Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!

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Voldemort and Nagini took their leave of the shrieking shack, content that Severus Snape lay mortally wounded, but too cruel, or too foolish, to insure the job was finished.

Hearing the attack, once he was certain his foe had left, Harry leapt from his hiding place and rushed to the injured man's side.

Seeing someone whom he had considered to be so intimidating lying weak and vulnerable in a pool of blood was devastating to Harry.

"Professor Snape!" Harry shouted frantically. His eyes were wide as he pressed his hands against the awful gash across Severus's throat, "Professor Snape!"

Severus looked up at Harry and tears rolled down his cheeks. To see his stoic, seemingly emotionless Professor display such a raw act of feeling was perhaps more unsettling to Harry than the wound on his throat.

"...Take them!" Severus begged his former student.

Hurriedly, wishing to fulfill his dying professor's last wish, Harry collected Severus's tears in a vial.

He was relieved that that simple act seemed to bring Professor Snape some sort of peace.

As they maintained their eye contact, a gurgling noise came from Severus's chest as he forced his words out, "Look at me……….Look...at….me!"

Harry's heart was racing in his chest.

The hero was frightened, sad, and unable to comprehend the true pain on Severus's face.

Murmuring remorsefully while he gazed at Harry, Severus whispered, "You have your mother's eyes….."

As the world blurred for Severus he was certain that he was about to leave it.

In his vision, the image of Harry became hazy and then, later, another shape moved into its place.

Someone called his name, a voice so familiar, so welcome.

"Sev?!"

Severus fought to keep his unfocused eyes open, feeling something warm press against his throat as Harry's hands fell away.

"Sev…….hold on!"

Severus lost his battle to maintain consciousness, but just before his eyes closed, he saw them…..irises far greener and brighter than Harry's, as that familiar, warm voice repeated…….

"Sev…….hold on!"

While Severus slept the deep, dreamless sleep of the critically wounded, one question echoed through his mind………

Lily?

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Severus woke up in a white room with bright lights. He blinked blearily around and tried to determine whether he was dead or alive.

"Sev."

There was that familiar, lovely voice again.

Severus's gaze flickered over towards the sound and he noticed that someone was holding his hand.

"Where am I?" Severus croaked at the voice, groaning at the pain in his throat that immediatley followed.

His answer came swiftly, "You're in St. Mungo's, love. It's alright, I'm here beside you."

That voice!

With a barely audible grunt, Severus forced his eyes to focus, determined to discover the voice's originating source.

Red hair……..

Beautiful green eyes…….

Kind smile…….

With a dry gasp, Severus realized who was talking to him.

His precious, lost-

"LILY!!" Severus exclaimed, ignoring the agony the statement caused him. In a hurry to get to his wife after seventeen years of separation, he moved suddenly in his bed.

That was too much.

His body punished him for his eagerness and he gnashed his teeth at the pain that surged from his throat.

"Oh, calm down, dear! Calm down! Be still, be still……I'm right here." Lily said quickly, taking her other hand and gently pressing on Severus's shoulder to soothe him.

"But……" Severus hissed, sucking in a breath, "This can't be…..you're…..you……"

"I was injured." Lily smiled, "And as I've been told," Lily continued with a laugh, "I was asleep for quite a long time, but now that….the war's finally over, I'm free." Lily laughed, "I'm free, Sev! Thank you so much for taking such great care of us both, me and Harry…...Now it's our turn to take care of you. "

Severus swallowed thickly, feeling tears spring to his dark eyes.

Tears of guilt, tears of shame.

"I've watched over you, my love, but I doubt you know the despicable things I've had to do to keep our son safe." Severus whispered quietly, trying not to aggravate his wound, but desperate to speak with his beloved, "Lily, please forgive me! If there had been another way-!"

"-There's nothing to forgive." Lily smiled, giving Severus's hand a gentle squeeze, "I love you, Severus. You've done well. You've brought me home and you've helped our baby. Though I suppose he's a man now…."

Severus felt a fleeting pang go through his heart and he happened to turn his eyes towards the window of his hospital room only to catch Harry peering through the glass.

"He already knows?!" Severus asked Lily quickly as a look of panic distorted his face.

"He does. He does." Lily nodded, "I chose not to lie and he was quick to look at your memories. It's alright, Sev! We don't need to hide anymore! It's over now."

Memories?

Ah.

His recollection of the battle was still foggy but Severus did vaguely remember giving Harry his tears to put in the pensieve.

Oh.

Those memories.

When Severus had given Harry his tears, he had resigned himself to death at that point.

He never expected to speak with his son again.

Knowing that he had that opportunity, it made him more nervous than excited.

"...What did he say?" Severus whispered to Lily as he furrowed his brow.

Lily shrugged, "Um……..not much, really. I think it's all quite a shock for him. Me being alive and you being…...you know….his father."

"...I-Is he angry?" Severus asked Lily hesitantly.

"He's a young man that's just been through a war, Sev, he's quite angry." Lily replied with a mirthless chuckle, "But not at us, at least I don't think."

Severus swallowed again, grimacing as the wound on his throat smarted, and Lily asked, "Do you mind if I…….send him in?"

Severus's black eyes nearly bulged out of his face.

"Why would you do that?!" Severus gasped.

"He's been asking to see you." Lily urged.

"He……...has?" Severus blinked in disbelief.

"Yes, Sev, he has." Lily nodded, "He'd like very much to speak with you."

"...Alright." Severus nodded reluctantly after he thought about it for a moment.

Lily leaned forward and kissed Severus very gently on the lips. Though his wound left his movements temporarily limited, Severus kissed Lily back as passionately as he could in his current condition.

Lily, his Lily…...returned to him at last!

As Severus watched his beloved pull away, stand and leave his hospital room, he sighed deeply, ignoring the pain that the motion elicited from his slashed throat.

Severus didn't have much time to lament his lover's absence.

A second after Lily's exit, Harry made his entrance, stepping into the room apprehensively.

Severus looked almost frightened to see his son, who finally realized their true relationship as parent and child. Harry blinked at Severus while he lay in his hospital bed, unsure of what to say or do.

"Hello." Harry spoke to Severus nervously as he slowly walked over and sat in the chair at his bedside.

Severus nodded to Harry, equally uncertain of how to proceed, "...Your mother said she's…...told you a few things."

"You both have." Harry replied, looking at Severus with a tense expression, "You both have told me everything. Mum with words, you with memories. "

Severus nodded tersely.

Both he and Harry stared straight ahead at the wall, not sure what to say to each other.

"I know why you did it." Harry said, breaking the silence.

"You know why I did what?" Severus echoed.

"I know why you did everything…..You pushed me away to keep me safe. You've tried to protect me, all this time." Harry said, then he went on sharply, "But you shouldn't have let Dumbledore take me away from you! Do you have any idea what the Dursleys were like?! Do you have any idea how it feels to know that my father was right beside me for seven years? Right beside me and yet…..so far away?"

Severus looked over at Harry and responded with his eyes narrowed, ignoring the pain in his throat once more so he could speak, "Let Dumbledore take you?! What choice did I have?! Do you think I could have arrived at a meeting with the Dark Lord bottle-feeding the one destined to destroy him?! Seven years? Seven years?! Do you have any idea how it felt to let another man take credit for my legacy for the last seventeen? Do you have any idea how it felt to wonder all day every day if your mother would ever wake or if she would die? Do not pretend that you are the only one who has suffered, my son!"

My son.

Despite their heated exchange, those words were true and they rang out, heavy with meaning for both Severus and Harry.

Harry didn't say anything else for a moment, he just turned his face away. At first, Severus scowled, but when he heard a muffled sniff come from Harry's direction, he felt his black eyes grow watery once again.

After they had taken a moment to collect themselves, still not comfortable enough to become completely vulnerable in front of each other, Harry looked back over at Severus.

"I suppose it'll be….too strange if I call you 'dad' now, eh?" Harry asked with a grin.

Severus chuckled dryly, an unfamiliar sound that Harry found bizarre.

"As long as you don't call me 'professor'." Severus replied.

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Lily stayed loyally by Severus's side as he began his recovery in the hospital.

Harry visited as much as he could, but between processing what had happened, acclimating himself to the fact that his parents were indeed alive but not in fact, James and Lily Potter, and picking up the pieces at the battle-scarred castle, Harry was not as present as Lily at Severus's bedside.

Severus's wound was healing slowly but being reunited with Lily seemed to bring him renewed strength.

Lily sat next to Severus all day, every day, and chatted with him. Even if he said nothing in response, he just enjoyed hearing her voice. With a gentle, loving hand, she stroked his raven-black hair and pressed gentle kisses of encouragement on his lips and face.

Lily slept in the bed with him every night, positioning herself carefully so Severus's wound wouldn't be aggravated by him rolling over in his slumber. Lily even helped with his care, assisting where the nurses would let her when Severus was bathed or the dressings on his wound were changed.

Lily herself was being monitored by a healer. There hadn't been a recorded case of someone being knocked unconscious by the killing curse and waking up sixteen years later. Since Lily's situation was rather unique, the healers weren't entirely certain what to expect and they had few answers to offer.

The redhead had frequent headaches and felt out of sorts, but Lily was paying little attention to herself. Focusing on tending to her husband and getting to know her baby boy who had grown into an adult while she slept, Lily was quite busy during her first few days back in the world.

The medical staff at St. Mungo's were skilled and capable with Severus.

Less than a week after his arrival in a seriously injured state, Severus Snape was well enough that he earned his release from the hospital and secured the healer's approval to finish the last bit of his recovery at home. With Lily at his side and the ever-lurking threat of Voldemort finally eradicated, Severus felt ready to do anything.

On the morning of his discharge, outside of St. Mungo's, Severus grabbed Lily's hand and pulled out his wand as she asked with a smile, "Are you ready, Sev?"

"I'm ready, my love." Severus replied.

Ready?

Oh, he was so very ready to be with Lily once more.

Severus gazed intently into Lily's beautiful, green eyes as he said, "Let's go home."

With a flick of his wand, Severus apparated them both away from the entrance steps to St. Mungo's. Still holding tightly onto his hand, Lily laughed with a happy smile when they landed directly in front of her childhood home. The same home in which Harry had been born, the same home that she and Severus had shared before their lives were torn apart.

"We're here, Lily." Severus said, daring after so long to allow himself to smile too, "We're home at last."

Finally, perhaps, the Snapes could know happiness once again.

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Since the night of the attack which had marked Harry as the chosen one and sent Lily into her lengthy slumber, Severus had spent his weekends and summer holidays making sure that the house he and Lily occupied together during their time as a happy, young family was in excellent condition.

The house was cleaned and expertly maintained, though its decor had become a little dated over the years. As Severus led Lily inside, she blinked in surprise as she looked around.

The redhead marveled at what she saw.

The house had become a livable time capsule from 1980.

"Everything looks exactly as I remember it!" Lily exclaimed, finding the same, yellow bowls stored in the kitchen cabinets that she recalled feeding Harry some grapes out of just before they had been evacuated to Godric's Hollow.

"I never relinquished the hope that we would one day be able to share our home again." Severus replied, his voice bittersweet as he watched Lily walk from room to room.

"I'm glad that we're able to, Sev." Lily said as she paused to stand by the sofa, reaching down to pick up a plush dragon she recognized as one of Harry's favorite toys from his infancy.

Severus walked over to stand behind her. Lovingly, he slid his arms around Lily's waist as she inspected the little dragon. Severus was careful to stay silent and since her back was against his chest, she didn't see the relief that spread over his face as he closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair.

"You bought this for Harry when we first moved in, before he was born." Lily said, smiling sadly down at the toy dragon in her hands.

"I did, indeed." Severus replied, opening his eyes and looking over Lily's shoulder at the little dragon.

"I……..I remember him as a baby and now he…….he's a man now…..I didn't get to…..I never even…." Lily stammered until her voice cut off. When she raised a hand to her face, Severus heard her make a small noise, and he realized she was weeping.

"Oh, my love…...my love, spare your tears." Severus said with a deep frown. Releasing his grip around Lily's slender waist, he turned her gently to face him and hugged her close to his chest.

Wrapping her in his embrace, Severus's black robes shrouded her from the stinging hurt of all the time the family had spent apart.

"I myself never anticipated our reunion would take this long, but I am still elated that it has happened at last." Severus said quietly, "We're together and we're alive, and that's enough……..It has to be."

Lily buried her face against Severus's chest and mumbled, "You never even moved it."

Severus blinked, "...What was that?"

Lily sniffed again and looked up at Severus with tears pouring down her cheeks as she repeated with an amused laugh, "You never even moved it!"

"Moved what?" Severus asked, narrowing his eyes at his wife.

"The dragon!" Lily said, holding the toy in her hands up to Severus's sight, "I remember when Dumbledore came to take us away. Harry left this dragon, there." Lily gestured to the couch, "Right there…...I didn't have time to run back in and grab it. Everyone was so distraught…..I don't think it even crossed the poor baby's mind."

Lily laughed for a minute at the notion that Severus hadn't moved the little dragon from its place since Harry's infancy, but eventually, the grief of the situation turned her giggles back into mournful sobs.

"That's never going to happen again." Severus said confidently, squeezing Lily tighter when he felt her cuddle into him, "Not to us, my love. Never again."

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The next month passed by in a fog for everyone.

The damage to Hogwarts was repaired, the dead were buried, and the injured were treated.

Despite the loss and trauma that the war had brought upon the wizarding world, friendships began and love blossomed as the horrors of battle began to slowly fade.

Draco Malfoy and Harry Po-, Snape, still despised each other, but they became at least more civil with one another in their interactions.

…..Especially after Hermione, Harry's close friend, announced that she and Draco were dating.

Harry and Ginny Weasley had been seeing each other for some time, but the war spurred their romance on even more. Harry began to approach his true feelings for the youngest member of the Weasley family without inhibitions.

While Voldemort's other followers faced sentences in Azkaban, Severus's name was officially cleared and while he was still largely unpopular, he was respected as a hero along with Harry, his son.

His son.

Severus Snape's son.

It was still a difficult concept for Harry to comprehend, but once the initial shock of the news wore off and Harry had time to contemplate that fact, Harry developed a great admiration for the heroic lengths that his father had gone to over the years.

Arriving in the Ministry of Magic's records department one afternoon, Harry walked up to the desk and nodded at a plump woman who smiled back at him in recognition from her chair, "Harry Potter! Good afternoon! How can we help you today?"

If nothing else, Harry was famous. Though the news of his actual paternity had not reached everyone just yet.

"I'm here to request a legal name change, please." Harry said to the plump woman with another nod of his head.

"Of course, right away!" The woman chirped, reaching over into a folder to access the needed piece of parchment.

"...And with all due respect," Harry went on, "My name isn't Harry Potter, my name is Harry Snape."