One morning towards the end of August, Severus was walking down to the kitchen for breakfast when he heard a timid knock on the front door. He opened it to reveal Arthur Weasley, and after a brief greeting, the other man said, "I was just stopping by to make sure Ginny spent the night here last night."

Severus frowned; he had no idea. He was secure enough in Grimmauld Place to not keep track of the comings and goings of Potter's friends. But guests didn't usually spend the night-between Harry's nightmares and Severus's, the house was not likely to provide restful slumber. However, if the boy were to have an overnight guest, it would most likely be Ginevra Weasley.

But this put Severus in an awkward position: he would prefer to send Arthur up to Potter's room to check for himself-but for obvious reasons, the girl's father was not the ideal man for the job.

But Severus wasn't willing to do it by himself. So he compromised and invited Arthur to follow him upstairs. The man looked about as uncomfortable with the situation as Severus felt, so it was a relief when they didn't make it all the way up to the boy's room before they found Arthur's wayward daughter. As they passed the first floor sitting room, they saw Harry and Ginevra, slumped over on opposite sides of the couch, facing each other, clearly asleep. The couch had been turned around, away from the fireplace and towards the door, and the remnants of a magical fire still smoldered on the floor in front of them.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and walked around toward Ginevra, but before he got there, he stepped on a creaky floorboard.

Harry and Ginevra leapt to their feet in a flash. Severus and Arthur were immediately pushed back by an unseen barrier, and Severus felt like he'd been hit by a stinging hex of some kind. Ginevra seemed calm enough, but Severus was closer to Potter, whose eyes were wild and darting.

He spoke without thinking. "Harry, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?" He said it loudly, and then repeated it: "Harry, can you hear my voice?"

"Yes," Harry said, but his eyes were still unfocused. Severus tried to take a step forward, but was blocked by the invisible shield that had been thrown into place-probably by Harry. "It is Severus. You are in Grimmauld Place. You fell asleep in the sitting room last night. Ginevra Weasley is here, and Arthur."

"Gin?" the boy said, as if this was the only word that made sense to him, and Severus and Arthur were pushed farther back by the shield as Potter turned to face her.

And then Potter and Ginevra rushed into a hug so quick and so tight that Severus couldn't remember them being apart. Harry buried his face in her neck, and Severus heard a mumbled, "God, are you okay?-" and Ginevra whispered, "I'm fine, Harry." But as she said it, she shot a glare at the other men in the room.

Arthur took the hint, and backed out of the room without once saying a word. Severus did the same, wondering if he would have been more or less uncomfortable if he'd found them in flagrante delicto. He had never seen Potter more vulnerable. He pulled the door closed as he left, and as he did so he heard a sob, and quickly warded the door against sound.

Severus turned to to Arthur and saw a horrible burn that covered the man's neck and cheek, and stopped just below his eye. "Would you like some balm for that?" Severus asked, because Finite didn't work against wild magic.

"Yes, please," Arthur said gratefully, and Severus Summoned the burn balm and the men walked down to the kitchen. Arthur applied the balm to himself, examining his reflection in the bottom of a pot. "She takes after her mother," he said, as he unbuttoned his collar and dabbed some of the balm on his neck. "I should have remembered that and let her sleep. I was just relieved that she wasn't...well..."

"Naked," Severus supplied.

Arthur burst into uncomfortable laughter and turned bright red. "That too, I suppose-but I was just glad she was safe and unharmed." He turned and looked at Severus, and handed back the balm. "It looks like she got you, too-sorry. At least Harry's instinct is defensive rather than offensive."

Severus made a noncommittal noise, and Arthur handed over the pot he'd been using as a mirror. Severus used it to apply the balm to his own face and neck. He thought about the wild magic-the shield and the hex. Both had been cast wandlessly and wordlessly, and while the casters were still mostly asleep. Harry's shield had included Ginevra, but her hex had been able to pass through it.

"Their magic is complementary," Severus remarked.

"It is, isn't it?" Arthur said, as if this weren't a revelation. "Do you mind if I use your Floo right quick to let Molly know that Ginny is okay?" Severus waved toward the Floo powder on the mantle, and Arthur used it to make his call. Severus listened to the one-sided conversation.

"Ginny's here, love, and she's fine."

"No you can't, because I accidentally startled her and Harry awake. It will take a while for them to calm down."

"Yes, I was just telling Severus that."

"No, Severus already gave me some. I'm sure it looks worse than it is."

"Yes, well, I've got to get to work; I'm sure Severus will tell her to call you when she's ready."

"You're welcome, dear, and I love you too."

Arthur withdrew from the fire, stood up, and turned back to Severus. "I'll be leaving, then. Thank you, and I'm sorry if I imposed on you this morning!"

As soon as Arthur left, Severus went to check on Harry and Ginevra. He removed the sound barrier and listened outside the door, but the only thing he heard was the buzzing in his ears of Muffliato. That meant the door had been warded from the other side. Severus supposed that was good, and carried on as usual.

When Harry and Ginevra finally emerged from the sitting room forty-five minutes later, they were both far calmer than they had any right to be. But their hair was in complete disarray.

The rhythms of Severus's daily life were still influenced by the school year. Harry started the Auror Academy on the first of September, which would have made days in Grimmauld Place intolerably quiet, except that Severus had several commissions to brew. He'd been contacted by the head of Magical Law Enforcement (Ravi Patil, who had children at Hogwarts) about brewing Veritaserum.

Severus thought about Neville as the Veritaserum simmered in the stone cauldron for three solid days. He hadn't seen the young man since his drunken declaration of love. He wondered how his school year was going.

He and Harry conversed easily over dinner almost every night. They could talk about a potion Severus was brewing; or Potter could talk about his Auror training classes. One of the boy's classes was called "Thinking like a Dark Witch or Wizard," which Potter resented.

"It should be called, 'Thinking like a Human Being Who's Been Pushed to Extremes,'" he told Severus one evening. "I don't think that the people teaching the class have ever been truly ostracized, or even mocked by anyone. I bet they've never even missed a meal," he said with disgust. "I told the class today that I was evidently the Darkest Wizard in the room, because I could sympathize with everything the stupid book describes. Listen to this, would you?" And Potter pulled out the book and read from it:

"'If a witch or wizard is truly Dark, they will do everything in their power to carry out their aims. If these aims are nebulous or unattainable, they may attempt deeds which are reckless and dangerous-heedless of collateral damage-and then claim that these things somehow work toward their ultimate goal.'

"Can you believe that? I told the class that I broke into fucking Gringotts and escaped on the back of a blind dragon, just so I could defeat Voldemort, and then I told them to read that passage again."

"You truly said that?" Severus asked.

"Well, I didn't say 'fucking,' but yeah."

Severus fought a grin that seemed to want to tug his whole face up. "What did your teacher and classmates have to say to that?"

"Nothing! They wouldn't even look at me!"

Potter was so outraged that Severus took pity on him. "Silence is the sound most people make when they are thinking, Potter."

"Oh," Harry said, and lapsed into silence himself.

Ginevra was no longer a potential overnight guest. Indeed, Potter despaired of seeing her at all before Christmas, as she had decided to take her N.E.W.T.s at the end of the school year. Pomona had worked out a deal so that students in her year wouldn't be penalized if they performed poorly on N.E.W.T. levels, and would be able to take their exams again, after having completed two proper years of instruction after their O.W.L.s. The thought of an extra year of schooling put the fear of God in the seventeen year olds, and Ginevra was quite dedicated to her studies.

During the last week of October, Severus got another order from Ravi Patel for more Veritaserum. The morality of interrogating so many people under the truth serum may have bothered Severus, but the commission fee appeased his pocketbook. In order to fill the order, he needed fresh Confinemint. The Apothecary in Diagon Alley only had the dried mint, and Severus had no desire to visit Hogsmeade. If he were to go that far, he'd rather get the Confinemint from the Hogwarts greenhouses, where he'd planted it five months before. It should be flourishing. Besides, the mint would be more potent if the one brewing it was also the one who harvested it.

He had an agreement with Pomona about accessing the greenhouses for potions ingredients for the hospital wing, but he was almost sure she would extend this to include a few leaves of mint. But she was probably busy with all of her new duties as Head.

He could contact the new Herbology professor, but he didn't even know the man's name.

So he decided to contact Longbottom. He sent a terse note to the young man, detailing which plants he needed, and why. Longbottom sent him a reply, saying that he'd spoken with Professor Sprout, and Severus was welcome to anything in the greenhouses within reason. Longbottom also said that Severus could come to Hogwarts anytime, but it would be best if he came after classes, and Neville could escort him if Severus sent word ahead of time.

Severus sent word ahead of time.

When Neville greeted Severus at the front gates, he looked good. He looked happy, he looked...broad, and after the initial greeting and requisite eye contact, Severus didn't look at him at all.

They walked side-by-side to the greenhouses, and Neville let him into greenhouse four, which-among other things-housed several different varieties of mint. The greenhouse was stunning, and absolutely flourishing with life. Severus only allowed himself a small moment to take it in, and then walked over to the Confinemint.

"Some potions require that the mint be cut perpendicular to the stem, and others require parallel cuts-cutting the leaves in two slices and leaving the stems behind," Severus said as he got his knife out of his pocket. He indicated the different possible cut lines on a leaf. "It depends on what aspect you wish to confine: physical or mental. Cutting the leaves perpendicular to the stem is best for potions which confine the physical body, such as a Freezing Potion or a Numbing Brew. For Veritaserum, which requires the mind and the will to be confined, I need to cut the Confinemint parallel to the stem." He had to concentrate for a bit while he carefully cut the leaves, trying to get as close to the stem as possible without nicking it. "It's always best if the one who brews the potion also harvests the fresh ingredients," he continued. "I've always had access to the Hogwarts greenhouses and never thought about how lucky I'd been. Now that I'm away, I find myself missing certain aspects that I had..."

Severus realized he was babbling. The only thing for it was to finish what he was saying and then stop talking immediately. "...always taken for granted," he said. He dared to glace at Longbottom, and the broad-shouldered handsome young man was looking back at him as if all of Severus's babbling was the most interesting thing he'd heard all day. They looked at each other for a moment, and Neville looked away and laughed self-deprecatingly.

"You'll mock me for this," Longbottom said, "but it never occurred to me that Confinemint was used to actually...confine things. I always just thought it was a name. So, erm, what is Encouragemint used for? Calming Draught?"

Severus frowned, and Longbottom stuttered, "Er, nevermind, I know I'm rubbish at potions."

"No," Severus said slowly. "Encouragemint is not used in Calming Draughts, although I can't think of why. It...it should be." He and Neville looked at each other in silence again, and Severus felt the awkwardness of it. "I should like to take some of it with me to experiment with, if you don't mind."

"No, no, not at all," Neville said, and blushed deeply but didn't look away.

Severus felt slightly queasy and suddenly felt like his arms were too long. He wasn't sure how to hold them; he wasn't sure about anything at the moment. He looked away and saw his knife sitting next to the mint. He took it and started to fold it away, then remembered that he wanted to cut more leaves. Glad for something to focus on, he set about the task-but the silence in the greenhouse was oppressive. He cleared his throat and said, "The new professor is taking good care of the greenhouses."

"Well," Neville said, "it's mostly me. I mean, Professor Randall is a nice man and he knows a lot about plants, but he seems really overwhelmed. I volunteered to work in the greenhouses outside of class, and when Professor Sprout told him that I helped to rebuild them, he was more than happy to let me."

Severus nodded. He had finished collecting his leaves and he stood facing Neville once again. He couldn't stop himself-he saw his hand reach out and grasp Neville's arm, just below the shoulder. "You're looking well," he said gruffly.

Neville froze, not even seeming to breathe. "You too," he murmured.

Severus didn't know how to proceed. He let go of Neville's arm and nodded, almost to himself. "That's all I needed, then," he said. "I'll be leaving."

"Wait," Neville said. "Stay for dinner. In Hogsmeade-we'll go to the Three Broomsticks."

And so they did. Neville talked about the different problems they were having with some plants, and about a leak in greenhouse six that was fixed by redoing the flashing. (Severus didn't realize that they had done flashing the first time.) "Greenhouse six was just at an odd angle, but I made the flashing a little wider on the southeast corner and that fixed it right up-there haven't been any leaks since then." Severus talked about the potions he was working on, and the modifications he could make to a Calming Draught to incorporate the Encouragemint, and what results he expected to see. In short, they shared a very agreeable evening. At the end of the meal, Severus walked with Neville back to his flat, and when they parted, he made to shake the young man's hand. Neville looked at Severus's outstretched hand and smiled. Keeping his hands by his own sides, Neville leaned over and kissed Severus gently on the corner of his mouth. Severus's stomach did a little flip, but he worked to keep his breathing level. "It was good to see you today, Severus," he said, and smiled. Then he turned and walked into his flat.

The next morning he got a very angry owl from Minerva. The owl looked at him reproachfully as if she knew everything distasteful he'd ever done, and waited for him to take his letter and read it. The letter read:

Severus, I heard that you were coming to Hogwarts yesterday, but I didn't see you once. For your sake, I hope you are seriously ill and weren't able to make the trip. I expect you to recover soon and stop by to see me the moment you are well.

-Minerva

PS: The owl will wait for your reply. If you're too sick to put quill to parchment, send the owl back without a reply, and I will fetch you shortly and bring you to Poppy for your convalescence.

He genuinely laughed at her postscript. He could still learn a lot about the art of the veiled threat from Minerva McGonagall. He sent the owl back with the reply: "Indeed, Minerva, I have been quite incapacitated by an unknown malady. I will have recovered by next week, if that is agreeable to your schedule."

He spent the day brewing Veritaserum, and while it simmered he started on the experimental Calming Draught, using Encouragemint. He brewed it in the silver cauldron, but it wasn't discernibly different from regular Calming Draught in smell, color, or consistency. He decided to try it again in the stone cauldron once the Veritaserum was done. The silver cauldron likely didn't bring out the inherent properties of the mint like stone would. All the same, he hoped that Harry returned home in a state of agitation so Severus could try out the new potion.

Encouragemint. It was quite ingenious, and would balance out some of the weaknesses of a Calming Draught. He couldn't believe no one had tried it before. Perhaps Longbottom's expertise in Herbology could complement Severus's expertise in potions.

Before he could get too far in these ridiculous thoughts, an owl appeared with Minerva's reply: "I hope you mean to visit next weekend. You may as well plan to be sick for the rest of the week-unless you've forgotten what it is to teach and be Head of House. I shall expect to see you Friday evening."

But he didn't want to go to Hogwarts without seeing Neville.

He owled Longbottom and told him he'd be at Hogsmeade by 4:00. Neville sent back a perfunctory reply, which didn't bother Severus until Friday morning. He wasted hours of his life worrying about what robes to wear. He finally chose his black ones.

He met Neville in Hogsmeade, and they went on a leisurely walk on the castle grounds, which had been restored beautifully after the battle, and ventured into the Forbidden Forest, and spoke of nothing in particular. They found some mushrooms that Neville knew by sight and Severus knew by reputation; he collected some to use later in a potion.

They ended up in a small clearing that Severus immediately recognized. He had thought they were just meandering, but he must have led them here without realizing it. It was his door-the portal that Dumbledore had created-the one that would always allow Severus entrance to Hogwarts.

So he told Neville. About the portal, about the night Dumbledore created it, and why. How Severus had never even had a key to his own home when he was younger, and yet Dumbledore had given him, essentially, a key into Hogwarts-but only so that Severus could still gain entrance after he'd murdered Dumbledore and no one inside the castle trusted him anymore.

He closed his eyes, and breathed in and out carefully.

"That was pretty unfair, asking you to do that," Neville said.

Severus shrugged. "It was unfair that you and Harry grew up without parents, because of what I had done."

Neville looked at him sharply, and Severus's stomach dropped. "Oh, fuck, you didn't know, did you?"

"What are you talking about, Severus?"

Jesus fuck shit fuck goddamned motherfucking CHRIST. There was nothing for it. This was why he didn't trust people, because trusting people meant telling them things that made them leave.

"The prophecy," he said harshly. "I heard the first part of it, and since I cared more for my status than for any child of my enemies, I reported everything I'd heard to the Dark Lord." He sneered. "Because of that, the Dark Lord tried to kill Potter and his parents, and when he failed, his followers came after you and your parents."

Neville stood frozen, and Severus couldn't look at him. He turned and walked away-away from the clearing that was his, away from the door that would always admit him to his past, away from the young man with whom he'd started to hope for a future.

What a joke.

Neville let him go.

Well, he finally had proof that Potter and Neville weren't talking about him behind his back, at least not about the one thing that would have prevented this debacle.

Severus walked through the front gates of Hogwarts and Apparated back to Grimmauld Place. He stormed up the stairs toward his bedroom, but Harry's own door was open and the boy called after him. "Hey, Severus! Back a little early?"

Severus didn't pause on his way up the stairs. And a curse on the boy, anyway. Severus had just assumed Potter had told all his secrets-which was highly inappropriate, but would have at least saved him from his current situation. Potter followed him up to his room. "How was McGonagall?" he asked from the doorway.

"What?" What did McGonagall have to do with it?

"McGonagall. You went to see her, didn't you? Did you have a good time?"

"Shit," he said. "I have to go back."

Potter finally seemed to realize that Severus was out of sorts. "Erm, how was Neville?"

If Severus had been holding something, he would have thrown it. Instead, he felt tears prickling his eyes and fought them with everything he had. "Why didn't you tell him?" he roared. Off Potter's blank look, Severus continued, "About the prophecy? About my role? About my betrayal! You told everyone everything else-why couldn't you tell him about the one thing I did which directly affected him?"

"Erm..."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Severus yelled, and shoved Potter back, out of his room, and slammed his door shut. "FUCK," he said, remembering Minerva. He could beg off, of course, but with Minerva, it would be easier, far easier in the long run, to just go back to the castle. He pushed everything down, as he hadn't done in a while, and it took longer than it used to, but he persisted, and managed, and opened his door to find Potter still standing, stupidly, on the other side of it. "I'm going back to Hogwarts," Severus announced, and left Grimmauld Place once again.

He went and talked to Minerva. It was more awkward than he would have imagined, had he allowed himself to imagine it. She spoke of students, and grading papers, and catching students out of curfew, and students not understanding something she had taught.

Severus had left all that behind and hadn't looked back. Was that how he would have sounded, in previous years, to an outsider?

Minerva noticed that he'd gone quiet. "What's wrong, Severus?" she asked.

He shrugged, and meant to deflect her, but instead he heard himself say, "Why did you save me?"

"What?"

He hadn't meant to ask it at all, but now that he had, he desperately needed to know why. "Why were you even in the Shrieking Shack? There was no reason for you to be there. And you still thought I was a traitor-you'd called me a coward, just a few hours before-why, why, did you take it upon yourself to save my life?"

She made some business with the sleeve of her robes. Finally, she said, "That's two different questions. Why was I there? Because Ron Weasley sent me a Patronus, just after He-Voldemort called a halt to the assault on the castle. Weasley said that you were dying and that I should go see you." She let that sink in for a bit before continuing. "Why did I save you? Because I wanted to forgive you." She sipped her tea and didn't meet his eyes.

This was so inadequate that he waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "That sounds rather selfish," he said.

"Yes, well, noble self-sacrifice had been done." She cocked her eyebrow at him and sipped her tea primly.

Severus sighed.

"How are you, really, Severus?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Bullshit," she said, but she still somehow managed to say it primly.

He dreamed that night that he was back at Hogwarts because he agreed to teach Potions for another year. It was only one year, after all, and he was sure he could survive it. But as he looked out on his students on the first day of school, he realized that he had the entire year ahead of him, and he'd made a horrible mistake. He couldn't do it again; he didn't think he'd make it through the first day, let alone the whole year.

When he woke up, he couldn't stop thinking about Neville for some reason.

At breakfast, Harry informed him that he was going to Hogwarts to watch the Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. "And I haven't seen Ginny in ages, so after the match we're going out to Hogsmeade, and I probably won't be back until late."

Severus shrugged in reply.

Almost as soon as Harry left, Neville knocked on the door of Grimmauld Place.

"You didn't stay for Quidditch?" Severus sneered at him.

"I have more important things to do," Neville said, and stepped around Severus, into the house.

Severus closed the door but didn't turn around, didn't even move. They stood in uncomfortable silence.

"Were you going to offer tea or something?" Neville finally asked.

"Were you going to stay that long?"

"Never mind. I know where to find the tea myself," Neville said, and walked down to the kitchen. "Would you like some, too?" he called over his shoulder.

"Neville, stop," Severus said, but it sounded too whiny to be a command. Severus didn't know his voice could do that, and was horrified.

"Severus, listen to me: we need to talk, and it will be less awkward if we have tea. Besides, it'll give you something to throw if you need to."

"I don't have anything more to say to you."

"But I have things you need to hear, so...shut up and listen."

Neville put the kettle on and sat down at the table.

"I've done unforgivable things," Severus said, hopefully preempting whatever Neville wanted to say.

Neville rolled his eyes. "And you're not a nice man, and you have trust issues. Yes, Severus, we all know."

"'Unforgivable,' Longbottom. It has a very particular meaning."

"Yes, well, I'm not a literalist."

Severus sat down. "I thought you already knew. I...I wouldn't have thrown it out like that."

"You thought I already knew," Neville repeated, and Severus nodded. "If I knew, and I was spending time with you, then you must have thought that I didn't blame you at all, or else I'd forgiven you. So why does it surprise you that I'm here now?"

Severus hesitated before he spoke. "Because if my first assumption was wrong, then all of my assumptions were suspect."

Neville nodded. "I shouldn't have let you get away yesterday, but I was a bit stunned. I'm sorry for that, Sev. I know how you can get-I should have stopped you."

"Don't," Severus said, suddenly angry. "Don't apologize to me."

Neville sighed, a long-suffering sigh. "So, you've done unforgivable things, you're not a nice man, you have trust issues, and you're a touchy git. I get it, Sev, but I don't think you do. You're impossible when you're in this state, you know." He sighed again. "I wasn't apologizing; I'm just sorry that I have to deal with you when you're like this."

Severus had just been out-maneuvered by Neville Longbottom. He was speechless. Had Neville just called him Sev? There was too much to process. He took a sip of his tea.

Neville sipped his own tea, content to let the silence stretch.

Severus was almost out of tea when Neville finally spoke again. "I meant to tell you yesterday that I have some pretty exciting news. I was trying to save it for the last moment, but..."

"But I ruined that plan?"

"Yes, as is your way. Anyway, Professor Sprout told me the other day that Professor Randall has already told her that he's leaving at the end of the year. Hogwarts will need another Herbology professor, and Professor Sprout thinks I can do it."

"You-you're eighteen and not fully qualified."

Neville smiled fondly. "I'll be nineteen, and Professor Sprout says that I can teach provisionally for a few years while I finish the requirements. Anyway, I asked her specifically if I would have to live at Hogwarts, and she said no. I can keep my flat in Hogsmeade."

Severus looked at Neville. He could think of no reason the young man should care if he lived at Hogwarts or in Hogsmeade. Severus, of course, could never dream of living inside the castle again. But he wouldn't mind living nearby.

He tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. He thought about everything that had happened since he woke up in the Shrieking Shack. He remembered Neville kissing him, holding his hand. Talking to him; forgiving him; rubbing his back as he cried. And now, considering Severus's preferences when deciding his own future.

Severus had thought that you couldn't come back from some things; he'd thought he was broken. But he'd thought Harry was broken, too, and now Harry and Ginevra had taken up with each other again.

Maybe...maybe.

He put his cup down on the table and took his courage in both hands. He stood up slowly. Neville stayed seated, but kept his eyes on him.

Severus walked over to Neville, slowly, slowly, his heart pounding the whole way. He knelt down, next to Neville, who looked back at him cautiously.

He wanted to say something, but he could only focus on the one goal. He leaned in, slowly, slowly, watching carefully the whole time, and kissed Neville.

Neville closed his eyes and kissed him back.

So I've already written another short piece in this universe, and I'll post it soon-it's called "Firstborn." Do you see what I did there? It's a theme, but a subtle one.

1. Second Time Around
2. Third Time's a Charm
3. Firstborn

As a permutation, it's easy, it's just (123). (If you get that, HOLLA!)

Unfortunately, I can't think of a word or phrase starting with the word "Fourth," except for "Fourth of July," and I have it on good authority that Brits don't celebrate that. So "Firstborn" will probably be the last in the series. That's okay-it's my "19 years later," anyway. BTW-I always liked the epilogue, so, there you go. Exception to every rule and all.

Anyway, if you've liked any part of this story, it's really down to Murph, who insisted that I write it, even when I was like, "GROAN, but 'Snape living' has been DONE, and DONE WELL." She still had faith that I could put a different spin on it. There were many phone calls and many conversations that made this story into what it is.

TO MURPH: We have dragged each other from fandom to fandom-I'm so glad I managed to drag you into Harry Potter. I wish I didn't have to write a friggin' novel to do it-and I can't decide if that makes you or me the more stubborn one-but I'm pretty sure it's you.

TO THE REST OF THE WORLD: Murph and I were both born and raised-and currently reside-in Podunkville, TX, so I apologize for any regionalisms that may have crept into this fic. I take solace in the fact that I once got course evaluations from a class I taught, and one student (probably not a local) had commented, "She sometimes speaks in a British accent and it's hard to understand her." I literally asked everyone in my office, "Do I sound British?" They all assured me, no, I sound Texan. ALSO, Murph once moved up north, to Yankeetown, USA, and a lot of people up there thought that she was British. Because of her accent. It is, evidently, a common mistake.

In conclusion, finding someone to Brit-pick this probably would have been redundant...at least to certain people, living in North America, on a certain side of the Mason-Dixon Line. Brits? You may be able to tell the difference. (I did giggle when I wrote about the "bag of crisps." I'm such a poser.)