STORY ONE: HARRY x TONKS
As he held the tiny baby in his arms for the very first time, Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry at how similarly his life had ended up to Snape's.
The boy – just like Harry himself – was the child of a man he hated and the woman he loved.
Of course, like Snape, Harry had never been good enough for his woman. They were friends, sure – she was the bright light in the darkness that made up the entire rest of his life.
Just like his own mother had been for Snape.
But no, she had ended up with Remus Lupin, just as Lily had ended up with James Potter.
When Harry first met Lupin, back when he was still wide-eyed and naive, he'd looked up to him so much. The man was a connection to his dead parents! How could Harry not worship him?
But as Harry grew older and wiser, he realised that Lupin was a connection to his dead parents. A connection that never bothered to find him, never bothered to ask after him, and even went out of his way to hide his relation to Harry when he was confronted about it.
He was a coward, who blamed all of his life's problems on his curse, as if he no longer was responsible for the consequences of his own actions. And when he was offered help, he was too arrogant and proud to take it. Frankly, it disgusted Harry.
But Lupin seemed to be able to pull himself together with the support – reluctantly accepted, of course – of his friends and family, and he seemed to genuinely care about her, so Harry sucked it up and kept his mouth shut when they'd started dating, if only for the sole reason that she seemed rather happy about it.
But Harry never, never thought he was worthy of her, just like Snape had felt about his own father.
When they'd announced that they had gotten married, she was smiling so widely that it was as if her entire face had lit up. Seeing her joyous, carefree expression, even at the height of the ongoing war, was the only thing that prevented the pain in Harry's heart from overcoming him completely.
The worst insult that Lupin had thrown – the only thing worse than stealing her from him in the first place – was when he had run out on her upon discovering her pregnancy.
Oh, Merlin knew how badly Harry had wanted to kill the werewolf right where he stood, then go to Tonks, comfort her, and raise the child as his own. But… that wasn't what she would've wanted, and he had a feeling that she never would've forgiven him if he had gone through with it.
So, he gave Lupin a swift kick up the arse and all but demanded that he immediately return home to his wife.
Sometimes, he still wondered if she might not have gone to Hogwarts on that night if Lupin hadn't gone back. If Andromeda was the main adult in her life, surely she would've been able to be convinced to say out of the fight, right?
He'd gone through all of the possible ways that he could've saved her, all of the what-ifs that ended with her still being alive, but in the end, that was all they were. What-ifs.
According to Hermione – the only other person who knew about his hidden feelings – it was a normal part of grieving; she'd called it bargaining or something.
Now, all that was left of his beloved was her little baby boy.
And the boy, Harry thought possessively, was the son that should've been his, just like Snape had no doubt thought about himself at some point or another. Only, Harry had it worse, because Teddy actually looked like him, since he had taken to morphing his hair black and eyes green whenever he was in his godfather's presence.
Harry had seriously considered Obliviating everyone who was aware of Teddy's existence and replacing their memories with ones that indicated that he was – and always had been – Edward Harry Potter instead of Edward Remus Lupin. It would've made things so much easier.
But in the end, Harry would know the truth, because as much as he wanted to, he could never lie to himself.
He suddenly understood why Snape had hated him so much, why he was so unable to show him any hint of kindness, even just as a favour to his deceased mother.
It was hard. It was hard to look at a child and see what could've been, what should've been.
Harry, though, was adamant that he was a better man than Snape was, so he'd do his duty to Teddy, even if for no other reason than that it was his duty to Tonks.