Severus walked cautiously with Lilly , the woman that he knew had died years earlier, into a respectably-sized living room. He was beginning to think most of his life had been a dream. He looked around him. There was a sofa and a couch facing a fireplace. Above the fireplace was hanging a picture of him and Lilly. A very young boy, about two, was clinging to Lilly's leg and a girl of about the same age was clinging to his.
My children…they're my children. He had a flash of memory and recalled their names, Alexander and Lilly. Memories flashed back to him in a rush. Calling Lilly that horrid word and then rushing after her. Showing up at her house at three am, drunk, begging forgiveness. Something that dream him-and he was starting to think of it as a dream-chose not to do. She took him back, pathetic, crying loser that he was. Gods, James was jealous. He remembered that they fought for her. She told them that they were both being morons. They went from friends to lovers in one semester. He recalled fighting in the war, staring Lucius Malfoy down before he threw the killing curse that ended his miserable life. He remembered him and James and Sirius, now comrades-in-arms, along with the rest of the Order, storming the Death Eater's stronghold, bringing an end to their reign of terror.
He remembered being praised as a hero.
He remembered James dying from a Death Eaters curse, but before death making him promise to look after Lilly. He and Lilly had gotten married soon after.
So real, it all suddenly seemed so real. Yet, there were other memories running alongside it. Him joining the Death Eaters, Lilly marrying James…
He held his head. He was recalling two separate lives at once. How could this be?
"Dad? Dad, are you alright?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Two teenagers were staring at him. They were the same age and clearly non-identical twins. The girl had red hair and dark brown, almost black, eyes. The boy had black hair and green eyes. They both had a soft, heart-shaped face and a curved nose, though the curve was not quite as sharp as his own.
"I…I'm fine." He said, holding his head. He felt a rush of affection and hugged the teens.
"Dad, are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, Lilly, yes, I'm alright."
He hugged them tighter, held on to them. They returned the embrace. They both looked concerned.
"Dad, is something wrong?" Alexander asked.
"No, no, everything's great." He stood back. Alexander, he remembered, had followed in his footsteps and was training to become a potions master. He was in Gryffindor. Lilly was settling down from a rebellious phase where she had briefly run away to Paris at sixteen. She rarely spoke of Paris; though he sometimes caught her wistfully staring out a window and murmuring about someone name Jacque. She was a Slytherin and at Quidditch season the tension between the twins was tense. She had also developed a talent for charms and hexes.
He also remembered that he had no children because his only love had been murdered by the Dark Lord. Something was very, very wrong. He looked around. It all seemed real enough and there were too many details for it to be false. It was not an illusion, not a dream, not a hallucination.
"Who wants pancakes?" Lilly asked breaking his train of thought.
"I do!" The twins shouted.
Snape followed them into the kitchen. He didn't know what was going on, but pancakes sounded good to him.