Severus watched from the battlements as the First Years disembarked from the boats and made their way towards the Hogwarts entrance. This wasn't just out of interest in new students. Oh no, he was looking for one child in particular. Harry Potter.
The child of Lily. His Lily.
But no, none of them looked like Lily. Of course, he knew the child was a boy, but surely he would have Lily's features? Hopefully, anyway. Heaven forbid that Harry looked like his father.
Even worse, what if Harry acted like his father? What if he had his father's arrogance, his disregard for everyone around him? Surely, he would be like Lily. The beautiful, sweet Lily.
As the last of the students filed into the castle, Severus gave up his spot at the top of the outer wall. He was going to have to wait for the Sorting to see the Harry, the Boy Who Lived. The boy for whom he had abandoned his master.
With a sigh, Severus slowly made his way down the stairs. Oh, if only the Founders hadn't insisted on forbidding apparition within the castle's walls. Travel would be so much simpler. So much faster.
He took his seat at the teacher's table only moments before Minerva led the students through the side door and into the Great Hall. Minerva, the old bat. How he loathed her. Always opposing him, always lording over him and his House because her Gryffindors were so much better, so much braver, and so much nobler.
So much stupider, in his opinion. But then, nobody asked for his opinion. Not even Albus, not even the man who had made him promise to protect Harry. Not even the man he took orders from, now that he had betrayed the Dark Lord.
Then he saw him. He saw a child with James' unruly black hair, James' face. But he wasn't necessarily Harry, was he? Surely, it was all a coincidence. No, Harry would look like Lily, he was sure of it. He DIDN'T look like James, and he definitely didn't ACT like James. But that boy, that boy who did look like James, Severus knew in the back of his mind that he was Harry.
But he wasn't going to admit it. Not yet. He was just one more in the line of students, students who would waltz into his dungeons like they owned the place, one more student that would fail miserably at potions, one more student who would be nothing more but an annoyance. And most likely he'd be a Gryffindor, too. But he wasn't Harry. He wasn't Lily's son. He couldn't bring himself to admit that Lily's son would be another James, only younger.
At least, not until he saw the boy face to face. He was looking up at the table where Severus sat, and the boys' bright green eyes locked with his own. And Severus knew.
He had Lily's eyes.