A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed! Also thanks to RenitaLeandra for all her work!
Chapter 12- Answers
Once Hermione and Ginny managed to work their way through the crowd of people and reach the outdoors, Harry and Severus were already glaring at each other, wands drawn.
"NO!" Hermione shouted as they reached them. She looked at Severus. "You know what this would mean for Hogwarts. The governors would insist on closing it. The way it is there might be trouble."
"I have told you before, Miss Granger, I could care less what happens to this school," Severus said not taking his eyes off of Harry. They both raised their wands as if preparing to duel.
"I don't believe that," Hermione said quietly. Severus did not respond but turned to look at her for a long moment. Slowly he put his wand away. Harry gave a desperate look at Ginny who shook her head, and he also put down his wand.
"I want answers," Harry said tersely.
"Don't ask for something unless you're sure you want it, Potter," Severus said. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe there was a reason this was withheld from you? As usual you respond only with your emotions. I expected you to have matured with age."
"Those lines don't work on me anymore, Snape," Harry said approaching Severus menacingly. "You are not my teacher. I don't have to show you any respect anymore. My parents were betrayed by one friend and he got what he deserved in the end. It was bad enough knowing what you did, believing you were enemies with them. But I swear if you betrayed my mother's friendship I will make sure you meet the same fate as Peter Pettigrew."
"Fine, Potter, if you want answers, I'll give them to you. But we're not doing this here where everyone can see." Severus pulled Harry by the arm and headed toward the doors. He called back behind them, "Miss Granger, Mrs. Potter, if you plan on joining us you had better keep up."
Hermione and Ginny both ran after them and Severus led them through the castle down to the dungeons and into his quarters. They entered the rooms and he slammed the door behind them.
"Well, Potter. What questions do you want answers to?"
"Was Slughorn telling the truth? Were you friends with my mother?"
"Yes, in a matter of speaking. We were both in the Slug Club and we had similar interests. It was not common knowledge but for a brief time I believe we both considered each other a friend."
"How brief a time?"
"About a year. Fifth year to be exact."
"And what happened? Why did the friendship end?" Harry began pacing the room.
"I believe you already answered that for yourself, Potter. The incident you saw in the Pensieve effectively ended any friendship we had."
"Because you called her Mudblood." It was not a question. Hermione winced at the thought, having been called that herself more than once. Severus did not answer right away. Finally he spoke quietly.
"Yes," he said. "I will only explain this once. I…regret my words that day. I attempted to apologize but Lily would have nothing to do with it. That's the end of the story."
"No, its not," Harry said. "It's not even close. How could you have betrayed her with the Prophecy? Or were you getting revenge on her?"
"You have forgotten, Potter. I had no idea who the Prophecy referred to until after Voldemort had made his plans clear."
"Yet you still let her die!"
"NO!" shouted Severus, his face contorting. "I did not let her die! I tried to stop it. Voldemort would have let her live at MY request."
A silence seemed to fall over the group as they watched his violent reaction. His face was red; his hair had fallen loose of the ponytail and was hanging in his face.
"Why?" asked Ginny, speaking up for the first time. Severus stood still, breathing hard but saying nothing.
"My wife asked you a question, I suggest you answer it," said Harry.
"Why do you think? Because we were friends."
"No," said Ginny. "You hadn't been friends for years. Surely that wouldn't be enough when you were willing to let James and Harry die. Why would you…"
"BECAUSE I WAS IN LOVE WITH HER! THERE! IS EVERYONE SATISFIED NOW?" The room seemed to echo with his words. Hermione looked pale, Ginny was shaking and Harry looked as if he was going to be sick.
"You…was she in love with you?" Harry looked as if he could barely force the words past his lips.
"Don't worry yourself, Potter," Severus said seeing the look of disgust on the other man's face. "You're mother had no clue how I felt. Her head was too full of your father; even then, as much as she tried to deny it. I was just the scrawny Slytherin boy who actually understood what she was saying in Potions class."
Harry stood, speechless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Why was I never told?"
"Albus wanted to. We argued about it more than once. He thought you would understand better if you knew everything." Severus appeared to be unwilling to stop now that he had started talking. "I convinced him to say nothing. Nothing good could have come from it."
"I would have known the truth!"
"Yes. And what would you have done with that truth? How would you have felt back then when you wanted to kill me almost as much as Voldemort?"
There was a long pause with only the sound of breathing interrupting the complete silence in the room.
"I would have been furious," Harry said quietly, finally understanding. "I would have hated you even more."
Again, there was nothing but silence as everyone thought about what both Severus and Harry had just said.
"Perhaps we should be going now," Ginny finally said, holding onto Harry's arm. "I don't think there is much else to say. Besides, I'm pretty sure my parents will be sending down a search party shortly. Hermione, we'll owl you later."
As she walked to the door Severus called out to them. "Mister Potter?"
Harry turned around and looked at him.
"Please know that I did everything I could to stop it. I never intended…" his voice trailed away as he seemed unable to find the words. Harry just nodded.
"Thank you, Professor," he said before they went out the door, leaving Severus as he realized he had been forgiven at last.
Hermione remained in the room but said nothing. Severus had sunk into a chair, his head in his hands. She walked over to him sitting down in the chair next to him, her thoughts full of the revelations he had just made. Suddenly so many things made sense. Why he had been so devastated when Voldemort had killed Harry's parents; why his hatred of James seemed to extend beyond just the rivalry they'd had. But especially why he had treated Harry with hatred, yet still felt driven to protect him, even at risk to himself.
"Professor?" she said quietly. He didn't respond. "S…Severus?" she had never called him by his first name before, yet after all this it seemed that such formality was absurd.
"Leave," he said shortly.
"I'm not leaving until I know that you're okay."
"I am fine. There is no reason to be concerned about me."
"Could…could you tell me what Harry was talking about? With the Pensieve?"
Severus looked at her in surprise. "You mean he never told you? I would have thought he would have rushed back to tell his friends about how Snape got what he deserved." He paused for a moment and then began to speak. "He…stumbled onto a memory of mine while he was taking Occlumency lessons. In it, James humiliated me in front of a group of students. Lily attempted to defend me and I reacted badly. That's all there is to it."
Somehow Hermione thought there was more to it than that, but she said nothing. Clearly whatever had happened had been serious enough to end his friendship with Lily.
Severus lifted his head and looked up at her. "Miss Granger, I have only had two friends in my life. Both of them are dead because of me. You cannot afford to be friends with me. Please, leave now."
Hermione swallowed hard. She still did not want to leave but something in his eyes told her that arguing would not be wise at this particular moment. However, she could not leave things this way. Severus had done so much for her when she was low and she couldn't see abandoning him now. She reached over and grabbed a hold of his hand. It felt calloused and cool under her fingers. She felt his muscles tense as she did so, but he did not look away.
"Perhaps you would rather everyone left you alone. I can't say I would blame you, considering your past. But do not think for a moment that I would prefer it that way." She gave him a small smile and then stood up and walked to the door. "Good-night Severus," she said and then closed the door behind her.
Severus watched her go and then looked down at the hand she had held. "Good-night Hermione," he said to the empty room.
