Severus

"I cannot help you." said Severus bluntly. How dare this woman walk into his home without his permission? Had the fame really got to her head that she would just waltz in unannounced? He wanted to strangle her. "Sev, please. I've been trying to fix this. I watched James as he read the letter, it's been years now since our decision, but he is broken." said Lily as she watched Severus turn his back to her to get a drink. She knew that at the moment, she was definitely on Severus' shit list, but she needed his help. "Good," said Snape as he stared down at Lily's emerald eyes with his obsidian eyes, "A father should never have thrown his own child away, no matter who the mother was. And why should I help you? If I recall, the man has never made my life easy, and now that I think on it, neither had you Lily. Yes you have stood up for me, but soon you—like every Gryffindor—decided that whatever I said was a complete lie. You have always stuck on the sidelines and only came when I was in a dire situation. I tried to tell you that Black tried to kill me when he tricked me into going into the Whomping Willow, but you—like every other Gryffindor—decided to ignore it, because what is the harm of a couple of pranksters trying to pull a fucking joke? When I accidently allowed that abominable word to slip from my mouth, I'll admit, I should have had a cool head, but I tried to make things up but you refused every single attempt. Why should I give you the time of day, when you have been a terrible example of forgiving and forgetting?"

Lily felt the tears slip down her face. Of course she doesn't deserve to ask even a small favor from Severus. She was a horrible friend. It doesn't matter now though, she needs to fix it. "Severus, please. I just want to fix everything." "Then you came to the wrong person. You should bring this up to the girl in question. Merlin knows how much the girl resents anything that is related to the Potters." Severus spat. Lily flinched at his words. She didn't want to go to the girl. "Sev, I just came from seeing her and she needs her time to put it all together, I just need your help. I promise you that I will never come to you for a favor again. If not for me, then do it for Hermione." Said Lily, hoping it will finally break through Severus' shell. No cigar by his stony expression. "I don't care Lily. I would have done it for the little girl who had been my first friend, but I am now in charge of Hermione, and I refuse to fix whatever you and that man had done to her. I refuse to betray her trust." Scolded Severus.

Of course Severus would be loyal. It was one of his many positive attributes that Lily had always admired about him… when she wasn't angry with him. She could recall the many failed attempts he made to fix their friendship and then in their later years, she was the one trying to fix their friendship. Truly, Lily never deserved his friendship. Lily opened her mouth to try again, but thought better. It was obvious Severus wanted nothing to do with Lily. Instead, she nearly got up and walked to the fireplace and said, "I'm truly sorry Severus. For everything." She grabbed a hand of floo powder and floo'd back to her home. Severus looked at the fireplace before placing stronger wards. He was not going to allow another uninvited guest back into his house.

Severus looked at the place where Lily was and was pleased to know that he no longer felt and self-loathing or pity. He had finally released all his old hate and his grudge. Never had Severus felt more free than he did at this very instant. He pondered for a while before finally deciding to call on Amelia and taking her out for dinner. He pondered for a bit if he should take Hermione with him, but decided against it. Whatever his surrogate daughter was doing, he was sure she was doing fine.

Hermione

Hermione stormed her way back to the Heads Common Room. How dare he try to explain his behavior with excuses? Hermione could feel her emotions rising back up and she had to stamp it back down. Hermione wanted to hex him to oblivion. Harry Potter had no right to explain his behavior by stating, "I didn't know you were my sister." Hermione wanted to throttle him. She remembered standing up and telling Potter in an icy voice, "You have no right to tell me these excuses. You have no right to tell me that your actions wouldn't have happened if you had known that I was your sister. You never should have treated people like that. Pranking can only go so far before it turns into bullying-and you Harry Potter are a bully."

Hermione left him wallowing in her words and walked away. She walked back to her dorm and stopped outside the painting and took some calming breaths. "Dreary day?" asked the portrait in front of her. Hermione looked up to see Venus giving her a sympathetic smile. "You have no idea. First I find my actual family and they never wanted me in the first place. Then my childhood tormentor is my half-brother and he dares try to excuse himself instead of giving me a real apology. Next my step-mother and father are horrible people if they allowed their son to be a complete arse. I'm still here but now with so much baggage." Finished Hermione. Venus smiled and said, "Families were never meant to be easy to handle my dear. Take a look at my own family. Even as gods and goddesses we can never see things eye to eye. It was one of the many reasons why we died out centuries ago." Hermione smiled sadly and said, "I know, but I just want to be angry. For years they have never acknowledged me and now they want to try and tell me that they never meant to treat me this way? I am furious and I want to make everything the way it was before."

"Always wondering who you were? Who your father was? If you had any siblings or half-siblings? I believe it is better to know who they were so you can finally make your choices. It's very rare to see someone in you position, my dear, but if you hold on, I promise you, everything is going to make more sense." Said Venus.

Hermione looked up at the painting of the goddess and gave a nod of consent. Hermione gave the password and Venus opened the way for her. Hermione gave a polite good night and walked in. Hermione looked around and found that Draco was gone. She frowned and wondered if he had gone to bed. She looked around a bit more and found a note on the pillow. It read, Hermione, I have gone to see my parents. I have decided that since we both met yours we can also meet my parents. I promise you, they are not as tight-lipped as most people would have described them. I wish you a good night and I'll see you in the morning.

Hermione smiled as she walked up to her dorm. At least there was one stable factor today. Hermione smiled as she got in bed about her relationship with Draco. It was so sudden and yet, it was so right.

Hermione continued to dream her future with Draco, when a rapping at the window caught her attention. She looked up to see a Raven holding a letter. Hermione got out of bed and opened the window to let the Raven. The Raven flew in and dropped the letter on Hermione's bed before flying out. Hermione looked out as the raven flew away and diverted her attention to the letter. Herminoe grabbed her wand and performed every counter charm she can think of. As soon as she was sure the letter was safe to open, Hermione opened it and read it.

Her hands were shaking by the time she finished reading the letter and it slipped from her hands.

Hey readers, I'm sorry for not posting sooner, but I am now a History Major and the first class they ask me to complete is Research Methods. As you can tell, there is more time reading and writing history than there is for anything else. I'm trying to squeeze in a few here and there and I'll be waiting for reviews. Thank You