Severus Snape was not a happy little boy…um, man…at all.

It was bad enough that he had been ripped from the only thing that ever made him happy…again.

It was bad enough that he’d been ‘unVeiled’—what other term could be used to describe their sudden return from beyond the Veil of Mysteries, after all?—as a mere five year old child.

It was bad enough that one of his two most despised people had to come with him.

It was even bad enough that it would be the spawn of James Potter—albeit slightly older than the last time he’d seen him—to find him and Black.

But it was absolutely intolerable that he now found himself being carried…as if he were an infant instead of five!

Plus, Potter had the unmitigated gall to actually swat and scold him!

The indignity of it all was simply too much for one small boy…um, man…to bear.

It really was.

Potter carried them from the cemetery and walked a short, five minute, distance to a quaint cottage nestled behind a stone fence and white-picketed gate.

Severus recognized it instantly.

It was the Potter house in Godric’s Hollow.

The house he had once found the slain body of his precious Lily—and the infant Boy-Who-Lived.

It had apparently been restored to its former glory, and apparently Potter and his wife (the Weasley girl?) had taken up residence there.

Entering the gate, Potter walked up the walk and set him and Black down, but continued to hold their hands (another indignity). Severus sighed.

"Well, here we are," Potter told them, smiling down at them. "Home sweet Home…"

Severus snorted. "Spare us the platitudes," he growled, annoyed.

"Shut up, Snape!" Black growled at him, and then glanced up at the man beside them. "I think you should just chuck him out on his skinny arse, Harry."

"Nobody is going to be ‘chucked’ anywhere," Potter informed the miniature mutt, firmly. "And watch your language, Sirius."

Severus smirked. Ha! How does if feel Mutt to be scolded by your own godson!

Black glared at him and stuck his tongue out at him.

Despite knowing it was completely immature to do so, Severus felt compelled to return the gesture.

Potter sighed. "Stop that," he told them, sternly. "Behave yourselves."

With that, he reached and opened the door. He then ushered them inside.

Severus found himself in a rather cozy looking living room—decorated in neutral colors of emerald green (the walls), white (the trim and mantle), and tan (the furniture).

Pictures of numerous red headed individuals (confirming that Potter had indeed married into the Weasley clan) along with the former Miss Granger (who had no doubt wed the youngest Weasley male) as well as pictures of a boy who looked remarkably like Remus Lupin were scattered all about.

And speaking of Lupin…he was standing at the mantle sipping tea and leaning on a cane as they entered.

A woman he knew to be Nymphadora Tonks—sans the multicolored spiky hair—sat on the sofa beside a red headed woman that he knew was Potter’s wife, Ginny.

They all turned at their entrance, their eyes growing wide at the sight of them.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, glancing at Potter in confusion. "What—?"

"Moony!" Black squealed happily and tore free from Potter’s grip and raced across the room.

Remus Lupin, looking middle-aged with thin, graying hair and two scars across his face that looked like they had come from a fellow werewolf, was more than a little surprised to find the miniature version of his former best friend wrapped around him.

"Sirius?" he gasped, awkwardly pulling the curly headed boy away from him. He glanced up, into his dark eyes. "Severus? It…it can’t be!"

Severus snorted, and also tore his hand from Potter’s grip. He crossed them over his little—um, underdeveloped—chest.

"Apparently, it can," he growled, snidely.

"Severus," Potter said, glaring down at him.

"Harry, honey, what’s going on?" The former Miss Weasley asked her husband, frowning.

Potter shrugged.

"Beats the heck outta me, Gin," he told her, sighing. "I was paying my respects to their graves when suddenly these two—swirling portals—opened and they popped out of them."

"Are you certain they are who they appear to be?" Tonks asked, raising an eyebrow.

Severus scowled at her, but was ignored.

"It’s them," Potter said, confidently.

"How can you be sure, Harry?" Lupin asked him, curiously.

"Because they knew things that only they would know," Potter informed him, simply. "Not to mention they’ve been giving me a headache with all their bickering…"

Severus glared up at him. Headache, indeed!

The indignities just kept coming, didn’t they?

"This is amazing," Ginny said, wide-eyed, staring between him and Black.

"Yes, it is," Lupin said, gazing down at the Mutt affectionately. He reached out to touch his face, gently.

"It’s me, Moony," Black said, smiling. "Won’t me to prove it?"

Lupin smirked. "How do you plan to do that?" he asked him, curiously.

"Well, remember that scar I had?" the miniature Mutt told him. "The one on my…uh, you know...?"

"Yes," Lupin said, thoughtfully. "You told me you got it when you were three."

Black nodded. "That’s right," he told him. "I can show it to you, if you want."

He reached for the waist band of the pajama pants that Potter had transfigured for them to put on.

"Please, no!" Severus moaned, wrinkling his nose. "Seeing you naked once was more than enough, Mutt!"

Black glared at him. "I told you to shut up, Snivellous," he growled at him. "Nobody asked you!"

"See what I mean," Potter said, sighing. He reached up and rubbed his temples.

"That’s quite all right, Siri," Lupin told Black, placing a hand on top of his head. "I believe it’s you."

"Great!" Black said, smiling. "I’m glad. I’ve missed you, Moony." He hugged him again.

"And I have missed you," Lupin told him, smiling.

Severus thought he might vomit, the sentimentality of the moment utterly revolting, and yet…a small pang of jealousy sprang up within him.

"Where are the boys?" Potter asked Ginny, curiously.

"Out back, playing," Ginny informed him.

"Teddy and Jamie insisted on coming over immediately," Tonks said, smirking. "Apparently, the fact that they had just seen you this morning at breakfast didn’t count…"

Potter smiled fondly. "Alby, too," he said, grinning. "He was pestering us to invite you over, any way."

Lupin nodded, glancing at him. "Hello, Severus," he said, quietly.

Severus glared at him. Just now notice me, did you?

"Werewolf," he growled, rudely. He refused to look him in the eye.

"Severus," Potter growled, obviously getting annoyed.

"I still say you should hex him or something," Black said, to nobody in particular.

Lupin snorted, shaking his head. "Siri," he said, disapprovingly. "Nobody is going to hex anybody."

"It’s just Snape, Moony," the Mutt shrugged. "Nobody cares about him."

"Sirius Orion Black!" Tonks said, glaring at her miniature cousin sternly. "What a thing to say!"

Severus swallowed, feeling tears sting his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

He was not a baby to cry at a few hurtful—made more so by the fact they happened to be true—words.

He must not have hidden his hurt as well as he had thought because Potter—blast him!—knelt down to stare him in the eyes again.

Severus flinched from that green stare, but was forced to look due to the man gripping his chin firmly.

"Severus," Potter said, gently. "Look at me."

Despite himself, Severus started—his eyes flying up against his will, almost, as he remembered those had been the very last words between them before he’d gone beyond the Veil.

As Obsidian met Emerald, he saw within those bright green orbs three things: compassion, concern, and…caring.

For him? Surely not…

"It isn’t true, Severus," Potter told him, gently yet firmly. "What Sirius just said—it isn’t true."

Severus gulped, feeling those dratted tears again. A couple escaped before he could stop them, sliding down his cheeks.

"How can it not be?" he asked, quietly. "The only people who ever cared about me are dead now…"

"I care about you, Severus," Potter told him, continuing to stare into his eyes.

Severus shook his head in disbelief. "You hate me," he told him, and a few more tears leaked out.

"I misjudged you," the green eyed man told him, sadly. "You will never know how much I regret that."

"I was mean to you," Severus reminded him.

"And yet you protected me when I needed it," Potter told him. "You cared whether I lived and died—and it was more than just because I could defeat the Dark Lord."

"Because of her," Severus whispered. "Because you have her eyes…"

Potter nodded. "That’s right, I do," he said, "and I’m not the only one, either."

He turned to glance at his wife. "Gin, will you call Alby in for a minute?"

Ginny nodded and went through a door that obviously connected the living room to the kitchen.

She returned a few moments later with a young boy of about four who looked like the spitting image of his father—except he had streaks of red in his dark, unruly hair.

"Alby, c’mere a minute," Potter said, holding out his arm to the boy.

"Am I in touble, Daddy?" the boy, Alby, asked his father.

"No, son, there’s just someone I wish you to meet," Potter said, wrapping an arm around the boy’s shoulders. "Alby, this is Severus."

"Hi," Alby said, staring at him. Lily’s eyes stared back at him.

"Severus," Potter said, quietly. "This is my son, Albus Severus Potter."

Severus sniffed. "Y-You named him after me?" he asked, surprised. The tears were falling freely now.

"Why is he kwying, Daddy?" Alby asked his father, puzzled. "Is he sad?"

"He’s just had a bit of a rough day, son," Potter explained to him, gently.

"Oh," Alby said, turning to look at him again. "Do you want to hold Bucky? He makes me feel better when I’m sad…"

He held out his stuffed hippogriff towards him. Severus cried even harder, but shook his head.

"That was very nice of you, pal," Potter told his son. "He’ll be all right without Bucky this time, I think. Why don’t you go on back outside and play."

"Can Sev’rus come, too?" Alby asked curiously.

Potter smiled. "Maybe he will in a little bit," he told him. "Go on now. You and Bucky have fun."

"Okay, Daddy," the solemn little boy said and then turned to walk back outside with his mother.

Once he was gone, Potter looked back at him. "Do you believe me now, Severus?" he asked him, gently.

Severus, despite himself, nodded. "Y-Yes," he said, sniffing and trying to wipe his tears away.

Potter smiled at him. "I’m glad," he told him, reaching out to place a hand on top of his head.

He noticed the slight flinch, and knew—from the memories they shared—what it meant.

He then stood up and turned to look at his former godfather.

"I think you owe Severus an apology, Sirius," he told him, firmly.

"What!?" Black said, indignantly. "Harry, you gotta be barking mad! I’m not apologizing to that…that minitature Death Eater!"

"Severus is not a Death Eater," Harry told him, angrily. "He never was."

"But…but…" Sirius sputtered, looking angry and confused. He glanced up at Lupin for support.

"Its true, Siri," Lupin informed him. "Severus died saving Harry’s life—he sacrificed himself, just as Lily did, in order to keep him safe."

"I would have, too!" Black replied, stubbornly. "It’s just…Bellatrix surprised me…"

"That’s not the point," Lupin informed him. "You just said a very mean and hurtful thing and now you need to apologize."

"But—" Sirius started to argue, but was quelled by the stern look being directed at him from his old friend.

"Now, Sirius," Lupin said, sternly.

Black looked mad enough to spit fire, but glanced at him grudgingly.

"Sorry, Sni—uh, Snape," he said, sullenly. "Guess I was wrong. Somebody does care for you—though why I don’t bloody well know!"

"Sirius," Lupin growled, shaking his head. "You always did have to have the final word, didn’t you?"

Black just shrugged. "Would you have me any other way, Moony?" he asked him, smirking impishly.

"No," Lupin admitted, "but from now on if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything. Understood?"

Black sighed. "Yeah," he said, but he still glared at him as if to say ‘you’ll pay for getting me into trouble’.

Severus snorted. He could have cared less what the mutt thought of him.

"I wonder why they are the ages that they are?" Tonks asked, curiously. "Sirius appears to be seven while Severus looks to be about five."

"Perhaps it has something to do with their magic," Ginny, who had rejoined them, said.

"That’s a definitely possibility," Lupin said, thoughtfully. "Siri, weren’t you seven when you started to show signs of accidental magic?"

"Yep," Black said, proudly. "I made my favorite model airplane fly all on its own!"

Potter glanced at him.

"What about you, Severus?" he asked, curiously. "How old were you when you started showing signs of magic?"

"Five," Severus admitted, sighing. "I set the sofa on fire by accident—my, uh, my father wasn’t pleased…"

Potter glanced at him, sympathetically. "It’s okay, Severus," he told him, gently. "He’s long dead now."

Severus nodded. "The memories are still there," he said, quietly.

"At least now you won’t have to bear them alone," Harry—I mean, Potter—said, quietly.

"So," Black said, "I guess that means we have our magic now, too. Right?"

Severus eyes widened at that. He had his magic?

He could perform wandless magic if he chose? There was only one way to find out…

"Potter," he said, glancing up at the man standing in front of him.

"Yes, Severus?" the man asked, curiously.

"I’m sorry," Severus told him, quietly.

"For what?" Harry—Potter—asked, confused.

"This," Severus said, and raised both his hands out towards the man.

As if he had been hit by strong gust of wind, Harry—Potter—found himself thrown backwards by several feet.

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, rushing forward to help her husband to his feet. "Are you all right?"

"I’m fine," Harry growled, glaring at him. "Severus Tobias Snape! Why in the name of Merlin did you do that?"

Severus glared up at him. He knew his magic was always strongest when he was angry. He clenched his fists.

"Because I felt like it," he stated, sneeringly.

Harry’s eyebrows shot all the way to his forehead—in a rather amusing pantomime of one his former looks, in fact—and he took a step towards him.

A pair of glass vases sitting to either side of him shattered, his magic growing stronger with his heightened emotional state.

"Severus," Harry said, beginng to look angry. "Stop it right now!"

"No!" Severus shouted, causing several more glass things to shatter. The windows began to fly up and down on their own.

Harry took another step forward, only to stop as the glass shards rose off the floor and began to spiral around him.

"Harry!" Ginny gasped. "If those shards cut him…?"

"I know, Gin," Harry said, swallowing. "Severus, why are you doing this?"

Severus said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Because," he told him, a lone tear trailing down his face. "I won’t do it."

Harry frowned. "Won’t do what?" he asked him, gently.

The spiraling shards were drawing closer and closer to him.

Dangerously close, in fact.

But he didn’t care.

"Live without her again," Severus said, his hair flying out from his face. The shards began to spiral faster.

"Her?" Tonks asked, wide-eyed and confused.

"He means Lily," Lupin said, looking rather pale.

"We have to do something!" Ginny cried, her maternal instincts going into overdrive. "We can’t just stand here while a five year old commits suicide!"

The very thought made Harry’s stomach flinch. "Severus," he tried again. "Please, listen…"

"You never listened to me," Severus told him, snorting. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I care, Severus," Harry implored him. "I care what happens to you!"

"Well, I don’t," Severus told him, the spiraling shards now only inches from his face.

"Just stun him," Black said, snorting. "Only Snivellous could make a temper tantrum a life or death situation."

"Quiet, Sirius," Harry hissed. "You’re not helping!"

"Harry," Lupin said, quietly. "The only one Severus ever really listened to was your mother…"

"I know," Harry said, feeling helpless.

He closed his eyes, squeezing them tight.  Mum, I really could use your help right about now…

Ginny gasped. "Harry, your scar!" she exclaimed, as his lightening bolt scar began to glow.

He opened his eyes, and this time he heard Tonks gasp. "His eyes…they’re glowing!" she exclaimed.

Suddenly, in front of him, appeared a beautiful red haired woman with emerald green eyes.

She glared at Severus, her green eyes boring into his black ones with an intensity so fierce it was almost palpable.

"Severus Tobias Snape!" Lily-Evans Potter exclaimed, sternly. "You stop this immediately!"

Severus’ eyes widened, and the shards dropped once more to the floor.

"Lily!" he exclaimed, shocked to see his childhood best friend—and the love of his life—standing before him. "W-What are you doing here?"

"T-That’s a question I’d like to know, too," Harry said, wincing as his head throbbed painfully. "Mum?"

Lily turned to face her now adult son.

"Forgive me, darling," she told him, "but I could only cross over by going through you."

Harry smiled, weakly. "S’okay," he told her. "Thanks for coming."

Lily smiled, but then turned back to her childhood friend.

"Sev," she said, using her childhood nickname for him. "Why are you throwing this tantrum?"

Severus swallowed, refusing to meet stare into her beautiful eyes—eyes he adored beyond anything else.

"Because," he said, quietly.

"Severus, look at me," Lily told him, firmly.

As if she had placed a compulsion spell upon him, he found he could not more disobey her request than he could fly without the use of a broom.

"You’ve been given a second chance, Sev," Lily told him, gently. "A second chance for a happier life."

"My life can’t be happy," Severus told her, stubbornly. "Not without you."

"I know," Lily told him, "which is why I will be returning, too."

Severus’ eyes widened at that. "Y-You will?" he asked, swallowing. "Will you be a child again, too?"

Lily nodded.

"Yes," she told him, grinning. "We shall grow up together again—only things will be different this time. I promise."

"We’ll…be together?" he asked, hopefully. "Always?"

"Always," Lily told him.

"What about James?" Sirius piped up suddenly. "Will he be coming back, too?"

Lily glanced at him. "James has already been reborn, Siri," she told him, gently.

"He has?" Harry, Sirius, and Remus all three asked at the exact same time.

Lily nodded. "Yes," she said, smiling. "And he’s already here." She gave Remus a pointed look.

"Jamie," the man whispered, wide-eyed. "Jamie is James…reborn?"

Lily nodded. "Yes," she told him.

"Why is his rebirth different from theirs?" Ginny asked, curiously.

"James had no regrets, no need of a second chance," Lily explained. "He was reborn into a completely new life—free from his old one."

"Why haven’t you been, then?" Harry asked her, curiously.

"Because, like Severus and Sirius, I have regrets," Lily told him, glancing at the five year old. "And Severus needs me."

"Yes, I do," Severus said, quietly. "When, Lily? When will you come back to me?"

"Soon," Lily told him. "As you know, with magic, timing is everything. I can only return through the Veil on the day that I died."

"Jamie was born on Halloween," Tonks realized, glancing at her husband. "The same night James Potter died."

Lily nodded.

"But," she said, speaking to Severus, "that is still many months away. In the mean time, Sev, you have to listen to Harry and do as he and Ginny say. You may have your memories, but you are physically and emotionally a child again."

"I’ll do anything, Lily," Severus told her. "I’ll do anything if it means you’ll come back to me."

"Even be nice to Sirius?" Lily asked him, curiously.

Severus wrinkled his nose, glaring at Sirius across the room.

"If I must," he said, sullenly. "But he’d better not start anything!"

"He won’t," Lily said, "right, Remus?"

Remus nodded. "I’ll see to it, personally," he said, placing a hand on his former best friend’s head.

"Huh?" Sirius asked, puzzled. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Remus told him, glancing down at him, "that you will come and live with ‘Dora and me."

"You mean it?" Sirius asked, smiling. "I can?"

"Of course you can," Tonks told him. "You’re family, after all."

Severus swallowed. That was all very well and good for Black…but what about him?

"I don’t have any family," he said, quietly.

Lily glanced at him. "Yes, Severus," she told him, firmly. "You do. Right, Harry?"

Harry smiled at his mother, understanding what she was doing.

"Right, Mum," he said, going over and kneeling down in front of the former Potions Master. "You will live with me, Ginny, and Alby. We’ll be your family now."

Severus blinked back tears. "Y-You won’t be mean to me?" he asked him. "T-The way I was to you?"

"Of course not," Harry told him, "but like you I will insist you respect me and Ginny—and mind us and the rules we set you."

"I, uh, I suppose I can try," Severus told him, glancing at Lily. "I miss you, Lily."

"We won’t be separated for long, Sev," Lily told him. "I promise. Embrace this second chance."

"I will," Severus said, quietly. "For you."

Lily nodded. "Until Halloween, then," she said, glancing at Ginny. "Do take care of them, dear, won’t you?"

Ginny smiled at her mother-in-law. "My Witch's Oath, I shall," she told her.

"Goodbye, Mum," Harry told her. "See you soon, I guess."

Lily nodded and then glancing straight at Severus, she blew him a kiss. Then, she faded from the room.

Severus swallowed, sniffing.

Harry lifted him into his arms and held him close.

"It’s okay to cry, Sev," he whispered to him.

The simple word undid him and the five year old began sobbing his heart out onto Harry’s shoulder.

Harry simply held him close, gently stroking his hair, and saying soothing words to him.

"You’re safe, Sev," he whispered to the child. "You’re safe…and you’re wanted."

Severus cried harder. That was more than he ever had before…