~~~~SS~~~~

Severus's outlook Sunday night as he was getting ready for bed wasn't much better than it had been most of the day. He'd stayed as strong as he could for Lily's sake and sat through the ridiculous lunch with Narcissa to help calm his wife's fraying nerves. He knew she was worried about Harry's - as well as his own - involvement in the war against the Muggles, but Severus had a whole separate set of concerns regarding their son.

That night he was sitting in the lavatory with the shower running to help hide his true purpose for this clandestine trip. He had found it last night after returning home and getting ready for bed. There was a letter in the pockets of his dress robes that he knew, without a doubt, had not been there most of the night. He'd only had enough time to scan the parchment with a wide variety of charms to be sure there weren't any hidden curses before Lily had come to bed, and had every intention of reading it first thing this morning. That was before the Daily Prophet article outlining the fate of their barely sixteen year old son, and before she connected the dots - as Harry had - that his role with the Death Eaters was now far from over. Just the thought of his Dark Mark burning again was enough to make him cringe. If only he could exchange his servitude for Harry's, but he was a year past the ages they were requiring for service; they'd indiscriminately deemed him "too old" for the level of military work they might need Harry for. However, he had no doubt that the Death Eaters would ask for his service, in some capacity, and sooner rather than later and the anxiety over when the summons would come left a heavy anxiety in the air.

Turning his attention back to the tied parchment he now held between his hands, Severus knew exactly who this was from and opening it would open a Pandora's box he wasn't sure he was prepared for. There were only two times someone - Nymphadora Tonks being the leading suspect - could have placed this missive into his robes and it was when the lights had gone out at the gala or when she accidentally tripped into him on the walk to the disapparation point. If he were a betting man, he would place his galleons on the former, as the Hufflepuff auror was too naturally clumsy to pull off an exchange on the walk. Suddenly, Arthur's seemingly random run-in at Madam Malkin's to try to recruit him back to the Order wasn't looking so random after all. The radical organization was getting desperate and with desperation came mistakes; sometimes fatal ones and almost always to the people who least deserve it. That left him suspicious about what could have possibly been discussed between the two Gryffindors inside the shop while he was berating the Weasley patriarch about putting his family in danger to join the group himself. Under Voldemort's regime, Albus Dumbledore couldn't - nor anyone else besides maybe Merlin himself - guarantee enough safety for his followers and Severus wasn't shy telling the man that his priorities were in the wrong place.

Opening the parchment confirmed what he had already suspected. Staring back at him was the headmaster's neat script he was so used to seeing back at school.

You've forgotten a box in your classroom, please stop by Monday morning to collect it.

The missive was short and to the point; innocent enough should it fall into the wrong hands, but the message to him was loud and clear: be at the Headmaster's office Monday morning, there was Order business to discuss.

"Sev?" Lily called from the other side of the lavatory door "Are you alright? You've been a while in there."

"Yes, I'm alright," he answered, trying his hardest to keep his voice from wavering from the lie he told. "I'll be right out."

He didn't know Lily had left until he exited the lavatory - looking around the short corridor for her presence - a minute later and she was no longer standing there, likely having gone off to bed and was waiting for him.

"Everything alright?"

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't dare be taken off guard by Harry as he was, and the narrowed emerald eyes looking back at him told him the Gryffindor recognized it too. Tonight was an exception to every rule and he found himself practically jumping from his skin at the unexpected question.

"It's fine," Severus replied more coldly to his son than he'd wanted to, especially given the decent conversations they managed to have today when he was doing whatever he could to ease Harry's own uncertainty about the upcoming war.

"Whatever," Harry shook his head, then pointing to the room behind the professor, asked, "Can I get ready for bed now?"

"Of course," he replied, collecting the missive he'd dropped onto the floor in his surprise. He had no one to blame but himself for Harry's cold shoulder; he'd broken their small fragile truce for the day.

The Potions Master made his way back to his bedroom where Lily had already turned down the bed and was sketching while waiting for him to return. This was his favorite part of the day, when he closed the door to their bedroom and blocked out all of the stresses that were constantly pulling him in different directions. This was the time he could get into bed with his wife - a fact he still cherished to this day, even if he was her second choice - and pretend there was no war on the horizon, no Ministry-mandated regulations for his classes waiting for him at his desk, no Order of the Phoenix, and no prophecy always sitting in the recesses of his mind, causing him to always question if the other shoe would ever drop.

"Finally," she greeted him with a smile as he climbed into bed and wrapped her in his strong arms, "I was getting worried about you."

"It was nothing," he answered, "I forgot I have to go back to the school in the morning before work, and I got lost in my thoughts about it."

Lily pulled away from him, her eyes full of questions he couldn't answer, at least not honestly. "Why do you have to go back? Isn't the school shut down already?"

She would remember that small fact. Even if he - or any of the other professors - wanted to stay at the castle over the summer, it was strictly prohibited. Only the headmaster, with approval from the Ministry - usually granted only for maintenance purposes - was allowed back on the school grounds before mid-August. Albus was taking a big risk by using the school as a meeting place for Order business, nevertheless if maintenance was previously scheduled and he were able to secure a set of objects for Severus to pick up, it would make a decent enough cover for them.

"I apparently left a box in my classroom," he casually explained. "I cleaned it out before we had dinner with the Malfoys. I was bound to leave something behind working so quickly."

"Don't blame it on dinner with the Malfoys," she shook her head slightly both in a flirtatious way and concerned way, "that was the day you were up all night. Don't think I don't know when you can't sleep."

As always, she was right. It had been the day after his horrific nightmare about James's death; a night he would give anything to forget, but not even the most extensive memory charm - he shuddered at the thought - would be enough. And while his wife was observant enough to know not only when he was up most of the night, but to keep track of those days, she completely missed the lie about needing to go back to Hogwarts. He couldn't blame her though; a wife shouldn't be expecting her husband to lie so blatantly to her face.

"That was the day," he conceded, because it only aided in his ruse that he was indeed picking up a box of orphaned personal supplies. "Albus sent me a missive on Friday about it and I had completely forgotten until I was in the shower."

"Would have been nicer if he'd just sent it back to you," she admonished. "I don't see why you have to go through all the trouble of going there before work when he could have sent it through the floo."

He leaned over and gave Lily a soft kiss on her lips, mostly as a way to draw attention away from his own guilt over her reaction in his defense. It was complicated, but with any luck after tomorrow morning all of this nonsense with the Order would cease and he could go about his way doing what he thought was needed to keep his son safe.

He was fast asleep in his bed when the nightmare hit for the second time in as many weeks:

"Don't do it, James," Severus called out to his Death Eater partner, knowing what he was suggesting was basically suicide.

"Well, I have to try," James exasperatedly replied.

"No, you don't," the dark-haired wizard warned. "Think of Lily and Harry, what will happen to them?"

Severus bolted upright in his bed, his body covered in sweat. Rarely did he dream of that night so close together and it was concerning to him. The combination of his racing adrenaline, disorientation, and remembering what happened that awful night had him running to the loo where he sicked up whatever had been left in his stomach since dinner.

Like everything else in the Wizarding World, visiting Hogwarts over the summer was far more complicated than it should have been. During the school year, the floo at Spinner's End was directly connected to the floo in his office attached to his Potions classroom, however at the end of term those connections were closed. This forced anyone - besides the Minister and Lord Voldemort himself - visiting the school to enter from Hogsmeade by the public floo in the Three Broomsticks; much to Madam Rosmerta's displeasure because while it increased traffic to her establishment, most of the visitors were simply passing through. Similar to Diagon Alley, each person entering the wizarding village through the floo needed to be scanned and go through security, something that was bound to become infinitely more difficult as restrictions were placed due to the upcoming war.

From Hogsmeade, Severus took the pathway leading up to Hogwarts where he went through yet another set of security screenings. This tedious process was why he was grateful to have his floo connected to his office, otherwise going through this every single morning when he returned to teach would have most likely led him to quitting in his first year; even he had his limits. For the summer, though, the Ministry had to track everyone entering and leaving the premises and being a professor at the damn school - not to mention part of the Department of Magical Education - didn't grant him any leniency in the security measures.

"Back so soon, Professor?" The security guard, Gabe, asked as he approached the gates. Gabe Asp was a Slytherin who finished at Hogwarts five years ago and signed up immediately for the Magical Military Corps. Severus always wondered how the young wizard ended up in security detail, assuming this wasn't what he signed up for, but never bothered asking.

Handing his ebony wand over to the other wizard, Severus simply answered, "I've apparently left a box in my classroom. I'm in a bit of a hurry as I'm needed at the Ministry."

"Of course, Professor," the guard replied. As expected, a piece of parchment popped up from above his wand with a description of his request to enter the premises; it was the only way to gain access to the castle over the summer, after all. "Looks like the box is waiting for you in the headmaster's office. You'd think he'd just leave it in your classroom, would be a quicker walk for you, anyway."

Severus frustratingly shook his head, "That's Albus Dumbledore. No one know what that senile old man thinks."

Gabe gave a good laugh, told him the password was Cockroach Clusters, and waved the Potions Master through. His trip would be timed - the check in compared to check out time - and in the long walk up to the school, Severus could only hope that whatever it was the headmaster wanted to discuss was done quickly. Picking up a box of left belongings wouldn't require an hour's visit and it would draw unwanted attention to him.

"Severus," Albus greeted the dark-haired professor a half second after the door opened and motioned to the chair before his desk, "please take a seat."

"I don't have all day, Albus," he responded coldly with his arms folded across his chest refusing the offered seat, but still approaching the desk where the elderly wizard was seated. "I'm needed at the Ministry, and I have no doubt you know why, so get whatever it is you need to ask me off your chest so we can both get on our way."

"I imagine there are a lot of changes coming to the upcoming school year," it wasn't a question, they were both intimately aware that this upcoming year would be anything but typical. Unfortunately, until Severus could actually get to the Ministry and sort through the orders on this desk, he could only guess how different it would be. "I was hoping you'd reconsider your… unique… position for us."

There it was; the leader of the most radical resistance group against the Ministry and Lord Voldemort asking him to reclaim his role. He'd expected it, of course, but he didn't think it would be this early in the process.

"No, Albus," he gave his answer without a single hesitation. "You know why I can't, and frankly, I'm surprised you even risked asking."

"They'll send him into this war without a second thought as to who he is. I've seen his scores, Severus, and as a Halfblood he won't get the same concessions as Draco Malfoy or any of the Purebloods with his level of wand work," Albus replied, narrowing his bright blue eyes behind his half-moon spectacles, "We can protect him-"

"You don't fool me! You're going to use him," Severus challenged back, the anger dripping from his dark, menacing voice, before the headmaster could get another word in. "He's not some pawn in whatever game you think you're playing!"

"It's interesting should you say that, Severus," the older wizard inquisitively said, with a twinkle in his eyes that made the younger wizard uncomfortable, "tell me, what would make you think that we would want to use your son?"

The professor sat staring at the man who had almost been a mentor to him. In another lifetime, had things gone differently and he hadn't needed to immediately cut all ties, who knew where they would have ended up. Right now though, in the current environment facing them, the leader of the Order had presented him with a challenge, one he couldn't validate without going down a road he didn't want to go down, least of all with Albus Dumbledore. He knew the Order had suspected James's defection from them to the Death Eaters was in an effort to prevent Harry from being subjected to the prophecy - something that, by all appearances, he'd completely put to rest when he died protecting the Dark Lord - but Severus had never returned to the Order after the night the Ministry fell; instead choosing to return to Lord Voldemort's side. There was no possibility that Albus knew what he had done that night, and yet his eyes showed a truth behind them that Severus couldn't deny.

"Do you really think Lily will be alright with the idea of sending her only child into a war against the Muggles?" The headmaster asked, trying to approach the offer from a different angle. "If presented with another… option-"

Severus interrupted Albus's bold statement by slamming his fist onto the desk in front of him as he leaned over ominously towards his employer, "Don't even think of approaching her. Your war is no different than theirs and if you think it is, then you're more delusional than ever! You've lost, Albus. It's time to give up, move on and help prepare your students for the reality facing them. That's how you can make a difference, not by imagining some utopian society that has long since fallen."

"James Potter didn't think like that, no matter what Lord Voldemort and most of the wizarding world believes," Albus stood to face his Potions Master eye-to-eye, "and young Harry doesn't either, it's not who he is. How long do you suppose you can keep pushing him into a life he doesn't believe in? He won't go quietly, Severus, that much is evident to anyone who's met him. Why do you think Lucius has made arrangements for Harry's internship? To keep a close eye on the wizard who threatens their regime."

He couldn't help it, Severus sucked in a shallow breath at the mention of Harry's internship which Albus had no reason to know of; a strategic ploy to tell the professor just how far the Order's reach into the Ministry had become.

"Sounds to me you don't need my assistance," Severus turned to leave, but the door behind him was automatically closed.

"We're not done here," Albus challenged.

"You knew about the Muggle War coming up," he turned to face the headmaster who had walked halfway through the room to meet the Potions Master, "and you know about Harry's internship. You don't need a spy, even if I were willing to rejoin, you apparently already have one… fairly deep undercover if I had to guess. So why bother with all of this?"

Severus swept his hands around the room, his eyes full of anger both for the implications he'd heard from the man in front of him as well as having his time wasted.

"Lord Voldemort is overconfident," the other wizard said, "he thinks he has the support necessary to wage war and free the Wizarding World, but he's missing the one piece he can never understand: love. And when he demands to the parents that their children now be forced from their war-supplying classes to brandish wands against Muggle weapons on the front lines, they'll look for other options. And suddenly, the Muggleborns he'd once blamed for all their threats and hardships won't look so threatening after all."

As moving of a speech as it was, it didn't do anything to alter his decision. The Snape Family would be staying as far away from the Order of the Phoenix as possible.

"You better leave my family the hell alone," he growled a warning at the man across from him. "We're done here."

He was only half expecting the door to open when he reached for the knob - assuming that Albus wouldn't take "no" for an answer - and was pleased when it did, allowing him to stalk from the office. It hadn't been a total waste of his time; if nothing else, he confirmed that the Order was potentially larger reaching than he had originally assumed. This meant the wizarding world as a whole would be further divided than ever before and if he didn't get some semblance of control, his family would be first to be torn apart. Just as he was exiting the castle, on his way back to check out at security, a box appeared on the last step in front of him filled to the brim with random texts, empty phials, and old exams; things that the headmaster had found laying around his classroom that could be deemed "forgotten". Picking up the box to carry with him - because what kind of excuse was coming to the castle to retrieve forgotten things only to leave empty handed - he looked up at the turrets that held the headmaster's office knowing that the meddling man wouldn't leave him or his family in peace on his demand alone.

The mountain of paperwork on Severus's desk for his review far exceeded his expectations. It seemed like the Ministry - Lucius, the Dark Lord, or both - already had a good idea of what they wanted the "new Hogwarts curriculum" to look like in regards to the war and we're only interested in his signature to completely unravel his classes and reconfigure them for the war effort. The whole Ministry was pure chaos with missives flying throughout the air going to and from different departments, and the DME was no exception. The normally quiet office was ringing as witches and wizards spoke over one another about which level courses were changing and how students within those courses would be divided.

As potions was his primary position within the DME, it was obviously the first set of petitions he started reviewing. Nevertheless, his interest wasn't in what types of potions Lucius wanted mass produced by the N.E.W.T students, it was in his consultant position for the Dark Arts and how that course would change. When he was a student at Hogwarts - and for as long as he knew the history of the school - the course taught was Defense Against the Dark Arts and it had been aimed to equip students with the basic level of Defense needed should they come face to face with danger. That course was the first to change under Lord Voldemort's regime and was replaced with the Dark Arts; teaching kids both offensive and - despite some hefty lobbying - defensive tactics. After hearing Albus's declaration that Harry's scores would impact what position he ended up in should he still be required to register, he decided to read the basics of his Potions documents before turning to Thorfinn Rowle, his fellow Death Eater and the wizard running the Dark Arts which he only consulted on. He never really knew which side of the fence Thorfinn sat because working for the DME as a Death Eater - and not a professor - had always struck him as odd. Knowing that the Order had a high ranking spy within the Ministry only caused him to further question the other wizard's alliance.

"Are the changes you're seeing in DA as extensive as Potions?" He casually asked the desk across from his own, while holding up the file he had just glanced over.

Thorfinn lifted his hands in frustration. "It's all over the place. The biggest change is obviously in the sixth and seventh years, but I swear they over complicated the whole thing hoping we'd just blindly approve it." He tossed the file across to Severus's desk and said, "Let me know what you make of this."

Getting a hold of the file was far easier than he'd expected. Most of the summer Thorfinn didn't really have to do much in the way of work since the Dark Lord set the curriculum back when he took power. Until now it was more or less simply a matter of reviewing the incoming students to make sure they fit the requirements to take the course, which included no Muggleborns - they had a separate course on Defense Against Dark Creatures instead - and Halfbloods needed to pass a practical examination over the summer. Once students took their O.W.L.S, it was simply did they pass with an O or E; both of which could take the N.E.W.T. level course.

As Thorfinn alluded to, the fifth year curriculum wasn't changing too much, as the students would still be preparing for the O.W.L.s. but Severus was concerned these students would have no idea what was in store for them the following year - after taking a quick peek at the sixth year changes - so he grabbed a red ink well and noted such on the document. He didn't care if they wanted a blind approval; they sure as bloody hell weren't getting one.

The sixth year changes were obviously Severus's main concern seeing as there was no doubt in his mind Harry had gotten at least an E on his O.W.L. While the Gryffindor resisted the offensive part of the course on principle, he had a natural talent in the subject as a whole and had some of the best wand work - easily picking up the spells and the speed of which he responded with them - he'd seen in years. Per the petition, the sixth years would be split based on a combination of their O.W.L. results and their blood purity status. Under the new guidelines, all students who received an O and were Purebloods would be moved into a course specifically geared towards future officer training - the wording was a bit more esoteric about the specifics outlined in a separate addendum, but the main idea was still there - as they were considered the top ranking students. The second category, consisting of Purebloods with E marks, was titled as "non-combatant support training" and would focus solely on defensive spells with the idea that these students would eventually lead into supportive roles such as trainers, curse breakers, or logistics and likely wouldn't see battle. That left the bottom two levels as infantry training for the Halfbloods. Those with an Outstanding mark - where Severus was expecting Harry to fall - would split their time between higher level infantry training with a focus between offensive and defensive spells and officer training under the guise that they would be considered "leaders" or Junior Officers in battle. The last group, and absolutely not where the Potions Master wanted his son, were Halfbloods with Exceeds Expectations and they would be focused solely on offensive training with a touch of defense. These were the students being trained for the front lines against the muggles.

The seventh years, which Severus briefly scanned through, would basically get a crash course in the same structure as the sixth years, but under the full intention they would go to the military units after their year was completed. What concerned him the most was the small footnote at the bottom of the last page of the file where it stated that at anytime, a selection of N.E.W.T students could be conscripted - or called for service - at the discretion of the Minister or the Commander General, Lord Voldemort. It was unlikely to happen, he could rationally understand that, however it didn't mean it couldn't happen and he knew from his Death Eater days how unstable the Dark Lord could be; it wouldn't take much for him to pull that trigger. This would give him two separate ways to call in students for service - the Compulsory Registry and the Dark Arts classes.

"Well?" Thorfinn asked, drawing his attention back to the present where every single set of eyes were upon him.

"You're going to need to go through it with a fine tooth comb," he tossed the file back to the other Death Eater. "I've marked a question for the fifth years. There's a gap in the curriculum expectations between them and the sixth years. They should have a better foundation for what's to come. That is assuming we're expecting this to last more than a year."

"You think it'll last that long?" It was Evert who asked the foolish question.

"Without a doubt," he flatly replied while digging through his desk to find the one document he could handle now. Picking up the petition for fifth year Muggleborns to take the Pureblood/Halfblood Potions class, he walked it over to the other wizard's desk and ceremoniously dropped it down. "This is obviously denied."

Then without waiting to gauge anyone else's reaction, he left the room hoping to get better progress with Lucius, but knowing it was going to be another lost cause.

"So there's nothing we can do?!" Lily asked him after they were ready for bed and finally had a chance to discuss his conversation with Lucius. The last thing he wanted to do was feel like he was failing her and yet, here he was about to let her down yet again.

"I'm afraid not," he said, giving his head a small shake, pretending he didn't feel her stare on him as he looked through the latest Potions Journal. He was getting behind in his trade, and given the changes this year would bring, he needed to stay as up to date as possible.

"So what does this mean exactly?" His wife's voice was laced with fear and disappointment. "How will-"

"I'll take him to register on Monday before dropping him off at the DMLE," the Potions Master explained. It was a moment he was already dreading; no father wanted to take his son to register for Compulsory Military Service, but they had no other choice. At some point - likely when Harry attempted to go back to school as was now a requirement - he'd be flagged for non-compliance and that would only make the situation worse for them all. Severus didn't even want to think about what that would do for the young Gryffindor. "As for what it means in the future? Lucius said they likely won't call anyone younger than seventeen for active duty, but Lord Voldemort wants the option should additional resources be required."

"Additional resources?!" Lily practically yelled at him, sitting up further in the bed to face him. "My son is not a thing that can be utilized for war."

Severus thought back to his conversation with Albus Dumbledore that morning. No matter which way they turned, Harry would be getting used; against the muggles by the Ministry, and against the Ministry by the Order. He didn't know why Albus was looking at Harry as the Chosen One, but he needed to do whatever he could to emphasize that it couldn't be true; that Neville Longbottom was the subject of the prophecy and his unfortunate death in 1981 closed any possibility of its fulfillment.

"I know, Lily," he put his journal back onto the bedside table, preparing himself for what was to come, "but at this point, our hands are tied. Until his O.W.L.s are in, the best we can do is simply not draw any more attention to him. After that, we'll have a better idea of how to prepare him… and ourselves for what he may be called to do."

She huffed beside him, not liking the idea, yet at the same time, understanding they couldn't do a damn thing about it. Every single wizarding household with a child that fell within the required registration age was going through the same hard conversation.

"What about Draco?" She eventually asked, a bit more aggressively than he would have expected since she was so close to Narcissa. "Does he have to register?"

Severus nodded his head. Unlike his wife, he was not surprised by the Malfoy heir's requirement to register the same as Harry. "He'll be registered for Compulsory until he's through with Hogwarts, at which point he'll then be expected to voluntarily sign up and join outright."

Something about his explanation took some of the fuel from her fire, "Will he be Marked?"

"Eventually, yes," Severus furrowed his brows and flexed his left forearm, not wanting to tell his wife that their son would likely end up with one too. Even if the Gryffindor was never called for Compulsory Service, he was already expected to serve just for being James's son, and while he wouldn't see the level of the Mark Draco would - which would have a direct link to the Dark Lord's call - Severus still didn't want to see that ugly mark on his son's arm. "As the Minister's son, I guarantee you that Draco won't ever see the battlegrounds, instead he'll likely go into tactical training under Dolohov."

"And Harry?" Her soft voice trembled; it was too much to even think about.

"I'm afraid if he keeps up his constant vigilante attitude and doesn't learn to watch what he says and to whom he says it to, then he'll be called before the end of his seventh year," he paused to let the words sink in before he added, "and I doubt it will be due to a legitimately fair selection."

Lily's bright green eyes shifted back and forth as she considered the information he'd told her. She was probably going through all the things he had when the realization hit him earlier today: their son would get himself killed if he didn't learn a little self-preservation. Between now and the start of the school year, Severus would have to try to bridge the gap between them and teach the young wizard how to accept what was happening outwardly and still be against it inside of himself. These were the types of things a father shouldn't need to teach his son, but times were ever changing and difficult decisions would need to be made.

Severus assumed the conversation between him and Lily was over because for the longest time, she didn't say anything and suddenly the lanterns went out - nonverbally and wandlessly - and he hadn't been the one to do it. He rolled over towards his wife, who was now facing away from him, and wrapped his arm around her small frame. She wasn't anywhere near relaxed enough to fall asleep, he could feel the muscles in her arms tense, so he ran his left hand from her shoulder to her fingers; their wedding bands clinking softly when they met, bringing Severus back to one of the best days of his life. Never did he think he'd be lucky enough to marry Lily Evans and when things got particularly challenging for him, he would close his eyes and picture her walking down the aisle towards him in her ivory dress with Harry walking by her side, and he instantly calmed. She could fix just about any turbulent feelings he had and she had no clue of the power she held over him.

Once her arms relaxed, he was surprised when she turned to him in the dark and said, "Maybe we should talk to Albus, Sev."

Instantly his own body tensed. "No," he replied, leaving no room for debate or question. He wasn't getting the Order involved, but he needed to find a compelling reason to give his wife in place of the one he couldn't tell her, "The headmaster is just that… a headmaster, a conduit for the DME. He holds no more power than Evert Abbott anymore and all those people who are putting their lives in his delusional hands will be nothing but disappointed, should they live long enough."

Was he being too harsh? Probably, nevertheless this wasn't a topic he was willing to leave open for interpretation. He needed to be strong and confident that the Order was gone; they held no power to influence change.

"It was just a thought," Lily eventually said, almost breathlessly; her last effort having proven to be futile. It almost killed him inside to be the cause, yet again, of her disappointment and it didn't help when she leaned over and gave him a soft kiss before saying, "I love you, Sev."

The upcoming weeks would prove to challenge them, both as husband and wife and as Harry's parents, in ways he could never imagine. In the dark - listening to the telltale sign of Lily's breathing evening out indicating she'd finally fallen asleep - he thought about how he would give just about anything to be able to go back in time and convince his wife to move them to America or Australia; anywhere he could go to get them out of Wizarding Britain before tragedy inevitably struck their small family once again.