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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A gentle, fluffy snow flurried down in the frigid forest outside of Severus and Lily's cottage on Christmas morning.
"WWWWAAAAA!"
"WWWWWWAA!"
When Lily finally roused from her deep, restful sleep and realized that Harriet cried for her, Severus had already retrieved the baby from her cot.
He sat on the bedside while he waited to hand the squalling infant to her mother.
"WWWWAAAA!"
"Sev?" Lily asked slowly as she sat up and took Harriet from his arms.
"WWWWWAAAAA!"
"Happy Christmas, Lily." Severus replied as he watched his lover unfasten her nightgown and silence her daughter's cries with her full breasts.
"Happy Christmas…...How long have you been up?" Lily blinked.
Severus declined to reply as he bent forward and stole a kiss from Lily's pink lips.
She reached out and used her free hand to grab his forearm in an affectionate squeeze.
"Everything's ready, once you two are prepared to come downstairs." Severus nodded as he pulled away and glanced from Lily down to Harriet.
"Everything?" Lily asked with an incredulous giggle, "What do you mean……'everything'?"
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After Harriet finished her breakfast, Severus and Lily changed her and dressed her in her tiny, velvet Christmas suit.
Lily carried her little girl in her arms while she followed Severus downstairs.
Her emerald eyes widened at the sight that waited for her.
Lily's mouth fell open in shocked delight as she glanced around their humble living area and admired the effort that Severus had made to ensure their first Christmas morning together was one to remember.
The fireplace had been lit, along with the tree that stood glistening by the window as the winter sunlight fell onto its decorations.
A spell from Severus's wand had breakfast cooking on the stove.
Two steaming cups of hot chocolate sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa, ready to drink.
Above the mantle, Severus had enchanted two straps of jingle bells to shake in a rhythm and add to the festive feeling in their cozy home.
"Sev! It's all so lovely!" Lily exclaimed as she walked through the living area with a wide smile on her face.
Harriet cooed from her arms as her large, green eyes took in all of the sparkling lights on the tree while she listened to the bells and inhaled the scent of the savory morning.
"I thought that perhaps…..this could be our tradition." Severus slowly suggested, frightened that Lily may reject his idea.
"The bells?" Lily asked with an eager smile, "Or the breakfast?"
"...All of it." Severus cautiously affirmed.
Lily laughed in agreement as she stepped over to Severus and kissed his lips sweetly.
Harriet squealed while Severus closed his eyes and took a second taste of his delicious lover that morning.
When Lily moved to step back, Harriet decided to stay with him instead as she clung defiantly to his shoulder.
Lily giggled while she and Severus awkwardly exchanged Harriet, who put her tiny hands on Severus's chest as she smiled at him brightly.
Severus glanced over at Lily while Harriet touched one of the black buttons on his robes.
The content smile that his darling flashed him soothed Severus's heart like a warm blanket.
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Severus and Lily spent the morning opening gifts and chatting.
They showered baby Harriet with new clothes and a few basic toys that she remained too young to really appreciate.
Lily had used a small amount of her savings to purchase a new cauldron for Severus, along with an exact replica set of the black robes that he wore, a package of socks, and a package of underwear.
"I'm sorry if it's all a little too….practical." Lily laughed nervously while Severus inspected his gifts.
Harriet reached for the packet of her Daddy's socks.
Severus held it out towards her and smirked when she patted the soft covering in which his new pieces of clothing had been wrapped.
"I'm a practical person." Severus replied, "Thank you, Lily, I have use for it all."
"I had hoped that you'd ask for something." Lily said with a wry smile, "I looked at things to buy you, but…..you're not really a 'things' sort of person, Sev."
"As long as I have you and Harriet…...I have all that I need…...and all that I want." Severus spoke honestly as he raised Lily's hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
Lily blushed softly as she held Severus's gaze and saw the admiration that shone in his dark stare.
"...You haven't opened your gift yet." He mentioned in a low drawl.
"My gift?" Lily chuckled, "No, Sev, the gifts were for you and Harriet."
"...Not all of them." Severus replied as he deftly rose from the sofa and offered Lily his hand.
Lily clutched little Harriet in her arms as she accepted his grasp and stood to her feet.
"You didn't have to get me anything!" She said with a grateful smile as Severus led her over to the Christmas tree, "You've done so much for us, Sev, the last thing you had to worry about was-"
"-Here you are." Severus interrupted as he pulled an ornament off of the tree and handed it to Lily.
"...This?" Lily asked, incredulously, "A Christmas ball?"
"It's what's inside the ball that's important." Severus nodded, "Remove the top."
He watched as Lily carefully pinched off the silver, metal tip at the top of the ornament.
Severus smirked at the craftiness that he had employed by cleverly hiding Lily's gift in a romantic place where he knew that she'd never think to look.
He had made the Christmas tree spell-proof with a charm and nestled the bracelet that he had purchased for her in its hiding spot on the third branch up from the floor, two hands length towards the fireplace.
Lily frowned as the ornament cap popped off but the ball proved to be empty as she turned it upside down in her hand.
"Was there…...supposed to be something in here, Sev?" She asked with a tense smile.
Severus stared down at her open hand in disbelief.
His memory never failed him, he knew that he had hidden the bracelet inside that particular ornament, in that particular place.
"I specifically hid your gift there." Severus pointed towards the ornament's position on the tree.
Lily frowned as she asked, "...How long ago?"
"Not more than a week." Severus scowled.
"Oh……" Lily said with a nervous laugh, "I see…..This is my fault, then. I rearranged the tree's decorations Tuesday, while you were at the castle. I wanted more silver balls on the left side so that the sun wouldn't glint off the gold so brightly in the morning."
Severus frowned while he looked at the plethora of ornaments that hung on the tree.
The tree that he had enchanted to be impenetrable against magic…….
With a resigned sigh, Severus picked up the ornament closest to him and began to gently pry off the silver cap.
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Some of the decorative balls had debris inside that weighed them down and rattled with motion, so a simple shake test proved to be inaccurate.
Harriet watched her parents in fascination as they searched each ball on the tree for Lily's gift.
When they had nearly succeeded in stripping the evergreen bare from its embellishments, Lily cried out, "Oh!"
Severus looked up and walked over from his place behind the tree to find Lily smiling down at the gold and ruby bracelet in her hand while Harriet squealed.
"Sev, it's beautiful!" Lily exclaimed as she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze, "Is this from Slindelyn's?"
"Yes…….I hope that you like it." Severus replied with a stoic nod as Lily gasped, "Harriet chose it……..I relied on her knowing her mother well enough."
Lily laughed as she imagined Severus and Harriet in the jewelry store shopping together.
"It's gorgeous!" Lily declared as she struggled to open the fastener on her gift.
Severus rushed to his darling's aid.
While Harriet watched, he opened the bracelet, draped it over Lily's wrist, and fastened it for her as he looked into her eyes while he replied, "...Not as much as it's wearer."
As Severus and Lily kissed again, Harriet looked over her mother's shoulder.
Severus and Lily laid the framework for their family's traditions that Christmas as they shared a dinner of roasted goose and cranberry pudding.
At the end of it all, little Harriet became exhausted by the twinkling lights and entertaining new objects in her home.
Severus and Lily ended their Christmas on the sofa in front of the fireplace.
Lily sat with Severus's arm around her and her head leaned against his shoulder, but baby Harriet decided to sleep away the rest of her holiday.
As she laid against the familiar, thick fabric of her Daddy's black robes, her tiny fingers idly pulled on his buttons while his heartbeat pulsed in her ears.
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Severus and Lily's happy home did not remove the danger of the war or the tension that permeated their lives, it functioned as a mere distraction from those perils.
As the snows of winter melted, Voldemort called Severus, Yaxley, Karkaroff, the Malfoys, the Lestranges, and Rodolphus to his side one evening as he used Lucius's dining room for the location of yet another meeting.
Severus sat with his hands folded and his usual, unreadable scowl on his pale face.
Lily, er, Laima, had been excused from the evening's meeting, under the presumption that she still spoke little English and needed to tend Harriet.
Narcissa sat beside Lucius while the house elves watched over baby Draco as he slept.
Severus tried not to make eye contact with her, although he found it a bit strange that she seemed determined to gain his attention.
He could feel her icy blue gaze cutting into him in a silent command for him to meet her stare.
"I've called you all here tonight to issue a declaration of urgent need!" Voldemort exclaimed as he sat at the head of the table and looked around at his elite with his serpentine eyes narrowed, "We must remedy this situation as quickly as possible!"
"Please, my lord," Lucius began, "Tell us what's happened."
Voldemort drew in a breath as he sneered and explained, "Frank and Alice Longbottom have been found."
Bellatrix smirked.
Excited whispers erupted around the table.
Severus had to force himself not to show his sadness as he imagined what had become of the unfortunate couple and their child.
"Barty Jr. and Bellatrix warmed them up for me before I could arrive………..When I did, however, I realized that their son, as weak and pathetic as he was, could never be my equal. The prophecy does not apply to the Longbottoms' child...James Potter's son is dead! If that is true, then it must mean that there is…….another…...perhaps? A boy born at the end of July who could one day match me! This danger to our cause has to be destroyed!"
Voldemort finished by slamming his fist against the heavy, ebony table.
Severus shut out the ominous noise as he mentally clung to his Occlumency.
Perhaps the others weren't aware, but he could feel Voldemort silently, secretly invading the thoughts of those around the table, searching for any hint of betrayal or feelings of anything less than complete obedience towards his orders.
How glad Severus was to be there alone!
It exhausted him to have Lily in Voldemort's presence.
The task was difficult enough to maintain his Occlumency and obscure his own thoughts, but when he had to project his skills onto Lily too?
The safety measure wore Severus out.
"Perhaps the prophecy was wrong, my lord." Severus boldly spoke, "Or perhaps, the death of Potter's son failed to be foreseen…..Sybil Trelawney has had her sight doubted on more than one occasion."
"A shrewd hypothesis, Severus." Voldemort commended as he rubbed his hands together for a second, "However, this particular prediction is true, I can feel it in the marrow of my bones! The one that will one day be capable of destroying me lives…...and that, I cannot allow!"
The others at the table glanced back and forth between Severus and Voldemort.
A thought occurred to the Dark Lord and he snapped, "Severus!"
"Yes, my lord?" Severus answered with a serious frown.
"Did you attend the funeral of James Potter's son?" Voldemort scowled.
"I did not, sir." Severus lied to his dark master, "I see little use in mourning the dead. Besides, Potter's loss was a victory for me."
"Did anyone else attend the funeral of James Potter's son?!" Voldemort hissed irritably.
The answers came in quick response to the vicious rage displayed on the Dark Lord's face.
"No.
"No, my lord."
"Of course not!"
"No."
"Then no one has seen it…..?" Voldemort asked with a snarl.
"Seen what, my lord?" Bellatrix Lestrange asked in a hushed gasp.
"The body of the boy!" Voldemort hissed.
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Severus's hands were clammy as he clasped them together and watched with mortal dread.
His fellow Death Eaters stood around him there in the dark graveyard while Voldemort held his wand and used his powers to move the layers of earth in front of that tragically small headstone beside Lily's.
After enough of the brown dirt had been lifted to reveal a morosely tiny casket, Voldemort gave a great cry as he slashed his wand through the air.
The lid on the small coffin sprang wide open to reveal……...nothing.
Voldemort snarled as his Death Eaters gathered around him and stared down at the proof that the one who threatened their master remained among the living.
In that moment, as Severus stared at the empty grave with his comrades, hatred bloomed in his heart as he thought of Neville Longbottom.
If the boy had been stronger, if the boy had been more…….than perhaps Voldemort wouldn't have come to doubt his lie.
"Severus….." Voldemort whispered over his shoulder.
"Yes, my lord?" Severus asked.
"You know what must be done?" Voldemort replied as his cold eyes moved to stare directly at his most trusted servant.
Severus made his vow while he wondered how he could break it, "Of course, my lord. We'll scour the earth until the Potter boy is found."
All wasn't lost yet, Severus held onto his wit as a shield against the mind-numbing terror brought about by the unfortunate turn of events.
Voldemort was as wrong as he was right.
The Potter child lived, yes, but the Potter boy didn't exist, he never had.