Paternal Instincts

Severus Snape strolled around the darkening park. It was a chilly autumn and he was trying to keep warm. 'This year is going so well' he mused, 'much better than I expected, especially with aurora training. James is actually a halfway decent instructor. Lily will be happy when she hears. It's still hard to believe we are engaged. Of course a precious few know, but we will make it known to the rest soon. I wonder how Black will take the news. He nearly went berserk when he found out we were dating. This should prove to be quite interesting.' Rustling leaves behind him brought him from his thoughts. He turned to see Lily Evans standing a short distance away. The way the moonlight fell on her he would have sworn she was an angel. He approached, smiling, until he realized her eyes were full of tears. He rushed to embrace her, but she jumped back as if she were afraid of him. This hurt him, but the look in her eyes killed him. The look she gave him was one of ultimate sadness and pity, but also undeniable hatred.

"I cannot stay with you. I...I am in love with James, goodbye." She dropped her ring on the ground and ran off. Severus reached down and picked up their engagement ring. The dolphins that adorned it smiled up at him as if mocking him. He stared after her, 'I should have known. Nothing good ever happens to me, and what does always goes bad. Why should love be any different?' he forced down the threatening tears, set his face into a stony expression, and set out for his house.

After that Severus saw nothing of Lily, or any of the other marauders at that. After two months, what seemed like an eternity, Severus happened to run into Lily's best friend, Serenity. He was in Diagon Alley purchasing some potions ingredients when he saw her. She was browsing through some books and didn't seem to notice him. Setting his hand on her shoulder, he asked her quietly if they could talk. She whirled around, wand drawn, and studied him intently, starting at his feet and going up to his eyes. There she paused before lowering her wand and smiling.

"Severus, its good to see you. Why don't you join me for lunch?" Severus gave her a small grin.

"Sure, where will we go?"

"The Three Broomsticks sounds nice." They walk along the alley in cooperative silence. By the time they found a seat and placed their orders, Severus had thought of how he would word his question.

"Seri, you and Lily are good friends, right?" She nodded, "have you any idea why she broke off the engagement? I do not buy the story that she is in love with James." Seri looked at him. She tried to tell Lily that that story wouldn't work. Now she must think of something that has no holes, something that will leave Sev with no doubts. She closed her eyes to concentrate. Of course, he only met Lily's family once, it should work. She put on a mask of pity and sympathy and looked at Severus.

"Sev, I am sorry about that. Lily thought it best to keep it a secret, but I disagree. You deserve to know the truth. What happened was when Lily told her family about the pre...posal," Seri mentally kicked herself," they went mad. Her father refused to let her marry a Snape." Severus frowned, something seemed off, but he couldn't pinpoint it. "Please believe me, she can have nothing more to do with you. She is married to James, they are even going to have a baby." Severus stared at Serenity. Within a few months Lily was already married and pregnant? He abruptly stood up, said his farewell, and stalked out of the diner.

Seri stared after Sev, hoping he wasn't hurt too bad. She really didn't want to, but she had no choice. The truth was that Lily had one of her dreams. She saw Severus going through initiation to become a Death Eater. Lily realized that, although she truly loved Sev, if this were true then she and the baby would be at risk. She felt in her heart that staying with him wasn't safe. It was agreed between Lily and Seri that Sev would never know the truth about the dream, or about Harry Snape.