Disclaimer: I got my new ID card today. I didn't see the name J.K.Rowling on it...

Through a Portrait's Eyes

Severus Snape had known that Harry Potter had children. Yes, he remembered Minerva's happiness when, on the hottest day of August, she talked to Professor Sprout about the fact that the "boy who lived" had become a father. And then, on a dark winter's evening, he listened to the Headmistress discussing the birth of Harry Potter's second son with Albus Dumbledore's portrait.

Two years later, he was startled out of the light sleep he had finally managed to drift into, despite of the birds' obnoxious cheerful twittering on the sunny May afternoon, when a stag patronus burst into the office. As soon as Severus realised that it was announcing the birth of Harry Potter's daughter rather than the Dark Lord's return, he strode into the next portrait and out of the room, angrily muttering something along the lines of "attention seeking brat, never going to change…"

He never cared to know whether Potter and his wife had decided to continue with the Weasleys' tradition of having one child after the other or left it at three. Severus chose to ignore the existence of Harry Potter's children, never wasting a thought on them.

And thus it came as a total surprise when on one September 1st, a small boy with messy black hair walked into the Headmistress' office, looking around curiously.

Noticing the watching portraits, the eleven-year-old grinned and introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm James. Well, actually James Sirius Potter but I don't want to burden you with remembering all that."

Severus scowled. Having only known this boy for less than a minute, he already felt an intense dislike towards the first-year. How dare he insult all of the former headmasters' intelligence like that? And yet, what could one expect from a boy with that name? What had Potter, the sentimental fool, been thinking when he named his son James Sirius?! Then again, knowing Potter, he probably hadn't been thinking at all.

James, oblivious to the former headmaster's scowl, continued:

"Well anyway, we'll probably be seeing quite a lot of each other. Though I just couldn't help setting that Zabini-guy's hair on fire. It was such a great opportunity… I wonder when McGonagall will show up, she only sent me up ahead of her and then wanted to sort out Zabini's hair. I hope he'll have to go around bald for a long time."

He was completely unabashed by the fact that all the portraits on the walls were watching him in silence, many of them curious, others shaking their heads and some furious. Only Dumbledore looked amused, his eyes twinkling as always.

"Well, at least I beat my grandfather's record; he was sent to the headmaster's office at the end of his first week at Hogwarts. I hope I'll be just like him."

Severus sneered. "You want to be just like him? Well, you are certainly already as conceited as he was. And what about your other namesake? I'm sure he would also be the perfect role model. There is just the minor drawback that you might be thrown into Azkaban if you want to be like him."

The boy stood there, gaping at him. Then, very much to Severus' disappointment, the door opened and McGonagall entered.

"Very well, James, I can see you have met the portraits of our former headmasters," she said briskly, denying Severus the pleasure of watching the Potter boy suffer as countless first-years had before him. "Now let's talk about that unfortunate little incident with Mr. Zabini."

Severus just couldn't believe what he had just experienced: meeting Harry Potter's son, who was just as arrogant and conceited as his grandfather and his other namesake at once. As little as he liked Potter, Severus would have thought him capable of finding a better, more original name for his son and none of Dumbledore's reasoning that Harry had simply named his son after people that meant most to him could change his mind.

Severus had been taunting and arguing with James every time James had to come to the headmistress' office for the past five years and, as James had predicted on that first day, these occasions had been quite frequent.

Severus had been slumbering leaned against the frame of the portrait once again, when he heard the door open. Opening his eyes sleepily, he thought for a moment that the person entering the room had simply left the dream he had just been having, before he realised that her hair was more the typical Weasley shade of red. Still, there was something about the way she moved…

Looking at her stubbornly set face, he immediately knew which Weasley she reminded him of and he quickly came to the one possible conclusion: Before him stood the daughter of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. Ginny Potter, he quickly corrected himself and berated himself for his earlier illusion.

Everything about this girl, who seemed to be about twelve years old, resembled her mother: her plain brown eyes, glancing around nervously and defensively at the same time, that typical, stubborn expression. It was just the little things that had seemed to step out of an old but at the same time painfully fresh memory.

His thoughts were interrupted as the girl looked at the name beneath his portrait and drew a deep breath.

"So you are Professor Snape?" She asked.

"I believe that sign says so, or can't you read, Miss Potter?" He replied curtly.

"Of course I can, but how do you know who I am?"

"It's still 'Sir' to you. Your face shows your family almost as clearly as the sign beneath this portrait shows my name and your arrogance eliminates all doubts."

"My mom and dad told me about you…"

"I'm sure there wasn't anything good he told you, knowing Potter."

"He said you made potions lessons hell for him and the other Gryffindors but actually…"

At this moment, Minerva stepped from the door leading to her private rooms.

"Ah, very well, you're here, Lily. Now could you please explain why you cast a hover charm on Mr. Nott's mandrake pot, as Professor Longbottom told me?"

As Lily launched into a long and unlikely explanation involving flesh-eating slugs, cursed watering cans and uneven ground, Severus tried to regain his composure after his mind had temporarily gone numb.

Lily Potter…

Of course, he should have expected it. After all, he had already encountered Potter's strange obsession of naming the living after the dead. But Lily Potter… He had never even thought of the possibility of meeting a different Lily Potter.

He could sense Dumbledore's glances and concentrated on keeping his face calm. There were certainly situations in which having been a spy against the Dark Lord was useful.

A little less than a year later, Severus' conversation with Phineas Nigellus was interrupted by a polite knocking on the headmaster's door.

As usual, the portrait of Albus Dumbledore called out: "Professor McGonagall is not present but you may wait in here!"

The door opened cautiously and in stepped a boy with messy black hair, glasses and a prefect's badge.

"Good afternoon," he said, his eyes wandering around the room. "I only was supposed to check my new prefect duties with Professor McGonagall…"

"Oh, I'm sure she will be back soon. Until then, I'm afraid you'll have to make do with talking to us, it is nice to see some young faces once in a while," Dumbledore replied, his eyes once again twinkling.

"Well, since we are so inconveniently stuck with each other, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us which unfortunate names your parents chose for you," Severus sneered, his previous good mood having evaporated when this Harry-Potter-look-alike had entered the room.

"Oh, excuse me, I didn't want to be rude. I'm Albus Severus Potter," the prefect replied, blushing as his eyes drifted to the nameplate under Severus' portrait.

"Oh, so you are ashamed of your name? Not too pleased about the fact that your parents named you after a former Death Eater?"

"No sir. They wanted to honour the two men who helped my father most. Why should I be ashamed of that?"

"Your father wanted to honour me? Are you entirely sure that nobody has you under the Imperius curse? Maybe you drank a potion that some fool didn't brew correctly? There is no way Potter would have done that!"

"He did, Professor Snape. He says he always misjudged you and only learned to respect you when you had already been killed. He knows that he probably wouldn't have survived if you hadn't helped him all the times you did."

And as Severus stared unbelievingly into those emerald green eyes he had spent half his life trying to forget, he realised that this was the truth. Harry Potter, foolish and rude though he had always been, had named his child after him. And for the first time in many years, Severus Snape was speechless.

Special thanks go to my best friend who betaed this (and will probably kill me when she sees I mentioned her...)!

And by the way: reviews do make me happy... hint