Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books and/or movies is not mine.
A/N: I was stuck on this chapter. That's why it has taken me FOREVER to get it out. I'm dearly sorry. Please don't hate me.
Thanks to Curalium Lacrimo, enchanted light, CrymsonTear, silberstreif, Vulkan, Toe, beast210, tree of confusion, OutsiderX, drarrysev and Rubber Ducky Loser for the wonderful reviews!
Harry's Poll:
Harry/No one: 5
Harry/Ginny: 7
Harry/Hermione: 0
Harry/Luna: 2
Harry/Other (if you pick this one, please tell me who 'other' is): 4(H/D) 1(OC) 1(Ron Weasley)
Alex's Poll:
Alex/No one: 1
Alex/Ginny: 1
Alex/Hermione: 2
Alex/Luna: 1
Alex/Cho: 1
Alex/Other (if you pick this one, please tell me who 'other' is): 1(Susan Bones) 1 (Daphne Greengrass)
Huh. Well, So far, it's Harry/Ginny, and.. For Alex, it's Alex/Hermione. Don't worry, there's still a long time before any romance appears.
Where are the Children
By: xScenex
a.k.a. Min
Chapter Ten
Smiling all the way through the lesson, Harry barely managed to keep himself out of trouble. He found it so humorous that Snape had been picked to take him to Hogsmeade the following weekend that he didn't even take it to heart that he would have to spend his time with the man.
He completely skipped that factor.
Instead, he'd burst into a fit of giggles every time the Potions Professor glared at him, only provoking the man to become more angry. It's quite simple to say that Gryffindor lost a lot of House Points that day.
By the time class ended, the Gryffindor's were hurriedly trying to get out of the classroom under the angry stare of the professor. Harry smiled at the man, waved, and then happily left the room with a sullen Alex, whom he hadn't been able to speak to during the whole class.
After the whole crowd of students turned down the hall and efficiently leading them out of the dungeon corridors, Alex turned to Harry with a look of utter confusion and repulsion.
"What!" Harry cried out in disdain.
Alex narrowed his eyes, rummaged in his pocket for his notepad and muggle pen. Harry watched in amusement as the older boy scribbled something hastily on the paper and thrust it at him.
What the bloody hell did you think you were doing in Potions? And why were you laughing so much? I hardly find Snape or his classes to be funny!
Harry grinned and said offhandedly, "It's just something I found out before the class started. You know how he held me back and spoke to me?" Alex nodded and Harry continued, "Well, you see, father told him to take me to Hogsmeade this weekend so I can go Christmas shopping."
A look of horror spread across Alex's face.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked in mock concern, not really realizing why he looked the way he did.
The Gryffindor wrenched the tablet back and scribbled once more on it.
You're spending TIME with him? SNAPE? At Hogsmeade? Are you bloody crazy!
Harry blinked. And blinked again.
"Oh.. My… G-"
"Oi, Dumbledore!"
Harry's head jerked sideways to see who had spoken and instantly, he recognized the Gryffindor twins.
"Hi Fred, George."
"Why the long face? It looks as if you'd just had the Bloody Barren walk through you!" Fred said jokingly, prodding at the younger boy's shoulder.
Alex rolled his eyes and continued walking. Harry just stared in horror at the paper Alex had last written on, which caught the attention of the two Weasley's.
"What's that you got there, Nicky-boy?" George asked as him and Fred leaned over Harry's shoulder to read the note.
After a moment of silence, both of the boy's exclaimed loudly at the same time, "Bloody hell!"
"You're spending time-"
"With Snape?"
"You're mental-"
"But brilliant-"
"Because now we can get insider information on the git!"
"Fred," Harry said weakly, "I've known 'the git' since last year- I don't think I'm going to be finding out anything else that I haven't already."
"But you must," George protested loudly, "Or at least drag out some information on some Slytherin's for us!"
"I can't do that," he said hurriedly, hoping they wouldn't think otherwise on him. Spying on Snape? That was pretty much a death wish!
"But of course you can," Fred said while wrapping an arm around both Harry and Alex's shoulders. "You just have to know how to play it smoothly."
"And I wouldn't be able to do that," he said, "Snape is one person you couldn't just… pry information from."
Harry didn't want to reveal too much information to the Twin's one what he knew about their professor. He knew that the man was a spy for the light, and always had been. He also knew that the man was manipulating, and he caught on to things easily.
"Well, Nicky-dearest. Try your best. We are counting on you," Fred said and winked before he withdrew his arms from the two younger boys. "Catch you around!"
Both the twins waved their goodbyes before turning around and heading to whatever class they had next.
Harry turned to Alex and the other boy cracked a grin. Harry knew he was pale in the face at the idea of spending time with Snape.
"Why'd I have to be stuck with him?" Harry inquired with a groan. "I didn't even realize… bloody hell."
Alex whacked Harry upside the head due to his language. Harry only scowled playfully as they continued walking down the halls and moving staircases. Lunch was about to start, and Harry was hungry.
By the time they arrived, most of the school had already found their places at their respective tables. Harry and Alex sat next to one another at the Gryffindor table with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, who were still going on about the prank that morning and debating whether they should use something like it in their future.
Harry picked at his chicken carefully, thinking over what he would do with Snape. He really hadn't anticipated that his grandfather would pick him to babysit him. It would be utter hell to pay, he realized as he glanced up at the teacher's table. Snape was still glaring at him.
The small boy gave the man a half hearted wave before turning his attention back to Alex.
"So what time are your lesson's tonight with McGonagall?" he asked just to make conversation. He also hoped that he could sneak out to see Alex once his lesson's were over.
See, Alex, being 'mute' and all, had to take lesson's on trying to perform wordless magic with his wand. He'd hardly gotten the hang of it, much to Harry's amusement but he was still trying.
Alex rolled his eyes and put his fork down before taking out his notepad and scribbled the time down.
"Will that give us any time to hang out?" he asked sullenly, realizing that he had a longer session that night. The boy only shrugged, his brown eyes eyeing Harry curiously. He usually only pouted about it when there was something he wanted to do.
But in truth, Harry was just bored. He had nothing planned, although he did think it would be a bit amusing to do another prank - but that would be too obvious if they did another one on the Slytherin's. Plus, he had a sinking feeling that the Weasley Twin's may get blamed for it; and he didn't want that happening.
The meal passed by slowly, and afterwards, Alex had to go upstairs to get his Herbology book. The two children trudged up to the Gryffindor Tower.
The Gryffindor's didn't mind the fact that Harry would come and go from the tower as he pleased, as they all seemed to like him. Harry was glad for that, as they were literally quite territorial. Smiling at the thought of them being actual lion's in nature, he followed his friend up to his dormitory.
"I hope I'm in Gryffindor next year," Harry smiled brightly as he admired the red drapery on the four poster beds. Grandfather was one when he was in school.
Alex shut the door behind him and made sure no one else was around.
He let out a small sigh, "Yeah, well. I hope you're a Gryffindor too. I doubt many of us would let you into the tower if you were sorted into Slytherin."
Harry glared, "I'm not going into Snape's House. Merlin forbid if I did."
The other boy chuckled slightly just as his pet cat Artemis came into view from under his bed, covered in dust and cobwebs.
"Artemis!" Alex scolded, "What have you been doing?"
The cat only replied with a faint meow as he wound around Alex's legs. Harry watched in amusement for a few moments before plopping down on one of the bed's.
"I can't believe I got myself stuck with Snape on the weekend," he whined.
"It's your fault for asking," Alex's eyebrows rose. "You know your grandpa, he'd do anything as long as it serves for his amusement."
Harry knew how true that was. "Well, I don't like it. I don't like Snape, actually. Anyone would have been better than him. Anyone!"
The other boy smirked, "Even Filch?"
The blue-eyed boy grimaced, "Okay, maybe not just anyone. McGonagall would have been better than him!"
The other boy sat down on the bed across from Harry, picking up Artemis on his way. The cat purred loudly and butted his dirty head against his owners hand.
"Yeah, well, at least you have someone willing to take you places," Alex responded halfheartedly. "I mean, Snape could easily say no. Or refuse. Or kill himself in the attempt to not do it. So obviously, he doesn't hate your guts like me. I don't really know anyone who would take me to Hogsmeade if I asked without them thinking I might get killed."
Harry felt horrible for his friend. "You have Moony," he provided. "Your Godfather loves you and you know that. The only reason I think that they're afraid that you'll get 'killed' is because you can't do wordless magic well. They don't know that you can really talk."
"But still."
He shook his head, staring at Alex. "Just give it some time."
"Easy for you to say."
There was a bit of silence between the pair, then Harry's face brightened up for a moment. "Hey! Alex, I could ask Grandfather if you could come along with us! That way I wont have to put up with just Snape, and maybe he'll learn that you're nothing like your father if he see's you in your daily life!"
The other boy looked bewildered, "No! No way am I going to spend more time than necessary with Snape!"
"Oh, come on!" Harry whined, his eyes large and pleading. "I don't want to go alone - please?"
Alex shook his head quickly, "Nick, I don't want to be around Snape if I don't have to! He'll find reasons to give me detention."
"No, I'll just tell Grandfather he was being a sourpuss. Grandfather will get you out of them if he puts you in any."
"Nick," Alex groaned. "I don't think I should tag along."
"Don't you want to get presents for your friends?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but well." The boy hesitated for a moment, then sighed in defeat. "This better turn out positive, otherwise, I'm going to hex you to Hades and back."
Harry grinned broadly and jumped up onto whoever's bed he was on. "Yes, yes yes!"
Alex only grinned despite himself, watching the younger boy express his happiness. He only wished he could show his feelings like his friend did. Then he wouldn't have a worry in the world. Which just so happened to include being late for his next class, at the moment.
That following night while Alex was at his 'wordless magic' lesson, Harry sat in his Grandfather's office, bored out of his mind while trying to find a good way to convince the older man to allow Alex to tag along with him and Snape to Hogsmeade the following weekend.
He'd been contemplating it for a while when his Grandfather finally decided to pry the information out of Harry himself.
"Nick, is something bothering you?"
He shook his head, "No, not really. I'm just thinking about something."
The man put down his quill and peered over his half-moon spectacles at Harry. "Is there anything you would like to share with me?"
Harry attempted to shake his head but instead, he blurted out, "Can Alex go to Hogsmeade with me and Snape?"
"Professor Snape, Nick," the man corrected him sternly. Harry blushed slightly.
"I mean, Uncle Sev?" he tried.
The older man shook his head in amusement. "Now, Nicholas, you know it's against the rules to allow younger students into Hogsmeade."
"But Uncle Sev will be there with us," Harry protested loudly. "Please, Grandfather? We'll behave - not that Sev would let us do otherwise," he added quietly but knew his grandfather had heard him.
The older man stared at Harry for a long moment. "I will contact his guardian's and see what they have to say. Also, if Remus also agrees, he may go." He looked thoughtful for a moment before adding, "Remus may want to go as well."
Harry perked up at that. Remus might go along? That would make up for the fun-sucking Snape!
"Are you sure?" he asked, hoping his luck wasn't just his imagination.
"I can't be too sure, as it's not up to me to allow Alexander to accompany you and Severus to Hogsmeade, but I will inform you of how it turns out."
Smiling broadly, Harry laid back against his chair, staring at the red phoenix across from him who let out a slight chirp. He smiled at the bird, who in turn, turned it's head to face him and ruffled it's feathers.
Harry sat there, wondering if Alex would get to go with him to Hogsmeade. He also wondered if Alex would be staying for Christmas - he just realized he'd never asked the boy if he was.
Dumbledore's office was silent, except for the scratching of a quill on parchment and the occasional ruffle of wings from the phoenix. Harry didn't even notice he was falling asleep in the chair.
Neither did he know when his Grandfather took him upstairs to sleep in his own bed, where he once more dreamt of the Potter's.
But this dream was a bit more vivid then the others… and much more terrifying.
A/N: I will try to get the next chapter out soon. I can't guarantee anything, but I will try. Thank you for reading! I'm so sorry for the wait. And double sorry for the shortness of the chapter. I will try to make the next one longer.