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

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The war quickly escalated into madness and the day of the final battle arrived.

A Gryfinndor scarf hung in the background of the Shrieking Shack while Severus met Voldemort for what was supposedly another one of their chats, though Severus knew from his instincts that it was probably going to be anything but.

Severus was expecting Voldemort to attack, but with the killing curse, not with a strike from Nagini.

Severus wasn't prepared for that.

It was a violent, brutal ambush and Harry was just on the other side of the door while it happened.

Harry felt the walls shake with the force of Nagini's assault.

Harry heard Severus cry out……..

As soon as Voldemort was gone, Harry rushed into the room and on Severus's face, he saw the fear and remorse of a dying man.

Working quickly to put pressure on Severus's wound, Harry was startled when he noticed that his stern potions professor was…….weeping.

"...Take them!" Severus choked out in a desperate plea to Harry, gesturing to his tears as best he could, "Please…...take them!"

Harry kept one hand on Severus's injured throat and quickly collected his tears with the other, storing them in a small vial. Once Harry was finished, Severus commanded him in a low growl of pain, "...Look at me."

Severus's voice was so quiet that Harry wasn't certain he had heard him correctly and he blinked once before Severus commanded again with a hiss, "Look…..at….me!"

Harry immediately turned his gaze away from Severus's slashed throat and onto his face, hearing his withering professor sigh softly, "...You have your mother's eyes."

Severus knew he would never see Lily again, but one last good look at his son, at least he would have that.

Severus weakly pressed a hand over Harry's and jerked his head just slightly, indicating for him to leave.

"Professor….." Harry began.

"Go…..!" Severus croaked, in a tone so severe that Harry leapt to his feet and raced towards what Severus knew would be his own end.

Severus closed his eyes and sighed.

Dying…….

He would die, then Harry would die.

Maybe Lily would give up and die with them.

Maybe then……

Maybe…….

Severus could have his family together once more.

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Severus didn't know how long he had been lying there on the dirty floor, waiting to either bleed out or for Nagini's poison to stop his heart.

Severus didn't know that Harry went and met his death in the forest.

But that wasn't the end of his son after all.

Severus didn't know that Voldemort saw his own demise amongst the rocky ruins of what used to be the entrance to Hogwarts, at the hands of Harry and his friends.

Severus didn't know much as the dingy room in the Shrieking Shack began to grow blurry…….

The walls seemed to move at random……

It was happening.

This was it.

Severus's eyes grew heavy and he blinked them open and closed slowly, waiting for death's embrace.

Death……..

Death?

A face………..

"Sev!"

Severus fought to keep his eyes open as a familiar voice called out to him.

Ah, he must already be dead and Lily must have let go too.

Lily was………there?

"Sev, hold on!" Lily shouted loudly, her face tense with desperation.

Severus forced his eyes open all the way and he saw Lily, as clearly as ever, crouching over him while she bandaged his throat and took out her wand, "...Just hold on!"

A gurgling noise of surprise came from his throat as his black eyes bulged in their sockets.

It was real, Severus could feel it.

He wasn't dead.

Lily was real.

Lily was awake.

Lily was there with him!

His darling Lily was back!

Despite the fact that he was gravely wounded, Severus had never felt such a strong, sudden desire to live.

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Standing on the battlefield's ashy terrain of mud and rubble, Harry was in a stupor after Voldemort's defeat.

The mood was somewhat lighter, but everything was still in chaos.

Like a lost child, Harry whirled around, looking here, listening there…..

People were crying.

People were cheering.

Draco and Hermione were kissing.

Whatever, let them do what they wanted, it was over now.

It was all over.

Searching for a purpose to momentarily distract himself with, Harry started to numbly hobble towards the Hogwarts castle.

Dragging his feet as he traipsed through the battle-scarred school, Harry drug himself to the Headmaster's office.

Numbly, Harry opened up the vial of Severus's tears and poured them into the pensieve.

Without hesitation, Harry leaned over and immersed himself into Professor Snape's memories…….

What he saw was much different from what he had expected to see.

Harry watched Severus talking to Lily, his mother, in the apothecary about her cancelled engagement to James.

Cancelled?

Harry watched Lily and Severus fall in love.

Severus?

Fall in love?

Lily?

Harry watched a birth, seeing the awestruck tears in Severus's eyes and the gentle way he assisted Lily.

Lily, his mother.

That was when Harry realized…..

He was watching his own birth!

Harry watched as Severus and Lily held their baby while they took their wedding vows.

Their baby.

Him…...

He was Severus Snape's son, Harry.

Harry watched Severus sob over Lily after the attack.

Harry watched Severus try to hold onto him while Dumbledore pulled him from his father's arms and placed him in the care of the Dursleys, against Severus's wishes.

Harry watched Severus sit at Lily's bedside night after night, year after year, hoping she would wake.

Harry watched it all.

When Harry finally pulled back from the pensieve, he was soaked in sweat and nauseous, reeling from shock.

It was startling.

It was humbling.

It was…...

Footsteps approached and Harry looked towards the door. A heaving sob burst from his chest as someone appeared in the doorway.

Fighting against the bile rising in his throat, Harry dared to ask, "...Mum?"

"...It's me, sweetheart." Lily nodded at Harry as she stood looking at him from across the room, gasping happily as tears of joy welled in her eyes, "...It's me! Oh my goodness! How you've grown!" Lily exclaimed proudly with a bittersweet laugh.

"You're…...you're alive…..you're awake…..." Harry whispered.

"I am now." Lily smiled at Harry while her tears continued to roll down her cheeks, "Thanks to you."

"Is……….." Harry panted, gesturing towards the pensieve, "Is it…..true? Is Professor Snape…...my father?"

"I know him as Severus Snape, my dear," Lily nodded with a chuckle, "But yes, it's true…..it's very true, my darling."

Harry nodded vigorously while he wiped at his eyes.

Lily laughed nervously and wiped at her own.

In a great rush, Harry raced forward and hugged his mother, frightened that she may disappear when he touched her, but glad when she didn't.

Lily's hug was sweet and warm and loving, just as Harry had always dreamed it would be.

"I suppose he…...wasn't so vile after all." Harry said quietly, his face pressed against Lily's shoulder.

"...Isn't." Lily corrected.

"What…...?" Harry asked, pulling away from Lily to look into her eyes incredulously. "He……..he survived?"

Lily nodded, "He's in the hospital, love, but yes, he's alive. I know you've met Professor Snape, but my poor dear, you've never really met your father."

Harry looked at Lily in bewilderment.

"...Would you like to now?" Lily offered, extending her hand to Harry.

Harry was still gasping for breath, working through his choking sobs but he nodded after a moment and took Lily's hand.

Lily apparated herself and Harry to St. Mungo's hospital without delay.

Finally, after sixteen painful years, the Snapes were on their way to living as a real family.

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Thank you so much for reading! I really hope that you've enjoyed the story! For anyone interested, I've written a sequel and will begin posting it next week with updates every Saturday as well! The sequel will be called "Severus and Lily: The Snape Family" and will follow the Snapes in the years after the war and how they build and grow as husband/wife, parents/ child. If you're interested, please check it out! Thanks again!