The heat in Cokeworth was stifling. Lily felt as if she was trying to breathe in soup, the air was so hot and thick. Cokeworth was an old mining town and it seemed as if the ghost of coal still lingered. Lily wasn't due to visit her sponsors, the Shafiq's, for another 3 weeks. She desperately wished she could go sooner, but the date was set, and she wouldn't be so rude as to break it. Besides, Severus was stuck in town until midsummer due to some unexpected opportunity that came up for Professor Slughorn. The least she could do was stay and suffer with him. Because she was suffering and not solely because of the heat.

Vernon must have considered their family as acceptable, because, on the last night of his visit, he took all of them to London for beef wellingtons and wine. Halfway through the meal, the waiter brought out a bouquet of roses. Vernon presented the flowers to Petunia, somehow managed to get down on one knee, pulled out a suitably sparkly ring, and proposed. A respectable amount of crying ensued. Even Lily's father wiped away a tear as he exclaimed the stone was three times the size of Mrs. Evan's. Vernon's chest puffed out so much that Lily was afraid it was going to pop.

Lily couldn't cry, even if she wanted to. She pasted a smile on her face and acted both suitably impressed and excited. Inside, she felt like she'd been raked by a hippogriff's claws. Any shred of hope she ever had of some day reuniting with Petunia was gone now. She felt the thin tether between them snap. Nothing more than dust and a place on the shelf that was obviously achingly empty remained.

Three days later and Lily stewed in her grief still. Because losing Petunia was the beginning of losing her mother and father. There were spells that, when or if Lily chose to cut contact with her parents, would slowly make them forget. They wouldn't even grieve her because they would forget she existed. Her image would fade out of any pictures or photographs. Her name would fade from any documentation. With her sister gone, did Lily have any reason to stay in the muggle world? With her gone, they could be a lovely family with one daughter who grew prize roses and bagged a husband whose collar had never been blue. These thoughts only added to her misery.

So, Lily wallowed. Every window in the house was open. The cross breeze provided little relief, even when she was down to her vest and shorts and safe in the confines of her room. It was a shame how muggles' understanding of clothing compared to the wizarding world, and not solely because most good quality clothes came with a subtle heating and cooling charm stitched in. As muggles moved to unnatural things like polyester, the wizarding world moved to better their clothing by spells and magic, by cultivating the land differently, breeding and cross breeding. And most of all, muggles seemed to forget the language of dress.

For those in Avalon, what someone wore spoke volumes of who and what they were. Dress was considerably chaste in Avalon, modeled after Morgana herself. Morgana was made as a gift to Merlin, the first son of Chaos itself. According to legend, she carried herself as if each part of herself was a gift for only Merlin and their children alone. Why should anyone but her darling husband and family be allowed to see it, to see the full glory of her magic, and the wonder of what Mother Magic herself wrought? Why should anyone else be allowed to see the secrets she carried close to her heart? After seeing that example, how could any Wix, Wizard, or Witch do anything but follow the first daughter of Mother Magic?

Since learning the tradition, Lily hadn't let anyone see her hair down, and, even in the muggle world, she followed those rules. It had worried her parents. Lily had assured them she was fine, she still dressed with her own "Lily flare" as Severus liked to call it. Lily liked to remind him of his own patented "brooding mystique." Often, the conversation would derail entirely after that. Lily couldn't help but think she had more than a little Slytherin in her. One could be brave and cunning, and didn't ambition require bravery and stubborn resolve at times? Besides, bravery wasn't always loud and brash. Not that Lily minded being one or both when it was called for, like her conversation with Dumbledore.

Besides church and the death of her relationship with Petunia, it had been a lovely several weeks. There was no James Potter or any of his lackeys. There were no peers telling her she needed to be nicer to him because he was a Potter, she should be grateful that she, a New Blood, drew the attention of an Heir of one of the Ancient Houses.

Lily could care less about gaining a title through anything other than her own merit. Lily wanted consuming love, utter devotion, and balance. She wanted to give herself entirely to someone and for them to give themself entirely to her in return. She wanted them to be at her side as she dove deeply into magic and discovered or rediscovered magic that was vital to the health and safety of Avalon's people. She wanted the soul deep love and passion that would inspire her to kill a thousand times over and be killed for in return. And she was greedy, because not only did she want all that, she wanted Severus as her brother, too.

People often mistook Severus' love for as romantic, yet they never mistook Lily's. It had taken little time for Lily to realize it was because while Lily was considered beautiful, Severus wasn't. He was still thin and pale from his parents' lack of attention and he wasn't always clean, but he was slowly gaining healthy weight. Didn't people know that six months couldn't overturn a lifetime? That learning to bathe regularly because you didn't have to conserve water and were allowed to use as much soap and shampoo you wanted was difficult? Not that they needed to know those details. The point was, far too many viewed him as an ugly dirty boy, so, obviously he thought he was in love with the beautiful Lily who would never ever or could never ever return his feelings. But that wasn't true at all.

She loved Severus with a fierceness that startled her at first, because she'd never even loved Petunia that fiercely, and she loved Petunia an awful lot. And even more startling, was that Severus loved her the same. They had spent eight years mere blocks away from each other before Fate, or Mother Magic, perhaps Grandfather Chaos, decided they should meet. Severus told her he secretly wished Mother Magic would have twinned them. Lily agreed. But She hadn't, so they were doing their best to do it themselves.

Occlumency and Legilimency were absolute necessities. Not only to protect themselves, but to speak to each other even when they were far apart. They still had to be able to see each other, but since Gryffindor and Slytherin were always placed opposite each other, it was a start. They paired up in every class they could. They researched ways they could become a magical family, without marrying. One did not marry their sibling. Their second cousin, perhaps, but never their sibling. They'd learned several things.

First, Animagus training. It would be dead useful, it would be something special they could share, and if they did the steps, and were lucky enough that the timing was right, they could find their forms together on a sacred day in a sacred place. Hogwarts was considered a sacred place. Not only was it founded before Avalon, by the Oligarchy, it was founded on a convergence of ley lines, and had been home to thousands of growing magicals, soaking up their emotions and magic until it, she, was possibly sentient herself. The Forbidden Forest, too, had an ancient ritual place in it, but, according to the strangely scribbled and smudged book they'd found in the library, no one had been in it since Arthur Pendragon fell. Learning Ancient Gaelic to translate it had been interesting, even comic at times. Especially since now they could parse together what Professor McGonagall said under her breath. The only problem with it was the cost. Even saving up everything they earned, it would take a while to earn enough for all the ingredients.

Adoption was another option. That is, finding a wizarding family that had enough excess and affection to adopt both of them. They wouldn't be founding their own house, but they would be family together, and they'd have the warmth and security of parenting bonds. It was tempting, very tempting. But finding a family like that was hard. Blood adoption was a sacred thing, everything had to be right. The desire had to be there, as did some amount of magical compatibility, or trust. Younger Newbloods were easier to adopt because their magic was still relatively blank. Lily's and Severus' magic had personality now. Nothing compared to cultivated family magic, but enough to possibly grate against a potential family's. They didn't have the trust either. How could they, after what they endured? They trusted themselves and each other. That was it. But when they did trust, it was just as fierce as their love. If they were to be adopted, the family involved would have to love and trust with the same ferocity.

Becoming blood siblings would absolutely give them a family connection, but there would still be some separation. Lily would still be an Evans, and Severus would still be a Snape, except now they would be bonded by blood. It was their last resort of sorts, if they couldn't find anything else.

The best way they'd found so far was a Dark Magic Ritual. It would make them true twins. It was a bond of absolute trust, of life and death. One would slit the other's throat and bleed them dry over their wardstone and the magic of the wardstone would fill the bloodless one with new blood created by the family's magic. Death-blooded Twins. It sounded beautiful. But, they didn't have a wardstone, or family magic. So they were researching founding their own house, and if that wardstone they created would be enough, or if they needed to be Attributed for it to work. The information so far was varied and not entirely helpful. But so much information was just out of their reach, locked away in the Restricted Section requiring a very specific and restricted pass to get. Blood magic was highly regulated after all, and how could one found a family except in Blood?

Lily was absolutely certain they would find a solution. They were too determined to fail. What it would be still remained to be seen.

The loud roar of a motorbike startled Lily out of her thoughts. She was sure it would be a gossip topic for at least the next two weeks. Who in Cokeworth could afford a motorbike? Let alone had the audacity to ride one? Her thoughts began to drift again before a loud knock interrupted them. For a moment, she wondered why her mother wasn't answering it before she remembered that her mother and Petunia were out for tea and wedding decoration shopping. The knocking paused only for a moment before resuming. With a sigh, Lily slipped on a summer dress, made sure her hair was up in "chopstick" that is her wand and a stick transfigured to look similar so they matched, and went to answer the door.

She expected it to be Mrs. Wiggins looking for an escaped cat or Miss Pritchard who had some bit of gossip she absolutely had to share with Mrs. Evans right now (probably about the motorbike.) It was neither.

When she swung the door open the polite amount, her blood went cold inside her before her mind could actually comprehend it. Heir James Potter was standing on her doorstep looking wildly out of place. He had attempted to dress like a muggle, but no muggle, especially in Cokeworth, would wear high quality dragonhide leather boots. Even worse, THE motorcycle was parked in front of her house. With Master Sirius Black astride it. In a dragonhide leather jacket so black it seemed to absorb the light. Neither of them were sweating. The bastards.

Lily blinked, hoping she was hallucinating. Potter seemed to take it as an invitation to start talking.

"Lil- er Evans, good to see you! Sirius and I were in the area, he has a new motor-whatsit, and I thought, 'Hey! We should stop by and see Lily!' And–"

"Heir Potter," Lily broke in, finding her voice after realizing this wasn't, indeed, some heat stroke induced madness, "How do you know where I live?"

"Oh, I've known since second year, you left a letter to your parents out in the common room for a moment, and I was interested about how you mailed muggles, you see, so I took a peek. I haven't been able to call on you before, because neither of us were officially courting age and I couldn't wander England. But we're of age now and Sirius has his motor-whatsit, so I couldn't resist. He's even agreed to act as our chaperone, since muggles don't count since they could be magicked into not looking. Oh and here! These are for you, my darling Lily-flower. I realized all your irritation at me was because I hadn't been courting you properly."

He thrust a bouquet of flowers at her. A Bouquet of Intent. Red gloxinia (Proud Spirit), red hollyhock (fruitfulness), orange lily (wealth), purple monkshood (chivalry), scarlet poppy (fantastic extravagance), red tulip (a declaration of love), meadowsweet (I'll still be waiting), and a purple columbine (resolve to win). It was more of a love letter to himself than anything for her. She wished she could cast magic, oh the flowers she would transfigure that mess into before she shoved it down his throat.

"No," she practically growled. "Leave and pretend you never knew it existed!"

Potter pouted, "But Lily… was it the hollyhock? I was unsure about it, but Sirius said it looked alright and—"

"Get away from here before I call the constables!"

Black snickered, "What are they going to do? Those are the muggle aurors, right?"

"They might not be able to do anything, but when this whole block needs to be obliviated because of something you did…" She threatened.

Black smiled viciously. "We're not in school, Evans. There's even less you can do to stop us now."

Lily glared at him and then slammed the door in Potter's face with such force that the door rattled. She locked it quickly, even knowing it couldn't stand up to an alohomora and walked around shutting and locking every window in the house as Potter continued to knock, and, by Mordred, now there was whining. This would be the talk of the town for decades. Her mother would never forgive her.

The chill in her blood increased ten fold. James Potter knew where she lived. He had literally stalked her. And he still didn't listen or understand. Lily would think it was all some long prank if it hadn't started during first year. Unless he meant it, pursuing her as he did would have people looking askance at him and questioning his honor. Even worse, Sirius Black loved James Potter the way all Blacks loved - with a dangerous madness that threatened to consume them. They were Blood brothers. He would do anything for Potter, absolutely anything, and Lily was astute enough to know she'd been threatened. And if she was threatened– Morgana! What would happen if Severus came to visit while they were lurking? What would they do to him? What if they discovered where he lived?

Fury, fear, and the sickening realization that she would never stop being hunted, and neither would he, filled her. It made her hands tremble and her magic paint her skin. Lily took a slow deliberate breath and began packing. She didn't have much out that was necessary or precious to her. She gathered some of her muggle clothing and the money she had, as well as the few quills, books, and research journals she had out. She changed from her dress to jeans and trainers and a long sleeved shirt so that she could hide her wand holster and wand, then bit her thumb and smeared blood on the hidden rune on her trunk that made it shrink. When it was down to the size of a match box car, she pocketed it.

She slunk to the kitchen and pulled down the telephone receiver. The plastic felt wrong in her hands. She dialed the number she knew by heart.

"Lo?" A gruff voice answered. Lily heard the strange echo of Potter's caterwauling through the phone.

"Mr. Rafferty?" She whispered.

"That you, Miss Evans? That ruckus is quite the nuisance."

"They won't go away. They're scaring me. Mum wants me to leave but I don't feel safe, could you…?"

"Right-o. I'll send the gents out."

"Thank you, Mr. Rafferty."

"Cheers!"

Lily hung up and waited. Not five minutes later, the baying started. Two English Mastiffs, three very angry bulldogs, one Great Dane, and one Chihuahua ran from the suddenly open gate two houses down and charged right for the noisemakers.

"Padfoot," she heard Potter exclaim, the knocking paused, "That weird little rat is bigger than Wormtail!"

"What rat? Mordred's left nut! James! Get over here, now!"

"But Lily…"

Lily didn't stay any longer. She slipped out the back door and ran, cutting across yards, and hopping fences, clear to Spinner's End. She wrapped her dress around her head like a scarf, hiding her distinctive red hair and knocked. Quiet, but sharp and persistent.

A haggard woman, nothing but skin and bones covered threadbare clothing, answered the door, opening it barely a crack.

"What do you– oh Lily. Severus is busy right now."

"Please, Mrs. Snape, it's an emergency–"

A loud crash resounded inside the house, followed by a bellowing she knew from Severus' memories.

"What is he doing here?" Lily asked with a scowl. "He isn't supposed to be here when Severus is!"

"That's just the radio," Mrs. Snape assured her quickly.

Another crash sounded and Lily did possibly the rudest thing she'd ever done in her entire life. She shoved the door, and Mrs. Snape, aside and ran into the house. Mr. Snape and Severus were in the living room. Mr. Snape had a belt in his hand and a split lip and Severus was on the ground trying to sit up, nose broken and an angry pink welt on his face. As if sensing her, Severus looked up. A million things passed between them in that single moment. Lily threw herself behind Mr. Snape, landing on all fours just as Severus surged up and pushed his father with all his might. The brute stumbled backwards into Lily, tripped, and fell with a sickening crack.

Lily scrambled to Severus immediately before turning so they could face Mr. Snape together. He wasn't moving and Lily hoped they'd knocked him out. Mrs. Snape finally stumbled into the room and gasped, her thin fingers covering her mouth. Severus grabbed Lily's arm, and squeezed, seeming faint. How hard had his father hit him? Lily began taking stock as best she could. Mrs. Snape whimpered. Lily looked back over to her. Mrs. Snape was fixated on her husband. Lily spared him barely a glance and then paused and looked again. There was a rather large pool of blood forming underneath his head.

'Oh,' Lily thought, 'I suppose that's better than unconsciousness.'

The knowledge that she'd helped kill someone filled her with a strange quietness, almost a numbness, and then she remembered all he'd done to Severus and what he was trying to do to Severus, and hadn't she said she loved him so much she'd do anything for him? Something fierce and certain settled into her chest and with it came a sense of fulfillment. That abusive man, that abusive muggle who dared to torment one of Mother Magic's children, was gone. Severus was safe. How could his death be anything other than right? But she needed to be careful, no death should be an accident. It should be a deliberate choice.

She turned fully to Severus, knowing there was no threat now. His eyes were as dark and as deep as a well during the new moon. He was fully Occluded. She squeezed his hand and gently brushed against his shield. For a moment, they remained unchanged. Finally, a small crack opened up enough for her to slip through.

I killed him I killed him he's gone I killed him I killed him

It echoed in a loop throughout Severus' mindscape. Lily passed through the maze of dungeons, the garden of deadly potions ingredients, the menagerie of animals that could be used in potions ingredients, the Restricted Section of the library filled with an army of house elves and Madame Pinces, and finally found him curled on the floor in his secret potions lab with a view of underneath the Black Lake.

"Technically, Severus, we both did. Unless you're very proud of your accomplishment, then absolutely Severus, you killed the bastard."

He snorted and looked up, his eyes haunted, "You don't hate me? You don't think I'm a monster? That I'm like him?"

Lily made a moue of distaste as she sat beside him. "You are absolutely nothing like that man. I could never hate you, Severus. Never. Besides, I helped you kill him! Do you hate me? Would you feel guilty if you came upon me being beaten and shoved the person off and they fell off a cliff and died? No. It's the same exact thing."

"No, it isn't." His eyes were less haunted and had a dash of fond amusement in them. "Must you be so blunt?"

"Severus, my darling brother, you and I both know that the absolute complexity in which your thoughts spiral can be disturbed with nothing less than pure blunt force."

He laughed then, small and quiet but it was a start. They were engulfed in a soothing silence, leaning into each other for an untold amount of time before he spoke again.

"What were you doing at Spinner's End, Lily? We didn't have plans and why are you wearing a sweater when it's so hot that Old Man Nevins is steaming his shirts outside?"

"It's not a sweater, Severus. Sweaters are wooly."

"Lily, my dear obstinate sister…"

"To hide my wand," she replied quietly, "Potter and Black showed up at my house on a motorbike. A motorbike! Admitted to snooping in my mail to get my address, then he gave me a Bouquet of Intent so quintessentially James Potter that I wanted to vomit. Black threatened me. Potter went mad as Margaret Prewett did when Caradoc Dearborn refused to offer a suit for her. I wasn't able to escape until Mr. Rafferty released the gents on them."

Severus became alert in an instant. "What? How dare they! Are you-"

"Not an injury on me," Lily assured him, "But Severus, I'm not safe here anymore. Not now. I'd hoped to hide with you until I figured something out but…"

"While I may finally be safe here, I am certainly not wanted and I do not wish to be around when she decides what to do with the body."

"What about the Malfoys?" Lily suggested.

"In France. Lucius and Narcissa are celebrating their 3rd anniversary and Lord Abraxus is on the continent doing business. The McKinnons?"

"Marlene's family is in Spain. Something to do with a Seer."

Severus nodded. Everyone knew a true Seer was serious business. "I would suggest the Blacks as Black is staying with the Potter and Regulus is nothing but polite, however Lady Walburga is especially cautious and wary of unattached New Bloods since her Uncle fell in love with one and was spurned. He went the maddest a Black has ever been and delved into Forbidden Magic. The first Black to be turned into a squib. If we were fully magically mature, it would be different."

Lily winced. "Well, we've got a while for that yet."

Severus grimaced in response. "And Lord Slughorn is unreachable."

Lily felt a sinking feeling. What were they going to do?

Suddenly, they both felt the air shift and snapped back to attention. Mrs Snape was kneeling next to her husband's body now.

"You need to leave, both of you. And never come back," she said gently.

Severus seemed to collapse for a moment, before she saw his resolve strengthen. "I need to pack my trunk."

He and Lily exchanged a look before he whirled around and headed to his bedroom. Lily stayed and watched his mother.

"Do you see the swan on the mantle?" Mrs. Snape, Eileen, rasped.

Lily did. It was rather large and elegant. The only thing that wasn't chipped in the whole house. If she remembered correctly, Black Swans were in the Heraldry of the Prince Family, Eileen's birth house. "I do."

"Give it to me, please."

Lily hesitated a moment, worried it would be used as a blunt object against her. Finally, she took it to Mrs. Snape, quickly stepping back. Severus came out just as she did. Mrs. Snape cradled the swan to her chest for one beat and then two. On the third, she reared back, holding it high over her head, and slammed it down onto her husband's face. It shattered with the sound of bone crunching. Severus made to move closer.

"Do not move," his mother warned, though she hadn't taken her eyes off the shattered figure.

With surprising gentleness, she brushed her fingers through the remnants of the creature. She pulled out a scroll, a pendant necklace, and her wand. Lily tensed. Severus shifted, obviously unsure. Eileen stood slowly, blood soaked into the hem of her dress. She walked toward Severus and then stopped, holding out the scroll and pendant to him.

"My grimoire, from…from before," she said almost wistfully, "And the necklace, a gift from my mother. It is not bespoke. You should be able to get good coin for it. Severus, I.. I've never been enough. I have loved you, but never enough, and I am so very sorry."

Silently, Severus took the items from her.

Eileen took a deep breath and curtsied deeply. She rested her wand in her palms and offered it to Severus. "I, Eileen, Nameless, have wronged Mother Magic deeply and irrevocably. I have forsaken my vow to Her by leaving Avalon for the lands of those who seek to destroy her and by forsaking my once family's diligence and care in tending to their magic, by tainting myself with a muggle. I offer my wand, and with it, any remaining beholdings I have, if any, to Mr. Severus Snape, my son, the one I have wronged most. I have made him pauper instead of Prince, neglected instead of treasured. I have stolen his inheritance from him and he must begin anew. May Mother magic punish me for what I have wrought, and bless him in equal measure. In the name of Myriddin and Morgana, so be it."

Severus studied her before straightening his shoulders. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling. He took the wand from his mother.

A scream ripped from Eileen's throat as heavy magic suffused the air. Lily felt frozen, forbidden from moving an inch by the very power that surrounded them. She had never felt anything such as this. It was as invigorating as it was humbling. Eileen continued to scream, but it didn't even sound like a scream anymore, the magic distorted it into something else entirely. Something that Lily had no name for but that she imagined sounded in the deep abyss between the stars. They watched as magic visibly poured out from her as quickly as the blood had left Severus' father.

So be it, Lily heard in her head as the last drop left Eileen.

Severus' mother (once mother?) looked even older and more frail than she ever had, probably exactly what a muggle woman would look like after enduring life as Tobias Snape's wife. As the presence left the room, the body of the (Dead? Nameless? Squib?) woman fell to the ground and Lily knew with a certainty deep within her magic that she was dead. Freed, Lily ran to Severus.

He did not move. Emotions flickered through his eyes in a rare moment of complete vulnerability. Sorrow, grief, and anger, but there was hope, too, awe, and vindication. She simply held him. Slowly, his hand with the wand in it lowered. He took a shuddering breath and turned toward her.

"Lily, Lily, that voice," He croaked, "Did you hear it? Was that…?"

Lily took a moment to think back and realization settled on her shoulders, "Oh… Yes. And, yes, I think it was."

He swayed and leaned against her. "Oh…"

Lily looked around them. At the blood, shattered porcelain, and the two corpses.

"We need to leave, Severus."

"Yes," he agreed but made no move.

Gently, she linked their arms together and guided him out.

The heat had increased ten fold. "Look around, Severus, this is the last time either of us will ever see Cokeworth again."

He blinked, looked around, and then curled his lip in a shadow of his familiar sneer. "Good riddance. Do you promise, Miss Evans?"

There was a hint of vulnerability in his voice.

"I promise, Mr. Snape," she vowed. Another thread of magic formed between them.

"I am ready to go now," he said, sounding stronger.

So Lily held out the glowing tip of her wand, and when the Knight Bus arrived, they did.