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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"I kept my word, Severus. We've done everything that we can." Dumbledore said in a sad, serious tone while he stood in front of Lily's bed.

Despite their extensive efforts to wake her, Lily still remained alive but unconscious, her eyes closed in a peaceful sleep.

Nearly a week had passed since the attack.

James had been buried.

Lily was still lying in the same spot in Hogwarts under Severus and Dumbledore's watchful care. They had given her elixirs and potions and tonics and charms and enchantments and healing serums…….

But so far, nothing worked.

With his darling Lily still asleep, Severus faced another difficult decision.

While Severus taught classes during the day, it was difficult to look after Harry.

Hogwarts didn't offer a daycare for its employees' children.

Besides, even though Voldemort had seemingly vanished, until his total annihilation could be confirmed, the wizarding world was still not safe enough for Severus to parent Harry on his own.

"There's…..there's many things I haven't tried yet." Severus said solemnly, bouncing Harry on his lap while he sat vigilantly beside his wife, "There's going to be something that-"

Dumbledore interrupted him, "-Perhaps, Severus. Perhaps…….But for now we have to do what's best for everyone, including your son."

Severus swallowed and his black eyes widened as he looked up to meet Dumbledore's gaze.

Severus's breath grew ragged as he clutched Harry close to him, "No……...Headmaster, please! Give me some more time! I can rouse her if I just research a little more about-"

"-Tomorrow, a week has passed Severus. Even if she wakes, your situation won't change much. It's too dangerous for Harry Snape to be with his father until we can confirm that Tom is no more. Imagine if Tom discovered your secret? I was told that he believed the boy to be Potter's son, since he found James in the house with Lily. Will you really tell me that you feel it's safer to announce otherwise?"

Severus sighed and closed his eyes, gently pressing Harry against him. Harry made a curious little sound and patted his father's face. Harry had no idea that Severus was telling him goodbye. Harry had no idea that Severus was trying to let him know how much he loved him.

When Severus opened his eyes after a long moment, he asked Dumbledore, "...Where will you take him?"

"To his Aunt and Uncle." Dumbledore nodded.

"Lily's foul sister? The muggles?!" Severus hissed.

Dumbledore gave Severus a reprimanding look. Severus seemed to feel ashamed of his last statement as Dumbledore replied, "Lily's 'foul sister' has a son of her own. And yes, Severus, muggles. In Harry's situation, I believe it's for the best that he grows up as far from our world as possible. He will be raised to believe he's James Potter's son, not yours. You already mentioned that Tom believes that to be true since he found James and Lily together during the attack. That's good! If Harry is told that his parents are dead, then he won't attempt to contact you or search for you. When he comes to Hogwarts one day, he won't approach you out of curiosity."

Severus's teeth were gnashed together so tightly, he could have cracked them like glass, "But his parents are not dead!"

"Not yet." Dumbledore shrugged.

A threatening grimace came across Severus's face and he hissed at Dumbledore, "How will he ever come to know me, then? Or Lily, when she wakes?"

"Perhaps he never will, though if he does, he will do so when the moment is right and that knowledge can no longer place his life, your life, or Lily's in any more danger……..if such a time ever comes." Dumbledore nodded.

As casually as if he were talking about plans for dinner, Dumbledore ripped everything away from Severus in an attempt to let him preserve what he had left.

Lily may live, and Lily may die, but at least Severus could keep her secretly with him in the meantime and continue his attempts to wake her.

Severus may never be able to know his son and his son may never even acknowledge him, but he could at least have the knowledge that his son was growing up safely.

Harry would be safe.

Lily would be safe.

That was all that mattered.

That was really all that mattered.

Really, it was.

Severus kept telling himself that as he stood to his feet while Dumbledore walked over and reached out to take Harry from his arms.

Severus intended to cooperate, but just before Dumbledore's hands touched Harry, he pulled his infant away, hesitating.

"It's for the best, Severus." Dumbledore nodded, looking at the potions professor with a calm, reassuring stare.

"I understand." Severus nodded in reply.

Dumbledore managed to gently grab hold of Harry but when he started to pull him away, Severus changed his mind again.

No…….

He couldn't do it!

In a desperate, futile attempt to hold onto his young son, Severus tried to free Harry from Dumbledore's grasp and keep him to himself.

"Severus, give him to me! You're going to hurt him!" Dumbledore cried as he fought to wrestle Harry from his father.

"I would never hurt my son!" Severus cried, his face betraying his anguish as he struggled violently to hold onto the physical proof of his love for Lily.

Severus ultimately gave in and let go of Harry when the baby started to cry, sending Dumbledore staggering backwards.

Ripped away from his father, Harry reached his chubby arm out towards Severus and wailed.

"WWWWAAAAA!"

"WWWWAAAAA!"

Severus was openly weeping by that point, his heart broken as he looked from his comatose wife to his infant son that he was losing custody of against his will and by no fault of his own.

"It's for the best, Severus." Dumbledore said, taking Harry and quickly leaving the room before Severus could protest any further.

Severus felt like a failure.

Severus couldn't keep Lily with him and now………

…….Now he couldn't even hold onto their baby.

Sitting down at Lily's bedside, Severus took one of her still hands in his and stared up at her sleeping face as he pressed a kiss to her knuckles and whispered, "Forgive me, my love. Please…...forgive me….."

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It was difficult to say who suffered more over the next eleven years, Severus or Harry.

Harry grew up with the Dursleys in a household of three bullies, living in a deplorable situation of emotional, mental, and verbal abuse.

Which was coincidentally similar to the conditions that Severus had been raised in, minus the filth…..

Severus knew that Petunia was not a good person, but he had no idea about the vile way she treated his son.

Harry believed that James and Lily Potter were his parents, that they had been married and happy together.

Harry thought his parents were dead.

But Severus knew the truth.

The real truth.

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Lily never woke but she still lived. Fretting constantly over when he would be reunited with his wife, as the years passed, Severus never once stopped preparing for the day the Snapes could be together again.

Severus kept the house that he and Lily had shared in immaculate condition, as if he expected to have dinner with his wife and son there at the end of the day.

The clothes were laundered, though they weren't worn.

The blinds were open, though no one looked out.

Sometimes Severus went there on weekends and sat down on the sofa, pretending Lily would walk in with a smile.

But that never happened…...

Severus handled the majority of Lily's care, though it worried him that her nails and hair never grew, and her menses had seemingly ceased.

The healers assured Severus that her body was shutting down unnecessary functions to focus on processing the trauma it endured during the curse.

He took no comfort from those words.

Severus was sick with worry that the rest of Lily would shut down too…...

Night after night, day after day, Severus continued his research.

Why had Lily survived?

Severus didn't know, there wasn't much information available on the subject.

He had a suspicion that the Prince family ring which Lily wore as a wedding band may have shielded her.

Encrypted with several powerful spells and charms passed down from generation to generation and then given to someone outside of the family in an act of pure love, the ring must have been the reason for Lily's survival.

Or was it?

Another of Severus's theories was that perhaps James's sacrifice had protected Lily, and then her own had saved Harry, leaving Harry alive and awake due to her act of motherly love.

Though Severus did not like to credit James Potter with any part of his wife's survival………

At the Dursely's, Harry spent his nights alone and abandoned in his room under the stairs.

At Hogwarts, Severus spent his nights reading through book after book, journal after journal, searching for a clue, a way, something……

Severus Snape's bed was rarely used.

Once he finished his research for the evening, Severus usually went and crawled into the bed where Lily lay, exhausted. Holding her close, Severus would murmur softly to her until he fell asleep.

Lily was breathing.

Lily was still living, and Severus hoped that wherever her mind was, she could hear him somehow.

…...Pleading with her to come back to him.

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When Harry came to Hogwarts, he was in absolute awe of the castle and its many wonders, just like all of the other first year students.

Harry had met some new acquaintances on the Hogwarts Express and they chatted over their first dinner that night in the Great Hall, once the sorting hat ceremony had concluded.

It was strange, but while he ate, Harry couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching him.

Turning around from where he sat, Harry looked up at the faculty table. He noticed an eerie man with pale skin, dark eyes, and shoulder length black hair gazing at him with an unreadable look on his face.

"Who's that?" Harry asked his new friend, Ron Weasley.

"Up there?" Ron asked, looking in the direction that Harry had referred to, "Oh, that's Professor Snape. He's a mean one, he is. My brother's told me all about him. Watch out."

Harry stared right back at…..Professor Snape….until he eventually turned back to his meal.

Harry narrowed his eyes.

That couldn't be good.

How had he managed to offend a professor he had never even met?

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Severus was too shaken to do any research that night.

He had counted the years.

He had counted the days.

He knew Harry's arrival at Hogwarts was coming, but to see him sitting at the table.

Harry, his son…….no longer an infant, now, a young man.

That evening, Severus sat at Lily's bedside and grasped her hand in his, his chest heaving with sobs though he fought back his tears.

"I saw him today, my love…..." Severus said quietly, brushing his fingers over the back of Lily's hand, "I finally saw him…….he's here. And he's perfect. He'll do so well……...he'll make us proud. He's here……" Severus turned his gaze upon Lily and asked her quietly, begging, "...Don't you want to be too?"

A rogue tear spited Severus and ran down his cheek while he looked at Lily's face and squeezed her hand as he repeated softly, "...Don't you want to be here with us too?"

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Severus both hated and loved having Harry as his student.

To his dismay, Harry seemed to cling to the idea of his assumedly-departed parents and it was almost as if he took pleasure in trying to emulate James Potter.

But Harry was smart and tenacious and in that, Severus saw himself.

Harry had Lily's gentle disposition and also, to Severus's torment, her eyes.

Harry's green eyes haunted Severus……..

Severus hadn't gotten to look at Lily's eyes for over a decade and there they hovered, a few feet away from every day in that dungeon classroom.

Though she remained in a living death, every night, Severus sat beside Lily and gave an account of how Harry was doing.

Lily's chest rose and fell softly as Severus regaled her with stories of Harry's adventures, achievements, misbehaviors, and punishments……

Severus saw to it that Harry's mother heard all about their son's life, even if she couldn't actively be a part of it.

The frustration was maddening, but Severus did well under such tremendous pressure.

……...Most people would have broken down.

Severus used his pent up anguish to appear irritable and abrasive to Harry so he wouldn't attempt to get close to him or show him any kind of preference.

That approach worked well. Harry despised Severus, and though it seemed Severus felt the same, there were many times when he pulled out that first family portrait that Lily had helped Harry draw and frowned, staring at it, dreaming about what might have been.

For the next six and a half years, Severus secretly watched over Harry, protecting his son at every turn, silently taking pride in his accomplishments, grimacing as James Potter stole his glory, even from the grave.

It was clear though, that Dumbledore's extra precautions had been necessary.

As another world war billowed on the horizon like an ominous ocean wave, Severus was assigned to teach Harry Occlumency.

Harry struggled with the skill for a long time but Severus remained patient.

Harry didn't realize Severus had the intention of a loving parent. Seeing Severus as only a villian, one night, during a lesson, Harry managed to penetrate his mind before Severus had a chance to defend himself.

But Severus was a fast thinker.

As he felt Harry blast through his thoughts, Severus quickly locked all of his memories of Lily's pregnancy and Harry's infancy away, choosing to show Harry one scene in particular that would make an impact on him. An ugly scene of himself falling victim to James and his band of ill-mannered friends…….

Severus realized it may make Harry pity him, but he could live with that. He knew that ultimately, it would expose James to Harry for who he really was, and then, at least, he may not have to hear anymore talk from his own son's mouth about what a great man James had been.

When Harry exited Severus's memory, he was breathing hard and his eyes were wide from shock.

Severus had his back turned to Harry.

"Professor, I'm sorry…..I-I didn't mean to……" Harry stammered apologetically.

"Get out." Severus whispered, when Harry didn't move, he hissed again, "GET OUT!"

Harry was out of his seat and gone before Severus ever turned back around. Once he did, he placed a hand over his chest and let out a deep sigh. Severus wasn't angry at Harry, he just wanted it to seem like he was.

Severus sent Harry away and ended the lesson because he just…….he was afraid he would lose his resolve.

Severus was frightened that he would show Harry the memories he really wanted him to see.

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One evening, during that last fateful year of Harry's magical education, Dumbledore and Severus stood, secretly meeting and discussing the strategies of the battles that were to come.

Severus had a bitter, sour sneer on his face as he asked Dumbledore, "So, when the time comes, my boy must die?"

"Yes, Severus, the boy must die. It's the only way to defeat Tom. Though Tom didn't realize it at the time and neither did we, there's a part of him that lives in Harry and it must be snuffed out." Dumbledore said very seriously.

"You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter all this time…….my son….." Severus spat bitterly.

"As I said Severus, we did not know. How could we?" Dumbledore asked.

Severus clenched his jaw.

Dumbledore mused out loud, "I do have one guess though…I wonder if Lily is trapped in her condition as a result of her would-be murderer going free…..."

Severus thought for a moment and his sneer lightened.

As an epiphany dawned on him, Severus knit his eyebrows together at Dumbledore, "You don't mean……"

"...Once the boy dies, Severus, and the battle ends," Dumbledore hypothesized, "Lily may wake."