Evolynn didn't cry like she might have a year ago. She didn't run away, and she didn't try to break the ice by saying something. She just stood there, not able to process what had just happened. It was crazy. She had to have made that up. Severus wouldn't just write her off for the sole reason that his reputation of being a strict teacher was at stake.

But she was wrong. She had been wrong for the whole two years she'd been living here. She had been sure that she was more than just some kid he was legally obliged to take care of. But she'd lied to herself. She should have known.

As she watched his face, there was no change. He had started scowling at her a few minutes ago, as if she was the one who had done wrong. As it was evident that he had no intention to do anything about this, let alone try to apologize, Evolynn pursed her lips and shook her head. Then she turned and climbed the steps up to her bedroom – but not without looking her shoulder one more time to check if there was any regret in Snape's eyes.

There wasn't.

Unsure of what else to do, Evolynn picked up her book and tried to resume reading. This did no good, as she kept getting distracted. She considered writing to Trinity to tell her what was going on, but she decided that was something they should discuss in person. Really, she just wanted her brother. Being to impatient to write a letter, wait for it to get to Harry, wait for him to write a response, and then for that response to get back to her, she opted to use Floo powder.

Sneaking into the parlor was easy, since Snape was in his study and wouldn't come out for a long time. Here, there was a large fireplace, and she would be able to pop her head through to the Gryffindor common room. Hoping that her brother would be there and no one else, she threw the power into the fire. This was a new experience, and a very uncomfortable one at that. Her head felt very hot, and her neck felt as if it was becoming separated from her body, being slowly pulled from her shoulders. Then it stopped and she was staring into the comfortable Gryffindor common room.

She had a stroke of almost unrealistic luck. Her brother and Ron were the only people currently in the common room. They were having an in-depth conversation about something, and Harry kept checking over his shoulder to as if to see if someone was behind him. She cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable about talking through a fireplace. Ron noticed her first. He stopped talking abruptly and motioned to Harry to look in her direction.

"Hey, Ev. What's up?" said Harry as he knelt down in front of the fireplace. Then he whispered, "Is everything okay?" When she didn't respond, he said in an even quieter tone, "Do you want to talk in private?" Evolynn nodded, and Ron took the hint. "Night, guys," he said kind of awkwardly. When he was out of earshot, Evolynn started to tell her brother all about what she had just discovered – how Snape was embarrassed of her.

"I don't know what I did wrong. I'm in Slytherin, I'm at the top of all my classes, I don't get into trouble too much." She paused to fix Harry with a glare when he snorted at the remark about her behavior. "I said 'not too much.' Don't be mean. Anyways. I don't know what to do. I can't stay here. I just can't. I cannot live with someone who's embarrassed of me for Merlin's sake."

Harry looked like he couldn't think of anything at all to say. "Look, I'm really sorry. I mean, what do you want me to do about this?" Despite this, Harry looked quite livid. His overprotective brother side was coming out. And especially since Snape was one of the people that her brother hated most in the world, he was going to get insanely protective.

"Let me come home with you," she said bluntly.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not coming back here this summer. I can't do it."

"So you'd rather spend time with the Dursleys? No. Absolutely not. I'm not letting you go near them anymore than you have to. Got it?"

"Then I'll live with the Weasleys. Can you talk to Ron? Please? It would mean the world to me! Please?"

Harry bit his lip. He was in the stage of deciding between what was the right thing to do and what was the easy thing to do.

"Look, Ev. I know right now you think that you can't live with him and whatever, but here's the thing: you have to. He is you legal guardian. Not me, or the Weasleys or anybody. He has control over you. And as long as he doesn't actually harm you, there's nothing I can do to change that."

The reality of the situation sank in with his words. Really, deep down, she had always known that she couldn't just leave Severus. Not legally. But for another reason too. She couldn't bring herself to actually do it. As she thought of this, Harry voiced her exact words.

"And one more thing. As much as I hate to say it, he does care about you. I think that it would really – erm – hurt him if you left. He loves you, Ev."

Then she heard it: the swish of a cloak. A small footstep that echoed until it sounded like the boom of an explosion. Someone was in the parlor with her. Evolynn froze, trying to hope that the worst hadn't just happened. "I have to go," she hissed to Harry. Without giving him an explanation, she withdrew her head from the fireplace and was once again fully in the parlor of her home on Spinner's End. And she wasn't alone. Snape stood in the front of the room, right where the Christmas tree should have been. At that moment she was struck by its absence, but she brushed the concern aside. It was minor, not important.

"Did you hear all that?" she said.

"Every word." His response was curt and short, not unlike his usual speech pattern, but there was something different in his voice that she couldn't put her finger on.

"I'm not actually going to leave, you know." She felt that this was necessary to point out. "But I don't know how I feel about the whole thing about me 'ruining your reputation' or whatever it was. That's something we're gonna have to change."

When he didn't say anything, she continued, warming up to her subject. "Sev, I'm in your house, I get good grades, I do everything I could possibly do right. What more do you want from me?"

"It's not that at all," he said after a long time. "I – I… I am very proud of you. I just didn't know how to tell you. You know that." He looked almost like he was in actual pain. "I was wrong. I know fully well that I was wrong. And I would like to formally ask for your apology."

Torn between her tendency to hold a grudge and the significance of Severus Snape apologizing to a twelve-year-old, Evolynn stood there for about three minutes.

"I accept your apology. But there are a few conditions that go with my acceptance." Snape rolled his eyes, but he looked slightly amused. Slightly like he had before Evolynn had gone to Hogwarts, the last time that they had enjoyed each other's presence. "What might those be?" he said monotonously.

"First of all, you're not allowed to be mean to my brother."

"Not going to happen."

Evolynn had figured that would be the case. But it was worth a shot anyway. "Okay, well for me to forgive you, you're not allowed to give me or my friends detention."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to agree to that?"

"Absolutely not. But I do expect you to agree to this: no giving me detention just to show how strict your parenting skills are or whatever was going on in your greasy little mind." Snape raised his eyebrows dangerously. But he decided to let that one slide. But just that one. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Evolynn felt strange just forgiving him like that. After months of being angry with him, it felt odd to give Severus a hug at the end of the evening and wish him a Happy Christmas as she walked up the stairs. Granted, it was a very awkward hug and she did it slightly half-heartedly, but she was still thrilled to at least be speaking again. As she changed into her nightgown and climbed into bed, she thought about what Harry had said about Severus "loving" her. It was an odd thought. Sure, she had never doubted that Severus liked her and cared about her and all, but "love" was such a strong word. She wasn't even sure if she actually loved anyone in the world. Maybe that would change, maybe not. She wasn't really sure. What she felt for Harry was pretty close to love of course, but then she would always think back to what had happened between them last year, and how close they had become to losing their relationship. And what she felt towards Severus was the only other thing that might come close to being classified as "love". But she had almost lost that too. It was so fragile. It was so likely to collapse without warning. Why don't people realize that? she thought. Why can't people just realize that sometimes it's fine just to like each other? Oh, well. Let them find out the hard way. The important thing was that she was close to back to normal with Severus.

And she had almost ran away to the Dursleys!