Snape sighed softly as he ended his spell. He glanced towards the young man whose mouth was wide-open while standing in front of him. Neither said anything for ten minutes. They only stared at one another, one with a look of confusion and the other with a look of annoyance.

"Honestly, Mr. Potter," Snape drawled before crossing his arms.

"You…but…he didn't…I'd have remembered."

"You are correct. The Headmaster did not allow me to have custody over you."

"When?" asked Harry.

"I do not understand."

"When was that memory?"

"Two hours after that lovely memory you pushed me into," Snape coolly replied.

"You knew?"

"To which part are you referring to, Mr. Potter?"

"All of it," Harry quickly replied.

"Indeed I knew the Muggles did not treat you as well as they should. However, I did not realize that their gross negligence of your care would quickly turn to abuse. Had I known that beforehand, Harry, I would have been more persistent about getting custody of you before then," Snape confessed.

"Then you all knew?"

"If by all you are referring to the Headmaster, Minerva, Hagrid, and myself, then yes we knew."

"You didn't do anything. Not a single one of you did anything to prevent it."

"Sadly, you are mistaken. You have only seen bits and pieces, Harry. I assure you we did the best we could."

"You could have kidnapped me."

"What possible good would have come out of that, Harry? The Aurora would have found me immediately and thrown me into Azkaban for kidnapping the Boy-Who-Lived. While I still disagree with the Headmaster's decision to leave you there, I must say that it has helped us in the long run." Snape then turned away and glanced out the window. He allowed himself to collect his thoughts before turning back. "Your father was spoiled by his parents as a child. He grew up believing that he was Merlin's gift of this world, which the professors reinforced every single time he bullied me at school. Do you remember when I told you that your father was jealous of my friendship with your mother?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"It became even worse our fourth-year with the Yule Ball. I had not the courage to ask your mother, so she waited for me to do so. James repeatedly asked her every second of the day, and every time she denied him politely. He foolishly got the idea in his thick skull that if I was preoccupied, then he could swoop in and your mother would be his. Therefore, he decided to switch one of my potion's ingredients. He did not know, though, that your mother sometimes used my ingredients to brew. His brilliant plan backfired horribly, Harry. He nearly killed her with that ridiculous stunt of his."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Tell me, Harry. Have you ever thought for a second of switching Draco's ingredients?"

"Well, no, but—"

"And I do not doubt for a second that you ever would," Snape replied. "You are close to Granger and Weasley as a result that you did not have lots of childhood friends growing up. You crave the attention you so desired growing up. I understand, Harry. I understand better than most because I was like you." When Snape noticed Harry's eyes narrow in disbelief, he softly scoffed. "Yes, well, I will admit that I doubt you will ever make my mistake and join a dark wizard. However, I too had a difficult childhood. Do you understand me?" He then gently rested his hands on Harry's shoulder. "You are not a freak, Harry. If anything, they are for what they did to you. However, take my advice. Revenge is not as amazing as everyone makes it out to be. It only darkens your soul."

"If you could do your school years over—"

"I would have taken your mother's advice and not practiced the Dark Arts."

"Yeah, and you could have been my dad then," Harry said with a soft laugh.

"Now, there's a frightening thought," Snape replied chuckling. "Good night, Mr. Potter."