Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 21: Pranks & Other Diversions, 2

11 September 1992

The presence of treacle tart on the table was the first clue that something was amiss. Jim was notorious for his obsessive love of treacle tart. Indeed, according to the rumor mill, whatever magical effect caused that "King of the Leprechaun" nonsense a few days prior was triggered by Jim biting into a slice of the desert which had been impregnated with some potion to link him to the enchanted crown. Harry, however, was more of a creme brulee fan, possibly due to fact that it required a blowtorch. And the plate of treacle tarts sitting between Lily Potter and himself was a subtle reminder that his mother knew next to nothing about him.

For about ten minutes, the two had made forced but polite chit-chat while Snape sat between them eating silently and psychically projecting to everyone on Earth his desire to be somewhere else. Harry was doing well in all his classes, but particularly DADA and Potions. Lily loved teaching Muggle Studies and was thrilled to have had the chance to update a class that was almost a century behind on Muggle politics and technology. Snape took another bite of chicken. Harry was looking forward to his first Quidditch match (he left out the fact that he was Chaser rather than Seeker). Since the number of students taking Muggle Studies was still rather low, Lily was spending her free time working with Professors Flitwick and Vector with an eye towards eventually completing a Mastery in Charms, Arithmancy or both. Snape took a big sip of wine. With each overly polite exchange, Snape took another bite of food and chewed it a minimum of thirty times to reduce the likelihood that he might be caught without anything in his mouth and thus asked a question.

Finally, after a particularly uncomfortable lull, Harry opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and looked down at the table. "I'm sorry," he said hesitantly. "I just realized ... I'm not sure what to call you. Most Slytherins would say 'Mother' but that seems awfully ... formal to me. And I'm not sure about 'Mum' because ..." He stopped abruptly and looked towards Lily with an embarrassed expression.

"Because I haven't earned that title, perhaps?" she asked sadly. She took a deep breath. "Perhaps, then, until you feel comfortable calling me 'Mum,' you could just call me Lily and your father James. That would be ... familiar, at least."

"Okay ... Lily ... at the risk of, I dunno, shattering the mood or something ... what made you decide to reach out to me. I mean, it's been six weeks since the birthday party and, well, you weren't very talkative then."

"I didn't know what to say. I still don't. I already knew at that point that someone had tried to kill you while you were living with Petunia. And I also knew at that point that the Dursleys themselves had mistreated you, although I still don't know all the details. You have every reason to hold that against me, and I don't have any defense that I would consider persuasive let alone one you should." At that, she gave a quick glance towards Snape. "And then, someone tried to kill you again at the party. That just ... brought everything from my school days back."

"What do you mean?" he asked, genuinely curious.

She hesitated and then reached into her bag and produced a framed picture of an older man and woman. "I wanted to give you this before you left today. This is Michael and Rose Evans. My parents, your grandparents. Please keep it. I have other copies." She paused as if to collect herself. "Your father and I got married late in the summer of 1979. We tried to keep everything low key, but James was Heir to an Ancient and Noble House, so naturally the Prophet eventually found out about the marriage and made a big story out of it ... and out of how James and I were somehow heroically defying You-Know-Who by getting married despite our different blood statuses. And ... the Death Eaters didn't like that, so they found out where I lived, broke in, and tortured your grandparents with the Cruciatus Curse for hours. Finally, they got bored and left ... after setting the house on fire with Mum and Dad trapped inside." She paused suddenly. "Did ... did Petunia ever mention any of this? Is that why she ...?