In the morning, Evolynn went down to the breakfast table to find Snape already finishing his eggs. She had overslept that morning and was late in getting downstairs. Snape pushed his chair back and was about to leave the dining room when Evolynn moved over to block the door way. He looked down his long nose at her, waiting for her to move. She looked up at him, waiting for him to say "good morning." She grinned up at him and he could see that she was back to normal.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, growing impatient. Evolynn noted that he too was back to normal. The way she liked him- not all emotional or anything. Just cold, judging and um, all of those kind of words that described her godfather. She loved the way that he grimaced every time she smiled at him, and barely muttered goodnight when she said it to him. She loved this because in the end, she knew that he really did like her. They had fallen into the habit of him saying good morning and her saying good night. It was just what they did.

Realizing what she was waiting for, he said irritably "Good morning, Evolynn. Now please get out of my way. I'm extremely busy today."

"Wait!" she said as Snape pushed past her. "You promised that I could use your owl. I want to send Harry a letter."

Apparently aghast, he turned around very fast. "Why would you want to something like that?"

"Um, well… he's my kinda my brother." He still looked like that was a very bad idea. "Would that be okay?" she said. She thought it was a reasonable suggestion but he was making it way harder than it needed to be.

He sighed very loudly and said, obviously getting tired of this conversation, "Okay, you may use the owl. I shall have the elf bring it up sometime today."

Evolynn frowned and said to Snape's back as he walked away, "She has a name, you know. It's Mitzi. You should know that. She's your elf." Snape chose to ignore this (in his opinion) rude comment. He marched up the stairs and turned the corner in the corridor and swept down the narrow hallway to his study, where he spent most of his time.

Once inside it, he locked the door and went over to his desk. Lying on top of it were several letters and papers and such, the one on top was a letter from Albus Dumbledore that had arrived late last night. It read:

Dear Severus,

I must apologize for my lateness in writing to you. I, and I assume that it is the same for you, have been very busy. But I do wish to inform you that young Mr. Potter has been sorted into Gryffindor as his mother and father before him. He seems to be prospering there, seeing as he has already made the house Quidditch team as the Seeker, just as his father.

Now, Severus, we have some business to attend to. You and I both know that there is a teacher in Hogwarts that is certainly up to no good. For fear of this letter being read by eyes other than yours, I will not name the person, but you know as well as I do who they are. We have discussed what to do about the said professor, but matters are pressing. I fear that the boy might be in danger. There is no solid evidence yet but I have a very bad feeling-worse than before- about the whole thing.

Since we also have no proof that the said professor is guilty, I must ask once again that you say nothing about the matter to anyone. Awkward questions would begin to arise- starting with "Why don't you just fire the teacher?"

Well, I just thought that I should update you on an old man's life. I certainly hope Evolynn is well and that you too are coping.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Snape reread the letter again. For a moment he just stared at it, wondering what kind of danger the boy could be in within the first month of school. If he was anything like his father, he was probably strutting around the school, showing off his position on the Quidditch team, sticking his nose where it didn't belong, maybe stealing people's only friends… Things like that.

It was things like this that made Snape have a very hard time liking even the thought of Harry Potter. He could sit for hours thinking about how much he loathed James Potter's memory, but he had other things to do. He had decided that morning at his oddly solitary breakfast that he should pay Dumbledore a visit. He tucked the letter back into its envelope and left the study.

As he walked down the hall, he thought of how quiet breakfast had been without Evolynn there. He had grown used to her chattering away in the morning. Was she always going to sleep in like this? Snape found himself thinking about what it would be like when Evolynn left for Hogwarts. He almost resented the thought. As much as he hated to admit this (though he would never say it aloud) Evolynn had, in her words, kinda grown on him. He actually liked having her around sometimes.

"What the heck is wrong with me?" he asked himself.

Evolynn stood in her room, waiting for Mitzi to bring up the owl. After half an hour with no owl, she decided to take it upon herself to get it. When she heard the front door close with a bang downstairs, she slipped out of her room and tiptoed down the corridor, trying every door she saw. All were locked until she got to the end of the dark corridor. She turned the handle on this one and it creaked open.

Inside was a room lined with bookcases and a desk in the left corner. There were windows but there were thick black drapes covering them. The hardwood floor didn't have a single scratch. Eerie candle light gave the room a very creepy feel.

"This is so his study," she muttered to no one in particular. The room just screamed Severus Snape. Forgetting any rules against it, she entered the study and started to walk around. For about ten minutes, she looked at the books that lined the shelves. Most of them were either potion books (Advanced Potion Making) or Dark Magic books (Magic Most Evil). She wondered if she could "borrow" one or two without him noticing. Not likely, she thought. He probably counts them every night.

When she was done with (or, when she tore herself away from) the books, she moved over to the desk. She knew she was snooping, and she was going to leave, but then she saw something highly interesting. On his desk, peeking out of an envelope, there was a picture of a redheaded woman holding a tiny, also redheaded baby. They both had green eyes- the same as Evolynn's. With a bolt of excitement, Evolynn realized that must be her mother, and the baby must be herself. Before she could think of how much trouble she would be in if Snape found out, she reached out and grabbed it. Forgetting about finding the owl, she dashed back to her room and closed the door.

When she was completely sure that nobody was watching, she pulled out the contents of the envelope. It read:

Dear Sev,

Thanks so much for coming the last night. It was so good to see you after such a long time. I know Evie enjoyed meeting you. She kept giggling after you left- James had quite a time putting her to bed. But I know she liked having you there. Harry did too, but he was too busy with the toy broomstick Sirius sent him for his birthday (yes, after three months he still loves it) that he barely stopped to say hello. James reckons he'll be a Seeker. I wouldn't be surprised.

Another thing- I just wanted to comment that it was so cute (excuse the word, but it's true) to see you holding her like that, Sev. If I lived to be one hundred, I don't think I ever would have guessed that I would ever see you voluntarily holding a baby. Probably not something you would have picked up from your Death Eater friends.

I want to thank you, Sev, for leaving the Death Eaters. I know you are a better person than that, and you know that as well. I want you to be able to walk around and not be labeled as one of his followers. It really means a lot to me.

I've enclosed a few pictures. One of me and Evie and one of all four of us. It's so funny, I swear she loves to have her photo taken! James wants to dress her up for the Muggle holiday, Halloween, but I said no. There's no point anyway, since we're all stuck in the house. Well, I have to go. I'm afraid Harry's just broken a lamp or something.

I hope you can come visit again soon- maybe you can come for dinner soon. I hate that you are still living in that huge old house all alone. That place has always given me the creeps, ever since we were kids!

Thanks again for coming! Evie says hi.

Love,

Lily

When she was done reading, Evolynn looked back at the picture again. Her mother looked so happy. This must have been only days before her parents were killed, since it was just before Halloween and based on the picture, Evolynn was only a little tiny baby.

It was a little strange to think of herself being called Evie. She had never let anyone call her that, not even Harry. But thinking back, she remembered that that was what the man called Hagrid had called her- Baby Evie. It seemed like a nickname only a mother could use.

So Snape had come to her house. He actually held me when I was a baby, thought Evolynn. This was an odd thought. Snape didn't seem like the baby type. But he also didn't seem like the ten-year-old girl type, yet here she was. Still, she couldn't quite imagine Snape holding a little baby in his arms. He just wasn't the type.

When Evolynn looked back down at the picture again, she noticed that it was moving. Lily would smile at the camera and then look down at Evolynn and then take her tiny fist in her hand and move it back and forth so it looked like Evolynn was waving. Smiling, Evolynn realized that her baby self really did look like she was enjoying having her photo taken. Her little green eyes were wide open and once, Evolynn swore she saw little her smile. In the background of the picture, every once and a while a little boy on a small broomstick would zoom by, and when he did, Lily would turn around in alarm and shout something at him. Then she would turn back to the camera and laugh.

Her mother really was pretty, Evolynn thought. She hoped that was what she would look like when she grew up. Lost in daydreams, Evolynn didn't realize how much time had passed. She had meant to put the letter and picture back before her godfather got back home, but out of nowhere, she heard the door slam shut. She gasped in horror and tired not to think of the eyes of death Snape would give her when he discovered, as Evolynn knew he would, that she had been in his study. Now she remembered vividly the rule of "You shall never set foot in my study."

Acting on impulse, Evolynn darted from her room and down the hall, picture and letter in her hand. Too late she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Not thinking, she kept running- and knocked right smack into her godfather as he was coming up. He was all too quick to notice the letter and picture she clutched in her hand.

Here come the eyes of death, she thought, bracing herself for what she knew came next.

"Where," he said through clenched teeth, "Did you get that?"