful or pertinent information.
In the middle of the pile, there was an interesting document. It was a copy of a birth certificate dated September 19 of that year. Why Wade would have kept a muggle birth certificate was curious enough, but as he sifted through his remainder belongings, there wasn't anything in plain sight that signified the Grangers were of any significance. Perhaps Wade had a fling with the mother of this young child?
Barty would look into that later. Right now, there were more pressing matter to take care of.
Unfortunately, as the months rolled onward, that piece of paper gathered dust and was buried in more piles of papers.
And the birth of a Hermione Jean Granger was never notified to the person, the man, who was desperate in finding her.