Title: The Past Always Catches Up With You (Year 3)

Author: Tinyrose65

Summary: With her second year come and gone, Harriet is finally enjoying her summer. But she can't help but be distracted by some lingering questions and she decides that it's about time she gets some answers.

"Study the past, if you wish to divine the future."

~Confucius

Remus

Harriet Potter and Remus Lupin, Sirius's and Remus's Place- June 5, 1993

Harriet was looking forward to the rest of her summer. There were no professors out to kill her, no bizarre House Elves (well, except for Kreacher, who Harriet finally got to meet), and, most importantly, no Dursleys. It would instead consist of time spent at home, time spent at the Weasley's and the Granger's, and time spent brewing with Snape. She also spent quite a bit of time at Sirius's and Remus's place. Despite the fact that Grimmauld Place was now habitable, neither Sirius or Remus seemed too inclined to give up their current living arrangement.

Harriet understood.

After living so long with the Dursleys, starved of affection, Harriet had no desire to ever leave the warmth of her family's presence. And, anyway, Harriet quite liked the small flat that Remus and Sirius shared. Remus, who had been living there longer, had filled it up with books and old, if not insanely comfortable, furniture, much like his office at Hogwarts. Since Sirius had moved in, though, the slightly-rundown apartment had received some new renovations, thanks to the almost unlimited funds of the Black vaults: while still retaining the coziness it had before, the flat was now cleaner, more well lit, and with much more reliable indoor plumbing.

So yes. Harriet loved spending time there.

As it was, Harriet was currently keeping Remus company after the full moon. Hogwarts had only officially ended for the summer holiday a few days ago. Remus had almost immediately had to prepare for the full moon, with Sirius and Harriet's father keeping him company. However, the next day, Sirius and her father had to work, and so did her mother, so Harriet had happily offered to keep Remus company while her parents were out.

Dropped at Remus's by the dreaded Floo, Harriet bid them goodbye and went to Remus's bedroom, where she knew her uncle would be. She found him, sure enough, in bed, windows open wide to let in the light and a book in hand. When she opened the door, he put the book down and grinned when he saw her. Harriet noticed that he looked very tired, but otherwise well. She ran over to him and gave him a large hug.

"Hello, Uncle Moony."

"Hello, Harriet," he returned, before releasing her.

"How are you feeling, Uncle Moony?"

"Well," Remus said. He lifted his book. "I was just enjoying a quiet afternoon. Would you care to join me?"

When Harriet nodded eagerly, Remus gave her permission to go borrow from one of his bookshelves. Harriet beamed and ran into the living room to begin searching. It took a few minutes, but she finally settled on a muggle book that looked to be about a hobbit. Then she popped into the kitchen to make tea for them both, before finally rejoining her uncle in his room, balancing a tray of tea with one hand and her book in the other.

Remus tutted and grabbed his wand from his bedside table, levitating the tray of tea over to it. "You didn't need to make tea, Prongslette."

"I can make tea, Uncle Moony," Harriet argued, settling into the armchair by the bed and grabbing the lovely, knitted blanket that rested on top to cover herself. "You worry too much. You and mum."

"Considering your propensity for trouble," Remus chuckled, preparing a cup of tea first for Harriet and handing it to her, then for himself, "I think we worry the proper amount."

"I don't go looking for trouble!" Harriet protested, pausing for just a second to blow lightly on her tea. "Trouble usually finds me!"

"Are you sure your curiosity has nothing to do with it?" Remus teased. When Harriet blushed and looked down, Remus said, "Curiosity can be a marvelous thing, Harriet."

"Dumbledore told me that," Harriet remembered.

Remus nodded. "He told me that, too, when I was about your age."

Harriet looked at her uncle curiously. "Really? Why?"

"Well," Remus said slowly, "I supposed I always blamed myself for my lycanthropy. I was a small boy, you see, and I wandered off from my father one day while playing in the yard, to go explore a cluster of bushes." He shrugged, leading Harriet no doubt as to what had happened next. "Dumbledore was aware of the situation, but regardless let me attend school. Even when I felt guilty for the danger I was putting the other students in, he stood by me. He told me that I was not at fault and that I should never count my curiosity-"

"-as a sin," Harriet finished, with a small smile. She had always wondered just how her uncle had become a werewolf and a small part of her was thrilled that he had finally trusted her enough to tell her.

"Exactly," Remus said. "And neither should you."

Harriet smiled and then said, "And it all worked out, anyway- Well, sort of. I'm still alive and now you have your Wolfsbane potion!"

Remus hummed in agreement. He said, "Yes. It is very nice of Severus to make it for me every month."

Not for the first time, Harriet was struck by the fact that her Uncle Severus didn't get along too well with the rest of her family. It was something that she had thought about for a very long time, but she had never bothered asking, always too afraid or too preoccupied. Now, though, she was sitting in Remus's room with him, not really doing anything.

Hesitating, Harriet asked, "Why doesn't Uncle Severus like your or Padfoot or my dad?"

Remus, who had gone back to reading his book, stiffened a bit. Then he told her, "I'm not sure I'm the right person to explain this to you, Prongslette."

Harriet shut her book and leaned towards him. "Please, Uncle Moony. You're the perfect person to tell me. I trust you."

Remus huffed out a laugh. How was he supposed to say no to that?

"You know we never got along with Snape because of House rivalries, correct?" Remus asked. Harriet nodded. "Well, at some point- and I'm not really sure when, mind you- it became more than that. I think the day that the hatred between Snape and your father and Sirius and I was truly cemented was during the night of the full moon. Sirius told Snape to go and press the knot of the Whomping Willow that led to the Shrieking Shack-"

"But you would've been a werewolf," Harriet gasped.

Remus nodded. "Yes, although Snape had no idea of that. I don't think Sirius expected him to go through with it, but Snape did, and since then Snape has been convinced that Sirius was trying to kill him, and that the rest of us were in on it."

"Was Sirius trying to kill him?" Harriet asked. The thought was unthinkable, but Harriet had learned this past year that sometimes unthinkable things happened.

"You'd have to ask him, Prongslette," Remus chided gently before going back to his book. Harriet tried to get back to hers, but couldn't focus at all.

Sirius

Harriet Potter and Sirius Black, Harriet's Room, Potter Manor- June 7, 1993

Cleaning her room was one of those things that Harriet really didn't mind doing. That is to say, it's not that she liked doing it, but she had cleaned so many rooms at the Dursleys that now living with her parents and having only one room to clean was a blessing. Not to mention the fact that Isaura and Hedwig kept her company as she went about cleaning.

As Harriet made her bed, she and Isaura were discussing the abundance of mice on the Potter estate when a somebody knocked at the door.

"C'm in!" Harriet called.

The door opened to reveal Sirius. Harriet grinned and immediately ran over to give him a hug. She wrapped her arms around his middle and felt him plant a kiss on the top of her head.

"How are you, Prongslette?"

Harriet looked up at him and said, "I'm alright!"

"Just alright?" Sirius teased.

"I'm cleaning my room!" Harriet protested. Sirius nodded understandingly and took a seat in the chair by her desk. He watched her for a moment and then said, "I used to love cleaning my room when I was your age."

Harriet looked at him as though he was a bit touched in the head. She said, "I mean, I don't mind doing it, but I don't like it."

"I used to live for it," Sirius said with a wicked grin. "My parents hated when I did it. Thought that I should get our house-elf, Kreacher, to do it for me. They were furious when I ordered him to never clean my room again."

"You had a house-elf?" Harriet asked, surprised. Sirius nodded.

"Have, actually," he corrected. "Kreacher is still alive. He's gotten better since I last saw him, but he's still a bit too unpredictable. When he calms down a bit more, I'll take him to meet you. He is very excited about that."

"You told him about me?"

"No. Regulus did," Sirius said. Harriet remembered Regulus. She had met him (sort of) when she had (almost) died in the Chamber of Secrets at Voldemort's (well, his memory's) hand.

"Is Kreacher why you ran away from home?" Harriet asked carefully. Harriet knew that it was a delicate subject for her godfather, but it was something she had been thinking about for a while. Thankfully, Sirius didn't seem upset. Instead, he barked out a laugh.

"Merlin, no," Sirius said. "Although he certainly was annoying back in those days. Followed my parents' orders and spouted off their pure-blood nonsense. That's why I left. I couldn't stand that sort of prejudice. I was the first Black in centuries to be sorted into a house other than Slytherin, you know."

"Really?"

"Oh yes," Sirius said, sounding quite delighted.

"Did they disown you?" Harriet wondered. "Your parents, I mean?"

"Oh, no. I left before they had a chance. I didn't want that legacy hanging over my head. Your father and his family were very kind to me and gave me a place to stay," Sirius said wistfully.

"Your family is why you don't like Slytherins," Harriet surmised. Sirius seemed surprised at the conclusion, but hen nodded nonetheless. Harriet added, "And it's why you don't like Uncle Severus."

Here, Sirius let out another bark of laughter. "Oh, no, Prongslette. I don't like Sniv- Snape because he's a git."

"So you let Moony almost kill him?" Harriet demanded. It seemed to take Sirius a minute to realize what she was talking about, but then he shook his head rapidly. He seemed to struggle figuring out what to say, but eventually he managed to speak.

"You have to understand, Prongslette, I was a brat as a kid. Your father, too, and I'm sure he'd happily admit it if you ask him. But when I told Snape about- I mean, I never thought he would actually do it. I promise you, if I had known, I never would have done it."

Harriet decided that, by the look on his face, she could believe him. "What happened?"

Sirius sighed. "Your father heard about it. He saved Snape's life."

"He did?" Harriet asked.

"Yes," Sirius confirmed. "Your father is a good man. The best sort of man there is."

Harriet had to agree.

James

Harriet and James Potter, Behind Potter Manor- June 10, 1993

Harriet and her father tumbled, laughing, onto the grass. It was a warm, sunny day, and when Harriet had woken up that morning, her father had greeted her downstairs with a proposed game of Quidditch.

Harriet hadn't needed any persuasion.

Eventually, "Quidditch" had turned into chasing each other around on their brooms. Her father's own Nimbus was not nearly as wonderful as her Firebolt (something he constantly lamented, but Harriet said not a word, since she knew that Sirius had bought him a Firebolt, too, but for his birthday), but her father was far more experienced, leading to a wonderful time

It was a warm day, though, so eventually Harriet and her father settled down for a moment to cool down.

Slightly out of breath, her father, next to her on the ground, said, "You truly are a great flier, Prongslette. You fly almost as well as I did when I was at Hogwarts."

"Almost as well?" Harriet asked indignantly. "I made the Quidditch team in my first year! You didn't do that!"

"McGonagall was biased against me!" Her father protested.

"Why would she be biased against you?" Harriet frowned.

"Sirius and I may have already played a few pranks on the Slytherins by the time Quidditch try-outs rolled around," her father admitted sheepishly.

"Like on Snape?" Harriet asked.

Her father looked at her in surprise, but then said, "Well, yes. On Snape, certainly, although we only really started targeting him in our later years."

"When Sirius tricked Snape into going to the Whomping Willow," Harriet clarified.

Harriet watched as her father laughed nervously. "I suppose. Why so curious, Prongslette?"

With no real answer, Harriet just shrugged. "Sirius was telling me about how you saved Snape's life."

"I suppose I did," her father said through pursed lips.

"Why?" was the only thing Harriet could think to ask.

"Because it was the right thing to do," her father shrugged. "He was your mother's old friend. Both? It was so long ago, Prongslette, I don't remember what exactly what I was thinking. Just that Sirius was an idiot."

Harriet giggled and her father stood up and offered her his hand.

"Let's go inside, Prongslette," her father said as he pulled her to her feet. "I think your mother is making us snacks."

This sounded like a good idea to Harriet.

Snape

Harriet and Professor Snape, Snape's House- June 12, 1993

It was another day of helping her Uncle Severus prepare potions. Down in his basement, the air was musty and it was dark and cold. Regardless, Harriet couldn't be happier as she stood next to her uncle, listening as he described some of the more painstaking details of the potion they were working on.

When the time came for them to do nothing but wait for the potion to be ready, Harriet and her uncle stood in silence for only a minute before Harriet's curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "How long have you been making potions, Uncle Sev?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You'll have to be more specific. Do you mean professionally or when did I first take an interest in the subject?"

Harriet considered for a moment. "Both, I guess."

"I first became interested in potions when I entered Hogwarts," Snape said. "And pursued the subject professionally immediately after I left school."

"So you've always liked it, then," Harriet prodded.

"Not always," Snape corrected, a stickler for accuracy. "Before I arrived at Hogwarts, I knew next to nothing about potions making. My family had little money for such expensive hobbies."

He said this word with such scorn that Harriet got the impression that this was not a word he would've chosen to use, but rather one that his parents had used on more than one occasion. Deciding to drop the topic of her uncle's parents (clearly a sensitive topic for him), she said instead, "So what did you like to do for fun while you were growing up?"

"There was a park down the street from my house," Snape said shortly.

Harriet thought about this and finally said, "Mum mentioned that park a few times. Did you used to play there with her?"

"Yes."

"And Aunt Petunia?"

A nod.

"If you were all friends," Harriet said, "Why'd you stop?"

"Your Aunt grew jealous of your mother's magic," Snape said shortly, "And your mother and I- drifted apart."

Harriet got the distinct impression that this was all Snape would say on the subject, but decided to try a slightly different approach. "Was it because of my dad and Uncle Moony and Uncle Padfoot?"

"... your mother's relationship with your father started after her friendship with me ended."

So much for getting more out of him. Harriet huffed. This entire thing had been an attempt to try and understand why Snape had ended his friendship with her mother, become a Death Eater, tried to save her life, and become friends with her mother again-

But.

No.

She looked at Snape out of the corner of her eye. He wasn't in love with her mum, was he? Harriet didn't understand much about what being in love was like, but from what she saw in movies, it would explain a lot.

...

Okay.

So, Harriet decided, if Snape had been in love with her mother, why was he trying to be friends with them all again?

It couldn't be to win her mother back. Her mother would never let Snape do something like that. Ever.

It didn't make sense to her.

"Why are you friends with my mum?" Harriet risked asking. Snape, who had begun to add new ingredients to their potions, paused only for a moment before continuing.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You stopped being friends with her in school, and then you became a Death Eater- and yeah, I know about that, Regulus told me. Then why are you friends with her now?"

Snape considered her for a moment. Despite the fact that he always wore the same expression, Harriet could tell that he was starting to get a bit annoyed with her current line of questioning. She was nothing if not persistent, though, and for all his bluster and dark clothes, Snape didn't scare her one bit. There was was no way she going to stop questioning him just because he glared at her.

Snape seemed to come to this conclusion himself.

"She offered me a second chance. I missed her friendship, so I took it."

To be fair, that was far more than Harriet had expected to get out of him, but it did lead to another important question, "Are you only friends with me because of my mum?"

At this, Snape seemed to still, and Harriet felt her heart migrate to her throat as she imagined him nodding. His face contorted oddly and for a moment, Harriet was convinced that he was going to be sick.

Hang on!

He was- laughing.

It was one of strangest, most bizarre things Harriet had ever seen in her entire life. It just didn't make any sense. She had seen Snape smirk every now again, but never a full blown chuckle like he was doing now.

"What's so funny?" she said indignantly.

He just shook his head and chuckled a bit more. Harriet stomped her foot, frustrated. That got his attention and he slowly schooled his face back into it's normal mask.

"You remind me of your mother at your age sometimes," he said. Harriet frowned, trying to figure out if he was answering her first question or her second.

"Is that why you like me?"

"I like you," Snape sighed, "Because, regardless of your father's influence, there is still hope for you yet."

With that, he shoved some herbs at her and told her to start chopping. Harriet did so. He hadn't really given her an answer, but he had told her that he cared for her not because of her parents or what she had done as a baby.

And that he had given her all the answer she needed

AN: I know I promised you all this SO long ago, but I got a bit sidetracked with other projects... Anyway, this will be a series of one-shots set through the rest of Harriet's years at Hogwarts. PM me if there's anything you wanna see and I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy!

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tinyrose65