As soon as he told Potter that they needed to talk, Severus could see Lily's face break into a smile. "I take it your goal is for us to talk?" Severus asked the spectre of his long dead love. Lily gave him a smile and tilted her head to the side in a non-committal affirmative. "Ah, there is more, is there not?" At this, Lily's smile grew and she nodded her head adamantly before fading from sight.

Pulling in a deep breath, Severus turned to look at Harry and said "Follow me."

Harry was not sure what to think but curiosity about his friend led him to follow his professor's instruction. He followed Professor Snape out of the classroom, down the corridor, and then continued behind him after a right turn. They stopped in front of a door where the professor quietly murmured something that Harry was unable to make out the door swung open and the professor strode through the entry with Harry following close behind.

Harry realized that they were in Professor Snape's quarters and so he took the opportunity to look around. From their interactions so far, Harry had expected pickled animals, maybe even pickled students. So he was surprised to find himself in a cozy sitting room decorated in shades of blue and cream with the walls and furniture accented by dark woods.

"Tea Potter?" Harry was terrified to accept and terrified to refuse so he chose the option that would give his hands something to do. "Please, sir."

Harry typically prided himself at being able to read people; it was a necessary skill he had acquired living with the Dursley's. Professor Snape, though, was incredibly hard to read and so Harry had no idea how to handle the situation he found himself in.

Severus too, was finding himself out of his element. On one hand, he was furious at the boy for not recognizing his own mother. Did his arrogance have no bounds? On the other hand, he found it hard to believe that a child would willingly deny having any knowledge of his own mother. Combined with Lily's mournful reaction to her son's ignorance, Severus was left with no choice but to believe that the boy truly had no idea what his mother looked like.

Severus tapped an end table with his wand and a simple tea service appeared. He then prepared himself for a grueling and painfully awkward conversation, passed Harry a cup of tea, and began, "Tell me, Potter, you have seen and heard that woman in the classroom before and yet you have no knowledge as to her identity. Why is that?"

Harry, unsure of what he had just been asked, answered as best he could. "She has sang and whispered to me for the most part, and she has helped me out a few times, but she has never told me her name or anything like that."

"You never thought to ask?" inquired Severus. "Well, we just never interacted like that. I never had the chance to ask her."

"Hmm, so she sang and whispered to you? What would she say?" Severus watched as Harry blushed deeply and stammered," It is a bit private, sir"

Severus was beginning to lose his non-existent patience and was preparing a scathing retort when the bottles and glasses in his liquor cabinet began to rattle. 'She certainly knows how to get a man's attention.' Reigning in his temper, Severus continued, "Alright then, you said you saw her a few times, can you tell me about that?"

"Well, one time she made a scary dog appear and chase my cousin and his friend away when they were Harry hunting." The boy had obviously said more than he intended because the blush had returned. Severus merely filed away the term 'Harry hunting' for future contemplation.

"Were there any other incidents where your friend appeared Mr. Potter?"

Harry began slowly "Um, she saved me from falling down the stairs once. Oh!" The boy obviously remembered something and continued. "That is how I know she is a witch. After she saved me from falling, she pointed a wand at my Uncle and cast a spell."

Severus frowned, 'that is unexpected'. "What spell was it Mr. Potter?" "I am not really sure, I haven't learned it yet. It sounded like 'oblivion' though."

Intrigued, Severus asked "Obliviate?" "Yes!" Harry practically vibrated with excitement. "What does it mean?"

Severus answer, "Obliviateremoves bits of memory from the person it is cast upon." Harry nodded. "That makes sense, I reckon. Uncle Vernon looked really confused after she cast it and he didn't seem to remember the last few minutes."

"Why would she obliviateyour Uncle, Potter." "Um, probably so that he wouldn't remember that I didn't fall down the stairs."

"Wouldn't he be happy that you didn't fall down the stairs?" Severus asked as he tilted his head to the side, as if he were integrating all of the different bits of information together. Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and stared at his feet.

Biting back a retort, Severus sighed, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he looked up, he saw the image of Lily flickering into view behind Harry, just long enough to give Severus a cocky smile. 'Yes, yes woman, I can be taught. I will not insult your son anymore; my glassware cannot handle the consequences.'

"Sir" Harry spoke up, "You said you know who she is, could you tell me?"

Severus sighed; he noted that he had been doing that a lot during this conversation. "Potter. Harry, that woman is Lily Potter, your mother"

Harry was hit by a wave of dizziness as all of the blood rushed from his head. "My mother?"

"Yes. Your mother has apparently stayed with you in spirit. I have yet to ascertain the how's and why's, but I do intend to study the matter further." Severus winced internally at how clinical his response sounded, but there was nothing for it now.

Harry barely heard anything his professor said after he learned that his friend was really his mother. So many thoughts flooded his mind that his eleven year old brain could not keep up. He was in awe if the fact that she had stayed with him his whole life and had been looking out for him during the worst moments of his life. It was due to her that he knew someone cared about him and that knowledge had always given him the courage to face the day. Now he wanted more than anything to have a real conversation with his friend, no, his mother! Then he was struck by an almost overwhelming anger. The fact that he was so clueless about his own parents that he did not even realize that the ghostly presence always with him had been his mother. He did not think that he could ever hate his aunt and uncle more than he did at that very moment.

Severus watched the myriad of emotions play across his students face. He could not even begin to fathom what the boy was thinking; so far he would guess a combination of joy, longing, and surprisingly, anger. He noted to himself that he would have to investigate the reason for the anger later.

"Harry, you truly had no idea that she was your mother? Didn't you recognize her from pictures?" The fact that he now willingly referred to the Potter Spawn as Harry was not lost on him.

Much to Severus' surprise, Harry very nearly sneered and with bitterness heavy in his voice replied, "I have neverseen a picture of my mother." Harry snorted and continued,"I didn't even know how she died until Hagrid told me when he rescued me from my relatives. Until then, I thought my parents had died in a car crash."

Flabbergasted, Severus remarked "Apparently Petunia is still her sweet, charming self."

"Sir? You know my Aunt Petunia."

Although the conversation was beginning to get much too personal for Severus' comfort, he felt he should respond lest Lily decide to break something else and deprive him of the fire-whiskey he was so looking forward to. "I knew your mother when we were children, and unfortunately, I knew 'Tuney' by proxy. Needless to say, Petunia and I did not get along."

Harry's lip quirked at that, "She does seem to have that affect on people".

"That she does." Seeing that it was nearing curfew, Severus decided that it would be bet to send Harry on his way. Both Harry and he needed time to digest the information they had gathered. "Alright Potter, you had best return to your dormitory. I will arrange a meeting for us after I have had time to further investigate this phenomenon."

Harry nodded. He momentarily thought about mentioning his mother's warning about Professor Quirrell but decided against it. Instead, he asked, "You are not going to try to make her go away, are you sir?"

Severus' expression softened marginally, and murmered, "No Harry, I would never try to make her go away. Head back to your dormitory now, I imagine you could use the rest."

Harry nodded, then looked straight at his professor and said in a very solemn and earnest voice, "Thank you, Professor", before turning and slipping out the door.

Throughout the conversation, Severus had picked up little kernels of knowledge that were leading him to believe that Harry's childhood was nothing like he would have assumed. The very fact that his own Aunt- his mother's sister for Merlin's sake- had lied about his parents' deaths sent up a red flag. Even more telling was the fact that Lily had felt the need to watch over her son for ten years. The sheer amount of will that it would have taken to ground her spirit so solidly in the physical world was absolutely staggering. She had to have known that she would be needed; fear of her son being denied treats and admiration would not have been enough to hold her here. She must have been in fear for his life even after the immediate threat of the Dark Lord had passed.

The only thing that Severus knew was that this was one mystery he was determined to solve.