Yo! Sorry about the wait. Been some shit going on with my health-my eyes and mental health, specifically. A new medication I was put on to help my eyes, made my depression much worse, and due to that, I did basically no writing at all for the past few months. In fact, the second half of this chapter makes it the most I've written over the past six months or so. I'm on a different medication now, since the first one wasn't even actually working, and it looks like my depression has gone back to its usual levels, so I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing. It's surprisingly harder to do than you might think. Thank you to all readers so far!

"...You wish to take supplementary lessons in Potions. With me." The words being spoken by Snape were anything but a question.

I thought I said I would find a not suspicious way to approach Snape!? Acting as casual as he could, considering it was Snape he was talking to, Harry nodded and shrugged vaguely. "Yeah," he said.

Snape looked down at him, suspicion clearly visible in his eyes. "Why?"

"Why not?"

"...Why...not...?"

Harry shrugged again. "Yeah. I mean, I'm sure Dumbledore's told you I want to be an Auror once I get out of here, and you know as well as I do that getting an O on my Potions OWL was just a fluke. We're only a couple of weeks into the school year, but I'm already confused about what's going on in class. So I figured it was about time I shoved away my pride and asked for some extra help."

"Why not ask Granger for help?"

"Hermione? Ha! Hermione's smart and everything, but she isn't patient enough at all to actually sit down and tutor someone. She likes learning, but she isn't as interesting in teaching."

Snape just stared at him in silence, and Harry knew the man didn't believe him in the slightest. But that was fine. This was the excuse he was using and he was going to stick with it for as long as he possibly could. Even if Snape didn't believe him, Harry was sure he was smart enough to see where he was going with this, at least in the sense that he wanted a chance for them to be alone for a while. This would give them time to talk without drawing suspicion from others. That was Harry's priority. Making sure other people didn't end up suspicious-especially Dumbledore.

"...Very well."

Harry blinked, genuinely surprised by the answer. "Seriously?"

"Indeed. You are to come here twice every week-Tuesday and Thursday after dinner. Those are the only evenings that I have available. Do not be late or I will end this charade before it even has the chance to begin."

"Of course. Thanks, professor." Deciding it was best to leave it at that and not push his luck any further, Harry left the dungeon classroom immediately, heading up to Gryffindor Tower so he could fill his friends in on what Snape had said.

That had gone far better than Harry had thought it would...

"So what're you going to tell him?" Ron, who had just heard about what had happened from Harry, asked curiously. "I mean, where are you even planning on starting?"

"Good question," said Harry with a sigh. The two of them (Hermione had a lesson, so Ron had promised to fill her in later) were locked in the Prefect's bath. It wasn't the best place to talk or anything, but at least it was private. Well, so long as Moaning Myrtle didn't come eavesdropping again or anything. "I'm still kind of trying to figure that bit out. I mean..." he scratched his head, "do I start at the beginning, as in, second year, or in the middle with fourth year, or just the stuff from this year?"

"And that's if it's even worth telling him all of that stuff at all."

"Yeah," Harry agreed with a nod. "I guess I can probably start with some test questions and so on-see where he might stand in the war and Dumbledore and Voldemort, but I still think trying to get him on our side will be the smartest thing we can do when it comes to him specifically."

Ron looked at him closely, and leaned back against the nearest wall. "So you're dead set on it? Getting Snape to join us, I mean."

"I am. Maybe it's just the way he was acting when he got me from the Dursleys, but...I don't think he's as, I dunno, devoted to Dumbledore as the Order thinks he is." Then Harry shrugged. "Course, I can't say how he feels about Voldemort or anything-we've got no information on that front, that's for sure."

"That's true," said Ron with a frown. "And even if we did have any kind of information on Snape's-er, devotion, I guess, to Voldemort, we have no way of actually proving anything. Guess we don't with Dumbledore either though."

Harry inclined his head, agreeing with that. "I just figure that if he really was all for Voldemort, he'd have taken me to him instead of the Burrow that day in the summer. Not to mention there've been plenty of other times where I've been alone with him-times he could have done something but didn't."

"But is that really enough of a reason to think he isn't as...Death Eatery as we think?"

"No, not really." Harry sighed, removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes, replaced his glasses, then said, "I don't think speculating on it is going to get us anywhere."

"Fair enough. The bat really is a mystery, huh?"

Harry laughed, unable to deny the words at all. Ron was right about that. Harry wasn't sure he had ever encountered a mystery bigger than the mystery that was Snape.

That Thursday evening, Harry quietly made his way from Gryffindor Tower, through the castle, and down into the dungeons. It was almost eight, and Snape was expecting him. Harry was feeling a little nervous. Being around Snape seemed to have that effect on most people, not just him, but still, it was actually kind of funny. Either way, he did his best to ignore the growing nervousness. He had been the one to ask for this, and this was very important too, so he absolutely had to go through with it, no matter how he felt about it.

Snape called him in as soon as he knocked, and when Harry entered the dungeon classroom, he was pleased to see that he and Snape were the only ones inside. That was perfect. Hopefully Snape wasn't expecting anyone else and these...tutoring sessions would be private between just the two of them. Since Snape was obviously still suspicious about his true motivations, Harry had a feeling they'd go uninterrupted.

"What is this all about, Potter?"

Harry merely glanced at the professor, even as he pulled off his robes and rolled up his sleeves. "I told you, I need tutoring in potions, sir. You're a Potions Master and a professor, so you're obviously the best person to ask, even if we don't get along that well."

Snape stared at him, clearly judging him and weighing his words, no doubt trying to figure out whether there was any hidden meaning behind them, but then he nodded, clearly not satisfied, but deciding not to waste any more time. "Very well, we will begin with the first potion you brewed this year-yours was...passable at best."

Harry nodded and the lesson began, going smoothly, if forcibly casually. It looked like Snape was trying to be at least somewhat civil with him, just like he'd been back at Number Four. And while that was better than Snape being angry, it made it a bit hard to tell what he was actually thinking. Though Harry supposed that was always a problem when it came to Snape. Did anyone ever know what he was thinking?

"Soooo..."

"Yes, Potter?"

Harry paused for a beat, debating on just how blunt he wanted to be. He had said to Ron that he would just throw out a few hints and whatnot, but was that really what he wanted to do? It was Snape, and Snape was no idiot. Harry knew he was bound to pick up on even the smallest hints and suggestions almost instantly.

Beating around the bush was just going to be a waste of time, Harry already knew that, but he also wasn't ready to just come out and tell Snape everything. He wanted Snape on their side-on his side, but he still didn't trust him fully. It was sort of contradictory, Harry knew that too, but Snape was an advantage. One he understood perfectly well why Dumbledore and Voldemort both wanted. He wanted it too, but didn't want to obtain it through underhanded measures. He wanted loyalty and trust on his side, not cowardice or fear or obligation.

Harry didn't want to start this off on a lie though, even though he didn't want to reveal everything, and empty promises would mean nothing to Snape if coming from someone like Harry. So what he needed was some sort of truth that would grab Snape's attention and keep it on him, even if he wasn't around. A truth that would lead to positive attention, rather than negative. A truth that would lead Snape to question Dumbledore, and perhaps, if he was lucky enough, even soften his opinion about Harry just enough for the seed to be planted.

"Did you know you were listed as one of my potential guardians in my parents' wills?"

The empty vial Snape was holding slipped from his grasp and shattered on the stone floor. Neither of them spoke. Snape stood frozen, staring at Harry, and Harry stared back, more startled by the sound than anything else. Only the soft bubbling from the nearby cauldron was providing any noise in the otherwise silent dungeon classroom.

Then Snape pulled out his wand to clean up the mess, purposely ducking his head to look at the floor, so Harry couldn't see his face. "I thought you were old enough to know not to tell such obvious lies."

Harry wasn't surprised by the reaction, though he was just a little confused by the words. He'd been expecting a hostile refusal, not a half-assed accusation of lying. It was odd. Very odd. Especially for Snape. Or at least, the Snape he knew. Harry was fully aware that there was a whole other side to this man that others rarely saw, and Harry wondered if he was catching a glimpse of that side right now.

"I'm not lying," he said, keeping his voice even. "I have no reason to lie about something like this. It's a pretty easy thing to prove. All you have to do is listen to mum and dad's wills. They both definitely say your name. There's no mistaking it. Unless there's another man named Severus Snape out there that they both knew, of course."

The mess cleaned, Snape raised his head, and his eyes met Harry's. Not quite angry, not quite sad, not quite pleased, not quite confused. "They both said my name...?"

Slowly, Harry nodded. "They did. Mum and dad had separate wills, and they both listed the people they wanted to be my guardian or guardians if something ever happened to them. Sirius was their first choice, and the Longbottoms their second, but both of them said your name third-Tonks' family was fourth. Admittedly, dad didn't sound as enthusiastic about naming you as mum did, but they definitely both said your name. I wanted to know if you knew about it, but judging by your reaction, I'm guessing that's a no."

"I...did not know. I was never told." Snape's voice sounded...strange, but Harry couldn't place the emotion he was hearing any more than the one he could see in Snape's eyes.

Harry hesitated slightly, then said, "I don't mean anything by this, and I'm not trying to start anything, but why would they include you in that list?" He thought it was a pretty fair question. While Snape had never mentioned anything about his mum, he'd never shied away from bringing up his hatred for his dad. And Sirius had been sure to tell him plenty about the problems that had existed between Snape and the Marauders. And Snape didn't seem to care much for him either. So why name him as a possible guardian? His parents wouldn't have done that for no reason.

Snape turned away. "Your...mother and I were once friends."

"...Oh." Despite everything he had been thinking earlier, Harry honestly hadn't been expecting to hear that, even though he'd been guessing that was the case since he'd heard the two wills himself in the summer. Snape being friends with his mum was kind of a weird mental image. But...it also explained a lot. "Did you stop being friends?"

"For some time, yes. We...had an argument in our fifth year that lead to the breaking of our friendship*. You should already be aware of which argument that was."

Harry flinched, but didn't say anything. Snape was right, he did know about that argument. He'd witnessed it just last year in the Pensieve he should never have snooped in in the first place. That argument made a lot more sense too, now that he thought about it. "But if that friendship ended in your fifth year, why would mum and dad have-?"

"We...rekindled our friendship some years later."

"You did?"

"Three years after we left the castle we ran into one another. We ended up speaking, discussed our argument from before, and came to an agreement about both it and our lives. I did think at the time that she was saying some strange things, and looking back at it now, I believe she was already expecting you. Perhaps that was why she wanted to make amends. I...did not think that that reconciliation would be enough for both her and Pot-and her husband to name me a possible guardian for their child, however."

Okay, so they'd made up. Sure, that made sense. But like Snape said, that didn't sound like enough to have Snape possibly raising their child if something ever happened to them. And even if his mum had been the one to make up with Snape, his dad clearly hadn't. So why had both his parents been alright with the decision?

Was that decision something they'd actually even agreed to on their own, or had something coaxed them into it? Not knowing his parents, Harry wasn't sure which was more likely. He was going to have to bring this up with people who had actually known his parents, because he knew this was something he was never going to be able to answer on his own.

*Apparently, I wrote 'breaking of our fellowship', instead of 'breaking of our friendship'. Guess I've been thinking about the Lord of the Rings too much again. Although, I suppose fellowship would still work in this context, wouldn't it?

I'm too lazy to check, but I think an anon asked me how Azure Iris equates to Moody. If I'm remembering the meaning of those words correctly, then I believe azure is a shade of blue, and iris is a synonym for eye. So Azure Iris equals Blue Eye equals Moody, due to that spinning blue eye of his. That was what I was going for, at any rate. I think an iris is also a type of flower, so maybe that's where the confusion came from? Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!