Hi everyone. Well, I saw the new Harry Potter movie and I hadn't read the book yet, so I didn't know Snape died. When he did die, I was so shocked that I started crying, seeing as he is my favorite character and all. Thus I decided to write this since I wanted a way for him to have survived, vague as I am with how that worked. Thus, this one-shot was born. Just an FYI, Snape may be OOC in the story; this is my first HP fic. And I am just clearing up that I switched names when referring to Snape. When I am talking about him through someone else or in a moment where he is especially emotional, I refer to him as 'Severus', anytime else I use 'Snape'. Same with Professor McGonagall and her appearances in the story. Sera is in the same year as Harry and co., she just started a year early because she's super powerful (Like her father). If you've got any questions or comments, let me know. Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter and everything affiliated with it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own Sera, Selene, and the plot.

(This has been revised and some sentences have been deleted, changed, or added to make it more understandable (or for correct grammar) I may have added a few things, so feel free to go through and re-read it. Let me know if I missed anything!)

Prologue

Two black eyes watched him, every time he was in their view. A young Gryffindor named Sera Salin. Black haired, black-eyed, pale as the moon's light, skinny as a twig, taller than most and dressed mostly in black. An orphan. Few believed she belonged in Gryffindor; even her Head of House had doubts. She was intelligent, quietly surpassing everyone in everything. She was quiet, hardly ever spoke, but in one class, she hid even more.

For five years that class was potions; one of her best, but with a change in teacher came her change in disposition. That year, she hid during Defense Against the Dark Arts, speaking only to answer a question spoken directly to her. The next year brought a new Headmaster, her former teacher, Severus Snape. Now she hid at all times; from everyone.

When he fled, Sera surprised everyone with her outspoken comments and her thorough plans to defend the school. And on the night that Severus Snape should have died, Sera saved him from death, hiding and protecting him, healing and caring for him, all without him knowing. She fought to protect Hogwarts when the Dark Lord and Death Eaters struck, fighting and healing those in need.

When the seventh year students returned to make up for the previous year lost, Sera returned with them. Seven years she had hid her secret, what was one more. Little did she know that her secret would be revealed and that her former existence would be completely unraveled.

ooooooooo

One Month into the first term at Hogwarts

Sera was rushing to N.E.W.T Charms when she fell, dropping her papers. She hastily gathered them, missing a small folder. Not noticing the folder, Sera rushed to class. Turning the corner when she dropped the papers was Professor Snape. Watching her leave the folder, he smirked, not bothering to tell her she had missed it.

After she left, Snape picked up the fallen folder and looked inside. There were two documents. The first was information on him, generic information from the ministry with handwritten notes, in a familiar writing, about things only people very close to him would know.

'Why does she have this, the little thief,' Thought Snape.

The other document appeared to be a type of certificate. It said:

Severa Ellieen Snape

Born: October 13, 1982; 9:13am

Mother: Selene Lilia Snape nee Salin; Classification: Witch-Half-Blood (Deceased)

Father: Severus Tobias Snape; Classification: Wizard-Half-Blood

Subject's Classification: Witch–Half-Blood

Attached to the birth certificate was a Hogwarts class picture. Severus stared at the papers, eyes blank, oblivious to the sound of approaching footsteps. It was Minerva McGonagall. Seeing him frozen, she rushed over to him, asking him 'what was wrong' repeatedly. When he didn't respond, she followed his gaze to the papers that had fallen to the ground. Her eyes widened when she read them, whipping her head around to Snape, who was staring blankly, more than likely in shock.

Both were brought back to reality by the sound of someone approaching. They looked up to see Sera coming around the corridor's corner. She stopped suddenly when she saw them and looked to the ground. She saw the birth certificate lying there for the whole world, and more importantly, Severus Snape, to see. Her normally emotionless black eyes widened in fear and she quickly turned and ran down the hall she had just come down.

After several minutes, both Snape and Professor McGonagall had gathered their wits and were searching for Sera, Snape growing angrier the longer they looked. They reached the entrance to the castle's courtyard to see Sera standing just inside the school's gates with her bag over her shoulder. She was staring out at the forest on the other side of the gate.

She was going to flee the school that had slowly over the years become her home. She had nowhere to go. The orphanage wouldn't take her back, she was sixteen and, in the eyes of the ministry, an orphan; unimportant and worthless. She was as alone as she was on the day of her mother's death, when she was just seven.

Snape and McGonagall watched as she began to walk out the school's gates. Professor McGonagall watched Snape, wanting to see if he would stop her. She wouldn't interfere; Severus needed to decide if he wanted Sera, if he wanted her to stay; there was no other way for her to be convinced.

Taking a deep breath, Snape finally spoke. "Stop!" He called out sternly.

Sera froze and slowly turned to face the approaching threats of Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall.

"Come to my office, Miss Salin." Snape said emotionlessly, turning back towards the castle. Professor McGonagall nodded to Sera and she slowly followed them back inside.

oooooooooo

They passed through the empty hallways towards the Headmaster's office, Snape's office. Not until all three of them were inside and the door was closed did Snape speak.

"What are these?" He asked angrily as he tossed the birth certificate and the information on him onto the desk in front of them.

Sera looked to her bag that sat next to the pensieve on the side of the room before she closed her eyes and turned back to Snape.

Opening her eyes, she spoke. "My birth certificate and some information for a research project, Sir."

"I know that it's a birth certificate." Snape sneered, leaning over the desk and into her face. "It obviously isn't yours, though. It doesn't have your name and it's obviously a fake." He raised his voice on the word 'fake.'

Before Professor McGonagall could intervene, Sera lashed out angrily, fury written on her face. She flew up and slapped him across the face.

"Fakes? You're a bloody idiot! I've hidden my identity because I didn't want you to know who I am! I haven't used my actual name since my mother's death.

My mother, your WIFE, hid me from you when she found out you were a Death Eater! She wanted to protect me and we were fine until your Death Eater friend, Bellatrix LeStrange, found us. She killed Mama when I was only seven. I was left on my own, doing everything and anything I needed to do to survive.

I had no one else, but I didn't dare go to you. For this very reason; I feared you denying me. I didn't care if you were supposedly a Death Eater, I just wanted my FATHER to care about me and to want me. But I'd seen too many of my very few friends denied by their families, the people who are supposed to love them unconditionally.

I decided to brave the world on my own, rather than disturb you! My magic was so powerful that I had to come to Hogwarts a year early so that I could safely control them and no longer be a danger to myself and others. I worked hard every summer at any job I could get to earn the money to buy the things necessary for school. I never asked you for help with anything, never let on that I suffered continuously to be able to make it here to school.

And when I got here, I suffered your verbal abuse during school EVERY year without a word of defense for myself for seven years!

I never told you, and I never planned to! I just wanted to make it through school here and make a better life for myself afterwards.

So, SIR, it's not a FAKE!" Sera said angrily at Snape before she dashed from the room.

Snape just stood there, shocked. Partially because that was the most he had ever heard Sera say, but mostly because of what she'd just said. Professor McGonagall just looked at Severus and shook her head before she walked out of the room, hoping to find Sera before she got too far away. Snape simply stared at the wall in shock for several minutes, finally snapping out of his daze when Minerva re-entered.

"She's on the hillside outside of the castle." She said quietly, placing a hand on Snape's shoulder. "She just wants you to accept her Severus. She lost he mother when she was seven. She's now sixteen. She's been alone for more than half of her life. She just wants you to attempt to love her.

Go and talk to her, without yelling at her or accusing her. Let her know that you'll take care of her and that she doesn't have to fear anymore.

In some ways, Severus, she's far older than sixteen, but in others, she's far younger. She's starved for care and protection. For LOVE, Severus. Try to give her that.

You're her father, she's just like you, both physically and personality-wise. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that I myself or someone else didn't notice that sooner and bring it up.

She's cold and quiet. She hides her emotions well and it takes a great deal to make her snap like Sera, or rather Severa, did.

Now go Severus! Before you lose her!" Minerva said, emphasizing the last part of her speech.

Her words finally spurred Snape into action. He rushed from the room and down the corridors, his black robes billowing behind him. He stopped when he stepped outside, onto the path to Hagrid's rebuilt hut, scanning the hillside for Sera. Spotting her sitting about halfway down the hill, and noting she was alone, he quickly made his way towards her.

As he got closer, he noticed that her face was far paler than when she left his office and that it was tear stained, although she wasn't crying right then. When he was a few yards away he heard her half-sob, half-laugh to herself:

"I've been alone for nine years, I should be stronger than this; crying at being denied by a man I barely know, never minding the fact that he's my father. I always knew this would happen if he ever found out. I was prepared for this."

When she spoke these words, more tears slipped from her eyes and she pressed her face into her hands as she sobbed.

Snape stopped a few feet away from her, attempting to leave her unaware of his presence, but she sensed him there. Sera stood and turned towards him, a mask of indifference, so similar to his own, slipping into place on her face.

Severus looked into his daughter's eyes, deep black endless tunnels like his. Deep in them he saw her fear and her hurt. He stepped towards her and, to his surprise, she didn't move. Rather, she took a step towards him, her eyes locked on his.

He realized what she was doing. She was using Legilimency, seeing how he truly felt about her, because she knew he couldn't express his feelings well. He resisted the urge to throw up his Occulumency shields, instead stepping towards her. They continued walking towards the other, without breaking eye contact. They stopped less than a foot from each other.

Sera reached up and softly touched her father's face, a smile slowly spreading across her pale face as she sensed the sincerity in his thoughts. Her black eyes glistened with tears as she pulled her hand away and wrapped her thin arms around his black-robed torso, clinging to him as if he could disappear at any moment.

Severus started at the contact, but quickly softened as he wrapped his own arms around his daughter's tiny waist. "Forgive me, forgive me." He kept repeating, murmuring it like a prayer, as tears ran down his daughter's face and landed on his black robes.

After Sera stopped crying, Snape led her back up the hill, where Professor McGonagall was standing inconspicuously behind a half-wall where she was just out of sight of the parent-daughter pair. They passed her without acknowledgement, Snape's arm secured tightly around his daughter's shoulders. McGonagall moved silently into step a few feet behind them.

They were a few halls from Snape's office when the bell rang, signaling the end of classes for the day. Instead of pulling away from her and becoming cold like Sera expected, he pulled her even tighter against him, as if he was afraid she'd be lost in the crowd. Sera turned her head into her father's arm, avoiding the stares of the other students who were stopping and moving out of the trio's way.

When they reached his office, Snape pressed the gargoyle's head to open the office door and led Sera inside, along with Professor McGonagall, who stayed at the edge of the office, while Snape led Sera into the adjoined sitting room.

Sera pulled away and sat on the sofa across from him. "Forgive me." Severus whispered, so quietly anyone else wouldn't have heard him.

Sera stared at him for a moment before she reached out and took his hand in hers. "It's alright." She said guiltily. "I'm sorry for slapping you, and for what I said earlier, when you commented on my birth certificate. I was upset that you'd seen it. I'd planned to hide my identity for as long as I could, forever if possible. I didn't want to trouble you with the existence of a daughter you hadn't known about." As Sera said this, she lowered her head, hiding her black eyes from her father's view, so he wouldn't see her feelings, her sadness, that were so clear in them.

Severus reached out and grasped her chin, lifting her head up so that he could see her face clearly. "You should have told me about this. I would have wanted to know about you being my daughter." He quietly reprimanded. "You obviously need someone to care for you. Though I agree with Minerva. I'm surprised that I, another teacher, or even a student didn't notice the very clear resemblance between us and bring it up."

Sera looked slightly guilty again. "I worked very hard to remain unnoticed, but some of the other Gryffindors have commented that I looked a lot like you. I would normally ignore them or shoot them a glare and they always dropped the matter."

Snape sat still for several minutes, deep in thought before he took a deep breath and continued. "The only matter I believe we have left to deal with right now is your name. Do you wish to continue using 'Sera Salin' or your birth name?" He asked with his eyes locked on hers.

Sera half-smiled at him before her eyes flicked to the floor as she answered. "I've actually only gone by 'Sera Salin' here at Hogwarts. Everywhere else I'm 'Severa Snape', but most people use 'Sera" instead of 'Severa', as a nickname." Sera's eyes flicked back up to her father's, looking for a reaction, but getting none. Her eyes closed and she let out a soft sigh before she finally asked.

"I would like to go by 'Severa Snape' on the class lists only. I want to still be called 'Sera.' Will this work for you?"

Snape nodded once, his eyes going cold and telling her that he would change the class lists immedently, and stood, moving back out into his office, where Professor McGonagall still stood, waiting for Sera, who entered shortly after her father.

"You're dismissed." He said to Sera, a bit harshly. "Return to your dormitory with Professor McGonagall."

Sera's eyes fell to the floor and she nodded, following McGonagall to the door before stopping. She turned back to her father and said quietly, "I chose to keep 'Sera' because it is the nickname Mama gave me as a little girl because 'Severa' was too hard for a three-year old to say. I hope you understand that. It's not that I don't want your name, I simply want to keep one of the last things I have left from my mother."

When he didn't answer, Sera sighed and turned back to the door.

"I love you Papa." She said as she walked out of the room.

Severus stared at the door she had just left through, feeling elated and saddened at the same time.

'She's so grown up, she doesn't need me.' He thought, lowering his head into his hands.

ooooooooooo

At dinner that night, all eyes seemed to be on Sera, as the news of seeing her and Snape together had spread like wildfire. Sera just stared at her dinner, barely eating anything and saying nothing, even as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins kept prodding for answers. When everyone was dismissed from the dining hall, Sera glanced up at the staff table, to her father, as she stood to leave. Snape simply nodded for her to approach.

Sera waited until nearly all the students had departed from the hall before she began to approach the staff table. As she approached, Professor McGonagall subtly smiled at her, while the other teachers just ignored her presence. When she was standing a few feet away, Snape stood up from the table, drawing everyone's attention.

"I've asked you all to remain here to hear some important information. I have very recently learned that I have a daughter who has been in hiding since her birth sixteen years ago. While she has long since been attending Hogwarts, I would like to present her to you all as my daughter." Snape said; a hint of pride in his monotone voice. Nodding to Sera, he continued. "My daughter, Severa Ellieen Snape."

Sera let a small smile spread across her face at the unexpected acknowledgement from her father as she bowed her head. The teachers and staff, other than Snape and McGonagall, stared at her with wide-eyed amazement. Sera stood perfectly still, making eye contact with everyone at the table.

Finally, Professor Sprout spoke with a bit of laughter in her voice. "I had thought the two of you looked very similar when I had her in first year herbology, but since she was using a different surname and you hadn't said anything about having a child, I had thought it a coincidence." Many teachers murmured affirmatives to Spout's comment.

Sera still stood in front of everyone, hoping to be allowed to leave soon and without being asked any questions. Snape looked at her and simply jerked his head to a side door and the two discreetly slipped out of the room. She followed him to his office and back into the chambers attached to it. Once inside, Snape pointed to a doorway.

"Those will be your rooms for at least during holidays other than the summer holiday. You may use them whenever you choose to. You may still stay in Gryffindor tower if you would like to." He said gruffly.

Sera simply smiled and hugged him. "Thank you." She whispered

Severus wrapped an arm around her and led her to the door to her new room. Sera pulled away only long enough to open the door. Inside was deep purple walls and plush black carpet. Next to the room's one window was a large four poster mahogany bed with purple and black bedding. There was a mahogany dresser, armoire, desk, and a ceiling high bookcase filled with books. Under the window was the only familiar thing in the room; her trunk.

Sera unlatched her arms from her father's waist and looked around the room that was nearly as large as her entire dorm in Gryffindor Tower before she spun back to her father. "I love it! It's magnificent; perfection! Thank you so much!" Sera cried happily, acting as if she were a first year again.

Severus was secretly pleased that she loved the room, but a part of him was sad, knowing that for a good part of her life she had been denied the simple pleasure of her own room. When he looked down at Sera, he noticed that she looked confused.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried that something was wrong.

Sera banished the confusion from her face. "It's nothing." She said quickly, but after a stern look from her father, she continued. "I was simply wondering how you knew I liked purple and black."

"Minerva mentioned that your things were normally those colors, so I assumed you would like them." He replied in an emotionless voice. Sera just smiled before rising up on his toes and kissing his cheek.

ooooooooo

One year and seven months later

Everyone had been quite shaken when the news about Sera had come out to the public, but after a few weeks everything went back to normal, except for the few head turns when she was addressed in class as 'Miss Snape'. Severus and Sera instantly connected, learning that they had a lot in common. He quickly became extremely protective of her, warning against anything that could harm her. She graduated with honors at the end of the year and spent that summer at Spinner's End with him. She lived at Hogwarts the next year as a guest, learning advanced spells, charms, and potions because she had graduated a year early and was unable to leave for a wizarding college or get a job until she turned seventeen.

ooooooooo

At the year's graduation feast

"Sera, will you please finally tell me what you've decided on for a career?" Severus said irritably. Sera had refused to tell him what career path she had chosen.

All the staff turned to look at Sera, obviously interested in her answer. Sera just looked at her father, smiled, and laughed. "I'm not sure you'll be pleased, Papa." She said. After a glare, which she just rolled her eyes at, she turned serious. "All right, I've guess I've kept you in suspense long enough." She paused for dramatic effect, and to irritate her father even more. "I decided on teaching." She said confidently.

Many of the teachers clapped, saying "That's wonderful!" Professor McGonagall patted Snape on the back. "I guess it's true what muggles say, The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, hm Severus?" She laughed.

Snape just stared at his daughter, his heart warming slightly when she answered Professor Flitwick's question of what she would teach. She had answered 'Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, just like Papa.'

Professor McGonagall had laughed again and patted Sera's arm. "I'm sure you'll be as excellent a teacher as your father, my dear."

After the conversation had died down, Sera placed a hand on her father's arm before rising from the table and leaving out the side door. Severus quickly followed her outside the hall and out to the hillside where he had first accepted her as his daughter and where she had forgiven him for not being around for her.

When they stopped walking, she turned to him. "Are you angry at me for my choice, Papa?" She asked nervously, assuming that he was, since he hadn't spoken to her since she had announced her intentions.

He was quick to answer. "Far from it. I'm thrilled that you wish to follow in my footsteps. You'll teach other young witches and wizards and be far safer than if you were and auror or something similar. I was just surprised, I hadn't expected you'd wish to teach. You're too much like me, and I used to despise teaching."

He wrapped his arm around her slight frame. "I'm very proud of you, my Sera. And always remember that I love you, even if I don't always act like it."

Sera smiled and whispered, "I love you too, Papa. Always have, always will."

That's the end, maybe. If anyone wants me to add more, add an outtake of a scene that occurred during the time-skip, or wants to give an idea for one, let me know. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I apologize if Snape or any character is OOC, this is my first Harry Potter fic. Thanks for reading and please review. I want to get better, and the only way I can is for you to tell me what I've done wrong. Just please don't flame me, this took me days to write and is by far the longest I've written. So REVIEW!