~This is mostly just flashbacks to explain things that will come later.~

Beep. Beep. Beep. Severus Snape listened to the ever-fainter sounds of the heart monitor. He clutched the rail to his beloved's bed and looked at her face. Lily Evans' face. He looked stricken, paler than usual. They had been formally married 7 years ago, that was 4 years before their son, Harry Regulus Snape, was born to the previously peaceful pair. The said son sat quietly in the corner, not fully understanding why his mommy was here, and why his father was so quiet. He just knew he should be quiet too. He was lucky. He didn't know about the leukemia cancer slowly deteriorating Lily's health. He didn't know there was no cure: magical or muggle. Beep. Beep. Beep. Severus heard the beeps growing longer, The pauses between his wife's heartbeats growing longer. He was in agony, listening to her death. Then, he heard one, gasped word. "Always." Severus let the tears run freely down his face, expressing his grief in the only way he knew how to. At some point, the heart monitor's infrequent beeps blurred into one, monumental noise. Lily Evans was gone, forever.

Severus, in his haze of grief and mourning, didn't feel the slight tug on the hem of his robes. He didn't see the child's confused face, his son's confused face looking up at him innocently. Harry's childish voice seemed to be lost in the fog of loss and pain. "Daddy, what's wrong?" Severus continued to mourn silently, then aloud."You were perfect, Lily," he murmured quietly to himself. Harry couldn't hear what his dad was saying, and was scared. "D-daddy, what's wrong?" The innocent voice sliced through the haze of misery, temporarily snapping Severus back to reality. He reassuringly, although it was more to reassure himself, told Harry, "Mother's not coming home, Harry." His quiet voice did little to calm the child, whom in fact got the wrong gist of the statement. "Oh," his little voice rang out in the small white room, "'til when?" Severus was in agony. "Ever." The single word tore Severus apart, and his tears fell with renewed vigor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One Month Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry rode in the car with his father to a psychologist's office. There was an air of deathly silence in the car , but he was accustomed to it. Ever since mom died, there had been nothing but sparse conversation and the chilling, deafening quiet. He knew his father was struggling, but it was an inside conflict. The car soon arrived at the large white building with many glass windows. Severus stiffly got out, not seeming to notice Harry quietly following him. Severus walked up to the front desk and rang the bell for service. Harry stood uneasily behind his father as he talked to the lady at the desk. Severus suddenly got up and walked with the woman to a room. Harry followed, but was forgotten as the door slammed in his face. The three year old felt his eyes begin to burn as tears started falling from his eyes. He backed up and stumbled into the waiting room to wait for his father.

Severus heard the nurse close the door behind him. He moved to the chair on the other side of the room. "Mr. Snape what is your purpose for visiting us today?" The friendly nurse mildly flirted with him. It took him a lot of strength to admit to the nurse that he needed to make sure he was stable. The nurse simply nodded after Severus explained his need to her. "I'm going to ask you to perform a few tests for me." The nurse told him. Severus dryly sighed and obliged to the first test, which was describing himself. "I'm a lonely man with no source of joy or happiness, and I can't seem to get the nerve up to end it all," he confessed to the nurse, "I'm a terrible person who can't raise his son right and I have no right to exist on this planet!" The nurse, somewhat taken aback, replied, "How would ending your life make your son feel?" Severus felt the horrible, miserable fog drift back into his mind. "Harry would be better off without me," he said bitterly.

Harry saw his father leave the room, after what seemed like hours. He followed his father into another room and climbed up on one of the chairs. His father settled into the chair beside him. They waited for the doctor to come and tell them the results. Severus at some point became aware of a pale, shaky Harry looking at him. He snapped out of the shroud over his conciousness. He reached over and gently touched a lock of Harry's ebony hair. He looked into his sons eyes and was shocked to see a mini-lily staring back at him, Harry's eyes were like miniature versions of Lily's. Severus didn't notice or hear the child call his name as he slipped back into his mind.

At some point, the doctor had come in as Severus zoned out and Harry had tried to get his attention. He sat down and waited on Harry's father to notice him. As soon as he noticed, the doctor began speaking, "Due to the outcomes of the multiple tests you have performed and the answers you have given, you have been diagnosed with severe depression." The words crashed on both father and son, although Harry didn't know what it meant. Harry looked up at his father, and was surprised to see him paler than usual. Harry, knowing his father wouldn't tell him, he asked, "What is severe depression?" The doctor sighed, and honestly answered, "When someone gets so sad that they can no longer control themselves."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback two years later~~~~~~~~~~~

The door slammed loudly to the small house on Stillness road. It was north of a rather large park called Blythe Hill Fields and was southeast of London. The two occupants of the house, A five-year old boy and his grouchy father, more commonly known as the Snapes. The offender of the door-slamming crime was none other than Harry Regulus Snape himself. It had been a short five months since his father had snapped out of the fog around his mind. "I'm Home!" shouted Harry as he ungraciously dumped his school bag on the floor near the entrance. The first to greet him was a silver and white cat which they called Rose. She was Lily's old cat and they just didn't have the heart to dump her at some shelter. Harry walked into the kitchen to find his ever-thoughtful father making him a jam sandwich. He retrieved his folder from his school bag and began working on a rather boring assignment. Severus, walking over to deliver the sandwich to its demise, noticed the paper and asked, "What are you working on, Little Lion?" Harry was dumbfounded. His father called him "Little Lion." He hadn't heard that since before his mother died. Severus ruffled his hair fondly and began helping him with his maths homework before tucking the little boy in and retiring to his own room.

~~~~DISCLAIMER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We don't own Harry Potter or anything recognizable... including Stillness Road , London, Blythe Hill Fields, etc.

Next chapter probably won't come out until... maybe a week or a week & a half from now. Sorry for any errors! :P