Disclaimer: I don't own HP. I am a slave to my muse and God, JK.

Note to reviewers: Thanks everyone! Here's the second Chapter. Umm... someone pointed out a mistake in the letter to Cedric. Harry is Indeed in his 7th Year, not 5th. Sorry about that.

*********** *********** ************

Chapter two

Severus walked down the waterfall staircase that led to the foyer. His gaze wandered aimlessly, as he looked for things that might give him away.

Quickly, he took down two small portraits, and one that was sitting on a marble table. Hiding them under his robes, he half jogged, half walked back up the stairs and into his suite room.

Severus looked down at one picture, the girl, smiling and waving. She looked so happy, and at peace in that picture. His lips twisted into a half-smile. He was his best when she was around.

The potions master thought back to his second year at Hogwarts. That was one hell of a year. One hell of a year.

__

"What do you mean I'm failing potions?" Lily Evans, second year Gryffindor yelled at her professor. "I have top grades in everything! How can I be failing potions? I can understand having a B even C average, but failing? Are you nuts?" she nearly screamed, flapping her tests around in Professor Grendle's face.

"You do not pay attention in class, ms. Evans. You are forever acting up, and never taking me seriously. You barely turn in your homework, and never on time. I see how it is very possible for you to be failing. You are. If you do not change your work habits in this class and out, I'm positive you will not be at this school next year." Grendle calmly replied.

"What do you suggest I do then, oh-great-professor-sir?" She asked, in a mocking tone. He merely raised an eyebrow, looking down at her. "Seriously? What do you suggest I do? I'm not going fail this damn class!" Her voice echoed against the barren walls. She looked up at him sheepishly. "I know. I'm sorry. I need to quiet down the little actress inside of me. I get it."

"Thank you." Grendle responded. Clearing his throat, he continued on. "I have taken the liberty of setting up a tutor for you. You will meet Mr. Snape in this classroom tonight, and twice a week for the rest of the remaining semester at 7:30pm. Do you have any questions?"

"Why him?" She pouted.

"Because, in short, he's brilliant, and you will learn a lot from him."

Sighing, she replied, "fine."

Seven o clock came very quickly that night. After shoving two rolls in her pocket, Lily ran up to her tower to grab her schoolbooks. By the time she reached the dungeons, she was 10 minutes late.

"You're late." Severus Snape stated.

"I know, I know," She replied, a little out of breath from running. "Dinner ran late, then I ran, and now I'm here..."

"Save it. I don't want to hear your excuses, Mudblood." he replied, his aristocratic nose turned up at her, as he walked pass, to the table that had been set up.

She followed slowly behind him, watching him move. She'd seen him around the castle, always bumping into armor and tripping over his shoelaces. He didn't take very good care of himself. But in this classroom, surrounded by vials, and cauldrons, he looked at home. He was not the bumbling boy in here, that he was the rest of the time.

"Is there something exciting going on behind me, or did you leave?" Severus called out, not looking behind him.

"You haven't tripped yet." she commented.

That did perk his interest, and he looked back at her. Lily's red hair was flowing down her shoulders, the front brought back held with a small clasp. Her pale pink lips were slightly parted, and her green eyes sparkled. She held her self with confidence, even though she pissed off all the teachers and had no friends.

"Thank you for letting me know that."

"No problem."

Setting down her books, she looked down at what he had laid out. There was three open books, 6 vials containing god-knows-what, and a cauldron that had smoke pouring out. She remembered an old Muggle movie that had a cauldron in it. It also contained a baby liver and newt's eyes. Somehow she knew if she brought that up, Snape wouldn't appreciate it very much.

"Would you like a roll?" she asked, pulling one out of her pocket. "I saw you weren't at dinner, and thought you might be a little hungry-"

"I don't take anything, let along food from Mudbloods." he interrupted her.

"You say one more thing about my heritage and I'll..." She trailed off looking into his eyes. They were dark, and very intense for a 12-year-old boy. Lily shook her head, and turned around, picking up her stuff.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

"If you think I'm going to put up with your bull then you got another thing coming. I'm not about to let some snot-nosed "pureblood" call me names and shoot me down just because my list of magical folk began with me, and yours goes back a million years. If you think that I'm less than a witch than say... Narsissa-who can't even light the tip of her wand properly-then I'll show you what I can do. You can't talk to me like that." She ranted, and started walking away.

Severus did nothing to stop her.

__

Looking up from the picture, and into the mirror, Severus sighed. Such a lively spirit, never one to be backed into a corner. "What could I have done differently?" He asked himself. Then he shook his head. "I will not dwell in the past, and things I cannot change," he repeated to himself, till he had finally stopped thinking about her.

Severus not thinking about lily didn't happen much these days, and he suspected, that with Harry in the house, Lily on his mind would only increase.

__

Harry was thoroughly enjoying the estate. On his way down stairs, the portraits whispered, behind their hands, running to each other to let them know there was a guest in the house. One even struck up a conversation with him.

"Hello there, son." the man's voice bellowed. Harry looked at him curiously. "I am Baron Beresford. Welcome to Snape Manor. Are you enjoying your stay?"

"Thank you." Harry replied, smiling a little. "I am just doing a bit of exploring. I wanted to see the gardens."

The Barons blue eyes lit up. He was sitting in a leather chair; his black robes, bunching up around him. "Ah yes, the gardens. Beautiful they are. Well. I won't keep you waiting then. Stop by anytime you want a history lesson. That's what I taught, all those years at Hogwarts. Nearly 70 years as the history teacher there. Yes, I do believe if I had turned into a ghost, they would have kept me, like they did Ol' Binns. Damn fool. Never could get past those Goblin Rebellions."

"Um, right." Harry muttered. Quickly, he waved, than ran off. "Thanks, maybe I'll be back!" Heading down the stairs, Harry was just in awe. The staircase was white with gold railings that sparkled in the sun. Above him, he saw the staircase spiraled upwards, into a great glass dome.

"Wow," he whispered. "This is amazing!"

"Isn't it?" a female voice asked from below him. He looked down and saw a woman standing there, in deep red velvet robes. Her black hair was back in a French braid, and her face was pale. "Severus worked very hard on this stair case. He's still not too happy with it, to be honest. Forever the perfectionist. I think it's absolutely wonderful though." She said, a half smile, playing around her lips.

"I think it's wonderful too," He replied in a low voice. "I'm Harry."

She smiled up at him. "I'm Adriana, your new Defense Against Dark Arts professor. Nice to meet you."

"You too." Harry started down the steps, and took a better notice of the dome, as he got further away. "The dome isn't centered, is it?" He blurted.

She gave him a huge grin. "According to Severus, No, its not." he shook his head. Two years ago, he never would have noticed such a slight detail. He was forever trying to survive, and feared he missed most of the small details in life. "Would you like a tour?" She asked.

"That'd be great!" Harry replied, smiling. "Where do we start?"

Adriana showed him the main floor first. The drawing room was big, huge windows, antique furniture was placed in an intimate setting around one of the crystal lined windows, and the hearth. There was a grand piano off to one corner, black, and very shiny. Harry vaguely wondered if his Professor played. It wouldn't surprise him, and yet, it would.

After the drawing room, there was the great dining room, which, was very ominous and dark. Adriana then took him to the kitchen, and the side dining room where all meals were taken unless they had many guests over, at which point, the great dining room would be used.

"And this is the gardens. You have an excellent view of them from your bedroom. They are even more impressive from down here, I think. You can see each individual petal and leaf. Smell each and every blossom. There simply are not enough words to describe this wonderland." she told him, in a cheerful voice, sounding more and more excited at the mere prospect of walking through the flowers.

Harry didn't say anything. He simply walked forward, and breathed it all in. The sun was shining brightly; the wind was breezing through the trees. It was a beautiful summer day, and he could not think of a more beautiful place to spend his last summer vacation.

His professor seemed to almost respect him, and even let him stay in the manor. Harry couldn't think of any reason why.

***

Adriana watched from him from the patio. She tried to think of all she could remember about him. He loved to laugh, and smile, and play. His mother often brought him over to the house she grew up in. During those days, Adriana could have sworn she'd give her life for that little boy.

But then, she supposed, he brought that feeling out in everyone.

***

Severus watched harry and Adriana wonder through the gardens from his bedroom window. He could see Harry's dark head bob up and down as he leant in to smell the flowers, and caress the petals. The potions master wondered when harry decided to take a *primal interest in life. Smiling to himself, he wondered if harry could see the beauty in life, maybe he could see the beauty in potions.

Severus found out the next afternoon.

***

"No, no, no!" Severus cried, as harry tossed in to many oak tree leaves. "You didn't cut them up properly, and then put them in much to quickly. You must have patience."

Harry's face burned up as his teacher reprimanded him. Out of school harry thought maybe the potion lessons would be easier, more relaxed. However, it seemed to be quite the opposite, as his professor was extremely worried about the estate being blown to bits, or the smallest square of stone floor ruined.

Just then, his cauldron bubbled over, spewing gray and green smoke and smelling like a skunk had just died. Harry cried, "I didn't do it!" but it was too late. The gooey brown liquid was all over the desk they were working on, and quickly burned through, like acid. If harry was paying any attention to his teacher he would have noticed Snape stop and mutter to himself, "I had no idea this potion, made inaccurately would act as an acid..."Unfortunately, harry was hopping back and forth on his feet, staring at the mess he'd created, hoping to God that his teacher wouldn't demand his head on a platter.

"Potter!" Snape yelled, his face very nearly turning red. "You ignorant little fool! You could have burned down my entire home! My life is in these four walls! If I had any idea you would be this incompetent, I never would have let you in here at all! No matter who was trying to kill you!"

Harry had never seen his professor like this before. Not when Severus was arguing with his Godfather, not when he had faced Voldemort. Snape was not his calm, collective self, and harry didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident." He murmured, for the first time since summer vacation had started, Harry felt like that 11-year-old boy, being locked up in the cupboard underneath the stairs. He promised himself no one would make him feel like that again. No one.

"An accident, was it? Oh, I'm sure it was! I suppose after last year you think you can get away with anything! You have broken every single rule since you arrived in this world, and everyone has bended over backwards to make sure you got away with it. Well, I'm not so nice Potter. I'm not letting you get away with simple things, and I never will. 100 points from Gryffindor!"

Harry listened rapturously getting angrier every second. Harry knew he didn't pick his life. He didn't ask for the scar on his head, or to have his parents die to protect him. He never asked for anything in his whole life, and if his professor thought he asked for special treatment, well harry was going to let him know a thing or two-Harry's mouth dropped. Did Professor Snape just take points from Gryffindor???

The gryffindor boys face cracked into a smile, which quickly turned into a huge grin. Before he knew it, he was laughing heartily at his professor. Vaguely he noticed he was indeed laughing, and it had been a very long time since he laughed like this before.

"Mr. Potter, what do you find so funny?" his potions professor asked in his most severe voice.

"You took points from me!" he managed to get out before a whole new round of laughing commenced. "We're not in school! Points! Gone!" he exclaimed, his laughter finally getting the better of him. Harry was knocked to his knees, holding his stomach. He couldn't breath, he was laughing so hard, and he felt tears running down his lightly bronzed cheeks.

Severus stared at him for a moment, trapped in thought.

_____

"Gods, they are jerks!" Severus ranted. He was down in the dungeons, preparing his tutoring session with Lily Evans. "I asked nicely, I didn't have an ulterior motive. And still they said no. Lily promised me... and they... ugh!"

"Talking to yourself again, are you?" A soft female voice spoke from behind him. He didn't turn around. "I'm sorry about them," She started. "I really should have known better. With them its, 'once a snake, always a snake.' There's no turning back."

He shook his head, and continued to prepare the bottles.

"Still, I'm sorry they acted like that. While it is their usual immature behavior, had James been alone, I'm sure he would have been more than happy to help you with your transfiguration. He doesn't hate anyone. Well, anyone who didn't deserve his animosity. You haven't done anything to make him barking mad... yet." She grinned.

Still, Severus didn't say anything.

"I guess you aren't going to talk to me, then." Lily continued, and brushed her hand through her slightly limp hair. "You look... different today. Did you get new robes? New hair cut?"

He shook his head.

"Will you let me know when I 'm getting close?" she asked patiently.

Again, he shook his head.

Lily didn't say anything moved to the other side of the desk he was working at, so she could see his face. He looked down lower, trying to hide from her.

"I have a joke for you," she stated. "Do you want to hear it?"

"No, lily. I don't want to hear your stupid Mudblood joke." Severus could tell from her gasp, that he had hurt her.

"You set me up, and you know it." he exclaimed, finally looking up at her. His jaw dropped to the floor.

"What, you don't like my hair?" She asked innocently, twirling the pink, black and purple strands around her finger.

"What on earth did you do?" He asked, choking on a half-laugh. "Your hair... Its…"

"Its black purple and pink. I was going for Green Silver and Black, but, alas, the black is the only one that worked. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because Sirius was helping me, and you can never get away without being somehow abused by him." She sighed. "Peter put it in, for me. I have to say, the boy has good taste when it comes to hair. I think it looks wonderful, don't you?"

All Severus could do is shake his head. "Perfect, lily. Just perfect." he giggled. Severus could barely contain himself, as he sat down. His laughter exploded in one huge burst, getting a delighted squeal out of Lily.

"I did it! I made you laugh! Whoo hoo! I have achieved what no Gryffindor has ever achieved! I have made, Severus Snape, laugh!"

He looked over at her, his laughter subsiding. "Why would you dye your hair Slytherin colors?" he asked.

She cocked her head to the side, and stared at him, as if the answer were obvious.

"An apology of sorts, of course. It's supposed to stay until the Quidditch match next weekend. I didn't tell them that part," she paused, biting her lip. " I don't think they would have helped if they knew what I was up to."

"No, I don't suppose," He murmured, taking a closer look. "Pink and purple. Think they'll make a new house?"

____

"Harry, stop." Professor Snape demanded. "Stop laughing, and go back to your room. I'll clean up this mess...wouldn't want the Golden Gryffindor getting seriously injured now."

Harry looked up at his teacher with a look of profound disappointment. "Your aim was a bit low, Professor," harry stated, as he walked out of the room, and up the stairs to his room. "Very, very low."

He walked up the curvy staircase, till he reached his room. As he walked in he noticed Hedwig sitting on the porch railing, with a letter tied to her leg. Excitedly, Harry opened the letter, and read with great interest.

Harry,

How are you? Mum and dad are really worried. We heard you were attacked! Are you ok? We haven't heard from you in days, weeks even!

Write back soon, you hear?

On to bigger and better things: Hermione is stopping by next week. She's worried about you...rather annoying now that I think

about it. Everyone is forever worrying over you. It must drive you insane.

So when do you think you'll be able to stop by? We were thinking next week, before we go shopping for school supplies.

Can you believe this is going to be our last year at Hogwarts? How wonderful is that? How completely sad is that?

Lemme know if you can make it over, k?

-Ron


Harry smiled at the thought of seeing his best friends again. He decided he'd ask Professor Snape that night at dinner.

Grabbing a quill and some ink, he started his reply.