Severus had woken up several times during the last few days, or weeks, or maybe even months, he couldn't tell. Each time had been an unpleasant experience. The first time, he'd been groggy and stiff. He had been laying on a small cot, unable to move anything. He'd panicked then, unsure of what was going on. He'd been able to see the wooden roof above him and guessed he was in some kind of shack, but he had been unable to tell anything else about his surroundings. He'd fallen back asleep before anyone had come to check on him. The second time he'd woken up, he'd heard someone shuffling around the room. He'd waited for whomever it was to come into view, as he was still unable to speak or even move, but had fallen asleep before his saviour had shown himself. The last time though, his saviour had been in the middle of applying some kind of salve to his wounds. She'd stepped back, out of his view, as soon as he'd opened his eyes. When he'd closed them again, the hands returned to spreading the soothing salve on the newly healed skin.

Now he woke up in a new environment, but a familiar one this time. Moving first his hands, then his feet, he tested the movement of his body. Whatever spell or potion that had kept him immobile had stopped working. Turning his head, he looked around his childhood bedroom. The air was stale and the furniture was ancient, but it was his home. He might have cursed the place under normal circumstances but for once, he was glad to be there. That was, until he turned the other way and was staring directly into a set of green eyes.

He led out a long breath. Potter was still alive. Somehow, the brat a survived once again. Snape looked at the boy, wondering how he had done it. Albus had seemed so certain that Potter would have to die in order to win. Was it possible that it wasn't over? Was that vile creature still running around?

Potter seemed to understand what he was thinking. Leaning toward him, the brat put a hand over his arm as if to comfort him. “He's gone, sir. We defeated him.”

Closing his eyes for a moment, he let that sink in. The Dark Lord was death and gone and he was still alive. It was something he had never expected to happen. For years, Severus had assumed that he would die trying to get rid of Riddle. Now, the creature was gone and he had no idea what to do. He was a spy, it was what he'd been for almost two decades. Even when his master had been no more that a shade, Snape had lived as though he was being watched every second of every day. He'd created his character and lived his life on the premise that one day, he would return to spying. He had never expected to be alive when it was all over. He'd never wanted to think of the possibility of surviving. It would have been too hard, having hope of a better life, while he was doing the bidding of that.. thing.

“Can I get you something? Water maybe?” Potter pulled him out of his thoughts.

Severus just nodded and waited for the brat to return with a glass of water. Sitting up slowly, he took a sip, and almost choked. Groaning at the burning feeling in his throat, he fell back on his bed and glared at Potter. “What..” His voice cracked “What do you want?”

Potter put the glass on the bedside table and sat back on the kitchen chair, which wasn't supposed to be in his room. “I came to make sure you were still breathing.”

Coughing a few times, he looked at the boy with a slight frown “Why?”

He sighed and shrugged “Someone had to make sure you survived.”

“You.. You saved me?” His voice croaked. It hurt to talk but he had little choice. He needed to know what was going on. What had happened while he was out cold.

“You don't know what happened?”

“I died.”

“I know.. I was there.” Potter mumbled and looked down at his shoes.

“The elf was not yours?”

Potter shook his head “No. I didn't think there was anything we could do. I left you there and went to your office.. When it was all over, you had disappeared.”

Groaning, Severus closed his eyes. Suddenly remembering what he had done.. He'd given the little brat his memories. And not just the ones the child had needed. No, he'd given him everything that might make Potter believe. The brat had seen, not only memories of his time at Hogwarts, but also some of his childhood. Not wanting to talk any more he glared at the boy and sneered “Get Out!”

Potter didn't protest. He simply nodded and left the room. Severus heard him decent the stairs and let out a relieved sigh when he heard the front door open and close. He needed time. Time to think about his future. Of what he was going to do and how he was going to deal with the Potter brat.

After that first visit, Potter returned to his house on a daily basis. Every time he asked Severus how he was doing and if he needed anything. Which Severus never answered. He was still healing and he had no need for the boy to intervene. He had his wand and was able to summon anything he needed all on his own. Severus knew he was being, what Poppy would call, a bad patient, but he didn't care. He didn't want to talk. Not to Potter, not to anyone. If he talked to Potter, the brat would want to know about his past and possibly Lily. If he talked to someone else, not that anyone else had come to look for him, they would ask questions Severus didn't want to deal with yet.

While Severus lay quietly in his bed, regaining his strength, Potter told him what was going on in the rest of the wizarding world. He spoke of the people they had lost, the changes in the ministry and the trials that had been taking place each day for over a month. The brat never seemed worried about Severus' refusal to speak. He just prattled on without a care in the world. Severus usually allowed him to stay for an hour before he told the brat to get out. While he had no intention of speaking to anyone any time soon, he didn't mind the distraction Potter provided with his daily visits.

That was, until the second week, when Potter arrived with two small bottles in his hands. The brat put the bottles on his side table and glared at him for a moment before he turned and left. Looking at the bottles, he noticed that one had his name on it while the other had the brat's.. Still completely unwilling to think of anything, Severus closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Waking up in the dark several hours later, Severus grabbed his hand and cast a Lumos. His eyes fell on the two bottles on his bedside table. Severus stared at the vial with the brat's memories. That imbecilic boy. What was he thinking, giving Severus his memories. But then, Potter was always doing things he shouldn't. It was, after all, what the boy was famous for. Doing moronic things and somehow turning them around to come out the victor and unabashed hero. He was sitting there, staring at that blasted vial.. But he couldn't decided what he was going to do with it. With a sigh he stood from his bed and left the room. Ignoring the fact that Potter had finally gotten him to leave the room.

Potter had mentioned that he'd come to his house as soon as Severus had returned, which made him suspect that the brat had put up some kind of monitoring wards but hadn't been able to find anything, yet. Now was as good a time as any to check what else the boy had done to his house.
Grabbing his wand, he left the room. After checking the master bedroom and bathroom, neither of which had been disturbed, he went downstairs. He stopped on the last step, his yaw dropping slightly. The room itself hadn't changed. His furniture and his books were still there, and it was still quite dark. Except, that it wasn't nearly as gloomy as it used to be. The room was clean, completely dust free, and every surface he could see was shining. On closer inspection, he noticed that even his books were now dust free and spotless. The upholstery on his couch looked as new, as if it had never been worn down by decades of use. His favourite chair, on the other hand, was cleaned but still had the worn down look a favourite chair was supposed to have. The little brat had cleaned his living room, and somehow known to leave the chair.

Stalking into his kitchen he looked around. This room to, had been cleaned. Everything was ones again spotless. One would think it was completely new, were it not for the style, which was decades out of date. He risked a look out his window. His garden looked as it always did, filled to the brim with herbs and other plants he used for his potions. The plants looked taken care of and he couldn't see any of the weeds that he had stopped caring about ages ago. He sighed, not sure whether he should be pissed or grateful that the brat had taken the time to clean out his garden.
One last thing to check. He strode back to the living room and took out his wand. Tapping on several of the books he stood back and waited for the bookcase to slide back and allow him entrance to his laboratory. He carefully went down the stairs. He wasn't stupid enough to fall down the old stone steps when he had yet to fully recover from his last near-death experience. Ones downstairs he lid the candles spread around the room with a simple flick of his wand and looked around. There was a layer of dust on everything in the room and everything seemed to be where he had last left it. Either the idiot hadn't found the laboratory or he'd been smart enough to keep out. He snorted at that, considering it was Potter, he'd probably not found it. The boy had never learned to keep his nose out of other people's business. He sighed and went back up the stairs. He needed to rest, and more importantly, he needed to think.

It had been two days since potter had left the memories and he hadn't returned since. Severus had spend those days relaxing on his couch with some magazines he hadn't had a chance to read yet. The pile of post laying on his desk was ridiculously high but Severus didn't look at anything but the magazines. He had no wish to read any of the dribble the daily prophet was reporting and he had no interest in listing to anything written in those blasted ministry letters that had been arriving every single day. He sighed, happy to finally have some peace, and turned a page in one of the newest Potions Digest. Then he just stared, open mouthed. There on the page was a picture of him with a line beneath that read 'Esteemed Potion Master and previous headmaster of Hogwarts Severus Snape not death' and beneath that in slightly smaller letters 'Harry Potter refuses to reveal location'
Severus scowled and started to read the article.

Yesterday, our hero, Harry Potter, revealed to the ministry that his old potion professor, Severus Snape, is still alive. Harry Potter, famous for surviving the killing curse when he was only one year old and more recently defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the Battle of Hogwarts, who has not spoken to any reporters since his statement shortly after his victory, gave another statement yesterday. During this public appearance he announced that Potions Master Severus Snape has been spotted alive. Harry Potter reports that his old professor is 'wounded but already back to his eloquent self.' Mister Potter has refused to divulge any information as to the location of the Potions Master, declaring that said information would endanger his old professor. It must be noted that, during the statement Mr. Potter made after the battle, he divulged that Severus Snape had been a spy, helping the war effort from behind enemy lines. At that point many believed that Professor Snape was deceased and Mr. Potters statement was accepted as truth. However, now that the old headmaster has returned to the world of the living, the ministry has decided that a trail will be held. In light of Professor Snape's current health status, the ministry has not yet set a date for the trail. However, Mr. Potter has already stated that he will be present and ready to testify on his professor's behalf.

In light of Mr. Potter's statement, we have spoken to several of the professor's colleagues and students. Amongst these was the new headmistress of Hogwarts, who stated that she too believed the professor to be innocent and wished him a speedy recovery. Most of the professors mentioned how much they regretted not believing in their colleague and wished him well.
The students we spoke to were a lot more colourful in their answers to our questions. When asked what he thought of Severus Snape's miraculous return, George Weasley declared 'Bats the world over are rejoicing. And so are we'. His brother Fred Weasley added 'He may not be the nicest person, but he is brilliant behind a cauldron. Weasley's Wizarding Weezes would not exists without his lessons.' Draco Malfoy, who was declared innocent only a week ago, confided that he was glad to hear his head of house was still breathing and hoped to see him during the next school year. Several other students from all four houses gave similar statements, though some were still sceptical about last year's headmaster.

Considering the circumstances of the previous year, we will not comment further on those events, as said events are mostly conjecture. We can only hope that we will receive more information on Severus Snape's role during the war once his trail starts. On the next 2 pages, we will give an overview of the potions master's achievements so you will have all the information available to make up your own mind.

Severus skimmed over the rest and scoffed to himself. An overview of his achievements, right. Most of his accomplishments were known only to himself and Albus. Had Severus died, over two dozen new potions would never be brought to the public, simply because he had never bothered to write them down. Severus sighed and put the magazine down. It was time for him to stop hiding. Soon enough, the new school year would start and he had no idea what he was going to do. Grabbing Potter's memories he went to his laboratory and put them in the pensive Albus had given him shortly after the tri-wizard tournament. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he put his head on the surface and felt himself fall.

He was standing in an empty room that seemed to have no way out. Potter was standing in front of a mirror, and raised an eyebrow at himself before he turned and looked directly at Severus. For a moment Severus wondered if the brat could actually see him, but shook the thought away. This was a memory, there was no way the little brat could know he was there. Then he started talking.

“Good day Professor.” He smiled at himself and nodded before continuing. “I gave you these memories because it has been almost two weeks since you returned to your home. During that time, I have not yet seen you leave that dreary bedroom and the only words you have spoken are..” His face turned into a scowl and the brat lowered his voice in a bad imitation of Severus. “'Get out', 'Leave me' and my personal favourite 'Fuck off.'” Potter grinned “I never knew you could curse like a regular person, professor. I must say, I have been kind of disappointed by the lack of you normal rather eloquent snide comments.” He sighed and turned back to the mirror.

Severus scoffed “You should really get some better glasses, maybe then you'll see well enough to know there is no real reason for you to continue admiring yourself.”

Potter didn't answer, he just smiled at his own reflection and continued speaking. “Anyway, where was I... Ah, right, the memories. In the shack, you gave me a set of your memories that cleared something up for me. Ones again, you saved my life. The Headmaster said a life debt is a powerful thing, something that should be honoured. Personally, I think it should have nothing to do with honour. You saved my life on several occasions. Without you, I would be dead by now and Voldemort would probably rule the world.”

Severus flinched at the name out of habit, the mark and with it the pain, had vanished while he'd been to dead to notice.

“I think that, even without a life debt, I, and the world at large, owe you more than could ever be repaid. Honestly, I have no idea where to start but I'm going to try. I have to at least try. After everything you've been through to make up for the mistakes you made almost two decades ago..You deserve to be free, more importantly you deserve to be happy.” Potter grimaced slightly at that “Not sure how exactly I can expect you to ever be happy. You're life hasn't been easy, and I suspect, it will never be as easy as it should have been. You'll always have your memories, they will never go away. Neither the good, nor the bad... And now, I'm going to give you some more of both. I'll admit, I'm not sure if I should even show you the first few. It's not like they matter.” Potter sighed and turned to look in Severus' direction “I'm showing you this because I want you to believe that I have not, nor will I ever, share anything personal I learned from the memories you gave me. Maybe if you've seen some of my secrets, you won't be so pissed that I've seen yours.”

Suddenly, the scene shifted and Severus was standing in the middle of a living room. Potter now standing next to him. A boy, so fat he looked more like an elephant than a human child, came running into the room, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Mommy, Mommy, the freak stole my cookie.”

There was clanging in what sounded like the kitchen and a moment later a skinny woman came into the room. She knelled down in front of the baby elephant and held his cheeks in her hand “What's wrong my precious baby. What has that freak done to you.” Petunia crooned to the child.
The child began crying and hiccupped “H..he.. s..s..s..stole m..my cookie.”
Petunia wrapped her child in her arm and lifted him up.

Severus raised an eyebrow but Potter commented before he could.
“I will never understand how she can lift him.” Potter shook his head and followed the two out of the room, not looking back at Severus. Severus followed them toward the hallway. Where Petunia had just opened the door to the cupboard under the staircase and pulled out a scrawny child by his unruly black hair.

She dragged him into the kitchen and started screaming at him. Never letting go of the boys hair. “You filthy little thief. How dare you. How dare you take even more from my little duddykins. You don't deserve cookies. You don't even deserve to be here. You should be happy you have roof above your head and 3 meals a day.” She screamed on an on, shaking to boys head from side to side by his hair. The boy didn't say anything. His eyes were huge and watery. He looked terrified but he didn't make a sound. Than Petunia lifted him up over the sink and wrenched open his mouth. She grabbed a wooden spoon and pushed in down the boys throat until he wretched. Just before Petunia opened the faucet Severus looked and saw that it was mostly water the boy had spit out. There was no sign that the boy had eaten anything all day, not even a cookie. Petunia grabbed him by his hair again and pulled him of the kitchen counter, dragging him back to the cupboard. She pushed him inside and locked the door before she spat “That will teach you not to steal Dudley’s food.”

The scene went foggy for a moment before the hallway came back into view. In the living room Severus heard more screaming but the door opened before he could go see what was going on. A fat man, presumably Vernon Dursley, pushed a now slightly older boy into the hallway. There was blood on the boy's face, seemingly caused by a busted lip, but the boy looked otherwise fine. There were no traces of the pain that wound must have caused. No tears in his eyes. Vernon opened the small door and literally threw the boy inside. Then he locked the door and smacked his fist against it.

The fog came back, announcing another switch in scenery. When it went, he was standing in the kitchen. Looking at the same boy, who could not be more than 9 years old, making breakfast. The child could barely see what he was doing but seemed to be managing to make a decent omelette. That was, until he took the pan of the fire and burned his hand. He let out a soft yelp and dropped the pan. Before the boy could rectify the situation, Petunia came in and grabbed the pan. Instead of helping the boy, she used the pan to smack him over the head and screamed for him to get out of her sight.

Another shift of scenery, to the living room this time. The boy was being yelled at by his uncle. Another shift and he was being beaten by his nephew. The shifts came faster and faster. Showing Severus glimpses of the abuse that the three wrought on the boy. All the times they called him a freak and told him he wasn't worth the oxygen he breathed. The times his nephew went after him. The times they locked him up in that tiny cupboard underneath the stairs and refused to feed him for days on end.

Then all of a sudden, he was back in the empty room with the mirror and staring at the 17 year old Harry Potter. For a moment neither of them said anything. Potter turned back to the mirror and looked at himself again, letting out a sigh. “As you might have noticed, these are memories of me watching my memories. Not that I particularly care whether I have these particular memories in my head, but I figured you'd see it as me pawning of my own bad memories onto you. Anyway, I hope that was enough for you to believe me when I say that I will not speak of your childhood to anyone, not even you.” He paused at that, pursing his lips “Well, not unless you bring it up. Personally, I think it would be good for both you and I to talk about our childhoods. However, since I have been able to avoid any and all conversations about it, I'm really not the right person to push you into talking. Even if I think it might remove some of that poison you carry with you”

Severus just stared at the boy. All these years and he had never suspected that. Sure, he had started to realise that the brat hadn't been as spoiled as he had assumed, but outright abused... While he hadn't seen any scenes that accused the adults of extreme violence, the way they handled him, the anger and hatred they showed towards him, it was disgusting. And letting that little whale do whatever he liked to the boy... He was so much larger that it wasn't even close to a fair fight between siblings. Severus simply couldn't imagine how Potter had done it. How was it possible that he had lived with those people and yet, display none of the normal signs such abuse left.. For a moment, he wondered if it was simply that he had been blinded by that much hatred, but dismissed the option instantly. While he was the only head of house who demanded yearly health inspections of his students, his colleagues weren't blind. Had the boy shown any signs of abuse, someone should have noticed, especially with the amount of attention of the brat-who-lived. Severus was shaken out of his thought when the boy's voice interrupted.

“Anyway. That was childhood. Now onto the teenage years. These are some memories from Hogwarts. They are somewhat mixed. Do me a favour and listen when I tell you to pay attention to something specific. I'm trying to make a point here.”

The fog rolled in again and a moment later they were standing in the great hall. Eleven year old Potter had just been called to be sorted and was now sitting with the sorting hat over his eyes. The hat was moving the boys head around and for the first time Severus noticed how much faster his own sorting hat taken. The boy's parents for that matter, had been sorted into Gryffindor as soon as the hat touched their hair.

Next to Severus, the 17 year old Potter commented dryly. “It was trying to convince me that Slytherin would be good for me.” Severus had heard rumours of that from some of the other professors but had never really believed it. Hearing it from the brats own lips was rather disconcerting. Severus looked at the boy, thinking what a difference it would have made. Would Potter have been able to turn Slytherin away from the dark lord, or would Slytherin have turned Potter to the dark side.

The hat placed the brat in Gryffindor and the scene shifted. Potter was sitting at the Gryffindor table. He was currently looking at the head table. More precisely at the Severus, who was glaring back at Potter. “My first opinion of you.. Mostly based on the fact that my scar hurt due to Quirrell.” Potter grinned for a second before adding “Well, that and that snarl on your face.”

The scene chanced again. They were in his potions classroom now. The first one with the brat. Next to him Potter said “Go look at what I'm writing down.” Severus shrugged and did as asked. No reason not to. Looking down at Potters paper he was momentarily surprised. The kid had been writing down what he had been saying. He had been paying attention. Potter, who had followed him to his old desk, commented “I also read the first few chapters of the book. I just couldn't remember. The whole magical world was new to me and there was so much to learn. I'm not Hermione, theory will never be my strong suit. My failure in potions was mostly caused by you, as was my triumph in the subject last year. I'm fairly certain you could be a good teacher, had you not spend most of our lessons trying to hurt me as my father hurt you.”

Severus wanted to snap at the brat for that but stopped himself. Potter couldn't hear him, so what was the point. The fog came back again and a new memory appeared. They were still in his classroom but, looking at the potion the little brats were brewing, this was a year later.

“Seeing as I just showed you a memory where you were wrong. I'll show you one I dearly regret. Not at that moment though, I thought I was doing the right thing.. Looking back at it now... I can't believe I did something this stupid.”

Severus was watching the younger Potter. He remembered what happened during this class. Someone had thrown a filibuster and exploded a swelling potion. Seeing it from this point of view, it was clear it was Potter. The brat was currently rummaging around his bag. Severus looked as the disaster unfolded in front of him. They'd all been lucky he was always prepared for exploding potions, especially with the pre-OWL students. This time he also noticed the Granger girl sneaking out of his personal ingredients storage. Potter sighed as they looked on as Severus started to dole out shrinking solution “Everybody believed I was the heir of Slytherin.. Well, almost all of the students did. I just wanted it all to stop and we were so sure Draco had something to do with it..”

The scene shifted and suddenly they were standing in an overcrowded book store as Potter was being forced to pose for a picture. Lockhart presented him with some books, which Potter abruptly gifted to Molly Weasley. The scene shifted again, Severus was standing in a courtyard while Potter was being harassed by a first year, begging him to sign a photo. Next to him the older Potter commented “When I first learned of the magical world, I didn't mind all the people who wanted to talk to me. I never had friends before. The people that didn't outright hated me, ignored me.” He let out a long sigh “For a moment, it was a nice change to be liked by most. But you remember when you told me that fame wasn't everything?” Potter paused and nodded to himself “Of course you remember, you remember everything. Anyway, in my personal opinion, fame isn't anything. People want to talk to me, be my friend, because my parents sacrificed themselves to save me. All I ever wanted was a normal life. To have friends, to be liked because of me, not because of the circumstances of my life. But that's what fame is professor. Lockhart was right about that at least, fame is fickle.” Another pause before he added “Though, I don't think I ever considered it a friend.”
The scene had moved on while Severus had been listening to Potter and the younger version was now being harassed by Draco. Who was commenting loudly about Potter giving away signed photo’s. Which, as far as Severus had seen, he hadn't actually been doing.
The scene shifted. They were now standing in Minerva's office. The golden trio was there, trying to convince her that Snape was going after the philosophers stone. The older Potter was standing next to him, grimacing. “We did sort of jump to conclusions about you, but still, we were right about someone stealing the stone..” Minerva told them that the Stone was quit safe and shooed them out of her office. While they left, the mist started swirling and the scene shifted again.

They were in the defence classroom and Potter and Weasley burst into the room, calling for Lockhart. Severus listened to the boys as they tried to convince the man to safe the Weasley girl. When Lockhart kept packing his things and threatened to remove their memories, the boys drew their wands and Severus smirked as they led the professor out of the room.

The mist rose and the classroom changed into the Gryffindor common room. Potter was sitting in front of the fire, talking with the mutt. The older Potter walked forwards and sat on the couch, watching his godfather with a sad smile. Moving forward, Severus listened as the boy explained what he had seen in Severus's pensive. As he listened to the boy's conversation with his godfather, Severus started to wonder how he could have been so wrong. In all his years as a spy, he had learned to ferret out the truth amongst a million and one misdirections. And yet, he had not been able to see through to the boy's real character. For years he had believed him to be nothing more than a carbon copy of his father. Even this past year, while he had listened with bathed breath to the rumours of the golden trio's exploits, he had been unwilling to admit that the boy was anything but an annoyance. Only now, that he knew of the boy's childhood and heard him talk about his disgust at his father's bullying, did he finally realized he could not have been more wrong.

Before Severus could think on it more, the scene shifted and they were standing in the girls bathroom. Malfoy had is head bowed over a sink as he stood crying. Potter entered the room and the two boys exchanged a few words. The small altercation turned into a duel before Snape had really registered that they were fighting. Moments later, half the bathroom was destroyed, Potter was landed on his back and Malfoy stood over him. Malfoy started to say Crucio but Potter countered before he could finish the word. Potter's spell slashed into Malfoy and Potter stood up and scrambled towards him. He was in the middle of panicking when the door opened and Severus himself came in. The look on his face was furious and made Severus a bit annoyed with himself. Now that he had seen the whole altercation, he understood what had happened. He still didn't condone the brats use of an unknown spell but he also understood that it hadn't been a conscious choice. He was just a child who had reacted with the first thing that came to mind. Had he had the chance to think a second longer, he would most likely have chosen a spell that he knew. A Petrificus Totalus would have done just as well, and would have been the better choice since Potter actually knew what that spell did. But the child didn't have a chance to think, not when Malfoy had been about to use the Crusiatus Curse, Potter should have been given some praise for his extremely well honed response. Even if that praise went hand in hand with detention for using an unknown spell.

The 17 year old Potter didn't say a word through all of this. He just stood of to the side and watched the scene with a grim face. It made Severus consider the possibility that the child had no idea what he really thought of this event. As the memory Severus was closing the wounds on Malfoy, the older Potter sighed and said “You'll have to tell me how to do that. I know the spell and I can't guarantee that I won't use it when I have to make a split second decision. I would very much like to know how to reverse the spell if something like this ever happens again.” The fog crept up around them once more. When it drew away, they were standing in the room with nothing but a mirror and the brat was talking again.

“I showed you those particular memories because I think we need to start over. You never gave me a chance to prove that I'm anything but my father's replica. After which, I admit, I did not really try to show you anything but my worst side. But, I am not an arrogant, attention seeking, idiot Gryffindor. Well, not completely at least. And after all you've done to keep me alive, don't you think we should at least try to not hate each other?” Potter sighed and walked back and forth in front of the mirror a few times. “I hope you can see that I never broke the rules just for the fun of it. I tried to get someone to help on several occasions but it never went well. With nobody trusting me enough to tell me the truth, I hope you can understand I sort of gave up on getting adults involved. I never had a decent track record with adults. Even Dumbledore, whom I always trusted, kept secret from me that could have saved many lives. And let's face it, the headmaster's goal was never to keep me from harm.” Potter sighed and raked a hand through his unruly hair. “That second to last one, well, I wanted you to know that I did not, in fact, enjoy seeing that memory. I would have apologized, had I ever believed that it would have made a difference to you. That doesn't chance that I should never have looked in your pensive. I can only say that I did not go in there looking for something private. I hoped to find something that could tell me what was going on in The Order, but that did not give me the right to snoop. For that, I am sorry. As I am sorry for what I did to Draco. He may have intended to curse me but that didn't give me the right to use that spell. I didn't know what it would do, it was just the first counter that came to my mind. It was stupid and reckless and I truly hope that I never get into a situation like that again.”

“Now, there are many more things I could show you. Not all of them flattering for me, or you. However, instead of rehashing everything I have done these past years and trying to justify it. I'm going to assume you have seen enough to at least ask me before you make any more assumptions about me. I sure as hell won't make the same mistake again. For now, I'm only go you to show one more memory. You'll like this one, I'm sure. If you have any more questions, about last year or anything that happened during my Hogwarts career, I hope you'll ask the next time I stop by.” Potter turned around and the fog rolled in.

A moment later, Snape was standing in the great hall, surrounded by duelling death-eaters, order members and students.