Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—
The rain fell softly against the window in Severus's bedroom as he cracked his black eyes open and blinked out at the stormy morning.
He inhaled and delighted in the sweet scent of the vivid red hair that lay so close to his face.
Silently, Severus's eyes drifted over Lily who was still asleep beside him.
The bed was warm and soft.
Lily was warm and soft.
As thunder boomed outside and rain poured against the glass in patterns of soothing urgency, it was all Severus could do to force himself to leave that terribly cozy entrapment of blankets and satisfaction.
He would have gladly stayed there, under the covers with Lily, for the rest of his life.
No more teaching, no more Dumbledore, no more Voldemort, it would just be him and Lily, embracing, kissing, and making love until the end of time.
Severus's futile fantasy did nothing to ease his remorse as he slowly rose from the bed.
He was careful not to wake his lover while he leaned over and pressed a feather-light kiss to her lips.
As quietly as possible, Severus hurried around his room and readied for the day.
He brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and dressed.
In the instant before he left, Severus heard the bedsheets rustle and in response to the noise, he quickly glided back into the room to find Lily staring up at him from the covers.
"You're leaving me, Sev…..." She whispered in feigned offense with a gentle smile of understanding on her plush lips.
Severus knew that if he looked into the Mirror of Erised at that exact moment, he'd see Lily as he saw her then…..lying there in his bed and pining for him with that heartbreaking smile.
"Only for a few hours." Severus replied, "How are you feeling? Have I hurt you?" He asked worriedly.
"No, Sev. I feel…...absolutely wonderful." Lily answered as her smile brightened. She blinked at him as she asked with an adorable stretch, "Do you have time for a kiss?"
Severus's mouth fell open as he walked over to his darling flower.
He carefully sat down on the side of the bed and Lily leaned towards him.
Slowly, purposefully, Lily pressed her lips against Severus's in a deep, loving kiss that ended with his hands cupping her face and her fingers tangled in his raven black hair.
"I meant what I said, Severus." Lily declared very seriously after she pulled away.
Her emerald eyes glowed as she looked into Severus's onyx stare.
"As did I, my love." Severus replied in a husky purr while he gazed back at Lily.
She smiled when she heard that affectionate phrase fall from Severus's lips.
It was liberating, freeing, almost like a higher form of living for Severus to know that not only had Lily become fully aware of the depth of his feelings for her, but that she returned them as well.
That made the cruelty of having to leave her side and teach an even more onerous burden.
"A single tap if you need anything." Severus called out as a reminder after he left the bedroom, walked down the short hallway of his chambers, and put his hand on his front door.
"Have a good morning, love!" Lily called back in reply.
Severus opened his door and stepped out into the stone hallway with a grimace.
Love.
Professor Snape could have floated to class that morning, no broom or spell required.
—-
During the first break between classes, Severus came to check on Lily and found her asleep.
When he returned to his chambers again at lunchtime, he found her sitting on the sofa and gladly spent the next hour chatting with her.
Severus enjoyed how relaxed they were.
He and Lily talked casually about anything and everything with the gentle reassurance that they were together, as if what had happened between them was the most natural thing in their lives besides breathing.
When the academic day ended and Severus was able to retire to his living quarters for the evening, he and Lily ate dinner together while they continued to enjoy each other's company.
After their meal was finished, Severus had a few exams to grade, which he did while he sat on the sofa next to Lily.
Severus held the exam he was reading in one hand and Lily's aching foot in the other as he gently massaged it with his skilled fingers.
While Severus thoughtfully tended his beloved, she did her best to see to his care too.
Earlier that afternoon, Lily had baked another batch of lemon shrewsbury biscuits that Severus loved so well.
While they sat on the sofa that evening, whenever Severus turned his head slightly, she reached out and gently fed him one off of the plate she was holding on what was left of her lap.
That night was as stormy as the morning.
To fight off the chill brought by the deluge, Severus had lit the fireplace in his living.
He and Lily both listened to its crackle contrast with the sheets of water that pounded against Hogwarts' stone walls.
The rain continued to pour when Severus finished his tasks and sat the scored parchments on the end table next to the sofa.
Before Lily could move, he reached over, took the plate of biscuits from her, and sat it on top of the graded exams.
Lily blinked at Severus as he laid both of his hands on her feet and let his fingers rub soothingly for a few moments before they drifted up over her calves, her knees, her thighs, her sides…..
Severus hovered over Lily and wrapped his arms around her, as much as her belly allowed.
He deftly pulled the throw blanket on the sofa over them both while their lips met.
Together, they shared a lover's cuddle in the soft light of the fire with the relaxing sound of the steady rain in the background.
The previous evening had been one of the best of Severus's life for many reasons and as he lay in his darling's loving embrace there on the sofa, he was completely content.
Making love to Lily was certainly a point of deep fascination and unrivaled interest for Severus Snape.
However, being loved by Lily was the pinnacle of existence for him.
Simply being caressed by Lily's touch, held dearly to her, honored by her soft kisses, that was as powerful as any orgasm.
Severus was quite surprised when he sat up on the sofa with his chest still heaving from their kiss and watched Lily turn onto her side.
He glanced down at her questioningly when she raised one leg to drape it over his shoulder.
Severus's face paled in shocked but delighted anticipation as Lily pulled him in close while she squeezed him with her calf and thigh.
A simple vanishing spell freed them both of their pesky clothes and as the rain's barrage on the stone wall endured, Severus once again slipped inside his favorite place in the world~.
—-
Severus's work as a double agent continued.
He taught several classes full of frustrating adolescents on a daily basis and spent hours contemplating how he might save his beloved and himself from a grisly death, but regardless of all of that, the weeks that followed his union with Lily were filled with domestic bliss.
Severus woke each morning tangled up with his flower, kissed her goodbye, and tolerated his morning of teaching.
Once noon came, he got to sit and chat with Lily for an hour while they ate lunch together before he soldiered through the afternoon's classes, and was finally absolved from his vocational chains to join his darling for the rest of the night.
Although there were moments of intense passion that Lily was able to share with Severus, as time passed and the child that she carried continued to grow, her energy for love-making gradually started to wane.
Severus was glad to do all that he could to ease her aches and pains.
Sometimes Lily needed a massage, sometimes she needed to lie against him at night as he sat against the headboard a certain way, waiting for the baby to stop moving and settle down so she could finally rest.
Sometimes Lily needed her nipples sucked, which had become one of Severus's preferred pastimes.
He hadn't thought it was possible for a single activity to be so erotic and so deceptively soothing all at once.
What started to bother him though was that Lily didn't seem to talk much about the birth.
When she mentioned her child, she did so vaguely, as if there wasn't a baby coming, but a young boy of age to enter Hogwarts.
The week before Lily and James' remediation was scheduled, the school year concluded and with it, Severus was at last free to spend his time entirely with Lily.
No more mornings headed off to class.
No more afternoons wasted listening to the idiotic ramblings of his least adept students, to whom he had explained the sleeping draught formula five times.
Until the next term began, with the exception of Voldemort or Dumbledore possibly summoning him, Severus could concentrate on Lily and her…..situation.
As they sat together and sipped some tea one warm June morning, Severus decided to try and get his lover to acknowledge the inevitable.
"Have you decided anything about the birth?" Severus asked as he watched Lily drink her tea.
He couldn't deny the fact that while she remained ethereally beautiful, it was profoundly clear that Lily was very close to bringing her son into the world.
"W-What do you mean, Sev?" Lily stammered as she looked over at him with a tense smile.
"When the time comes…...am I to call a midwife? Shall I take you to St. Mungo's? You haven't discussed it much…...Lily, that day will come whether you want it to or not." Severus replied as he glanced down at her mounded tummy.
"I know…" Lily said quietly as she laid a hand on her abdomen and grit her teeth in irritation as unwelcome tears watered in her emerald eyes against her will.
Severus saw her reaction and he immediately reached his hand out to take hers as he whispered in a low drawl, "Lily, my love….you don't have to be frightened. I'll be next to you the entire time….. There's no need to weep."
"I'm not trying to!" Lily said with a laugh as she wiped the tears from her eyes, embarrassed by her own lack of control, "Everything makes me cry now, sorry! No, it's just…...this is all wrong. I love my little one, I do, but I'm so nervous and…...I just….I stand by what I told you. It shouldn't be James's baby, Sev…...It should be yours."
Severus straightened his back at Lily's statement.
His black eyes sparked with pride as he gazed at her.
Fatherhood was never something Severus had thought much about or longed for, but he had to admit, it would fill him with intense satisfaction if it was his baby that Lily carried.
"That's irrelevant." Severus said, in a tone far colder than he had intended, "We need to set a plan in place for the child that is to come."
Lily sighed as if she were very tired.
Severus frowned at the way the light drained from her green eyes as she looked over at him and stated sadly, "Let's just get this court date over with first, Sev."
"Potter's not going to win." Severus replied as he lifted Lily's hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, "That much, I vow to you."
"I know." Lily said trustingly as her chest rose and fell with another sigh while she looked out the window, "I just want this to be over."
As Lily absently laid a hand on her belly, Severus held her other one and frowned.
He didn't know if Lily was talking about her court battle with James or her pregnancy with the child of the man she despised….or both.
—
To Mrs. Lily Evans Potter,
This is an official notice from the Ministry of Magic to inform you that your court date has been moved due to a motion from the plaintiff. Please wait patiently for correspondence on when your date will be rescheduled. Failure to appear in court may result in legal action including but not limited to imprisonment.
Sincerely,
Theopolius Korzava
Clerk of Court, Ministry of Magic
Lily sat there silently beside Severus on the morning that her remediation had been originally scheduled with James.
Severus frowned as he watched her stare off into the distance.
He wasn't sure if she would cry or not, but she seemed to be too upset for tears and that worried him.
"We still have the day, my love." Severus replied.
"And what of it?" Lily asked bitterly, "Another day for James to plot against me. There's a reason why he's moved this date, and I'm sure it's not pleasant…..Not for me, anyway."
"Stop worrying about Potter." Severus urged his lover, "The stress isn't conducive to the child."
Lily continued to look away but she fumbled until she found Severus's hand and squeezed it tightly.
Severus thought of a way to cheer her up and after some time passed, he asked Lily, "Shall we go and browse a few of the baby stores today?"
Severus felt like it was a decent suggestion.
He knew women liked to shop.
Lily may enjoy selecting some items for her unborn.
"Oh…..Sev, we don't have to." Lily said as she finally looked over at him with a wry smile.
"The furnishings we have here state otherwise," Severus replied wisely, "There's a free day available…...We may as well not waste time."
"How?" Lily asked as she frowned, "James's investigators will be watching me and if we're seen by some of your….friends…..we'll-"
"My friends wouldn't think anything about me shopping for baby wares with Laima." Severus replied with a sly smirk.
A grin lit up Lily's face.
"I'm fairly certain that Potter's spies aren't quite sure who that is. Tell me, have you ever heard him mention the woman?" Severus asked Lily.
"No." Lily said as she kept her grin and played along, "I haven't, actually."
After lunch, Severus and his lover, Laima, clad in her head to toe black robe and veil, spent some time perusing the goods for infants that were sold in Britain's wizarding world.
It did lift Lily's spirits to buy a few things for her baby and in the radiance of her contagious smile, Severus entertained a new daydream.
Lily was on his arm.
Lily was happy.
He was happy.
The child was the only matter out of order in the perfect life that they could share together.
Wouldn't it be grand if that child did belong to Severus instead of James?