Lily's Eyes
Sure he had calculated that the boy would arrive that year. He knew what was coming. He couldn't wait for that day to come; yet he dreaded it with every fiber of his being. But nothing could have prepared him for that moment in the Great Hall on that first of September.
Minerva McGonagall, a colleague of his with a very stern appearance, called the names of the first year students in alphabetical order, and one by one they were sorted into one of the four Houses.
"Patil, Parvati!" It wouldn't be long now. His stomach clenched uncomfortably and the palms of his hands became sweaty.
"Gryffindor!" The boys and girls in that house cheered loudly, welcoming the nervous looking girl, whose twin, just moments before, had been sorted into Ravenclaw.
The seconds ticked by like years, but they weren't long enough, somehow.
"Perks, Sally-Anne!"
His heart rate doubled in rapidity and his breathing became shallow. He was so unnerved that he didn't hear nor care which house the girl was sorted into.
"Potter, Harry!"
His whole body stiffened and his concentration turned to the boy walking up to the Sorting Hat. The Great Hall had fallen silent, save for the excited whisperings of, "The Harry Potter?" and "Potter, did she say?"
He craned his neck to get a good look at the boy. All he could see, however, was Harry's unfortunately familiar untidy jet-black hair and scrawny figure before Minerva placed the Sorting Hat on his head.
"Gryffindor!"
Surprise, surprise, he thought. He expected no less from "the boy who lived", especially considering whom his parents were.
Harry stood up and walked over to the Gryffindor table to deafening applause. He caught a glimpse of the boys face and—
It was like going back in time. Thousands of dormant memories flooded back into his mind, unpleasantly swirling around and around making him dizzy. It was like one of his worst nightmares come true.
It was like seeing James Potter again.
He hadn't seen that face in person in so many years, though it haunted his dreams many nights since the evening when he and his wife were so unceremoniously killed.
But there was something different about him. Certainly he didn't have his father's brazen and pompous swagger, but there was something else he couldn't determine from that quick glimpse.
After all the first years had been sorted the start-of-term feast began. He watched Harry out of the corner of his eye while listening to Quirrell ramble and stutter about one of his "th-th-thrilling" encounters with vampires.
Sometime during dessert, Harry looked his way, and that's when he realized what was different about the boy.
His eyes. His sparkling, almond-shaped emerald eyes. The eyes that he had dreamed and fantasized about countless times. The eyes that made him feel emotions he never felt for anyone else. The eyes that completed him.
Lily's eyes.
It was as if it were one of James's old pranks, teasing him, showing him that it was not he who had won Lily's heart, but James, the man he loathed the most; a living reminder of the horrible mistake he had made eleven years prior.
As he and Harry made eye contact, he sent the boy a look of utter dislike, remembering how many times that face had smirked at him cockily, and how many times he saw those eyes pitying him.
But looking into those eyes, the emotions and memories he had squandered after Lily and James's murder came rushing back.
After he told the Dark Lord about the prophecy he had overheard at the Hog's Head, he found out that his master would kill the Potter's son. The son of the woman he loved. He begged the Dark Lord to spare Lily, but no promises were made.
That fateful Halloween night was a turning point in his life. The Dark Lord was not truly gone, he was sure of it, but he no longer wished to remain loyal to such a heartless and cruel master. Albus Dumbledore had taken him in with open arms, giving him the role of Potions Master, though he applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post.
He looked away as he saw Harry clap his hand to his forehead, as if in pain. Harry continued to look at him, but he ignored the boy's stares and continued to talk to Quirrell. After Albus Dumbledore said his start-of-term notices about the out-of-bounds third floor corridor and Forbidden Forest, he dismissed the students.
Minerva McGonagall turned to him. "Isn't it remarkable how much young Harry Potter looks like James, Severus?"
"Indeed," he said passively.
"Except he has his mother's eyes," she added reminiscently.
"Yes, Lily's eyes." Snape's own dark eyes began to become misty and he left the Great Hall swiftly to avoid further conversation.