… Well. Over a month again, but not quite so badly this time. RL decided to suddenly be far more demanding, I didn't study nearly as much for finals as I should but found plenty of ways to waste time anyway, lost all muse for this story for several weeks (but it's back! ^^) and … yeah. Sorry.

Two things to note: I survived my first semester in college! And came out a great deal more on top than I was expecting.

Aaand … 600 + reviews. That boundary has now been broken, for the first time in my history of writing stories. To think, just a year ago, this story was just something I tossed out to the crowd to provide myself with a little variety every now and then … Congratulations and a large chunk of thanks to everyone who's helped me make it this far. ^^

(11/26/2012) Minor edits and fixing formatting.

# # # Chapter 12 # # #

:Oh bloody hell.: The voice was more resigned than anything … and, more importantly, a very familiar one. Inside his head.

Severus silently echoed the sentiment, though of course, as a Slytherin, he had his dignity to maintain and would never be caught actually voicing such a crudity.

Things far more crude and obscene, yes. And the generally accompanying hexes, yes, those too.

"Well ….?" Lupin again, sounding more than a little impatient.

"One moment." He closed his eyes and thought furiously. What could have caused this?

:My back was turned.: Harry volunteered.

Of course.

In something of a haze, he made his way back to his desk, sitting down and looking at all that resided there. :I was sitting just like this …: His eyes darted up. No, that hadn't been the trigger. Still no Harry, although he had actually known that before his eyes corroborated it; now that he knew the feeling, he could easily identify the Harry-presence that still resided in his head. :Thinking about Transfiguration …:

"Snape, if this is just a joke …"

"Shut it, Lupin! I'm thinking!"

:And how rotten Potter and his group are …:

:… Present company excepted, of course?: Harry prodded.

Severus grunted. :What else …: To soothe his frustration, he began toying with the quill sitting on top of said Transfiguration assignment. Which had splotched said assignment when a certain werewolf had interrupted his train of thought. Which meant he'd probably have to rewrite the damn thing. Stupid …

"Ha! It's the quill!" A triumphant voice said.

One outside his head.

"Harry?" Lupin and Pettigrew asked in unison.

"In the flesh." The boy grinned. "Or as close as I can get, at least. Sorry for that … we were experiencing a few … technical difficulties."

"Where have you been? Are you okay? I heard you were interrogated, I can't believe the Headmaster would do something like that –" Lupin, Severus decided with a well-hidden smirk, was babbling. It was good to know that he was not the only one Harry provoked that reaction in.

Harry shrugged sheepishly. "How long was I gone this time? It seemed like only … I dunno … five minutes or so to me."

Severus busied himself with re-sharpening his quill – being careful not to do anything that might be considered toying with it – leaving the Gryffindors to their reunion. That did not, of course, keep him from making the occasional logical contribution. "Much like the other times – at least as far as I am aware – you were gone about a month. Today is February 5th."

Harry nodded his thanks. "I don't have any control over where or when I go when I travel. Well, certainly not conscious …" He frowned, a bit troubled. "This last time, it might have been my worrying over what had happened to Mr. Evans …"

Sensing this was a bit of a touchy subject, Peter asked gently, "Where did you end up?"

A wry smile. "In front of a grave that claimed he had died that night."

"So that's why you nearly strangled me when I told you he was still alive." Severus' eyes widened, then narrowed again. "Wait a second … that other thing you said … the other me was …?"

Harry nodded. "He let slip as much, when I met him in the graveyard."

"What was he … I … Merlin, this is confusing … doing there?"

Harry rubbed his forehead with one hand, shaking his head ruefully. "It's … something of a long story. Basically, he owed a life debt to my father that he had not repaid by the time my father died, so since then, he's taken it upon himself to try and keep me out of trouble. He was there in the graveyard to apologize to my parents for failing me." As an afterthought, "He had an urn with him; I bet that was my ashes. I wonder, did the spell disintegrate me, or was I just cremated after the fact …?"

All three had turned slightly green, but it was Remus who spoke. "No offense, Harry, but … dealing with the fact that you're dead is hard enough to believe – especially at times like these, when you are, to all intents and purposes, still alive. I really don't need to hear the details."

A sad smile. "You get used to the idea relatively quickly, I find. Of course, I probably would have had a harder time, had I gone on to some sort of real afterlife, instead of this strange limbo as a result of that spell." Suddenly fierce, with a grin that approached vicious. "And even if I had ended up in some real limbo … or in the worst incarnation of the Christian Hell … it would have been worth it still, to rid the world of him."

"But … couldn't someone else have taken care of him?" Peter asked. "You're only … what, fourteen? I'm as eager as anyone to do my part in the war … but as a fourteen-year-old, you couldn't have been expected …" He trailed off, transfixed by the odd look on the spirit's face.

Pity? Harry shook his head. "Oh, I don't doubt that they expected me to have graduated Hogwarts, and gained a far greater body of knowledge, maybe even have done something horribly cliché like becoming an Auror, before finally downing Voldemort. But … even if no one's come right out and said it, I've always known that his death was my responsibility, if only through their expectations."

"That's a load no one should have to bear." Peter angrily responded; Severus silently echoed both the sentiment and the anger, but found, himself, the worst part to be that Harry had accepted this fate so calmly.

:I first encountered the Wizarding World when I was eleven; there's very little I wouldn't have done, to keep that magic, to be able to stay. Besides … who better than I?:

:An adult!:

:With a wife, children … family to look after? I'm an orphan, Severus … and I would not wish that lack of family on anyone.:

:But … look at what you lost …:

:And what everyone else in my world gained. Peace, Severus. I'm sure you wish it just as much as the rest of us.: The spirit turned, from Remus, to Peter, finally pinning Severus with an emerald gaze both joyous and sorrowful. :And just see what I have gained. The chance to see you all, alive, well, happy …:

"I feel like I'm missing something." Peter directed towards Remus in an aside.

As if hearing audible voices again had flipped some sort of switch, as Harry made his grand gesture, he began speaking aloud. "These are the best years of your life, you know. Before you are thrown into the war, only slightly less of children than I; before distance and strife and mistrust and betrayal and death separate you all … it is truly the most precious gift I could have been given, to see you all in this time and place."

And it would have not been terribly surprising if, at this time, all three seventh-years, separated so widely by House and race, yet brought together by the changes this young man had wrought, had thought the exact same thought. And our most precious gift … is you.

# # # # #

"When I heard Black went Seeker that one game … that was you, wasn't it?" With the Marauders' help, Severus had finally given in and conjured up a trio of comfortable chairs, set to form a rough square (with Severus' desk as the final corner), and quite happily abandoned any attempt at even seeming to be working on his assignments.

Remus looked over, nodding at Severus' question. "I admit, it didn't really seem his style … I'm not entirely sure he could find the Snitch."

Harry chortled. "And he is such a total wuss as far as dives are concerned. He'd never make it as a decent Seeker; end up losing his nerve or splattering himself all over the ground within the first season."

"I take that as a yes?" Peter offered dryly. Then, as the only one who had actually attended the entire match, "That was some sweet flying, though I wasn't quite sure what he – you – whatever – was doing for about the first half of the match."

Harry looked wistful. "Are you kidding? That's the first time I've been on a broom for a significant period of time since … February? Four months or so ago, for me … and that wasn't recreational flying by any stretch of the imagination."

Peter blinked. "Wait … don't you play Quidditch? I thought the season usually runs longer than that …"

Harry smiled, proud. "Have for three years now – not counting this past year, since the Quidditch Cup was canceled."

"You joined the Quidditch team in your first year?" Remus, aghast. "But … there are rules against that sort of thing! McGonagall would never …"

"Yet she did." Harry grinned. "Just sick of seeing Slytherin win so often, I guess."

Severus looked suddenly very smug.

"Of course, they never won after I joined the team … I only lost once, and that was to Hufflepuff."

So what if Peter was the only one of the three who followed Quidditch to any extent; they all found this prospect equally horrifying. "Hufflepuff?!"

"He was very apologetic afterwards … that was one of the matches that was sabotaged."

Only a Hufflepuff would apologize for winning …

Severus leaned back in his chair, taking upon himself the task of attempting to bring this conversation back to some semblance of a topic. "So exactly why was the Quidditch Cup canceled? I'd think that was nearly as blasphemous as getting rid of the House Cup."

:They wanted to turn the pitch into a giant maze for the Third Task …: Harry was surprised to realize how long it had been since he had thought about the events of that night, and felt guilty immediately about allowing his own death and the events following it to overshadow … Cedric … :I wonder if anyone has brought his body home … he deserved that much, at least …:

"Third Task of what?" Severus asked, but Harry only stood silently and slipped out of the room.

"What are you talking about, Snape?" Remus asked. "No one mentioned – "

"Harry just said …" Severus said blankly. "Your sort is supposed to have amazing hearing, Lupin, don't tell me I'm the only one who heard. He just said that the pitch was used … to grow a giant maze …"

"For the 'third task'?" Peter offered.

"So you heard!" Snape grasped the offering with relief.

"Actually, no, I didn't." Peter shrugged. "It was just the logical conclusion."

# # # # #

It was – not too terribly surprisingly – the Quidditch pitch that Remus' nose eventually led him to; one of the highest stands that gave the person seated there an almost bird's-eye view of the surroundings. It worried him more than he cared to admit that Harry – usually in a state of near-Slytherin paranoid awareness as far as his surroundings were concerned – had not seemed to mark his approach the slightest bit.

Finally, he reached the top, and seated himself next to the spirit. Still no movement; Harry continued to sit there, chin resting on folded hands, staring blankly into the distance. "Hey," Remus greeted quietly. "Are you all right?"

In a flat voice, "I'm fine."

"What's wrong? You look like someone died or something." Remus attempted a joking tone.

A wry smile. "Which period of my life are you referring to?"

Blink. "Well … recently … I guess."

"Three people, including myself. Me, Voldemort, and Cedric Diggory. The Hufflepuff Seeker who's the only one who's ever beat me to the Snitch."

"Cedric … sounds vaguely familiar." The werewolf's brow furrowed. "Oh, that's right … you mentioned him briefly once before. What happened?"

Another wry smile, this one with more of an edge. "I was a stupid Gryffindor. If only I had acted more like a Slytherin, for once … instead of insisting that we share the Cup … then I would have gone on to face him alone, and Cedric would still be alive …"

"The Cup?"

"Triwizard Tournament Cup." Harry explained in a weary tone. "Reaching it was supposed to be the goal of the Third Task. I assume it wasn't meant to be a portkey to Voldemort's home base …"

"But the Triwizard Tournament was outlawed ages ago, due to too many contestant fatalities! What on Earth were you doing as part of one?" Remus waved a hand grandly. "Has the world 20 years in the future gone bloody insane?!"

"There was an age limit. Seventeen." Harry offered. "… Come to think of it, I bet that was a setup, too … me being entered, I mean."

"Well then, why did you participate in the first place? If you weren't the one who submitted your name, it can't possibly have been legally binding. Especially not if you didn't meet all the guidelines to begin with."

"It was an unbreakable Wizarding Contract – or something like that. I had to participate." Suddenly he laughed. "As Professor Snape would say, it's not like I've ever paid attention to rules anyway." He stood up, sneering. "Arrogant, rude brat, with no regard at all for the rules … just like his father!"

Remus choked back a chuckle. "Sounds like he hated your father – and you by association, I assume – almost as much as he hates James and Sirius."

There was an arrested look on Harry's face, as if that statement had somehow blindsided him. He recovered quickly, however, saying blandly (with a hint of hidden humour that Remus didn't quite understand the source of), "I think that would be a pretty safe bet."

Remus stood too. "Feeling a bit better now? Ready to come back inside?"

That brought Harry back down into his former position post haste. "Not really." He muttered. "You see? You did it again." He paused for a deep breath. "These last few … well, however you measure the duration I've spent on this side of time … have been some of the best in my life. Even with James ragging on me and Sirius' suspicion and Lily's flat-out dislike – plus a plot almost worthy of a Slytherin … being here is really great."

"But it makes you feel guilty that you're enjoying yourself so much?" Remus hazarded.

Harry looked up, meeting his eyes squarely for the first time. "That's it. That's it exactly. How did you know?"

Now it was Remus' turn for his smile to take on something of a wry tinge. "It may have escaped you, shut up safe here in Hogwarts as you have been, but in this time, there's a war going on. I defy you to find anyone in the school who hasn't lost a friend or close family member."

"That's right …" Harry sighed. "… I can't believe I forgot about that … I guess I never really quite realized how bad the war used to be. I mean, I've had plenty of encounters with Voldemort, in one form or another … but usually I'm the only one involved, or at least the focus. Like when the basilisk got loose – several people got petrified, and Ginny was kidnapped, but no one died …"

"A basilisk." Remus said flatly. "That's it. I can no longer be surprised by anything that comes out of that strange, dangerous adventure novel you evidently called a life. Let me guess, that was your first year at Hogwarts."

"Nope, second." Harry corrected cheerfully. "First was Voldemort possessing my DADA teacher in order to steal and use the Philosopher's Stone."

Remus buried his face in his hands. "As I said …" Then his head shot up. "What was something like a philosopher's stone doing at Hogwarts in the first place?"

Harry shrugged. "It got moved here for higher security."

"Security that, evidently, a first year could break through?" Heavy on irony.

"Well, no … I needed a lot of help from Ron and Hermione to get through."

"Oh, right. Three first years are ever so much more impressive than one."

Harry patted his arm soothingly. "It really wasn't as bad as you make it out to be, Remus. I'm used to it, really."

Remus just shook his head. "But you shouldn't have to be. Why couldn't an adult have taken care of any of this?"

"I was there first." Harry offered. "Besides, I could do it … so why should anyone else have been troubled on my account?"

"So you didn't have to!" Why couldn't he make Harry see?

Harry just looked at him with that sad-knowing gaze. "Most other people have families. Voldemort killed all I'd willingly bestow with that title. Who better than me?" Who else would have been willing to do so, when the Boy-Who-Lived was around to take care of the problem?

"To spare you …" Remus stood and held out his hand, face resolute. "I would have."

# # # # #

Peter made a point of looking around the room, before finally turning back to Severus. "I feel abandoned." He drawled dryly. "My … what a big room you have …"

"The better to …" Severus deadpanned, then paused. "…" "…" "… oh, never mind."

"Whaat?" Peter demanded, trying his hardest to hide his grin.

Severus wasn't fooled. "Well, when I couldn't think of anything better than 'the better to seduce you with' …" an eloquent shrug "… I figured the better part of valor was just to concede." Now it was his turn to scan the room. "I assume the – Lupin went after Harry?"

And it was Peter's turn to shrug. "That seems to be the logical conclusion to draw. Now what was it you were saying about tasks and the Quidditch pitch?"

Severus' brows drew together. "I still don't understand why no one else heard. He was speaking in a perfectly normal tone of voice … perhaps a bit quieter than usual, but even though he's a fairly soft-spoken person in general, he's not that inaudible." He gave a brief shake to his head. Dammit. I'm babbling again. "He was saying something about a third task, and how the Quidditch pitch had been turned into a giant maze … until he meandered off on a tangent about someone bringing someone else's body home …"

"His own, perhaps?"

Severus scowled. "No, he distinctly said 'his body', it was definitely someone else. Besides, one of the actual few documented effects of the curse he used is that it completely disintegrates the caster's body after the curse is cast. There wouldn't be a body to take home. An urn, maybe … the documents don't say how complete the disintegration is, after all."

Peter looked faintly green. "On second thought, how about we move on? I prefer to avoid saying or even thinking the words 'Harry' and 'dead' in the same sentence when at all possible."

Point. Severus acknowledged the statement with a small nod, as his pride as both a Slytherin and a Snape wouldn't allow him to assume much the same color for much the same reason.

"And that's about all, before he ran off."

Peter's eyes narrowed in thought. "Hey, why don't you try saying something to him right now?"

"Are you completely daft, Pettigrew? He's not in this room, in case you hadn't noticed … and I really don't feel like informing the entire castle of his return by yelling at the top of my lungs."

"No, I mean …" He waved his hand in a circle, searching for clarification. "Look, every other time Harry's been here, he's had some sort of mental contact with his current 'host', right?"

"It would be hard not to, when we're sharing a head." Severus pointed out dryly.

"Right, so … even now that you're in separate bodies, wouldn't it make sense that the connection was still there? Especially considering that you heard him talking about something no one else could hear?"

"He was speaking aloud."

"I didn't hear a thing. And I wasn't paying extremely close attention, but I'm pretty sure his mouth wasn't moving, either."

"Hmpf." Pettigrew had a point, but damned if Severus was going to actually acknowledge that fact verbally.

:Harry?: He grumbled again about the fact that he still had no idea what the spirit's last name was. He knew it was the only way, but it still felt exceedingly strange to be calling this person that he barely know, and who seemed primarily to have a Gryffindor core, even if he occasionally exhibited some rather Slytherin traits and was certainly a great deal quieter than most Gryffindors he knew, by his first name.

:Yeah?: Came the startled reply. :Severus? Where are … oh. Well, that's certainly interesting.:

:You are feeling better?: Unfortunately, there was no way to make that not sound like concern, though Severus tried his best.

:More or less.: Was the somewhat less than optimal reply. :I believe Remus is a bit hacked off at me, though.:

:Why?: Then, as a new and more alarming thought occurred to him, :Be careful.:

The response to the latter was immediate and fervent. :Severus Snape, you take that back right now! I have absolutely nothing to fear from Remus, even if he was a great deal more angry with me than he is now, even near the full moon when his beastly instincts are at their height – and I'll thank you to notice that we are actually entering the new moon phase.:

:Um …:

:And furthermore, I think it's totally unreasonable and cruel of you to react that way. Remus is just as human as you or I – and perhaps even more, considering how many students in my time are completely convinced you're a vampire or something – :

Snape was assaulted with the brief image of a tall, menacing figure, wearing a billowing black cloak. Just what I always wanted to be when I grew up. He thought to himself, amused. A bat.

: – and though I may be human enough, what with all the stupid pedestals people put me on, it's rare that anyone else seems to share my opinion.: The mental image of a deep breath.

:Yes, it's common sense to stay out of the way of his claws and teeth when he's transformed, since he can't control himself in that state. But when he's in human form, he's human, with slightly heightened senses and greater strength at times. He has a mind, and whether you want to admit it or not, Severus, Remus is certainly one of the most controlled people I've ever known. He's not going to go on a rampage in human form, and since, as I mentioned before, it's a new moon now …:

The sound of a disgusted sigh. :Oh, never mind. You're being a bigot and if you're anywhere near as smart as you pretend you are, you know it.: With the sensation of a door slamming in his face – and the sudden urge to rub his nose from the imagined impact – Harry said no more.

Okay, note to self. Never ever get Harry defensive about Lupin again.

"I take it I was right?" Peter asked dryly as Severus' attention snapped back to the room in general. The Slytherin was slightly disoriented when he realized that the blond Gryffindor had somehow managed to move several feet to one side without his notice.

Severus grunted.

"So what did he have to say?"

The black-haired seventh year suppressed a wince at the memory of how completely he had been told off – by a kid at least three years younger than him! "Rather a lot. Lupin did manage to find him, and evidently is now mad at him for something …"

"Remus? Angry?" Peter blinked multiple times rather rapidly. "… Why?"

Now it was Severus' turn to blink. He looked back on the conversation, but could no longer remember much other than Harry's tirade. Ah! That had been set off because he had warned Harry to be careful. But had he ever actually …?

"… Would you believe that I forgot to ask?"

# # # # #

"Harry!"

Spirit and werewolf turned. "Mr. – Thomas!" Harry exclaimed, eyes and face alike lighting up. Remus felt a momentary pang of … something unfamiliar, something he was hopeless to further identify. It seemed wrong that Harry was smiling so brightly at this unknown … Muggle, most likely, by the clothes he wore.

But that was just plain silly.

The man turned an amused gaze on the werewolf. "Mr. Thomas … well, that's better than nothing, I suppose. You must be Remus Lupin, correct?" He extended his hand. Remus took it, and cautiously shook. "I'm Thomas Evans. Lily's told me much about you."

Now that he had been told, Remus could see a certain family resemblance between the two – not only in the red hair that was a somewhat darker shade on father than daughter, but in the lithe build and the thin, roughly triangular face. "All good, I hope." He replied lightly, entirely unable to dislike this man.

Thomas appeared to ponder this. "Well, you were the member of James' crew she found least objectionable for the longest time … seems like an excellent review to me." The man turned to Harry. "So, what life-threatening adventures have you engaged in since I last saw you?"

"I don't find trouble every day!" Harry protested in a hurt tone of voice. Then, with the smile peeking back through, "Just on alternate Tuesdays." He tilted his head. "What are you doing out here?"

Thomas looked around innocently. "If anyone asks, I'm trying to find a bathroom."

The spirit eyed him doubtfully. "I doubt Dumbledore would have been so remiss as to have given you a suite without one."

"It's … er … in use."

"Well, then." Harry mused. "I suppose it's my duty to show you around. Point out all the nearby bathrooms, just in case you're caught in this dreadful situation ever again."

Getting into the swing of the conversation, Remus ventured, "You know, for a good overview of the castle as a whole, we might want to show him the Astronomy Tower."

Harry nodded firmly. "Definitely a must."

"D'you suppose we should invite Lily along?" He is her father, after all …

The two exchanged Looks that were unfamiliar to Remus. "That won't be necessary." Mr. Evans reassured him. "I'm sure she has other things she'd rather be doing."

"The fewer who know of my presence here, the better." Harry added quietly. "Though there shouldn't be any real trouble as long as he doesn't catch wind of who my host is."

Expecting him to come to the defense of his daughter, Remus was stunned to see Lily's father nodding his agreement. "But …" He protested weakly. "Lily wouldn't do something like that … would she?"

Mr. Evans' continued silence and Harry's addition to it spoke louder than words.

"She's your daughter. Surely you want to spend time with her …?" Remus was no longer even exactly sure why he was protesting. It wasn't like he personally cared whether Lily was there or not … it just didn't seem right. There's a piece to this puzzle I'm missing.

"I don't feel the need to share my whole life with my daughter." Mr. Evans said calmly. "She's had me for the first seventeen years of her life. She can do without me for these few hours." He smiled down at Harry, and Harry smiled back, an expression mingling joy, sorrow, and unexpected bitterness.

A very large piece.

11 January 2004
9 September 2012