He stood in front of the door, his right hand already outstretched to take a hold of the handle. He took another deep breath before plucking up some courage and finally, he opened the door to the infirmary.

"Ah, Severus, so you finally found your way up here. She is in there."

The medi-witch gestured towards the small room Irma Pince lay in - or rather Eileen Prince, supposedly. Severus nodded and hesitantly walked towards it. Coming to a halt in front of the door he knocked twice waiting for a reply.

"Come in," came the voice of a woman, a voice Severus had heard so often since his school days.

He opened the door, stepped in and closed it carefully behind him before stepping further in. He found the librarian sitting in a chair reading.

"Severus."

"Madame Pince. Poppy told me to come and talk to you. Now, I am here so what is it you so desperately seem to want to talk about?"

He obviously was more than slightly annoyed at everything at this very moment which caused the elder witch to sigh.

"Please sit down, Severus. It seems there is much I need to tell you."

Severus eyed her cautiously before sitting down opposite her at the small table.

"I want to apologize. I put you through much grief and I knew that from the beginning. Back then I thought it to be necessary, but now I know better. I was the one to bring you to your ruin and by that nearly brought ruin upon our whole world. I know that it is much too late to simply ask for forgiveness now, but yet I beg you. 

My wrongdoings cost you much. They cost you much more than I thought they would and there is no way I can ever give those things back to you. I let you believe that your father killed me in one of his drunken rages, and it caused you to seek friends in places where no one should ever seek them. They welcomed you and doomed you. 

I always watched over you, but I never tried to steer you in the right direction like a true mother should have. I watched as you destroyed all hopes of ever having the girl you loved so deeply by your side without interfering and I watched as you became a bitter man, a double agent who was practically waiting until he was found out and probably killed. I-"

He held up a hand effectively shutting her up. His other hand massaged the bridge of his nose before he started to answer her rant.

"You may be Eileen Prince, but you're not my mother. My mother died when I was a teen, and she won't be resurrected. Furthermore, I made those friends long before my mother died if one is so bold to assume that I had even one friend and lastly, you may have been the reason I became one of them but in hindsight, it was good to have a reason not to interact with Lily any more. 

I  have loved her, yes, but love can make you blind to the true nature of a person. I loved Lily from when we were children and I didn't realize just how much she had changed and not necessarily for the better. It is better to get to know the person before you fall head over heels for them which is just what I might have done this time. If that's all - I have other pressing business that needs my undivided attention."

Severus stood without looking at the frail-looking woman. She looked sadly at him and just as he reached the door she spoke again.

"I'm glad to see you happy, Severus. If she's the one for you then don't you dare let her run away in fear of not being good enough. I know of your past struggles. I know that you think lowly of yourself, and it's time you change that. You are a great wizard, and I am glad that you are just the way you are. I'm proud of you, Severus."

Although he had stopped to hear her last sentences out, he didn't turn around. He might have hated the thought of his mother lying to him all these years but hearing her tell him that she was proud stirred something in him. Her words got him to contemplate his relationships with others and how he used to carry himself. He hesitated and waited for her to end her speech before opening the door and stepping foot into the infirmary again. Without bidding Poppy goodbye he turned and walked out of the hospital wing and down into his chambers in the dungeons.

++++

Noon came and brought lunch break with it. Severus soon found himself walking up the stairs to get to the great hall. Once there, he found Hermione already there and in a quite happy mood.

"Lessons went well I take it," smiled Severus, taking his usual place.

"Very much so. No accidents with the third years and the tests seem to be quite good as far as I saw correcting the first ones. How did your conversation with Madame Pince go?"

"It seems as though she really is Eileen Prince, but that doesn't mean that my mother is alive. She apologized, nothing more, really. It's alright."

They ate in silence after that, before going to Minerva's office to check on her and to take the children down with them.

"Come through, Severus." came the voice of the headmistress when Severus floocalled to ask whether they could come and get the children. Following that, he and Hermione stepped through and found themselves standing in the big oval office.

Minerva was sitting at her desk writing on a piece of parchment while two teenage wizards sat opposite her scribbling away on tests Minerva gave them.

Upon closer inspection, they saw that the teenagers were in fact Draco and Harry who seemed to have aged another three to four years since that very morning.

"It's fine, boys. Give me your assignments, and then you are free to go with Hermione and Severus, alright?" asked the headmistress taking the sheets of parchment from them as they stood and walked over toward the two other adults in the room.

"I guess I will see you all at dinner then?"

Severus nodded uncertainly as Hermione ushered Harry and Draco to the floo following closely behind.

"Can we go to the Quidditch field, Severus?" asked Draco upon entering the living room.

"Some fresh air would do us all wonders so yes. Just remember that winter is coming and it's getting colder each passing day, the first snow will surely come soon so put on warm jackets."

His advice was not to be heard by the two teens as they were already gone to fetch warm clothes.
Hermione sighed, looked at Severus and then went to her room to do the same leaving him to get his own cloak and then wait for them all.