Lily was hurrying out of the hospital wing without any idea about what to do with this information.

Maybe she should confront-

"Lily…" She heard a small voice from behind her.

She turned back around and was surprised to find Harry leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the hospital wing.

He looked perfectly healthy as always.

Lily wondered what he really looked like underneath the glamour charm.

"I thought you didn't care about what I'd find out here." She said tartly, crossing her arms.

"Look, Katie…" She realised that he went back to her fake name, even though they seemed to be alone. Why? "We can't talk here and it's almost curfew." His urgent and determined voice with an undertone of fear into it, made her nod slowly. "Come with me. I promise I'll explain everything to you."

He took her by the hand and instead of running back the shortest way to Gryffindor tower, it became clear soon enough that Harry led her in a different direction.

"Where are we going?" Lily whispered.

"You'll see." Harry gave her a small smile.

It took a while to run from the first floor to the seventh floor and once Harry stopped in the middle of a corridor in front of a weird painting, they were both panting and had to lean against the wall.

Once Lily felt able to talk, she asked, "Wh-why did… we stop… here?" She said between breaths.

Harry took a deep breath, "I think… I think… there's… some kind of wish room here…" Harry was already moving around frantically searching for something. "How… what… here…" He was muttering something to himself so frantically that Lily feared for his sanity.

"What are you…?" She trailed off when she heard distant footsteps seeming to come towards them. Harry ignored them and continued to think and look around.

"Harry, I think someone's coming…" She said as the footsteps grew louder and louder. At the same time Harry's eyes seemed to light up in triumph. He started walking up and down, seemingly lost in thought.

Lily was on the verge of grabbing him to drag him away, when suddenly a door appeared on the wall, making her jaw drop in shock.

In the end, Harry was the one to yank her away from her wonder and into the room, just before the person whose footsteps they had heard could see them.

Lily looked around in wonder. "Where are we…?" It looked similar to the fourth year Gryffindor girls' room, simply filled with different stuff. It could be what the boys' room looked like, but that couldn't be, right?

"The fourth year Gryffindor boys' room." Harry said. Lily looked at him questioningly. "I mean… it's a wish room I think… I'm not sure, but it seems to turn into whatever you like it to be if you walk around 3 times in front of it. Or at least it works when you wish to be back in your room."

That reminded her... "And why did you wish to be back in your room when you found it?" Lily asked sternly. "I want some answers, Harry. And you promised me you'd explain."

"Yeah, right…" Harry lost the smile he had worn when he talked about this discovery, making Lily almost tell him he didn't have to tell her.

But this was too important and serious, so she kept her mouth shut, waiting. "Let's sit down, it's kind of a long story." They both sat down next to each other on the edge of Harry's bed.

He took a deep breath and said, "So, yesterday at lunch, I got an anonymous letter telling me to the Second Floor Girls' bathroom if I wanted to avoid my secret getting out."

"What?" Lily asked in concern. "Are you okay?"

Harry smiled wearily.

Instead of asking what secret the letter was about, Lily's first question had been about his well-being. She was a great, caring person and Harry didn't want to lose her. He would have to be better at hiding his biggest secret.

"Yeah, everything turned out fine in the end," He said. "I had been really nervous about it, though. Which is why I was acting so weird yesterday." Lily nodded in understanding. "It was Malfoy who had sent that stupid letter." Harry said in contempt.

Then he looked up into her eyes, "He told me he knew about you being my mom."

"Oh, Harry why didn't you tell me?" She asked sadly.

"Because I managed to make him take an Unbreakable Vow to promise he was never going to tell anyone." He was back to examining his lap.

"How?" Lily asked, perplexed. Malfoy didn't seem like the kind of person to be easily persuaded to do that.

"Malfoy used the diribitus spell at his sorting."

"What's that?" Harry seemed reluctant to explain the situation and Lily had no idea why.

"It's a spell to influence your sorting. Malfoy used it to be put into Slytherin."

"And what has this got to with…?"

Harry sighed. "I used it to blackmail him into keeping quiet."

"Oh…" Why had she been so slow on the uptake? "Yes, that's a good way to keep this quiet. I don't know if I had been able to think so fast and pull it off…"

"Wait…You're not angry or disappointed?" Harry asked fearfully.

Lily furrowed her brows in confusion, "No, why should I be?"

"Err… nothing. I think we should go now. It's probably long after curfew now." He went to pick up the Marauder's Map and Invisibility cloak, which he had forgotten on the floor last time.

"Let's go…" He was about to put the invisibility cloak over both of them when he looked down at the Map in his hand. He froze in shock.

"What's up?" When he didn't answer, she looked down at the map too. There, right where they were supposed to be had they not been swallowed up by a hidden room, was a dot labelled Severus Snape pacing and stopping occasionally.

Any doubts she had had about something having happened between Sev and Harry, dissipated when she saw Harry staring fearfully at the piece of paper, his hands shaking.

"Harry…" She said, tentatively touching his shoulder, pretending not to realise his flinch. "It's okay. We'll get out of here somehow." He just shook his head. "What happened?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, but decided to answer, to Lily's surprise, "H- he… knows that I'm using the gla-glamour charm."

That wasn't what she had expected, but it made sense. "How?"

"I don't know." He shook his head again. "I don't think he knew for certain until this morning when he told me my scar was gone."

"Was it?"

"No…"

That was such a Sev thing to do. Trick him into giving a reaction, a kind of test.

Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "What should we do now?"

Lily thought about it for a second, then said, "I think we should tell him the truth."

"What?!"

"If we explain everything to him in detail, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Understand?" Harry laughed bitterly. "Lily, I am his most hated student."

"And I am his best friend… or former best friend. And he's a teacher, he HAS to listen to us. It's best to speak to him earnestly."

Harry hesitated for a moment, then chuckled, "That is such a Gryffindor plan."

Lily smiled. "Well we aren't in Gryffindor for nothing. I know it's hard.

Especially for you with what happened between the two of you… But I'll be there with you the whole time, you don't have to be afraid." She squeezed his hand.

"Can't we hide under the cloak and hex him before he realises the door…?" Harry asked half-joking, half-serious.

"No, I don't think that'd be the best way to go about it, unless you want him to hate you more." Now it was her turn to chuckle.

"Let's go."

UC

Snape was walking the corridors, searching for any students who thought walking around the school five minutes after curfew was acceptable.

He had already caught a Ravenclaw third-year, who had believed studying was a reason to forego the school rules.

Snape had sneered at her and proved her wrong by subtracting points and assigning her a detention. Her shocked, pained expression filled him with a kind of sadistic glee that made him think that being a teacher might be worth it some days. It lasted for approximately five seconds until he remembered how much he hated his job.

Now, he was on the seventh floor, on the floor where he had met Potter this morning. Oh, how much it would satisfy him if he could make the son of his bully angry, make him sputter in indignation and make him feel how powerless he was in this situation. Just as powerless as Snape had been when James Potter's group had attacked him.

And Potter junior was just like his worthless father.

Or so he had thought.

James Potter's return to the living forced him to see the differences between the two Potters.

Even though he had only had the displeasure to meet the Marauders once since they had arrived, disguised as Minerva, he realised that James Potter was even more annoying than Harry Potter. Where he was arrogant, Potter junior was angry. Where he was persistent, Potter junior gave in. And…where Potter senior made fun of him, Potter junior … defended him.

Snape would be lying if he said that that wasn't one of the two main reasons why he doubted Potter was completely like his father.

The bullied boy still inside of him wanted to thank Potter greatly for what he had done and even the man Severus Snape couldn't go on hating Potter as much as he had before.

The way Potter had defended him reminded him of… Lily.

Lily, who was here again. Lily, who made him want to hide and never come back and break down and apologise to her tearfully at the same time.

He ignored those thoughts, just like he ignored her. Because if he let her get close to him again, it would only cause pain for the both of them.

He had regretted agreeing to giving her extra lessons the moment she had left his office…

But he couldn't bear to see her sad or disappointed, especially if it was caused by him. It reminded him too much of the past.

It was surprising how much one girl could still affect him. Then again, maybe it wasn't.

Regardless of how bewildering it was, Lily Evans was here.

And she and Harry Potter got along very well. That was the other main reason why he doubted all of his conceptions of Potter were true. Lily had always been a good judge of character...

Or at least until she fell in love with marry James Potter.

He was about to further discredit James Potter, when he heard quiet voices from the corridor just around the corner.

This was the corridor where he had seen Potter this morning.

This was his chance to get back to hating Potter again. He had no reason to hurry up since the voices didn't appear to be moving at all.

When he turned the corner, however, no person was in sight. And no footsteps could be heard either.

"Accio invisibility cloak!"

Nothing happened.

He walked further down the corridor and came across a door that was swiftly shrinking out of sight.

Potter must have gone in there. Maybe, it was one of the Marauders' secret passages or rooms.

He wouldn't let this chance to get back at them go, no, he would regain his hate for Potter and destroy part of the Marauders' legacy.

Snape smiled maliciously and started searching for a way to get in.

After a while he realised that whatever it was, it was very well protected.

Just as he was about to return to the dungeons and come back some other day when he was better prepared, the door reappeared and two small fourth year students walked out of it, one looking determined the other fearful.

His chance at sadistic glee disappeared when he realised that this conversation would bring him nothing but pain.

Welcome to another great night in the life of Severus Snape.