Chapter 29: Manly Bonding

I managed to get it done by Friday! Yay! This chapter wasn't really in the plans, but as I began writing it just seemed to happen. A lot of stuff needed to be said, so this is a 'talk-y' chapter not an 'action-y' chapter, just to warn you.


Harry was looking around like he was about to get mugged, Severus was striding a few steps ahead of them as if he was incredibly annoyed (though Hermione knew his facial expressions well enough by now that she could tell he was immensely amused by Harry's nervousness), and Hermione was trying to keep a straight face despite her mix of amusement at Harry and butterflies at the idea of what was coming next. The grimy door swung open and they were immediately heralded in by a fit of heavily-accented yelling.

"The prodigal son returns! Why Severus Snape, it's good to...and he has two ducklings this time," Edgar put down the filthy rag he seemed always to be holding and crossed over the bar to shake Severus' hand.

In keeping with how she had been introduced to Edgar, she and Severus seemed to have silently agreed not to tell Harry a thing about where they were going, who would be there, or what would happen when they got there. Harry had been a little perplexed when she had instructed him to put on his trainers and come with her, but in his new state of mind post-ministry he really didn't question Hermione when she asked him to do things. However, now that they were in a random muggle bar in a seedy neighborhood he seemed to be contemplating changing his mind on that.

"Why you look all grow'd up, little missy!" Edgar moved from Severus to Hermione, exaggerating the process of looking her up and down. Hermione felt herself color under his eye, but she stood tall under what she could tell was an inspection only in jest. Harry looked at her with the look a deer would give a large cat just before the cat decided to pounce. Hermione was doing a stoic job at hiding her amusement but she made the mistake of locking eyes with Severus and, seeing her sentiments mirrored in his eyes, couldn't help but laugh at Harry's panicked expression. She and Severus simultaneously let out a snort of laughter, followed by another shared glance and a half-hearted attempt at returning to a neutral facial expression.

When she looked back to Edgar, she immediately froze as his watery blue eyes were staring, seemingly through her, with an intention that had been nowhere to be found in their joking interlude so far. He slowly shifted his gaze to Severus before panning back to Hermione.

"Interesting," he muttered, seemingly to himself, "I wouldn't have put money on it happening this quickly, but at least on one side it's about damn time, so who am I to judge?" Severus was now glaring daggers at the man, in a subtle way that only a Slytherin (or Hermione) could tell how much danger they were actually in. Edgar seemed oblivious or really didn't care. Hermione's eyes widened slightly as they darted towards Harry, but she didn't have to worry because Harry was busy examining the inebriated patron still passed out in his booth at 8am on a Monday, a look of sheer horror residing below his lightning scar.

Edgar saw the line of her eyes, gave a knowing "ahhhhh" and staged a theatrical wink back at her, miming a key turning by his lips. At this point he finally looked over at Severus' increasingly heated glare and, upon seeing the face that would have seen adult wizards on either side of the fight running for cover, promptly burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay, Severus, you can put your hackles down, let's see what you've brought me this year. It'll be hard to top the fun I had training this one though."

At the word 'training' Harry's eyes jerked up, found the ancient punching bag in the back of the bar, and inquisitively landed on Hermione, his look a mixture of admiration and incredulity. She simply laughed and nodded back to him.

Today was shaping up to be a pretty fun first day of summer indeed.


Three hours later when Severus returned he found Hermione on an area of the floor she had obviously wiped up herself, performing her usual post-workout stretches with a smile on her face that showed faint tinges of pride and satisfaction. It must have gone well. Despite the fact that he was an old Muggle barkeep whom Hermione only met a year ago, he knew she valued his opinion and wanted him to be pleased with her progress. Despite Severus' best efforts, he still could not rid his Gryffindor witch of her desire to prove herself to people. He flashed her an approving smile and she beamed back at him.

He started walking towards Edgar, who was rearranging murky bottles at the bar. When Edgar saw him, he flashed Severus a crooked grin and gestured his head, looking over at something in the corner. Severus turned to see a sweaty, rumpled Potter, one trainer on the other off, slouched on the floor with his back against the wall and the bar's proprietary upchuck bucket between his knees. Severus shook his head in a mixture of amusement and distaste, approaching a still-grinning Edgar.

"You appear to have broken Mister Potter, Edgar. I did indicate that I needed him back alive, yes?"

Edgar's smile shone with pride, then Severus saw it falter and tipped his head to inquire.

"What do you know about that one, Sev?" Edgar's smile was now gone and his blue eyes shone with a fierce intensity.

"Not much. He was raised by an aunt and uncle after the death of his parents. Typical middle class family, I believe. Why?"

"There's something he's not telling you then. The reason the lad is over there having indelicate relations with that bucket is because I had to stick to conditioning drills only. You remember when we started out we did a round of technique every time you started to keel over? I tried that with this one and the first time I threw a fake punch at him he flinched like the devil was coming after him."

Severus balked, "If you think the boy is too soft-"

Edgar interrupted him fiercely, "He's not soft, Severus. He's been hit before. He's used to it. It's like it was at first with you, only you fought back even when you knew it wasn't good for you. This one, he's used to taking it. I've seen that look in a man's eyes before. You can't train the body to fight until the mind realizes it's allowed to defend itself."

"And you want me to talk to him? I told you the boy and I don't have a good history…"

"You're cut from the same cloth, Severus. Only where you learned to blame everyone else and developed that anger problem of yours, he learned to blame himself, like he must deserve it somehow. That's why he just takes it. Until he realizes it's not his job to be a breathing punching bag and gets some of that righteous anger you mastered so young, well there's not much I can do with him other than making him fit to beat a rampaging rhino in a foot race."

Severus looked over at Potter with newly-critical eyes. He could see the boy's trainers were dirty and beyond repair. His muggle clothes were an expensive brand, but three or four sizes to big for him. His hair was an uncut mess and he seemed far scrawnier in his muggle clothes than Severus could ever remember him being in his school uniform. Petunia, I knew you were horrible, but I never thought you'd sink that low. Severus sighed a deep sigh of resignation.

"I'll talk to him."


After they had gone back to Grimmauld place, Hermione was still in the shower and Harry was sitting in the library with a book on basic fighting strategy in his lap, clearly the tattered copy Severus had given Hermione when she first started with Edgar. Severus took a silent deep breath and sat down in the chair facing Potter. The boy looked up with confusion on his face, which only intensified when he saw a look he hadn't seen in five years of potions classes. They sat there in silence for a second, Harry obviously growing more uncomfortable by the minute, until Severus spoke.

"You know I knew Petunia when we were children," Severus started, using a tone so free of condescension that Harry almost startled.

"Sir?"

"She was a nasty little girl, no doubt about it. But I always assumed she had good somewhere inside of her. Your mother was so unfailingly kind, I just assumed sisters couldn't be that dissimilar."

"Sir, I don't-" Severus cut him off.

"Why didn't you tell Dumbledore, Potter? We could have done something."

Harry looked for a second like he was going to ask what he was talking about, but after looking at Severus' face his shoulders slumped and he took a deep breath.

"Honestly, Sir, I didn't realize that wasn't normal. I got to Hogwarts and everything was so...I just figured it was how it was with everyone. Then when I started hearing my friends talk about their parents...I just assumed it was because I was forced on them. I still, I guess I don't blame them. They never-" Severus cut him off again, but this time it was with a more cutting, venomous, and cold voice than Harry had ever heard. And with Professor Snape, that was saying something. If his usual voice sent first years running for safety, this one would make even the seventh year Slytherins wet themselves.

"It is never acceptable to hit a child. Never. If they didn't want you, they could have said no. There were options. What happened to you…" Severus paused for a second, taking a deep breath, "...or to me, is not normal. It is not okay. And it was not your fault, any more than it was mine."

Harry could not have looked more flabbergasted if Severus had grown wings and flown around the room.

"Sir, you…?"

"My father was neither a nice, nor a pleasant man, even less so when he drank. My mother was either too weak or too frightened to protect me… or herself. It is not an uncommon story. Those of us who share it often come away with the impression that it was somehow deserved. When I was quite young Edgar taught me that was not the case. Now, it seems, I am a bit late to help your childhood, but I would like to help you not allow it to affect the man you become."

Silence reigned as Severus' words hung heavy in the air between them.

"Why do you hate me, Sir?" Severus' divulgence of personal information seemed to have emboldened Harry to asking the question that had been weighing on him for five years. Severus took a deep breath before answering.

"When you left the Dursleys and escaped to Hogwarts, you immediately found a kindred spirit in Mister Weasley, and later Miss Granger. I did not. A half blood Slytherin walks a treacherous path, so when I developed rivalries I had no support and even fewer witnesses. Imagine trying to teach the future child of Mister Malfoy and you will get an approximation of why you and I didn't start with a blank slate." Harry nodded, still deep in thought. After a few minutes Severus came to the conclusion they were done speaking and got up to leave the room. As he was almost to the door Harry spoke without turning around.

"I'm sorry, Sir. For what he did to you. After what you...I mean we...well, I can't imagine facing Malfoy without Ron and Hermione at my back. I wouldn't stand a shot. It wasn't fair." Severus stopped, but didn't turn around.

"No, it wasn't." Another long pause hung heavy in the air. "Another situation which, yet again, was not your fault."

And with that Severus left the library, leaving Harry alone with a great many thoughts.


When Severus had taken two steps down the hall from the library, he heard a noise behind him. Without turning around, he sighed with frustration.

"Can't you keep your lupine nose out of other people's business?" Remus padded out of the shadows and faced Severus.

"Is it true? What you told Harry?" Severus' huff of frustration was audible.

"What, that my sorry excuse for a father used to use me as a punching bag or that you Gryffindors liked to sneak up on me en masse in an empty corridor?" Severus' eyes flashed dangerously, but instead of meeting his anger in kind, Lupin seemed to deflate. An awkward silence grew between them, Lupin's aggressive stance long gone but his body still blocking Severus' path.

"Thank you for helping Harry. I didn't realize... I mean I should have...He shouldn't have been left...Thank you." Remus looked Severus in the eyes with the spirit of a beta wolf submitting to the alpha. Were Severus not the consummate Slytherin and a practiced spy the sheer shock would have registered on his face. What did eventually emerge was a solemn nod.

"You're welcome. A great deal rides on Mister Potter's shoulders. He needs to be as prepared as possible for us to even hope for a favorable outcome against the Dark Lord." Lupin nodded, his face eerily similar to the one Harry had been wearing when Severus left the library. Severus gestured his head, indicating he would like to get by, and Lupin jumped to the side like an enchanted gargoyle guarding a password-protected door at Hogwarts. Before Severus could disappear down the hall Lupin's voice rang out in the silence.

"I'm sorry, Severus. For what we did to you. It was wrong of us."

Severus didn't speak, but Lupin's words momentarily halted his steps. From behind Lupin could see him nod subtly before he resumed walking and disappeared down the hallway.