Inokori Sensei

Severus Snape didn't understand why Dumbledore insisted that students filled out end of the year evaluations. The DADA professors changed every year, nullifying the need for the papers for that subject. He didn't plan on changing his teaching method, no matter what the dunderheads said about him or his class. Of course he was aiming for a perfect record of getting students to turn their forms in before finals. Most professors were hunting students down during finals in order to get their forms. Even though it was his first year teaching, Severus Snape wanted his students to know that he expected nothing less than perfection.

"… In addition to your essay you're to fill out this form and turn it in next class. You'll receive a detention for each class you forget to turn it in." He instructed his fourth year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff class, sending the forms out with a quick flick of his wand. Normally he'd have the students pick one up from his desk, but he didn't want to be forced to look at her. He felt horrible enough on his own without looking at the constant reminder of what he'd done to Lily Evans, without looking into her eyes. Except, they weren't just Lily's eyes. Those green eyes were equally Holly Evans's eyes in his mind. He chanced a glance and met those green eyes with his for a second before looking away. It was his fault the owner of those eyes were full of tears on Halloween as she was informed that her sister and brother-in-law had been murdered by the monster known to most as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named". It was his fault she now had to live with people who were practically strangers since her own flesh and blood refused to house two "freaks" and Dumbledore placed more value in Harry Potter than Holly Evans. He had enough guilt over causing Lily's death without thinking about how the aftermath of said event effected her younger sister.

The next class…

Knowing the little miscreants would most likely lie if any of them didn't bring their forms if he let them leave them on his desk, Professor Snape mentally braced himself for his dreaded interaction with Holly Evans. If what he remembered about her was still true six years later, she'd have the form filled out and out on her desk for him. However when he finally arrived at her desk, the only paper on her desk was her essay, which looked to be shorter than the required minimum length. He knew Holly's handwriting tended to be smaller than her classmates, but he saw that she had written bigger letters this time, as if to make up for a lack of context. Pushing all thoughts of her essay aside, he focused on immediate problem.

"Miss Evans, where is your evaluation form?" he asked, his tone currently neutral with an edge of annoyance in it. This was usually enough to scare most students into obedience right away.

"Professor Sprout said it wasn't due until finals, Sir," she seemed to tack on "sir" as an afterthought, as if she decided that leaving it off would be too much rebellion.

"Professor Sprout's evaluation forms may be due by your finals but mine was due today," he nearly sneered, focusing on her forehead to avoid looking at her eyes. "Detention Miss Evans. You'll be doing whatever tasks Mr. Filch sees fit to bestow upon you tonight." That's when he made the mistake of looking into her eyes. Betrayal, disbelief, and anger swirled in her green eyes, reminding him of the incident with Lily after their O.W.L.s. He ignored the pang in his heart and walked away, intent on continuing the lesson as if nothing had happened.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by uneventfully until there was a knock on his door at 8pm, around the time most detentions began. Knowing that he was not scheduled to oversee any detentions that night, Severus Snape feared that Filch had decided to not deal with Holly Evans and had sent her to him. Calling out for his visitor to enter, he mentally winced when he saw that he had hit the nail on the head with his speculation.

"Mr. Filch said to come to you for my detention since he had to supervise a bunch of students who tried to do something to Mrs. Norris," Holly explained without waiting for him to verbalize his question.

"Go back to your common room, you'll serve detention with Mr. Filch tomorrow since I don't have time to take over his responsibilities," Snape ordered, looking away from Holly. He resumed his task, considering the conversation done. When he didn't hear the sound of her walking away, he mentally sighed. "You should know the way back to the Hufflepuff common room at this point Miss Evans."

"I'm not leaving," Holly snapped. Snape looked up from his desk, putting on a mask of indifference, one that he wore so often around her ever since Halloween.

"That wasn't a suggestion," He replied, his voice tinted with anger at her disrespect. "How taking away points from Hufflepuff help you understand since clearly detention does nothing."

"Why won't you look me in the eye?" Holly demanded. "You've done everything possible to ignore me this whole year! Whatever happened between you two doesn't matter now!" Snape almost flinched at that, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

"100 points from Hufflepuff," He growled, hating himself for the desire to cry, over the friendship lost and how weak he felt around Holly when it was just them, it brought him back to when the three of them would spend time together at the park, how he'd enrapture Holly and Lily with stories of the magical world, back to when the three had been friends, and idea of Holly as his little sister through marriage was a possibility.

"I'm not leaving!" Holly screamed. "Just tell me!"

"200 points!" He roared, standing up, glaring at Holly. "Get out of my office now!"

"I HATE YOU!" Holly's voice nearly cracked with the volume she yelled at him. "I HATE YOU SEVERUS SNAPE! YOU ABANDONED LILY AND NOW ME!" She tore out of his office, but not before he saw the tears falling from those green eyes. He collapsed into his chair, bringing his hands up to hold his head. At least Holly had been kind enough to tell him to his face what her sister could not, the once trio no more after earning the hatred of both Evans he cared about. Severus Snape knew he had earned Lily's when he called her a Mudblood, and should have earned Holly's as well then, but it seems Lily never told her what happened. If not that, then being the reason Lily was dead should have been enough, but perhaps Holly didn't know about that either. He mused that it could be that this was merely the straw that broke the camel's back, and her hatred was only now coming through, after taking away all but 10 of Hufflepuff's points.

He winced when he realized that Dumbledore and Professor Sprout were not going to be pleased to find out he was the one responsible for taking away so many points from just one student. He could argue it didn't matter since Slytherin was in the lead for the House Cup, and Hufflepuff had only been in third place until tonight, but they probably wouldn't accept that. If they ever found out he took the points from Holly Evans, he knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it from any of the other professors, since almost off all them knew he had once been friends with Lily, even if they didn't know of his friendship with Holly herself. Tonight was the kind of night that required something stronger than pumpkin juice to get through Snape decided, still haunted by the green eyes of the each Evans sister.

The next day….

Professor Snape sat in Dumbledore's office with the other Head of Houses, making it a point to glare when the others looked at him. He knew Dumbledore knew who was responsible for Hufflepuff's point deduction. The students still didn't know, but rumors were already flying around the school over what could have happened.

"Now, Professor Snape would you care to enlighten us as to why you took away so many points last night?" Dumbledore inquired, his blue eyes serious. "I understand that being so close in age to so many students that you need to assert your authority more but 300 points seems excessive."

"I do hope you have a good reason Severus or I might just rethink letting you have access to the greenhouses," Sprout threatened. Snape had to admit it was a good threat, since he knew she would only give him the best ingredients for potions. "What in Merlin's beard did my students do to warrant this?"

"It was one student," He began. McGonagall and Flitwick both quickly exchanged surprised expressions. He knew the rest of the story would probably cause them to actually gasp. "She was disruptive in class, failed to hand in her assignment, and the proceeded to be disrespectful by challenging me as her teacher after I had ordered her back to her common room."

"I fail to see how that was worth 300 points," McGonagall pitched in, knowing that while he tended to be unfair towards Gryffindors, it was unusual for a Hufflepuff to get worse treatment. "Who was the student in question Severus? I can't think of anyone who act like that in Hufflepuff." Flitwick nodded his agreement, while Sprout glared at Snape.

"…. Holly Evans," he almost murmured. He tilted his head down so his hair would hide his expression from his colleagues, not wanting to deal with their pity but still needing to keep an eye on them. As predicted the gasp of surprise followed by looks of pity came from all three other professors, while Dumbledore almost seemed to have a look of understanding.

"Severus, while I understand dealing with Miss Evans is hard for you, especially given how close you had been to her sister at one point," the headmaster started. "I do think you need to stop pushing her away." All four House Heads snapped to attention and looked at Dumbledore in various shades of shock. "She's clearly been acting out for attention, and as the last link to her sister, it makes sense she'd look for it from you. No other professor has had issues with Miss Evans, other than perhaps being more withdrawn but she's a child grieving the loss of her family."

"Professor Flitwick I believe we have some finals to prepare still," McGonagall stood up, motioning for said professor to follow her out of the office.

"I need to go speak with Miss Evans," Sprout announced. "I would like to hear her side of the story before we figure out how many points should be returned. I'd argue that at least 200 should be returned, but that is something that can be sorted out later." Soon it was just the two men in the office.

"Sir," Snape began, getting cut off by Dumbledore raising his hand.

"How close were you my boy?" he quietly asked.

"She was like a little sister," Severus recalled all of the fond memories he had of Holly. "I remember being excited at the idea of having her as one after my feelings for Lily formed. She hates me Albus, and rightfully so now. It's my fault her sister died, that she's stuck with strangers, although perhaps that might be better if Petunia hasn't changed."

"She didn't want me," Holly's voice rang out. Severus tried not to jump as the invisibility cloak gave way to Holly Evans, standing in the corner behind Dumbledore. Her green eyes were rounded with red, showing that she had been crying. "I thought you didn't either."

"I'll leave you two to sort this out," Dumbledore announced, heading out of his own office, leaving the two former friends alone.

"Did she ever tell you what happened?" He whispered. "I called her a Mudblood by accident, and I'm the one who gave the Dark Lord the prophecy that lead him to her. It's my fault she's dead Holly, it's my fault you're stuck with a sister who hates you and living with strangers." Holly was silent, processing his words.

"Lily only said you picked the Dark Arts over us," she took a deep breath. "She wouldn't explain what that meant, only that something happened that told her you valued your other friends more."

"It's still one of my biggest regrets," he admitted. "Costing your sister her life while serving the Dark Lord is certainly bigger. Holly, I'm sorry for adding onto your pain, part of it being I can't stop seeing Lily when I look at you, and part of it being the need to keep my cover in case Dumbledore is right about things not being done."

"… you don't hate me?" Tears were actively falling down Holly's face. "I thought I lost you on top of everyone else. I don't even know if I'll ever get to see little Harry again."

"His name is Harry? I thought Potter would have picked something more traditional," Severus half joked, but committing the name to memory, since odds were he'd have to teach the boy if he stayed at the school. He'd failed Lily, nearly failed Holly, the least he could do is not screw up with Harry.

"Lily won since she's the one who did the hard work," Holly briefly smiled. "I've missed you Severus. I know we can't be like we used to be, since I'm a student and you're a teacher, but can we be friends again, when it's just us?"

"I'm your teacher first, but when the school year is over, we can write to each other and get to know one another again." He compromised. "It's too risky even if we think we're alone, but as long as you're not taking my class, I believe we could relax the formality a bit."

"Deal," Holly smiled, tears flowing once again of a different nature. She walked over to him and hugged Severus. He was surprised but hugged her back, letting his walls down a bit for the time being. "I've been needing this for a while."

"Better late than never," he mused, a soft smile on his own face. "Now about your work young lady, you've been slacking for far too long." He smiled while she groaned and buried her face into his robe. "Teacher first, Miss Evans, then friend." While he couldn't undo the past, at least he had a chance to make things right with Holly. It wasn't the same as Lily forgiving him, but it was as close as he was going to get.

Hello everyone! It's been... years, and I honestly wanted to just publish this since it was mostly done and I've been itching to write something for a bit. So, I finished this story and decided why not just publish it. Also, I debated going further, but I like this ending, it's happier than the original one I had in mind.