Riding the Hogwarts Express the next day was fun.

Florence had never spent so much time on a train before.

Severus and her sat most of the time in a compartment with Lily, Alice and Frank. Even Remus Lupin joined them for a few minutes.

Occasionally, Florence and Severus were alone, and they took full advantage of those precious minutes, she sat on his lap as they heavily snogged - making her ponder if her choosing to not wear a skirt on the train had been a blessing or a curse.

However, halfway through the six-hour trip, Severus left their compartment for about an hour to talk to his friends – Travers had called him to discuss 'business' (his words), and Florence didn't follow him, she wanted to avoid being close to anyone whose family was a follower of her father's.

King's Cross Station

Eileen Snape was there when the train arrived at the platform, waiting nervously to see her goddaughter. And when she spotted her son, hand in hand with a gorgeous brown-haired girl, she practically ran towards them.

"Severus! Florence!"

Eileen hugged her son and then turned to look at the girl.

"Look at you! You are so beautiful and so grown up! I'm so happy to see you!" she hugged Florence, "You really remind me of your mum," she smiled at her, but suddenly frowned, looking from her to Severus, "Wait. Were you two holding hands?"

The couple blushed but neither said a word.

Eileen laughed at their embarrassment and shook her head, "I am not letting you two off the hook so easily! I want to know what's happening here!"

"Can we get home first?" asked Severus, looking around the platform, not liking the attention his mother was calling.

Eileen startled, "Of course!" as if she had forgotten what she had gone there to do.

She pulled a small mirror from her bag, activating the portkey with her wand, and in seconds they were transported to her backyard.

They walked into Eileen's house at Spinner's End through the back door, entering the kitchen and following her to the living room.

Florence ashamedly realized that that had to be the smallest house she'd ever been to. And it was not as luxurious as she was used to either, but it was clean and it looked cosy.

The first floor had a comfortable living room with a sofa, two armchairs, a pretty rug and a large fireplace, there was also a dining space and a kitchen; the second floor had two bedrooms and each bedroom had it's own bathroom.

"Florence you may leave you bags in my room," Eileen said as they entered the living room.

"I don't want to bother you, godmother…"

"It's no bother having you here, my dear!" exclaimed Eileen picking up both her hands, "Don't you ever think that! I've waited years to see you again! I want you to feel at home here. Our house is not as big as what I know you are used to, we only have two bedrooms here, and that's why you're sleeping in mine."

"I can sleep on the sofa, mum," Offered Severus, "Florence can have my room."

"I can't kick you out of your own room, Severus!" Florence said.

"I insist," he replied.

"Fine. I'll accept it," Florence said, smiling as she pictured herself sleeping on a bed that smelled like him.

Eileen pulled Florence to the sofa, where the two of them sat, while Severus chose one of the armchairs.

"Thank you for sending dear Tiffany here to help me," said Eileen, "We've spent hours remembering your mother, it was a beautiful trip down memory lane. I asked Tiff to prepare one of Sophie's favourites for us for dinner: Cornish pasties. Severus loves them too, but they are a lot of work to prepare, so I rarely make them myself."

"I'm glad she is helping you. I saw no reason to keep her alone in the manor while I'm here," said Florence.

" In the manor, " Severus repeated, mockingly, "How haughty. "

"Severus!" chastised Eileen with a gasp.

"Don't worry, godmother." Florence laughed, "It's nothing but an inside joke. Severus accused me of being a rich heiress with no notion of life's hardships just a few days ago."

" What ?" Eileen was furious at her son, "I taught you better than that!"

"And he was right," continued Florence, "We've already talked about it. No hard feelings."

Eileen looked from Florence to her son, seeing it was clearly just a joke between them, "Talking about feelings..." she said, "I saw you two holding hands earlier at the platform. What's going on here?"

"We're dating," Florence answered, looking at a blushing Severus, "Officially, since yesterday."

Eileen smiled warmly, "Your mother must be very happy, Florence. We used to write to each other when we were pregnant, and she used to say she hoped our kids would be together someday; she even dreamed that they would be blessed by The Enchantment!" Eileen laughed, "Can you imagine that? She truly believed in the power of love, my dear Sophie did," neither of the two teenagers spoke a word, so Eileen looked at them, reading their silence as confirmation, a look of utter surprise showing on her face, "Don't tell me she got her wish?"

"Well, yes, actually," Florence was the one to answer again, "We've already felt it acting between us," she finished, being it her turn to blush.

Eileen sighed heavily before saying: "That settles it then: you're sleeping in my room, Florence, with a lock on the door. As far as I remember, this Enchantment thing can easily get out of control."

Later in Eileen's room

"My dear, I can't believe you're really here," said Eileen, hugging Florence once more before looking at her with concern, "You mentioned in your letter that you saw something at your father's house that made you run away; I can only imagine what it was – and it doesn't matter to me, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. All I need to know is: did anyone hurt you?"

"No, godmother." Florence smiled, the warmth and the motherly concern she could see in Eileen's eyes had her own tearing up, "I just witnessed a meeting... and left after grabbing my things. No one saw me getting in or out of the manor."

"Does your father know that you're no longer in the dark about his business ?"

"Yes," Florence nodded, "It took him two days to realize I'd gone to Hogwarts. So he sent me a letter and we met the morning of the O.W.L.s, at my mom's house in Hogsmeade, and we made a deal."

"A deal ?" asked Eileen, frowning.

"Yes. Basically, I won't take sides in the war and he won't interfere in my life."

Eileen nodded, "That's as good as you could get from him, I reckon."

"Have you ever met him?" asked Florence, curious to learn more about her parents' life, wondering if she could tell her something.

"Yes, I did." Eileen sighed and sat on the bed, "I remember thinking he was a very handsome man, an obviously powerful and very intelligent wizard. But there was always a darkness about him, something your mother failed to see because of the Enchantment," Eileen paused, "But he could tell I had realized he was bad news, that's why he worked so hard to keep your mother away from me. In his own way, he loved Sophie and he feared I'd make her see he was not good for her."

"I'm glad to hear that," Florence smiled, "He has told me he loved mum but... I can never tell when he's telling the truth or just trying to convince me of something."

Eileen looked at her with lingering concern, "Who else knows your secret, dear?"

"Only Dumbledore."

"And what about Severus, will you tell him?"

Florence sighed, "I don't think so," She sat beside Eileen, needing to talk to her about Severus, "Do you know of his plans? What Severus is invested on doing in the future?"

"He's never told me, but a mother always knows when her kid is misbehaving. So I know he wants to enlist in your father's ranks."

"For money," Added Florence, "He thinks it's worth it."

"He doesn't really think killing muggles is justifiable, dear," said Eileen, sounding sad and tired, "But he grew up poor, we've never had big Christmases or nice birthday parties, Florence. That has made Severus obsessed with doing well in the future," She paused and smiled softly, "Let's hope love can change his mind."

"I hope so. For I cannot be with him if he really becomes a Death Eater. My father would never accept him as my husband, for starters."

"Because he's half-blood," said Eileen, nodding in understanding.

"Yes," Florence paused, "I can't pretend I understand my father's reasons..."

"They very similar to Severus's actually," Said Eileen.

"What do you mean, godmother?"

"A muggle hurt your father... his own father abandoned him as a kid. And Severus's father... well, I regret having chosen so poorly."

florence stared at her dumbfounded, "Wait, you're saying my father is half-blood ? But he's a Peverell ! I have that name!"

"Yes, but that's an old name from his mother's family tree – she was a Gaunt by the way. He got his name changed on the grounds that his father had abandoned him and his mother, so he didn't want to keep on using the man's family name. Which was Riddle."

Florence was surprised by that information, but she nodded, remembering Dumbledore saying something about her father changing his name.

"Has Severus mentioned his father?" Eileen asked.

"Not really, just that he was muggle and awful. He doesn't like him at all."

"No," Eileen said, "I know. I, sometimes, wonder if Tobias's death was as natural as it seemed to be," she paused, "He didn't like a lot of things, my husband. Hated magic, hated working, hated kids. He only liked his liquor. He used to beat Severus when I wasn't home; I avoided signing up for the school trips at my work as much as I could, for he even let the boy starve for whole days sometimes. It was not a sad day when Tobias died."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, godmother," Florence held Eileen's hand.

"Severus is a good son. He says he wants a better life for me, that teaching muggle kids is not something he wants to see me doing for the rest of my life. But he's so focused on making money, no matter the consequences, that I worry. He can't see that money isn't everything."

"No, it's not. I'd empty my vaults if I could have my mother back." Florence quietly replied.

"Let's borrow a page from Sophie's book and believe that you and the Enchantment will help my son see he's in the wrong path," She kissed Florence's forehead, "Good night, my dear, I'm glad you're here."

"Good night, godmother."

Summer progressed as Summer should: with each day getting hotter than the day before.

And the heat between the two teenagers inside a house on Spinner's End increased respectively.

One night

Severus had Florence against the wall in the dark kitchen, his lips kissing a trail down the column of her neck when the lights were suddenly switched on and they jumped away from each other.

Eileen was at the kitchen door, staring at them angrily.

"Severus, go to your bedroom," she said, "Florence, if you've finished drinking your water, go back to bed."

Eileen watched the embarrassed and scared teenagers walk upstairs and waited until she had heard the sound of doors closing, before letting out the laughter she'd being holding.

The next morning

Florence was glad to wake up and see she was alone in her godmother's bedroom.

After being caught snogging in the kitchen the night before, she didn't want to be lectured by Eileen first thing in the morning.

She slowly stretched, got up and put on a dress, walking to the corridor and quickly reaching the stairs, but before she set foot on the first step she noticed that the door to Severus' bedroom was ajar.

She glanced downstairs, hearing sounds coming from the kitchen but not seeing anyone near the bottom of the staircase, so she quickly walked to his room, closing the door behind her.

Severus was fast asleep on his back, his body covered only by dark-blue shorts that hung low on his hips. She slowly walked to the bed, loving how the whole bedroom smelled like him. Florence lay down beside him and touched her body to his side, running her fingers on his lower belly as she softly kissed his chest.

"Fuck, Flor..." he gasped, slowly waking up to her kisses and touches.

"Good morning, Sev," she murmured.

He fisted a hand in her hair and pulled her for a kiss.

But loud knocks on the bedroom door had them freezing.

"You both better be dressed and downstairs for breakfast in two minutes!" said Eileen from the other side of the door.

Severus looked up at Florence and touched her face, pulling her for another kiss before letting her get out of his bed. He hated that they had to stop, but if they didn't, they weren't going to show up for breakfast.

"Get out of here, Florence," he ordered, looking into her green eyes with that lighter shade he knew meant her veela was close to the surface, turning his girlfriend into a siren, a temptation. "I can't get dressed with you lying on my bed."

She smirked and gave him one more kiss before leaving his room.

During breakfast , the letters with their O.W.L.s results arrived and both Severus and Florence got perfect marks, all Outstandings , as expected.

Eileen decided to break the uncomfortable silence that reigned at the breakfast table after they finished discussing their grades:

"Look," she began. "I won't say that what you two are doing is wrong. I was 16 once too, I remember how that feels, and I know that you have strong feelings for each other. I just want you to be careful," she paused, sipping her coffee, "Sex changes a relationship, and you two have just started dating, you should get to know each other better before taking that step. Also... sex makes babies – and don't get me wrong: I do want grandchildren, but I'd like for you to finish school first," she added, making them blush.

After breakfast , Florence and Severus went for a walk in the nearby neighbourhood of Godric's Hollow.

He wanted to show her the small park where he used to meet with Lily when they were kids.

"It's really strange to look at muggles and think that they have no idea magic is real," Said Florence as they reached the park and looked for a place to sit.

"You've never been around them?"

"No," she said, feeling inadequate again, "Both my parents have only ever had pureblooded or half-blooded friends."

He brought her hand to his lips, noticing her discomfort, "It's alright, Flor, I'm not judging you, just teasing."

She smiled, looking again at the busy playground, where many children played, their parents watching over them.

Severus guided Florence to a tree where they sat in its shade, just like they did in Hogwarts, and she laid her head on his lap, his hands caressing her hair.

"Lily lives near here," said Severus, "And so does Potter."

"I still can't get over the heartfelt talk I had with him at the Ball," Florence replied, "He said he's in love with Lily, but she hates his guts."

"Yes. Everybody in Hogwarts knows that he loves her. And he hates me because he used to think Lily and I were a couple," He paused, "But you're wrong to say that Lily hates him; she's not capable of hating anyone. She just can't stand the way he is."

"Conceited and arrogant?" Florence asked laughing, "You're just like that and I fell in love with you in less than a week."

"You did?" he pretended surprise, "Really? So you aren't just a succubus trying to get into my pants?"

Florence laughed and pulled him down for a kiss, "Mm, no... I do want to get into you pants, but I'm also very much in love with you."

He kissed her once more and resumed caressing her hair.

"I feel sorry for Potter," she said after a while, "He's an idiot, but that doesn't make him a bad person."

"I can't share that sentiment. He's been a pain since my first day in Hogwarts. Black more than him, but still."

"We could help them, what do you think?"

" Help them ?" Severus asked, surprised, "You mean matchmaking? Like mothers in the Regency Era?"

"Of course not, Severus!" she rolled her eyes, "Don't be so dramatic. I mean we could just give them some nudges in the right direction."

"You're not making any sense, Florence; the right direction would be nudging Lily away from him."

She slapped his arm playfully, "Stop being silly."

"Fine. But I don't know if this plan of yours will work. Lily is really stubborn…"

"Oh, come on, she's just one Gryffindor and we're two Slytherins ! We beat her in stubbornness!"

Severus conceded: "Alright. Let the matchmaking begin. At the very least I'll have fun watching Potter having to change his behaviour to conquer Lily's heart."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the playground

"Eww, that's disgusting!" said a teenage girl, looking at a couple kissing under a tree.

"What's wrong, Tuney?" asked Lily Evans, not surprised that her sister had found something to complain.

"There! Look! There's a girl kissing that disgusting Snape-boy under that tree!"

Lily looked at the couple and smiled, "That's Florence."

"So she's also a freak," added Petunia venomously.

Lily sighed, "Yes, she's a freak like me. You can go back home, I'll go say hello to them."

Petunia looked at her sister and at the couple one more time and left the park, leaving her "freak sister there with her freakish friends".

"Hello, am I interrupting something?" asked Lily stopping in front of the kissing couple.

"Of course not, Lily," said Severus.

"Hi, Lily," said Florence,"Sit down, join us."

"What brings you here, Florence? Besides your boyfriend, of course," asked Lily, sitting on the grass with them.

"Eileen is my godmother. As I have no other close family, she's invited me to stay in her house for the summer."

"Lucky you! Eileen is awesome!"

"She is, would be better if she wasn't also a cockblocker though," murmured Florence.

Severus stared at her and then glanced at Lily who burst into laughter.

He just shook his head at his girlfriend's comment.

"How were your O.W.L's?" Lily asked once she stopped laughing.

"All Os. And you?" asked Severus.

"Same." she said, suddenly frowning as she looked at something, "I can't believe it! How does he always know when I'm at the park?"

"Who?" asked Florence sitting up.

"Potter." growled Lily, standing up, "Excuse me, but I'm going home," and she quickly got up and walked towards her house.

Florence watched the way James looked at Lily as she walked out of the park without even glancing once at his direction.

James looked at where Lily had walked from, seeing Florence and Severus there, and to their surprise, he walked towards them.

"I can't believe it," Said Severus quoting Lily, "Should we go home too?"

"No. Let's see what he wants."

Severus pulled Florence for a series of kisses as they waited for James to approach. She pushed her boyfriend away when she noticed James was waiting for them to stop snogging.

"Hi, James," She greeted him.

Severus just said: "Potter."

"Sni..." James was going to use the nickname he had made up for Snape but stopped himself, "Sorry, force of habit. Hello, Severus ."

"What can we do for you, James ?" asked Severus, accepting the apparent truce and using the other boy's first name as well.

"I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour at the Ball, I was…" James started to say.

"Drunk," interrupted Florence, "I noticed."

"Yeah," he touched a hand to the back of his head in a sign of nervousness, "I think I'll just give up on Evans," he looked at the direction Lily had gone, sighing.

Florence glanced at her boyfriend before saying: "Look, I want to help you, James."

"Really ? And why would you help me?" James asked, immeditely suspicious.

"Maybe," replied Severus, "It's because we are tired of watching you make an idiot of yourself in front of the entire school. And for the record: Lily and I were never a couple."

James grimaced, "I kind of reached that conclusion myself these past couple of days."

Florence elbowed her boyfriend: "It's not that! We want to help you because you were honest when you opened up to me. I appreciated that."

"And I," added Severus, "I think Lily doesn't hate you as much as she wants everybody to think. Plus, she's a good friend, she deserves to be happy and if it's you that she wants…" Severus made a face, as if he couldn't understand why Lily would want James.

"We'd like to help her get what she wants," Finished Florence.

James was clearly having a hard time believing them, but he didn't see any other option, so he sat on the ground in front of the Slytherin couple, "How will you help me?"

"First, you must stop giving her expensive gifts," Severus began, "Lily doesn't like that. She thinks you're a show off."

"Not to mention she has to like you ! Not the gifts you can give her," Added Florence, "Also, stop acting like you're the centre of the universe around her. Girls really don't like that."

"Nobody likes that," mumbled Snape.

"Less is more when it comes to Lily," Florence continued, "Give her just a bit of who you truly are and, if she really likes you, she'll want more," Florence winked at him.

"Yeah. I see what you're saying," Agreed James, "Ok, sounds easy. I'll try those things," He looked at the couple, his eyes stopping on Florence for a long moment and then he said: "You're one lucky son of a bitch, Snape."

Severus just smirked and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, pulling her closer to him, "I know."

And Florence just rolled her eyes.