Caspar - The Half Blood Princess

Chapter Three - Panic Stations

Once again, Severus was sat in his favourite place before the fire; he had his usual book, his usual drink, his usual music playing softly in the background and he was feeling peacefully sleepy. In fact, he was just about to call it a night when, suddenly, something silver shot into the room. Upon further inspection, after he'd gotten over the slight shock, Severus became fully aware that it was a Patronus in the unmistakable form of a phoenix; it only took mere seconds for his insides to turn to ice when he realised who this particular Patronus belonged to. He watched as the silvery phoenix hovered before him, its wings beating majestically, keeping it airborne as its beak opened and, in the voice of Albus Dumbledore, it said "I will be with you within the hour" before dissolving into mist.

Severus, who was still sat in his armchair, stared in stunned silence as the words echoed around his oddly blank mind. It took a couple of minutes for him to regain the ability to move and speak but, when he could, he shouts "within the hour!" before hurling himself out of his chair, sending his drink and his book flying, toward the fire.

In his rush to contact Lily, he almost forgot to add the floo powder before sticking his face into the red hot flames. "Severus?!" Lily, who'd been relaxing in front of the fire, watching its soothing, hypnotic flames, half shrieked in surprise when Severus' head suddenly appeared "what's wrong?" She asks, noticing the panicked look he was sporting.

"Within the hour!" He says again, as though it was the only thing his brain would allow his tongue to say.

"Lily?" Severus watches James enter the room, looking worried "what's going on? Who are you-" he spots Severus "Severus?"

Lily flaps at her husband to shut up as she eases herself onto the floor and over to the fireplace. "What's going on, Severus?" She asks in a soothing voice, trying to calm him down.

"Dumbledore's phoenix" Snape babbles almost incoherently "it said 'within the hour'!"

"Right, Severus" she tries again "you need to calm down and start from the beginning."

Pausing only to gather his thoughts, Severus closed his eyes and then bellowed "the baby is here!" He then disappeared from the Potter's fire with a faint 'pop' before falling back into his armchair, trying his utmost not to pass out from panic.

Lily emerged from the fire first and found Severus almost hyperventilating in his armchair. She was just about to try and comfort him when James arrived, put a hand on her shoulder and said, "I've got this, Lil." He pours Severus a glass of fire whiskey and hands it to him. "Severus, I know how you're feeling right now, but you're ready for this. You, Severus Snape, are ready and you are going to be the best father you can be. That little girl will have you wrapped around her tiny little fingers in no time and Lil and I will be here if you need us, that's an absolute promise; we're not going to leave you but, do you want to know what I think?" James pauses for a moment, just for a little emphasis "I think that you're not going to need us as much as you think you will. You've already told us your plans and your hopes for her and, mate, you're going to be fantastic. She is going to love you so much."

"She's going to love me?"

"Unfailingly and unconditionally" James tells him "in exactly the same way that you will love her."

Steadily, Severus raised his head to look at James and found that the man had just said exactly what he needed to hear. "Thank you" he whispered as he gulped in oxygen; it felt like he'd not taken a breath since he'd heard the news.

As the phoenix had said, Dumbledore arrived within the hour, a tiny bundle of pink blankets tucked within the crook of his left arm. He placed her in the Moses basket that Lily had fetched from Severus' bedroom and then said, "her delivery went as smoothly as a delivery can, Severus."