Lily was grateful that it was Severus she had chosen to fall apart on, because unlike some of her other well-meaning friends, Severus didn't bother with the standard platitudes, saying she would be all right eventually and that at least James was in heaven now and all that. He simply held her close and just let her grieve. His hand rubbed gentle circles on her back and then he ran his fingers through her hair, he had always loved playing with her long fiery red hair.

When it became obvious that she wouldn't be stopping any time soon, Severus picked her up and went to sit down on a nearby bench, ignoring the shocked stares of some of the other mourners. He knew some of the older witches thought it improper for a man unrelated to her to be holding widow Potter like that, but Severus could have cared less. Lily needed him, he had promised long ago that he would always be there for her, and he intended to keep that promise, and to hell with those gossipy old biddies. He flashed one disapproving old stick a Snape glare worthy of his father Tobias, and had the satisfaction of hearing her gasp and turn away before he sat down and cradled the slender witch on his lap, giving Lily the comfort she so badly needed during this wretched time.

She was his best friend, the woman that he loved, though he could never admit that to anyone once she had married James. So he had buried his desire and longing down deep in a corner of his mind, resolved to not let it surface and ruin his friends' marriage, for he was not one to play the rogue and try and seduce another man's wife. Yet now, even though he too was grieving, he felt a small traitorous corner of his heart stir and rejoice at finally holding his love in his arms at last, the way he had done in his dreams. He sternly told the corner of his heart to shut up and continued holding Lily, humming softly to calm her the way his mother used to do to him when he cried like that, which had usually been after a session with Tobias's belt as a child. No, there was one other time I wept this way. When Mum died, I cried like this on Lily's shoulder. Turnabout's fair play this time.

None of the other mourners commented on the rather improper sight of Healer Snape holding James Potter's widow on his lap, they simply nodded or offered condolences before drifting away. And when one unwise press photographer from The Daily Prophet came and tried to snap their picture, doubtless planning to stick some lurid suggestive headline under it, Severus gave him a glare worthy of a Hungarian Horntail and snarled, "Put it away, before you find it and yourself blown all the way to China. Where's your common decency, show some respect, Merlin blast you! Must you prey upon her even now, you little maggot? Leave her alone, go and find your story elsewhere!"

The photographer had turned pale as a dead flobberworm and scurried away, clutching the camera to him like a shield.

Severus snorted. "Humph! Damn vultures!" he shifted the woman on his lap slightly. "Lily, do you want me to Apparate us back to your house?"

She lifted her head from his shoulder, her green eyes red-rimmed and her fair skin blotchy from crying. She hated it when she cried, for she knew it made her look a fright. Unlike some women, who could cry buckets and still look pretty, Lily thought with a tinge of envy. But this was her oldest and best friend, and she knew she didn't need to keep up appearances with him. "Thanks, Sev, but if you don't mind, we need to go to my parents' to pick up Harry. He was kind of cranky when I left, so I hope he's been behaving." She sighed, not knowing if she was up to dealing with a cranky baby right then, but she had no choice.

She slid off his lap, wishing for a moment that she could stay in the shelter of his arms. She had almost stopped crying when she heard what he had said to that nosy reporter or whoever he was. But she wasn't surprised, Severus had always protected her when they were children, even when the protecting had cost him a black eye or a bloody nose. Okay, buck up, Lily. Time to quit crying and start dealing with the fact that you're now a single parent, she told herself firmly.

But even the mere thought of going home to her empty house filled her with a sort of dread. She took a deep breath, then another. Somehow, she would manage. She had no choice, she was the only parent her little son had now. She had to be strong for Harry.

Severus gently took her arm, then Apparated away to the Evans house, which was at the opposite end of wizarding London, on a street called Spinner's End. This was also the street where Tobias lived, though Severus was not intending on paying a social call to his father, who was an alcoholic and had not been on speaking terms with his wizard son since Eileen Snape had passed away three years ago.

Lily's childhood home was a pleasant two-story brick with white siding affair. It had a large door with a brass dog's head knocker on it, Sev could remember banging that knocker up and down for fun when they were children, until Henry Evans used to bellow at them to knock it off. We were mischievous little scamps back then, the two of us, the Master Healer reminisced as he and Lily walked up to the door. Along the walk were manicured beds of hydrangeas, tulips, lilies, petunias, and snapdragons, as well as two large rose bushes on either side of the porch. Violet Evans adored her flower garden, one reason why she had such a prolific one and had named her daughters after some of her favorite flowers.

The perfume of the tea roses and the lilies and hydrangeas soothed Lily's weary spirit. Whenever she smelled those particular flowers, which she also grew in her own yard, she was reminded of her home. Unlike Severus, who had grown up with an abusive alcoholic father who had made his childhood a misery, Lily had only good memories of her home, and she visited her parents regularly every other Sunday, with Harry and James, when he hadn't been working a case.

Lily carefully blotted her eyes with a tissue before she lifted the brass ring in the dog's mouth and knocked sharply.

"Just a minute!" came a woman's voice from somewhere inside.

A moment later, the door was opened and Violet Evans was embracing her daughter. Vi, as she preferred to be called, was a plump auburn-haired woman in her mid-forties, she was wearing a black dress and shoes and no make-up. The solemn attire made her seem almost a stranger to Severus, who was used to seeing Lily's mother in bright vibrant colors and usually with lipstick and eyeshadow accentuating her brilliant green eyes, which her youngest daughter had inherited.

She looked up from hugging her daughter and smiled sadly at the master Healer. "Hello, Sev. It's been awhile since you've come knocking at my door. I wish this had been different circumstances."

"So do I, Vi," Severus said heavily.

"Well, come in then, boy, you know you're always welcome in my house, Severus Snape!" She had one arm around her daughter and reached out the other to pat him familiarly on the cheek, an intimacy he would have permitted no one else save his mother. But Vi was like a surrogate mother to him, she had fixed up his scraped knees and dried his tears, hugged and scolded him the same as she had done her own daughters when they were growing up.

"Where's Dad?" Lily asked softly, looking about the familiar sunflower motif kitchen as though she had never seen it before. There was a dragon print diaper bag resting on the table along with a half-full bottle of milk and an assortment of small toys.

"Trying to put your scamp of a son down for a nap," answered her mother, ushering her to a seat. "He's been awful cranky today, Lil. Wouldn't eat, barely took his bottle, I think he may be running a temperature. He keeps pulling at his ear and whimpering, poor little mite. The only one he seems to want today has been his Pop Evans."

"It sounds like he has an ear infection," Severus spoke up then, shifting instantly from concerned grieving friend into Healer mode. "Would you like me to examine him, Lily?" He'd been Harry's physician since the boy was born, having delivered him, but he always asked permission before examining any child.

"Please, Sev." Lily said, giving him a grateful look.

"I'll tell Hal to bring him in here, I don't think he's gotten him to sleep yet," said Vi, and she bustled off upstairs to get her husband and her grandson.

Lily remained seated in the chair, feeling emotionally drained and numb, she wanted to sleep for a year, the knowledge that she was now a widow was like a rock in the center of her stomach, hard and unyielding. Funny, she had dealt with James being away from home on a daily basis, especially once the troubles with Voldemort had started. But she had always known that one day James would walk through the door again, with a hug and a kiss and his familiar devil-may-care grin. Now, however, he would never return, and it left a bitter sharp ache in her heart.

She sniffled sharply, and felt Severus squeeze her shoulder gently and hand her another tissue. "Thanks, Sev. I'm sorry for falling apart like that."

"Lily, remember what you said to me when my mother died? I'm going to say the same thing to you now. James has just died, the man you loved, and you're entitled to fall apart, in fact I expect you to fall apart and cry all over me like there's no tomorrow, because that's what I'm here for. Now and always,' he said sincerely.

She sniffled and gave him a watery smile through her tears. Then she resolutely wiped them away, she didn't want to frighten her son, Harry was a very sensitive baby and grew upset if someone was crying around him.

"Here you go, luv! There's Mummy!" Vi announced, as she came into the kitchen, holding Harry in her arms.

The dark-haired little boy was fussing, his normally cheerful face pulled down into a frown, his green eyes bright with fever and pain. But they lit with joy when he saw Lily, and he reached for her with both chubby arms. "Mummy! Mummy home!"

"Hello, sweetheart! How's my little man doing today?" Lily swept her son into a fierce hug, burying her face in his hair, which was sticking up all over creation as usual. He smelled of baby powder and she saw her father had managed to get him into his sleeper, which was a red one with little Golden Snitches flying all over it.

Lily heard her father enter the kitchen, though she didn't look up from hugging her child. Oh, Harry. You look so like your father. You're the one thing I have left of him, the last of the Potters. James's parents had both died untimely deaths, his father Charles had been killed from a fall off of a broom while doing some dangerous aerial maneuvers in a parade four years ago, and his mother Anna had died two years before her husband from a heart attack. Their vast fortune had passed to their only son, and now it would go to Harry, to be put in trust in Gringotts until he was of age, or Lily needed to withdraw funds from the account.

"Hello, Sev. Long time no see, doc."

"Hello, Hal. My practice keeps me too busy to visit much any more, I'm afraid," Severus told the older man, who was nearly as tall as he was, built like a lumberjack, with a shock of premature white hair. But his fierce appearance hid a genial nature and a gentle heart.

"Guess that's how you know if you're a good doctor, right?" chuckled Hal.

Severus nodded, turning to look at Harry, who was now squirming in Lily's arms. "Hey, scamp. I hear you're not feeling so good today."

Harry turned to look up at the familiar white-robed Healer. "Sevvy!" he crowed and held up his arms. "Harry's ear hurts."

Severus picked up the little child and hugged him. "Your ear, is it? Well, let's see what I can do for it, all right?" He gazed at Lily. "Lil, would you like me to try and treat him here, or in my office? I have everything I need there, though I can summon it here if you'd rather."

"No, Sev. It'd probably be better if you treated him in your office, I don't want to put you out," Lily said quickly. She rose to hug her father. "Hi, Dad."

"Hello, princess," he murmured. "I wish this were any other Sunday," Hal coughed, brushing a tear from his eye, for he had been fond of James. "I'm sorry, I wish I could do something to make this easier for you."

"It's all right, Dad. You've done more than enough, watching Harry."

"Well . . .if there's anything else we can do, you know all you have to do is call and we'll be over." He hugged his daughter hard. Lily rested her head on his shoulder and cried a bit more.

"Later on, dear, when you're up to it, I'd like to bring some flowers and plant them next to James's headstone," Vi said quietly. "They're marigolds, James always did like them."

"Sure, Mum. That'd be great. He'd of liked that," Lily said, withdrawing from her father's arms. "I'd better get going. Thank you for watching Harry."

"We love watching our grandson, silly girl," said her mother, handing Lily the diaper bag and the bottle and the toys. "I hope the poor thing feels better. You take good care of him, Severus, y'hear?" she ordered, shaking a finger at the tall Master Healer in mock-reproof.

"Yes, Mrs. Evans," he said, pretending to look cowed.

"And take care of Lily too," added Hal.

"I shall," Severus promised, cuddling Harry to his chest. The child whimpered, "Ow! Hurts, Sevvy." He reached up and tugged at his ear.

Lily waved her wand at the diaper bag and Harry's toys, chanting a Shrinking Charm. "Bye, Mum and Dad. I'll see you next week."

"I'll call you, dear," said Vi, hugging her daughter and kissing her cheek. "Now go on, get that poor baby some magic elixir or whatever. He wouldn't take any medicine from me, I tried to give him some aspirin and children's Tylenol."

"Harry hates taking medicine, Mum. He only takes it for me or Sev, and even then he'll fight us sometimes," Lily told her mother.

Severus bid them goodbye also and they hugged and kissed their grandson and then Severus as well for good measure, much to his embarrassment.

Then both wizards Apparated away to Severus's office, which was on Whisper Street, five blocks from St. Mungos. The sign outside the neat white building read M.H. Snape & H. Morgan for Severus had recently signed on a partner to help him with his workload, a sandy-haired transplant from America named Matthew Morgan.

Severus disabled the alarm and the locking charm on the office, then he and Harry and Lily entered. The lights went on immediately, they were spelled to do so as soon as a person entered the reception room, which was filled with comfy couches and chairs and had a table filled with the latest periodicals and books. There was a box with toys in one corner for children to play with while they waited for their exam. Severus pushed open the door leading to the exam rooms beyond the reception area, carrying Harry on his hip.

He brought the child into a room papered in silly bunnies and unicorns and set him down on the exam table. Harry looked up at him uneasily. "No shot, righ', Sevvy?"

"No, scamp. No shots today," reassured Severus, drawing his wand. "Okay, young man. Let's see what's bothering you."

He cast a standard diagnostic spell. "Ah ha, as I thought. A bad ear infection. Plus a 102 degree fever and a touch of diarrhea as well. Poor scamp! No wonder you were cranky."

Harry sniffled and pulled his ear again. "Hurts!"

"Yes, I know. I have a potion to make it stop hurting," Severus told him. He summoned three vials and a jar from the stores in his office. Then he pulled on a set of gloves and got a rather large medicine dropper out of a drawer.

"Lily, you might want to hold him on your lap, because he's not going to like the Ear Remedy I have to put inside his ear. It tingles a bit, but you know how he fusses." Severus informed her.

"C'mere, love." Lily took Harry off the exam table and held him on her lap. "Now, you be good and hold still for Mummy and Healer Sev, okay?" she murmured, tilting his head to the side and brushing his hair away from his right ear, which was red from the child's fingers rubbing and pulling at it.

Harry squirmed. "No-o-o! No touch! Hurts!" He began to cry.

Lily hushed him and held him firmly while Severus filled a medicine dropper with the Ear Remedy and gently inserted it into the little ear canal. "Easy. I know it doesn't feel nice right now, but it'll make that nasty infection go away in an hour or two," Severus told him, wincing at the child's sobs. He knew the potion didn't really hurt, but Harry was irritable and the last thing he wanted was to have medicine, slightly warm medicine at that, put in his ear.

The Master Healer massaged the ear gently at the base, making sure all the potion had gone down the ear canal. "There. All done. See, that wasn't so bad." Harry quickly stopped crying once he realized his ear had stopped hurting. Severus conjured a chocolate bar and gave a piece of it to Harry at Lily's nod. "Here's some chocolate, scamp, since you were so brave."

Harry ate the Honeydukes Creamy Milk Chocolate bar eagerly. "Mmm . . . good!"

"And there's more where that came from if you're a good boy and take some more medicine for me," the Healer told him.

Harry swallowed the rest of the chocolate and looked up at Sev with a stubborn expression. "No. No more med'cine, Sevvy."

"Very well, then no more chocolate."

Harry's face crinkled. "Want it."

"Sorry. Only good little boys who listen to their Healers get candy. Those are the rules," Severus told the recalcitrant child sternly.

"Harry good!" He looked at Lily. "Mummy, Harry good!"

"Not if you don't listen to Healer Sev," Lily told him firmly.

The little boy considered. He really hated medicine, but he loved chocolate. He eyed the potions then nodded reluctantly. "Kay. Take med'cine."

"That's my good boy!" Lily praised, kissing him. Then she sat him up in her lap. "What are you giving him, Sev?"

"Children's Fever reducer and a mild Anti-Diarrhea draft," answered the Master Healer, pouring out the green Fever Reducer onto a plastic spoon. "Open wide, Harry."

The child screwed up his face, but he obeyed, allowing Severus to give him the yucky potion, it tasted like limes. Harry sputtered, but Severus tipped his chin up so he couldn't spit it out and said firmly, "Swallow. Good job!"

"Yuck!" his patient cried.

"I know, but it'll make you feel better, little one." Severus ruffled his hair. "One more." He poured a thicker yellow potion onto the spoon, this one tasted slightly better, like bananas.

Harry took that one easier, a good thing too, for Severus gave him two spoonfuls then told Lily to give him another tomorrow morning and gave her the vial. "His bowel movements should be back to normal by the afternoon after that last dose, but if they're not, call me."

"Okay, Sev," she agreed, tucking the potion in her pocket.

"Here you go, Harry," Severus handed him two more squares of chocolate.

The child crammed them both in his mouth, and Lily just shook her head in dismay. "Sugar monster."

Severus uncapped the jar of salve. "I have some Rash Away I can put on his bottom, he has a bit of a rash there, it'll work quicker than the cornstarch powder your mother put on him."

Lily yawned, she could feel exhaustion sweeping over her. Normally, she would have said she could apply the salve herself, but after the day she had had, she was grateful for Severus's assistance. "I'm sorry, I feel like my eyes are filled with sand," she apologized.

"I'm almost done here, Lil. Then I can Apparate you home. The Fever Reducer should make Harry sleepy, so he'll sleep through the night." Severus said, lifting Harry from her arms and laying him on the exam table.

"You sure you remember how to change a nappy, Sev?" she teased.

He pretended to look insulted. "I'm a physician, my lady. Of course I know how." he suited actions to words then, unzipping the sleeper and removing the soiled nappy. Harry squirmed and kicked, whining. "Oww! No!"

"Ah, stay still, Harry," ordered the Healer, carefully cleaning the child with a warm damp cloth, holding him firmly so he couldn't wriggle away. "This will be done in two minutes if you'd quit fighting me, boy," he grumbled.

"No! No! Bad Sevvy!" sobbed the child, for his bottom was very tender.

"Sorry, but this has to be done, now hold still." He quickly finished with the cloth and then applied a generous amount of salve. "There! How's that feel, Mr. Potter? Better?"

"Uh-huh," sniffled the little imp, and he allowed Snape to put a fresh nappy on him and put his sleeper back on.

Severus banished the soiled nappy and cloth and picked up Harry and hugged him. The little boy rested his head trustingly on the Healer's shoulder. "Dada home?" he murmured in Sev's ear.

Severus froze. Oh, Merlin! How could you explain to a thirteen-month old that his father was dead? "Ummm . . .no, Harry. He's not. He's . . .uh . . .away . . ." stammered the Healer, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh." Harry looked disappointed, but then he yawned. His daddy was often away, so that was nothing new.

Severus slanted a glance at Lily to see how she reacted to her son's innocent question. He saw her eyes glimmering with unshed tears again. He knew that the mere mention of James's name would be enough to make her tear up for the next few months or even longer. "Lil, he doesn't understand . . ."

"I know, Sev. I know. How can he? He's just a baby. And he always asks for James. He's his father's son. The only thing I have left . . ." She trailed off, crying silently into another tissue.

Severus silently cursed Voldemort to the depths of hell. And then he found himself angry at James as well. You just had to make the grand gesture, didn't you Potter? Had to go in with that charge of the bloody Valkyries mentality and get yourself killed being a hero, you stupid reckless Gryffindor idiot! Didn't you ever think of your family? Or was your damn job more important? Deep down he knew he wasn't being fair, but he couldn't stand to see Lily in such agony and now Harry was without a father too.

Harry eyed his mother in alarm. "Mummy cry? Sad?" He reached for her and Lily took him from Sev's arms. He wrapped his arms about her and hugged her tight. "No cry. Harry loves Mummy."

"I know, baby. I love you too." She gently kissed her son. "I guess I'd better be going, Sev. Thank you so much. I don't know how I-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, Lily," Severus interrupted. "I'm your friend and there are no debts between us. Now, are you sure you want to Apparate home alone? I could come with you, or you could stay at my apartment. It's small, but it can fit you and Harry for a night."

"No, Sev." Lily shook her head firmly. "Much as I'd love to, it's better if I bring Harry home. I have to get used to being alone."

Severus recognized the stubborn glint in her eye and quit pressing. "Very well. But if you change your mind, you have only to call me. Good night, little flower." He gently kissed her cheek.

"Me!" Harry insisted, turning up his little face for Severus to kiss.

Severus obliged, gently kissing the boy's forehead. "Be good, scamp. Listen to your mum, all right?"

Harry nodded. "Bye, Sevvy."

"Goodbye, imp. I'll see you soon." He hugged the little boy, and then Lily Apparated away in a flicker of blue light, back to her solitary home on Merlin Avenue, where she ended up falling asleep in her bed with Harry curled next to her, waiting for familiar footsteps and a voice that would never come again.