Lily stepped into the expansive living room, holding Eileen close to her as she looked around the place. "Do you like it?" she whispered to her.

"Yeah, Mummy!" Eileen squealed, struggling to get out of Lily's arms, and hastily dashed from the room, looking for the one that would be hers.

Lily smirked and shook her head, turning around to see Rose stepping inside. "So, what do you think of it?" she asked, gesturing with her hands around the room, and Rose nodded, taking in the furnishings.

"It's great," Rose assured her. "But I wish you would've come and stayed with me once your lease was up in London. I mean, my accommodations are all paid for by the Wizarding Sports League, and I can basically live wherever I want, in any kind of house I want."

Lily smiled, stepping closer and embracing her best friend. "I know that, and I appreciate it, Rose, really," she assured her before letting go. "But it was time for me to put forth a real investment for my future. And besides, I didn't want to stay in the middle of London for the rest of my life. Time to spread my wings a bit, and have a bigger space with a proper yard in it for Eileen to play in."

"Hello, Auntie Rosie!" Eileen squealed, running into the living room and scampering with haste towards one of her godmothers.

Rose smiled indulgently at the girl and scooped her up into her arms, kissing her forehead. "And hello to you, too, my pet," she replied. "Have you been behaving for Mummy?"

Eileen rolled her beautiful silvery eyes. "Yeah," she muttered, putting her raven head down on Rose's shoulder. "Sometimes."

Lily had to laugh aloud at that. "Aren't you happy to be living in Wales, love?"

Eileen's dark brows knit together as she considered her mother's words. "House is pretty," she finally said after a moment, and Lily had to cover her mouth at the notion that Eileen resembled Severus far too much in that moment.

"And did you happen to find the gift I've left you, darling?" Rose asked, turning her full attention back onto Eileen. "I've left it on your bed."

Eileen swiveled her head back to Rose. "The pink bow?" she asked.

Rose nodded. "That's the one."

"Didn't open it yet," Eileen replied, scooting out of Rose's arms, and was levitated to the ground by Lily to ensure no injury. "Thanks, Mummy!" the little girl chanted, scurrying out of the room quickly and down the hallway to her bedroom.

"Her hair was very like yours was when we were little," Rose said quietly.

Lily turned and stared at Rose with a smile on her face. "Really? You remember my hair before it was red?" she asked, and pulling a bit at the end of her long ponytail.

"Course I do," Rose said, crossing her arms with a grin, and looking terribly like her father and the rest of the Weasley clan in that moment. "We witches and wizards have much stronger memories than Muggles. You know that, Lily."

Lily pursed her lips. "I've been a redhead since I was two," she said quietly. "To tell you the truth, I don't remember much before that."

"Must've been boring," Rose joked. "But you must remember your fathers getting married, don't you? It was a lovely day. We sat in the front row and everything..."

Lily nodded. "That I do remember," she clarified.

"Eileen's eyes, however," Rose put in, and Lily found herself growing cold. "They're not yours, Lily, they're not. I mean, your eyes never changed color. They've always been green like Uncle Harry's, and his mother before him..."

"Must've been that wizard in Norway when I was working on Selma," Lily said quickly, forcing a smile onto her lips.

"Ever get his name?"

"Anders Royse," Lily said, coming up with the name on the spot. "He attended Durmstrang Institute from 2006 onward, so he was a couple years older than the two of us."

"Uh-huh," Rose nodded, thinking this was all too good to be true. "So, you met him when you were working with Selma?"

"Yes. Yeah," Lily replied.

Rose absorbed the information, thinking it over. "Was he one of the wizards you taught to speak Parseltongue to?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Nobody knows that you know that yet, Rose."

"I haven't said anything, Lily," Rose said quickly. "Now, was he?"

Lily shook her head. "No. Just someone writing a book on Selma. Wanted to get some sketches of her. She was actually one of the few humans that she trusted."

"Will we ever see the book in print?"

"I don't know," Lily replied with a shrug, hating this line of questioning. "Anders said he wrote under a pseudonym. I don't even know if he was publishing it all, or if he just wanted a book for his own reference purposes."

"Did he know Viktor Krum?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "You know as well as I do that Krum went to Durmstrang at the same time our parents were at Hogwarts."

"Well, did he?"

"I don't know, Rose. Krum was from Bulgaria, but Anders was Norwegian. I'm sure he's heard of Krum, but he's not too fond of Quidditch, if I remember correctly."

"Neither are you," Rose said quietly.

"I enjoy the game, for your sake," Lily said, flushing in slight annoyance. "I even attended the World Cup with Dad, Papa, and Al..."

"Only to sneak away and get inked! It's a Muggle thing, Lily, I don't care if they have witch and wizard tattoo artists."

"You got one, too!" Lily shot back.

Rose's eyes turned black then, and she took off her outer jacket, her sleeveless undershirt revealing a burn mark on her right arm, the shape of her Moontrimmer broom, the first broom she'd ever gotten that was her own from Ron and Hermione, permanently etched like suspended blood just beneath her skin. "Had it removed."

Lily's face covered her mouth in shock, and managed to cast a wandless Silencing Charm and a ward around them, preventing Eileen from coming back in. "They said that the ink wouldn't come out," she said softly, taking her hands from her lips.

"I know," Rose replied, swallowing in an effort to keep from crying.

"What did you...?"

"It wasn't me," she replied. "It was Hugo."

Lily blinked, recalling Rose's younger brother who had been three years behind them at Hogwarts, and in the same house. Come to think of it, Rose seemed to deliberately avoid family events that just featured the four of them, including her parents, ever since she had joined the Holyhead Harpies during hers and Lily's seventh-year. "Why would Hugo do something like that?" she whispered.

"Tergeo," Rose said quietly, answering the other half of the explanation, that Lily had neglected to ask for. "Casted it on me when he found out I was joining the Harpies."

Lily stared at Rose, horrified. "He didn't!"

Rose nodded. "He did."

"Did you...?"

"Tell anyone? Of course not!" Rose cried out. "If something like this got out, that Hugo did something like this to me when he was fourteen, and a Gryffindor to boot, with such a close connection to your father..." She shook her head. "They'd drag him off to Azkaban, Lily, or do something to him, like break his wand..."

Lily swallowed, taking note of the tears suspended on Rose's lashes. "But... Rose, you can't allow him to get away with this. It's hardly a minor infraction," she replied.

Rose sighed. "I realize that, but this is my brother."

"It doesn't matter who did it, Rose. The point is that it happened."

"It doesn't matter to me."

"Why did he do it?" Lily asked, her voice soft. "Why did he supposedly justify this cruel act he did towards you?"

"He opened my acceptance letter from the Harpies," Rose replied, slowly putting her jacket back on and zipping it up. "Accused me of abandoning the family and never coming home again, due to the rigorous tour schedule. I even tried to explain to him that, while I would be on the road and in the air a lot, I would always be thinking of him, and that I would come and see him all the time, but, apparently, it wasn't enough..."

"It should have been," Lily replied, and Rose dragged her gaze upwards. "It should've been enough for him. For him to justify marking you like that, and then for you to just stand aside, potentially allowing for him to do it again—"

"He is still my brother!" Rose shot back, her voice trembling as the tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "I would forgive him a thousand times over, if he ever bothered to apologize for what he did to me. He hasn't though, and I do not believe he ever will do such a thing. And the reasoning behind that is he believes he was justified in doing so, and men frequently believe their right, especially wizarding men who believe themselves so high and mighty, fancying themselves as Purebloods, when in fact they're nothing on the inside, if they can so callously bring themselves do such a thing to their own once-beloved sister. Can you tell me, right here and now, that you wouldn't do the same for Al? If the roles were reversed, wouldn't you shield him from potential repercussions that could come his way?"

Lily swallowed. "Al would never do such a thing to me."

Rose stared at Lily then, shaking her head, as she made for the hearth then, making a grab for a handful of Floo Powder, and intoning some unknown address into it, before she tossed in the powder and stepped inside, the flames engulfing her a moment later.

. . .

Lily made sure that Eileen was perfect in her new dress for the celebrations that afternoon at Potter Park. It was a special day, as her father was turning forty, and some people from The Profit and The Quibbler would be stopping by to take photos of the event. Everyone had been clamoring for an invite to the festivities, but Harry and Severus had reached a compromise that only family and very close friends would be in attendance that day.

Lily surveyed herself briefly in the mirror; she was wearing an almost near copy of the dress that Eileen wore, of course it was cut a little differently, and there was a rather plunging neckline, whereas Eileen's was much more reserved. Lily painstakingly cast the spell on her daughter to conceal her looks; Eileen was used to it now, growing an understanding of who Harry was, as her grandfather, and her need to be protected. Lily pressed a kiss to her daughter's head and held her close, knowing full well the rampage that would affect England if anything happened to her only child.

"Mummy, won't we be late?"

Lily chuckled, pleased that Eileen also knew how to keep a schedule. "Don't worry, darling. We are traveling by Floo today, so it's not like we won't be there in a flash."

"Who's coming?"

"I suspect a great many people, my love," Lily went on, leaving Eileen's bedroom and walking down the corridor and towards the living room. "You know very well that Granddad is quite a famous wizard."

"Won't Pop object?" Eileen asked, referring to Severus.

A smile played at Lily's lips as they approached the hearth. "I suspect that there was a compromise in between the two of them," she said, grabbing a handful of powder and preparing to step into the grate.

"What does... Com-pro-mise mean?" Eileen wanted to know.

Lily grinned, pleased that her daughter attempted to speak the difficult word. "Well, darling, it means that Granddad gets some of what he wants, and Pop gets some of what he wants at the same time."

Eileen laughed aloud as Lily dropped the powder. "Potter Park!" she shouted, and they were swallowed up by the flames.

"Very good, my love," Lily said, as the pair of them were bathed in green light, before the living room of her childhood home appeared before them, and she stepped them through. "Hello, everyone, we're here," she said.

"Lily!" Harry shouted, bounding closer to his daughter and grandchild and embraced the pair of them with a quick kiss on each of their foreheads. "Thank goodness you've arrived," he went on, gathering a giggling Eileen into his arms. "Rose has just walked in with Lysander on her arm, and we none of us even knew!"

Lily sighed; she and Rose hadn't spoken much since the first of the month, since she and Eileen had moved into the house in Wales. "It's all been very hush-hush," she admitted, and Harry nodded, taking in the changed demeanor of his daughter at the mention of her best friend. "I knew about it, of course, but given the nearly two-year age gap, they thought it best to not bring it up in public."

"Bloody well difficult not to," Severus said, stepping into the fray and putting an arm around his daughter's waist, kissing her temple. "How are you, love?"

"Fine," Lily replied, nodding. "Darling," she said, nodding to Eileen, "tell Granddad and Pop what you told Mummy this morning."

"I'm a Gryffindor!" Eileen said, clapping her hands, to which Harry and Lily promptly laughed aloud.

Severus gazed down at his daughter with a sneer. "You're already indoctrinating your daughter to think negatively against Slytherin?"

"Come now, Severus," Hermione said, stepping forward as she clicked her tongue, gently pulling Lily from her father's grip and kissing her on the cheek. "Eileen is just excited is all."

"Auntie Hermione knows," Eileen said with a rich giggle, before holding out her arms to her, and Hermione quickly took Eileen into them.

Lily looked up then as a pair of people entered the room, and felt herself smiling at the sight of Al, arm-in-arm with Alice, who was, by this time, quite massive, due to the direct fact that she was due to give birth in less than a month. "Hey!" she cried out then, darting forward and practically throwing her arms around Alice. "Look at you!"

"Lily, I love you, but if you would kindly refrain from breaking my fiancée, it would be much appreciated," said Al from Lily's shoulder.

Lily darted backward then, and somehow managed to keep Alice standing straight as she whipped around to face her brother. "Your what?!" she cried out, covering her face with her hands to block her gasp of happiness.

Alice flushed then, a smile radiating throughout the room as Harry, still holding Eileen, stepped forward, with Severus and Hermione just behind them. Alice held her hand aloft then, showing off the beautiful diamond ring surrounded by both emeralds and rubies, so as to incorporate both of their respective Hogwarts Houses. "Al wasn't supposed to say anything for another couple of days," she said in a rush, amid the gasps of other family members. "Only my parents know at this point, since Al asked their permission. But we wanted to wait," she went on, elbowing Al in the ribs in frustration, and Hermione smirked at Ron, as he stepped into the room behind both Al and Alice. "Considering that it's your fortieth birthday, Uncle Harry, we didn't want to steal your thunder..."

"Believe me, I deserve it," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"How do you figure, Dad?" Al asked, rubbing his sore ribs.

"I may have informed your parents about my figuring out that Lily was a girl, on the day that your brother was born," Harry said as he continued to laugh, and Alice threw back her head, amid the moments of her cradling her swollen belly.

"Know what this one is, then?" Ron asked, coming into the crowd at last and putting an arm around Hermione's waist.

"Honestly, Ronald," Hermione replied, glaring mockingly at her husband. "It's not just something you can readily ask. You wait."

Al turned and looked over at Alice, and raised his eyebrows for a moment. "We do know what it is, love," he put in.

Alice sighed, reaching upwards then and cupping Al's cheek before turning to look at the rest of the family. "We've found out about three and a half months ago that we're going to have a daughter at the end of next month," she replied.

"A girl!" Lily shouted then, throwing her arms around Alice again, to which both of them let out a laugh. "Eileen's going to have a friend!" Lily's voice lowered significantly then, and her throat went dry as she saw Scorpius and Eloise, his wife, walk into the room together. She tried to play it cool, but the notion that Eloise could suddenly lose control and hurt Eileen frightened her to no end. She swallowed then, feeling relieved when Rose and Lysander entered the room, and Rose almost immediately came towards her.

"Look, I didn't mean..." She began.

"Forget it. We were both in the wrong," Lily replied, squeezing Rose's hand, and Rose quickly smiled at her. "I didn't know Scorpius and Eloise would be here..."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Can't matter, can it?"

At once, Lily shook her head. "Of course not," she said, waving over to Lysander, who excused himself from congratulating Al and Alice, and came towards them. "Hey, Lily," he said, kissing her on the cheek before moving back beside Rose. "How are things in the new house?"

"They're wonderful," Lily replied, pleased to talk about something neutral. "Eileen's walking and talking up a storm. It's hard to keep up with her, but I like a challenge."

Lily managed to excuse herself shortly thereafter, after making sure that Eileen was safe with her parents, and walked upstairs towards her old bathroom. She opened the door to her childhood bedroom and stood upon the threshold, biting her lower lip at the notion of the life she had had as a young girl, and how many mistakes she'd made, and wondered when, or if, she would ever be able to rectify them. Shaking her head, she stepped inside her room and into her bathroom, washing her face quickly and casting a drying spell, and opened the door to head back out. She let out a gasp then, nearly tripping on her own feet as Scorpius stood across from her, and she felt her heart threatening to enter her throat.

"Lily."

"Scorpius," she replied, trying to force her voice into a semblance or normalcy. "The loo's free if you want it."

Scorpius shook his head. "Don't need it."

"Right," Lily replied, and made an effort to move past him.

"Lily, wait," Scorpius said then, reaching out and catching hold of her wrist, and Lily's breath caught in her throat then, and her cheeks flushed at the feeling of his hand on her skin. "I came up because I wanted to talk to you."

Lily swallowed then, managing to get ahold of herself as she yanked her arm away from his, before turning around to face him. "What's to talk about? There's literally nothing to be said between the two of us, Scorpius."

Scorpius set his mouth then, obviously trying to keep his temper. "Look, Lily, I know things haven't exactly been normal between the two of us..."

"Things haven't been normal since you decided to throw around a little word called 'love'," she very nearly snapped back at him. "Had you kept your mouth shut and your feelings in check, Scorpius, maybe, just maybe, shit could still be normal."

"Don't pin this on me, Lily," Scorpius hissed through his teeth at her. "You're the one who pulled that little stunt at the lodge on the last day of sixth-year."

"You've always been stronger than I am, Scorpius, and you know it," she whispered then. "You could've stopped it at any time. You didn't, because you knew I was vulnerable and hurting, and you thought it was a divine opportunity to get into my pants."

Quickly losing his temper, Scorpius reached out then and grabbed ahold of Lily's shoulders, and slammed her up against the wall behind her. "Don't act so innocent, Lily," he said, his tone of voice thick. "You'd been with Teddy for two and a half years by that point. You hardly expect me to believe that the two of you hadn't—"

"Well, we hadn't," Lily shot back, and Scorpius stared down at her, his silver eyes wide with shock as they met her green ones.

"What... What do you mean you and Teddy...?"

"We didn't shag, all right?!" she hissed under her breath, her face flushed with embarrassment at discussing her first relationship. "I wasn't ready to do it, and I harbored suspicions against him since fifth-year about him and Victoire. And then when I found out he'd been lying to me the entire time, something snapped inside me, and I needed to retaliate. I'm so sorry that you were a casualty in my pursuit of vengeance, Scorpius, I really am, but I honestly didn't know you felt anything for me at all. I thought it was always Rose."

Scorpius shook his head then, never taking his eyes from Lily's, although one of his arms, which still occupied themselves upon her shoulders, raised itself upwards. He took his thumb then and dragged it slowly along Lily's lower lip, and Lily swallowed, shuddering beneath his touch, and knew that, had she permitted herself to, she could come undone and very quickly. "It wasn't Rose, Lily. It was you," he declared, his voice soft.

Lily gasped aloud then at the declaration, and opened her mouth to reply. "Scorp, I have to tell you something," she whispered.

Scorpius nodded. "Tell me what?"

"Scorpius!" called a voice from outside then, and Eloise opened the door, giving Scorpius and Lily just enough time to break apart. "Ah, there you are. Lily, that angelic daughter of yours seems to be missing you," Eloise said, her expression barely an inch or two off from outright glaring at her.

"Right," Lily replied, nodding, doing her best to evade Eloise as much as possible as she walked out of the room. The last thing she needed was to be cursed, or tripped down the stairs. She made her way back into the living room, and took Eileen into her arms, managing to stumble backwards and into the Floo before anyone noticed her, and disappeared into the hearth as Eloise led Scorpius back into the living room.

. . .

"How are things going with Lysander?" Lily asks, sitting across from Rose on upon the living room of the new house in Wales. "Does he bore you with Magizoology?"

Rose giggled. "It's not boring," she assured Lily. "It's...it's different, with him. He is sweet and kind and considerate. He always comes to games, and he even manages to make a few practices out of the bunch."

"I'll take Eileen, as soon as she's a bit older, if that's all right."

"Of course it's all right," Rose said, smiling at Lily as she sipped her cup of tea. "We'll want Eileen to at least have an understanding of the game."

Lily nodded. "Agreed... How did you and Lysander...?"

Rose flushed beautifully at the memory. "He wanted to get out of the office for a while, and came to one of our games. We were playing the Ballycastle Bats in Belfast and he just came upon the game by accident. He recognized my name in the program and requested to talk to me afterwards, and I let him. He complimented my playing, and asked me questions about the game, but intelligent ones, mind you. We went to a pub afterwards and stayed up half the night talking, and I had to get back to my hotel, and he had to get back to London to work. But... Well, he asked for my Floo Network coordinates and I was coming back the next week, so I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep in touch."

"When was this?"

"Just before I came home for Aiden and Mara's wedding," Rose replied, a happy, faraway look in her brown eyes. "We made it official on Halloween. The Harpies won against the Falmouth Falcons, and we had a victory Halloween party to celebrate. Lysander and I discussed it and came to the conclusion that our feelings were real, and so we've now been a couple for nearly ten months now."

"And you're happy?"

"I am."

"And he makes you happy?"

Rose smiled. "He does."

"Think you'll settle down with him?"

Rose laughed. "You mean, marriage and kids and stuff?"

Lily nodded. "Exactly."

Rose sighed, mulling it over for a moment as she finished her cup of tea. "Perhaps, one day. We have discussed it, Lysander and I, but we're in agreement that I'll retire first, and then we can start thinking about all that. Plus we've got time, the pair of us. I'm not even twenty-three yet, you know."

Lily smiled at her. "I know."

"You certainly started early—with the kids thing, I mean," Rose replied, and Lily shrugged with a slight smile. "Not that it's a bad thing. You're a great mum to Eileen."

"Thank you. I certainly try to be. What with my commitment to your mum's organization and the research post, plus getting Eileen geared up to begin nursery school in the next few weeks. Well, suffice it to say, I've got a full plate."

"Any romance to speak of recently, Lily?"

Lily swallowed, flushing as she lowered her eyes, recalling Scorpius's hands on her the night of her father's birthday party, his hot breath on her skin, and the sensual thing he did, dragging the pad of his thumb along her bottom lip... "No, nothing," she said, setting her own finished teacup upon the coffee table, and forcing a smile to her lips.

Rose clicked her tongue, resembling her mother to a T. "Witches and wizards don't appreciate being lied to, Lily."

Lily shook her head. "I'm not lying to you, Rose. I can assure you that there are no romantic inclinations going on in my life."

Rose sighed. "Very well then. And Anders? Do you see him more and more in Eileen as the days and weeks carry on?"

"Who?"

"Anders Royse, Eileen's father," Rose said, deliberately slowing her voice down. "The wizard you met in Norway during your report on Selma."

Lily shrugged. "I've...not spoken to him in..."

"Did Anders have such sharp, silvery eyes?" Rose wanted to know, and Lily felt her lower lip trembling then. "I just can't imagine them on anyone, save for one wizard in particular. Copies of such things, and exact ones at that, are especially hard to find..."

Lily lowered her eyes. "I... I suppose Anders had them, yes..."

"Lily. I'm your best friend," Rose said gently, and Lily finally permitted herself to raise her eyes upwards once more. "I know you better than I know most people. Do you honestly expect me to believe that Eileen is Anders Royse's daughter?"

Lily's forehead puckered in confusion. "What?"

"Anders Royse is indeed a Norwegian wizard, Lily, but he is close to ninety-years-old, and has been married to his wife, Dagbjørg, for close to seventy years?"

Lily swallowed. "It must've been a different..."

"I checked. Anders is the only Norwegian wizard, and the only wizard with that name," Rose said gently, and Lily sighed aloud. "Now, is there something you wish to tell me?"

"Rose... If this gets out, there will be consequences," Lily whispered, trembling.

"What are you afraid of?" Rose whispered. When Lily refused to speak, Rose promptly grabbed ahold of her hand, staring, unblinking, into her eyes as she turned her wrist. "I, Rose Granger-Weasley, solemnly promise, on pain of death, never to reveal my knowledge of the biological father of one Eileen Potter, until my own death."

"Rose!" shouted Lily then, as the beam of light came around both their hands, binding them together flawlessly. "What are you doing—?!"

"And, despite my dear friend Lily Potter's fears, I swear to protect both her and Eileen Potter, for as long as my life permits me, from any harm that comes their way." She finished speaking then, and the light quickly burned into their skin, leaving visible marks as Lily quickly yanked her hand back and away from Rose's.

"Are you insane?!" she screamed, tracing the intersecting lines with her fingers. "You've just made an Unbreakable Vow!"

Rose sighed, conjuring more tea into her cup, and remained calm. "I'm fully aware of my previous actions, Lily."

Lily swallowed then, looking around. "I swear to you..."

"You don't need to do so, Lily, nor do you have to ask me to swear back, for I've already done so," Rose replied plainly. "Now, we may speak freely. I know the abundance of wards you have surrounding this place, Lily, and the person you fear obviously doesn't have access to be here, for you wouldn't willingly allow them on your property, or near Eileen."

Lily shook her head. "But Rose..."

"I already know," Rose said softly, and Lily bit her lower lip, her eyes filling with tears. "Were you afraid of my reaction?"

Lily sighed. "No. No, of course I wasn't. It wasn't even you to begin with."

Rose nodded, sipping her tea. "Who knows?"

"Besides you? Me, of course. Plus Alice figured it out from the moment she first met Eileen, and I couldn't bring myself to lie to her."

"So, that's it, then? Eileen is Scorpius's daughter?"

Lily's eyes locked with Rose's. "Yes. She's his daughter."

. . .

The sound of something shattering sent Lily bolting up from the floral-patterned couch in the living room of Al and Alice's luxury flat in Mayfair, where she had been spending the afternoon during her day off, and Eileen's first day in nursery school. "Alice!" Lily screamed then as she dashed into the kitchen, seeing Alice in a pool of her own blood.

"I... I must've landed wrong," Alice said quietly. "I spilled the tea, and I slipped, and now... No, no, no," she moaned, putting her head into her hands.

"No tears, Alice," Lily ordered gently, spelling the mess away and levitating Alice out of the kitchen and down the hall and into the master suite. She propped her up in the bed and pulled back the various comforters upon it, and summoned a Wiggenweld Potion from inside Al's personal potion cabinet. "Drink this," she ordered, and made sure that the way was cleared for Alice to give birth, and took her hand. "Shall I call for someone?"

"Al is working today, I don't think I should bother him," Alice said, the sweat covering her forehead completely, and Lily conjured a wet towel from nothing, and set it upon her forehead to cool her down. "I..."

"What? Who should I summon, Alice? It's all right."

"Perhaps if Madam Pomfrey could be persuaded to come and oversee..."

"No harm in asking," Lily replied, squeezing Alice's hand and darting towards the hearth in the master suite, and tossed some powder. "Private office of Madam Pomfrey, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she intoned into the green flames which suddenly sparked.

"Why, Lily! Is that you?" the mediwitch called through.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey, it's me," Lily replied. "I'm in Mayfair at the home of my brother, Al, and his fiancée, Alice Longbottom-Malfoy."

"Is everything all right, my dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked, only to be greeted with a sudden scream of pain from Alice in the background. "Oh, I see. I take it that Adalheidis is going to be delivered of her child today?"

"Yes, it seems so," Lily confirmed, feeling bad that she couldn't be closer to her future sister-in-law. "Listen, I know it's short notice, but Alice has requested that you oversee her birth, if that's agreeable to you."

"Yes, of course," Madam Pomfrey replied. "Shall I inform your father? It is, after all, his second grandchild..."

"He may come through as well," Alice whispered from her bed.

"Alice has confirmed that she is all right with him knowing, and would like him to come through, if he is there."

"I believe he was to be in the potion's lab this morning. I shall send my Patronus through to him and I'm sure he will come at the run," she replied.

Lily heard her cast the spell and deliver the message, whereupon she summoned her magical medical kit and stepped through the flames, keeping them open on the off-chance that Severus would want to use them. Lily stood by, moving back towards Alice's side when she reached for her hand, and squeezed it. "You are going to deliver a Potter today, Alice," Lily said softly to her, brushing back the brown hair that stuck to her head. "She's going to be a beautiful girl, just as pretty as Eileen, but in a different way. Pray that she doesn't have Al's nose, as he inherited it from Papa, and I can't imagine how it would look on a girl..."

"For your information, I inherited this from my mother, your Grandmother Prince," Severus said in a mock-scathing tone as he stepped through the flames a moment later, and joined Alice on her other side. "I should think any child of Alice's would be lucky to have such a nose bestowed upon her."

"It is a Slytherin nose," Alice managed to gasp out. "Any child of mine is a Gryffindor. I know we were taught tolerance by my fathers growing up, and I am all right with that. But I can feel it in my bones that Lilac is a Gryffindor."

"Lilac," Lily whispered, smiling down at Alice. "That's beautiful."

"Lilac Alessandra Potter," Alice whispered, and Severus smiled at the name. "Alessandra means 'defender of mankind'. Although I do not believe we will see another war in our lifetime, or in future ones, I do want Lilac protected."

"I sent my Patronus off to the ministry and St. Mungo's, so hopefully everyone will know what they're supposed to know quickly," Severus put in.

"Thank you, Papa," Alice said, and Severus kissed her hand.

"Think nothing of it, my daughter," he replied.

"Lily, I'm not hurting you, am I? Your hand," Alice whispered, and looked at it, seeing the marks, and Lily quickly moved it, although Severus noticed, but said nothing.

"It's nothing," Lily said quickly. "You focus on you, sister," she said, and pressed a kiss to Alice's temple, and she relaxed, as Madam Pomfrey directed her further.

Lily was relieved when Al showed up, and left Alice's side to take a breather in the living room downstairs. She conjured herself a glass of water and sipped it slowly, staring out at Muggle London, wondering how much the Muggles truly knew about the Wizarding World, and thought that that would be a good topic for her next phase of research on behalf of Hermione. At the sound of the steps behind her, Lily turned around then, and spotted Severus standing there with a smile on his face.

"Lilac is here," he announced.

Lily breathed an audible sound of relief. "How does she look?"

"Alice's nose," Severus joked, and Lily laughed. "Her hair as well, and mouth. Her skin is mine and Al's, however, and I believe they will have our eyes as well. And, you'll be happy to know," he carried on, walking towards his daughter, "that Lilac has our hands."

Automatically, Lily stretched out her hands to peer at them, imagining them on her infant niece, but she was suddenly jostled as Severus took ahold of her right hand in a yanking motion and inspected it. "Immobulus!" she shouted quickly then, preventing her fallen glass from smashing onto the ground. "Wingardium Leviosa," she went on, and moved it onto the kitchen island just behind her.

"This is the mark of an Unbreakable Vow," Severus said softly.

Lily managed to get enough leverage to yank her arm back. "It's nothing..."

Severus promptly rolled up the sleeve of his black robes and showed off his own right hand, which was complete with the same pattern of lines, although much more faded. "I myself made one twenty-five years ago," he said quietly, and Lily sighed. "It was to protect Draco Malfoy, for he was the original one chosen to murder Albus Dumbledore."

Lily swallowed then. "He was?"

Severus nodded. "It's not a vow to be taken lightly, Lily."

She sighed. "I know that. I didn't make it. I was in shock."

Severus's brows came together then. "Who made it?"

"Rose," Lily whispered. "Look, I really don't want to talk about this right now..."

"Well, we're going to talk about it," Severus said, blocking her path from going towards the hearth as he stared at his daughter. "What is happening with you lately, Lily? Ever since you got back from Norway, you've been particularly standoffish. Your father and I are concerned. We want to help you, but you keep us at a distance."

"Papa, I'm to be twenty-three in less than two months. I have my own job, my own money, I live on my own, and I'm a mum now. I have my own life..."

"Exactly, you have your own life, which comes responsibilities," Severus said, blocking Lily's second attempt to leave the Mayfair penthouse. "Tell me what's going on."

Lily shook her head. "I can't."

"Are you in danger?"

Lily's eyes snapped to Severus's. "I very well could be if we continue this line of conversation, so please, drop it."

"Lily, I only want to..."

"Hey!" Al said, dashing into the room with a bright smile on his face. "Draco, Neville, Scorpius, and Eloise have all arrived!"

Lily nodded. "Wonderful."

Al stepped forward then and took his sister's hands. "Alice and I talked it over, Lily, and we would be proud if you would stand as one of Lilac's godmothers."

Lily's jaw dropped then, but she nodded. "Of course, Al. I'd be honored."

"Come on, then!" Al said, and pulled his sister into the master suite, where a flushed Alice sat, propped up with those pillows, holding a small pink bundle with a dusting of brown hair on its perfectly-shaped head.

"This is not over," Severus whispered to his daughter.

"It never will be, will it?" Lily asked him then, equally soft, as she felt the dark eyes of Eloise Longbottom-Malfoy boring into her suspiciously from the other side of the bed.