Severus walked around the farmhouse feeling a little unsettled. It felt strange to be here without Susan present. Looking at the little boy sitting on the couch, Severus knew he wasn’t the only one. Emma was sitting next to Harry reading him a story. Severus walked up to Peter who was making coffee in the kitchen.

“Could you tell me, how did Susan die? I thought she was doing okay?” he asked.

Peter sighed. “ We all thought she was doing very well, and in fact, I only saw her earlier in the week and she was fine. Looking forward to this summer, and Harry’s visit, plus she was planning on having you come over for a week or two as well. Unfortunately two days later she was found in her bedroom by Mrs. Thomas. She did her daily check-up and noticed Susan hadn’t come down yet, so she went upstairs and found Susan in her bed. According to the doctors she must have died in her sleep from a severe stroke. She wouldn’t have noticed anything, which I suppose is a good thing. She hated having to rely on others after her stroke last year, so at least she was spared that bit.”

Severus sighed. Yes, he could see why he should be glad Susan died in her sleep, but he wished she hadn’t, wished she was still here. It felt that now, there really was no connection left with his past. Mr. and Mrs. Evans died, then Lily and now Susan.

Soft laughter coming from the living room reminded him of the fact that there was a connection to his past still alive in the form of a young boy. Lily’s boy, he reminded himself. It helped to think of him like that instead of Potter’s boy. Also, the stories he had heard from Susan had changed his mind.

“Let’s join them in there and see how we will handle the coming weeks, shall we?” Peter suggested. He handed Severus a mug filled with coffee, and carrying two other mugs walked into the living room.

Severus followed behind him and settled himself in the comfy chair that he always used when he visited. Peter put down the mugs of coffee. “Do you want some lemonade Harry? I think there is still some of that self-made lemonade that Susan made for you.”

Harry looked up and nodded. “Yes please. I like lemonade”

Severus observed the young boy. He had his mother’s eyes, but unfortunately they were somewhat hidden behind glasses. His hair was stuck up all over the place, even though he had seen Harry try to comb it earlier in the day. Smirking slightly he realized the Potter hair was just untamable.

“Sir” Harry addressed him “will you tell me about my mum sometimes? I wanted to ask you in the Christmas holidays, but well, you couldn’t visit then and Aunt Susan said you would know lots of stories about her. And I would really, really like to know more about her.”

Severus looked up at the request. Talk about Lily? That was a hard thing to do, but when he realized that Petunia certainly wouldn’t have done so (the stupid harpy, he thought) he mellowed slightly. Of course the young boy wanted to know. It’s not as if he knew his own mother.

“I will, but not today. Today we should think about our plans for the upcoming weeks. I left rather unexpectedly at school, so I should return tonight to end the school year and finish some of the work I need to do. This should take me at most a week, and then I can come and stay here for four weeks or so.”

Harry chewed on his bottom lip. “Will you stay with me in the house then? I think I would like that. Aunt Susan said you used to sleep in the guest room that looks over the garden, and that I sleep in my mum’s old room at the front.”

Severus hadn’t known this, but he readily agreed. The room was a nice one and he certainly didn’t want to sleep in Susan’s old room. That should be left alone for now.

“Perhaps we can let you stay here during the day for the first week Harry, and sleep at our place. Otherwise we all need to move for the week. After that, once Severus has finished at school, you can stay here fulltime and we will visit whenever we feel like it, seeing as how we do need to work. What do you say?” Emma asked.

Harry smiled. “I’d like that very much.”

A silence followed, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. The four people in the room where all thinking about the upcoming summer, about how much they would miss Susan, and how their lives might change due to her death.

Having finished his lemonade Harry asked “Can I go outside and play? I think I saw Molly in the field, can I visit her?”

Peter agreed and let Harry go outside. The adults would use the time to discuss all the practical issues for this summer, and the years to follow.

Severus wondered if Harry knew about magic, for how else was he to explain his ability to travel so quickly and without a car in sight.

“Does Harry have any clue about magic?” he asked Peter and Emma.

The couple looked at each other and started laughing a little. “Oh yes. After you left on Christmas Day he was here for another week. On one of the days he saw two of the rams challenging each other and thought they were really fighting. So suddenly they were floating in the air apart from each other. Of course, then Harry was completely scared he would be punished, but Aunt Susan explained that both his parents and you too could do it too. He was scared at first, because apparently those Dursleys have even forbidden the use of even the word Magic in their house. Be prepared to do some demonstrations though.”

Severus sniggered. It was good to know that he didn’t have to explain magic, and the image of two floating rams was a funny one.

“Did anyone else see this happening?” he asked, recalling there were some families living on the farm as well.

“Yes they did, but it’s okay. Turns out that the Thomas’s have a nephew who can do magic too. Susan explained to them there is a school that will teach them, and they immediately called their family to tell his mother, because she didn’t really know what to do with it. And the Shaw family had seen Lily do magic sometimes too.”

Satisfied with their reply he considered the Statue of Secrecy. He didn’t think it was broken, otherwise the Obliviators would have shown up when Harry did magic, so there must be some clause in it that he didn’t know about. It would be worth looking into, so he would know who was allowed to know about magic and who wasn’t. He’d never had any need to research this, especially not after his father died.

“Very well, I believe I will leave now, so that the Headmaster won’t worry too much. I will send you an owl to let you know when I can return here.” With that Severus went outside to apparte away to Hogsmeade. Just before he left he saw a little boy running around in a field chasing a sheep.

He thought he heard a shout of “You’re it Molly!” before he turned around on the spot and disappeared.