It had been a month since the incident. A month since Harry had awoken from fainting, his arm in a sling and his shoulder beginning to heal, and two weeks since Snape and Harry had been out of the hospital wing. Snape had required a lot of bed rest, for despite Madam Pomfrey's wonderful healing skills, internal wounds were tricky. Even after they had been mended partially, time was what was needed to fully heal them, lest the thin veil holding it all back together broke again. Harry thought that this was just as well, for Snape had seemed uncharacteristically content to do nothing. In fact, Harry had worried about him, for he had barely spoken during those two weeks, and Madam Pomfrey had had to plead with him to eat. Harry thought he understood why, for he had seen Snape and Evelyn talking late at night on the few occasions they had all been together, and there was something in the way he had looked at her. Harry then thought back to the night they arrived, when Evelyn had broken down at the sight of them. This too led to him believing that she had been more than just relieved that she had someone to help with the plan.

Harry had had a lot of time to process what had happened, for his shoulder had taken a great amount of time to heal as well. Madam Pomfrey had told him that at the time they showed up at Hogwarts Harry had the beginnings of blood poisoning from the infection. He had been every bit as lucky as Snape that night, for any longer and he could have lost his arm. Now, however, all that was left was a scar, and Harry had been back to classes for almost a fortnight, everyone under the impression he had simply caught a nasty flu.

Harry was glad to be back, but he found that he missed Snape's company. He also found that he missed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who had come to visit him a great deal while he was in the hospital wing. He was beginning to really enjoy being with them, for they brought a kind of safety he had never known. But in some ways, so did Snape. Naturally, the longing for the company of an adult who paid attention to him was what made him so amazed and excited when he received a note from Hedwig at breakfast one morning, asking him to tea. It was signed by Professor Snape, and Harry was quite pleased.

Snape had been a little bit distant lately, but Harry was quite sure that it had nothing to do with what had been causing Snape's distance earlier in the year. Professor Snape had been very far away in class too, but with all of the students, and not just Harry. He had remained at his desk mostly, not pacing the room, but watching from afar. Harry recognized the dead look in his eyes as depression, something Harry had suffered from often as long as he could remember. He supposed that was a product of living in a cupboard so long, without anyone to love him. Naturally, he was glad that he could talk to Snape soon, because he was honestly worried for him.

Quarter after seven came and he knocked on Snape's office door, bouncing up and down on his toes restlessly. Snape answered the door with a wan smile, and let him in. They sat down, and Snape began to pour Harry a cup of tea.

"How strange all of this is," said Snape, handing Harry the cup, "being back here. Life feels a little mundane after such an adventure, doesn't it?"

"You could say that again," said Harry. "I sometimes wake up thinking I'm there still."

"I do too," muttered Snape.

"Why did you invite me to tea?" asked Harry suddenly, the thing he had been wondering all day finally bursting from his lips.

"And what makes you think I have a reason?" asked Snape, his eyebrow raised.

"You're a Slytherin. You always have some goal in mind. Good or otherwise. And you aren't one for socializing all that much."

"Well spotted," said Snape with smirk. "I think you would have made a good Slytherin yourself."

"So did the Sorting Hat," Harry said with a shrug (Snape spluttered into his tea). "But I had met Malfoy on the train and I did not want to be in the same house as him, so I chose Gryffindor instead. I guess I kind of talked the Hat into it."

"I never knew that," he said, setting down his teacup with a clatter.

"You're the only person that does besides me now," said Harry quietly. "I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I let the hat put me there instead. You know, I bet you are a good head of house."

"Well, my Slytherins do defend me quite fiercely, so that has to say something," said Snape with a soft smile. Harry was rather surprised by the note of pride in his voice.

"Ron knows that too well," said Harry suddenly with a laugh, a memory from earlier in the year coming to mind. "Last time he tried to bad mouth you he had to fight off at least a dozen Slytherins. But don't tell him you know."

"I will not say anything," said Snape with a smirk, "but only because I am sure he got what was coming to him."

"He did, sir. And you're being Slytherin again. You're evading my question. Why did you ask me to tea?"

Snape sighed, and set his teacup down.

"You do not miss a thing, do you? Lily was the same way."

Harry glowed with pride.

"I think I owe you an explanation," said Snape slowly. "I have been quite ... far away lately."

"I noticed," said Harry quietly.

"Even in the hospital wing, I often did not respond to the things you said," Snape muttered, sounding a little worried. "I was not trying to ignore you again, I promise. I ... I simply have been ... let down. A great deal. Not by you, of course. I understand by now that you tend to think that anything going wrong in the adult world has something to do with you, which of course, is a product of your upbringing with Lily's twit of a sister."

Harry snickered slightly when he insulted Aunt Petunia.

"So, what I mean to say is that if you thought that I was ignoring you, I am sorry."

"I already know that wasn't why you were so quiet," Harry said. He hesitated a moment, but finally voiced the question he had been wanting to ask for some time. It was the question to which he had speculated an answer to, but he wanted to hear it from Snape. "Sir, why was Evelyn going to come back with us?"

Snape closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. He opened them, and after a long silence, he replied.

"Well, I asked her to," he muttered, looking fixedly at his teacup. "And she said yes, because ... because we fell in love."

Harry looked up sharply. So there had been more to it.

"I'm sorry we had to leave her behind," said Harry, not knowing anything else to say. Snape nodded silently, looking lost.

"How has your shoulder been?" asked Snape, looking up from his tea, clearly hoping for a change of subject. Harry followed the new thread eagerly, not knowing how to proceed with the previous conversation anyway.

"Good," Harry said cheerfully. "How's your stab wound? Did it leave a cool scar?"

To Harry' surprise, Snape chuckled.

"Between you and I, it is a very cool scar indeed, Mr. Potter," he said. "I have healed very well, thank you."

"Now you can tell everyone that you got bitten by a snake or something, and that's why you were in the hospital wing so long," said Harry. "It would be a bit less boring than being taken out by a chunk of wood, not that you could tell anyone about that either because of it being secret, that is."

"Funny, that reminds me of something that happened years ago."

"You were bitten by a snake?" Harry exclaimed incredulously.

"No, you silly boy," said Snape with a light-hearted wave of his hand. "Your statement reminded me of something your mother said to me many years ago. It is a rather amusing story, if you would care to hear it."

"Yes, please," said Harry hardly containing his excitement, so Snape began.

"I believe I was thirteen at the time. It was February, and Lily and I were walking along the grounds in the evening. It was quite cold, so after a while, Lily thought it might be fun to slide on the frozen lake. I was worried that the ice was not going to be thick enough, but she persuaded me, saying that it was so cold it had to have frozen fairly thick. Of course, what we did not know then was that the lake here is brackish."

"Brackish, sir?" asked Harry, rather confused.

"Slightly salty," said Snape quickly before continuing. "Which of course meant that despite it being cold, the lake was unable to properly freeze over. Lily wandered out a little further, and I followed, naturally. Well, I took a few steps ahead of her and through the ice I went."

Harry shuddered.

"Quite right, Harry. It was cold. Very cold. It still gives me the chills just thinking about it. Anyway, I managed to get back up onto the ice again, and to shore I went. Lily was torn between laughter and horror. She felt simply awful for luring me out onto the ice only to have me fall in, especially seeing as I had to walk through the school sopping wet, and there were a great many students who were quite happy to make fun of me. But, Lily did something that amazed me."

Snape had a twinkle in his eye as he continued, fondly recalling the incident. Harry was glad to see that he had some life in him, which he had been lacking for the past month. "Now, your mother was the most truthful person I ever met, and I had never heard her lie as long as I had known her. And then that day came, and I found out she was the most convincing liar I had ever met, and that included myself. Keep in mind that even at a young age I was a lot like the double agent I grew up to be."

"What did she say?" Harry asked, incredulously.

Snape smirked, and continued. "As we walked through the school and up to the hospital wing she told everyone who asked what happened that I had been attacked by the giant squid. She spun an extremely vivid tale of how her wand fell onto the ice and as we had yet to do summoning charms at that time, I bravely went to get it, only to have the giant squid see my shadow through the ice and break through it, pulling me under. According to her I threw a stinging hex at it, and it let me go, tossing me back on shore.

"I was the talk of the school after that, and nobody ever found out that it was a complete lie, because nobody expected it from the girl who was quickly on her way to becoming head girl.

"The reason why your statement reminded me of that story was because when I asked her later on why she fabricated the whole tale, she said that it was simply, ‘much more macho'. I think that she really just felt bad for it having been her idea to go onto the ice, as I ended up in the hospital wing because of it, with early stages of hypothermia. I never heard her lie again, but she was always full of surprises, Lily. You would have simply adored her."

"She sounds great," said Harry. "I really wish I had known her."

"I wish you had too," said Snape rather quietly. His eyes drifted to the clock, realizing the time. "You should probably be going. Your curfew is soon."

"Yeah," muttered Harry with disappointment. "Being a first year sucks sometimes. Anyway, thanks for the tea."

"You are welcome," Snape replied, seeming a little amused at Harry's opinions.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me more stories about Mum sometime?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"I can," said Snape. "But not tonight."

"When, then?" asked Harry.

"Soon," said Snape, surprising Harry with a smile, a real one. "Now run along, I have far too much grading to catch up on. I daresay your homework situation is the same."

Harry grimaced at the last comment.

Just as Harry was getting up, there was a knock at the door.

Surprised, Snape called out, "Enter."

Madam Pince was standing haughtily in the doorway, one hand on her hip and a slip of paper in the other hand.

"I was told that Mr. Potter was here," she said stiffly, much to Harry's bewilderment.

"Well, there he is," Snape said, raising an eyebrow, gesturing to Harry.

She turned to him, looking ready to spit fire.

"It has been two full weeks since it was due, and I still have not gotten Recipe for Fame: A History of the Potioneer's Society back. I hope you have not lost it!"

With a sudden flash of realization, Harry and Snape looked at each other, both of them very serious. Then Snape's lip twitched, and to Madam Pinces's amazement, he threw his head back and laughed. Harry too collapsed a moment later, because he knew all too well that the book was history, quite literally, considering it was lying on the floor of Evelyn's house.

"What is the meaning of this?" she cried over the ruckus.

"Irma," said Snape when the two of them had finally caught their breath, "this is one time you should just let it go, trust me."

"That book was a treasured part of the Hogwarts library!" she said, horrified. "A new copy will cost three galleons!"

"Which I will happily pay," Snape said, still trying not to laugh.

Harry looked at him, shocked. He opened his mouth to protest but Snape brushed him off with a wave of his hand.

"But it was Potter's book," she screeched.

"And I have not laughed this hard in years," Snape said breathlessly, clutching his side as he rummaged around in his desk drawer. He tossed a few galleons at her. She caught them deftly.

"The loss of library property is not funny in the least, Severus Snape!" she said with a huff, and Snape just smirked. "As for you, Mr. Potter, you had better not try to take out another book any time soon!"

The office door shut with a slam, and as soon as she was gone Harry looked back to Snape, unable to keep a straight face.

"Think she would have believed us?" Harry said, stifling a small laugh.

"Not a chance," Snape said, smirking.