Chapter 6: The Snake and the Flower

A few days later the four friends were lounging in Harry and Ron's room after dinner, staying out of the way while the Order held a meeting. Their conversation was made up of the usual things.

"So what do you think You-Know-Who will do now that everyone knows he's back?" Ron asked dolefully.

"Well, he won't stay in hiding much longer, will he?" Hermione suggested.

"Do you suppose that's what the Order is discussing downstairs?" Ginny looked more curious than worried.

"I expect they've been discussing that for weeks now," Harry replied, almost too casually. He was trying hard not to betray any emotion just now.

"It's already been a while and he still hasn't done anything big." Hermione interjected.

"Well, it's something to be grateful for, really. I don't want to see that skull in the sky again anytime soon," Ron commented.

"That was eerie, for sure," Ginny said. "Imagine if it was over your house when you came home. It would wrench your gut out."

They all fell silent for a moment, each quietly praying that his or her house would never be found crowned by the Dark Mark and empty of all life within. Harry decided it was time for a lighter topic.

"What do you say to a round of exploding snap?" he offered. They all accepted and the game took off. After four rounds of exploding snap and a wizard's chess playoff, which Ron won hands down, they were about to separate to their beds for the night when there was a knock at the door. Harry walked to the door and opened it, expecting Mrs. Weasley to be there telling them all to get to bed. He was surprised to find the last person in the house that he'd have expected.

"Can I come in?" asked an awkward and frightened looking Dudley. Harry stood rooted to the spot, speechless. "Dad's sleeping and Mum went to the loo. I couldn't stand being with my parents any longer. They're driving me nuts."

"Of course you can come in," Hermione said pushing Harry aside and smiling sweetly at Dudley. "We'll teach you to play wizard's chess."

"Is it like regular chess?" Dudley asked, suddenly seeming to perk up.

"Mostly," said Harry, finally finding his voice. "But the chess pieces are more, uhm, animated."

"How do you mean?"

"Why don't you see for yourself," Harry brought the board over for Dudley to see. He got out a new set of pieces and smiled when the white queen waved up at them. Dudley took a step back, looking from Harry to Hermione as though begging an explanation.

"They're charmed to be a bit more realistic," Hermione told him. "Don't worry, they stay on the board. You don't even have to touch them. Just tell them where you want them to go."

Ron sat across the board from Dudley, and the game began. On his first move, the pieces failed to acknowledge Dudley's voice, so Hermione looked something up in the instructions and explained that only wizards could move pieces by vocal command. So Dudley took to telling Hermione where to move each piece, and the game recommenced. It was a long, well played game. But at the end there was a clear winner.

"Check mate," said Dudley, looking proud of himself.

"That's amazing," said Ron, "You skunked me. No one's done that for ages. Not even Harry."

"Good game, Dud," Harry conceded. They all laughed, and Ron and Hermione went to the kitchen and came back with butterbeers and potato crisps. By the time Dudley returned to the Dursleys room, Harry realized he had had his first enjoyable encounter ever with his overweight cousin. He wondered again at the way his two worlds were converging and changing. It almost made his head spin to think about it. They all retired to their beds after Dudley left, and Harry fell asleep quickly.

There was a fountain of water, in a lovely garden. The water was flowing and dancing about in the basin, like a thousand tiny fairies celebrating under the glow of the moon. A young woman walked out of the shadows and sat beside the fountain. She looked up at the Unicorn statue in the fountain and smiled peacefully. Then she looked around and seemed to notice something. She smiled and stood, and Harry realized she was looking at him. She approached him swiftly, seemingly floating along the stones under her bare feet. Her red hair glistened in the moist air; her eyes danced and sparkled as she looked into his. Her face was coming nearer, her lips were pressing against his….

Harry awoke with a start and checked the clock. He had been asleep for only a few hours. He knew who she was now, the girl in his dream. He shook his head and looked at Ron who was snoring softly. He decided a cool drink of water would be just the thing to help him clear his mind so he could get back to sleep. He quietly slipped out from under his covers and into the hall, taking care not to let the door slam shut. He tip-toed down the hallway to the stairs and stopped short when he heard voices coming from the room to the right off the landing below. He crept slowly and silently down the steps to the door of that room. He knew those voices only too well. But he could not for the life of him understand why they would be conversing with each other.

"…I'm so sorry, Severus," Aunt Petunia's voice came from within the room. "I thought you had…that you had become…."

"You were not wrong," spoke the voice of Hogwarts' Potions Master. Harry thought he heard the rustle of fabric, and then Aunt Petunia's gasp.

"But…But then why? Why are you here? Why do they allow you?" Petunia sounded more frightened than confused.

"I was a fool, and I paid for that foolishness by losing you," said Snape. Harry sucked in his breath. Could he really be hearing what he thought he was hearing? "I know it's too late to repair the damage I have done to us, but I just wanted you to know. When Peter betrayed them, when I saw him enter and tell us all where they were and how to reach them, I knew how wrong I had been. I went to great lengths that night to keep them alive. I did everything I could do. But I knew if I exposed my lack of loyalty it would mean my life as well. I owed James my life, arrogant and foolish as he was. The life debt did not release me, even when James and Lily died. It binds me to their son to this day, as I believe it does you.

"Yes," Petunia replied shakily. "Even if Dumbledore released Vernon from his care, I will never be free of the ungrateful brat. They saved my life more than once, and I never even tried to repay them. I had no idea…"

"You have done more than you know, Petunia. The safety of that 'ungrateful brat,' as you call him, is the main concern of the Order now. Just by the shelter you have provided for him, you have done more to preserve the entire wizarding world than I have ever done in my efforts within the Order. We are all extremely grateful to you. You are his only link to his mother's blood."

"If only I had known about you…."

Harry heard the slight shuffling of feet and Petunia's muffled sigh.

"I have always loved you, Petunia," Snape whispered, "More than anything, it was you that made me unsuitable to the Dark Lord's ranks. In a way, you saved my life as well. If there is ever any way I can be of assistance to you or your family…."

"Severus…"

"I know. You love Vernon, and I respect that. I will never try to come between the two of you. Just know, if you ever have need of a wizard's services, I am at your disposal."

"Thank you."

Harry turned and crept silently up the steps as quickly as he could go. Abandoning his original objective and ignoring his thirst, he slipped quietly back into his room. He sat on his bed in shock. He knew he could never tell anyone what he had heard. He prayed he would never give Snape entry to his mind again. The news that Snape and Aunt Petunia had once been…no, he could not bring himself to even think of it. It was just too strange. But then, it also explained a lot. How else had Aunt Petunia known what Dementors were and how wizards travel by floo powder? Why else would she have denied the very existence of the wizarding world for so long if not because of a broken heart? It even made sense as to why she had hated his mother so… if Petunia and Snape had once been…on the same team, so to speak, they might have hated his Mum and Dad for very different reasons than what Petunia had described before Harry's first year. Harry had to hand it to Aunt Petunia. She had been a good actress for quite a while. It was not because Lily had been a "freak" in Petunia's mind. It was because Petunia was jealous that Lily and James were happy together, while she and Snape….

"Whoa!" Harry thought aloud in a hoarse whisper, "This is just too weird." He lay atop his covers for hours, knowing that sleep would not return to him tonight. He wondered how he would manage to keep this secret. It would be terrible of him to ever divulge what he had heard. Not to mention it could get him killed by Snape. He thought also of Sirius and wondered if he had known. If he had, it wasn't any wonder why he'd never mentioned it. His mind wandered back to the scene in Snape's pensieve as well, when Lily had defended Snape. Had she done that because she knew her sister loved him? Questions formed in Harry's mind, like, how had they met, how did they manage to see each other, why did it end? Harry thought he might go mad if he didn't talk to anyone about this. Then he thought of Lupin. Surely, if anyone still living knew about Snape and Aunt Petunia, it was Lupin, the last of the Marauders. He would have to find a way to determine if Lupin knew without giving himself away. He spent the remainder of the night going over plans for asking Lupin about it.