Hey guys, back from Dublin and it was lovey. Still have some really important auditions coming up though, yikes! Anyways, enjoy!

"my god. You were serious!" Severus and Harry had just arrived in the chamber of secrets, and Severus looked like a little kid, so excited to see…well a corpse to be honest, but Harry wasn't going to focus on that bit. "it's not too old or anything?" Harry asked. "no, no, it will keep for hundreds of years." Severus kneeled beside the thing and grinned, a huge grin that lit up his face. For some reason, Harry mimicked it.

Severus emptied his pockets, vials and other potion-y things falling over the floor. He started gathering blood immediately. He was engrossed in his task, but Harry just stood there, unsure of what to do.

After a pause He awkwardly sat on the ground next to Severus, who didn't look up, and it wasn't until Harry was almost asleep, his head lolling against the basilisk that Severus noticed how tired he was.

"oh, you don't have to stay, I just need to-" " I kind of do actually. To get out of here you need to talk to the portraits. Meaning you need to know parcel mouth. "

"oh." Severus said, knowing that the polite thing would be to leave and thank harry profusely, but he just couldn't. He wanted more time, he needed it.

"unless…do you want to spend the night? There are a lot more rooms attached to this hall, and they are in a lot better condition. Actually, there's Salazar Slytherins personal library and position lab down here as well, which you should have a look at some time."

Severus' jaw actually dropped. "Are you serious? Really? Show me"

Harry let out a strange strangled noise, he was really tired. "umm…how about I show you tomorrow. You…stay with your snake."

Severus nodded, looking, to Harry, as cold as he all ways seemed, but on the inside, he was just so excited! Severus really loved potions.

Harry quickly gave him instructions to one of the guest suites in the chamber and bid him good night, seriously glad to get to bed.

The next morning, he woke up way sooner than he originally intended.

Someone was shaking his shoulder and hissing "Potter, get up." In to his ear. "what?" he mumbled in to his pillow.

"it's past seven." The person scolded "wake me up when it's past noon." In his hazy, half asleep state, he figured that the person was Ron, being an idiot.

"but we both have class, you may be able to skip but I cant. Get up." Harry shifted, the sheets falling down a little, and Severus was suddenly very aware that his student was topless, at the very least.

Harry groaned and was pulled even future in to the land of consciousness. "but, yesterday was Friday. Today is Saturday. No one has classes."

Severus paused, feeling humiliated. His student was right. This was actually something he did on a regular basis, up to now it had only been his colleagues that noticed this…slip up on his account.

He fled the room. Harry happily slept till noon.

Unfortunately for Severus, he really couldn't get out without seeing Harry. He tried and failed. So he spent his time working on the baskalisk, angrily hacking away at it.

This, in Severus' opinion, was what happened when teachers became friendly with students. Humiliation, confusion and upset. And he saw his student topless, which was just strange.

God he felt so stupid. He just wasn't good with stuff like that. Normal stuff. He was a genius at academics. And potions. And the dark arts and transfiguration and things. But not with every day stuff like knowing what day it was or handling money. Or making toast. He just couldn't do it.

"morning." Said a far too cheerful voice behind him. "I think Potter, that you will find it is the afternoon." He said in his coldest voice.

"oh," Harry said, taken aback. " yeah." He finished lamely. "I take it you want to leave? You could stay for breakfast, or lunch, really…"

"No, Potter I have no desire to be imprisoned in this underground vault any longer, especially with you."

Well, what did Harry expect, really? He was a little saddened by that last remark but not surprised. Harry led Severus to an alternate exit, a large portrait of a man brewing a potion in a forest, an adder at his side. They had a brief conversation, there was no password per se, you just had to know parsletounge, and as Harry was the only known person in the world to speak it, it was a pretty secure system.

Harry shut the door behind him and wondered back into the kitchen. He really liked it here. It was unusually formal for his tastes, but thankfully it wasn't too slytherin-y. It had a few bedrooms, batherooms and kitchens, and this amazing conservatory, he had no idea how these plants had lived with out food, water or sunlight but they seemed to be in remarkable condition. There was also a library and potions lab he told Severus about. The dead snake was in what Harry assumed to be a great hall sort of thing.

Harry sighed and sat down at the breakfast table, feeling strangely lonely. He had never taken Ron or Hermione or anyone down here before, and now he had done and they were gone he was just a bit more aware of how empty it was. How echoy.

He made his way to the conservatory, via his room, where he kept his mother letters. He liked to bring them there and just be with them, as close to his mum as he ever could be. He often wondered what she would have thought of him being the heir of slytherin and everything. For some reason he felt like she would be okay with it, his dad, he wasn't so sure about. Which made him feel guilty in a way. He should trust that his dad would love him, and be accepting and everything….but he didn't.

Severus, meanwhile was in bliss. He had done it, really, really done it! The basalisk blood was perfect, all he had to do was wait a few moon cycles and he would have really cracked it. He took a few deep breaths and sternly told himself that he should not be celebrating, it wasn't done until it was done. But really, Severus knew he had cracked it.

But in a way, that wasn't a great thing for him. Now he had successfully completed his master piece of a potion, he didn't have any other problems to work on, no mysteries to crack nothing for his mind to obsess about. He needed that, without it he felt cast adrift.

Harry hadn't been to see him in the few weeks since Severus had got the blood. He didn't miss him, because he saw him in the halls or in lessons pretty much every day. But, he was a presence once known in Severus's rooms. And he was now gone and it was noted. That was how Severus decided to think about it. Because it would be strange to miss a student…

And besides ever since Harry had told him about his adventures in the second year, Severus had started to see him in a different light. But it didn't look like Harry was in any rush to talk to him, so if Severus wanted to see him, he was going to have to ask himself.

I'm only lonely because of my work, Severus told himself. I'm always like this after a major project is finished. They become like real people to me, the potions, it would be stupid to pine after Potter in some ill attempt to fill some nonexistent gap.

But as the first day of December dawned, Severus was feeling suprisingly whimsical and just decided to get it over with;

Mr. Potter, he wrote

I was wondering if you would mind my examining the library that you mentioned to me, it could be very useful in my work.

Regards,

Professor S. Snape

Harry Potter was just polishing off a herbology report in the Gryffindor common room when Severus's owl flew in, dropping the letter on him before speeding out again. "whose it from Harry?" Hermione inquired.

"oh just Severus." Harry mumbled back to her. Her and Ron exchanged a look. "That's…nice." She said finally. "What?" Harry said, looking up.

"Well…I just…didn't know you were on first name terms with him." She said delicately

"and mate, when you get a letter from Snape of all people, it's never "just" him." Ron added.

"I'm not on first name terms with him." Harry protested. When Hermione gave him a look he added; "Well not to his face anyway. He calls me Harry sometimes though."

"okay." She said, looking dubious. "what?" Harry demanded again. "nothing. Nothing at all, I think it's healthy your letting go of your anger towards him." And that was all she had to say on the subject.

Harry arranged to meet him on the nearest Friday, and they went down into the chamber in silence. Severus was not a man for idle chitchat.

But finally Harry broke the silence, discussing the various rooms in the chamber.

"A conservatory?" Severus asked. "are any of the plants still alive?"

Harry nodded, "most of them by the looks of it." "how?" Severus asked, Once again taken aback by the shear absurdity of Harry Potter.

"dunno." He said casually. "let me show you." And he lead Severus into the correct chamber.

"This is amazing." Severus said, it was a vast room with huge beds of plants and a waterfall dominating the room. It was a grand room, like everywhere else in the chambers, but this was so teaming with life, so wonderfully colorful…

The light in the room seemed to becoming from this waterfall, filling it with an almost ethereal glow. There were plants that the wizarding world had long thought extinct, that Severus had only seen in illustrations in books, and some he hadn't even seen then. He approached the large circular bed in the middle and knelt down to examine a blue flower, which spun slowly despite the absence of wind.

"This is amazing" Severus breathed. Harry opened his mouth to say something but before he could, a booming voice made them all jump. "glad you like it! High time someone appreciated it." Severus spun around to see a stone statue of a tall woman, walking though the bushes on the other side of the room.

"I am Stella slytherin." She said by way of greeting. "Salizar's sister, and these are my gardens, welcome Severus. I knew you would come." She smiled at him. "Thank you, Lady Slytherin." He said, bowing his head. "No need Severus, no need. Call me Stella. And enjoy my gardens. Harry doesn't seem to be a fan." Severus looked around at Harry, amazed that anyone could not love it here, not take a liking to this woman, even if she were made of stone.

"I come in here sometimes." Harry mumbled. "indeed." She said. " Harry, why don't you make your professor a cup of tea, I have a feeling he wishes to linger in the garden."

Harry did so, amazed that there were more secrets in these chambers, he had never seen that woman in his life before.

Meanwhile Stella explained everything to Severus. The garden was an extremely magical one, needing no air or real sunlight, it fed on magic alone. Plants did die of course, but they were magically taken back in to the soil, growing back almost instantly to their peak.

Severus was overcome with awe, to be talking with this woman, to be here at all… and he still had the library to look at, and the lab…

He got up and wandered over to a stone bench, the sound of the waterfall soothing and the light just right. God what he would do to stay here forever. For a moment, he forgot himself and relaxed, leaning back. But he knocked against something. Harry's box. It fell to ground and scattered, letters and things going everywhere. Severus swore under his breath, aware of how protective of these things Harry must be.

His heart actually skipped a beat when he saw how close to the waterfall some of them had gone. There was a gentle spray coming out and some of them were getting damp. Heart hammering he gathered them as quickly as possible, leaving them, for now, on top one of the flower beds. When they were in all one general place, Severus let out a sigh and turned to where he had placed them.

But…there was a rose bush there. One that hadn't been there a moment ago. The letters were again scattered, although not so far. On one of the rose stems was a note. From Lilly. Severus gasped, putting two and two together. He had vaguely remembered picking up a dried rose and Stella had said that any dead plants on this soil was be taken back into the earth, and regrown, perfectly.

Meaning Harry's oh-so-treasured dried rose from his mother was gone, and in its place a common or garden rose bush.

Harry was going to be so pissed. Severus hastily put the letters back in the box and flew out of the room. He needed to get out before Harry saw what had happened. Otherwise he would be trapped down here with a very angry Harry, and although Severus certainly wasn't afraid, he would be trapped, and with someone who, though luck or judgment, did save the world…multiple times.

"Potter!" he demanded. "I have your tea sir-" "I do not care, you idiot boy, I wish to leave, now." Harry had no idea what was going on. Had he accidently insulted him or something?

"Um, okay." He said, "just let me put this down-" "what part of now don't you understand, or is a three letter word too difficult for you?" Harry felt anger build up in him, but forced it down again.

He stomped over to the portrait and let Severus out, utterly confused by it all.

After a few moments of cursing and trying to figure it all out, he went back to the conservatory, hoping to see Stella. "Ah, Harry." Yes, he found her. "Severus gone?" She asked with the air of someone who already knew the answer to her question.

"Yes…do you have any idea what he was so upset about?" Harry asked. "He didn't tell you then?" "No." Harry said, following her as she wondered down one of the paths. "Ah well, that's slytherins for you. Tend to run off, not a totally idiotic way of dealing with things, it's better to lose your pride than your head."

"Um, right." Harry said. She sat down on a stone bench, and he sat next to her, watching her intently.

"I believe he was afraid you would be angry at him." Stella said finally. "why?" Harry asked. By way of answer, Stella motioned to one of the plants. A rose bush. "Why-" Harry started. "Look closer." She said. Harry did. Tied around a stem was a stem was a piece of parchment, which Harry instantly opened, and recognized.

"This is- he touched my, but how-"

Harry sat there, gob smacked. He had lost the rose that his mother had kept so well. Lost it forever.