"Hell" James said, throwing his arms open wide "I don't care if Snape was once a Deatheater, I don't care if he had a huge crush on Lily at school or even if he still has! All I care about is that he saved my family and is now, as a consequence, up to his neck in trouble. Hell, he's not just up to his neck, he's up to his nose!"

"His big, beaky nose" muttered Sirius

"Sirius" Lily thundered, causing Harry, who was sitting on her lap, to gaze up in consternation.

"Translate, Remus" drawed Sirius

Remus sighed "Sirius is being rude because he is very ashamed and upset for a. treating Severus so badly at school and b. convinving James to change secret keeper. As he has the maturity of a twelve year old, he doesn't know how to properly express his gratitude for Snape risking his life and therefore is pretending that the last five years have not happened."

"That's right!"

"You two are worse than a married couple." Lily huffed "You're just enabling him, Remus."

"I wonder what would happen if you crossed a dog with a wolf." Sirius said cheekily.

"I wonder what you'd get if I crossed my knee with your balls" James said, only half jokingly. "From now on, Snape gets respect. Understood."

"Aye aye Captain."

"Sirius, be serious."

Before Sirius could respond that he was always 'sirious' Remus cut in "The simple fact is that, due to certain life choices made by us, Severus Snape is in danger. We are, of course, all in danger. Voldemort may be dead but the worst of his followers are still free and very much alive."

"And Dumbledore does not scare them. The Lestranges would have no qualms about breaking into Hogwarts."

"Which is why we can't stay here and endanger the kids." Sirus said, suddenly sombre "My cousin is fucking mental..."

"Sirius!"

"Ok, she is freaking mental. A crazy, evil monster. She'll be out for revenge and will kill anyone who stands between her and whomever she's out to get!" Sirius said vehemently.

"So Snape first, with ourselves and the Longbottoms being the next obvious target, if they can't find him." James said grimly "We are all in danger and a danger to the people around us. We've got to leave- very soon- and find a safehouse."

"And it would be best for us to join forces." Remus said. "We don't know how many death eaters will join in the hunt. Together, we could fight off eight, nine? There can't be more than that in the inner circle."

"Because it was always three against one" Remus said, reprovingly.

"Yeah, well, we were arseholes, weren't we?" James said firmly.

"James, no swearing."

"Sorry Lil, but we were. I was a spoilt, bratty little ignoramus, Sirius had issues...."

"You mean my family all being dark wizards who thought common decency was weakness?" Sirus said grudgingly.

"And Peter was just a slimeball, hanging out with us because we helped him." James finished disgustedly "If it weren't for Remus, we'd have all probably been in Azkaban now."

Remus shook his head "Neither of you were that bad, James."

"No, well look at what we did? Frank was an auror, Alice in intelligence; not their fault that they defied Voldemort thrice. Me, I did it for laughs. For laughs when I had a wife and a kid on the way? What sort of tard does that make me? I might as well have drawn a target on my face. And Lily being muggleborn too. How could I have been so stupid!"

"You were doing the right thing, James. You didn't do all that stuff just for laughs, you were helping people, protecting people." Lily said staunchly.

"But we didn't need to be so obvious about it, did we." James said heavily "We could have disguised ourselves!"

"Or perhaps not boasted to the Daily Prophet reporters down the pub" Remus said quietly.

"Yes, that too" grinned Sirus "Got me laid, once or twice." his smile faded "but perhaps it wasn't all that worth it."

"And that wasn't my only misjudgement. Why the hell didn't we see it was Peter who was the spy? I mean, out of the four of us, which one was the flatterer, the one who sought out more powerful friends, who turned a blind eye to wrongdoing?"

Remus smiled James sadly "But you also had a werewolf in your midst. You are a good man, James, and a kind man. You try to make up your own opinion, to judge as you find but there is over a thousand years of prejudice against you. It is insidious, it seeps in. Peter merely had to find some slivers of evidence to support the old stereotype. I don't blame you, you know."

Lily looked grim "Well I do! If you had consulted me, James, I'd have told you flat."

"I didn't want to worry you."

Lily's cheeks suffused pink "I'm not some delicate, helpless little woman to be shielded!"

"I know, I know..."

"Er, we're getting a bit off course. Us, the Longbottoms, Snivellus, house in the countryside."

"You ever call him that again and I'll hex your balls off!" Lily flared

"Ok, ok, sorry, sorry. But I thought you said no swearing" Sirius added cheekily.

"Sirius, belt up!" James said wearily. "Snape deserves respect and you know its only the other two 'b' words that we shouldn't say. Ball is a red and white spotted thing that you play with in the garden."

"Ball!" interjoined Harry, waving his arms

"I still find it so hard to believe that Snape actually killed Voldemort." Remus said wonderingly "Not that I do not understand why Snape wanted to do so, nor that I doubt that, despite all we did to him, Snape is a brave, good man but I do not think that I would have had the bravery to attack Voldemort, nor do I think I would have succeeded."

"He was desperate." Lily said, a strange expression on her face "He must have found out somehow about the secret keepers, known that Voldemort was on his way to kill both families and had no time to warn us."

"What do you think the Ministry will do about the Killing Curse? I mean, Snape wasn't an Auror." Remus asked.

"Ministerial pardon, I expect. Or it'll be written off as self defence. Though they might want to know where he learnt to do it- seldom works at first try." Sirius said heavily.

"I expect he used Sectumsempra." Lily said suddenly "It was his curse and he could do it wandlessly."

"What does that do?"

"It's a cutting curse, it could probably slice someone through." Lily shivered.

"Ugh, messy."

"Better than the Killing curse" James said solemnly.

"We're getting off point again" said Remus "Frank and Alice will only be too happy to join us but Snape is a private man and, if he isn't overly fond of Frank he loathes and despises us, with the exception of Lily."

"Which is why she's the one whose got to ask him"

"I haven't spoken to him since Fifth Year!"

"He saved you, he's saved your son, only natural you'd want to say thank you" James wheedled "and then you can put on the waterworks, say you're so scared for him, that the only way you'll sleep at night is if you know he's safe, just down the hall. Hell, you can even say I'm a useless tossbag and you'll only feel safe if he's down the hall."

"That's going a bit far, old man." Sirius said, shocked.

"Don't you get it, Sirius, this isn't about pride, it's about honour. Snape only needed to protect my family because I was an arrogant, foolish idiot and if he dies because I didn't do everything in my power to protect him from the consequences then I'm worthless; a shame to my wife, a shame to my family, a shame to the House of Gryffindor."

Remus rolled his eyes "Yes, I know, Gryff honour. Will you do it, Lily?"

"I will speak to him, rational human being to rational human being" Lily said, readjusting a beaming Harry on her lap "And if all else fails I will beg him to take the edge off being with a house full of raving Gryffindors."

"You're a Gryffindor too" laughed Remus, enjoying the scandalised looks on Sirius and James' faces.

"Well, the Sorting Hat was torn between that and Slytherin. I actually asked to go into the House Severus would be in."

"That worked, seeing as he went into Slyth almost immediately" Sirius said.

"Well, the Hat hadn't met him yet, it just saw my memories of him."

Sirius shrugged "He probably just expected to be in Slyth because of family and the Hat put him there. The hat offered me Slyth straight out- knew I was a Black- but then I said I wanted Gryffindor because I thought James wouldn't want to be my friend..." Sirius voice trailed off.

"A-hole, me, yes, I know." James said stoically.

"That Hat is really rubbish" Lily said "its surprising Dumbledore hasn't replaced it."

"And break with a thousand year old tradition?" Remus laughed "It'd have to eat a couple of kids' heads before the Govenors even consider considering it!"

"Yeah, its like that tradition" Sirius said fondly "that the heads of Slytherin and Gryffindor have to hate each other. Remember those brothers?"

"And that husband and wife who nearly got divorced before they were sacked for duelling in the corridor. A month outside the school and they were back to being lovebirds." James added with a smile.

"I am going to to take up teaching just so I can become headmistress and set this school back on the path of sanity." proclamed Lily throwing up her arms. Harry, lifting up his arms, cheered.

"Okay, well, Sirius, you go see Dumbledore- get him on board with finding a safehouse. Probably had a manor or two hidden away somewhere, knowing his family. Remus and I will go talk to Frank and Alice and Lily can speak to Snape."

Lily nodded "Okay. Do you want to take Harry? He can play with Neville"

James looked thoughtful "No, might as well let Snape meet him first off. Harry's not a cryer and is pretty well behaved in other respects. Better let Snape see that he's not going to be tormented morning, noon and night by a bawling brat."

Lily shrugged "Alright then. Come on, young man. Lets get you into your green dungarees and blue shirt."

*****

Although they had not spoken for almost four years, Lily still knew exactly how Severus would be feeling.

The breaking off with his friends- Lucius in particular- would have left him feeling off balanced and lost, a fact not helped by the fact that he was in what once would have been enemy terratory. Like a lion who suddenly finds itself deep within a heard of very twitchy buffalo, he'd be watching for the first kick, suspecting it in every movement, however innocent.

He would also still be full of adrenaline, anger at what might have been buzzing through his system. He'd not wind down for a week, perhaps two.

And he'd be vulnerable. He'd offered her a flower once, at the very beginning, and had been so afraid of rejection that he ran off before she'd had time to even grasp it. Though he would do his best to appear forbidding and unapproachable, Severus' feelings would be very hurt if anyone gave the slightest sign of being less than welcoming, especially as he had just done something so brave and good that it was worth all the Orders of Merlin ever issued and then some.

Twitchy, angry, afraid. Not the best time to approach his sanctuary. He'd probably hex the door off at the first knock.

Luckily, Lily was resourceful. She had a plan.

In her open palm, she held a small, metal creature. During the summer before her first year at Hogwarts, her father had soldered together eight braids of wire, a bullet casing, a teardrop shaped lightbulb and two friendly little button eyes into a spider.

Her sister, Petunia, had hated it, her mother, Rose, had beheld it with bemused amusement. Lily, however, had fallen in love with the mad little invention and immediately showed off her new skills by casting lumos.

It should have blown out the lightbulb but something, some innate ablility, had stuck the ball of light on the filiment. The spider's abdomen lit up.

"Now that's what I call magic" her father had beamed. "You keep him, Lil, use him as a bedside lamp."

"No wonder you like it" Petunia sneered to Lily "It's just like that creepy, crawling urchin of yours."

"Don't you speak about Sev like that! He's way better than your stupid, two-faced friends!"

"Girls, girls!" Mr Evans said quellingly "There is no point in making an argument of it. You don't like each other's friends? Fine. You each pick your own friends and let your sister do the same. Petunia, you don't like Lily's light, fine. It'll be in Lily's room, not yours. You don't have to look at it."

Petunia had gone off to her room in a huff, whilst Lily hurried over to show Severus her successful essay into magic.

Mrs Prince, who was listening to the two children as she washed up, had eventually come over to look at the spider.

"That's a nice bit of work that is, and a nice bit of magic. Here" she tapped the spider with her wand "It's unbreakable now."

"Cool!" breathed Lily

"Good, Petunia can't smash it now." Severus said with satisfaction.

"Sev, Petunia wouldn't!"

"Now children, why not look in your books to see what else your little spider can do" Mrs Prince had said firmly, heading off the argument before it started.

And, over the next few years, the spider had developed a life of its own. A walking charm was an obvious addition, across the floor, then a clever little clinging charm to its feet so it could climb the walls. Once at Hogwarts and separated into different Houses, the idea of using the spider to take messages had occurred to them; at first across the great hall, then to the dorms and finally, though Severus' clever little adaptation of 'find me' throughout the castle.

Of course, the method of allowing the spider to carry the message evolved over time; the original idea of simply tucking a note under one leg- the spider could scuttle well with seven- soon became passe. They experimented with morse code- a brief burst of light for the dots and a longer burst for the dashes- but that took too long to translate and wasn't exactly secure. Then they charmed it to speak, which worked quite well but for the fact that it wasn't always easy to cast a privacy spell in time. Eventually, Snape made use of the little button eyes, charming them to recognise their faces and to give a message only when the code word was said.

The word chosen was simple to remember but its relevance was relatively unknown in the wizarding world; "Shelob".

Lily took a deep breath; the last time she had held this steadfast tin spider was just before she had spoken to Severus for the last time; he had sent it- almost certainly begging forgiveness for calling her a mudblood- but she had not wanted to hear and had simply rolled the spider in an old dress and dumped him in her trunk, where it had remained, patient and faithful, until she had dug it out this morning.

Like Severus, really. Patient, faithful, waiting for her to come back in her own time.

Lily squeesed the spider's second right leg to delete the previous message- still too painful to hear although now for different reasons, then tugged at its first left leg to record her message.

"Sev, its me, Lily. Please, I want to talk to you. Can I see you? Please."

The little spider blinked its button eyes at her, signalling that it had recorded the message. "Find Severus Snape" Lily instructed, watching the small form tap across the floor and up and along the wall.

About quarter of an hour later, the spider came tapping back towards her. "Shelob" Lily said, casting a quick privacy charm.

"Follow me" the spider said in Snape's voice. Lily smiled and said "Find Severus Snape".

It appeared that, since the spider had last been used, that a new charm had been added; whenever Lily crossed paths with anyone else, the spider stilled until they had walked away.

//Poor Sev// Lily thought.

Eventually, after a somewhat winding route, the spider stopped at a door before wriggling underneith a crack.

Shifting Harry in her arms, Lily knocked.

When Severus opened the door, Lily stifled a gasp. He was so thin, the bones of face jutted out sharply, large, purplish hollows ringed under his eyes and his robes- cut for a very slender man- appeared two sizes too big.

Severus Snape was only just twenty but, without his jet black hair and taut skin, could easily have passed for seventy.

"Sev, I'm so sorry." the words came out reflexively, unbidden.

A man less in control of himself than Severus would have gaped. Instead he simply said "Come inside."

Lily padded around the door and into an office which had obviously been previously occupied by a very different personality; on a deep, shag pile carpet of deep magenta, plush, fat, jewel-coloured armchairs abounded, waited upon by dainty side tables. The curtains were similarly attired in magenta velvet and the oak pannelled walls were hung with brightly-coloured tapestries of magical flora and fauna, heavy with gold thread. The only scholarly articles were a smallish bookcase, filled with impressive, gilded tomes and a small desk- an small intricately carved thing, more an object d'art than something actually used. Snape's books- slightly foxed, with invariably dark bindings- sat in an awkward tower on one of the larger coffee tables.

Looking hard at Harry, who was gazing around at the bright glitter with admiring green eyes, Snape stomped out of the room and returned smacking the dust out of a large, stuffed toy dragon with bulging but rather friendly green eyes.

"Harry?" the toddler asked, his eyes brightening at the threadbare but still bright yellow, emerald and scarlet velvet of the toy.

"By all means. There's a whole nursery full of the things!" Snape thrust the toy at the delighted little boy.

"Thank oo" Harry's plump fingers stroked the velvet tenderly and he began chewing on a felt horn.

"It's probably not all that clean" Severus said dispassionately, motioning at Lily to sit down.

Lily found her voice "It's fine. Harry puts his hands everywhere and then into his mouth anyway. But it was very kind, thank you Severus."

"It will keep him quiet." Severus said brusquely.

Lily bit her lip "Look, Severus, there's a lot I need to say to you. A lot of apologies I need to make and gratitude too."

"They sent you to apologise on their behalf?" Severus asked scornfully.

"No, I was apologising for myself actually." Lily said firmly "Now I've grown up a bit, I can see I wasn't much of a friend to you. I gave up, rather than fought for our friendship. I was too involved with my wounded feelings to take yours into account."

"I should never have called you that!"

"Yeah, okay, it was a nasty word, it was below you and it hurt my feelings- more because I thought it signified that you'd changed, become dark."

"I had Lily, I became a Death Eater."

"Not then and, if I'd listened to Dad, if I'd got over myself and we made up, then it might never have happened."

"You are not responsible for my choices Lily, I will not allow you to take the blame."

"No, maybe not. But perhaps if I'd been a better friend, you'd have had a reason to make a better choice." Lily said firmly. "Everyone is responsible for their own actions, yes, but its stupid to think that there's no such thing as contributing factors. I could always out argue Lucius and you always eventually sided with me." Lily smiled ruefully.

"Whatever the contributory factors, I still joined him, still worked for him."

Lily folded her arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow "So, Severus, what's the very worst sin you committed? Ever rape anyone?"

"No!"

"Ever torture anyone?"

"Of course not?"

"Ever kill anyone- premeditated or in a battle?"

"No Lily but... but there are other ways of killing than cursing."

"Oh, so you made poisons" Lily said lightly, examining her nails.

"No, of course not."

"So, let me get this straight. You didn't rape, you didn't torture, you didn't kill, either through curse or poison. You didn't really do anything, Sev. Just made a really bad life choice which meant you were on the spot to save me and my family."

Severus' face worked "But I told him! I told him of the prophesy. I was his spy!"

"Ah!" Lily said, her mind blank with shock.

"I was the one who almost got you killed. I told him. You should not be thanking me, you should not be forgiving me!" Severus cried wretchedly.

Lily swallowed, her shoulders heaving. Her conscious kneeded her mind, trying to get it working. Eventually, a rational thought was squeezed out.

"What sort of idiot tries to kill a baby just because someone tells him that the baby might grow up to defeat him?"

"What?"

"Seriously, what sort of twerp would do that? Yeah, find the baby- that's fair enough but there are like a hundred legends about how idiots who attempt to foil prophesies end up causing them to happen. Like Oedipus. How on earth could you have known that Voldemort would do something so utterly, utterly stupid?"

Severus swallowed.

"Besides" Lily said calmly "James himself says its his fault, for thumbing his nose at Voldemort just as obviously as he could. Said it was only a matter of time Voldemort tried to kill us, just out of pique."

"You really think that?"

"Yeah, I mean, I don't approve but, if you hadn't been the spy, someone else would have been, and you also became our spy, which, if Voldemort had chosen another spy, probably wouldn't have happened."

Severus blinked and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Now then." Lily said, adopting the brisk, no nonsense tone which she had often used to good effect on Sirius and James "That's settled. So, James, Sirius, Remus and I are going into a safe house for a bit and I believe Frank and Alice will be coming too. I want you to join us, Severus."

Severus looked appalled "The werewolf? Living with you? With the baby?"

"He locks himself up whenever the bad times happen, Sev. And I've been making him wolfsbane potion, so he generally just sleeps it off."

"But still..."

Lily sighed "It's about the shrieking shack, isn't it?"

"You know how he tried to kill me! How they tried to kill me!"

"Look, Sirius is an idiot, a class A, gold plated fool. He wanted to prank you, he wanted you to shit your pants in fact. But, and this is the important part, but he did not think cuddly, nice old Remus, who was so tame and pleasant when they were all animagi, would ever hurt anyone."

"But he's a werewolf!"

"And Sirius is a first-class ass but he didn't want you dead and when James found out what he had done, when Remus found out, they were furious with him; Remus ignored him for the best part of a month and James managed to stay angry a whole week. I didn't realise what was going on at the time but I do remember there being a rift which took a lot of time to heal during fifth year."

"It was unforgivable!"

"Yes, it was. You could have been killed, so could have James and Remus would have been destroyed like a rabid dog, without trial, even though he had no control over himself and did not even know what had happened until next morning." Lily breathed heavily through her nose "It was unforgivable but I know that Sirius did not intend you to die, he was just a reckless, dangerous idiot."

"It was not the first time they attacked me!"

"No, it wasn't. They were nasty little boys, cruel, spiteful, thoughtless bullies. But they grew up, Sev, grew up to look at those memories and feel ashamed. They are ashamed and they are sorry."

"I am not!"

"No, you did your share of retaliation, some of it pre-emptative, yes but although you're no saint, it was mostly in revenge for what they had done. You, James and Sirius will never be friends but you're not enemies, not really. You have all grown up beyond that."

"I cannot live with them, will not..."

"Look, Sev, I'll be straight, I don't want your death on my conscience, I don't want to sit up tonight, tomorrow night, all next week, next month worrying about what might be happening to you. Call it selfish but I want to know you're okay. Really know. And that can only happen if we're under one roof."

"But..!"

"James, Sirius and Remus will keep their distance, you can have meals with just me and Harry or Frank, Alice and Neville if you prefer. Everyone will respect you and respect your privacy but please, please join us."

Severus frowned.

"For me" Lily said hopefully.

Severus sighed deeply "For you."

Several years Later

"Dad, I need my pocket money!"

Severus looked up at his ten year old step-son, his pen hovering over a manuscript, in which he had been perfecting a treatise on Monkshood.

"Harry, I am sure that, by now, you understand that a week consists of seven days and I am also sure that you know that you recieve ten sickles a week" S everus said, rummaging in his desk draw and pulling out his money bag "and I can pride myself on your ability to multiply five sickles by three, to whit the five sckles I gave you on Monday and again on Wednesday and also on friday, which was supplimented with a magazine and a box of chocolate frogs on Tuesday."

"Mum said you'd give me twenty sickles cause I'm off to Diagon Alley with Neville." Harry responded merrily "Oh, and is there anything I can get for you?"

"Some powdered toadflax, perhaps."

"Kay!" Harry said happily. Both he and his step-father knew that a. powdered toadflax was the cheapest thing in the apothicary, b. that it could be squashed in a pocket and come to absolutely no harm and c. that a slytherin was never entirely happy with an agreement unless there was some consideration which changed hands.

After weighing his newly acquired sickles happily in his hand, Harry tucked them away into the money pouch stuck to the side of his trousers. "Whatchoo doing?"

"Working, Harry. Earning all those knuts and sickles you enjoy spending." Severus replied mildly, shifting himself slightly and twisting the page so Harry could see his half-complete illustration.

"Mum works too, and Daddy." Harry said, scrounging an apple out of the fruit bowl "You must have lots and lots of money!"

"Where is your mother?"

"In Hogsmeade with Rosie. She's taking her to ballet!" Harry said with scorn. "She took her marking, though, so I think she must find it boring too!"

Severus smiled "Mummy likes to work when we are all busy doing other things, so we can spend time together."

"Yup, that's why she's a teacher" Harry said, fishing some grapes out of the fruit bowl.

"I believe its more to do with it being the first stage in world domination" Severus said wryly. "A cunning plot, just like putting fruit on my desk so you will eat it."

"Ooo? Eee?" Harry said, around a mouthful of banana.

"You sound like a monkey."

Harry giggled. "The fruit on your desk just tastes better, that's all."

"As I say, a cunning plot. So, how are you getting to London?"

"Frank's picking us up. Oh, and can I stay overnight with Sirius?"

"May I stay overnight with Sirius."

"Yeah, course you can come too!" Harry said cheekily.

"Yes, you may stay with Sirius, provided your mother has also agreed."

"Sure but she said I should ask you too."

"And how are you getting back?"

"Guess Sirius will take me."

"You guess?"

"Well, he doesn't exactly know I'm coming yet."

Severus rolled his eyes; there was no point in trying for even a basic level of courtesy towards Mr 'come along any time, you don't even need to ask' Black. "Do you have your key at least?"

"Yeah"

"In your money pouch?"

Harry fished the key out of his back pocket, from which it had been poking precariously "Tis now."

"Floo us in the evening. If I haven't heard from you by six I will come and find you."

"Course I will." Harry smiled affectionately at his step-father. "Tell Rosie she can have my dragon tonight if she likes."

The once-plush, velvet territory was the Alsace to Harry and Rosie's Germany and France; both wanted it, both thought of it as theirs and possession of it was only won by victory on the battlefield that was their playroom.

Other dragons had been purchased, a near identical one made by Molly Weasley but none were quite so prized as the dragon Severus had given to Harry that evening, so many years ago.

The floo fizzled and Frank's head poked through

"Morning Severus, ready to go, Harry?"

"Yup." Harry turned to his step-father "Goodbye, Dad. See you tomorrow."

"Remember, cream buns or fizzy pop but not the two together and especially not if you intend to bounce around like a flea."

"Daaad! That was aaages ago. Anyway, we're going for burgers and ice cream" Harry said happily.

"Don't worry, I'll pace them." Frank grinned "No more than four scoops of ice cream or two glasses of pop in a row."

"Whoop-de-do." Severus drawled "Have fun."

"We will, come on Harry" Frank replied.

Harry bounced into the floo and disappeared; like the Cheshire Cat, the last thing Severus saw was the boy's grin.

Ten years ago, he would never have possibly imagined this life for himself; a job he loved, a wife he adored, a comfortable, spacious home in Hogwarts and children. Not biologically his, of course, but his in every way that mattered.

Yes, he'd had very little idea of anything at all positive coming out of his stay in the safe-house (apart from Lily's peace of mind, which apparently hung on him remaining alive and with all limbs attached.)

Nor had anything tangible really arisen from that period of cohabitation. It was true that some of the ill feeling he had held towards Sirius, James and especially Remus had diminished. They had been respectful and kept their distance at first; they'd each expressed their gratitude and then given him space.

Once Serverus had unbent enough to condescend to bid them good morning or good afternoon, they had, after a few tentative forays into conversation, each apologised to him for their part in the bullying. Severus had been ungracious but had accepted their apologies, more for Lily's sake, and slowly things became easier. He started to join them all for meals, keeping his conversation mostly to Frank, Alice and Lily but not ignoring or snubbing the three marauders.

For their part, genuine gratitude and a ounce or two of shame had kept James and Sirius patient with Severus' coolness.

There was also the fact that Harry had- on the strength of one toy dragon- decided that Severus was 'a wovely vapir', just like the one in his favourite storybook, and treated him with wide eyed appreciation. Even Lily had expected Severus to avoid or ignore the child but, to the surprise of everyone, Snape had reacted with an offhand kind of generosity; replying to Harry's chattering, gently tossing back a toy ball when it rolled towards his chair and picking up and dusting off the boy when he fell from his broomstick.

"You'd have never thought he liked kids" Sirius had once said, wonderingly, when Severus returned from the apothecary with a small bag of toffee drops - ideal for sweetening unpalatable potions- for Harry.

"He remembers what it's like to be young and want people to like you." Lily had replied.

Sirius had dug his hands into his pockets and shuffled away.

The other benefit had been Frank's offer of a job.

Severus had not particularly enjoyed being a teacher; the children tended to be either competent but blase or incompetent and nervous, making a day without an explosion a rare treat, it was difficult for him, being as young as he was, to get his student's respect, meaning that he had to intimidate them into obedience and, finally, each class' potion fumes combined in his hair and robes to make them greasy and uncomfortable.

Therefore, when Frank had tentatively stated that his uncle's Potions Company needed a researcher in Botanicals and perhaps Severus might like to apply, Severus had been more than willing and soon found himself enjoying all the benefits of working at home with and an impressive budget for plants and equiptment.

At the same time Lily had booked herself into a correspondence university, getting her Mastery in Charms and Potions. Thus they spent many happy hours, working quietly in the same room, sometimes independantly, sometimes together, as Lily required her potions signed off by a suitably qualified potioneer, which Severus certainly was.

Time passed, the death eaters were rounded up- sometimes through diligent undercover work, at other times in the midst of their illegal activities. Frank and Alice were the first to decide to return home, then Severus left to return to his own apartment, Lily now having her dual Masters.

James, Sirius and Remus, however, had been quite content to remain in the house, even after James and Sirius had successfully applied to the Auror department. Remus, who found jobs difficult to find, was also pleasantly surprised by Frank Longbottom, who had come to have a lot of sympathy for the kindly werewolf and managed to find a job which, while absolutely necessary, could be carried out at home; to whit, editing the researcher's manuscripts. Lily, now also looking for part-teaching jobs in earnest, was not entirely blind to the benefits of living with someone who worked from home, who would happily babysit for a couple of days each week.

So they had stayed in the safe house, quite happy until, of course, IT had happened.

IT had happened just after Harry had hit the terrible threes, changing from a happy-go-lucky, bubbly little boy into the brat from hell apparently overnight.

Funnily enough, the only person he'd behave for in any way, shape or form was Severus. Lily and Remus, who tried gentle but firm, were inundated with unreasonable, if not downright bizzare demands and bad behaviour. James, who tried to be strict, was beset with tantrums and around Sirius (who couldn't discipline himself, let alone a toddler) Harry became a sweet-demanding, mess making tyrant.

Severus's nonchelance, leaving Harry to himself and only briskly intervening when property or limbs were in danger, was a wholly different experience. If Harry got hold of a book, it was magicked out of his hand and replaced with a more durable, children's tome, if he tried to eat the inedible, it was swapped for some apple or cheese, if he started to misbehave, a distraction would appear- a butterfly would flit around the room or a teddy start to talk. It became almost a game.

So, as it was, Lily found herself calling on Severus a couple of afternoons a week, much to Harry's delight.

Then Lily fell pregnant.

Unlike her first pregnancy, it wasn't an easy one; she felt sick all the time- and any anti-nausia potion just made her feel sicker, she was tired and achey and her head throbbed.

To preserve everyone's sanity, the men rallied round; Remus took Harry for a few afternoons, Sirius and James babysat at weekends and Severus called around and looked after Harry during the afternoons that Remus worked.

So far, so good only it wasn't, particularly.

James had, as it turned out, made a very good auror and his transfiguation ability meant that he was ideal for 'plain clothes' work. He was offered more and more important assignments, eventually going undercover.

This meant that James was home late and, with Lily's worsening morning sickness, the time they spent together was less and less and, even then, Lily was tired, prickly, irritable.

This was James' explanation, right before Sirius thumped him.

James had grown up literally showered with affection; a miracle child of semi-retired parents, he had spent the first part of his life being adored and indulged with both money and time. When he had entered Hogwarts, almost every teacher was charmed by the handsome, intelligent, talented little boy whose parents were so respected in the community. James had been popular amongst most of the students too, forming a friendship with three boys in particular, and, since the age of thirteen, had never been without a couple of girls desperate for his admiration.

So perhaps no one should have been totally surprised that, when no longer the centre of attention, James felt distinctly wrongfooted. It had been strange enough with Harry, suddenly having to share Lily's attention but, at least then, they could play with the baby together, go on walks together, eat together. Now, however, his wife was busy, tired, fractious all the time.

A wiser man would have told himself that this was just a blip, it wouldn't last forever.

A more thoughtful man would have looked at the world through Lily's perspective; heavy, bulky, sweaty, tired, spending most days with a very active, very naughty toddler and most nights unable to sleep because of her aching head and limbs.

And an older, more experienced man would have looked at the cute, flirty blond assistant auror who was offering him a nightcap, enjoyed a pleasant little daydream and said "Thank you but no, I need to go home to my wife and son."

James didn't. Then there was a second time, and a third and suddenly he was in an affair and she was talking about marriage and threatening to tell Lily.

Desperate, James had confided in Sirius. An incorrigable womaniser, Sirius, he felt, would at least understand the attractions of the fairer sex and how they could lure a man to his ruin.

James had been totally unaware that Sirius might have been a womaniser but he was also a gentleman; he had never cheated on a girlfriend in his life and the one night stands were considered as such by both parties.

Sirius was livid. Absolutely, totally and utterly livid and he had shot straight off and told Lily.

Who had not believed him and was screaming denials when Severus and Remus arrived with a very hyperactive Harry.

Remus took one look at the situation and hustled Harry up to his room. Severus ordered Sirius out and immediately poured a shaking Lily a stiff brandy and transfigured a saucer into a warm blanket for her shoulders.

"He says James is having an affair, that he's cheated, that he's planning to leave me."

Severus' blood had run cold "What?"

"He said but it's not true, it can't be true, it can't." Lily burbled, shaking even harder.

Severus started rubbing Lily's arms, desperately thinking what to do. Remus appeared at the head of the stairs.

"Where's Harry?"

"I got him going with his train set. I just wanted to see..."

"You stay with Lily. I need to talk to Black."

Severus stalker outside where a devestated Sirius was loitering, not sure whether to return inside or leave.

"You have no tact, Black, none at all."

"I'm sorry."

"So, is it true."

"Of course"

"What proof do you have?"

"He told me. He told me everything." Sirius said wretchedly. "How could he?"

"Show me, let me see exactly what he said."

"I don't have a pensieve"

"I'm an occulemense, remember."

Sirius hesitated "Ok, if you think it will help Lily."

Severus looked deep into Sirius' eyes. To his surprise, Sirus' mind opened without a struggle and yielded the memory willingly, almost pushing it upon Severus.

"You hit him?" he finally said approvingly.

"Yeah, it... He couldn't have thought I'd think it was okay, doing that to Lily and Harry and the poor little baby." Sirius suddenly looked horrified "The baby..."

"No signs of distress. When I get her back to my place, I'll give her a calming draught."

"Your place?"

"She can't be here when James returns."

When they returned inside, Lily and Remus had disappeared. They followed Lily's irate voice to the bedroom, where she was throwing her clothes in a bag, helped by a helpless looking Remus.

"I will pack for Harry" Severus had said. "You two, watch the door."

Lily had thrown him a grateful look and Sirius and Remus exited silently.

Thirty minutes later, they were apperating to Severus' family home, in Spinners End.

"Where our friendship began." Severus said gently.

The little safehouse, kept under a stasis spell when not in use, was stocked with potions, food and the interior was clean and comfortable. It was a haven for Lily to mend her broken heart, have her child and learn to be herself again.

When she eventually felt strong enough to leave, Lily did not want to.