The next morning, Rose and Harry slept a little later than usual and showed up for Breakfast after 10 am. Remus and Sirius had worked hard on the party preparations already and they barely recognized the living room and the garden when they arrived.
"Who cooked all of this?" Rose asked, in awe.
"Well, I made the breakfast. For the rest, Molly insisted we let her help so she, Winky, Dobby and Kreacher did most of it. Remus bought the muggle drinks." Sirius replied.
Indeed, Kreacher had become quite useful and much nicer since he had found out that they were doing the same thing as Regulus did before he died. He was now much happier to serve Sirius and to belong to him. He almost never mentioned the Malfoy's or Bellatrix anymore.
Sirius seemed to feel bad about his brother, ever since he learned the truth. He was starting to miss and mourn the brother he wasn't present for and he tought that, maybe, if he had stayed in Regulus' life, he'd still be alive and he'd have taken better decisions. He had even placed a picture of his brother in their new home.
Rose and Harry had a great, happy breakfast with Sirius and Remus and then, they helped finish getting the house and garden ready. Around 2pm, the guests started to arrive and, by 3, the house and the garden were full of people who came to wish the Potter twins a happy birthday.
Of course, people without personal invitations couldn't come in, they had placed a lot of security measures in place to ensure the safety of everyone who came. There was even a charm placed on their door that canceled the effects of polyjuice potion.
They both got a lot of presents, but that's not what they cared about. They were happy because they were together, surrounded by friends and family, with laughter, happiness and a lot of joy. This party even allowed them to meet some of their parents' friends that they had never gotten to meet before today.
They spent the afternoon playing games, joking around, laughing and Harry used this afternoon to introduce Rose to all of his school friends, or at least to the once who had been able to come. Of course Neville and his grandmother were there, but Harry had also invited Seamus and Dean for the afternoon and they had both agreed to come.
Mostly, Harry and Rose got candy boxes, prank sets for gifts but also a few fun books and even clothes. Krum had brought Harry a signed shirt from his Quidditch team, the entire team had signed for him, while he got Rose a book she had always wanted about the greatest duelist of this century. Fred and George had given each of them a sample of the products they had already managed to complete like fever fudges or fake wands.
They even joked, saying they could send one of their fake wands to Voldemort for Christmas and his Birthday with a note saying "maybe this one will work better against Harry Potter" and they laughed imagining his reaction. Even Dumbledore laughed at this joke, wondering if it would be immature of him to do so and how he could get it to Tom Riddle safely. Should he really do it?
Around 7pm, Harry and Rose's school friends left and went back home, leaving only Order members and close friends to finish the party. Harry was surprised to see that Neville's grandmother was among the people who had been invited to stay but he was happy to be able to spend more time with his classmate, who seemed to get along well with Rose.
A few of his school professors were also present, but it didn't surprise him, he figured that they must be part of the Order in one way or another.
When she opened her presents, the ones that had been brought by the guests who were still present, Rose blushed happily when she saw Fred's present for her. She hadn't been expecting it, she figured that his gift for her was the same one his brother and he had given earlier, with the other, younger, guests. It was a simple but very pretty golden chain with a golden rose, whose petals were made of a red stone, hanging from it. It was absolutely beautiful and she put it around her neck almost immediately, deciding on never taking it off. She knew that she was blushing bright red when she thanked him. In the back of her head, she wondered it this necklace wasn't too much, but she didn't speak her thoughts. Given the value of it, surely it meant that he had feelings for her, right?
"Why is Snape here?" Neville asked Harry in a scared whisper.
"He's part of the Order, a spy. Sirius and he have been working a lot on their anger toward each other lately. I guess they invited him to work more on their issues. Dumbledore probably insisted." Harry replied before Neville nodded to show that he understood and went to talk with Ron a little bit.
"Harry, we should go and speak to him now, he's leaving. We'll pretend we need some air and nobody will know we talked to him." Rose whispered to her brother a few minutes later.
Harry nodded and followed her outside, toward the front gate.
"Professor, wait, please." Rose called out.
"Miss Potter, I don't have the luxury of spending all my time here. I have important things to do in the morning and I need my rest." Snape replied, stopping his advance but to looking at her.
"We know, professor, but we'd like to speak with you about something." Harry insisted.
"We're doing it now because we think that you won't want anyone knowing about this discussion. If, once we're done, you'd rather we acted as thought this conversation never happened, we will, because we understand the importance of appearances for your position as a spy." Rose added.
"Now you've spiked my interest a little, it's rare. I'll allow you a few minutes of my time." He nodded, allowing them to start talking.
"Harry, you start." Rose encouraged her brother.
"Well, my aunt Petunia never spoke much of my parents, my mother, but when she did, she often complained about 'that boy who took her away' or 'that awful boy' and I always thought that she was talking about my father but then this summer she slipped and said your name, explaining that you and my mother used to be best friends long before she got her letter, she said that you were the one who told Lilly that she was a witch." Harry declared and Severus Snape paled and closed his eyes.
"She, I mean Aunt Petunia, mentioned that you didn't see our mother as a friend, but as more and that she doubted your feelings would waver with time. We were wondering what the truth was." Rose asked.
"Like Rose said, Professor, we just want to know, nothing has to change. You can go back to taking points from Gryffindor every time I sneeze once this conversation is over if you want, it's probably best if you do given your perilous position. We just want to know. I'll even make it easy for you if that's what you want." Harry insisted.
"No need to make it too easy either Harry." Rose scolded him, making Snape fight a smile.
"I thought that this would stay buried, even though Dumbledore said it wouldn't be easy to keep this from you. I will tell you the truth, because I can guess that if I don't, you'll keep on trying to get it, but once this is done, you mention it to no one, do you understand?" Snape said in a very serious voice and they both nodded before he placed a privacy charm around them.
"Of course. This conversation will stay between us and never be mentioned again unless you tell us that we can." Rose nodded.
"I won't even tell Hermione or Ron or Sirius. So far they know nothing of this." Harry promised.
"I did love Lilly. We didn't live far from each other when we were kids and I met her a few years before we went to Hogwarts, in a nearby park. We immediately became friends, which Petunia hated, maybe because Lilly didn't spend all of her time with her anymore, I can't be sure and I never tried to find out. I never cared much for Petunia. I didn't know what it was back then, I was too young to recognize these feelings, but I've loved Lilly ever since the first time I saw her. She was kind, smart, funny and full of fire and light. I have a hard time believing that anyone who knew her could hate her. When we were sorted into different houses, we did our best to stay friends, and we managed to do it even though it wasn't easy, until our fifth year. I was hanging out with people she didn't like, and who didn't like her because she was muggle born. In front of the others, I called her mudblood, because I didn't want them to reject me, and she forgave me for a time but before the end of the year, our friendship was over. I tried to forget about her, but it was pointless. I was in love with her and that never changed, even when I joined the Dark Lord, even when she started dating Potter, or when she married him. When I found out that he believed the prophecy to be about you, Harry, and that he intended to kill your parents before he killed you…"
"You became a spy…" Rose guessed in a whisper.
"Yes. I warned Dumbledore and offered to become a spy. When she died anyway, I promised to do my best to keep her son safe, as long as nobody found out about it. I didn't want you to know about this." Snape finished.
"I'm sorry." Harry whispered.
"Harry, maybe you should tell him… About what you see when the dementors are close." Rose told her brother.
"What is this?" Snape asked.
"I hear them die. First my father telling my mother to take me and run because Voldemort is here, that he somehow found them, then my mother begging Voldemort to let me live. He kept on telling her to move out of the way, that she didn't have to die and I never understood why until now. It's because of you, isn't it? You asked him to try and spare her?" Harry asked his feared potion teacher.
"I did. I know that it's selfish, but I asked him to spare her life. I knew that I couldn't stop him from killing you on my own but I could at least try to get him to spare her life. Even if James died, even if you died, I had to try and get him to keep her alive for me." He nodded.
"I understand." Harry said.
"I'm glad you did." Rose told him.
"As long as we're having a conversation that's going to stay between us, I know that the headmaster told you two about the prophecy. Did he tell you anything about who made it and where?"
"Yes, he told us that Harry's divination teacher made it and that this was the reason why he hired her, in case she was to make another one." Rose nodded.
"Which she did in my third year when she said Pettigrew would escape and join Voldemort again." Harry added with a frown.
"I have to confess that I was there that day, I overheard part of the prophecy and I'm the one who informed the Dark Lord about it. I'm not proud of it and I think, deep down, this is why I've been so hard on you, because you should be angry with me." He confessed.
"I… You didn't know, you just wanted to belong, be with people who accepted you without judgment and when you found out his true purpose, you changed side. In the end, you did the right thing." Rose declared.
"She's right, there's nothing to forgive. They were fighting against him anyway, they had risked their lives several times before that. Faced Him 3 times. They could have died anyway. I… If you're looking for forgiveness, you have it. And… Thank you, for looking out for me without telling me, especially since I didn't exactly make it easy for you. I kind of understand that it can't be easy for you, considering how much I look like my father." Harry declared, surprisingly mature about it.
"Nothing can change. You'll have to act the same way when we get back to school, Potter. My position depends on it and on your acting skills. If you can't act, I can always obliviate you." Snape warned him.
"Don't worry, Professor, we've talked about it already and we know that we'll have to pretend nothing has changed, at least until Voldemort's gone." Rose assured him.
Snape nodded and, for the first time, looked at her. They could see in his eyes that he saw Lilly in her.
"You look a lot like your mother, Rose. Of course, your father is still visible in your traits but you're a lot like her. She'd be so proud of the two of you." Severus confessed and the twins both smiled and nodded their thank.
"Yeah, and, I think I'll apologize now for what I'll do or say back in School, in order to keep up your cover, of course. Just remember that it's nothing personal and that I… hum… Don't hate you. I'll mean you no disrespect when I do… Whatever I'll end up doing… or say whatever I'm going to end up saying." Harry told his professor with a little smile.
"Of course." Snape sighted, already dreading the classes.
They could both see something in his eyes as he looked at them one last time and then he closed them, turned around and left.
"That was very mature of the two of you." Albus Dumbledore declared from behind them.
"Professor! How long have you been here?" Harry exclaimed.
"I followed the two of you, just in case. We can never be too safe, I was worried about the reason why you went outside, trying to be unnoticed. Forgiving him was very generous of you two. Maybe, now, he'll finally be able to forgive himself. Though I'd suggest not putting too much energy into keeping your cover up, acting like you usually do should be enough." The headmaster nodded before he guided them back inside.
I just love writing the last part of their conversation with Snape, where Harry apologizes in advance lol
Next chapter, Harry's birthday is celebrated by Voldemort.
Review please?
Lorelei Candice Black