A/N: There's been a question about my rating. Sorry I didn't answer it last post. My rating is mainly for violence and language. I feel my lemony writing is cheesy, and I can't get it to read the way I like it. I will try and add some more physical romance between Sam and Severus, but from here on out, it's not vital to the plot, hence my action/adventure genre classification before the romance…


Chapter 14- Black, White and Shades of Grey

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?- Henry David Thoreau

The five of them spent the rest of the night doing Potions research. Ron suffered a bite early on from one of the books he pulled off a shelf and claimed that research was a danger to his health. He now sat at a table with his head on his arms, snoring loudly. Hermione and Harry found a few books that mentioned the Rivière Noire potion, but they only talked about possible consequences should one attempt to brew a soul-destroying potion. They gave up when the clock struck 11. Harry grabbed the books they had found and shook Ron's shoulder.

"Come on, let's go," said Harry as Ron looked around the room, blinking his eyes. Hermione helped him out of the chair and the three of them climbed the stairs to their rooms. Harry stopped on the second floor.

"I'm just going to take these to Professor Snape and Sam," he said. "You go on. I'll be there in a while."

He walked down the hall and knocked softly. He heard soft footsteps behind the door and it opened to reveal a slightly disheveled Severus. Severus opened the door to let him in, motioning to where Samantha was sleeping on the bed, the covers strewn with parchment full of green ink.

"She's been asleep for while," said Severus softly. "I think she's still healing from that curse from the other day." He sat back down at the desk as Harry walked into the room. He stared at the two bookcases straining under the many books of Severus's library.

"Are these all yours, sir?" whispered Harry as he scanned the titles of the shelf on eye level. Severus laughed softly.

"Yes, Mr. Potter," he said in a low tone, grinning at the boy. "I'm an academic. As such, you tend to acquire texts as birthday and Christmas presents."

"Speaking of," said Harry, holding out the books he was carrying. "These are the only ones we found."

"Thank you for looking," said Severus as he took the books and set them on the desk. "It saved me the time of doing it myself." He sighed softly. "I think we'll start your lessons tomorrow. Just some exercises to see where the three of you are. I imagine you're all on different levels when it comes to different subjects."

"Doesn't Sam have to go to work in the morning?" asked Harry. "She mentioned that she worked in Kingsley's office."

"Yes, doing mindless paper shuffling," said Severus bitterly. He watched Samantha sleep as he continued in a softer tone. "She's going in at 8 tomorrow to tell Shacklebolt she's going on extended leave and then coming straight back. It's not safe for her to be at the Ministry since Voldemort knows she's still alive. There are too many people that wander in and out of that building for my comfort."

"Good," said Harry. At Severus's raised eyebrow, he smiled. "You know, she gave me that same look the night we had dinner at Remus's and it reminded me so much of you. Gave me chills."

Severus chuckled. "Yes, that tends to happen after you're around a person for almost 30 years. Sam and I have so many shared mannerisms, that it's hard to remember who had which one first." Harry smiled. An easy silence descended on the room, as they both watched Samantha reposition herself on the bed.

"Can I ask you something, sir?" asked Harry as he nervously ran a hand through his perpetually messy hair.

"You may," said Severus cautiously, "but I reserve the right to answer you."

"Fair enough, sir," said Harry. He sat on the floor, his back to the bookshelves. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again before he uttered a sound. Severus smirked slightly at him.

"Potter, I am much too tired tonight to reprimand you for speaking your mind," said Severus with a grin. Harry looked up at him sharply. "Simply say whatever it is that has you so tongue-tied. We can clarify your meaning from there."

Harry nodded slowly. He bent his head, gazing down at his hands in his lap.

"Do you think Malfoy really wanted to kill Dumbledore?" asked Harry softly. He looked back up at Severus. "Do you really think he would have gone through with it if the other Death Eaters hadn't shown up that night, if you hadn't done it for him?

Severus stared at him in slight shock. He gazed into those brilliantly green eyes, trying to reconcile this Potter to the one he had interacted with at Hogwarts. This boy was in total contradiction to the stubborn, resentful young man that Severus watched glare at him during feasts and Potions classes.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want," said Harry, sensing that Severus's pause was due to anger over Harry's prying. "I know it's pretty personal for you. But now that I've had time to really think about that night, I'm not so sure that he would have. I just wanted to hear your thoughts. Ron and Hermione think I'm crazy for thinking that Malfoy may not really want to be a Death Eater. It's kind of funny. I spent all of this year trying to convince them he was up to something, and now I'm trying to convince them that he may not really be as evil as we thought."

Severus gave him a sad grin. "I am not in the position to criticize you and your companions for holding grudges. I hold many myself against childhood rivals, as you well know." He sighed. "Draco, he – he grew up in a different world from you and your friends. He has been brainwashed to believe everything that Lucius tells him without question or face dire consequences. Becoming a Death Eater was part of that. It was expected of Draco. It most certainly was not a choice offered to him."

Severus looked away from Harry, his hands fidgeting in his lap.

"Even though I am his godfather, I couldn't stop him from taking the Mark. I talked to him at the end of term his fifth year about it." Severus shook his head. "The doubt was there, even then. Why I didn't act then will always be something I wonder about. Would it have preventing things from getting so out of hand? Would it have prevented Albus's death, had I been more bold? I fear it would have made no difference in the end. Draco had to take the Mark or watch Narcissa be murdered for his disobedience to Voldemort." He chuckled sadly. "However, that happened anyway."

Harry's eyes widened. "She was killed? For him not murdering Dumbledore?"

Severus swallowed thickly as the memory of Draco's eyes and the blood on the ground beneath Narcissa's lifeless body flashed through his mind. He nodded.

"Yes, at the last meeting I attended," said Severus. "Draco was punished with two doses of Crucio before watching Voldemort viciously murder his mother right before his eyes for making me swear the Vow. Draco is utterly alone. I cannot help him now unless he seeks me out, which would be incredibly foolish at this point in time."

Harry shook his head in disbelief. His head snapped up at the sound of Severus chuckling half-heartedly.

"Ironic how you and he now have something in common due entirely to my actions," said Severus morosely. "Both Lily and Narcissa tried to save their sons from being killed by Voldemort with their love. I doubt they realized that it would force both of you into the precarious situations in which you now stand." Harry stared at the ground, deep in thought as Severus rubbed his face tiredly. After a few minutes of silence, he turned to look at Harry.

"Now, it's my turn to ask you a question, Mr. Potter," said Severus. Harry grinned at him.

"Uh oh," said Harry teasingly. "Can I not answer if I don't like the question?"

"I suppose," said Severus, bringing his long fingers together in front of his face. "But I'm very curious to know the answer to this."

Harry sighed. "Alright, sir, fire away."

"Why do I suddenly have your respect?" asked Severus, gazing into the emerald eyes of the boy in front of him. "You threatened every Order member on my behalf the other day after six years of hating me with the fire of a thousand suns. You fired lethal curses at me that night I escaped from Hogwarts. And now we sit here, talking about things as if we're old friends. How did we get here, Mr. Potter?"

Harry sighed and leaned his head back against the shelf.

"I first met Sam at Remus's," he said softly. "He was still in the middle of cooking when she got there, so we went into the other room to talk. She told me that she had been really good friends with you in school. I was instantly suspicious of her. All during dinner, I watched her, trying to figure out if she was some Death Eater in disguise trying to get to me through the Order. Remus got a letter and left. We got to talking about you. I insulted you and she got really upset with me."

"It's one of the few things that makes her really angry," said Severus with a smirk. "Your father and his friends were on the wrong end of some very powerful hexes for comments they made about me in her presence. I think as she got older, your mother kept her from killing them."

Harry smiled. "Well, I told her to prove you were still loyal to us. That's when she told me everything you had told her at the funeral. About how you had been promoted to second-in-command after the Department of Mysteries battle, how Voldemort had given Malfoy the job to kill Dumbledore and that Mrs. Malfoy made you swear to do it if he failed."

"I also had to swear to keep Draco from being hurt," said Severus with a stern glare. "That's one of the many reasons why I was so furious at you that day you hit him with Sectumsempra. If Draco had died, I would have died. Immediately."

Harry paled at his words and looked to be sick. Severus waved a hand at him.

"What's done is done, Potter," he said softly. "Draco lived to die another day, and I am, surprisingly, still alive. Continue."

Harry swallowed visibly and started again. "Sam also told me what Dumbledore had said to you on the Tower that night, about the potion he drank. That was the worst part of going to get that damn locket." Harry paused and closed his eyes.

"He told me before he took the first sip to make him drink all of it, even if he said to stop. It was awful. He was screaming at me to kill him by the time we got to the bottom of the basin where the locket was. After we got the locket, he asked for water. The basin was surrounded by this big lake full of bodies. I couldn't get a water charm to work so I dipped the cup into the lake and gave it to him. The bodies, I guess they were Inferi, started to pull me in, but Dumbledore conjured this rope thing made of fire."

"Yes, that's a fairly complex spell," said Severus. "I can teach it to you if you want."

Harry nodded. "Thanks. So, I apparated us back to Hogsmeade. He was asking for you. I tried to go and get Madam Pomfrey but he wouldn't let me get anyone but you. That's when Madam Rosmerta came and told us about the Mark being seen over Hogwarts. We got some brooms and flew up there, with me under my Cloak. He petrified me once Malfoy opened the door. I couldn't do anything. Dumbledore just talked to him, trying to get him to join our side. Then you came through the door."

Harry cleared his throat, trying to ease the lump that had lodged itself there. "I didn't understand how you could that to him. Even now, knowing why you did what you did that night and knowing that Dumbledore had made you and about the Vow, I still have a hard time understanding. But for some reason, I wanted to believe Sam. She was so confident in her trust of you, just like Dumbledore was. I still didn't trust you fully then, but I told her that if you continued to pass the Order good information and if you helped me look for the other Horcruxes, I might give you another chance."

"I tried to find a way out," whispered Severus. He looked down at his hands. "I never wanted it to go that far."

Harry nodded. "I know that now. I don't think any of us could ever understand being in that position and having to do what you did, never mind doing it for years without letting Voldemort find out. Like you said, what's done is done and we can't change anything. I didn't believe you completely until the attack on the Burrow. I watched as you openly betrayed Voldemort to his face, even though you could have been killed instantly. I watched you called him Voldemort, not caring about what the other Death Eaters or the Order members thought. You tried to keep him from getting to Sam. Real Death Eaters don't do that. They don't even understand that kind of thinking. As soon as you threw your cloak and mask at him, I knew you were really with us. It was then that I trusted you 100 percent."

Severus was silent for a few moments. He looked over to where Samantha was still sleeping soundly, turned on her stomach, her hair over her face.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," said Severus. Harry nodded, understanding what he left unspoken.

"You're welcome, sir," said Harry. They sat in companionable silence until Harry yawned. Severus looked at his watch.

"It's late, Mr. Potter," said Severus as he stood and walked towards the door. "you should get some rest. Thanks again for the books."

"You're welcome, Professor," said Harry as he rose from the floor. "Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Potter."

The next morning Samantha woke to the feel of someone brushing the hair back from her face. She opened her eyes and smiled at Severus. He smiled back and kissed her forehead.

"It's 7:15, love," he said as he stood up beside the bed. "You'd better get up if you want to make it to the office by 8."

"Why are you up so early, Severus?" asked Samantha as she sat up, rubbing her face. "You must have gone to bed later than I did."

Severus shrugged and turned his back to her. "I stayed up doing some research on that potion we found and lost track of time." Samantha opened her mouth to yell at him, but he cut her off. "I'll be downstairs when you're ready with your tea." He walked out and shut the door behind him. Samantha sat on the bed for a few minutes, shaking her head. She went and got clean clothes from her room and made her way to the bathroom for a shower.

Fifteen minutes later, she joined Severus in the kitchen. He was reading over the paper when she reached for the cup of tea sitting across from him. He glanced at her, refolded the paper and set it on the table. He handed her a letter from his pocket.

"This came for you while you were in the shower," he said as she reached for it. "Ministry owl, by the look of it."

Samantha turned the envelope over to look at the seal. It was from the Auror office. She opened it and pulled out the note.

"It's from Kingsley," said Samantha as she read over the letter. "He says not to come in today and that he's already filed paperwork for my extended leave." She replaced the note back into the envelope. "Well, that's good news."

"Quite," said Severus as he took a sip of coffee. "If you want, you can send him back a note with Madeline. She should be back upstairs by now. Oh, and when you come back, bring your N.E.W.T. books with you. We need to go over our curriculum for the blackbirds."

"Will do," she said as she got up, her tea in hand. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She opened the door and almost walked right into a rumpled Harry.

"Morning, Sam," said Harry as he stepped aside to let her by. "Are you leaving for work now?"

"No, I'm actually on my way to thank Kingsley for putting me on leave so quickly," said Samantha. "I'll be back down to start breakfast after I send a note."

"Okay," said Harry. He walked to the stove and poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat down across from Severus and pointed a finger at the paper.

"Anything of note in there today, sir?" he asked as he scanned the front page from where he sat.

"Not that I saw," said Severus.

"Good, I hate reading the paper," said Harry as he took a drink of coffee. "I always make Hermione read the important stuff to me."

"Now there's an idea, Potter," said Severus as he tossed the paper to the other end of the table. "I wonder if I could get Sam to do that for me."

"I don't know, sir," said Harry with a grin. "She can be pretty feisty if you get her riled up."

"There is that," muttered Severus as the lady-in-question walked through the door with an armful of books.

"You guys hungry?" asked Samantha as she set the books down in an empty chair. "Did you send Kretcher out for groceries yet, Mr. Potter?"

"Enough already with the 'Mr. Potter," said Harry, grinning. "You're both going to have to get used to calling us by our first names. It's really weird with all the 'Mr. Weasley's and 'Miss Granger's. We all live in the same house now, for crying out loud. And yes, I sent him yesterday while you two were out buying books instead of Chocolate Frogs."

Samantha laughed. "Alright, Harry, but I will warn you now, it may take Severus a lot longer to get used to the change."

"That's okay," said Harry in a light tone. "We have time to work on it."

"I'm sitting right here, you know," said Severus as he stood to watch Samantha cook breakfast. "Can we have some porridge, Sam? I've had enough eggs and bacon."

"Hey, I happen to like eggs and bacon," said Harry from the table.

"We'll have all three, then," said Samantha as she put some pots and pans on the stove. She jabbed her wand underneath one to light a fire. "You wouldn't happen to know what the other two like, do you, Harry?"

"Ron'll eat anything you set in front of him," said Harry. "I don't know about Hermione. I know she eats pretty healthy most of the time. Must be from having dentists for parents."

"Eish," said Samantha as she put bacon in to fry. "I couldn't handle that. I have to have my sweets."

"And yet," said Harry as he took a plate of toast from Severus and set it on the table. "You didn't buy any yesterday."

"She only eats Honeydukes chocolate," said Severus as he toasted more bread. "She doesn't like anything else."

"Whereas Severus is quite partial to Sugar Quills," said Samantha as she cracked some eggs. "I remember one time in fourth year, you were caught by McGonagall eating one in class and got detention." She laughed at Severus's scowl.

"I wasn't the only one doing it," said Severus in a surly tone. "Practically half the class had one in their mouth and I was the only one who was caught."

"Well, it wouldn't have been so obvious if you had eaten it while we were taking notes instead of when we were trying to transfigure teacups," said Samantha. "It was your own fault."

"It still wasn't fair," mumbled Severus. Harry laughed as Hermione walked in the door and sat at the table. She grabbed the paper and started to read.

"Where's Ron?" asked Harry as he got up to get her a cup of coffee.

"I think he's still asleep," said Hermione as she turned the page. "He'll be up once he smells the food."

"There will be no lazing about in bed for anyone," said Severus with a sly grin. "I shall attend to Mr. Weasley." He stalked out of the room. There were a few minutes of silence. All of the sudden, a loud scream came from upstairs. Severus walked in the door moments later with a huge grin on his face.

"I've always wanted to do that," said Severus. He reached around Samantha to grab a piece of bacon, but she hit his hand with her wand.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing the red welt on the back of his hand. "What did you do that for?"

"You will wait until everything else is ready, Mr. I-Want-Porridge," said Samantha in a sassy tone. "Just go sit down at the table and quit being a nuisance." Ron walked in scowling, rubbing a hand through his wet hair.

"That's a crummy thing to do to someone when they're sleeping, Snape," he said as he gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek and sat down next to Harry.

"You should learn to get up earlier, Weasley," said Severus as he sat down and took a sip of coffee. He made a face and tapped the cup with his wand. Steam rose from the inside and he took another drink. Ron scowled at him and turned to Hermione. "Anyone we know die?"

"No," said Hermione as she refolded the paper. "Nothing but more commentary on security."

"Good," said Ron as he eyed the platter of bacon Samantha put on the table.

"Eat up," said Samantha as she sat next to Severus. "You want to have a good meal before your first day of summer school.

"That's enough to kill anyone's appetite," muttered Ron as he scooped eggs on his plate.

"We'll be starting out light today," said Severus as they all began to eat. "We'll ask you to show us what you can do and go from there. But first, I want to get an idea of where you all are. Harry, let's start with you." Harry laughed at Ron and Hermione's stunned faces.

"I told them to call us by our first names," said Harry, "since we all live in the same house."

Ron grinned and looked at Severus, who raised his eyebrow. "So does that mean I can call you 'Severus' now?"

"No, it most certainly does not, Weasley," said Severus. Ron frowned at him.

"You're more than welcome to call me Samantha or Sam, Ron," said Samantha as she backhanded Severus in the chest. "However, you would do well to keep your foot out of your mouth if you can help it." Ron glared at Severus before going back to his eggs.

"What did you want to know, sir?" asked Harry.

"Actually, I need some parchment," said Severus. "Wait just a moment." He rose and left the room, returning a minute later with ink, a quill, and some scraps of blank parchment. He wrote "Potter" on the top of one and underlined it. "Alright, Harry, what did you get on your O.W.L.s in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration and Defense?

"Exceeds Expectations in the first three, Outstanding in Defense," said Harry.

Severus nodded. "Not bad, not bad. How do you think you were doing in these subjects at the end of last year?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Probably somewhere between Acceptable and Exceeds Expectations. I'm not so sure about Defense." He shifted uneasily in his chair. "I still haven't gotten down how to spell nonverbally with some of the more complicated shields and jinxes."

"But your verbal casting is excellent and you've got quick reflexes," said Severus as he noted the test scores. "Your spell knowledge in Defense is also very advanced for your age group. For example, you can cast the Patronus Charm, correct?"

"Yes, sir," said Harry. "I've been able to since the end of third year. Last time I cast it, my form was a stag."

"Okay," said Severus as he continued to make notes. "Any specific things or subjects you want to learn or spend a little more time on outside of lessons themselves?"

"I'll probably need more time on Potions, seeing as how I don't have the book I was using for class with me," said Harry, looking down into his plate. He glanced up at Severus, who was smirking at him.

"And just where, exactly, is my book, Potter?" he asked. "I spent a lot of time on all those notes in the margins."

"You always were such a showoff in Potions," said Samantha sullenly. "Making up fancy steps in order to improve your potions. You and Lily both. I hated sitting next to you two. Slughorn always gave me that look."

"Tell me about it," muttered Ron.

"I hid it in the Room of Requirement," said Harry. "I hid it that day when you asked me for my books."

"Hm," said Severus with a thoughtful look. "We'll have to get it back."

"Uh," said Harry, not liking the look on Severus's face. "Right. Well, I would like to be fairly advanced in everything. When Dumbledore dueled Voldemort at the Ministry, he did a bunch of awesome spells that had a lot of power, like transfiguring the statue to absorb spells and surrounding Voldemort in a water cocoon."

"I may have to go get some more books from Flourish and Blotts then and do a little studying myself," said Samantha. "Those are way above N.E.W.T. standard. But don't worry," she said at his disappointed look. "I'll see what we can do."

"Next," called Severus. "Hermione. Same questions."

"Outstanding in everything but Defense," she said with a blush. "Exceeds Expectations on that one, although Harry taught me how to do the Patronus Charm during fifth year. My form's an otter."

"Wow," said Samantha. "They weren't kidding when they said you were brilliant, were they?"

"No, we weren't," said Severus as he made notes. "Last year's grades were probably close to the same, correct?"

"Yes, pretty close," said Hermione, nodding her head. "As for other subjects, I would like to do Arithmancy and Ancient Runes if I could."

"Sam could help you with Arithmancy," said Severus. "I chose Runes instead, so I could tutor you in that. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of," said Hermione.

"Excellent," said Severus as he turned the parchment over on top of Harry's. "And last but not least - Ronald."

"Exceeds Expectations across the board," said Ron. "But I never did get my Patronus down during our DA meetings."

"We'll work on that then," said Severus. "We're planning on teaching you Albus's Patronus Messaging Charm so that in the unfortunate event we get separated or need to contact one another, we can have a tamper-proof way of communicating."

"Wicked!" cried Ron. He took a swig of juice from his cup. "And I'm like Harry, I'll need lots of help with Potions and nonverbal spells. I wasn't doing as well in my classes. My grades were probably closer to Acceptable than Exceeds Expectations."

"That's okay," said Samantha. "We'll get you back up to speed in no time." She turned to Severus, who was looking over all three sheets. "Do you think it would be best to work with them each one-on-one, rotating them between us? The odd one out could have free time to do readings or practice."

"We won't have enough time doing it that way," said Severus. He leaned back in his chair, tracing his lips with his finger. "Most of the lessons will have to be done with all three of them together. We could use one or two evenings for specialty training." He looked at his watch. "It is now 9. Everyone be back here at 10 with any school texts you need and we'll get started."