"Your home looks a lot nicer than last I saw it," Kingsley said.

He had avoided coming here for a while after Harry made his arrest in Lithuania. It couldn't be known that Harry was getting information from anywhere. That someone had potential inside information on the remaining followers that had escaped capture.

"Thank you, I think," Severus said.

Severus knew what Kingsley was talking about. Hermione hadn't quite given up her flat entirely to this point. It was inexpensive enough that he liked her having it as an option if she really needed it after work. Yes, she could apparate, but he knew she wasn't used to traveling that way and didn't particularly like it.

Still, she was here more often than not. Neither slept well without the other. He had more nightmares when she wasn't here. The house just seemed empty without her if it wasn't his bedtime. (The nice thing about his current job, he was able to sleep around her schedule because he wasn't on a strict schedule.) For her part, the one or two times she went to her flat, Crookshanks had apparently let her know quite plainly (as cats were wont to do) that wasn't where she was supposed to be any longer.

To Kingsley's comment. There were … things throughout the house, though. His house. That clearly marked a transition to it no longer being exclusively his. His bathroom was now overrun with her products she used to get ready each day and night (not that he complained). There were books and such throughout the house that spoke to someone else living here. Crookshanks was here more often than not these days. Hermione didn't believe he went to her flat at all anymore (unless she was there, both quit trying to figure out how the feline knew ), so when he chose to leave here it seemed he just went to do cat-carousing things.

He imagined one day, her flat would be a shell of a place, and they'd realize she'd well and truly moved in here.

"That's not an insult or a joke at your expense, Severus. You are a rather … utilitarian type person. I understand why, and it certainly made doing this," he said, gesturing to the house. He was, essentially, implying Severus' way of living was easy for him to walk away from without anyone knowing if he was alive or dead. Or which side he was truly acting as a spy for. "There's nothing wrong with that. I see things, though, like flowers," he said, pointing to the bud vase on the kitchen table that held one deep red and one bright white tulip. (It was the most pure white tulip he'd ever seen so hadn't been able to resist buying it, when his intentions had just been the red one.) He wasn't obsessive about buying flowers for her, but when he had occasion to go into town, he always stopped at the florist to see what they had that day. He liked doing things to let her know he thought about her. That he cared. That he wasn't just assuming because she was his soul mate he didn't have to be … kind.

"I have a request," Severus said.

"Okay," Kingsley said.

It was hard to tell if he was amused or cautious. Perhaps both. He had to realize that with Hermione in the equation, Severus might change his mind about this project of theirs. Or at least come up with a more stringent end date for it. Kingsley wasn't a dunderhead, and Severus doubted the Minister for Magic would blame him for walking away. Hell, he wouldn't blame himself if the situation was reversed! He couldn't do that, though. He wouldn't feel right, knowing he could contribute to more followers could be caught.

"I will remain here and at your service for information. I will go through the paperwork, photographs, and collected items, as we agreed. I will owl Harry with leads. If it's something that Harry and I truly believe is too dangerous for any of the auror teams, or requires more than just a team going, then I will accompany him. I have paid attention, as I'm sure you have, to any gossip about Jakub's arrest. No one thinks I'm still alive. No one attributes his arrest to anything but Harry Potter being in the right place and time to see him. A happenstance because Harry was visiting the Polish magical world."

"Severus." He didn't sound upset or surprised, but probably didn't think they'd have this conversation this soon. Hell, he'd give the house back if Kingsley asked it of him. He didn't need a house. Though Hermione might balk at that offer. She seemed to like the house. As did Crookshanks.

"I have something to live for, Kingsley. Blame yourself! You and your lists, wanting me to introduce myself. To extend myself. Well, I did, and found my soul mate as a result. My soul mate, Kingsley. Three months was too much."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that. Not to say I didn't think you'd be single forever, Severus. I just never thought I'd hear you admit your feelings. But it is understandable."

"When this is done," he said, gesturing to the paperwork and items he was reviewing for this project. He didn't think he'd be done anytime soon. There was a lot to go through. "I'd like us to leave."

"I wouldn't stop you," the Minister for Magic said with a dismissive shrug. As if he was … affronted Severus might believe he'd stop him. (For that matter, this wizard couldn't stop him if Severus truly wanted to get away. Kingsley knew that, too.)

"No, I'm not sure you're understanding. Looking for Jakub. Hermione's degree. Gave me an idea. Wherever we go here and now, there will always be risk. My name is distinct. She calls me Rus to or in front of her friends because she doesn't want to risk one of them being magical and recognizing my name."

"I see." The wizard was catching on to Severus' implication.

"This won't be immediate, I will see this project to a logical end. Within reason. We may never catch them all. I'm not going to spend the next fifty years chasing them down. Until recently, that mayhaps wouldn't have mattered to me. It does now. For the first time since I embarked on the role of double spy, I have a chance for a life. I don't want to live out that life looking over my shoulder every day. I don't want to marry her and make her a widow. Or leave a child fatherless. So, when she's finished with her schooling, I'd like to be sent somewhere Severus Snape won't be known." Kingsley's eyes widened. He finally understood exactly what Severus was getting at. What he was asking Kingsley for permission to do. "You could make us Unspeakables and give us a task. There has to be something we could work at to affect change, muggle or magical, that isn't drastic to the grand scheme of things but could still help. Greyback is something that comes to mind. Think of how many children could be saved. Think of what Remus Lupin could contribute to the wizarding world without his monthly affliction."

"Stop Greyback from getting bit and then what?"

He shrugged. There was the rub. Did he want to remain living in the 1950s or 1960s and move forward as time progressed naturally? It held appeal, and yet didn't. "We could come up with a list of events that we both feel would change something positively without altering things too drastically. We don't want the war to end differently. I just don't want to remain based out of Britain if we go the route of calling the present our base of operation."

"I will think on it. We have two years, yes?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes, she's just finishing her first year."

"Does she know what you're doing?"

"More or less. I haven't told her specifically, but she's not stupid. She knows Harry's occupation. As well as about my … efforts. So I'm sure she's put it together."

"Right," Kingsley said. "Has she met Harry yet?"

"No. He's been busy. It seems being gone for three months wasn't good for his workload."

Kingsley chuckled. "No, I tried to ensure things were delegated to others."

"Why you made an eighteen year old head of a unit…"

"He earned the position on the battlefield for seven years, Severus."

"I know." It didn't mean he liked the idea of his friend's son being so publicly out there immediately after the end of the war. People were going to focus on him, even without his position as the head of a team of aurors added into the mix

"You know, I'm inclined to give you what you ask for. There is one thing making me hesitate."

"Oh?"

Only one? That surprised him. He presumed he'd get more … pushback. He was suggesting they be allowed to live out their existence in another time. Kingsley had to know Severus wouldn't abuse such a … gift.

"Seeing you as a father, Severus. I think I would enjoy that very much."

Severus knew he was blushing, profusely.

"We are not even married yet! Nor have we discussed that, aside from ensuring that we are preventing them for now." Hermione had laughed when he cast the diagnostics the morning after he'd gotten home to be sure she was not, in fact, pregnant. He presumed she cast the contraceptive charm that week prior to his departure. He knew he had a few times, but not every time. They both agreed he would do it, so they both knew it was done from that point forward.

Kingsley laughed heartily then.

"Oh, I wasn't saying tomorrow. I just do think I would enjoy it."

"I think I would enjoy it, too," he admitted. With Hermione. He'd never thought of fatherhood, not really. Even when he liked Lily, he never thought beyond being her boyfriend. (He found it hard to believe he was truly that … innocent and naive, but he was.)

"I will think on it, but you need to tell her, Severus. All of it. What you're doing and what your idea is. She needs to know what you are walking away from."

"I'm not walking away from it! I'd still be doing the research, just not going with Harry. Do you think she will want me even more scarred and battered? Do you think she will want me to be gone for months at a time when she has this child you and Harry seem to want me to have?"

"Valid points."

"I will tell her. I wanted permission to do so first and, well, if your answer was flat out no, I would have come up with some other idea."

"You could just leave and go elsewhere."

He could. He was glad that he was right in knowing Kingsley realized that.

"My name would still follow me."

"It will anyway."

"Yes, but it will be MY name. Not the name Tobias Snape gave to me. And if we live a quiet life. If I run an apothecary or something outside of Nome, Alaska…" He shrugged. "My name will be meaningless. A reputable shopkeeper." Not that he wanted to live in Nome, Alaska. It was just a location that popped into his mind.

"I will think about it, Severus."

"Thank you."

From there, Severus handed Kinglsey some notes.

Some of the things he discovered in his research weren't people, but things. The Ministry didn't know how valuable some things were in quite a few cases. These were things passed down from parent to child for generations, so the Ministry didn't even know about them in some instances. Some things Severus knew merely from gossip, but he recognized them when he saw them.

He'd tell Kingsley of items inventoried in various homes, so that the Minister for Magic could ensure that they were safely tucked away where someone who did recognize their value couldn't abscond with them. They couldn't empty the homes of every knick knack on the premises. They couldn't station guards outside of each home to ensure people didn't get through the wards placed around it. They could, though, ensure that things of value were placed somewhere securely so that families found guilty, and needing to pay restitution, couldn't say they had no way to do so.

He would discuss with Hermione his idea, because with her History major. She may have ideas of places or times they could go.

Greyback was the first thing that came to mind. He was a monster in a way different from Voldemort. A mass murderer would be stopped from wreaking havoc on both the magical and muggle worlds. Wasn't that something worth thinking about? He wasn't suggesting using a time turner and leaving. He still wanted to … help. He just really wasn't certain how he could live his life here and now, constantly worrying about someone ambushing him. Or Hermione.

Remus would get to live without being a werewolf. Bad blood from their time as students at Hogwarts or not, Severus could admit the man had things to contribute to the magical world. He was not a dunderhead. Prejudice and fear made it so that he could not. Even Order members seemed to keep him at a distance. Albus would have to find someone else to sway the werewolves to his favour, but without Greyback, maybe they would not be as … bloodthirsty.

Or, Merlin, as plentiful. Who truly knew how many Greyback, or those he infected, were responsible for in the population? Hypothetically, if he infected one hundred and those one hundred only infected one, that was still ten thousand werewolves. And that was presuming, he only infected one hundred and those one hundred would only infect one each.

He did know that there were limits to what they could go back and change. It had to be something magical. They couldn't, say, go back and stop America's Challenger from exploding or Princess Diana from dying. (An event his mother would have been rather devastated over.) Neither event was magical, so were not something they could think about altering.

*****

He was currently behind her, both on their sides. He'd finished a few minutes ago but was in no more of a hurry to pull out of her and adjust their position than she seemed to be. He was quite sure he couldn't have dreamt up a better partner.

"You were quite thorough," she murmured against the pillow her head was resting against.

"Mm," he said with a soft laugh. "I am not normally?"

"Not like that, Severus."

"Really?"

"How many hickeys do I have on my shoulders?"

He felt himself blush and hoped the answer wasn't going to get him in trouble.

"Four," he murmured, running a finger over each one of them.

"And at least two at the back of my neck."

"None will show," he said, knowing he sounded defensive.

"I don't care if they show, Severus. I'm not complaining, trust me. In fact, I'm still rather tingly."

"Tingly?"

"Mm hmm. Your parts make mine tingle."

"That is good to know."

He pushed her hair aside, finding the three hickeys hidden beneath it. "You are truly not mad?"

"Nope. I know how to say no."

"Do you?"

She laughed. "I know, shocking, right, because I've never said it to you."

"Well, when you're done being tingly. I do have something I'd like to show you."

"Okay," she said. They both groaned as she moved, which meant he slid out of her. That meant, though, that she turned to face him and her breasts were pressed against his chest. It was a more than just decent trade off.

"Something to do with you being gone for three months?"

"Yes."

"Mm. The Minister has decided I'm trustworthy?"

Again, she proved she wasn't a dunderhead.

"The Minister realizes that if he wants me to keep doing my job, he will have to allow me to confide in you."

"Do we have to get dressed?"

He snorted. He had discovered (pleasantly) she preferred padding around the house in one of his button down shirts and knickers. Nothing else. (There was a time or two where there'd been no knickers.) His shirts were more than sufficient to cover her down to her thighs. "Not completely, no. We're not leaving the house, or even this floor."

"Excellent."

She kissed his shoulder and then found his collarbone before moving to his throat and jaw.

"You're not leaving again?"

"No, not for a while. Actually, hopefully, not again."

She stretched and he slid his hand to cup her fantastic bum, running his fingertips along the crevice there.

"That's not going to stop me from being tingly, Severus."

"It isn't," he whispered, sliding his fingers lower between her legs. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely not."

"Good thing that I'm in no particular hurry then."

She laughed, finding his mouth with hers. "Good, I'm not either."

*****

"So, this is everything?" she asked, sliding a finger along a muggle photograph she was looking at of a mask that Severus was quite certain was magical.

"Everything they've found, yes."

"And your job is to go through it all to try to figure out who might still be alive and where? And what things could be used to offset the financial losses the Ministry experienced because of the war?"

"More or less."

"And I'm one of a few that know you're alive," she said. This wasn't really a question.

"Yes. One of four. This town was chosen. The Minister felt it wasn't close to any magical towns, so I'd be relatively anonymous here."

"I threw that idea to hell, didn't I?"

He chuckled. "You did, but you didn't recognize me."

"No, if I'd been thinking of magic, I may have put two and two together with your name. I've never, that I know of anyway, met anyone else magical here."

"I have not either."

"And your idea is truly for us to be Unspeakables?" This was asked as she switched her focus to another photograph in his collection.

"That was just one thought, yes. It was my first thought, but am not firmly entrenched in doing it. With your History major and my knowledge of world events. We could fix things. Magical things. We couldn't stop President Kennedy from being assassinated, that would throw too many things out of whack, even if it was a magical event. We could, however, like I suggested to Kingsley, possibly prevent Greyback from getting infected. He may still be a violent criminal, I do not know. However, he would not be a werewolf. That could prevent possibly hundreds, or more, from becoming werewolves themselves. I know at the very least Remus Lupin without his affliction would be a worthwhile contributor to wizarding society. I can't speak for most of his other victims, as I haven't met them. Or if I have, don't know them well enough to say."

"And never come back here?"

"That would be up to you, ultimately. Could I do it? I have nothing keeping me here. You do. So, I could, but I survived before computers and mobile phones. My idea was for us to find a home base in a place and time we both felt comfortable in, and we could come and go from there to do our Unspeakable activities."

"After I'm done with university." She was being short with her statements and questions, but he knew it was because she was … thinking over what he'd told her today. It was a lot to process, even though she suspected he was continuing with his spying duties. Too, being that she didn't have much first hand exposure to the wizarding world (school supplies were ordered for them, and delivered to the school, so she rarely made it to Diagon Alley), she probably hadn't realized until seeing it laid out as it was in this room how … broad Voldemort's reach was. No doubt she was contemplating the implications behind her knowing these things. She could be in danger now. Having this knowledge could put him in danger, too. Were someone to find out he had a soul mate. And why this suggestion of them leaving their current world altogether.

"Yes." He gestured to the room that was secured whenever he wasn't in it. "As you can see, I have my work cut out for me here. Do I think it will take me two years? Likely not, but I had no social life to speak of when I took on this task. He had followers everywhere, so it could take me longer than I think. Again, entirely up to you. I admit I have some concerns about your safety if it's discovered you are my soul mate."

"Would we have to change our names? Would we get identification to be able to live in another time?"

"Your name, likely not. Though both of us have distinct first names. Mine," he shrugged. "I probably should, unless you are comfortable living prior to the sixties or seventies where my name and physical appearance wouldn't cause confusion."

"Oh, I suppose."

"And if you were absolutely opposed and still wish to be with me, we'd figure something else out."

She smiled then, blushing slightly and closed the distance between them. She slid her arms around his neck, drawing him down a bit so she could kiss him.

"You think I'm going to walk away from my soul mate."

"An older, scarred…"

"I've already told you, and think I've proven quite thoroughly that I don't care. About any of them."

"Others will see and wonder…"

"I don't care, Severus."

"Children would see…"

"That their father is a hero and survived torture, Severus. That he made mistakes and worked to correct them. What better example for them to know to push through all of life's hardships? That one mistake does not have to equate to a miserable existence. Also a good tool to teach them that people are different, which doesn't give them permission to stare or point or poke fun at someone."

"Mm. And your parents."

"Well, I haven't mentioned bringing you to meet them, but …"

"No. I mean, I will of course meet them, when you deem that appropriate. I meant leaving them behind. I have no one. Harry, but I think he'd approve."

Her lips thinned at that. Her eyes looked a little … sad, but he didn't get the impression it was the prospect of leaving her parents behind that put that look there. She was sad for him. Why? He was not good at reading people when it came to empathy for him, because it was relatively new.

"You wouldn't miss him? Miss him having children? Seeing Lily's grandchildren grow up? These children you mention us having would likely be contemporaries of his children."

"I probably would, but he doesn't need me. His godfather and Remus can provide for him most of what I do."

"Doubtful. They didn't know their mom when she was little."

"I didn't really either."

"Severus," she said, sounding annoyed.

"Well, it's not as if I spent every waking moment with her from the time we were walking. It was a couple of years before Hogwarts."

"I know. I just meant, it's still a glimpse of her he can't get elsewhere."

"Petunia…"

"It doesn't sound as if she liked her sister very much."

"No."

"Well, so he wouldn't go to her," she said.

"Are you trying to talk me out of this idea?" He couldn't blame her, so found he wasn't upset if that was what she was trying to do.

"No, I'm pointing out to you that they, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, are not you. I think Harry agreed to this project because he wants to work with you. Of course with a History degree, as long as I have the appropriate credentials, I could teach or whatever anywhere."

"So you'd entertain the idea?"

"I will. I'm not saying yes or no tonight. I truly am hoping you may change your mind about needing to. We have two years to figure it out."

"I have no parents, so there is nothing here for me. Except you."

"Mm. And we wouldn't be able to keep this house, live out our lives here under whatever name the Minister gives you?"

"It's a thought," he agreed.

She was referencing the Fidelius Charm being removed, which might become necessary if they had these children they were hypothetically talking about. (Merlin.) A thought occurred to him.

"You like it here."

He knew she liked the town. They'd talked about that already. He wondered how she'd ended up here. It turned out Madam Docherty took the students here on occasion so they could stock up on muggle treats or what not. Or just get a break from twenty-four hours a day schooling. They couldn't go to Hogsmeade, or any magical town like it. So they came here. That wasn't it, though She liked this house. Since he had little in the way of belongings, she was free to do what she pleased with it. A blank canvas more or less.

"I do, but that's not really what makes me like the idea of staying here. What you did is huge. I know you made mistakes. I know you did things you regret, both before and after you became a spy. It got you here, though. To this point in time. If I'd been at Hogwarts at the same time as you were, I don't think you would have had time for me. You would have viewed me as the competition, likely I would have too, because I've never truly experienced someone who could compete with me in every subject as I know that you could have. So, your life took you down the path you were supposed to go. To lead you here. You should not be hiding. I understand why you are now, but once this is done. You should return to the magical world and let Kingsley proudly announce that you are not only alive and well but were part of the Order the entire time. And while you were thought to be dead worked with him and Harry to ensure all former followers that you could capture were imprisoned. I think it's important that you don't lose everything about yourself either, Severus. Harry clearly cares."

"I don't understand it, but yes."

She kissed his jaw, bringing herself closer against him. It wasn't a seductive thing. It was a comfort thing. A loving thing. Something until recently he'd never experienced. Something he realized, now, he needed. And very much wanted. From this witch.

She was likely right, too, about if they'd been students together. She admitted she was prone to asking too many questions, writing essays that were longer than necessary, and overall being a bit of a swot. (Her word not his.) He would have had no patience for that. And if she'd been his student! Well, she hadn't been, so no use thinking on the what if's there.

"And you will catch all of these people," she said, gesturing with a hand to his current project. "That means you won't be in danger and can be Severus Snape. The Minister has said you'll be cleared of all charges, yes?"

"He has."

He had no doubt that if he couldn't or didn't answer yes to that question, the Minister for Magic would likely get a howler from her in short order.

"I absolutely love the idea of being an Unspeakable with you, fixing things that we both agree won't change too much yet are able to make a difference. I'm just not sure I want to live out the rest of my days in another time."

"We have time."

"We do," she agreed. He was glad to see this wasn't going to turn into an argument today. They had time. As both just said. At least two years. No reason to get upset about something today that wasn't going to happen for twenty-four months.

"And I am not completely opposed to remaining here. I don't know it well, but am hoping you can change that now that the weather is turning to a more tolerable temperature. The thought was not looking over my shoulder every day for the rest of my life."

"I understand."

She walked to the table, picking up a picture with a frown after a few minutes of perusing the various items on it. The table she was by had items on it that he was still working on identifying. Or pictures that he was trying to put names with the various faces. As "in" as he was with Tom, he still kept secrets so Severus wasn't omnipotent. He ensured Kingsley understood that. That his freedom wasn't contingent upon him being able to provide information on every item and every person.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"I do not know. That table is for things I'm still trying to identify. Tom had many followers. During the first war, I didn't meet nearly as many as I did during the second war due to my earned position with him. Well, and I was still a student for some of it." He scowled at that. He knew it was part of his role as spy, but he'd done some heinous things to earn that coveted second in command spot. All with Albus' blessing (though Severus was pretty sure the former headmaster had a speak, hear, and see no evil stance on things. Not that Albus hadn't done some soul-staining things himself during his lifetime). The idea he had a soul left to have a soul mate to bond to was unexpected. "You learned being around Tom not to ask questions, unless you were directed to give your opinion. It was part of the reason I was good at my information collecting. I listened and observed. And because I was one of only a few who didn't press him, he seemed to count and lean on me more and more." He gestured to the photograph in question. "He was someone I saw, oh, I suppose back in 1993 maybe, hovering around when the Dementors were let loose. I don't know if something was planned that didn't take fruit or not."

He noticed her shiver at the mention of Dementors. He couldn't blame her.

"I swear that's, um," she said, closing her eyes. She was clearly searching through her memories. He'd seen her do this before. "Wilbert Foster's father."

"Wilbert Foster is?"

"Someone who toured the school with Madam Docherty. Back in my third year? So, that would have been 1993, or possibly the spring of 1994."

"Did he give you the impression he disliked muggleborns?"

"He didn't, no. I guess Tom hadn't returned yet, so we wouldn't have known to be afraid of strangers touring our school. As I said we were all muggleborns there, though."

"And no one got hurt or went missing that year?"

"Not that I remember, no. Um," she said, clearly going through her memories of that year. He truly enjoyed watching her think.

"Well, Shirley Thorpe, Duane Herman, and, um, Catherine Gearhardt didn't return for our fourth year."

"Was that planned?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I was one of a few who didn't go home during the summers. My parents preferred that I stay there and be safe. They didn't think they could guarantee I was safe at home, especially since I couldn't practice magic until my seventh year away from school." Sound reasoning. Brave of her and her parents to follow through with that thought process. "So I'm really not sure if it was planned or not."

"You didn't go home even during summer break?" If she'd told him that before now, he couldn't recall it.

"No. My parents thought it was safer. They'd heard rumours that there was a … registry or something that had my name in it."

"Exactly, yes." He knew what she was talking about. There was a registry of magical births. And, yes, her name would have been on it. Albus wouldn't have given information to anyone about a muggleborn witch who'd rejected their letter. It sounded like at least Minerva knew she was thinking about pursuing her magical education through private means. "Your parents were correct in exercising caution. I will look into those three names, and see if they are still with us."

"Oh," she said, clearly not having thought of that. "So you think they might have purposely toured Madam Docherty's school…"

"To get names of witches and wizards who they could target during the summer. It's certainly possible. Why do you remember his name?"

She shrugged. "Honestly?" She looked a little … nervous. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen that look on her face before now. What in the world could make her nervous about this conversation?

"Please."

"Well," she said. Now there was a blush to go with the nervousness. "He was cute, and was the first pureblood I'd met that was my age. Come to think of it, he likely wasn't a pureblood, was he? Foster isn't one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight."

"Mm. It's possible he was. The mother could have married someone not from Britain who is a pureblood as well."

"I suppose."

"So, he was cute," Severus said, regarding the picture of the wizard's father in question.

"Yes," she said.

He looked … not at all like he did, even before the wars.

"Don't do that, Severus," she said.

"Do what?"

"Compare yourself to him. I was fourteen."

"As compared to the nearly twenty you are now?"

"So now I'm too young for you?"

"I didn't say that."

"I said I thought he was cute. I didn't say I wanted to date, marry, or snog him. He was cute, and seemed impressed with my abilities."

"I'm sure that he did."

She sighed. "Okay. So you're going to be bothered by a boy I saw once for a few hours six years ago, but I'm not to be bothered by the fact that many in the wizarding world believe you are still in love with a witch who's been dead for almost twenty years?"

"Hermione."

"No, I'm just trying to figure out the rules here, Severus. I was a fourteen year old witch. That's what people do at that age, find someone cute. I never saw him again. There are all levels of cute. All levels of attraction. I can acknowledge someone is appealing physically without it meaning anything else."

He shrugged. She had a point. He didn't do that at fourteen. He honestly wasn't even sure anymore he'd been attracted to Lily herself, or the idea of someone being kind to him when no one else ever had been. He'd been a professor for long enough to know that if all Hermione did was find one boy cute, she was behind most of her peer group.

"You are right. I just look nothing like that," he said, gesturing to the photograph. This one was muggle so it didn't move or anything.

"I know. I look nothing like Lily Potter either. Not everyone has a type. Not everyone's type remains the same from fourteen to thirty."

"So, we have the son of a man who, while I don't know his exact role, know that he was associated with Tom, visiting your private school that was purely muggleborn witches and wizards the year we discovered Peter Pettigrew was alive and well."

"Did you know him? Peter?"

"I knew him when I was a student at Hogwarts, yes. If I could have killed him myself, I think I would have."

"Because of Lily?"

"Well, yes, he was responsible for Lily's death, but no, that isn't why. I mean, not the implication that one might think comes with my being upset about that. He betrayed his friend. His trusted friend. I don't have many of those. Any actually. Lucius Malfoy, but I didn't trust him overmuch nor did I consider him a trusted friend since 1981."

"Because you were spying."

"Correct. I guess that doesn't make me any better than Pettigrew, does it? I was just on a different side than he was."

"No, you are not the same as Peter Pettigrew, Severus."

"That type of betrayal, though. That is unforgivable to me. Harry could have died that night. He should have died that night. An innocent child. What kind of friend betrays someone's child!"

"A not very nice one."

"I admit when I first approached Albus. I pleaded for Lily's life. I didn't care about James or Harry. I loathed James Potter and by extension, Harry. It didn't matter that he was half Lily. I, however, was not best friends with him."

"Do you regret it?"

Likely she already knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from his own mouth. He didn't think she'd be mated to him if he didn't regret that moment. Many moments, but that one in particular bothered him.

"Every day. I sometimes wonder how Harry can look at me."

"He sees a man who never had anyone, so cared that the one person who had shown him kindness survived. He sees a man who has more than made up for a moment in time he thought of himself first."

"If you say so. Mostly, I regret that I was so blind." He gestured to the items around the folder she'd looked at. "I pride myself on my intellect and I fell for this, thinking that Lily's survival would be okay even if hundreds of other muggleborn witches and wizards died."

"It sounds, at first, as if he was good at building his followers up. Rewarding them. Preying on their strengths. Offering them knowledge and riches. I'm sure he didn't amass all of you and lay out his plot to take over the world with hatred and foulness from day one."

"No, but I should have seen it. And my father," he shrugged. "He did the best he could with what he had. He was an emotionless man who got lost in a bottle when he realized he couldn't do the thing he was supposed to be able to do: support his wife and son. I'm sure he would have been diagnosed with depression if he'd sought out professional treatment. Not that he would have, even if he could have afforded it. Men didn't admit their faults, their weaknesses. Mum had to work, and Dad was never the same after that. It was a different time, women weren't expected to work and it was a sign to other families the husband wasn't holding up his end of things. I don't hate him any longer. He was very much of the spare the rod, spoil the child mindset. At the time…"

"You thought he was a monster."

"I did. I wanted nothing to do with him. I wanted to be nothing like him. I didn't want to be poor or weak. I didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me or think I couldn't provide for that which was mine. I wanted to be like my pureblood mother."

"And you were offered … things."

"Yes. Power. Knowledge. Respect. Tom knew things like witches and riches weren't going to sway me."

"Riches wouldn't?"

"Not to the degree others were attracted to them, no."

"So you would really be able to leave this house behind?"

"I could, yes. I think Kingsley felt I was owed something. And since he was leveling my home, he had to provide me a roof. He also probably thought no one who knew me, knew how I lived up until the end of the war, would think that I'd live here."

"Well, at least now you have a name," she said, gesturing to the picture.

"You aren't surprised women wouldn't sway me?"

"Obviously not, they weren't me."

He snorted softly, but he realized she wasn't wrong. And he wasn't entirely sure it was completely to do with her being his soul mate either. He couldn't envision having this conversation with any other woman he'd ever met.

"So, tell me what you remember about Mr. Foster," he said, returning his attention to the photograph.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com