"Erumpent Horn!" Albus exclaimed to the Gargoyle that he heard was the door to the headmaster's office. It looked down at him and raised an eyebrow before sliding out of the way to allowing the first year inside. The Potter rushed to the stairs, climbing up them even as they started to move up on their own. When he reached the top, he hesitated. What is the headmaster didn't want to be disturbed? That was why he knocked first.

"Professor Lovegood is out at the moment." Came a friendly and politely toned voice. Albus decided that whoever was in there wouldn't be too harsh on him if he came in, so he slowly opened the door, peering inside. That was odd; he didn't see anyone in the office.

"Professor Lovegood is out at the moment." Repeated a colder, much harsher voice than the first which made him think over entering the office. But his mind was made and he opened the door the rest of the way and made his way inside, his eyes wearily looking out for any specters that could've been the cause of the voices.

"Look, Severus, he has your hair." The first voice spoke again, and Albus froze, turning back to face where it was coming from. An old man was smiling down at him. His spectacles shaped like crestant moons and his nose crooked with age.

"Humph," And the second voice answer the first. Right next to the old man rested a much darker portrait, the man portrayed having greasy black hair and cold, unforgiving eyes. His nose was also crooked, but Albus supposed it wasn't because of age, even though the man was far from young.

"Severus?" Al dared to asked, eyes glued to the second portrait.

"Yes?" Those cold, black eyes were now boring into his.

"That's your name?" He wanted to make sure.

"Yes. Why?"

"My name is Albus Severus Potter." He verified, and for a second, he thought he could see a little water coming to the dark man's cold eyes, and he could definitely see a softening of his expression.

"A Potter offspring," His voice had grown soft as well.

"Now, Severus, you wouldn't want to go all mushy with the rest of us here to witness it." Dumbledore replied with his usual cheerful smile.

That made the man harden back up to his regular stoic self, and shoot a look to the older headmaster.

"Professor McGonagall said I should come up here to talk with you." He added, a little intimidated by the air of wisdom the portraits held, though there were only two that weren't empty.

"Why did she suggest that?" The older one asked.

"I… had a fight with my brother." He mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"And what was that about?"

"A-About… me being in Slytherin."

The look of shock Snape gave had reduced Dumbledore to a fit of laughter.

"Potter offspring? A Slytherin?!" Severus hadn't even seemed to notice the older man's mocking laughter.

"Y-Yeah…Everyone else is surprised too. And James is really mad at me."

"James is your brother's name?"

"Yes…"

"I detest irony." Snape hissed bitterly.

"Now, now, Severus, the boy wants comfort." Dumbledore had fallen out of his fit and was now looking upon the boy with sympathy.

"Um, sure, may I ask what your name is?" Albus asked the older headmaster curiously.

"Albus Dumbledore." He replied with a smile.

So these two were the people he was named after. Albus and Severus. The younger Potter couldn't help but smile. "I think Father chose well in naming me."

"As do I," Dumbledore replied with a chuckle, "I am rather surprised that he chose Severus to be your middle name though."

"As am I. I would think he'd rather use Sirius's name." Snape agreed.

"Oh, well, he did. James Sirius Potter." Albus shrugged.

"Humph, figures. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to name his daughter Nymphadora at this point."

"Um… Actually…"

"No.. Please don't tell me…"

"Lily Nymphadora Potter."

A palm was placed on Severus's forehead as he shook his greasy locks slowly. Dumbledore looked pleased. "Yes, well, that boy has a good choice in names." He said with a firm and solemn nod.

"You only think that because you ended up as a first name." Snape replied, letting his hand fall.

"Perhaps." Was the only reply. It was silent for a while.

"Severus," The dark man looked to the boy, "Were you close to my father?"

"Well, I was close enough to end up as a middle name to his son." Came the sardonic reply.

"No. That's not what I meant. Did you love him?" Albus asked timidly.

It was silent again. Dumbledore was turned to Severus, waiting patiently for the answer. While the other portrait had its eyes closed, obviously deep in thought.

"It's getting late, Potter, you should be off to bed."

That was the reply he got? Albus made sure to glare at Snape long enough for the other man to catch on. "I won't go until you tell me."

"Professor Lovegood is on his way back. I'm sure you don't want to be caught in his office without his permission."

A little worried that this man held the power of giving him detention, he asked "Does that mean you won't tell?"

"Yes. If you'll allow me a few days to think that question over." Snape knew that it had been Harry that had gone through all the trouble of getting his headmaster portrait up on the wall, but in the nineteen years since his death, the potions master had never had a chance to talk to the boy. Well, he supposed the "boy" was now a man, so he could no longer call him that.

"Fine. Good night, Professors." And down the stairs the boy climbed.

A week had flown by and Albus still hadn't returned to the headmaster's office. Malfoy was pretty much leaving him alone, which he was grateful for, but his brother had been avoiding him. That struck a pain in his heart every time he would see James in the hallway while the other boy paid him no notice. Rose was no help. She had moved on to bigger and better things. Gryffindor things, and that didn't help lighten his mood any. Albus was terrible at making new friends, so he was pretty much alone.

In Potions class exactly one week later, Slughorn examined his worked with an expression of pure joy. "Excellent, Potter, excellent. Just like your father." A pat was given to the boy. "And just between you and me, I think you might be even better."

Albus smiled back politely, "Thank you, sir, but I really don't think I'm that great."

"No, no. You're living up to your name perfectly. Now, how would you like getting together with me and some other students on Saturday? It'll be lots of fun. I'm sure you'll be able to befriend lots of other bright students such as yourself." He continued beaming while he proposed this to Albus, which made him think of an old rat that was deceiving another into lending him his cheese. Al shuddered inwardly. Okay, so he wasn't so great at analogies.

"I, um, have plans Saturday." He'd needed to find a time to go back and talk to Severus and Dumbledore anyway.

"Oh, that's a shame. Are you sure you can't reschedule them?" Slughorn frowned now, contemplating him with what he recognized as suspicion. Had his father done the same thing?

"Not sure. I'll try and get back to you about it tomorrow."

"Very good." Slughorn piped back up, beaming once again. And then he was off to pester some other unfortunate student. Only if Albus found an absolutely perfect plan to meet the portraits before then would he even consider going to Slughorn's little get-together. Though Al knew he indeed longed for friends, Slughorn just rubbed him the wrong way when he smiled. It showed too much greed.

"Albus."

On his way to Transfiguration, he froze. No way. Had he really heard Dumbledore's voice? Of course he hadn't. His portrait was in the headmaster's office.

"Albus." Repeated the voice, and as the young Potter turned to the wall, there he was, his body broken through the gaps of the other portraits, but he was there. Al brought a hand to his mouth as he bit his lip - it was all he could do from shrieking out loud. "Good, you've noticed me." Dumblebore smiled sincerely to the boy. "Severus was wondering what took you so long to show back up."

"U-Um… Well…" He tried to fish the right words from his brain. He failed and just stood there, silent.

"I'll fetch him here. Though I dare say this isn't a very private setting, it will do." Dumbledore shrugged and began to descend through the portraits.

"Wait!"

The old wizard looked up. "Yes?"

"He'd prefer a private area, wouldn't he? After all, the question I asked is personal… I have to go to Transfiguration right now, but I'll come to Professor Lovegood's office as soon as I can." He started off.

"Wait."

Albus Severus turned back around, confused.

"You've been excused from your Transfiguration class today."

"Why?"

"Because Severus wants to get his answer out. And because he wants to go into a long explanation as to why. It's very unlike Severus to do this, so I thought it crucial to get you to him before his out of character impulse dies down."

And that was how he ended up sitting in Headmaster Lovegood's office, staring at the portrait of Severus Snape, which was, most surprisingly and annoyingly, empty.

"If he wanted to talk to me so bad, why isn't he around?" Albus had wondered, sighing and slouching into a chair he had turned to face the portraits.

"Do not complain as if you are some immoral Hufflepuff," A seemingly ancient portrait scolded the student sitting before him.

"Who are you?" Albus had sit up, completely missing that the other portrait was occupied before now. He had also spotted some others in the room that weren't empty, but they were sound asleep. Nap time, apparently.

"Phineas Nigellus, the last Slytherin Headmaster before Professor Snape."

"Forgive me, then." Albus bowed his head a bit, trying to be polite. "I was just wondering where he got off to…"

"Yes, well, keep your Slytherin pride while doing so."

"Yes, sir."

Silence lingered. It wasn't a comfortable silence, but it was hardly tense. Just a silence to be endured until Professor Snape showed back up. Dumbledore had said Severus was a bit out of character… perhaps he had gone to buy some shampoo? From the look his locks had given off, he needed some desperately. Seconds were turning into minutes, and minutes into hours. Transfiguration was long over, and Albus was sure it was past curfew. He wondered why Professor Lovegood hadn't shown, but he didn't really care either. It just gave him something to think about.

"Perhaps he's not going to show…" Al had mumbled tiredly.

"Wait just a bit longer." Dumbledore advised, and so they waited.

And waited.

And finally… The familiar greasy locks that framed the usually stoic face had shown up; but something was different. Snape had a comforting air about him, and his expression was more than softened. "Severus?" Dumbledore asked, slightly baffled, "Where have you been?"

This complete change of Snape was terribly shocking, but no more so than what left his painted mouth next, "Albus, I have, I'm afraid, changed my answer. I do, indeed, love Harry Potter."