For just a moment Lily failed to catch herself and she frowned deeply at the mention of Severus. They hadn't spoken in years, and while her son knew, to some extent that they had grown up together in the same town, she hadn't yet told him the extent of the story. Some things a boy didn't need to know about his professor, much less his head of house. It would only complicate things for Harry, and Lily thought at present, things seemed complicated enough for her son.

"Dumbledore's a good judge of character Harry, really, even though he doesn't show it," said Lily carefully, her face shifting into a mask of careful neutrality. She wasn't crazy about the idea of Severus teaching either, knowing all too well how cantankerous and thorny he was, not to mention his questionable involvements that had ultimately caused their friendship to end.

That somber train of thought was thoroughly, and somewhat awkwardly derailed when he asked about his godfather, and again Lily had to stop herself from letting her expression betray her.

"I," this wasn't a difficult question, and she knew that, but she didn't like talking about Sirius. It never failed to make her feel awkward, for a multitude of reasons. "No? I mean, he came around a few weeks ago, he was in town because of that bike of his," she paused suddenly and waved a hand towards a new shelf on the wall that was now holding their spices. "He put that up."