He already knew who he had to kidnap.

-o-

"Master, is that a baby?"

Christ, why Elise was even awake at this hour, and what did she mean by…

Oh.

Oooh…

Oh fuck…

-o-

Harrison pretended very much like he had planned to steal the baby all along, and not the fact he had just brought her with him when he left Private Drive. From the looks of it, none of his servants believed him.

Well, she was a nice baby, and Severus had taken a liking to her immediately.

"Did you actually want kids?" Harrison asked even as he thought of how to kidnap Lily Potter and make her tell where her sister was.

"Maybe," Severus said. The girl was out of her pink onesie and now dressed in something black which was just typical the potions master but Harrison had to admit he liked it better too. "But with the life I had, children weren't just an option."

"Oh. I suppose so."

"How about you, master? Did you never want children?"

"I don't know how to take care of them."

"Which is precisely why you kidnapped one."

"Oh, shut up. I get it. You're all laughing behind my back because I was sleepy enough to not notice I didn't put her back. I can't exactly go back with her now, can I?"

"Why were you there in the first place?"

"Hunch. I was wrong. I don't like it when people move around unexpectedly."

Severus stared at him.

"What?" Harrison said. "Someone lived there last time I remember, but then again maybe they didn't really live there in this time… or whatever. I didn't find her."

"Lost lover?"

"Hardly. I want to kill her."

"Lost lover who betrayed you?"

"No, Severus. Her name is Petunia. It's still Dursley, right? I mean, she married Vernon, right?"

Severus put the girl down in the crib Elise had produced from somewhere Harrison didn't want to know about, and he walked over to the Nightmare Lord.

"How do you know about Petunia Dursley?"

"Long story," Harrison replied. "And I mean a really long story. Please tell me she's horrible."

"Utterly," Severus said. "I was invited by Lily to a family dinner once. Petunia never stopped insulting everything we were. Vernon was even worse. He even tried to engage in a fist-fight."

"Oh, that does sound like dear Vernon when he had a few…"

"How do you know them?" Severus demanded to know.

Harrison looked at him. Then he crooked a finger to indicate Severus should follow him and walked out of the baby's room, up to the attic where he began digging around before finally getting out a Pensieve.

"They're priceless, Pensieves, and you have one just laying around amongst rubbish?" Severus asked.

"Yes," Harrison said. "I do. And it's not rubbish. This for example is a painting Rowena did. Very smart girl, but I can't say she was very talented in that area. It was actually Godric who was better at it. Helga made some nice sculptures; I have them around the manor I think…"

He was pulling memories out of his head even as he spoke, shaking them down into the Pensieve. Finally he was satisfied and gestured at the ghostly substance to Severus.

"Watch that. It makes a story slightly shorter, and involves less time of me blabbering. Come find me again when you're done."

Severus nodded and dipped his head down. Harrison felt slightly nervous, and fled the attic.

It was almost an hour later when Severus came back, or more like barging in. Harrison looked up and the baby cried out, startled at the loud sound of the door slamming open. He patted her back, rubbed the soft hair between his fingers and pressed his lips to the little girl's temple before saying:

"I'm still Harrison. If you dare to call me a Potter I will end you."

"You… they… they betrayed you, when you were… you were…"

"A child? Please, I was seventeen, I should have realized by then they weren't going to let me go once Voldemort was dead."

Severus fell into the nearest chair. Harrison continued to play with the baby, and he realized he should really name the kid by now. She couldn't just be 'baby', that would be ridiculous.

"What's a good name for a baby girl?" he asked Severus.

"That's your concern right now?"

"Should I be worried about something else?"

"You're going to kidnap Lily to find out where Petunia is."

"Yes. Shouldn't I? Do you care for Lily? I could make her tell without hurting her much. At least I think I can do that."

"She… she's Light. She can't be anything else than that," Severus said. "She hates you. Loathes you. That's enough for me to not care about her anymore."

"Oh…"

"You sound surprised."

"Guess I am a bit," Harrison said, letting the girl grab his finger. "The Severus Snape I knew… more or less died for her."

"From what I could tell, that Snape died for you. I guess I will too."

"You know, if I wasn't so old and had learnt to hide embarrassment, I would so be blushing right now."

Severus snorted.

"How about Angel? For the baby?"

"Angel? Seriously?" Harrison said.

"Well, she's the only thing around here that actually looks a tiny bit like an angel."

Harrison looked at the child. Her hair was blonde, and her eyes were very blue. She grinned up at him, eyes scrunching up.

"Yeah… she does. Alright. Angel it is. Can we kidnap Lily now?"

"Certainly, master."

-o-

Lily Potter was strapped to a chair when she woke up, groggy. Her hair was hanging around her face, and it took her a few moments to clear her head.

The first thing she saw was Severus, his focus on the cauldron in front of him. Lily stared at him for a while, studied him. The silver in his eyes had receded, and they were almost his normal black ones. He wasn't wearing robes, the sleeves of his shirt pulled up. She noticed he had no Dark Mark anymore, and he looked happier than she had seen him in a very long time.

"Hmm, this is the first time in a long time people don't really notice me even I'm standing like right next to them. Are you that interesting, Severus?"

Lily reared back and saw the Nightmare Lord's smile. She tried to lash out but when that didn't work she screamed at him. To her fury, his smile only widened.

"Shush now," he said. "You don't want to bother Severus, now would you?"

"You monster," she hissed.

"Yes, I've heard that only a hundred times. Be more creative if you insist on trying to insult me."

"I don't think that's the issue here, master. Can you hand me that jar?"

"Which jar?"

Lily stared as Severus continued with his potion, completely uncaring that she was even sitting there.

"Severus?" she tried with. "It's me. It's Lily."

He stirred something into the cauldron and set aside the jar the Nightmare Lord had handed over.

"Severus, please. It's… it's Lils."

"Aah, yes, Lils…" the Nightmare Lord said. "And how is dear Tuney?"

Lily was certain Severus didn't know, or didn't remember the nickname for her sister. She stiffened, and her eyes moved from the potions master to the old lord standing next to Severus. He waved with his fingers, his eyes amused.

"No, he didn't tell me. I knew."

"How…?"

"I know a thing or two. But what I don't know, and what I'm sure you do, is where dear Tuney is currently living."

Lily felt her blood freeze. She and Petunia hadn't gotten along since Lily met Severus, and found out she was a witch. They often argued when they met, and that wasn't often. But she was still Lily's sister, and Lily loved her.

"Piss off," she told him.

"Ah, I expected that. Won't do you any good though. I'll break through your little Occlumency walls and get what I want. Just so you know… I'm not good at it. I tend to break more than I need. It's not like it's my problem in the end."

Lily struggled with her bounds and the lord shrugged.

"I can give you a few minutes to think about it," he said. "We'll leave you to decide which way you want to tell me where your sister is."

Severus took the cauldron off the fire and followed closely behind the Nightmare Lord. The moment the door closed, Lily began struggling even harder. The ropes bit into her skin, breaking it but the blood helped. She began to wriggle and move her hands and finally got them loose. Getting out of the rest was rather easy and soon enough she got up from the chair.

She didn't have her wand, and no memory how she got here. She didn't even know where 'here' was, and walked over to the door. Opening it, all she saw was a corridor in what appeared to be a basement. Lily took a breath, and walked out, sprinting over to the stairs at one end of the corridor. Rushing up them she came into a hallway. There she stopped a moment to get a sword hanging on the wall.

There were no portraits, nothing that could help her. The sword was heavy in her hands, but it was better than nothing. Lily wasn't even going to question why the Nightmare Lord had it. From what she had read, he never used weapons.

Exiting this small hallway she came to what she guessed was the grand hallway, and the entrance doors, and also stairs leading upstairs. And someone was coming down them. Lily hid in the shadows of the stairs.

The Nightmare Lord came down, his long hair over one shoulder, dressed in a simple black robe. She couldn't feel Severus' magic, and had no idea where he was. But here was her chance. Her only chance.

She charged, sword held up. She expected resistance. Something that would go horribly wrong and she would die.

But no. The sword sank into the lord's back like parting warm butter, and came out of his stomach. The Nightmare Lord stumbled and fell to his knees, trying to look at her. Lily was already running for the doors, throwing them open and rushing out. Behind her, the Nightmare Lord screamed something. It wasn't a human sound. Lily wasn't about to stick around and find out what language that was.

However, just as soon as she thought she might get out clear, she spotted Dementors near some sick-looking trees. They wore no hoods, just naked shapes whose mouths opened wide when they spotted her. Their rotten hands reached out for her, and the Nightmare Lord came running with the sword still inside him.

Lily focused on her happy memories, let them fill her and felt the rush of adrenaline and glee as her Patronus came out of her hands. She had just used the spell wandlessly!

Her joy only grew as not only the Dementors reared back from her pure spell, but also the Nightmare Lord. He screamed at the light, threw his arms up and fell down. It was as if he couldn't stand Light magic, or at least this spell. He could be defeated by a mere Patronus!

"Not so tough now, are you?!" she screamed at him. "As soon as you're dead and buried, Severus will return to normal! We'll kill Voldemort, and the Light will win!"

The Dementors crowded the Nightmare Lord but she realized they weren't killing him, taking his soul. No… they were protecting him from the Patronus.

Pain tore through her abdomen and Severus appeared before her, holding the end of the sword he had just pushed into her.

"Please do not make it harder for yourself," he told her. "You're already in trouble."

Her Patronus wobbled, and then vanished, taking the light with it. The Dementors screeched and Lily sank to her knees. Severus let go of the blade and walked away from her. She coughed up blood.

"Oh dear me… I didn't quite expect she'd have the guts to impale me. Most impressive. Severus, never underestimate a woman."

Lily looked up. The Nightmare Lord stared down at her, smiling widely. Blood was staining his lips but he hadn't removed the sword. He didn't even look particularly bothered by it. The Dementors moved around him, pushing against him. He petted their heads, their shoulders and smiled down at them.

"Look at what you did. You made me wake up my children sooner than I thought."

"Wha… t?"

"You think these are old Dementors?" he asked and laughed. "No… have a look at those trees, Lily Potter."

Her vision was blackening around the edges but she turned to look at the trees. There were lumps on the trunks of the trees, but now she saw what those lumps were.

Dementors. He was growing Dementors. Lily tried to get up. She had to warn… she had to tell someone… the Dementors, the lord's weakness… but she couldn't move. The pain was overwhelming.

A hand grabbed the sword and twisted. She screamed. The Nightmare Lord's cold eyes stared at her.

"We'll have to do it the hard way, I guess," he told her.

He grabbed her head with his free hand, and broke inside. Lily Potter's screamed echoed around the grounds.

-o-

When Petunia Dursley moved from Surrey years ago she hadn't been happy about it but Lily promised they were safe from wizards here. It was a calm village, and her precious Duddiekins had found new friends quickly. Her husband Vernon had a new job, a good job, and Petunia was ever the perfect housewife.

She was just glad this move meant she didn't have to see Lily, or rather Lily's freak husband, as often as before. There were no freaks in this village. She didn't have to see any of their freaky things, or hear them say their freaky spells. Here everything was normal.

The knock on the door was unexpected but she wasn't suspicious. She just put on her best smile, smoothed the white, pristine apron that covered her dress and opened the door. The smile didn't falter at first for she saw nothing dangerous.

A man stood at the door, with perhaps too long hair for her taste. Men shouldn't have long hair; they should be well-groomed and not look like rock star-wannabes. That was her firm opinion and she wouldn't be changing it for anyone. But his suit was perfect, subtle colours and nothing that made her frown. So she was ready to overlook the hair, since it was nicely combed and put up properly.

And perhaps his eyes looked a bit like Lily's and that made Petunia's judgement waver. She didn't get along with Lily but it was still her little sister. She loved Lily.

"Mrs Dursley?" he asked and smiled gently.

"Yes?"

"May I come inside?"

She felt something inside her head. A voice, gentle but cold as steel, and the smile on the man's face was now quite terrifying. Despite this she backed, let him inside. All she managed was scraping her nails against the wall, a desperate attempt to stop her feet from moving. The man's eyes moved to her hand, and then back to her face. The smile widened.

"Oh, you have no idea just how right you are to be afraid of me… Tuney."

The door closed resolutely behind him.

TBC…