I don't own Harry Potter

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Chapter 54

They realized their son's visits were more harmful than good. He was the first to see it, Hermione hated to admit it but she felt it after a while too. It finally happened when their son turned forty-five. Hermione and him were in Australia. Severus tried to convince Hermione of going there for years. She finally accepted. They were both tanned. Severus wanted to collect ingredients, rare plants for his stores. They picked them up at the airport and found that their son definitely looked like he could be Hermione's father and his older brother.

Tom looked sad. Hermione cried at night, "he will die before us." She came to that realization that night and cried until her eyes were puffy. Minerva tried to make them feel better and dropped a bomb instead.

They all sat for dinner, "I must say, I have the most interesting batch of students as first years." Severus tensed and so did Hermione.

"Pray tell." Severus said as they drank their wine.

"The first Black to be sorted in Gryffindor. Sirius, a troublemaker if I do say so myself." Minerva huffed but there was affection behind her tone. Severus cut his meat a little too swiftly.

Tom laughed, "Orion was beside himself. He wrote to her and Dumbledore asking to resort the child."

"Oh, I also have a young boy, a werewolf. Albus asked us to relocate from our home. He imported a Whomping Willow. He goes through transformations every month. The poor dear. I feel for him so." Minerva said.

Hermione smiled sadly, "Poor child. How are the others treating him?"

"He's shy but he's found friends in James Potter and Sirius Black." Minerva said. He did not ask about Lily and neither did Hermione.

"Could you believe that the Potters conceived a child so late in life?" Tom asked while making conversation.

Severus frowned, "Fleamont always wanted a child." He remembered the old man fondly if anything.

"He is another troublemaker. Him and Black are thick as thieves. Poor Remus is trying to set a good example but alas they overpower him." Minerva laughed.

"Tell them about the little girl." Tom said with a smile. "She is absolutely ingenious and shows such promise for potions. I tell you, Horace is positively elated to have her as a student."

Minerva smiled, "Lily Evans. She is the most well behaved and kind child I've ever seen. She is so good to Remus. I daresay she knows. I would say she knew what werewolves were. I know she doesn't. She's muggleborn. Oh I was heartbroken when her older sister mistreated her so. Her parents were very happy but that other girl. How she looked at her younger sister."

Severus smiled. Lily was alive and well. Hermione smiled and grabbed his hand. "She sounds like a nice girl."

"She is but she is sad, as if something is missing. Lily asked and asked about a boy when she first came to Hogwarts. She did not know his name but could describe him perfectly." Minerva said. "She says he was supposed to be there. He told her all about Hogwarts. She knew about dementors, the houses, all of it but there was no boy with her description come September 1st."

Severus and Hermione looked at each other. It could not be him. He shook his head and tried to change the topic but Tom would not listen.

"It's just that this little girl." Tom continued.

Severus drank more wine and then looked at his wife. He kissed her hand.

"You researched me." He said calmly.

"I did. I didn't want to, but Minerva came home last summer with the first year list."

Minerva nodded, "we were in luck. Albus was called in urgent business to the ministry, some difficulties with Grindelwald' and his prison. Talks of escape and rising pureblood superiority in the East. He left me in his office."

"The sorting hat revealed its names for the sorting. Imagine my surprise when your name came up. Tom told me all to be aware of the dates but I didn't expect you to in my class so soon." Minerva said.

"Your name stayed there for a day and a half." Tom continued. I looked in the Misuse of Magic department there was no trace of you. There was only one magical child in Cokeworth."

"Lily." Severus finished.

"Young Lily Evans is a gifted artist." Minerva said.

Severus smiled lightly, "she was, she drew beautifully if I remember correctly."

"She showed me pictures." Minerva said softly.

"She asked if I knew you." The girl continued.

"It can't be." Hermione gasped when Minerva produced a paper. It was a picture of him and Lily playing by the swings.

"She has a whole book of drawings." Tom said slowly.

Severus frowned, "What have Rose and Harry said?" He asked them.

"They thought she was loony." Tom replied, "they were elated when they learned that she is a witch."

Minerva nodded, "they don't know about the drawings. The older sister does not know either. She only told me. She thought I would know you. Imagine her disappointment when she did not find you in her class."

Tom looked at him, "I searched for your father."

Severus frowned, "how is he?"

"He works in a mill. He's single, drinks too much, no children, no wife." Tom replied.

Minerva looked at him, "Severus, there's something rather peculiar about Lily."

"I have to ask him." Minerva looked at his son. "I cannot not ask him about it."

"What is it?" Hermione asked for him.

"Lily, she understands that you are not real. She's a perfectly happy girl but she continues to dream about you. She came in a state to me a few weeks ago, crying and carrying on about an accident."

Severus frowned, "October 13th. We were by the lake. We were running and I didn't look. I came too close to the Whomping Willow. It hit my face, legs and I hit my head. I was unconscious for a day and a half. Lily was by my side."

Minerva paled, "Severus, Lily insisted that her friend was hurt. I had to have Poppy sedate her. Albus called her parents. She went to St. Mungos. They found nothing wrong."

"Lily remembers you." Hermione said.

Tom nodded, "she does. Your father has no idea you exist. There is no one else in Cokeworth who knows you and yet this little girl knows you. She knows you. She can sense your magic."

Severus and Hermione were completely silent. "It cannot be. What does it mean?"

"I went to Hogwarts a couple of weeks ago. Lily was in Minnie's office. Lily smiled, a big smile when she saw me."

She asked me, "you know him too. You know my friend. You and professor McGonagall know my friend."

"She can sense that we know you. I don't know how but she knows we are close to you." Minerva finished.

"Mum, did you and dad ever researched a way to go back?" Tom asked.

"No, Albus knew we could not come back. We knew that ourselves when we traveled." Severus could not wrap his head around the fact that Lily remembered him.

"There is nothing at the Ministry. The research peaked on Spring 1934. Albert Bloch tried to perfect going back an hour in time when he suffered a heart attack and died. The other five were not perfected and destroyed. He died May 2nd 1934." Tom said quickly.

"Minerva and I have tried to begin and create some prototypes but the research is just not there." Tom said. He was frustrated.

"Hermione and I never planned to go back." Severus said honestly.

"Sweetheart, your dad I have nothing to go back to." She said gently. "I feel very bad for Lily."

Severus rubbed his eyes. "I can obliviate her."

"No." Minerva said with a frown, "she's too young. Her magic is developing; you may cause irreparable damage. Lily is a good, kind child. Let her believe she has an imaginary friend, a wild imagination. She has only good memories of you. Let her have her childhood."

"Why tell us all of this then? Have you found an alternative solution to this?" Severus was getting a bit exasperated.

"I thought you'd want to know. We thought you may have found a way to work together and send you back to the future." Tom said.

It did not take long for them to respond. "No."

Tom and Minerva nodded. "We also think it's best if we could write to each other for a time. I love you both very much but I need some time to reconcile this."

They were quiet, "we understand." Hermione broke her silence.

"You look younger every year." He said despondently. "Maybe I will come in two years."

Severus nodded, "we would love to see you at least once in a decade."

Tom laughed, "we will see each other more than once in a decade." Hermione smiled at him. "Sweetheart, we will always be your parents."

"I know, but I need to keep remembering you as my parents and not the young couple I see in front of me. It feels ridiculous to call you mum when you look like you could be my daughter." He laughed.

Minerva looked away. Severus could tell she was concerned for Lily. They had no idea what would happen to her. His magic was strong, what if Lily continued to remember him? Minerva felt guilty as it was.

Hermione laughed too. "I know." She hugged him tight. "How I wish you could be seven and do it all over again." Severus smiled at them.

He hugged his son goodbye two days after their revelation.

"We can make ourselves look older for you and Minerva." He said while they said goodbye.

"We'll try that." Their son said and took his leave.

Hermione and him went back to their little home. She cried that night. Severus comforted her. "He won't see us again."

"He'll change his mind. We'll be here for him, like we always have been." He whispered as they fell asleep.

Hermione woke up earlier than him. She usually did now. She had a cup of tea and offered him some. He sighed and took it. "What is worrying you so much?"

He asked her and kissed her hand when she said it. "Lily. Why does she remember you? Should we try and go back?"

Severus arched an eyebrow, "Go back to what? We have nothing there. We've changed our timeline. Who is to say what is there?"

Hermione put her cup aside and rubbed her eyes, "should you see Lily?"

Severus frowned, "what would I say to an eleven-year-old Lily? It would be completely inappropriate. I would not want a grown man to get near Tom when he was that age without my consent."

Hermione sighed, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Severus thought that he knew why she was so uneasy. "I am in love with you." He told her gently. "I have been in love with you for the past thirty-three years."

She kissed him softly. "Thank you." Hermione smiled softly. "I love you too."

Severus thought the Lily issue was closed for good. He put her in the back of his mind. Tom did not visit that year or the next. They wrote back and forth but no Tom or Minerva. Hermione did not let it be shown, but she was not happy. "We could always visit them." He said while they traveled to China.

"He does not want to see us." Hermione was highly aware of why. Severus knew that she did not blame Lily solely. "It would be so strange to see my mum and dad looking younger than me." She said as the boarded a plane. Portkeys made them feel strange. They spent a few months there and then went back to America.

It was 1973 and Severus re-discovered his love of Led Zeppelin. He came home one day with two concert tickets. They were living in New York city at the time. Hermione was practicing as a doctor and he taught maths at the City College. He had bought all of his albums and blared them at the house.

"How could I forget about them?" He kept whispering when he heard the first notes of Black Dog.

Hermione pecked him on the lips and laughed when he showed her the tickets. "Led Zeppelin. My dad used to like them. I thought they were too loud."

Severus blinked rapidly, "you are a dunderhead." And then kissed her quick. "You and I are in for a treat. We are going to see them."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I never thought I would lose my virginity concert to Led Zeppelin."

Severus arched an eyebrow, "I do not believe you. You've never gone to a concert?"

Hermione frowned, "because I had all the time in the world. I was making sure Harry and Ron remained alive."

Severus nodded, "well you are in for a treat. This will open your world."

Hermione looked unconvinced, "fine but if I am to go to this concert then you have to make some changes."

Severus frowned "whatever do you mean?" He knew what she meant. Severus insisted in wearing suits and formal clothing. Hermione changed her appearance to match the decade they were in but Severus had a hard time.

"Sev, I am not going to a concert where people think you are my father. I love the way you look but we will look utterly out of place." She said while drinking some lemon water that tasted disgusting.

"Fine. I will disguise myself." He said and hugged her from behind. He bit her shoulder. "How about a shower and a movie." Severus liked the fact that it was closer to their time. Well, it was his time already. Hermione was not alive yet.

She nodded and let him play with the strap of her dress. He loved her perfume and the fact that her hair was frizzier than ever. His hands went to her middle. "You smell delicious."

She pulled his face back. "I am sweaty."

"Fuck the shower." He said and picked her up. She laughed when he waved his hand and their clothes were to the side.

"What a powerful wizard you are Master Snape." She said and kissed him passionately. Severus concentrated on her skin, the way she moved above him. He would never tire of her flushed face. She was always so eager, so ready for him. Hermione had the most exquisite scent. He came deep inside her and laughed when she kissed the corners of his mouth and his eyelids.

He held her to his side. "I want pizza from Brooklyn." She said after a while. Severus kissed her forehead. "In a minute. Let this old man catch his breath."