A Time Of Venom

Hello! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, it really means a lot

To the guest who reviewed, I know that Peter is coming across as very… well. But I struggle to write him! I will try and dial it back a bit. I can try a quidditch scene, but I have never written one before.

Thanks for reminding me of the Marauders Map, I had completely forgotten it!

Disclaimer: I still own nothing

Divination had passed with little further incident but the awkward silence that had descended onto the table never left. Harry also pretended not to notice the way Professor Blackwood avoided their table like the plague and how Sirius and Remus kept sharing secretive glances; talking with their eyes.

Harry had been glad to leave the oppressive room and breathed the fresh air in deeply as they began to descend. He ignored the feeling of the eyes that had followed him from the room.

What a lesson! He almost couldn't believe his day wasn't over yet. Days had flown by when he was in his own time, but here they seemed to crawl along, slowly, torturously slowly. He knew why. Every minute was a challenge.. Every sentence he spoke he could give himself away. He was treading on egg shells. And it was exhausting.

They caught up with Lily and James in the Great Hall for lunch. Lily still looked a little distressed but much calmer than she had been. It didn't stop her from shooting dirty looks at Professor Allen throughout the meal, who pointedly ignored her. James rubbed her arm gently, drawing her attention back to the group every time she did.

"Harry." Lily greeted him warmly, pulling him onto the bench next to her with a smile. "You're with me next."

Harry shot her a confused look, drawing his thoughts from the lesson he had just had. He couldn't help the slight feeling of apprehension that gnawed at him. This day would break him if anything else happened.

"Don't look so worried." She grinned lightly at him and ruffled his hair. "Sirius and James have Quidditch practice next so you're stuck with me. And Remus."

Remus raised his head frim piling his plate. "Actually not me, I have some work I want to do."

Lily smiled at him. "I could help, if you like?"

Remus shook his head. "No!" Everyone glanced at him in surprise. "I-I mean, no thanks. This is just a little project for me and the library."

"Okay.." Lily stared at him, her brow creasing in thought for a second, before clearing quickly. "What about you Peter, will you be joining me and Harry?"

Peter jerked slightly, as though surprised to be included. "O-oh. Um n-no thanks. I'm w-writing a l-letter to my dad." He stuttered slightly over the words.

"Alright. Just you and me then." She winked at Harry before casting a thoughtful eye over the Marauders.

They had been best friends for the past six years. Brothers. They were always so close, but she could see the cracks forming now. Even if they themselves were unaware. They were drifting apart. With every lie and secret, the cracks grew and spread. She didn't know why, maybe they were just outgrowing each other, or maybe it was the war, snaking in and poisoning everything it touched. Even friendships.

They left the Great Hall soon after, waving goodbye to the boys as they all headed off in their separate directions.

Lily began to lead the way back to the Gryffindor common room, pointing out various paintings and explaining them or telling stories of Hogwart's history. Harry just smiled and nodded, enjoying hearing her obvious passion for the place he called home. He knew most of what she was saying thanks to Hermione, so he could really watch the way her eyes lit up and the way her voice rose and fell as she explained various things.

As they rounded the corner Lily cursed under her breath. A group of Slytherin seventh years were approaching them. She may have been able to hold her own in a fight, but everyone in this group were basically already Death Eaters and she had to look out for Harry.

She grasped his arm firmly and yanked him back around the corner just as they noticed her. Her being Head Girl would have little impact on them. In their eyes, her blood status was the only thing that mattered.

She could hear them jeering and calling after her as she started marching the other way, firmly taking Harry with her. She knew she should stand her ground or they would just grow bolder, and she probably would have if she was on her own. But she had to look out for Harry. Because of how Dumbledore introduced him, it didn't take a genius to work out he was a muggleborn. And those Slytherins certainly weren't geniuses but that didn't mean they couldn't fight.

Harry didn't resist her tugging, even though he had to jog to keep up with her long stirdes. He wasn't entirely sure why they were running (or at least, he was) but he figured that was a question for a later date.

"Evans, in here." A deep voice came from their left as a tapestry was moved aside to reveal a doorway.

Lily gave a sigh of relief and pushed Harry inside what seemed like a small study. The tapestry swung closed just as the Slytherins rounded the corner. There were many noises of confusion as to where they could have gone; it was a long corridor and people don't just disappear.

They said some fairly colourful curses, which had Lily blushing and covering Harry's ears. He humoured her, even though he could still hear the string of profanities.

It was then Harry turned to register who had helped them and for a second he was struck with confusion because he would swear it was Sirius standing in front of them, casually leaning against a wall.

He knew it couldn't be, the voice was different and the boy way slightly shorter and in a Slytherin tie. He was tallish, taller than Lily at least with a medium build. He had dark black hair, shorter than Sirius had his and the same grey eyes. The boy watched his assessment, looking mildly amused.

Lily pressed her ear to the door carefully and she heard them begin to shuffle away. She turned around with a grateful smile, reaching out and pulling the young man into a hug.

"Thank you Regulus."

Regulus stiffened in her arms at first, as though tempted to pull away, before letting out a small defeated sigh and reaching around to pat her on the back. Harry would have laughed at the expression on his face if he hadn't been so confused.

Lily released him, smiling up at him and upon seeing the look on his face, she burst out laughing.

"It's not that bad to get a hug from me, is it?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"My apologises, but that was hardly a hug. It was bordering on assault." He raised an eyebrow at her, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. "I always forget how affectionate you muggleborns are."

Lily snorted. "As if you speak to any other muggleborns."

She turned swiftly as though suddenly realising that Harry was there. "Ah, Harry this is Regulus. He's a friend of mine."

Regulus nodded at Harry, his eyes staring so intently, Harry would swear they could see through him.

"Ah, little Potter, is it?" Regulus' words held no real malice, in fact his eyes flickered up to Lily, as though this was a joke for her rather than him. "I didn't know you two had bred."

Lily thumped him on the arm, rolling her eyes with obvious affection. "Moron! Its Harry Parker as you well know."

Regulus frowned at her as he rubbed his arm. "Merlin woman! It was a joke! There was no reason for actual assault."

Harry watched their interaction with a strange feeling in his chest. He had nearly had a heart attack when Regulus called him 'little Potter' but the feeling had quickly settled. He was unsure how to feel now.

Regulus practically exuded calm even as he complained to Lily about her violence, claiming it wasn't friendship if one of them was a punch bag.
Harry couldn't help snorting in amusement several times as he watched their conversation as it progressed. Regulus had smiled lazily at him, dragging him easily into the conversation. Harry found he didn't care if Regulus was from Slytherin because he was warm and welcoming to him, and he clearly didn't have an issue with muggleborns.

They stayed in that room for another hour, laughing loudly and frequently. Harry truly enjoyed it, even if he felt like he was being scrutinised at times.

Harry couldn't say he had ever spoken like this with anyone before; he and Ron joked around but not in this way. It was how the Weasley twins spoke to each other and was somewhat comforting because of that and was surprisingly easy to slip into. Regulus had drawn him into it with some well-placed comments and an easy smirk.

For some reason Lily seemed delighted with his response to Regulus. She settled into a desk chair with a grin as she watched Harry and Regulus banter back and forth.

Her other friends knew nothing of her friendship with Regulus. For one thing, they were all very over protective and just because he was from Slytherin they would have presumed he was evil. It wouldn't help he was Sirius's brother and they didn't get along. James would have taken his side immediately, probably because he was jealous or something stupid like that and so would Remus. And Peter would have done whatever the others did.

Lily had always been of the opinion that just because you were sorted into Slytherin as an eleven year old, it didn't make you evil. How they acted and their choices after that would show which path they had taken.

And she could say with certainty that Regulus wasn't evil, a little misguided maybe, but never evil.

She had gotten to know him over the past year, after he had landed, half dead in her garden last Christmas. Her parents hadn't protested, though her sister had, as she put him in the guest room and nursed him back to health, as best she could. She had never asked him what had happened and he had never told her. But he had come to appreciate her friendship, he didn't have any real friends in Slytherin and his isolation from Sirius had meant he was very lonely.

As she thought back, her eyes flickered over the room, stopping on his cloak, which looked like it had been spread very deliberately as though to cover something.

Not wanting to intrude if it was something personal but her curiosity demanding she do something, she carefully tweaked a corner to reveal the Hogsmede Times, the local paper.

She pulled it out, eyes flicking over the headline before flitting back to the date. Today's date and the stall that sold them didn't have a postal service…

"Regulus." She stood and placed her hands on her hips, directing a look of irritation at him. "What were you doing in Hogsmede today?"

Regulus merely raised an eyebrow at her. "Who? Moi? Sneak into Hogsmede? Never."

She sighed and shot him a sharp look. "One day someone will catch you."

He shot a cocky look at her. "As if they could catch me."

Lily narrowed her eyes at him as he glanced down at his watch. "And speaking of getting caught… won't you boyfriend have finished practise by now."

Lily glanced quickly at her watch. "Oh merlin! Come on Harry, we've got to go." She gathered up her things and ushered Harry to the door who turned back and waved at Regulus.

As soon as they left, Regulus collapsed into his chair. So that was Harry Parker, eh?

Lily rushed down the corridors at top speed, impressed Harry was managing to keep up. She turned to him hesitantly.

"Harry.. do me a favour and don't mention Regulus to the boys, yeah?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, unable to form words as his breath rasped through his body.

"They aren't the most welcoming to Slytherins and they wouldn't understand why we are friends." She replied.

"W-why are you friends?" Harry gasped out, struggling to keep up with her long strides. "Not that there's anything wrong with it!"

She chuckled at him as they approached the Fat Lady. "That's probably a story for another time."

ATOV-ATOV-ATOV

The rest of the week passed with surprising speed for Harry. Lesson had settled into a calmer routine as teacher got used to him being in their lessons, although he never felt completely happy in Divination.

He had tutoring with Lily and Remus, and sometimes James, every evening, to catch him up on everything. They had all been very impressed when he had performed some spells flawlessly first time (a result of studying with Hermione), but it wasn't really impressive as he had already been taught them. He knew this but still couldn't help feeling pleased as they praised him.

He had only seen Regulus fleetingly in the corridor, and despite Lily's warning that they ignored each other normally, (to prevent others involving themselves and their friendship being lost the same way hers and Severus' was) he still gave Regulus a slight smile when he passed him. He was cheered when the older boy returned it hesitantly.

As requested he hadn't brought up their meeting with him, but couldn't stop himself waiting eagerly for the next one. It was silly, but it felt like Regulus was what having an older brother would feel like.

Without realising it, Harry was becoming comfortable, no longer noticing everything everyone said or how they looked at him. He even slipped up on his story a few times but no one seemed to notice apart from Remus who would frown but never comment.

He had made the mistake of beginning to see them as family. He was beginning to rely on them and was getting used to having that loud comforting family feel surrounding him.

But sooner or later, reality would claim him and he would once again be alone with the Dursleys.

It wasn't fair.

OMG! I am so sorry! I started writing this ages ago and completely forgot. I would actually like it to have been longer but I feel like I should just get it out there now.

Sozzles again.