He awoke from his deep slumber at the sense of his wards being disturbed. Someone unauthorized had entered his home. Grabbing his wand from the bedside table, he dashed across the hall as his overworked muscles from his afternoon of gardening protested. The door to the master opened easily beneath his grip as he lit his wand.
"What is it?" Luna groggily questioned as she reached for her own wand.
"Shh. Stay alert. The wards have been triggered." He pointed to the floor. "Do not leave this room until I return."
She was out of bed, wand drawn beside him before he even finished his warning. "I will stay for now."
He wanted to argue with the witch but did not have the time to waste. He crept from the room and down the stairs, feeling Luna's eyes on him from the bedroom doorway.
As the bookcase swung open, a soft crack of apparition could be heard. Severus scanned the sitting room from behind his drawn wand, finding no one, before going into the kitchen.
As he returned back to the sitting room, Luna stood in a Ravenclaw blue button down nightgown surveying the space.
"He was here…" She mumbled as she pointed to the emptiness before her.
"Someone was, yes." He followed her gaze
"Rodolphus."
"How can you be sure?"
"His stench is still here." Her nose creased.
Severus sniffed the air. "I smell nothing."
Luna sighed as she sat on the old sofa, her eyes distant.
He watched her for a long moment, sensing some hidden meaning in the mundane actions.
Severus turned with a sigh of his own, inspecting the door and then the small window. Both were undisturbed. "But how did he get in?" He went to the fireplace and waved his wand. Luna had been the last to use the Floo according to the records and they were the only two with access to this entry point.
Luna looked around the room. "Did something happen to the wards?"
He returned to the front door. Tapping the door frame, he assessed his wards mostly to humor the witch because he knew there were very few that could breach his protective charms, and two of those wizards were recently deceased.
Luna stood from the sofa, reaching for something under his chair. "Oh!" She cried out as her hand went to her abdomen.
He was beside before realising he had even moved. "What is it?"
She grabbed his hand and placed it under hers as they both knelt on the floor face to face. "Do you feel him? The kicks have become stronger now."
He shook his head as he swallowed down the sudden dryness in his throat, the intruder all but forgotten.
She pulled him closer. "Close your eyes." She closed hers, and he followed suit.
"There. You must have felt that one," her throaty voice came to his ears as the little taps came to his fingertips.
"Yes," he breathed, afraid to raise his voice for fear it would scare the life within. His son or daughter made themselves known to him.
"Isn't it wonderful?" She cooed.
"Yes." He opened his eyes to find her intense gaze on his face, so close he could feel her breath against his skin and smell her earthy scent.
"The most amazing kind of magic...new life." She closed her eyes again as a few more nudges pushed against his hand.
He also closed his eyes again.
Her forehead pressed against his as they silently enjoyed the sensations playing out beneath his fingers.
Luna took a deep breath. "I think he is settling down now." She rubbed the growing roundness that had just recently become noticeable and started to hum softly, something he recognized from his childhood. Something his mother sang before she stopped singing.
Slowly, he stood and assisted the witch to follow. "That tune. What is it?"
"An old lullaby. Mum used to sing it to me." She sang softly, "I am glad the stars are over me and not beneath my feet…"
The words came quickly to his mind now that his memories had opened. "Where we should trample on them like cobbles in the street," he mumbled.
She nodded. "I think it is a happy thing that they were set so far."
"It is best to have to look up high when you would see a star," he finished.
"It was always my favorite. I think I liked the idea of trampling on the stars like stepping stones into my dreams." She smiled.
He nodded. That would have been a pleasant thought while drifting off to sleep back when he once looked forward to dreams.
Luna waved her wand mumbling, "Tempus." She groaned. "It's nearly 3 AM but I doubt I'll find much more sleep tonight." She sighed.
Severus nodded. Sleep was the last thing on his mind as well. "Luna. I've failed you." He sighed and dragged his hands down his face. "This invasion is unacceptable."
"Severus, nothing happened. I am fine, just tired." She smiled.
"That is beside the point, Luna. Something could have happened."
"No. Your wards warned you. They worked as they should. We are all safe." Her face became serious and her large eyes focused and intense.
"It is not enough. We need to become untraceable - repelling and disguising spells." He stood.
"But we need to be reachable somehow…"
"You are plenty reachable through the Quibbler. No one else needs to know you are here."
"But he already knows…" she whispered.
"Then we need to get you out of here. Go somewhere else. We need you safe." He paced. This was all his fault. He had become complacent, lost his vigilance. Playing house with the young witch had brought his guard down.
"Severus stop, please." She stood up and blocked his path.
He glared at the sliver of a woman before him, and she took a step back. He continued to pace as she watched in silence. His skin crawled as he attempted to rein in his emotion. He clenched and unclenched his hands at his sides.
As he slowed his pacing and came to a stop beside her, he sighed. "It was different when it was just me Luna. It is easy to be brave when you don't fear death."
She shook her head. "Don't do that. Don't downplay what you did. It is not fair."
"Life isn't fair, Ms Lovegood." He spat.
Most would have pulled away or at least cringed at the acidity in his tone, but not Luna Lovegood. Her deep silvery eyes stayed on his, her body without an ounce of tension.
Something dropped from his chest into his gut as he watched the emotions silently play across her features. She knew better than to argue with him at this moment, even if she easily could remind him that she of all people understood the unfairness of life. He saw the restraint it took not to argue with him, the frustration and confusion with his behavior, and the empathy and sympathy she had for him.
Closing his eyes, he looked away. He did not deserve her.
She reached for his hand and led him to the sofa. She sat and pulled him next to him.
Unable to look at her, he sighed. "I am going to visit Minerva in the morning…" He intended to ask her help in ensuring Luna's safety. Perhaps the Order would take her in, offer what he could not.
She nodded as she reached out and tucked the hair back behind his ear. "You are getting grey, Severus."
He huffed, taken off guard by the witch's familiarity. "I am an old man, Luna."
She laughed. "You are no older than my father."
"Precisely. More than twice that of yourself."
"That is not yet even middle age. Don't be so dramatic." She tilted her head examining him.
"And it does not bother you?"
"What?" Her face tightened.
"The age difference?"
She leaned closer. "Why should it?"
"You are just barely of age, have not even yet finished school." He looked into the dark fireplace. "You have a lifetime ahead of you."
"Neither of us knows that for sure."
"What do you mean?" He turned to her, his lips tightening.
"Well," she looked down and her hands where they rested on her midsection. "None of us really knows how much time we have left, only how much time we have spent, right?"
His gaze followed hers. "Yes."
"Then what difference does age make?" Her eyes met his again. "By age, my Mum and Dad should have had decades together, but they barely had one before my mother's accident."
"Yes, but -"
"But, even if my father would have known that at the beginning, I know he would have still married her. He would not have given up all the love and magic they created together. And theirs was an arranged marriage, you know? They barely knew each other in the beginning other than a few shared classes at Hogwarts, but they found love."
He could not deny the logic in her words, even if overly poetic. "And you think you could grow to love someone like me?" He snorted. Why would she even want to try?
She shrugged. "Well, I already care a great deal for you, Severus. And at least I thought you might have some positive feelings toward me by now." Her face fell.
He gave a single nod. "Against my better judgement."
She smiled, her entire being brightening. "Oh good." She touched his cheek.
The corners of his mouth turned up in a weak smile as he pulled her hand from his face to his chest. "I do know I will protect you with everything I have, Luna."
She nodded again. "Yes. I know." She rested her head on his shoulder as she settled against him. "Thank you."
They sat together in silence until her breathing slowed and her eyes drifted close. Could he really be part of her future? The notion of it, even as some hypothetical fantasy, was difficult to wrap his mind around. He had only once in his life before this had such inklings about his future with a woman, and when Lily had rejected him so entirely and with such finality, he accepted in that moment that he did not deserve that future with any witch. But a lot had changed since then, including himself.
He swallowed back a snort as he struggled to imagine quirky, young witch chasing toddlers around Spinner's End or harder yet, sharing his bed. He tensed as he chastised himself for allowing his mind to even go there, and then cringed as his thoughts jumped to visions of his assault on her. He may have changed, but he still did not deserve that future.
Cautiously, he stood and lowered Luna's relaxed form to the sofa. With a flick of his wand, a blanket came down the stairs, and he tucked it around her.
As he stood, his eye caught something under the chair across the small room. He reached for it as his stiff body complained. Pulling the folded paper, he examined it in the dull lamp light.
"I thought I burned all these…" he mumbled as he touched the black wax seal. He lifted the flap and read, "You will never be safe. As long as these words find you, so can I." He hissed and lit the letter ablaze, tossing it into the fireplace.