I cough the cake out, and afterward take a good sip of water I always keep by my desk. “Well… alright then.” And then keep eating like she never said anything.
    She looks hurt. I began feeling bad. “Listen… Lily Luna… you didn’t tell anyone, did you?”
    “James knows. I didn’t tell him, but he knows. He dared me to tell you I was your half-blood princess.”
    I choke back laughter. “Did he now? Well… you just have a… a crush. This isn’t… love.”
    “But your love started with a crush.”
    “I’ll tell you what.” I say it quickly, “If you end up in love with me for… ten years… I might consider you.” Yeah, right. “In the meantime, Scorpius… is always looking at you. Why not… go with him?”
    “Alright, Professor. Thank you.”
    “Thank you for the cake.”
    She smiles, picks up her untouched cake and walks out the door. I’m glad I solved that.

    Black, wild and curly hair, as I sit in the back, too scared to ask her for this dance. The song is slowly playing, and I’m in my best dress robes, which I spent all my money to buy, but it’s all wasted because I just can’t go up to her. What if I tripped over my own feet? What if the shrimp was bad and I threw up on her? What if she didn’t want me?
    Bells rang. She stood alone, beautiful on this just begun Christmas.

    “Hagrid?”
    “Yep?”
    “I’ve got a problem.”
    He sighs. “Lay it on me.”
    “Well…” I hesitate, “you remember Winky, right? She’s dying.”
    “Death’s a part of life. I thought you would know that better than most.”
    “Well, yeah, but… Bellatrix doesn’t know. Winky is her elf.”
    “Why don’t you tell her?”
    “I’m scared it’ll… it’ll… it would break her.”
    “It would. But I think she’d rather here it from you, her friend.”
    I snort. “Friend? We can barely survive together.”
    “I don’t know, Sev, I think you’ve gotten happier since you’ve been with her.”
    I give a fake smile. “Right. So, about Winky…”
    “Just tell her. She’ll appreciate it. I know you’ll do the right thing, whatever’s in your heart.” He pats my shoulder.

    I don’t tell her. I notice Lily has begun talking to Scorpius—mission accomplished, although Albus looked like he’d vomit.
    Flowers are blooming outside. It rains more often than not. I’m having trouble getting students to focus on their work, when all they want is to step outside and find summer.
    Then, it happened, very suddenly, with Bellatrix stomping into my office, and I just knew.

    She screamed at me, but didn’t have enough energy to keep going. She ended up just crying, and sat on my desk and buried her face on the wood.
    “Bella… listen.”
    “She’s dead. She’s just dead. She… she didn’t even have time to say goodbye.”
    So she was dead. Not dying anymore, just dead. I sickened myself. Again, we sit, this time she’s in her own grief, and I’m the one consoling her. Life is funny.

    She sits next to me, talking quietly to Hagrid. She hasn’t smiled in a while, but today she’s giggling like crazy. It makes me smile, knowing she’s recovering from her grief.
    I stand. It hardly stops the students from murmuring amongst themselves. At least the year was at its end. I make a short speech, sit, and dig in.
    I see Scorpius walking over to the Ravenclaw table. Albus looked offended, but joined next to his sister. James, after joking with his friends a little too loudly, joined the group. I see a Hufflepuff girl about his age blush, then follow along. All four houses were together—it was a pleasant change, worth a photograph.
    I mentally place it on the Hogwarts hallway wall.

    I WAS fast asleep, until Bellatrix just shook me awake.
    “Snape… SNAPE…”
    “What?”
    “…I saw a spider in the bedroom.”
    “Well… just squish it…”
    “But it was huge!”
    I couldn’t believe it. I was looking in the eyes of the past insane, most dedicated and most famous Death Eater, capable of murdering anybody that got in her way, afraid of a spider. A lot had changed.
    “Alright… where is it?” I ask, stepping into the room.
    “It was… well…” She’s pointing at the bare, spider-less ceiling. “It was there.”
    “If that’s all…” I turn back.
    “Wait! It could just… creep up at any moment… on my face… or…” she shutters.
    “What do you want me to do?”
    “You could stay here and… uh… protect me.”
    “You mean… us in the… bed together? I can’t complain to that!” And I curl in, at long last in my own bed. She resentfully gets in with me.
    We lie there a moment, each on our own separate sides. Something begins to nag me, and I didn’t want to say it aloud, but that’s where I ended up.
    “Bella… remember… the day of your trial?”
    “Yeah. What about it?”
    “Well… remember how you… changed my memories?”
    “Right. You would’ve given me away, and…”
    “Have you done that before?”
    “Wait, wait… why is this being brought up?”
    “Well…” I hesitate, then, say in a rush, “I’ve begun to have dreams of memories from my life with Lily, but she’s not Lily, she’s… she’s you.”
    “But that was so long ago…”
    “I know. It’s silly. I’m sorry.”
    “Severus,” she’s smiling, “does this mean you have feelings for me?”
    “What? No. Where did you get that idea? I never said anything about having any kind of romantic attraction toward you, as in fact I believe I stated…”
    She kissed the tip of my nose. “Good night, Snape.” And she goes back to her side of the bed.
    “…good night, Bella.” And I turn back to my side.
    “Should… Should Bubbles be intruding upon Masters Snape and Lestrange?”
    “No, it’s alright.”
    “Good. Because Bubbles saw a cockroach in the living room…” and she situates herself in between us, getting comfortable in the sheets.
    I don’t blame her a bit.

    “Come on.”
    “I don’t know. It’s looks worn down.”
    “Yeah, but… but it’s Dumbledore’s brother. Come on.”
    She sighs. “Alright. I guess so.”
    She comes beside me, and I rap against the door. “Aberforth Dumbledore?”
    He opens it, and allows us in. “Butterbeer for you two?”
    “Yeah, I suppose…”
    Then I notice someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. Someone who should’ve been dead. “Sirius! Sirius Black!”
    “Yep. Hello, arch enemy. Hello, cousin.” His ghastly hands tassel our hair. “How’s it been?”
    “How’s it… Sirius, the world would like to know you’re here!”
    “I didn’t want the world to know it.”
    “He’s good for business.” Aberforth chimes in, handing me and Bella our mugs. Hagrid, all at once, bursts the door open and realizes, “Sirius!”
    “Hey, Hagrid, old buddy!”
    “Hey! No, I was just joining my best friends for a butterbeer.”
    “Your best friends?”
    “Yeah. Severus and Bellatrix.” He grabs our shoulders.
    “Wow. The three musketeers.” Sirius rolls his eyes.
    “The golden trio.” Aberforth says.
    “No, no.” Sirius shakes his head, “That’s reserved for Harry, Ronald, and Hermione. I think this is… the silver trio. And why are Snivellus and Bell holding hands?”
    “We’re not holding hands!” She exclaims, blushing a little. Which is exactly true—but her outburst wasn’t helping our case.
    “Snivellus and Bella, sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G…”
    She scrunches her face up. “Good for business, huh?”
    “I need another butterbeer.” I say, and Aberforth hands us one.
    Hagrid would end up carrying me and Bella home, as we all sang about the three musketeers.
    A silver trio, indeed, and rusty for that matter.