It was the second Friday in January, which also happened to be Severus's thirty-ninth birthday, when he was finishing up the paperwork pertaining to Bill and Fleur's adoption of young Victoire, who they had decided to adopt over Christmas, when there was a resounding knock upon his office door. Severus shuffled the paperwork, thinking that it could've been Albus wanting to check over the progress, and looked up.

"Enter," he said.

The door came open then, and an irate-looking Sirius Black stepped over the threshold and stomped into the office, slamming the door behind him. His dark eyes raked over Severus with pure revulsion and anger, and he was practically shaking as he stood before him. Sirius had taken some time off in the wake of the office Christmas celebrations, spending the holidays with Harry and that dog of his at Grimmauld Place, while Remus was the one bringing home the bread and barely taking any time off for the holidays.

"Sirius," Severus said, giving him a nod. "Good holiday?"

Sirius approached Severus's desk and stood before the visitor's chair, wrapping his fingers around it to control his shaking. "I don't suppose you know all that happened over the course of the holidays, do you?"

Severus shook his head. "Hermione mentioned that you and Remus bought Harry a computer, and that he's enjoying it, but that's all I know..."

"Harry has agreed to be adopted by me," Sirius said, cutting across Severus, who was shocked that he hadn't yet heard this information.

"Just you?"

"Yes, of course just me, for, as you know, our country has not yet caught up completely to the times, and Remus and I would be unable to adopt Harry together, no matter how much we may want to," Sirius spat at him.

Severus folded his hands atop his desk and nodded sagely. "Well, I wish you and Harry all the best," he told him. "I take it you want me to sign my approval for the adoption? If that's what you're worried about, Sirius, you needn't be. Harry has made great strides while under your care, not just academically, but physically and emotionally as well, and I think it would do him well to be adopted into such a wonderful family."

Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. "I know about Halloween."

Severus cocked an eyebrow. "What? That Harry and Blaise spent the night together? I know that it was the talk of the school for a while there..."

"I know he didn't spend the night with Blaise that night," Sirius said, the rage radiating from him as he attempted to hold his temper. "I know that the only one that Harry spent the night with that night was you."

Severus did his best not to scream at Sirius, although he himself knew full well that he was clearly the one in the wrong here. "What of it?"

"What...? What of it?" Sirius scoffed, shaking his head. "I could easily go to Albus with this, Severus, and you know it. One word from me, and it'll be your job."

"But you haven't yet, otherwise you wouldn't be standing there," Severus intoned, getting slowly to his feet and regarding Sirius coldly. "What brought you here?"

"Firstly, that I want you to stay the hell away from my son!" Sirius yelled, the aura of protection clear as he gritted his teeth at the man.

"And second?"

"And secondly, I want all the details from that night, you charlatan!" he demanded.

Severus inclined his head slowly. "There were kisses exchanged, followed by the two of us sleeping in the same bed, nothing more, nothing less," he informed him, and was relieved when Sirius visibly relaxed some. "I don't take men to my bed, no matter how much they claim to want it, when they are drunk, Sirius. You know me better than that. Harry and I, although there is an attraction there, cannot legally act upon it until he is eighteen-years-old. I explained to him as much, and I fear that I hurt him, but, regardless, I won't do anything to put my position here at Magical Kinship in jeopardy. I won't."

"Normally, I would have punched your lights out for claiming that Harry claimed to want it, but, the fact remains, I know his feelings on the matter," Sirius said softly.

Severus blinked. "He told you this, did he?"

"No," Sirius replied, shaking his head. "I heard Harry speaking to Hermione on the night of the Christmas celebrations here."

Severus nodded. "Ah, I see. That's why you asked Albus for some time off, isn't it?" he asked, thinking that that was the reason.

Sirius sighed. "It was, yes.... Harry spoke plainly to Hermione, as if she was his closest friend, even closer than Ron..."

"I suspect that Harry loves and cares for Ron and Hermione equally, albeit in very different ways," Severus informed Sirius softly. "With Ron, he can have fun, and see what a large family is like, complete with a surrogate mother in the form of Molly Weasley. As for Hermione, he can identify with her on the level of the pair of them mutually growing up in care, for children's experiences within the care system tend to overlap now and again. While Hermione was able to find a good home and a family rather quickly..."

"Thanks to you," Sirius observed softly.

"In part to me, surely," Severus told him with a small smile. "But Hermione will never forget what it was like to have the feeling that she was unwanted, and although Harry has lived with that notion far longer, they can still empathize with one another because of it."

Sirius sighed, his shoulders slacking. "You won't prevent Harry from being adopted by me?" he asked him softly.

Severus shook his head. "No, of course not."

"Very well," Sirius replied. "I'm not going to Albus because I trust you when you say that that was all that happened on Halloween, because of your promise not to block the adoption, because Remus told me he'd leave me if I made a scene, and because Harry loves you."

Severus felt as if a football had slammed him in the chest as he leaned forward. "Sorry? Did you just say that Harry loves me?" he asked, shaking his head.

Sirius sighed. "He claims to," he told him, shaking his head. "Why I don't know... You're not my type," the man explained.

Severus couldn't stop himself from laughing aloud at that. "Don't worry," he assured Sirius in between guffaws. "You're not mine either."

Sirius sighed, thumbing the wooden edges of the chair. "Listen, I don't want to overstep, but I think Albus is right."

"Right?"

"I know I said so a few weeks back, but I think that it would be good for Harry to hear about Lily from you," Sirius said softly.

Severus sighed. "It was a very painful time for me, Sirius, as you well know."

Sirius nodded. "I know," he told him. "But Harry only really knows about James, due to the blaggard getting his rights back to him, and his subsequent raising by him, and I use that term as lightly as possible," the man said bitterly.

Severus rolled his shoulders. "What do you suggest?"

"Under normal circumstances, I'd want to keep you as far away from Harry as possible," Sirius told him softly. "However, these are not normal circumstances, and, as I've known you for years and am fully aware of how much your job means to you, I know you will not overstep. Plus, I believe you when you say that you and Harry did not completely cross the line during Halloween at Narcissa's place, so I suppose I can extend an invitation for dinner to you at Grimmauld Place, so that you and Harry can discuss Lily."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Sirius?" Severus asked. "Harry was a bit reluctant to talk to me the last time, and I'm not sure that us sitting down for a meal together is such a good idea..."

"I, on the other hand, think it is a smashing idea," Sirius said firmly, and lowered his voice. "I think that you can begin to close the book, so to speak, on Harry's time in the care system, and you need to do final evaluations and whatnot."

Severus swallowed. "Well, yes, but..."

"And, Remus and I will be there the entire time," Sirius reminded him.

Severus sighed. "If that's a cue for me not to attempt to take advantage of my time with Harry, then you needn't bother, Sirius. I would hardly throw myself at the boy..."

"Young man."

"Fine. I would hardly throw myself at the young man beneath your roof, or without his permission, or while I was still his social worker, or while he's still under eighteen. It was a drastic misstep that I participated in on Halloween, and I will confide in you how ashamed of myself I am for my behavior."

"I don't mean that it will be a negative experience for you, Severus," Sirius told him. "Against my better judgement, and due to Remus's persuading, Remus and I will permit you to have chaperoned visits with Harry at Grimmauld."

Severus nearly stumbled where he stood, for he could not fully comprehend what it was the man opposite him was saying. "Sirius, could you explain this for me, please?"

"What are your feelings for Harry?"

Severus sputtered at the question. "Excuse me?"

"Harry claims to love you," Sirius said firmly. "Now, how do you feel about my son, or are we all just wasting our time?"

Severus dragged a hand through his hair. "I care for Harry a great deal, more than I ever have for anyone in my life," he confessed. "I didn't know that he was entering care when Albus initially introduced us, and even you can admit that he looks a bit older than he actually is..."

Sirius nodded. "I can agree to that, yes."

"I thought he was the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid eyes on," Severus whispered. "He looked like a Raphael to me, and all I wanted to do was speak to him, get to know him, and then, once the timing was right, ask him to be mine..."

"Are you falling?" Sirius asked, his question firm.

Severus sighed. "I've fallen," he said quietly.

Sirius looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment but, after coming to the realization that all of this could have been a forgone conclusion, nodded his head. "Very well," he said, although he sounded reluctant to sanction any of this. "Dinner, next Saturday. Will you be there?"

Severus nodded. "I've no plans."

"Wonderful," Sirius said. "Harry's cooking during the weekends."

Severus blinked. "He can cook?"

"Yes, of course," Sirius said with a smile. "He's accepted early acceptance into Le Cordon Bleu already for the autumn."

"Le Cordon Bleu?" Severus whispered, his throat threatening to close up at the notion that Harry could be moving to France.

"In London, Severus," Sirius informed him. "They do have a school here, you know, and Harry has decided to stick close for the foreseeable future."

Severus breathed a sigh of relief. "I wouldn't begrudge him Paris, you know..."

Sirius smiled then, and Severus came to the conclusion that all would be well. "Perhaps not, Severus, but now there could be a way that you can enjoy it with him one day," he said, and slipped from Severus's office.

As Severus sank into his chair and massaged his temples, he realized that he hadn't questioned Sirius about Harry's supposed relationship with Blaise, and wondered if he would be able to do so himself when he dined at Grimmauld.

~*~

Severus drove to the Chapel Market before heading over to Grimmauld Place to pick up a few things before what would prove to be an awkward family meal. He bought a bottle of red wine from a street vendor, as well as a box of dark chocolates, and some fresh white truffles. He left the market shortly thereafter and made his way down the cobblestone street towards his car, which he took and drove directly to Grimmauld.

Sirius met him at the door with a tight smile, which soon turned relatively friendly when he offered him the bottle of red and the chocolates.

Severus was slightly taken aback when Remus showed up, complimented the chocolates and took them, steering Sirius into the living room, telling Severus to hang up his coat and to join Harry in the kitchen, where he was preparing dinner. Doing as he was told and keeping ahold of the bag of truffles and bottle of wine, Severus hung his coat and walked down the darkened hallway towards the kitchen, letting himself in via the swiveling door.

"That you, Sirius?" called Harry as he stood in front of the stove, stirring something, the intoxicating aroma of fresh cooking filtering throughout the kitchen. "I thought I told you that we needed red wine... Was the cellar bare?"

"I don't think my name is Sirius," Severus said softly, and Harry dropped the wooden spoon he was holding before he whirled around.

"Severus," he breathed, his cheeks flaming automatically.

"The same," Severus replied, placing the bottle of red and the bag of truffles onto the small wooden table in the kitchen.

"Sirius let you in?" Harry asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose, and wrapping his arms around himself. He looked positively delicious that day, with a green jumper over a white T-shirt, and jeans which seemed to hug him everywhere...

"Naturally," Severus told him with a nod. "I don't fancy breaking into people's houses."

Harry visibly swallowed, turning back around to check on the meal. "I'm making a sauce for the pasta, but it smells like it's missing something..."

Severus crossed the room and looked into the pot Harry was cooking in; it was a cream sauce, and there appeared to be salt, pepper, and chunks of garlic in it already. "Other than the salt and pepper and garlic, what have you put into it?"

"Pearl onions, freshly grated parmesan, white wine, and butter," Harry replied with a shrug. "I don't get it. Usually my experiments in the kitchen go so well..."

"It smells incredible," Severus assured him, and turned around then, making a grab for the bag upon the table and offered it to him. "They were a good price at the Chapel Market," he explained as he handed the bag over.

Harry gazed at Severus skeptically for a moment before he slowly opened the bag, and gasped at its contents. "White truffles," he whispered in awe. "These are so expensive..."

"Straight for the source is always the best, with little village markets being a close second," came Severus's authoritative tone, and Harry looked up at him. "I just thought that you might have something you could do with these. Sirius told me about your selection of university, so of course you know how to cook with truffles."

Harry worried his lower lip before retrieving a brush from one of the kitchen drawers, and carefully laid each truffle onto a fresh cutting board. "I'm surprised you didn't tip Sirius off, what with the Christmas present I had Hermione give to you," he said softly, using the brush to get off any offending matter.

"What should I need to tip him off about?"

Harry quickly lowered the brush before turning around, causing Severus to step back slightly from him. "Don't do that," he whispered.

Severus blinked. "Do what?"

"Pretend that you don't know something when it's so apparent that you do," Harry replied, his Adam's apple visibly bobbing in his delectable throat. "If you want to say something, then go ahead and say it. I hate leaving thing unsaid."

Severus leaned back up against the table in the center of the kitchen, choosing his words carefully before he spoke. "Well, suffice it to say I was more than a little surprised how you were able to get an advanced copy of the latest Wicked Count book, nearly two months before it was due to hit shelves..."

Harry shook his head at him, and promptly returned to the truffles, which he sliced up expertly, and added some oil to another pan on the stove. "I told you to be straight with me, Severus, but, apparently, you can't even do that."

"I'm trying to be, Harry, but I find it is difficult to be so, when you're clearly not being straight with me either," he replied.

Harry waited in silence for the oil to heat before he scraped the slices of truffle into it, his intention clear that he wanted to brown them before adding the sauce making Severus's mouth water on two accounts—one, because he clearly knew what he was doing in the kitchen and two, because of the way he worked so expertly with his hands. "What have I not been straight about with you, Severus?"

Severus blinked, knowing he had to get ahold of himself; Harry was in a committed relationship with Blaise, and even though he might harbor some feelings of mutual love for Severus, he could hardly slam Harry onto the kitchen table and take him right here. There were factors to consider, one being his job, another being Harry's lack of consent, and a third being that Sirius and Remus were in the next room, and he'd promised Sirius he wouldn't become involved with Harry in that way until his next birthday. No, he couldn't allow his fantasies to become reality, not yet; there were too many things weighing on his desires, and Severus knew how to keep a handle on them all, as he had done for years. The desire that Harry had awakened within him was a truly frightening thing, and he knew that there was a little over six months before such a thing would be legal, and he had to continue waiting.

"Nothing," Severus replied, shaking his head; he knew they couldn't have this conversation now, although his mind was screaming at him to do so.

Harry sighed, but nevertheless stuck to cooking. "Sirius mentioned that you were coming for dinner because we needed to discuss some things..."

"Yes, I've begun preliminary paperwork for your exit from the care system, and I'll be standing up in court when called to recommend your adoption, as I'm sure Albus will as well," Severus informed him as Harry slowly began adding the browned truffles into the sauce.

"That's a relief," Harry said quietly. He grabbed a bag of tagliatelle pasta by Allemandi and opened it up, putting it into the already-boiling pot of water. "Don't know what I'd do if there was a stumbling block..."

"Did you always want to be adopted?" Severus asked.

Harry shrugged at the question. "I don't know. I think once I hit about twelve or thirteen I thought it wasn't going to happen," he answered honestly. "I told Hermione this, and she told me she understood, even though she got adopted as a child."

"Discouragement isn't unheard of," Severus observed quietly, watching as Harry proceeded to gently stir the pasta in the pot. "I think a great many children in care slowly but surely begin to lose hope, once they reach a certain age. Demographics from within the system are broken, as perceptions based in racism of years past cast a negative light on some children and young adults hoping for an adoptive family."

"Not so long ago," Harry said softly, "and it still happens today." He turned to face Severus then, and Severus fell in love with those beautiful green eyes of his all over again. "Minorities are still considered less-than by many people who perceive themselves to be better, just because of their race, religion, or salaries. It's bullshit, if you ask me, because there have been people throughout history who have died for the hopes of a better tomorrow."

"Why didn't you want to study English?" Severus asked before he could stop himself, and found that he immediately regretted it.

"You've figured it out, then, haven't you?" Harry asked with a smirk as he turned back to regard the pasta and the sauce. "You know that I'm Linfred Hardwin."

"It wasn't too difficult to connect the dots, once I stumbled upon the unfinished manuscript in your bag at Draco's house," Severus said softly.

Harry nodded. "Yes. I thought you'd figured it out then."

"Not so," Severus replied. "Took me a few more days, but once Hermione presented me with your very thoughtful gift, did the pieces fully come together."

Harry nodded. "Yes. I thought that it would make you understand that I'm under a contractual obligation not to reveal my true identity..."

"Do Sirius and Remus know about it?"

Harry sighed, shoulders slacking ever so slightly. "They know, yes. I told Ron and Hermione on the day we went to Draco's property on the sea with Ginny," he said quietly. "Hermione told me to tell Sirius and Remus when it looked like they were considering adopting me. I heard their whispered conversations about it for weeks, and decided to wait for a good time. I told them right after I got into Le Cordon Bleu. Just seemed like a good time to do so..."

"What was their reaction?"

"They think that Oliver, my agent, might not make good on telling the world that I'm Linfred Hardwin, and will keep Viktor in the limelight for marketing purposes," Harry told Severus, and the man was surprised that Harry was speaking so candidly.

"Who is this Viktor guy, anyhow?" Severus asked. "I must confess that I, too was among the populace that believed that he was Linfred Hardwin..."

"Other than Oliver, Viktor himself, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, and now you, everyone out there thinks so as well," Harry told him, as if there were no hard feelings. "He's Oliver's boyfriend, and he was a model in Bulgaria before it was decided that he would be the face for Linfred Hardwin, until I turned eighteen."

"How did you even find Oliver?"

"Oliver found me, believe it or not," Harry said with a small smile. "It was at the Jamaica Wine House, if you can believe it. I had just turned sixteen, and my carers didn't really care what I was doing as long as I was home by eleven."

"Negligent, then?"

Harry sighed. "There was always food in the house, and I got my pocket money as part of the care agreement, but they never elicited me for conversation or anything like that," he replied. "I suppose they were too wrapped up in their own lives to worry about the constant reject from numerous homes beforehand."

"So, you were just in the pub?"

"Yes," Harry replied. "I would go in there every day after school and do my homework, and drink the coffee to stay awake."

"Didn't know you liked coffee," Severus put in.

Harry flushed becomingly, and Severus licked his lips when Harry wasn't looking. "I don't like coffee, but once I realized I could stay awake with sugar, I began drinking hot chocolate instead, which, as you know, is my hot beverage of choice."

"And Hadrian's," Severus observed.

Harry flashed Severus a smile. "Correct. Anyhow, whenever I'd finish my assignments, I would pull out whichever draft of The Wicked Count and the Lust Royale that I was writing at the time, and Oliver popped in one day for his tea. I didn't pay any attention to him, because I was so busy writing about Hadrian and how he was dealing with his father's death and coming to terms with being a count... But, he saw me anyway," Harry said softly.

"Did he approach you?"

"Naturally, as I was the only one with a vacant seat at my table," Harry replied, continuing to stir the pasta as he talked. "He asked me if I was writing out an essay for English class, or a short story, and I told him that it was neither, that it was a novel."

"What was his reaction to that?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "At first, he laughed," he replied, and Severus detected that there was still some resentment there from Oliver's initial reaction. "But, he could see I was serious, so he snatched up a random page before I could stop him."

"What was it he read?"

"I tend to write out of order," Harry confessed, "and it was Hadrian's coming out ball, in that he had to accept the title of count."

"Wherein all the ladies pretty much throw themselves at him?"

"And Hadrian's afraid," Harry told him with a nod. "Oliver thought that a homosexual protagonist, as he called it, was 'so fresh', and that it had to be explored in depth. When he realized that the story was done, and this was my fifth or sixth draft, he gave me his card and told me to meet with him as soon as possible."

"And did you?"

Harry nodded. "Of course. It was half-term the following week, so I took the tube to his office in Chelsea and showed him the outlines of all the books, and he approved them. He set me up with an editor after we signed a contract, proclaiming him to be my agent, and then we just went from there."

"How many books are left?" Severus asked.

Harry smiled slowly. "At this point, there's four left," he told him quietly. He continued to stir the pasta in silence, turning the sauce to simmer flawlessly, and bent down and looked into the oven where, much to Severus's shock, was a whole chicken roasting in a bed of similarly-roasted green beans. "Just hope that it's everything people want..."

"You know how it ends?"

Harry looked over his shoulder as he smiled at Severus. "Well, of course I know how it ends. I'm the writer, aren't I?"

Once dinner had finished cooking, Severus and Harry joined Remus and Sirius at the already-set table, and Sirius thanked Severus again for the bottle of wine. Harry looked slightly amazed when he was offered a glass and accepted, albeit only a half glass. Everyone complimented Harry on his cooking that evening, and Severus could understand why the young man had ultimately selected culinary school. There was something in it, he realized, especially if this agent of his, Oliver, went back on his word about Harry's debut into the world as Linfred Hardwin come July.

Dinner ended beautifully, and Remus and Sirius moved to clear the dishes and mentioned something about a sponge cake for pudding. Severus sat across from Harry at the table, nursing his wine glass, and Harry got up after a moment and wandered to the base of the stairs. The young man let out a whistle, and there was an energetic-sounding bark, whereupon a beautiful red-coasted dog burst into the dining room, with Harry painstakingly bending down and gathering it into his arms.

"This is Hedwig," he said, beaming as he crossed towards Severus. "Say hello."

Severus hesitated for a moment, but couldn't deny the beautiful molten black eyes staring back at him, and soon the creature had invited herself onto his lap. "Hello, Hedwig," he said rather indulgently then, and stroked her behind the ears.

"See?" Harry said brightly. "She likes you!"

Severus sighed, knowing that the only reason that Sirius and Remus had excused themselves was for Severus to discuss with Harry his true purpose of coming for dinner that evening. "Harry, I'm afraid me informing you about me starting the paperwork and subsequent sign-off for your adoption wasn't my only reason for being here."

Harry swallowed as he moved to sit back down at the table. "Okay," he said quietly, sitting in a rather rigid fashion in his seat. "What's there to talk about?"

Severus absentmindedly continued to stroke Hedwig's ears, knowing that he would need all the courage the canine could give him. "Many years ago, when I was a much younger man, I was friends with a young woman."

Harry nodded. "All right?"

"This young woman, even though people encouraged her otherwise, went down a rather tragic path, and even though I was in a position to save her, in the end, I let past experiences with her cloud my judgment, and I refused to do so."

"Severus..."

"We were childhood friends and, growing up, things were, at first, perfectly uncomplicated, until I came into my own and realized something about myself, to the point where she was so disgusted that she attempted to change me. But, as I'm sure you well know, changing certain things about oneself is impossible..."

"You mean she didn't approve of you being gay?" Harry asked.

Severus sighed. "That's putting it lightly, but yes. She didn't approve. I don't know if she learned this prejudice from her family, but suffice it to say that many people in the area at the time didn't approve either."

"Your family?"

"My father was vehemently against it, if that's what you're talking about."

"And your mother?"

"My mother learned subservience quite quickly upon her marriage to my father, which only occurred because she was expecting me... In later years, I suspected she viewed me as a resentment or hindrance to a life she could have had, were it not for an unexpected pregnancy, and her Catholic family ordering her to marry my father."

"But this girl," Harry pressed, wanting to get back to the main narrative. "It doesn't sound like it started off badly."

Severus shook his head. "No, it didn't; in fact, it was lovely. That was the one piece of my childhood where I actually felt happy," he mused. "One doesn't typically consider sexuality when one is very young, and I certainly didn't. It wasn't until secondary school that I knew for sure who I really was in that sense, and when I informed her of it, she was angered."

"Was she?"

Severus nodded at Harry. "Extremely. All she could say was that I had ruined her childhood fantasy, that she had it in her mind that she and I would marry and make better lives for ourselves and away from where we'd grown up."

"She resented you for being your true self."

"And for my apparent refusal for loving her in the way she believed she deserved to be loved, in a romantic sense," Severus replied. "She wouldn't talk to me for weeks on end, until she finally came to me, happier than I'd seen her in a while."

"Was she over it?"

"I thought so, and for a while, things got back to normal," Severus told him. "We would talk as we used to, and I thought that she had finally gotten over her prejudices. However, I was wrong, and things came to a head when she kissed me."

"She kissed you?" Harry cried out.

Severus nodded. "Yes, quite surprisingly. I won't deny that it was lovely, but I told her that it couldn't happen again, as I couldn't give her what she wanted. She went home in tears that day, and I thought the end of our friendship had come about again. But, after another few weeks, she came back again, and ultimately tried touching me..."

"Severus!" Harry said, shocked.

"Yes. I tried to explain to her yet again that there was nothing she could do to change me, or make me into the man she wanted to marry, and she ran off again," Severus said quietly. "It was when she returned a third time, this time with a bottle of whiskey, that I thought all had been forgiven, and we were going to celebrate."

"She wasn't there to celebrate, was she Severus?" Harry whispered.

"No, Harry, she wasn't there to celebrate," Severus told him. "Instead, she kept plying me with more and more shots, laughing as she did so, to the point where my head was pounding, and my vision was spotty at best. I kept telling her that I'd had enough, but she wouldn't listen to a word I said. Finally, when I was so inebriated that I couldn't even form words, she began kissing and touching me all over again. I managed to shove her off me and get out of there, and managed to steer clear of her after that. We went to different universities; I graduated with dual degrees in social work and psychology, while she, unfortunately, became pregnant and married the father of her child, much like my mother had."

"What happened to her?"

"She gave birth to a son," Severus said softly. "She came to me when she was heavily pregnant and told me she wanted to leave her husband, because he spent all his spare quid at the pub with friends, and she could barely afford to keep herself fed. She became so distraught that her water broke in my flat, and I rushed her to the hospital. She begged me, afterwards, to take both her and her son away, and keep us hidden from her husband. I refused."

"Severus," Harry whispered, "what happened to her?"

"She flatlined after my refusal, and I kept watch over the newborn baby in the nursery until the father showed up. Then, I got out of there, knowing he would potentially accuse me of poisoning his infant."

Harry was staring at the table, his fingers knotting themselves together. "Why are you telling me all this, Severus?"

"Because that woman, my friend growing up, the one who said and did all of those misguided things, the one I regret to this day not offering her a helping hand, was your mother."

Harry's eyes snapped up then. "My... My mother?"

"Yes. Lily Evans," Severus whispered. "I think she could have been a good person, had she gotten the help she needed, and potentially address her faults in a healthy manner..."

"You knew my mother," Harry said softly.

Severus nodded. "I did know her, Harry. And I am so sorry I didn't tell you as soon as I made the connection as to who you were."

"No... No," Harry said, and slowly got to his feet. "I..." He slowly raised his eyes to Severus's and shook his head. "We're finished here."

"Harry..."

"No, Severus, nothing further," Harry said firmly.

"Harry, I really think that we should..."

"That's enough!" Harry shouted, slamming a fist down, hard, upon the surface of the table, which directly caused Hedwig to squeal and jump out of Severus's lap, and dart towards Harry in a moment of concern. "I don't want to hear another bloody thing from you," he said through his teeth, before bending down and scooping up Hedwig, and carrying her out of the dining room, and up the stairs.

"I take it that it didn't go well?"

Severus ignored Sirius's question and got to his feet, making his way towards the front door, whereupon he fetched his coat and moved to leave. The thought of sponge cake seemed to leave a sour taste in his mouth as he walked towards the black iron gate to get to his car. As he got inside and slammed the door, he considered the distraught look in Harry's eyes, Lily's eyes, and noticed that he had made the same expression his mother had made when he had refused her help on the day of Harry's birth, and he felt that now, more than ever, that he had let down not his childhood friend, but the man he loved.