For half a year Severus had managed not to think of his night with Lily, but then she had sent him an owl that she absolutely had to talk to him. He knew that she was hiding with her family and he asked himself why she wanted to risk meeting him. Now he was sitting in the leaky cauldron in front of a cup of tea starring at it. Impatiently he looked at his watched and noticed that Lily was already twenty minutes late. He sighed, it had probably been a bad joke. He decided to drink his tea and then leave again. He took a sip when he saw her red hair appear in the crowd. She seemed to have spotted him, because she made her way through the crowd to his table. When the crowd loosened up a little and he caught a glimpse of her, he was almost speechless. Lily was obviously pregnant, he estimated that she had to be six or seven months along. "Sev", she said happy and hugged him. He hadn't even realized how he got up. He could feel her stomach press against his and he immediately pushed her away from himself. Lily looked at him a little hurt. Snorting Severus grabbed his cloak, which he had thrown over his chair, through it over his shoulders and wanted to leave. Lily grabbed his wrist and looked at him pleadingly. "Where are you going?" she asked. "If you think I'm going to stay here and let you rub under my nose in how well things are going between you and Potter, you've got another thing coming," Severus snapped at her and pulled his wrist from her. "That's what I wanted to talk about", Lily mumbled guilty looking at the ground. Severus wondered how much she could even see. Annoyed he expelled the air, why could he never refuse her anything. "Alright", he said falling back on his chair. Lily smiled thankfully at him and sat down opposite him with slight difficulty. Severus watched her closely. She seemed stressed and exhausted and yet she seemed to glow, which was probably due to her pregnancy. Severus snorted again in annoyance and Lily looked at him uncertainly. Protective she laid a hand on her stomach and gently stroked the taut fabric of her top with her thumb. "You wanted to talk, so talk", Severus urged her. "Well it's about the baby…" Lily started but was immediately interrupted by Severus, who raised his hand to silence her. "As I said I don't care about Potters brat", he said rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Lily took a deep breath before she continued to speak. "That's the point. It's not James' child." Severus' eyes widened and he stared at Lily disbelieving. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked after a while in a whisper. Lily smiled softly. "There's only one other man I've slept with and that's you Sev." Blinking Severu's eyes traveled from Lilys face to her stomach where her hand still rested. He couldn't believe what Lily told him; he had never thought that this one night would have such consequences. "Does Potter know?" he wanted to know. Lily shook her head. "I haven't had the heart to tell him yet." "So you want to tell him?" Severus asked astonished. "He has a right to know Sev, after all he's my husband. I just don't know yet how I should tell him", Lily mumbled. Severus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose again, he noticed how he started to get a headache and at the same time wished for something stronger to drink than his tea. "Then why did you keep it?" asked Severus looking at Lily through his fingers. "Because it's a life Sev and like I wrote, I don't regret what I did and just because we were both too stupid to use contraception doesn't mean I can do that." Lily seemed quite offended that he even considered something like this. She shook her head, took her bag out and rummaged around in it. "Here that's why I was late", she said and laid a black white picture in front of him. "What's this?" Severus asked looking at the picture. "That's an ultrasound picture", Lily explained tracing the contours on the picture. Now Severus could make out the baby on it. "I had it made for you today, you can keep it," Lily said and stood up. Severus raised his gaze from the picture to Lily. "I'll tell them everything at some point and I hope you'll be there to meet your child," she said before disappearing into the crowd again, leaving Severus alone and confused.

As Severus returned home he dropped on to the sofa and took the ultrasound picture from his cloak pocket. He still didn't know what he should do with this information from Lily. It seemed unreal to him that he of all people should get a child from Lily. It would probably grow up as someone else's child, but it would still be his flesh and blood. Thoughtfully, he stroked the contours of the little creature that was currently growing inside Lily. He bit his lips, knowing that Lily was only in her current position because of him. He had told Voldemort about the prophecy and he had gone to Dumbledore asking him for help for Lily. Even if the dark lord would fall, he was still a coward and a former death eater how could Lily expect him to be there for this child in any way. Still, he couldn't take his eyes off the ultrasound picture, even though he couldn't watch his child grow, he still felt this tugging in his chest that clearly stood for longing. Sighing Severus closed his eyes not knowing what to do himself. Taking a deep breath Severus summoned an old book and turned it into a photo album. Carefully he put the picture on the first page. Then he pulled the pen he always carried with him out of his cloak and wrote underneath it.
Babys first picture.
Then he got up, put the album on the bookshelf and disappeared into his laboratory in the basement to clear his mind.

Some months later Severus received mail by owl again. He was surprised when the bird knocked on his window in middle of the day. He opened the window letting it in. With swift fingers he untied the envelope from the animal's leg, which immediately flew out of the window again. The envelope was unaddressed, which made Severus a little suspicious. He opened the envelope and pulled out the content. There was only a picture in there. There were two children on it. A boy about a year old sat on the ground and on his chubby little legs lay a baby. Severus couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy, because it seemed to bee only a few weeks old. The boy watched the baby until someone behind the camera seemed to call him and he looked up and smiled. From the eyes, Severus could tell that it was Lily's boy, which meant that the baby was his child. Since there was no letter to the picture he turned it around. On the back stood in Lily's handwriting.
Harry & Ayleen
Severus' lips curled into a smile. The name was so typically Lily. He turned the picture back around and looked at the little girl. Relieved he realized that the little one took after her mother rather than him. This was Lily's daughter, his daughter. Severus took a deep breath, pressed his lips together and tried to repress the tears. It had been a long time since his feelings had overwhelmed him like this. Quickly he put the picture away to calm himself, he hoped that Lily would keep on sending him pictures like this of their child, so he could be at least somehow be a part of her life.