He couldn't believe it. He just stared and stared some more. There was no way. But as his eyes adjusted to the burst of green light, he saw the figure left in its place. Even though she looked disheveled in her light pink bathrobe with her red curls frizzed in every direction, Severus easily recognized her or at least what appeared to be her. Lily was dead and gone, though. Whoever or whatever was in front of them could not be her. At least that what he told himself as he pointed his wand at his best friend.

"Lily," Snape whispered reverently. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Harry had started to move towards the figure. Almost immediately, Snape's hand fell heavily on Harry's shoulder to pull the boy back.

"Go wake Arthur. Tell him to summon Dumbledore," Snape commanded never lowering the wand or looking away from 'Lily'. When the boy didn't immediately follow his instruction, he bellowed, "Now, Potter!"

Shocked, the boy jumped and ran out the door.

"Sev?" Lily said with a tremor in her voice. "What's going on? Where are we?" She didn't receive an answer. "Where's James?" Her wide green eyes then darted around wildly. "For that matter, where's my son? Severus, what is going on here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me what was going on." Snape was surprised he could keep his voice steady.

Lily's eyes narrowed, and she nearly spat her words out. "You're the Death Eater. Tell me, Severus. Did you help Voldemort break through the wards? Did I really misjudge you so much?"

"You're dead," he said as much to convince himself as her.

"I don't feel dead," she shot back. "And unless you plan on killing me now, put your wand away."

"The Dark Lord killed you thirteen years ago."

"What?" She cocked her head to the side as her face crinkled in confusion. "Severus, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but this isn't funny. I'm not dead."

He remained silent. A part of his brain screamed for him to do something besides stand there, to hex or curse, or at least bind the figure that couldn't possibly be his best friend, but he couldn't.

She stepped closer to him, but he didn't move. As she came closer, Snape lowered his wand. He hated himself for it, but there was no way he could ever hurt Lily or anything that looked like her. When she was less than two feet away, she stopped. He saw her tension then. His chest rose and fell rapidly. Her breathing was shallow, and her eyes had an almost panicked look to them.

"Severus," Lily said quietly, "what's going on?"

Snape opened his mouth to reply as he lifted his hands from his sides to place them on her. He needed to touch her, to see if she was real, to make sure this wasn't just some sort of dream.

Before he could touch her, however, Dumbledore's voice stopped him. "Severus, back away from her!"

Snape jumped and instinctively took a step back. He wasn't fast enough, however, and couldn't stop Lily as she snatched his wand from him.

Looking like a frightened cat, Lily backed against the wall with Severus's wand in her hand pointing it from one person to another.

"Where are my husband and son? Where are they? I want to see them now," she demanded.

Snape finally came to his senses and looked between the frightened woman and the others in the room, all of whom had their wands trained on her. Albus took a step forward likely to say something, and Lily aimed the wand directly at him. Though, Snape could see her eyes flying from one person to the next. Arthur, Molly, and Sirius remained behind him wands drawn.

"Stop!" commanded Snape, shocking the occupants of the room.

"Snape," Sirius growled looking as if he wanted to turn his wand on him. "You're not in your right mind. You practically handed a dead woman your wand."

Coming to stand next to Dumbledore, Snape disregarded the mutt and instead turned to face Lily.

"Lil, listen to me. Something happened, and I think I may know what. First, I need you to answer a few questions."

"Only if you answer mine," Lily demanded in return.

"Fair enough," Snape responded. "What happened when Petunia broke your mother's porcelain doll? The one she kept on the mantel above the fireplace. The one you were never supposed to play with."

Lily looked at him questioningly for a moment. "You know what happened, Severus. You were there."

"Yes, I know what happened," he responded. "But if you don't, then you can't possibly be Lily."

No less confused than before, Lily answered, "Petunia blamed us. My mother was furious. She wouldn't believe me when I told her it was Petunia. I became so upset that she didn't believe me and wanted to send you home that I had a burst of accidental magic that caused Petunia's hair to turn green. Then you told Petunia that if she told the truth, her hair would turn back to normal. Accidental magic is uncontrollable, of course. So when Petunia blubbered out her apologies and told my mother the truth, her hair still didn't change back."

"She had to have it dyed back to its natural color," Snape finished for her. There was a trace of laughter in his voice. "I wonder if it would still be green if she stopped dying it."

"Where's Harry, Severus?" Lily asked.

"He's safe, Lily," Severus assured her, moving between Dumbledore and his best friend. "He's upstairs."

"And James, where is he?" she asked slightly calmer than before.

Snape sighed, frowning. He couldn't risk upsetting her right now, not yet. He knew how she'd take it if it was in fact Lily. Though, he wasn't quite sure how much she remembered. Did it feel like 1980 or 1981 to her? He then sighed. Only way to tell was just to ask her.

"My turn to ask the question," Snape reminded her gently. "What's the last thing you remember before you appeared here?"

Lily thought for a moment before answering, "The wards fell. James told me to get Harry, but I wasn't fast enough. Voldemort was right behind me. Harry started to cry so I picked him up and tried to make him stop." Lily paused, the hand holding Severus's wand fell to her side. "The next thing I remember is something swirling around me. Then I was here." Lily paused again completely focused on Snape. "Where is here, Sev?"

"Grimmauld Place."

Lily's eyes crinkled, confused, "The Blacks' house?"

"Yes," Severus answered, "and that's two questions."

"Honestly, Sev, it's just a stupid game."

Snape's mouth curled upwards on one side. Lily seemed to remember the moments just before her death. She likely wasn't even aware that James had been killed. After all, he could understand the panic she experienced as Voldemort ascended up the stairs to murder the rest of the family.

"This next question is very important, Lily. How did you soothe Harry?"

"What?"

"Harry was crying. You picked him up and attempted to quiet him. How? Did you talk to him? Rock him? Sing to him?"

Lily looked down for a moment trying to remember. Her fingers twisted around the wand in her hand. "I…I think…I sang to him. Not much, of course, more like humming really…just a few words."

"Merlin, I'm an idiot," Snape stated, more to himself than to anyone else. "Lily, do you remember a few months after we met? One of the few times that you came to my house, my father wasn't home so we were playing on the porch. My mother came outside to bring us lunch and found us doing something. She made us promise not to tell anyone else about it. She said it should be a very special secret between us."

Lily looked hesitantly to the other occupants of the room as though nervous to talk about their secret in front of others. "Yes, Sev, I remember."

"When you appeared in this room, I had just finished singing for the first time in over thirteen years to Harry."

Lily had to think about what the two events had to do with one another. As she put two and two together, her green eyes grew wide. "Oh, Sev," she whispered out of breath.

"What you remember, Lily, happened thirteen years ago. The boy I sent out of the room right after you arrived was your son." He heard her sudden intake of air as she gasped. Her green eyes darted to the empty doorway, likely in attempt to see Harry. He then frowned and hung his head. There was no easy way to say it. "James is dead, Lily, and until right now everyone believed you were as well."

Lily's hand suddenly clapped over her mouth as she stared at him horrified. She shook her head in disbelief. James couldn't be dead. She had just been with him moments earlier. She had just heard him tell her to take Harry and run. James couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. It wasn't true. It wasn't.

"How?" she asked with her voice trembling in grief.

"When he attempted to stall Voldemort," quietly spoke Dumbledore, staring at her in disbelief. "I'm afraid that he was hit with a Killing Curse. He has been dead for thirteen years, which we believed you were also."

"But why now?" Lily asked confused, trying to sober herself up. There would be a time to grieve for her fallen husband later as horrible as that sounded. Her green eyes then darted to Severus when she didn't receive an answer from Dumbledore. She didn't know why, but the question seemed the most important thing in the world right then. "You really haven't—in thirteen years?"

"You are the only person I've ever sang with, Lily. Without you, I had no reason to. And it made sense. You lost your life partially because of me. The least I could do was give up the one thing that made me happiest. But if I'd know this would happen, I'd have done it years ago."

"Sev…" Lily's voice broke as she closed the distance between the two of them. She threw her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder sobbing. She needed someone to hold her. This felt like a horrible nightmare. In what seemed to her in a matter of minutes, she had learned that she had lost her husband. The irony, if that was what it was, was that she had lost him in fact thirteen years ago. No matter what, though, it didn't feel like that. It felt like any moment James would walk through that door with their toddler in his arms. She continued to sob her grief and anguish into her former best friend, the only one who seemed to be real in this horrid nightmare.

"I truly do hate to interrupt," Albus said quietly. "However, I do believe an explanation would be most appreciated to those who weren't there to watch you playing as children."

Snape and Lily both turned their heads to face him as though just remembering his presence as well as the others in the room. Snape's arms remained tight around her, afraid she would disappear again if he let her go.

"Only to you, Albus," Snape said firmly. "The secret we have kept from everyone for over twenty-five years is too…important to reveal to everyone. I wouldn't even tell you, sir, except it's the only way I'll be able to prove to you that this really is Lily."

After a moment of consideration, Albus nodded his head in agreement. "Perhaps the three of us should talk in the kitchen then."

"Thank you, Albus," Lily said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She knew it wouldn't be her only outburst. Her heart was breaking, but she had to figure it out. She knew the secret of course, but this didn't seem real to her. It just didn't seem real. Her sobs subsided, and she remained in Snape's arms.

"You can't be serious!" Sirius exclaimed. He was the only one with his wand still trained on Lily. "How do you know this isn't some trick that he's in on too? He's a Death Eater, and you're just going to believe he's telling the truth!"

"That's enough, Sirius!" Dumbledore thundered at the ex-convict. "I trust Severus with my life."

"But I don't, Albus!" Sirius screamed back and probably would have continued to rant had he not been hit with a binding hex effectively shutting him up.

Albus turned to admonish Snape, only to see Lily standing there with Severus's wand trained on Sirius.

"I've always wanted to do that to him," Lily said simply, barely holding back her emotions.

Albus raised an eyebrow, while Snape in a very uncharacteristic manner laughed. Well, actually, it was more of a chuckle, but it was uncharacteristic nonetheless.

"I see," said Albus simply. His blue eyes watched her very carefully. "Shall we continue on to the kitchen then?"

Lily and Snape both nodded and began moving towards the door without a second look at Sirius.

Albus turned to Molly and Arthur, "I trust you can take care of Sirius?"

At their consent, he nodded, "I've always found timeouts to be very effective."

Leaving the study, Albus walked towards the kitchen. Like Snape and Lily, he was halted in his tracks, though. Harry wrapped his arms around his mother's waist and seemed to be crying into her chest, while Ron and Hermione looked on. Both Ron and Hermione were invisible from the neck down. Snape watched the scene as well, but stepped protectively between Lily and Albus as the older wizard came closer.

"I think it would be a good idea, sir, to let the boy hear the explanation as well." Snape's voice sounded firm, but Albus knew him well enough to catch his insecurity.

"It's Albus, my boy," he said simply. "Not 'sir'."

Had he not been looking for it, Dumbledore would have missed the slight release of breath, signaling Snape's release of tension.

"Thank you, Albus."

Dumbledore nodded before turning his attention to Ron and Hermione. "Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, I think it would be a good idea for the two of you to return to bed. I'm sure Mr. Potter will explain everything to you tomorrow."

The two fourteen-year-olds knew that it wasn't a request, but hesitated before replying with a respectful, "Yes, sir."

Before going upstairs, Hermione removed the cloak from her shoulders and walked over to Harry. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If you need anything, Harry…" Hermione's voice trailed off, knowing she didn't have to finish her sentence.

"Yeah, mate," said Ron quietly, "We're just upstairs."

"Yeah," Harry said with a sniff, "I know. Thanks."

After another moment's hesitation, they walked upstairs.

Albus began walking towards the kitchen, leaving Snape alone with Lily and Harry.

"We shouldn't keep the Headmaster waiting," Snape said softly, having no desire to separate the mother from her child.

Lily didn't seem to hear him, though. Her head was resting on top of Harry's, and her eyes had a glazed over expression. Snape knew he needed to break her out of her trance before she went into shock.

"Lily," Snape whispered. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lily, please, we need to speak with the Headmaster. Then you can hold Harry for as long as you like. You have my word."

Lily blinked a few times, and her eyes focused on Severus. She nodded and gave Harry another squeeze. Her son, her little baby boy, had grown up. He looked so much like James. She couldn't believe it. Her baby boy was so handsome. She then stifled a sob. She had missed so much of his life. She'd make it up to him. She would. She didn't know how, but she and Harry would be a family again.

"Come on, my baby," Lily said with a sniffle to her son, whose tears showed no sign of stopping.

Harry whimpered and clung tighter to his mother.

"Harry, please," repeated Lily.

"Mr. Potter," Snape spoke gently and a bit unsure, "you only need to let go for a moment. Just long enough for us to walk into the kitchen. You can hold your mother's hand the way in there, and you can sit on her lap if you want once we're at the table. But first you must loosen you grip."

At first, it seemed as though Snape's logic had the opposite effect. Harry tightened his hold and hid his face from view, but after a few deep breaths, his arms relaxed a little. Lily was able to nudge him away far enough for her to take a small step back. She immediately smiled at him. Her hands never left her son's shoulders.

Snape once again rested a hand on Lily's shoulder with his other hand on Harry's shoulder. A slight nudge later, he guided them towards the kitchen. Lily had her son pulled as close to her side as possible, while Snape walked with a hand on each of their shoulders.

Once in the kitchen, Lily sat across from Dumbledore. Harry sat next to his mother, but scooted his chair next to hers so that he was leaning against her. Snape stood behind them still having a hand on Lily's shoulder to ensure she didn't disappear again. His other hand held his wand. Though, he doubted his ability to use it against Dumbledore, but it just made him feel more secure.

"Now," Dumbledore began calmly, "Perhaps you could begin by telling me this secret you've been hiding for so long and what it has to do with you singing to Harry, Severus."

Hesitantly, Snape sat down next to Lily. With an unusually shaky voice, he said, "It was near Christmas before we came to Hogwarts. Lily and I were singing Christmas carols at the time. We found that if we sang together and concentrated on the same thing we could…make things happen."

"Just small things at first," Lily chimed in, lovingly stroking her son's hair with a hand. "We caused the leaves on the ground to freeze."

"But," Severus continued, "after a few tries, we started doing more advanced forms of magic with our songs."

When it seemed as though neither Lily nor Snape were going to elaborate on what 'more advanced' meant, Albus asked them. "What sort of things could you do when you sang together? And what were you doing that made Eileen Prince swear two children to secrecy?"

Lily shrugged and looked away. The longer a secret was kept, the harder it was to give away.

Snape was watching Lily as he answered, but Dumbledore could see the conflicted emotions on his face. "We could summon animals, or as my mother saw cause it to snow in a limited area."

Albus's eyes grew wide at the implication. So many witches and wizards had died trying to harvest the power's of Mother Nature, yet the young but talented witch and wizard in front of him had managed to play with it before they were ten-years-old! Did they even understand what their abilities were?

"Do you know what that means?" Dumbledore asked softly. Both Snape and Lily seemed far too nervous about their 'secret.'

Snape shrugged.

Lily continued for him. "Eileen said that it was a very special form of ancient magic. That it was very rare and that not many people could master it anymore. She told us that it bound us together in a way we could not understand. She also said that since we could only do it together, we should keep it a secret to show that we would always be friends."

"I see," Albus said serenely. "So when Lily sang to Harry the night Voldemort attacked, she used some of that magic to protect Harry and herself. The magic wasn't complete, though, without Severus. However, when he sang to Harry tonight, he used some of his magic to calm him." Albus paused thoughtfully before continuing. "Some of Lily's magic remained in Harry and when your magic met it, Severus, it reconnected and pulled you both together. Alone that pull might not have been enough, but if both you and Harry were thinking about Lily…it obviously gave enough of a pull bring her back to the world of the living."

"So it wasn't just me?" Snape asked sounding oddly relieved. "So if I had sung something ten years ago, she wouldn't have come back?"

"I very much doubt it, my boy," Albus said matter-of-factly. "While a Vis Vinco (Nature's Master) is very powerful, a single one cannot have power over life and death. And though you and Lily are bound together in Nature's magic, that alone would not be enough to keep each other from dying. However, it is probably why you felt her loss so deeply. No, Severus, you needed Harry with you. The two of you needed to be connected and focused totally on Lily, and Lily at the time of her 'death' would have had to be focused solely on at least one if not both of you."

Snape closed his eyes and took several deep breathes in relief. Since he had realized what happened moments ago, he had been mentally berating himself for not singing years ago. It was liberating to know that it was more about circumstance than the magical bond they shared. Lily's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"What happened? After I…died."

"Before I answer that, I would like your permission to bring Arthur, Molly, and Sirius in on this conversation. I will not tell them about the two of you being Vis Vinco, but they do need to know what is going on."

Lily nodded, "All right."

At Snape's nod of consent, Albus stood up from the table. Going to the kitchen door, he opened it to find Arthur, Molly, and a very subdued Sirius waiting in the hallway. He invited them in with a warning glare at Sirius. Once everyone was seated, Albus gave them a brief explanation as to how Lily was sitting at the table with them, very much alive.

An hour later, the group was done updating Lily on the major things that had occurred in her absence that led to them being confined together over Christmas. Lily sat, still holding Harry, when they were done. One of her hands had found one of Snape's and clung to it like a lifeline.

She had missed so much. The Longbottoms had been tortured into insanity by the LeStranges. Dumbledore had given custody to the Dursleys, thinking that Lily had used blood magic to save Harry. Harry, her beautiful baby boy, was a Gryffindor, just like his dad and mum. In fact, he was a Seeker. She then closed her eyes.

"That is enough for tonight," Albus said definitively, effectively ending the history lesson. Standing up, he continued speaking while slowly making his way towards the door. "Perhaps it would be best if we all returned to bed now."

With nods and words of assent, everyone began getting up from the table.

"Unfortunately, there aren't any more cleaned out rooms, Lil, so you'll have to sleep on the sofa tonight," Sirius said with a sheepish grin.

"Don't be an idiot, Black." Snape snapped.

At the same moment, Lily snapped, "Don't call me 'Lil."

"Right," Sirius slurred the word, looking oddly between Lily and Snape, who were still holding hands.

Snape turned to face Lily, "You and Harry can have my room until we find a space for you. I'll sleep on the couch."

Lily gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Sev."

"I'm sharing a room with, Ron." Harry felt it necessary to state this. While he wanted nothing more than to hold onto his mother and never let go, the adolescent part of his brain told him to object to having to sleep in the same bed as his mother.

Snape raised an eyebrow at the fourteen-year-old boy who was clinging to his mother with no intentions of letting go. "Yes, Mr. Potter, you are sharing a room with Mr. Weasley, but I'm sure your mother would appreciate your company tonight given the circumstances."

Lily caught onto what Severus was doing quickly, "Please, Harry. I know you want to spend time with your friend, but I really would like you to stay with me tonight."

His mother's request appeased the adolescent part of Harry's brain, and he quickly nodded.

As everyone made their way out of the room, Lily held Severus back until it was just them and Harry in the room.

Snape looked at her questioningly, but didn't say anything. Harry was still standing against her left side as she let go of Snape's hand.

"Severus, you are my very best friend, and I will always love you. I forgive you…for everything." Lily paused for a second before raising her right hand and smacking Snape smartly across the face. Her green eyes hardened. "But you deserved that, and you damn well know it."

Snape stood, staring at her for a moment completely dumbfounded. The slap had stung, and he was sure there was a red handprint on the side of his face. However, Lily was right. A smack was the least he deserved for his part in her death. Nothing would ever truly absolve him for playing the part in her death, nothing. However, feeling Lily's hand against his cheek, knowing that it was truly her that had the ability to smack him and that she was alive, it was worth a good smack for that moment. A rare smile spread across his face. "It's good to have you back, Lily."

Lily laughed once before stopping. Her husband was dead, and there she was laughing like everything was all right. Was she really that heartless? She then closed her eyes. It was the shock. It had to be. She was still in shock at losing James. It hadn't hit her yet. It would. It would hit her like a brick.

Snape, however, realized at that moment she had laughed that he truly did feel as though he had her forgiveness even if she were partly still angry with him for choosing Voldemort over her. He then stared at her and sighed at her faraway look. All good things took time.