Harry woke to the scent of honeysuckle and mandarin. And the flickering of a snake’s narrow, forked tongue against his nose.

*“Hey, snakelet, head off tail and upsy for yummy meat!”* pshhed Nagini. The cheeky creature had actually twined herself over his headboard and was now nudging at Harry’s cheek.

*“Mmmgh”* Harry replied rolling over and burying his face in the pillow.

*“Basilisk said Nagini must get snakelet up!”* The pretty, green snake snapped playfully at Harry’s hair, causing the puppy to yap wildly with excitement.

*“Okay! Okay!”* Harry stumbled over to the wardrobe and pulled out his t-shirt and jeans of yesternight- which were now crease free.

*“Snakelet may carry Nagini”* the Ryukyu green snake hissed imperiously.

Harry smirked and walked over to the bed, holding out his arm to the funny, domineering little creature. Nagini gently twisted around his wrist.

*“How come you smell of flowers?”* he asked the little snake, sniffing appreciatively.

*“Tom’sss water pit is nice for Nagini. Ssunlight warm. Feels good to sssswim!”* she psshed happily.

*“You nicked his bathwater?”* Harry asked with a laugh, reaching down with his snake-free hand to get the door.

*“Nagini likesss ssswimming. Nagini bites at bubbles and they go pop!”*

“Ah, there is my Nagini” said Tom, who had been walking down the landing when Harry stepped out “I’d wondered what had become of her.”

“She said that she’d been told to get me out of bed” said Harry, feeling slightly awkward. The newly named Godric bounced around the older man’s feet, yapping happily. Tom bent and petted the puppy’s silky head.

*“Tom! Nagini is here!”* the green-scaled snake hissed jealously.

*“Hello my little snakelet”* smiled Tom, reaching out to touch her head. Nagini coiled around his wrist and had soon established herself on the purple silk of Tom’s shoulders.

“I guess it wasn’t you who sent her to me?” Harry asked.

“It must have been Severus. He probably wanted to shower in peace.” laughed Tom *“Nagini does tend to hog the bathroom, don’t you my hatchling?”* he continued in parseltongue.

*“Nagini likes to sssswim”* affirmed the snake, blinking her violet eyes.

“Is, ah, Snape here, then?” asked Harry, his heart sinking.

“Yes, Harry.” Tom’s vermillion eyes were sympathetic “It’s difficult, I know, to meet someone in a domestic setting when your past has been… not the easiest.”

“Yeah.” Harry picked up Godric, cuddling the warm, soft body to his chest.

Tom patted him on the back and, with an arm around Harry’s shoulders, started to gently guide him downstairs. “Many years ago, I was feeling just as nervous as you must be. I gather your Mum told you about Eileen and me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Me too, I wouldn’t have given up having Sev for the world but I’d have rather the earlier years of his life had been easier for him and Eileen. Anyway, I was only down in the Seven Broomstick that night because the love of my life had just decided to hook up with my best friend.”

“Oh. I though Cedric beating me to asking Cho to the ball was bad.” Harry said sympathetically.

“It always hurts, whoever they are, however long you’ve known them” replied Tom, with a sad smile. “Anyway. Cappella Malfoy. Ella and I had been in the same year at Hogwarts; she was the most beautiful, compassionate, smart witch I’ve ever known and we were close, closer than most lovers. Anyhow, when I went off on my travels, we stayed in contact via owl.”

“Whilst I was in Japan, I met Abraxus and, well, it was love at first sight. Not that I told him of course; how could a mere mortal expect to win the heart of a being so exquisite?” Tom laughed “Still, nothing ventured is nothing gained: I followed him around like a puppy and Abraxus, being the sweet-natured, open hearted man that he was, grew to love me as a brother. He even accompanied me to Britain when I decided to return and try my hand at being an educator.”

“When I applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, I originally didn’t hold out much hope: Dumbledore, who’d taken against me from the very beginning, had succeeded Dippet by then. Anyhow, to my surprise I received an invitation to visit Hogwarts that summer, to discuss the position. Abraxus and I planned to fly over in late June and spend a month taking in the sights and meeting old friends before I had my interview. Cappella, who lived in Hogsmeade, offered us houseroom when I told her I intended to return to the U.K and I gratefully accepted”

“When I introduced Abraxus to Cappella, I knew that they were rather taken with each-other but, both being perfectly well-bred, they restrained their attraction to looks and thoughts whilst I was around. However, when I came back from my disastrous interview with Dumbledore- which was more an interrogation on my activities than anything else- I was doubly disappointed to discover that, whilst I was away, Abraxus had taken Cappella as his mate.”

Walking down the stairs beside Tom, Harry grimaced; that had to burn.

Tom sighed and leant on the end of the balustrade “Not wanting to play gooseberry any longer, I said my goodbyes, apperated to London and got stinking drunk. The next morning, I flew back to Japan without Abraxus and, a year-or-so later, Cappella and Abraxus returned to the Youkai court, baby son in tow. It was tough, being in the same room as the happy family for the first time; letters were difficult enough but the anticipation of seeing them together… However, it wasn’t so hard as I’d thought it would be and, after a few meetings, things became easier, almost normal.” Tom straightened up and, his arm around Harry’s shoulders, started walking towards the kitchen “The best philosophy for life is that, however difficult the situation, it won’t last forever.”

Harry nodded and set the squirming Godric down on the floor. His Mum deserved to be happy and, if that meant Snape, Harry would just have to be the better man. Taking an unobtrusive deep breath, Harry gritted his teeth and stepped into the kitchen.

oOoOo

“Hello Harry, good morning Tom” called Lily, setting her newspaper on the table. “Did you guys sleep well?”

“Very well, thank you Lily” replied Tom, swinging a chair back-to-front and straddling it.

“Fine thanks” said Harry quietly, sending a swift glance towards the Aga, where a slender man was making toast, his face hidden by long dark hair. Harry didn’t know whether it was more of a surprise seeing those iconic, shoulder-length curtains being grease-free or set in the heavy, plump curls of a cavalier.

“Anything good in the paper, Lils?” said Tom, helping himself and Harry to a soft-boiled egg. Harry wondered how mad his friends would think him if he were to confide that 'Voldemort' has egg-cups shaped like chickens.

“Just the usual tat. Something about some dirt-raker called Rita Skeeter being busted by Animagus control.”

Harry laughed in spite of himself. “What?”

“Apparently she was caught at Hogwarts, buzzing around as a beetle. She’d been using her animagus form to spy on people and get scoops.” Lily added.

“The bitch!” Harry exclaimed. “Um, sorry” he continued, reddening under the gaze of his mother and Tom “but that… woman has been dragging my name through the muck all year. And my friends. She wrote really a really horrible article saying that I was a deranged, attention-seeking prat, another revealing poor Hagrid of being a half giant- he locked himself in his cabin for days, he was right upset- and one about my best-friend Hermione: Skeeter made up trash about her cheating on me with Krum. Hermione received bubotuber pus in the Post!”

“Ms Skeeter had the grave misfortune to test the wards on my private chambers” Severus said in a low voice “To her not inconsiderate dismay, she was trapped in a stasis field until I returned.”

Tom snorted, causing Nagini to flick out her little pink tongue in consternation “Good going, Sev. Pity you didn’t meet her as ‘Chartreuse’; she’d have made a nice snack.”

“I expect she would have tasted vile.” Severus walked over, carrying a strange contraption which consisted of two circular, wire grids, hinged at the base, with long loops of metal at the top, so that it could be carried; four, piping-hot slices of toast were sandwiched between the grids. Severus carefully decanted a slice of toast on each of their plates.

“Thanks Sev.”

“Thank you.” Smiled Lily.

“Thanks” muttered Harry, suddenly feeling acutely uncomfortable.

To break the silence, Lily, while spreading her toast with marmalade said “What’s Chartreause?”

Tom grinned “It’s the name of a French Liqueur and a colour midway between yellow and green, as well as being the alias of a particularly cute little Boomslang Animagus.”

“Father!” Severus snapped.

Harry spat out his orange juice. Oh. My. God!

“Huh?” said Lily, looking between Harry, Tom and Severus in consternation.

Tom tapped the sodden tablecloth with his wand, siphoning off the juice. “Severus’s animagus form is a boomslang snake; it’s scales are a beautiful combination of glossy black and chartreause green, hence the nickname.”

“Boomslang skin is used in polyjuice, isn’t it?” said Lily thoughtfully.

“Indeed.” Replied Severus with a smirk “It is a very useful form; relatively inconspicuous, highly venomous, fast and, of course, I have a constant supply of boomslang skins.” Something, Harry knew not what, glittered in his dark eyes as their gazes met.

Harry dropped his head, concentrating on cutting his toast into soldiers. Any minute now, Snape would tell them, in the most humiliating manner possible, about the disappearance of his, literally his, boomslang skin in Harry’s second year. God, if Harry’s known what he’d been drinking..!

Any minute now…

“Incidentally, all is quiet at 4 Privet Drive” Severus said, pouring Lily another cup of coffee.

“Any owls for Harry?” Tom asked.

“No and the Dursleys seem to be keeping to our agreement. Wonders will never cease.” Severus replied quietly.

“Agreement?” asked Harry, curious in spite of himself.

“Oh yes, Lily and I paid your Aunt and Uncle a visit” said Severus, his voice positively arctic, “Albus had misinformed me; he told me that your Aunt had, how shall we say, been somewhat reformed by her deep but sadly unrequited love for one Peter Pettigrew and had practically begged to be allowed to care for you after your Godfather, Peter, died.”

Harry’s eyes widened in amazement “And you believed him?!”

“Love is probably the most powerful force in the world, Harry” Tom said gently “Love can change people drastically; for some, it destroys them, for others, it teaches them to be better human beings. Peter had become somewhat attractive in his early twenties; between sixteen and twenty-one he'd lost weight and gained confidence, meaning that, while not exactly Adonis, he certainly could have caught your Aunt's eye. Additionally, Sev was not to know that Peter had been a double-agent; I told no-one that I was meeting him in secret. It also did not help that Severus moved in very different circles from those of the Potters; only those closest to you knew the identity of your Godfather. ”

“And, moreover, Albus is a very convincing liar.” Said Severus, his dark eyes glinting “Dumbledore told me that you were not only loved but treasured by your Aunt. That Petunia having fallen in love with a wizard, was able to accept magic and, as a consequence, discovered that she did, indeed, love Lily and always had. You, as the child of her sister and godson of her love, were supposedly a sacred relic.”

Harry bit his lip.

“Dumbledore lies, Harry.” Tom said quietly “He lies so often and so well that he, himself, believes them.”

“I called on Petunia first” Severus said “I wanted to break the news to her gently. I was greeted with all the saccharine sweetness, superficiality and lack of integrity of a greetings-card and, when Petunia realised that Lily was alive, she became hysterical. What I gleaned from those hysterics was enough to prompt further investigation.”

“From what Dumbledore had told Sev, I expected a tearful reunion” said Lily “I didn’t realise, though, that those tears would spring from any other emotion except joy.”

“Petunia, Vernon and Dudley swore, under unbreakable vow, that they would not communicate about Lily's return to anyone, they would provide you bed and board without open hostility and that, if you received any owls, they would leave the letters in your wardrobe.” Said Tom.

“What did you do to make them agree to that?” asked Harry, torn between curiosity and dread.

Severus smirked, slicing of the top of his egg with a vicious swipe “I gave Lily twenty minutes alone with them. A pig tail was the least of little ‘Dudders’ worries.”