Harry had barely realized what Snape had done when there was a jerk behind his navel and he was thrown forward in a swirl of color and a sound like rushing wind. His feet hit the ground hard and, as he had not even begun to brace himself for it since he didn't know what was coming, he fell forward and actually flipped over. He ended up landing on his back, the breath knocked out of him.

As soon as he had managed to get a little air back in his lungs, he stood up quickly and looked around. He was right in front of Snape's house, but there was no sign of the Potions master anywhere. After a moment, he knew without a doubt that Snape had not come with him. Really, he had known it from the moment that his hand hit the Portkey; but that didn't mean he hadn't hoped otherwise.

"You idiot!" Harry yelled to the sky. "What are you gonna do!? You're gonna get your wand snapped in half, you're gonna get fired, you're gonna get chucked in jail, if wizards even have them..."

He groaned, exasperated, and tried not to imagine what Snape might be doing to the Dursleys. Poisoning them, probably, that would be right up his alley. Then Harry shook his head and tried to think. Could he get back somehow? He couldn't work Portkeys, and he had no idea where he was, so that didn't seem like a very likely idea. So was he just supposed to sit here?

Infuriated, he kicked a rusted old pot that lay nearby. Unfortunately, it was half buried in mud and a lot heavier than it looked, so it caused Harry to limp around with what felt like a broken toe for a moment. Then suddenly there was a familiar screech overhead, and he looked up, his heart pounding. It was Hedwig! She must have flown back double speed to get here already; or maybe this place was just closer to Ron's, he had no idea.

She landed gently on his shoulder and offered her leg, which had a letter tied to it. "Thanks, Hedwig," Harry told her, stroking her back as he removed the letter. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any food for you right now. There's fresh water in your cage, though," he added encouragingly.

Hedwig hooted thankfully and nipped him on the ear before taking off again. Grudgingly, Harry decided that he might as well go inside and wait, since there wasn't anything that he could do, as much as he hated to admit it. He unrolled the parchment as he was walking back into the house and sat down on the threadbare old sofa to read it.

Harry,

You're at SNAPE'S? How can you be at Snape's? I didn't even think he had a house, I thought he lived in the dungeons or something. How could Dumbledore send you with SNAPE? Doesn't he know how much Snape hates you?

Is there any way they would let you come here? I've already asked you to come stay about a dozen times, but I guess now I know why you didn't answer.

Why would there be a house elf in your house? It's a Muggle house! House elves only live with wizards. Really old, really rich wizarding families, at that. Mum always wishes we had a house elf, but we just have a lousy ghoul in the attic and a load of gnomes in the garden.

So this house elf didn't want you to go back to Hogwarts? Maybe someone sent him to stop you, do you think? I know Malfoy has an old family manor. You think he could have a house elf? He would think it was funny to try to stop you from going to Hogwarts.

We all knew about the warning from the Ministry, Dad works there. Percy thought you'd gone bonkers, and Fred and George said you had a lot of guts to do something like that. I didn't think you would have done something so stupid, so now I guess that makes sense anyway.

It's a good thing we got your letter, Fred and George were wanting to take Dad's car and come get you. Man, would we have looked stupid if we had gone all the way to Surrey for nothing.

You'd better write Hermione soon, she was going mad with worry the last time I heard from her. I would send her a letter, but Errol would never make it all the way to France again and Hermione is on holiday there. (Errol is our family owl, by the way. He's old and useless, he can barely make deliveries anymore.)

And you'd better write me back, too. If you don't, I'll send Errol and Fred and George can track him in the car and we'll come get you that way.

Ron

Harry shook his head as he finished reading the letter. Somehow he had predicted Ron's reaction even before he had sent the letter, but that didn't make it any less amusing now. It was the fact that Snape was probably off torturing the Dursleys that kept him from laughing.

It was just as he looked up from Ron's letter that he saw a copy of the Daily Prophet lying on the floor. Harry didn't know why it was there, especially since Snape was usually quite neat. "Wonder if there's anything interesting going on in the wizarding world?" he murmured, picking it up. He glanced over the front-page headlines and one of them immediately caught his eye.

"Dumbledore was in Albania?" he asked of no one in particular, staring at the story as if expecting it to speak aloud and answer him.

Albus Dumbledore, renowned headmaster of Hogwarts School

of Witchcraft and Wizardry, seems to have taken a liking to

the forests of Albania, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspon-

dent. He returned from a week-long holiday to these woods

yesterday (his third this summer) and reports of trouble follow.

It seems that a small wizarding village on the outskirts of this

particular forest had been plagued by a series of werewolf at-

tacks -- but if they expected our famed headmaster to assist,

they were sadly mistaken. Midge Blackwell, a wizard who often

enters the forest to scavenge for edible mushrooms, tells this

story: "Well, I was going into the woods day before yesterday,

and I seen that tall wizard with the silver hair -- Dumberbore,

did you call him? -- walking on the path ahead of me. I didn't

know who he was, see, but it's not smart to talk to strange

folk in them woods, so I didn't let him know I was there. I just

walked behind him a little ways, and afore long, he went off

the path into the forest, just as quick as you please! I didn't

know what he was up to, but I wasn't going to let him walk

off and cause all kinds of mischief, as strangers are prone to

do, so I went off after him. Real quiet like, I was, so that he

wouldn't know I was there and turn and curse me or any-

thing. So I followed him, I did, for a long stretch of time and

forest, and finally he stopped in this one clearing where there

was a little pool. There's all sorts of things what live in them

pools in that forest, so I didn't go very close, just kept close

enough to keep this fellow in sight. Then wouldn't you know

it, but here comes that werewolf what was coming after the

villagers!

"Well, I thought maybe he might have the sense to get rid of

the beast for us, but he just pointed his wand at it and did

some sort of spell -- turned him back to a man, he did -- and

then what did he do? He left him there, next to that pool, and

just walked off like nothing had happened! And that werewolf

man got up and he ran off like his cloak was on fire, and next

thing you know, we got werewolf attacks in the village again!"

The story was continued on page four, but Harry didn't turn there; he put the paper on the spindly table and thought about what he had read. He found it all rather hard to believe. Anyway, he didn't see how a werewolf that had been transformed back into a man could attack anyone, at least not until the next full moon. Or did they even change back at the next full moon if that spell was used on them? Harry wasn't sure, but he thought they must, or else all the werewolves in the world would have had it used on them and there wouldn't be any left.

That did explain where Dumbledore had been, though. It made sense now, why Dumbledore hadn't sent Snape after him sooner. He had only just realized what had happened. But why would he have been in Albania, anyway? And why did he want to send Snape after him a whole week after the spell had been cast? Harry still didn't understand that part. Maybe Dumbledore or Snape could explain it later.

As if on cue, there was a loud crack and Severus Snape reappeared, his face still contorted with rage. Harry stood up, dropping Ron's letter, and was taken aback; Snape looked even angrier than he had before. There was a long silence, during which Severus continued to stand, staring at the wall, with his fists still clenched and shaking. He didn't even seem to realize that Harry was there.

"You sent me back alone," Harry said at last, doing his best to keep his voice level. He didn't think it would be a good idea to sound like he was accusing Snape of anything -- yet.

"Yes," Severus said, his voice sharp.

"Why?"

"That is none of your concern."

"It is if you've done something to the Dursleys," Harry said, walking over to stand in front of Snape and meeting his gaze. "What did you do?"

Severus continued to stare at the wall until something moved in front of him. His eyes met another pair -- and for one wild moment he half expected to see Lily standing there in front of him. Then he took in the rest of the face and remembered: Lily was gone, and it was her son who stood before him.. Lily's son, who had those same vivid eyes...

"S -- Professor Snape? Sir?"

Severus blinked and seemed to rediscover his ability to speak. "Nothing that will cause any lasting harm -- unfortunately."

For some strange reason, Harry had to fight back an urge to laugh. "Lasting harm?" he asked warily.

"Perhaps they might be a little more reluctant to insult Lily Evans after this."

Harry paused, looking at Snape carefully. "What do you mean?" he asked at last.

"Precisely what I said, Potter."

Again, Harry just continued to look at him. This didn't make any sense. "Why would you do that?" he asked quietly, watching Snape's eyes. "Why would you defend my mum like that? I thought you hated her."

Anger surged through Severus at this. "I do not hate Lily Evans. I never did. She --" He paused, and Harry noticed that there was something like pain in his eyes.

"What is it?" Harry asked slowly. "Did you -- did you know my mum?"

Severus was silent. At once, he wanted to tell the boy everything, and to take the information with him to the grave. Then again, even if he didn't tell the boy, there were others who could. Dumbledore, for one, but he had given his word... But nonetheless...

"Yes," he said at last. "I knew Lily Evans."

"Is that how Aunt Petunia knew you?"

"Presumably. I must admit, I would have thought that she had forgotten me by now."

"So does that mean -- you knew my mum before she went to Hogwarts? Before Aunt Petunia got so angry with her?"

Severus paused again, but after a moment he answered, "Yes."

"But then -- you were her friend!?" Harry asked incredulously. "How come no one ever told me!?"

Severus sighed and shook his head. Then he sat down in the old armchair and stared at the floor for a moment before saying quietly, "Come.. sit down."

He gestured toward the sofa and Harry sat, still looking puzzled. What was going on around here? First Snape was taking him from the Dursleys, then telling Dumbledore that he shouldn't be sent back, and now it seemed that, all along, he had known Harry's mother!?

Severus turned his wand over and over in his hand, thinking. The boy had already pieced together part of the story, he had to tell him -- but how to go about it? He had never told anyone.. anyone, save Dumbledore...

Harry was quiet, and for once, he waited without pressing for speech. If Snape was going to tell him, he would, and it wouldn't help to try to make him talk. If anything, it would make him decide not to, and Harry wanted to know the story behind what was happening now.

At last, Severus looked up and met Harry's eyes. He had to make himself see Harry behind them instead of Lily, because it was Lily whom he most wanted to see.

"When I was a young boy, I thought I was the only wizard in this area. Then, when I was around nine or so, I discovered that I was wrong -- there was a girl of just my age, living not far away, who was unmistakably a witch. That is, it was unmistakable to me; she had no idea what she was.

"It took me a while to finally speak to her and, at first, she didn't take very kindly to being told that she was a witch. She warmed up to the idea, though, and pretty soon we were both looking forward to Hogwarts. Her sister, Petunia, was very jealous; she wanted to go, too, and she even wrote to Professor Dumbledore. He couldn't let her in, though; she was a Muggle, not a witch, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"It certainly didn't improve after the two of us went to Hogwarts. In fact, she became much worse, didn't even want to be in the same room with her own sister. Lily was very sorry about it." By the way he said this, Harry could tell that Snape hadn't been.

"Then she was Sorted into Gryffindor," Severus said regretfuly. "I went to Slytherin. For a while, we were still friends; but it became strained very quickly, even if we couldn't -- or didn't want to -- see it then."

He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts and emotions, and at last went on: "Lily was my best friend -- my only real friend -- for a long time. Then one day in our fifth year, I said something stupid.. and she never forgave me.

"She went off and married James Potter, and she had you, and I knew I had lost her. Then..."

His voice drifted off, and Harry's eyes narrowed slightly. "That's why you hated my dad, isn't it?" he asked quietly. "Because he fancied my mum." He paused and then added even more softly, "And you loved her."

Severus closed his eyes and nodded. He wasn't going to tell the boy that James Potter was the one who had put him in that situation; Harry didn't need to know that. In fact, it was a mark of how much he had begun to see Lily in the boy that he didn't want to tell him. A year before, he would have delighted in telling Harry Potter what a spoiled bully James had been at fifteen; but such was not the case now.

"I was lost without Lily," Severus went on at last, this time without opening his eyes. "I fell deeper into the Dark Arts without her there to talk sense to me. I.. became a Death Eater."

"A what?" Harry asked, puzzled.

His black eyes opened incredulously as another wave of anger crashed over Severus, but he hid it and explained in a level voice, "Death Eaters were the Dark Lord's most trusted followers. His inner circle, so to speak. There were many of us then, but few of them were as stupid as I."

Harry was suddenly feeling very sorry for Snape. How could he not have known that something like this had happened? There had to be a reason that Snape hated his father so much, and now him. Or did Snape hate Harry now? He certainly wasn't talking like he did, and he didn't have that old look of loathing in his eyes...

"I betrayed her," Severus said quietly, as if he could barely believe the words. "I handed the Dark Lord the information that made him go after her family -- after you. I begged him to spare her. I went to Dumbledore, I told him everything and asked him to protect the Potters. He tried.. but he failed."

Harry shook his head as if to clear it, and looked back at Snape dubiously. He didn't know what to say, but he felt as if he should say something. Finally he settled on, "You know.. if you didn't know what would happen, you didn't betray anyone."

Severus laughed humorlessly and stared at Harry as if he had never seen anything quite like him. "Didn't betray anyone? I betrayed everyone. The entire wizarding world. But Lily -- and you -- most especially."

Harry didn't know what to think anymore. This wasn't anything like what he had expected. Then again, what had he expected? He hadn't even known what to expect when he had asked. But this definitely wouldn't have been on the list of the top 100 things he had ever expected to hear from Severus Snape.

For a long moment, there was silence. Then Severus suddenly stood up and turned away, a strange look on his face. "I should check on an antidote that's brewing in the basement," he said. "We can talk later, Harry."

Then he started for the kitchen door, and Harry said suddenly, "You just did it again! You called me Harry!"

Severus paused with his hand on the doorknob. He seemed to consider this statement before saying slowly, "So I did." Then he was gone and the door snapped shut behind him.

*~*~*

It was only after Harry was upstairs again, trying to think of what to say to Hermione, when he remembered about Dumbledore and Albania. He had meant to ask Snape about it, but had forgotten. Would Hermione know anything? It was worth a try, so he picked up his quill, dipped it in his scarlet ink, and began to write.

Hermione,

I've already written Ron to tell him, but guess where I am? Snape's house! It's a really long story, but here goes.

I didn't get anyone's letters for ages after I came back to Privet Drive, and I thought no one had sent any. Then on my birthday, this weird creature showed up that called itself a house elf. (His name was Dobby, I think.) He had been nicking all my letters! He kept trying to convince me not to go back to Hogwarts, but of course I wouldn't agree. Then he levitated a pudding and dropped it on top of my aunt and uncle's dinner guests! I didn't even do it, but I still got a warning from the Ministry of Magic.

Well, Uncle Vernon read the letter first, and I'm sure you can guess that he found the fact that I'm not allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts VERY interesting. He locked me in Dudley's second bedroom and put bars on the windows. He said he wouldn't let me go back to Hogwarts, and if I tried to magic myself out, I would be expelled.

Then Snape showed up in the middle of the night a week later. Dumbledore had sent him, and when he found out that I was locked in, I think he got angry. He brought me back here, and he says they're not going to let me go back to the Dursleys. I don't know whether that means that I'm going to stay here or go somewhere else, but it can't be as bad as the Dursleys' so I'm not complaining.

Do you know if there's anything special about Albania? I was reading the Daily Prophet today and it says Dumbledore was there last week. That must be why he didn't know about the house elf's magic until yesterday, and why Snape didn't show up till then. So why would he have been there, do you know? I don't know anyone else to ask except Snape, but I don't think I should try to ask him just now.

Anyway, I hope you're having a good time in France.

Harry

Harry looked at it. He hadn't said anything about legilimency.. but he still didn't know how to spell that, and it wasn't at the top of his priority list at the moment. He hadn't said anything about his mother and Snape, either, mostly because he didn't even know whether he wanted to tell Hermione yet. He would probably tell Ron and Hermione the next time he saw them in person, he didn't fancy telling someone that with an owl.

Hedwig was asleep in her cage, her head under her wing. Harry watched her for a moment before he folded the letter and put it down on the desk. He would give it to her later; she deserved a good long rest before attempting a flight all the way to France.

So Harry lay down on his bed, thinking. There were so many things that had happened, and that he had found out, that it was hard to believe it wasn't even lunch time yet. There were a lot of things that he still had to try to figure out. He wasn't even sure what he felt about this connection between Snape and his mother, even if it had been years before he was born. It definitely still affected Snape, he thought as he bit his lip, so that obviously meant that it affected Harry, as well.