The next morning, Severina sat looking over a box of mementos. Oddly enough, her father had held onto them for her. Many of the items she had forgotten. Going down memory lane, she lost track of time and forgot she was awaiting the arrival of her brother. A knock on her door made her come back to the present. "Yes?"

Harry's hesitant voice sounded from the other side. He had never been to her rooms, and was worried about how they had left things the night before. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," she answered.

Harry entered the room, taking a quick look around. They were alone, as he had hoped. "Snape told me you wanted to see me."

"I wanted to talk with you, yes." She motioned to a spot beside her on her bed. "Sit." Harry sat and waited. She had something to say. He would let her say it. "I want to show you some things as well."

He nodded. "Alright."

"But first…" Harry looked at her openly, ready for whatever she said. "I want you to tell me something. How can you so easily turn on someone you supposedly loved?"

"What?" The question was one he was not prepared for, and it took him slightly by surprise.

"You heard me." She had yet to look up from the box since he had sat down. She continued to rummage through the items within.

Harry thought only a moment before answering, sticking to his guns the way he had the night before. "She wasn't the person I was lead to believe. The woman I was told about would never have done the things she did."

"So, she did not love us?" Severina asked in a calm, understanding tone.

"In a way, I suppose she did, but that doesn't make her a good mother." He shrugged and looked at his feet to avoid the gaze now leveled upon him.

"I may not act as though I am older than you at times, but I am, Harry. Though not much older, I have seen things you have not. I knew the woman you have only been told of." She pulled a simple silver ID-like bracelet from the box. She fingered the bracelet as she pulled a small album out as well, which she passed to Harry. "You were not there. You shouldn't judge."

"And, I suppose you were old enough to remember?" He looked at the photos inside. Many were of Severina as she aged. Some were of Lily and James. More yet were of baby Harry. A select few were of Severus throughout the years.

"Some things, yes."

"So, some pictures are suppose to make it all alright?"

She did not say anything as she held the bracelet out for him to see. He took the offered item, noticing there was an inscription on either side. The outer side said 'Angel Princess'. The underside said 'To Lily's little angel and my little princess. -James'. Harry started fighting the tears that were coming to his eyes. "All this proves is that my dad was a bigger man than she gave him credit for." He was not going to give up the fight yet. So, she placed stacks of letters before him. The letters were from Lily and James, even a few were from Sirius. He eyed them, starting to cry though he tried to not.

Severina reached forward and touched his cheek. "Harry, it's okay. I understand why you felt the way you did. Our mother understands, too. You see, she never abandoned us. She's right here." She placed his hand on her heart as she placed one of her own on his. "She'll always be there, as will James and Sirius."

"She… She left us both."

"Physically, Harry. She had no choice. She lives on in us. Do you think she found joy in leaving me so that I would not be killed? Do you think she wanted to leave you? There is only one person to blame for any of this." She eyed him hardly. "He is the one that took her away from us, took them all from us."

"If I had not been born you would still have her."

Severina was startled by that thought. "He would have killed them at some point, Harry. I would not trade you for that time I could have had. I cannot trade you for anything." She pulled him into her arms and kissed his forehead.

"You don't know that! Someone could have stopped him. They might still be alive today."

"Harry, Peter could have stopped him, could have not betrayed them." She had learned from her father the claims of Sirius that Peter Pettigrew was the one to blame for what Sirius was accused. She had adamantly agreed that Sirius could never have done what they all claimed. Neither she nor her father talked about it any more. They had decided to disagree. "They would still be here. The past is gone and we are now. We must live with what we have and not for what may have been."

"What is now sucks. I'm tired of losing people. I don't want to lose you, too."

She squeezed him to her. "I don't think so. I have you, and you will not lose me. If I die, Harry, I will be with you. The stones connect us even beyond death." She touched hers where it rested on her throat. She had put it on a leather choker.

He finally started to really cry, not fighting it any more. "No more death. I'm sick of it. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

She tightened her hold. "Alright." She rocked him gently. "I love you, Harry. You must know that."

"I love you, too, Vena." He stayed where he was, just allowing her to hold him.