Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
Severus quickly began his search.
He and Lucius had no interest in participating in such a despicable deed, but as they raced to discover a plausible method of thwarting the Dark Lord's murderous plan, they appeased him by appearing to carry out their assigned errand.
For several weekends, the Malfoys and Snapes visited popular places of muggle interest while they posed as seemingly normal families.
As they operated under the pretense of investigating the best locations for an attack against the unarmed and unprotected, Lily suggested they view a film at a regular cinema.
Narcissa and Lucius had never been to a movie theater before and they had certainly never watched a muggle film, but little Draco blinked his grey eyes in awed wonder as his parents walked with him up to the box office.
"Which of these…..films….is best suited for children?" Lucius asked as the four adults stared up at the posters that displayed what entertainment the theater had available for viewing.
"That one is probably the best choice." Lily nodded as she pointed at a large picture full of smiling, animated characters.
"...Is that some sort of drawing?" Narcissa asked as she narrowed her eyes.
"A bunch of drawings put together, more like." Lily laughed.
She cleared her throat and swallowed nervously as Lucius and Narcissa turned to stare at her with suspicious frowns.
Surrounded by the peaceful normalcy of the muggle world, Lily had forgotten who she claimed to be.
"Laima's done well with the English lessons I've given her." Severus quickly explained.
Lucius nodded.
"...Apparently so, Severus." Narcissa answered.
Although her tone sounded polite, she didn't take her fierce, blue eyes off of Lily as her gaze bore into Severus's wife with the utmost distrust.
—————————————————————
After the tickets and popcorn had been purchased, the two families walked down the theater's darkened corridor and found seats in the appropriate room.
Draco crawled onto his mother's lap after Narcisaa and Lucius had sat down.
Lily had purposely placed herself between Narcissa and Severus, which prompted Mrs. Malfoy to throw an unappreciative glare in her direction.
Severus watched his wife bend to kiss Ellery's little head as he slept cuddled against her before he turned to Harriet and opened his arms for her.
"No, Daddy, I want my seat!" Harriet told Severus as she toddled over and reached towards the empty theater seat next to him.
Lily smiled as she watched Severus lean over and help Harriet up while he sighed, "There you are, then. You mustn't wiggle about when the film starts though, understand?"
"Alright, Daddy." She blinked at Severus as she plopped down on her little bottom.
He noticed that Harriet's miniature frame didn't even take up the entire theater seat.
Severus cautiously kept a hand on the edge of the chair's cushion.
"Very good." He nodded.
Once the previews began to roll on the screen, Severus removed his hand from Harriet's seat as she gazed up at the images with wide eyes.
Suddenly, a yelp and a snap rang out.
Everyone instantly looked over in the direction of the noise.
Severus's eyes widened.
Lily shrieked.
He gasped in horror upon the realization that Harriet didn't weigh enough to keep the folding theater seat in place without assistance.
The seat had devoured her, a predicament from which Severus hastily rescued her from as he pushed his hand back down on the seat.
"Harriet!" He whispered in hushed urgency, "Are you alright?"
"I'm alright, Daddy." Harriet whispered back.
Severus expected his little girl to cry, but instead, she just scowled at the theater seat with a look of annoyed vexation.
As Harriet resumed watching the vibrantly coloured muggle animation that blasted across the impossibly wide screen above them, Severus moved the arm between the theater chairs and placed his leg on the edge of Harriet's seat to ensure his little girl wouldn't be swallowed whole again.
Severus and Lily felt fortunate that despite the noise from the theater, little Ellery slept soundly, blissfully unaware of anything else besides Lily's smell and heartbeat that echoed through his tiny ears.
The adults tolerated the film.
Seveus had never cared much for muggle entertainment.
Lily laughed occasionally, but Lucius and Narcissa wrinkled their noses at what they found to be a grotesque display of a lesser world.
Draco blinked in awe as he saw his very first cartoon.
Most children his and Harriet's age already had three of four favourite television shows.
Harriet enjoyed the film and Draco did as well, at least until a large, purple monster appeared onscreen towards the end.
As he watched, Draco let out a scream loud enough to rouse Ellery.
"AAAAAGGGGHHH!"
Lily scowled over at Narcissa as she patted her baby's back when he started to whimper, but as the two witches locked angry gazes, Draco's terrified screams didn't stop.
"AAAGH!"
"AAAGH"
The monster continued his appearance until the final two minutes of the film, yet the creature's exit did nothing to calm Ellery or Draco down as their shrill cries began to mix together.
"AAAAGGGHHH!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
"AAAGH!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
Once the film ended, Lily and Narcissa left their husbands behind to rush out of the theater in mortification while they carried their crying children in their arms.
Ellery's confused screams deafeningly mingled with Draco's frantic whines.
"AAAAAHHH!"
"WWWWWAAAA!"
"AHHHH!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
Lucius stood to his feet with a sigh and followed the muggles who moved towards the exit in a teeming crowd.
Severus looked over and helped Harriet out of her seat as he lifted her gently into his arms.
"All he does is cry." Harriet commented with an irritated scowl.
"That's not a very nice thing to say about your brother." Severus reprimanded her.
"I wasn't talking about my brother, Daddy." Harriet huffed.
Severus couldn't hide the smirk that danced across his lips.
Every day, the pride he felt for his little darling grew.
————————————————————-
The families exited the theater and paused near a wrought iron bench on the nearest street corner to soothe the frightened children.
Draco calmed down after several minutes, but Ellery did not.
"WWWAA!"
"WWWAA!"
"Sev, I think we need to take him home." Lily said as she bounced their little boy in her arms.
"WWWWAAA!"
"We should be going too, we've seen enough for today." Lucius nodded at the Snapes.
"I want ice cream, Daddy." Harriet whispered as she pulled on Severus's robes and pointed towards a mobile cart in the middle of the street selling cones stuffed full of the frozen treat.
"Only if your Mummy agrees." Severus drawled as he frowned at his little girl.
"That's fine, buy her some ice cream." Lily whispered to her husband over Ellery's wails.
"WWWWWAAA!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
"That dreadful….film…..gave me a headache." Narcissa complained.
She rubbed her temples while Lucius nodded at Lily and said, "Laima, why don't you let 'Cissa and I escort you and the boy back to the manor? Severus can join us there in a short while."
"Thank you……Mr. Malfoy." Lily nodded with a kind smile.
Narcissa scowled as Severus's wife walked over to them, but Draco burst into tears again without any warning whatsoever.
"What's the matter, my darling?!" Narcissa exclaimed.
"I…I…I…I want ice cream too!" Draco sobbed enviously.
Narcissa's eyes widened as her little boy thrashed his way out of her arms and rushed over to Harriet and Severus.
"Sorry, Severus," Lucius frowned, "Do you mind? I'm worried about 'Cissa."
"Of course not. We'll meet you all shortly." Severus nodded.
As the three adults and baby Ellery journeyed back to Malfoy Manor, Severus took Harriet and Draco by their small hands and led them over to the ice cream cart.
Minutes later, when Severus purchased two chocolate cones, he felt the Galleons that appeared in his pocket.
He slyly removed the coins as he performed a nonverbal spell that changed the gold into acceptable, muggle currency by the time he opened his hand and paid the ice cream seller.
Severus felt it was very thoughtful of Lucius to pay for the children's treat.
—————————————————————-
"Go on, both of you sit down and I'll hand you your cones." Severus nodded at the bench in front of him as Harriet and Draco held onto his robes while they toddled along beside him.
Harriet hopped up on the bench and Draco eagerly followed her.
Severus gave his daughter her ice cream cone first before he handed Draco his dessert.
"My father doesn't buy me ice cream very often." Draco pouted up at Severus while he cradled the cone in his chubby little hands.
"Well, he has today so you'll need to thank him." Severus nodded at the little boy.
Draco blinked his large, grey eyes at Severus.
While Harriet began to eat her treat, Severus watched in horror as Draco lifted the cone above his head, opened his little jaws as wide as he could, and bit off the very bottom of the cone in one massive chomp.
Sticky, cold, chocolate ice cream poured down over him in the heat of the summer sun as he kept the open cone held over his head.
The dairy product splattered in his hair, on his clothes, all over his face, and across the bench as Severus scowled down at Draco in absolute astonishment.
Draco blinked the ice cream off of his eyelashes as he squinted at Severus and informed him, "...That's why my father doesn't buy me ice cream very often."
—————————————————————
"Your exhaustive search has led you to believe that a simple, muggle farm is the best place for my reintroduction, Severus?" Voldemort asked with an incredulous sneer.
Severus sat at the Dark Lord's immediate right as his fellow Death Eaters looked on in interest from their seats around the Malfoys' dining table.
"True fear begins as a seed, my lord." Severus calmly spoke, "If you are to begin with an attack on a city center or a large area, your greatness will be incomprehensible for the sheep-like, mental capacity of the masses as a whole. By choosing a site that's more domestic, the root of fear will be implanted in every person's mind regardless of their economic status or geographical location, not to mention that the Williamsons' farm is responsible for much of the food production in the surrounding area. Devastation and grief will reign throughout the nearby village….People will cower in terror as they drive themselves mad with speculation about the place and nature of your next target."
Voldemort grimaced for a moment while Severus silently hoped that his speech had been convincing.
He and Lucius had felt that suggesting moving the attack to a nondescript muggle farm would be a realistic way to manage the carnage that Voldemort intended to cause.
After a long pause, Voldemort cracked a wide smile.
He began to chuckle, louder and louder, until he roared with laughter.
Similar sounds broke out across the table as his followers mimicked his reaction and laughed with him.
"Severus, Severus, Severus……" Voldemort whispered in an eerie hiss, "You are indeed a clever man, aren't you?"
Severus waited on Voldemort to go on as he opened his mouth again and nodded, "Very well! I shall take your advice……..the Williamsons' farm will be our regime's first destination in the muggle world!"
Severus breathed a silent sigh of relief.
He had successfully distracted the bull with a red flag.
To avoid innocent lives being lost, Severus just had to rip that flag away from the beast after it charged.