• “I think that probably says more about you that it does about Harry, Professor Snape,” Bill Weasley shakes his head. Severus knows this is fair, but still scowls. “Tell them about second year, Ron.”
• “Why?” Ron glares at Sirius and Remus, twists his face to sneer at Severus. “They’ll just dismiss it. It’s just like Harry said. Nobody believes it could happen to him.”
• That strikes Severus so firmly that for a moment, he cannot take a breath. ‘Who am I going to tell, Lily? Nobody will believe me.’ He is the head of Slytherin. He sees more abuse cases than any other member of staff and he missed it. He missed Lily’s son.
• “Harry’s strong, Harry’s brave,” Sirius is muttering. “Harry would never let them—,”
• “Let them?” Severus feels outrage at that, too but it’s Ronald Weasley, with all the disgust Severus could possibly muster, that speaks. “Let them?”
• “He fought Voldemort !” Black yells. “He outflew a dragon, he’s - he’s -, “
• “He asked to move in with you seconds after meeting you,” Lupin mumbles against Black’s shoulder. When he lifts his head, Severus sees there the same kind of devastation he had felt learning about Regulus’ childhood. It’s one thing to suffer yourself, another when someone you love does. “Remember, Siri? You asked, he’d just met you, he had no idea who you were and still—,”
• “No!” Black shakes his head fervently. “We would have known. I would have known! Someone would have known, someone would have told!” Black glares at Granger again. “Harry would have told someone! Why didn’t you make him?”
• Oddly, Granger doesn’t look at Black. She looks past him, to Albus.
• “What do you want me to say?” Granger whispers.
• Severus feels it. The white-hot fury inside every one of the adults, including himself, as they turn to glare at the old man at the head of the table, who is holding Grangers gaze with sorrowful eyes.
• “You knew,” Severus says, flatly. Albus darts his eyes to Severus for a moment and Severus sends words across the void of minds in the way only a skilled legillimens can: You promised you would keep him safe. Albus flinches.
• “What?” Lupin is staring at Albus and astonishingly, his eyes are turning to liquid amber. Oh, shit. “She’s saying you knew? Did…Did Harry tell you?”
• “He mentioned that he was not happy there,” Albus sighs slowly, closing his blue eyes. “He mentioned there was a…a lack of love, perhaps.”
• “Yes, well, apparently that lack of love was enough to draw a pint of blood out of his body,” Severus snarls.
(The Heir to the House of Prince)