Lily dropped off Harry at her mother's house at nine thirty on Monday morning. Harry burst into the house like a stampede of unicorns and centaurs, yelling, "Granny! Granny! We'rehere!"

Vi came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishrag. "Hello, luv! Come and give your gran a kiss, sweet boy!" She knelt so Harry could kiss her cheek and hug her as well.

"Mmm. You smell real good, Granny," Harry remarked, sniffing appreciatively.

Vi laughed. "That's because I've been baking bread and honey rolls." The aroma of fresh baked bread, honey, butter, and yeast clung to her round frame.

"Yum! Can I have some?"

"Of course. I have some rolls fresh from the oven cooling. Would you like one too, Lil?"

Lily hesitated. She knew she wasn't going to be late for her appointment, since Sev would see her whenever she showed up at the office, but she did want to get the examination over and done with, so her nerves could either calm down or . . .she shook her head slightly, no, she would not even go there. No sense in scaring herself silly.

"All right, Mum. You know how I love your bread. I could never quite make mine taste as good." Lily admitted.

"That's because you never practiced enough," Vi said, smiling. Then she led the way into the kitchen.

The aroma of freshly baked bread and honey rolls filled the kitchen, and Lily breathed it in with a soft sound of delight. She had missed the wonderful fragrance of fresh bread, it always conjured up memories of home, growing up in this house, coming home from school with Petunia to find fresh bread or biscuits on a plate ready to be eaten for an after school snack.

I want that kind of thing for Harry, Lily thought, sitting down and slathering a honey roll with butter and biting into it. She groaned softly in sheer pleasure. Utter heavenly bliss! I'll have to start baking again, so when Harry starts school, I can have fresh bread and rolls waiting when he comes home, on the days I'm off. "They're fantastic, Mum! Just like I remember from when I was a kid."

Vi beamed, she loved when people, especially her family, praised her cooking. "Glad to hear it, Lil. I hadn't baked in over three months and I was afraid I'd lost my touch." She looked at her daughter searchingly. "What are you going to Sev's office for, hon? A yearly exam? You don't look sick to me."

"I'm not . . .But I, well, I wanted Sev to check me out since I haven't yet managed to become pregnant."

Vi put a hand on her arm. "Is there some reason you might be having problems, Lil? Have your courses been regular?"

Lily nodded. "I'm probably worrying over nothing, Mum. But I think, and Sev agrees, that I should let him examine me, just in case. And if there's anything wrong, he can treat me with a potion and that will be that." She had complete faith in Severus to cure and diagnose almost any ailment, he was the top in his field.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, dear. After all, every time is different. It took me longer to get pregnant with you than Petunia. So maybe you take after the Hart side of the family, luv."

Thus reassured, Lily continued eating her roll, savoring the delicate and sweet flavor and the soft texture. She ate another one and drank some tea and then she kissed Harry and Vi goodbye. "Gotta run, Mum, before I eat everything in sight and then Sev will put me on a diet. Harry, be good from your Granny and Pop, y'hear?"

Harry nodded, his mouth was full of bread. "Of course he'll be good for us, Lily. We can go and play at the park and paint pictures for the art wall, right, Harry?"

"Uh huh," muttered the little boy, chewing enthusiastically. He waved goodbye to Lily and then the auburn-haired witch Apparated away to Severus's office.

* * * * * *

Severus frowned, recasting the diagnostic again. His dark brows drew down over his nose sharply, and Lily awaited his diagnosis anxiously. But Severus did not speak immediately, instead muttering to himself.

"Sev? Is something the matter?" she asked nervously. "What does the spell say?"

Severus looked frustrated, running a hand through his dark hair, which he kept cut short so it wouldn't interfere with him when he did surgery on a patient. "The results are . . .inconclusive."

"Inconclusive? I don't understand?"

Her husband looked supremely irritated, though not with her. His irritation was directed at himself. "I cast a specific diagnostic to see if there were any abnormalities or diseases affecting your reproductive system, Lil. But the spell came back negative. Based on this result, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to bear a child or carry one to term."

"But that's good, right? So why are you so upset, Sev?" Lily asked, heaving an intense sigh of relief.

"Because there's something not quite right with the diagnostic in another area. It's bringing back an odd reading on your blood count, Lil. Nothing really major, but . . .I don't like it." He shook his head. "I'm going to need to perform a few more tests, maybe draw some blood too."

"Oh. Okay, I guess. I have been feeling kind of tired and achy, I thought it was maybe a cold or something.  Could it be some kind of anemia? I think my aunt on my dad's side suffered from that."

"Possibly. I'll test your hemoglobin levels," Severus said, though some instinct was nagging him that it was nothing so obvious as a low hemoglobin count. Still, he would not rest until he figured it out. He was a Master Healer, he should be able to diagnose his own wife reliably, by Nimue's Everlasting Cup!

Rubbing his temples, he intoned several more spells, all designed to ferret out any abnormalities with blood cells and levels of iron, cholesterol, and also any magical diseases.

Each spell came back negative.

Severus grew more and more frustrated, for though he was happy the results were good, he felt that somehow he was overlooking something. But at last he set down his wand and said, "Everything checks out, love. You don't have anemia, or any magical blood diseases, like Pritchard's Bleeding Syndrome. Perhaps all you need is several nights of a Dreamless Sleep Potion and an Energy Draft."

Lily smiled, very relieved to have been proven wrong.

Then Severus said, "Still, let me draw a vial of your blood anyhow. There are a few Muggle diseases that can cause fatigue like you've described. Been bitten by any ticks?"

"No. Why?"

"Ticks could carry a disease called Lymes disease. Or perhaps you're sufffereing from chronic fatigue syndrome. None of those would show up on a diagnostic spell because they're strictly Muggle diseases and a wizarding diagnostic was designed to detect basic injuries and ailments and mostly magical diseases."

"No, I don't think I've been bitten by any ticks. How can you get my blood tested, Sev? You'd need access to a Muggle lab in a hospital."

"I know. It's a good thing my old Muggle pediatrician is still around. I can glamour myself to look like him and send the blood down to the lab under his name-Dr. Ferris. Then I'll simply tag the vial when they test it and return for the results later on." Severus said.

"How long will that take?"

"Uh . . .probably a week or so, Muggle labs aren't as fast as ours. Actually, that's not fair, they handle a hell of a lot more patients than we do. But I'll make sure you know the results as soon as I get them, Lily," promised her husband.

"And will you know how to treat those diseases you mentioned?"

"Yes. Once I know the cause and the symptoms, I'm sure I can invent a potion to cure it," Severus said, with more confidence than he felt. He just prayed it was nothing too serious, for cancer was a disease even a Healer found difficult to halt and not even wizards, with their abnormally high resistance to most infectious Muggle diseases, were safe from that dreaded plague. But he would never burden Lily with his insecurity, or scare her unnecessarily, until he knew for certain there was something for her to be concerned about.

If only his instincts weren't screeching at him that he was missing something. He had learned long ago to trust his instincts when it came to medicine. They had never failed him.

Only this time, for the first time ever, he found himself hoping he was wrong, and the blood test came back negative as well.

He quickly picked up a syringe from the cart and after swabbing Lily's arm and having her make a fist, carefully inserted the needle and drew out a vial of his wife's blood. He was quick, neat, and the procedure was almost entirely painless.

"There! I'll send this off tomorrow, and in a week I'll know if you have any kind of Muggle blood problem. It's doubtful, but better safe than sorry, right?" he gently placed some salve on her arm and the place where the needle went in quit bleeding and stinging almost immediately.

Then he removed his gloves and cupped his wife's face in his hands and said, in that soft velvet tone she loved so well, "I love you, Lily flower. I'll see you at home for dinner." His mouth found hers and they kissed for a brief electrifying moment before he released her.

"Goodbye, Sev. See you soon, love." Lily said, rolling her sleeve back down and waving goodbye to the Healer.

"Tell Harry I said hello and we can practice some more potions tomorrow," Severus called and then waved goodbye just before Lily Apparated away to pick up Harry at Spinner's End.