Loving Lily: A Snily Story

Chapter 83 - Father and Daughter

"Well.....Surely something can be done!" Lily exclaimed as she took a step back, "Will you not help him, Severus?!"

"There is nothing I can do." He calmly replied with a remorseful frown, "Dumbledore originally made that assessment himself. I insisted on examining the wound, determined to prove him wrong, but it's worse than I feared and it's spreading fast."

Tears of sadness welled in Lily's emerald eyes as she nodded and bit her lip, "I suppose that buys us a bit more time at least? Living under our ruse?"

"Unfortunately, it does." Severus frowned.

"When will it happen?" She asked.

".......By the end of the term." Severus nodded.

She laughed mirthlessly as she wiped away her tears with a trembling hand.

Severus frowned.

Lily threw up her arms in a great shrug before she exclaimed, "Taking the vow won't change much, Sev!"

Severus furrowed his brow as he nodded silently.

".........What are we going to do without him?" Lily asked as she sucked in a breath, "How are we going to do without him?"

"Before...." Severus began as he took a step closer towards his wife, "Before what must happen will occur, Dumbledore has promised he will bequeath his memories to me."

Lily took Severus's hands into hers while he went on, "His strategies, his plans......They'll all be stored for revisitation in the Pensieve....I realize that's little consolation facing such a loss, certainly. However, it is.....better than nothing.....At least we may still have a chance."

"I thought Harriet was the plan." Lily frowned, "She's the Chosen One, is she not? She'll be the one to end the war."

"Provided the prophecy is to be believed," Severus nodded, "......That is correct. Dumbledore has spent these past years trying to determine how exactly those events may.....unfold."

"I think everyone has." Lily chuckled,

"Then how best to do it?" Severus asked.

Her feigned smile fell away as he elaborated, "How best to do it while controlling casualties and minimizing damage?"

"What's the answer to that, Sev?" Lily asked, "What do you believe is the wisest way forward?"

"I believe....." Severus drawled, "That it would do our effort a great deal of good to take Dumbledore's plans into consideration, whatever they may be."

Lily sighed as she gazed into her husband's dark eyes.

In a silent gesture of reassurance, Severus drew her close and kissed her sweetly.

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That particular Saturday afternoon was gray and rainy.

Narcissa hadn't come to the Snapes' cottage alone.

While Mrs. Malfoy and Severus clutched each other's forearms, Lily, er, Laima, watched from the living room chair as Bellatrix eyed them both and circled their clasped hands with a bond of golden magic.

Her eyes glowed with malice as she asked, "And do you, Severus Snape, vow to assist Draco Malfoy in the task the Dark Lord has given to him, should he fail to complete it?"

Lily could not hide her frown as she gazed at her husband's solemn expression.

"............Yes." Severus answered without blinking as he gazed into Narcissa's blue eyes.

The smile on Draco's mother's face irritated Lily beyond measure.

She instinctively realized that Narcissa didn't mind holding onto Severus.

Bellatrix waved her wand in one quick flourish.

That golden string of magic tightened and encircled the gripped forearms until it disappeared.

Severus wasted no time in releasing his grasp on Narcissa as soon as Bellatrix cackled, "It's finished!"

"Thank you, Severus." Narcissa said as she threw her old friend a smile Lily found a bit too grateful.

"For the good of our effort, it must be finished." Severus nodded, "It is my honour and my duty to further the Dark Lord's cause."

As Bellatrix and Narcissa turned to exchange their thoughts on what had just happened, Severus glanced over at Lily.

The agony on her husband's pale face broke her heart as she rewarded him with a wry smile of subtle reassurance.