Severus was so happy to see Harry speaking again he sat through an entire day of the overexcited six year old's endless rambling. It seemed to Severus the child would never stop when suddenly he looked up from the picture he was drawing and stared with wide eyes at the potions professor.

"Daddy, what did mum look like?"

The question made Severus choke on the tea he was sipping, sputtering it down the front of his robes. After grabbing a napkin to dab up the mess, Severus looked down into the innocent eyes of his son.

"She looked much like you do now, only her hair was the color of a falling leaf in the last days of autumn."

"Was she pretty, did you like her? What kind of things did you do, Daddy? Did you take her for rides on the broom like you do me? Did you tuck her in at night?"

Severus' mind was whirling with so many questions aimed at him all at once. Placing his cup of tea down on the table he sat down on the floor next to Harry. "Let me see, if I recall correctly your mother's favorite thing to do was go to the beach and watch the waves roll in. I, myself, never took her, but she spoke of it often saying how soothing the sound of the waves was, and how the glimmer of the sun setting on it reminded her that things of beauty still existed in the world. As for tucking her in at night, I am afraid your mother was a bit busy tucking you in to be tucked in herself. Many nights I found her asleep by your crib, her hand laying on your back."

Severus, in his remembrance, had forgotten the small child staring up at him, that is until Harry pounced into his lap.

"Can we go to the beach, Daddy?"

Severus tickled Harry until the child screamed for him to stop, before standing up and bringing the still giggling Harry with him, "Go and ask Lucy to pack a lunch for us, and I will see about taking you."

In a few minutes, Harry stood before Severus dressed in his robes, his jumper, and trainers, ready to go.

"Wait a minute, Harry, the beach is very hot and I am afraid you would be no more than a puddle should you wear all of those." It did not take Severus long to return Harry to his room and dress him appropriately. After that, Lucy was handing him not only a basket with their lunch pack in it, but also another bag.

At the questionable look from Severus, she spoke. "Lucy has packed things Master Snape may need for today. Lucy is knowing about the beach, and Lucy wants you to have everything you need."

Severus did not look into the bag, thinking he would leave that for when he got there. House elves could be so strange he thought, but he stepped out into the backyard and shrunk both bags, placing them in his pocket, before helping Harry onto the broom.

Severus was enjoying the ride through the countryside and it was ending all to soon as they approached the heat of the noonday sun. Severus was wishing he had worn something besides black when the broom crested over the hill and the smell of salt air hit him, along with a flying sea gull.

Severus glared at the sea gull, thinking of turning it into something wicked and eatable, as he cleaned the drippings from his shirt, but a squeal from Harry brought his attention back to the sight of the ocean before them. Once he looked at it, Severus was mesmerized by the glare of the sun off the water, the salt air filling his nostrils. He landed and took the two bags from his pockets, bringing them back to their normal size as Harry ran through the white sands of the beach.

The first was the basket of food Lucy had prepared, and Severus realized the house elf had packed enough to feed a small army. In the other bag, Severus found all the things he, in his haste to leave, had forgotten to pack. Inside the bag were towels, sunscreen, and a couple of pails.

"Silly elf, does she not think I know of a shield charm from the sun." Severus saw a note inside, though, and opened it up.

"Sir,

Lucy knows you were forgetting something so Lucy packed the things sir needed. Lucy remembers Miss Lily was much better at charms than sir, so she packed the sunscreen, too."

Severus chuckled to himself. Lily was indeed much better at charms than he was. Throwing down the bag on top of the blanket he had spread out, Severus took off his shirt and went to join Harry, who was splashing in the waves as they rolled on shore.

After many hours of playing in the water and looking for the 'perfect' shells, Severus went to sit on the blanket and relax. Harry had far too much energy for him, he saw, and he really wanted another glass of the strange drink Lucy had packed that she called Lemonade. He noticed Harry seemed to be having a good time, and the questions about his mother had all but ceased as soon as his eyes saw the ocean. Severus didn't know whether to be happy about it or not, but settled for the contentment of the day. Soon he would be back at Hogwarts placing the mask of hatred firmly on his face for every house but his own. He would be taunted, and jokes would pass about his greasy hair or his nose that was hooked. Today, though, he was Harry's dad and enjoying every minute of it.

Harry played along the shore until the sun started to set. It was growing colder now, despite the day having been very warm. He ran back up to the blanket and noticed his father was staring off into somewhere unknown.

"Daddy?" he said, waving his small hand in front of his father's face.

Severus blinked his eyes and smiled down at the now shivering Harry. Taking Harry's shirt out of a bag, he pulled it over the child's head and pulled him into his lap. This was the time Severus loved, it was like he could feel Lily here, her spirit floating to the shore like the waves lapping at his feet now.

"Daddy, did you love Mum?"

Severus was startled by the abrupt question, but he answered it without any hesitation. "I loved your mother more than life itself, more than the moon or stars."

"That's a lot of love. If you loved Mommy that much, then how do you have any love left for me?"

Severus broke his gaze away from the setting sun and looked at Harry. "I will always have enough love to give to you. Never doubt that."

This seemed to put Harry at ease. "Look, Daddy, the sun is touching the water!"

Severus noticed how the sun's rays were just settling across the horizon of the waves and a sigh escaped his lips.

"What is it, Daddy? You seem sad."

"Not sad, Harry, just thinking about your mother."

"What about her?"

Severus was silent for a minute longer, but then he spoke, not to Harry, or anyone else, but more like he was recalling a time past that was only alive in his memories.

"I was thinking about your mother, about how her hair was the color of the sun setting across the water, about her love for the sound of the waves rushing up to meet her toes. It would make her laugh as she ran away, the waves giving chase. She was beautiful, more beautiful than the moon, the stars, more beautiful than anything I could have ever imagined. She saw in me things I could not see myself and looked past all the things people said and gave me her love."

Harry didn't know what to say. His young mind could not fathom everything his father had just said, but even he could guess that his father and mother loved one another. They sat there watching till the sun completely drifted behind he ocean. It was then that Severus picked up the now sleeping Harry and straddled the broom. He hovered in the air for only a second, relishing the look of the moonlight water before wishing his beloved a goodnight also, then Severus took off to get Harry home and tucked into his own bed.