Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.

Harry woke up on Sunday morning feeling groggy. His Saturday lunch with Ron and Hermione and gone uninterrupted, something he had not expected. He reached over and picked up the next letter. As he pulled out the parchment, he saw the faded, ink-run splotches of tears. He wondered who had been crying, and why. There was only one way to find out.

Dear Harry,

Happy fifteenth birthday. I know you're going into your O.W.L. year. Study hard for your exams. It's not quite as bad as you think, though, and once they're over you're pretty much free. Now, I know that I've been telling stories about you in these letters, but it's time you hear the story of my fifth year.

I'd been friends with the boy who first told me I was a witch since that day at the park, and even though he was in Slytherin we were still good friends. Sure, he was friends with people I didn't like, but I didn't have to talk to them. Back then, your dad and his friends teased him for his House, a little too much, really, and I didn't like them. So exams are just finished, and everyone goes outside. I'm by the lake with some of my friends, and your dad and his friends are at their spot by the tree. I'm just debating if I should wade in the water when I hear a whole lot of noise and shouting from where the tree is, which could only mean one thing - they're teasing him again. So I go over to try and stop them, and your dad and Sirius are yelling and jeering, and I shout my head off, and the entire school is watching, and he's hanging in a tree, and he just looks at me and he says- he says that- he calls me a- a- I was just trying to help, and then he- he-

Lily? Lily, where are you? Oh, honey. You're writing the letter?And about this? Why didn't you wait for me? I- I thought I could do it. Hey, it's okay. H- he said it didn't m- matter before. He made his choice, and you can't do anything to stop that. You sure? Or course I am. I don't know… maybe I could have changed him - made him not choose to follow that path. If I didn't stop talking to him… Stop blaming yourself for everything, Lily. It all worked out in the end, didn't it? But I still wonder. He would have said something like that sooner or later, and it's probably best it happened when it did. Do you want me to finish the story? Yeah, you go ahead.

He called her a Mudblood, Harry. Don't you ever let anyone tell you that she's not smart because she's a Muggleborn, that she's not kind, or that she can't do magic. Did I get a lot of crap for being a "blood-traitor"? Yes. Did I care? Absolutely not. I had Lily. Thanks.

It sounds like Harry's awake. I'll go get him. Okay. And Lily? Just put the letter in the envelope, okay? Yeah. I love you. And I love you.

It was Snape. Snape said it. But it did work out in the end.

Love, Mum & Dad

P.S. Tell him I said sorry.

Harry stared at the parchment. He'd had the inkling of a feeling that Lily would have felt bad about her reaction, but never imagined this much regret. His dad was right, it had not been Lily's fault, and the added note at the end seemed quite unnecessary. But nevertheless, it made Harry want more than ever for Snape's portrait to be hung, even if just for him to give Lily's message.

He sat there, as though he had been petrified, still staring at the parchment. Every time he'd seen the memory, he had felt his own rage at Snape's words, but now he felt his mother's sadness. To be betrayed by someone you thought was your friend…

But then if it had not happened. James and Lily would have still been head boy and girl, still would have fallen in love, he was sure of it. But Snape would not have become a Death Eater. Perhaps a different man would have overheard the prophecy, would have told Dumbledore, and then what? Dumbledore would have assumed that it was Neville whom Voldemort was after, not Harry. The Longbottoms would be put into hiding. And so, in some weird, slightly twisted way, it was almost good that Snape had called Lily a Mudblood. Almost…

Thanks for reading! I know this is one of the shortest chapters for awhile, but I do like to vary chapter length, and couldn't bring myself to write anything even remotely unrelated to this letter. ragsweas and Gimme'SS thank you for your reviews. Boo, I'm glad you like my story. Please review!