A/N: Part 2
This story has gotten out of hand. What was meant to be just two chapters has turned into three. I'm actually very very tempted to do a rewrite at this point but I decided to see it through to the end and if it really does end up being awful I'll do a rewrite.
Wish me luck
Usual apologies
Disclaimer: See first chapter
It was quiet, unnervingly quiet.
Over the past two weeks Severus has been watching the two before him, waiting for something to happen; for some kind of ball to drop but nothing happened. After the incident in the classroom a few weeks back Severus tried talking about it to both Albus and Sirius. He talked to Albus, because despite everything that's happened and the doubts he's started having about trusting the man he was still a great wizard, one of the greatest of their time. Unfortunately Albus thought that he was overreacting and he may have somehow misread the situation. But exactly how could he misread feeling that much dark magical energy coming from Potter just before watching the boy have an instant growth spurt right before his eyes? But no matter what Severus said Albus ignored him. So he spoke to Sirius about it instead, hoping that the animagus might tap into that annoyingly persistent Gryffindor curiosity and at least show some kind of interest in his godson possibly going dark, but the insufferable idiot rebuffed all his questions.
"I saw Harry the other day and he looked perfectly fine."
Severus suppressed a sigh at the thought.
It's hard trying to describe his relationship with Sirius, in a lot of ways Severus doesn't really understand it himself. He and Sirius just sort of happened sometime in the last year. He still found the man to be utterly infuriating and he couldn't say that he'd completely forgiven Sirius for all the pain and torment that the marauders put him through in their years together at Hogwarts, but at the same time it didn't seem to matter, not really anyway. Sirius was there when he needed him to be and in a lot of ways Sirius understood the pain that Severus was going through, the pressure that he was expected to endure not only in his promise to Lily but in his alliance between two different masters. Sirius offered him comfort, treated him with a love and care that no one else has since his sixth year in Hogwarts-
Another suppressed sigh, Severus doesn't want to think about him. So many years have passed since then and so many things have happened in that time as well. Thinking about a school fling is actually quite pointless.
As for his divided alliance to two masters he was only truly devoted to one of them.
Albus Dumbledore.
Because Dumbledore is a brilliant wizard, one of the best of his time and despite the fact that he has his doubts about his old mentor he wasn't willing to break that pact. You see while Dumbledore might seem like a bit of an overly controlling loon, Voldemort was a complete psychopath.
He had some good policies, ideas that could very well do some good for the wizarding world as a whole. But at the same time he was still absolutely insane, Severus has seen enough from the man and experienced enough punishments to know that much. For every good idea, the man also had Nazi like ideas that consisted of enslaving and torturing those that had inferior blood and viciously murdering those that have no magic at all. And as horrible as some muggles can be, that doesn't justify committing genocide against millions of innocent people.
Although he wasn't that way all the time, there were times when he seemed almost sane and you could see a brief glimpse of the man that used to be. He saw a man that had great plans for the wizarding world, a man that sought after the safety of all of humankind, a man that wanted acceptance and to protect those that have been harmed and ostracized for simply being different. Sometimes Severus would catch a brief glimpse of the man that existed before the birth of the great dark Lord. However, seeing that man was rare and so Severus couldn't fully put his trust in the hands of a man that could very well turn on his own followers at the drop of a hat. No, as much promise as Voldemort had, he was too much of a wildcard to depend on.
Despite his support of policies that discriminate against dark creatures, despite his insistent disregard for magical children in abusive muggle homes and despite his maintenance of a discriminatory system that basically breeds unjustified hatred and anger among students in his own school; Albus was still working towards order and peace. As much as Severus hates to admit it and he does so loath the idea, Albus Dumbledore is the lesser of two evils.
Getting back to the issue of Harry James Potter and Ronald Bilius Weasley.
He went to Molly and asked about Ron, since he could tell that something was very off about the redhead as well, despite having his other doubts about the Weasley mother's sanity. She raised her children is such a peculiar way.
Although Severus is aware of the way that some parents raise their children and the stories that they're told before being sent off to Hogwarts. Before they even step off the boats, most if not all children have set ideals on exactly what they wanted and what kind of person you were depending on the house you were sorted into. It's always Gryffindor good, Slytherin bad, Ravenclaw gets third place and Hufflepuff is filled with children that simply aren't good enough to be placed anywhere else. It's not like the Weasley children were the first ones to believe in these stories, but the Weasley children were almost obsessive over these distinctions and Severus knew very well that their mother was the one driving the point home.
At times Molly seemed insanely devoted to Dumbledore and his cause, to the point where Severus wondered about her sanity. It's also at times like those that he'd wonder about the house sortings. It just seemed so unlikely that an entire family of children would all get sorted into the same house over and over again.
When Severus thought about it, really thought about it, then yes the Weasley children were undeniably brave and did very well deserve their seats in Gryffindor house but at the same time he was also quite sure that they would have been better suited to other houses instead. Especially with the Weasleys all having such vastly different personalities as well.
For example Percy Weasley; brave yes, but he was also incredibly intelligent, he had a love for books and was remarkably responsible as well, he would have been excellent in Ravenclaw. Bill Weasley was the same, very brave but his talent with curses and ruins not to mention his immense creativity in creating curse breaking charms and wards would have made him perfect for Ravenclaw as well. Charlie Weasley also had a fair amount of courage but he was also incredibly compassionate, dedicating his life to caring for dragons and other magical creatures. Severus remembers that the young man had been especially talented at healing spells and was actually quite proficient in potions as well. Wouldn't he have been a better fit in Hufflepuff? And then of course there are the Weasley twins Fred and George, courageous? Yes. But they were also incredibly cunning and ambitious having started their own business before they'd even left Hogwarts. They were a sly pair that could have easily been sorted into Slytherin and become quite brilliant if they were.
Ginny Weasley was well; Severus couldn't deny that the fiery redheaded girl was well suited for Gryffindor. She was very brave and headstrong; the only one Severus thought was rightfully sorted where she belonged.
And then of course there's Ronald Bilius Weasley.
Bilius.
A name meaning bile, irritable, sour or short tempered. Derived from the word bilious meaning sickly, queasy, nauseous or ill.
Why on earth would anyone give a child such a terrible name? Of course Severus is quite harsh as well but it isn't necessarily negative either.
Ron Weasley was the youngest boy in the family. He was often bullied and tormented by his brothers, which is how his fear of spiders came about, he was never allowed to have anything of his own instead receiving constant hand me downs. His family name wasn't very well appreciated in the wizarding community, a fact that Severus has heard the redhead complain about a few times. He was always put last. Ronald is one of those children that could very easily begin to gravitate to the dark side. A child that was constantly looked down on, rarely ever acknowledged; a child that always took the back seat to his siblings, a child that wanted more from his life. More respect, more acceptance, more power but didn't have anything that could help him realize these things.
Those were the kinds of children that were sorted into Slytherin house, the ones that Severus encountered more and more with every year that passed. As to why the redhead wasn't sorted into Slytherin is somewhat beyond him. But he did have one theory that he hasn't been able to prove as of yet. The rumor that the sorting hat could be bargained with, that you could ask to be placed in a house different to the one you were meant to be in. That would certainly explain a lot. Molly has always been fanatical about Dumbledore and Gryffindor house, wouldn't it make sense for her children to do all they could not to disappoint her?
Although, I suppose such thoughts are somewhat pointless since sortings are final and most of the Weasley children have graduated already anyway.
What's important right now is Ron and his strange behavior.
Severus asked the Weasley mother about her son and told her about his strange behavior, hoping that her maternal instincts would kick in and she'd do something about it. He hoped that maybe she could convince Albus to look into Ron and Harry as well. Only for Molly to freeze momentarily before insisting that all was well and that he was just being paranoid. Then he was forced to take a scolding when the woman accused him of taking out his paranoid delusions on her son. Despite the fact that Severus knew, he knew the spell that was cast during potions three months ago that left Parkinson in the infirmary for an entire week was dark and that Ron Weasley had something to do with it. He felt that dark energy leave the boy the moment it happened. He knows that Weasley is the one that did it, he just can't prove it.
So now he stands in the door staring back at two pairs of eyes that locked onto him the moment he stepped into the classroom. Both sat at two different desks at the front of the potions class not saying a word. Potter's eyes unnervingly dark and intense while Weasley sat there with an infuriatingly pleasant smile and his eyes simply beamed with joy.
Severus ignored the unexpected thrill of fear that rushed down his spine at the sight and simply arched a brow as he walked over towards his desk without sparing either one another glance.
They have detention, what they have detention for is somewhat beyond the potions master though. Minerva made some vague reference to Granger and the library. Although the pale tone of her skin should have brought about more concern, he'd just gotten in from another Death Eater meeting and couldn't be bothered to get any details on the little know-it-all's situation. The associate that the dark lord has been communicating with over the past few weeks seems to have agreed to an alliance and so plans to take over Britain have been moved up. Severus' first thought was to inform Dumbledore but the man was tied up in a meeting at Wizengamont; he couldn't be contacted and wouldn't be back till the next day at least.
Hopefully the world won't have gone to shit by then.
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, it's refreshing to see you both on time for once."
The redhead laughed, the sound was so startling that Severus immediately spun around and found the teen covering his mouth with his hand. The redhead cleared his throat and looked away. Severus' eyes narrowed down at the boy.
"Did I say something amusing, Mr. Weasley?"
"No sir-professor." Ron said clearing his throat as he sat up a little more, but that didn't make his smile falter; on the contrary it seemed that the redhead was having the worst time trying not to smile even wider. "I was just-nothing."
"Indeed." Severus said sounding incredibly unimpressed as he walked over to sit behind his desk, reaching out to pull the scrolls of essays at the corner of his desk closer if only so he'd have something to help keep him occupied. Usually he'd spend detention in his office after setting the students in his care to work, but somehow the idea of leaving Potter and Weasley alone together for any length of time seemed like a very bad idea.
"Well, I hope you find scrubbing the first year's cauldrons and vials of slug slime just as amusing. Get to work."
Usually when Severus gave detention he'd set whichever students had the misfortune of having detention with him to work either scrubbing the tables or cleaning the potions tools in the classroom. Some would complain, moan at their rotten luck, the braver ones would try to bargain for a different chore to do instead but ultimately they did as they were told for fear of incurring his wrath.
Whenever he had Weasley and Potter in detention it worked more or less the same way, with Weasley whining at the unfairness of it all before Potter convinced him to suck it up and get started. That, however, isn't what happened next.
Ron got up from his seat, straightening out his robes as he spoke, "Alright, that's it. Harry I love you mate, but I'm not spending the night scrubbing slime when I could be with Blaise. You wanted time with Snape; I hexed Granger so you could have detention and get time, now get on with it."
Ron turned to leave the room and Severus resisted the urge to gape as he shot up from his seat and his eyes filled with rage.
"And exactly where do you think you're going?"
Ron paused by the door, "Slytherin dorms, of course."
"Weasley-"
The door closed as the redhead left the classroom and for the moment Severus was too shocked at being blatantly ignored by a student to do more than just stand there and stare after him. Another voice suddenly spoke and he looked back to find Potter leaning against his desk as he stood in front of it.
"Blaise and Ron are engaged. For about a month now I think."
"What-"
"You know," Harry started glancing down at the floor and shoved his hands in his pockets as he spoke, "Ron hadn't meant to fall in love with Blaise when he first started hanging around him, he just wanted to get close and gain his trust. But Blaise put him first, he made Ron feel special like and he was actually needed. Now it's like Ron can't be away from him for longer than an hour without feeling depressed. Sort of reminds me of you and me."
"Excuse me? Potter what on earth are you blabbering on about?"
"I'm talking about us Severus, don't you remember?" Harry asked with a tilt of his head but the potions master was still trying to get his mind around the fact that one of his students, Harry bloody Potter of all people, decided to refer to him by his first name as the teen continued. "Do you remember the library in the afternoons when you'd help me with my potions work and I'd force you to eat while we studied whether you liked it or not? The Quidditch pitch on the weekends, you asked for lessons because the marauders were teasing you about your flying that week." Harry took a deep breath, "Do you remember that night in the room of requirement, the first time we made love?"
Severus froze.
"Of course," The young wizard started as he pushed off the desk and took a step forward, "You used to call me Liam back then."
The older man almost stumbled in his efforts to move back as Harry approached him.
"You're older now of course, but you're still exactly the same as you were back then. Still so afraid and untrusting. I hoped that I'd broken you of that habit, then again after everything you've been through I'm not surprised." Harry sighed as his eyes suddenly seemed to glow and the teen took off his glasses. Severus let out an involuntary gasp as the teen's appearance changed. No longer short and awkward, skinny and so passive in appearance, his voice even sounded deeper somehow. He was taller, with broad shoulders, darker skin and longer hair, only his eyes were different now a bright blue instead of emerald green like Lily's.
Severus shook his head while his heart raced and his mind filled with confusing thoughts all trying and failing to deal with the information standing before him right at that moment.
"I-It can't be… It's impossible."
Harry seemed to ignore him as the teen just stepped forward and held the potions master's face as he gave him a kiss. For one perfect moment Severus just stood still and tried to process this, tried to understand what was happening. But none of it made any sense.
He looked like, Liam. Smelled like Liam sounded like him and even tasted of him but Severus couldn't believe for even one moment that the man standing before him-that Harry bloody Potter was his Liam.
He didn't believe it, it couldn't be true.
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"And just where do you think you're going Snivelly?"
James sneered as he stared down at the Slytherin who glared right back at him.
His lips were twisted in an angered scowl and his dark eyes were narrowed in a dangerous glare, the same way they always were whenever James went anywhere near Snape, only this time Snape looked a little bit different.
He'd filled out a bit more, still skinny mind you but definitely not the walking skeleton he'd been just a few months back. His skin even seemed to glow a beautiful porcelain white that turned a lovely rose pink whenever his skin flushed. His hair was cleaner maybe even a little bit longer. The long soft raven strands fell around his shoulders and over his face as he glared up at James and the Gryffindor had to fight back against the urge to brush the strands away.
His lips suddenly seemed fuller, softer. The only thing that had stayed the same was Snape's eyes.
They were still unforgivingly dark and endless.
James loves those eyes, but he can't ever do anything about it. Not anymore anyway.
He had a chance before; even when Snape hated him James knew he still had a chance but not anymore.
Yes, he was mean to the Slytherin and yes he's tormented Snape more times than anyone would normally be able to bear. But he couldn't help it.
James couldn't help the way that Severus made him feel and he couldn't control it either.
He could never think straight whenever he caught sight of Severus. He just wanted so badly for the stupid prat to just pay a little more attention to him that he'd lose all rational thought for a few moments and well... Bad things would happen.
He didn't mean for bad things to happen they just did.
"What do you want, Potter?" Snape sneered back and James wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all when the Slytherin looked at him so hatefully but he had an image to maintain. A scale that he needed to keep balanced, he couldn't behave the way he wanted around Severus, no it was much too late for that.
He spent years tormenting the wizard before him after all, years trying and succeeding in making sure that everyone knew just how much James Potter loathed Severus Snape, he couldn't suddenly just change now. He couldn't be nice, he couldn't be gentle and most of all he couldn't let anyone see just how much he adored the teen. Not when he'd done everything in his power to prove otherwise up until that point. Not only would Severus never believe him but the school would ridicule him, he'd be ostracized for life. He spent his entire Hogwarts career trying to convince them all about what a slimy greasy snake Snape was he can't suddenly fancy the prat now. It doesn't work that way.
Snape scoffed when he received no immediate answer, walking around the other only to be forced to a stop when the Gryffindor grabbed his arm. "I suggest that you let me go Potter."
"Or what?"
"Or else you'll have to deal with me." A voice suddenly called across the hallway, causing both James and Snape to look back. James fought back against the urge to tense when he saw three Slytherin headed towards them. Evan Rosier walked on the left, Avery on the right and in the middle was the new seventh year that transferred from Durmstrang a few months back, Liam Moore.
Oh how, James loathes him.
He's the reason after all.
He's the reason why it's too late for him to have Severus; he's the reason why James could barely get those dark eyes to spare him a glance anymore.
Snape seemed to let out a sift sigh and a smile started tugging at his lips as the three approached. James ignored the ache that bloomed in his chest at the sight.
Bright blue eyes darkened and narrowed down into a glare as the Slytherin walked a little faster and a sneer twisted at his lips before he came to a stop to grab a hold of Snape's waist to pull him out of James' grasp while Rosier shoved him back. The Gryffindor stumbled a few steps and Avery let out a loud cackling laugh.
"You don't learn do you Potter?" Avery said with a sneer while Moore just looked down at the raven in his arm.
"Are you O.K?"
Snape's cheeks flushed just a bit, "I'm fine."
"I told you not to sneak off like that." The older teen said with a sigh before he looked up at James and glared again, "Some people around here don't know how to keep their hands off of things that don't belong to them."
"Liam-"
"Oh please." James sneered as he glared back, "I wouldn't touch your precious little princess even if you paid me."
"Then staying away from him shouldn't be too difficult." Moore hissed out as his arm tightened around Snape's waist, "This is your last warning Potter. If I see you near Snape again I swear I-"
"You'll what?"
And just like before they turned and found the rest of the marauders heading their way.
Sirius led the way while Remus and Peter tagged along behind him, until they came to a stop behind James while Sirius stood beside him. "You'll do what Moore?!"
The raven's eyes moved from James to Sirius and Remus before settling on Peter who stood cowering behind them as he hissed, "I'll make you pay for it."
Peter shrank back while Sirius growled, "Yeah and how would you do that Death eater?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rosier said quietly and James could see the blonde slip his wand from the holster in his sleeve, Sirius made to make a move forward but Remus intervened, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Just stop Sirius, we'll just get in trouble again."
The blue eyed Slytherin gave a snort as he pulled Snape even closer to press a kiss on his head before turning back, "Easy Evan, they aren't worth it. Let's just go."
The blonde looked up at the older teen for a moment and let out a growl as he pulled back while Avery leaned down to pick up Severus' books as they all turned to walk away.
James watched them go until they turned the corner up ahead and he let out a heavy sigh that Sirius echoed before he spoke, "What was that all about?"
"Nothing." James said quickly as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, "Just ran into Snape is all."
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Of course you did and of course Moore had to make a fuss over the greasy bat."
"If you two left him alone, this wouldn't happen you know." Remus said quietly as he pulled his hand away and let out a sigh. The werewolf looked unnaturally pale, his forehead was sweaty and his hands were shaking. James frowned.
"Are you alright, Moony?"
"I'm fine." The smaller teen said with a faint smile, "Full moon's in two days, I'm just feeling a little off."
"Maybe we should get back to the tower. I've lost my appetite anyway." James said as he put a hand on Remus' shoulder and they turned back towards the dorm rooms.
The blonde shook his head as they walked, "I'd be in bed by now if I didn't have to make sure you and Padfoot weren't constantly trying to get yourselves killed. What's so hard about staying away from Snape anyway?"
Remus' eyes were up ahead, focused on getting into a bed before he became too weak to move till morning. He missed the way that James' cheeks suddenly dusted pink before he gave a scoff, "It's more of a duty really, Snape is too full of himself for a slimy snake, someone needs to put him in his place. Right Pad's?"
Sirius and Peter were walking behind them; James didn't see the animagus' eyes suddenly light up and a smirk slip over his lips as he stared at Remus' weakened form. They didn't see Sirius turn to Peter with a wide grin with that familiar glint of mischief in his eyes as he spoke.
"Yeah, someone definitely needs to put him in his place. Once and for all."
A/N: O.K
So from this point on the story carries on from the Marauders era before jumping back to present time.
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