A/N: Okay, the polls are officially closed. I won't bore you all with the details, but I will tell you all that there will just be a friendship between Harry and Snape, and that Vernon gets the distanced pleasure of being hunted down and killed by Snape. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I will.

Chapter eight - Lily's Eyes

Harry looked at me for a moment, as if he had noticed something was off, though he soon went back to staring at the ceiling. I decided to confront an issue I knew would come up eventually.

"Harry..." I started out feebly. I had absolutely no idea what to say.

He turned his eyes towards me, and I felt the same feeling that I had felt before of something like someone looking into my soul, often when Albus looked at me when I was still a student, though it seemed strange to feel it coming from someone younger than me.

"Yes, Prof... Severus?" he asked me, though I couldn't find my voice.

It was his eyes, I realised. I had never truly noticed them before, and even if I had, it was never enough for me to realise consciously that they were identical to Lily's. It was right there and then that I felt honestly, truly and 100% guilty for the first time since my mother's death at my father's hands.

-------Flashback-------

It was the night of my mother's funeral, the rain was falling heavily, and the sky was extremely dark, perfectly matching my mood and feelings at the time.

My eyes filled with tears as I watched my mother in her being lowered into her final resting place, in the very clothes I had seen her murdered in, as is the tradition with magical funerals.

 I managed to blink away the tears. I couldn't cry there, I just couldn't. My father was there, and if he saw my tears then I would get punished, punished for being weak. I would cry later, silently in my room so he would not hear, but I couldn't cry there. There was no way I could afford to.

That was my life. Do one thing wrong, even the tiniest thing, and I got punished. The punishments had gradually gotten worse over the years, each one more severe than the last, but they had never been too bad. At least not until he killed Mother. After that he had only seemed to care about serving the Dark Lord, and preparing me for his service.

Before he had seemed to care, or at least acted as though he had, but afterwards, it was as if he had lost all meaning to his life, as if everything he had cared about had been snuffed out. Maybe he had cared for her, maybe, deep, deep he had loved her, but I can never be sure. I probably never will be.

-------End Flashback-------

"Professor?" asked Harry timidly, as if he expected to be punished for enquiring about my health. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, Harry, I'm fine," I said, trying to reassure him. It seemed to work, as he lay down, and resumed staring at the ceiling.

A/N: Yay! Another chapter! Sorry it took so long, but I seemed to loose my drive for fanfiction for a while. But now it seems to be back, along with a few other things.

Okay, since I can be bothered now, I'll answer the reviews for the last chapter!

This guy here: Okily dokily! (I love that phrase!)

The Bloody Queen of Hearts: *smiles* Thanks a lot!

Miss-Aurelia: A plot can't be that unusual, can it? I hope not. Thanks for the review anyways.

Padawan Jan-AQ: Yeah, you were. I got your vote. Thanks a lot.

HecateDeMort: Thanks. I like slash too. But not many others seem to. Oh well. I was happy to do any of them. *rubs hands together gleefully* But what happens to Vernon is going to be fun! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

ShardWing: So would I. And so shall he be. As much as I love Snape he is going to have to have some trouble with Harry. I couldn't just turn it into a fluff fic! Not after all that's happened to Harry and Severus!

Anyways, that's all from me for the moment on this fic. I'm gonna try and update my other two (both my other HP and my latest one, a Pirates of the Caribbean one) tonight. Cyaz!