This next short story, "The Letters", DOES have spoilers from DH... so no reading if you haven't finished the novel!! (This means you, TftL!)

The Letters

Three hard knocks on the doors caused Lily Evans quite a start, as at the time her whole concentration was on the knitting needles in her hands. She set them on the table before her neatly and peaked through the blinds.

Upon opening the door, Lily's eyes met those of a very pleased eleven-year-old. "Lily, I've got my letter!" Severus Snape whispered excitedly, showing her a thick and heavy envelope with an elaborate seal. "I've got mine, have they given you yours?"

The light that had lit up Lily's face a second ago evaporated at the question. "No..." She motioned the boy inside and closed the door.

"Oh," and quickly he added, "Well, I'm sure yours is coming today, too. I'll bet they send out the owls first..."

"Yeah... Petunia still thinks you're lying to me." Lily was looking out the window now, and Severus knew whom she was waiting for.

Her statement, though, deflated the euphoria that came with his Hogwarts letter. "I'm not a liar."

"Oh, no... I know that, but she's just..."

"I don't see why she m--"

"Oh, Sev, someone's coming!" She waved jubilantly for Severus to come where she stood by the window. "Do you think that's them? I mean, her? From-- from Hogwarts?"

Severus looked at the woman approaching the Evans' house. She certainly looked like a teacher to him, with her stern gaze and set features, and her graying hair was taut in a bun. She even had squarish glasses on her nose. She was carrying a package of things in her hand. "Yeah," he said after his quick observation. "I think that is her."

Lily tore her visage from the window and ran to the stairs nearby. "Mum, Dad, they're here!" Severus watched her smile spread across her face as she called for her parents again, and a smart knock sounded from the door.

Severus heard the footsteps of her parents descending the staircase, curious (or dubious?) looks on their faces and then a door from above closed heavily. Petunia.

As the hand of Mrs. Evans reached for the doorknob, Lily fetched her father's attention. "Severus can stay, can't he?"

Mr. Evans' eyes searched a moment for Severus, who had found his way into a corner between the cabinet, which hid the television, and the door. He'd thought that when the door opened, he'd leave Lily and her family to discover Hogwarts on their own, but on hearing her request, a little jolt when in his chest. He stepped out farther from the corner to meet Mr. Evans's unsure face. He could never tell what Mr. Evans thought of him, and wondered fleetingly if he's learn magic to tell...

"Of course." A polite smile broke the bemused expression of Lily's father.

Mrs. Evans had already begun showing the newcomer to a seat, and Severus noted the yarn and needles folded neatly before the guest. Lily knits.

Severus, now sitting between Lily and the edge of the sofa, absentmindedly traced his finger along the grooved Hogwarts seal on his letter as the visitor began to speak.

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I am Minerva McGonagall, and I would like to speak to you about your daughter's education..."

It's real. It's real, and I will finally be in the right place... Just me and Lily-- Seven years!