Alright - short (sort of) Author's note to answer a review.

Ducks R Evil, your private messaging is off. I'm not sure why that is or if it's intentional, but I'll answer you here. First question: I can't fully answer your question because it has to do with the twist, but I can tell you that's it's partially just how they are. All three of them went through a war - you're forced to grow up pretty quickly, especially when you're the Boy Who Lived; they depended on each other and they have a hard time letting others in. Yes, Hayden is affected by James and the others but, as I said, there is a reason he's not doing everything he can to get to know them - plus, I don't fancy that Sirius was that mature at that age (he was fairly petty in the books) and that wouldn't mesh well Hayden's essentially noble at heart persona. Yes, Severus is more mature - he is mentally like thirty-seven, thirty-eight-ish. Damien is the same as Hayden but doesn't have the same parent issues - his parents were kind of like the Ice King and Queen. Affection wasn't strong between them and he depended more on Snape than his own parents.

Futhermore - they've spent less than a few hours actually around each other total. They briefly met on the train, talked for all of a few minutes during the feast, fifteen-twenty minutes total that night before sleeping, and Hayden stopped by the Slytherin table before going to Gryffindor and a fair part of that was spent talking to Damien before darting off to class. Even if he was going to be eager to talk to his father, that's not enough time to show it. And I'm not saying he's not - you're right; who wouldn't want to know the father they never had a chance to know? - but he's not going to go out of his way, compromise his stance on the Severus issue, or anything else just to know them. As I wrote, none of them are particularly mature right now and that's wouldn't mesh well with Hayden's nature - which includes the paranoia, his inability to trust anyone easily now, and the very real need to keep his origins a secret. And Hayden knows all that and will act appropriately.

Second question: No. I don't write slash.

On with the story!


Remus collapsed in bed, quite sure that he had never been so exhausted in all his days. Not even close to the full moon. Which it was, now that he thought about it. Only a week away.

Everything was as he expected and, according to that, he should have had plenty of energy left until the day before the full moon. But Professor Machiavelli - and he well warrented the name of that particular philosopher - worked them harder than anyone ever had.

Their lessons were always the first thing in the morning with him or last class of the day. There had been only three so far, but hell if he didn't work them to the bone. The second class they had with him was mentally exhausting as he attempted to correct their admittedly faulty knowledge in the shortest amount of time possible. He assigned an essay that, while short, was complex enough to ensure they knew what they were talking about. The lastest class had been the most surprising - he had made everyone go outside where he put them through a series of warm-ups and made them jog around the Quidditch pitch. The only people who didn't feel like dying at the end - or looked out of breath and exhausted - were Severus and Hayden.

Damien said that being physically fit would help their magical cores and they'd live longer if they had the reflexes and stamina to battle a Death Eater. He seemed to talk about that a lot and Remus understood it but was still surprised. None of their teachers talked about the war raging outside the walls of Hogwarts or the fact that they'd soon be graduating and losing what Remus knew had protected them - Dumbledore and the wards of Hogwarts. Maybe it was their way of not destroying 'innocence' or 'protecting' them, but he prefered Machiavelli's blunt reality that they'd soon be out there, where it was very possible they'd be involved in an attack.

Sirius and James had come to loathe and strangely respect their hard and - some times - mean teacher. He insulted them on a daily basis, though his high expectations said that he thought them capable enough. No one could really get a grip on what or who Machiavelli was - nor on Hayden. The only person in the entire school - and Remus was decently sure that not even Dumbledore fully understood either of them at this moment - that seemed to know what was going on was Snape, and he had changed as well. His simple ease and way of walking as if he knew he owned the school while some how not strutting was decidedly different from his former hunched, suspicious, and paranoid look.

All in all, it had been a decidedly bizarre first week and he wondered how the rest of the year would play out. He groaned at the knock on the dorm room. James and Sirius were off at Quidditch practice and Peter was getting help with his Charms essay from Evans. Who was left to bother him?

"Come in!" he called. That first year, Darren, stuck his head in.

"Um, Professor Machiavelli is waiting out in the hall for you and, um, says to hurry your useless backside up," Darren said, looking a tad uncomfortable.

"Sounds like him," Remus muttered, shoving himself up and starting to tug on his shoes, then looked at Darren, who had hesitated in leaving. "What's he like in your classes?"

Darren's brow crinkled as he thought. "Well, he seems to expect a lot but if you just admit that you don't understand, he's willing to help. If you're not willing to do that, he says you don't deserve help. He told us pride was useless if it only covered stupidity."

"Does he insult you a lot?" Remus asked curiously. If he did, then how did Hayden deal with that? Clearly, Machiavelli and him went way back, but Hayden was very involved with the first years - he'd talk to them after classes each day, sat among them and did his work while they did theirs at a table he had commandeered, and helped them with any questions they had. His very presence protected them for older years who would otherwise boss them around or bully them. Evans, James had noted sourly only yesterday, was very impressed and had involved herself and her best friend, Alice Lovelace, as well.

"Yeah," Darren said with another shrug. "But Hayden says that's just the way he is and to ignore it. He said that when Professor Machiavelli is well and truly annoyed or angry, we'll know it and that's when we either duck for cover or find him."

"Interesting," Remus murmured. Darren hesitated again, probably wondering if he had any other questions. "That's all," Remus said. "You can go back to whatever you were doing and thanks for letting me know."

Darren nodded and trotted down the steps, skipping every other one. Remus followed behind at a more reasonable pace. Hayden, surprisingly, wasn't at the first years table, but Evans and Lovelace were. He passed through and, sure enough, leaning against the wall opposite the portrait hole, Machiavelli there and looking supremely bored.

"Follow me, Mr. Lupin," Machiavelli said the moment he appeared and proceeded to sweep off, his impeccably neat and fashionable robes billowing behind him slightly. Remus wordlessly followed along, wondering what their capricious professor wanted with him. He led the way all the way down to the dungeons and along a clearly unused corridor. He paused in front of a blank wall and rapped it with his wand.

"Ad finem," he said. Remus frowned as the wall turned into a door that Machiavelli swiftly went through. He had a fairly good grasp on Latin and knew that meant 'To the end'. But to the end of what?

Remus could only follow but then stopped in surprise to see Hayden and Snape there. Hayden was laying on a lab table and whistling the tune that everyone recognized now as Hayden's tune - he always whistled the same thing. Snape stood next to him, casting spells that Remus recognized as diagnostic in nature. The next table over held a cauldron, bubbling and smoking, and the sink had dirty lab equipment. When Machiavelli walked in, both teens turned to look at them.

"Oh, good. You're here," Hayden said, sitting up and wincing. Snape pushed him back down with a frown.

"You're ribs are still bruised, you dunderhead," Snape said, sounding remarkably like Machiavelli. Or maybe it was that Machiavelli sounded like him on a frequent basis. Remus really didn't know.

"I swear you're just like a mother hen," Hayden with an audible roll of his eyes. Snape rapped him rather hard on the head with his wand and Hayden shot out a hand, barely missing an agile Snape as he jumped backwards. Hayden took to rubbing his head instead.

"Just the let the spell work," Snape snapped. "If you move in the next five minutes, I swear bruised ribs will be the last of your concerns."

"Yes, mother," Hayden said sarcastically.

"You're both idiots," Machiavelli interrupted. "So shush and get on with talking to Mr. Lupin about why we're all here."

"Frankly," Snape started, turning his dark, impassive gaze on Remus. "We all know you're a werewolf." Remus blanched and decided sitting down was a good idea.

"Everyone, I present Severus Snape, Master of Tact," Hayden said dryly. He yelped when Snape sent a stinging hex at him. "Stop abusing the injured!"

"Anyway," Snape continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "We - "

"You," Machiavelli and Hayden both said, smirking.

" - I," Snape corrected grudgingly, giving them dirty looks, "created something that will help."

Remus looked at him suspiciously, well aware of who he was dealing with and what had happened last term.

"It's not poison," Machiavelli said. He taken up a meditative stance on top of another lab table near Hayden's. "Honest. Dumbledore approved it."

"Then why drag me all the way down here? Why not take me to the hospital wing?" Remus asked.

"Secrecy," Hayden answered. "Unless you'd like to be peppered with questions as to what potion you're taking?" Remus shook his head.

"It'll still be suspicious if I'm following Professor Machiavelli all the way down to the dungeons once a month," Remus said.

"Call me Damien or Velli when we're in here," Damien said. "And you have to take the potion every day in the week leading up to the full moon and the day of."

"Why?" Remus said. That would be even harder to hide. "What exactly is it supposed to do?"

"Let you keep your mind for one and ease some of the aches and pains," Snape said, checking on the potion. Remus sat there, stunned for a moment.

"How do you know it'll work? How'd you manage to create it?" Remus spluttered eventually.

"It's been tested and I may have...borrowed some notes," Snape said with a delicate shrug. "The way the notes were going, they would have led nowhere but I back tracked, found the mistake and proceeded from there."

"If it's been tested, how come I haven't heard of it?" Remus always kept an ear to the ground for such news.

"It'll be in the papers tomorrow morning," Snape said easily. "And we swore all to secrecy."

"I'm having a hard time believing this," Remus admitted.

"Of course," Hayden said, sitting up as a timer dinged. "Which is why I, Hayden Prosper, do solemnly swear on my magic that we're telling the truth," he said with a wave of his wand. A white flash showed and Remus felt a tingle go down his spine.

"Merlin," he said, the truth of it settling on him. It wouldn't be so painful anymore and he could keep his mind. He wouldn't be as much a danger to everyone anymore. And if he wasn't so tired, then he'd recover faster. Everything was suddenly looking up and it also dawned on him that he owed it to Snape and his misappropriated notes. Even after what Sirius had done last semester... "Thank you," he said quietly but sincerely to Snape.

Snape grimaced and waved him away, measuring out the bubbling liquid.

"Sev doesn't like thanks," Hayden said. Snape handed Remus the goblet. "Tastes foul and sugar makes it useless, but he's managed to lessen the taste to some degree. You have to drink it while it's hot. And I've got a bottle of butterbeer to wash it down with."

Remus nodded and quickly downed the potion. It was horrible but he forced it down. He couldn't imagine it being worse, but took Hayden's word for it and quickly swallowed a few mouthfuls of butterbeer.

"Merlin!" he gasped when the taste was finally gone. Snape chuckled darkly and turned away. Hayden clapped Remus on his shoulder.

"We're going to go now," Hayden said to the others. "Come on, Remus. We can tell your friends - I'll answer any questions that you lot have - and then we'll let them know not to drug me next full moon. Hardly necessary now, I dare say."

"How'd you know about that?" Remus blurted as they left the room.

"I'm a paranoid man at the best of times, Remus. I know more than a fair bit about what goes on around the school, especially with Mr. Black not being too fond of me," Hayden said with a small mysterious smile.

"What do you know?" Remus asked curiously. Hayden was such an odd character with even weirder friends. Merlin only knew how Snape had a personality transplant over the summer. Or maybe, the thought occurring to him for the first time, he was different because for once, Snape had solid allies at the school with him. He wasn't alone anymore and that changed how he reacted.

Hayden grinned briefly. "A lot."

"That's descriptive," Remus said wryly and Hayden smiled that smile, though it was less annoying this time.

"Well, well, well," said a malicious voice from behind them. Hayden and Remus turned. Avery was there with his usual band of cronies. "What do we have here? Two ickle Gryffindors lost, hmm?"

"Hardly lost," Hayden said flatly, his pale face impassive. "We just left Severus and were on our way to the library."

"Snape had you down here then?" McNair said, his brow furrowed ever so slightly. Remus wasn't sure what the difference was but was wise enough not to ask and look ignorant in front of them.

"Aye," Hayden said with a mock Scottish accent. The Slytherins eyed him for a moment and Hayden arched a brow in a Snape-ish fashion and the Slytherins seemed to almost relax, if such a thing was possible.

"You're not too shabby for a Gryffindor," Avery said.

"Try telling Black that," Hayden said dryly, grinning slightly. "He thinks I'm the worst thing to happen to Gryffindor since Godric met Salazar." The Slytherins laughed and the two groups passed easily.

"That was weird," Remus remarked when they were on the grand staircase. "I've never seen them anywhere close to being pleased with a Gryffindor unless we did something that made them look better - like lose a Quidditch game."

"You've just got to know how to deal with them," Hayden said. "Slytherins are a weird lot with even stranger standards. And it helps that there was a power shift after the welcoming feast."

"What power shift? Did Snape tell you about it?"

"I felt it. Hogwarts is semi-sentient, you know, and she watches her students and houses," Hayden said fondly, briefly brushing his hand along the stone wall. "Anyway, Slytherin in particular knows that because they stick to the old ways and have a different understanding of magic. Which isn't bad in and of itself, but they don't embrace the new ways and understand that the nature of magic is shifting - it always is; it has to in order to survive. But that's another issue - like I was saying, Hogwarts watches her students and can sense who can have the most influence in what direction. And Slytherins know that she'll be looking out for their best interests and usually listen to what she says, for lack of a better word, when she decides to say anything. So when she essentially picked Severus as the leader of the house and he laid out what was going to happen and what was going to change, they chose to listen though it caused quite the stir."

"I don't think I fully understand what exactly that means," Remus said. "For one, why Snape? What's changing? I haven't noticed anything different about the Slytherins. Do the teachers know?"

"Because Severus is the quintessential Slytherin and the best suited for the hard task ahead," Hayden said. "And several things are changing, though that's all inner-Slytherin business and I only know because Severus confides in me and Machiavelli. You'll see the difference before long - it's only been a week after all. And because of the nature of Slytherins and unwritten rules of Slytherin house, they keep everything inside the common room and present a united front to the school - which is smart considering how many people dislike Slytherin. If they showed division amongst themselves, they'd be eaten alive. And no, the teachers don't. Well, Machiavelli does and so does Slughorn, but they won't say anything. It's not the teacher's business - it wasn't a teacher Magic elected, it was Sev - and they both know and accept that."

Remus was silent as he tried to sort out this unexpected information.

"They're going to need help, though," Hayden added when they were somewhere along the third floor.

"What? Why?"

"Because if they keep getting the same treatment, they're going to fall back into their old ways. They need a chance just as much as everyone else. They're basic nature isn't going to change and Severus can't undo blood-beliefs drilled into them since infancy, but there is hope for the younger years and the olders could at least cordially dislike everyone. But they can't do that if attacked or provoked."

"Makes sense," Remus agreed, then made a face. "It's a bit ambitious, though, what he's trying to do. It's a huge problem and one of, if not the biggest issue in the English Wizarding world. And you can't change the world."

Hayden gave him a look. "He's a Slytherin - the most Slytherin-Slytherin of all, according to Hogwarts. Of course it's ambitious. And if we can get the younger years to accept each other, it'll help influence the years below them and the years below that. I'm not saying that we'll ever have utopian society, but we could hopefully prevent another Voldemort from rising. And you've got to start somewhere. Why not here? A Hogwarts education is fundamental to most witches and wizards in England - it's the best chance of reaching the most people possible in a contained environment where they can escape their parents' prejudices, if only for a little while."

"I guess," Remus said. They reached Gryffindor and Remus gave the password. James and Sirius were sitting, looking tired, on the couches and Peter wasn't back yet. Most of the rest of the house was around, doing homework or playing games or couples in the shadowy corners.

"Oi," Sirius said, having heard his voice. His eyes were closed. "Where have you been, Moony?"

"With me," Hayden said, smiling as Sirius jumped and glared at him. "Hullo, Black," Hayden continued cheerfully.

"Why do you pick at him?" Remus had to ask. Hayden had been doing it all week - cheerfully getting Sirius' hackles up in the most innocent way. Not that Hayden was the only guilty one - Sirius was ever suspicious and tried to get under Hayden's skin the way Hayden got under his; only, Hayden was usually unflappable and had yet to show any real irritation with Sirius.

"Because it's fun. Have you ever tried it?" Hayden said easily. "Besides, like I was saying out in the hall, you've got to start somewhere."

"I don't get it," Remus said for what felt like the millionth time that night. He was used to being the smartest of the four - how was it these three could throw him off so much? "What does he have to do with interlinking the younger years?"

"I like that - interlinking," Hayden mused before snapping his attention back to Remus. "You three hold tremendous sway with your little band of mindless fans - if he can get used to me, he can get used to people like Severus and Velli. And if he, the biggest Slytherin hater in Gryffindor, can, so can the rest of them. Pick your battles, Remus, and stick with them. He's mine."

"I'm lost," James said, sitting up and looking between them. "What's this about interlinking younger years?"

"It's his, Snape, and Machiavelli's way of helping curb prejudice," Remus started explaining. "If they can get kids in Hogwarts to tolerate each other now, it'll theoretically reduce the amount of prejudice they pass down to their kids and if you keep working with them, eventually wars like the one with You Know Who will be a thing of the past. Or at least, that's what they're aiming for."

James and Sirius looked disbelieving as they processed it.

"Sorry," Evans said, moving closer with Lovelace. "I couldn't help but over hear...are you serious? And this is not the time for jokes," she added to Sirius sternly.

"Completely," Hayden said. "It won't be easy, but like I told Remus, you have to start somewhere and you literally could not get a better chance than here, at Hogwarts."

"And Snape is a part of this plan?" Lovelace asked skeptically.

"Mmhmm," Hayden nodded. "He's not nearly as bad as he likes to pretend he us. Giant softie, if you ask me. A softie with the ability to kill me but a softie none-the-less."

"I don't believe it," Sirius said.

"Okay," Hayden said, unconcerned.

"I don't get it," Evans said. "He's been so..." She couldn't seem to find the right word.

"Mean? Cold? Elitist?" Hayden provided. She nodded.

"He's been so elitist for so long - why would he suddenly change?" she asked.

"Long story," Hayden said. "Really long story. But deep inside, Severus has always believed that everyone was equal. Philosophically, anyway. He definitely believes that the willfully ignorant should be wiped from the earth because he has no patience for stupidity. And it's Severus' nature to do what's best for him - and faking an elitist attitude has served him well."

"Why?" Lovelace said. "Why pretend to be something you're not? Why not stand up for your beliefs?"

"Slytherin politics," Hayden said.

"What?" James and Evans said.

Hayden heaved a sigh that didn't sound as put-out as he probably meant it to. "Slytherins are by far the most patient when it comes to planning, most especially when planning revenge. Because of that, you have to be very cautious of what you say, when you say it, and who you say it to. Gryffindors would be eaten alive there because you're such a bold, passionate bunch. What you say one day, you don't always mean the next. Slytherins, however, are actually a very honest bunch - they've perfected the art of saying one thing and meaning another and all of it true. And they have slow moving plans that could take years to work out. It's why so many of them have the positions they do in the Ministry - it's not just bias that got them there, you know."

"How do you know all of this?" Sirius said, disgruntled.

"I watch and I listen. And I've been dealing with Severus since I was eleven," Hayden said with that amused smile. "Plus, Velli is the exact same way."

"That's another thing," Evans said grimly, her face suspicious. "I've lived near Snape since I was six. How have I never seen you if you're such close friends? And the same for Machiavelli. I've never seen hide nor hair of you and I certainly never heard Se - Snape speak about you and we used to be best friends. And he's nothing like he was - at any point in the entire time I've known him." The Marauders and Lovelace all looked surprised and looked to an unruffled Hayden.

"Laid out like that, it certainly does sound bad for me and Velli, doesn't it?" Hayden said, arching a brow. "And I never said I lived near him or that I visited often in the early years. And after your...fall out, why would he share that information with you? Further more, I'm paranoid - as these boys already know - and I've been that way since...jeeze, I don't even know. And Velli is the same way, if not worse. We asked him to keep it quiet because, mostly, I had magic-hating Muggle relativies for guardians and them knowing I actually found someone to help me would have had me locked in a windowless room until I died. Velli has his own reasons for keeping things below the radar. As for Severus' change of personality...Not your concern anymore, I'm afraid, and not my business to tell either."

Evans and Sirius still looked suspicious. James looked confused and Lovelace the same. Remus just sat there, wondering if there was any end to the stream of surprises that could be thrown by the weird trio. And it had only been one week, he thought rather mournfully.

Hayden just hummed a bit. "Well, I'm up to bed. Things to do, plans to plot, and excuses to make. Ta!" Then he walked away like nothing had happened, whistling.

"I don't get him at all!" Sirius said with exasperation. "And I don't trust him."

Remus would be less inclined to trust him if it hadn't been for the potion and watching them all interact. It was the least guarded he had ever seen Snape. And he still needed to find a way to tell his friends about it, but that required them to get up to the dorm, to where Hayden was, but if Sirius' didn't trust him, he certainly didn't want to be around Hayden.

Strangely, James took the situation out his hands. "Come on, guys. I want more answers," he said, shoving himself out of his chair and heading for the stairs. When they entered, Hayden had looked at them in vague surprise. He was lying on the ground, his legs propped on his trunk and a book in hand. Merlin only knew why he was laying there, but he twisted and ended up sitting up straight and crossing his legs, leaning back against the trunk.

Remus noticed that it was The Lord of the Rings that he was reading, but didn't remark on it. He loved the books and thought Hayden would probably have an interesting take on it; he did on everything else.

"I thought it would take longer for you to get them up here."

"I didn't," Remus said, knowing he was the only one that knew what Hayden was talking about. "James did."

"...um, what?" James said, looking between them too. Remus felt a small smile forming on his face even as he suddenly and strangely felt a bit shy and nervous.

"Moony?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Earlier Machiavelli sent that Darren kid up to get me," Remus started explaining. "We ended up in a unused potions lab in the dungeons and Hayden and Snape were there. They know I'm a werewolf - " Sirius and James whipped their heads to Hayden, who was still just sitting there, the book still in his hands. " - and Snape created a potion - " They jerked their heads back towards him.

"Don't take it," Sirius said instantly.

"I already have," Remus said. "Hayden swore on his magic that they were being honest when they explained it to me. I have to take it every day of the week leading up to the full moon and on the day of, and it'll let me keep my mind. I'll have control when I change, guys. I won't be so dangerous."

James' face lit up. "That's great, Moony!" he said, beaming, hugging him and clapping him on the shoulder.

"He didn't mention the part that the potion makes the change easier and less painful," Hayden said idly.

"How do you know it works?" Sirius asked, unwilling to celebrate just yet.

"Tests," Hayden said. "And it's all very hush-hush, but tomorrow's paper will feature it somewhere. Remus is the first to officially receive it."

"How did Snape come up with it and test it in one summer?" Sirius asked, his face not changing.

"He, to use his own words, borrowed some notes, back tracked to where they went astray, and then went forward in his own manner, coming to the right conclusion," Remus said, a sense of giddiness started to set in. "It's not a cure, but hell if I'm not psyched about this!"

Sirius smiled brilliantly then and Remus saw a small smile on Hayden's face. It wasn't amused or wicked or annoyingly cheerful, but sincerely joyful, happy in their happiness. And Remus liked this look much more on Hayden.


2/6/2012 - Update; mostly minor things. Added in some phrases.