Time Goes By

Chapter 2

Professor Severus Snape was not in a good mood. The last thing he had wanted was to get emotional in front of his students; not to say that he didn't miss Lily... she was his only friend after-- no, he wouldn't think of that, not now.

Just then, he heard a knock on his door. "What?" he demanded.

A very familiar face popped into his office. "Severus, do you have a minute?" Remus Lupin asked.

Snape's eyes went cold. "What do you want?" he asked icily.

"We need to talk," Lupin said.

"About what?" Snape demanded.

"Harry," Lupin answered.

"What about Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

Lupin looked at him and sighed. "I don't know if I can trust you with him..."

"You don't know if you can trust me with Lily's child?" Snape demanded, outraged.

Lupin looked at him with tear-filled eyes, "I'd like to be able to, Sev, believe me, I would, but you hated James, and Merlin knows Sirius wasn't your favorite person... hell, he's not on my own friend list anymore... I just want to make sure you'll treat him well."

Snape looked at Lupin. "I loved Lily like a sister; even if I didn't like her choice of a life partner, you have to believe I feel somewhat responsible for Harry. By Salazar, he has her eyes..."

Lupin looked at Snape, who was now trying to hide the fact that he was crying. "It's going to be okay, Sev, and if you need anything, you can come to me," he said and started to go to comfort Severus, but thought better of it.

"I'll get out of your way," he said and took his leave.

Severus looked at the backside of the door and wondered if he was going soft. Of course, he'd always had a soft spot for Remus Lupin, but that was years ago. He should have listened to him then; he probably wouldn't feel so bad about it now if he had. How was he going to coexist with Lupin? It was bad enough having to finish his seventh year seeing him every day, and that was only for two months. Oh sure, things were different now--they were older, for one--so why was he still all torn up about it?

He sighed, "I should get some sleep; I do have classes tomorrow."

* * *

Remus walked back up to his office and thought, once again, that he should have made more of an effort to convince Severus of his innocence when he was younger.

How can these feelings still exist? he thought. It's been over a decade... I guess werewolves really do mate for life.

He sighed. But it's obvious that he doesn't want me anymore... oh, Sev, I'm sorry that Sirius was a jealous evil bastard. I'm sorry that everyone loved him. And most of all, I'm sorry that his evil ways caused the death of such a wonderful person in Lils, and Jamie too, of course. If he could have his best friends, a baby, killed-- please forgive me for trusting him... He sighed.

As he got into bed, he whispered, "I still do love you, Sev," and tried, to no avail, to hold back the tears that threatened to escape his eyes.

* * *

The next day, Severus's first two classes went off with out a hitch; they were with sixth and seventh year students. His third class of the day, however, was the Slytherin and Hufflepuff first years.

As usual when trying to make an impression on the first years, exactly as the class was scheduled to begin, he swooped in and gave his usual speech, insulting the use of "foolish wand waving" and informing them of the importance of his class., Then he set them on the task of making their first potion, a simple one, impossible to muck up, really.

He went around checking, anyway, and shortly into the class, he heard a scream. Harry Potter was covered in goo, and although the Filinus Potion was simple, many people were allergic to it. His partner, Neville Longbottom, was sitting there apologizing and looking frightened.

"What happened here?" he demanded.

"Neville did something, and the potion exploded," Draco Malfoy explained.

Snape sighed, "Weasley, Weasley, get Potter to the hospital wing, he can make up his credit after dinner. Draco, help Longbottom," He said.

"Yes, sir!" the three boys said in unison. He knew that he was going to have problems with them and Potter; they reminded him of four other boys whom he used to know...

"Longbottom, two points from Hufflepuff," he heard himself say.

He sighed; this was going to be a long day.