Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Severus landed with a soft thud in a vacant, dark part of the unwelcoming Albanian forest.
Lucius's blonde hair glowed strangely among the deep blackness of the dense foliage as he and Severus stared at Yaxley.
"Come on, then!" Yaxley shouted to his friends with a wave and a smile of pure joy, "It isn't far, hurry up! He's waiting for us!"
Severus and Lucius exchanged anxious, incredulous glances as they both followed their comrade through the rugged forest path.
Yaxley had spoken as if there were a simple road that they were able to traverse, but in actuality, their way proved to be treacherous and irritating.
Severus and Lucius brushed stray branches out of their faces as their shoes slipped over the uneven surface created by lumpy ground, broken sticks, and misplaced rocks.
Lucius prepared to shout at Yaxley for sending them on a false errand when they stumbled out into an unexpected clearing.
Yaxley laughed as he ran ahead.
Severus and Lucius stopped to stare up into a tall, bushy tree that stood like an ominous guardian underneath the bright light of the full moon shining in the sky.
The grass seemed almost violet in the moonlight as Severus and Lucius swept through the blades as they continued their quest of following Yaxley to the Dark Lord.
Voldemort's form was so slight and frail that he couldn't be seen from his perch high in the tree, but as Severus and Lucius stopped a short way behind Yaxley and watched him hurriedly whisper into its branches, they knew their journey had come to an end.
Yaxley's frantic, anxious whispers continued for a long moment.
Lucius became bored with waiting.
He looked around the clearing until Severus grabbed his forearm and pointed straight ahead.
There, in the center of the tree's thick bark, a massive snake slithered down.
Lucius and Severus's eyes widened in horror for a moment as they presumed that Voldemort had taken the form of the dangerous animal to summon them for wrathful purposes.
Their fears were partially eased when they noticed that Yaxley paid no attention to the snake as it moved past him, left the tree, and crawled onto the ground.
Severus and Lucius watched the snake as it slithered up to them and raised its huge head.
A bright smile crossed Yaxley's face while the white, floating orb that Voldemort's spirit had become floated down from its wary position in the tree.
"How fortunate I am to have such loyal friends who will come to my aid in this great time of need!" Voldemort's eerie, unmistakable voice croaked from that gossamer sphere.
Severus and Lucius turned away from the snake to stare at the floating orb.
"...........Master?" Lucius blinked.
"My lord?" Severus whispered incredulously as he narrowed his dark eyes.
"It is I, my friends, Lord Voldemort!.....Battered, but alive.......for now!" The floating orb hissed.
As Severus squinted at the ghostly sphere, he found that he could make out the slight features of a face deep inside its wispy folds.
When Lucius glanced back at the snake nervously, Voldemort quickly put his mind at ease as he explained, "I see you've both met Nagini, my newest servant......a Maledictus who's agreed to help me......Listen, my friends, it is of the utmost importance that I find a new body and leave this forsaken place quickly!"
Severus didn't appreciate where the conversation headed as Lucius blinked at Voldemort and asked, "My lord......how are we to do that? Where will you go?"
"You will both know when I call on you for further assistance with the matter!" Voldemort whispered in a hateful hiss, "Until then, I must think and plan."
"It pains us to see you this way, my lord." Severus remarked with a solemn frown.
"Do not worry, Severus." Voldemort replied in that same, croaking hiss, "I survived the Chosen One just as he survived me. It was my oversight to underestimate the power of a father's sacrifice.......I will not make the same foolish mistake again!"
Voldemort tired easily in his weakened state of existence.
With one last, low growl, the swirling orb of billowing, white smoke that composed his new form lifted itself back into the high branches of the tree, hidden by the cover of heavy leaves.
Nagini stared coldly at Lucius and Severus for a moment until she turned away to follow her master into the tree.
They watched the moonlight glint off of what they could see from her moving scales as she coiled around the white sphere protectively.
"Isn't it wonderful?!" Yaxley exclaimed as he threw his arms into the air after he turned to Severus and Lucius, "The Dark Lord lives!"
Severus curtly nodded his head.
Lucius replied with a feigned smile.
As the three Death Eaters stood under the tree that contained the spirit of the most dangerous wizard in the world, Yaxley failed to realize that his comrades did not share his opinion.
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The child in Lily's womb, the physical product of her love for Severus, already showed kindness to its mother.
While Severus completed his errand, Lily writhed in bed as the pains of early labour echoed through her abdomen, yet she failed to wake in response.
It may have been the baby that suppressed her return to consciousness or Lily's body, but she found herself embedded deep inside a dream.
In her mind, she saw it clearly.
Lily walked down a long, dark hallway as hands reached out from the walls, all bearing long nails to scratch and cut.
As she moved past, the hands grabbed her and raked their claws over her body to elicit pain.
Tears welled in her eyes, but at the far end of the tunnel, a single light shone as a beacon of hopeful respite.
In her dream, Lily continued her walk.
In reality, her belly continued to tighten.
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The moment Severus arrived back inside the bedroom he had been forced to leave, his dark eyes widened when he noticed Lily's rigid posture as she laid in bed.
His black cloak fluttered around him as he rushed to her side and stared down at her in concern.
Her eyes remained closed but her teeth were tightly grit.
Severus's brow furrowed worriedly as he gently reached out and placed his hands on the sides of her bulging belly.
A serious scowl marred his face when he felt the telltale tension under his fingers.
As his pulse accelerated, he deftly rose from Lily's bedside, stepped out into the hallway, and hastily summoned the midwife.
Once he had called Lily's healthcare provider to come as soon as possible, Severus whirled around the house to prepare for the task ahead.
Towels, cloths, bowls, potions, salves, Severus quickly returned to the bedroom with the night's supplies as he went to tend Lily.
He anticipated her waking while he fluffed the pillows behind his wife.
Carefully, between her lips, he pressed a single drop of the pain potion that Madam Pomfrey had approved him to administer during her labour with Harriet.
Severus then crawled into bed and let Lily wriggle into his arms as she thrashed in her sleep.
He glanced over at the glass vials he had placed on the nightstand.
There were many other medicines that Severus hoped could ease his darling flower's suffering, but he wisely decided to wait until the midwife inspected each one.
He sought to make Lily more comfortable, not to cause her or his child any harm.
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An hour passed, then two.
Severus kept a close watch on his lover as he cradled her close and soothingly stroked her crimson hair.
He braced himself each time he felt her abdomen tense, but Lily never woke.
Severus frowned in consternation.
As glad as he felt that Lily wasn't awake to suffer through the contractions, it started to concern him that the pain didn't rouse her.
A pop rang out from downstairs and Severus blinked in the direction of the sound.
He heard footsteps move through the house and realized that the midwife had arrived.
Severus breathed a silent sigh of relief as a weight was lifted off of his chest as he withdrew his wand and lit the enchanted lamp on the nightstand with a simple spell.
The footsteps moved through the house curiously as the midwife searched for her patient.
Severus clenched his jaw as he grappled with the dilemma presented by the situation.
Should he call out and alert the midwife to Lily's location?
It frightened him that his shout may cause his beloved to wake in pain.
Severus's problem solved itself as a gentle knock fell on the bedroom door before it cracked open.
"Mr. Snape!" Lily's midwife called fondly as she stepped inside the room with a smile and a bag in her hand, "Is someone ready to become a mother again tonight?!"
Severus held up a hand to silence the woman.
The midwife blinked before her eyes fell on her patient as she noticed that Lily lay in a deep sleep.
"Oh........sorry, sir." The midwife nodded in a whisper.
"She's grinding her teeth and twisting her body....." Severus explained in a low whisper, "I can feel the pains with my fingers, but she won't wake from her sleep."
The midwife placed her bag on the floor and walked over to carefully sit on the bedside.
She silently removed her wand from her pocket and performed a quick examination on Lily as Severus frowned.
"Perhaps I was wrong to summon you......." He whispered as his voice trailed off.
"Oh no, sir!" The midwife reassured him with a knowing smile, "You were indeed correct to ask me here tonight! Let's do our best to get things ready, shall we? Don't worry, I've seen this happen before. She'll wake when the time comes. Think of it as a mercy, not a worry. Not every witch is fortunate enough to sleep through these trying hours."
As Severus watched the midwife stand and walk over to her bag, he felt a quiet sort of contentment calm a bit of his anxiety.
If Lily's prolonged slumber failed to concern the midwife, then he decided he would rest his mind about the matter.
Severus wouldn't argue with anything that made the birth easier for his beloved.
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In her dreams, Lily had nearly reached the end of the hallway, but her path had become blocked.
The hands from the walls had arrived in greater multitudes.
Their numbers had grown to such an extent that she had no way forward except to face the wrath of their sharp, vengeful claws.
Claws.
Claws came from every angle to dig into her belly, her back, her hips, and her thighs.
Lily glanced down at herself and marveled that she saw no blood when she could feel the stabs of grating pain ripping through her.
She forced herself forward, step by tortuous step.
Finally, she made it to the end of the tunnel and reached her arms out towards the light, joyful to finally be freed from her torment, but that was when her true battle began.
As Lily stepped out of that tunnel, a fleeting moment of relief passed by before the light outside crashed over her and scorched her entire being in agony, pure agony.
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Lily opened her eyes with a startled gasp as her hand flew to her aching belly.
To her horror, she realized the pain in her dreams had been real as a stifled groan left her throat at the tense pressure that ricocheted through her abdomen and threatened to snap her pelvis in half.
"Lily, love, I'm right here." A familiar, low voice purred.
As Lily groaned through the worst of the spasm, she glanced over and saw Severus at her side, holding one of her hands and one of her thighs.
She gasped for breath as the air was forced out of her lungs.
Startled and hurting, she glanced down and noticed that she sat up in bed, with her legs spread and her midwife between them.
"Hello, dear!" The midwife beamed at her patient, "Your husband and I have been waiting for you! It seems your little one has been too! Let's get them out of your womb and into your arms, shall we?"
"W...What's happening?!" Lily gasped as she swallowed dryly.
Outside, the morning sun had just started to rise.
"You've laboured through the night." Severus explained while he briefly let go of her hand to reach over, grab a damp, cool rag, and blot her face, "You've slept deeply, my love. We had started to believe you would rest through the birth itself."
A harsh gasp came from Lily's throat as she swallowed again and tried to process what Severus told her, "I......"
"Breathe....." He patiently coached her as he gently squeezed her hand in a gesture of encouragement.
Lily obediently sucked in a breath as she felt her body threaten to tighten.
The midwife saw her patient's eyes widen the instant before she curled forward and keened through grit teeth, "NNNGGGGHH!"
"That's it, love! That's it!" The midwife cheered while she grabbed a towel and reached between Lily's legs, "Bear down! We're nearly there! Just a moment more and you'll be holding your little one!"
"SSSSEEEEVVVVV!" Lily shrieked against the pain that wrung her insides like a used washrag.
"You're doing well, my love." Severus cooed in his velvet drawl as he leaned forward and kissed Lily's flushed cheek, "A finite amount of effort remains.....then it will all be over."
Severus glanced down at the midwife.
Between the look of concentration on her face, the grip of Lily's fingers, and the way his wife held her eyes squeezed tightly shut, he knew his son or daughter would arrive quickly.
Good, then they could meet their little one.
"Doing well, love, doing well!" The midwife praised Lily as she glanced up at the pained mother and waited, "Half here now...One more big one and we'll see the newest member of the family!"
Severus couldn't resist the urge to peek over his wife's belly and steal his first glance at his son or daughter.
Pride blossomed in his heart as he noticed through the veil of birthing fluids that his baby entered the world with a full head of raven-black hair.
A hoarse, gasping noise came from Lily's throat.
Her chest heaved as her belly tightened while she hunched forward again.
"NNNNGGGHH!" Lily groaned as she used all of her remaining strength to push Severus's child into the world, "SSEEEVVV!"
"Good girl." Severus whispered calmly as he pressed a kiss to her sweaty knuckles, "Bear down when you feel the urge."
He maintained his stoic composure for Lily's sake.
Internally, Severus wanted to wail bitterly as he listened to his wife's cries.
Lily fell back against the pillows as she gasped for breath but Severus's dark eyes were called away from his wife as a high-pitched sound filled the room.
"WWWWAAA!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
"Congratulations, Mrs. Snape.....and Mr. Snape!" The midwife beamed at Lily before she nodded at Severus.
"WWWAAA!"
Severus squeezed Lily's hand while she laughed breathlessly as they listened to their new baby voice his displeasure.
Mr. and Mrs. Snape watched as the midwife reached over Lily's abused belly to place a squirming bundle on her chest.
Severus and Lily's eyes widened as they stared down at their adorable, dark-haired newborn, who scowled at them in confusion.
The magical healthcare provider happily announced, "You two have a handsome, healthy baby boy!"