Severus always rose early on Sundays. It was a holdover from the times he did go to church. He'd never really managed to kick the habit. Even worse, back then his family had lived far from the church and, lacking the funds to own a car, a 45-minute walk had preceded any kind of service. He and his father were often late, to the point where the priest had begun to expect it and had begun planning around their arrival. As he rolled over, gently so as not to wake Emmeline, he felt a sense of deja vu descend. St. Margaret's Bay was also a good walk away. He sighed and made his way downstairs. As he set about making coffee a small smile graced his lips. He remembered the first year that Harry had come to stay (goodness that was a long time ago!) He too had a tendency to wake up exceedingly early. He'd thought it was very odd since the boy was on holiday and surely didn't need to be up at the crack of dawn. He only found later it was because of his abusive relatives, who made him get up early to cater to their every whim, like an overtired overworked maid of all works. Severus sighed and sipped his coffee. 

"Mornin'" Harry murmured behind him with a wide yawn. 

"You're up early," Severus commented with a raised eyebrow. He had seen Harry get up that early since he was thirteen.

"Well… I figured we were going to church. So I set an alarm." Harry explained. Severus paused.

"You want to go to the service?" He asked candidly. Harry shrugged.

"The Dursleys used to go to church not every Sunday, but often enough." Harry paused and looked out the window at the early morning sun. "I vaguely remember what it was like. They used to take me when I was really little, but they stopped after I started doing magic, so I don't really remember …" Severus hummed before he set his mug down.

"In that case, fix yourself a quick breakfast, then go upstairs and put on some nicer clothes. I'll go wake your mother." Severus said plainly. If Harry wanted to see service again, Severus would indulge him.

Emmeline was still staring up at the church ceiling with wonder.

"I've never seen a building this beautiful before." She muttered, in less than a whisper, to Severus. The man chuckled slightly. Emmeline's architectural roots were showing. He'd first noticed it when she gasped upon seeing the exterior, and then again when they first entered. He'd then had a moment of utter embarrassment as Emmeline had tried to touch one of the stained glass windows and was scolded by an usher. He'd quickly pulled her into the pews and sat her down. He was then infinitely grateful that Harry seemed to recall more than he thought because the boy was already in his contemplations. The priest stepped forward and said a few words before beginning the service. Severus surreptitiously leaned over to Emmeline.

"Just follow my lead," he breathed into her ear. Emmeline nodded slightly. The service continued as expected with a bit of sitting and standing and listening to the priest deliver his sermons. Emmeline smiled brightly when Severus told her that there would be singing shortly. Harry also smiled when he saw his mother's face. He knew how much she loved to sing, so this was right up her alley. After the singing and sitting and standing the family rose as the service came to an end. Emmeline tried to gravitate towards the front when Severus grabbed her.

"Not that way." He hissed.

"But-" Emmeline said in confusion.

"You've not been baptized. Communion is only for those who have been." Severus explained quietly.

"Well, then shouldn't you be doing it?" Emmeline argued. Severus looked over before looking back and shaking his head.

"It wouldn't be right," he finished as he turned away. Emmeline's face grew contemplative. Something about the way her future husband was standing had set off alarm bells in her head. She noted a certain discomfort in the way he walked and the way he averted his eyes from certain iconography.

Almost as if he was ashamed.

She sighed and turned to Harry. He was standing fixated on a painting on the wall. It showed a man in a long white robe with a large cross on his back, carrying it down a road while onlookers either wept or jeered. Harry was staring at it, eyes hallowed.

"Sometimes I feel like that…" he admitted quietly. Emmeline turned to him with horrified, sad eyes. "Everyone wants me to save them … but I'm just a 15-year-old kid. I don't even know what I want to do after Hogwarts! If I even get that far!"

"Harrison James Potter you stop that nonsense at once!" Emmeline snapped angrily. Harry blinked and turned to her. "Don't you dare say such horrid things! You have a long life ahead of you!" She took a deep breath and pulled him away from the now deeply disturbing mural. "It is perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed, given the circumstances. But I want you to know that your father and I do not expect you to swoop in and save the world. In fact, it would be my personal hope that other, more suitable, people took up the charge, instead of leaving it to a boy."

"But it's not going to work out like that," Harry said blandly. Emmeline grimaced.

"Probably not." She muttered under her breath, hoping Harry hadn't heard her, but he had, judging by his half grimace, half smirk. She huffed and continued leading him out of the building.

"Thank you for coming to the service," the priest said with a smile. Then the smile took on a weary light. "I notice you did not bring your son up for communion…"

"Oh!" Emmeline said with a blink. Then she winced. "Oh, I didn't think it would be proper. Harry has been to church for a very long time. I'm not even sure if he was baptized…" she muttered thinking back.

"You didn't baptize your son?" The priest began to sigh.

"Oh well he's not my son by birth," Emmeline admitted with a swallow. "I'm his stepmother… well, future stepmother. His father and I aren't married yet. We've been engaged for over a year now and we haven't even decided when we want to get married!" She said, ending with a laugh. The laugh quickly faltered as the priest eyed her with a look of slight distaste.

"I see," he finally finished. "Why did you come to the service today?"

"Oh well, we were hoping to help with the charity bake sale!" Emmeline said with a broad smile. "Harry here wanted to see service again. It was absolutely wonderful. And your cathedral is a masterpiece!"

"Mum's an architect by trade," Harry explained with a chuckle. "She got a bit lost in the spectacle when we first arrived."

"I noticed," the priest remarked, a bit of the earlier disdain melting away. "Thank you for joining us. If you step off to the right my wife will gladly help you set up a table."

"Thank you!" Emmeline said before pulling Harry away. "What did I say?" She hissed to him worriedly. Harry winced.

"Erm… well certain people in certain churches don't think that people should… you know, outside of marriage." Harry admitted with a blush. Emmeline blinked 

"What?! That's absurd!" She remarked. Harry shrugged. "I wonder how they would have reacted had they known I was a witch…"

"I wouldn't," Harry said with a wince. "My 3rd-year history homework was supposed to be about witch burnings."

"Oh right," Emmeline remarked sardonically. Then she noticed a slightly frazzled woman with a clipboard and smiled brightly. "Hello! The pastor said we should look for his wife to get set up for the bake sale, is that you?"

"Indeed it is!" The woman said with a slightly weary smile. "Are you here to help set up, or do you have goods?"

"Goods!" Emmeline said happily, "But we can help set up as well."

"Oh thank goodness!" The woman cried. "Most of the volunteers have been older women from the parish not really suited to manual labour. Your son seems like a strapping lad! Could you be a dear and start setting up that stack of folding tables? A large u shape would be ideal." 

"Sure!" Harry said before he walked over to the pile. 

"Oh!" The woman suddenly piped up. "One more thing! If you see a little girl with pigtails in a blue dress, can you please tell her to come back to help me? She's always off in some fantasy world that girl! I have no idea where she wandered off to."

"Aren't you worried something might have happened to her?!" Emmeline cried in horror. Harry winced. His mum had a protective streak the size of the black lake and just as deep. The pastor's wife made a face.

"I'm sure she's perfectly fine. She never wanders far. She's probably sitting on the green on the other side of the church watching the clouds." The woman argued, and judging by her look she would not appreciate any more comments from Emmeline on her fitness as a parent. The witch noticed it and took the diplomatic route of silently nodding before changing the subject altogether back to the bake sale.

The bake sale was turning out to be a huge success. After Severus had returned with the turnovers and Emmeline finished setting up a small display the sweets started flying away. Harry was amazed.

"We're going to run out soon!" He remarked in awe.

"Well, now I know next year to make more!" Emmeline remarked with a grin.

"Next year?" Severus grumbled as he took the ten-pound note from Emmeline and gave her the change. She was hopeless with Muggle money, even though Severus insisted its base ten system was easier to understand. Emmeline just complained that it was 'too many coins'.

"It's an annual event, dear!" Emmeline reminded him with a smile.

"Can I have a few pounds and look around?" Harry suddenly pipes up. Emmeline and Severus turned to him a blink before Severus followed his son's eyes and couldn't hold back a chuckle. Three booths down, a little old lady was selling homemade treacle tart. The man rolled his eyes but still reached to give the boy a note when a young girl cleared her throat.

"Excuse me," she said quietly, pigtails swinging a bit as she eyed them. "I'm here to get your profit envelope."

"Is it 4 already?!" Emmeline cried as she glanced at her watch. 

"No," the girl said. "But mummy wants to collect them to free up some space."

"Certainly," Emmeline said, as she tried to Severus. The man was rapidly counting the money before he stuffed it into the envelope. 

"£80 50p." He said smoothly.

"Whoa!" The girl said with a grin. "That's almost as good as the toffee stall! These must be really good!"

"Here!" Emmeline said as she handed one to her.

"Oh, I don't have any money." The girl insisted.

"Call it a sample," Emmeline said cheerfully complete with a small wink. The girl couldn't resist that delicious offer and took the turnover. One bite and she hummed in delight.

"These are delicious Mrs…"

"Just Emmeline." Emmeline insisted. The girl grinned a little shyly.

"Ms. Emmeline," she responded. Emmeline huffed indulgently, eyes glittering with mirth. Harry grinned with a snicker. He remembered when he used to call his mum that. "My name is Lucy."

"Hello Lucy," Emmeline responded. "It's very nice to meet you."

"You too!" Lucy insisted before she dashed away. But as she turned her foot caught a patch of uneven turf. She gave a yelp as she pitched forward the bundle of envelopes flying into the air. The little family behind her all yelped in shock and concern when suddenly the girl was not so much falling as floating. The envelopes were fluttering all around her in a flurry before settling into a neat stack as she finished falling, gracefully slowly onto the grass. Severus blinked before he turned, grasping Harry's arm.

“Harrisson!” he hissed angrily.

“It wasn't me!” Harry argued desperately with a wince. Severus glared at him for a moment before his face softened, seeing no lie in his son's face. He turned instead to his wife with a scathing look. It would be so like her to do something so foolishly protective.

“Don't give me that look!” Emmeline grumbled. “I didn’t do a thing!”

“Then who-” he turned and realized the girl had disappeared. “Where did she go?” he asked in a panic.

“Why?”

“Because I have to obliviate her, obviously!” Severus snarled.

“But we didn’t do anything!” Harry argued angrily.

“Well someone must have!” Severus barked.

“Is there a problem?” a voice called. The family jumped and looked up. The pastor was eyeing them with a raised eyebrow. Severus immediately straightened up.

“Forgive us, Pastor. Just a family discussion.”

“I see.” the man said with a bowed head. “I was wondering if you could help me with something sir. We have a sign that needs putting up.” Severus looked over to see two other men trying to pull a sign that was strung up between two trees on the edge of the green and nodded slowly. As they walked away the pastor cleared his throat.

“I was wondering… I have not seen you among the parishioners before… your fiance remarked that your son had not attended a service in a while… forgive me, but were you raised in the faith?”

“Yes,” Severus answered plainly. He knew this would come up. It was part of what he wanted to avoid.

“I see…” the pastor was silent, but Severus could see the disdain under his eyes. Severus took a deep breath.

“My relationship with the church is… complicated,” Severus said coldly. He hoped the man would let it drop.

“I will not press,” the pastor said stiffly. “But I am always available if you find yourself in need of… better guidance,” Severus grunted and gave a jerk of his head that might have looked like a nod. Better to let the man think he was agreeable. A small gasp from behind him made him turn. His wand hand twitched as he realized it was the little girl from before. “Lucy?”

“Father,” she murmured quietly with a nod. Severus raised an eyebrow. Father was the Catholic term if he wasn't mistaken.

“What is it?” the man responded with a cold expression. Severus’s face twitched. The man was addressing her fairly rudely for a supposedly guiding pastor.

“Mother was looking for you.” the girl said. She was knotting her dress up nervously now which made Severus glower slightly.

“Tell her I will be with her shortly. Go back to your duties.” the pastor said with a sour expression. The girl nodded before turning and dashing away. “I know that God is all-knowing… but even still, I can't help but feel he gave that girl too much spirit for her own good.”

“Why do you say that?” Severus asked with narrowed eyes. The pastor gave him a look but said nothing else as he continued to walk away. Severus watched him go for a pace then found his eyes drifting out to the crowd. He was searching for a little girl with pigtails. His expertly trained eye found her talking to the woman who Emmeline had told him was organizing the event. The pastor's wife. "An odd thing to say about your own daughter." He finally piped up again. The pastor's eye twitched. He breathed something under his breath that Severus didn't quite catch before he whirled away, expression conspicuously blank. Severus filed the entire interaction away for later reference. 

Emmeline smiled as she folded the tablecloth up. They'd run out of turnovers and had stuck around to help collect profits from other stands. Now the event was ending. 

"Thank you so much, Emmeline!" The pastor's wife, Hannah said with a weary smile. "I dearly love running this event, but every year it becomes bigger and bigger! It's nearly too much for me as it is." 

"Well, I'm happy to help!" Emmeline insisted with a grin. "It gets Harry out of the house."

"Do you live far?" Hannah asked casually.

"Down at the end of the Droveway," Emmeline responded. Hannah's expression went from confused to sad.

"I didn't realize Greta had passed! Please give my condolences to the family!" The woman cried sadly. Emmeline's expression flashed in worry for a second before she smiled weakly. 

"I will." 

"Mummy!" Lucy cried with delight as she ran up to her. Then she froze and gasped at Emmeline with wide saucer eyes. Emmeline looked down at her in confusion. 

"Lucy dear, what's wrong?" Hannah asked in confusion. Lucy looked up at her mother with a bite of her lip. The woman's eyes widened a fraction and she turned to Emmeline slowly. "This… might seem strange… but … did Lucy do something… odd… in front of you?" Hannah said with a slight wobble of her lip. Emmeline's eyes lit up.

"You're a witch?!" She cried in awe. Hannah flinched while Lucy's expression went distraught.

"'Exodus 22:18, thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'!" Lucy shouted in fright. "I am not a witch! I just…" She swallowed and shrunk into herself slightly. Emmeline's expression grew sad 

"Oh darling, it wasn't an insult!" She insisted as she dropped to her knees. "I happen to be a witch as well."

"W-what?!" Hannah cried in shock. Emmeline looked up to her with a smile.

"Both my parents were magical. Severus and Harry are both wizards as well. Severus and I work at a school for witches and wizards in northern Scotland."

"I thought you said your husband was a chemist," Hannah muttered with an uncomfortable expression.

"Well, he's a potions master," Emmeline admitted. "Chemist is the best comparison."

"There are more of me?" Lucy whispered after she'd had a moment to recover. Emmeline smiled at her brightly.

"Yes! There is a whole magical world! With shops and schools! Even a magical government!" Emmeline admitted. " We have to stay secret from muggles, however, so you would never have noticed us before." Emmeline paused and looked her over. "How old are you darling?"

"10. But I turn eleven in a few weeks!" Lucy responded.

"You'll be getting a letter soon then!" Emmeline assured her. "An invitation to Hogwarts. That's the name of the school. I work at."

"Hogwarts?!" Lucy cried before she giggled. "What a silly name for a school!"

"I always thought so too!" Emmeline admitted. She looked back up to Hannah and her smile dimmed a bit. The woman looked extremely uncomfortable but also… worried. Emmeline stood up and grabbed her hands. "I assure you that everything will be alright. Hogwarts is the best institution in Great Britain." Hannah gave her a look before she swallowed lightly.

"Perhaps… if this letter arrives… you could help Lucy get more… used… to this… magic world." Hannah said slowly. Emmeline’s expression grew worried. There was a shadow of fear in her eyes now. A flicker of some desperate emotion. Emmeline nodded slowly which made Lucy smile brightly. 

"Hannah love," the pastor suddenly called from behind them, walking up with a gentle smile. "Is everything alright?" 

"Everything is fine!" Hannah replied with a bright smile, all of her previous fear melting away. "I was just thanking Emmeline for all of her wonderful help!" Emmeline quickly stretched a smile over her face as well. But her eyes never left the pastor. Lucy seemed stiff as she moved towards him. And his hand on her shoulder seemed more perfunctory than a sign of affection like he would be dashing his hand away as soon as Emmeline turned away. It made her want to seethe. But instead, she just took the man's thanks. She gave Lucy one last smile, pouring as much support as she could into her eyes before she walked away.

"Lucy Mathers is a witch." Emmeline declared over the family's dinner of Chinese takeaway. 

"I knew it," Severus muttered darkly. "Pastor Richmond is neglectful of her."

"Bloody hell," Harry whispered in horror.

"Language." Both parents admonished quietly. Harry dropped his takeaway box with a frown.

"But!" He huffed before he gave his parents a worried expression. "What are we gonna do?" Emmeline opened her mouth, but Severus cut her off.

"There's nothing we can do." At his future wife's affronted expression he sighed. "The man is neglectful, but his wife isn't. At least that was the impression I received."

"You're right," Emmeline said softly. "If anything she seemed overly concerned for Lucy… I don't think he's as neglectful as you think. When I called her a witch she quoted something at me… Exodus 20 something.

"Exodus 22:18?" Severus muttered wearily.

"Yes!" Emmeline confirmed

"What's Exodus 22:18?" Harry asked.

"It's a bible verse. Part of the King James Bible, which is the version Anglicans typically use."

"What's the quote?" Harry asked.

"'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'." Emmeline recalled bitterly. "What a horrible thing to teach a child. Especially a magical one!"

"Verbal abuse is abuse," Severus admitted. "But it is not grounds enough for the Ministry to confiscate a child."

"What about the DoE? cant we give a report to them?" Harry asked. 

"She is a magical child. Therefore, any case issued under her name will be handled by the Ministry's Department of Family Services." Severus explained. "And the ministry has very… stringent requirements for cases of child abuse. There has to be proof of physical effect."

"That's stupid!" Harry argued angrily.

"I agree," Emmeline grumbled bitterly. The family went back to their dinner, feeling dejected. Suddenly Severus paused in his eating, expression grim.

"I have seen cases like this before," Severus admitted. Emmeline and Harry looked up at him worriedly. "It typically goes one of two ways… the parents of the child reject their child, usually the first or second year after Hogwarts, and they get rehomed with a different family through family services," he trailed off, expression weary.

"Or?" Emmeline egged him on with pursed lips.

"Or the neglect graduates to full-on physical abuse and the DFS confiscates the child." He finished. Emmeline's expression went distraught.

"Oh, Severus!" She sobbed. The man swallowed.

"I'm sure Pastor Richmond, God-fearing man that he is, would never dare raise a hand to his daughter… even if he thinks she's the spawn of Satan."

"But either outcome is wretched!" Emmeline argued, hand over her eyes. "That poor poor girl!"

"Dad," Harry began wearily. Severus looked at his son. He knew how hard it must be to hear such a wretched thing, given how he himself had grown up in an abusive household. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Hannah asked me to help Lucy adjust to living around magic," Emmeline said, suddenly upright again determined. "So we are going to help and support her as much as we can!"

"Right! " Harry agreed with a nod. Severus also nodded. Mission confirmed the family finished their dinner before turning in for an uneasy sleep.