Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
The preparation work it took for All Hallow's Eve had been exhausting, but Severus looked forward to the liberation from the threat that James Potter posed to his happy life.
One enemy less would make his and Lily's situation that much simpler.
With Dumbledore's help, Severus had secured an abandoned house in Godric's Hollow to use as the location for his meeting with James.
Through a complex, yet brilliant spell, Severus had managed to form a doll that replicated baby Harriet exactly.
On All Hallow's Eve, Severus wrapped that realistic doll in a carrier and covered it up to its chin in thick blankets.
After he cast a charm to make the blankets rise and fall as if the carrier's inanimate inhabitant breathed, the notion of the doll being a real baby was easily believable.
Severus arrived with the doll at the house in Godric's Hollow at seven o' clock.
He wanted to give himself an entire hour to prepare.
Severus placed the carrier that held the doll on a table in an upstairs bedroom.
While he waited for James to arrive, he silently rehearsed what he would say.
As much as it would hurt him to slander himself, he was more than willing to do so if it would protect Lily and Harriet.
—————————————————————
James arrived outside of the house in Godric's Hollow at two minutes until eight.
He felt his heart clench as he walked forward and knocked on the door.
When no answer came, he reached out and tried the knob.
He scowled suspiciously when the unlocked door swung open.
James kept his scowl as he stepped into the dark house and followed the only light inside past the empty rooms of the first level up the stairs to a bedroom on the left.
As James stepped into the room with that small glowing light, he frowned when he saw Severus standing beside the doll in the baby carrier.
In the dim light of the room, it was nearly impossible to tell that the doll was not, in fact, a living infant.
"Snivelly…." James snarled.
"Potter." Severus greeted as he ignored the insult that his enemy hurled at him, "...I see that you received my invitation after all."
"So it was you who's been writing those letters?!" James hissed. His eyes narrowed as his gaze fell onto the doll in the baby carrier.
Severus watched James gasp before he rushed forward and spat, "I knew it! Give me my son, Snivelly!"
Severus stepped in front of James, determined not to let him come close enough to notice the truth about the baby in the carrier.
"You have no son, Potter." Severus retorted, "That's why I've asked you to come and meet me……...perhaps if you learn the truth, you'll abandon this ridiculous pursuit of yours."
"What do you mean I have no son?!" James shouted, "The casket was empty! Lily bore a child, I know she did! She was far enough along that there should have been remains at the very least! She-"
"-Your wife did….in fact….birth a child in the moments before she lost her life." Severus coldly replied, "...My child, Potter, not yours."
"...What?" James gasped incredulously.
"I used Amortentia. No fault lies with your wife, it was all my doing. I wanted her and I took her…..While you were busy with your band of miscreants, she warmed my bed." Severus bravely lied to incite James' anger and protect Lily's honor.
"You……" James fumed as he narrowed his eyes, "YOU'RE LYING!"
"Am I?" Severus asked calmly. He glanced back at the doll before he added in a low drawl, "You're correct, Potter, the casket was empty……...My child's casket…...And my child's safety is jeopardized every day as long as you carry on like a buffon hunting for something that doesn't even belong to you. Your wife is gone…...Your child never existed. Abandon your ignorant search, will you? It's inconvenient for everyone and a thorough waste of your own time."
Severus expected James to hurl insults at him, or to attack him, perhaps…...or flee, whichever way he chose to process his inevitable rage.
Although disappointment and fury echoed through James's heart, Severus still failed to convince him.
"You're lying……" James whispered as he balled his hands into fists.
Severus braced himself as James shouted, "YOU'RE LYING!"
James did not attack with his wand.
James did not flee.
James did take it upon himself to charge at Severus.
He pushed his enemy roughly to the ground by ramming his shoulder squarely into his chest.
Severus felt the breath leave his lungs as he fell.
Before he crashed into the floor, to his horror, he saw James reach into the baby carrier to take that little doll into his arms.
————————————————————-
The boy whom you search for does live. He'll be at the address below this very night in his father's arms. Go forth quickly, my lord and vanquish the one who could one day vanquish you.
Voldemort sneered as he read over the hastily scrawled note that he held in his hand.
Quite impulsive for a leader of his status, his anger clouded his mind and caused him to take the note for absolute truth.
Voldemort apparated out of Malfoy manor in an instant as he hurried to the address listed at the bottom of the parchment.
The fat rat hidden in the shadowy corner of Malfoy manor's parlor watched him go.
The filthy rodent let out a single, triumphant squeak to celebrate his victory that the Dark Lord had read his brief letter.
Peter Petigrew had worked diligently to scribble the words down when no one else had been around to catch him in his human form.
—————————————————————
Severus looked up from where he lay on the floor with wide eyes as a small cry filled the room.
It couldn't be………
Surely not…….
How?
Whether it was from James's own desire to finally meet his biological child or some sort of miscalculation in the magic that Severus had utilized, when James moved forward and picked the doll up from the baby carrier, the doll vanished………..and Harriet appeared in its place.
Severus gaped in fearful shock as he watched James seize the chance to hold his daughter, whom he continued to mistake for a boy with the heavy blankets wrapped around her.
"Aren't you a strong lad?" James asked as tears filled his eyes and a smirk played across his thin lips.
"Sit the child down, Potter." Severus commanded as he pulled himself to his feet, "The babe belongs to me, not you. Why do you insist on tormenting yourself with silly fantasies?"
"Piss off, Snivelly!" James shouted at Severus before he smiled at Harriet, "He's mine…..I can feel it in my blood! Did you honestly think that I'd be stupid enough to believe your pack of lies? You can have Evans, if she's still around, I won't fight you for her….but my son will be coming home with me tonight."
Harriet whimpered uneasily as her natural father gazed at her with a smile.
Severus slyly slipped his wand out of his pocket and held it in his hand as he raised his arm towards James.
"The child is mine, Potter. Return the infant at once and no harm will befall you." Severus glowered.
"You wouldn't dare!" James sneered as he clutched Harriet in front of his chest to safeguard himself against whatever curse Severus intended to hurl at him.
Severus narrowed his eyes in disgust at James.
To use an innocent baby as a human shield…...
During his time serving Voldemort, Severus had never seen the Dark Lord himself act so shamefully despicable.
—————————————————————
Outside, on that still, quiet, Halloween night, a single pop rang out as Voldemort appeared in front of the house in Godric's Hollow.
He slowly raised his head to gaze at the single light that glowed in the upstairs window.
The Dark Lord's face twisted into an evil sneer.
Voldemort placed one pale foot in front of the other as he began to approach the house……
—————————————————————
Severus glanced at Harriet, who started to wriggle uncomfortably, then at James.
He calculated his next move for a moment too long.
James pulled his wand with amazing speed and pointed it right at Severus as he cried, "LEVICORPUS!"
Severus's eyes widened and his heart raced as he was hoisted into the air against his will.
His wand clattered noisily to the floor while James sneered at him.
Harriet started to wail as she sensed her Daddy's terror.
"WWWWAAA!"
Suddenly, Severus found himself forced to relive the pain and humiliation that he had locked away in his worst memories.
"How's that, Snivelly?" James asked with an arrogant grin, "Thought you were going to outdo me, did you? As much as I'd love to leave you hanging there, it's just not as satisfying without a crowd to watch…...EXPELLIARMUS!"
"WWWWAAAA!"
A burst of light surged forth from the tip of James's wand as he cast his next spell and sent Severus soaring across the room.
Harriet's Daddy lost consciousness as he crashed headfirst into the hard floor of the abandoned house.
—————————————————————
Voldemort silently entered the dwelling.
He smirked when he heard a baby's cries drift down the stairs.
His ghostly white feet made no sound as he glided over the entryway, up the staircase, and towards the door of that single, glowing bedroom while Harriet continued to screech at James in angry, frightened protest.
"WWWAAA!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
"James Potter……" Voldemort practically purred in his eerily calm voice as he spied James holding Harriet.
James's eyes narrowed as he suddenly found himself standing face to face with pure evil.
"WWWWWAAAA!"
When Voldemort's serpentine gaze flickered over to notice Severus lying crumpled on the floor, he frowned as he spoke, "What a good and loyal servant I have, that he came here to try and secure the child for me…….Tell me, have you killed my best follower, James Potter? Have you taken one of my most precious assets from me?"
"WWWWWAAAA!"
James hurriedly stuffed Harriet into her carrier before he turned to face Voldemort again while he stood defensively in front of her.
"WWWWWAAAA!"
"I'm no murderer!" James snarled as he brandished his wand at Voldemort, "Stay back! I won't allow you or anyone else to take my child, I won't-"
"WWWAA!"
The Dark Lord certainly had no time to stand around and listen to someone as insignificant as James Potter babble on.
"-AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort shouted in a hateful, howling yawp.
Green light burst from the tip of Voldemort's wand and slammed into James. The Killing Curse sent him tumbling backwards over Severus to land dead in the far corner of the room.
Harriet's cries increased in pitch and volume at the bright flash of violence.
"WWWWAAAAA!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
Voldemort snarled as he gnashed his teeth and stepped towards Harriet.
It irritated him that Severus had been killed or compromised.
Harriet's cries simmered into sad, anxious whines for a moment as Voldemort stepped in front of her.
Swaddled in the blankets and partially covered by the soft padding of the carrier's interior, Harriet could have been mistaken for a thousand other babies, both boys and girls.
Voldemort smiled evilly down at the helpless infant as he raised his wand, took a deep breath, and shouted once more, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
His own ignorance proved to be his undoing.
The Dark Lord's failure to recognize Harriet as the child whom he himself had placed a powerful protection spell on caused the burst of green light to swarm over the baby for just a moment.
Swarm, but not strike.
Voldemort's eyes widened as Harriet glowed green until that ball of ominous energy gathered in front of her and richoteted spitefully back at its caster.
The Killing Curse's green glow eliminated both of Severus's problems in the span of mere minutes.
The green curse smashed into Voldemort and ripped him to shreds as he disappeared with a cry so angry and mournful that Harriet wailed at the sound.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
"WWWWWWWWAAAA!"
"WWWWWWAAAAA!"
—————————————————————
The awful sound of Harriet's cries rang out sharply as Lily apparated to Harriet's side.
After a long battle with a headache, Lily had fallen asleep on the sofa at the cottage that she shared with Severus.
She had only dozed for a moment or two, but as soon as she had woken to find Harriet gone, she had performed a tracing spell and traveled to her daughter right away.
"WWWWAAAA!"
Lily's breath became labored as she stepped through the swirling fragments of what had been Voldemort to see James and Severus both lying dreadfully still on the floor.
"WWWWWAAAA!"
Numbly, Lily rushed towards Harriet.
She picked her terrified baby up and cuddled her close to soothe her before she ran over to Severus.
"WWWWWAAA!"
Lily placed her wand against her lover's chest and murmured a gentle healing spell until he opened his eyes with a gasp.
"SEV!" Lily cried as tears started to stream down her face, "Sev, are you alright?!?!"
"WWWWAAAA!"
Severus took a deep, raspy breath as he sat up.
He grabbed Lily and Harriet protectively while he tried to understand what had happened.
"WWWWAAA!"
Lily whimpered against him until he let go and allowed her to help him stand.
"WWWWAAA!"
"What's happened?...,Potter throwing me to the floor is my most recent memory." Severus said as he swept over to James.
"WWWAAAA!"
"I…..I don't know. I came here a moment ago and found Harriet crying…...And I saw that you and James were both…..I...I thought that you were…...you were…" Lily sniffed.
"WWWAAA!"
"Potter's gone." Severus icily declared as he checked his enemy for a pulse.
"WWWAAA!"
Severus frowned while Lily squinted her eyes shut and sniffed.
"WWWAAA!"
Before she could come to any negative conclusions, he swiftly defended himself, "...Lily, I am not the cause of Potter's demise. I collided with the floorboards and there, my recollection of the evening ended….."
"WWWAAA!"
"Well surely you didn't believe that I thought you had…..killed him….Sev?" Lily asked through her own sobs while she tried to bounce Harriet on her hip.
"WWWWAAAA!"
"...What's that on her forehead?" Severus asked with a scowl as he narrowed his eyes at Harriet.
"WWWAAAA!"
Over Harriet's hysterical cries, Severus came closer so that he and Lily could have a better look at their inconsolable baby.
There, on Harriet's forehead, clearly emblazoned in a cut brimming with red blood was the shape of a lightning bolt.