"Sev, you really don't remember anything, do you?" Lily asked softly, kissing his temple and sweeping his hair out of his face. He could not believe that Lily Evans was lying under the same blanket as him, stretched out on the same mattress, curled up against his side, lips pressed to his skin as if it was nothing. It was hardly nothing. To him, it was the greatest something he had ever experienced.

"Honestly, not knowing that your own mother is alive. What's the matter with you?" she teased, thinking that perhaps Severus was simply avoiding his own family, which would be understandable.

"Did something happen when you were at the Ministry last night? Did someone modify your memory? It might be Potter's idea of a sick joke…"

Severus rolled on his side to look at her, his eyes wide with shock. "I was with Potter last night?" Instantly his guards were up. If something was amiss, and he had been with Potter, there was hardly any need for more explanation. His lack of memories had to be the other man's fault.

"Of course you were. You work closely with him whenever you get called into the Ministry. They often ask for your input in the Auror Department whenever something particularly dark comes along," Lily explained slowly, making his brain go fuzzy as her lips were hovering dangerously close to his ear. She clearly didn't notice the effect she was having on him.

Severus' thoughts were swirling. Potter knew something. Even if he didn't know precisely what was going on, he'd had a hand in this somehow. "Do you know, is Potter working now?" he asked, sure she wouldn't have an answer. He tried to keep his voice as casual as possible as not to upset her.

"As far as I'm aware from what you've told me, he almost never goes home anymore…" She stared at him with her eyebrows arched in confusion. "You aren't thinking of going in again?" she warned, her voice dripping with discontent. "Severus, you've been gone almost every night this week."

"I have to go," he pressed, sitting up and throwing the blankets off of him with a flourish. "If there's any chance that I will remember my own children once I see Potter, then I'm going to take it." Her face was unreadable, but he knew that she was upset. It almost made him happy to note that she was displeased by his absence.

"I'll be back soon, Lils," he promised, using her old nickname to lighten the mood, hesitating greatly before giving her a kiss on the forehead, worried that things would snap back to his reality as soon as he showed any sort of affection, and she'd realize that she actually despised him. She didn't, however, but just closed her eyes as his lips made contact with her skin and then sighed deeply, lying back on the pillows.

"Just hurry home, Sev."

He put on his black Hogwarts robes, even though he'd noticed from the pictures that he was much more often seen in different colored robes nowadays. He wanted to feel like the self he remembered, and nothing less. Not when he would be seeing Potter again for the first time in seventeen years worth of memories.

He Apparated straight to the Ministry, sweeping his way to the dark lifts and straight down to the Auror offices. The empty passageways gave him no sense of hope that he would find Potter at all, but it was late, and most sane Ministry employees were home with their families. Severus had never classified James Potter as sane.

It didn't take him long to see Potter's usual mess of untidy hair. He was running his hands through it, and whether it was to increase the appearance that he never brushed his hair, out of fatigue, or out of frustration, Severus might never come to know. "Potter," he snarled, causing James to lift his head.

His eyelids were drooping slightly and Severus was almost sure he had woken the man from a half-doze. "Snivellus, what an unpleasant surprise," James quipped, leaning back in his chair to stretch. "How are you and Evans on this previously-fine evening?"

"What do you know?" Severus hissed, cutting to the chase, rounding on James and putting his hands on either side of the desk so as to stare him right in the eyes. It was a stance he'd often taken on the Potter boy in his dream, or perhaps in his reality. No matter where he had done it, this position felt familiar, and he hoped that he looked as intimidating as he felt.

"Well, I tend to think that I know a lot of things," James said. "But I'm assuming you're referring to something specific?" He leaned back again, this time putting his feet up on the desk in front of him as though Severus was not standing there at all.

"What do you know about Harry?" Severus asked, lowering his voice. He immediately knew he'd hit a nerve as he watched the color drain from James' face.

"H-Harry?" James asked with uncertainty. The name seemed to mean something to him, but it wasn't clear if he knew exactly why as he looked just as confused as Severus felt. "I know that name," he whispered, more to himself than anything as though searching his brain for where he had heard it before.

But then again, he knew quite a few Harrys. There was Harry Mellons who worked for the Department of Magical Games and Sports who he had just spoken to the previous morning, and also Harry Boreba who sometimes worked the front desk… But James highly doubted that Snape meant either of those Harrys. This was a special Harry; a Harry only he might know about. Otherwise, why would Snape be here causing him all of this disquiet?

"Yes, your son. Lily's son. I'm assuming you know who I'm speaking of?" Severus had no idea what was real and what wasn't, but there was something about this Harry Potter from his dream that made him think that there was something factual to the whole thing. Harry Potter was not merely a figment of his imagination.

James racked his brain, but he couldn't think of a time when Lily even remotely considered having a child with him, let alone one Snape would have been comfortable mentioning. But yet, the name Harry Potter tugged at his heart in a way that was uncomfortable and familiar. He had met this boy before, he was almost sure of it. But the fact of the matter was, he still had no idea who Harry Potter could be because he certainly didn't have a son. Did he?

"Why would I have a son with your wife, Snape?" The words that came from Potter's mouth were logical, but his usual confidence was not behind them. His brain was attempting to make connections that he clearly didn't understand. James was attempting to make himself look less panicked and more pulled together, but his apparent fatigue was not helping him to do so.

"What is he? Is he really your son or is he a figure you made up and implanted into my head when I was at a vulnerable moment yesterday eve?" Severus pressed, trying to crack his peer with hard-pressed questions.

Tightening his jaw, James stood up, raising himself to Severus' height, which wasn't hard considering he had at least four inches on him. Even slouching he could have looked the man in the eyes. "Why don't you tell me, Snape? You are an accomplished Legimens, are you not? Or am I remembering incorrectly?"

"I'm not sure what I am anymore," Severus said honestly. "Someone seems to have tampered with my mind, and I have a feeling it was you, James Potter."

"You're insane, Snivellus. I've always said that," came a voice from behind them as Sirius Black strode into the office with a cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of newspapers under his other arm. "You're not an Auror, and we haven't requested your expert advice tonight, so please, do everyone a favor and get back to your wife. Goodness knows it's only a matter of time before she realizes that you've made her whole family greasy and she leaves you. I'd savor the time while I had it." Sirius threw the papers onto his desk and slid into his own chair with the same graceful arrogance he'd displayed at school.

James looked as though he'd never been more grateful to see Sirius as he sank down slightly in his seat with a sigh of relief.

Severus glared at them both, pondering his chances of hexing them where they sat and living to tell the tale. "I will find out about Harry," he promised James, unsure if Black would have the slightest clue what they were talking about, but it didn't matter. "If he really exists, I will find out about it. If he doesn't exist, you will fix whatever tampering you've done with my mind. Do I make myself clear?" he asked slowly.

James sat staring at him, not moving and not blinking. He did not make any movement that would indicate that he heard Snape at all.

"Just because you're a Professor now, doesn't mean you get to talk to us like that, Snivlly." Sirius was now on his feet, his hand probably clutching his wand in case he needed to do any self-defense.

Snape ignored him and continued to press Potter. "You may or may not know this, but in my mind last night, your arrogance had you killed, and Lily along with you. If I were you, I'd tone it down a bit before it catches up to you in this life as well, Potter." With that he strode from the office, hoping very much that he'd left a lasting impression.

Pacing back and forth across the floor, Severus avoided sleep lest he wake up to find his whole wonderfully beautiful life with Lily had come crashing down around him as he slept.

"Sev, please come to bed," Lily begged with a yawn, sitting up a little to watch him traipse again across the room with a bored expression. "Whatever Potter said, I'm sure he was lying."

Severus stopped in his tracks to look at her, his eyes troubled. "That's the problem, Lily; Potter said nothing. He knows something about what happened to me and he's withholding—"

"For goodness sake, Sev," Lily snapped, sounding irritated now. "You are fine. James Potter or one of his team of nit-witted dunderheads modified your memory as a joke is all. Talk to Dumbledore tomorrow. He'll know how to put it right."

This seemed like a plausible solution. "Yes, Dumbledore…" How could he have forgotten that Lily had mentioned Dumbledore was here, too? If anyone would be able to put him right or sort him out, it was Albus Dumbledore.

He managed to force himself to stop his pacing, sitting down on the edge of the bed and taking Lily's hands in his. "I know this may count for nothing," he said quietly, still of the firm belief that one slip from him would result in her imminent disappearance, "But I love you very much, Lily."

It was the first time he had ever been able to say the words aloud and in her presence. If this moment was too good to be true, he was at least going to make the best of it. He had no doubt that he had loved Lily for many years whether it was in his head or in his reality.

"I love you, too, Sev," she said contentedly through another yawn as she settled back in on her pillows and dozed off.

The way she said it was habit. It was something she said quite often and without hesitation. She didn't have to pause to think 'Do I really love this man? His hair is oily and his skin is pale. Doesn't that repulse me? Wouldn't I rather have a talk, dark, handsome man like James Potter beside me?'

She just knew.

"I love you, too, Sev…" he whispered with a small smile, unable to believe his luck as he lay back on his own pillows beside her and fought the end to his happy nightmare.

A/N: I hope that this chapter caused your brain boogers to start clumping and your mind wheels to start turning. I hope that you have some speculation as to whether this world is real, fake, or somewhere in between, and I would love to hear what you have in mind!

I always have fun writing as Sirius and James, so this chapter was a joy for me to pull together. The next chapter is extremely longer than these first few have been, and I hope it clears a lot up.

If you have the time, I truly would love to hear from you about where your thoughts are! Thank you so much for reading so far! 3