A/N: This story has the same premise as my other active story, Evans to Potter to Snape. You can read one without the other, and you can start with either story.

Since this story is from the trio's perspective, it takes quite a while to get to the explanations for the Lily-as-Snape concept and not everything ties up neatly. Regardless, the story goes to some interesting and unexpected places, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share it with you :)

Chapter 1: The Death Certificate

May 3, 2001

Ron, Harry, and Hermione exited the Battle of Hogwarts memorial service together. Their faces were solemn, like most in the crowd. It hurt to be reminded of who they lost.

Ron and Hermione were trailing behind him when Harry stopped walking and turned back to the other two. "I'm so frustrated. They lied to me. Professor Snape deserved the Order of Merlin, and I thought he was supposed to get it today. Risking his life everyday for years only to die in the last battle… it makes me miserable thinking about how hard that would have been. Even if he was a git."

Percy Weasley stepped over to where they were and leaned in. "Harry. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you before the service. There was a snag."

Ron could see Harry failing to hide his annoyance at both the situation and Percy himself. He knew that Harry didn't exactly like this particular brother but was happy that he got on with the rest of the Weasleys now.

"What do you mean?" Harry challenged.

"I was doing the final paperwork for it, and I discovered something very strange. I pulled up his death certificate to copy and attach to the Order of Merlin. As a result of the whole Pettigrew debacle, we now need to file magical proof of death when giving someone a posthumous award. I believe it's the same when voiding arrest warrants —."

"What about the death certificate?" Ron pushed Percy back on track.

"Ah, yes. He can't get an award for his brave deeds in 1999 since he was already dead. Severus Snape died in 1981."

That was the year Ron after was born. Twenty years ago.

Harry sputtered, "1981!" It was also the year that Harry's parents had died.

Percy nodded. "None of us have actually met Professor Snape. I suppose shouldn't even be referred to as 'Professor' or 'Headmaster'… ."

"Can we see the certificate for ourselves?" Hermione asked.

Percy answered affirmatively.

After a few distracted conversations and goodbyes, Harry asked Ron and Hermione, "Come with me?" He didn't need to clarify that wanted to rush off to the Ministry archives.

There was only one answer they would give. "Of course."

A bored-looking wizard waved them directly into the birth and death archives to search for themselves. Magically expanded cabinets lined the walls of a closet. The wooden table had sharp corners and only one chair, which would go to Hermione by common agreement. She would make good use of the table space.

Thirty minutes of searching through the poorly organized files yielded Severus Snape's death certificate.

"Here it is." Hermione waited briefly, as though nervous. "October 31 at 18:34."

"Early evening," Ron pointed out.

"Do you know what time your parents were attacked?" Hermione asked delicately after she handed the parchment to Harry, who was sitting on the floor with his own forgotten box of records.

He shook his head. "Probably after sunset." Harry stared at the parchment.

Ron didn't know what to say or do. Thankfully, Hermione spoke authoritatively. "We might as well check their records while we're here." Hermione sat down again.

A minute later Hermione found James' death certificate in the same crate as Snape's.

"James Potter. October 31, 18:32," Hermione read aloud.

"Two minutes. Why did Snape die two minutes after my dad?" Harry stood up, paced the small room a few times, then slid down to the floor again to continue his search.

The trio turned their attention to Lily Evans Potter. Another 45 minutes passed, all of them searching through their own boxes. After a while, Ron offered to fetch coffee.

"Harry." Hermione slowly passed him a single sheet of parchment. Because of the quiver in her voice, Harry was almost scared to look.

On some level, Harry knew that his parents couldn't have lived up to the ideals he had of them. He could still imagine them smiling at him from the Mirror of Erised. He could also remember their sad-yet-hopeful expressions from Voldemort's wand in the graveyard, and when they appeared to him when he used the Resurrection Stone.

His father had already been knocked down slightly in Harry's eyes by Snape's recollection of James' bullying. But his mother still had all of his heart. Harry believed to his core that his mother had died for him, and her protection ultimately saved him from Voldemort.

And now she's just another adult who let him down. Kept secrets. There wasn't any hard proof yet. But the piece of parchment in Harry's hand now certainly pointed that way.

The magical death certificate for Lily Evans Potter was dated May 3, 1999. The day of the Battle of Hogwarts. Snape, or Lily as he now suspected, had asked to see Harry's eyes as he died. He used to think that Snape had died loving his mother. What had she been thinking then? If she had survived, could I have talked to her right now? His thoughts turned darker. Why did she not tell me that she was alive? Why did she act like she hated me for seven years?

Hermione stood next to him, hand on his shoulder. Perhaps it was because the memorial service had already been so emotional. Or perhaps it was the weight of a thousand sudden, horrible questions about someone he longed to meet but never got to know. Quiet tears flowed down Harry's face. He slid onto the floor of the records room.

Ron rejoined them a minute later. He was levitating three cups of coffee towards them until he saw Harry. The three cups fell to the ground as he lost focus. Hermione gave him a subtle head shake, so Ron said nothing and vanished the spilled coffee. Ron and Hermione slid to the floor next to Harry.

Twenty minutes later, Harry spoke. "I… I don't understand."

Hermione slowly offered, "It certainly is strange that she was alive all that time."

"I know it was her. Pretending to be Snape. I feel it here." Harry raised a fist against his chest. Harry knew that relying on his intuition would get him nowhere with Hermione, given that two hours ago he had no such inclination.

"Perhaps we should check the rest of the certificates from the Battle. Not because I doubt that you're right," Hermione quickly added. " Just, it might help us get a clearer picture. All was not as it seemed. Posing as someone else for a long time without polyjuice is said to be impossible."

"Or Dark Magic." Ron added in.

"She wasn't… evil." Harry denied reflexively.

Ron held up appeasing hands. "Not saying she was, mate."

Hermione bit her lip. "You said something earlier, Harry. The Snape we knew was a bit of a git but a… good person at his core. Right? Using some questionable magic for unclear aims… it could still fit that perception. We don't know why she did it, or even what she did."

They were all silent for a time. Harry had pulled himself together, until he realized that his mother had abandoned him to be raised by the Dursleys. The tears flowed anew. Why?

Hermione referenced the dates and times of all known deaths from the Battle of Hogwarts. Lily's death time fit Snape's perceived death. No other deaths stood out in that examination. Their group accepted this, and their research moved on.

Months passed as Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked for everything they could find about Lily Evans Potter and Severus Snape.

Snape appears to have gotten his potions mastery prior to 1981, but his name was published in numerous potions journals after 1981, up until 1994. Hermione pointed out that Lily must have been talented in potions to publish, whether or not she was the one to obtain the mastery. Ron wondered if "Snape" stopped publishing after Voldemort was resurrected, or if he merely used another name. Harry noted all facts, speculations, and questions down in a small maroon notebook.

Lily Evans' birth announcement was published in the local muggle newspaper, though Severus Snape's was not. Neither were mentioned in any other muggle newspaper again, even in Lily's parents obituaries. Only Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley were listed as surviving kin, which made Harry angry until he thought about it some more.

He supposed that he didn't know what kind of paperwork existed in the muggle world for muggleborns after they went to Hogwarts. Perhaps Petunia, terrible person and terrible guardian she was, had intentionally excluded Lily from the obituary. But perhaps not. And even if Petunia had, Harry admitted to himself that he didn't know his mother at all. Perhaps there was more to Petunia and Lily's relationship than simple jealousy.

Severus and Lily were both in the Daily Prophet's list of 1978 Hogwarts graduates. Lily Evans and James Potter's wedding announcement was in the Prophet a little over a year later. They were mentioned again in Harry's birth announcement, and Harry's grandparents' obituaries in 1980. Harry stared at those notices for a long time, desperately wishing that he had met them.

Lily and James' marriage was recorded at the Ministry. Harry was glad that whatever was going on between Lily and Snape didn't mean that his dad had unknowingly married Snape.

Though, at some point Snape had presumably started masquerading as James' spouse. Did James know that Snape was holding his son as he died? That Snape died protecting Harry? Harry didn't know how to find out.

A family Gringotts vault held tax records for Lily and James. Neither James nor Lily worked after they graduated Hogwarts. They made several substantial gifts to the Order of the Phoenix. James' family owned the cottage at Godric's Hollow.

James' parents' home belonged to them (and now Harry) but its state of the property was unclear from the paperwork. Harry was curious about it, but didn't think his grandparents home would answer any of his questions about Lily. "Something to look into later," Harry told Ron and Hermione.

Harry dug around in the vault more, but nothing belonged to his mother. No will, no letter, none of her personal belongings.

"I hate to bring this up," Hermione started.

Harry finished her sentence for her. "But we might need to go to the cottage in Godric's Hollow."

Ron's eyes about popped out of his head, but he didn't say anything. All of them knew how terribly their last fact-finding trip to Godric's Hallow went. None of them had been there since.

Harry didn't really want to go to the place where Voldemort nearly killed him as a baby. He also didn't want to go within a mile of the late Bathilda Bagshot's place either, where Voldemort nearly killed him as a young adult. But he knew that they were short on options to find out more about what his mother had been up to.

Sensing Harry's stiffening resolve, Hermione declared, "Let's go this weekend."

Hermione and Ron watched as Harry poked through his first home. After two hours of finding nothing but broken dishes and unwashed linens while feeling incredibly tense, they gave up and went outside. They sat on the grass in the shade of the house in early evening, disappointed.

Hermione tried to be encouraging. "Well, there are a lot of things that we didn't see at the house. No vandalism. No unusual or dangerous runes or traps."

Harry listed, "No journals or books of any kind. No bills, papers, or parchments. Not even a birthday card or takeaway menu."

Ron asked, "Do you think Lily came back to get those things after James and Snape died here?"

"Eurgh. Good point."

Ron was encouraged. "Perhaps we should look for wherever 'Snape's' stuff went. Where did he live when he wasn't at Hogwarts?"

The three agreed that investigating where Lily-as-Snape's stuff went was their next course of action.

Harry stood up and brushed the dirt off the backs of his trousers. "Can we stop by the graves before we head home?"

Hermione and Ron waited several steps behind Harry as he looks at the graves of James and Lily. Hermione wondered if Lily's remains were here, or if it was actually Snape's. Or maybe the grave was empty?

Harry might have been thinking the same as he made a sort of strangled noise. He then said, "Everything is so confusing. I knew Snape was kind of a secret good person, and I wonder if that's still true. He did try to prevent Voldemort from killing me in 1981. My memories from the dementors prove that. Hold on, is Snape's love the 'power he knows not'? That's so weird."

Ron laughed, but Hermione elbowed him to stop quickly enough that Harry didn't notice.

Hermione wandered around as Harry continued to think. Harry stood a while later with a dazed expression.

At Ron's suggestion, they visited their favorite chippie before heading to their homes. By unspoken agreement, they avoided the day's revelations. Hermione was relieved to see that Harry's spirits had lifted somewhat by the time they parted ways.