Dragon Rose

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Once again many thanks to Periculum for her beta work. Without her I’m sure everyone would be out for my head.


Chapter Ten

Harry trailed after Severus, doing his best not to watch the way the man walked, and thinking (where someone just might be listening!) that it was a shame that the Potions Master preferred to wear such billowing robes. A quiet snicker deep in his mind let him know that the thought was not as hidden as he had thought. :Hush.: He snarled softly, not really sure who it was that had decided to eavesdrop.

“Mr. Potter, I have better things to be doing today than babysitting you. If you do not start paying attention to your surroundings and keep up, I’m going to have you in detention with Mr. Filch for the next week,” a dark voice purred, snapping Harry out of his thoughts.

“Yes Sir, sorry Sir.” Harry was quick to answer, and hurried his pace slightly, making sure not to lose himself in thought again; after all, if he was going to get detention it would be with Snape himself, otherwise it just wasn’t worth the effort.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to reach the gargoyle, which moved aside, even without the password, much to Harry’s surprise. By the slight widening of Severus’ eyes, it appeared this was as unusual to him as it was to Harry.

As soon as the entrance closed behind them, Harry moved slightly closer and leaned his head in the center of Severus’ back, causing the older man to turn around and wrap his arms around the teen, for once allowing the revolving stairs to carry them up instead of making the trip faster by walking. “How did you sleep last night, Harry?”

“Once I opened the portrait between our rooms slightly, much better than I have been,” Harry mumbled in return, wrapping both arms around Severus’ middle, knowing that the embrace would end sooner than he would wish.

“Hmm, I noticed this morning when I woke up that it was open. I had thought for a moment that you had tried to get my attention, so I peeked in on you.”

Flushing slightly, Harry looked up into dark eyes. “It sounds stupid, but I just wanted to be able to hear you,” he said, before stepping back as the near the top of the staircase.

“Not stupid, Harry. Everyone needs reassurance at some time. If having it open helps you then so be it, we’ll leave it open” Severus replied, brushing one knuckle across Harry’s cheek.

“Thank you,” Harry whispered, leaning into the caress briefly, before pulling himself together. “Do you know why the headmaster wanted to see me?”

“No, I don’t. But I think it has something to do with the reason the Weasley twins are still here.”

“Draco said something about them coming back to school last night, but needing the permission from their Head of Family,” Harry informed him.

“And as you are their Head…” Severus trailed off. “Oh Great Merlin, you’re going to give them the okay, aren’t you?!”

His only answer before the office door opened was a bright smile.

~OoO~

It never failed to surprise Harry that no matter how many people were in this office, it never seemed to get crowded. At the moment it contained Fred, George, Charlie and Bill Weasley, all four Heads of House, Lucius Malfoy (representing the Board of Directors), the Headmaster and Harry, as well as the portraits of the Four Founders settled for the moment on easels on either side of the Headmaster’s desk, and of course Fawkes on his perch directly behind the Headmaster.

Bowing respectively to each of the Founders, Harry turned his attention to the Headmaster. “Good morning, Sir.”

“Good morning, Harry. How are you this fine day?”

“Very well, Sir. How may I help you this morning?” Harry asked. His smile turned mischievous, letting Albus know that he had a basic idea of what he wanted.

Blue eyes twinkled brightly as he gestured to a chair situated with the twins on one side of it, and Bill and Charlie on the other. “It has come to our attention that we have a couple of young men that would like to re-enroll in our fine school. After discussing it with the Founders, I have found out that they may re-join us if their Head of Family agrees, and they agree to a re-sorting. Fred and George have agreed to a re-sorting; now we just have need of the agreement of their Head of Family. You wouldn’t by chance know who that is, now would you, Harry?”

McGonagall huffed from her seat and sent a mild glare at the Headmaster. “I still don’t see why you needed to drag Mr. Potter all the way up here. It’s plain to see that he would have no more idea who the new Head is than I do,” she said stiffly.

The remaining Weasleys opened their mouths in outrage, along with everyone else, but quickly subsided when Harry held up a hand. Shifting his position in the chair slightly, Harry looked at his ex-head of house with cool detachment and waited for everyone to settle down enough that he could be heard.

“I understand, Madam, that you were close to both Molly and Arthur, and that you are grieving their loss along with their children. I, too, am suffering from their loss, as is anyone who knew what a truly exceptional couple they were.” He spoke with a quiet dignity that surprised everyone, including himself. “While you lost close friends that day, I lost my family.” Closing his eyes to hide his pain, Harry gave himself a few moments to bring himself back under control. “Bill and Charlie both gave up their rights by blood to accept the Lordship of the Weasley family, and instead gave them to someone they both knew would not use it against them. Much to my dismay, I was the one they selected to lead their family,” he said softly, after he had opened his eyes once again. “It was with a great deal of honor that I accepted, along with a feeling of being completely unworthy of that honor.”

“Since I have entered this school this year, you have made it abundantly clear that you, along with the rest of your House, blame me for what happened, and I’m not sure if I can completely disagree with that fact. After all, they would have all been safer if they had never taken me in. But I will NOT allow you to keep belittling me or anyone else. If you cannot detach your feelings and remain neutral in dealing with me as a student, no matter what, I suggest, Madam, that you step down from your position as Deputy Headmistress and consider retiring from your position as Head of Gryffindor as well.” Harry’s eyes had turned hard by the time he was finished, and held McGonagall’s eyes until she was shamed enough to turn away.

“As Head of the Weasley family, I give my permission for Fred and George to re-enroll here at Hogwarts,” he said gravely when he turned back to the Headmaster. Reading the shock that was in Albus’ eyes, along with the shock that fairly radiated from everyone else, Harry knew he had to lighten the mood. “If, of course, Sir, you think that your school will survive having the Weasley twins once again as students,” he added, a slight smirk decorating his face.

Shaking the shock from his system quickly, the Headmaster returned Harry’s smirk with a twinkle of his own. “Oh, I think we can survive another year with the twins in attendance. Although I think we might just have to let the Sorting Hat also judge what year they should be attending.”

Donning a look of horror, Harry looked at the Sorting Hat, and could have sworn that the damn thing had a smirk on its ‘face’. “Please not sixth year, please I beg of you!” he pleaded.

“This reminds me of the first time you put me on your head. ‘Not Slytherin, please anywhere but Slytherin.’” The hat mocked him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Harry stated, turning his head in a mock huff, much to the amusement of those within the room.

“Are you saying, young man, that you convinced that Hat not to put you where it wanted you to go?” Professor Sprout asked.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Harry murmured, looking down in embarrassment.

“Indeed it was not. He could have gone anywhere at that point,” the hat reassured them all. “Now enough with young Potter. Let’s continue on with sorting these fine young men,” the hat announced, moving things along.

After that it only took a few minutes for Fred and George to be re-sorted into Gryffindor for their seventh year of school, much to Harry’s relief. After the twins received copies of their school list, Harry asked for and received permission to walk the Weasleys down to the entrance hall, promising to return to the Headmaster’s office immediately after.

With a quick glance at the twins, they said their farewells to Bill and Charlie, and Harry led the way down to his rooms. Once there, he locked and warded the door before turning to the twins with a somewhat worried look.

“Do you need any help getting your supplies?” He asked.

“Nope…”

“Not a thing...”

“Business has been good...”

“And the account you set up…”

“Allowed us to hire full time staff…”

“The only thing we need to do…”

“Is getting permission to leave…”

“So we can do the trickier brewing…”

Fred and George answered him, both wearing matching grins.

Used to the double speak, Harry just nodded his head in relief and headed for his trunk. “Alright then, I won’t bother with helping you buy your supplies.”

“Harry, don’t feel like you need to provide for us financially,” George said seriously. “We do really well with the joke shop.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about providing you with money for that now. If you say the shop is doing well, then it’s doing well,” Harry said, turning back to them with a money pouch in hand.

“Then what is that for?” Fred asked, gesturing to the pouch.

“Well you see, since I’m not an actual member of the houses, and therefore more than likely not going to be playing Quidditch unless the professors actually work out a system between them, I feel no real harm in helping you kick Slytherins butt when you do start playing once again,” Harry said with an evil smile, holding out the pouch. “I would appreciate it if you bought me a new broom as well,” he added as an afterthought, not wanting his first gift from his godfather to be wrecked.

The twins looked at each other, before turning to Harry with matching evil grins. “There seems…”

“To be…”

“A lot more money…”

“Than just for three brooms.”

“Oh well, I guess there might be enough for new brooms for the rest of team…” Harry trailed off.

“Donated by us in memory of our siblings.” Fred nodded in agreement.

“And if there is extra after that, well it would be blamed on me if you managed to smuggle in a few extra…pranks,” Harry added slyly.

“Of course not,” Gred and Forge said together, practically rubbing their hands together in glee.

“Just in Merlin’s name, don’t get caught.”

“What do you think we are Harry, amateurs?” They said in dismay.

“Of course not. Just making sure that you understand that I had nothing to do with this.” As an afterthought Harry added, “And please keep your marks up. I really don’t want the professors looking to me for your bad grades.”

~~OoO~~

Harry returned to the Headmaster’s office, to find the Headmaster was the only one remaining. Retaking his seat and the cup of offered tea, Harry turned his attention to the portraits. “So which one of you do I have to thank for that lovely speech?”

Helga looked at Harry with a smile on her face. “Well, you certainly behaved rather like Salazar.”

“But you sounded a lot like our dear Rowena,” Godric added.

“Well thank you both, then. I’m not sure how I would have handled that without making the situation worse.”

{You did well, youngling. With practice you can become a great leader} Salazar hissed at him.

{I don’t want to be a leader. I just want to be Harry} he grumbled back, much to Salazar’s amusement.

Looking at the Headmaster, Harry sighed. “How are you planning on dealing with me not being in an actual House?” he asked.

Albus looked at the young man, the twinkle dimming slightly in his eyes. “As you may have guessed, you won’t be able to play Quidditch, but if you would like you may be able to help train any of the Seekers who ask for your help.” Waiting for Harry’s nod, he added, “If you would like, you may also be able to help referee a few of the matches as well.”

Smiling slightly, Harry nodded, “I would like that. It would allow me to be able to still be part of the whole thing here.”

“As I thought. As for your classes, it would seem we have to make up a new House patch for your robes. It has been agreed that you will take classes with all houses, and any points you receive will be split evenly between all four houses. The same will also be said for any points you lose. I have already informed you that I will be reviewing your potions work. Otherwise it will be business as normal.”

Harry smiled and took another sip of his tea. “I like normal,” he stated.

The Headmaster smiled back at him. “Incidentally, Harry, how was your private meeting with the Weasley Twins?” he asked, eyes twinkling brightly.

Harry’s eyes sparkled as an evil smile once again stretched across his face. “Productive, Headmaster. Very productive,” he nearly purred.

Albus, much to Harry’s amusement, threw his head back and laughed. Moments later Harry joined him.