The mind of Severus Snape was traveling along the same lines. He had hated

James, and his hatred was part of the way he had acted the way he had. But the whole

situation was so much more complicated than that. He had more reason to hate Harry

than Harry knew, than even Dumbledore knew. And that wasn't all. He had secrets,

secrets he did not trust Harry with, things that just knowing one part of would be

dangerous. It was absolutely vital that the Dark Lord not find out, lest he put the pieces

he had together.

Nonetheless, Severus was not comforted. "Well," he thought savagely to himself

"Your precious secrets have cost a boy the closest thing to a father he ever knew!" He got

up of the bed he had been sitting on in the dark, and began to pace the bedroom,

frustrated. He said aloud, "What am I supposed to do?" On impulse he strode across the

room and opened the top drawer in chest of drawers. From inside he took out a

marvelous, beautiful box. It was made of different colored metals, engraved and inlaid

with interlocking patterns of trees, birds, plants, and stars, and depictions of as many of

the so-called mythical creatures of Faery as fit. The center of the lid was inlaid with a

silver oroborous, a single emerald set between the heads and tails of the serpents that met

each other in a diamond.

He lifted the lid of the box. Inside it were his most treasured possessions. A

photograph of his mother smiling up at him, timid and sad. A ring that matched the motif

on the box lid. A wand that would never have fit in the box if it hadn't been enchanted to

fit anything inside it. He pulled it out to get at the last thing in the box. It was nearly two

feet long. The last thing was a framed muggle photograph. The serpent theme was

repeated on the frame, as it was on many things in this house. With a small moan Severus

put the photo into the light of the nearly full moon that came through the nearest window.

He seldom looked at this photo, for much the same reason he hated looking at Potter. It

was painful. Despite that fact that the picture was still, the camera had managed to catch

the subject in a way that suggested she was never still, and showed her temperament. Her

eyes seemed to be laughing at him teasing. He could almost hear her teasing him.

"Severus is afraid!" "I can't" he groaned "it would be disastrous!" He knew what she

would say. "So?" He kicked the wall in annoyance and heard something crunch. It

certainly wasn't the wall.