I liked the presents and reactions! Too bad so sad Lucius. It was funny that Harry was observed ignoring their veiled insults.
*Edited to correct errors*
The things Harry is willing to put up with for people he decides to look out for and strike friendships with. Having to deal with the snobby openly racist attitude of Draco's parents. He's not gonna forget that it was Lucius fault for all of the danger of Harry's second year with the diary fiasco and ya know technically it is also his fault that Harry has now been placed into Slytherin since he kicked off things with what he did resulting in Harry going into the chamber to save Ginny and the results of what came after.
Smart of Harry to stay on his toes and not forget just who these guys are even with Snape there to make sure neither Lucius or Tarq try anything. Good of him also to play nice with them, at least for Theo and Draco's sake. These two are gonna appreciate how far Harry is willing to go for them considering the friendship, or amicable acquaintance in Draco's case is still new.
I admit i totally forgot about Dobby and how with the changes to the end of Harry's previous year, he never had that confrontation with Lucius so he wasnt able to trick him into freeing Dobby. Wonder how/if will pull it off now. Harry cant help himself when he sees wrongdoing and will ultimately try to help regardless of the consequences that might fall on him, especially when the sad circumstances mirror his own previous ones so closely. Maybe he should ask Severus for a more subtle method of getting Dobby released that keeps him in the clear.
lol poor Draco getting kisses from mommy in front of his housemates.
Tarquinius playing the smart game and not actively trying to alienate Harry further like the Malfoy's are. He's a bad guy but at least he is smart enough to know when to keep some shit to himself at the right time. Even tries to further endear himself to the kid with a gift even if Harry is still wary of him, and for good reason. That is certainly an impressive gift though, although i couldn't imagine it being school appropriate lol. Harry is getting pretty spendy with what he gets for his friends. Go big or go home they say. Draco still has a bit to learn about Harry and what interests him and what he cares to learn but its the thought that counts i suppose....even if it is in a indirect insult kind of way lol. At least Harry didn't react poorly.
Wonder if Seveus will catch on to whatever Tarquinius has planned and how he will react to it when it occurs. For that matter i am worried about how Sirius will react if he is unable to adopt Harry do to what Tarq has set in motion, especially given his current mental state.
Aw that was actually a very sweet gift from Harry to Severus. A promise. Something so simple yet for Severus so profound. He probably couldn't have asked for a better gift, that the kid he wants to protect, simply try and keep himself safe and listen to him every now and then . Now I'm very curious as to what he got for Harry in return.
*Edited*
Aww at sirius calling Harry 'pup'. Severus is getting all jealous and overprotective lol. At least he is able to admit he is jealous of Sirius and keep the worst of his opinions regarding the other man to himself.
I swear if this was a pairing fic Snape would be the responsible if not a little controlling parent, Sirius would be the more reckless free spirited one who spoils Harry and a stressed Remus would be that happy little middle ground trying to balance things out and stop Black and Snape from fighting in front of Harry.
Although eventually if might be best to just let Sirius and Snape have at eachother, non lethaly of course, because the eternal pissing match between them is gonna run Harry ragged trying to curb.
Gasp! Snape actually kind of relaxing and socializing with people, and Gryffindor Weasleys at that. Molly is the ultimate mom and its a pity that Harry wont be able to get adopted by them. No hidden motives or schemes, just warmth and a clear desire to look after Harry. Sirius isnt a bad choice and honestly the best one really when compared to some of the other canidates like whoever Tarq is conspiring with and Severus who while getting Harry to open up and obviously caring for the kid has a very limited emotional bandwidth and being a spy would be quite a bit harder if he had Harry with him but Sirius has a bit to go before he should be trusted to suddenyl look after a kid after what he has been through. I wonder what gift Harry got for Snape.
That is quite the impressive gift Harry got for Theo, especially if its effective against an unforgivable and it seems things are getting tense between father and son over the latters growing genuine loyalty to Harry. And then the enigma that is Daphne and her small steps in getting closer to Harry. Girl just breezed into the group and has managed to get close enough to exchange gifts with hardly any effort. Helps that she has never bullied or caused issues for Harry like some of her fellow housemates.
Awww... it's a good fic. I was confused for the first half of it... but I liked it and would like to read more.
*Edited to include a question*
Good on Cho I suppose for at least being able to work up the guts to approach Harry to apologize for her behaviour, even if the apology should have gone to Luna first. Will be interesting if she actually becomes a part of the group, but if Draco can fold himself into Harry's growing circle then she might have a chance. Speaking of, will Draco have to personally apologize to Hermione and Ron before Harry fully brings him into the growing group and lets him into close quarters with them, similar to the issue with Cho in regards to Luna? Omg at Harry acting threatning and Theo being proud lol. Nice touch that he doesn't want Harry to become like him but would prefer it over him getting killed.
Ooh Snape accompanying Harry to the Burrow for Christmas will be a treat. That man better prepare to get fed. Hermione picking up that there is something more to Harry staying at the school than Sirius. Yeah it can be hard when your social circle grows and its easy to feel like you are taking a backseat to a newcomer when you've been through so much more. Easy to see where Ron's head is even if a bit of it has to do with distrust of said newcomers along with jealousy at his best bud splitting up his time for other people. He got used to it being just the "Golden Trio".
Ah man , Harry telling people one thing ....and them deciding to work behind the scenes anyway if they feel it will help him. Both a blessing and a curse really lol. I actually love the scenes where he defies peoples expectations of him and what they believe he wants or what his motives are. Just a kid who wants to be a normal wizard, protect those that matter to him and occasionally defend people who need help.
Converting Draco to be a true friend... without even trying. Good job Harry :)
Oh Ron might just have a near fit when he hears about Harry going to spend some time at Malfoy Manor instead of with him and his family, even if Snape does take the blame for it lol. Especially given what happened the previous year with Ginny and the diary. Once again Harry is playing hero to others, from stopping people from bullying Luna, to even being willing to go to Draco's home if it will prveent Lucius from possibably punishing him and Draco being floored at how Harry, who up until recently wasnt even his friend in the normal sense and was tolerating Draco, was so quick to try and protect him.
I love that you have brought Luna into the fold since she is in my top 5 fav characters and how Harry just took her behavior in stride and didnt belittle her. I always loved how in canon these two just seemed to click when they interacted and I even shipped them at one point. Luna will probably be a breath of fresh air to Harry's entourage since she wont care what house he is, wont care about his status or what he could do with his name, she will take him as he is with none of the baggage others foist upon him. Is she friends with Ginny by this point? I loved how it was mentioned in the books that Ginny would look out for Luna and help her when she got bullied.
Smart of Harry to go to Snape to get his input on what steps he should take instead of just rushing into it. Nice to hear that Sirius is at least taking the potion but i wonder how long Snape intends to hold Lupon as well. Even if its to stop him from running to Albus, there could be ramifications unless Remus lets it slide. Clever of Snape to take the precautiuon of getting Draco to swear too secrecy.Now that Draco is, or at least closer to being a legitement friend for Harry it will be interesting to see how he interacts with Ron and Hermione. It was easier for Blaise and Theo since they werent pricks to the duo and didnt have any fueds with Ron's family nor oenly call Hermione a mudblood, so it will be interesting when they are put in regular close quarters.
Wow, Severus apologised?! I love this Snape you've got here, still Snape, but a decent human being rather than the simply evil one that he is presented as in the first few books. And I completely agree about Dumbledore being a a-hole at the end of first year. What the hell had all those poor Slytherins done to deserve losing the House Cup right when they thought it was in the bag? SP
Loved the talk and how Severus knows when to back off and when to press the issue. I liked how Harry called Snape on his behavior in how he treats students outside his house and it took Harry being sorted into Slytherin to get hgim to regard Harry fairly and not make assumptions how Harry had every reason to believe that he wouldnt lift a finger to help him had he approached him. And while its true that Albus never actively 'pushed' Harry into dangerous situations, he also didnt try all that much to prevent Harry's more reckless heroics.
“You shouldn’t do it to please me.” Harry makes it sound as if that’s the worst possible motivation someone could ever have. “You should do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
You can take the boy out of Grffindor but you cant completely take the Gryffindor out of the boy. Given how smart a guy Sev is he coyuld easily have found a way to explain a more benign behavior were he to show it towards to non Slytherins to his former allies so this kind of feels like him trying to make an excuse. Neville in particular is terrified of the man to the poiint where his Bogart reflects that and he might even do much better in his class were Snape to ease up on him. Now the other thing is going to be much harder since despite the fact that its not ALL of Slytherin house that takes part in it, its still a rather large and vocal portian that fully beleive in blood supremacy and look down on half bloods and Muggleborns and have asperations to follow their parents into being Death Eaters. Its gonna be much harder to change peoples perception even with Harry as an advocate since some racist idiots will probably try to destroy his efforts. No one is gonna sympathise with a bigot so if the ones open to change want change and to be treated with regard by the rest of the school they themselves are gonna have to police their own.
Yeah that was a pretty dick move by Albus to wait until Slythyerin house had for all intents and purposes won only to snatch the victory away. No malicious intent but people were hurt all the same.
I enjoy when Harry gets bold and speaks whats on his mind because Severus needs to hear it and i like that Snape apologized.
I honestly dont think Snape was too yeilding to Harry but that you instead hit a perfect balance with how far he was willing to push and when he knew was time to takle a step back.
Ch35 - Well done for actually acknowledging that Harry's upbringing would've left scars (mental, if not physical). JKR never once seemed to address that Harry was actually abused by the Dursleys, and to a lesser extent, by Dumbledore, who left him there (and when Arabella Figg says she had watched Harry and did NOTHING - well, words fail). And yay for Snape being the one to sort Harry out!
I can see Sirius having a tough time getting guardianship of Harry, if only because he's still such a raving nut job! SP