Congratulations, Harry! You're a Snape!

Severus Snape slept peacefully in his cold dungeons, surrounded by soft blankets. His favorite one was draped around him at the moment, silky black and stuffed with goose downy. It was so soft and warm that, whenever he slept in it, he never wanted to come out. Which explains why he only used it on weekends and on the holidays.

He awoke slowly, still drinking in the comfort that surrounded him. He could hear soft music trickling out of thin air. Every night, he cast a spell to make Mozart or Beethoven flow through the room very softly. Tonight he had Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata playing on a continuous round. He often preferred Beethoven to Mozart, even though Mozart was a genus, he works were usually more upbeat, and hard to fall asleep to.

Seeing the time, displayed by a clock on the mantel piece of his bedroom's fireplace, he got up. After picking his clothes for the day, black, silk robes with a high collar, he headed towards the bathroom. After a long, hot shower, he dressed and dried his hair with a simple charm. Much to contrary belief, he did take proper care of his long mane.

After walking through his comfortably placed living room, he exited the portrait hole. His portrait was of Uric the Oddball, poking a sleeping dragon in the eye with a stick. Severus silently chuckled as the dragon snorted fire, setting Uric's robes ablaze. It wouldn't do for anyone to see Severus Snape, the feared potions master, laugh. Severus glided down the dungeon's long hallway as Uric ran in circles.

Upon entering the Great Hall, he saw that there was only a few teachers. Many preferred to have their breakfast in bed during the holidays, but Severus wanted to talk to Albus about his next mission. Albus, being the headmaster, always made it to every meal, unless he was away on business. So he made his way to the Head Table, and sat next to the aged man. He turned to Severus and said, "Ah! Severus! How are you?"

"Peachy," Severus responded with a scowl. "Now, I wanted to talk to you about the next... hem... mission."

Dumbledore waved a hand at the professor. "We don't need to talk about that now! Nor can we talk about that now. We will talk in my office after breakfast, but for now," he pointed up, "the mail is here."

Only about ten owls entered from the windows in the ceiling. There were only four teachers in the Great Hall, and each one got two letters, except Dumbledore, who got four. Severus saw that one was just the Daily Prophet, and the other one looked very different. It was a personal letter, but he didn't recognize the handwriting. All it had on the front was his name in lavender letters, but when he turned it over he saw that the wax seal was the same colour...in the shape of a lily.

He jumped up and ran in the direction of the dungeons. It was very odd for the professors to see their esteemed college exit in such a draft manor, but they just shook their heads and returned to their breakfasts.

Once Severus got to his portrait, he saw that Uric was still running in circles, trying to put himself out with his wand. He did have time to scream, though. "Passwoooord?!"

"Snake pit!" He shouted. The portrait opened and Snape entered quickly, then sat at his desk. Once he had preformed protective charms on the room, he opened the letter carefully, not tearing the wax seal. It really was a letter from Lily.

It was charmed to appear on that date from fifteen years ago. It read:

My dearest Severus,

If you are reading this, it means that James and I have died, and Harry has survived. I can only hope that we have died trying to defend mine and your son. Yes, Severus, Harry is your son. I didn't want to have anyone know, not even you. Although I knew that you wouldn't tell anyone, you were still a spy against the Dark Lord. There was no telling what he would do to get any information on the 'Potter boy'. I must tell you that Harry is yours, and only James and I knew. I had talked with James about Harry. He understood and, being a long time friend, he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. I couldn't ask that of you. I always wanted Harry's biological father to be alive, incase we did make it out of this war alive.

On the night that I had planned to tell you that I was pregnant, I saw your mark. Then it all came to me. All of the conversations that I had heard between you and Professor Dumbledore, your withdraw, how you went missing at odd hours of the night... I figured out that you were a spy. I couldn't let you know that I was pregnant with your child. I cried from the realization, but you must've thought that I was angry, and ran to James for support. I did run to him, but I told him about the prophecy, about you, about Harry... he knew that he was supposed to help me hid our child.

When Harry was born, he looked exactly like you. I don't doubt that you will be happy that he doesn't have your nose. James helped me with the concealing charms. Within a month, he looked exactly like James. When the concealing was complete, I wept.

I write this letter to you so that you can take care of our son. By the time that you receive this letter, it should be Harry's sixteenth birthday. I sent this on his first birthday, and as I look upon him, asleep in my arms, I begin to cry again. I know that the end is near. So, in closing, please take responsibility for Harry, I know, even now, that you need a family as much as he should. My sister will not like to have anything to do with me, therefore she wouldn't like to take care of my child. A 'freak' child. So please, take him out of that place.

With all my love,

Lily Evans Snape Potter

Severus Snape set down the letter from his former wife before placing his head in his hands.