A/N: Thank Nightshade sydenylover150 for this chapter! Ghost! Severus. Includes elements from the Epilogue, but not a lot. Inspired by Chase Coy's Lullaby. Yes, music usually helps these poor babies along. They can't make it without music. Well, most of them. Some of them are musically immune. Now, go enjoy the story!
DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I wave my wand, I will never own Sev and our favorite green-eyed Wizard. *sobs*
WARNING: Yaoi is an important part of these. Please desist in flaming.
-Ryder
P.S. There may be more than one title that gets a continuation; Dragon's Might, Dragon's Might II... etc.
-Lullaby-
-Nineteen Years Later-
Harry strolled through Hogwarts, relishing in the feeling of being home.
"Home sweet home, yeah?" he asked himself lowly, just taking in the crisp air of late summer.
"Harry? I'm applying for the librarian's job; Madame Pince resigned. The Blibbering Humdingers in the books were driving her mad." Luna's serene voice interrupted his half-trance.
"Luna! Didn't expect to see ya here... Librarian, ya said?"
"You're applying for...?" Sometimes she had a practical streak a kilometer long.
"Oh, Hogwarts Healer. The Ministry figured tha' the school needed a full-time Healer on the staff. Professor McGonagall agreed. I think she likes the idea of me comin' back here. I missed it. It's the first place I called home, ya ken? It's good to be back."
"Yes, the Nargles are floating about your head. Happiness is what draws them, you know."
"Hmm. Yeah." He lead the way to the stone gargoyle. "Gyrffindor Lioness." The spiraling staircase appeared, both of them climbing rather than standing on the stairs.
"Mr. Potter. Ms. Lovegood-Is it Mrs. now?"
"Oh, Liam doesn't mind me using my family name. I'll just be Ms. Lovegood here."
"Just call me Harry. Please, 'twould make my life a lot less complicated. James and Albus already go by Mr. Potter... I'm glad she found a new husband, before ya protest. Lily's always gonna be my wee lass."
"Spent a few years in the Highland, did we?"
"Nah, wit' the witty Irish. Makes for confusin' 'em a lot easier."
"Ah, yes. Those avid fans of yours." she said with a small smile and a mild grimace.
He smiled at his two boys, ruffling their hair as they sat in his office.
"So?" he questioned.
"Mr. Corner's not you." Albus spoke first, a sneer crossing his face.
"I don't like how he treats Mum; like some kind of prize won off of you, Da." Even though James was the elder, his tone was softer. He had Harry's temper in that regard.
"Ach, ya ken he's good for her. An' is he good ta my Lilyflower?"
"He ignores her! We have to baby-sit when he wants to go out with Mum. The Wizgamnot should grant you full custody." Albus hissed fiercely, his green eyes flashing with Ginny's infamous temper.
"Now, we don't want Lilyflower growin' up wit' out a womanly touch. 'Twould be cruel."
"There's Aunty Fleur, and Victorie. They dote on our sister already."
"It's truth ya be speakin' James. Ya sure?"
"Never more in my life."
-PoV-
Severus floated through the walls, avoiding all of the students on his way down to the dungeons. His body had been healed and put into stasis by the very best; on Potter's word, of all things. He was stuck here on a debt! Rumor had it he was the new Healer...
Surprisingly, Potter was pouring over student records, piling the abuse cases in one pile and the regulars in another. Did the arrogant snot actually care? Was there some piece of Lily in him?
"You know, there were rumors that you still haunted the castle. I didn't believe them until I saw you head down to your body."
"Cute, Potter. I am stuckhere, no thanks to you. I still hold onto a tenuous thread of life. I was planning on seeing- You would not understand."
"Try me." he said, sorting through the abuse cases from worst to mild.
"You've got it wrong. The heavier cases are in Slytherin. Sort by House, not by case. Notice the pattern, dunderhead. How you even passed Healing 101 is beyond me at this point." Severus snipped, sneering at the ex-Gryffindor.
"Oh. That's because you've been through these before, haven't you? Maybe I would have been better in Slytherin."
"You? The Golden Boy?" The thought was mind-boggling as a person, but as a detatched ghost? Even more so.
"Got this one from a frying pan pressed to it for longer than a minute." The rolled up sleeves showed various cut and burn scars. He flinched everytime Potter pointed one out with casual interest. "Hmm, that one's the Basalisk scar. Never did heal properly. I tried helping you awaken from stasis."
"I want to DIE, idiot."
"It's my job to save lives." The brat responded with a cheeky grin. "You're the hardest case I've had to crack yet."
"Perhaps it is because I would like to moveon and you are preventing me."
"The world needs to see what I saw; an unsung hero who spent twenty years of his life under the thumb of two masters." The blunt statement, said without the typical Gyrffindor snoot, shook Severus rather soundly.
"Now why would they need to see-" A feminine squeal reached his ghostly ears and he hovered hesitantly for several seconds.
"Lilyflower! How's my baby girl?" The voice he heard now could not have possibly come from the slayer of the Dark Lord. It was soft, genteel in a way Severus had never quite managed with his first years.
"Daddy! Oh. Hi pretty ghost! Did you know that you're floating in the middle of Daddy's desk?" Ah. So he was. He pulled out and pseudo-knelt before Potter's little girl. "My name's Lily."
"Severus." he replied, smiling at her attitude towards him.
"Sev-er-us. Sev'rus. Sorry." Soft grey eyes that held Lily's fire looked up at him in apology.
"Close enough, child."
"Daddy tells us all 'bout you, you know."
"Does he then?" Potter all but ignored them in favor of his stack of files. Apparently he was trusted enough that Lily could chatter with him. It touched something in him, watching this little girl that looked so much like his Lily, but wasn't.
"Uh-huh. Ev'ry night before we go to bed. James and Al say they don't like it... But I know they do. Daddy says you were best friends with Gamma Lily."
"I was... but we had a nasty fight."
"I know. She wasn't very nice to you after that."
"No, I suppose not."
"What's that?" she asked, pointing to his dark grey Dark Mark. Even as a ghost it stayed; he had died before the Dark Lord's demise.
"It's the mark of a man you thankfully know nothing about. I took it when your Grandma Lily... decided that we weren't friends anymore."
"Oh. Come chase butterflies with me? Daddy?" She tugged on Potter's white, tight-fitting Healer uniform. Where had that thought come from?
"Yes, Lilyflower?"
"Can Sev'rus and I chase butterflies?"
"Sure. But stay close to him unless you see one of your brothers, okay? Promise?" Potter held out his pinky and Lily linked it with her own, smiling as he conjured butterflies from thin air. She shrieked with joy and gave chase as Severus watched her carefully. "Keep the fans away from her. Please? The last time they got close, she was almost kidnapped." Seriousness echoed in the strong tenor, pain in the green eyes that were so like Lily's.
"I like to think my scowl is sufficient." he snarked, following after little Lily.
-PoV-
Harry smiled softly to himself as Lily and Severus exited the Hospital Wing. Yes, the scowl would scare off most of the fans. But when had the ghost of Snape become Severus? Harry sat slowly, staring blankly at the case-sheets...
Poppy prodded him awake with a jet of cold water from her wand.
"Up, Harry. You'll miss dinner."
"'M up... Urgh. Did I drool on the sheets?" he asked, wiping his face and replacing his glasses in a motion that had become ingrained.
"No. Lily's in my office. Severus dropped her off after she got tired. She's asleep and she's had dinner, courtesy of Severus's cajoling. She wanted to eat with you." Poppy said, chuckling. "You work too hard."
"Are those lies I hear?" He was in the 'Marauder' mood, as Poppy had dubbed it.
"I mean it."
"Says the Medi-witch who should have retired a long time ago due to the amount of grief I gave her during my years here." he teased, yelping when she sent a Stinging Hex his way. "Alright, alright! Dinner."
He sighed as dinner progressed. At least the fans had become less fanatical. The only thing keeping him from cursing the lot of them were his kids and, surprisingly enough, Severus's ghost. Today was the first time they'd had a somewhat decent conversation without wanting to kill each other; figuratively speaking, of course, since Severus was already dead. Damn, there it was again! When had the snarky Potions Master become more than that? The answer slapped him in the face. Lily brought out a more gentle side of the ghost. The softened gaze was what made him Severus instead of Snape after all these years. Well, damn. Looked like he really had to convince the ghost back to his body.
-PoV-
Severus found every excuse in the book to protect Potter's little girl. She was so perceptive, so much like Lily it hurt. But she differed in that she took action on anything that bothered her.
"Sev'rus?"
"Yes, Lily?"
"You look at Daddy when he's not payin' attention. Why?" Severus blushed, his cheeks brightening to a silver instead of its usual pearlescent grey.
"It's nothing to do with you."
"I know. Daddy does it too, when he thinks you're not looking."
"What?" The hoarseness in his voice couldn't be disgused. "It can't..."
"He used to look at Mummy that way." If he was human, he would have choked on the next intake of air.
"Lily, I think you might be-"
"Daddy's awfully lonely. He misses Mummy, but she's happy with Mr. Corner. Won't you take care of him?"
"Alright." He caved, knowing she would never let up; she had inherited the Potter stubbornness in that regard.
Sure enough, as Severus eased his way into Harry's life, the man brightened. Wait, when had Potter become Harry? What day did the double-spy fall for the Light and foolhardy brat? He mulled the questions over repeatedly, pseudo-pacing in the Astronomy Tower.
"Looks like you have a lot on your mind, Severus Snape."
"Gabriel San Salvatore." The Bloody Baron huffed as his name was said.
"You do know that you have to make a choice soon." The grave announcement from the other ghost startled Severus.
"A choice?"
"To move on or to return to your body, Severus. It cannot take the strain of no soul for much longer. If I were you, I would stay here. That nice young Healer obviously has the-what is the word?-ah,hots for you."
"You've been watching Harry?"
"No. It's as plain as day on his face. Completely besotted with you, because his face lights up whenever you two are in the same room, idiot." Silver blush spread like fire across his cheeks once more in the course of less than a week. "I suppose you feel much the same way."
"What do the other... ghosts have to say about this?"
"Half of them are wishing they were in your predicament and half of them simply do not care. I am, of course, in the latter half. I still have to court Helena." Severus heard the distinct tone of fondness in the other ghost's voice; in the latter half, his ghostly ass.
He slowly sank into his mortal flesh, not expecting the searing agony of reuniting soul with body...
-PoV-
Harry's alarms on Severus went off, the noise startling him out of a dead sleep.
"Wha' is he doin' this time of night to his body? Ugh." He donned his Healer robes quickly and ran to the stasis chamber. The body was convulsing as a bright light shone.
"Severus?" All he heard was panting for several seconds.
"Never... again. That hurt... worse than a session... with the Dark Lord." The raspy voice sounded like heaven to Harry, who automatically cast a diagnostic spell. The sheet came back with odd results. Severus's body was in perfect condition, no atrophy or anything wrong. "Stay?"
Warm arms encircled his waist, and his face was buried in someone's collar. He shifted a bit, wondering where he was for a moment. Everything came back to him as he lay there trying to gather his thoughts.
"Severus?"
"Mmm?"
"You're back in your body." That did it as Severus sat up suddenly, pulling Harry up with him.
"Is this real?" The silky baritone asked, arms tightening around his waist in a gesture to reassure himself. "I'm holding you?"
"I think so. Yeah, pretty sure it is." Good Merlin, Severus was hung like a horse!
-SMUT SCENE-
The morning woody was pressed against his thigh in the most inviting way. Harry shifted his thigh up, catching Severus's attention.
"Ah! Harry, do not do tha-Ohhh." He managed to wriggle into Sev's lap, his knees digging into the soft bed on either side. "Minx."
"So? Want to explore my body?" An intake of breath was all heard. "I mean really explore it?"
"You would let me-"
Supressing a mirthful chuckle, Harry replied, "Yes."
"Thank you." The profound gratefulness in the silky voice made Harry shiver.
"Your voice... Damn, it's sexy." A slight blush was the response this time as warm, calloused hands swept his over-robe off of his upper body.
"You think so? Should I tease you with just my voice, then?" A soft breath ghosted across his neck as Severus attacked it, warm tongue soothing the nips. "I've found that I'm rather partial to your bedroom voice." Harry blushed, tilting his head back to allow more access. "Speechless? Mmm, should've done this years ago..."
"Severus!" he protested as his boots were slipped off with care.
"Yes?"
"Don't... Nngh... say things like that." Soft caresses brought mindless pleasure as Severus mapped out his hotspots with a thouroghness Ginny never had. "Feels... so good..."
"Does it? Then I'm doing it right." The low purr made Harry moan, his hips grinding down as Severus snapped his hips up. The friction was delicious.
-SMUT SCENE END-
A loud rapping on the door had Harry yanking his boots and over-robe back on, bemoaning the state of his hair, which was beyond all hope.
"Healer Potter? We got alarms that the patient was awake." Harry blushed behind the door, mortified. Diagnostics would show recent sexual activity as well.
"Shit."
"It's nothing, Harry. You look thoroughly debauched, I might add." Severus purred, burying his nose in Harry's longer hair (which was tied with an emerald silk ribbon), wrapping his arms around him.
"Severus!"
"I love it when you use that tone with me." He fidgetted for a moment before allowing the door to open.
"Healer Po-Was I interrupting something?" The Healer beyond the door was none other than Theodore Nott Jr. The bright red blush did no good for his complexion.
"As a matter of fact, yes, Healer Nott. Harry was helping me to determine the extent of my physical recovery." The snark behind the remark was evidently fear-inducing. "Now, don't you have some paperwork to fill out?"
"Of course, Professor." The door was neatly shut. Severus pulled out his wand and locked it while also warding it.
"No more interruptions."
-Three Months Later-
-PoV-
More content than he had been in a while, Severus took to wandering the halls. Harry was to be found in two places; their quarters or the Hospital Wing. Today it was the Hospital Wing.
"Almost done. Now, what did you learn?" Harry's soft tenor chided gently.
"Don't play Quidditch without an adult watching?" The sheepish reply came from an obvious third-year.
"Correct. Off with you. Don't forget to drink your Potion!" The brat ran off, meeting up with worried friends with a bandage around his hand. "Sev! What are you doing up here?" His husband expressed surprise and pleasure at his appearance.
"Taking a break from obnoxious brats and exploding cauldrons. Yourself?"
"Oh, just a third-year who fell off of his broom. Thank goodness James and Albus inherited my skill! Lily's been getting some practice on James's toy broom; which doesn't float more than three feet and is the perfect size for her." Green eyes glazed over as his husband went about his duties on near-auto pilot.
"Papa? Daddy?" Lily's soft soprano sounded from the end of the Wing.
"Da, you in? Lily wanted to see you and Pop." That would be James as he trailed after her.
"Sure. Lilyflower, what's up?"
"My tummy hurts."
"Did she have lunch?"
"About an hour ago. Didn't see anyone cast anything... Maybe it's internal?" James responded promptly, his hazel eyes far too old for his face.
"No. Just a tummy ache, hmm? You go ahead and take a kip on my pallet, alright my flower?" Harry was quick to assess her with a spell.
"Okay, Daddy." Severus lifted her up and placed her on her side, gently rubbing her stomach to soothe the ache. "That feels nice, Papa..."
"Hush, child." She curled around his hand, falling asleep quickly. "How is she really?"
"Normal ache for a child her age, Sev. Promise. I checked her thoroughly." Harry said, understanding in his green eyes. "Freaked out the first time it happened to James. Good Merlin, we panicked. Molly soothed it, of course. She's been good about our marriage so far."
"It would seem so. I hope you have no other suitors." The underlying threat was there, but he kept his attention on Lily.
"They're too scared of you. Even the fans have stopped coming by so religiously... Which means my family is a lot safer." he answered, interlacing the fingers of their hands together as he did paperwork.
EndingA/N: I tried! I actually like this one! Thanks, 'shades, for the suggestions. Hmm, now for the other ones that were suggested... ASK ME FOR DRABBLES!Your very own or a continuation!