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"I must say, Severus, it was quite ingenious of you to use a muggle farm as a way to hinder Voldemort's bloodlust." Professor Dumbledore commended Severus from his desk.
"Thank you, sir." Severus nodded as he stood across from the headmaster.
The two men gazed at each other for a moment during their private meeting in Dumbledore's office.
Their secret discussions had become more frequent since Voldemort's reappearance.
"You continue to surprise me." Dumbledore mentioned as he stared over his spectacles at Hogwarts' youngest Potions Master, "I've no doubt that you'll do very well in this new role Voldemort has cast you into......And while you continue your work for the order, the new intelligence you bring will be invaluable to us."
Severus frowned while he listened.
A small smile crept across Dumbledore's face as he asked, "Have I said something to displease you, Severus?"
"No, sir." Severus replied as his frown remained, "However......I wanted to inquire if I may request a favor from you?"
"Oh?" Dumbledore blinked, "And what might that be?"
"If you learn of my untimely death.....or unexplained disappearance, please......headmaster, I beg you..." Severus implored Dumbledore as his frown deepened, "....Do anything and everything within your power to protect Lily and the children."
Dumbledore frowned as the seriousness of Severus's plea hung like a metal curtain in the air between them.
"Have I not stayed true to my word, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
"You have, yes, sir." Severus nodded.
"Then rest assured that should anything happen to you, I will do my best to protect Lily and the children from harm....Though I can hardly guarantee Harriet's safety in the long run due to the nature of her birth." Dumbledore replied.
"Of course, headmaster....I understand." Severus nodded.
His words were respectful.
His face maintained its usual stoic expression of seriousness, which masked his rage rather well as he turned and glided towards the door of Dumbledore's office.
"......Severus?" Dumbledore called as he watched his spy lift a hand towards the doorknob.
"Yes, sir?" Severus asked as he whirled around.
"I'll do my best, as you're doing yours." Dumbledore vowed.
"Thank you........sir." Severus replied in a voice barely above a whisper before he turned back around and took his leave.
Once he had gone, Dumbledore stared off in silent, contemplative thought before he stood from his chair and shuffled towards the Pensieve.
While Severus strode down the hallway with his heavy, black robes billowing behind himself, he grit his teeth in consternation.
He had not found the headmaster's vow to be satisfactory.
Severus hadn't come to Dumbledore seeking empty promises of supposed attempts at guarding his wife and little ones.
He had wanted an unarguable guarantee, an indisputable truth.
Severus spoke his fear of his own imminent demise to no one, not even Lily, yet day and night, that terror weighed on his mind.
What did his request really matter anyway?
If Voldemort so much as gained access to a single one of his thoughts, Severus knew that his life, along with his darling's and their children's, would end before he had the chance to ask Dumbledore to keep his word.
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Severus prided himself on the fact that Voldemort continued to be none the wiser to his true loyalty, whether that had resulted from his skill as an Occlumens or from the blind faith Voldemort vested in him.
Regardless, a week later, Severus sat next to Lily at the Malfoys' elegant dining table one evening while Voldemort held a grand feast in his own honour.
Severus felt grateful that he had managed to continue his work........and his status among the living.
It took a great amount of mental energy for him to shield both himself and Lily, or Laima, from Voldemort's prying mind, but as they ate their meal and listened to their supposed leader's speech, he performed his necessary task well.
Voldemort grinned proudly as he glanced around the table and prided himself on his established team of skilled followers.
The Malfoys were present, along with The Lestranges, Rodolphus Black, Yaxley, Barty Crouch Junior, and several others.
"My friends......" Voldemort began as he opened his pale arms in a grand gesture.
A full plate sat willfully ignored in front of him as a silent demonstration to prove that he no longer needed mortal sustenance.
Everyone lowered their forks and knives to give their dark master their full attention.
Voldemort grinned while he continued, "So great each and every one of your contributions has been to our cause that I can hardly contain my own glee on this night! Severus, let me commend you first, for your excellent work as my second in command. You truly are a prodigy at the Dark Arts! They suit you well!"
Voldemort silenced himself as his serpentine eyes bore into Severus while he eagerly waited for him to speak.
Lily clutched his hand under the table as Severus swallowed and answered, "Thank you, my lord.......I am not worthy of your praise, it is merely my honour to serve you and remain by your side."
Silence fell around the room.
As everyone at the table stared at Severus and Lily, the couple resisted the urge to let panicked fear flood their thoughts.
Without warning, Voldemort opened his mouth to let out a great guffaw of unbridled laughter, "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
In an eerie echo, everyone at the table began to laugh as well until Voldemort threw glares at his elite and silenced them with a swift motion of his hand.
Lily did not miss the look of rageful envy on Bellatrix's pale face as she stared daggers at Severus, clearly angry that she had been demoted while he had risen in the Dark Lord's ranks.
What disturbed Lily more though was the noticeable disapproval in Narcissa's blue stare, as her gaze flickered from her to Severus.
"SILENCE!" Voldemort hissed after the laughter had already ceased.
All of the remaining mirthful expressions faded away as serious frowns manifested on the Death Eaters' faces.
"In light of our recent victory," Voldemort continued, "I thought it best to announce that our work will continue in a similar path for the time being. I want to focus on cultivating fear, recruiting support, and of course.......finding the wretched Potter child!"
Lily tried to will her beating heart to calm itself as she blinked at Voldemort.
She had gotten better at hiding her feelings with her facial expression, although she could not conceal herself quite as well as Severus, her features did not offer any real insight to her horror.
"So then, we are to remain in the shadows for now, my lord?" Lucius boldly asked.
"Yes, Lucius, that is correct." Voldemort hissed with a condescending smile, "We are to conduct our doings in secret and quietly carry out our operations until the moment comes when the Potter child has been found and cornered......When our numbers have strengthened to such an extent that no one could possibly threaten us.....Until we can storm the Ministry and take it for ourselves, once and for all!"
As Voldemort stood triumphantly at the head of the table while all of his loyal followers applauded and cheered, Severus and Lily clapped too.
They glanced over at each other for a brief moment.
Severus caught a slight glimmer of anguished terror in his darling's emerald eyes, which prompted him to use his skills to float underneath the blanket of Occlumency and whisper into her thoughts....
Fear not my darling, I will protect you to my last breath.
Once Mr. and Mrs. Snape finally returned home that night, their kiss was deep and passionate as they relied on each other to purge the darkness of the evening from their minds.
During their gentle coupling and after, Lily clutched onto Severus as if he were her lifeline.
Frightened and unsure about the future, Severus held Lily tightly, buried his hooked nose in her crimson hair, and closed his dark eyes as he breathed in her comforting scent.
Despite the perils they faced, Severus found respite in the feeling of being loved, wanted, and needed.
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The time that followed seemed heavy with anxious apprehension.
A month or two would pass with little word from Voldemort, then out of nowhere, Severus would find himself saddled with several assignments at once.
His secret meetings with Dumbledore continued to occur every so often, though there were a few instances when Severus had little news due to his dark master's erratic schedule of operation.
Ellery celebrated his first birthday, then his second.
One afternoon late that summer, while Lily ran a few errands, Severus brought his children with him to Hogwarts as he prepared the Potions Classroom for the beginning of the new term.
Harriet and Ellery played on the floor with a few of their toys while Severus took inventory of his cauldrons.
There were several made from pewter and several made from fine steel, one had even been crafted from bronze.
The bronze cauldron caught his eye and as he stared down at it, he wondered if it would really be necessary for classes that year.
While Severus contemplated if he should keep the bronze cauldron or throw it out, Harriet glanced around.
She held one of her dolls in her hand, but the boredom of the dull, dark room had set in and she responded by searching until her curiosity became piqued.
Harriet stood and walked over to the polished pewter cauldron on the far left.
She blinked as she leaned over the cauldron's edge and stared down into the black void of its mouth.
Harriet bent over a bit too far.
With a little cry of surprise, Harriet tumbled down into the cauldron while Severus squinted at the bronze brewing receptacle.
Across the room, Ellery had watched his sister's fall.
Instead of alerting their father, he blinked, stood, and toddled over to the cauldron to investigate on his own.
Harriet laughed as she reached over the top and promptly yanked her brother down inside with her.
The two children chattered with each other as they contemplated their new, dark play place.
Severus would have heard their voices if it hadn't been for the enchantment of concealment that had been cast on that particular cauldron long before it came into his possession.
Although Professor Snape had owned that cauldron for the past two years, he had never once used it, and as such, he remained ignorant about its enchantment.
When he looked up from his musings a few moments later, his dark eyes widened.
Shocked fright fell across his face as his mouth fell open when he noticed that he was alone in the classroom.
He sucked in a breath as his mind raced.
Where had the children gone?!
He saw his son and daughter's toys lying on the floor, but no trace of Harriet or Ellery.
Severus immediately flustered around the room in a desperate search to find his little ones.
He looked over every nook and cranny before he peered down into each cauldron.
If only the cauldron that housed Harriet and her brother hadn't harbored a concealment spell.......
Severus's stomach churned with nervous nausea as he discovered his classroom was empty.
Like a raging bat, he glided out into the hallway and began to tear through the dungeon rooms, desperate to discover his son and daughter's whereabouts.
Severus was close to screaming by the time he learned that the dungeons held no sign of his children.
As nightmare scenarios about the danger they could have wandered into cruelly played through his mind, he nearly crashed into McGonagall as he raced up the stone staircase.
"Severus!" She blinked, "I was just coming to hand you these." She nodded to the scrolls she clutched in her arms, "Whatever's the matter? You look terrible!"
Severus swallowed thickly.
His face was sallow and gaunt as he spoke hurriedly, "I.....I've lost my children.....They were with me in the classroom.....I looked away for a moment and.....and now they're gone! How could this have happened?.....Where can they be?!"
"Oh dear......" McGongagall frowned. The concern was evident on her face as she nodded quickly and said, "Don't you worry, Severus! I'll alert Filch...and the others! The children will be found right away!"
In the middle of his sickening worry, Severus felt profoundly grateful for McGongagall's help as he watched her turn and dash towards the main part of the castle.
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True to her word, McGonagall quickly alerted the rest of the castle's staff to the unsettling situation.
Dumbledore himself was involved in the hunt for Harriet and Ellery, which Hogwarts' professors and house elves undertook for the rest of the day.
No one could find a single trace of Harriet or her little brother.
Due to the enchantment on the cauldron inside which Harriet and Ellery sat, no spell or charm could locate the missing children
As evening approached and they remained lost, Severus's remorseful dread had such a powerful hold on him that he was barely able to stand.
Dumbledore and McGonagall guided him back into the Potions Classroom while Dumbledore spoke, "Now, now, Severus.....I have no reason to believe any intruders have managed to enter the castle today....The children must be someplace we've overlooked. I'm going to request assistance from the Ministry and-"
From inside the cauldron, Harriet and Ellery could hear perfectly well.
Harriet had grown bored with their game.
As soon as she noticed voices in the classroom, she popped up out of the cauldron and blinked at Severus.
The adults' eyes widened.
A hoarse cry between a gasp and a moan left Severus's lips.
"- Daddy?" Harriet calmly asked, "..........Brother and I are hungry. Where have you been?"
As Ellery poked his head out of the cauldron next to his sister, Severus had never felt such an odd, simultaneous mix of blinding rage and blissful relief.
He had nearly vomited from worry, imagined a thousand of his worst fears during the mental torture he had endured for the last hours, and his children had known about his struggle all along?!?!
Harriet blinked at her father while he narrowed his dark eyes at her and her brother.
"You haven't apologized or expressed your gladness to see me......" Severus scowled at Harriet and Ellery as he crossed his arms, "I've spent hours agonizing over you both, yet the only thing that you ask is where....I've.....been?!?!" He hissed.
"Well, where have you been, Daddy?" Ellery blinked as he followed up on his sister's question.
McGonagall frowned and patted Severus's shoulder sympathetically.
Professor Snape closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he resisted the blinding urge to rush forward and strangle his darlings.