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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"It's alright, my love." Severus whispered as he held Lily close and nuzzled into the crook of her neck, ".........I'm here beside you."
Severus's heart lurched as Lily clutched onto him desperately.
She had managed to dry her tears but she sat on the sofa with red eyes, irritated from the many hours she had spent weeping.
"Thanks, Sev." Lily whispered as she tried to sniff away the last evidence of her sobs, "I.....I'm just a bit shaken that's all."
"As am I." Severus replied in his low drawl.
As Lily reached for another tissue, he gently released her.
She could see the distress in her husband's pale face as he cast her a deep frown of concern.
"Harriet won and that's brilliant....but.....I don't particularly care to watch our daughter be chased by a murderous monster." Lily laughed dryly as she sniffed.
"I assure you, my love, the sight turned my stomach." Severus frowned.
"I know it did, Sev." Lily said with a bitter smile, "I...I suppose I went into shock? I knew it may happen, but I-"
"-You're her mother, Lily." Severus said with tender thoughtfulness in his velvet voice. His black eyes softened as he gazed at his wife, "Between worrying over you and Harriet, it was a challenging afternoon for me as well, I assure you."
Lily chuckled as she wiped her eyes one last time and laid her head on Severus's shoulder.
He gently stroked his beloved's crimson hair as he attempted to soothe her into a state of relaxation that may make sleep possible for her that evening.
".........Sev?" Lily asked.
"Yes, my love?" Severus answered.
"I'm going to die soon." Lily smiled.
Severus instantly pulled back to look at her as he furrowed his brow at Lily.
His face twisted into an incredulous scowl of mournful questioning as he stared at his wife in disbelief.
Lily stared at Severus with determination as she nodded and said, "When Harriet faces him.....Voldemort......I won't freeze again....I won't sit idly by and watch our little girl fight for her life. I'll......I'll have no choice but to do everything I can to protect her."
"Lily......." Severus began as a grey shadow of dread passed across his face, "The scene will be harrowing, certainly, but she is the Chosen One, you are not. She-"
"-is my daughter." Lily interrupted him with a solemn frown of resolution.
Severus's dark eyes softened as he watched his flower sigh, "I am her mother, Severus. I bore her, I nursed her, I raised her.....with your help every step of the way."
Lily flashed him a bittersweet smile as she went on, "You've given us so much of yourself without ever having to.....You've loved me, loved Harriet, loved Ellery, and looked after us.....cared for us. But one day, Sev, it'll be my turn to sacrifice."
"Oh, Lily........" Severus breathed.
The anguished torment in his black eyes filled Lily's broken heart with the urgent need to comfort her spouse.
Severus opened his mouth to speak, but his darling cut him off as she leaned in, cupped his face in her hands, and pressed a tender, loving kiss to his lips.
With their children at school and the darkness of the evening bearing down upon them, Severus and Lily pressed against each other as they drowned in their mutual devotion.
Mr. and Mrs. Snape became the perfect salves for each other's bleeding souls.
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Blissfully ignorant of the destiny she had been born to face, Harriet celebrated her triumph without any fear of the future at all.
Later that night, all those in Gryffindor house gathered in the common room to congratulate Harriet on her victory and hear more about her perilous interaction with the dragon.
Although Slytherin house largely supported Cedric Diggory, Ellery held his own private commemoration of his sister's triumph as he spent the evening chatting with a few of his housemates whose parents all served the Dark Lord.
Every single conversation in Hogwarts buzzed with excitement after the pulse-pounding displays witnessed during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.
Whether Harriet, Cedric, Fleur, or Viktor was being discussed, the entire student body credited the tournament itself for bringing such noteable events to what would have otherwise been a regular, dull school year.
As the next month passed, those excited chatterings gradually died away until they were replaced by an entirely new set of excited whispers with the announcement of the Yule Ball.
Students from Hogwarts, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang either sought out a date for the event or hoped to be sought as such.
Two weeks before the event, Harriet remained unasked and unbothered.
Hermione had said little about the matter, but Ron's concern had seemed to grow after his older brothers Fred and George declared they had found dates.
"Has anyone asked you yet, Harriet?" Ron whispered one afternoon while they sat working during their study period.
"Asked me what?" Harriet blinked as she glanced up with a confused scowl.
Hermione sighed at her friend's naivety as Ron frowned and said, "Well, to the ball, of course! Has anyone asked you yet?"
Ron whispered loudly enough that his voice caught Draco's attention as he sat at the nearby Slytherin table.
When Harriet glanced past Ron to meet Draco's grey gaze, he quickly looked away as Ron pressed, "Well, have they?!"
"No." Harriet shook her head, "No one's asked me yet."
Hermione threw Ron a scowl.
To her surprise, he noticed as he turned to look at her and spoke, "Hermione.....I suppose you're a girl too."
"How clever of you to notice, Ronald." She snapped.
Ron glanced nervously between Harriet and Hermione before Harriet nodded at them both and stood from her seat.
She couldn't help but smirk as she listened to the fright in Ron's voice while Hermione hissed her displeasure.
Harriet didn't notice Draco slammed his book shut and stood too, intent on catching up to her as she stepped into the hallway.
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Accustomed to moving quickly on her way to and from class, Harriet had nearly made it down the corridor when a voice cried, "Snape!.......Hey, SNAPE!"
Harriet stopped and turned to see who had called her name.
Her eyes narrowed in irritation as she saw Draco walk towards her.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harriet snapped.
Draco forced a haughty sneer on his face as he stopped in front of Harriet with an arrogant grin.
While he gazed at his angry, beautiful darling, his bravery left him.
".......Well?!" She asked as she raised her hands and dropped them in an exclamatory gesture, "What is it that you've come to say? Spit it out, I'm in a hurry."
As Draco stared into Harriet's hypnotic emerald eyes, he imagined himself standing on the edge of a dangerous precipice.
The almost certain possibility of Harriet's rejection made bile rise in his throat as he imagined himself tumbling over some abject edge into a void of heartbreak and despair.
"..........I'm waiting." Harriet huffed as she crossed her arms.
Will you go the ball with me?
Would you like to go the ball with me?
Please, would you please go to the-
Draco realized it didn't matter how he phrased his inquiry, each time he went to open his mouth with those words on his tongue, vomit rose in the back of his throat, ready to shoot forth in the most embarrassing way imaginable.
Frustrated and disappointed in himself, Draco cast Harriet a scathing glare before he abruptly turned and hurried away.
"Malfoy?!?!.......What was that all about?!" Harriet shouted after him, but Draco increased his pace as his need to flee consumed him.
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It was a mystery to everyone how a bouquet of flowers managed to get all the way up Gryffindor Tower and into the girls' dormitory, but Harriet's roommates declined to say anything to McGonagall, too fascinated by the romance of the situation to stifle it.
The next morning, Harriet woke and blinked her eyes at an amorphous mass of red at her bedside.
She frowned as she reached over, slipped her glasses on, and stared at the impressive, scarlet roses that stood on her nightstand, held in an elegant vase.
Harriet realized her roommates were awake as she looked over to find them already giggling and whispering to each other, intrigued by the flowers.
"...........Hermione?" Harriet asked as she glanced over at her friend.
"They're for you, Harriet." Hermione shrugged, "No one's quite sure where they've come from."
Harriet sat up in bed and leaned closer to the roses.
Their scent was pleasant and fresh.
Their bright blooms were as flawless as their green stems, perfect, beautiful, vibrant........
"This came with it....It was on the side of the vase." Hermione informed Harriet as she handed her a small scrap of parchment the others had immediately discovered once they had woken and noticed the roses.
Harriet frowned at the parchment before she looked at Hermione and shrugged, ".......It's blank."
"It is, yes." Hermione frowned, "That doesn't give us much to go on, does it?"
As Harriet held the note in her hands, her eyes widened as words started to appear on the scrap of parchment:
Harriet Snape,
Will you accompany me to the Yule Ball?
If so, meet me at the bottom of the stairs at 7:50 in the evening on December 25th.
I will be waiting,
"Hermione....." Harriet whispered.
As Hermione moved to look at the note in Harriet's hand, the other girls eagerly rushed over with excited gasps.
The squeals that rang out in the dormitory were deafening as Harriet blinked at Hermione, who shrugged and declared, "Well, Harriet, it looks like you have a secret admirer."
Harriet's green eyes widened as she glanced back down at the parchment.
Tom, it had been Tom, there could be no other explanation.
...........Surely it hadn't been.....it couldn't have been........Draco?
While Hermione frowned and the other girls contented themselves with scandalous gossip, Harriet locked an unspoken truth deep within her heart.
Part of her would have been elated to finally get to meet Tom Riddle by finding him waiting for her at the Yule Ball.
However, another part of her was sickened to think anyone except Draco would have gone to such extraordinary lengths.........