Summary: Deepening friendships.

A/N: Thanks for reading and leaving a comment! Severus' relationships with all three Gryffindors deepen in this chapter. I hope you enjoy their interactions.

Chapter 10

"Oy, Snape, wake up! I've been talking to you for five minutes now."

Severus snapped his head towards Ron.

"Sorry," he said.

They were sitting out on the lawn, just the two of them. Ron had asked for some help with Charms work, and Severus had been happy to help.

"I was saying that I finally talked to Hermione about Lavender."

"And?" Severus asked with interest.

"I told her I was interested in getting back together with Lavender, but I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"Did she hex you into next Tuesday?"

Ron grinned. "I thought she was going to, but aside from her hair crackling, she was really… understanding."

"Well," Severus said in exasperation. "What did she say?"

Ron chuckled. "She said that she was surprised that I spoke to her before doing anything. She respected me for that… said it was mature or something. She also said that she had no romantic feelings for me anymore and hadn't for a while. She was touched, though, that I consulted her about dating Lavender."

"And?"

"She wants me to be happy. And she said if that means I'm with Lavender, then she's all for it. She's happy for me, Severus!"

Severus grinned at him. "That's brilliant," he said.

"Yeah, I thought so. It's so much better than her giving me the silent treatment for months."

"I can only imagine," Severus agreed.

"So, anyway, I talked to Lavender after that."

"And what did she say?"

Ron grinned again. "She said she missed me. That she thinks about me every day. I think she's the real deal, Severus. I mean, if we can go months without being together but still want each other… that's gotta mean something."

Severus nodded. "I would think so. Perhaps she's the one?"

"Yeah, mate. Maybe she is."

"So, when are you two going to do something together?"

Ron blushed. "Well, we already have, kind of."

Severus arched an eyebrow at him.

"I mean, we ate dinner together in the Great Hall and then went for a walk by the lake…"

Severus motioned for more details.

"And we kissed under the moonlight," Ron said finally.

Severus smiled. "Good job."

"It was better than before. I told her that I loved her attention, but when we were together before, it was hard when she hung all over me and called me silly names. She immediately apologized and said she wouldn't do it anymore. Her saying that made everything even better, you know?"

"I hope things work out for you, Ron," he said.

"Yeah, thanks. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I've seen the way you look at Hermione."

Severus spluttered, and Ron laughed at him.

"I… I don't know what you mean," Severus countered.

"Oh, c'mon. It's me! I've told you about my love life since we started working together. I swear, I won't tell anyone."

"Not Potter or Hermione?" Severus demanded.

Ron frowned but shook his head. "I swear."

Severus relaxed.

"I just recently realized that I have… feelings for her. It sort of snuck up on me."

"Blimey, that's brilliant!" Ron declared.

"Is it?" Severus frowned.

"What are you on about?" Ron asked as he gave Severus a quizzical look.

"I am not good at this kind of thing. I don't even know what to do! And she'd never want to be involved with me!"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen the way she lights up when you come around? She's practically broadcasting that she wants to shag you."

"Ronald, she is doing no such thing."

Ron pointed at Severus. "Maybe not quite that strong, but I'm pretty sure she fancies you."

Severus waved his hand at Ron in dismissal. "Don't be ridiculous!"

Ron shrugged. "I'm tellin' ya, mate, she likes you."

"Did she say something to you about me?"

"Nah. She wouldn't say something if she wasn't sure if you were interested. But…" he pointed his finger at Severus again. "She was very easygoing about me and Lav getting back together."

Severus lifted his hands in dismissal. "That could mean anything."

"I'm just saying. You should ask her out."

Severus frowned and looked away. He stared at the lake for a bit before saying anything.

"I don't know," he replied softly.

"Think about it," Ron urged. "It could be a good thing, you know?"

Severus sighed. "Yeah. I'll think about it."

"I need some air," Hermione said as she looked up from her Ancient Runes text. "Want to take a walk down by the lake?"

Severus' eyes rose from his Transfiguration homework. "I need a break too." He stood up from the Library table, put his homework into his backpack, shrunk it, and placed it into his pocket. "Let's go!"

Hermione smiled as she gathered her things and did the same with her backpack. Soon they had walked through the school and emerged into the courtyard. Severus glanced over at Hermione. She had her hair in a French braid, and he found the small whisps of hair that framed her face to be quite fetching. He faced forward again and rolled his eyes. He was a pathetic sop.

She chattered about their Runes assignment, but his mind was elsewhere. He thought about what Ron had said. Maybe she did like him. They spent an awful lot of time together.

He knew he was keeping something from her, though. If she were ever to consider him as a suitor, she'd need to know about his past. Specifically about Lily. He'd not told anyone why his friendship with Lily had ended, and to his friends' credit, none of them had pressed him about it.

He glanced over at Hermione again, who was looking at him expectantly.

"Sorry, my… my mind wandered," he stammered. "What did you ask?"

Hermione stopped. They'd made it to the lake, and he was about to turn onto the path that moved along it. Noticing her halting, he turned toward her.

"Severus… something's wrong with you. You've been pensive all day. Can I help?"

She was right. This had been weighing on him all day because he was considering what he would do about his infatuation. His heart filled with dread.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he said finally.

Hermione cast a spell and transfigured a fallen tree branch into a bench. She motioned for Severus to sit as she took a seat and looked at him expectantly.

He couldn't help smirking at her. She was so damned adorable, and he was so damned besotted with her. He pushed away his feelings as he settled beside her and turned toward her.

"I feel the need to tell you of an ugly time in my past."

"Okay," she said, looking slightly worried.

"You know most everything about me, but… I've been closed-mouthed about the reason my friendship with Lily ended."

"Severus, it's not my business. If you don't want to…"

He shook his head. "I think you should know. We are friends, but I'm not sure how you'll feel about me after this."

She gave him a concerned look. "Go on."

"You know Potter and his friends enjoyed attacking me."

She nodded.

"It was one of those times…"

He explained the incident and how he'd had his mouth washed out with soap and then had been hung upside down.

Hermione scowled. "I can't believe they'd be so awful, Severus."

He cleared his throat and looked out at the lake. "As you can imagine, I was mortified that my pants were on display for everyone to see. Lily tried to come to my rescue. She yelled at Potter to put me down." Severus stopped then, somewhat afraid to go on. What he would say next could end his friendship with Granger, let alone any budding romance.

He continued finally. "He released me from the spell, dropping me to the ground, and told me I should be happy that Evans had come to my rescue." He closed his eyes. It still hurt to think of what he'd said to her. It always would.

"I said the most terrible thing then…"

Her hand was on his arm, urging him on.

"I said that I didn't need help from filthy little…" Frowning, he whispered the word bitterly. "Mudbloods like her."

Hermione gasped, her hand releasing his arm and covering her mouth in shock.

"I know," he agreed. "She never spoke to me again despite me apologizing profusely. I can't blame her. And if this has destroyed our friendship, I will accept your decision."

He looked away but felt her hand on his arm again.

"She never spoke to you again?"

He shook his head.

"But weren't you best friends?"

His head snapped toward her. "I called her an awful name. You know how terrible that word is. It was unforgivable."

"No, it wasn't! You were being humiliated. You must have felt so embarrassed."

"I did, but that doesn't make what I said okay."

"No, you're right about that. You shouldn't have called her that, especially since she was trying to help you, but it wasn't an unforgivable act."

He ignored her statement, wrapped up in what he thought was going to happen next. "I understand if you don't want to associate with me anymore." He closed his eyes again, awaiting her judgment.

"Severus…"

"...Severus, look at me."

He opened his eyes and looked into hers. She was looking at him with empathy.

"We are friends. What happened in your past has nothing to do with me or our friendship."

"But I used a horrid word that is a slur against all Muggle-borns."

"You don't use it anymore, though, do you? Even when you verbally attacked us in the courtyard, you never, ever used that slur towards me."

"Hermione, I swear, I would never…"

She squeezed his arm. "I know. And I can see how badly you feel about what you did to Harry's mum. I wish she could have been able to forgive you."

"Why would she?"

"Severus, you were best friends. Best friends fight, but they get over it. Sometimes they say horrid things, but they forgive one another." she shook his arm. "They forgive."

He gave her a pained look.

"Severus, they forgive." She huffed. "Look, you did something awful, but you were immediately sorry, right? And you apologized and you've never said that name again except for when you were explaining to me just now, have you?"

He shook his head.

"There." She waved her hand at him.

"There what?"

"You did all you could to make up for your mistake."

Searching her face, he finally said something. "You don't think me awful?"

"No, of course not. You're my friend, and I'm not going to punish you for something that happened long ago and that you've already made amends for."

"I'm grateful that you see it that way. I wanted you to know, so there would be no secrets between us, but I was afraid you'd not want to speak to me after finding out."

Her lips thinned. "I'm not like that."

His eyes searched her face. "I know you're not, but as you know, I don't expect positive outcomes from anyone."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. "Well, get used to it. This is a different time, and things aren't going to always be awful for you."

He smirked at her then. "Thanks, Hermione."

She smiled right back.

Severus sat alone in the dungeons, staring into the fireplace. It was Halloween–the day Lily had been murdered. For him, this was the first anniversary of her death, and he felt it heavily. Most people were anticipating the Halloween party and dance that would start after the dinner hour, but he had no desire to be a part of it. Not this year. Not when his best friend from his childhood had been struck down on this day.

Draco sat down next to him, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Hi, Severus. Are you going to the party tonight?"

Severus shook his head. "I wasn't planning on it."

"Oh, come on. It's a great day to celebrate."

"It's just a foolish holiday."

Draco leaned in. "Yeah, but it was the day Potter's parents were killed. One less Mudblood in the world, am I right?"

Severus glared at him, fury filling him. He settled his ire before speaking. "It was also the day Our Lord lost his life, and it took him a long time to be able to return. I don't think there's any cause for celebration."

He stood without letting Draco say anything despite the look of realization on his face. Severus stalked out of the Common Room.

Pompous fool. He thought he knew everything about everything. He had no bloody idea.

Stalking up the stairs, he left the castle and went out into the courtyard. Wandering out of it, he stopped and stared out over the lake. The serenity of it calmed him slightly.

"Hey, Severus."

Severus turned to see Potter standing next to him.

"Potter."

"I got permission from Dumbledore to go to Hogsmeade tonight instead of the party. Not in the mood, you know?"

Severus nodded. "I understand."

"Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to join me. Maybe we could talk about my parents. Well… my mum. I know you hate my dad."

Severus smirked. "Hate is too kind of a word." He thought about the invitation for a bit. "What time?"

"We can leave right after we're done with dinner."

"Okay. We'll meet up then… outside the Great Hall."

"Thanks, Severus. With all that's gone on lately, I didn't want to be alone on the anniversary of my parents' deaths."

"Surprisingly, neither do I, Potter."

They Apparated to the Three Broomsticks and entered. Rosmerta gave them the evil eye. Harry grinned at her.

"We have permission from Dumbledore to be here. Special occasion."

Her eyes softened, and she gave them a quick nod. "Butterbeers?" she asked.

They both nodded and found a table somewhat near the back of the establishment.

"I'm sorry about your parents," Severus said finally after they'd settled in. "At first when I found out about them, I wondered if I had stayed in the past would it have changed anything."

Harry shrugged. "I doubt it. It seems that Tom gets what he wants. He wanted to kill me, and my parents stood in the way."

Severus huffed. "Imagine, going after a baby and marking him as your greatest enemy."

"Seems mad, right?"

"Yes, but having met the Dark Lord, I can see a bit of madness in him."

Harry nodded absently.

"Do you have any cool stories about my mum?"

Severus smirked. "Everything about her was cool. She was smart and funny. Everyone was drawn to her." He thought for a bit as to a good story to tell Potter. "I don't know if this is a cool story, but it's humorous. One day as fourth years in Transfiguration class we were changing parrots into wooden boxes and back again. Lily was having trouble with the spell, but she managed to turn her bird into the box. However…" Severus paused for effect. "When she went to change the parrot back, somehow her spell went awry, and instead of turning the box into a parrot, she turned herself into… well, a parrot woman. She had wings and blue feathers that were growing out of the top of her head, and her feet were claws."

He started laughing. "She… she couldn't talk. All she could do was squawk. Professor McGonagall dismissed the class and had to bring her to the Infirmary. It took them a day to set her right."

Harry laughed, his eyes filled with mirth. "That's priceless, Severus. It reminds me of the time Hermione turned herself into a cat with Polyjuice Potion."

"Excuse me?"

Harry told him the tale of their breaking into the Slytherin dormitory and Hermione's unfortunate mishap.

"At least she could talk, but she had a tail and everything," Harry said with a grin.

Severus snorted. "I can only imagine. Remind me when we're by a Pensieve; I'll share the memory with you. But don't tell Hermione I told you about it. She's super embarrassed by what happened, and I'm sure she'd hex me if she knew I'd told you."

Severus put his hand against his chest. "Your secret is safe with me."

They were quiet for a while, the somberness returning and their moods deflated.

"I think Lily would have been a great mum to you. I know you don't remember her. You were so young, but she was very loving and protective of those she cared about. I would hope that Potter had matured as well."

"From what I heard about him, he did. Of course, I didn't know anything about him being such a bully until you came around."

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble about your father, Potter."

Harry shrugged. "You know, I'm actually glad you did. I had put him on a pedestal and made him into a perfect person. It was enlightening to see that he wasn't. Honestly, I think if we were in the same year at school, I'd probably find him to be horrid."

"Your mother used to call him a toe-rag before she fell for him."

"No way!"

Severus nodded. "She hated him. I really don't know when that all changed."

"Was it hard?"

"What do you mean?"

"Seeing your friend fall in love with your mortal enemy?"

Severus looked down at the table. "Incredibly."

"What did you say to her?"

"Harry, at the time, our friendship had ended. I never said anything to her about it, but it made me wonder how seriously she considered our friendship before our falling out if it was so easy for her to hook up with your father."

"Oh, that's right. I forgot your friendship had ended by then."

Harry didn't ask, and Severus didn't want to go into it. Not tonight. Tonight was for honoring his friend. He lifted his Butterbeer and made a toast.

"Here's to your mum, one of the most caring people I've ever met."

Harry picked up his mug and clinked it against Severus' glass. "Here's to her. And to my dad, the biggest prat that ever lived."

Severus guffawed at that before taking a sip of his drink. Harry smirked at him and drank as well.