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."
Harry noticed the frown on his Mum's face when he mentioned Snape and while he had been curious as to how close they'd been, he'd never asked. Truth was, he didn't really want or need to know. He wanted to base his opinions on Snape based on how he treated his students. Honestly, it went both ways, he had felt a certain amount of loathing and contempt from the Head of Slytherin but more often than not, he left him well enough alone.
So long as he didn't cause any embarrassment to Slytherin, naturally.
His position on the Quidditch team had certainly helped.
Harry snorted at Lily's carefully worded phrase about Dumbledore and his character judgement. "Well, I should hope so since he is the Headmaster of our school," he agreed, giving her a little smile. "The Ministry however seems less than impressed." Course, that wasn't too surprising since the Ministry didn't actually believe anything that was going on in the first place.
Namely Voldemort.
Harry glanced at the shelf that was now hung up and nodded. "It looks good," he said and looked at her again with a little grin. Though he would never say a word, unless prompted, he had always got the feeling that his Godfather was very fond of his Mum (and vice versa). "So long as he's getting out. I know he's working on the place but staying at Grimmauld day and night would probably drive me batty."
She wanted to say that Harry seemed to think that his godfather had a long drive to get to battiness, but she refrained. The further away from the matters of both Snape, and Severus, the more comfortable she would be.
"I promise, I'll keep checking on him for you Harry, but I'm certain he'll grow quite weary of my fussing." A quick note here and there wouldn't hurt anyone, right? "Perhaps the next time you're home he'll come to dinner so you can see for yourself."
This wasn't getting off the topic of Sirius at all. This was actually more like digging a bigger hole for herself to climb into, and a moment later she was swift to change the subject.
"How's your friend, by the way? Hermione. I saw her with you earlier, but we didn't get a chance to chat."
"Somehow, I doubt it," Harry mused with a grin. "You balance out the unique mixture of Kreacher and Uncle Remus when he stops by."
He knew that Padfoot had taken care of himself decently enough over the years with the assistance of the house-elf, wolf, and his Mum. Harry grinned when Lily suggested inviting him to dinner while he was home and nodded. "It has been a while, at least since Summer. I know he's been a bit busy himself, especially recently with everything going on."
Harry grinned automatically when she brought up Hermione but cleared his throat as he took a sip of his tea before answering. "She's good, no doubt at the bookstore and plotting in only the way she can."
Refilling her tea she eyed her son, grinning slightly. "Are you sure this isn't your way of worrying over me not having any company as well, Harry? I assure you I keep very busy." Entirely with research projects and penning the occasional letter to a distant friend, her social calendar wasn't exactly blacked out.
But the grin that appeared on Harry's face when she mentioned his friend was all Lily needed to seize the chance to shift the conversation, turning the tables on him.
"You know," she began mildly, hiding her smile behind the rim of her teacup. "I hope you're aware that it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if you skipped a visit to my house because you used your Hogsmeade visit on a proper date."
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"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."
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So long as he didn't cause any embarrassment to Slytherin, naturally.
His position on the Quidditch team had certainly helped.
Harry snorted at Lily's carefully worded phrase about Dumbledore and his character judgement. "Well, I should hope so since he is the Headmaster of our school," he agreed, giving her a little smile. "The Ministry however seems less than impressed." Course, that wasn't too surprising since the Ministry didn't actually believe anything that was going on in the first place.
Namely Voldemort.
Harry glanced at the shelf that was now hung up and nodded. "It looks good," he said and looked at her again with a little grin. Though he would never say a word, unless prompted, he had always got the feeling that his Godfather was very fond of his Mum (and vice versa). "So long as he's getting out. I know he's working on the place but staying at Grimmauld day and night would probably drive me batty."
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"I promise, I'll keep checking on him for you Harry, but I'm certain he'll grow quite weary of my fussing." A quick note here and there wouldn't hurt anyone, right? "Perhaps the next time you're home he'll come to dinner so you can see for yourself."
This wasn't getting off the topic of Sirius at all. This was actually more like digging a bigger hole for herself to climb into, and a moment later she was swift to change the subject.
"How's your friend, by the way? Hermione. I saw her with you earlier, but we didn't get a chance to chat."
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He knew that Padfoot had taken care of himself decently enough over the years with the assistance of the house-elf, wolf, and his Mum. Harry grinned when Lily suggested inviting him to dinner while he was home and nodded. "It has been a while, at least since Summer. I know he's been a bit busy himself, especially recently with everything going on."
Harry grinned automatically when she brought up Hermione but cleared his throat as he took a sip of his tea before answering. "She's good, no doubt at the bookstore and plotting in only the way she can."
no subject
But the grin that appeared on Harry's face when she mentioned his friend was all Lily needed to seize the chance to shift the conversation, turning the tables on him.
"You know," she began mildly, hiding her smile behind the rim of her teacup. "I hope you're aware that it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if you skipped a visit to my house because you used your Hogsmeade visit on a proper date."