Miranda and Severus fell back in their old routine and continued to ignore each other. But the problem was that Miranda now knew that she couldn't keep ignoring him. She was curious. First of all she wanted to know what had bitten him and why. Secondly, she now knew that he had got her letter and had read it. It meant something to her, although she could not tell how much. It changed her thoughts about him and she caught herself staring at him when she was deep in thought. Perhaps he had indeed changed in the many years they had been apart. Dumbledore trusted him and that could only mean that he had left Voldemort for good. Dumbledore would never let someone teach his students if there was a possibility that they were evil.

When the day of the first quid ditch match arrived, Miranda walked together with Professor McGonagall to the playground. When she had taken a seat, she searched for the team of Gryffindor. It hadn't been a surprise to her when she had heard that Harry was a natural seeker. After all, he was James' son. Miranda knew for sure that that Lily and James would have been proud of him. She was proud of him as well.

When she went with her hand to her hair and suddenly noticed someone standing next to her. When she looked up to see who it was, she stared into two black eyes.

"Miranda," Severus said, while he took a seat next to her.

"You're joking, right?" Miranda said, while she frowned and looked at him.

She could have been wrong, but it looked as if he enjoyed all of this.

"No, this is my seat," he answered, while he looked away from her.

Miranda kept silent and looked down. The Gryffindor team had finally entered the playground and Miranda started applauding like everyone else. She noticed that Severus didn't applaud with her, but ignored it. She could understand that he didn't like Harry being a seeker at all. After all, James had been an excellent seeker as well and it had made him arrogant. For some reason, Miranda just knew that Harry wouldn't be like his father. Convincing Severus of that fact was something else entirely. She knew that it was almost impossible, but she wouldn't be her if she didn't try it.

While the match continued and Gryffindor was on the lead, Miranda caught herself staring at Severus a couple of times. What was wrong with her? Why was she always that curious? If he wanted answers, then he could have asked the questions already. Suddenly, she heard people screaming and she quickly pointed her attention back to the game. When she saw that Harry had trouble controlling his broom, she went pale. She wanted to rise from her seat, but Severus prevented her. When she looked at him, she saw him mumbling a spell. While a frown appeared upon her face, she looked back at Harry. What the hell was going on?

Suddenly she smelled something strange, as if something was burning. When she turned around to see where it came from, she suddenly saw flames appearing next to her.

"Severus," she yelled, while s he got up, "You're on fire!"

Severus immediately looked down and when he saw the flames as well he rose from his seat instantly and tried putting them out. She helped him and for a moment forgot about Harry. When the flames were out, Miranda looked back to Harry and noticed, to her relief that he was alright.

"Are you fine?" Severus suddenly asked.

She nodded, but kept looking at Harry. He suddenly dived down with his broom and there seemed to be something wrong again. Professor McGonagall, who was sitting in front of her, rose as well and because of that Miranda didn't see what was going on. Suddenly she heard someone yelling: "He's got the snitch!"

"What?" she muttered completely confused.

"Gryffindor wins!" Lee shouted.

Miranda smiled and shook her head. Harry was indeed James 'son.

November and December passed without numerous incidents. When Severus and Miranda met in the morning, they now talked a bit. They talked mostly about the students and her teaching. Their conversations were brief, but meant much to her. If she was able to handle her past this well, then she was certain she could handle everything.

January arrived and the second match of the year arrived as well. When Miranda heard Severus would be referee, she quickly hurried towards his dungeon. It wasn't like him to do such a thing. He hated quid ditch, simply because James had been good at it. When she knocked, but didn't got a reply, she slowly entered. She quickly saw that he wasn't in. She moved her wand and light the fire in the corner.

She moved through the room, towards his desk and smiled when she saw all the strange jars. It was typical Severus to have such a thing. One of the flaps was open and when she saw what was in it, she didn't delay for a second. She grabbed the paper and immediately she saw that she had been right. It was her letter, her letter about her son.

Miranda had to sit down and searched for a seat. When she finally found one, she sat down and stared at the paper. He had kept it that close…

Suddenly the door opened and Miranda rose from her seat. With a pale look on her face she saw Severus entering his dungeon. When he saw her, he froze. She saw a frown crossing his face and she swallowed. What would he think of her now? Immediately she could hit herself. It didn't matter what he thought, right?

"What are you doing here?" he suddenly asked, while he came closer.

"I… I was looking for you," Miranda answered truthfully. She nervously moistened her lips and tried to move away from him. He saw what she held in her hand however and suddenly walked faster to her. Before she could do anything he had grabbed her hand and had pulled the letter towards him.

"That's mine, I believe," he whispered, his eyes and voice cold.

"Yes…," she whispered. She couldn't let go of the papers and tried to look away from him.

"What did you think? That I had thrown it away? I don't know what you think, Miranda, but I loved you once. This letter means something to me, not matter what you think."

She could hear the pain in his voice and she felt ashamed. Of course he had loved her once, of that she was sure. But he hadn't loved her enough to not kill her uncle. He hadn't loved her enough to leave Voldemort.

She let the letters go and stepped away from him.

"What I think doesn't matter to you, Severus. It never did," her voice trembled and she hated herself for it.

Severus frowned. He looked at the letters and then sighed.

"We both knew we had to have this conversation once. Why don't we just do it know?"

Miranda stared at her feet and didn't answer. She had a feeling that this was too soon.

"Look," Severus continued, while he came closer to her, "I don't need to know everything… it just need to know whether … he was happy."

Miranda looked up and shook her head, while tears appeared.

"Happy?" she swallowed, "Of course he was happy. He had mother, who would have given her life for him. A grandmother, who loved him as if it was her son and he had someone he could call his father."

She saw him narrowing his eyes and looked away from him.

"I know what you think. You think it was wrong from me to keep him secret for you. Well, it wasn't. I didn't want my child to have a father who was a murderer. It didn't want my child to be ashamed of his biological father."

Her voice was strong and when she looked up, she knew that he could see the anger and hatred she had felt for him.

"He was happy because he didn't know you, Severus. Can you live with that? At least he didn't have to see his mother, crawling through the mud when she had to fight a pain that was almost killing her. At least he didn't feel pain when he died."

She saw that he had went even paler. It made her feel good. She had carried this pain all alone, while he was the cause of it.

"Hugh never knew about you, Severus. He was too young. He was still a baby when they killed him. I don't know if you were there that day…"

"Of course I wasn't," Severus suddenly interjected, "Do you think I would let anyone hurt my son?"

"You didn't even know he was your son!" Miranda yelled, "For all I know, you could be the one that had found me! You could be the one that had lead those death eaters to me."

Severus made a movement towards her, but she stepped back and shook her head.

"Stay away from me, Severus. Stay the hell away from me," she whispered, "I knew this was too soon. I can't forgive… not just yet…"

Without looking at him, she left the dungeon and hurried towards her room. While the tears were rolling down from her face, she wondered how much pain one man could cause…

Severus threw one of his jars against the wall and felt his anger and shame leave him. Gods, had he been wrong! He had thought that after the past days the time was come to talk about their past. It was too soon… way too soon.

With a sigh, he took a seat and rubbed his eyes. He had too many worries. First, Quirrell who was acting strangely suspicious, then Potter almost getting killed and now Miranda and his son…

He sighed again and closed his eyes. He could see her for him, with her beautiful blue eyed filled with tears. It was as if he turned back in time to the moment where she had realized that he couldn't leave Voldemort. He had hurt her so much, it was a wonder she hadn't killed him already.

And ironic smile appeared upon his face. Of course she would never kill him, she could never hurt him. Like he could never hurt her. Their lives had been entangled from the moment she had said hello to him and Lily, so many years ago. He had always wanted to turn back time to stop her from meeting him, but in the past years he had wondered how empty his life would have been without her. Now, he was glad they had met. He was glad for all the time they had spend together, even thought it hurt much.

He opened his eyes and looked at her letter. "I still love you," she had written.

"And no matter what has happened, Miranda Bloom, I have always loved you too…"