“Dad will be so surprised we came home from summer camp for his birthday, Lily,” a dark-haired boy said as he tumbled out of the Floo in his father’s study. A red-haired girl waited, brushing the soot off of her clothing but looking no worse for wear.
“You are just as bad as Daddy when you travel by Floo, Al.” She laughed as they left the study, heading toward the parlor where he usually relaxed when he got home from work in the evenings.
They both stopped dead in the doorway – someone was sleeping in their father’s chair. No one ever sat in that chair. That was a rule learned early on. Their father was a very kind and considerate man but he had told the two of them and their older brother James to leave his chair alone in a voice that brooked no argument. But even more unusual was this was a man they didn’t know – not their cousin Teddy or their Uncle George. And yet, the man looked so comfortable, so relaxed – as if it were his chair, not their father’s.
As if the dark-haired man could feel their eyes on him even as he slept, he stirred and opened his eyes groggily.
“Harry?” he said, looking at the teen who looked so much like his father.
“No, sir, my name is Albus. This is my sister Lily,” Albus replied, gesturing to his sister, who stayed half hidden behind him.
“Ah. I see,” he said as he eyed Lily and then looked back at Albus. “I presume your father did not expect you?”
“No, sir, it’s Daddy’s birthday and we wanted to surprise him,” Lily replied excitedly.
“Sir? May I ask you a question?” Albus said nervously but held the man’s gaze even though his black eyes pierced Albus through.
“You may,” the man said with a smirk.
“Who are you?” Albus asked, but just then the Floo in the parlor flashed green. Before their father came through, they could hear him shouting at someone “. . . never bother him again! Do you hear me?” Then he came through stumbling slightly before righting himself.
“Severus? Is everything – oh. Hello Al. Lily. Uh, what are you doing home today?”
Albus stared at the man - Dad had called him Severus. Albus knew of only one Severus and upon reflection, he realized he recognized this man from the portrait his father insisted on having placed in the Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts. Severus Snape. He heard Lily talking to his father, telling him why they had come home, but he found he could not believe his eyes.
“Aren’t you dead?” he whispered. The room fell silent. His father sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. Lily looked from the man to her daddy and back again. Grabbing her brother’s hand, she clenched it tightly, her face going pale as if she were confronted with a ghost.
“Children, sit down please,” their father said as he sat on the dark green leather couch that matched the chair. “Severus, these are two of my children, Albus and Lily. Lily, Albus, this is Severus Snape.”
“But Daddy, you said he was dead! Everybody says so!” Lily cried out, still clinging to her brother like a lifeline.
“I was dead, Miss Potter. However, your father, in his infinite wisdom,” here Snape paused and sneered at Harry, “decided that he preferred that I live and, therefore, I do.”
“Daddy? What does he mean?” Lily asked, beginning to tremble.
“What he means is that I used what remained of Voldemort’s magic to perform a spell, a very dark one that brought Severus back from the other side,” he replied. Turning to face Severus, he continued, “I’ve never regretted it.”
“Dad, is he why you and mum argued all the time? Why she left?” Albus asked quietly.
“Yes, I forgot to set the proper wards - the ones for only when Severus is here,” Harry started to explain but was cut off.
“Apparently a problem that has yet to be remedied,” Snape snorted. Harry only glared in reply before continuing.
“I asked her whether she wanted me to Obliviate her or whether she could keep Severus’s secret. She said she would,” Harry frowned, then shook his head as if to clear it.
“Well, none of that matters now. So I must ask you the same question I asked your mother – would you like me to Obliviate you? You will not remember you ever saw Severus or that he is alive. Or would you like to be entrusted with a great secret, known to only a handful of people?” Harry finished and closed his eyes.
“Dad?” Albus went and sat next to his father, dragging Lily with him. “Why did you bring him back?”
“You have heard from me, and at Hogwarts, what happened during the second war with Voldemort. Severus Snape was a true war hero. But he was more than that to me. He lived his life to protect mine. I did not want to live my life without him in it. I knew that as soon as he looked into my eyes the day of the Final Battle,” Harry pulled them both close to him and continued his confession.
“I loved your mother and she loved me - since she was eleven years old. But we were never in love. We married because it was expected of us; it’s what your Grandma and Grandpa Weasley wanted. We cared for each other, so we were both willing to try. The days each of you were born were the happiest days of our lives. But I knew I was in love with someone else.”
“Daddy, you love him?” Lily asked, eyes wide.
“Very much so,” he replied, looking at Severus over his children’s heads.
“And does he love you, Daddy?” she whispered in her father’s ear.
“Yes, he does.” Harry nodded, smiling at her. She looked back at Severus – he watched the family silently, without emotion. She slowly slid from her father’s arms and walked over to this strange man. He was still sitting in her father’s chair, although she thought maybe it was his chair, not Daddy’s at all.
“Welcome to our family,” she said as she placed a kiss on his cheek.
Story Notes:
Written for wtp_challenge #1, Deathly Hallows Canon Challenge, originally posted September 2007. Beta'd by the incomparable Aucta Sinistra.
