Drawing in a slow breath, Snape braced himself for the onslaught of another Welcoming Feast. He positively hated the horrid feasts because it reminded him of how many wolves-raised students attended Hogwarts. He then scoffed as he remembered his behavior on Harry's birthday when he couldn't control himself and scoffed down nearly all of Harry's cake by himself. It was just something normal for teenagers. It had nothing to do with their parents.

Once again, Snape had lost track of time working on the handmade cribs. It had taken a poor little house elf who probably was now having a nervous breakdown in the kitchens to draw him back out of his thoughts. Every curse word he knew, he snarled in regards to his stupidity. He was after all fifteen minutes to the feast. It was the first time in years that he was late.

Snape pushed open the doors and walked into the bustling Great Hall. Within seconds, he felt hundreds of eyes glance at him, but it was only three people he felt more unsettled with staring at him. One was a pair of infuriating twinkling blue eyes that belonged to a man who attempted to kill everyone with his horrid sweets. The second was a pair of brilliant emerald eyes alight with hidden amusement and excitement that belonged to a young man who seemed live to give Snape heart failure before he was forty. The final eyes, the eyes that unsettled him the most surprisingly, was a pair of rich dark chocolate that held so much warmth and love in them that it knotted and twisted his insides into a pretzel. He didn't deserve her love. He didn't deserve Harry's either, but there it was. Love, sweet unadulterated love, in both of their eyes held on him, and only him.

Walking briskly towards the High Table, Snape ignored the fervent whispers from the students' tables. He already knew that he looked different from last term. There was no need to hear every single student, save a few, whispering it so annoyingly around him. One seat was empty, his seat, which made him nearly growl. No doubt, the students in general thought he had died or something before his arrival. He quickly took his chair and sighed. The student body in large was still watching him ever so carefully, but they soon returned to their friends talking non-stop.

"Going casual this year, I see," McGonagall said with her lips curling upwards slightly.

"I did not wish to delay the Headmaster any further for my lateness," he replied calmly. On the inside, though, he was anything but calm. He couldn't believe that he had been the last to arrive. Not only was it embarrassing, it also went against his established routines and rules. He hated tardiness whenever a student in one of his classes did it, but this time it was he who was the tardy individual. Every student in the Great Hall was probably now thinking how much of a hypocrite he was.

A few seconds later, when slender fingers knitted with his under the table, Snape felt a warmth flood throughout his body. He relaxed considerably and bit back his sigh of contentment. How could this one simple touch rid him of his anger so quickly? He then scoffed inwardly. He knew why. Hell, even Harry knew why and probably even Binns.

"Good evening, students. Now, before we may enjoy ourselves for the evening, I would like to remind all students that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits. Unless supervised by a professor, any students caught in the Forbidden Forest will immediately be sent home for the remainder of the term."

Snape's eyes darted towards the Headmaster instantly. They'd expel a student this year for going into the Forbidden Forest! That was certainly…more harsh than usual. Idly, he wondered if that applied to Harry as well since it seemed his adoptive son could get away with a lot more than others could at Hogwarts. He released a slow controlled breath, though. After all, how many times had he spoken with Albus about the idiocy of a rule stating that the Forbidden Forest was off-limits only to have some foolish student go into the forest and not have any harsh consequences as a result?

"We have three changes in staffing this year." Shocked looks stared back at Dumbledore, including Snape's barely noticeable look. "Professor Lupin has rejoined the staff this term to assist Professor Sinistra in Astronomy as she settles into her role as a new mother."

Snape grumbled quietly. However, when the fingers danced across the back of his hand, he instantly went quiet. How could she not be upset about Dumbledore revealing her personal life to the students? He then bit the inside of his cheek so he didn't groan at another display of his stupidity. After all, it would be rather noticeable that Aurora was pregnant in a few months since she was carrying twins. Honestly, where was his head these days? He was clearly slipping. Luckily, he didn't have any spying duties anymore or even have to think about the Dark Lord. Everything was good for once in his life. Well, as good as it was going to get for him.

"This year, we have the immense pleasure of having Madam Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge on our staff as our Defense against the Dark Arts professor. I'm sure I speak for the students when I say, welcome, Professor." The horrid pink plump witch smiled sweetly bowing her head towards the Headmaster. "Finally, Professor Horace Slughorn," he spoke.

WHAT! You have to be joking, old man! Snape's head whipped towards Dumbledore. I told you not to, you interfering lemon drop addict! Snape glared at his boss. He couldn't believe the old man. He had told Dumbledore not to ask Slughorn. He could continue his regular duties along with being a father. Oh, whom was he kidding? Dumbledore was probably right, and Snape was just being too stubborn to believe it.

"Will be taking over Professor Snape's practical classes while Professor Snape focuses more of his attention on his Head of House duties," Dumbledore finished saying.

Strangely enough, Snape felt odd with the older wizard's half-truth. Truly, the reason wasn't that he would have a far more difficult year with swaying his Slytherins from the dark side while helping them figure out what they could do later in life. With the Dark Lord's defeat, most of the families would stop spewing their hatred on their children now. It made his job considerably easier. And Snape knew he should be jumping up and down with joy about the loss of his practical classes. No more would he have to deal with Longbottom trying to kill everyone in the class. Theoretical classes were much safer, and they required less energy. But for some reason, he didn't like it at all. For one, it felt like Dumbledore had no faith in his abilities to multitask. And for two, well, he wasn't sure what the second reason was yet, but it deeply unsettled him.

"It's because you want everyone to know that she's yours, Sev," a soft voice whispered near him before the familiar laughter echoed around. "You've always been a bit possessive of your women."

Snape's stomach lurched slightly. It couldn't…he couldn't be hearing…no! That damn potion was out of his system. There was no way he was hearing a witch who he knew was dead. When Lily, his sweet Lily, wearing a pale yellow sundress, appeared out of thin air in front of him, he stared at her in utter disbelief. There was no way she was standing there in front of him, just staring at him with those beautiful green eyes of hers. There was no way she was giving him her familiar lop-sided grin. There was no way that Lily, his Lily, could be there. But she was. She was right there with that grin and those eyes. She looked so full of life.

"She certainly keeps you on your toes, doesn't she, Sev?" Lily's heartbreaking laughter reverberated softly around the Great Hall like little bells ringing. "It seems she won in the end, just like she said she would." Lily's eyes sparkled majestically in the soft amber light that surrounded her. "I am glad you're with her, Severus. She's going to bring you so much happiness, so much happiness that you deserve in your life."

His heart wrenched at her words. This couldn't be his Lily. He couldn't be seeing her. He wanted to turn away and ignore her, but he knew that he didn't have the strength to do so. No matter what, he'd always love her. She was his first love, and no one ever gets over his first love, no one. His throat was dry so he didn't respond.

"You were always the better man, Sev, always." Her smile then widened slightly as tears shown in her eyes. "I never told you this, but I did forgive you for that day by the lake. I knew that you didn't mean it. I could see it in your eyes, Sev. I could hear it in your voice as you begged me to forgive you so many days afterwards. Oh, Sev, I gave up on you, even though you never once gave up on me." Sighing softly with her smiling lighting up the room, she stared at him. "Thank you. Thank you for protecting Harry and keeping him safe all this time. But mostly, I want you to know how much it means to me that you've shown him love and what a true family is. Oh, my two broken boys, how I wish I could be there with you both." Tears streamed down her eyes as she stared at him. He, however, choked back his emotions. "Thank you for being the man I knew you to be, Sev." She made no attempt to wipe away the tears. "Now, enjoy your family with Aurora. You deserve to be happy, Sev, so enjoy them. And know that I will always be watching you and Harry. I've never left either of you and I won't ever. Goodbye, Sev." The light then took her, and once again, she was gone.

Drawing in a somewhat shaky breath, he glanced towards Aurora. Her attention was solely on the Headmaster. For a split second, he thought about pushing back his emotions as he had always done. The pain, the terrible pain, in his heart hurt too much, but he didn't. He didn't want to this time. He wanted himself to feel the intense emotions that surrounded him. Squeezing Aurora's hand lovingly, he nearly chuckled when her dark eyes darted towards him.

"I love you," he said breathlessly allowing the emotions to seep from him. In the background, he heard someone drop his or her crystal goblet onto the table. He ignored it, though. He heard the collective gasps from his coworkers, and he thought nothing of it. His dark eyes held hers. Somewhere deep within himself, he knew that he was still in the Great Hall in front of everyone at the Welcoming Feast, but it didn't matter for some reason. He was acting on impulse it seemed, and it felt right for once. Who gave a flying Hippogriff if they did see him act like one of Minerva's horrid lions?

"What?" Aurora replied with a shocked look.

If his declaration shocked her that much, then his next actions shattered everything. Pushing away the need to be professional (something that was very rare for Snape to do) and the need to be Severus Snape the unfeeling git, he gently rested a hand against her neck before kissing her. They drew apart from one another a few seconds later. Almost instantly, a rare smile overtook his face. He was at a loss for words, which seemed to be the same for her.

There was no need to be Severus Snape, the bastard who pushed away all the people he loved, this year, not at Hogwarts. He was rather certain that the students would have guessed later anyway that he was with Aurora. If it wouldn't have been Harry, then there were always the Weasley twins who would blab to everyone. He was a Slytherin, yes, but that didn't mean he had to be cold and unfeeling. It was odd, but he felt as if he was back under the potion again. He knew that he wasn't, though. But if anyone ever asked what in the hell had happened just then, he'd blame Aurora's pregnancy hormones.

Dumbledore's blue eyes were twinkling madly as he stared at Snape. The younger professor, however, only reached for his crystal goblet and took a sip of his wine to hide his smug grin. It felt good breaking a few decorum rules. Snape then snorted. He was starting to turn into Harry, Merlin save him.