Disclaimer:

All characters in the story are the property of J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Books, with the exception of Eleanora Sterling and a few supporting characters, who are my own creations. This story is created purely for the entertainment of myself and other like-minded readers and no copyright infringement is intended.

By mentioning J.K. Rowling in this story I do not intend to present her as a fictional character or to imply that the Harry Potter books are not her own 100% original works.

Any opinions, political or otherwise, on world events, personages or governments expressed in these pages, are the opinions of the characters speaking them and not necessarily those of the author.

Chapter 3: Meeting Wynona

Nora had arranged a visit to see her mother in Toronto on the following Saturday. This was a visit he had been dreading, but it was at least comforting to know that he wasn't going to have to hide his identity or his powers from her: she was a witch herself, and knew all about the existence of Hogwarts Academy: the real one, that is.

The drive had proved more trying than the visit itself. Nora had chosen this time above any other to bring up the unfortunate episode of Lily Evans/Potter. She had of course read some of the books by this time and recognized the name he had uttered while under the effects of the Dementors attack. She had wanted to know if it was true that she had been young Potter's mother. Snape, sadly, had to admit that it was.

It had been painful for him, but he had told her the story of how, in his mind, and contrary to what was written in the Harry Potter books, his friendship with and unrequited love for Lily had resulted in his betrayal of the Potter family's hiding place to Voldemort. He had blamed gimself for the murder of both Lily and her husband James. It had also led to the near defeat of Voldemort, due to Lily's sacrifice to save her child Harry.

Although it had turned out that Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail, had ultimately been named and punished as the culprit, and was most likely the original betrayer of the Potter's hiding place, Snape felt that he too, had betrayed them, and still felt the sting of guilt for his actions. After Sirius Black was blamed for the murders, he had even participated in his capture - though to his credit, he too was not entirely sure that Black had not committed the actual murders, possibly operating under Voldemort's orders. His shame over his betrayal of the Potters had been the primary motivation in recanting his affiliation with Voldemort and throwing himself on the mercy of Dumbledore by offering his services as a spy.

But he had not told Nora the whole story. In fact, he had offered his services to Dumbledore as a spy long before the Potters were murdered. What Dumbledore did not know, and hopefully would never learn, was that for a time after that, Snape had been acting as a double agent - serving both sides until he decided for himself which would eventually win out - for he had always been strongly motivated by self-preservation.

It was true that his guilt over Lily's death and what he perceived to be his role in their betrayal had driven him to truly recant his loyalty to the dark side and to stop supplying the Death Eaters with useful information. But even this change of heart had been tainted: with Voldemort so badly injured and his powers so diminished by the backlash of the powerful spell that had protected Harry Potter, Snape dreaded what might have been required from him in the form of service to his master. Much of his power had been obtained at the expense of others, especially his loyal followers, and it would not have been a stretch to imagine that a huge personal sacrifice might be required of him to restore the evil wizard to his full capacity.

Nora had taken the facts hard enough as it was; there was no advantage in pointing out this omission. He only hoped that when she got around to reading the fourth book she would overlook or discount a particular passage concerning Dumbledore's testimony on his behalf.

Of all his flaws and bad deeds, cowardice and duplicity were the last things he would be willing to admit to her.


* * *

Nora's mother, Wynona Sterling, lived in a part of the large city Toronto that Snape could only describe as utter chaos. There were too many automobiles, too many roads, too many buildings that were far too tall, and too much noise. For once he was grateful that Nora lived where she did, in a gracious beautiful tree-lined neighbourhood in a much smaller city with lovely homes, many of which were over 100 years old (young by the standards of a wizard but considered old in a new world country.)

The woman herself could not be described as physically threatening but she radiated a formidable power that Severus could detect before he got within twenty feet of her. Whether she had her guard up as a precaution against him in particular or if she was always this way when meeting new people he could not tell. In fact, he could not read her at all for at least an hour, until she slowly let down her defences.

Once she had, he knew he was home free: it appeared that she respected him and approved of her daughter's choice of partner. He felt respect for her as well, and though he had determined to put up a pretence of liking her for Nora's sake, he found that he did not have to pretend at all.

On the day they departed, while Nora was in the bedroom checking to see if they had left anything behind, Wynona slyly took him aside. "Come here a moment, Severus. I want you to see something."

Snape, intrigued, watched as she stroked the head of a unicorn on a small carousel Nora had purchased in Diagon Alley and had given her as a gift. Although the magical animation of the figures was not supposed to work in this dimension, she was able, for a moment, to cause it to rear up and stamp its tiny feet. He was both amazed and amused at the display of magic and the fact that Wynona seemed to be doing it covertly while drawing him into her confidence. "How did you manage to do that?" he asked.

"Well, I've always had a certain touch when it comes to inanimate objects, but I think that I'm just able to coax out a bit of whatever charm is buried in this thing. Nora told me it wasn't supposed to work outside of magical places, but I've never been one to take 'no' for an answer!"

Naturally Snape couldn't tell her that what she had accomplished went beyond coaxing a little magic out of an enchanted object that had a damper on it: She had actually succeeded in putting some of the magical power back into it, albeit briefly. He was impressed with her powers. And perhaps there was more to this dimension and the few wizards and witches who lived here than was originally presumed.

"Why didn't you want Nora to see this?" he asked.

"Oh, well, it's a little hard to explain. I always sort of get the impression that Nora doesn't approve of my using my powers," Wynona replied with a rueful smile.

"Why would you think that? She certainly uses her own powers, though I'm given to understand that she's very discrete about it."

"Yes, I suppose she got that way from all the years her father prevented her from displaying her talents. I had hoped to cure her of that when I was finally able to send her to Hogwarts. But she never even so much as showed me a simple spell when she came back. You know, I got the impression she was ashamed of her powers in some way. And I suppose, by extension, ashamed of me."

Snape was taken aback by this show of familiarity. It was rare that someone was willing to tell him her troubles on such short acquaintance, indeed, for anyone to want to confide in him at all, except for Nora. He knew that he did not appear to be the most sympathetic person in the world.

Hardly knowing how to respond, he stammered, "I'm sure that Nora is in fact very proud of you, as she is of her own powers. That is the reason she chose a healing profession, is it not?"

"I suppose, but I feel she's wasting herself with all these herbal remedies and Therapeutic Touch, or whatever she calls it. Perhaps now that she has someone like you in her life she will feel more encouraged to use her full potential," she said, laying a hand on his arm.

Clearly there were great misunderstandings between Nora and her mother. He could see where Nora might find her mother irritating; indeed, one comment made about sending their children to Hogwarts nearly put Nora into a conniption of embarrassment! However, he found her surprisingly easy to take, and after this conversation, even considered her a friend.

* * *

It was strange, he noted later, that while he rarely had patience for his students, and the presence of most other men made him feel anxious and keenly competitive, the presence of a sensible, stable and strong woman often made him feel quite calm and comfortable. He supposed that had been a happy by-product of having such loving older sisters.

It therefore surprised him that he was anxious in Nora's presence and continually craved her affection and approval. When he had told her about his past, she seemed to become cold and distant towards him. Even when she had reassured him that she loved him and that whatever he'd done in the past was in the past and had nothing to do with her, he couldn't help feeling that she had withdrawn something of her affection from him. It wasn't anything he could read from her so much as what he felt.

He remembered feeling that way about Lily, and when she had tried to get him to recant his affiliation with Voldemort the feeling of anxiety that her disapproval had provoked in him made him turn away from her. Realising that, he determined not to let Nora's withdrawal of approval get the better him. It would be hard to pretend he didn't care how she felt about him, but it was paramount that he not let his reactions make him do something he'd regret later.

All the same, he could not shake the feeling that he needed to regain her confidence in him. He knew he had had it once. But recently he felt it slipping away. He now regretted making his confession to her about his part in the Potters' murder.

But he could sense there was more to it than that. Earlier this week, she had insisted on watching that silly movie about Potter, and had forced him to watch a section of it in which some actor had portrayed him teaching a potions class. He couldn't see the strong resemblance that Nora and apparently her friend Angie had remarked upon, although he supposed the portrayal was fair enough for someone who had never met him.

What had struck him, though, was not so much the playacting as Nora's reaction to it. To his horror, he could detect arousal and sexual attraction from her - and it was not caused by his presence in the room, but by the image on the screen.

But what had truly alarmed him was that somehow this image recalled for her the man that she had fallen in love with. Somehow, in her eyes, he had become diminished.

He had to do something to win back her admiration.

NEXT: What Every Tyrant Wants

A/N

More retelling from Snape's point of view: I think he will find Wynona a valuable ally in the future.

- Grey Lady