Severus walked slowly to the third floor, pondering what exactly he was supposed to do once he arrived at the room. He had already done many tests, none of them telling him anything, and he was getting anxious. The school year was to end in a month and he was still no closer to learning what caused any of the ghosts to appear. Mind you, he had his theories, but none of the evidence narrowed them down any.

The past few months had been quiet. No stress aside from class work, no unexplainable ghosts, and no dangerous activities. For precautions, though, Severus had cast a charm that was mix between a Peaceful Charm and an Unbinding Charm on the third corridor room. It scared him that all the ghosts were so possessive, and he was hoping that the charm would keep them from their want of his brother and allow a conversation that might be useful. If this wasn’t all over.

The pattern of the ghosts unnerved Severus. Excluding the Chimaera, which he was absolutely positive that Silas had no part in that, the ghosts seemed to be appearing in a reverse order from when they died. First Mikey, then Lily. Of course, it was almost impossible to verify a pattern with only two variables, but with what Severus had to work with, it was his guess that the next ghost would have to be . . . James Potter. He thought this with a sneer. The thought was not pleasant at all.

Walking in and stopping in the center of the room, Severus was deep in his thoughts.

"You’re smart, Snape," he heard a voice behind him sneer. "But . . . why is it that you haven’t found the problem?" Slowly, Severus turned to face a mostly see-through, adult Potter. "Are you sure it’s because you aren’t so blinded by your possessiveness of Harry that you can’t see what is right in front of you?"

"His name is Silas, Potter, and I am not possessive of him. I am his brother and guardian, and I do what needs to be done to make sure he is safe," Severus answered haughtily, annoyed merely by the presence of the younger ghost.

"Harry is my son," Potter stated. "That is my job. I am perfectly capable of taking care of him."

"You are dead, if I do recall. Or do you not remember? You are see-through, invisible to everyone but Silas and myself. And you are not the boy’s father. He has no Potter blood in him." Severus’ voice was dangerously annoyed, but this only seemed to amuse the ghost

"I raised him for a year and a half. Of course he is my son. You didn’t bother seeing him until recently."

"I was never told!" Severus shouted, banging his fist on the table next to him. "Do not presume to know my intentions or what I know! You are just as arrogant as you were before you died! And you have even less right to be, now! You are dead!"

The two glared dangerously at each other in silence, neither daring to speak. Severus was tempted to draw his wand, but he knew that it would do no good on the man in front of him. A downside of him being dead, he thought, wanting so much just to curse him.

"I might be dead," Potter said slowly and quietly. "But as long as I am here, I have every right to get to know my son. I will not harm him."

That said, and before Severus could object, Potter faded out, and with him, the room. Now plunged in darkness, Severus stood still and searched himself for his wand. He needed light. Panicking, he almost cried out, but stopped himself as he was unaware of his surroundings beyond the darkness.

SSSSSSSssssssssssssssssssssssssss

With his heart beating too fast to be healthy, Severus opened to eyes to complete darkness. No, not complete darkness, he realized. A door was open a crack, allowing a sliver of light to reach his eyes. He realized he was in his bedroom.

A dream, he realized with relief. James Potter had not come to claim his brother.

Throwing his blanket off him, he sat up and rubbed his eyes and begged the dream he just had to leave his mind. It wasn’t the first of its kind he had, but this dream felt so real – up until the very end. What did it mean?

Standing up, he realized he was still dressed in his robes, and he remembered that he only laid down for a bit before he and Silas went to the room to see where exactly his magic appeared to be lingering. Severus didn’t believe it would do much good, but Albus had convinced him it was best to test all of their theories.

Straightening his robes, Severus opened his door and left the room, only to find Silas and a completely solid James Potter in a just-started chess game. He debated going back to bed and wondered briefly whether or not this was a dream, but he denied both. He was awake, and he needed to stay awake.

"He says he’s a ghost, Severus," Silas said, looking up, looking worried, from his chess game. Potter turned to look at him, also.

"He is. Have you even told him who you were?" he sneered at Potter.

"No. I was waiting for you. It was impossible as it was talking to you in your sleep."

"So it was real," Severus said quietly to himself.

"Dreams are a lot harder to enter as a ghost than I thought," Potter commented, and Severus stood glaring at him.

"So . . . you’re . . . my dad?" Silas said, trying to put together what he knew.

"One of them," Potter said, looking sideways at the only living adult in the room.

Silas sat there, appearing to be trying to decided where to move next, but he was trying to decided how to act. Severus seemed angry at the fact that his dad was here. He could understand, of course. The last two encounters with these ghosts could have killed him, but something about this one felt different.

"How long have you been around, Potter?" Severus snapped, walking to stand next to his brother protectively, and James shrugged.

"About a month, I suppose. I’ve been watching. Trying to figure out why I’m here. Look, Snape, I don’t like you. Still probably wouldn’t." James spared a look at the eleven year old. "You’re too dark to raise a kid. Too dangerous. I don’t know what Albus was thinking, allowing this to happen, but . . . it’s too wrong for me to approve."

"Once again," Severus said slowly, and Silas could tell he was trying his best to keep his temper under control, "you are presuming. I would never put Silas in a dangerous position. I would never hurt him–."

"I consider teaching him the Dark Arts harming him, Snivellus," James spat walking over to a book shelf, and Severus followed him dangerous, angry. James took a book from the shelf and through it down, much to the surprise of Severus and Silas. In the same movement, James took another and through it to the ground. A few more books landed hard on the ground before Severus came to his senses, and he grabbed James’ arm and pushed his hard out of the way, causing him to land on the ground.

"No!" Silas shouted, trying to stop the fighting, but neither of them were listening to him.

"The topics in those books are dark, Snivellus. Not teaching him the Dark Arts, huh? Not bothering to hide the books from him, either, obviously. Out for him to pick up and browse through at any time. And you leave him unsupervised in here! Do you understand how much damage he could cause?!" He stood up, throwing one of the books at Severus.

"You’re a couple terms too late, Potter. And you have no business–."

"He’s my son!"

"He’s my brother. And you are dead! Can’t you get even that simple concept through your small, useless brain? Or did it fail to solidify with the rest of you?"

"How dare . . . if I was able to perform magic, you’d be so sorry that–."

"That what, Potter? Think you would be able to beat me in a duel? You’d be too weak to . . ."

Severus’ voice was cut off from Silas’ hearing as he shut the door, not too quietly. All his attempts at stopping the two from fighting had failed, so he decided on the only course of action he could think of: go to the headmaster. He wouldn’t be able to see James, his father, but Harry could act as a translator. He also wanted to find out why the two seemed to hate each other so much. Why would his mother have given him to someone whom his brother hated? Maybe she didn’t know that they hated each other? Or because he wouldn’t suspect anything? Nothing added up.

Once he got to the gargoyle, he realized he didn’t know the password, but instead of guessing candy names, he told the gargoyle he needed to speak with Dumbledore and that it was important. He remembered Severus saying something about how the old man had ways of knowing if someone was outside his office. Giving Silas a start, the gargoyle started moving, and he went up the magical escalator as quickly as he could. He only knocked briefly before hearing a muffled, "Enter!" from inside.

"Severus and Dad are fighting!" he said before the man could greet him.

"Dad?" Dumbledore asked for clarification.

"My . . . my Potter dad!" he said. "I don’t know why, but they started fighting as soon as Severus got up from his nap. They’re fighting about the Dark Arts and . . . me and stuff!"

"Well, I suppose we should head down," Dumbledore said, standing up, and Silas led him down to the Dungeons at a quick pace. Silas didn’t knock or bother to see if Dumbledore was still behind him. He opened the door and walked in, having to duck a book. He picked it up, looked at it briefly and handed it to Dumbledore, who had just entered the room and closed the door. Both men seemed oblivious to the newcomers.

"He knows better! He knows what to stay away from, and if he’s unsure, he asks me! I may know a lot of magic that is classified as Dark Arts, but I do not make it a habit to teach it. Especially to children!"

"May I ask whom you are speaking to, Severus?" Dumbledore asked calmly, and both Severus and James turned to look at the older wizard, then Silas, before realizing suddenly that Silas probably heard most of what they said.

"Potter," Severus snapped.

"James? Silas, where is James?"

Silas pointed to the ghost and was taking a few steps toward him to show Dumbledore the exact location when Severus gently grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from going any further.

"He can stand next to me!" James shouted, walking toward Silas to get him away from Severus.

"You are very likely dangerous. All the past ghosts were. I’m not taking the chance."

"Dangerous? I am not dangerous! I would never hurt Harry! It’s you that we have to worry about!"

"Once again, his name’s Silas, not Harry. He has told me himself he doesn’t want to be known as Harry Potter!"

Silas, annoyed with being argued about, gave Dumbledore a pleading look.

"This might turn out to be a difficult situation," the headmaster observed. "Severus? Would you mind taking a seat?"

"Albus . . ." Severus started.

"Please? I do believe the subject of your argument doesn’t wish for any more fighting, so perhaps we can come to an agreement . . ." Severus sat down in his usual seat without any more complaints, but he did not bother masking his face to hide his anger and hatred that he was feeling. "James? The same, please?" Dumbledore asked, and Silas watched at the ghost sat down in across from Severus, as far away as he could get. "Is he sitting, Silas?"

Silas nodded, and Dumbledore indicated that he should sit, also. Finally, Dumbledore sat across from the young boy, assuming that James would not have sat on the sofa next to Severus’ chair. Everyone looked at him expectantly; James and Severus angry, and Silas some mixture of embarrassed, confused, and torn.

"Now, Severus and James, I expect you to think before speaking. Silas is right here, so do not say anything that you will regret. Although, I fear that has already happened. Silas will tell me what James has to say. I do not wish to put him between you two," he said, giving Silas an apologetic look, "but walking into the situation as I did, I do not believe that I can trust you two to keep anything neutral." Giving Severus and a blank space a look, Dumbledore put the book Silas gave him on the small table in the middle of the furniture.

"I do not appreciate my property being thrown around," Severus said flatly, crossing his arms and sitting back. It looked like he was sulking to Silas. James didn’t answer, and Harry answered Dumbledore’s questioning look with a shrug.

"I must say, I was quite surprised when Silas came running into my office asking me to break up the fight that was occurring between you to. James?"

"He can’t be trusted!" James shouted. "He shouldn’t be allowed to raise my son!"

Silas reluctantly relayed this information, looking sideways at his brother to see his reaction to him repeating James’ words. Severus seemed to understand what Silas was feeling, because he stood up suddenly and sat down next to his brother. Visibly relaxing, Silas leaned into his brother.

"Silas appears to trust him," Dumbledore replied, smiling at Severus’ decision to sit next to the young boy.

"Children can be easily blinded," spat James, looking ready to kill Severus.

"I am not blinded!" Silas said, sitting forward and ready to defend himself and his older brother. "He helps me a lot! He’s nicer to me than anyone has been before! He even named Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissy my godparents, and they are very nice!"

"What?" James said, dangerously, standing up, and Silas backed into the seat again, trying to disappear into Severus. Severus put his arm around Silas, giving him a protective squeeze. "Sirius is his godfather, you b–."

"Sirius betrayed you to the Dark Lord! You really want someone like that, someone who is in Azkaban, to be the godfather to Silas?!"

"What?" James asked, falling back down the his seat, stunned. "But . . . Sirius wasn’t our Secret Keeper. Peter . . . where’s Peter, then?"

"Dead," spat Severus, no sympathy in his voice or face. "Black killed him after betraying you." James looked up from his lap, a haunted look on his face.

"Didn’t you get what I said?" James hissed. "Sirius didn’t betray us! Peter did! That rat was our Secret Keeper! Sirius . . . oh, Sirius, what did you do . . ."

"Silas," Dumbledore said after all he heard was silence for a few minutes. Either James was talking or everything was quiet. "What is happening?"

"He says that Sirius wasn’t their Secret Keeper and Peter was . . . who is Sirius and Peter, and what is a Secret Keeper?" Silas asked, wondering what was going on. Whatever it was, James no longer seemed to have any energy to fight.

"Oh, dear," Dumbledore said quietly. "Oh, dear. James, do you have any proof of this? Where are the papers that were signed by . . . everyone? You did have papers, I hope . . ."

"Hidden in our vault in Gringotts. I don’t know where. Lily hid them."

Silas relayed this information.

"We’ll stop by and have a look tomorrow. It is getting much too late to see to it tonight," Dumbledore reassured James, and Silas still sat there, looking confused.

"Are you sure, Albus?" Severus asked, standing up smoothly. "This could be some plot . . ."

"I doubt that very much, Severus," Dumbledore said sadly. "And if Sirius is indeed innocent, can you truly say that he should still be in Azkaban?"

"He might not have betrayed the Potters, but he still killed all those muggles!" Severus snapped.

"Sirius would never kill!" James argued, standing up to face his childhood enemy.

"No? He went to kill Peter and killed many muggles while doing it!"

"He–."

"Stop!" Silas shouted, standing up and stepping in between the fighting adults. "What’s going on? Who are you talking about? What are you talking about? I want to know!"

"I will explain it later, Silas," Severus said.

"You? You’ll . . ."

"I’ll explain, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, knowing what type of argument that comment would most likely start between the two. "Perhaps you should leave, James. My office would be a good place, I believe. Severus? Would you escort Silas to his tower and meet me in my office? I believe we should try to find a way for me and James to communicate without a third person."

James took no time to leave the room, and both Severus and Silas announced it with a "He’s gone."

"Come along, Silas. You have homework to finish if we are going to be in Gringotts all day tomorrow," Severus said, giving Dumbledore a look as he ushered Silas out the door. "We will have to postpone our tests in the room for a later date.

"I’m sorry, Severus. You must realize this is important."

"Of course it’s important when it comes to them." Severus looked as if he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself.

"Severus . . ."

"No. If you wish to talk about this – again – we will talk about it later," Severus said dangerously, waiting for Dumbledore to leave the room before ushering a confused and irritated Silas down the corridor to the Ravenclaw tower.

Once they got there and Severus said goodbye, Silas entered the tower to be attacked immediately by Stephan.

"I didn’t think you’d be back so soon," he said. "Did you want to play a game?"

"No," Silas said, distant sounding.

"Are you okay?"

"I guess. I think I’m going to go to bed."

"Already? It’s only seven! Do you need to talk about something?" Stephan asked, worried. "Did you fight with Snape?"

"No," Silas answered sharply, and sighed. "I just need some time to myself to think things over."

"Okay," Stephan replied. "Night."

"Night."

The next morning, Silas wasn’t feeling any better or any less confused. He still had no idea who they were talking about last night, and it was very annoying that no one would tell him. Pulling his blue curtain back, he saw that the sun was only beginning to rise, and no one else was up. No one else would begin to get up for at least another few hours. Most likely, Severus wasn’t up yet and breakfast wouldn’t start until seven. And it really wasn’t in the mood to do any homework.

With nothing to do, Silas got off the bed and went to the bathroom to take a long shower. Turning the water on in one of the stalls and stripping, he realized how much he missed his and Severus’ home. Especially the bath. Hogwarts lacked baths, obviously, or he wouldn’t be taking a shower . . . Well, Severus’ rooms had a bath, but he was rarely allowed to use it. Meany, Silas thought to himself.

Feeling better after the long shower, Silas dressed in casual clothes, not bothering with robes, and left the common room to see if Trimdol and William were up. The professor was often up early. Once he got to the man’s rooms, he knocked on the door quietly, since he didn’t want to wake Trimdol up if he wasn’t already.

"Silas!" Trimdol said, opening the door and looking confused. "How are you? Is something wrong?"

"No, I . . . is William up?" Silas asked, not really knowing why he came. Trimdol gave a small laugh.

"Yes, in fact, he is. Woke me up about an hour ago possessing too much energy to be healthy for a Sunday morning. Come in," he said, moving out of the doorway. William was sitting on the floor playing with miniature toy brooms and people, giggling to some joke only he knew.

"Hi, William," Silas said, sitting down across from him. "How are you?"

"Good!" William said and he continued to play. Trimdol took a chair from a table and moved it next to Silas, sitting on it backwards.

"So, Silas, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing!" Silas said, perhaps a little too quickly.

"Sure," the professor laughed, shaking his head. "And you decided to call at six thirty in the morning because you have nothing to do?"

"Kind of," Silas answered. "It’s just . . . you know the ghosts that have been showing up?"

"Has another one come?" Trimdol asked curiously.

"Yeah. And he hates Severus. And Severus hates him. Dumbledore tried to help them get along last night. I don’t know how well that worked, though, because they sent me back to my dormitory."

"And the headmaster can’t see this ghost?" he laughed, and Silas found it weird that the professor didn’t correct him when he just called Dumbledore ‘Dumbledore’.

"No. I was kind of glad when I didn’t have to be the translator anymore, though. He said a lot of things I didn’t want to repeat with Severus there. They really hated each other! And I don’t even know why!"

"And who is this ghost?"

"My dad. Well, James Potter. So, not my real dad, but he still raised me until he died. They were arguing about me, and I hated it!"

"I’m sorry, child, I can’t help you with that. I’ve never met the man, but knowing Severus, it might have been because of some House issues. I was told the James Potter was a Gryffindor."

"Yeah . . ." Silas said slowly. "But he doesn’t really hate Gryffindors. Finds them annoying, though. I agree, somewhat. Those Weasley twins tease me every time they see me!"

"Remember, they are only two members of the house," Trimdol scolded. "Everyone has their uses and abilities."

Silas looked at Trimdol oddly before looking back at William. He was playing some game and ignoring the two older wizards in the room.

"Right," Silas said slowly. "Still, they were talking about Dark Arts and . . . how he wouldn’t know how to raise me or something. Severus has done a good job taking care of me! It’s really strict, but he cares about me."

"So, Severus does practice the Dark Arts?" Trimdol asked curiously, but almost disapprovingly, making Silas uncomfortable.

"I don’t know. He has to do a lot of potions work. I know he knows some Dark Arts, but he doesn’t use them. He would kill me if I did!"

"I see," Trimdol said, nodded, and Silas relaxed a little bit. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"No, I guess not," he answered. "I’m hungry. I suppose I should head down to the Great Hall. Is it seven yet?"

"It should be by the time you find yourself down there," Trimdol laughed. "The downside of being on the sixth floor. Takes a bit of time getting anywhere." Silas laughed, standing up.

"Yes, it does. Well, thanks for talking with me. Can you not tell Severus I was here, though?"

"Wouldn’t dream of it. He doesn’t like me very much," the wizard said, shaking his head, but smiling.

"You have too much energy, according to him," Silas defended. "And Dumbledore said that he rarely likes the DADA professors."

"Never you mind, Silas. It doesn’t matter to me. I find it rather amusing, actually. I have no doubt that we’ll get along in the next few years."

Silas gave him a doubtful look, but headed for the door. "I’ll see you later," he said. "Although, probably not today. I think Severus is taking me to Gringotts, and we might be there for a while."

"Oh? For what reason?"

"Something about a Sirus person being innocent and looking for papers? I’m not sure." Silas stomach growled, and Harry laughed. "I should go. Good bye."

"Good bye, Silas," Trimdol answered distractedly, fooling with one of Williams miniature broom, and Silas closed the door.

Food arrived on the tables a few minutes after Silas arrived in the Great Hall, just as Severus entered.

"You’re up early," he said, and Silas realized it was his weekend to supervise breakfast.

"Went to bed early," Silas explained, earning a disapproving glare from his brother.

"So I assume you didn’t do you work?"

"No," he sighed. "I couldn’t concentrate."

"We are leaving for Gringotts at nine," Severus said, walking to the head table, some journal or other in his hand. "Meet in the headmaster’s office."

At ten minutes to nine, Severus, Silas and James were sitting in Albus Dumbledore’s office, both James and Severus glaring at each other hatefully. Much to Silas’ relief, neither men spoke to each other. Just to be sure, Dumbledore had asked Silas to mention anything that they do say.

Still upset at not being told anything, Silas sipped at his white tea, which Severus ‘suggested’ he drink without sugar or honey, irritation showing strongly on his face. Aside from his talk with Trimdol that morning, it wasn’t turning out be a very good day.

"Well, shall we go?" Dumbledore asked, walking into the room.

"Finally!" James said, standing up.

"If we must," Severus said.

"Why do I have to go?" Silas asked after taking another sip, refusing to stand up. "I didn’t even know this person."

"Because it’s your vault, Silas," Severus answered angrily. "The headmaster cannot enter without you."

"So, you can’t just go in my place?" he asked, calmed by the new knowledge of his own vault. He was confused, though. Severus was his guardian, so he should have access to it without him.

"I could, but I would rather not go alone with . . . those two," Severus said, looking at James and Albus. "I need some decent company," he continued, getting a chuckle from Dumbledore.

"Yes, yes," the old man agreed. "Quite horrible company I am. Ready, my boy?"

"Fine," Silas answered, standing up after finishing off his tea. Severus was right. It didn’t taste too bad without sweeteners. "Let’s go."

They flooed to the Leaky Cauldron before walking down Diagon Alley to the large building that was Gringotts. They were ignored by all the goblins when they entered until they walked up to a high desk.

"We are here to get into Silas Prince’s Potter vault," Severus said, setting down the large key on the desk. "Most likely, we will be in there for a while. We will be searching for something."

The goblin, after looking closely at Silas, called a different goblin (Silas didn’t catch the name) and they followed him to a boat. Excited, Silas happily got in. He had only been on a boat when he came to Hogwarts for the school year.

"Vault 687," the goblin called, handing Dumbledore a stone and walking to the vault to open it. "When you are finished, hold the stone and say ‘finished,’ and someone will come to bring you back. Do not attempt to leave your vault or the ground in front of it. Protections will prevent you from doing so."

After the three wizards and one ghost left the boat (James going into the vault at an extremely quick speed), the goblin rowed away.

"Well, we might as well start searching," Dumbledore said, but Silas wasn’t listening. He was looking around at the piles of gold and other coins around the large vault. There were other objects, mostly chests, around the outer edge of the room.

"All this is mine?" he asked, amazed, and the adults almost didn’t realize he spoke, as they were busy talking about what they should be looking for. James heard him, though, and became suddenly chipper.

"Yup!" he said, interrupting Dumbledore, although he did not know it. Severus did, though, and had stopped listening to the headmaster in order to reprimand his enemy. "Everything in here’s yours. Most of its money, but there should be a few other trinkets around . . . I must admit I’ve never looked at it all too much. But there’s enough money here–."

"Which you will not touch until you turn seventeen," Severus said, causing the headmaster to stop explaining. The old man looked confused for a bit until he realized that James must have spoke. They did not have much luck the night before finding a way to communicate.

"But . . ." Silas argued, but he was silenced by his brother’s glare.

"You have no need for it, Silas," the brother answered, but refused to say any more on it.

"Fine," Silas finally relented. It wasn’t as if Severus would refuse to buy him anything, within reason. "But do I have to look for whatever it is you are looking for?"

"No, of course, not," Dumbledore said. "I believe Severus has brought you books and your assignments."

"Really?" Silas asked, looking at his brother. He didn’t even think about bringing something to do. His excitedness was short lived, though, when he realized he was to be doing his assignments.

"As you failed to do them last night. I had a feeling you would not like searching with us. After all, you have no involvement in this . . ."

"Of course he does!" James spat angrily. "Sirius is his godfather!"

"Was," Severus snapped. "And it wasn’t even legal!"

"We should start searching," Dumbledore interrupted. "I do believe Severus and Silas would like to leave soon."

"Yes, we would," Severus said, handing a bag of books and writing materials to Silas. Silas automatically took one out, wondering when and how Severus had retrieved his school things from his Ravenclaw dormitory. Reluctantly, he sat on the ground next to one of the flat-topped trunks and dug through the bag for his transfiguration assignment. Might as well get the hardest done first.

Three hours later, when Silas was almost finished with his Charms assignment, James yelled out from across the vault.

"This has to be it! There are invisible charms on it!" he shouted, causing him and Severus to look up from their work (Severus was sitting on one of the large trunks, reading). Dumbledore was, of course, oblivious to this revelation. Silas noticed that Severus went back to reading instead of telling and he sighed.

"Professor, he found something," he said, causing the old man to look at him. James ran to Silas and held out his hand. There was nothing there.

"Take it and give it to him!" James said, and Silas blindly waved his hand in front of the ghosts until he felt something in his hand. Having a firm grip on the thick, invisible parchment, Silas walked over to the headmaster, who was looking at the scene with amusement, and he handed it off to him. After a few incantations and waves of the wand, there was a visible, old piece of parchment in Dumbledore’s hand. He read it through and gave a smile.

"Ah. This is it."

"So . . ." James said impatiently, no standing next to the old man trying to see the paper, which Dumbledore was moving about. Silas laughed then relayed James’ demand.

"So," Dumbledore said slowly, thinking, "I believe we have sufficient proof to force a trial for Sirius Black."

"A trial?" James asked, angry. "It’s all the proof you need! He’s innocent!" Silas repeated this.

"Formalities still have to be taken, James," Dumbledore said softly, taking out the rock and saying, "Finished."

"Formalities," James mocked, annoyed and angry. Silas didn’t bother repeating it.

"How long would that take?" Silas asked, and he saw Severus stand.

"Silas, as we are leaving, put your assignments away," he said, and Silas sighed as he complied.

"I do not know," Dumbledore answered.

On the ride back, Severus was in an especially angry mood. He refused to talk to Dumbledore, who was explaining to an invisible James the possible outcomes of the newly found note, and he ignored Silas’ questions about what was wrong. When they finally reached Hogwarts again, late for lunch, Severus ignored Dumbledore and told Silas to meet him in his rooms.

"Now," he ordered, when Silas started to complain, saying he was hungry.

Silas was especially pleased when he found the table filled with food when he arrived, and he assumed that Severus called a house elf. Halfway through his second plate of food, Severus came into the room alone, much to the first year’s relief.

"It has been decided that you will stay away from Potter."

"What? Why?" Silas asked, putting his fork down.

"It is too dangerous. Remember what happened when Mikey and Lily became solid? You could have died!"

"He doesn’t seem like the other ghosts, though," Silas argued.

"And he might not be. But until we are sure, it has been decided that he will stay away from you. And you will not go looking for him."

Silas didn’t reply. Instead, he continued eating. Severus followed suit.

"Who’s Sirius?" Silas asked after a bit of silence.

"Sirius Black," Severus mocked, "is a murderer. Or thought one anyway," he mumbled. "But even if he wasn’t, he and Potter were bullies, who thought it funny to harm people."

"Oh," Silas said, disappointed. "He could be different now, though, right?"

Severus didn’t answer. Finally understanding why Severus didn’t like James, but still not why James didn’t like Severus, he continued eating. At least he had some information, now.