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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Early one morning, Severus rustled around in bed while he gradually returned to consciousness.
He opened his dark eyes to watch Lily roll onto her side and face him.
She smiled as he gladly took the opportunity to snuggle his darling against him.
"Good morning, my love." Severus murmured to her in a purr that rumbled from deep inside his chest.
"Good morning, Sev." Lily replied as she yawned and stretched.
Severus opened his arms and Lily curled towards him.
The delightful warmth of the blankets combined with the soft heat of her body felt lovely as he lay with his wife.
Severus closed his eyes again while he tried to ignore the weight of Lily's breasts that pressed against his chest and sent his arousal curiously wandering towards her thigh.
"Someone's awake~." She chuckled.
He cracked one eye open as he frowned at her in embarrassment.
Severus let one of his elegant hands snake down to drift over the curve of her belly in hopes of distracting himself, but distraction didn't seem to be on Lily's mind that morning.
Intent on more than simple cuddling, Lily raised her head until her lips met her husband's.
Their kiss was slow, passionate, and intimate as they kept the morning chill at bay by clinging to each other.
Severus worried about exhausting his wife, but it was Lily who took his hands and laid them on her breasts.
It was Lily who grasped his arousal and coaxed the growl from his throat as she touched him.
Severus raised himself up and let Lily guide him to hover over her, but all the while, their kiss never ended.
Their fingers intertwined, their breathing became laboured…...
As Severus rolled his hips, Mr. and Mrs. Snape gave each other a proper morning greeting.
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There were few witches as well cared for as Lily and few wizards as loved by their wives as Severus.
Despite the fatigue and challenges that came with her advancing condition, Lily saw her husband off to work each morning and waited for him to come home every evening, with her arms open and a warm meal on the table.
Professor Snape ate in the Great Hall very infrequently since his marriage to Laima.
Harriet was usually still asleep when her Daddy left for Hogwarts, but she charged in front of Lily each afternoon to greet Severus as soon as he came home.
As the days passed, Severus went with Lily to all of her appointments with the midwife.
The two began to decorate their unborn child's nursery after a few shopping trips to Diagon Alley.
One Saturday afternoon, Harriet played with a stuffed toy on the floor of the room, while Lily sat in the wooden rocking chair and watched her daughter.
"Are you alright, my love?" A velvet voice asked from the doorway.
The weather outside that day was rainy and cold.
As she sat there, Lily had to consciously resist the urge to close her eyes and sleep.
"Mmm, yeah, Sev, I'm fine." She groggily replied, "I'm just a bit drowsy, that's all."
"Then why don't you go and rest?" Severus asked with a frown.
"I'm alright." Lily insisted as she yawned, "I have to watch Harriet, you're grading papers."
"I've finished grading papers." Severus revealed. The look of grave concern on his pale face for his pregnant wife was touching as he stepped forward, scooped Harriet and her toy into one arm, and offered his other hand to Lily.
Lily chuckled as Severus nodded at her and commanded, "Come, my love, you need to lie down."
At first, his actions seemed too sweet to be believable.
Lily imagined that she must have dozed off and dreamed the entire interaction, but as she stared up into Severus's black eyes that glimmered with worry for her well-being, she remembered the kind of man whom she had married.
She took Severus's hand, stood from the rocking chair, and allowed him to lead her out of their unborn child's nursery, down the hallway, and into their bedroom.
Harriet held onto Severus silently and watched while he guided Lily over to the bed, helped her lower herself down onto the mattress, and gathered the sheets into his hand as she lay back.
Lily smiled up at her caring husband as he tenderly pulled the covers up to her chest to lovingly ensure she would be comfortable and warm.
"I love you, Sev." Lily said with a soft smile as Harriet glanced between her Mummy and Daddy.
Severus bent down and pressed a very gentle kiss to Lily's lips.
As he pulled away, he gazed at his darling flower in reverent adoration as he whispered, "Rest, my love….. I'll be downstairs if you need anything."
The dismal day enhanced Lily's feeling of sleepiness as her eyes fluttered and closed.
Mrs. Snape didn't know why or how she had been lucky enough to be loved by Severus, but as she slept with a smile on her lips and his baby growing in her womb, she counted her blessings.
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"Mummy's sick." Harriet pouted at Severus while he carried her down the hallway.
"Your mother is not sick." Severus corrected his little girl, "She's tired, that's all. Do you remember last night? When you were tired and we put you in your bed?...Then you rested?"
Harriet put a finger to her mouth as she blinked at Severus and nodded while she rode down the stairs in her daddy's arms.
"Well, that's how your mother currently feels...tired." Severus reasoned, "She needs to sleep for a while……..by lunchtime, she'll be perfectly fine, yes?"
As Harriet stared into Severus's dark eyes, she blinked and nodded again in silent agreement.
"Excellent." Severus whispered as he made it to the living room and sat Harriet down on the floor to play with her toy while he resumed his work.
He had lied to Lily, there were still a great many papers that he had left to grade, but he had wanted his expectant wife to get the rest that her body needed.
Severus understood that it was very taxing to carry a baby.
"What's that?" Harriet asked as she watched her Daddy stare at the parchments that lay on the coffee table.
"This is my work." Severus informed his little girl as he looked up at her with a nod.
A bright smile came over Harriet's face as she asked, "Is it fun, Daddy?!"
"No." Severus flatly said, "Work is not fun, Harriet. You'll learn that one day when you get older."
Silence fell over the room as Severus resumed his task.
He expected Harriet to play with her toy, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the toddler move.
A frown marred his face when he felt a gentle pressure on his leg.
He looked up to see Harriet standing next to him with her tiny hand on his thigh and a hopeful look in her wide eyes as he asked, "...Yes?"
Harriet laughed and raised her arms towards him.
Severus let out a sigh as he obediently lifted his little daughter up and sat her on his lap so she could watch his every move while he graded the remainder of the seventh year students' essays.
Although he pretended to be irritated, he really felt flattered that Harriet was so interested in whatever it was he did that she would willingly abandon her play.
Severus thought that he would be interrupted by his little girl, but for the next hour, he sat and graded papers while she watched in silent fascination.
Her wide, green eyes studied every stroke of his quill as she kept her attention focused on his actions.
While Harriet watched Severus work, her tiny legs wriggled in excitement.
Severus Snape thoroughly enjoyed his dreary Saturday.
It made him smirk to think that perhaps one day, Harriet may be interested in becoming a professor too.
Battered and broken, the culminations of a hateful spirit were all that held Voldemort together as he found a merciful respite, deep in the Albanian forests.
Without a body, without a wand, and without his band of loyal followers, the Dark Lord had few resources available to utilize.
As the wandering scrap of his soul passed by a pond and saw its wispy reflection in the water, he raised himself up towards the sky with a growling hiss as he continued his search for assistance.
He had no need of food, he had no need of money, he only had the bitter need to survive, not just to see his vision of a muggle-free world realized, but to seek revenge against the one who had shamefully reduced him to such a pitiable state.
In his lacking form, Voldemort could feel it clearly, James Potter's son was alive and well while oppositely, he withered more with each fading day.
Once the most powerful wizard in the world, Voldemort had temporarily lost the use of his magic.
He huddled in a thick, empty bird's nest at the top of a tree and spent his time wondering how he would ever manage to change his unfortunate situation.
The Dark Mark was gone, along with his arm, which meant that he couldn't call his servants to his side.
His lack of hands prohibited him from writing letters.
No wand, no spells, charms, or curses……..
As weeks passed, Voldemort treasured his resolve to endure as his only remaining possession.
One day, in that lonely, desolate forest, his efforts to live were finally rewarded.
He had lost his body, but he hadn't lost his voice, however whispery it had become.
As he hovered in the tree, he saw a snake...a large snake moving towards him.
The animal wasn't as massive as the Basilisk, but it was indeed a formidable python.
When it slithered across the forest floor, directly underneath the tree in which Voldemort had taken shelter, he hastily hissed out in Parseltongue, "STOP!"
The snake halted its movements and curiously raised its head to see who had spoken.
Like a ball of cotton drifting through the air, the splotchy white sphere of fragments that composed Voldemort floated down towards the snake as he whispered out, "I am what is left and living of Lord Voldemort, the strongest wizard this world has ever seen…..I find myself at your mercy, serpent…...As a direct heir of Salazar Slytherin, I am loyal to your kind…..If you agree to help me, I'm certain that I can find a way between my wealth, my army, and my powers, all of which you can help me regain….to return your favor."
The snake looked at Voldemort for a moment before it answered in a hiss as it flicked out its forked tongue, "Very well……..I could indeed use some assistance as I perish a little more every day……..Perhaps you can save me from the terrible fate of a painful death?"
"Perhaps I can, serpent." Voldemort responded, "...What is your name?"
"In my home country, I was called Nagini." The snake replied.
"Nagini…." Voldemort hissed. If he had a body at that moment, he would have smirked as he offered, "Become my loyal servant, Nagini, and I will keep you by my side forever…...I myself am immortal….As long as you obey me, death will not be a reality that you have to face."
The python's dark, forked tongue flickered again as it thought for a moment.
Nagini made her choice.
She gave her answer to Voldemort in one, low hiss, "...Yes, master."