"Enter," Snape called without looking up from his desk. The door creaked open, and someone stepped inside. The way someone walks can give you a lot of information about someone. For instance, the person who walked into his office wasn't shuffling nervously or taking soft, hesitant steps. They were confident. They closed the door behind them, took a seat at his desk, and waited for him to finish whatever he was doing. Most likely one of his older Slytherin students. But when he looked up, he found Jamie Potter instead, and his neutral mood was immediately ruined. "What can I do for you, Miss Potter?"

"Jamie's fine," she replied casually and then enlarged a box that had been in her pocket. "The goblins harvested the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. I had them put some ingredients aside for you. And enough of the skin for dueling robes." She set the box on his desk and then waited patiently for him to reply.

He carefully picked up the box and examined its contents. The vibrant, green-scaled flesh was in stasis on one side of the box, held upright between a row of vials and the cardboard. There were nine large vials in total. Three were filled with blood and three were filled with venom. Then one with powdered scales, one filled with the fluid from one of the eyes, and one with clippings of shed skin. The contents of the box were worth twenty thousand galleons at least.

"Wha-," he sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and started again, "Why?" Jamie chewed on her bottom lip and shifted in her seat.

"I had to bribe Skeeter and the Prophet to keep certain details of my time with the Dursleys out of the papers," she told him. He blinked at her but said nothing. When she started again her voice was much quieter and she struggled to sustain eye contact. "Aunt Petunia... she tried to stop him; it was the only thing she wouldn't let him do to me. But there were times when she wasn't home, or times when she'd taken a sleeping pill and Vernon would," she swallowed and had to take a deep breath, "he'd come into the room they kept me in and, well, I'm sure you can guess the rest." The look on his face told her that he could. "In my fifth year, at Dumbledore's insistence, you gave me a few occlumency lessons that ended when I, in my infinite stupidity, invaded your privacy by looking into your pensive," Jamie focused on the man's eyes and prepared for a few different scenarios, but he only looked at her in shock, so she continued, "What my father did to you was no different than what Vernon did to me. He should have been expelled. He should've had his wand snapped and gone to Azkaban. He would've deserved it and I'm not going to apologize for him, because he was just as awful as you always said he was, but I am sorry that you won't ever get the justice you deserve. Plus, by my fourth year you'd already saved my life, like, three times, and I figured you deserve some sort of thanks for that." Jamie counted the number of breaths it took for Snape to process the information; it was sixteen.

"Are you aware of how much this is worth?" he asked neutrally.

"Mostly," she shrugged. "I'm getting my own dueling robes, Teddy will too, when he gets older, and I put a few samples in the Potter stores, but everything else will be sold. They gave me a few estimates." He looked back to the vials with a barely noticeable smirk, no doubt thinking about all the things he could do with them. At least he didn't look like he was going to reject them. "Anyway, that's what I came here for, so... I'll, uh, head out, I guess."

Severus stared at the door that had closed behind her for longer than he cared to admit. In the last twenty years, Severus had been ignored and lied to and pushed aside whenever it came to that particular incident. It was 'boys will be boys' or 'you're overreacting' or 'I'm sure they didn't mean it.' But they had meant it. They'd laughed and smiled and joked every time. His torture was fun for them. Severus knew he was far from innocent, but he'd never crossed that line. Not as a student, a teacher, or even a Death Eater. The Dark Lord had frowned upon such behaviors. And Jamie Potter had just waltzed into his office and said everything that he had ever wanted someone to say to him and... left. He desperately wanted to run after her, to hear her say those things again. But most of all, he wanted to strangle Vernon Dursley.

Severus was no stranger to rage. He'd let it fester inside of him for decades. He'd lived off of it in the war, and he released it when necessary. But this rage, the rage of knowing that someone had done that to her... he had never experienced before. He'd never wanted to watch the light leave someone's eyes. Not even James Potter. It was an odd and uncomfortable feeling, and he didn't like it[HW1] .

Sirius was free. The Ministry had been rather embarrassed about locking up the Lord to an 'Ancient and Noble' house without a trial, so they did the thing quietly and gave Sirius a bunch of money. They were also paying for his treatment in St. Mungo's. From his letters, it seemed like Remus forced him into it, but it also seemed to be working.

Letters were the only way she was communicating with him at the moment. He needed to focus on healing, and she wanted to avoid the awkward questions she'd been dodging in the letters. The truth was that she was mad at him. Mad at him for dying and leaving her all alone, mad that he wasn't dead anymore, mad at what he'd done to Severus, mad that he couldn't see those actions for what they were, mad that he hadn't been the adult she had needed him to be. She'd had five years to think back on his behavior and she'd concluded that it wasn't great. He'd watched her at the Dursleys house after his escape. He'd seen the way she was treated, but he believed Dumbledore when the man said that it wasn't what it looked like. He'd let her go back there after watching a classmate die and being tortured, then didn't write her all summer because Dumbledore told them that Jamie needed 'space.' The root issue, really, was that he blindly trusted Dumbledore. A man who'd let him rot in Azkaban for twelve years without ever speaking up for him. Dumbledore had spoken for Snape but not Sirius. Because he had a use for Snape.

Another reason she wasn't super keen to see him was Teddy. She'd never been able to lie to Sirius. So far, all she had said was that it was complicated and that she hadn't made any decisions. It was enough for now, but that wouldn't last. The goblins had guaranteed that he couldn't be legally taken away from her, but she was still afraid that someone would try. The way it worked out in her head was that Dumbledore would find out and convince everyone that removing Teddy was in his own best interest. He'd tell people that Jamie was too young, or inexperienced, or anything and he would be believed. He'd be trusted. Because he was Albus-fucking-Dumbledore.

The only way that anyone would ever know was if Jamie told them. The goblins had listed Jamie as Teddy's birthmother on his new birth certificate and left the father blank. His full name was now Theodore Ignotus Potter, and a light compulsion was placed on him to make him think that that had always been his name. She felt bad about it, she really did, but she was his mother, and no one was going to take that away from her. After Tom and the horcruxes were taken care of, and after Dumbledore was utterly destroyed, she'd lift the compulsion and deal with the consequences.

Her other biggest problem was Snape. His death was a great motivator for her to walk to her own demise. Learning that he had been the Half-Blood Prince, the person she'd obsessed over for over two years and the person she considered her first love, had broken something inside of her. Because he'd been right there. She'd been so close, and he had died. It made the idea of dying a lot more comfortable for her. Because at least he would be there. And so would Lily, James, Sirius, and Cedric.

It was easy to fantasize about him after things had settled. It was easy to love him when he was only the Half-Blood Prince. And it was easy to convince herself that she hadn't loved the version of him that was Severus Snape; that even if he had lived, he wouldn't be person she fell in love with. But now he was right in front of her, and she could see the Prince inside of him. He was snarky and sarcastic. He was incredibly intelligent. And he was much more attractive than she had allowed herself to believe. She got the answer to a question she had never wanted to ask. Yes, Jamie Potter was perfectly capable of falling in love with Severus Snape.

After she admitted it to herself, she regretted asking for quarters in the dungeons. She had always felt the most comfortable there and couldn't stand the idea of being closer to the crowds of students. The dungeons were cool and quiet. They smelled like the earth. But Snape's quarters were also down here, as was his classroom, so she saw a lot of him. Every once in a while, they would be heading up to the great hall at the same time and would end up walking about fifty feet apart and steadfastly ignoring each other. He had even passed her without so much as a word one morning. He obviously didn't want anything to do with her and if she told herself that it was fine enough times, then eventually she would feel it too.

Jamie was nervous on the morning of the first task. Even though she'd done it before, facing a dragon was still daunting. She rubbed her hands together nervously as she walked towards the champion's tent. The others were nervous as well. They all drew their dragons and Jamie couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"What?" Cedric had asked.

"It's the same as last time," she said, which earned her those weird, uncomfortable looks she kept getting whenever she said something about the future/present.

She didn't pay that much attention to what the others did; she was going over her plan, since she wouldn't be flying. As soon as she stepped outside of the tent, she took cover behind a large stone. She conjured three different illusions of herself and sent them out from the stone in different directions, then she covered herself in disillusionment charms. She vanished any scents on her person, muffled the noise she'd be making, masked her magical signature, and then used a slightly darker version of a disillusionment charm (which no one would be able to prove because she did it wandlessly with parselmagic). Then she stepped away from the boulder. The Hungarian Horntail didn't look in her direction because she was distracted by clones' number one and two, who were sending harmless sparks at it. She got to the nest quickly and snagged the egg, pulling it under her many charms. No one had even noticed that the egg had been taken until Jamie simultaneously banished the clones and nullified all the enchantments on her person. She was given full marks, since no one really knew what she did, and she didn't have any injuries.

Sirius's letter after the Prophet had published the results of the first task was incredibly long. He praised her a lot, almost too much. Jamie thought he was overcompensating, as he'd obviously been reading all the articles about the Dursleys. But at least he had told her that he'd ordered Kreacher to respond to her call. She summoned him immediately.

"Filthy half-breeds," Kreacher muttered. "Mistress would be so disappointed."

"Hello, Kreacher. I'm Jamie," she said and bent down so she was at his eye level. "Kreacher, I need to talk to you about Regulus."

"Master Regulus?" Kreature squinted his eyes at her. His posture relaxed slightly as he studied her.

"That's right. He left you an important task, didn't he?"

Kreacher's eyes filled with tears, and he said, "Kreacher failed! He failed his master! Kreacher tried everything, he did, but he couldn't destroy it!"

"I know, I know how to destroy it," Jamie said, trying to calm him down. "But I need you to bring it to me."

"Mistress can succeed where Kreacher failed?" he asked hopefully as big tears streaked down his face.

"I can," she promised. "But I need you to bring me the locket."

"Kreacher will bring Master Regulus's locket to Mistress," he said and popped away. He was back in a flash, holding the large, golden locket in his hands. "Mistress will finish Master Regulus's task?"

"I will, I promise," she told him. He held his hands out and Jamie conjured a handkerchief to wrap it in before locking it inside the special box that Bill had sent her. She had another one for the diadem but hadn't made her way to the seventh floor yet. "Thank you, Kreacher," she said.

"Kreacher not be needing thanks. Kreacher will be doing whatever mistress needs," he nodded enthusiastically.

After Kreacher went back to Grimmauld Place, Jamie went up to the Room of Requirement. The last time she'd been in that room, she'd saved Draco's life from Goyle's botched attempt at fiendfyre. She'd been putting it off because her brain kept telling her that as soon as she opened the door, she'd be met with flames. She paced in front of the room, asking for the room of lost things. When the door appeared, she went in without hesitation. Four hours and several new swear words later, she emerged triumphant.

Severus walked into the staffroom and stiffened at the sight of Jamie and Minerva chatting casually at one of the tables. He didn't let his surprise show while he walked to the counter to fix himself a cup of tea, but he made sure that Jamie was always in his line of sight. She and Minerva weren't speaking that loudly, and there were other conversations going on, so he couldn't hear what they were saying but he assumed it was about the boy. Jamie was wearing the goofy grin of a proud mother.

Nothing changed when Albus walked into the room. He was often in the staff room, so his presence alone was not enough to warrant suspicion. He walked towards the table occupied by the golden girl and the deputy headmistress. Again, nothing suspicious or foreboding at all. Then he opened his mouth.

"Jamie, my girl," he greeted loudly, with a fake smile and his trademark twinkling eyes.

"Sir," she replied cooly.

"I've just received notice that you've taken up your Lordships," he said. The conversations around the room began to dwindle in favor of watching whatever drama was about to unfold.

"That is correct," she confirmed. "They are my birthright, after all."

Albus threw her a look of disappointment and said, "Come now, my girl. Surely you are too busy to take up your Wizengamot seats. You have a young child, and there's the tournament, not to mention your OWLs in December and your NEWTs in June. I've held the seats since your parents' passing, and I'm more than happy to continue to do so."

The atmosphere in the room had been growing colder and colder the longer he spoke, though Albus seemed to be the only one that didn't notice. Jamie's beautiful, nonthreatening magic filled the room, and all eyes were on her. The girl at the center of everyone's attention masked her expression well, but Severus could see that she was excited. Her eyes were hungry, and she took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"Is this really where you'd like to have this conversation, Albus?" she asked calmly. If was big of her to give him that option. After all, a majority of the staff were currently in the room.

"I don't see why we should have it anywhere else," the man said. That was Albus's fatal flaw. He thought that he knew best, and he thought that everyone thought that he knew best. He thought the staff would be on his side, and that his supporters would be outnumbered. He had no idea what was coming.

"Well," Jamie began, "it's true that you've held my proxy for the last thirteen years, but the nature through which you obtained it is questionable at best," she paused to take a breath and Albus attempted to interrupt her. Jamie saw his intentions and released another powerful wave of her magic while she snapped, and suddenly Albus's mouth was closed again, and the man was starting to look a little anxious.

That's right, Albus, Severus thought to himself with an internal smirk. You've finally met your match. A bit of blood rushed downward but Severus was determined to ignore it.

"Now, there isn't really a solid protocol for orphaned heiresses, but there are several rules that apply to orphans in general. Most importantly, the wills are to be read, not illegally sealed by the Chief Warlock. And if you'd bothered to read the wills, you would have found explicit instructions stating that I was never to have any contact with my muggle relatives, and a list of no less than fifteen other options for placement. A list that includes Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape, but not you.

"So, after abandoning me on the Dursleys' doorstep in the middle of the night with nothing but a blanket and a letter, you then illegally appointed yourself as my magical guardian. Your responsibility as my self-appointed guardian was to make sure that I was cared for. Was I cared for, Albus? Was I loved? Or was I locked in a boot cupboard and used as a house elf for ten years and six summers?

"And in those years, you used my votes to pass laws that I would never have voted in favor of. Laws that, on the surface, sound wonderful. Like bill W.437-28, which was supposed to ensure that funds within the Child Welfare Office were being used appropriately but instead cut their funding to almost zero; or bill W.8945-492, which advocated for creature rights and was supposed to stop discrimination against them, but then required them to 'register' with the Ministry, making it even easier for them to be discriminated against. Never once was I consulted on these, or any, bills. Not once was my opinion considered for my votes. I wasn't even aware that I had votes until after the war, when I was seventeen and a single mother; and yet the law states that you should have been preparing me for my role starting when I was eight, at the latest.

"The war's been over for me for three years, Albus. Three years and I'm still cleaning up your mess. So yes, I've taken over my Lordships. Because not only are you a liar and a hypocrite," she tilted her head and smiled sweetly, "but you're also a criminal." Her chair scraped against the stone floor aggressively as Jamie stood. She made it all the way to the door before spinning around in anger. "And I think I'll be taking this-,"

Albus's wand flew into her outstretched hand from across the room,

"-back, thank you very much."

She left the room without another word, content to miss out on whatever chaos was left in her wake. Knowing that Minerva would give him a memory of whatever unfolded, Severus exited the staff room and made his way back to his chambers quickly.

He stormed into his office and through open the door that led to his chambers, then slammed the door shut and leaned his back against it, slowly sliding down until he was sitting on the floor.

"Fuck," he sighed. There was no denying it now: he wanted Jamie Potter.

Now that he admitted it to himself, it was really rather obvious. Of course, he wanted Jamie, who wouldn't? She was intelligent and beautiful and kind, but also haunted and deadly, which made her kindness even sweeter. She'd gone through the same hell he had, both in school and outside of it. He couldn't believe how long it had taken him to see that they were the same. Hogwarts had always been home for them.

After she took Albus down a peg, Severus began walking with her and Teddy to breakfast. It was the only meal she attended consistently, and she usually headed there before him. But she had a toddler and Severus was a fast walker. The first time he had kept pace with her, she'd asked if he was alright. Not a great start. The second time, she was a bit suspicious, but she greeted him with a smile the third time. It wasn't a regular smile either, it was the smile she usually reserved for her son. There was a fondness in her eyes that he'd never had directed at him before. He craved it.

They chatted sometimes, but not usually. Teddy was forever asking to be picked up and then let down and then picked up again. He greeted the portraits and asked about the suits of armor and the ghosts and Jamie answered each question with an endless patience that Severus couldn't understand; he'd never seen her be angry or short with the boy. One morning, when Teddy was obviously wearing her a little thin, Severus did something rash.

"Perhaps you would enjoy a ride from me," he offered the boy. "You'll be much higher up, after all."

Teddy stared at the man with his head tilted. Their entire party had stopped in the middle of the hall, and Jamie was wearing an expression equal to her son's. Teddy brought his hands together anxiously and tugged on Jamie's pant leg. She looked down at him, then back at Severus, before giving her approval. Teddy walked over and outstretched his arms, and Severus knelt down to pick him up. Once the boy was in his arms, Severus became the complete focus of Teddy's interest.

"Wha' d'you do?" he asked.

"I make potions," Severus replied without emotion. He started walking again, and Jamie was briefly frozen in place before she snapped into action and caught up with them.

"Like mummy does for the moon," Teddy said happily.

"That is correct," he said, giving Teddy a small smile. Teddy shifted in Severus' arm to make himself more comfortable.

"I forgot your name," Teddy said suddenly.

"Hm," Severus dramatically looked the boy over before saying, "I suppose you may call me Severus."

"Serrus?" Teddy asked.

"Sev-er-us," he replied.

"Tha's too long," Teddy complained.

Severus sighed, but relented, "'Sev' will do."

"Okay, Sev!" Teddy said happily, then continued his line of questioning.

Jamie hadn't said a word in quite a while; apparently content to observe. He was sure that she would expect him to set Teddy down before they entered the great hall to save his reputation as the cold, aloof dungeon bat, so he didn't. He kept his hold on the boy all the way up to the staff table, gracefully ignoring the stares of the few people already in the room.

"Mummy can I sit with Uncle Sev?" Teddy asked. Severus' eyes shot open. He may have agreed to let the boy use his name, but he hadn't consented to being an uncle.

"You'll have to ask him, Teddy-bear," Jamie replied. She took her seat and waited to see what Severus would do.

"Can I sit with you, ple-e-ease?" Teddy asked. His eyes seemed too big for his head as he stared up at the older man, and he pouted just a tiny bit.

"You may," he replied, then sat the both of them down with Teddy on his lap. Jamie put a small plate together for the boy and Teddy munched on it while Severus got his own plate. From the corner of his eye, he could see Jamie watching him. Minerva joined them several minutes later, when the morning rush began to arrive and jolted at the sight of Teddy in Severus' arms. She righted herself and sat down quickly, then turned and whispered to Jamie.

"How did that happen?" she asked out of the corner of her mouth.

"He offered," Jamie whispered back, equally stunned. Severus smirked but hid his face behind Teddy's so no one could see.

The students had noticed the change in the potion master's routine, and he knew that they were whispering about it. But he didn't really care, and Jamie didn't seem to notice it. He included her in his morning conversations with Minerva and walked her back to the dungeons more mornings than not. He had even, on occasion, made her laugh. He found that she had the same dark sense of humor as him, and she enjoyed his sarcasm in a way few others had. The more he learned about her, the more mysterious she became. Every answer created more questions. It was driving him mad.

He knew that the chances of her feeling the same about him were slim to none. He could never make up for the way he'd treated her for the past three years (three years for him, seven years for her). But just being around her made him happier than he'd felt in years, and that was enough.