Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!

—

Severus spent the remainder of the weekend at Lily's side, helping her settle in and chatting with her, seeing that she had enough to eat and drink….

It pained Severus when Monday came, bringing with it the classes he would inevitably have to lead.

That morning, Severus looked at Lily nervously with his brow furrowed. He spoke to her while he reluctantly prepared to leave his rooms, "I've already sent for the house elves. They should be here with your breakfast momentarily."

"That's fine, Sev." Lily replied with a soft smile from where she sat on the sofa, "Thank you."

"I'll stop by between class periods and during the lunch hour. If you need anything outside of those times, simply tap the tip of your wand on any surface and I'll hear you…..I cast the charm before you woke this morning." Severus solemnly replied.

"Sev, I'm fine! Really! Don't worry about me." Lily chided.

"If you need anything…" Severus repeated, letting his voice trail off as he nodded.

"Go!" Lily laughed, "Have a good day and don't fret! I'll be here when you get back."

Severus raised an eyebrow at Lily before he turned and regretfully walked out of his chambers to make his appearance at the High Table during the school's morning meal.

As he walked down the stone hallway, a frown marred his pale face.

Severus thought about how lovely Lily had looked a moment ago, sitting there so calmly, with her fair face glowing and her green eyes almost unnaturally bright, the creamy flesh of her throat and shoulders exposed….

It baffled Severus, really, that James Potter could be blind enough to discard such an invaluable treasure.

—

Severus kept his word to his darling flower.

During each break between classes and at lunch, he popped in to check on Lily, who kept insisting that she was doing just fine.

Regardless, Severus's nerves were raw all day.

At the start of each class, his anxiety piqued as he thought about the length of the instructional period and agonized over whether or not Lily may require assistance before his return.

At the end of each class, his heart raced with joy at the mere thought of seeing her again in only a few, brief moments.

To Severus's dismay, the last class of the day was the longest by ten minutes and to him, that extra time seemed like a small eternity.

As soon as that afternoon's final potions class concluded, Severus answered the questions of the students who lingered to talk to him about their assignments before he quickly raced back to his chambers.

From the moment he swung open the door, he was first struck by the smell, then the obvious visible changes to his living space.

Different.

….Good.

Lovely~.

A few strands of Severus's black hair fell in front of his face as he peered around incredulously at what used to be his rooms…...well, still was his rooms, but better.

Severus made a habit of keeping his living area clean, but it had been startlingly evident that those chambers belonged to a bachelor.

Somber and hard, without many welcoming details, the furnishings in Professor Snape's chambers were sparse and present for function only.

Severus Snape's private rooms were devoid of any feminine touch, or at least, they had been….

As Severus stood there and glanced around, he noticed a vase filled with fresh flowers had been placed atop his small table.

A soft throw blanket had been laid on the sofa, along with two matching pillows, all a deep shade of green.

Between the sofa and the fireplace, a small rug had been thoughtfully positioned to create a more comforting atmosphere.

Severus looked over when he heard his name…...

"Hey, Sev!" Lily called as she looked up at him while she pulled something out of the oven in his small kitchenette, which was situated in the corner of his living room.

Severus looked at the metal tray that Lily held in her gloved hands and he finally recognized the pleasant scent in his home as that of warm, freshly baked biscuits.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked with narrowed eyes, "You shouldn't be on your feet."

"I have to move around a bit." Lily said with a smile, "Come here and try one! I made these for you."

Severus frowned and walked towards her.

Lily made biscuits…...for him?

He looked down at the biscuits on the baking tray and asked incredulously, "...Are those….lemon shrewsbury?"

"Yes!" Lily replied, "Remember? You used to love these when Mother made them for us when we were young."

Lily picked one off of the tray and handed it to Severus, who took it from her, and ate it as he stared into her green eyes.

"...Delicious." Severus assessed after he swallowed.

Lily was a skilled baker, but Severus wasn't only referring to the biscuit.

As Lily gazed back at Severus, her emerald gaze shimmered with happiness, pleased that her host enjoyed his gift.

The look in Severus's dark eyes became so intense that Lily found herself unable to stop smiling and blushing as she glanced away, handed him another biscuit, and then took one for herself.

Hoping to break the unspoken tension between them, Severus turned and looked at his living room once more before he asked, "I am curious…...you weren't supposed to leave the castle…...how did you do all this in under two hours?"

"Oh!" Lily said quickly, "I didn't do much, really! These are just some of my things that I brought with me. Things that I bought that James didn't like, so I never got to use. Sorry! I can pack them all back up…. I think I nested a bit."

"You can nest as much as you want here, Lily." Severus honestly replied as he looked back over at Lily and held her gaze.

Severus wasn't the least bit inconvenienced or offended.

Lily was more than welcome to make herself comfortable in his home.

In fact, Severus hoped that Lily became so comfortable in his home that she never wanted to leave.

—

After two weeks had gone by, Severus and Lily had settled into new routines and with each passing day, they seemed to be settling into their new roles as roommates.

Severus continued to sleep on the sofa, rising each morning to check on Lily, who rested in his bed.

Lily often slept late, but when Severus came back from teaching for the day, she was waiting on him with a smile and occasionally, a fresh batch of those lemon shrewsbury biscuits he enjoyed so much.

They chatted by the fireplace in the evening and on the weekends, even when Severus had duties to tend to, or assignments to grade, Lily sat by his side and read a book.

Severus noticed that she read an awful lot about childbirth and infants.

When Lily wasn't watching him, he began to study those subjects himself.

Lily's belly seemed to grow rounder by the day and as the warmth of May brought with it the promise of the oncoming summer, Severus understood that he had only a short while left before he and Lily were joined by someone he dreaded meeting, the littlest Potter.

Severus permitted Lily to leave the castle only to attend her medical appointments, not that she wanted to go anywhere, with the threat of Voldemort and James' pesky spies watching her every move.

Severus was honestly amazed by the peace that he and Lily enjoyed during the first portion of her time spent in his care.

Voldemort and Dumbledore summoned Severus to their sides very rarely and despite the drama that Lily had mentioned, James kept his rubbish to himself.

Until one morning, anyway.

On the first Saturday of the month, a letter came directly to Severus's chambers as a silvery owl flew up to his window and offered the small parcel to him.

Severus scowled as he took the envelope from the bird's beak and looked at the letters scrawled on its front.

He easily recognized the handwriting in which Lily's name had been scribbled:

Lily E. Potter

Severus walked over to his short hallway and peeked in at Lily, who laid peacefully asleep in bed, with one hand happily resting on her swollen womb.

Severus didn't have the heart to wake her.

It wasn't that he was trying to overstep his boundaries or disregard her privacy, he was only attempting to protect her.

Yes, that's what he was doing.

He was protecting Lily, that's what Severus told himself, as he slit the envelope and pulled out the parchment hidden inside.

Evans,

I know you're there. Snivelly took you there and I haven't heard from you since. This is a friendly reminder that we have a court date on the 21st. Perhaps you can fit that into your busy schedule? Mum and Dad will be there to support me. I do hope your father has picked up some overtime at work to pay for a decent magical attorney. You're going to need it when you face the Potters' legal team. You must be a whale by now….the baby's coming in July right? Or August? I can't remember, but once I win the case against you, I suppose I'll have to keep better track of things like that. Don't worry, I'll let you come by every once in a while and wave to him or her from the window.

Don't forget the date, you don't want to be in contempt of court. I'm told that Azkaban isn't particularly kind to women, especially those in your condition.

James Potter

Severus was so angry once he got to the bottom of the page that he had to actively resist the urge to rip that hateful letter into pieces.

Instead of destroying the correspondence meant for Lily, he tossed the envelope onto the small table in his living room, sat down, grabbed a clean sheet of parchment, a quill, and penned a response so that Lily wouldn't have to:

Potter,

Your wife is indeed residing in a safe place for the time being, under orders of Albus Dumbledore, and by the consent of her own free will, due to the threats against muggleborns at this time.

Of all the things that Severus wanted to say to James in that letter, he purposefully kept his tone as stoic as possible, in case James sought to use it as some sort of weapon against Lily.

I will personally see that Mrs. Potter makes her appearance in court on time. Please, do not trouble her with any more of your letters. In light of the situation, I believe your time could be spent preparing in better ways. You won't be holding her up when this child arrives, so why waste your efforts tearing her down before?

Sincerely,

A Concerned Party

Severus was careful of what he mentioned in the letter about Lily's location.

For safety reasons, he decided against signing his name.

When Lily woke later that morning, Severus was gentle and merciful as he attempted to shield her from James's venom.

"A letter came for you." He confessed as he watched her stretch herself in his bed, "...From Potter."

Lily's pleasant smile from waking faded when Severus mentioned James.

Severus hated to see it leave her face, that look of rested bliss.

A frown crossed her pink lips as nervousness shone in her eyes while she asked, "Well…...What did he say? What did it say? The letter?"

"What makes you think that I've read it?" Severus blinked.

"I know you've read it!" Lily chuckled.

"How…..?" Seveus asked as he narrowed his eyes incredulously.

"Because I know you, Sev!" Lily laughed with an amused smile, "What did it say?"

"Are you not angry with me?" Severus frowned.

"No." Lily said as her smile vanished when she thought of James again and asked, "Will you please tell me what the letter said?"

Severus took a deep breath and explained, "...He wanted to remind you of your court date on the 21st….That was…..more or less…..all that Potter's letter mentioned."

"I see." Lily replied.

Severus hesitantly asked, "...Would you like to read it for yourself?"

Severus didn't want Lily to see that letter, to read those hateful words as the child of the man who wrote them grew within her, it would break Severus's heart, but if Lily asked, he wouldn't deny her.

"No, I don't." Lily answered honestly.

"Ah." Severus nodded.

He watched Lily rise from the bed and walk over to reach for her morning robe.

As Lily stepped through the chill of the spring morning, her long, red tresses flowed elegantly over her shoulders.

Her fat nipples tightened through the thin fabric of her nightgown, which did very little to hide her marvelous curves from Severus's view.

He was completely entranced as he watched her move.

Severus vehemently disagreed with James on how attractive Lily was in the later stages of pregnancy.

When Severus became fairly certain that Lily didn't realize what he could see, he respectfully looked away as he swallowed dryly.

"I…..I need to request our breakfast." He nodded.

"Hey, Sev?" Lily asked as she pulled her morning robe around herself and fastened the tie.

"...Yes?" Severus replied.

Lily knew she had been right about her error in judgement.

She should have chosen Severus as a mate, not James.

She and Severus shouldn't be there, in those stone rooms, they should be in their home, their cozy, safe home that they shared together, somewhere away from all of the trials of the world.

That shouldn't be James's child in her womb, it should be Severus's son or daughter.

Lily drew in a breath as she looked at Severus for a long moment.

The urge to rush forward and kiss him was distressingly overwhelming, but Lily couldn't allow herself to become a puppet to the desires of her heart.

What would Severus think if she came to him before her divorce from James was finalized?

Severus saw her as pure and perfect and sweet, Lily knew that.

What Lily didn't know was that in that moment, Severus would have joyously welcomed her kiss.

However, that was true in any moment of any day…...

"Thank you for everything." Lily answered with a wry smile as she looked at Severus.

"You don't have to thank me, Lily." He replied with his brow furrowed.

"...But I want to." Lily beamed.

Lily walked over and peered down into the drawer of Severus's dresser where she kept her clothes.

As she rummaged around, Severus noticed that her smile once again disappeared.

"What's the matter?" Severus asked as Lily put a hand on her back and bent forward, using her other hand to continue her search through the drawer.

"Nothing." Lily replied, "I only have a couple of dresses that still fit, that's all. It's frustrating sometimes."

Severus forgot for a moment that basic manners cued him to leave the room.

Once Lily retrieved an outfit from the drawer that she could manage to place over her belly, she straightened up, and blushed shyly at Severus's lingering.

"I'll….I'll send for breakfast." Severus said quickly as he remembered himself.

It made Lily grin to see how flustered he looked as he stalked out of the room to let her ready herself for the day.

—-

A week before Lily's court date with James, Severus returned from teaching class one day to find her taking a late afternoon nap on the sofa.

He surmised he would have no better chance to surprise her.

Severus left the castle, journeyed down the hill towards Hogsmeade, and as soon as he crossed over the threshold of Hogwarts' property, he apparated straight to a distant village on the outskirts of Britain's wizarding world.

The village was sparse and rather rustic, but it housed some of the best tailors and dressmakers known to the magical community.

Severus kept his head down as he walked along the row of bleak-looking shops until he came to one with clothed mannequins in the window, mannequins who shared Lily's temporary physique.

Severus glanced around himself and once he determined that no recognizable eyes were upon him, he swiftly entered the shop and engaged the establishment's clerk in a deep conversation about the best options available for maternity wear.

Severus wasn't wealthy by any means, he had just started his career, but with Hogwarts providing his room, board, and medical care, he very rarely spent the wages that he earned.

He couldn't think of a better way to use his funds than to make Lily happy.

An hour later, Severus stood at the ship's counter while the clerk boxed up a couple of lovely new maternity robes and a few undergarments that she had assured Severus his expectant friend would greatly appreciate.

Severus couldn't wait to see the look on Lily's face when she saw her gifts, but he didn't realize that through the window, someone was seeing him right then.

That remote village was indeed home to fine clothiers, clothiers that were of such high quality in fact, that they attracted some of the wizarding world's most distinguished families.

Narcissa Malfoy had come to pick up her order from that particular maternity shop on that very afternoon, but she happened to glance through the window before she walked through the door.

She laid a hand on her mounded belly as Lucius's son squirmed within her while she narrowed her blue eyes as she curiously watched Severus complete his transaction.

Narcissa frowned as she contemplated what his presence at such a place, purchasing such items could mean….

By the time Severus left the maternity shop with the box of goods he had bought clutched in his arms, Narcissa had already apparated away.

She could collect her new clothing later, but she absolutely couldn't wait to tell her husband that their good friend, Severus Snape, was an expectant father too!