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—

It was lovely for Severus and Lily when Harry accepted their invitation and left the Burrow to come home. With his only belongings fitting neatly into a few bags, Harry left the Weasleys' residence and apparated straight to his parents' house.

That day it was different.

That day, Harry was not just stopping by for an evening of dinner and fond conversation.

Ginny chose to stay at the Burrow for the time being, wanting to be close to her family while they all grieved Fred. The redhead also wanted Harry to have a chance to spend a while with his parents, which was a luxury that he had never experienced before.

Severus felt a little out of place as Harry took his things upstairs and settled into the room that had been declared his, but Lily smiled brightly, clearly happy with their new living arrangement.

"This is exactly how it should have been." Lily beamed at Severus while they sat on the sofa together, waiting for Harry to finish unpacking.

Severus would have offered to help Harry, but he didn't want to invade his privacy.

"This is how it is now…...my love." Severus replied, taking Lily's hands in his.

"He should be younger though….." Lily sighed, laying her head down on Severus's chest, "We all should be."

Severus pressed a kiss to Lily's forehead and she closed her eyes.

Lily's words were true, but there was nothing the family could do but move forward.

Together.

By the time Harry settled into his new room and came downstairs, he walked into the living area and blinked when he saw Severus staring at him and Lily asleep.

Against the wall on the far right of the room, the muggle television chattered on noisily.

Severus despised the thing, but Lily enjoyed it, so he said nothing about it in protest.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Harry asked his father, noticing his mother cuddled against him.

Lily looked very peaceful lying there.

Severus was gazing up at Harry intently, like a lion ready to defend his mate from an attack, but his tone was surprisingly gentle as he spoke.

"Not at all." Severus replied in his low, slow voice. His black eyes followed Harry carefully, watching his son closely as he walked over and sat down in the chair across from the sofa, "Your mother's just resting."

"It's a bit early, isn't it?" Harry asked, trying to make small talk more than a legitimate inquiry.

"Women tire easily when they're with child." Severus answered. His voice was calm and firm, exactly as it had been when he taught his classes.

Harry nodded, "I don't know much about that."

"You'll learn more as the months pass." Severus said quietly, "...And even more after that if you become a father yourself one day."

Harry and Severus looked at each other for a moment.

The notion of becoming a father felt as foreign to Harry as becoming a grandfather did to Severus.

"Yeah...maybe…..one day." Harry replied with a quick nod.

Sitting alone beside Severus, with only the television droning on in the background to fill the empty silence in the room, Harry looked at Lily again and asked, "She's doing alright, then?"

"The healers keep assuring us that everything is going well so far." Severus replied quietly.

"That's good." Harry said.

Another moment of awkward silence passed and Harry shifted in his chair. Severus did not have the same freedom of motion since he didn't want to disturb Lily.

"...Dad?" Harry asked.

Harry had spoken that honest word many times over the last few weeks, but it still shattered the silence like glass.

Severus nearly winced as his black eyes flickered over to meet his son's gaze.

He had grown uncomfortably accustomed to the term.

No longer did he reprimand Harry for using it as his title.

"...Yes?" Severus asked.

When his father accepted his choice of verbiage, Harry found a bit of reassurance.

"Thanks for letting me….you know…...stay here." Harry said with a shrug.

"I haven't let you do anything." Severus said, narrowing his eyes at his son, "This is your home. This is where you should have been raised….. with my guiding hand…..your mother's smile…..and your….."

"...Brother or sister?" Harry finished for his father.

Severus pursed his lips together and gave Harry a quick, jerking nod as he added, "It pains me deeply that your situation turned out to be so very different."

"Both of our situations were." Harry said with another shrug.

Severus's coal black gaze softened as he looked at Harry.

It was incredibly rewarding when someone acknowledged the trials that he had gone through during the previous two decades, but it was even more satisfying to Severus when that recognition came from Harry.

—

Finally united under the same roof, the Snapes slowly developed a routine, as all families do.

Severus and Lily spent most of their time at home over the summer.

Harry began his auror training in late July.

It was all that Lily could do to organize a surprise birthday party for him when he finally returned home on the thirty-first, close to midnight.

Lily and the life inside her continued to do well and for that, she, Severus, and Harry were all relieved.

As the summer faded into autumn though and Lily's belly started to swell, Harry's presence in the house became a very fortunate thing for his parents.

Severus wanted to stay beside Lily morning, noon, and night.

However, Severus needed to stay employed so he and his little family wouldn't be plunged into poverty.

Having little choice with a recovering wife at home and a baby on the way to support, Severus returned to Hogwarts as headmaster. Facing the academic year immediately following the horrors of the war demanded extensive reconstruction both socially and physically throughout the castle and its inhabitants.

Severus was buried under piles of work.

No matter how tired he was though, he took great care to tend his pregnant wife every day.

Severus woke early to see to Lily's needs and he laid with her every night, cuddling and kissing her until she could sleep.

Lily's gentle touches and soft reassurances made all of the stress of Severus's career worthwhile to him.

The job, the effort, the children, the house…..

It was all for Lily.

It had been since the beginning.

Severus cooked most of the meals in the house, a skill which he also taught Harry whenever he got the chance, and every moment that he was not at the castle, he spent next to Lily.

Paranoid and worried, Severus wanted to take Lily with him each day and keep her in his private chambers, just in case she needed him, but Lily refused.

Lily loved Hogwarts as much as anyone else but sitting in Severus's cold bed chambers alone all day was less than thrilling and there was no need for her to remain solely under her husband's watchful gaze.

Lily had Harry's help too.

At Severus's urging, Lily chose to stay home and acclimate herself to the world at least until after the birth. Harry's auror training took place at night, which left him at home with his mother during the day.

Although Harry slept until the afternoon, he was in the house. If Lily needed help or cried out, he was available to rush to her aid.

By the time Harry left in the evenings for his auror training, Severus had arrived home from Hogwarts, so Lily was never alone.

Lily had Harry and Severus.

Severus had Lily.

Harry had time with his mother.

Unfortunately though, their schedules left little time for Harry and Severus to spend together and that was perhaps the bonding that was most needed in the Snape family.

Harry and Severus saw each other mostly during the weekends. Due to their time together being so limited, Severus did his best to make the most of it.

Building a father and son relationship was rather difficult though, as they both found out.

He and Harry had a few things in common.

A precious few.

Both had been abused during their childhoods.

Both had fallen in love with women who had red hair.

Both had been through the war.

Both were excited about the new baby.

Over time, Harry began to feel somewhat closer to his father or at least, less estranged.

Still, conversation came easily for Harry, but not for Severus.

Severus Snape was not a social person.

Harry had inherited his ease of gaining popularity and his extrovertedness from his mother, not his father.

Playing to his own strengths, Severus took every opportunity to interact with Harry in the capacity that felt natural to him….

Teaching.

Harry had a break from his training on the weekends. One Saturday afternoon, Severus looked out the window and watched as his son tried and failed over and over to perform a very complicated spell designed to repel deadly attacks.

The spell's intricacy was far past anything that was taught at Hogwarts, but Severus knew it well.

While Lily busied herself knitting a blanket on the sofa, Severus walked outside, gliding through the grass so stealthily that Harry didn't notice his presence until his low voice called out in a deep purr, "I realize that I only taught the subject for a short time, but surely Hogwarts' previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors' haven't failed you so badly?"

Harry turned around and blinked in surprise as he saw his father, standing a short distance away.

Harry gasped, causing Severus to notice that he was out of breath from his multitude of failed attempts.

"I can't get it to work!" Harry declared, dropping his pride in hopes of receiving something he hadn't in a long time…...a lesson from Professor Snape.

"You're angling your wand far too much to the left." Severus instructed as he walked up to Harry and placed his hands over his son's, adjusting his grip on the wand, "If you keep sending it off to one side, it's going to keep curving. There now, hold your hand perfectly straight….like that….and try it again."

Once Harry's hold on his wand was correct, Severus let go and took a few steps back.

Glancing over at his father questioningly, as if he was seeking his approval, Harry took reassurance in the silent nod that Severus gave him.

Harry drew in a deep breath and tried the spell once more.

His green eyes widened as a burst of light shot from his wand tip and surged forth.

Behind Harry, Severus smirked.

That in itself would have been a compliment to Harry, if he had seen it.

Professor Snape didn't often take pride in the academic triumphs of Gryfinndors, but he thought that perhaps for his son, he could make a small exception.

—

The holiday season later that year was the happiest that Harry and Severus had known.

Lily was exhausted and sore, but glowing with joy.

Though she complained about the roundness of her abdomen, Severus thought she was gorgeous.

There were no more wars or looming battles.

Severus was with his wife and son again at last.

Harry's holidays with Dursleys had all been miserable. In later years, Harry had passed several seasons with his friends, but being able to spend that time with his own parents was far better, he had to admit.

While Harry sat on the sofa Christmas night and enjoyed the various gifts that his parents had presented to him, he glanced behind himself at Severus and Lily, who were standing at the table.

Harry closely watched the way they interacted with each other.

He had shopped for weeks, purchasing a curated array of presents for both Lily and Severus, hoping to give his parents things they would enjoy.

Things.

They had both thanked Harry for his kindness, but as he watched them, he realized that things didn't matter much to his mother or his father…...

As he looked at them, Harry was genuinely glad that he had died in the forest when Voldemort killed him, but not because that led to his enemy's defeat and not because he came back to life later.

Harry had been told that when Voldemort killed him, the piece of his nemesis that had been living inside him since the attack was destroyed and that was the reason Lily had woken.

As Harry watched his mother smile warmly at his father as he splayed his hand on the side of her swollen belly, Harry felt a rush of pride.

Harry had given Severus back his love and Lily back her life.

What thing could he possibly buy from a store that would ever mean more than that?

—

As the cold snow of winter melted, Harry watched in awe as his mother's abdomen grew with each passing day.

A happy apprehension gripped the Snape household as the expected date of the baby's arrival quickly approached.

Harry had never been around a pregnant woman before. Lily gracefully handled her condition but watching her gave Harry a new respect for mothers and their struggles.

Harry being nearby didn't stop Severus from being just as protective of Lily as he had been during her first pregnancy and that awed Harry too.

It was odd to see his stoic, former potions professor hovering and fussing over Lily like a nervous hen.

As the days slipped away, Severus's anxiety seemed to grow. Harry found it amusing.

Harry wondered if he would be as hovering as his father one day, should he ever have a child?

One evening, as Harry was headed out to his auror training, he stood in the foyer and peered in the living room when he heard a rustling sound.

Severus didn't think Harry was watching while he gently spread a warm blanket over Lily, who had fallen asleep on the sofa.

Severus didn't think Harry was watching as he reverently placed a hand against the mounded swell of his wife's abdomen.

Severus didn't think Harry was watching as he gazed at Lily in pure adoration, bending down in one smooth dip to press a loving kiss to Lily's cheek, causing her to smile in her slumber.

Behind Severus, Harry smiled as he turned away from the touching scene.

Actually, Harry hoped that he would be exactly like his father, if he ever found himself waiting to welcome a baby of his own.