Chapter 1

1987

Harry usually slept early in the evening. That night, it had already been half an hour since he was lying in bed, but he just couldn't fall asleep. With his stomach up, and nothing else but his head over the covers, his eyes were open staring at nothing but the darkness of the room. He sighed. Pulling the blanket off him with just one movement, the boy jumped off the bed. Feeling his feet get immediately cold by the contact with the floor, he put on his slippers and left the room, starting to head towards the bathroom.

He was living with Snape for almost two years now. Sometimes it still felt, in the way that he could describe, weird, but for the most part he got used to it. At the beginning, as it was completely natural, he was apprehensive about what was going to happen, how things would go in that strange house, and between them, with the man he didn't know. Over time he realized, however, that Snape wasn't as bad as he sometimes gave the impression of being. He felt much better there than when he was with his uncles , the situations weren't possibily comparable.

Sometimes he wondered why Snape got him out of that house, and agreed to take him . It didn't make much sense . Not even his aunt, who was his mother's own sister, wanted him so why would he? If, from what he knew, they didn't have any connection. They weren't relatives, the Dursleys were the only family he had left. But he usually didn't think about that for long. He couldn't get to any conclusive answer, just always ended up thinking it was a kind gesture from the older man, when he knew what was happening in his uncles house, and so he was grateful for that.

The corridor wasn't as dark as his room, and he didn't need to walk much to get to the bathroom. Next to his, was Snape's room, both on the right side of the corridor. The bathroom , which wasn't used by Snape because he had his own inside his room, was further, on the left.

When passing beside the older man's room, he noticed the open door and the room was illuminated. Harry was tempted to enter. He knew at that time, Snape was still in the living room, as he always was. Still, he instinctively looked back to where the corridor started, to see if he was coming. Concluding that he wasn't, he bit his lower lip, and with a curious look, stepped forward into the room.

He looked around. The bed that was in the middle of the room , against the white wall on the right , was still made with the dark green blanket perfectly arranged. Under him, he felt stepping over something more comfortable than the floor and looked down noticing a carpet. On the bedside table was a book with a dark brown cover and a lamp with its light on. On the left , was a shelf with all kinds of things. He slowly walked beside it, looking at them carefully . He stopped and looked closer when he saw a small set of photographs moving.

There was one that seemed to stand out from all others, and it was also the largest. It was a very beautiful woman . She looked thin but not extremely, and was pale , but not close to what people could think it was a sick pale. Her hair was long, with a lively red tone, not completely straight, as it almost curled at the ends. In the photo, her smile would gradually get bigger, and it was charming. Her eyes, like his, were from a bright green.

"Mom." The boy murmured.

"Harry?" Snape's voice was heard. Scared, the boy jumped back and with eyes wide open he looked at the door, where the man was standing , looking at him too.

"I'm sorry.. I didn't want to do anything wrong, I just.. sorry." He whispered again, taking another step back .

Snape said nothing back. He walked further into the room, and went to the shelf , picking up the picture that Harry was staring so intently at. He sat on the edge of the bed , and looked at it too , speaking again.

"She really was very, very beautiful , wasn't she?"

Even if still a bit afraid, Harry slowly came close to the man and sat beside him . Carefully, he also spoke.

"It's my mother. How do you know her?"

"We went to Hogwarts together, were in the same year . She was my best friend, you know?" Snape said . The boy smiled, and soon after, heard the man give a little laugh. "In fact , Lily was my only friend."

"Is that why you took me in?" Harry asked.

"She was the best person I've ever met . Absolutely lovely, she helped me a lot ." He answered , looking at the boy . "You're her son, she obviously .. loved you very much . Wouldn't want you to continue in that house , you know that back in the day, not even her and your aunt Petunia got along. I owed that to your mother."

The boy nodded his head slightly , seeming to understand.

"And did you know my dad?" He asked , excited. Snape's face became more severe , and the small smile he had shown, faded , which made Harry feel he had asked something bad. The man looked back at the picture in his hand .

"Lily was extremely kind. Smart, and she made me a better person , made me smile . And.. she was loved. She didn't deserve what happened to her."

Harry listened and said nothing , just continued to look at the older man beside him , also silent, just staring at the redheaded woman, immersed in his own thoughts . When Harry stood up, Snape didn't seem to notice. The boy began walking towards the door to get out and leave Snape alone, but half way through he heard his voice again, calling him . He turned around, and saw him put his hand forth, still holding the picture.

"You can take it. Put it on your bedside table , I don't mind." He said.

The boy hesitated a bit, but came closer , and got it. Muttering a 'thanks' in a low tone of voice , he again walked towards the door to leave , looking back one last time just to see Snape still sitting on the edge of the bed , bent over, staring at his own hands.

Author's note: I answer every review that comes through email, except Guests, to which i answer in the chapters.

Guest (LibraMoon) - First of all, thank you for reading and commenting! I'm glad you find it interesting, and I hope it continues that way. Second, I realize that and as it may be noticed here, and can be seen on my profile, English is not my native language either. And in portuguese we usually use dashes for quotations, instead of those quotation marks, that's what I use in my portuguese ones, and that's why (awful mistake) that when I translate them, like this one, I forget that I have to use quotation marks. But, thank you for telling me that, and I immediately corrected it. I hope it's easier now. Thanks.