authors note: holy crap i am so sorry this took so long. i got a little sidetracked with life and my other story weirder things have happened but i'm back and i hope this chapter is enjoyable.

disclaimer: i don't own harry potter

After returning home Severus decided it was finally time to tell Lillie about his days at Hogwarts. Shaking off the nervousness he entered her room. She was listening to a book and Snape took a moment to drink in the sight of his daughter enjoying learning. She looked so peaceful, happy. Snape knocked on the open door to catch her attention. After closing her book and placing the vox - on the table lillie turned to the door "dad?" she asked, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

" a few weeks ago i told you i would talk to you about lily potter. Do you still want to hear?" Nodding excitedly, Lillie sat on her bed. Snape breathed deeply before beginning the tale
"it all began when we were nine… lily's sister was calling her a freak for having magic and I overheard. I already knew about magic because of my mother so I told lily. We became best friends after that. Even when I was sorted into Slytherin and her into Gryffindor she never held it against me. We stayed friends for many years despite James's jealousy of our closeness. I admit I lorded it over him quite often. As much as i disliked the marauders then, i truly wish James had never died. Anyway, one day in sixth year James was being his usual pompus self, he was a bit of a bully even if sometimes I had it coming. Lily told him to knock it off and in my anger I said some pretty terrible things. One of my greatest regrets was calling her a mudblood that day. That was the day everything changed. I lost my truest friend and in turn fell in with the worst possible crowd. James changed too, he stopped bullying people and got rid of his egotistical tendencies. Lilly fell in love with him after that. They got married and had you all while fighting in the war. Meanwhile i became a deatheater, which led to me foolishly refusing to accept james's apology when he did apologize after graduation. I eventually heard part of a prophecy about voldemort. I told Voldemort, not realising it referred to the Potters. When I found out the prophecy meant the Potters, I tried to protect Lily by making a deal with voldemort. I would turn her dark if he let her live. It was not my finest moment and it didn't even work."
Snape looked tired after laying all his sins bare for the daughter he loved so dearly. It cut him to the core to realise she could very well hate him. He had done terrible things. Lillie looked thoughtful and a little bit sad.
"So basically everyone lost. Harry lost his parents, you lost your best friend, and Voldemort lost the war. It makes me wonder what kind of life Tom lived, he couldn't have started out bad." whatever reaction snape expected, this wasn't it.
"I suppose that is true, the war took hundreds of lives but if it hadn't been for me the potters never would have been on that list." surprisingly Lillie's sightless eyes turned hard with annoyance
"you don't know that. the way i see it, if voldemort had not heard part of the prophecy, he would have been terrorizing britain all these years and even more lives would have been lost. At least the prophecy gave us a few years." Snape stared in amazement at his daughter,
"I've never thought about it like that." after a minute he added in a deadpan voice "the irony of you saying "the way i see it" is not lost on me Lil." at that they both broke out laughing, twin smiles of mirth on their faces. When the laughter died down lillie looked at her dad
"what was lily potter like?" Snape's eyes got a faraway look as he responded
"she was brave, even more so to me than other Gryffindors. She always fought for the little guy, she loved deeply and fought fiercely. Every guy in our year was smitten, myself included. She had this way of silencing a room without even trying, something I spent years mastering. When she smiled, everyone stopped to stare."
Lillie smiled lightly "did you love her?" Snape stared at Lillie for a moment, remembering the fateful day he had asked himself that very same question
"i did. Some would say i was obsessed, but the truth is i had never known love and it took me many years to figure out how to love in a healthy way. By the time I had figured out that I loved her, it was too late for me to tell her."
in a curious voice lillie asked "when did you stop loving her?"
somewhat surprised snape answered honestly "I haven't, I suppose some small part of me will always love her. I just learned how to love someone else after her."
"does being my father bring up those memories of her?"
"sometimes, but they are good memories that i'm happy to recall. One of the few sad memories I can always distinctly remember was feeling that Harry should have been my son. I was glad lily had found love but at the time i was still bitter over losing my chance with her."
"In a very roundabout way I ended up as your daughter so maybe that is fate's way of giving you that wish."
"perhaps you are right Lil.'' Their conversation lasted long into the night and neither realized Celestia had been listening. With tears in her eyes she smiled, she had always wondered if Severus still loved lily. She was pleased to hear that while he did still love lily, he loved her too. Some small part of her had always worried that he would eventually leave her.

the next morning Lillie awoke to find that she must have fallen asleep while they were talking. a tired smile lifted the corners of her lips as she arose for breakfast. Avalon was right beside her bed as always while Knight was off somewhere, Lillie assumed he was in the kitchen. the wolf-dog loved food, presumably from his time as a stray. after pulling on a soft black silk dress Lillie left the room. her parents were sitting at the table. Snape was drinking a cup of tea while reading The Prophet. Celestia was reading a novel while eating bacon. after sitting down Lillie pulled her already filled plate closer, her lack of sight still bothered her when it came to fine motor skills like eating. after breakfast Celestia left for work. She worked at a small apothecary in Knockturn alley, the only place that accepted a werewolf. Snape stayed home with Lillie, as he would until Hogwats started up again in a week or so.