Among Other Things

Disclaimer: I do not own HP!


Chapter 9

Severus Snape…

Severus scowled as he glanced at the letter that gave him directions to his archenemy’s Floo.

He was against visiting Harry while Black was in residence, but the boy had insisted, so he had caved.

He was going soft.

If it were not for the damn boy’s eyes and his complete inability to act like his father, then Severus would never have actually gotten to know him.

But after an embarrassing confession second year, he had begun a series of detentions in order to at least make sure that the boy was educated in basic wizarding concepts.

Somehow, in the process he had gotten to know the little brat and had found himself in the status of confidant and advisor. He had found that he did not really mind and it had developed to the point that he felt affection for the boy, and frighteningly enough, something more.

The boy would never find out, however, since Severus was astonishingly in control of his feelings.

At the feeling of a smile, Severus quickly turned to a mirror and practiced his series of scowls, each one fiercer than the last. After all, it really wouldn’t do to smile while talking to the boy.

He would die from embarrassment.

After he was satisfied with his appropriately stern face, Severus activated the Floo, stated his destination, and stepped into the fire.

Moments later, he landed in an empty grate surrounded by stone walls on all sides, and before the wards could declare him an intruder, promptly stated the password.

The effect was immediate.

The stone walls receded, a homely sitting room appeared, and Severus was given passage into the home of Lupin, Potter, and Black. Using a quick spell to remove the soot from his robes, Severus stepped into the room, noting the lack of Gryffindor colors.

Surprising that, since he was in the lion’s den itself.

Severus took a few moments to eye the mementos along the walls. He found a surprising number of photos, all of which, he noted, contained a teen Harry.

The wolf and godmutt must be lonely, he noted with a mixture of smugness and sympathy.

Truthfully, the grudge against the Marauders was as strong as ever, and he was not sure if it would ever die.

But for Harry’s sake, he would try to get along.

It was not until he was eyeing the knickknacks in the corner close to the fireplace when the door finally opened.

His head snapped ‘round and he eyed his enemy, Sirius Black, with distaste as the shaggy black haired mutt peered into the room.

The man seemed to have recovered well from his stint in Azkaban, though he still had that haunted look that everyone who had been to the prison developed.

Occasionally, the look appeared in Severus’ eyes as well.

As Black stepped into the room and locked the door behind him, Severus pulled out his wand and assumed a dueling stance.

“You just couldn’t stay away,” Black snarled, features morphed with rage. “How many times do I have to tell you that I do not want your overly large nose or your greasy hair near my godson!?”

“And how many times do I have to remind you Black that it is not up to you. Both Potter and Lupin expressed the wish that I visit,” Severus responded smoothly, eyes not leaving his opponent’s form.

Sirius scoffed and erected a somewhat shaky shield, watching as Severus did the same, albeit it was stronger.

“I don’t believe a word you say, and I’m going to make sure that you leave and don’t come back!”

And with that, the duel was on.

Severus was surprised when Black started with a minor Dark Arts spell, one that was in a legal gray area, but readjusted his tactics and responded.

Spells flashed back and forth, rebounding off shields and destroying the objects in the room.

It wasn’t until Severus downed his opponent with a Blasting Curse that destroyed his shield, and slipped in a nonverbal Binding Spell that he felt victory.

He gazed at his petrified opponent and smirked triumphantly, a particularly nasty Blinding Curse on his lips. It would be so simple to blind him and leave him in the dark for days.

But…the boy would have a fit and he would have to deal with it.

Mentally he sighed and decided to do something less drastic.

He gazed into space for a moment before inspiration struck. Yes, that would do nicely.

Moments later, as Severus stepped out of the room, a shriek echoed through the house as Sirius Black admired his new Slytherin features-namely an overly large nose and very greasy hair.

Severus walked down the hallway, lined with yet more portraits, and into the kitchen, where, he found Lupin and Harry sharing a pot of tea and a plate of chocolate biscuits.

Severus cleared his throat and awaited the reactions of the two, aware that they had most likely heard the entire thing.

“Done playing like children, are we?” Lupin asked mildly.

Severus felt shame slightly rise up in him before he crushed it with his satisfaction.

“No,” he replied evenly. “Just making sure that Black remembers exactly how idiotic he truly is.”

Harry snorted at that and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t think hexing him will do it. It just makes him more determined to have revenge, as I’m sure you recall.”

This time Severus did feel a dull flush of shame, but resolutely ignored it as he sat down at the table.

“Really, Harry, I’m not sure what you are referring to.” Harry rolled his eyes, captivating Severus as he caught the glow of the emerald eyes in the light.

“Right, I’m sure you don’t.”

The next few minutes were spent devouring the remainder of the biscuits, Harry knew of his immense craving for chocolate, and waiting for Black to recover from his humiliation and join them in the kitchen.

Eventually, Harry and Lupin were impatient enough to begin heckling Black. Which was hilarious in and of itself, since neither of them was the sort to do that.

“Come on, Siri! Surely it can’t be that bad!” Harry exclaimed, craning his head around the door to see if Black had emerged.

“Oh, really Padfoot! Whatever it is can be fixed.”

“…”

“You’ve probably had worse! C’mon! We’re all waiting!” Harry called, camera in hand.

“Where did you get that?” Severus asked, wand at the ready, just in case Black came through the doorway intent on murder. Unfortunately, he was ignored, since the other two were too intent on their victim.

“Let’s go! C’mon already!”

“What’d he do, turn your hair green and silver?”

“You’ve done much worse than that!”

“Remember our second year when you charmed the armored knights to kiss anyone that walked by?”

“Surely you can handle whatever Professor Snape did!”

“Stop being such a sissy, Padfoot!”

When no answer still came from the sitting room, Lupin frowned lightly before turning to Harry. “Why don’t you two get started while I drag Padfoot out. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

Harry gave a beaming smile, before grabbing Severus’ hand and dragging him down a nearby set of stairs. They emerged in a small basement that had been converted into a makeshift Potions lab (Sirius had forbidden Severus from going into his).

Selecting one of the nearby chairs, Severus took a seat, closely followed by Harry. “So, what exactly did you do?”

Severus smirked and leaned back in the chair. “Black has found that he now closely resembles myself.”

Harry gaped a moment before bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. “I-I can’t believe you did that!”

Severus waited a moment, since Harry had fallen out of his chair, for him to stop rolling around on the floor. Finally, he calmed down and regained his seat.

“No wonder Siri’s in shock. That was purely evil, Sev.”

“Well, it had to be done. What other action could I have taken? Just stunned the prat and left him alone when he was determined to commit murder? The fool had to learn a lesson.”

Harry opened his mouth, prepared to reply, but was interrupted by the sound of running water upstairs.

Both of them looked at the ceiling.

“Well, either that was Remus throwing Siri in the tub to knock some sense into him or…”

“Black threw himself in there in a desperate attempt to rid himself of his greasy hair. Which he will find impossible, since the spell is set to last for the next twenty-four hours.”

“You are unbelievable,” Harry noted, green eyes flashing in amusement.

“Now,” Severus stated, suddenly serious. “How have you been lately? Any visions, unusual dreams?”

Fiddling with the edge of his robe, Harry shook his head. “Nothing more than the usual dreams. Siri’s fixed a potion to help with the visions, and it seems to be working.”

Severus frowned, reached over, and stopped Harry’s nervous movements. “I will have a look at this potion myself. What about your decision to leave? What prompted it?”

Swallowing, Harry looked away briefly, acutely feeling the warmth of the man’s hand, still on his. “The Dursleys’ were being more than a little annoying this summer, and between that and what happened at the end of the year…”

“You couldn’t stand it anymore,” Severus finished.

Wordlessly, Harry nodded.

Tightening his hold, Severus waited until Harry looked at him. “How badly did they hurt you? And don’t bother trying to lie to me, I know you well enough to tell when you do.”

Harry took a deep breath. “More than usual. They…” his voice broke, and he swallowed.

“They encouraged Vernon to discipline me,” he said bitterly, face twisting in a mixture of anger and sadness as he remembered.

“He broke a few bones, used the belt more often. My magic did a good bit of the healing, but some of it still lingered.”

His face remained blank, but inside Severus’ emotions were raging.

Idiotic Muggles.

If only they knew how precious children were in the magical world.

“Then I should suppose that you only need Bruise Balm?” he asked gently, concern in his eyes.

“And something for burns as well,” Harry whispered, before looking down at his feet.

Severus sighed and then leaned back in his chair, releasing Harry completely.

“Did you hear from Ms. Granger at all this summer?” he asked silkily, watching Harry closely.

“No, I told her to wait until I wrote her. The Dursleys, you know.”

“Well, at least one of your friends has not become a complete idiot.” Harry gave a slight smile and looked down.

“Ron wasn’t really an idiot, he was just…”

“Weasley was a foolish, selfish young idiot, who cared only for himself,” Severus said firmly.

“And I am grateful that you no longer associate with him.” Harry swallowed, but did not respond.

Severus let the silence extend for a few moments before speaking. “What potion did you want to try today?”

“I thought about learning the Draught of Peace. I have heard that it will appear on the OWLs.”

Severus nodded and then stood to grab a nearby textbook. “Gather your ingredients and begin to set up the potion,” he instructed as he flipped open to the proper page.

Harry stood and before Severus could even contemplate his actions, rushed over and gave him a brief hug before going to the nearby storage cupboard.

Severus glared at Harry’s retreating back, but then allowed a small smile to creep through.

The brat always had some nerve…

He knew that eventually they would develop a relationship, but it would not be for several more years.

In the meantime, he would encourage Harry to trust him completely and eventually love him.

Remus Lupin…

Snickering, Remus gazed at Sirius’ new features.

It had taken a lot of coaxing and a firm promise not to laugh before Sirius let him in the room.

Naturally, he hadn’t promised to take a picture, and had done so, immediately vanishing the camera to a safe hiding place.

Sirius, with his new nose and hair, looked completely ridiculous, and he knew it.

When Remus walked in he was crouched in a corner of the room, resolutely staring at the wall.

Remus had to wait until he was sure that he would not burst into laughter before he spoke.

“It’s not that bad, Siri,” he stated calmly, absently brushing some dust off his woolen trousers.

Sirius choked and let out a loud snort of disbelief.

“You’re lying.”

Remus blinked in mock outrage. “I assure you that I most definitely am not. You’ve known me long enough to know that I do not lie.”

“Only when you want to make me feel better. Or you want me to stop sulking.”

Remus rolled his eyes, but didn’t respond.

“I can’t believe Snivellus did this to me!” Sirius exclaimed, running a hand through his hair in anger.

Some of the strands fell loose and fell in front of his face, emphasizing his resemblance to Severus even more.

Remus had to pinch himself to keep from laughing.

“I would say,” he remarked dryly. “That you absolutely deserved it. Especially after you attacked him first.”

“But who knows what he would have done if I didn’t,” Sirius wailed.

“He could have hexed the entire house before I got to him! I was taking preventative action!”

“I hate to tell you this Padfoot, but you were just acting like a child.”

Sirius huffed and turned his back to Remus.

Silence reigned for several minutes.

“Fine,” Sirius muttered. “I was being stupid. Now can you tell me how to fix this?”

Remus waved his wand lazily, frowned, and then waved it once again.

“I’m afraid, Sirius, that I can’t undo it. The spell looks like it will last for the next day. You could try, however, to take a shower. Maybe you’d at least fix the hair.”

“I suppose.”

“Well, you might want to hurry then. Otherwise, I’ll start thinking you’re related to Severus,” he teased, watching in amusement as Sirius’ back straightened in outrage.

Not a moment later he was up and dashing out the door.

“No, I won’t let that happen,” he wailed, feet pounding as he ran for the shower.

Remus winced, when, at the stairs, he heard Sirius trip and land with a hard thud.

He waited until he heard the bathroom door shut and the water start running before he burst out laughing.

Really, that was just too hilarious.

End of Chapter 9!

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