Harry Potter 1. Prologue

On the Verge of Living

Prologue

She was young, in an aged sort of way.

Too young to face a life of such utter darkness, such lamenting pain; too old to not know how to cope and struggle through just such a life.

He thought she did not seem to mind it all so very much. But then, she was as much a master of disguise as he was.

They were two of a kind, not at all alike.

She could blend with shadows, lie without betraying truth. She could live behind a cold, indifferent façade without forsaking emotion. She could endure pain, and when circumstance dictated, could cause such pain without remorse.

But then, so could he.

Only, she was more content with life then he ever could be. She could find happiness lurking behind desperation and anguish. She could love, freely, holding nothing back. She could give until she had nothing left to keep.

Having lived in the face of death almost since the day she was born, still she could find peace. She could feel secure and safe.

He marveled at her strength, all the while cursing his weakness.

Yes, they were two of a kind, yet nothing at all alike.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One: The Order Of The Phoenix 

The storm was a thing of terror, raging war against this battered old house. The shutters shook violently, the windows trembled in their frames, the roof moaned and sighed having not the strength to fight back anymore. Not after all these years.

Indeed, such feeling was reflected in the five individuals sitting around a dying fire in a room that once received many guests, saw much finery and use.

The Order of the Phoenix had just let out not an hour past, but there were some secrets, some pieces of the puzzle that Albus Dumbledore dare not share with any but the few who were now seated in this morose salon of dark greens and light browns.

For a moment, all was still. The fire did not dance, the people did not stir, the floor did not creak beneath invisible presence. For a moment,

Then she spoke.

"A time-turner." Her voice was soft, her eyes pensive and sad.

Albus chapped his lips together, just once, as though tasting those words. All was still. Then, the old man who never quite seemed to look his age, exhaled a breath, sloped his shoulders…and looked, ancient. "You would go?"

All was still.

Then the young woman, the granddaughter no one seemed to know Albus had until a few months ago, stood from the awkward, worn armchair and strode softly to the hearth. She stared into the flames, wondering at their unfamiliar stillness and willing them to dance. One hand reached out to grasp the cold, solid, edge of the hearth's granite sill, as though needing support.

"If I must."

Then all was still no more.

The fire crackled merrily despite the air that fed it, the people released the stale air they had, unknowingly, been holding in their chests, and eyes filled with concern that had not left them in all these past three years, shifted from place to place.

"You're sure, Lilianna?"

"Quite sure."

A feeling erupted beneath Minerva McGonagall's bosom, a maternal instinct that all women are born with but only few acknowledge, as she watched that brave young child accept yet another burden that should have been far too heavy for her to lift, let alone to carry.

And, being a woman in a room of men, she walked over to the silently sobbing figure, and held her against her breast. She murmured soothing nothings into the younger woman's hair.

Then a man, dark as night, stood in an aggressive manner, pushing himself from his seat and releasing the built up tension in his aching muscles as he did so. "I shall accompany her."

Two fading blue eyes snapped to the young man's face, narrowed in a calculating fashion, then relaxed. Albus nodded his head in assent. "Yes, of course."

And though the headmaster had already agreed, Severus Snape still felt the need to justify his actions.

"I have been found, I can no longer service you as a spy. At least I could aid Lilianna in this, she would not have known had I not placed her in such a dangerous position."

This angered Lilianna. She pulled away from Minerva's arms, striding up to Severus with fury in her eyes. "Don't you dare to presume you made my decisions for me!"

"Foolish girl!" He shouted, taking her by the upper arms in a painful grip and shaking her in all his frustration. "You know nothing! I would still be bowing in the dark lords presence, and you would still be unharmed had you not been so damned impulsive!"

"No! You would be lying dead, and myself along with you had I not followed you there!"

They stared deeply into each other's eyes, a battle of wills amidst the anger and frustration that comes in mounds during times of war. Then suddenly, realizing he still held her by the arms, he released her.

She dared not give in to the impulse and rub the tender places on her flesh where his hands had been; she dared not show such weakness. She sighed, pushing her pain away from her.

"No, Severus. It was best things played out as they did. It would not have been long before Voldemort discovered where your true loyalties lay. Having confirmed his suspicions myself, I was at least able to lend a hand in your escape."

He shrugged, a sign of indifference that Lilianna recognized simply as a wall for this man to hide behind. It only served to reignite her loathing for him.

Before any other words meant to pierce like a dagger could be thrown into the air, Albus raised a hand to command silence.

"She is right, my boy. Tom had been growing ever more suspicious of your loyalty to him. It was only a matter of time before he ascertained his facts. Then, of course, he would have killed you. It was perhaps, unwise, of Lilianna to follow you from Hogwarts last night, then trace you to the circle of death eaters when you disapparated. But do not accuse her of being impulsive; she knew just what it was she was doing. She was—"

"Making a damned fool of herself!" Growled Severus. He crossed his arms over his chest, owning a stance that just dared the old man to challenge him.

Albus did not. Instead, his eyes lit up with their familiar twinkle and a smile tightened the loose skin of his face. "That too." He agreed.

All the while, Lilianna observed the directive dialogue between the two men with a dry amusement tilting up the side of her lips. Gods, were men a mystery to her.

Mad-Eye Moody, the fifth person in the chilling room, who had of yet maintained his silence, shook his head in obvious disapproval. "The way you two carry on, you'd think we—" But he abruptly left the rest of his tirade to resound in his head, picking up where the conversation had left off. "Its settled then, Severus and Lilianna will travel to the future, supposing they don't kill each other first. They'll find the potion, bring it home, and hopefully we can end this disgusting excuse of a war!"


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Disguised Attractions 

It was late. Nearly eleven O' clock and most of the headquarters' occupants were tucked securely in bed. Relishing another night, another dream that would take them far, far away from the aching bones of war that had settled around them sometime during the past few years.

Only two of many, were yet awake. These two bodies were not accustomed to routine. Their days were not assorted into perfect geometric squares: breakfast at eight, lunch at noon, dinner at six. No, these two bodies had learned well to adapt their habits at a moments notice. Occupational hazard, as it were, when you lived the lives they had, ever on the brink of war.

They were two, seated around an ancient oak table that had seen many better days. Idly tracing the natural grooves, engrained in the deep oak from age, Lilianna sipped her cooling tea, studying the harsh man seated across her.

He was an intensely passionate man. A man who possessed a subtle grace to his movements despite the abuse his body had been put to. His dark hair had grown several inches since she had first met him, all those months ago now, coming to an end just past his shoulder blades. His eyes were the darkest, deepest brown you had ever seen, holding a lingering coldness that was part and stock of his mask. His face was made entirely of sharp edges and harsh plains, all but for his insanely long eyelashes, and his full, sensuous mouth.

She wondered on him, as she was doing now, so very often. Having finally found a man whose will was as strong as hers, whose past relieved shadows that she herself kept hidden behind a freely given smile. She both admired and despised him these traits in turn.

"I have not yet eaten. Are you hungry?" Her voice was soft, a breeze that could touch only those leaves that were closest, leaving the rest yearning for her caress.

"Famished." He did not remove his eyes from the parchment he was so studiously contemplating.

"hmm," She sighed, lifting gently from the wooden chair and bringing herself to stand before the long wall lined with cupboards. She inspected the contents of each, running over what recipes she knew of that could make do with such a limited supply of ingredients.

"Perhaps a casserole?" She offered.

"Fine."

Lilianna glanced over her shoulder, at the man who had still not removed his eyes from the document he must have read at least twelve times by now. Her eyes danced with secret amusement, as unperturbed by his cool mannerisms as she was his cool response.

They had been doing this often, of late.

Summer had rushed in to replace the dank uncertainty of spring, and without having to distract himself as a professor at Hogwarts, Severus spent most of his days in the melancholy environment that was headquarters.

He figured it just went against industrialism to reside at the school, when he would so often be called to headquarters anyway as the Order meetings increased in frequency and urgency. He was kept busy enough, they all were. Times such as these were not meant for idleness or hesitation.

Lilianna, too, had made her home at headquarters. Though she rather felt it was like living in a graveyard most days; a far too active graveyard, to be sure, but a graveyard nonetheless.

Her grandfather had summoned her months ago. It was time for her to take her proper place, in the home she always should have had, and defend all that was right and good in the world, he had said. She did not protest. She had lived her life following one war ending into another war beginning. It was what she lived for, if indeed she lived for anything at all anymore.

So it was that they found themselves sharing close premises rather consistently. The unique timetables they kept were so at odds with the average witch or wizard that they found themselves alone together quite a bit despite the hectic schedule the Order demanded.

They had shared many nights such as this, lingering about the kitchen, taking their evening meals much later then any of the other members who were currently inhabiting headquarters. Mostly they did not speak unless it was absolutely necessary, or when they did, it was to argue heatedly over dissenting opinions.

Some nights, such as this night, Lilianna would grow bored with the quiet. She would grow frustrated that the man seated next to her, renowned for his intelligence and creativity, could not seem to string two words together in her presence unless it was to issue terse commands or insults.

Such thoughts would chase the link around her mind until she grew weak with frustration, on nights such as this. She carefully extracted the ingredients from the cupboards being sure to make as much noise as possible so as to disturb Severus from his reading; he did not stir. She sliced the vegetables, cut the meats, mixed the sauce, all the while speculating the fragile, not quite relationship, she had with the esteemed potions master.

There would be times, during Order meetings or when just the two of them were taking conference with her grandfather, when Lilianna wanted nothing so much as to spend the rest of her life drowning in Severus' voice, in his thoughts.

He could analyze complicated data in a matter of moments, implicate resolutions to tumultuous situations within seconds of being related the cause of disruption with a confidence that bordered on arrogance. He could research to the end of the world and come back with a million new theories and concepts that differentiated greatly from what was before thought to be engraved in stone. Oh, and his hands. He could make marvelous concoctions with those long, slender, masculine hands of his. His skill with potions was unparalleled in all of England and his inventions and discoveries had been much the case of triumph in the past twenty years.

Lilianna could admire the way Severus seemed to command each situation he was placed in. She could understand the reason he kept his emotions under such tight patrol. She could sympathize with the horrors of his past, if only to a third of his experiences. She could even appreciate his dry, sarcastic sense of humor.

What she could not do; was figure the man out. Not for the life of her!

Bringing the pan off the burner, she apportioned the contents onto two separate plates, wondering if she could find the stomach to eat tonight after all.

"Drink?" She offered.

Finally, he glanced up. Ah, dinner was ready. He set the parchments aside, standing to help set the table. He retrieved two goblets from the china chest, and filled them with a soft burgundy liquid. He set them beside the plates that Lilianna had already settled unto the table. When next he turned to gather the flatware, he bumped into a warm body that was hovering behind him.

With a silent gesture, she waved the forks in her hand indicating that she had already completed the chore. Severus nodded. They both took their seats, comfortable in the silence for all that it was not particularly companionable, and started on the warm meal that Lilianna would not be thanked for.

But she was greatly surprised tonight.

"We should leave early evening. Three or four tomorrow." His voice came like thunder, rough as steel and as soft as velvet. He had actually instigated a conversation; a feat so unlikely that it took a minute for Lilianna to deign an appropriate response.

A grin pulled at her lips and was noted by Severus who raised an enquiring eyebrow. She shook her head. "You are referring to the time travel, obviously?"

Instantly his slightly amused expression was replaced with one of irritation. "Obviously."

Lilianna took another forkful of casserole into her mouth, allotting herself the time to think that over. Severus watched her for a moment, as she then raised the goblet to her mouth, wetting her lips with the glistening wine. Then he turned back to his own meal, waiting patiently for her input.

"That should do fine."

Severus nodded his head having not really expected a rebuttal, though with Albus Dumbledore's granddaughter one could never be too sure. It infuriated him that he could not so easily intimidate her as he could most anyone else. It enraged him that she could be so damned…_selfless_, even for all that she had been through.

Though he supposed selflessness was a trait to be admired in ordinary situations. But she had lived a life as close to his as any. She had repented mistakes she had not even had time to make one hundred times over and still fate held her in expectation to continue sacrificing herself and her needs for the good of others. It was so damned like him! He'd done his share. He'd been playing double roles for years now, denying his own thirsts in anticipation of others'. He'd done his penance, and still the war raged on. He'd retaliated for all his idiotic youth!

He just wanted peace. The fact that he could not come by any was enough to quell any bit of happiness that might come his way. But the fact that Lilianna, half his age, could not claim her own peace actually enraged him!

If he was honest with himself, she reminded him too much of himself. The nightmares in her past were too familiar to him, too similar to his own. Only her innocence was much too pure for all that she was, indeed, no innocent.

If she could not find peace, if she could not soothe the aching, what hope did he have?

He despised her for reminding him of these things. He despised what she stood for in his mind.

But, fuck, was she gorgeous!

Her hair fell nearly to her waist in thick golden spiral curls. She had eyes the color of molten chocolate that could become so expressive when she was not guarding herself. Her skin was the most delicate shade of ivory he'd ever beheld, unblemished for all the scars she must bear. Her body was a field of curves, her breasts full, and her hips round, her legs long and shapely. But gods, the one piece of her he could not stop dreaming of, was her lips. They were so full, so red they practically invited a man's kiss.

Ah, but such thoughts ran away with themselves.

He despised her, loathed her in fact. Or, was that simply himself, reflected back?

"The potion will have to sit for five years, maybe a little longer." His mind flowed easily back to the dire conversation at hand.

"Then we shall set the time accordingly."

Once more she was offered a brisk nod, before Severus pushed himself away from the table and walked out of the room.

He had left her the dishes to clean, yet again. She could not help but think him a chauvinistic bastard at times such as these. Sighing, she figured there was nothing for it. She, too, pushed away from the table, cleaning the mess he had left behind.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three: I shall deny my dreams, I cannot deny myself 

Headquarters had been quite full as of late, each of the eight bedrooms were charged with at least two beds, if not more. Being the summer holiday, the children were all kept in one room, the beds so many as to not leave but a few feet between them. Not even the married couples were permitted an ounce of privacy. Not now. Not when war was so heavily opened upon them.

That was how Severus and Lilianna found themselves sharing a room. They were of the lucky, however. The room was small, barely accommodating their two small beds. No one else would have been able to fit.

They kept an illusion holding strong during the night to at least allot them a bit of privacy. It was a ghost of a wall. You could step through it even if you could not see through it. But it gave them room to undress for bed and kept the light from filtering through to the other side if one of the inhabitants chose to settle with a book in bed.

The glamour was not so thick as to penetrate sound.

Lilianna and Severus were both practiced Legilimens. They had been forced by circumstance to learn the intricate art that was occlumency. It was of the paramount, you understand, when you build for yourself a life that centers around deceit and danger.

The practice, that they had both long since discovered, kept horrors from the past from dropping a visit.

But sometimes, the emotions were too strung, the memories too strong, the panic too strident to deny. Sometimes, those marring images were too persistent to be denied entrance.

That was when the nightmares would start. Though it happened seldom, there were nights still that they would toss and turn, reliving pain, reliving fear.

This was just such a night. Lilianna had only just set her novel down preparing to extinguish the candle that floated beside her when she heard the unmistakable sound of a body thrashing in their sheets. Glancing sideways at the ever ticking clock, she noted the time: three O' clock.

He could not have been asleep more than an hour or two.

Sighing, she unwrapped the covers from her body and started the short walk to the other side of the room. Best that he awake now before the visions became even more oppressive.

Coming to the enchanted divider, she stretched a hand out to wisp through the slithering obstruction. Immediately it fell away. She came upon his distressed form and simply watched the agony displayed openly in his expressions. So different from the cool mask of indifference he wore during the day. Now his entire body was reacting to the violence impending itself behind his fluttering eyelids. His head was thrashing about on his pillow, his arms flexing as though to dispel some unknown threat.

Carefully, she reached an arm out to touch him. Soothing the wet strands of hair back from his sweat-filmed forehead. Tenderly, she whispered his name. "Severus."

It took her quite a while to wake him, her voice having to reach so far beyond distance to resound in his ear. "Severus."

Then suddenly, he was awake, alert.

Fearing Lilianna's unanticipated form was the threat from his dreams, he reached out two hands and grasped her wrists in a painful hold. In one swift show of strength and grace, he pulled Lilianna unto the bed, pinning her on her back beneath him.

His hands held her wrists above her head, his left knee coming to rest in between her legs. His chest was heaving, along with hers, and the muscles in his abdomen and arms rippling with the remnants of adrenaline.

Slowly, Lilianna watched as his eyes lost their delirium. She noticed when his grip faltered, relaxing his hold on her wrists and coming, instead, to entwine his fingers in her own.

For a moment, they were still but for their still heaving chests. Their eyes were locked together in the dim light of Lilianna's reading candle. A moment passed. A significant moment filled with awareness.

Lilianna became aware of Severus' naked body pressed against her own. She became aware of the knee pressing ever so tightly against the apex between her thighs. She felt the soft, feather-light strokes of his thumb against her wrist.

And in turn, Severus grew aware of the provocative lingerie that wrapped Lilianna's body in silk. He felt the warmth of her womanhood seep through her panties to cool against his knee. He watched her nipples harden under his intense gaze and her pupils dilate with sudden desire.

He needed her, wanted her. In that moment, they both understood it. He would have her, if just for tonight. He would take her and feel himself sheathed in her tight center, if just for tonight.

Slowly, with deliberate cautiousness, Severus lowered his mouth to her. Brushing his lips against hers, teasing, playing, until they parted in want. Then he sealed himself to her, taking her breath away in a demanding kiss that left none of his intentions hidden.

He released her right wrist, trailing his hand down the inside of her arm, her chest, until it came to possessively cover her breast. He kneaded her soft flesh, flicking his thumb against the hardened peak of her nipple until she moaned with pleasure.

The arm that had been freed came to wrap itself around Severus' shoulder, her fingers stroking the hairs at his neck. He closed his eyes, savoring the sensation. When next his lips met hers, his tongue was quick to seek entrance, darting in and out in a dance mimicking the greater one to come.

Releasing her other wrist, now, he brought his hand behind her neck, supporting her as the hand that had been teasing her breast slid down her body. He hooked his finger into the side of her wet panties, taking them down her body in one quick movement and throwing them aside.

Lilianna gasped in surprise as she felt the cool night air flow against her extraordinarily hot flesh for just a moment, before Severus' hand came to shield her. Her hips arched to greet him, as he slid a dexterous finger into her moist entrance while another slowly teased the sensitive nub that had swollen in all her ecstasy. She moaned.

Both of her arms came around him then, her hands searching the bunched plains of his back, then his chest. She relished in the way her light caresses could make this strong man falter, his muscles rippling where she touched.

Severus closed his eyes tightly for an instant, wondering at how quickly this woman lying beneath him could arouse him to the point of needing release. When next he opened his eyes, his gaze was transfixed into her own. With one hand, he urged her legs further apart, then positioned himself at her entrance. Finding the ardent longing in her own eyes, he moved his arms beneath shoulders, supporting her back as he plunged himself into her wet cave in one, long thrust.

Her gasp of pain startled him. Oh, fuck. His eyes clamped shut once more, only this time in regret. Upon opening them, he leaned his mouth into her ear. "Why did you not tell me?"

Opening her own eyes, having clenched them at the onslaught of pain, Lilianna brought a hand up to trace the sharp line of his jaw. "I had assumed you knew." Replacing her arms around his shoulders and holding him in much the same way as he was holding her, she wrapped her legs around his waist, urging him to continue.

Knowing she would find no release this first time without additional aid, Severus retreated one arm from behind her back, seeking her swollen nub once more with his hand. When he found it, he began teasing it with the same rhythm he had started as he slowly began to move inside of her.

Thrusting ever faster as the arousal surmounted within them both, he watched the pleasure dance across Lilianna's heated face. Her nails were biting into the flesh covering his shoulder blades and he could tell by the movement of her own hips that she was as near to the edge as he was.

Keeping a steady pace inside of her, his fingers increased their movement over her tiny nub. Within moments she was moaning her release. He quickly joined her.

Using the last of his strength to roll them both on their sides so as not to crush her with his weight, he kept the connection strong between them, holding her against his calming chest.

As their breathing evened, and their bodies cooled in the aftermath, Lilianna wondered at the new sensations she had just been introduced to. Wrapping her arms tightly around Severus, she settled her head into the crook of his shoulder, and fell fast asleep with a last sigh of contentment.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Assuage my wrath

Severus woke far earlier than he should have. He felt…displaced. As though something had happened that was eluding him at that very moment, when he had just opened his eyes to the soft lemony light of daybreak. And then he felt her.

The warmth of her naked flesh pressed sweetly against his side, his chest.

Shit.

The memories flooded the dam having the effect to awaken him fully. They had made love last night. No, he corrected the stray thought; they had sex, though for the life of him he could not know the difference between the two. He had never been in love to make love.

Their relationship had quickly swept the path and crossed the partition from awkward to unstably complex. Surely she would recognize that last night was only an offer of seeking need and comfort. Surely she would know how these games were played, these games between a man and a woman.

Only she didn't. He knew she didn't. He had felt that barrier of innocence last night when he had so eagerly plunged into her depths. She would not know what to expect from him this morning.

Or would she? She had proven her wisdom far out stretched her years. Time and again she had displayed comprehension and keen intuition that had relayed she could cope with any amount of duress that should not have ever been placed on such a young child's mind.

Fuck. A child. She was little more than a girl and he had bedded her!

Severus would be the first to confess to any number of ill deeds he had participated in over the span of his lifetime, after all, the evidence was stacked and it was not in his favor. But he had honor, dammit! He had nobility and a sense of right and wrong that had maybe been diluted in younger years but was no longer!

And he had bedded Albus Dumbledore's granddaughter, a girl of just barely eighteen.

He sighed, silently cursing himself and his current circumstance. How had he forgotten who she was last night? But then the answer to that was easy and it was given.

It had been her eyes, a woman's eyes that told tale of too many wars. It had been her body, a woman's body that had responded to his caresses. And, Gods, it had been in her moans, her sighs. No child could make those sounds. No child could arouse his body so quickly, so thoroughly.

Gently and taking extra care, Severus unwrapped himself from Lilianna's soft limbs. He slid from the bed, using the stealth he had garnered from years of being a spy, careful not to wake her.

He stood there for, how many minutes? Just watching the steady rise and fall of her bare breasts as she breathed, the slight curve to her mouth that hinted at precious dreams, her long golden tendrils that were fanned out on the starch white of the pillow beneath her head.

Cursing again, he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Just looking at her this way evoked emotions from him that he had long since lost the ability to decipher. Emotions and arousal.

A cold shower, most defiantly was in order.

Lilianna awoke not a few hours later, her limbs stretching to feel the warmth that was leaking in from the windows. In a second, her eyes flew open, wincing at the pain between her legs.

Oh Gods.

She knew she was alone in the bed. She could feel no additional warmth beneath the thin sheets, could hear no soft whisper of a chest exhaling breath. Severus was gone.

She felt…betrayed. Used.

Had he not realized what last night meant to her?

Perhaps they were not in love, but dammit! She had given him her innocence. The least he could have done was remain with her until she awoke. He could have faced her like a man instead of a little boy running from a situation he was too afraid to handle. He could have at least had the decency to rip the heart from her body face to face.

And now she felt…furious.

Lilianna had always preferred anger to any other emotion. It was easiest to cope with, it left you in control, instead of being forced into a corner having to defend yourself. If there was one feeling that Lilianna despised most it was feeling the loss of control. And she was suffocating in it now.

Forgetting the tears that were stinging the backs of her eyes, pleading to be let out, she shoved the covers off her bare body and planted two firm feet on the cold wood floor. Damn, but it hurt when she moved like that.

Walking to the wardrobe standing near the window, she pulled a luxuriously velvet dressing robe of navy off a hanger and wrapped it around her shivering form. Tying the belt absentmindedly, she allowed her eyes to wander the room, her thoughts lost and whirling.

She had meant nothing to him, of course she hadn't. Had he, ever, given her the slightest consideration? Had he ever offered her a kind word or tender touch? No. Never.

Last night…last night, he was distressed. He had awoken from revisiting horrors of his past. He had only reached out to her for comfort, for reassurance.

But he should have stayed. He should have confronted his actions and taken responsibility. If not because it was the right thing to do then at least in guilt because he had taken her virginity!

But then she forgot herself. Severus had no conscience. No sense of right or wrong to compel any such emotion as guilt, or remorse. He thought only of himself, it was not so surprising after all that he had not waited her out this morning.

And that was when she saw it. Sitting there, on the bedside table was a small glass vial with an amber liquid that sparkled in the mid-morning light. And beside it, a spare bit of parchment, with only a short message imprinted upon its smooth surface.

_Drink this fully. It should help with the pain._

Gods, she thought, he hadn't even signed his name!

And then the dam broke. Her fury became a thing of great adversarial force. Her energies contracting into a single, blind, function. Her eyesight began to cloud with the passion of her hurt.

Fuck you, Severus Snape! How dare you leave me like this! How dare you think you can use me then throw me to the wolves! How dare you Severus Snape!

She strode swiftly to the door, opening it and stepping out into the sixth floor landing. Just as she did, but who should round the staircase other than the object of her wrath?

Severus strode casually up the stairs, rounding the corner to come up short when his determined eyes settled on Lilianna's prose form. He watched as her eyes narrowed dangerously, her chest heaving with the exertion of her anger.

"What is this?" She demanded coldly, holding in her left hand the vial she had removed from the bedside table. She held it out, shaking it threateningly. "What is this!"

Severus sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. So much for thinking she would accept last night's affair with docile grace. He should have known better, really.

But he was as fierce of spirit as she was and would burn in seven hells before he displayed any signs of remorse or sympathy. "I left you a note. Can you not read?" His voice was terse, detached and cold. He took three threatening steps towards her and stopped. He raised a single eyebrow in mock inquiry. "It shall help ease any discomfort you may feel as a result of last night's activities."

Fuck. That had been a mistake. He clamped his jaw shut in irritation of his fumble. He should not have referred to last night in such demeaning terms. That had been his downfall.

"FEEL THIS YOU SHREWD ASS!" She yelled. She threw the glass potion vial towards his head with a might that belied her tender form. Severus' eyes widened in shock for a split second before he leant his body just out of the direct path of fire. The vial shattered against the wall behind him, having missed by only a few inches.

Instantly he was enraged. How dare this slip of a girl treat him with such utter hostility. She had walked into her own mess last night, he hadn't fucking molested her. In long angry foot falls, Severus brought himself before the trembling young woman.

In a swift, agile movement, he lifted his hand and brought it down across her left cheek. Lilianna cringed from the unanticipated pain that stung her soft flesh where he had hit her.

She gasped, holding a hand up to cover the violated skin. "You hurt me." She whispered, though she did not know if she was referring to the sting in her cheek or the stabbing in her heart.

He nodded tersely, his brow furrowed in some feeling akin to regret. He should not have hit her so hard. If she did not charm away the swelling soon, she would be left with a bruise he was sure of it.

Reaching a hand up to pull her own arm away from her face, he extracted his wand from the sleeve of his dark robes. "Here," He whispered, He gently touched the tip of his wand against her cheek, muttering a quick incantation under his breath.

In a matter of seconds, Lilianna felt the pain recede as well as the swelling. An expression of gratitude sprung habitually to her lips and she quenched it down. She would be fucked before she thanked this man for healing what he had damaged.

The irony of that thought was not lost on her befuddled mind.

"Go away, Severus Snape." She spoke softly instead.

He hesitated a moment, wanting to assuage her aching and then wondering at the unfamiliar yearning. How could he wish to comfort a woman who had just enraged him to the point that he had been provoked into hitting her?

How could he feel anything at all except a mild irritation at having to face the woman he had bedded last night and anger at her forceful dealings with him just then?

Then, his mind assessing that Lilianna would probably be better assuaged with him out of her sight for the next few hours, he curtly nodded his head in assent. Fine. He turned on his heel and stalked back down the stairs that he had, not five minutes ago, ascended.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five: Something Gone Awry

Sitting at the kitchen table, immune to the bustle of Order members around him, Severus stared moodily into his tumbler of blood red cognac.

He remembered, just the night his whole life had changed. He remembered, just how he came to volunteer himself to accompany Lilianna into the future.

_She could not have said, later, just exactly what it was that had made her stomach churn unpleasantly or her heart to hammer wildly. The scene was a familiar one, not likely to throw her into such frenzy merely by its arrival. No, it was more a sense of apprehension, a weight against her chest that made her astute to something gone awry._

_She had been in her grandfather's private quarters, just east of his office at Hogwarts. They had been reviewing maps of the world, marking the points where there had been known death eater activity, speculating as to where next Voldemort's dominions might move, and analyzing any behavioral patterns that might have, subconsciously, sprung up when they were not looking. _

_It was a fruitless endeavor; the odds had been against progress even before they began. But it was a time of war, and they would do everything they could, no matter how unlikely, to ensure that they would have the winning hand._

_They had just pushed aside the last map, opting for a warm kettle of tea and a plate of sandwiches to nibble on while they contemplated the knowledge, or lack thereof, that they had just uncovered. Their mouths halted, mid debate, their heads turning towards the archway leading into the salon from the headmaster's office, when they heard the door adjoining Dumbledore's office open with a loud bang._

_In strode Severus Snape, his black death eater robes already swung haphazardly around his shoulders. "I've been called." His voice rang out terse with his otherwise concealed distress._

_Lilianna looked to her grandfather who was currently nodding his head in acknowledgement. _

"_It was to be expected, after all." The old man stood from his seat, striding swiftly over to a small secretary situated in the far corner of the room. He pulled from a drawer a small object that looked to be no more than an old quill. _

_When he turned back to the room, Severus was standing with his hand out as though familiar with these proceedings. And so he was. Lilianna's recognition caught up with her when she watched the potions master disappear from the room as soon as his fingers enclosed around the feather. _

_Ah, it must have been the portkey that would carry him just past the boundaries of Hogwarts; past the anti-apparation wards that would only stint his needed haste._

_That was when the feeling, the sense of doom, settled itself upon Lilianna. She stood from her seat, having been idle through the brief transaction. "I must go." Was all she said to her father, before she called Fawkes to her side, holding an arm out for him to rest upon._

_Then, with a flash of scarlet flame, she arrived at the gates of Hogwarts, just where the portkey would have been bound to deposit Severus. Thanking Fawkes with a soft stroke of his tail feathers, she extracted her wand from the bodice of her witch's gown. With a low muttered incantation, she spelled a tracking charm hoping to disclose Snape's unknown whereabouts._

_Ah, yes. The same as last time, Malfoy Manor. Well, she thought, at least this means they will not have the dark lord, himself, to contend with. Tom Riddle would never be so foolish as to set foot into such a well-known façade._

_Squaring her shoulders, still unsure of exactly what it was she hoped to gain by contributing to this fool hardy mission, she concentrated her thoughts and apparated in Severus' wake._

_When next her eyes opened, Lilianna found herself standing in a short field of barley just a mile or so from Malfoy Manor. Of course, Lucius would have created protective wards of his own around his families ancestral home. She could no more apparate into the expansive manor then she could Hogwarts' own grounds, not unless she bore the mark of the death eaters._

_She sighed; this would certainly delay her arrival. She only hoped she would not be to late, for…whatever it was she came intercept._

_Taking long strides in an effort to cover more ground more quickly, Lilianna held her wand aloft in her hand all the while, hoping to not meet any who might be guarding the manor from intrusion on this night. Her luck held. There were no such men about. She reached the doors to the manor, wondering at how she would be able to sneak through without alerting anyone to her presence. _

_Casting a disillusioning charm on herself so that her body would blend like a chameleon into her surroundings, Lilianna opened the door just wide enough to squeeze her body through, hoping that no one would be standing on the other side to witness such a scene._

_Sighing with relief, she wasted no time. Placing her wand on the flat of her hand, she whispered, "point me." Immediately her wand spun west, directing her towards the room where the gathering was being held. She headed west._

_When she reached the furthest door down a hallway with too many rooms branching off from its walls so as to cause confusion, her wand lit a pulsing blue, warning her that this was the desired destination. Checking in a mirror that hung on the silk draped wall just before the door, she made sure that the disillusionment charm was sticking._

_Then, perhaps even more cautiously then she had at the front door, she eased the thick oak panel open, slipping herself inside the room and closing it back shut, without any of the eight individuals inhabiting the solon being any the wiser._

_It was a curious room, she thought. The walls were a fitting Slytherin green, the floor a black tiled marble. There were pillars erected from ceiling to floor in a semi circle encasing the sitting area in a sort of open platform that stood at least three feet taller than the surrounding flooring._

_She hid herself behind such a pillar, observing the small group that consisted of the dark lord's most inner circle as they sat on any amount of dark hued furniture, talking amongst themselves. _

_Then she watched as Lucius Malfoy stood from the leather sofa, making his way to a wheeled serving cart on which there sat a decanter of cognac and crystal glasses. He poured himself a finger, talking with his back to the room all the while._

"—_No, the reason I asked you all here is to inform you of a spy amongst our ranks."_

_At these words, Lilianna's eyes flashed to Severus noticing his fingers stiffening around the goblet of brandy he held in his left hand, the only tell tale sign that Lucius' words had any more of an effect on him then they did the others in the room. _

"_The dark lord requested I discover the identity of said traitor, and I have opted to enlist your aid."_

_Severus' shoulders relaxed, a display of obvious relief to hear that his true allegiance had been revealed. Or at least, they had, until he caught the eyes of Draco Malfoy sitting just across from him. The look crossing his sharp handsome features warned the potions master that his name had been tossed around as a suspect._

_His shoulders knotted once more._

_Lilianna almost gasped at hearing Lucius' suave voice issuing forth such words. This was why, then, she had felt such a panic when Severus had first disappeared from her grandfather's office. It would only be a matter of time, a couple of months at the most, before the dark man's identity was discovered. _

_Now that they were looking for such a double agent…it would only be a matter of time._

_Having missed the last five minutes of conversation, lost in the torrid of thoughts that had flooded her mind, Lilianna looked up in surprise as she watched the occupants of the room stand from their relaxed postures amid the random pieces of furniture, and turn towards the door._

_They were already leaving._

_Steeling her breath, it was now or never. Lilianna darted out from behind the pillar having first released the disillusionment spell from her body. Completely visible now, and hard to miss in a dress of the most vivid blue, she strode casually up to Severus Snape. Watching with an ounce of satisfaction that was lost in the crowd of adrenaline pumping her blood, that the self-controlled man could not prevent a fleeting look of apprehension cross his face._

_She walked slowly, as though her presence was the most ordinary thing in the world. Breeching the final distance between herself and Severus, she stood atop her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on his cheek. _

_Reaching for his hand, between their two bodies, she grasped it with her own, passing into his hand an object she had spelled just before she made her decision to blow his cover._

_A portkey._

_Then, just as suddenly as they had been taken aback by her arrival, the death eater's surrounding them caught on to the game. Severus Snape, one of their own, had just been revealed as a spy._

_Lucius Malfoy was the first to catch on, the first to act. He raised his wand, pointing it in Severus' direction. Lilianna darted her eyes between Lucius and the man beside her, it was apparent from the ill conceived look on his face, that Severus had no idea that the small metal ring she was holding against his palm was a portkey. His thoughts were too busy whirling on how she had managed to follow him here in the first place._

_Before the portkey had a chance to activate, before Lilianna could even blink, she heard as Lucius shouted a curse and watched with fear-widened eyes as a stream of orange light raced towards them._

_Shit._

_In the portion of the second she was allotted to think of a reaction, she flung herself in front of Severus, shielding him from the curse. In the process, however, her hand tore away from his clasp, releasing her bond to the portkey._

_Behind her, Severus' swore resounding across the marble room as his body felt that familiar tug of a portkey and he vanished from the increasingly dire scene._

_Lilianna barely had time to feel relief at having Severus sent out of harms way, now all she could concentrate on was the blast of light surging her way._

_With the quick reflexes born from years of defending herself in similar situations, Lilianna raised her wand and called out a shield to protect her from the blast. It held true, and the light rebounded and was thrown back towards his owner._

_Lucius sidestepped the spell easily, grabbing the man's arm that was standing next to him and flinging him into the curses fire. Best that the curse be absorbed now before it continued to bounce from one erected shield to the next._

_Raising a hand to silence the incantations that were hanging from the lips of his fellow death eaters behind him, he silently communicated that they were to do nothing. She was his to kill._

_After all, how could she possibly have room to escape now? The portkey had left without her, and she would not have time to establish another before he killed her. She could not disapparate from his home, nor could she run. He would catch her._

_With a grim smile of satisfaction crossing his features, he took slow, deliberate steps nearer her. _

_But the answer to his unvoiced question had just appeared to distract his progress towards the young woman. Lilianna could have burst into song; so ecstatic was she to find Fawkes had come to her in a burst of flame. He was three feet away from her, flying steadily closer._

_Until, yes, her hand closed tightly on his tail feathers._

_Almost instantly they were gone from the place. Almost instantly, but not before Lilianna was nicked by a dark spell. She felt a searing pain cross her back, and could only thing in the fog of her pain, how lucky she was that the brunt of the curse had soared past her._


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Traitor

_Severus blinked his eyes and found, when he finally thought to surveillance his surroundings that he was standing in the middle of Albus Dumbledore's office. The old man himself was seated behind his desk, an amused twinkle lurking behind his half-moon spectacles._

"_Lost, Severus?" He jested._

_Immediately, the bewilderment that Severus had been feeling for the past ten minutes, gave away to a feeling akin to unadulterated fury. He swiped a rigid hand through his dark tresses, his legs beginning to pace the length of the room of their own accord._

"_That little bitch!" He exclaimed._

_Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in enquiry. "You must be speaking about my granddaughter. She tends to have such an effect on people." He chuckled to himself, thinking of all the egos he has had to sooth as a result of his granddaughter's blunt tongue and foolish impulsiveness._

"_She just…how could…DAMMIT!" A man, who so rarely raised his voice, was now reduced to the point of yelling. And it did not go unnoticed, Severus was furious with that little slip of a girl for being the cause of this uncharacteristic sign of emotion._

_Suddenly, he rounded on Albus. "You must send me back. She is outnumbered seven to one! She will never make it out of there alive! Foolish girl!"_

_When Albus made no move to configure a portkey to send him back to Malfoy manor, Severus deflated. "Old man, what the hell do hope to gain by leaving your own granddaughter with seven of the dark lord's most powerful allies?" He demanded in a voice that had the usual effect of intimidating to the point of submission whoever was on the other side of it._

_It had no visible effects on the headmaster, however._

_Instead, Albus was studying the man with a keen eye, a look of dawning realization alighting his aged face and creasing his brow in thoughtfulness. "I see." He muttered softly to himself._

_Coming back to his immediate senses, Albus straightened his back. "If Lilianna thought it fit to send you back while facing your mutual foes on her own, then that was her decision. It was a sacrifice she deemed worthy enough to make on your behalf. By sending you back where she so selflessly sent you away from, you are doing nothing more than belittling her sacrifice."_

"_Better belittle her damn sentimentality than to leave her there to die."_

_Silence. Utter, total silence. It made Severus increasingly uncomfortable. Then, Albus tilted his head to the left, towards the golden perch often found supporting his resting phoenix. It was vacant._

"_Also, if you care to look, you will find that Fawkes has taken it upon himself to aid Lilianna in her struggles. He left just seconds before you arrived. If my ponderings are not slighted, I should think we have very little to concern ourselves with. After all, Lilianna has proven herself against the odds before when facing down a roomful of dark wizards. I should not think this time will be any different."_

_Severus let forth a noise that sounded almost as if it were a grunt. But rather in agreement or frustration, Albus could not have said. He watched as the younger man swept another hand through the length of his hair. It was a nervous habit that revealed itself only when he was feeling the strongest of emotions._

_Albus marveled at the discovery he had made this night. How blind must he have been to not have noticed their attraction before this?_

_But before either his or his companion's thoughts could race to far ahead, a blinding flash of scarlet flame illuminated the office._

_They had just readjusted their eyes to the stiller light of the room, as it had been before Fawkes brilliant arrival, when first their ears caught the sound of labored breathing._

_Severus reached the young woman first, just in time to catch her as she fainted from the immense pain that was contracting the muscles in her back._

_His arms enclosed around her waist, supporting her until he could support himself well enough to fold her in his arms completely. Cradling her as one might a child, high against his chest, he carried her through to Dumbledore's living quarters, lying her atop a bed in the guest bedroom._

_Having realized the wound was on her back from feeling the sticky warmth of her blood seeping through her torn gown and unto his hands as he carried her, laid her down on her stomach. He came to kneel over her, ripping the back of the gown the rest of the way open to expose her seared flesh._

_A long cut reached across the pale skin from the bottom of her left shoulder blade to the very small of her back. It was deep, and the bleeding was hardly subsiding._

_He knew the curse for what it was immediately. After all, he had been an expert in the dark arts once upon a time. The spell was designed to cause a peril wound to a body, the black magic not allowing for healing by a wand. It was a spell cast with the intention of delivering a slow death, unable for anyone who might come across the victim to reverse the effects._

_He swore._

_Before he could provide any medical aid, however, Albus strode into the room with Madame Pompfrey just behind him. The seasoned mediwitch quickly took control of the scene. Sending both men on errands to fetch such simple ingredients as torn cloths and warm water._

_It was an hour in the making, having to take each step of the medical procedure without the use of her wand. When finally the wound was clean and enough pressure had been added to clot the bleeding, Poppy tapped her wand along the divided flesh, sealing it with an invisible glue._

"_There," She proclaimed. "That should keep the wound protected from infection. I dare say she will be just fine, though the healing will be slow, and painful at first."_

_The men left Lilianna to rest in the guest bedroom once she had come around and they had exchanged a few words with her. Severus had said very little, and by the soft smirk that had played across his granddaughter's face, Albus figured she knew just how upset Severus was at being sent away from danger as though he were a boy._

_Later that night found Severus sitting before the grand hearth in the headmaster's sitting area. He was sipping at a scotch that Albus was rather fond of but which he himself found utterly revolting. His rage, which had dissipated in the face of such great concern for the well being of that foolish little girl, had returned full force, and he was just barely managing to withhold the strength in his fingers that were threatening to shatter the glass in his hand._

"_I must say Severus," Began Albus as he returned from his office where he had been brought a student by Minerva to deal out punishment. "I am not the least bit sorry that you're cover has been blown. Granted, we shall hurt a bit from the missing information that you could have brought us. But in the greater picture, your death sentence has now been extended a good deal." His fading blue eyes were twinkling merrily at his own joke. " You caused me quite a deal of worry when you went off on such nights, leaving to answer a summons from Voldemort."_

_Enraged by the light-hearted dealing of such a dire situation that Albus was currently portraying, Severus ground his teeth, spitting out words between intakes of breath meant to sooth his anger. "I shall not even be able to set foot off of school grounds."_

"_That's not true, my boy! You shall have plenty of opportunity to stay on at headquarters."_

_Such a statement of which Severus thought sounded much more like a sentence of penance, was the last tip that tilted the lid. Slamming his glass down with such force on the coffee table situated just in front of him, that it shattered despite his attempts at leveling his strength. He stood from his seat and strode purposefully from the room._


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: Fondling Time

Lilianna stepped out of the shower, the warm water doing little to assuage the hurricane that was her thoughts. She thought ironically, how she could face down a room full of death eaters with only her quick reflexes and her wand, but she could not conjure the strength to face an idea of time travel with her…what? What was Severus to her now? Her lover?

No. She shook her head as she continued to towel her slick skin dry. He was nothing to her, she reminded herself. Nothing.

With a force of will born of sheer terror at her own inapt ability to rid Severus from her aching head, Lilianna threw her towel on the floor and vowed to steer her ponders towards their upcoming quest.

And so she did.

Walking into the downstairs solon an hour later, dressed in a gown of the palest yellow velvet, Lilianna found her grandfather with Remus Lupin, the two of them discussing plans concerning herself and Severus.

"If we send them back four years, there is no assurance that the potion will be ready. We can't have them lingering in the future for Merlin knows how long, waiting for the potion to be ready." Remus paused to shake his prematurely grey head in frustration. "With all the risk that time travel entails…we would only be adding to it."

"Indeed that would be a great risk." Albus nodded and seeing his granddaughter enter the room, he stood, pressing his parched lips to her cheek in silent greeting. "Only, I think it would be a far greater one to send them further. If they arrive in a time where the potion has been sitting for far too long, then the potion will be of no use to us and Lilianna and Severus will have risked their lives in vain."

Albus turned back to face Lilianna. He reached his two arms around her almost as if to pull her into a hug. It was only a second later when Lilianna realized that he had, instead, fastened a gold pendant about her neck. She looked down, finding the time turner nestled between her breasts, just above the low neckline of her gown.

It was a curious artifact, she thought. There were bands of metal, round circles, the inner most housing a small hourglass with a dusty brown sand. She rather admired its strange beauty, it was almost a allegory to the elusiveness of time.

How powerful time was, how oddly erotic and beautiful, but when meddled with, dangerous.

Bringing a hand to caress the cold metal, she felt disheartened that such a rare adventure would be spent in the curious company of Severus Snape. It rather made a difficult situation nearly unbearable.

Something of her thoughts must have been playing across her face, for when she looked back up, her grandfather was regarding her with penetrating eyes above his half-moon spectacles. In a lowered voice, so as not to be heard by Remus or the other few Order members that had now made their way into the room, he spoke.

"Are you unsure of your decision to leave?"

Lilianna's eyes widened at the conclusion he had drawn, reprimanding herself at the same time for not being more guarded with her emotions. What must have Severus deciphered her expression to mean, standing not three feet away, regarding their exchange?

"No," She infused emphatically, shaking her head. "That's not it at all, I just…" Here she left off, shrugging her shoulder as though to either declare her unease with topic at hand, or to indicate a loss of adjectives that might help to describe her twirling emotions.

After another second of staring into his granddaughter's eyes, attempting to discover the root of the forlorn crease across her brow, he turned around to face Severus.

"Well, my boy, best get on with it then. If neither of you are having second thoughts? I need not impress upon you the seriousness of this endeavor, nor the incredible chance involved. If something is to go awry, any unknown entity to play out, then you may not have a familiar home to return to."

Lilianna rolled her eyes. "Thanks for that uplifting send off, grandfather, we'll be sure to arrive calm and collected, now."

Severus stepped closer to her, having already noticed the pendant lying seductively against the ivory hollow between her breasts. His eyes had taken in every part of her in fact, and he was currently berating himself for the forbidden thoughts that had followed.

"Ready?" He asked, one word, his voice as cold and indifferent as ever it was.

Lilianna looked up sharply, narrowing her eyes. She nodded briskly. Stepping uncomfortably close to man she had, only hours ago, made love to, she tugged at the chain about her neck, throwing it over his head and around his own. She looked to her grandfather enquiringly.

In reply, he placed a hand on either of their shoulders, nodding his head encouragingly.

"Six turns, I should think."

Glad for the offered distraction that would allow her to keep her wandering eyes from Severus' handsome face, or the sliver of olive skin that was peeking out from the first three open buttons of his shirt, Lilianna turned her eyes to follow her hands as they fiddled with the small dial on the time turner.

It was a moment, just a moment, before the world spun around them. So dizzying was the effect, that Lilianna quickly shut her eyes against the blinding light that seemed to encompass her and her companion. Indeed, she thought, using a time turner into the future was much different from her remembered experience with a time turner into the past a few years ago.

It might have been five minutes, it might have been an hour. Neither one could have said, before the unbalanced feeling seemed to leave them, leaving in its wake a strange sense of stillness. Severus was the first to open his eyes, to look down upon the woman who had, at some point during the journey, enclosed her arms around his waist and buried his head into his neck.

He felt, oddly comforted in the embrace.

Remembering himself, he pulled her arms away from him, the sudden movement causing her eyes to fling open in surprise. With a look of irritation plastered across his face, a look that caused far too much effort to produce in his opinion, he grasped the thin metal rope that was keeping him bound so close to this warm female body and jerked away from her as though burned.

The result was instantaneous. Lilianna lost her sense of displacement in a blink, her eyes flaring with renewed anger at this obvious insult. She opened her mouth to issue forth a well-deserved insult, when Severus slapped a hand across her mouth. "Quiet." He commanded, pulling her back into a shadow of the room.

They were still in number twelve Grimmauld place, though any resemblance to the headquarters they had just left was nearly nonexistent. The solon looked as though it was once more cherished with a loving hand. A light shade of paint covered the once filth coated walls, a new carpet the color of sand spread out beneath their feet. The furniture was new, the accents and photographs set about on random shelves a sure indication that this was a headquarter no more.

It looked as though it now belonged to a young wizarding couple…wait. Surely not. Was that Lupin and Granger involved in an intimate embrace in that photo on the mantel?

Lilianna gasped beside him, and Severus knew that she had come to the same conclusion as he just had. This house now belonged to Remus and Hermione, and any traces that England was in the midst of a war had been erased over the years.

"We must have succeeded then. With the potion, I mean. There is just no other way we could have possibly won the war without it." Lilianna whispered.

Severus nodded, pulling Lilianna closer into the shadows, as the sound of laughing voices were growing ever louder. Sure enough, not a minute later, they watched as a woman, so obviously a fully-grown Hermione, strode into the room.

"It's here somewhere, I know it is." She called to someone in another room of the house. They watched as she bent down, searching the bottom of a bookshelf for some unknown object.

Remus walked into the room then, an amused smile orchestrating his face. He leaned a side against the framed archway that led into the room from a hallway, simply watching her.

"Yes, there, I see it!" She cried triumphantly. Pulling from the very back of the shelf a brown book that looked to be a photo album. Turning around, Hermione gave a start to find Remus lurking behind her. She rolled her eyes. "They will absolutely adore this. Lilianna was so disappointed when she lost all their wedding pictures in the fire."

Sandwiched between the protruding hearth and the sharp corner of the adjoining walls, Lilianna felt Severus stiffen in response to this revelation. So, she was married in the future. That was a thought she could surely get used to. Obviously she would forget all about Severus Snape when she met a man much more worthy of her affections. She wondered at who he would be?

Hermione had silenced her voice as she walked across the room towards Remus. Wrapping her free arm around his waist, she pressed a chaste kiss to his grinning lips. "Perhaps we should think about starting our own family." She whispered into her room, just barely loud enough for the other couple to overhear her words.

Where the hell had that come from? Severus thought with apparent irritation. His mood had already left on a drastic decline at the information that Lilianna was evidently married in the future. He had an unwelcome desire to kill whoever the bastard was who had seduced her.

Focusing his attention back to the unfolding scene in the solon, he watched as Lupin's smile slowly transformed itself into a frown, his gaze locked on the crown of Hermione's head as she rested her head on his chest. "I thought we talked about this?"

At the note of distress Hermione heard in his voice, her head snapped up, her own frown replacing the smile. "Remus—"

"No. Dammit, Hermione. Don't you get it? It's not safe for us to bring a child into this home." He cringed at the thought. "_I_ am not safe for a child to be around."

Tears began to leak down Hermione's face at this proclamation that she had heard so many times before. "Oh, Remus. When are you going to stop fearing yourself?"

Remus opened his mouth to respond but before a single word was uttered, they heard the doorknocker resounding from the entryway. The couple pulled apart, Hermione walked out of the room, heading towards the door to greet their company. Meanwhile, Remus strode further into the solon, retrieving their cloaks from a coat rack, then retreating in his wife's footsteps. A troubled look still pressed into his face.

Severus and Lilianna waited patiently, daring not to move until they heard the door resound into its frame, taking with it the four voices that had previously occupied the entry way.

"Do you think we're alone?" Lilianna whispered.

Severus nodded. "Yes. But we must be quick."

Striding out of their hiding place, Severus led Lilianna to the hearth. He pointed out a small tin filled with a green powder. "After you."

Lilianna took a handful of the floo powder. Walking into the brick structure, she called out her destination. "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts." Releasing the grains of powder in her hand, she was enveloped in warm emerald flame, and felt, once more, as though she were being spun like wool. When she next opened her eyes, she was brushing the ash from her gown and stepping into a warm, bright study.


End file.
