Violet gazed in the shop windows as she made her way down Diagon Alley with Luna. Her parents had been reluctant to let her go without an adult, but since Luna was technically of age, had finally consented. She didn't blame her parents for being so protective. Her mother and father had both lived in fear for such a long time, she could understand why they had a hard time adjusting to the fact that there was no longer such an immediate danger.
There was a light dusting of snow on the cobblestones as the two girls walked. Violet's fascination with this place had not diminished since her first visit. Luckily Luna took things at a much slower pace than her father, so this time Violet got the chance to explore to her heart's content. Luna simply wandered down the street, stopping just as often as Violet, staring at things both seen and unseen.
The two of them had become friends shortly before the winter holidays, both being Ravenclaws and both being somewhat of outcasts in their own house. Everyone thought Luna was crazy for believing the ridiculous stories her father told her, but Violet could sympathize. After all, she had grown up in the muggle world, believing every word her mother had told her about magic and dragons and ghosts and owls. She had no reason to, really; her mother had never offered her anything in the way of proof. But she had known that her mother believed as so she believed too. Really, what was so different about Luna?
After they finished their shopping, they met up with Ginny, Lavender, Pavarti for some butterbeers. Violet didn't really know the girls, but Luna and Ginny had continued their friendship since the DA. They all stepped into the Leaky Cauldron and ordered a round of butterbeers. The girls started pulling items out of their shopping bags, showing each other their new clothing and makeup purchases. Lavender sat next to Pavarti, examining her new pair of shoes. Ginny took the seat next to Violet.
"Violet, it's so good to see you," Ginny gushed, she seemed to be making an extra effort towards her boyfriend's sister. Violet forced a smile. It wasn't that she didn't like Ginny, she just didn't have that much in common with her. Ginny proceeded to ramble on about the various likes, dislikes, and habits of Harry Potter. Violet's head started pounding and she flinched as Lavender's high-pitched giggle cut through the conversation.
"Ugh, I really don't want to go back to school next week."
"Tell me about it. And that greasy git Snape will probably have a test the first week. No offense, Violet."
Violet forced a smile.
"Did you see what Hannah was wearing?"
"I know, so hideous."
Violet realized that although Hermione was in Gryffindor, she had never seen her spend time with these girls. She could now understand why. Violet had about as much patience as her father for idiots. Her attention drifted as the girls discussed hair charms. She felt as though her head was going to explode.
"I just remembered," she said, standing suddenly, "there's a book I promised my father I'd pick up for him. Luna, can you meet me in Flourish and Blotts when you're done?"
Luna nodded.
"It was good seeing all of you," she said quickly "I'll see you back at school." They would no doubt talk about her after she left, but in that moment it seemed preferable to girl talk.
Violet rushed out and down the block into the bookstore. The silent rustling of pages was a welcome relief to the high-pitched giggling.
She made her way down the aisles when suddenly a familiar head of blond hair caught her eye.
"Hello," she said, coming up behind Draco.
"Hey," he said, turning around to face her, then standing a moment in awkward silence.
"How was your Christmas?"
"It was nice, first Christmas with my family together and everything. Father and Harry will never be the best of friends, but they're tolerating each other."
"Yeah."
"What about yours?"
He shrugged.
"First Christmas since my mother died, since my father's in Azkaban. Aunt Andromeda's trying, I know she is, but she has a lot to deal with. She's gone through so much and I don't think that I'm helping anything by being there. She lost her husband, her daughter, and her son-in-law in such a short period of time. She's trying to make a life for her and her grandson, and then I'm there…."
He trailed off and Violet reached out to touch his arm. Why could he not stop himself from pouring his heart out to this girl every time he saw her?
"I remind her of my mother, I know I do, the sister who disowned her. I have the same mark as her other sister, the one who killed her daughter. I try to keep it covered, but she knows it's there."
"She wouldn't have taken you in if she didn't want to."
"I know. It's just that her own family has done so much to hurt her. I want to make things right with her, I just don't know how."
"It just takes time, Draco"
"I know."
His eyes suddenly lit up.
"I have something for you."
"For me?"
"Yeah, I saw this earlier today and it made me think of you. I was going to give it to you back at school, but since you're here now…" He pulled a small package out of his pocket. She unwrapped it to find a flat, polished black stone on a silver chain.
"I saw the stone out back of my Aunt's house. It was so beautiful. It made me think of you and I got it made into a necklace." He looked nervous as he spoke.
"Thank you," she breathed, fastening it around her neck.
She heard the dreamy voice of Luna floating over the stacks, telling some poor, unsuspecting customer about Nargles.
"Luna's here, I should go."
"Oh," he said, his smile disappearing.
"If you wanted to stop by sometime, before we go back to school….if you need someone to talk to…"
His smile returned.
"I'd love to."
o
o
Hermione cautiously entered Snape's lab. Harry had gone to spend the day at the Burrow and Snape had sent her an Owl asking if she would like to assist him in his brewing for the day. He invited her inside and they worked quietly for several hours. Finally he spoke, cutting the silence with his question.
"Have you spoken to Harry?"
"No, not really." She didn't want him to know what had happened, what Harry had said to her. Things were already tenuous enough between the two men and she didn't want to make it worse.
"Maybe you should."
"No. There's no reason," she said quickly.
"He should know how you feel."
"He made his decision a long time ago. He chose her. He loved her enough to leave her in safety as we went off searching for horocruxes."
He shook his head.
"There was no choice with you. He brought you with him because he needed you, because he knew he had no chance without you."
"I don't want to be needed," she sighed, gathering her things to leave. The door closed softly behind her. Severus waited a few moments in the silence.
"You can stop spying now."
Lily stepped out from behind the doorway looking guilty.
"Sorry, I was walking by and it sounded interesting."
She crossed the room and sat at the counter across from him.
"You continue to surprise me, Severus Snape. I never would have taken you as one to help teenage girls with their love lives."
He rolled his eyes.
"Trust me, it wasn't by choice."
Lily grew serious.
"I can talk to her if you'd like."
"No, if you haven't noticed, Miss Granger has few female friends. For some reason she has always been more comfortable talking to men."
Lily nodded. Hadn't she been the same way? She had had a few distant female friends, but she was always closest to her male friends.
"So she's in love with Harry?"
"Unfortunately."
"Don't be so cynical."
"Cynical? He's with the Weasley girl."
"For now."
He raised his eyebrow at her.
"You think he's in love with Miss Granger?"
"You were right when you told her that he put her in danger's path because he needed her, but you seem to believe that he only needed her because of her skill. I think he needed her there for his own strength as well, to be able to have enough love in his heart to defeat Voldemort. He just hasn't realized it yet."
"He seems pretty serious about Miss Weasely."
"Yes, he does, doesn't he."
He raised his eyebrow at his wife.
"She's every teenage boy's fantasy girl, isn't she? I mean, she's pretty, she's fun, she likes quittich. She's smart, but not smart enough to threaten their masculinity. She's had enough boyfriends to know what she's doing, but not enough to be considered easy."
"Excellent analysis, but in case you haven't noticed, your son is a teenage boy."
"He's not," Lily said sadly, "He's trying desperately to be one, but the truth is that he isn't and never really was."
"That's no excuse."
"Severus," she reached out to touch his hand, "When I was with James…the first time, I chose to be with him. I was sixteen, I was only sixteen. I had just had a fight with you and the things you said had hurt me so badly. You were starting to dabble in dark magic and I should have been there for you, I should have been there to pull you back from the ledge, but I was so scared. I was just so scared of who and what you were becoming. I know that wasn't very Gryffindor of me, but I was terrified. You were starting to be a part of this adult world that I wasn't ready for. James was….safe. James was cute and funny and his main concerns were quittich and practical jokes. I was with him for years, until I discovered he was cheating on me, that he had been cheating on me the whole time. Dumbledore always said that we were defined by the choices we made…and I believed that for a long time. I was almost eighteen before I realized that good people make bad choices, that I had given up on you too soon and that just because you had made some bad choices didn't mean that you were a bad man. That was when I broke up with James and started seeing you again."
He shifted and looked away from her.
"And you can never forgive me if you want, for giving up on you, for dating him, but in the end, I made the right choice, and so did you, and so will Harry. And really, what else matters?"
He pulled her closer and kissed her, "there is nothing to forgive."
o
o
It was the last day of the holidays. The situation with Harry had been tense and Severus was actually looking forward getting back to Hogwarts and spending time in his chambers with his wife and without any children around.
He entered the living room to see his stepson with his wand pointed at his godson, an overturned lamp sitting on the floor. Would this boy never learn?
"Harry," he barked, "put your wand down. Draco is my godson and a guest in this house. No matter your personal feelings about him, he is my guest and will be treated accordingly."
"Oh, he's not here to see you," Harry said slowly, lowering his wand but keeping his eyes fixed on Draco. "He's here to see Violet."
Snape immediately tensed and eyed the boy suspiciously.
"Go upstairs, Harry, I'll take care of his."
Harry left slowly and reluctantly, comforted only by the look of cold rage he saw in his stepfather's eyes that seemed to be directed at Draco.
Once Harry had left, an uneasy silence filled the room. Draco figured it was better to let Severus speak first. Although he had never been at the receiving end of this man's rage, he had been a witness to his power.
"She's sixteen," he said slowly.
"I know."
"You're eighteen."
"Yes."
"And you're here because?"
"We're friends."
"Friends?" Severus asked suspiciously. He had been so worried about not knowing how to be a father. It seemed as if now came to him automatically, instinctually.
"Yes, friends."
"I've heard of your…exploits. It's impossible to work at Hogwarts and not."
"She is not an exploit."
"So you have no intentions with her beyond friendship?"
"I didn't say that. I care for her…deeply. And I think that she cares about me too. But for now, I'm not going to try for anything beyond friendship."
"She doesn't need friends like you. She doesn't need to be hanging around with people like you."
Draco stared at him, comprehending his meaning.
"People like me? Get to the point, Severus. What are you afraid of? That she's too much like her mother? That she'll end up with a man like her father?"
"Don't speak to me like that."
"Then don't speak to me like I'm some sort of disease, like I'm some sort of criminal."
"You have the mark."
"So do you."
The man just stared at him with contempt.
"I didn't want it." Draco said earnestly, "You know I didn't want it. Can you say the same?"
No response.
Severus shifted, eyes never leaving Draco.
"Don't think that you know anything about my past. Just stay away from my daughter. What is your interest in her anyways? She's not a pureblood."
"I've changed. I don't believe everything my father told me anymore."
"People don't change."
"You did."
"Change takes time. It's been less than a year since you were following the Dark Lord."
"And how long did you wait? Or were you with her even when you were still following him?"
"What happened between me and my wife is none of your business," he snapped at him.
Draco stared at him in silence and disbelief for a few moments.
"All those things that you said at my trial, did you ever mean any of them?"
There was no response.
"You believe I should be in Azkaban, don't you?"
The man stared at him with his bottomless black eyes, but did not answer. Draco came to a realization. It felt like he had been kicked in the gut, hard.
"All this time, I thought I was the one making the sacrifice. I thought I was sacrificing my family for my freedom. But I wasn't the one making the sacrifice, it was you. You believed I should serve time in Azkaban but you were willing to sacrifice my imprisonment to make sure that certain death eaters never saw the light of day again."
There was still no response.
The one man, the only one who had defended him, who had stood by his side, had betrayed him, had used him, had never wanted to help him, only to use him to hurt others.
"I did what I had to do, Draco."
Several silent moments passed between them.
"You think I should have spent the rest of my life in Azkaban?" He said with disbelief.
"Not the rest of your life, but at least a few years. You needed to be taught a lesson, to learn that there are consequences to your actions."
"I've already lost everything," a whisper was the most that Draco could manage, "Isn't that enough for you?"
"No."
o
o
Harry looked up as he heard a knock on his door. It was a terse knock, almost hesitant. It was not a knock he had heard before. He sent a wandless spell that cracked the door open. The figure on the other side pushed it the rest of the way and stepped into the room. It was his stepfather. Severus looked around him uncomfortably. He had never been in this room before. Harry raised his eyebrows at the man.
He spoke quickly and awkwardly, looking around the room, but never directly at Harry.
"Hogwarts is a big place. I will do my best but it is difficult to keep a close eye on a student all of the time, especially when I have classes to be teaching."
Harry nodded.
"I'll help you keep him away from her."
Severus looked at him and nodded.
It had taken them nearly seven years, but they had finally found something that they could agree on: that Draco Malfoy was not suitable company for young Violet.
Snape turned to leave. He was halfway out the door when he hesitated. He spoke, still facing the door.
"I'm sorry about earlier…you had every right."