Finding Severus

4. Harry

Thea's eyes were brown, he noticed for the first time. They were a dark chocolate brown. They were staring into his own eyes so intently that he wanted to look away, but he couldn't. For some reason, he held her gaze. A minute passed and still she had not said anything. Severus was trying to guess what she was thinking, but no theory he came up with seemed to satisfy him.

Thea finally broke eye contact and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking about how I was going to describe this to you. It's very unusual and I'm worried how you might react."

Severus shifted uncomfortably. "There's not much magic I haven't come across as a wizard. I'm sure I can handle it."

She smiled. "Oh I'm sure you can too after everything you've been through." She cast her eyes to the floor. It was easier to talk to the hardwood than it was to look at the man beside of her. His presence made her nervous for reasons she could not explain. When she looked up at him again, her face was serious. "I have this sort of...gift."

He clasped his hands together in his lap. His first thought was that this woman was some sort of fruit loop, but he didn't say anything. He just continued to stare at her with that blank, unreadable stare he had mastered so well. Thea continued.

"When I saw you standing there, after reading the Daily Prophet, and living through the war, I was terrified that you were going to hurt me. But, being the person that I am, I couldn't leave you to die. I thought you were evil, but evil or not, I'm not that cold. I was going to help you get better and send you on your way." She took a deep breath. "And then you collapsed. I did think about leaving you, I'm ashamed to admit. But then I remembered there was a way I could know you, a way I could see what kind of person you really were. The Daily Prophet tends to lie, especially lately, with Death Eaters running the Ministry for so long. I'm not an idiot."

What she was saying had Severus highly intrigued, but it didn't make any sense. There was no way to truly know someone, espeically when that person was laying, half unconscious, on the ground, and hardly able to speak. Still, he didn't interrupt. He let her talk.

"So I did it. I used my gift on you. I had no idea what I would see when I placed my hand over your heart. I never do. But what I saw...I couldn't believe it. It was just as I expected. The papers were wrong about you. About everything. You, your entire evil legacy, was a lie from the moment Voldemort started hunting down Lily Evans Potter."

Severus flinched at the mention of her name and then his eyes widened. "How could you-" he swallowed hard. "How could you possibly know about Lily?"

Thea finally looked him in the eye again. "I know everything about you. Your whole life. Starting from the day you were born to the day I met you in the forest."

He shook his head. "No. That isn't possible."

"I can prove it," she declared quietly. "Ask me anything."

He frowned and turned away from her. It was impossible...wasn't it? His mind was reeling. "What day was I born?"

"January 9, 1960. To Eileen and Tobias Snape."

He stared at her in disbelief. "My favorite color?"

"Black when you were little. Green after you met Lily when you were eight years old. It was the color of her eyes."

"What did Albus say to me just before he died?" There was no way she could know that.

A sadness came over her when she answered, "Please."

Severus suddenly felt...exposed. These questions, these were things he had never told anyone ever, things there were no way she could know unless she had been present for every single moment. "This is impossible."