Author's Note: Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Part 3

Severus awoke with a start and he sat bolt upright in his bed with such force that his night cap whipped forward over one eye and he had to pull it back with a wince. Bells chimed merrily in the distance, but they were different than the bells he'd heard earlier- these sounded cheerful and melodious, almost as though they were playing a little tune that Severus had heard many years ago but had long forgotten.

A bright light reflected against the large, thick, glass window that looked out into the depths of the Black Lake, and Severus looked in the opposite direction for the source of the light only to find himself turning his head back with shock as a small, fluttering figure emerged through the glass as though it were thin air.

"Hello, Sev," the apparition said softly, "I am the ghost of Christmas past."

Her eyes were green as spring, but, though her face was so youthful that she nearly looked as young as she had been when he'd first seen her do magic, her hair was as white as new-fallen snow. Atop her head was a crown of leaves, all of them glittering so brightly that they seemed to be on fire.

"L...ily…" He choked out the name, his heart lodged in his throat.

"I merely show you what you wish to see- a face from your past," the spirit said, her childlike voice sweet. "Now, then, we haven't much time. Please, we must go, for there isn't much time."

The spirit began to float towards the glass again and Severus stood, following her awkwardly.

"I cannot go through the glass," he said plaintive, "It will flood the dungeons and I will drown if I can't get a Bubblehead charm over my head quickly enough. Besides, the water is so cold that it's liable to have frozen over at the surface. No matter what I do, I'll surely drown or die of hypothermia, especially if I go wearing this pitiful attire."

"Oh, Sev, don't you think I've thought of all that?" The spirit smiled, extending her pale, nearly translucent hand. "Take my hand and you will have nothing to fear."

Severus reached out, expecting the discomfort and freezing cold of having a ghost pass through his corporeal form, but instead, he felt a soft warmth that filled him with an almost giddy lightness of being. She pulled him along as though he weighed less than nothing and he found himself floating through glass and into the water as though he were a spirit himself. The water was not cold against his skin and he found, to his great relief, that he could breathe quite well.

He blinked and suddenly, they were no longer in the water at all, but standing near a small schoolhouse that had obviously seen better days. The belltower was leaning at an odd angle and at least one or two of the windows was cracked or broken and taped over.

A boy stood in the cold, his mismatched clothing and greasy hair marking him as poor and unloved in ways that the other students were not. The others clumped in groups- talking, laughing, exchanging small Christmas gifts.

"Do you know this child?" the spirit asked, drawing them closer.

Severus rubbed his eyes, his lips puckered with disbelief. "Why, that's- but no, it couldn't be!"

"These are merely shadows of what has happened already. You may move freely as you wish," the spirit remarked, as Severus stepped forward and tried to wrap his arms around the young version of himself- a boy with long, black hair that fell over his eyes, whose nose was a bright red at the tip, and who looked as though he'd been crying.

"My Mum said she'd fetch me from school, but my Da had hit her and she fell down the stairs. Her leg was broken. She had to wait until he'd gone to the pub to drag herself back up the stairs and get her wand so she could fix it. He'd forgotten he'd done it by the time he got home. Afterwards, she never did walk completely straight again." Severus said this with a flat, cold voice, as though he'd recited the sorrowful tale more than once. They watched as the other children faded away and the boy stood under a streetlamp, shivering, the cold stars winking thoughtlessly above him. "I walked home, eventually. My father hit me with his belt until I bled for 'embarrassing' him. I still don't know, exactly, what he meant by those words, but I still have the scars on my back."

"Let us move a bit forward in time," the spirit said, taking his hand again.

The snow blew up and blinded Severus temporarily and when he blinked again, they were standing outside a familiar Hogwarts classroom. Severus stared in wonder at the scene, which included a number of young teenagers stirring bubbling caldrons. Most had been bottled, and Severus strode forward, looming over a desk where a young version of himself was chatting animatedly with a girl his own age, her green eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Will you come with me, then, Lily?" The young Severus was saying excitedly.

"Of course, Sev, but you have to save a dance for me!" Lily replied with a laugh.

The younger version of himself frowned. "I'm not much of a dancer, you know."

"That doesn't matter. As long as you're with me, we'll have fun, won't we?" Lily gave him the puppy-dog eyes that he couldn't say no to and he finally nodded, even though he didn't look particularly happy about it.

"Come, now, class!" A young Slughorn beamed to his Potions students. "Finish bottling up your concoctions and leave them up on the desk at the front! Since all of you are in the Slug Club, you will know that tonight is my annual Christmas party, so come ready to cut a rug and enjoy some wonderful treats!"

The students did as they were told and as Severus spared one lingering glance of longing towards his younger self and his only best friend in the world, the spirit tapped Severus on the shoulder, turning him around to see another scene rise up out of the darkness.

Slughorn had truly outdone himself at his party. There was a live band playing folk versions of Christmas songs with bagpipe, flute, fiddle, and pennywhistle, along with a singer who looked as though she must have been half fae herself, with her pointed ears and somewhat unnaturally large, violet eyes.

Multicolored Wizarding Crackers were set up at every place at the table, and garland was strewn about the walls, twinkling merrily in the candlelight. The music was light and full of cheer, and even Severus found himself tapping his slippered foot in time.

"Oh, I remember this party!" Severus said, "I was in the Slug Club- most of the upper-division Potions students were, and old Slughorn, Merlin rest his soul for he died last May, always had the best parties."

Severus stared hungrily at the happy scene unfolding before him as though trying to absorb each moment. The spirit took his hand and led him to a corner, where LIly was sitting next to a somewhat sour-looking younger version of Severus and doing her best to convince him to dance with her.

"It'll be fun, Sev! Come on!" Lily pouted slightly, her lower lip sticking out.

"Fine, but I don't have to like it," Severus grumbled back, taking her hand and letting her lead him out onto the floor. Slughorn was leading the dance with a much younger version of Professor Sprout, whose chubby cheeks were flushed with happiness and firewhiskey. They twirled and skipped, until the music shifted and everyone formed a line on either side, clapping as Slughorn and Sprout started down the narrow passageway created by human bodies and taking their places at the end, clapping as the next couple began their dance. The younger version of Severus and Lily were third in line and Lily was obviously the one leading the dance as young Severus tripped slightly at one point and she pulled him against her to steady him. By the time they reached the end and began clapping for the next couple, young Severus was blushing scarlet, his eyes never leaving Lily as she laughed and watched the couple coming down towards the end of the dancing space.

"We'd promised to spend the summer together," Severus said, sadly to the spirit, "I was beginning to think that she felt the same way that I did...and then…"

The scene changed to one that Severus knew depressingly well- the moment he'd called Lily a Mudblood. It unfolded as it usually did, but this time, he saw Lily's tears as she'd stormed off and the expression on her face, like her heart was breaking in half. It wasn't just that he'd hurt her, he realized, but that he'd forced her to make a decision that she'd never wanted to make.

"Please, let us leave this place," Severus said, his high spirits fading quickly.

"There is but one more scene for us to see," the spirit said softly, and Severus' heart sank.

He knew what it would be, even before the scene had materialized completely.

"James thinks I'm mad," Lily said, sitting on the park bench next to a somewhat-older-looking Snape.

"I was nineteen," Severus said morosely. "I thought I had accomplished exactly what I needed to succeed in life. The Dark Arts- they were a means to an end, but it was only when I finally got in too deep that I realized that it wasn't what I wanted at all."

"Sev," Lily was saying. "Please...look at me…"

"Why? Why would I want to look at you, Lily? Everytime I glance at you, I have to see what...that bully...did to you."

Lily's hands covered her abdomen, which had begun to swell with her pregnancy in a protective manner. "He isn't a bully any longer, Sev. He put it behind him and decided to become a good man and husband. That's why I came here. I know...what you said back then, in school, but it's Christmas, and I think that even someone like yourself deserves a chance for forgiveness. I was being childish, Sev, and I want to mend things."

"Mend things?" The younger Severus stood, his eyes flashing with fury, "You smashed my heart to pieces with your thoughtless words and now you want to come back and mend things? You have your perfect life with your perfect husband and soon-to-be perfect little spawn! And you come to me speaking of forgiveness?! No, I think not. You only come here to torture me with your happiness, to rub in my face that which you have that shall never be mine! I should have known that you would never have come unless you wished to cause me more pain, and it was only stupid sentimentality that convinced me to allow you the chance to prove my assumptions wrong!"

"Sev, I-" Lily reached out to touch his shoulder but he flinched away and stood, crossing his arms.

"I would never willingly hurt you, Lily, and I would do anything to make sure that you were safe and happy, even if it is not with me," the younger Severus said, his eyes cold as ice, "but I cannot smile and be happy for you. I cannot pretend to be glad that you have found a life, built a family, especially not with Potter. You are asking something impossible, and so I implore you to leave before I say something else that I regret."

With that, he turned his back on her, his fists balled tightly at his sides, waiting for Lily to say something.

But she never did.

Instead, she pressed her lips in a firm line, her eyes were full of righteous anger as she stood and stomped a short ways off before Disapparating.

"That was the last time we ever spoke before...before…" Severus turned away from the young version of himself, who was already slumping with grief. "Please. Spirit, take me away from here...I cannot bear it for a moment longer."

The spirit laid a soft hand on Severus' shoulder and led him through the sky, but Severus could not see anything clearly through the tears that had begun to pool in his eyes, distorting his sight as he floated, weightless, in the darkness.