Lily Evans had a child when she was fifteen with Remus Lupin that nobody knew about. Twenty two years later, her daughter is living in London with her husband and child, with no idea she's the sister of the boy who lived. When her husband is killed in a death eater raid, she learns the truth about her family and her husband, and joins the war in a way nobody would expect.

Chapter One

Elaine shut the door behind her with her free hand as the two year old struggled to be let down. She released her grip and he ran off, giggling like a maniac. "Ben?" she called, noting the house was oddly quiet for that time of evening. "Hon?"

A crash coming from her kitchen made her heart pound and she hurried in that direction, one hand whipping out the wand she kept hidden in her jacket pocket. "Rowan." She grabbed her child again and continued walking in a rapid pace. Reaching the room she slowly pushed open the door, and the figure inside nearly made her heart stop. "Professor Snape." She glanced around the room again, noticing he was the only person there. "Where - what are you doing here?"

"Miss Evans." His normally snarky tone was subdued, quiet.

"It's Mrs. Davies now," she said coldly, yanking Rowan up off the floor and holding him close to her. "What are you doing in my home?" The man in front of her had been her potions master at Hogwarts, and had always been rude, condescending to anyone not in his own house. As a Gryffindor, he'd been especially cruel to her. And, as rumor had it, he was a follower of you-know-who, one of the darkest wizards to ever exist.

"Do you know the whereabouts of your husband this evening?" Severus Snape questioned, holding his own wand to his side, the tip lit. Elaine slowly shook her head. The man sighed, extinguishing his wand and putting it away. "You might want to sit down."

Elaine shook her head again, pointing her wand at his chest. "What are you doing here? Where is my husband?"

"I do intend to answer both of your questions, but I do insist you take a seat." His voice sounded sad, and Elaine suddenly felt cold. She let herself sink into a chair at the kitchen table. "As for why I'm here, Albus Dumbledore sent me. Benjamin Davies joined the death eaters three months ago."

"You're lying," Elaine said tightly, the coldness gripping her chest now. "He would never."

"He would, and he did, Mrs. Davies, I assure you this is not something I would lie about."

"But-" Elaine thought back. "If he had I would have seen his mark," she said suddenly, but even as the words came out she noted how Ben had changed in the past several months. "No." Her mouth was dry. "No. He wouldn't have. I'm muggleborn, it doesn't make sense for him to have-" She stopped, a new fear creeping into her. "Where is he? Why are you here telling me this? Why isn't Ben?"

"There was a raid on the home of Amelia Bones earlier this evening," Snape informed her, taking a seat across from her. "Amelia Bones was killed, but not before she took out many death eaters herself. Benjamin included."

Elaine shook her head rapidly, clutching Rowan to her. Tears formed in her eyes but she refused to shed them, not in front of her old professor. "And Dumbledore sent you to tell me this?" Snape nodded. "How - how did he know? Shou-shouldn't-" she took a breath before trying again. "Shouldn't someone from the Auror department be coming to tell me this? Why you?"

"I am sure someone from the Auror department will be here, shortly," Snape said calmly. "But they'll be here to arrest you and take your child into custody. Albus requested I be here to collect you if you were against the dark lord, which, of course, you and I both know you are."

She let Rowan down, the child going to his high chair and climbing up, expecting food. Elaine automatically stood up, going to the fridge and pulling out leftover chicken strips and popping them into the microwave. When it beeped she set them in front of her son before sitting back down.

"Why is it so obvious I'm against him?" she questioned, looking Snape in the eye for the first time. "I cou- I could be a death eater too."

"You aren't," Snape informed her. "If we are to leave we must do it soon. I am certain aurors will have identified your husband's body by now and will be knocking on your door. If you do not wish to be arrested, come with me." He held out a hand. Elaine sat there staring at it.

"How did Dumbledore know about B-Ben before the aurors did?" she asked after a moment. "How did you know?"

"I must take you to Dumbledore first," Snape said. "He can - and will - explain everything, he will explain what I cannot."

"I - fine." She stood, unbuckling Rowan and picking him up. "I - I guess let's go."

Snape stood as well, pulling a belt buckle out of his pocket. "This portkey will take us to the headmaster's office." Elaine sighed, looking around her home.

"Can't I just - I can stay and talk to the aurors. I'll let them know I had nothing to do with Ben or death eaters or- or any of it."

"They won't listen to you," Snape snapped. "They will arrest you and separate you and your son and I cannot let that happen to you."

"What?" Elaine stared at him, confused. "Why am I special, exactly?" Snape just shook his head, holding out the belt buckle again. Elaine sighed again. "Let me guess. Dumbledore will tell me that, too." Snape just gave her a short nod. She looked at Rowan. "You ready to go for a trip?" she asked the little boy.

"Ya," he said, and Elaine held him close, attempting not to cry. She looked back at Snape.

"I'm ready."

Elaine sat in front of the headmaster of Hogwarts, crying into a handkerchief he'd conjured for her. Upon their arrival, McGonagall and Snape had taken Rowan to Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse, and so she'd finally allowed herself to have a small breakdown. Dumbledore was patient, waiting for her to calm down before beginning the conversation they both knew would be a difficult one.

It took several minutes, but Elaine finally set the handkerchief down on the desk and vanished it, before looking Dumbledore in the eyes. "How long have you known my husband was a death eater?" she asked bluntly. The headmaster heaved a sigh.

"I have known since he signed up with Voldemort." Elaine flinched, but Dumbledore ignored it. "We were unaware on whether you knew, or were oblivious. With your family history we assumed the latter, but there was no way to tell until tonight, until Benjamin asked Severus to keep you from being arrested, as his last words."

"How would Ben have been able to ask Snape?" Elaine questioned. "He was killed in a raid whi-" Her eyes widened. "So it's true," she breathed. "Snape is a death eater too. He was at that raid. He helped kill Amelia Bones."

"No. No he did not, he didn't get to the scene until after, under my orders." Dumbledore's fingers tapped on the desk, and it was then Elaine noticed only one of his hands was healthy; the other was blackened as if hit by a dark curse. "Severus Snape carries the dark mark, my dear, but he is very much on our side of things."

"You don't even know for sure what side I'm on!" She blurted. "I could be a spy for - for him. A good one, in fact. There's no way to know for sure. How can you trust me?"

"Because I knew your mother, and no child of hers would have joined you-know-who," Dumbledore said calmly. Elaine stared at him.

"How do you know my mother? I don't even know her."

"Ah." The old man stood, walking over to a cabinet with his hands held behind his back. He stared at a portrait, apparently thinking. "Miss Evans was one of our brightest students here at Hogwarts," he began softly. "Unfortunately, she made a mistake in her OWLS year - a mistake that resulted in you."

"What - I don't understand. I was raised in a muggle orphanage. Nobody knew who my parents were. All they had was my name." Elaine clenched her hands together into a fist. "I'm not a muggleborn, then?"

"No, Mrs. Davies, you are not. You are, in fact, a halfblood - your grandparents on your mother's side were muggles." He turned to face her, his normally twinkling eyes dull. "Your mother was Lily Evans. You would know her better as Lily Potter, however."

Elaine, who had started to stand, unsure as to where she was going, froze. "You - what?"

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Yes. Her pregnancy was hidden from other students and most of the staff, and after her birth you were taken to a muggle orphanage to be raised and to be safe."

"Why wouldn't I have been safe?" she demanded. "I was in just as much danger from the war in muggle London than I would have been in the magical one-"

"Yes, except your father wanted you safe from the stigma you would have faced had his role in your life and his own disease been revealed." The new voice made Elaine turn, and she saw a strange man standing in the doorway, dressed in ragged clothes. He looked sad, ill, as he took her in. He finally smiled. "Hello Elaine. My name is Remus Lupin."

"Remus Lupin - I know you," Elaine said slowly. "You're the werewolf, aren't you?" The man flinched. "No - sorry. It's just, I still had friends at Hogwarts when you taught, the Weasley Twins in particular, and they always told me what a good teacher you were. It was a shame when you were forced to stop teaching."

"Thank you," he said softly. "I appreciate hearing that."

There was a lengthy silence, as Elaine and the two wizards sat, no one unsure how to restart the conversation. "So why - why are you here? How do y-you're my father." The realization dawned on her and she stood, shoving the chair back. "Are you seriously my father?"

"Yes, Elaine, I am." Silence again, as the new widow could only stare.

"You're joking," she said finally, looking from one wizard to the other. "This is just a big joke, right? I'm not your daughter, I'm not Lily Potter's daughter, Ben is - Ben is still alive." Her voice cracked. "Right?"

"I wish I could tell you it is," Remus Lupin said sadly, taking a seat next to the recently vacated one. "I want nothing more than to tell you that the man you love is coming home to you tonight. But he isn't, and we want you to be safe."

"We?"

"Myself," Remus told her. "The headmaster - Most of the Hogwarts staff, in fact. We care about you, Elaine."

"Why? I don't understand any of this. I don't understand what's happening." Elaine felt the tears slipping down her face again and she angrily brushed them away. "Why now? Why tell me all of this now? Why bring it up now when my- my husband is dead? And why did you insist on having Snape bring me here?" She turned to look back at the headmaster. "It's more than what Ben said, isn't it? More than him asking Snape to keep me safe. You have your own reasons for it, don't you, other than a death eater's last wish?"

"Elaine," Remus said sharply.

Dumbledore interrupted. "No, Remus, she is right." The old man took his seat again on the other side of the desk."I do have my own reasons."

"What are they?" Elaine questioned him, crossing her arms. "Because I am not going to put Rowan in danger."

Dumbledore waved his healthy hand. "No, my dear, it's nothing like that. Have you realized it, yet?" Elaine numbly shook her head. "You haven't yet realized who your brother is, have you?"

"My brother?" She hesitated, going through everything in her mind. Lily Evans was her mother. Lily Evans, who had later married James Potter, and they had a child together before they died, a child named - "Harry Potter is my brother?"

She vaguely remembered the boy. They'd been at Hogwarts together and even in the same house for two years, but their interactions had been brief. The little she could remember that he was a quiet, scrawny child.

"He's the reason I asked Severus to retrieve you. He will need you this year."

Elaine shook her head. "No. I refuse. You can't just spring this on me hours after my husband died! No!" She stormed to the door and yanked it opened. "You know, headmaster, you should truly work on your people skills. They are sorely lacking, especially in the empathy area," she said, and left.

"Mama!" Her son's shriek of happiness upon seeing her when she entered the Hospital wing had her grinning. She picked him up, holding him close. His peanut butter covered face made her laugh.

"Hey baby. Are you ready to go home?"

"Yes!"

"Mrs. Davies, you can't go home." Snape had been sitting on one of the hospital beds, and chose now to speak and to stand up. "The aurors will be waiting for you to get home. They will arrest you on sight."

"Why?" She snapped. "They have no reason to. I don't carry the mark and as far as they're concerned, I'm a filthy mudblood."

"Because death eaters have infiltrated the ministry and the auror corps, you idiot girl!" Snape hissed angrily, grabbing her arm as she made to go. She glared up at him. "You go home and the dark lord will force you to join him, or he will kill you."

"Do you think I care?" she questioned, yanking her arm away. "Let him kill me."

"And your son?" Snape pointed to Rowan on her hip. "What about him? I assure you, the dark lord has no qualms about killing children! Would you put his life in danger as well?"

"I-" Elaine slowly sank onto a hospital bed, releasing Rowan to go play. "I don't know what to do," she admitted. "I have nowhere to go. All Dumbledore wants me for is to ... a brother." She let out a small laugh. "I never had any siblings, you know. It was me against the world until Ben, then Rowan came and I- I don't know what to do," she finished helplessly.

Snape sat down on the bed across from her. "I can help you." She looked up at him. "I can hide you, if you'd like. You can stay here, in my quarters in the castle."

"Why?" Elaine questioned. "Why would you help me?"

Snape sighed. "Because it's my fault you're a widow now. Your husband - Benjamin was supposed to be a spy, like I am. He was not supposed to get as involved as he was, but he liked it - the power. And now he's dead. And you've lost someone who cared about you because of me, again."

"Again?"

Snape just stood and walked over the window. "The choice is yours. You can stay here, with me, or I can set you and Rowan up somewhere."

"What if-" Elaine hesitated, and Snape turned back to her, eyebrows raised. "How badly... who can hear us?" she asked suddenly, looking around the seemingly empty room.

"Nobody," Snape stated. "I cast a spell to ensure our conversation would be private."

Elaine nervously looked around again. "You're sure?" Snape simply nodded, and she took a deep breath. "You - well, you needed a spy, right? The - whatever you're in, you and Dumbledore and whoever, you needed another spy? That's why you recruited Ben?" Snape again nodded, and Elaine took a deep breath. "Let me do it."

"No," Snape hissed, moving to leave, so not to hear the rest of it. It was her turn to grab his arm.

"Professor. Please. Listen to me." Her heart was pounded and she was afraid, but she was sure. "Let me help. I have nothing else to do except be used by Dumbledore."

"You do realize in doing this, he will use you more than ever?" Snape asked her softly, gently pulling his arm away. "Neither man is all too forgiving, despite appearances. This is not a decision you should make in your grief."

"And if I go to - to him, tonight, and tell him I want to join him, you'd stop me?"

"You'd do that to your son?" They both paused in their conversation and looked over at Rowan, who had seated himself at their feet with a toy wand. "You would leave him an orphan? You have no mental shields, the dark lord would have you killed in a heartbeat-"

"I do," Elaine interrupted. "I do have mental shields. I'm a natural Legilimens, and so I learned occlumency as a teenager to counter it. I admit, it could be stronger, but I worked as hard as I could for it, and I think I could keep the dark - him - out."

Snape scoffed, and was about to say something when the hospital wing doors opened and Professor McGonagall entered. "Minerva," he said instead, nodded to Elaine, and swept out.

Inwardly cursing her bad timing, Elaine simply forced a smile at the transfiguration professor. "Good evening, Professor."

"Good evening, Elaine," she said gently. "Have you anywhere to stay tonight?"

"No," Elaine was softly, looking back at her son, who was banging the toy wand against one of the bed frames. "I figured I could go stay with Ben's family, maybe. His uncle Chester is raising Ben's brothers, so-"

"Or you can stay here," the professor stated. "There are no students here, currently, Albus has arranged for you to stay in the Head Girl suite if you so chose to stay."

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Professor." She pulled Rowan into her arms. "I ah. I'll head in that direction now, I think."

"Of course, of course. You remember the way, I trust?" The older woman looked sad as Elaine said she did, and took her son with her out of the hospital.

Being back in the head girl rooms felt strange, out of place. She'd graduated Hogwarts not exactly at the top of her class but close, married Ben, started a job at a clothing shop in Hogsmeade, which she'd then quit upon finding out Rowan was coming.

She and Ben had figured they could get by on Ben's pay from the ministry. Neither of them had planned for his death, and Elaine was quite unsure what they even had in their Gringotts account.

She told herself she'd owl them in the morning. Laying down on the bed with Rowan right next to her, it took only minutes for the pair to fall asleep.

So I came up with this idea while nanny-ing, and I just kinda went with it. Hope you enjoy it, and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a small review if you think there's anyway I can improve this!

Thanks in advance!