After lunch Lily followed her father into his study leaving her brothers alone in the dining room.

Harry still feeling like a guest in the house rather than an actual resident sat quietly waiting for Evan to decide what they should do for the afternoon but the boy seemed reluctant to take the lead and Harry eventually suggested they go out for a walk.

As they strolled through the grounds they spoke about Evans morning with their father and how he felt about their relationship now. Evan asked Harry again about the different houses and confided in him his fear of being separated from Lily. Harry told him about how he had started at Hogwarts knowing no one but had soon made the most wonderful friends. He told Evan all about Ron and Hermione and the other 2nd year Gryffindors and how he truly felt at home in the Gryffindor common room among his likeminded peers.

Evan then asked about the sorting itself but Harry recalled that while many of his year could correctly guess which house they would be placed in, none, not even Ron who was the sixth in his house to go to Hogwarts and whose parents and grandparents had attended before that, knew how the sorting occurred and Harry did not want to be the one to break that tradition.

They continued to walk in silence for a time as Harry secretly tried to predict which house his brother and sister would be placed in while Evan considered his brothers earlier counsel. It would be rather nice to have some more friends of his own he supposed.

Evan asked Harry again about his life before going to Hogwarts and Harry regaled him with stories of the Dursleys and how he had come to find out he was a wizard. He wanted Evan to know how lucky he was to have grown up knowing their father and yet he didn't know if he trusted his brother enough to properly confide in him about the years of neglect he had suffered at the hands of his own family.

Harry asked Evan if they had always lived at the manor with their father or if they had lived someplace else with their mother for a time but it seemed that Evan had no recollection of his mother at all and as far as he could remember had always lived with his father at the manor however he did say that he didn't recall their father being quite so distant until after he had become involved with Morgana.

It struck Harry as strange that both the twins seemed so forthcoming with information about this Morgana woman who had seemingly turned their lives upside down and yet who seemed to have no interest in what had happened with their own mother at all? Whoever she was she seemed to have been wiped from the family history altogether. Perhaps no one knew who their mother was, he thought to himself. Perhaps she was just some random woman who Snape couldn't even remember himself but who then just abandoned the twins on his doorstep nine months later. Could it be that they weren't even really twins – they shared very little family resemblance or perhaps they were not biologically Snapes at all, but then Harry remembered the consanguineis potion that had alerted him to his connection to the Snapes and how Lily and Evans names had also appeared on the parchment. Remembering too that Evan had expressed an interest in potions and had spent part of the morning brewing with their father, Harry detailed the making of consanguines potion to him and how it had led to him discovering his relationship with Snape. It had never really occurred to Evan that magic could be used for something like that and he was truly intrigued. Not just in Harrys story which in itself was fascinating but in the realms of intrigue he himself would be free to explore once he properly began his studies!

When they got back to the house Harry followed Evan to the library to search out the book Snape had been telling him about earlier but as they passed by the ballroom they caught sight of their father dancing with Lily. They hovered in the doorway grinning goofily until their father who without directly acknowledging their presence indicated that their company was not welcome by clearing his throat loudly. Harry wouldn't have picked the sullen potions master for a dancer but he was surprisingly graceful – Harry snorted to himself as he pictured his father, commonly referred to as the great bat of the dungeons as less of a bat and more of a swan.

Evan had difficulty in locating the book. He had never actually searched for a particular book before and wasn't entirely sure how the cataloguing system worked.

Eventually with Harrys help he found what he was looking for. He frowned as he turned it over in his hands, what could be special about this heavy dog eared tome to make it his fathers favourite book?

Not feeling incentivised to struggle through a boring book just to please his father he asked Harry whether he thought it would be worth reading or not.

Harry had never actually read the book himself but had explained that he had watched the movie of it at his muggle primary school and had found it rather enjoyable.

"What's a movie?" Evan asked confused.

Harry couldn't believe his brother had never heard of a movie. He tried to explain to the concept as he wondered if his friend Ron would know what a movie was.

Evan was amazed to discover that muggles had a sort of magic of their own.

"What do you think is better Harry?" he asked " Being a wizard or being a muggle?"

"Being a wizard, definitely!"

"Why?"

"Meet me outside round the back of the kitchen gardens in ten minutes and I'll show you"

Harry ran off leaving Evan standing alone. The boy carefully laid the book down on the side table beside an armchair and went off to fetch his cloak.

He jumped as Harry swooped down beside him on a broom. "Wizards can fly" he grinned before he grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him up onto the back of the broom. Evan wrapped his arms tightly around his brothers waist. He wasn't sure he wanted to do this and squeezed his eyes shut as Harry soared up into the sky at great speed.

He screamed when he peaked out and saw how high they were flying above the ground and nearly fell off the broom but Harry steadied him and he got to realise that Harry had complete control over the broom and that he could trust him. He started to enjoy himself and as they flew overhead he pointed out parts of the estate that Harry wouldn't have come across yet. He declined to take over control of the broom when Harry offered but did garner enough confidence to spread about his arms and feel the wind rush through his outstretched fingers just as the sun began to set.

Harry flew them back to the house and then having retrieved the book from the library went upstairs to the nursery to play until dinner.

It had struck Severus immediately that Lily was a lot more self-assured than Evan, he had planned on repeating the twenty questions game as it had gone down so well earlier but he quickly realised that Lily required little prompting to engage in conversation.

He didn't know what made him feel guiltier – the fact that he had starved this bright bubbly girl of his attention for so long or the fact that his distance had left her brother so shy and guarded.

Little Lily wanted to hear all about the party at the Malfoys. Who was there? , what they wore? , what food and drink was on offer and what entertainment had been laid on?

She was delighted to hear that he had been complimented on his appearance and in true stereotypical fashion it seemed his little princess had a fondness for dancing, he had engaged an instructor for her many years ago as he figured it would be a good way of instilling discipline and good posture in his children but she now confessed a longing to attend a proper dance herself.

Could she have accompanied him to Malfoys he wondered? He had an open invitation but he knew it would have been seen as uncouth to have brought a child to such a formal event. Young Draco had not even been permitted to bring a friend to the party but he would be holding a party in celebration of Harrys thirteenth birthday in the summer once he had forced Dumbledore to permit him to publically acknowledge his paternity of the boy. That seemed an awful long way away but he could think of no other opportunities for his little girl to attend a dance and if attending balls was to become her preferred pastime then perhaps there was no time like the present to teach her a dance.

The twins usually took their dance lessons in a chamber off the school room where a barre and other equipment had been erected but he lead her out of the study and across to the rarely used gilded ballroom and after winding up the gramophone turned to her with a sweeping bow and asked her if he could have this dance.

She giggled and bowed back.

He laughed but cursed himself when she looked up at him in fear and confusion. He brought his hand up to her face cupping her cheek said softly "Only men bow, you should curtsey princess"

"What's curtsey?"

He felt another pang of guilt but ignored it and instead gave her a demonstration. He caught sight of himself in one of the mirrors while doing so and rolled his eyes, how he would be ridiculed if his students could see him now!

Severus himself did not particularly enjoy dancing. As a concept he found it rather absurd but he knew himself to be rather good at it anyways and Lily definitely took after him in that respect. Her dancing master taught only ballet but she mastered the steps in an instant and had the most perfect poise and was fluid in her movements as she gracefully twirled about the room.

He then tried to teach her one of the sequence dances often performed at balls but found it rather difficult given that there were no other couples to make up the set. He grinned to himself, if only he had thought of this earlier when he had spied the boys lurking in the doorway he could have forced them to join in.

As serious practice began to give way to silliness he grabbed her under the arms and spun her round and round to peals of laughter until they both fell dizzy to the floor.

Catching his breath he asked her to tell him a story, like the ones she makes up for Evan. She looked surprised but obliged him by telling him a fantastic tale which transported him back to medieval times when wizards were both revered and feared and brave knights battled fierce dragons to save fair damsels from distress.

By the time she reached the happily ever after the sun had begun to go down, casting long shadows in the unlit ball room. They returned to his study and summoned Loxie to bring in two glasses of lemonade and some chocolates.

Lily asked her father why he spent so much time in the little room when he had so many others to choose from. He had never really thought about it before. He supposed it was because he had grown up in a small terraced council flat that he was unused to so much space. He just felt most comfortable in the study. It was his refuge.

They spoke about her hopes and fears for school next year. Unlike her brother she did not seem overly concerned about the sorting but did seem a little anxious about losing some of the freedom and privacy she enjoyed at the manor but he could understand that.

She also seemed more familiar with what the various subjects of study would entail, as she had seemingly been looking though Harrys schoolbooks and had been fascinated by it all but had no inkling about what area she might find of most interest or what she might like to do when she finished school.

The afternoon had somehow seemed to have lasted forever and yet passed by in an instant. When it was time to get ready for dinner he thanked his daughter for her company and kissed her gently on the forehead before sending her on her way. Once alone he took out his journal and documented their afternoon. Two down one to go he thought to himself.