"Just apologize to her already, Dad," Harry said loudly, rolling his eyes as he worked on his Charms essay. It had been his mantra for the past two days as well.

Severus didn't have the heart to tell his son that he had made it as far as the portrait outside of Aurora's rooms before he turned and left earlier. He wanted to apologize. He honestly did. But he couldn't find the courage to do so. What if she told him that she wouldn't ever forgive him as Lily had?

His fist slammed down onto the table suddenly. No! That was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. Aurora was not Lily. How could he even compare the two?

"Sorry," Harry mumbled from the island in the kitchenette.

Frowning, Severus glanced at his son. No doubt the boy had taken his outburst as a sign of anger at him. "No, Harry. Do not apologize. You've done nothing wrong." He then sighed, brushing back his long hair. "I have."

"So, apologize. It's not that hard."

"For you, perhaps, but . . ."

"Slytherins can be brave, too, Dad. You and Mum taught me that," Harry pointed out.

"Yes, and they can also be extremely emotional as well."

"Um, Dad, probably best if don't mention that to Mum."

Severus pressed his lips together even tighter. The boy was right. It would be best if he just sucked it up and apologized to her. He had clearly hurt her. But wasn't the proper thing to do was give her time to cool off? Though, even he knew two days was too long. Relationships were messy and confusing. Much like adolescents, he decided, pushing himself up from his chair.

"You going to go apologize?" Harry asked cheerfully.

"No."

"Oh." The young man sighed heavily then, flipping the page of his book.

"I'm going to get that blasted dog she wanted and then apologize."

"Really?" Harry's eyes lit up. "It's still down with Hagrid. Mum never went to get him. Hagrid doesn't mind, though." He then bit his lip nervously. "Could I come with? To see the dog again?"

"No." Severus then jerked his head towards Harry's opened book. "You have a Charms essay due tomorrow."

"But I can—"

"Your studies come first, Harry. I may not have done my due diligence before and kept on you about your schoolwork this year, but I am now. Finish your essay."

"Fine," the young man groaned. "I'll just sit here and do my stupid Charms essay."

"Excuse me?" Severus said, raising an eyebrow at his son.

"I'll do my Charms essay," Harry repeated, adopting a more respectful tone this time.

"Good. I'll return shortly." He paused as he came to stand behind his son for a moment. Gently, he rested a hand on the boy's shoulder and sighed. There were moments when things would come naturally to him, and then there were times like this where Severus second guessed himself. He then turned and left.

The walk down to Hagrid's hut was quick and silent. He passed Weasley with his rat and resisted the urge just barely from taking points from the boy for just breathing. Damn Weasley for turning his back on Harry. A part of him wondered if anyone would know it was him if he flicked his wand and caused the boy to roll down the hill. Maybe the boy would hit a rock and knock some sense into him. Though, it wasn't likely. The boy never did have any sense. With a shake of his head, Severus brushed aside his anger.

As he neared the circular structure a few moments later, he heard shouting followed by rabid barking inside. He found taking each step suddenly became harder, as the shouting and barking became louder. He raised a hand a moment later to knock, but quickly jumped aside when the door was suddenly thrown open.

A scruffy brown mutt sprinted out of the hut before it stopped and noticed him. The dog quickly bared its teeth at him, giving off the impression that Severus's mere appearance had pissed it off.

"Perfessor!" Hagrid shouted a moment later, stepping outside. He then turned back to the mutt. "Now you knock it off. This here's yer master."

That only seemed to piss the dog off even more, Severus noted.

"Perhaps I should come back later," he offered with a grimace. Clearly, he had done something to offend the dog in the five seconds they had met.

"No. It's fine, Perfessor," Hagrid stated, grabbing the mutt by the scruff of the neck. "He's likely missin' Perfessor Sinistra."

At the mentioning of Aurora, the dog suddenly became docile, relaxed. Severus's eyes narrowed as a result. While he understood she had that effect sometimes, this was different.

"I'm actually on my way to meet her," Severus quietly said, noticing the dog's ears perk up. He watched Hagrid release the mutt soon after.

"Goin' to apologize then?" Hagrid asked with a kind smile.

Severus sighed audibly. "Glad to know that our relationship has become fodder for gossip."

Hagrid shrugged. "Nah. We're just wantin' ya both to be happy." He then chuckled when the dog lifted its leg up and promptly peed on Severus. "He's warmin' up to you."

Severus glared at the dog in response. Stupid mutt. He waved his hand and vanished the mess. He'd need to collar the dog clearly and maybe transfigure a leash for it. Maybe even teach it not to piss on people either. And a bath, the mutt definitely need a bath.

"Thank you, Rubeus," he said quietly. He then addressed the dog. "Come on then. I'll take you to Aurora." He found himself getting rather annoyed with the dog's happiness whenever her name was mentioned. It wasn't that he was jealous of the dog. His jealous wasn't that bad. It just was strange.

A moment later, Severus was walking with a dirty, horribly matted mutt at his side. They walked through the castle together, a few people pointing at them as they did. He ignored them, though, as did the dog for that matter.

As they neared the portrait that guarded Aurora's room, Severus felt his nervousness reappear. What if she still didn't want to see him? No, he mustn't think that way.

"Ophiuchus," Severus announced, providing the last password of hers he knew. He caught Circe's brow raise but she said nothing as she swung open and permitted them inside. Following behind the mutt, Severus stepped inside, hearing the portrait close behind him soon after. "Aurora?" His eyes narrowed when he didn't see her in any of the downstairs rooms. The sound of glass shattering upstairs a moment later sent him and the dog sprinting up the staircase. He recalled the last time he had been in her rooms and heard that sound.

However, as he entered her bedroom, he quickly realized that she wasn't in any danger. In fact, she seemed to be controlling danger. Her mirror had been shattered. The jagged glass was suspended in the air in front of Aurora who had her hand cupped in front of her. He watched her fingers slowly curl to close her hand into a fist. The glass in response tightened in its formation.

"Aurora?" he said softly, hoping he didn't scare her.

Her eyes briefly met his before she turned her wrist and turned the glass to fine sand. "I have nothing to say to you, Severus," she replied, slowly bending down to scratch behind the mutt's ears.

"Good, because I have plenty to say to you," he stated lightly. He caught her soft snort and decided to dive right in. "I should never have compared you to her. But, Aurora, I'm not with you because I want to reclaim that time with her. She chose Potter."

"Except where her son's concerned," Aurora pointed out quietly.

He pinched his lips together before he inclined his head. She had a point there. "She, however, is my reference point. I," his voice faltered as his eyes dropped to the floor. "She is the only other witch I've been with. I don't have the experience—"

"Great. Now I'm a whore in your eyes too," Aurora bitterly said with a shake of her head.

"No. I didn't say that." His jaw clenched. This was all coming out very wrong. "Aurora, I don't want to lose you."

"Like you lost Lily, yeah, I got that."

"Woman, listen to me for once in your life," he growled, his patience wearing thin. Why did she have to make this so infuriating? He was trying to apologize. Didn't she get that? "You are not Lily. I know that! I wouldn't want you to be her."

"Because I can never compare to her, yes, Severus, I know that. Thank you for once again rubbing it in my face."

He covered his face and yelled into his hands soon after. No. No. No! That was not at all what he was saying. Inhaling deeply, he let his arms fall to his side again. Perhaps if he showed her? He took a step towards her, noticing the mutt's immediate defensive posture towards him.

"Shh, sweetheart," she murmured, petting the dog's back. "It's okay. I can handle him." The dog seemed to relax somewhat.

"I love you, Aurora. Do you understand that? I. Love. You. Not Lily. Not any other witch. You! Hell, I tied my soul with you. My magic. I would not share them with anyone else. What must I do to make you understand that it's you I want to spend my life with? To shout it from your tower? The Great Hall at dinner? Tell me. I'll do it."

She opened her mouth to say something but promptly closed it again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry that I made you feel like you had to measure up to her. I'm sorry, Aurora. Truly I am." He wasn't above begging, he decided as he waited for her to accept his apology. As the seconds turned into minutes and she still hadn't said anything, he felt his heart start to sink. He had done it again. "I went to see the Dark Lord with Shacklebolt of all people at my side just to make certain that I would be with you. I punched the goddamn Minister of Magic last year to make him pay for what he did to you. I, I went down to Hagrid's to get the mutt for you. I . . . I made love to you, Aurora. I poured my soul into you, my love, my everything."

Once more her mouth opened, but no words came out.

"Those months you were missing last year, I was lost. I wasn't thinking clearly. I broke into Pomfrey's medical files on you just to get some part of you back. I would hold smell your pillow or some article of clothing of yours just so I wouldn't forget your smell."

"I'm not weak."

"I never said you were," he replied, shaking his head. "You're one of the strongest witches I know. You sacrificed yourself for my son just so I would get a chance to know him. You resisted the Dark Lord entering your mind, not once but twice. Not many can say that. You suffered considerable heartbreak, and yet you remain kind and loving to those you shouldn't. You never wavered in your belief in me. No one's done that for me. You didn't give up on me, Aurora. Not once. I gave you so much reason to, but you didn't."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the dog's head cocked to the side. He brushed it off, though, and continued.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "Tell me how I can make this up to you. I'll do anything."

"You can't."

He shook his head, though. "No. I refuse to believe that. You've shown me that anything is possible if you at least try. I'm trying, Aurora."

"I know you are. That's not . . ." She then sighed, shaking her head. "You can't make it up to me, because you did nothing wrong, Severus. I got upset over nothing."

"No, don't do that. Don't make excuses for my behavior."

"I'm not. That's what happened. You knew about Remus, and I'm certain that finding out that I was alone in a room with him . . . I felt your fear, Severus. Of that night, I mean. I get it. And then we were talking later and I just misconstrued what you were saying."

"Aurora . . ." His eyes narrowed. This wasn't like her.

"For two days now I've been sitting up here trying to figure out why I got so upset. I know that you weren't comparing me to Lily. You chose me. You've continuously chosen me, Severus, as of late. I thought about coming to apologize to you, but I couldn't. How do I explain that I lost my temper with you for no reason?"

"You're human."

"No. That's not it. Trelawney, um, Sybill said something to me the other day."

"What?" His eyes narrowed even more at the sudden topic change. What in the world did Sybill have to do with this?

"She didn't seem to recognize me at first. She just stared at me with this . . . this look I've never seen before. At first I thought it was because of the whole Azrial mess. It wasn't, though. I had made my choice, and I chose to return to you and Harry."

"Aurora, I don't follow. What did she say?"

"It doesn't matter what she said, Severus. It matters that you came here with the dog at your side to apologize." She then held a hand up. An empty vial flew through the air before it landed in her hand. "Harry told me about the time you both brewed this potion."

His eyes flickered to the vial before he saw the last drop, recognizing the potion instantly. Why would she take that?

"He said it'd reveal whatever your soul desired. For him, it was to speak with Lily."

"And for me, it was you," he revealed quietly.

"Exactly." She drew in a slow breath. "I took it to get some sort of peace Do you know what I saw?" He shook his head. "You and Harry and the dog." She forced another laugh. "It was exactly as Sybill described it."

"Aurora, I don't follow."

"She described Harry going on about siblings and you apologizing with our messy dog."

He nodded slowly. There had to be more to that, though.

"Where there was chaos, there is now order," she said softly, holding his eyes. "Where there was pain, now love. Where there was a dog . . ." She waved her hand towards the scruffy dog. With a shimmer of light that rippled over the dog, the messy, badly matted animal quickly transformed into a man kneeling on all fours. "Hello, Sirius," she said neutrally.

"Rora," the man replied laughing awkwardly.

Severus's eyes widened before he whipped his wand out and leveled it on the wizard.

"Black?" he hissed. How did he miss it? An Animagus, of course! It was so perfect.

"Snivellus," Sirius replied before he yelled out in obvious pain, his back arching slightly.

"Apologize," Aurora coldly commanded, her hand in a tight fist as she stared at him.

"I . . . sorry," the man said through grit teeth. Once he was released, he hit the floor, panting loudly. "Bloody hell, Rora. Stronger than you look."

Inhaling slowly, she stepped forward before she kicked Sirius hard in the ribs. "That's for all the shit you pulled on Severus over the years."

He quietly coughed, groaning as he grabbed his chest. With a ghost of a smile, he glanced at Severus. "For old time's sake, Snape? You know you want to."

Severus held his wand steady, though. Aurora's kick was punishment enough for now.

When Sirius realized he wasn't going to rise to the bait, he turned towards Aurora. "When did you figure it out?"

"Last night."

Sirius nodded. He then glanced at Severus. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"What are you going on about, Black?"

"Pettigrew. He's alive."

"Impossible. You blasted him to bits on the street." He contemplated sending for the Aurors.

"A finger. That's all they found, right? Come on. Think. If I'm an Animagus, who else is?"

"What are you saying?"

"Pettigrew. I saw him earlier when I was with Hagrid. At least his rat form. Some redhead was holding him, calling him Scabies or something."

Severus's eyes widened. "Weasley," he stated before he glanced at Aurora.

"Go. I have this under control," she replied calmly.

He glanced back at Black and sighed. He didn't want to leave her alone with him, but if it was true, then Harry could be in danger. He felt his fear subside when she flicked her wand at Sirius a moment later and his childhood bully collapsed. "Stupefy?" he inquired with a raised brow.

"No. Stunner to his family jewels," she drawled. "Now, go." He left soon after.