Albus was in a room he had never seen before, which was an unlikely situation considering just how nosey he was. He had been walking down one of the corridors not anyone in particular when he had walked up a stairwell, purely out of curiosity and found himself in this room.
"Hello there young Lion, you look a little lost...are you alright?" A painting on the wall said, Albus didn't recognize him but it could be any great wizard, Hugo was more likely to know than him but Hugo wasn't here.
"Errr yes, sorry. I'm not sure exactly where I am, I must have taken a wrong turning or something because I didn't mean to end up here. Well, I don't know where this is, or who you are?" The man in the painting rose his eyebrow in a way similar to how his father had described his old potions master doing it, perhaps it could be him though he had never been told his name.
"Well young one, I'm Severus Snape, I used to be headmaster here, which is why my portrait gets to stay in here, this is the headmistress' office, don't worry though she won't be back for hours yet she hardly ever comes here anymore, it reminds her too much of Dumbledore." Snape had begun speaking partly to himself, letting his mind wander, but soon snapped back to reality and asked the Gryffindor his name.
"I'm Albus Severus Potter, I'm a first year. That's funny though, you being called Severus, I was named after a Severus who was headmaster of Hogwarts, was it you? Did you know my father?" Snape smiled for the first time since Lily had died - painting or not this was the first time since - and he almost nodded but wasn't completely sure yet.
"Let me guess, your father is Harry Potter and your mother is...Hermione Granger?" Snape couldn't really imagine the two of them together but there was no-one else he could think of for Harry. Albus made no attempt to hide the look of shock on his face, obviously in response to the terrible mistake Severus had made.
"Eugh, no Aunt Hermione isn't my Mum! That's gross, she's married to Uncle Ron and they've got their own kids, but Ginny Weasley is my mum!" Of course, Snape thought, who else could it have been? How many other children did they have then?
"Sorry young man, I've been dead for quite a while now so I don't get to hear all the news unless McGonagall decides to tell me, which she never does. You lose track of time when you're a painting too, how many years has it been since the final battle, I'm not sure how long I've been dead?"
"19 years" Albus stated plainly.
"Thank-you, so do you have any brothers or sisters, or is it just you?" Snape wasn't really interested but he was curious as to what had become of Harry, and he cared that he had a good life. WOW! Snape thought. Never thought I'd feel that way about a Potter...
"Oh I have a brother, James Sirius, he's a second year in Gryffindor and I have a younger sister, Lily Luna-" Severus' gasped and tears pricked up in his eyes, how thoughtful of him. "But she doesn't start for another two years, the same time as Hugo, that's Aunt Hermione's younger son and they have a daughter called Rosie who's in the same year as me."
"I'm terribly sorry for asking you all these questions but I just want to know how everyone's getting on, has Draco Malfoy settled down?" Snape doubted the boy would know who he was but it was worth asking, just in case.
"Oh yes, we saw him on the platform, he's married to a woman called Astoria and they have a son who's the same age as me, we have some of the same classes too. James said he would be horrible, just like his father but I get on alright with him, he's called Scorpius and he's in Ravenclaw, he got a howler from his mother for that. They really wanted him to get in to Slytherin, the opposite of me, I asked the sorting hat not to put me in there, oh dear, I probably shouldn't have told you that, am I going to get in to trouble now?" Severus let out a short laugh, the boy was so much like his father, and he had the same eyes - Lily's eyes.
"No, you won't get in trouble. Don't worry, I know for a fact that your father did exactly the same thing!" Albus' eyes widened, I'll have to tell Dad I've met this man, he's really nice! He thought, maybe I could come to see him again sometime. "Anyway, you'd best get going before somebody notices you're missing. We don't want you getting in to any sort of trouble now do we, I don't think Hogwarts could survive another Potter if you turn out to be half as much of a troublemaker as your Dad was!"
"Thank you Sir, it was really nice to have this conversation with you, I might see you again sometime, if I ever end up here again." He smiled and walked away, he looked back when he reached the door and even through the darkness, he could see those two beady little emeralds looking straight in to his onyx eyes, still smiling. "Goodbye." Albus said, almost in a whisper, as he walked out of the door and back down the stairwell to join the rest of the school.
"Goodbye." Severus said, knowing that he wouldn't be heard but saying it anyway. I can rest easy now, they're all safe. He thought.