"Are you sure this is right?" Severus asked, staring down at his Astronomy essay. "One of Jupiter's moons is covered in ice and the other in volcanoes? That doesn't make sense."

"That's what it says." Emma shrugged, pushing the book forward to show the passage.

His eyebrows knotted together as he read through the passage again.

"Hey guys!" Severus looked up the second he heard her voice, his essay forgotten. Lily looked around. "Woah, the library is packed today. What are you two working on?"

"Astronomy essay," Emma answered, making some room on the table for their friend.

"Oh, fun! I've got Care of Magical Creatures to do," she said as she sat down with a bright smile on her face.

Emma glanced at Severus and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Did you just call the homework fun? What are you so smiley about today?"

Lily's eyes widened before she caught herself and laughed heartily. "James asked me out again." She shook her head, but the smile on her face remained unaltered.

"And?" said Emma.

"Since when did you stop calling him Potter?" Severus added.

"Oh, you know, it's just..." She glanced between her two friends and sighed. "Okay, yes, him asking me out is nothing new. But I just think, you know, he's... changing."

Severus' eyebrows shot up. "Changing?"

"Yeah, you know, slowly, but..." Lily said, getting her parchment out of her bag. "In a good way."

"Lily, have you gone mad?" said Severus darkly, leaning forward over the table.

She looked up with shock evident on her face. "What?"

"He's had it out for us for four years. Do you really believe all of a sudden he's changed?"

"Well... He... A little bit, yes!" said Lily, flustered.

"Unbelievable," he muttered, swiping his books and parchment into his bag. Ignoring Lily's protests, he swung his bag over his shoulder and stormed out of the library.

Emma looked down at her essay, but she could feel her friend's eyes on her.

"Do you feel that way, too?"

She sighed. "Severus is not wrong." When her friend's shoulders sagged, she added, "But if you think he's changing..."

Lily's eyes lit up and she nodded vehemently. "I do! I really do."

"Then maybe you should wait for him to do that before making a decision."

"Have you heard anything yet?"

As ambiguous as his question was, Emma knew exactly what Severus meant. He'd been asking the same question for a week. Ever since she sent that letter to the Ministry of Magic.

She had barely slept all week.

"No. They haven't responded."

"Send them another letter today," said Severus, as they turned onto the path leading to the Quidditch field. "If they don't respond by next Saturday, we'll go to London. Force it out of them."

Her lips curled into a smile despite herself. Severus had been nothing but sweet and supportive all week. While she was desperate for more information, he was furious with the Ministry for being so unresponsive.

Severus held the door and followed her into the lift, which was nothing more than a wooden floor that moved up and down. With a tap of his wand, it took them all the way up to the top of the stands, where the teachers gathered together for the first Quidditch match of the year. It was the sport that every witch and wizard in all of England loved. The players played on broomsticks, soaring through the air chasing balls. And somehow, Lily's son had managed to secure himself a place on the Gryffindor team in his very first schoolyear.

"Do you think Slytherin will win?" Emma asked as they took their seats. She waved at Charity and nodded at Quirinus as they passed. Below them, a sea of red whistled and hollered at a river of green. The Slytherins returned the jeering just a forcefully.

"Of course we'll win," he said gruffly. "You should know better than to ask such silly questions."

The two teams entered the field from opposite directions. Harry hobbled after his team behind the two tall red-heads. He was by far the smallest in the bunch. Then again, a Seeker needed to be small. Less air resistance meant he'd be quicker, and speed was the number one priority to catch the little golden ball known as the Snitch and win the game.

"I don't know. Gryffindor is a tough opponent, and with Potter on the team..."

"The boy is a first-year. Higgs can handle him."

Emma grinned, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she'd truly laughed. The match started and the two teams flew up into the air. Harry took position high up, scanning the field below him in search of the Snitch. "He didn't become the youngest Seeker in a century for nothing."

"He's had less than two months to learn the game and practice. Higgs has had years. Slytherin will win, just like we did last year."

"If you say so," she chuckled.

He shot her a side-ways glance. "You're not cheering for Gryffindor today, are you?"

"I'm not allowed to take sides, I'm not a Head of House," she said, purposely leaving his question unanswered. When he glared in response, she patted his arm and added, "I'll cheer for both of them."

"Fine," he grumbled. "But if, by some miracle, Gryffindor does manage to win, don't you dare look happy about it."

Just then, Angelina Johnson, from Gryffindor, scored. Emma clapped along with the others, while Severus folded his arms across his chest in annoyance.

A few more goals were scored and the two teams were even.

"It's going to come down to the Seeker," said Emma. "I hope you were right about Higgs."

Severus hummed in agreement, but Emma never caught the rest of his response.

"What the hell?"

She jumped up and stepped forward, gripping the balustrade with both hands. Ahead of her, high up in the air, Harry's broom shook and kicked, like a bull in a frenzy. Like it was doing all it could to throw off its rider.

"Severus!" she called over her shoulder, her eyes glued to the boy as he struggled to hold his grip.

He'll fall to his death.

"Not him too," she groaned. She whipped out her wand and aimed at the boy. Her mind raced through all the spells she knew. None seemed particularly useful.

I'll have to catch him. Wait until he falls and then catch him.

She gripped her wand tighter. Her hand trembled in front of her. Her aim couldn't be off. It couldn't be off, or the boy would die. Lily's son would die. Her breath caught in her throat.

Behind her, someone shouted, "Fire!", but she barely registered it. Her eyes stayed locked on Harry. Someone stumbled behind her and the voices rose, but her wand stayed firmly aimed forward.

Then, all of a sudden, the broom stopped bucking. Harry regained control and sent it straight down to the ground, where he coughed up the Snitch. The red part of the crowd burst into cheering and applause.

Before Emma had a chance to feel relief, a hand grabbed her arm. Severus led her back to the lift.

"What are you doing? Did you see what happened?"

"Yes," he snapped. "Come on, we need to get down there."

The lift lowered, the noise fading around them.

"Severus, that broom... What happened?"

"Someone jinxed it," he said, staring up at the stands they'd just left. "Dark magic."

"What? Who would do that? He's just a kid!"

His eyes flicked down to meet hers. "I reckon it was the same person who let that troll into the castle."

Emma's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"My robes caught fire. I knocked him over by accident when I jumped up and all of a sudden the broom stopped bucking. You think that's a coincidence?"

"Severus, that's a big accusation. Letting a troll into the castle is one thing. That could've been a mistake, if he got it in for his lesson and lost control of it. But trying to kill a child? Do you really think he could do that? I mean, he seems so nice..."

"I don't know, Emma. But I do know that the man who left for his sabbatical is not the same man who came back. He changed quite dramatically in a short time span. I don't trust him anymore."

"Are you sure you're alright? It must've been quite a scare for you."

Harry shrugged, pushing his glasses back up on his nose. It was a few days later and classes had already started back up, giving the poor kid no time to rest and recover. "I'm okay. Besides, we won."

Emma couldn't help but laugh at that. "That's all that matters to you, isn't it?"

Harry grinned sheepishly.

"Congratulations. Your dad would've been very proud of you. Did I tell you he loved quidditch too?"

The boy's face lit up. "He did?"

"Yeah! He was on the Gryffindor team as well. Chaser, if I'm not mistaken. He used to brag about his flying skills all the time."

"Sounds about right." He grinned. "What about my mum, did she play?"

"No, but she never missed a match. She used to get super competitive with the other Houses over Quidditch. Then again, she got competitive over almost anything, so..."

Harry chuckled, just as the door of her office opened. Severus froze in the doorway, glaring at the boy.

Emma turned to Harry. "Are you alright to continue this conversation later?"

"Sure, Professor." He picked up his bookbag from the floor and swung it over his shoulder. "Bye."

"Have a good evening, Harry."

"You too, Professor."

Severus slammed the door shut unnecessarily loud after Harry left. Emma raised her eyebrows at him, but he ignored it and sat down in the chair Harry had vacated.

"How was your day?"

The annoyance evaporated instantly at his thoughtful question. "Not bad," she said. "It's getting a little easier every day."

"Good. It should." His eyes flicked to the corner of her desk. "What is that? Did they finally send you a response?"

"Oh, uhm..." Emma picked up the letter and folded it open, just like she had done over and over for about an hour before Harry had joined her. "No, it's not from the Ministry."

Severus leaned forward curiously. "What is it then?"

"It's..." She sighed. "It's from Jordan."

His face hardened. "I thought you burned those. That seemed quite sensible to me."

"I did. He hasn't written since we ran into him in Hogsmeade. When I got this letter, I didn't realise it was from him, until I'd already opened it. And then I saw..."

She fiddled with the parchment. He was her best friend, and she wanted to tell him this, but she knew perfectly well how he'd respond.

"You saw what?" He leaned forward, reaching out to the letter.

Before he could take it, she pulled it back, out of his reach. "Severus, you should know that I've made my decision. Don't try to change my mind."

His eyes darkened, but he didn't respond. Against her better judgement, she passed him the letter. His lips pressed into a thin line as he read. When he finally lifted his head, he looked murderous.

"Please tell me you're not going," he growled.

She plucked the letter from his hands and folded it back up. "I am going, actually."

"Can you not see what he's doing? He's trying to get to you when you're at your most vulnerable! You're going to regret this."

"I am not vulnerable, Severus," she spat. "He says he knows what happened to my aunt. He was there when she died. That's more than the Ministry is giving me."

"You're not listening to me. He will hurt you all over again, Emma."

"I won't let him." She slid the letter into her drawer and closed it. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Severus stood up from his seat to look down on her. "Fine," he said. "But I'm coming with you."

"No. He won't tell me anything if you're there." She stood up before he could protest. "I told you, Severus, I've made my decision. I'm going, and I'm going alone. Don't worry. I can handle him."

He glared at her furiously, eyebrows dangerously low and lips pinched together. For a moment, she thought he would shout at her, tell her how stupid she was being. But then he turned on his heel and left the office, without another word.

She let out a frustrated sigh as she slumped back down in her chair. Had she really made the right decision? Jordan was already coming between them...

It doesn't matter, she told herself. Jordan knows what happened to Aunt April. I have to know what he knows.