When Harry woke the next day, he decided it was time he had a talk with Sirius. Not about the 'bond', of course – that he wanted to keep to himself. But he did want to find out what Sirius knew about his mother and Snape. Thankfully, the memory bombardment had stopped sometime during the night, but the ones that had turned up remained in his memory.
While he was sleeping, some other things had also sunk in. Such as the fact that Snape knew even less about this than Harry did, and the thought that he may well have had a similar experience to Harry's the previous day. He didn't really want to know how Snape had taken it if it turned out to be the case. Of course, there would be far fewer memories of Harry than of Snape. That thought brought the realisation that Harry now knew far more about Snape than the Potions professor did about the young Gryffindor. Inspired by his new insights, came the thought that Snape would absolutely loathe that fact. He couldn't resist a small, evil, smile.
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Harry managed to catch Sirius in the garden. "Sirius, do you have a minute?"
"Of course."
"I kind of wanted to ask you about my mother. You know, when you were at school."
"Well in that case, you might be better off talking to Remus. He was quite a bit closer to her than I was."
"Oh. Maybe I'll talk to him later. What I really wanted to ask you about was her other friends."
"Other friends? She…uh…wasn't terribly close to anyone except James and Remus. She was friendly to everyone, everyone liked her, but she didn't have a lot of close friends."
"Oh? Not even Snape?"
Sirius was taken aback. "How did you find out about that?"
"You lied to me, Sirius." Harry said accusingly.
Diverted from his question, Sirius replied defensively "Well. Um. I didn't think you'd want to hear it. I mean, you hate Snape."
"I don't want to hear it. I need to hear it."
"In that case…Sit down, Harry. Lily..." He broke off. "Harry, I'm not quite sure how to say this. They were friends, very close. But that git wasn't happy with being friends. He had a crush on her and tried to steal her away from your father. He was always following us around when she was there. I think he may have…uh…compelled her. That's why I, you know. I don't know why James helped him. I mean, I'm glad he did, because otherwise Remus would have…" He stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry." He didn't specify what he was apologising for.
"It's okay. Thanks for telling me."
"You're taking this very well, Harry," Sirius said, rather suspiciously.
"I suppose I am. Don't worry, I don't think it will last long," Harry replied wryly. "I don't think I need to talk to Remus right now."
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Sirius was mildly awkward around Harry for a few days, but when Harry showed no major outward reaction to his 'revelation', he appeared to forget about it. Apart from the occasional thoughts of Snape, which turned up at the most unexpected moments, Harry thoroughly enjoyed his summer. He finally had a home, and living with people who wanted him was an experience to savour.
Of course, he thought about his mother's diaries, and the 'bond' from time to time. He realised that he couldn't really hate Snape anymore, or even despise him like he had. His father had been understanding about the fact that Snape had loved his mother, and Harry could do no less. He knew, as his mother had known, that Snape was essentially a good man. He just hoped that his mother didn't have any more surprises up her sleeve. If this was all there was to the 'bond', he could live with it, he supposed.
The holiday slipped away. For once, Harry finished his homework in plenty of time, with Sirius and Remus to help. Of course he had to be careful, because Sirius had a nasty habit of giving him bizarre answers and suggestions, and sometimes Harry was too busy writing them down to catch on. He smiled smugly to himself when he woke a couple of times late at night to the sound of Sirius' footsteps creeping quietly down the corridor towards Remus' room. He was always very careful not to say anything about it in the morning afterward.
Shopping in Diagon Alley for this year's school supplies was amazingly fun. Sitting in front of the ice-cream parlour, listening to Sirius and Remus comment on the passers-by was another memory to remember. The realisation that he'd unwittingly chosen what he now knew to be Snape's favourite flavours wasn't. The annual week-long Weasley visit was as enjoyable as always, particularly as Hermione was also there this year. It was her second visit of the summer. Mrs. Weasley's hostility of their fourth year was long forgotten, and she watched Ron and Hermione's 'secret' relationship with an amused eye.
Soon enough it was time for them to return to Hogwarts. As Harry bid goodbye to Sirius and Remus and waited for the train with Ron and Hermione, he couldn't help thinking about what on earth he was going to say to Snape. He knew that they would have to talk about it, but he had no idea where to start. He didn't think he could keep the knowledge he'd gained over the holiday out of his eyes.