"You knew." The words were whispered so that Albus could hardly recognize them as words at all. Severus had walked in to his office slowly; his robes billowed around him like a dark angel. This was certainly not the reaction Dumbledore had expected yet he let nothing on. "My dear Severus, you think me so daft to have not noticed the oddity in that Lily and you had not spoken for years and then she comes to me with this form, pre-signed?" The black eyes widened in the slightest. "Why then, didn't you speak to either James or myself and have the form re-signed?" the voice had risen to a regular whisper.
"Why, I believe that to be fairly obvious, perhaps in your angst though you don't see, so I will explain." Pausing to gauge his reaction, Dumbledore took a sip of his tea. Crash. A pale hand had whacked the cup out of his hand in an instant. Tea flew everywhere. "Oh my, that was one of my favorite cups. Reparo." Dumbledore resignedly pointed his wand at the cup to fix it before drying is robes and desk of chamomile tea.
"Forget the tea, Dumbledore! Explain." Snape growled and laid a threatening hand on Dumbledore, who merely smiled. "Need I remind you Severus, that it is I and I alone, who is responsible for you having Harry AND staying out of Azkaban?" The arm retreated until it was clenched at his side. Dumbledore poured himself another cup of tea and took a sip before returning to their conversation. Severus needed to learn a slight bit of patience if he wanted to win Harry over.
"I felt, that if Lily trusted you with her son, than I had no reason not to. However I knew that neither James nor you would sign so I let it be." "How did you figure that out, headmaster?" the sarcasm dripped from the title but Dumbledore let it go. "James and you were never friends. In fact, I doubt I am that far off in calling you sworn enemies. He would never sign. You, on the other and, might have if Lily had beseeched you. However, as a death eater," he saw a shudder pass over the man in front of him at the word. "you would be hard to contact about signing the form. So, I deduced that it was a fraud."
The old wizard was speaking in riddles. What game was this anyway? "Why? Why did you merely let it sit there and neither reject nor call upon it? Why send the boy to live with those people when you had another choice?!" Anger boiled up inside his chest and his fingers reflexively wrapped around his wand. Caution. He had his reasons. Stay calm and keep Harry. Nice of you to make an appearance, Lily. You couldn't bother to help before. You know that letter was a horrid way to explain. There was no response in his mind; however he heard Dumbledore's voice through his occluded mist. "If you cannot figure that out for yourself, then I assume you must wait until I decide it is pertinent for you to know.
Suddenly Severus realized how the boy must feel when all his questions were met with cryptic, snide remarks that all resulted in more confusion. No wonder the boy defied him. See, Sev? You aren't an entirely hopeless case. Lily's laughing voice brought the slightest of smiles to his face. "Well then, I believe I will retire for the evening. I must grade summer essays, and I believe Granger has written me an entire book on the subject matter." A soft chuckle escaped the headmaster's lips and Severus strode out the door.