Professor Flitwick had been perusing through some horribly written Charms Essays when the flaring of his Floo caused him to throw his quill across the room in his surprise.  "Professor Flitwick?" asked a familiar voice.  The tiny professor looked to the fireplace and saw Severus Snape's face within the green flames. 

"What can I do for you, Severus?" he asked as he flicked his wand in the direction of his thrown quill, causing it to gently float back to him. 

"Can Remus step through?  He needs to speak with you." 

"Of course, of course," Flitwick replied cheerily.  He began to get down from his chair when he figured it out.  He wiggled a finger at Severus as he rounded his desk.  "Ah!  You wanted to be sure I was alone before sending Remus through, didn't you?"  Without waiting for a response he continued.  "Clever boy, Severus." 

Severus smirked.  "I'll let him come through."  His face withdrew from the flames before they grew monstrous, though they stayed a vibrant green.  Remus stepped through the flames and walked into his old professor's office. 

"Remus Lupin," Flitwick greeted the young man in a merry, squeaky voice.  "You have never come to simply chat with me." 

Remus laughed.  "No, sir.  You'll have to wait a little longer until I visit for a simple chat."  Remus gazed hard at Flitwick.  "Severus and I need your expertise in some complicated Charms work, Professor."  Flitwick's eyes brightened with the prospect of the coming challenge.  The former Gryffindor student settled before the Head of Ravenclaw and prepared for a long morning. 

She had just finished tending to the numerous plants crammed on or around the windowsills.  Her dark brown hair was tied back in a half up ponytail to keep it out of her face.  She was wearing older-looking, dirty clothing.  It seemed like it was clothing accustomed to having soil, mud, and dust rubbed into it.  She was fair-skinned, though now it had patches of dirt all over it, as she had rubbed the sweat from her face with her dirty hands, thus effectively smearing the soil on her hands all across her face.  She was pretty but in a plain way - not overly attractive, just simple and average.  She was a petite young woman, but from her bearing it was clear she was a force with which to be reckoned.  She held her thin and equally petite wand up to the soil of a newly repotted thyme plant and said, "Pluviamitis."  A soft sprinkling of water came from the tip of her wand, gently watering the plant at which it was pointed.  She smiled as she watched the water absorb into the fresh soil. 

Her tender musing was interrupted by the forceful flapping of wings.  She canceled her watering spell and turned to greet the creature that had flown into the cluttered little kitchen.  It was an owl that she did not know holding a letter in its beak bearing handwriting that she recognized instantly.  He had not contacted her for two years.    

She took the letter from the owl's beak and stared at her own name on the envelope.  After staring at it for several moments, she began to open it.  She removed the letter with the recognizable spiky writing and began to read. 

Ophelia,

You once told me that if I ever needed your help, you would come to me.  The time that I need your help has arrived.  Please travel by Floo Powder to my quarters in Hogwarts.  You need to say, "Severus Snape's Parlor, Hogwarts" in order to get here.  Arrive punctually at three o'clock.  For reasons I will later explain I will open my Floo at three o'clock for one minute only.  I would tell you more, but when you arrive and everything is explained, you will understand the need for these measures. 

Severus Snape

P.S.  Don't worry.  I'll be sure to have tea ready for you, as always. 

She stared at the letter.  As customary for Severus, any instruction he gave was strict and plainly worded.  One minute of an open Floo?  Leave it to Severus. 

She flourished her wand and summoned a quill to her waiting hand.  When it arrived, already wet with ink having been resting in it, she took a small piece of paper from her table, on which she usually wrote down recipes and potion instructions for herself.  On this paper, she quickly wrote a response. 

I accept.  I will arrive directly at three o'clock.  And I will admit, my curiosity has been peaked. 

Ophelia

She quickly put it in the envelope in which her letter arrived, crossed out her name, and wrote in Severus's name.  She offered it to the owl, which immediately took it, and flew off. 

Ophelia sent her quill back to its inkwell before sitting heavily in the chair by the table.  Her mind was lost in thought.  She remembered that night.  The night almost two years ago.  She still relived it sometimes in her nightmares.  It was the night that she realized how much Severus Snape valued his friendships, the night he saved her life. 

Ophelia was aware that Autumn was in full swing, that it was growing darker earlier, and that a witch born to Muggle parents should not risk leaving her home in time of growing darkness.  Ophelia was defiant.  She refused to hide.  She refused to be ashamed of her parents.  And thus she walked through the streets of London.  It was this night that she learned of the wisdom involved in all the talk that Muggleborns should exercise caution while You-Know-Who was on the move. 

She was on her way home.  She walked calmly and with no hurry in her stride.  In her arms were some small plants that her friend would likely require for his potions experiments.  She was only too glad to oblige him when it came to raising potions ingredients for him.  After all, he did help her when she was a scared First Year, sorted into Slytherin House, where her birth was ridiculed publicly.  No one had approached her nor helped her when she was struggling with something so simple as trying to use a quill instead of the pens and pencils to which she had been accustomed until then.  The only person who came forward was a Second Year, Severus Snape.  He spent hours with her in the common room, teaching her to write with a quill, how to understand magical theories and concepts, and he helped her when she was having some trouble in certain subjects.  They became friends quickly, comforting each other in the worst times of humiliation and defending each other in the most needed times.  It was this friendship that proved her salvation that night.

She had just left the Leaky Cauldron from Diagon Alley and had gone only several blocks through London when suddenly, she heard screaming.  She stood still and tried to see what was happening.  Up ahead of her, on the sidewalk, lay a writhing and twitching family of witches and wizards.  A mother, a father, a teenage daughter and a little son.  Standing over them were four people - she could not tell if they were male of female - all wearing long black robes, pointed black hoods, and masks made of skulls.  Each had a wand pointed at a member of the family.  They all chorused one word.  "Crucio!"  The family was sent into screaming and painful twitching again.  Ophelia hid near someone's shrubbery beyond the gate to their flat, watching with wide, horrified eyes.  She knew what these people were now.  They were Death Eaters, servants to You-Know-Who...to the Dark Lord...to Voldemort. 

The four Death Eaters stopped their torture of the family abruptly.  A rough, gravelly voice spoke down at them.  "If you are Muggleborns or Blood Traitors, you will die."  As the family lay gasping for breath, two of the Death Eaters grabbed the children.  The mother began to hoarsely protest, but was instantly put under the Cruciatus Curse again.  The teenage girl was screaming, the little boy crying.  Wands were held at the children's heads, as their arms were held securely.  "Let this be a lesson to you," said the same Death Eater, as he signaled the others with him.  They, with the children, disappeared, apparating away to an unknown place. 

The mother weakly called for her children.  The father was still trying to regain his breath.  Both of the parents had tears running down their faces.  With a sneer, the remaining Death Eater sneered at them, and raised his wand intending to curse them again. 

It was this moment that Ophelia could not hide any longer. 

She sprang up from her place and ran towards the remaining Death Eater, raising her wand viciously.  The Death Eater caught sight of her and instantly disappeared just as she screamed, "Stupefy!"  In another moment, she heard a pop from behind her, and whirled to face it.  Only she was too late. 

In mid turn, she heard a hissed, "Expelliarmus!" and her wand flew from her hand.  While it was still in the air, the Death Eater summoned it to him.  She faced him and saw the man's lips twist in a cruel smile.  "Filthy Mudbloods," he whispered.  "Join us.  My Master is expecting a...gathering of your worthless kind."  With that, he grabbed her neck and with another pop they disappeared from London, the parents left behind... 

...When they arrived, the first thing Ophelia comprehended was the high screams of the teenage girl and little boy she had witnessed being taken.  She struggled to turn her head to see their condition.  She heard the whimpering of other people near the location of the children.  They were adults, male and female.  As she struggled to see them, she was thrown to the ground roughly by her neck.  She landed close to the boots of another Death Eater.  She did not dare raise her eyes.  She did not want to see what was happening. All of the screams stopped suddenly.  

"Well done, my friends," hissed a deadly quiet voice.  Ophelia heard the soft sound of bare feet walking around the other witches and wizards that, like her, were on the ground surrounding by the other dark wizards.  Some may have been witches, but she did not know.  She heard the owner of that voice stop occasionally, as though he examined whomever he halted before.  Every once in a while there was a sob or a whimper from someone on the ground.  She kept her eyes down.  But, at last, she saw pale bare feet approach her and stop in front of her.  She saw his pointed toenails like claws ready to sink into her.  She saw the tip of a pale wand come under her chin and push her head up.  "Such a pity.  Who would have thought a Mudblood would be of my own House."  Despite gazing directly into the eyes of the darkest wizard of the age, Lord Voldemort, she distinctly heard a faint gasp from whoever belonged to the black boots next to her.  She had no time to register it when suddenly she felt as though her mind was being burned.  She concentrated hard, and after a moment, Lord Voldemort looked at her for a moment in surprise.  "You surprise me.  A Muggleborn with a talent for Occlumency." 

He stood up straight, before he spoke louder to his followers.  "As a reward for some of your efforts you may...play with our guests.  You!"  He pointed his wand at a Death Eater, and then to one of the captive witches.  "Take her."  He pointed to the young teenage girl next, and then to a larger bulky man.  "Do what you like with her.  That one returns to her filthy parents.  Damage her." 

The man walked towards the girl menacingly.  The girl trembled violently, and clutched her younger brother to her desperately.  The boy was shaking and crying against her.  "Clover," he cried. 

"Shush, Clovis!" she said, trying to sound stronger than she was at the moment. 

"Clover..."

The big man grabbed the girl's arm and began pulling her to her feet.  The little boy held onto his sister and went with her.  The girl tried to resist the man's grip, but was knocked down by his heavy fist.  The little boy almost fell with his sister, but got back on his feet quickly and dealt his best punch to the man's leg.  He kicked the boy to the ground as though he were an annoying undisciplined puppy.  He grabbed the girl again, and hauled her to her feet.  Clovis threw himself onto his sister's legs trying to stop the man from taking her away. 

Ophelia got to her feet and was about to walk forward when an arm curled around her body, and slammed her into the chest of the arm's owner.  A dark colored wand pressed into her clavicle and a voice whispered to her.  "Don't, Ophelia.  You won't help them."  Recognition widened her eyes, and she tensed in the man's grip.  When the little boy grunted in his effort to stop the progress of the man and his sister, she shifted to try to break free.  "Please!" the voice behind her quietly snapped.  "Don't!"  She stilled. 

Lord Voldemort watched the struggle of his servant, the teenage girl and the boy.  "Such noise, little boy," he cooed, as he approached the boy slowly.  The boy did not acknowledge him.  Voldemort continued to him.  "Let your sister go, boy!"  Clovis shook his head violently, his grip tightening on Clover's legs.  Before anyone could do anything else, the area was blindingly brightened by a green light as Lord Voldemort lazily growled two words.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"No!  Clovis!" Clover screamed.  She began to struggle now to reach the dead body of her little brother.  "No!  No!"  With another flourish of his wand, Lord Voldemort stole her voice.  She was still screaming but not a single person could hear it.  Her grief was deafening to no one but herself.  Soon enough, she disappeared within the ranks of the other Death Eaters.

Ophelia stared at the dead boy.  She could not believe anyone could be capable of killing a child.  Her body went still from shock while she was still held by the arms of the man behind her.  Without realizing it, Voldemort had made his way to her again and had begun speaking to the Death Eater that held her.  "...claimed her?" was the first she heard. 

"Yes, my Lord," was the answer of the man who restrained her. 

"Do what you will with her, then." 

The man nodded.  He began to roughly force Ophelia away from the others.  She heard a barely whispered, "Accio Ophelia's wand," followed by the sound of something moving quickly through the air, only to be deftly caught in the hand the was still pinning her to him.  It was after a little while that she realized that he had taken them quite a distance from the gathering.  "Where are you-"

"Silence!" he snapped.  "We're not far enough."

He forced her ahead another thirty strides before he stopped.  He lowered his arms from around her.  Immediately, she whirled to face him, her arms flailing wildly as she spun.  She amazingly and luckily caught the Death Eater's skull mask and tore it from his face.  The motion jarred him so badly that he ended up laying at her feet just as she had minutes ago to him.  She held the mask tightly, knowing he still had her wand.  As she was trying to hurriedly figure out her next step, the Death Eater looked up at her.  The face was one she knew well.  "Severus!" she gasped in complete shock. 

He lay before her, breathing hard, not speaking.  He could not speak.  He nodded, his head hung low.  "Severus," she breathed, still clutching the mask.  She knelt before him. 

"I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"No, you-"

"I had to get you away from there."  There was a silence between them.  A long silence. 

"Why did you bring me here?  Won't anyone get suspicious?" 

Severus shook his head.  "No.  He knows that I prefer some...privacy in which to...torture those I claim for sport."  She must have looked alarmed because he quickly continued.  "I have never actually tortured anyone.  They only think I do.  You see, I developed a spell, Ophelia."  She looked at him, beginning to trust him.  "It makes you scream, but there is no pain.  You show all outward signs of being in great physical pain.  I swear, though, none will come to you." 

She looked hard at him, seeing that his eyes were pleading for her to trust him.  "Ophelia.  It's the only way I have been able to- I'm doing this to save you."  He begged her with his eyes.  "Trust me." 

Ophelia handed back the skull mask to Severus, who in return offered her wand to her.  They both stood.  "I trust you, Severus." 

He nodded.  He reached into his robes and produced a glowing bright green potion.  "This will emit a glow as you take it that will be as bright as the Killing Curse, and hide you until I can return to you once the meeting is over.  You will not be able to move nor speak.  I will find you then."  Ophelia nodded, accepting the vial.  "Be sure to drink it as soon as I allow you to stop screaming."  He took several steps back.  "Prepare yourself."  He extended his wand aiming at the center of her ribcage.  "Reprobapoena!" 

Ophelia screamed louder, longer, and harder than she ever had in her life.  She did not feel any pain, but just as he said, all the physical signs of torture appeared on her.  Bruises began to color her skin, bones seemed broken, and skin looked torn and bloody even though there were no such wounds on her.  It was a gruesome sight, and an equally gruesome sound, but she felt no pain.  She met Severus's eyes as she was screaming.  He nodded to her.  She opened the vial of the bright green potion.  In a single moment, Severus withdrew the spell and she tipped the vial back and drank it.  She began to glow.  A blinding, bright green glow so bright Severus shielded his eyes from her.  In another moment, the light disappeared, and it seemed as though she was gone.  She was not seen, nor did she make a sound. 

Severus carefully approached her location, feeling along the ground for her invisible form.  He found her soon enough, though he could not see her.  He waved his wand and conjured a bright orange leaf.  He placed it on the ground and applied a sticking charm between it and the grass.  "I will return as soon as the meeting is over."  With that, he walked away, leaving her there, lying on the grass, voiceless and invisible.

He returned just as he said soon enough.  His body was shaking as though he were overwhelmed with nerves.  When he caught sight of the orange leaf, he fell to the ground and continued shaking.  "Ophelia?"  He reached his hand towards her.  He crawled to the orange leaf and felt along the ground in front of it for her.  Finally, with a violently trembling hand he gripped her hand.  He sighed in relief.  "Don't let go," he said.  He could not yet see her, nor hear if she made a response.  "The effects of the potion will disappear once we leave here."  With a pained sigh, Severus reached into his robes and removed a small object.  It was a raw emerald gemstone.  He held it in his right hand firmly.  He enclosed her hand and the gemstone between both of his own.  With a tenderness in his labored voice he whispered, "Meus domus, meus uxor, meus salus."  With a near silent snap Severus and Ophelia vanished. 

They landed in a heap in a parlor that Ophelia did not recognize.  She looked around the room, noting that it was humbly furnished, with many items that would be found in a muggle home.  Was this Snape's house?  She didn't think it was.  She looked at him.  His breathing was ragged and quick, his eyes closed tightly as though he were in great pain and trying to hide it.  His hands still were clenched around her hand, which held the Portkey that brought them here, wherever here was.   "Lily!" he called with a raspy voice. 

Ophelia heard the sound of clinking glass before she saw a young woman with red hair come from a hidden door in the wall.  She knew her instantly.  It was Lily Evans.  So they had reconciled after all.  Lily came into the parlor already speaking before she entered.  "Sev, do you have any idea how late you-Ophelia!  How did you get here?"

"I was-"

"Rescued her from the Death Eaters...attacked her," Severus managed to rasp out.

Lily frowned at Severus as she knelt beside him, putting down the nine bottles of varying shapes and sizes on the floor, along with a leather bound book, with many colored ribbons sticking out of it to mark important spells.  "Well, aren't you just the heroic knight?" 

Severus tried to deal her a witty comeback, but could not think of anything but the pain he was in.  What he would have said came out a strangled groan. 

"Are you hurt at all?" 

"Wounded?"  At her confirmation of what she meant, he continued.  "No."

Lily managed to coax Severus onto his back and haul his upper body into a semi upright position in her lap.  She bent her elbow so that his neck would be well supported so that she could complete the next step.  "Open your mouth, Sev," she cooed.  He obeyed her instantly.  She twisted the top from the first bottle.  "First one is Wit-Sharpening Potion, okay?"  He nodded.  She upended the bottle and allowed him to take a large gulp of the potion.  Then she replaced the top.  Ophelia watched Lily tend to Severus with the tenderness of a lover.  Perhaps they more than reconciled.  Ophelia could not help but smile. 

Lily administered several other potions to Severus like the first one.  The second potion she coaxed him to swallow a dosage of was a Calming Draught.  The third was a small dosage of the Draught of Peace.  The last potion he allowed her to feed him was a Strengthening Potion.  It only took a few minutes for them all to start to affect Severus.  As they waited for the potions to take effect, Lily reached to his left arm and closed her fingers around where the Dark Mark would be.  His breathing was labored and he opened his eyes to look at her.  She brushed his damp hair back from where it stuck to his face, before leaning into him to touch her lips to his forehead.  She began to massage his left arm through his dark robes.  His breathing relaxed as her soothing ministrations calmed him and the potions she had given him became potent in his system. 

He eventually pulled himself up into a sitting position away from Lily.  After a quick explanation of Ophelia's injuries, her former schoolmates began to tend her.  She was first given a Blood-Replenishing Potion, on Lily's orders, since it seemed by her wounds she would have lost some blood.  Severus began to clean her wounds with the fearsome Wound Cleaning Potion, which smoked on contact with her injuries.  Anything that made contact with her skin and smoked Ophelia always subconsciously felt was unsafe to even be near your skin, never mind actually on it.  After her wounds were cleaned, Lily and Severus both dressed them with Murtlap Essence carefully.  Then, with the skill of a practicing healer, Severus gave her a dosage of Calming Draught. 

Then, Severus picked her up and carried her to the sofa, where she assumed they would force her to stay the night.  Lily had arranged the throw cushions into a comfortable sleeping arrangement, and stood next to the sofa with an afghan in her arms, ready for when Severus put her down.  Once her body was made comfortable, Lily covered her with the heavy crocheted blanket.

Severus knelt down by her head with one more potion in his hand.  "It's a Sleeping Draught.  You need to sleep before going home.  And you need to sleep peacefully."  She nodded before opening her mouth in permission.  He gave her a dosage and carefully fixed the stopper in the bottle before standing.  As her eyes began to droop, she grabbed for his hand, only managing to brush it.  But he felt it anyway.  He turned to her. 

"Severus..."

"Yes, Ophelia?"

"If you ever need help, I will come to you.  Nothing I could ever do can repay what you have done for me."  She thought she heard him quietly thank her, but couldn't be sure because her eyes fell shut very quickly.  The next time she woke up, she was home.  She wasn't even sure if it was a dream. 

Apparently it wasn't...

Ophelia emerged from the fireplace in Severus Snape's parlor in Hogwarts precisely at the appointed time.  She was expecting to see only her former House mate, but instead was surprised to see Remus Lupin, her old professor, Filius Flitwick, and a young child resting comfortably against Severus's chest.  They all stood from their seated positions as she came through the fireplace.  Severus smiled kindly at her as he stepped forward. 

"Hello, Ophelia," he said, in a soft voice he rarely used.  It was the same voice he had used to comfort her during their schooldays when she had been taunted for being a Muggleborn, not only by other ignorant students, but especially by other Slytherins.  It immediately put her at ease.

"Severus."  She went to him and gave him a somewhat awkward embrace considering the child snuggled against the man's chest.  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trying to awkwardly return her greeting.  "It's been a long time."

He smiled again at her.  He looked nervous and uncomfortable to her keen brown eyes, but it was hard to tell for sure about anything when it came to Severus.  There was one question that she very much wanted answered at that point.  ‘Who is this little child?'  When she realized he was speaking again, she was forced to focus. 

"...know Remus Lupin, and Professor Flitwick."  Remus nodded at her as he was announced, and Flitwick smiled fondly at Ophelia.  She confusedly offered a grin to them, before she heard Severus talking again.  "...down?" 

"What?"

Remus scrambled away from where he stood in front of his former position on the sofa.  "You can have my place." 

Ophelia realized that Severus had asked her to sit down.  She went to the newly vacated place of the sofa, and sat down slowly.  She was anxious to know why Severus asked her here and reminded her of her promise to give him help if he ever needed it.  She had heard that he had been arrested and put on trial, only to be declared innocent.  Did it have something to do with that?  She had next to no influence at the Ministry.  What could she possibly do for him?  All she did was raise common potions ingredients for Jayce's shop in Diagon Alley, and secretly at times for Severus!  What help could she be?  She did not have to wait long. 

"Ophelia, I know this must be confusing, but I couldn't say exactly why I wanted to see you in my owl.  There was too much at stake."  Severus had sat down beside her on the sofa, the child in his arms asleep with a tiny hand gripping the wizard's shirt firmly.  Flitwick had sat back down on the armchair.  Remus, meanwhile, made himself busy by extinguishing the fireplace, and then he made his way into the kitchen to putter around with the dishes and the stove.  "And I'm sorry that I had to only allow a small timeframe for you to arrive, but..."

Flitwick took over.  "Miss Fay, I think we should start at the beginning."  With that, the half-goblin began the narration of the deaths of James and Lily, how their son was orphaned, and the surprising secret that Lily revealed to Severus through the use of the small bottle of memories she forced him to accept.  They explained everything, the entire story as quickly and precisely as possible.  By the time they were explaining when Dumbledore defended Severus at his trial, Ophelia had a headache.  As though he were psychic, Remus produced a freshly brewed cup of chamomile tea, offering it to her with a small smile.  She accepted it gratefully and drank it.  She was paying close attention to this long story, but she had still to figure out why she was sitting in this parlor.  "And since Tevin wandered off, Remus was bright enough to point out what was missing." 

Ophelia, Flitwick, and Severus looked at Remus, clearly asking him to explain his plan.  He put his teacup and saucer on the mantle.  As he cleared his throat nervously, he began wringing his hands.  "I suggested to Severus that in order for him to allow Tevin to leave the flat, and to not really get Dumbledore's curiosity peaked..."  Remus winced, hoping for the best but dreading the worst.  "Tevin needs a mother."

Ophelia's eyes widened in instant understanding.  She put her tea on the table in front of the sofa.  Then, she rounded on Severus.  "You want me to pretend to be Har-Tevin's mother?  Severus!  I never meant that-"

"Would it make you feel better if I told you that this is in name only?  Nothing will change for you, really." 

"I'll have to live here, probably."

"With me, yes.  But you can go back and forth to your home, or to my house in Spinner's End whenever you want.  The details are your choice."

"I'm his permanent babysitter."

"In a way." 

Ophelia was shaking her head.  She stood from the couch and walked to the fireplace, leaning heavily on the mantle, staring into the extinguished fire.  Remus shuffled awkwardly next to her.  Her breath was coming in short, panicky gasps.  "Ophelia?" she heard Severus's soft voice, tinged with nervous fear. 

"What?" she whispered, starting to be overwhelmed by the revealed plan.

"Please."

She turned and looked at her old schoolmate.  His expression was pained, and in an instant she realized how desperate for her acceptance he was when she saw how he clutched the little boy to his chest.  His hand gently held the boy's head to his heart, his long fingers combed through the hair.  Severus's dark eyes stabbed her own in a hopeful plea.  She closed her eyes against the image.  "Severus, I can't do this.  I know I promised to give you any help you would ever need but this...this is too much to ask." 

She wanted to take it back when she saw his entire body seem to deflate in her rejection.  His eyes closed, and his head slowly dropped to rest his cheek on the child's head.  The little boy woke up at that point.  "Daddy?"  Severus hid his sad expression from the boy and instead began stroking the soft black hair.  "Oo wan' swan?"  Without another word, Severus rose from the sofa.  As he turned to go, the little boy caught sight of Ophelia, and shrieked.  "Who see?" he shouted, pointing at Ophelia. 

Even though he whispered, everyone in the room heard his response.  "An old friend, Tevin."  He began to leave the parlor, heading towards the bedrooms.  Tevin craned his neck to look over Severus's shoulder as he was carried away.  Ophelia's expression crumbled at what he said.

"Make you sad."  Tevin glared at Ophelia. 

"Yes, but I want her to do something she cannot do.  I will not force her-"  Anything else he would have said was silenced by the closing of the door. 

Ophelia lowered her head.  When she looked up, she was staring into the eyes of Remus Lupin.  "Remus, I-You know I can't do what he wants."

"No, you don't want to.  You're perfectly able to, it's just something you don't want to give."  With that, he turned from her, snatched his tea from the mantle, and walked into the kitchen.  Ophelia looked at Flitwick for some sort of help, but he was not looking at her.  With an angry huff she went into the kitchen after Remus. 

"What do you expect me to do?  Throw away everything about my life, just to help him raise a child that he suddenly finds out is his?  I have a life, Remus!  I have a job!"

Remus rounded on her so quickly that she jumped back a step.  "He's lost everything, Ophelia!  The only thing keeping him even sane right now is that little boy!  If Lily didn't find a way to tell him that he was his father...I don't want to think about what he'd be like right now." 

"But why does he want me?"

"He trusts you!  You were one of the only other people who even knew about him and Lily, you have no family of your own, you're a Slytherin!  It makes sense!"

"So, you think that if Severus starts waltzing around Hogwarts suddenly with a wife and seventeen month old son, no one, especially Dumbledore, will be suspicious?"

A short squeak interrupted the two.  They saw Professor Flitwick leap down from the armchair and scurry over to them.  "That is where I come in.  Remus and I had a rather long discussion today about how to solve the little problem of...Dumbledore's suspicions.  It's very risky, but if it works...it will be remarkable!" 

Ophelia barely listened.  "No!"  She threw her arms up in the air, and began to head back to the fireplace.  Remus sprang forward and grabbed her by the upper arm.  She whipped her head to face him, her eyes blazing.

"I know that it isn't what you want, but think about this.  Yes, Severus is a Death Eater, and you're a Muggleborn.  Something like that would be reason enough to keep a relationship quiet.  It's the same reason that Severus and Lily decided to arrange a staged marriage between her and James.  The very same reason.  And with the rumors of the things that happen at Death Eater meetings to Muggles and Muggleborns...would it be all that surprising if one of the women victims ended up pregnant with a Death Eater's son?"  Ophelia slowly started to realize that Remus knew that she had been taken to one of those meetings once.  Severus must have told him.  She began to relax in the other man's grip.  Noticing this, Remus continued.  "It all fits.  You were taken right around the same time that Lily conceived.  The timing is perfect, the situation is perfect."

Ophelia felt her eyes begin to water.  She met Remus's blue eyes, and seeing the gentle sympathy in them, felt her resolve begin to crumble.  "Please, help him.  That boy is the only thing he has left of Lily.  Don't make him lose him as well."  His voice softened then.  "He saved your life once, Ophelia.  You promised to help him if he ever needed it.  He needs it now more than anything.  Save his life now." 

Ophelia felt the first tear streak her face.  She looked at the closed door that Severus had left through with his son.  She knew what had to be done.  He asked her for her help.  She promised it.  Was she ready to give up her life to help Severus?  What about her job?  Where was she to live?  Surely, she could not stay with her cousin anymore.  What was she to do?  The image of Severus's face as she rejected his plea flashed through her mind again.  She felt more tears streak her face.  Her legs began to shake.  She tried to lock her knees to hold herself up, but she felt herself falling.  She never hit the floor. 

Remus had caught her and held her to his chest steadying her.  He did not know what to say, or if he should even say anything.  He waited until she was able to breathe smoothly again.  When she regained her breath, she looked up at him, her eyes still flooded.  "Okay..." she whispered.  "Okay..."  Remus looked at her, trying to judge her emotions.  He only came up with one word: resigned. 

Severus closed the door and stood leaning against it for a moment as he struggled to refrain from allowing his tears to fall.  He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing.  He felt a cold touch framing his cheeks, and when he opened his eyes, he looked into almond-shaped green eyes.  He realized Tevin's tiny hands held his face between them.  His lips curled up into a bittersweet smile.  "Daddy not cry," said Tevin to him in a sweet innocent voice. 

"No," he breathed.  "I won't." 

Severus forced himself to look around the room that he had recently created for the little boy in his arms.  When would he use it?  Never.  All hope of raising his son depended on the presence of a woman, and she had refused to help him.  He looked around the room. He had imagined that years from now, his son would be struggling with a Transfiguration essay at his desk.  That could never be now.  His eyes caught the area carpet in the center of the room.  His mind taunted him with the image of his son sitting cross-legged in front of a small cauldron with a potions book open nearby, and various ingredients scattered all around him.  Severus pictured himself walking in and kneeling next to the little boy, carefully instructing him on what to do next.  All too soon, the image disappeared.  He looked to the four-poster bed and saw his son trembling beneath the comforter as he sat on the edge reassuring him from a nightmare that had awoken the child.  All of these things would never happen now.  All because Ophelia had refused to help him. 

"Daddy?"  Severus was pulled from his bitter daydreams by his son's voice.  He looked at him.  "Swan make you better." 

Severus smiled and walked into his room where the cradle was.  He picked up the white swan and carried it and Tevin back into the other room that he had hoped the boy would call his own.  He gently set Tevin on the carpet and gave the boy the swan to play with.  He walked to the foot of the bed, and sank to his knees before the trunk.  Slowly, fearfully, he opened it and looked inside.  It was empty.  Severus sighed.  Remus must have put everything in it away in the room somewhere.  With a sad smile, he drew his wand and pointed at the wardrobe.  "Accio mittens."  His voice cracked as he almost choked on the words.  The little pair of gold and maroon mittens sailed through the air to his waiting hand.  "Accio hat."  The matching hat followed the path of the mittens.  He placed them into the trunk like he was arranging a body for burial. 

When he summoned the broom to himself, the bristles of it had accidentally brushed Tevin's head.  He watched as Severus caught the broom and placed it into the trunk.  Tevin left the swan behind and crawled quickly to Severus's side, knowing that he had to get there quickly and that walking was still an adventure for him.  When he reached Severus, he looked up at him with large watery eyes.  The only time his toys were ever put away was when he was bad.  What had he done? 

"Daddy?  Why toys go ‘way?" 

Severus looked down at Tevin with a broken expression.  He did not hear the door quietly open behind them.  He tore his eyes away from his son and aimed his wand at the desk behind him.  "Accio crayons."  They began to fly through the air, and Tevin pulled himself to his feet, using his father's clothing as a support.  He knocked the crayons off course like a beater to a bludger. 

"No!  I bad?  Daddy!  No!"  Tevin tugged on Severus's sleeve hard.

Severus closed his eyes as he replied, "Tevin...I...I can't keep you here."

"Go?" 

"Yes."

"No!  Like you!"  Tevin threw himself at Severus's side, gripping whatever fabric his little fingers came in contact with, clinging to Severus as he buried his face in the cloth. 

"I like you too, Tevin, but I..."  Severus choked on the rest of his words.  "I have to take you to your...Aunt Petunia's."  He felt Tevin shake his head furiously against his side.  Severus put down his wand and took the boy in his arms.  "I'm so sorry, Tevin.  I am so sorry."  He held the boy against him, wanting to commit this moment with his small son to his memory.  "I'm so sorry..."  He knelt there in front of the trunk, holding his son and swaying side to side slowly like the pendulum of clock that was counting down the seconds.  He was stirred to alertness by a feminine voice in the room. 

"Severus?" 

He turned his head and saw Ophelia through his blurred vision.  "What do you want?" he whispered, his voice soft and resigned. 

She looked at Severus holding the boy to his chest as he faced an open trunk with a few items placed carefully inside.  "What are you doing?"

Severus glared at her as best he could.  "I am getting my son's things together.  Thanks to you, I cannot raise him.  I have to take him to Lily's sister.  He has nowhere else to go."  He got up and quickly fled with his son into his bedroom, his robes billowing behind him.  Ophelia followed him quickly.  Remus entered the room shortly after her, to see Severus place Tevin in the cradle. 

"No go, Daddy!"  Tevin clung to the bars of the cradle with one hand, as he reached up towards Severus with the other. 

"I don't want to," Severus said.  "I want to keep you with me more than anything."

Tevin reached through the bars instead to grab the hem of Severus's shirt.  "Why?" 

"Severus!" Ophelia tried to get the older wizard's attention.  When he did not turn to her, she looked to Remus and nodded.  He drew his wand swiftly.  She reached to Severus and grabbed his right hand tightly before pulling roughly on his arm, jerking him off balance, tearing him from Tevin's grasp.  Tevin shouted as he saw his father forced from him.  Severus fell to the ground, his captive hand instinctively closing around hers that held his own.  Still, she did not release his hand.  As he struggled to regain his balance, she dropped to her knees opposite him.  "Remus!" she said, making it sound like a command for the other man to approach, which he did.  Just as a surprised Severus managed to get to his knees, Remus placed the tip of his wand on the joined hands of the two Slytherins as he stood over them.  And before Severus had a chance to do or say anything else, Remus began speaking. 

"Will you, Ophelia Fay, act the part of the mother to Severus Snape's son, putting Tevin's safety and well-being above that of all others, including your own, until it becomes unnecessary or death first takes you?" 

"I will."  When a thin cord of flame snaked from the end of Remus's wand to coil around their joined hands, Severus's eyes widened in shock.  He understood what was happening.  Ophelia was swearing an Unbreakable Vow.  He tried to pull his hand from hers, but her grip was strong and she held his hand tightly.  Remus quickly resumed speaking.

"Will you, Ophelia Fay, keep the other identity and relations of Severus Snape's son, particularly that of Lily Evans, secret from all who do not presently know of it?"

"I will."  A second thin, flaming, wiry cord burst from Remus's wand and wound itself around their hands, intertwining with the first, to settle firmly in place around their hands.  Severus looked at Ophelia, who wore an expression of complete concentration and sincerity.  His dark eyes went then to Remus, who wore a similar purposeful expression.  Lastly, he looked upon his son.  Tevin was gazing at the proceedings with keen, focused interest.  He was completely hypnotized.  He was quiet so that not even his breathing was audible.  Severus's attention was brought back to the spell when he heard Remus resume speaking once more.

"And will you, Ophelia Fay, protect Tevin from any danger, including those who do not seem to approach with a harmful intention, so long as it is in your power?"

Ophelia looked into Severus's eyes, commanding him silently to look at her.  "I will."  A third blazing cord slid from Remus's wand, and twisted itself among the others to wind itself around their joined hands.  The adult wizards watched as Severus's and Ophelia's hands began to glow red hot from the completion of the Unbreakable Vow.  Tevin watched as well, with wide, green eyes. 

"It is done, Severus," Ophelia said, in a firm and resolved voice.  "You can keep your son."