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Her father must have had good reason.

Her father must have had good reason to do it.

That was what Harriet told herself as she flew home from the castle that night to the Snapes' empty cottage and scribbled a note.

Lily and Severus had insisted they were good people, they had been good parents, but then, why had they supported a murderer?

Why had her father become one?

Harriet pushed aside her many questions and mingled uncertainties.

Her dangerous mission had become an absolute priority.

The horcruxes, the other pieces of Voldemort, had to be found and destroyed.

Harriet vowed to ruin each one, if only to avenge Dumbledore and learn the truth about her parents.

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Dear Mum, Dad, and Ellery,

I can't tell any of you where it is I've gone. I can't even say for certain if I'll ever see any of you again. Please know whatever happens that I love each of you more than I can ever say. I will carry all of you with me until the very end.

Love,

J

Harriet used her middle initial of "J" for Jane just in case the protective charms she had placed on the letter were broken and unintended eyes managed to read it.

She frowned to herself as she glanced over the lines she had scrawled on the parchment to look for any mistakes.

"Are you almost ready?!" Ron called from downstairs.

"Harriet, hurry up, we've got to go before someone finds you here!" Hermione wailed.

"I'M COMING!" Harriet shouted in reply as she stood from her seat, stuffed the letter into an envelope and ran out of the room.

"There's no need to panic." Tom's smooth voice echoed from the lower level of the Snapes' cottage while Harriet hurried down the hallway and ducked into her parents' room, "...I am perfectly capable of defending us all if a need arises."

A bittersweet smile graced Harriet's fair face as she let the letter drift from her hand and down to the nightstand beside her parents' bed before she turned and left.

As she walked down the stairs to meet her friends, she clutched Anuman's cage in her hands, with her pack slapping against her spine every step she took.

Ron had (and) Hermione had placed their things inside a small, magical pouch Hermione carried.

Tom had brought no luggage with him, choosing instead to travel light with only his school uniform and the Basilisk awaiting his command back at Hogwarts.

A single flick of Hermione's wand and they all hurtled through the stratosphere towards a remote location somewhere deep in the nearby forest.

It would take some time to discover the best way to acquire their first target.

Gringotts Bank was notoriously full of secrets and dark treasures, stuffed inside the cavernous underbelly that housed the vaults of famous witches and wizards, some dark, some not.

Harriet didn't much care for any of the riches hidden there, not even James Potter's enormous fortune she had learned that she would soon inherit.

Helga Hufflepuff's cup was the only item Harriet wanted from Gringotts.

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That evening, Severus did his best to comfort his wife and son after Lily found Harriet's letter and read it aloud to the family.

"Wh-What am I supposed to do all summer without sissy?" Ellery sniffed as his father clutched him in his wing-like arm, draped in the flowing fabric of his black robes, "I can't go without seeing her! Or knowing she's all right at least! This is cruel, that's what it is, it's cruel!"

Severus frowned at his son while Lily sniffed back her own tears to reach over and hug Ellery.

Severus wrapped them both in his strong embrace while Lily pulled Ellery's head to her chest, combed his hair with her fingers, and whispered, "Don't fret, love, don't fret. Your sister is a clever girl. She'll find her way back to us, don't you worry, alright?"

"Where has she gone, Mum?" Ellery blinked as he glanced up at Lily.

Lily and Severus exchanged nervous glances before she cleared her throat and replied, "Dear, please don't ask me to answer that now……Time will tell soon enough. She won't be gone long!"

Ellery sniffed as he wiped his eyes.

"You're lying." Ellery whispered in a tone that rang with bitter accusation, "You don't know where she is, do you?! You don't even know if she'll be back! Does it have to do with him?!"

Panic rose in Lily as Severus interjected, "Heed my warning, son, I cannot allow you to speak to your mother in that tone of voice. Have you lost the sight from your eyes? Surely you can see she's just as distraught as you-"

"-And why are you not, Dad?" Ellery snapped as his black stare locked onto his father's.

"...I beg your pardon?" Severus scowled.

"Why aren't you as upset as me and Mum that sissy's run away?! Either you know something you won't tell the two of us or you simply don't care!" Ellery roared.

Severus flinched as if his son had just hit him squarely in the face.

Not with fists, but with words instead, Severus had suffered an incredible blow under his offspring's ignorant, sharp tongue.

To be accused of not caring about Harriet……

Of hiding information from his flower and their son……..

Severus's scarred heart lurched in agony.

"Ellery, that's enough!" Lily hissed, "Your father and I will give the same speech to you that we have to your sister! We love each of you so much! We've risked our lives to keep you both safe and continue to each day! Your father has sacrificed more for this family than you could ever think or imagine and I will not tolerate that level of disrespect, do you understand me?!"

As Lily had spoken, Ellery's eyes had widened.

His mouth had dropped open.

Never before had he seen his sweet, loving mother bark at him that way or demand an apology.

Ellery had inherited Lily's sweet, kind nature and usually committed no atrocities, verbal or otherwise that required apologies.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Dad." Ellery answered in a much quieter voice, "...And I'm sorry, Mum. Sissy's been acting really weird lately, now she's gone. I'm frightened, I'm confused…..I…..I-"

"Sweetheart, we know this is difficult." Lily frowned as Severus took a step to be nearer to her while she spoke, "And please know that this is a trying time for your father and I as well, but right now, it's what we have to do to keep you both safe."

"Lie?" Ellery frowned, "...Hide? Leave us in the dark?"

"Your father and I will tell a hundred lies to a hundred different people a hundred different ways, sweetheart, if that's what it takes to keep you and your sister alive." Lily said with a bitter smile.

Ellery glanced from his mother to his father before a stiff frown formed on his pale face.

As dissatisfied with himself as he was with the rest of his family, Ellery dropped his pointless search for answers and turned his back on his parents while he walked up the stairs towards his room.

Lily sighed as soon as she heard his door close.

Severus caught her in his arms as she covered her face with her hands and began to weep out her anguish over their miserable situation.

"There, there, my love….." Severus whispered as Lily cuddled into his chest while he wrapped his long arms around her waist to enfold her in his protective hug, "One day, after the Dark Lord is defeated, all of our struggles will have been made worthwhile. Our children will understand the weight of the burdens we carry and respect us more for them."

"Suppose that doesn't happen, Sev?" Lily sniffed.

"Don't dare utter those words, Lily." Severus drawled as he moved forward to further swallow her in his protective embrace, "We have not come this far and Harriet has not grown so strong only to fail now. I am here, my love, and soon, she will be also."

Lily willingly accepted Severus's deep cuddle.

She closed her eyes tight and laid her head against his chest as she listened to the steady rhythm of his beating heart.

Silently, as she snuggled with Severus, she held onto the longing she had cradled for the past seventeen years.

All Lily wanted was to raise a happy family in a safe world with the man she loved.

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Harriet's continued absence at Death Eater meetings had steadily earned Voldemort's suspicion during the previous months.

After her disappearance, little changed.

At one such event, Severus and Lily sat next to Ellery, across from the Malfoys at the large, ebony dining table that stood in the family's mansion while Voldemort himself inquired about their daughter.

"I assume our dear Harriet is still ill, Severus?" He asked with a displeased frown.

"I'm afraid that's correct, my lord. The healers expect her to recover soon." Severus nodded.

Laima, er, Lily, nodded as well.

Ellery followed his parents' lead.

"Well, Severus, if they continue to demonstrate their incompetence, I will have no choice but to visit the girl and complete their job for them, won't I?" Voldemort sneered.

Jeers and cackles rang out around the table as Severus nodded again with his head low, "Our daughter deserves no such honour from you, my lord."

"Nonsense!" Voldemort hissed, "Tell dear Harriet when you see her again that she has been sorely……..missed."

The last word sounded more like Parseltongue than English.

"Of course, my lord." Severus said as he dared lift his gaze to look into Voldemort's serpentine eyes.

Lily and Ellery focused their thoughts on other things.

A single slip of Severus's Occlumency in that very moment would have seen every Snape except Harriet fed to Nagini, who patrolled the perimeter of the table in slow, heavy slithers, waiting on her dark master's command to strike.