The shadow loomed over Britain, swiftly coming from the West Country of south-western England. It appeared as a dark flash merging with the night sky as it flew, never keeping to one path as to evade tracking or detection of unsavoury parties as it kept the valuable package close to his chest.
It moved over Britain with a mission, scurrying through the air like a simple mist before it landed on the edge roads of Hogsmeade.
As the mist collected, a man in black robes materialised out of the shadow. Hooked nosed and dark-haired, he walked towards the Shrieking Shack to get to Hogwarts without anyone seeing him until it was safe.
The bundle of blankets held tight to his chest began to fidget and whine in his arms. Unwrapping the thick cloak from around himself as soon as he deemed it safe, he held onto the infant better as she cried softly, almost like she knew she had to be quiet. He held her softly, letting her cries be dampened by his shoulder as she held onto him for dear life.
She had only been in a onesie and no boots, hands clinging to his clothes and refusing to let go. There was no point in comforting her more than simple hugs and whispered of everything will be alright as the scar burned her forehead and pained her.
Out of all of the hair on her head, she had a tuff of white where the burning lightning scar touched her hairline. It centred over her left eyebrow, one end going high into her hairline while the rest zagged until the other end touched halfway down.
Severus doubted, with his knowledge of Magic and curses and spells, that the hair would ever be as dark as the rest of her hair.
As they went through the passage from the Shrieking Shack all the way to the Whomping Willow, Severus was careful to comfort her as best as he could.
He couldn't do much. He didn't have a lot of experience with children, let alone with infants. He was only twenty-one, only just becoming a teacher at Hogwarts that year. What would he know about raising a child? He was barely out of being one himself. But he knew one thing.
The child would never be with her Muggle family since he knew what type of people they were.
"Madam Pomfrey!" He called into the hospital wing as he went in. It was dark and cold, all of the beds being empty and clean as he strode to the other side of the room with ease.
There was a banging sound from the office where a door to Poppy Pomfrey's residence was. She came out in a dressing gown hurriedly tied together over a set of long pyjamas.
"What is it, Severus?" She said sleepily.
"I need you to take a look at her,"
"At who?"
As he unwrapped his cloak, she gasped loudly, "My Merlin! So it's true… They're… They both are gone."
"Yes," He said simply as Poppy gestured for him to go near one of the beds. He gently put the infant down, thus making her frown, pout and then let out an unholy scream. He quickly picked her up, glad to realise she only wanted to be held as Poppy looked her over.
"She was scarred," Severus said, sitting down on the bed while he held her on his lap. "It looks healed but I cannot be certain. The Dark Lord gave it to her before he died. He's finally gone."
But Voldemort's body was gone when he arrived, leaving two corpses and a child in the house. He didn't mention this, not wanting to worry anyone but he made a mental note of it and to keep track of any underground news of any sort of Dark activities resurfacing.
"Does Albus know she's here?"
It took a second to realise she meant Dumbledore by the use of his first name.
Severus shook his head, "No," He said before beginning to lie. "I was not told that the Dark Lord would attack tonight. I only heard about it until after."
"How did you get her?" Poppy asked, checking over young Witch slowly.
"She was crying in her crib," He said as he watched Poppy check her out before the little girl whacked Poppy's hands away when they touched the scar.
"Apparently, the young miss doesn't like the scar touched," Poppy hummed, tickling her belly to make her laugh before standing up. "What are you going to do with her?"
"She has Muggle family but I doubt that's safe," He let the girl play with his hands as the toddler sat there. She pried his fingers apart before putting them together just to put them into pairs of two and then pry them apart.
She hummed. "I agree, especially with what I've heard about them from Lily Evans. Would the other Death Eaters try to get to her?"
"Yes," He said. "They would. I plan on keeping her close until a time her GodFather can take her."
)(-)(
"Severus, you cannot keep her," Albus Dumbledore told him as they sat in his office along with Minerva McGonagall and a representative of the Ministry's Child Protection department. "Mrs Allie, can you not place Ms Potter with her Muggle family? There must be laws, Muggle or Magical that say Ms Potter has to be with a relative?"
Mrs Allie sighed, taking off her square glasses to rub the soreness out of her temples, "We've had this discussion at length with Mr Snape already. James and Lily Potter both put in guardianship protocols if anything happened to them. With Remus Lupin's whereabouts being unknown, Sirius Black in Azkaban, and Peter Pettigrew dead, Severus Snape was named the next to have guardianship of the young girl."
"Severus is only twenty-one, is he really the best choice as a guardian?" Minerva said. "No offence intended, Severus."
He didn't say anything at this, keeping a blank face as Mrs Allie spoke.
"Were James and Lily Potter smart to have a child at the climax of a war? No, but it didn't make them any better or worse at parenting than they could be," She said. "They chose who would be given guardianship, explicit permission for only a sole few to have her if anything happened to them. I cannot, in good consciousness, take Ms Potter away from the person her parents have given her to."
"Lily and James Potter didn't die just for their daughter to be taken by someone she doesn't even know," Albus argued. "She should be with people she knows, or at the very least is related to."
"She knows me more than she would her aunt and uncle, Albus," Severus said, standing his ground. "I knew where they lived, I visited on occasion when they needed this or that and the others weren't available. This child knows me more than she would the people you are trying to put her with."
"You are a teacher now, Severus. You live and work at Hogwarts, how would you look after a child and teach?" Minerva asked softly, "You can't abandon your duties to look after her."
"We have HouseElves which would gladly take on the responsibility, they have been nannies to generations of Witches and Wizards within Pureblood families," He said, gesturing vaguely. "It would be much better for her to be brought up in this world, our world, instead of the Muggle where she would be ridiculed by her supposed relatives if you gave her to them."
Albus shook his head, "They are her family, they would do no such thing,"
"Yes, they would."
"How," Mrs Allie began, "would you come upon that information, Mr Snape? Or you, Mr Dumbledore? How could I decide where it is best to place the child with minimal knowledge of her life already?"
"I grew up not far from the Evans family, and I was there when both Lily and I got our acceptance letters from Hogwarts. While Mr and Mrs Evans were thrilled, Petunia Evans, who is Lily's older sister and now Petunia Dursley, was not. Her spouse is just as Magic fearing," Severus said plainly. "I can say for almost absolute certainty, that if Lilianeth Potter was placed with them, she would not be treated as a member of the family but rather as a freak as Petunia used to constantly taunt Lily with. So I would think that I, personally, would know about how Petunia Dursley would treat a Magical child moreso than Headmaster Dumbledore."
"If Ms Potter is brought up in the Muggle world, what would it benefit her? What would she get there that she wouldn't get in the Wizarding world?" She gave both Albus and Severus a look. "Please tell me the difference, the pros and cons of living in each world, Mr Dumbledore, so that I might understand better your point in Ms Potter's upbringing."
"Young Lilianeth is now a celebrity in this world," He said. "She would never be able to have a childhood with being in the limelight as she is being brought up as a young Witch. Just being she is the reason Voldemort is gone, does not mean she should be brought up as such a legend. It would warp her sense of self-worth, creating a new identity of being the Girl-Who-Lived instead of who she should be."
"Who should she be, Albus?" Minerva asked. "If she's brought up by Severus, and since he lives at Hogwarts most of the year and she would too, would she not be safer? This is the safest place for a child, regardless of age, so I do suppose it is safer to have Ms Potter at Hogwarts, under Severus Snape's care as he is the legal and Magical guardian of her. Think rationally, Albus. Would she not be safest here, under the eye of Hogwarts where she could learn and be shielded from the Daily Prophet and other newspapers?"
"Both you, Mrs McGonagall, and Mr Dumbledore, truly don't have a say if Mr Snape has custody of Ms Potter, but you both can say if she and Mr Snape can stay at Hogwarts," Mrs Allie said sternly, like a parent advising a child on two matters they could choose between. "I know for a fact that there have been professors that have had their spouses, as well as their children, live at Hogwarts or in Hogsmeade during their tenure here. So as I conclude that Mr Snape will be the legal and sole guardian, Mr Snape will retain his tenure here at Hogwarts as he raised Ms Lilianeth Ipomoea Potter as he sees fit."
)(-)(
Severus left the office as soon as he concluded his conversation with them, going to find Poppy as she had Lilianeth at the moment. The girl wasn't allowed to be there during the meeting since she would have become fussy or worse.
"Here's the darling girl," Poppy smiled, Lilianeth in her arms as Severus strode closer. The girl giggled as she saw him, reaching out before Poppy had time to hand over her. "She has had some banana, along with plain porridge and orange juice, which she quite likes. Though put her near mushrooms and she will throw them on the floor as I and some of the HouseElves found out."
"Thank you," He said, taking her into his arms. She was dressed in a simple onesie, light blue with little booties to keep warm as it was early November. "It's official, I'm the guardian of her now. How has she been since I left her? Has she acted strangely due to the new circumstances?2
"No, not at all," She said, before thinking for a moment. "Though, she keeps staring off into the distance or looking for something constantly. But that's normal toddler behaviour."
"Alright," He nodded as Lilianeth yawned in his arms, snuggling closer to him as she whined into his chest. "I suppose that's normal, especially with the new environment. It's getting late and I have class tomorrow."
"Yes, you do," Poppy said, giving him a stern look. "I want you both at breakfast, she needs to eat just as you do, sometimes moreso."
"Yes, of course, thank you," He agreed to her demands.
)(-)(
As his chamber doors closed behind him, he released a deep breath he had been holding in for the last while. Lilianeth wiggled in his arms, flaying a little as a way to tell him to put her down. He did, putting her down on the cold wood of the room.
He just watched her, wanting to know what she was going to do.
The room was safe for her to explore, many potions, vials, and jars were put up high already, way out of reach so she couldn't grab them if she wanted.
The bathroom was to the left wall as they came in, the desk right against the wall across from the door. The head of the double bed was in the alcove a couple of feet away from the right side of the door, a set of chests at its feet while three, dark dressers sat on the final wall. Across from the bed was a grey wooden cot for Lilitaneth.
Double bed? Cot?
He didn't have a double bed, he had a simple single since it was his preference but apparently, the castle had decided otherwise. He didn't have a cot either, but Lilianeth would need one to sleep in.
Not a lot of other stuff was put in his room by the castle, everything else he would need could be brought by himself.
Llilianeth stood, getting onto her feet slowly as she balanced quickly. She looked around the big room, taking in the dark stone and silver accents. She giggled as she saw the bed, beginning to run towards it with sure but unsteady steps.
She tripped before she got there, falling onto her knees and pausing to frown before she got up again and lept for the bed.
Severus went over as she tried to climb the bed, picking her up and putting her on top of it where she laid down and flared her arms and legs in triumph. He laughed at that, watching her face light up in happiness at such a simple thing.
)(-)(
He woke up to weight on his chest, one that was also napping as he slowly began to wake up right before his alarm clock went off with a loud whistling howl. It turned off the second he opened his eyes, finding a grinning and already dressed Lilith on his chest.
Her name was too much of a mouthful, and Lilith was the nickname her parents had chosen so it worked well with the little girl.
"Good morning," He said, sitting up carefully as to not completely dislodge the girl from his lap. "What happened here? Did you dress yourself?"
"No, Cinly did!" The high-pitched voice of a HouseElf came from the side of the bed. "Cinly is Ms Potter's Nanny-HouseElf! Here for all duties of taking care of Ms Potter and helping Mr Snape when needed!"
"Thank you for dressing her," He said, watching as Lilith turned her head and her pigtails, one having a streak of white with the rest being dark, began to sway as she patted his chest with both hands impatiently. "It seems breakfast will be in a few minutes."
"Yes, it will be!" Cinly said, nodding her head with wide grey eyes and letting the hem of her light grey dress bounce as she rocked on her heels. "Does Mr Snape want Cinly to take Ms Potter to breakfast? Or will Mr Snape take her himself?"
"I will take her myself, thank you,"
)(-)(
Lilith held onto him as he walked through the halls of Hogwarts, in a pair of dark leggings under light coloured dress and a pair of simple black shoes depending if she wanted to do some walking or crawling today. He was in his normal outfit of black trousers with a dark grey button-down with a set of black robes over it.
He held her on his right side, letting her suck her thumb as she patted his shoulder with her free hand in excitement as the doors to the great hall opened without a word.
"This is Hogwarts," He muttered to her, watching her furrow her eyebrows in confusion before she made a displeased face. He continued to walk down between the lengths of the middle two tables, letting the students begin to stare as he walked with a young child in his arms. "This is your new home."
)(-)(
It hailed heavily the day of the funeral, a week after Lilith came into his custody and a week-long investigation into what happened at Godric's Hollow. Hitwitches, investigators and Aurors roamed the area for the full week, trying to find any evidence or proof of what happened. The Magic signature slashed into the walls and the dark tone of death was enough to tell the Aurors and thus the Ministry that several deaths happened at the house.
Severus made sure to put the ruined house into Lilith's name, letting it go into her inheritance for when she was older.
Robed in the darkest shade for mourning, several dozen people attended the funeral of James and Lily Potter. The graveyard was full of people giving their respects to the newly deceased.
Aurors surrounded the graveyard, letting certain people come closer to Lilith as she could still be a target. It was a precaution for now, one that would disappear as everyone realised she was in no more danger.
Both Lilith and Severus attended the funeral, staying at the front as it was Lilith's right as their child. It was a quiet affair, ending late but everyone went home before dark, still fearing Death Eaters and their wrath since not all of them were captured yet.
Lilith clung to him as he stood in front of the statute in the centre of the village. It still hailed and rained heavily as she sniffled and hug him close. He used his wand to keep the rain off of them, letting the barrier keep them dry as Lilith looked at the statute longingly before turning her head so she faced behind him.
It was a stone monument of James, Lily, Lilith Potter, all young, all very innocent and family-like in the dark of night.
It had been committed by the Wizarding population of Godric's hollow and a part of the larger Wizarding community of Great Britain as they felt sorry for the destroyed family.
Lilith reached for something behind him, squirming and moving a lot as she reached out and flared her arms out in greeting.
"Moo!" Lilith said, calling it out in absolute delight.
The little Witch floated out of his arms so he was careful to grab her and guide her over to the person she wanted.
"You look like you've been drugged through a bush," He said, looking down at the Wizard, "Or three."
"Hello, Severus," Remus Lupin greeted, holding the little Witch as she giggled and grabbed a piece of his clothing to clutch in her small hands. He looked down at himself, the dirty trousers and the dark leather of his jacket being two stark contrasts against each other. He tickled Lilith gently. "Hello, darling. How has old Beaky been treating you? Has he been feeding you well? With strawberries and raspberries too? I thought so."
"She has stained one of my grey sweaters," Severus said. "Twice."
He laughed, making her laugh as a result, "Good girl. Pain in the butt, isn't she? I'm surprised Dumbledore hasn't tried to make her go to her Muggle family."
"He has," He said, flaring in nostrils in anger at the memory. "But I won the case. She is staying with me at Hogwarts as I work there."
"Good, she's safe then," Remus exhaled a deep breath. "I was concerned with where she's been. After I heard Sirius gave her to you, I didn't know where she could have gone, especially with Dumbledore's influences."
"Yes, I made a case to the Ministry's department of child services and also the Muggle ones, so I have full custody of her,"
"Good, good," He nodded. "Have you heard about Sirius yet?"
"Besides the fact he apparently killed twelve muggles and is Azkaban? No,"
"Well, I couldn't believe he did it and killed Peter," He sighed. "I thought he was better than letting his Black blood get into his head."
Severus shook his head, "I don't believe he did it."
"But there was a piece of Peter left. His finger was chopped off,"
"Chopped," He said. "When have you known Sirius to be inclined to using weapons besides for his fists? He doesn't like to use his wand to fight, not when he can use his body as a conductor instead."
"True, true," Remus mumbled, handing Lilith back as the rain got heavier but the umbrella spell kept it off all three of them. "I best be going. I don't need people knowing where I could be. Bye, Lilith."
The girl began to cry when she realised what was happening that her Moo was leaving.
"Where are you staying, Remus?" He asked, watching as Remus hesitated to answer. "Use my house at Spinner's End until you can get on your feet. I knew you were staying with the Potters, and with Sirius gone, you can't access his place. I can find you work if you need it."
Remus shook his head, "I can't."
"Yes, you can," Severus insisted, hiking Lilith higher so he could hold onto her properly as her cries lowered to little sniffles. "You think James and Lily would let you live on the streets when they could help? I don't use my house until the summer so it's free most of the year. Use it until you don't need it. Besides, Lilith will need at least one of her uncles near her in the future."
He looked almost relieved, taking a breath slowly and deeply before he exhaled it like it hurt him, "Thank you. With both James and Peter dead, and Sirius in Azkaban, people are after me to get information."
"You have nothing to tell them. What you do say is what you want. They have no right to information about something that doesn't concern them," Severus said, flicking his wand to manifest a key which he promptly handed to Remus. "Leave it in the gargoyle's mouth whenever you decided you're finished with the place."
"Thank you."
Remus shrugged off the leather jacket he had on, one that was too large yet too short for him. He handed it over, looking between Lilith and Severus. "It was Sirius'. The asshole would have wanted her to have it."
Severus took the jacket.
It was Dragonhide, thick, durable, and Magical. Dark leather from a Dragon which had a slight purple tinge to its scales, the inside was patterned with a dark navy sky and several dozen constellations. It was custom made for Sirius, fitted to his physique but as Lilith took it, it shrunk down until it was the size for a child, but far too large for her right now.
She could have it when she started Hogwarts.
They both nodded in goodbye.
)(-)(
Lilith sat at Severus' desk in one of his Second Year classes, a little notebook in front of her as she drew and doodled as he taught the class the Doxycide potion. She wore a little winter dress in a pleasant warm grey with Severus' scarf wrapped around her like a blanket. It was obscenely large and could have acted as a set of robes for the little Witch.
A huge dog laid right next to the desk, almost the size of it as he napped. Ares the dog had been with Lilith for three years, four at the upcoming Yule. Both Wizard and Witch had gone to Diagon Alley the winter after her parents' death to find the starved puppy following them in the dark.
The way the puppy had interacted with her was enough to tell Severus to take the dog, so he did, letting the bond between girl and dog grow over the years.
It was a Familiar bond, something that happened a couple of times in a thousand years but he supposed that Lilith was special in more than a couple of ways.
Ares was a Caucasian Shepherd dog, a Russian breed that would have protected livestock. He was a dark grey, colouring like a shadow rather than a creature, with the brightest silver eyes Severus had ever seen.
"Freeze, Mr Hayes," He snapped, waving his wand to stop the young boy from touching the Bundimun secretion with his bare hands. "You must wear gloves when handling Bundimun secretion. Can someone tell me why?"
As he scanned the room, no one raised their hands.
"Lilith?"
Without missing a beat or swipe of her pencil across the paper, she answered, "It is corr-o-sive because of the acidic nature."
"If someone ten years your junior can answer it, I expect you to know," He told the class. "As such, for your lack of knowledge, I want a ten-inch essay on the Doxycide potion, including two paragraphs about each ingredient." He hid the smile as the class groaned in despair at the sound of homework, so he had some mercy on them. "Due first lesson back after Yule."
That brightened many of the students' end of year lessons. Yule break was barely a couple of hours away, the students would leave the next day for home or would stay the holidays at Hogwarts.
)(-)(
Deep within the Forbidden Forest, a relatively large group of students and teachers alike stood before the Yule Tide bonfire. Many members of Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were gathered around the fire, watching it burn to celebrate the rebirth of Yule and the Winter Solstice.
The whole school was covered with a thick foot of snow, making it extra cold but somehow bright as the fire flickered off the snow around them.
Severus stood next to Minerva, Lilith sat on a blanket between them with Ares around her for extra warmth.
Almost all of the students here were of Dark families with Pagan roots or with a link to more natural Magic.
Albus Dumbledore didn't approve of the Pagan roots that Magic had. Many new politicians and members of the Ministry didn't approve, saying it was the reason why Tom Riddle became Voldemort.
Pagan didn't mean bad, though some aspects of it weren't approved of anymore. Of course, animal and human sacrifices weren't allowed anymore, but it didn't mean it didn't work well and quickly.
Pagan was the old ways, the ways Wixen knew would always work. They were much quicker than the newer, more acceptable ways.
Nothing was rushed as the bonfire went on, flickering high and strong. Students and staff placed small offerings into the fire: galleons, vials of potions, herbs, books, fabric. It all melted and burned, letting the fire spark blue and purple with each one.
This wasn't Lilith's first Yule at Hogwarts now, so she was used to the idea of burning and fire as rebirth and replenishing. She had put her offering in not long ago, letting a small picture she made burn and get accepted by the fires as a bright, purple flame shot up before disappearing.
Celebrating Yule was one of her favourite things. With it being the shortest day and longest night of the year, she got to sleep more than she did any other day of the year. Taking part in renewing themselves and their Magic was a rite of passage for many Witches, letting them show the world and Magic that they were grateful for the Gifts they had gotten simply by chance.
Every fire lit in Hogwarts glowed blue, a sign of thanks and gratitude from each student, teacher and animal.
)(-)(
"You are not having the ice cream," He said, watching as seven-year-old Lilith pouted and crossed her arms impatiently next to his chair at the High Table at dinner time. "Not until you finish your dinner."
"I. Don't. Want. It." She sat in her chair, one that was much higher than the adults' at the table. She was between Minerva and Severus, with Minvera next to Dumbledore. "I hate mushrooms."
"Then don't eat the mushrooms," He said, picking them off her golden plate and putting them on his before gesturing to the other vegetables around her dish. "Finish the carrots and cabbage, then you finish the roast potatoes, and then you can have a portion of ice cream."
"Fine." She gobbled the rest of the mentioned food before looking at him expectantly.
He sighed. "Cinly, she can have the ice cream now."
The little Witch dove right into the raspberry and white chocolate ice cream.
Minerva laughed under her breath, gently cutting apart a potato before she put it in her mouth and chewed. Severus prevented himself from rolling his eyes, keeping it to a quiet chuff before he took a gulp of his goblet before continuing with his meal.
)(-)(
Life at Hogwarts was not quiet as young Lilith grew up within its halls, not even as she grew to the age of ten and wanted to be in lessons.
Severus Snape was the main person dealing with all tantrums, breakdowns, and otherwise bad behaviour from the young Witch. However, input from Minerva McGonagall made it so much easier to get the girl under control.
When Lilith found out Severus was an Animagus much like Minvera, but instead, he was a large raven, she wanted to be an Animagus too.
"How is it fair?" Lilith pouted as she sat in one of the seats in their living room. "I wanna be an Animagus too. Why do I have to wait? Pa was an Anmagus when he was fifteen, why can't I start now?"
"Because you are much too young, Lilith," Severus said, reading his newspaper.
"But Dad…." She pouted again.
"That look hasn't worked on me for years," He said before he heard the whimpering of a dog and dropped the top of the newspaper to see the huge head of Lilith's Familiar. "And that look doesn't work either, Ares."
Ares huffed air into his face before sulking away, wrapping himself at Lilith's feet with a grumbling groan
"The answer is not until you are at the very least thirteen, Lilith," He said.
She sighed loudly, slouching in the chair dramatically. "Fine, Dad."
She called him Dad, and her biological father as Pa as that was what she called him when she was a baby. Her mother was Ma but she didn't have a mother now but had a mother figure in Minerva.
"You can wait two years, you're almost eleven now," He said. "Only a couple of months and you get to start your schooling."
"I can't wait!"