On a warm August night, a shady figure slinked towards the closed front door. The house was entirely dark as all of its occupants were fast asleep in their beds. Glancing around, the man then quickly set out to picking the lock on the front door. Once he heard the click of success, he smiled before slipping inside the small house.

The man then turned his little flashlight on and glanced around the sitting area. It had certainly changed over the years. His eyes then narrowed on the flowers in glass vases around the room. A woman's hand clearly had been involved in the decorating. He then shined his flashlight to find any pictures. He found none, though. Then again, Severus was never known for hanging pictures.

Walking towards the bookshelves, he started to touch each of the books to find the secret lever. However, when he reached the bookshelf in the middle, it instantly became transparent, revealing the hidden stairs behind it. Smiling to himself in self-satisfaction, he walked through and up the steps. Severus clearly had done some renovating of the place since the stairs weren't so old and rickety anymore. Perhaps the boy had learned a thing or two from him.

Opening the master bedroom door, he stuck his head in and glanced towards the bed. Sure enough, there were two people in bed, a woman and who he hoped was Severus. He then quietly closed the door again and headed to the next door. Opening this one, he glanced in, narrowing his eyes at the person muttering to himself. Was this his grandson? Had Severus actually produced an heir? Taking a few more steps into the room, he walked towards the bed.

Glancing down at the boy, the man frowned. The boy didn't look like Severus at all. Who was this kid, and what was he doing in here? Deciding that he was going to find out, the men leaned over and promptly clapped a hand over the unsuspecting boy's mouth, holding the boy's small wrists in one hand.

"Who are ya?" he asked gruffly, glaring at the frightened boy. He ignored the child's fear. "Are ya Severus' son?" The child shook his head. "Is yer mum living here with ya?" The child nodded instantly. "Is she shagging my son?" He watched the child's eyes widen in shock and possibly outrage. "Wait a moment, yer mum's Evans, Lily, right?" The boy hesitated a moment before nodding. The man then scoffed. "Figures that my son would be with her," he replied before releasing the boy. "Well, go on then, boy. Scream bloody murder. I won't blame ya."

He was rather glad that the boy didn't make a sound as he walked back out of the child's room. Clearly, he had scared the piss out of the kid. He had done that numerous times with his own son. With a sigh, he walked back downstairs and sat in one of the comfy armchairs. Hell, a man could get used to this sort of comfort.

"Got to stop meeting like this, love," he spoke as soon as the red-haired witch passed through the bookshelf and entered the sitting area. He said nothing to the fact that she had a wand pointed directly at him. After all, it wasn't the first time he found himself with Lily Evans' wand on him.

"What are you doing here, Tobias?"

"Reckon I could ask ya the same thing, couldn't I?" Tobias then chuckled softly. "Yer boy's pretty looking, too bad he ain't Sev's," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"And just why do you care about that anyway, Tobias? I mean, you gave up every right to when you abandoned Sev all those years ago and left him with his mother!"

"I did what was best for my family, Evans," he snapped back, glaring at her. "Not all of us had the perfect family, ya know?"

"You could have at least been there for him!"

"Yeah, and what about ya, Evans?" he replied nastily. "Were ya there for him all those years too? Because the way I hear it, ya been dead for the past fourteen years or so, something about ya marrying some pureblood wizard. Tell me. How'd that work out for ya?"

"You are a right bastard, Tobias Snape!" she snarled, glaring at him with dark green eyes.

"Heard that from my wife a couple times and heard it from my son a couple more," he retorted, crossing his arms. "Still doesn't make a damn bit of difference to me," he said, smiling spitefully.

"That's because not much does." She then huffed angrily. "You know if you wanted to do some good for the world, you'd turn around and walk straight out of this damn house, Tobias. Your presence here is only going to make matters worse."

"I need to talk to my boy."

"Well, he sure as hell doesn't want to speak with you. Now get the hell out," she snarled.

Standing up from the armchair, Tobias sighed heavily. Even death hadn't changed the witch. She was still as inconsiderate as before. He wasn't going to hurt anyone by talking to his adult son. He just was checking in. He hadn't done that in quite a long time. He then snorted. The witch likely had gotten some pointers from Eileen on how to be a bitch.

"Fine, but I'll be back, Evans. Ya can't keep me away from my son."

"If you so much as think about breaking into this house again, you'll find yourself lying on the floor twitching. Is that understood?" she snarled back at him.

Watching his father quickly storm to the door before slamming it shut behind him, Snape then watched Lily lock the door. It was only then that he noticed his hands were shaking horribly.

"Sev," Lily said, approaching him slowly in the way one would an injured animal. She stopped about an arm's length from him, seeming to sense his desire not to be touched. "Sev, I don't know what to say to make this better. I wish I did. But I promise that you are not alone."

Gently, she reached out, but didn't actually take his hand. Instead, she appeared to be waiting for him to make the next move. With a hesitation that he'd never experienced before with Lily, he placed his trembling hand in her steady one. He made no move to indicate he wished further contact. He just stood there, watching the door.

"Where's Harry?" he asked in a gruff whisper.

Her eyes slid to a point somewhere over his shoulder, and her head tilted slightly in that direction. Taking a deep breath and releasing it shakily, he twisted his torso around to see Harry standing in front of the bookcase that hid the stairs.

"Are you all right, Harry?" he asked, making his voice as steady as possible.

Harry nodded slowly. "Yes, sir. Are you?"

Snape gave a pained smile before replying, "Hardly." Releasing Lily's hand, he then walked determinedly to the hatch that hid the entrance to the basement, closing it behind him.