An Apology
Professor Snape looked up and frowned slightly. He was certain he hadn't set a detention for that evening and no student would dare visit uninvited. Curious at this change from his routine he straightened his desk slightly and checked he was appropriately attired. Assuming a glare he barked at the door "enter".
The door opened slowly, almost hesitantly and he swallowed a groan as a familiar messy head of raven hair appeared.
"What is it Potter?" he sneered.
"Erm, sorry for disturbing you Professor Snape." Potter mumbled, looking at the floor throughout "I just wanted to give you this." The boy placed a small package on the desk and shuffled his feet slightly.
"What is it Potter?"
"Ah, it's kind of an apology." The emerald eyes hesitantly raised to meet his own. Surprisingly they looked sincere and a little apologetic. "Night Sir." He said before scampering out the room.
Puzzled Snape pulled the neatly wrapped parcel towards him and frowned at the brown paper wrapping. Raising his wand and quickly testing the contents he raised an eyebrow at the lack of curses and hesitantly untied the string. Once the paper was removed he was left looking at a folded piece of parchment and a vial of silver liquid. Opening the letter he began to read...
Dear Professor Snape,
I'm not really sure how I can apologise in a way that you will accept and to be honest I'm not sure you should. I did however have to get to the bottom of the image I saw in your pensieve. I spoke to Professor Lupin and my godfather to try and make any sense, to have an understanding of what happened and I must be honest and say that their explanations fell far from the mark, consisting mostly of 'children are cruel' and 'we were only children', 'we didn't know what we were doing'.
I don't accept this. They knew exactly what they were doing otherwise they wouldn't have ensured there were no teachers around. I know this isn't exactly my place, and I know that two of the so-called 'marauders' are missing but I hope the memory in the vial will bring some kind of solace to you.
Again, my heartfelt apologies.
Harry Potter.
Frowning in puzzlement at the strangely eloquent letter from the Potter spawn Snape carefully picked the vial up and held it to the light. At long last he came to a decision. He carefully locked and warded the door after casting several privacy charms to ensure that there would be no evidence of his weakness and poured the liquid into a pensieve. Taking a deep breath he plunged into the mirky depths.
Two hours later he emerged from the depths of the pensieve to sit staring into space. It appeared he had misjudged the young Potter, in some respects at least.
"Two points to Gryffindor for excellent spell work." He murmured into the quiet emptiness of his office. "Two points to Gryffindor for quick thinking and two further points for execution of a masterful plan." He smiled, genuinely, for the first time in several years. Perhaps the rumours of Mr. Potters sorting were true after all