Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Lily Evans Potter was dead.
She was buried in a simple grave, under a simple tree, in a simple cemetery where the sun shone beautifully over her plot in eternal remembrance of her kind smile.
Lily's stillborn son was buried beside her, with a small, grey headstone that stood mournfully next to his mother's.
The turnout for the funeral was impressive, with friends, family, and Lily and James's old classmates in attendance.
Euphemia and Fleamont Potter came as well.
The caskets were closed during the service.
While James watched as they were lowered into the earth, he was glad that he hadn't had to look at Lily and the baby.
He didn't want to see his infant's lifeless face or the paleness of Lily's eyelids that had been closed in death.
James didn't want to face the totality of what he had lost.
Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were loyally at his side, next to his parents.
James numbly watched as the gravediggers waved their wands and covered the holes of his ruined victories with fresh earth.
Watched.
James hadn't cried, James hadn't screamed, he had only…..watched.
"We're so sorry, James." Remus said softly as he held onto his friend's shoulder.
"Lily and the baby are in a better place now." Sirius whispered as he patted James's back comfortingly.
Mr. and Mrs. Potter had no tears for their son's deceased wife, but they had plenty for their grandson that death had stolen from their arms.
Behind James, Euphemia and Fleamont Potter wept quietly while their son stared blankly at the two gravestones.
The crowd of mourners in attendance slowly began to respectfully turn away and depart from the cemetery as the afternoon wore on.
One nondescript funeral attendee moved through the crowd unnoticed and unrecognized.
He pulled the hood of his black robe more closely over his face as he made his stealthy escape.
He was as eager to hide his smirk as he was to conceal his identity.
Severus contemplated what he had just overheard.
For once, Sirius Black had been right about something.
Lily and the baby were indeed in a far better place.
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"How did it go?" Lily asked Severus after he returned to his living chambers at the castle.
Before he even spoke, he swept over to her, bent down, and stole a gentle kiss from her sweet lips while baby Harriet cooed in her arms.
Severus pulled away from Lily and peered down at the baby, who laughed and reached up to gently pat his face in fond recognition.
"...You'll be greatly missed." Severus replied to Lily in his low drawl.
"I love you." Lily said with a sigh as she leaned forward and pecked Severus's cheek.
His dark gaze softened as he looked at his lover.
Severus opened his mouth to reply when a squeal from baby Harriet stopped him.
Lily laughed as Severus glanced back down at the infant girl and frowned at the ecstatic smile that he saw on her tiny face while she blinked up at him.
"I think she loves you too, Sev." Lily chuckled.
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Severus counted it as one of his better ideas to fake the death of Lily and her baby.
The Potters' divorce proceedings officially ended since the defendant had been declared deceased.
The Potters' custody battle dissolved and the wealthy family recouped their precious money once they sold the house that James and Lily had shared.
Voldemort focused his attention elsewhere for the time being and in those fleeting few weeks before classes at Hogwarts resumed, Severus concentrated on Lily and baby Harriet.
Lily recovered easily from the birth, partially due to the great amount of aid that Severus lended her on the matter.
He looked for every available opportunity to assist and he found that there were many things that he could do to hasten Lily's healing.
Besides seeing that she received adequate rest, hydration, and nutrition, he gifted her with lavender nursing pads that he had thoughtfully made for her to wear on her sore breasts, and he lavished gentle kisses of loving encouragement upon her whenever he caught her struggling or doubting herself.
It pleased Severus that he and Lily seemed to grow closer with each passing day.
It surprised him though that he and Lily's baby were growing closer as well.
When Harriet completed her first month of life, she was still rather small for her age, but Severus and Lily had managed to establish her on a somewhat regular sleeping and feeding schedule.
A wide smile lit up her small face whenever Severus or Lily picked her up from her cot.
Lily smiled back at her daughter, but Severus continued to respond to the baby's enthusiasm with a frown.
Severus wondered why Harriet felt that he was worthy of her innocent smiles?
Little Harriet had her reasons.
Severus forgot that Lily's daughter had entered the world with no baggage, no assumptions, no grudges, and no lingering memories or previous opinions.
Harriet had heard Severus's voice while she was in the womb.
She had looked into his pale face while she had drawn her first few breaths.
Severus had often been the one to change her and read her to sleep when she cried.
Harriet felt that Severus was more than qualified to receive her smiles.
It made Lily's heart swell with joyful pride whenever she walked into the room and found Severus cradling her little girl.
She beamed a radiant smile at the sight every time.
That look that Severus glimpsed on Lily's fair face made him want to blush.
Severus didn't fancy himself as a father, but if it made Lily happy, then he felt that he had little choice but to continue to care for the infant that had been dropped into his life.
In the foolish days of his early youth, Severus had joined Voldemort's forces in hopes of earning Lily's admiration.
If all it took to make her smile was looking after Harriet, then Severus would gladly oblige.
Caring for a baby was much more rewarding and much less dangerous than participating in a fascist organization.
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Under the dark cover of night, late one evening during the first week of September, Severus moved quickly to smuggle Lily and Harriet into their new home.
Lily was wearing her disguise as Laima with a clever device under her robes which gave the appearance that she was still with child.
She secretly held her sleeping daughter in the bundle of blankets that she clutched in her arms.
Baby Harriet had been swaddled in dark fabrics so that if her mother was seen, Lily could lie and say that she was carrying some lightweight bedding.
Severus had purchased a small cottage on the outskirts of the forest near Hogsmeade to share with his darling and her baby.
His salary as a professor was meager, but it had been enough to buy the humble property, which boasted a single lavatory, two bedrooms, a living area, a kitchen, and a small nook for dining.
Lily had preferred the coziness of Severus's rooms at Hogwarts initially, but with Voldemort expecting an invitation to Harriet's birth, Severus had been forced to find lodgings outside of the castle.
He had spent the previous week making the dwelling as comfortable and as cozy for Lily and Harriet as possible.
His efforts were rewarded when Lily stepped over the threshold to view her new residence for the first time and gasped in quiet delight.
Severus had decorated the house well by outfitting it with simple but comfortable furniture.
The pleasant scent of simmering cinnamon and apples wafted throughout the dwelling.
Severus had thoughtfully let a pot full of those two ingredients stew on the stove earlier in the day.
The modest cottage was as inviting as a storybook setting.
Severus followed Lily inside, locked the door behind himself, and cast a security enchantment for added protection.
Lily pulled her hood down, slipped her veil off, and looked around in awe as she appreciated the lengths that Severus had gone to for her comfort and her baby's well-being.
She smiled softly at the throw blanket that Severus had placed appropriately across the sofa in a welcoming manner, in front of the crackling fireplace that he lit with a flick of his wand.
"It's lovely, Sev." Lily whispered as she gazed over at Severus.
The visible way that his face softened when he heard Lily's single statement of approval was a marvel to witness.
His features relaxed and pride burned in his black eyes as if his flower had given him the christening that he needed to become king of a nation.
"I'm glad that it's to your liking." Severus whispered out as he watched Lily slowly walk through the small living area and begin to make her way to the small home's second level.
The upstairs held the lavatory and the bedrooms, the smallest of which was the first one that Lily peered into once she reached the landing.
"Sev!" She gasped in excitement as she looked over at him and then back into the bedroom.
Tears watered in Lily's emerald eyes as she glanced around at the pink curtains that hung on the windows and the frilly bedding on Harriet's cot that Severus had brought in previously.
A changing table stood in the corner and beside it sat a toy chest and a proper, wooden rocking chair.
It was quaint, but it was soft, charming, and…….. it was…..it was……
It was perfect for a baby girl.
"You've made a nursery for her!" Lily gasped over at Severus as her tears of gratitude slowly started to trickle down her cheeks.
Severus's rooms at Hogwarts were not particularly designed for family living.
Lily was deeply touched that Severus had been considerate enough to have already decorated a space that Harriet could call her own.
Severus watched Lily closely as she stepped inside the room and gently laid her sleeping daughter down into her waiting cot.
Harriet didn't notice as she continued her peaceful rest.
Lily looked over at Severus and smiled at him through her joyful weeping.
She had wanted so badly to believe that it could be real, to understand that it was real, but despite their private moments, despite the lies they had told to Voldemort, there was a new permanence about moving into that humble little house that gave Lily a certainty about her relationship with her lover.
Severus's brow furrowed as he gazed at her longingly and spoke with a genuine warmth in his low voice, "Lily….your happiness is my happiness."
Lily walked over to Severus and stared into his black eyes.
They were so near to each other that the false pregnancy under her robes bumped against his torso, but he didn't mind.
Lily glanced at Severus's lips before she met his gaze with her own.
Their eyes closed as their mouths met.
Severus's hands came up to hold Lily's sides as she put her palms on his chest while they enjoyed a long, luxurious kiss.
Harriet slept on in her crib, unbothered and unaware of the soft, gentle sounds that filled her nursery.
Mummy was there.
Daddy was there.
That was all baby Harriet needed to know to sleep well.
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Severus was curious about the aggressive hunger in Lily's kiss.
He was intrigued that she didn't seem interested in breaking their contact as they stumbled out of Harriet's nursery and across the short hallway into the room that would serve as their bedchamber for what Severus hoped was years to come.
Lily groaned softly against him as he gently pushed the door towards its hinges.
He left it open slightly in case Harriet cried for them.
His action failed to cool Lily's heated hurry as she attacked his lips while he ran his hands over her.
As Severus felt Lily tangle her fingers in his raven-black hair, a shiver of anticipation ran down his spine.
Making love to Lily was as much an emotional experience for Severus as it was a physical treat, and during the time that she had spent healing from Harriet's arrival, it had been an experience that Severus had sorely missed.
His excitement made him brazen.
He grabbed the edges of his lover's black robes with the intention of pulling them off and freeing her gorgeous form from the shroud of black, but Lily's hands suddenly gripped his tight.
Severus pulled away and gazed into Lily's eyes with a look of injured offense.
"...Forgive me." Severus whispered softly with his brow knitted as he released his grasp on Lily's robes and stepped back.
"Sev!" Lily cried.
His dark eyes widened as she rushed forward to explain, "I….I…..you frightened me!"
"I frightened you?" Severus asked with a frown.
"Yes!" Lily chuckled while she looked up at him and confessed, "I...I'm not the same now…...It worries me to think that you may not like what you see anymore."
Severus's black eyes glimmered as his frown melted away.
He deftly raised a hand and brushed a strand of Lily's red hair behind her ear before he cupped her face in his large, slender palm.
His heart shattered as he stared deep into those emerald eyes that he loved so well.
Love.
Did it really worry Lily that his love for her would be so shallow?
Did she honestly think that there would ever be an instance where he no longer found her beautiful?
"Lily……" Severus whispered, his voice deep and husky.
Lily clung to him as if he were her lifeline.
"...Do you trust me?" Severus asked.
When she nodded, Severus let his hands slip back onto her hips.
He kissed her meaningfully, wickedly, decadently….until she abandoned her qualms.
Dizzied by the intoxicating caress of his lips and fingers, Lily barely noticed when Severus divested her of her robes.
He vanished her undergarments with a murmured spell.
Once she stood bare in front of him, Severus moved her red hair over her shoulders so that no part of her was hidden from his dark gaze.
Lily whimpered when Severus bent his head and pecked her lips.
She was prepared to kiss him back but he had other plans as he nibbled across her face, down her jawline, and over her throat.
Kiss by nipping kiss, Severus made his way along her collarbone and dared to dip down towards the creamy swells that Lily kept supported with one arm.
She moved that arm away as Severus greedily claimed her heavy breasts for himself.
He palmed them gently while he tasted the milk that her body had manufactured to nurture her infant.
Severus managed to control his own selfish desire to empty Lily completely as he knelt down and gazed at the place that she desperately wanted to hide from his sight.
The silvery marks across her abdomen, which was still slightly puffed from her journey into motherhood, glared at Severus, but he was undeterred.
Lily braced herself.
A small cry escaped her throat as he leaned forward while he held gently onto her thighs, and pressed a kiss across every single one of those scars.
Severus covered Lily's silvery stretch marks in his silent seal of approval and tender reverence.
Lily combed through Severus's hair while he showered the evidence of her strength in rapt appreciation.
As he dropped lower and let his tongue dare to delve into the nest of curls that contained the sensitive rosebud which Severus knew he could use as a weapon of pleasure against his lover, Lily bucked her hips against him.
Severus smirked at her uninhibited cry for release.
An hour, two silencing charms, and one lubrication spell later, Severus and Lily lay on the bed, intertwined with each other.
It was a cool evening, but their exertion had left them both sweating and gasping for breath.
Lily clutched onto Severus and he held onto her with the same needfulness.
"You're mine, Severus Snape~." Lily chuckled, although she lay in his possessive grasp.
Severus's voice was an uncharacteristically content purr as he replied, "Always~."