QL Prophet's Friendly Face. Pride, beater 2.

Written for: CypressWand

Prompt: Snily

Word Count: 935

Warnings: Snily, war, anxiety.

Beta'ed by: DinoDina, CypressWand, CupCakeyyy

Lily let out a small sigh as she laid her head back against the couch. She was exhausted. She had finally gotten her daughter, Daisy, back to sleep after an hour of screaming. Her little girl didn't like teething.

Usually, she would share the nighttime routine with her husband, Severus, but he was out on a mission for Dumbledore. While he wasn't the most liked member of the Order of the Phoenix, he was trusted and relied upon. Even Potter and his crew had settled down and taken life seriously. Who knows what would have happened if they realised reality sooner, perhaps they would all be friends.

Unfortunately, reality wasn't something that any of them wanted to think about, and she often felt sorry for how she's currently unable to help. Little Daisy was only four months old and needed constant care. Tomorrow was going to be torture as Lily was planning on attending her first Order meeting since being pregnant. She was even more worried that she would be taking her innocent child with her - but that was her fault, she wasn't confident enough to leave her with a babysitter and now it was too late to accept the many offers she had received. Most of her close friends from school were either dead or in the Order.

Lily felt herself drift off, listening to the soft breaths of her baby in the cot beside her.

Suddenly, urgency filled Lily by the presence of another near her child. She shot up, wand raised, and spell half-uttered, until she caught sight of her husband standing before her. A breath of relief left her lips as she instantly resumed her tired-state.

"Jumpy?" Severus asked rhetorically, his voice a soft whisper before he resumed pulling the blanket over Daisy.

Lily stifled a yawn as she walked over to him, glancing down at their peacefully sleeping daughter. "She sleeps so much better when you put her down," she uttered.

Severus slung an arm over her shoulders and guided her out of the room. "Much trouble?"

"Not the worst."

"Maybe we'll get some sleep in."

A laugh instantly left Lily's lips. "Are we thinking about the same baby?"

Severus chuckled and led her into the bedroom. "I guess we best get to sleep, then."

With a nod of agreement, Lily slid into her side of the bed and waited for Severus to change and join her before letting sleep take her once again.

Morning came too quickly for the young witch as the sun blinded her through the thin curtains. She made a note to buy a blackout blind to go underneath it. All seemed quiet, but the quick realisation that Severus was not by her side told her that he had gotten up with Daisy already. Neither of them got a lay in the mornings anymore. Daisy saw to that. Their little girl somehow always had energy.

Lily slipped out of bed and first had to do a little walk around the house to check that everything was okay. She glanced out of every window to ensure there weren't any Death Eaters or something worse lurking around. When she discovered it was all clear, she returned to her room and dressed before returning to the kitchen where she had seen Severus mere minutes ago and greeted him.

Severus smiled genuinely at her - he knew her routine all too well. "Good morning, beautiful."

Without even asking, Severus had handed her a nice hot tea. "You really are the best husband somebody can ask for," she commented before taking a small sip. Sitting down, Lily turned her attention to Daisy who was sleeping in the Moses cot by the wall. "How long was she awake for?"

"About two hours. For a little girl who kept you up the entire night, she still likes waking up at the crack of dawn."

The two of them chuckled together. "You can go back to sleep if you want," she offered as she reached over and took his hand. "You look tired, Sev."

He simply smiled off her concerns and collected the toast he had put on for her.

Lily buttered her own toast and gave him a small smile. "I'm serious, you look awful. What did Dumbledore have you do?"

"I'll take a nap after the Order meeting. It's starting in just over an hour."

With a nod, Lily accepted this. "Do you think it's too late to agree to one of the invites for Daisy to get looked after? I don't feel comfortable with her being at a meeting."

Severus smiled at her, his eyes filled with amusement, and stood up. He dropped a kiss onto her lips and stole a bit of toast. "I'll go floo the Weasleys."

"Thanks, Sev."

"Anything for my girls."

As he left, Lily moved her chair to be able to watch Daisy peacefully sleep as she ate and drank her tea. She didn't have much hair, but it had been dark when she was born, however, now the little wisps were a very light shade of red. She remembered her mother mentioning her own hair doing this. Her imagination of what Daisy would look like as she grew was constantly changing, and she couldn't wait to see it.

Dropping Daisy off at the Burrow was one of the most difficult things Lily had had to do recently. The only way she found herself to be strong enough was Severus' hand in hers.

He was a lifeline to her at some points, her best friend at others, and the love of her life all the time. She wouldn't want it any other way.

The End