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"Narcissa! Narcissa! We have to go!"
Severus' voice barely filtered through the haze she felt, her entire being focused upon the limp form of her husband, her shield in this cruel world; the only guarantee of safety she had against him. And now he was the one at the gates. He was the one who had just snapped Lucius' neck before turning his red eyes to the Manor. To her.
There was a wailing now, a scream of such agony, so tortured. Her throat was raw, her skin crawled and the babe within her turned and turned and turned in anguish.
"Cissy, please!" She felt fragile arms, young arms, wrap around her shoulders, attempting to turn her. "Please, cousin, listen to Severus. We have to leave here. We must go!"
Familiar silver-grey eyes met her own and pulled her focus. She wondered briefly if her babe would have those eyes, or if they'd be Malfoy blue.
"We won't know if we die here, Cissy." Regulus shook her slightly: she must have spoken aloud. "Come on," he pulled her to her feet. "For the baby, at least. Let's go."
Sense returned and she ran after him, tugging her skirts above her ankles so she would not trip, no time to stop, to gather anything, only to follow Regulus through the doorway that Severus held open and down the dank staircase that she had never seen before. There was a flash of nasty, snarling, burnished amber behind them, then scorching heat, before Severus slammed the door shut and urged her forwards in the dark.
"Where are we going? Where can we go?"
"I know a place," Reggie panted ahead of her. "We know a place," he corrected, and she sensed him gesturing between himself and Severus. "We had to put precautions in place after, well..."
Regulus trailed off as Severus cleared his throat uncomfortably.
---
Lily stared blankly at the flames dancing in the fireplace. It wasn't like there was much else to do here, wherever here was. She had been living the same dead-end routine, day after day for months now, ever since Sirius had whisked her through that very same fireplace, not two hours after James had been hit in the back by a supposed colleague with a misplaced (or well placed, depending on who was looking at it) diffindo.
She closed her eyes against the emotions that welled up again and breathed deeply, running her hand around her swollen belly in time with her breaths.
"Not too long now, little one. Less than two months. We're on the final leg, you and me. And Uncle Padfoot if he ever shows back up again."
"Lily!" She opened her eyes at the shout and realised the flickering flames had turned green. She panicked a moment until she remembered that same voice explaining the off-the grid floo to her when they first arrived. One connection and one connection only.
"Speak of the devil," she murmured to the life within her.
"I'm coming through and bringing some people with me. Don't panic," he added quickly. "I just need you to stand back and please don't hex anyone."
Lily scrambled to her feet and clutched her wand in front of her no matter what Sirius said, putting the sofa between her and the fireplace. Sirius came through first, briefly giving her a very tense smile that probably wasn’t as reassuring as he intended, before turning with a helping hand to the woman, the pregnant woman, being led out of the floo by—
"Regulus!" she exclaimed, clutching at the back of the sofa.
"Maybe I should have told you to remain seated," Sirius glanced worriedly at her as the fireplace flared again and someone she hadn't expected to see ever again stepped onto the rug, straightening his robes without looking at her.
"You, you," without thinking, she was in front of him and pounding his chest with her fists, sparks flying from the end of her wand. "Severus! Look at me goddamnit!"
"Hello, Lily."
"Don't you 'hello, Lily' me. Do you have any idea, any idea what, what I've—"
She backed away, clutching at her stomach with one hand and covering her mouth with the other as her wand fell to the floor.
"Oh Merlin, not another one," Regulus muttered. "Someone please calm her down, I already don't like the state Cissy's in, and we can't deal with two at once."
Severus turned an unimpressed glare on his younger housemate and Lily looked up, blinking incredulously.
Regulus gave a low whistle. "Salazar, I forgot how scary it is when you both do that at the same time."
Lily rolled her eyes and straightened her spine, shaking her limbs out before moving towards the shuddering witch that Regulus was holding up.
"This is Narcissa, Lils," Sirius said from beside her. "Mine and Reg's cousin. She was a few years ahead of us at school."
"Narcissa Black, I remember. It's nice to meet you properly even in the circumstances." She wrapped an arm around the other witch's back and felt a chill run through her at the tension and tremors in her spine, noticing the furrow in her brow and the blood pooling where her teeth bit her lip. "Narcissa, hey, look at me," she cupped a damp cheek in her palm and felt Sev move closer. "Narcissa, please. I'm concerned. Can I feel your stomach? To help you and the baby. Is that alright?"
"What's wrong?" asked Regulus, but Narcissa was nodding and let out a pained moan, so Lily sprang into action.
"Sev, can you," but Severus was already there moving Regulus out of the way.
"Darling, go with your brother and get towels and warm water."
Lily noted the surprising endearment but had more pressing matters to worry about and busied herself with removing Narcissa's robes until she was in her vest and underskirt and could see what was happening with more ease.
The swollen stomach went rock hard beneath Lily's hands just as Severus gave a sharp hiss of pain, Narcissa's nails digging into his hand where he supported her.
"Why did you move her at full term?" Lily hissed up at him.
"She's not full term. She's about as far along as you are," Sev spoke pointedly. "The baby's early. There wasn't anything we could do about it and it was imperative that we move her."
"Shit. What happened? No, never mind," she stopped him from answering. "Let's get her comfortable and see how long of a night we're in for."
Two days later
"Thank you, for all this," Narcissa spoke clearly even as she attended to her son at her breast, the two of them nestled in a cocoon of duvets and blankets with practically all the pillows in the house propping them up.
"You don't have to thank me, I just did what I could," Lily smiled wryly and perched on the edge of the bed watching the content child. "He has absolutely no idea," she trailed off quietly.
A wracking sob drew from the woman beside her. "I didn't know what to do," she cried trying to contain herself. "I—hic—didn't think he'd come for us—hic—Thought we were safe, but Lucius hid it from him, he found out and I—I froze!" Narcissa drew in a sharp breath and shook as she held back her sobs.
Lily put an arm around her and tried to ground the woman with soothing circles on her back, just as the child opened his eyes at his mother's distress. "Look, Cissy. Look at your son. He's small but he's safe and here with you."
Narcissa's harsh breath caught and she released it in a short laugh. "He has the Black eyes. My eyes. Reggie will be pleased."
Lily laughed and stroked a finger gently over rosy red cheeks. "Sirius believes mine will have my eyes. Says that way, he won't need any Potter arrogance to capture everyone's attention."
They chuckled until Narcissa sobered again. "Do you think it's yours who might..."
"I don't know. Did you?"
"No, but then I wouldn't ever have considered—He's mad. They're all mad."
"The Longbottoms are in hiding as well, I believe. Organised by Dumbledore after I disappeared."
"No one knows where you are?"
Lily shook her head. "Sirius arranged it after James… Well, he wasn't taking any chances."
"Then why am I here?" Narcissa clutched her son tighter to her chest.
"Shhh," Lily soothed, continuing the circles on Narcissa's back and leaning her cheek against her bare shoulder. "Sev has been spying for Dumbledore and if Dumbledore knew Sirius was hiding me, then Sev will have figured it out too. He knew Sirius wouldn't turn you away, or Reggie."
Narcissa relaxed back against Lily with a sigh, her blonde hair entwining with Lily's red. "Some odd family we'll be," she intoned with her eyes closed. Lily's hand faltered on her back for a moment, but she didn't say anything and the two of them sat there like that until Narcissa began to feel heavier with sleep.
When Lily went to move, Narcissa's brow furrowed and she huffed something that might have been 'don't go'. Lily stilled and smoothed the wrinkles from her forehead. "You need your rest and baby's asleep now too. Come on," she moved again and Narcissa opened her bleary eyes. "I'll put him in his basket, then you can both sleep comfortably."
Narcissa relinquished her son to the woman she’s uniquely bonded with through birth and death, and seeing her son in Lily's arms, held above the swell of her own child, she felt a sense of certainty that had been missing until then, until this woman.
Pulling against the draw of sleep she reached out and caught Lily's sleeve with long fingers. "Stay," she said, feeling the flush on her cheeks. "Let me—I want you to stay."
She let herself meet those bottle green eyes with her certainty on full display and noticed the flash of surprise in them before Lily stepped closer with a quiet smile that felt just for her.
"Of course," Lily breathed, running her hand through silken hair. "Of course."