By the time Harry and Minerva caught up with Severus, he was already outside the castle, standing in front of the entrance doors watching Hagrid and the children as they approached. Hagrid had one little girl on each shoulder and had changed out of his swimwear into less startling clothing. "I hope he changed inside his cabin," muttered Severus.

"Severus!" said Minerva. "I am quite sure Hagrid changed in private. The children likely waited outside of his cabin and played with Fang." She pointed to his cabin off in the distance where Severus could clearly see the striped swimming costume hanging over some shrubs just outside the front door.

"Wouldn't really matter," said Harry. "Hagrid's so hairy that he probably looks like a bear when he's starkers."

"I never want to hear 'Hagrid' and 'starkers' in the same sentence again," commented Severus, looking over his shoulder and giving Harry a very Snape-like glare.

The group had reached the bottom of the stairway leading up to the castle doors and the boys raced up as Hagrid stooped to lower the girls down to the ground.

"What's for lunch?" asked James as he slid to a halt in front of his father, his brother close behind him.

"Hello to you, too," quipped Harry, raising an eyebrow at his oldest son.

The boy smiled, chagrinned. "Hey, Dad." He nodded politely at Minerva and Severus. "Headmistress, Professor Snape."

"Thank you," said Harry. "And I have no idea what's for lunch. Is there any food at Hogwarts you don't like?"

"He doesn't eat the black pudding," said Albus.

"Either do you!" shot back James.

Lily and Anna had joined the little group at the top of the stairs, Anna stopping dead in her tracks upon seeing her father dressed in very conservative black wizarding robes. She looked him up and down then sighed, exasperated.

"No one buttons their robes all up, Father," she said as she reached up and began to unfasten the buttons. Severus scowled a bit, but permitted the wardrobe adjustment. He was left with robes that were open from collar to knee over dark pants and a collared button-down shirt.

Anna reached up and adjusted the robes at the shoulder then took a step back. She looked over at Harry, checking the style of his robes—dark grey today—then nodded in approval.

"There, that's better." She turned to her friend. "Don't you think so, Lily?"

Lily nodded enthusiastically. "Much better. You look much more relaxed like that, Professor Snape. Not so severe."

"Thank-you, Miss Potter," replied Severus, giving her a slight courtly bow. "I'm happy it meets with your approval as well." He looked less comfortable with his black robes falling casually open, Harry thought, but he took it in stride and seemed to settle into the altered look.

"We had water in bottles, Dad," said Lily as they all headed into the Great Hall. "It tasted just like regular water, though." She looked a bit disapproving at that, as if she would have expected it to taste more like a Muggle carbonated beverage.

"Yeah," said Albus, turning around to walk backwards so he could see his father as he spoke. "And cereal bars! Those weren't bad, actually. It's like mixing your rice cereal with nuts and chocolate chips and sticking the whole thing together with honey."

"Sounds delicious," replied Harry, grinning. "So you're not hungry for lunch, then?"

"After one measley little cereal bar?" protested Al. "Of COURSE I'm hungry."

"Besides, we worked up an appetite swimming," said James. "Hagrid let us do cannonballs off his shoulders. Even Lily and Anna did it at the end. Of course they screamed like girls…"

"They are girls," said Harry. "Young girls at that. You weren't jumping off Hagrid's shoulders when you were their age, were you?"

"Well, I didn't exactly have the chance, did I?" asked James, rolling his eyes.

Harry laughed and Severus looked a tad disapproving at his cheek, but the group settled in for a hearty lunch and the conversation moved to other topics. They had just started on their pudding when an owl arrived. It landed next to Minerva and held out its leg expectantly. She treated it to a piece of a cinnamon digestive as she removed the small scroll, reading it as the Potter boys entertained Lily and Anna with stories of the sorting ceremony and feasts in the Great Hall.

Harry, however, was watching Minerva's face as she read the message. Her brows were beginning to furrow and she glanced once over at Severus. Severus was fully engaged, however, in listening to James, Albus and Lily expound on the delights of Diagon Alley to Anna.

Finally, Minerva looked up.

"Gentlemen, we have a bit of a problem," she said dryly. She held up the scroll. "The Daily Prophet would like confirmation that Severus is alive."

"The Daily Prophet?" Harry's eyes widened. "How did that rag…?"

"You walked from Hogsmeade, did you not?" asked Minerva.

Harry scowled and Severus frowned. "Well, there is that," admitted Harry. "But Severus hardly looks like the Severus Snape anyone in Hogsmeade would remember."

Minerva frowned. "Harry, several members of Slytherin House from the years Severus taught here reside in Hogsmeade now."

"That's right," groaned Harry. "And Pansy works at the Prophet."

"And her mother at the Ministry," added Minerva.

Severus followed the conversation, head turning from Minerva to Harry and back to Minerva again.

"While I would like to maintain privacy—for myself and my daughter," he began, "I don't see that my being alive is a crime. I would be happy to reply and confirm that I am indeed alive and leave it at that."

Harry looked at Severus, his mouth dropping open.

"Leave it at that? You don't remember much about the Daily Prophet, do you?"

"Or about the Ministry," added Minerva, smiling at Severus almost fondly.

"What's to remember? Are not ordinary wizards afforded the same privacy in their world as Muggles?"

Harry shook his head as Minerva hid a smile behind her hand.

"Ordinary? Severus—you've never been an ordinary wizard. You're an acclaimed war hero, one of only a handful of living recipients of an Order of Merlin, First Class. And you've been presumed dead for twenty years."

"You're wizarding royalty," put in Minerva. "Like Harry here. The public will want your story, the Ministry will expect an interview at the very least and the Prophet will demand a feature article with photos."

"Then perhaps this was not a good idea," said Severus, pushing his chair back from the table and sweeping his hand in an arc to indicate the castle, the very magic, surrounding him.

The children had stopped chattering and were fixing their attention on the adults by now.

"Not a good idea? Papa!" exclaimed Anna. "This is the best thing that could possibly have happened! You have magic again, and I'm going to go to Hogwarts—with Lily!" She glanced over at her new friend and Lily nodded her agreement. "And you're starting to remember, and even if it's not all pleasant and happy, at least it's something. I've never been so happy…I've never been anywhere else that feels so right…" She trailed off, looking at her father with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Please, Professor Snape," said Lily, her voice small. "It really isn't so bad. Dad's been famous for forever and people ask him for all sorts of things and take pictures of him and he's very polite about it and he says it's gotten loads better as the years pass…"

"I think Severus' idea is a good one," interrupted Harry, giving his daughter an appreciative smile which she returned. "Let him owl the Ministry and the Prophet with whatever information he'd like to share. As long as he continues his treatment here at Hogwarts, no one can get to him. He can floo directly here from his home in Surrey."

"What do you say no one can get to me here?" asked Severus. "We walked right through the gates without question or provocation. What's to keep out this Screecher woman?"

"That's Skeeter, Severus," answered Minerva, "though I will say that Screecher fits her as well. As for the protection of Hogwarts—the entire grounds are warded. The wards are extensive and complex, but they recognize Hogwarts professors and staff members…"

"They also recognize intent," said James, a bit proudly, as if this piece of information was not known by most almost fourth-years.

Harry nodded at his son. "Right, James. Though certainly not fool-proof, the current wards judge the visitor's—or intruder's—intent and the gates will not open to those who are not here on legitimate, sanctioned Hogwarts business." He turned to Severus to explain further. "The current wards were strengthened about five years ago when I was still head of MLE at the Ministry."

"That's Magical Law Enforcement, Father," explained Anna in a whisper.

"It sounds like a valid plan," said Severus. "However, I will need to go out in public in the wizarding world if Anna is to attend Hogwarts, or if I regain more of my memory and wish to pursue a magical career. Will I be safe?"

Harry glanced at Minerva then turned back to Severus. "From your admirers?"

"Safe in general," replied Severus. "I have not had to watch my step, so to say, these last twenty years."

Harry didn't have a chance to answer as the great eagle owl that sailed into the Great Hall at that moment distracted him and captured the attention of everyone at the table.

"That's the Malfoy's owl," said Albus, pointing without need. "Purity. It's been here loads of times for Scorpius."

"That kid gets a package from his grandmother every week," scoffed James, looking solidly affronted. He seemed to forget the frequent packages of treats that Molly Weasley sent to each of her grandchildren at Hogwarts.

Minerva shook her head. "Probably just Lucius informing me of another visit by the Board of Governers," she said. She picked up another digestive, prepared to offer it to the owl once it delivered its message, but the owl alit on the table not in front of her but in front of Severus instead. It deftly maneuvered around the tray of biscuits and the bowl of lemon meringue then held out its foot and hopped a bit on one leg. Severus stared at it a moment before reaching forward and untying the small scroll attached to its foot.

"The Malfoy's owl," he repeated idly to himself. Minerva tossed the digestive to the bird, which caught the treat and made short work of it. The owl, however, did not depart.

"Why is it staying?" asked Severus. He hadn't yet opened his letter. "The others all leave once they've delivered their message."

"They stay when they're waiting for a return message," said Harry. He watched Severus a moment. The man made no attempt to open the letter.

"Do you…do you remember the Malfoys?" asked Harry. "You mentioned their names yesterday at the Burrow. I think you were beginning to remember then."

"I believe you told me it was complicated," replied Severus.

"Actually, I said my relationship with Draco Malfoy was complicated," corrected Harry. He directed his attention to the boys. "Why don't you two go show Lily and Anna the owlery? Aunt Hermione will be here to fetch you all at two o'clock to take you to Diagon Alley for your supplies. You have nearly an hour 'til then."

"I want to hear what Scorpius' grandparents have to say," protested Albus.

"And you believe that what's written on that letter is your business?" asked Harry, standing and beginning to direct the children out of the Hall. Anna looked at her father, both concerned and curious. Severus caught her look and gave her a reassuring nod.

"Go with the other children, Anna. This is just a letter from an old friend of mine. Doubtless he has been informed of my whereabouts and simply wants to arrange a meeting."

"Am I getting my supplies too?" she asked hopefully.

Severus instinctively reached into his back pocket for his wallet, sighing when he realized that he didn't have his wallet and that British currency would not be useful anyway.

"You can pay me directly," suggested Harry to Severus. "Hermione had a bank draft from me for my Gringott's account. I use pound notes when I'm in London so that will work fine."

Anna gave her father a hurried hug and Harry a grateful smile then the girls hurried off after the boys and all eyes—Harry's, Hagrid's and Minerva's—turned back to Severus and his letter.

"The Parkinson's are well connected with the Malfoys," said Harry. "If they alerted the Prophet they likely are spreading the word elsewhere too."

Severus opened the letter and read it quickly, rerolling it and dropping it on the table when he finished. The owl looked at the scroll and waited patiently.

"The Malfoys—that is, Lucius and Narcissa—wish me to confirm that I am alive and at Hogwarts." He paused and looked rather puzzled. "They also offer me lodging in their home should I be in need of a place to stay that is 'more hospitable' than Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts is plenty 'ospitable," said Hagrid.

"It's just their way, Severus," explained Minerva. "The Malfoys are of a class in and of themselves. Old money…"

"The Malfoys fought on Voldemort's side in the war," explained Harry. "But in the end, their love of their son won out over their loyalty to Voldemort. It was Narcissa Malfoy who saved me, in the end…"

Severus was quiet for a long moment. He reread the letter then looked up at Harry.

"I recall their faces," he said. "I spent time….at their manor. There were peacocks…white peacocks."

"That's the place," breathed Harry. No matter what Lucius had paid in restoration, no matter the long probation he had served or the hours and galleons he and his family had poured into establishing trusts for the war orphans like Teddy Lupin, he would always remember Malfoy Manor with revulsion, would always hear Hermione's screams as he and Ron were trapped in the dungeons.

"Why don't you write them a short note—just explain that you are only now regaining your memory and are under treatment here at Hogwarts."

"Lucius Malfoy is a member of the Board of Governors," Harry reminded Minerva. "He can visit Hogwarts at any time—the wards will recognize and admit him."

Minerva sighed.

"Best to invite him here, then," she relented. "But don't feel it must be today, or even this week. Write your letter, and propose a time and date that is convenient to you."

"You might want to wait until you have a couple more memories restored," said Harry. "I think you would be at a better place then. Lucius Malfoy can be rather…intimidating."

"I do not recall whether he was my friend," commented Severus, frowning.

Minerva shook her head. "Associate would be a better word, Severus," she explained. "Still, there is quite a bit of shared history between you, from your days here at Hogwarts as a student to your…association….with the Dark Lord."

"Come on, Severus," said Harry, standing up and effectively ending the uncomfortable situation. "Let's go to my office—you can write a note to Malfoy and to the Prophet from there and then we should have time for some spell practice before your session with Stuart."

"Perhaps you should do the excess magic siphoning first," said Minerva, looking worriedly at Severus. His hair, short though it be, was beginning to stand on end as if he was receiving an electric shock. Harry shook his head indulgently.

"Relax, Severus. Let's get the letters over with then go out and blow up some stuff."

"Really?" asked Severus, looking interested.

"Really," said Harry. "I have a plan."

Forty minutes later, three owls were dispatched in different directions with three similar messages from Severus. Lucius received an invitation to visit Severus on Friday at 10 a.m. at Hogwarts. The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, in office again after the two four-year terms of former Minister Ambrosia Deckhauser, was officially notified that Severus was alive and in treatment at Hogwarts. And finally, Rita Skeeter was invited to send an owl with written questions for Severus' consideration.

The children were in the Great Hall with Hermione when Severus and Harry returned from the owlery and were ushered out through the floo with James going first, tossing in the floo powder and calling out "The Leaky Cauldron" with authority.

"Get an upgrade to your required cauldron," Severus found himself instructing his daughter. Lily looked at her father, who shook his head.

"Better stick with the standard," said Harry. "Potters usually blow up several before their Potions skills start to take shape."

Fifteen minutes later, Severus was back at the lakeside where he had practiced the previous day—was it really just a day ago?—with Hermione. Harry took out his wand and signaled to Severus to do the same.

"Let's try three spells," said Harry. "First, you'll summon an object to you. Then you'll transfigure it into a clay plate. Finally, I'll toss the plate out over the water and you get to blast it." His boyish enthusiasm for the blasting bit of the exercise made Severus roll his eyes.

"Fine, skeet shooting it is," said Severus. "Now, this first charm you mention…"

Within thirty minutes, Severus had mastered—or remastered—the summoning charm, had learned how to transfigure pebbles into clay plates and was developing a pretty good aim with his blasting curse. It had taken three tries to hit upon an appropriate object to summon. Harry chose a stick first—there was a good supply of them on the ground already—but Severus' magic was so near the surface that the first stick nearly impaled him. He dove out of the way as it approached him and Harry destroyed it with a blasting curse before it could do further damage. Harry next recommended feathers—like the sticks, there were quite a few around the lake as owls from the owlery often dipped down to this particular spot for late night drinks. Severus dutifully pointed his wand at a feather, summoned it to him with an Accio that was perfectly flawless, then screamed in pain as the pointy end, like the projectile point of an arrow, embedded itself in his thigh.

"A little less intent behind your Accio," muttered Harry after he pulled out the offending feather and healed the puncture wound. Severus fingered the hole in his trousers and tried it again.

"Accio feather!" he called out. He didn't actually point to a specific feather, just to the general area where a number of feathers were wafting about in the tall grass around the lake. And that, thought Harry, was the crux of the problem.

"It's just a dead robin," said Harry as he cleaned and healed the second wound of the day, this time a deep gouge in Severus' palm where the pointy beak of the dead bird had hit his outstretched hand.

"It's unclean," said Severus. "Birds walk around in their own excrement. And who knows where it's had that beak…"

"I disinfected it before I healed it, Severus," explained Harry, tucking his wand away while Severus studied his hand. "Come on, let's get on with it."

The small, smooth pebbles along the lakeshore proved to be the solution to the summoning problem. Severus was able to summon one, catch it in his outstretched hand then transfigure it into a clay plate with relative ease. Harry hurled each plate high in the air over the lake, throwing them like Muggle Frisbees, and Severus took aim and blasted. He hit more than half the first fifteen minutes and improved his accuracy to two out of three in the next quarter hour. By the time the hour was up, he felt less on edge and more centered; his magic no longer seemed to bristle in his skin, making his hair stand on edge as it had in the Great Hall earlier as he contemplated Lucius Malfoy's letter.

The two men watched the last plate explode high over the lake, watched the thousand clay fragments rain down and drop into the still water of the lake.

"Feel better now?" asked Harry as he dusted his hands off on his robes, leaving clay dust handprints on the dark fabric.

Severus pocketed his wand and smoothed his hand over his hair.

"Less bristly, at least," he replied, the left side of his mouth rising slightly into a half-smile. He glanced up at the castle and squared his shoulders. "Time to see Stuart, I assume," he said.

As they walked back to the castle, Severus was silent, apparently lost in thought. "It's as if I have lost ground these last twenty-four hours," he said at last. "After the first session, I felt as if I had half of my life back. But as the hours progressed, I felt more and more as if all that was in my brain from these past twenty years started to crowd out all the new information."

"I think you should tell Stuart that," suggested Harry. They had reached the castle doors and he held it open for Severus as they entered. "But my guess is that it's just part of the recovery process. Maybe think of it as the old and the new learning to live in the same space—kind of like when Ron and I gave a go at being flat mates after we left Hogwarts."

"Interesting analogy," said Severus dryly.

"Hey, I try anyway," laughed Harry.

When they entered the infirmary, Stuart and Poppy were already there, standing at the small table that still held the pensieved memories. Stuart was prodding the memories with his wand and Poppy was studying them intently. They looked up as the Harry and Severus approached them.

"Oh, there you are." Stuart stood up and directed Severus to a nearby bed. Severus sat down on the edge of the cot, removed his shoes then slid onto the bed with his back resting against the headboard, the pillow at the small of his back.

"I thought we'd try a memory from your childhood today," said Stuart quietly as Poppy worked to separate out an appropriate memory.

"There are actually a number of memories in there from Severus' childhood and his school years here at Hogwarts," said Harry.

"I'm not sure how successful this will be," said Stuart as he checked Severus' pulse. "You were what—37?—when you lost your memory? So the memory we are about to restore may have occurred as many as 30 or so before that. It would be better if the returned memory had something else to connect with, some other memory thread to which you had access…"

"Here," said Harry, stepping closer to the Pensieve. "Maybe you should try one from Hogwarts." He took out his own wand and stirred the cloudy substance in the bowl, watching the faces float around, forming and reforming miniature three-dimensional figures. He sighed.

"These aren't really pleasant," he said, looking up at Stuart.

"Life isn't all pleasant," said Severus from his spot on the hospital bed. "I remember enough already to not be surprised at the person I once was. Just choose one and get on with it." He sounded decidedly Snapish now, and that comforted Harry somewhat. At length he extracted a single long silver thread and held his wand tip out to Stuart, who transferred the memory to his own wand and approached Severus.

"Which one did you choose?" asked Poppy softly as Stuart held the memory to Severus' temple and recognizing its rightful owner, it flowed into his skin like a stream of water.

"An argument with my mum," whispered Harry. "It wasn't pretty…" He looked nervously at Severus as the expression on the man's face changed from fairly placid to distinctly troubled. He closed his eyes and brought his hands up to cover his eyes, then dropped one to the bed while with the other he tried to push hair—hair that was not there—back out of his face. He squeezed his eyes shut then and rolled onto his side, facing the wall. As they watched, he drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

Five minutes had passed and he had not moved again.

"Severus?" said Poppy quietly, taking a step toward him and placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Not yet," he replied, his voice catching. He stayed in that position for ten more minutes and then at last he slowly unrolled then sat up.

"I would like one more today," he requested. He looked at Harry, almost curiously, then clarified. "Of Lily."

Stuart began to stand but Harry stopped him with his hand and stood up himself instead, walking over to the Pensieve and extracting a memory, a perfect counter to the first he had chosen. A memory of a little girl on a swing and a young boy telling her—for the first time ever—about magic.

Thirty minutes later, Poppy back in her office and Stuart gone through the floo, Harry and Severus walked together through the castle corridors, down the marble staircase and out into the sunshine. They trudged silently toward the winged boars on the castle gates. Harry's hands were stuffed into the pockets of his pants and Severus had his clasped behind his back. They walked through the gate and Harry closed it carefully behind them, then continued down the path toward Harry's cottage in Hogsmeade where the children were scheduled to return within the hour.

"You know," said Severus at last as they walked quietly together, "I never really hated you."

"Could have fooled me," said Harry. He shrugged then, ridding himself of the pent up resentment with the gesture. "I didn't know that then, but I figured it out about twenty years ago." He shrugged again. "Water under the bridge, Severus."

They continued walking, two robed figures of similar stature, each chewing on painful memories.

"It's just that…" began Severus. But he stopped then, closing his mouth sharply on the nearly spoken thought.

"It's just what?" pursued Harry. Severus shrugged this time and Harry smiled. "Never mind then," said Harry. "Let's get home before the ruffians destroy the cottage." He increased his pace, beckoning to Severus and when he was a few steps in front of him, Severus could no longer keep the words inside him. They'd been pummeling his brain since that first memory of Lily had been restored to him and he had looked across the infirmary at Harry's face, at Harry's eyes and it had all come tumbling down in his brain. The protest he'd tamped down for all those years, the shout of rage at the heavens for robbing him of that one thing that he wanted, that he thought he deserved.

"You should have been mine," he said, not too loudly, but loud enough.

Harry stopped walking. He turned around. If anything, he looked relieved.

"You would have been a good dad," he said thoughtfully. He smiled that wistful smile Severus had seen before. "I would have liked that. Never had a dad…not really."

They stared at one another for another moment, then Harry reached out and took Severus' elbow and pulled him forward.

"Anna will be waiting," he said. "And she'll have that new cauldron to show you."

They continued talking as they walked, chatting about the Diagon Alley purchases and the Hogwarts supply list. The last thing heard before the Hogwarts path became the depot road in Hogsmeade was Severus exclaiming "A pet! No one said anything about a pet!" with Harry's answering laughter trailing back on the wind.