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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The warmth of the holidays faded quickly as Voldemort and his Death Eaters began their relentless, brutal hunt to find James Potter's son.
Open attacks against witches and wizards suspected of knowing information were carried out on the streets as they ruthlessly searched for information.
While Severus made his best attempt to lead Voldemort on, he breathed grateful sighs of relief that he had managed to suture Lily and Harriet into a world of concealed safety.
It vexed Severus when anyone tried to dissolve the thin film of peace in which he had veiled his little family.
His dark eyes narrowed to slits one morning as he read over a letter that had arrived in his dungeon chambers moments earlier.
You know who you are,
I know who you are...and we both know the lies that have been spewed about a certain person...my certain person…...my own flesh and blood child. You have no idea how much my heart mourns his absence. I understand that safety is an issue, but I demand to meet the fruits of my loins. Else, I'll take up the hunt and find what I seek for myself. There seems to be plenty of trappers out and about right now, I'll do what it takes to beat them at their own game. Be warned though, when I find him, I'll have no problem beating you.
Give back what's mine, you wretched thief.
Living up to your nickname, I see.
Disappointed, but not surprised.
Very Sincerely,
The wizard who's better than you in every way.
Severus closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as he drew in a deep breath to keep his shoulders from shaking with rage.
To calm himself down, he envisioned Lily sitting on their sofa holding Harriet with a smile.
It seemed curious to Severus that James Potter's fierce letter had neglected to mention Lily at all.
He felt too angry to teach.
The most maddening thing to Severus though was that he couldn't decide how to direct his fury.
Did it enrage him more that James Potter actually believed he had stolen from him?
……...Or that James thought that he deserved a visit with Harriet?
Severus's teeth clacked together as one eye twitched while he thought.
No, what made him the angriest about James Potter's haughty letter was the blind risk that he had placed Harriet into by even penning such correspondence.
If the situation had been reversed, Severus would certainly have never endangered her little life that way.
Severus stomped over to his desk, sat down, wrote a letter, and promptly crumpled it up.
He scribbled out another scathing reply in his elegant handwriting before he tore the parchment into pieces with a great shout.
Severus breathed heavily as the ripped fragments fluttered slowly to the floor.
No safe way existed for him to send his nemesis a witty retort.
He couldn't take on the risk of the letter being found or the handwriting being traced, not then, the danger was greater than it had ever been before.
Severus closed his eyes and passed a hand over his face as he thought.
He accepted the irritating truth.
For Lily and Harriet's sake, his best response to James Potter was silence.
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While peril loomed all around them, Severus, Harriet, and Lily, er, Laima, had the responsibility of keeping up appearances that they were a perfectly normal, Death Eater family.
When it was appropriate, Laima and Harriet attended Voldemort's social functions.
When it was not, mother and baby stayed home while Severus assured his dark master and comrades that his humble family continued to do well.
In the afternoon before yet another Death Eater meeting, Severus carried little Harriet back into Slindelyn's Shimmering Somethings.
The shop's inside had become much more tolerable since the crowds of rabid, holiday shoppers had disappeared.
Harriet cooed in Severus's arms while he glided past the few witches and wizards perusing the glass cases to make his way up to the register.
The same clerk who had sold Lily's bracelet nodded at Severus with a smile and asked, "Good afternoon, sir. What can I do for you today?"
"I purchased a gift from this shop some time ago." Severus nodded, "I contacted the artisan who makes these pieces with the information that you gave me…..He agreed to meet me here at five o' clock exactly to discuss some custom work."
"Certainly, sir. Wait here for one moment, please." The clerk nodded before he turned and disappeared into the back of the shop.
Harriet raised her hand and gently patted Severus's pale face as he frowned at her.
The clerk had only been gone for a few seconds when he returned and smiled at Severus as he gestured with his hand, "Through that curtain over there, sir. Lendall's waiting on you."
Severus frowned hesitantly as he turned with Harriet in his arms and walked over to a discreet curtain on the left side of the shop.
He held onto Harriet tightly as he pulled the curtain back with suspicion on his face.
Severus's back eyes widened at what he saw.
There, behind the curtain, appeared an impossibly tall room that had been wedged into the popular jewelry shop.
The room looked nearly dizzying to behold, with cases upon cases of impossibly beautiful, flawless jewelry floating in hundreds of display frames.
As Severus's eyes traveled upwards, each row seemed more dazzling than the next.
Baby Harriet seemed to be hypnotized as she cooed, "Oooooh……."
"Feel free to take a look around." A gruff voice called out.
Severus pulled his eyes back into his head and scowled as he noticed a man sitting a short distance away.
The man wore very odd-looking spectacles on his face while he tinkered with two, delicate metal chains at a glowing table in the center of the room.
"Are you Severus Snape?" The man asked.
"...I am." Severus nodded, "I presume that you are the one called 'Lendall'?"
"You presume correctly, Severus Snape." The man nodded as he peered at Severus and Harriet from behind his strange glasses, "I am the primary craftsman of the pieces sold in this shop. Is this your daughter?"
"Yes……" Severus answered without hesitation as the man glanced at Harriet.
Harriet put a tiny hand on Severus's chest with a frown.
She seemed a bit wary of Lendall's bizarre eyewear, and in response to her uneasiness, Severus tightened his grip on her slightly so that she would know that her Daddy would protect her.
"...It is a ring that that you're wanting to commission, correct?" Lendall asked.
"Yes……" Severus answered in a voice barely above a whisper.
Lendall reached inside his desk, pulled out his wand, and gave it a flick.
A chair materialized in front of his grand, glowing desk as he smiled at Severus and Harriet while he spoke, "Then step forward, sir, and tell me exactly what you want the piece to look like. Have no worries, have no qualms…. if you can think of it, I can make it."
Severus glanced at Harriet, who blinked her large, green eyes at him as he asked, "Well, little one? Will you help me choose something that will please your mother?"
The bright happy smile that Harriet cracked Severus as she squealed in eager delight gave him an inexplicable sense of comfort.
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Severus spent the next hour going over every detail about Lily's ring with Lendall and Harriet.
The consultation concluded later than he had expected.
Already late to Voldemort's meeting, once Lily's ring had been ordered, Severus rushed back home to deliver Harriet safely into her mother's arms.
He had to hurry, he needed to attend the gathering of Death Eaters before Voldemort became suspicious.
Everyone would be expecting him……..and buying an engagement ring would hardly be an excuse that the Dark Lord would accept for tardiness.
As soon as he heaped Harriet into Lily's embrace, he kissed his lover sweetly and apprated away.
Severus arrived an instant later in the central parlor of Malfoy manor, covered by the swirling chaos of his whirling, black robes.
He happened to appear in the exact wrong spot at the exact wrong time.
"DUPLICIOUS GEMININA!" Severus heard a voice shout.
A blinding burst of light flew towards him.
Before Severus realized what had happened, that burst of light struck him violently in the chest.
The blow threw him backwards across the room as he skidded painfully over the Malfoys' marble floor.
"SEVERUS!" A familiar hiss sounded in surprise.
Everything spun for a moment.
Severus forgot where he was.
Severus forgot what he was doing.
He raised a trembling hand to his head as his senses slowly began to return.
Footsteps drew near him and before he could find the strength to pull himself up, he saw Voldemort, Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Regulus, and Rodolphus all staring down at him with their eyes narrowed in concern.
"Severus?" Voldemort asked in a gentle voice that sounded almost regretful, "...Can you hear me?"
"Yes……" Severus said slowly. As he recovered, he pushed himself up from the floor and stood to his feet as he spoke, "I apologize, my lord. The fault was all mine."
"HA!" Voldemort laughed, an evil, crackling noise that whipped through his dry throat from his chest, "No fault, Severus, merely a great misfortune. I'm sending Yaxley over there to dig through a few tunnels in the mountains that I've heard have seen quite a bit of activity lately. The work will be lengthy, you see, and I thought his task may be accomplished more efficiently if there were two of him. He should have been the spell's recipient, not you."
Severus frowned at Yaxley, who stood a very short distance from the spot that he had appeared on.
The spell that had hit Severus was not one with which he had a great familiarity and he narrowed his eyes at Voldemort as he asked, "Forgive me, my lord……...I'm not sure that I understand?"
The room fell silent as footsteps approached.
Everyone turned to look towards the entryway to the corridor as the footsteps came closer.
Severus's black eyes widened as he watched…...himself…….step into the room.
Exactly his face, his body, his height, his clothes….it was as if his reflection had stepped through a mirror and come to life.
"Don't let it bother you, Severus." Voldemort said with a reassuring grin, "The doubling spell is a temporary one, this extra of yourself will disappear within a day. It can think for itself, but its thoughts will be reminiscent of your own. Don't mind it at all!"
Everyone in the room watched while Severus's double walked boldly up to him and stared at him as if he were the true imposter.
"...Is there a way, my lord, in which you can rid me of this apparition?" Severus asked as he squinted at himself.
"Of course, but I'm afraid it is quite painful. Would you rather bear that agony or tolerate this unfortunate side effect for a few hours, Severus?" Voldemort sneered, visibly excited about the prospect of causing someone harm and discomfort.
"Perhaps you have use for this……?" Severus asked as he gestured to his double, "For me….my lord?"
Voldemort shrugged as he replied, "I must admit, if I had known this would happen, then I may. If the spell wasn't so dangerous to use, then it would be in constant practice on all of you…." He spoke as he glanced around at his elite, "...all the time! As it is rather dangerous, however, I can't take the constant risk of losing my best followers."
Voldemort's serpentine eyes glanced over at Severus as he replied, "In summary…...No, I'm afraid that I don't have any use for your double this evening, Severus."
"Then what am I to do with it….with him…. my lord?" Severus asked as his twin stood uncomfortably close to him and copied his frown.
"Tell me," Voldemort taunted as he raised an eyebrow at his loyal spy, "How are things with you and Laima?"
Severus narrowed his dark eyes as his heart clenched while he spoke, "Splendidly, my lord…….I plan on asking her to be my wife soon."
Jeers and cheers erupted behind Voldemort as he smirked and replied, "Well then, Severus, I believe you've found a purpose for this unfortunate mishap."
"...My lord?" Severus asked as he and his double frowned in unison.
"After our business is finished here tonight, why not take your extra home with you?" Voldemort suggested with a wicked smirk, "Show Laima what it truly means to share a dark wizard's bed~."
Laughters and sneers broke out across the Death Eaters while Voldemort turned his head and shouted, "Yaxley! Get over here!"
Severus looked at his double and frowned.
His double mirrored his expression perfectly.
Severus usually had to work very hard to maintain his Occlumency during Death Eater meetings, but in that moment, his true task lay in stopping the blush that so badly wanted to spread across his cheeks.
What would Lily have to say about his double joining them for the evening?
Would she be insulted or…...would she be as welcoming as Voldemort predicted?