You Broke Him, You Fix Him

By Teacherbev

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, I am not a multinational bookselling company, nor am I a multi-million dollar movie company, so I don't own anything that you recognize. I am a retired former teacher who likes to twist plots and play with characters, so enjoy.

AN: Personal note, don't read if you don't want to. I am sorry about the harsh tone of the AN in the last couple of chapters but after receiving a great number of flames, some downright abusive as well as foul I had to complain about several of them to FF/Net who actually removed them because of language. Every one of the most objectionable ones was anonymous. I do not want to turn off permission for anonymous reviews but I might have to. So thank you for your positive reviews, I even appreciate the ones pointing out cannon or grammatical errors or even when I just screw up on my own story line or character name, but the personal attacks are a little bit much since no one has paid anything for this story and it is for your and my enjoyment only. So thank you for your patience and I will try to get back into the mood to write again soon.

Chapter 29: Shifting Loyalties

The eleven landed almost smoothly until Harry overbalanced as usual and pulled the other students down into an undignified heap. Ron and Hermione laughed while the others looked rather surprised. "He battles evil dark wizards, slays a basilisk, and steals an egg from an angry mother dragon, but he can't land on his feet from a simple portkey." Ron quipped at his best friend.

"Oh, shut it you prat," Harry was used to the ribbing so he just struggled to his feet, Amicus complaining loudly at having been fallen on. Lisa turned at looked at Harry, surprise making her eyes wider than normal. "You mean they haven't taught you the trick to landing on your feet after using a portkey or the floo?" She looked askance at the tall Weasley boy who was laughing so hard his face was almost the same color as his hair. "Well that's not very nice of you is it? I thought he was your best mate." She reached over and grabbed Harry's arm, pulling him to the side of the empty salon of Grimmald Place where they had arrived just moments before. "Harry, you don't actually move; you see it's all an illusion of movement, so don't tense up or brace yourself or lean. If you just stand still and let the magic do all of the work you won't fall down."

Harry looked murderously at Ron, the tips of his ears turning red and his eyes beginning to glow an eerie luminescent green that was downright frightening. "You great bloody git! Were you ever going to tell me or was it just too much fun laughing at me?"

Ron put his hands up defensively as he started to stutter in his haste to explain. "Well we all knew that you had never been taught…I mean you were raised muggle…and we all…that is Dean and Seamus…and me, well we thought it was kinda…funny…you know about how you are so bloody brilliant at everything…." His voice trailed off as he turned tail and ran out of the room, an irate Harry at his heels screaming at him like a banshee.

Molly Weasley was standing right outside the door as the two peeled around the corner, and reached out both arms to hug the boys but Ron had too many years of escaping his mother to be caught; he simply ducked under her open arms and continued, running up the stairs, three steps at a time in his haste to escape. Harry wasn't so lucky and ran right into a smothering hug, thankful that he had grown enough that his head was no longer embarrassingly buried right between her amble breasts and that he was actually taller that the short, plump woman.

"Let me look at you, child. My how you have grown and you look healthy thank Merlin. The island certainly agreed with you!" She pushed him back just far enough to inspect him carefully, her hands still holding both his shoulders in a surprisingly powerful grip as she beamed at him. She let go of one shoulder and stroked her free hand through his messy hair as she clucked over him. "How is it your hair never lays flat? Were you born with your hair sticking up all over?" Remus and Sirius just laughed as they exited the salon, following Ron and Harry at a much slower rate. The rest of the group was right behind them and stopped to listen to the cheerful conversation.

"As a matter of fact he was born with that mop. Drove Lily mad it did. She tried everything, even muggle hairspray but nothing worked for either Harry or James' hair." Remus said as Sirius nodded in support.

Hermione looked at her friend and thought back over the years she had known him as something strange occurred to her. "Harry, have you ever tried to grow your hair longer, see if a little more length gives it enough weight to lie flat?"

"No Hermione you know I haven't. The last time I had a haircut I was about nine and my aunt cut it herself with the kitchen sheers the night before school started. It was a mess, little bits of hair sticking up and almost bald everywhere else but my fringe. I was so upset and worried that I spent all night locked in my cupboard crying and wishing my hair would return to normal. And by morning it was all grown back just like always. If it hadn't been the first day of school she said she would have locked me up for two weeks, as it is I had to spend any time not at school locked in my cupboard." Harry had found it almost cathartic over the last three weeks to speak about his dreadful treatment at the hands of his relatives. Since everyone already knew his innermost secrets it felt as if a huge weight he had not even been aware of had lifted off of him.

Tonks came over and stretched up a hand to run her hand through his short hair. "You do know Harry that's not normal don't you…even for wizards?" She tipped his chin up from where he had ducked his head down and looked him straight in the eye. "You and I are going to have some serious discussions this summer about being a metamorphmagus, because I'm the only other one who never needs a haircut that I know of, well except men who are totally bald maybe."


Albus had made a sizeable dent in the massive amount of paperwork that seemed to materialize on his desk every time his back was turned by Saturday afternoon so he decided that a short visit to Grimmald Place would be a good reward. The travelers had returned late last night after their time at Tir na nOg. It had only been two days of real time but it meant that Harry had almost a month while everyone else had three weeks to relax and heal mentally and physically. He had a strong suspicion that Severus had never found the courage to tell Harry about his culpability in his initial collapse and he wanted the matter confessed to before the group returned to Hogwarts. It would not do to let the knowledge fester between the two and he didn't wish to witness the explosion of anger that would most likely result should Harry learn the truth through a casual mention from someone else. Albus knew that too many people knew of the matter for it to remain a secret much longer.

Albus stepped through the grate into the kitchen just as Dobby and Molly were putting the finishing touches on a magnificent tea. He nodded greetings to them as he stole a delectable petit four covered with pastel pink frosting, popping it into his mouth with a sigh of enjoyment; he picked up a lemon yellow one to eat on his way out the door. "Albus, you wait for the others…" Molly's half hearted rebuke faded as the door closed behind him.

"Ah, Severus just the man I was hoping to speak with." Albus spotted the tall man just as he was leaving the Black library, his nose buried in some ancient text, judging by the yellowing of the pages and the traces of dust that still remained.

Snape just looked up and lifted one elegant eyebrow at his friend as he stopped walking and stood just outside the door while Albus finished walking up the stairs toward him. Snape could feel the intense scrutiny the older man was giving him.

"Do I pass inspection then, Albus?" A hint of sarcasm touched the otherwise mild words.

"Yes, yes I am pleased to see you fully recovered, my boy. I will not deny that you gave me quite a scare. It still makes my heart shudder when I remember my first sight of you lying so still, bloody and beaten on Arabella's couch. I am so sorry for sending you there, but even sorrier for sending Harry there so many times. I was so arrogant, so certain that any decision I made would be for the best that I gave no credence to the stories and rumors that circulated about Harry and his relatives. Can you forgive an old man his arrogance and foolishness?" Albus looked every bit his age as he stood head bowed and contrite before the younger man.

"I can not condemn you for the same arrogance and unwillingness to confront the truth when I am just as guilty, now can I? At least you wished the boy no harm and your error was because you have always seen the good in everyone and cannot comprehend that evil that some can inflict upon their own innocent children. I have no such excuse; I know full well how…abusive…some parents can be. I know the signs and yet refused to give them credence, let alone actually investigate for proof." Severus waited patiently, his hands clasped tightly behind his back as he waited for the man to acknowledge the truth of his words.

"Well, let us vow to do our best to never repeat our mistakes together then shall we?" Albus moved up to the waiting man and ushered him back into the empty library, looking around to make sure the room was really empty, he pulled his wand and cast a privacy spell to ensure the confidentiality of their conversation.

As the two men took seats on comfortable armchairs across from each other, Albus leaned forward, his hands upon his knees as he looked deeply into Snape's eyes, willing the younger man to know without a doubt of his support and love for the man he considered a son in many ways. "It is pleasing to see you look so healthy, child. I don't believe I have ever seen you looking better. And wearing colors, oh my Perenelle has really wrought a miracle!" Snape twisted his mouth in annoyance. "And a tan of all things, she must have really threatened to get you outside enough to gain a bit of color." Albus was chuckling at the other's discomfort.

"I am sure that my attire, no matter how sartorially pleasing to you, has not precipitated your visit this afternoon or the privacy charm you have just cast over this conversation." Snape's dry wit was still evident as he used words to show his displeasure at the man's comments, no matter how accurate they were. Especially about the threats that Perenelle had indeed issued, backed up by Poppy's very loud outspoken approval and support. The two women had conspired with the willing help of the blasted elves to forcibly bar him from the manor every afternoon while the children were busy in lessons. At least the vile creatures had allowed him to just sit in the mild sun and read without interruption besides making sure he never ran out of snacks and chilled juice; which had been rather pleasant though he would never admit any such thing to anyone while a single breath remained within him.

Albus turned serious once more. "No, I daresay you are correct in your assumptions. What I wish to speak of is a much more difficult and unpleasant subject. Am I correct in assuming you have not discussed with young Mr. Potter your actions…concerning the pensive…that precipitated the entire sordid incident?"

Snape had the grace to look ashamed as he simply shook his head no. "I am sorry Severus but I insist that you tell Harry about your actions before the two of you return to school or he learns of the fallacy of your 'memory' from someone else. It is no secret to most of those residing here and a simple remark could destroy the fragile peace that you two have managed to salvage from your shared experiences. I will also insist that Harry accept some of the blame for going uninvited into a pensieve, but I will admit that it is partly my fault for not explaining how very private pensieved memories are, and the unacceptability of invading another's privacy in such a blatantly rude fashion. When Harry accidentally fell into my pensieve during his third year I did not explain it to him and for that I apologize to you, just as I shall apologize to him for not taking the time to explain. And yes, I know that incident was totally an accident, the images were floating above the pensieve and he simply leaned too close to see something he had never seen before and simply fell in. The portraits informed me of the events as soon as I returned to my office after Minerva informed me she had sent Harry up unescorted to wait for me."

As Albus looked down his long crooked nose at him, Snape gathered up his thoughts before tacitly agreeing. "I will do as you request, Headmaster." Both of them knew it was not a request but an order, and Snape's use of his formal title let them both know the order was understood and would be followed, no matter how distasteful or embarrassing it might be. Dumbledore simply patted Snape's knee and stood up speaking over his shoulder as he left the man sitting morosely in his chair. "I'll just send Harry in to you now then, shall I?"

Snape just nodded in defeat, his mind devising and discarding different scenarios about how he could tell the Gryffindor about his duplicity and still maintain the fragile trust that was just beginning to burgeon between them.


Draco had asked his mother to help him draft a reply to the missive from his cousin accepting his offer of support and granting Sirius Black the authority and fealty required by his formal acceptance of the man's offering of name and family. It had taken several hours, interrupted by a very pleasant and filling lunch before the two returned to the task. Draco and Narcissa wanted the formal acceptance of wardship in place and duly signed and registered at the Ministry and Hogwarts before Draco had to return on Sunday afternoon to Hogwarts for many reasons, not the least, protection from his fellow Slytherins.

With a theatrical sigh of relief, Draco sealed his acceptance letter into the heavy vellum envelope his mother had provided and sent it off with the owl that had belonged to him personally rather than the Malfoy estate. He kissed his mother gently on the cheek, giving her his unspoken thanks for her help and ran up the stairs hoping to entice Pansy out into the glorious spring afternoon. It wouldn't matter if they had to take their school books and continue their studies, somehow being outside and in the sun while they read would make it much better.


Amelia Bones had been quite pleased with her efforts in drafting a new law for underage magic use which she had presented to Scrimgeour before leaving early on Friday afternoon to spend a long weekend with her niece Susan. She had been her guardian ever since the young girl's parents had been killed in the last war, in many ways her niece was even closer than a daughter would have been. She looked over at her niece who was curled up on her favorite chair, reading a Witch Weekly magazine and twirling her hair absently with her fingers as she read.

"Susie, I want you to know that you can always come to me with anything." She spoke softly but the teenage witch looked up at her when she broke the peaceful silence of the afternoon.

Susan smiled at her aunt's use of her old childish nickname. "I know that, Auntie Am. I always have known that. What brings it up now though?" Susan had replied with her own nickname for her aunt when she had been much younger and Amelia had been too much of a mouthful for a toddler.

"I was just thinking of all the recent trials and how everyone was hiding secrets from everyone else and I didn't want that between us, because I love you, you know." Susan got up and walked over to give her aunt a hug and sit down beside her on the sofa. "I love you too, Auntie. I always have." She reached over and kissed her aunt's cheek. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?" She smiled impishly. "Of course, if you really, really loved me you would take me out for ice cream instead of just sitting here reading."

Amelia smiled deeply, thankful her Susan never had and never would go through the horrors that Harry Potter had before standing and taking her niece to Diagon Alley for the afternoon, enjoying herself after the hard but satisfying work of the last two years.


Sirius had received the owl with Draco's acceptance letter that afternoon as soon as he had returned from the island and now he was just waiting for the right moment to tell Harry that he would be…well not 'brothers' but maybe… 'cousins' with his school nemesis and that he would be expected to not only tolerate the boy but somehow make his peace and perhaps even form an alliance. Sirius had only met the boy once or twice before he was thrown into Azkaban but he had no doubts that the stories the children had told about his new wards attitude and personality were all too accurate. He pulled the carefully written missive out of his inner robe pocket and read it again.

Dear Uncle Sirius,

I am most humbly grateful to you for your support and encouragement. It is with heartfelt gratitude that I write to accept your most generous offer of support. I will abide by your terms and welcome your offer of guidance and familial support.

I look forward to meeting you upon our return to Hogwarts and am most grateful for the truce offered to me by your adopted son, Harry Potter-Black. I also offer my hand in peace and vow to change and honor the truce between us.

Thank you, sir for your support, both financial and familial to both my mother and myself during these most trying and turbulent times.

Your nephew,

Draco Black

The second page in the envelop had been strictly formal and Sirius had scrawled his own signature across the bottom in acceptance before the letter flashed in a burst of golden magic and vanished to be instantly recorded and filed with the proper department in the ministry. Sirius knew the self updating records at Hogwarts and elsewhere in the magical community would also change at that moment, signifying the change in Draco's name and status.

I, Draco Amgius Malfoy,

do hereby renounce and condemn my biological father, Lucius Malfoy, and abdicate and repudiate the name of Malfoy.

I accept and confirm the offer of Lord Sirius Orion Black, Baron Blackmoor to become his ward and charge; to submit to his control, to follow his guidance, and to become his ward in thought, word and deed for all time.

I swear to these things with all my heart, mind and magic.

Draco Amgius Black

Sirius sighed and went to find Harry to tell him the news about Draco and hopefully to plan some strategies together to smooth the awkward times he knew would occur soon.


Harry ducked his head inside the library and then entered when he found Professor Snape sitting lost deep in thought, his fingers steepled in front of his face, thumbs just touching his chin while his large nose rested on his forefingers as he stared, unblinkingly ahead.

"Professor Dumbledore told me you wanted to talk to me Professor?" Harry asked with much more respect than he would have just a month ago before all of this mess started. He felt overwhelming relief as the hatred and rage that had once surged at the very sight of the greasy haired man didn't occur; he had been afraid their truce and the lack of emotional discord between them would reoccur simply because they were off of his grandparent's island.

Severus sighed and pointed to the chair that Albus had just vacated. "Please, sit down. We have much to discuss, Mr. Potter," Severus' voice was flat, lacking the usual vitriol and spite, but still not welcoming or even overtly pleasant.

"You were calling me Harry in my mind and then on the island, could you call me Harry now. My relatives never called me anything but Potter or freak…or…well. I don't really want to repeat what they called me. I'm sure you heard it from them if you were disguised as me." Harry gave a small smile, hoping to regain some of the understanding and tolerance their shared experiences had forged.

"As you wish, Harry and you may call me Severus but only in private as you did in your mind." Harry just nodded, unwilling to irritate the man before him. Snape seemed to be deep in thought and whatever he was thinking about it didn't seem to be too pleasant to him.

"I must confess my deceit to you Harry and I hope that you are willing to listen to the entire explanation and my apology before speaking if you might." Snape was actually going to apologize to him? Harry thought he must have heard the man wrong but he nodded anyway.

"The incident that you viewed in the pensieve was not…entirely…accurate. I admit the very sight of you brought back the most painful and embarrassing moments of my own school days and I refused to even entertain the idea that you might not be exactly like your father since you looked exactly like him. I mistook your willingness to stand firm in your beliefs as arrogance. I was…mistaken. You look like your father and have a few of his mannerisms and expressions, but your heart and your conscious is pure Lily, which tormented me even further since I was in love with your mother. No, I never gathered up the courage to admit it when we were younger and studied together and then when your father finally grew up some, she chose him without ever knowing about my feelings." Harry looked stunned as Snape continued; too stunned to interrupt the man even if he had wanted to.

"Your father and his friends tormented and harassed me during all seven years we attended school together, and I was filled with blinding jealousy of him every time I saw James and Lily together. I was not blameless by any stretch of the imagination but the pranking quickly became vicious and malicious rather than harmless pranks like the Weasley twins do. It is funny to be turned into a canary or to have blue hair for example, it is cruel and embarrassing to have someone relentlessly highlight every shortcoming and fault that you have to the entire student population when you have no means of retaliation. I was a loner, a pariah even in my own house Your father was a wealthy, bright student and very talented at Quidditch. He had people following him, idolizing him and doing all of the things I wrongly accused you of doing. The teachers loved him but barely tolerated and in some cases downright loathed me. My father beat the dark arts into me before I was even old enough to know what they were. So in first year when your father shot me in the hallways with a jelly legs curse, I retaliated with a bone breaking hex. I had wobbly legs for about five minutes; your father had a broken leg and ankle. I was condemned by everyone and I blamed it all upon your father. When his three friends retaliated, I felt justified in developing more and more potions that became increasingly embarrassing to the unwilling victim."

Snape took a drink of tea after re-warming the cup that was sitting on a small table to the side of his chair. He looked at the boy sitting shocked speechless in front of him and sighed before continuing his confession. "Let us just say that by the end of seventh year, we would gladly have murdered each other without thinking twice about it. I suspect that you and Draco would be at the same if you actually started any of your confrontations. I confess that I actually do know who starts the fights by his constant taunting and harassing of you, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, but with my connection to the dark lord and Mr. Malfoy there was little that I could do about stopping the harassment. And to be truthful, I did not want to admit even to myself of my bias. Every time I saw your face I saw your father and his arrogance, but it is your mother's eyes that haunt me with what never was and can never be, a wife and family of my own. I admit it was the thought that you should have died and she should have lived that caused most of my tormenting you, your father was merely a convenient excuse."

Harry swallowed hard, not sure if he knew what to say to the man. Their conversation was longer and more civil than anything he could ever remember having. He nodded his understanding of what the man was confessing to him and waited for Snape to continue.

"The point of this whole painful confession is this. The memory that you witnessed did not actually occur. I was the one who turned your father upside down that day. There were many instances of humiliation and torment but I must admit most of the truly disgusting behavior was from my side, rather than your fathers. He tended to prank me and the other Slytherins with mostly harmless but embarrassing physical pranks, while I used more subtle but painful retaliations. And the worst of the harassment was the mutual animosity between your godfather and myself which was encouraged by my family in particular as well as all of the other Slytherins who considered him a blood traitor."

Harry sat in silence, trying to digest all that he had just heard, but finding his mind incapable and unwilling to think straight. "It was a lie? It was all a lie?" He looked up in a combination of anger and …hope?

Snape nodded, afraid to speak as the ever changing emotions flashed across the boys face. "I knew you couldn't resist entering the pensieve, Albus told the staff about your accidental incursion in his during the Tri-Wizard tournament. I set a trap that I knew would be irresistible to you. And then I arranged to leave my office to set off the trap. I did not expect your reaction nor did I know about what you had suffered at the hands of your relatives. I cannot say with any certainty that knowledge of the Dursleys treatment would have changed my behavior towards you, but I cannot but hope that it would have. No one, no matter who their parents are, should be forced to live through that hell."

Severus stopped talking; hoping he had not overwhelmed the boy again, but he knew from the last three weeks spent with the child on top of the hours they had spent alone in the empty landscape of Harry's own mind, that the boy was much stronger than he had ever been in his life before.

Harry looked calculatingly at the oddly quiet man sitting in front of him and nodded just once, barely moving his head. "Thank you for telling me, Professor. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to think about everything you have just told me." Without another sound, Harry left the room, intent upon finding Amicus and sending a message to his grandparents for their advice, leaving a quiet man who was certain the fragile peace between them had been shattered irrevocably and oddly sad about that fact.


Harry and his friends were all quiet in their own ways on the train back to Hogwarts on Sunday, for once they had even arrived early at the station, but that was probably because Dobby and Winky were in charge of returning all of their luggage to the school, so everyone only carried a small bag with a few items to entertain themselves and a set of school robes to change into. Harry, Hermione and Ginny were all reading ahead in their textbooks, Harry and Hermione for their upcoming O.W.L.'s and Ginny because she had a huge Arithmancy test looming over her for next Friday's class. Lisa and Ron were quietly playing chess, it appears that Lisa wasn't quite as good a player as Ron or Sirius, but she was close and she challenged Ron in a way none of his other house mates ever could.

For the first time in a long time, everyone was looking forward to the return to school, no Umbridge, no Filch, Sirius as the new DADA teacher and who knew what changes amongst the Slytherins after the exposure of their death eater parents had been made very public over the last two weeks. Harry for once was well rested, well fed and found that the release of the bind on his magic and the Mother's blessing that his grandmother had given him in combination with all of the organizing and studying of the knowledge from all of his previous years he had done whilst stuck in his own mind; he was having no problem assimilating and fully understanding any new information.

Hermione however was beginning to panic. She had shared lessons with Harry and Lisa on the island, and Harry had easily outpaced her in learning, even in subjects he hadn't even taken before like ancient runes and Arithmancy. He no longer had to even study in transfiguration, DADA or charms and there were no words to begin to describe his new insight and abilities in potions, particularly since he had soaked up the intensive training that Nicholas had given them all. She just hoped she could keep up for she knew she no longer was top of all of their classes, not just DADA like before. She had several long talks with both Perenelle and Professor McGonagall to help her over her unreasoning need to excel and be the best, but she still couldn't help feeling a little unneeded by the new Harry.


Draco and Pansy had made certain to talk to every Slytherin student they could find on the Hogwarts Express, wanting to sound out their housemates in the neutral territory of the train rather than in their isolated common room after the returning feast later that night. So far they had managed to extract pledges of neutrality from most of them in return for Draco dropping his pattern of harassment and superiority, which wasn't too hard, since Draco's entire world, including his family heritage and birthright had been shattered and then stripped from him in just the last two weeks. They had even managed to forge a couple of truces and might have even taken the first tentative steps towards a few new friends from amongst the Slytherin students they had mostly ignored in the past. No one seemed surprised that Crabbe and Goyle would not be attending, without the support of the corrupt members in the Department of Magical Education there would be no way for them to pass even the minimum of three O.W.L.'s needed to continue. But to be truthful, no one would actually miss his rather stupid but blocky 'bookends', not even Draco.

With only about another half hour ride before they reached the station at Hogsmeade, Draco left Pansy with her friends Daphne and Millicent before going down the long corridor looking for the compartment that contained Potter and his friends. He saw them in the next compartment, heads bent over chess and books so he drew himself up and took several deep breaths, mustering all of the courage he could for the coming meeting, hoping it wouldn't digress into a confrontation, but not expecting much of anything pleasant from his former nemesis who was now the very powerful son of his liege Lord.

He slid the compartment door open, his hands up and open, to show he was holding nothing and posed no threat to the occupants now looking up curiously at him in surprise to see him without his ever present bodyguards. He bit his lower lip before shutting his eyes, gathering his courage and his thoughts before beginning to speak.


AN: I believe there will be one more chapter, perhaps two depending upon how long it takes to reach the end of the year. I will be continuing on Paddy's Little Pup but I don't know if I should start a new Shaun Snape beginning with his sorting or begin to post a totally new story that is floating around in my head, but whichever one it is, it will begin soon. Thank you for all of those who have read this and an especially big thank you for those who have made the effort and taken the time to review.