Elizabeth stood alone in the street as Malfoy disappeared. She looked up at the windows of the apartment above the shop, the lights glowing out into the gathering darkness. Resisting her first urge to go upstairs and assure that Fred was where she'd left him, she started walking again, nearly tripping over a break in the sidewalk, her mind focused on the look in Lucius' eyes.

The man had been so beaten, so defeated at the end of the war, that she hadn't seen this coming. She hadn't seen him as a true threat to her future, even when Severus had received that letter.

But the man who stood before her tonight had been the man who had given Ginny Weasley the possessed diary. It was the Lucius who had ordered Buckbeak's execution. The dangerous Lucius.

She reached the Apothecary just before it closed, responding woodenly to the pleasantries of the shop clerk as she picked up the large package Severus had ordered. Mr. Jiggers, part owner of the shop, a descendent of the original founder, came from the backroom when he heard her voice.

"Elizabeth," he said, coming around the counter to embrace her. "We don't see you enough, my dear."

Elizabeth tried to smile. She liked Martin Jiggers. She'd known him ever since Severus had started bringing her with him to the shop when she was a child. But all she could see and hear in her head was Lucius.

Martin narrowed his eyes slightly at how quiet she was, but said nothing.

Bidding Jiggers and the clerk goodnight, Elizabeth went back into the street. Her stomach clenched at the thought of Apparation. She didn't sick up every time like she used to, but the process still put her a bit off her stomach. She desperately wanted to floo, but the only one in Diagon Alley that would connect her with Hogwarts was in Fred's apartment.

Gritting her teeth, she Apparated, landing just outside the school grounds. Her already-nauseated stomach rebelled, tossing her dinner onto the grass. She was still bent over, trying to steady herself, when she felt a cool hand on the back of her neck.

"Perhaps we should teach you to drive," Severus said dryly, helping her stand and handing her a conjured glass of water and a stomach soother.

Elizabeth drank the vial and the water while Severus picked up the package from where she'd dropped it. "Waiting for me?"

"Martin called a moment ago. He said you looked ill." Severus tucked the package under one arm and put the other around his daughter's shoulders. "We you sick before you Apparated?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Just tired." She let him walk her across the grounds to the castle. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Severus raised an eyebrow slightly, but nodded. "Of course. You'll always have a room with me, you know that." He was quiet until they arrived at the apartment portrait. After murmuring the password and guiding her into the living room, he closed the portrait behind them and turned, putting both hands on her shoulders.

"How do you feel now?"

Elizabeth forced a smile. "I'm okay, Dad, really. Maybe I ate something that upset my stomach."

Severus nodded, not completely believing her. "You should go to bed. We'll see how you feel in the morning." He put his arms around her, frowning slightly when he felt her lean heavily against him. "Hatchling," he whispered, moving one hand to the back of her head as she pressed her face into the shoulder of his robe. "Talk to me."

He had a sudden flashback to all the other times he'd held her like this, from the time she'd barely come to his waist, to now that she was only a four or five inches shy of his six feet. He'd known that she would be tall, but he would wager she was even taller than Lily had been.

"In the morning," Elizabeth said, making no move to leave his arms. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Severus frowned, but didn't press the issue. The fact that she was admitting that there was something wrong was surprising in itself. He didn't want her to decide not to talk to him at all. Instead, he guided her to her bedroom, kissing her forehead before she closed the door.

*S*S*

Severus Snape couldn't remember a time when he'd awakened after six, aside from the morning after a Death Eater torture session. So, when he saw that the clock beside his bed read a quarter to seven, he sat bolt upright, his feet hitting the floor.

Elizabeth was sitting at the table, dressed and pouring juice into a glass. She looked up when he came out of his room, smirking. "Sleeping all day?"

"You must be feeling better if you're being so sassy," Severus rolled his eyes, sitting across from her and carefully drinking from the steaming coffee cup beside his plate.

"I need to tell you something," Elizabeth said, playing with the corner of her napkin. "But I need you not to freak out, and I need you to let me handle it."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I do not 'freak out'."

"You do, and I'm asking you not to," Elizabeth said, pulling at the napkin so violently that Severus put his hand over hers.

"Lucius Malfoy came to see me last night."

Severus scowled, his eyebrows crashing together. "Where?"

"Outside the shop. I was on my way home."

Severus fought to calm his temper, knowing that anger, even if directed at Lucius, was the fastest way to cause his daughter to clam up.

"What did he want?" Severus asked evenly, clenching the hand in his lap into a fist.

"He wants me to become a Death Eater. The Death Eater public face, actually."

Severus choked out a laugh, muttering some colorful names for Lucius Malfoy before taking another long drink of coffee.

"He says if I don't join him, he'll kill my friends and family," Elizabeth went on, poking at her eggs with her fork. "And he said… he'd make sure everyone knew about everything you did when you were serving Voldemort."

Severus sighed. "You shouldn't worry about that. Everyone who cares knows about my crimes. Even if they didn't, there would be no need to blacken your soul to save my reputation. And as far at the other threat," Severus stood and tossed his napkin on the table. "I'm going to go take care of that right now."

"Dad, I told you not to—

"Freak out?" Severus finished, clearly amused by the colloquialism. "I assure you that I am very much in control right now, hatchling." He pointed at the Floo. "I want you to call Fred and have him come here. Both of you should wait in my office. Don't open the door for anyone."

"Dad, I said I was going to handle it."

Severus softened from his order-giving stance. "You are handling it. You're staying alive and protecting Fred while I go to the Aurors and have him arrested."

"You aren't going to…" Elizabeth trailed off.

"Kill him?" Severus shook his head. "We're trying to stop the violence of the last few years, not continue it. Not that I wouldn't like to dismember him. How dare he threaten you?" His eyes flashed. "Where was Mr. Weasley during this?"

"Upstairs," Elizabeth said. "I told you, I was on my way home."

"Next time, you take the floo," Severus said decidedly.

"I had to stop at the Apothecary," she reminded him.

"You take Fred with you next time," Severus said, heading toward the door. "Or I swear, I'm going to hire a bodyguard."

"You need a bodyguard," Elizabeth said, one eyebrow raised in perfect imitation of her father.

"For you, my little monster." Severus rolled his eyes. "Do as I told you. I'll be back soon."

*S*S*

"Elizabeth!" Remus' voice came through the office door. Elizabeth looked at Fred, who shook his head.

"Snape said not to open the door for anyone," he hissed.

Elizabeth looked at the door. "Identify yourself!" She said, leveling her wand at the wooden barrier.

"My name is Remus John Lupin," Remus called. "When you were 13, Minerva tried to keep you from losing your clothes by magically embroidering your name in your underwear."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and opened the door. "You could have gone with something less embarrassing."

"I didn't have time," Remus said. "We need to go to St. Mungo's. Now."

Elizabeth's breath caught in her chest. "He said he was going to the Ministry—

"He did," Remus ushered her toward the Floo. "But he insisted on going with them in the raid. Lucius destroyed the house. Killed three Aurors and himself."

"Dad?" Elizabeth grabbed Fred's hand.

"He's hurt," Remus said, pulling them into the fireplace with him. "St. Mungo's!"

Elizabeth felt the sick spinning feeling as she was pulled into the Floo system, her hand clutching Fred's.

When they arrived in the waiting room, she drew her wand. "Point me, Severus Snape."

The wand in her hand spun, pointing off to the left, and she sprinted in that direction. "I suppose asking for help isn't her style," Fred groaned, heading after her, Remus in tow.

Elizabeth followed her wand's direction to a room at the end of the hall. "Dad?"

"Miss Evans," a wizard in medical robes met her at the door. "We need you to let us work."

Elizabeth looked around the wizard, seeing Severus lying motionless on the bed. "Is he… what are you doing to him?"

"Give them some space, Sevling," Remus took her shoulders from behind, backing her out of the room.

"Your father was severely burned in the explosion," the wizard said, as other doctors worked quickly behind him. "We are attempting to reconstruct the skin and rehydrate his body." The doctor looked at Fred, then back at Elizabeth. "Somehow, he was only burned on his limbs and neck. He blocked his face with his hands, but we still don't know why his robes didn't ignite." He held up the robe they'd cut from Severus' body. "Was your father… working on something?"

Elizabeth looked at Fred. "He was wearing my robe."

Fred looked at the robe. "I asked him to find us a tester, not to do it himself."

"So it's really fire-resistant?" The doctor looked at the robe with interest.

Elizabeth nodded, taking the fabric. "It's not ready yet."

The wizard raised his eyebrows. "I'd say it is ready, Miss Evans. It may have saved your father's life."

"So he'll live?" Remus asked.

The doctor grimaced. "There's always the risk of infection. He'll have significant scaring on his arms and legs, but he has a good chance of survival." He pointed to a waiting room off the right. "He's sedated now while we do our work. It could be days before he's conscious, and even then he'll need pain relief potions. If you'd like to wait—

"We'll wait," Elizabeth broke in.

*S*S*

"It's been four days," Elizabeth said to Fred, gently settling a clean sheet over Severus, a cushioning spell keeping the fabric from touching his burns.

"You heard the doctors," Fred said, sketching on the parchment in his lap. "He's healing. You don't want him to wake up until he's ready."

"You don't have to sit here with him," Elizabeth said, sitting back in her chair. "I know you have work to do."

"First, I'm not sitting with him, I'm sitting with you," Fred said, looking over his reading glasses at her. "And second, I am doing work. I'm trying to work out some ways we can use your ingenious fabric now that we know it repels Fiendfyre."

Elizabeth tilted her head to the side, looking at him. "I love it when you wear those."

"What? My sexy spectacles?" Fred grinned.

"Mmhmm," Elizabeth smiled back. "Think of the games we could play with those."

Fred's grin went wider as he raised his eyebrows. "Professor and student?"

"Mr. Weasley," a dry voice came from the bed. "Unconscious or not, I would prefer you keep your private ideas about my daughter to yourself."

"Dad!" Elizabeth jumped out of her chair. "How do you feel?"

"Thirsty," Severus said, "and not much else, which I imagine is the side effect of several strong potions."

"I'm getting a doctor," Elizabeth said, hurrying out the door.

Fred recovered from his embarrassment and cleared his throat. "You're burned pretty badly, sir. You should have let the Aurors do their jobs."

"Are you lecturing me, Mr. Weasley?"

Fred glanced at the door. "I just spent four days watching Betsy freak out. I'm a bit off."

Severus closed his eyes. "Was it Fiendfyre?"

"That's what the surviving Aurors said."

"How many were killed?"

Fred sighed. "Three Aurors and Lucius. They still can't find Narcissa."

"Idiot," Severus said severely.

"Same could be said about you," Remus said, coming through the door with Elizabeth and a doctor. "You're lucky I don't use stronger words in front of Teddy."

"I can take him out of earshot," Elizabeth offered, sitting on the arm of Fred's chair while Remus sat in her vacated one.

"Are you feeling any pain, Professor?" the doctor asked, hovering his wand over the burned sections of Severus' body.

"No," Severus said, shaking his head carefully.

"He said he was thirsty," Elizabeth said. "When he first woke up."

"Let me get a reading, and then we'll sit him up." The doctor continued moving his wand. "You're a very lucky man, Mr. Snape. That robe you were wearing shielded most of your body."

"Our next prototype needs to fit closer to the arms," Fred commented to Elizabeth. "It would have saved the skin there."

"Maybe we need matching pants as well," Elizabeth nodded.

"Is it possible that you two could have your business meeting another time?" Severus inquired.

"What I'd like to say to you right now isn't appropriate," Elizabeth glared at her father.

"Mr. Weasley already voiced his disapproval," Severus groaned as the doctor helped him to sit. He looked down at his hands, wrapped in bandages. "Add gloves to the list."

"If you follow medical advice, you should expect a full recovery, aside from scarring," the doctor said, handing a glass of water to Elizabeth. "You'll have to help him."

Severus rolled his eyes at the indignity, but accepted the water glass his daughter held to his lips. "Don't get used to it," he growled after drinking his fill. "You won't have this much power again until I'm ninety."

"By then, I'll have put you in a home," Elizabeth said, placing the glass on the table. "One with industrial locks. You threaten to saddle me with a bodyguard and then pull stuff like this?"

"Young lady, watch yourself," Severus threatened.

The doctor cleared his throat. "You should be able to go home in a day or so, but only if you are willing to follow a strict regime of rest and care. I'm assuming you can stay with your daughter?"

"She can stay with me," Severus glared at Elizabeth. "If I haven't put her up for adoption by then."

"Too late," Elizabeth smirked. "Be serious with the man. Yes, I'll take care of him."

"I'll help," Remus put in. "We'll go home. Minerva has Hogwarts under control, and we can find a substitute Defense teacher."

"I have perfectly adequate quarters at Hogwarts—

"Do you know how many germs are in that place?" Elizabeth shook her head. "Remus is right. We'll go to Spinner's End."

"You can't make decisions for me," Severus protested.

"Actually she can," Remus said serenely, bouncing Teddy on his lap. "Next of kin and all of that. Stop being… you… and relax."

"I don't care much for any of you," Severus muttered.

"Teddy takes great offense to that," Remus said, putting his hands over the baby's ears.

"Bet! Bet!" Teddy shouted, holding his arms out to Elizabeth.

"See? He's trying to escape his mean Uncle Severus," Remus said, handing the child to Elizabeth.

"Could I have another dose of whatever knocked me out?" Severus asked the doctor.