Here's chapter two. I got a much better response then I was expecting! Thank you for the reviews!

(Speaking of reviews) To lightbabe: Yes, we all know Dumbledore did everything he did for what he believes is "the greater good," helping Eponine leave Severus in the first place would mean she would trust him completely, and do what he asked in the future. Yes Severus loves Lily, but in this story, he married Eponine because he couldn't have Lily, and he knew Eponine loved him. As for her going back to him, well, as mentioned before, she now trusts Dumbledore completely. She doesn't want to go back but she is.

Chapter Two

"What's wrong with you?" Eponine asked, sinking back down in her chair. She'd spent the last two years keeping him from his child, and -

"Nothing that matters, if the dark lord isn't defeated. Either way, I won't outlast this war. Or if I do, it won't be for long." Severus responded, his dark eyes focusing on a parchment sitting on his desk. He noticed his wife's raised eyebrows and sighed. "I was cursed with a very dark spell by a rogue death eater that felt I'd betrayed the dark lord soon after you left me, Eponine. My heart's been don't have a name for it,there have only been a few dozen people who've ever been cursed by it. The most recent one, other then myself, died three years ago. From the research Albus and I have done, it takes a couple of months for the effects to manifest, and once it does, the cursed has roughly ten years, give or take, before their heart gives out completely. Stress speeds it up, and, well..." he stopped, shrugging. "We both know the coming years are going to be full of stress."

Eponine was quiet, staring at the man sitting across from her, lost in thought. She'd spent the past ten years wishing he would suffer like he'd made her suffer, and now... "I wonder if this why Dumbledore wanted me to join the Order? To help find a counter curse, or cure, or whatever?"

"No." his voice sounded defeated. "There is no counter curse, no cure. Albus and I have been looking for the past year. I'm assuming he wanted you to join the Order, to help me spy, so when I'm not here anymore, the Order will still be able to know what the Dark Lord is up to, what his plans are."

"They couldn't get anyone else to spy?"

Severus shook her head. "Nobody that would seem logical, or who the Dark Lord would trust. As my wife, the Dark Lord expects me to have you join his ranks anyway. I've put him off so far telling him you were in France and would be returning when you had finished what you had to do there."

"Oh." So that was why Dumbledore had come up with that cover story as to where she'd been. It had already been told to the dark lord. "We'll have to finish this conversation later. I have to go, Severus, I could only get a babysitter for two hours and I've almost gone over that."

"Can you bring her here?" Severus asked, a look Eponine couldn't place in his eyes. "I'd like to see my daughter."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Eponine said sharply. "I may have agreed to help you, because of Dumbledore and your... illness... but that does not mean I trust you. After everything, I very much doubt I'll ever trust you again."

He sighed. "Fair enough. Perhaps we can arrange a day soon where I can see her?"

"Perhaps."

It was three weeks later, and Eponine was sitting across from her husband in the Hog's Head. Dumbledore had requested she stay in Hogwarts itself, but she had no desire to be that close to Severus, so she had compromised. She'd spent all week looking for a home to rent in Hogsmeade, and she'd just found one that was fairly cheap and within her price range. She'd already paid the downpayment and it was officially hers, so Katie was already waiting there with Remus Lupin. There was even already furniture, some of the order members had come to help move things in.

"Are you alright?" she questioned of Severus. A carriage had brought him most of the way from Hogwarts, so it had only been a short walk for him to the Hog's head, but he seemed out of breath when he sat down and ordered a water. In response to her question, he mutely shook his head and took a drink. "We can put off you meeting Katie," Eponine said, biting her lip. She'd promised Severus the day before he could meet his daughter, but if he was unwell-

"No, I'm well enough," he responded, putting the glass down. "How far away is the house?"

"It's on the other end of the village, Severus," she informed him. "There's always apparation. We'd have to do side along, if you're up to it." The potion's master nodded, and the two went outside. She gripped his forearm, and a couple seconds later, they were standing outside her new house. The door opened, and Remus exited.

"Hey Nina, Severus." he said, nodding to each in turn. "Katie's just woken up from a nap, so you've got perfect timing," he informed Eponine. "I have to go now, though, I'll see you next Friday at the meeting." After Eponine and Severus entered the house, they heard the crack of disapparation.

"Hi baby," Eponine said, picking up the dark haired little girl who had greeted them in the small living room. She turned to her husband. "Severus, this is Katherine, or Katie." He reached out a trembling hand towards the little girl, pulling it back last second. "Katie honey, this is your daddy."

Eponine shut the door behind Severus, leaning against the wood. He'd ended up staying for three hours before he'd been summoned by you-know-who. Katie was settled in the high chair as she bid Eponine bid farewell to her husband for the night, and coming back inside, she realized her daughter had thrown her sippy cup across the room. "Oh Katie," she sighed, picking it up and handing it to her before sinking into an armchair.

Dumbledore had been right. Severus had changed. He was quieter, moved slower, but that didn't mean he wasn't still capable of what he'd done before.

"Sev? I'm home!" Eponine called, entering their house on Spinner's End. She'd spent the day at Hogwarts, talking with Madame Pomfrey about the healer's university. It was there she'd heard the news - Lily and James Potter were dead, right along with you-know-who, and little Harry Potter had survived. She'd been in the same house as the marauders, and she remembered Lily, vaguely, from school. She'd known Severus had had a thing for her, and so she had hurried home to gently tell him the news. But he was nowhere to be seen. "Severus?"

"Here, Nina," a slurred voice came from the dark study. She flicked on the light and saw him seated on the floor, back against the couch, several empty bottles of firewhiskey surrounding him. "Take it you heard?" Eponine nodded, sitting down on the floor beside him. "It's my fault. Trusted him. Guess I was wrong to."

"Oh Sev," Eponine whispered, reaching for his hand. He yanked it away, eyes narrowed. "Severus?"

"You wanted this, didn't you?" he growled. Eponine was taken back by his sudden change in character. He'd spent most of the past three months ignoring her, and now this anger? "You wanted her dead, because you're a selfish bitch, you wanted me all to yourself, didn't you? You couldn't stand being second best."

"Severus, what-?"

"Don't speak to me, bitch," he hissed, standing up as best he could in his drunken state and storming into their room, leaving Eponine sitting on the floor wondering what the hell had just happened.