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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As the weeks passed and Harriet's perilous adventures droned on, Lily found it harder and harder to hide the anxious frown that marred her fair face.
"...Mum?" Ellery asked early one morning as he sat at the table while she chopped some strawberries for breakfast, "You can tell me you're worried too, it's alright, it won't scare me, I promise."
She heard Severus rustle around in their room as she glanced up at Ellery with a smile far too sweet as she exclaimed, "Goodness, sweetheart! What an accusation! What makes you think I'm worried? Your sister's going to be just fine! She's taken a holiday with her friends, that's all! She'll be home soon enough."
"You've been cooking breakfast for the last hour." Ellery frowned.
"And it's going to be absolutely worth it as soon as you taste it!" Lily smirked.
"...But you haven't used any magic." Ellery went on, "You always seek out busywork when you're worried about something."
Lily's smile fell as her mouth dropped open in silent awe at her son's unexpected astuteness.
Ellery blinked at her in quiet reply as Severus glided down the stairs, swept through the living room, and entered the kitchen.
"Have I missed something of great importance?" He asked as he stopped suddenly and glanced between his wife and son's shared expressions of surprise.
"Your son is as perceptive and observant as you are, my dear." Lily chuckled as she regained her wits enough to look over at Severus and kiss his cheek in fond greeting.
Enraptured by his flower's loving gesture, Severus sly slipped a hand onto her waist.
Ellery politely looked away from his embracing parents until Severus added, "Perhaps he may live longer for it. Who's to say?"
"Dad, when will Harriet be home?" Ellery asked with a weighted sigh, "Mum won't stop lying to me."
"Ellery!" Lily exclaimed as an offended gasp escaped her throat, "I beg your pardon! I have not lied to you!"
"Listen to your mother." Severus grouched as he helped Lily plate and serve the food with a wan expression on his pale face, "We've already told you everything we can, son. Your sister is traveling in the countryside with her friends. We cannot say for certain when their travels will come to an end."
As Severus and Lily upheld their story in front of Ellery, tensions rose while the Snape family all sat down at the small table and began to share the morning meal.
Ellery said nothing while everyone stared down at their plates, although he did glance up at his parents every now and again.
"...Did Tom go with them?" He asked after a long pause.
Severus and Lily exchanged concerned glances as they wondered what to say next and how much they should reveal to their son.
"Surely you two have heard of Tom?" Ellery blinked, "...Tom Riddle?"
"Well," Lily shrugged, "Dear, as far as your father and I know-"
"-Tom's the boy she fancies." Ellery scowled.
Severus had remained regrettably aware of his daughter's long standing friendship with Voldemort's original horcrux, but anything beyond that was news to him indeed.
"What did you say?" He spat before he could stop himself.
"Tom's the boy she fancies," Ellery repeated. He narrowed his dark eyes as he looked between his parents and asked, "I suppose she's kept it well-hidden, hasn't she? Draco's furious, of course, always has been. I think he fancies sissy quite a lot."
Another silent pause let Ellery know he would receive no answers to his questions.
Lily and Severus blinked at each other as their son stood and left the room in a huff.
"...How could you not mention this to me, Sev?!" Lily asked in a breathless gasp, "Being told our daughter had fallen in love with Tom Riddle would have been nice to know!"
"I assure you, Lily, I have kept nothing from you!" Severus retorted, "I was under the impression that she and Tom Riddle's memory had somehow formed a friendship…...nothing more."
Lily let out a defeated sigh while she walked over and sank down into one of the living room's chairs as she buried her face in her hands.
"I can't believe this……I can't believe it….." She groaned.
"Do not fear, my love." Severus comforted her as he walked over and laid a gentle hand on her back, "If Tom Riddle's memory wanted to harm her, it makes no sense as to why he would agree to leave the castle and-"
"-How did he leave the castle?" Lily asked abruptly as she looked up at her husband.
Severus frowned while he thought.
"Didn't you and Dumbledore have a discussion when Harriet started writing in the diary that he would be bound to the castle?...As a memory and nothing more?" She frowned.
"That's correct." Severus said as he furrowed his brow.
"How is it then that he's able to leave now?!" Lily demanded, "Oh, Sev!"
His dark stare bore into her as she closed her eyes for a moment and asked, "You don't think it's possible that he's……..gotten stronger……do you?"
"I have no intention of alarming you, my love." Severus began with a serious frown, "However, with the events that have taken place over the last several years, I'm afraid the possibility of the Dark Lord gaining more power would not surprise me."
Lily's face twisted in concern as Severus knelt before her and let her cuddle against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly while he nuzzled into her sweet-smelling, red hair.
He would not lie to his darling, what good would that do?
Never one to give false hope, Severus accepted Lily's qualms and spent the half hour cuddling her as she cradled her broken heart.
Remaining in control of her emotions as best she could, Severus didn't hear a single sniffle or sob, the only evidence of Lily's quiet weeping came from the growing wet spot on the upper left shoulder of his long, dark robes.
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Harriet thought of her family often during the tortuously long nights she spent in the forest.
Even with the protective enchantments around their humble camp in the farthest point of the woods, she flinched at every snapping twig, certain they had been found and would be forced to battle.
At least once every night, Harriet woke in a pool of anxious sweat and was forced to clean herself with a spell before going back to sleep.
Voldemort chased her through her nightmares.
She heard Severus and Lily's screams echo in her mind as unspeakable images of torture and murder played through her head.
After one particularly terrible bad dream, Harriet sat bolt upright in bed with a wheezing gasp.
As her emerald eyes darted around the darkened tent, she felt her racing heart slow as she realized she had not in fact seen her parents and brother's mangled corpses.
Harriet swallowed dryly while she slowly slipped out of her cot and stood.
She glanced over at Hermione and sighed, relieved she hadn't woken her friend but desperate for a breath of fresh air.
As she pulled on her night robe and fastened it over her pajamas, Harriet quietly padded out of the tent to reach the outside portion of the camp.
Drowsy from his busy day spent spying for Harriet and her friends while they chased the latest target on their list, Anuman had for once, accidentally fallen asleep in his cage.
Harriet smiled softly at him as she silently crept past his coiled form and made her way over to the large tree with sweeping branches that stood guard at the very edge of their camp.
"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping now?" A voice called out.
Harriet's breath hitched in the darkness as she whirled around, ready to fight.
She sighed as she saw who stood behind her.
"Oh, Tom, it's you." She breathed as she placed a hand over her racing heart, "Are you trying to frighten me? I wasn't expecting to see you out here."
"I could say the same of you." Tom replied as he took a step towards her.
The moonlight shone through the canopy of trees and leaves to hover over the couple as Harriet walked towards him.
"I dunno……" Harriet smirked, "Maybe I'm wrong, but aren't you supposed to be sleeping too?"
Tom chuckled darkly as he and Harriet stopped once they stood in front of each other, alone there in the darkened forest.
"Forgive me, Harriet Snape, but I could not rest." Tom cooed to her in his smooth voice.
Harriet gazed up into his handsome face.
His black eyes glimmered as his dark curls flopped just past his forehead to remind her of their existence.
"I could not even close my eyes." Tom smiled, "...:.All I could do was think of you."
Harriet blinked as he slowly leaned down.
His compliment had been sweet, but his lips would be sweeter, she already knew.
As Tom and Harriet shared a snog there in the dark forest, they decided to deepen their affection.
The curtains of hanging leaves that dipped from a nearby tree provided a privacy curtain.
A soft patch of forest moss nearby served as their bed.
While their passionate kisses deepened, more and more of their clothing was shed until Tom took Harriet into his arms there, in their forest bed.
As the young couple fumbled their way through physical intimacy for the first time, Ron, Hermione, and Anuman slept on in their own beds, completely, blissfully unaware.