Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the wizarding world. I just enjoy visiting it.
Special thanks to my beta reader, AngelAuthor14. Check out her stories, they are good.
Another Night in Front of the Fire:
Severus sat in his office late one afternoon deep in thought. It had been six months since Harry had disappeared and things were going well at Hogwarts. The new students were blending in nicely, both at the pre-school and the upper school.
Of course there were the everyday events that come along with children that had to be handled, but nothing out of the ordinary, with the exception of the Weasley twins. Thinking of his resident pranksters he just shook his head. No one was spared their pranks and the teachers as well as the students watched them warily. But they were good-natured and well liked, and to be honest their pranks weren't really that bad. Nothing like the pranks the Marauders had got up to years ago.
Many of the students were progressing much faster than was expected from children their age. They learned at their own pace and it was a fast one indeed. A few of them, Harry included, would be ready for their OWLs and NEWTs at least two years ahead of schedule, or maybe even earlier.
A stranger coming into the school would think that it was unusually quiet for a school, but just because the children weren't noisy did not mean that they were not communicating. They sent their thoughts to each other across the room, or even across the school.
Harry, Hermione, Jaelle, Draco, and Ron had formed a close-knit group with Neville Longbottom and young Ginny Weasley, a young witch named Luna Lovegood could also be seen with them more often than not.
Harry and Draco were still very interested in potions, and Neville often joined them in the laboratory, providing them with the plants needed to brew their potions. They read every book they could get their hands on that had to do with potions and Severus had made arrangements for them to have access to the library in the Castle for their research.
As he was getting ready to leave his office for the day Stephanie stuck her head around the door. She and Severus had started spending more time together, during school hours and after. He found that talking to her about his problems with the students helped and gradually they had started talking about more personal things. He had begun to look forward to seeing her when he got to his office in the morning and at the end of the day. Not only was she beautiful, she was intelligent and definitely had her own opinions; which she didn't hesitate to share with him. Most of the time they thought alike and both of them were enjoying the friendship.
"Sev, would you and Harry like to join Jaelle and myself for a picnic tomorrow? There is a lovely little spot close to the Forbidden Forest, on the other side of the lake. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I thought it might be good for all of us to spend the afternoon outside."
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea as long as it isn't too close to the Forest we don't want any of the creatures that live there to have us for their picnic," he smiled.
After making plans to meet the following morning Stephanie left and Severus started putting his things away for the night. As he was locking his desk the fire in the fireplace flared green and Merlin's head appeared asking permission to step through.
After taking a seat Merlin looked at him seriously and asked, "Severus, have you talked to Albus recently? Minerva is extremely worried about him and I will admit that I am somewhat puzzled by his behaviour."
"No, I've been extremely busy and haven't talked to him for a week or so. What is the problem?"
"I believe that our Headmaster has something on his mind that is troubling him. He is depressed Severus, and doesn't want to talk to anyone. He has been taking most of his meals in his quarters, and the ghosts tell me that he is spending a lot of nights up in the Astrology tower. They say he paces back and forth for hours or just leans on the tower and looks at the stars. I was hoping that maybe you could shed some light on the subject."
"I don't have any idea at all Merlin," replied the young Headmaster, "but I will see if I can talk to him. Albus is the one everyone goes to with their troubles and he always has a way to make things seem better, maybe one of us can do that for him. The last time Minerva and I appeared in front of the Council they told us that Albus had some tough times ahead of him, maybe this has something to do with that. They also said that Minerva was going to need to be strong for him. I definitely will talk to him over the weekend."
Just then Harry opened the door and came into his father's office. "Dad, I need your help. Oh, excuse me, I didn't know you were busy."
"Quite all right, young man," said Merlin with a smile. "I have a feeling I know why you need to talk to your Dad. I hope you don't mind if I stay for a few minutes?"
"No sir, I don't mind," replied Harry. He then turned to his father. "Dad, could you talk to Madame Pince for us? Draco and I really need to look at a book in the forbidden section and she won't let us."
"Harry, those books are in the forbidden section for a reason. Most of them are about the Dark Arts, you don't need to be reading them," Severus stated with a frown at the boy.
"Dad, why should the Dark Arts be forbidden? How can magic be dark anyway?"
"Because dark wizards use the Dark Arts to do bad things, Harry. They believe that bad magic will give them power and other things. Some of the spells and potions in those books are used to kill people."
"But Dad, that doesn't mean the magic is bad! If a wizard killed someone with a spell that was light magic would that mean it would make the spell bad, or the wizard who used it?"
Severus just stood looking at his son with his mouth open while Merlin chuckled, "Out of the mouths of babes."
Looking at Severus he continued, "young Harry feels the same way as I about this subject, my friend. It isn't the spell that is evil; it is the intent of the wizard using it that makes it do evil. Defence against the dark arts is taught at Hogwarts, but Severus, how can our students truly learn to defend against something that they do not understand? They should be taught more about the Dark Arts along with the Defence classes."
"Learning about the so-called dark magic is not going to make anyone turn dark. And if a witch or a wizard is going to turn dark, they will find a way to learn about it on their own. Having said that, I will be on my way. I need to let Minerva know that I have talked to you. Good night Severus, Harry." With one last wave Merlin stepped into the fireplace and was gone.
Severus looked at the boy who was looking up at him with his mother's green eyes. "Harry, let me think about this for a while and I will let you know, all right? And now, good news! You and I are going on a picnic tomorrow with Stephanie and Jaelle. Do you think you would enjoy that?"
"Yay!" Harry smiled, and excitedly asked, "could we bring Draco too, Dad? He doesn't have anyone to do things like that with him so could he please come with us? I think he would really like it."
His father laughingly agreed and the two of them headed to their quarters for the evening. After dinner the two of them sat in front of the fire. Harry was reading one of his father's books and Severus was reading a novel that had taken the Muggle world by storm. Muggle murder mysteries were his secret passion and he was careful to keep it that way.
Putting his book down he looked at his son and said, "young man, I believe it is time for you to go to bed. We need to be up early, we have a picnic to go to tomorrow."
After Harry was in his pyjamas he tucked him into bed. Smoothing his hair back Severus kissed him and told him goodnight. As he was leaving the room he heard a small voice say "Daddy, I love you."
"I love you too son, more than you will ever know." Closing the door he went back to the couch in front of the fire.
"Severus", he heard a voice and looked up to see Lily standing in front of the window. "You are doing a beautiful job with Harry, he is going to grow up to be a fine man. Don't worry about the things he reads and studies, you have grounded him well enough that you can trust him to always know right from wrong. Harry has got a pure heart and it will always lead him in the right direction."
"Lily, I just am afraid for him. The Dark Arts can be seductive, and I don't want to chance anything happening to him. I could not stand it if I lost him now, he means everything to me."
"I know Severus, but you have to trust him too you know. If you forbid him to study the things he wants to study he will only hide it from you. Harry has a thirst for knowledge that cannot be denied. Let him make his own decisions about things like this my dear friend, then he will never be afraid to come to you for guidance."
"And take good care of your relationship with Stephanie. She is a good woman and I know you care for her. You were meant to be happy Sev, and she is the one who can make you happy. She will be good for my son too. He needs a mother in his life and since I cannot be there for him I know that she will be wonderful for him, for both of you."
With those words Lily was gone. Severus was in front of the fire late that night again.