October 8th, 1995
—S—
It was well past curfew, and while Severus had never allowed himself to mark essays this late, he'd been falling behind. Not that curfew meant all that much to him, but it was always amusing (and good for one's vile image) to go stalking the corridors shortly after the hour mark to catch students who were trying to make their way back from where ever they were running late from. But not tonight. He'd been called to give a report three times already to one master, thankfully with just enough intel to only receive a quick blast of the cruiciatus curse. Nothing like some of the others were getting for their failure to find a way in to retrieve the prophecy, nor those who were supposed to be plotting the release of the Azkaban bound Death Eaters.
This, of course, meant that when he returned to Hogwarts to speak with his other, less vicious but no less cruel master, he would lose time to do the work of a professor. Hogsmeade weekends, and detentions, plus visits from his wife and son had started to cause Severus to put off marking more and more. And so, he sat, in his office, a tumbler of fire whiskey at his right, being nursed carefully, a near empty pot of red ink to his left, allowing easy access to re-dip his quill.
He nearly knocked over what little remained with the knock on his door.
He groaned quietly. Please don't be Umbridge. Please, please don't be Umbridge.
"Enter." He called, focusing on the essay in front of him and avoiding having to see who was coming in.
It startled him to see Harry Potter crossing his threshold.
"Ten points for being out past curfew, Mr Potter." He said automatically, though it had absolutely none of the bite he would have used had they been in the corridors. He set his quill down and looked the boy over. He looked a bit wind swept and bedraggled, and he was not in his school uniform. Severus wasn't sure what to make of the sight, especially when it seemed Potter himself wasn't sure why he was there. "What is it?" Severus asked.
"I'm not sure who else to talk to about it." The boy said quietly. "I've told Sirius, and he was… he was unsure what to do the first time. Said if it happened again, I should talk to Dumbledore. But, even if I wanted to tell him now, I couldn't, because Umbridge watches everything, and I don't need her getting anything back to the ministry."
Severus hummed in agreement, not even caring for Potter's lack of respect or title when mentioning the toad.
"I had told Dumbledore, but he didn't seem… concerned? I guess?"
"I'm afraid I'm not kept informed of your every discussion. What is it that you wish to speak to me about?"
"My scar," Potter said, gesturing to it. "It's been hurting, and when it does, I get feelings of what the Vol- er, what Riddle is feeling."
Severus' control allowed his face to remain impassive, all the while he was screaming inside. In frustration, because this was something that Dumbledore should have shared with him. In fear, for this was Lily's son, Sirius' godchild, his own as well in a way, and feeling another person's emotions like that was. Not. Normal.
"What do you mean?" He asked quietly, and Severus realized a moment later that that was normally the tone of his threats. Potter, for his part, didn't seem to know whether he should be pissed or scared. "Sit, Potter." Severus said more gently, "And help me understand what you mean by, how he's feeling. How do you know…."
"Dumbledore said, after he returned, my scar would hurt whenever he was near, whenever he would feel hate.'
"And has that all that you've been feeling? His hatred?" Severus frowned.
"No. Not… not hatred. More like… anger. Tonight was something … it was… it was like he was angry, but impatient, too. I dunno, but it was different last month. Last month, when I felt it… I didn't realize until tonight that it was some kind of joy."
Severus swallowed. A month ago? He was summoned around then, and the Dark Lord had been disgustingly pleased with his report. Potter earning detentions from the Ministry's sadistic pet toad, worrying too much about Quidditch and not enough about defending himself against anything. Being a normal teenager, unprepared for the world. He hadn't anything more, so it had caused him to have one of those brief bouts of torture the Dark Lord was so fond of dishing out this incarnation, but he had had a good night.
Potter sensed that? How could that be?
Severus tapped his finger on his desk, studying Potter, namely his scar.
"Do you sense anything else?"
"Well," Potter shifted, "I've, ah, had dreams in the past. Dreams that I've seen him, from somewhere low. And those, they've all… they've all been real. Like, after I find out…." Potter trailed off, the blush to his cheeks bright and burning.
Severus didn't want to discredit him, though he had to admit that the dream thing sounded odd. But then again, sensing someone from a distance when they weren't bonded was also odd. Potter had his moments of temper, to be true, but nothing like the Dark Lord. He couldn't possibly have been imprinted on. Unless….
"Potter, have you heard of Occlumency?" he asked the boy, and was unsurprised to see Potter shake his head. He nodded. "My wife, and I, when we were in our fifth year, were taught the art of Occlumency. This is the practice of shielding your mind from invasion, and if you can perfect it, offer slightly altered or fragments of memory to miss direct the Legilimens That is, the person invading your mind."
"Like… like mind reading?"
"The mind is not a book to be opened at will and read at leisure. The mind is a complex, many layered thing, Mr Potter. Muggles may refer to it as mind reading, though it is up to the legilimens to interpret what they see correctly."
"And your wife had to learn this, too?"
"It was imperative that she did, for she had secrets that she had to keep hidden from all. When she was taught, it was initially with the intention of keeping those secrets secure should she somehow find herself captured. It became ever more important when she foolishly decided to join her life with mine."
"How loving."
"She knows my opinion." Severus said casually and was mildly surprised to see Potter smirk. "She is not as skilled as I, yet she has had her mind invaded by the Dark Lord on more than one occasion and has successfully occluded him. I tell you this, Potter, because I think it is quite likely you will need to learn it."
Potter blanched. "How?"
"I will teach you." Severus replied evenly, seeing the look of utter shock on Potter's face. "I will send you word when I am able to do so."
"Thank you, Professor." Potter replied. "And thank you for listening. For truly listening, and not merely brushing this off. It's… I appreciate it."
Severus nodded, not sure what to say. The Harry Potter who entered the castle five years ago, admittedly, was likely the same boy (or more accurately, young man) that stood before him now. A bad first day, combined with the copy of his nemesis with his best friend's eyes, seeming to be paying no attention what-so-ever, had cemented Potter as "just like his father." Arrogant, self-righteous, believing himself above it all, Severus would not hesitate to confess he disliked the boy.
Aurora's opinion had swayed him somewhat, and Draco's eventual migration to Potter's side had helped a touch more. Even Sirius' influence, a good one despite how Black was as a teenager himself, had shaped Harry Potter into a decent young man. And becoming wise. Influence from friends not in Gryffindor was doing wonders.
Severus leaned forward and snatched up his quill and a scrap of parchment, "This will keep you out of trouble with Mr Filch, or Professor Umbridge, should you encounter either of them. The other professors, should they stop you, will likely not need written proof of your coming to pay me a visit.
"Thank you, sir." Potter said, waiting for Severus to finish with the hall pass.
As Severus handed it to him, he hesitated in the action until Potter met his eyes. "You speak of our conversation to only those you trust to keep it quiet. Aurora and Draco, I know, can keep quiet."
"Understood." Potter said, and Severus could see by the look in his eyes that he really did understand. He gave Potter the hall pass and watched as the young man left.
When the door closed, Severus let out a heavy sigh. A flick of his hand, and the door bolted shut, and a ward was raised in order to allow him knowledge should anyone attempt to visit him.
He then rose from his desk, marking forgotten, and headed to his floo. A pinch of powder tossed in the grate, "Eyre Cottage," he announced before stepping into the Green flames.
He whirled through the system, then was expelled through the fireplace of a warm, cozy sitting room. The light was just enough for reading, and the room was quiet. The scent of strong, fragrant tea hit his nose, as well as the lingering aroma of lasagna.
"Severus?" Hermione said from where she was stretched out on the divan, the book she'd been reading closing as she seemed to hesitate rising.
He moved to her side. "Potter, Harry, he says he's sensing the Dark Lord." He knelt down, seeing the fear and confusion in his wife's eyes. "They're connected. And while I know Potter's blood was used to resurrect him, it couldn't possibly have been enough to connect them like that."
Hermione frowned. "Harry had always had a pain in his scar, though, whenever the Dark Lord was near. I remember it pained him greatly in our first year, because of Quirrell. I don't remember if his scar hurt his second year, with the near resurrection."
Severus' heart dropped to his stomach, further and further with each word his wife said. "It's always pained him?" He whispered, and she nodded. "And there was a near resurrection of him before, using his old diary. And when it was destroyed…. Shit!" He rose to his feet and spun toward the fireplace. A flick and swish of his wand, and four ethereal lionesses departed in different directions.
He heard Hermione shifting on the divan behind him, but he watched the floo instead.
Minerva was the first through, dusting herself off and stepping aside. Alastor apparated in beside the mantel, as did Lupin. Sirius came by floo, a slight bit disheveled, in merely an oxford and his trousers.
"Severus, what's going on?" He asked, looking around at the gathered ensemble.
With a heavy sigh, Severus waved his wand once more, pulling chairs and transfiguring them into something more comfortable, arranging them into a circle. He gestured for them all to sit, turning and taking the spot on the divan beside Hermione. He hung his head for a moment, gathering his thoughts, trying to figure out how to say what he knew.
"What is said in this room cannot be repeated. Try never to think on it in anyone's presence but ours. We five should be the only ones to know, or to know we have these suspicions."
"That sounds distinctly like a lack of trust." Lupin observed.
"It is." Severus replied flatly. "But I believe that we are the only ones who truly have Potter's best interests at heart."
"So, what's going on, then?" Sirius asked.
Severus took another fortifying breath. "Potter came to me this evening with some distressing information." He said, then relayed what Harry had told him. He watched as concern and fear mingled on the faces of those around him, knowing then that not even the slightest bit of this information had reached their ears. He went on to add the information Hermione had given him, pertaining to Potter's first two years.
"So." Sirius started as if the wind had been knocked out of him. "So, when Harry said he'd been having dreams… what does this mean? He told me about the one he had last year, the one that turned out to be prophecy, not just a strange one. What… what is going on?"
"I think," Severus began, not sure if he wanted to say out loud the thoughts churning in his mind. Instead, he decided, he would backtrack. Let them figure it out. "Back, way back, in the first war, after the Potter's had gone into hiding, there had been a meeting of the inner circle. At this point, it was starting to look a bit of a draw between the light and the dark, and some of the most loyal of his followers expressed a need for him to declare a successor. They wanted the wizarding world purified, and while they would never think anyone but the Dark Lord to be the perfect leader for such a cause, they feared what would happen should the Dark Lord fall. He assured us, then, that he would never perish. That he was to live forever, that he took measures to ensure that. He wouldn't say how, of course, but not long after, he bestowed upon the Malfoys and the LeStranges gifts that he asked they keep safe. Shortly after that, Regulus had disappeared." This he said to Sirius. "I've no idea what happened but is wasn't long after the Dark Lord had asked Regulus for the use of your house elf."
An idea seemed to spark in Sirius' mind, but before he could allow his thoughts to be voiced, Alastor spoke up.
"And Albus knew."
"Of course." Severus said. "And not long after that meeting, Horace Slughorn announced his retirement. Which is how I earned my position as Slytherin Head of House and was forced to put my mastery to use teaching children. It was, of course, for the best as the Dark Lord had been trying to find a way to have someone close to Dumbledore and believed it the perfect opportunity to spy." He looked to Moody, seeing the former auror having cottoned on to something, his mind working to put the puzzle pieces together. It was time to let the last of what Severus knew be known to the others, in hopes that he was not the only one thinking as drastic as he was. "When the Dark Lord fell, Albus informed me he would rise again. He was very confident that this was the case, and I had doubted it for ten years, until the first, near resurrection."
"And what does this have to do with Harry?" Lupin asked, his voice small.
"Potter and the Dark Lord are connected." Alastor said.
"More so than that prophecy said?" Sirius asked.
"Sounds like. What was it, exactly? Does anyone remember? We may be watching over the bloody thing, but none of us can actually use it." Alastor asked.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not." Severus sighed, "That was all I got to hear before Aberforth kicked me out, thinking I was eavesdropping for ill intention. I thought, perhaps, I heard something about one not dying if the other is living, but that… that seems…."
"Fuck!" Alastor roared, standing, stomping around in a circle. "Fuck! He roared again, whirling around on the lot of them. "Do you have any idea what this means? Do you have any idea who all you've said, what all this could fucking mean?"
Before anyone could answer, a small voice said, "A horcrux."
Severus, and likely the rest of the room, turned to the stairs where a little figure sat in the shadows of the steps.
"Leonidas." He said.
"What are you doing out of bed?" Hermione asked, but Severus wanted to know something more pressing.
"How do you know what a horcrux is?"
He could see the shoulders of his son shift in a shrug, "I read about it in a book."
"What book could you have possibly read that from?" He demanded.
Leo shifted down the stairs so that once he made it to the landing he was standing. In his buttoned-up pajamas, he seemed much smaller than nearly eleven. His shifting from foot to foot was nearly childlike. "There was a book at grandmothers." He said to the floor. "It was really old, and kinda dusty. I don't think she knew it was there. I flipped through it, and, well, I read that they were a magic too awful to speak of. But they allowed someone to live forever, even if their body was defeated, it said that much. Nothing about how to make one, or what happens when you do, just…."
"That is serious dark magic you're reading about, lad." Moody said, and Leo looked up at the grizzly wizard with a shy smirk.
"It kinda gave me the creepy crawlies. I ended up hiding the book. I wanted to burn it, but I was kinda scared what would happened if I tried. I know some books have protections, and it was a pretty dark book."
"Leonidas, don't speak of what you read to anyone, can you do that?" Severus asked, and his son nodded emphatically.
"Leo," Moody said, hobbling toward the little boy. He knelt down, studying him.
Leo for his part, didn't flinch, though he looked apprehensive at first.
"H, Snape, may I?" He asked.
Severus heard Hermione ascent at the same time he did, knowing what Moody had planned just as much as he did.
"Gonna feel a bit funny, boy, you don't gotta be scared."
"Not scared of anything." Leo said, tilting his chin just a touch.
"Gonna be a Gryffindor like your mother and sister?" Moody asked.
"No," Leo replied. "I'm going to be a Slytherin like father."
"Slytherins aren't not known for being fearless."
"He is." Leo replied, and Severus' heart warmed at the admiration and respect in his son's voice.
Moody nodded, then drew his wand and touched Leo's temple. The boy flinched but didn't close his eyes. He held Moody's gaze, allowing the auror to do what he intended.
Time passed. Seconds or minutes, it was uncertain. But when Alastor backed off, Leo let out a heavy sigh.
"You're a natural like your father." He told Leo. "I think your mother should take some time to teach you how to put up walls. You're too clever by half, and you shouldn't be keeping what you know in your head unprotected."
"Blimey, what else does he know?" Sirius asked.
Leo smirked. "More than you think, Uncle Sirius."
"Uncle?" Lupin asked, negating the need for Severus to question the same.
"Sirius has been by for afternoon tea," Hermione said simply. "He's gotten to know Leo, and vice versa."
"Enough of that nattering." Alastor waved it off. "Young mister Snape, head to bed. Time for us grownups to have a bit more of a chat."
"Yes, sir." Leo nodded. "Goodnight Dad, mum. Aunt Min, Uncle Sirius. Sir, Mr Lupin."
Everyone coursed a goodnight for Leo, and he went back up the stairs. As a precaution, Severus cast a muffilato around the living room.
"Are we saying what I think we're saying," Minerva asked. "That You-Know-Who has created a horcrux, and its somehow Potter?"
"I think he created more than one." Hermione said warily. "The book, diary, that Harry destroyed back in his second year, himself…"
"Whatever the Dark Lord entrusted to the LeStranges. Three. Three horcruxes. That's …."
"Unnatural" Sirius said.
"But that makes me wonder what Voldemort needed the house elf for? Was it related, or do we need to worry about something more?" Moody questioned.
"And why didn't Dumbledore tell any of us." Lupin questioned solemnly.
"Because he wants control." Severus said simply. "He wants the players where he feels they need to be. The Order of the Phoenix is nothing more than his army, made to play above the law, which means none of us can know too much. And most of all, he is too focused on his version of the greater good."
"Like keeping me in Azkaban," Sirius said thoughtfully, "And Harry with the Dursleys."
"Trying to keep Snape in Azkaban and splitting up his family." Alastor pointed out.
"Trusting no one from Slytherin and believing Harry's support should only come from Gryffindor." Minerva shook her head.
"And now we know, he's likely been keeping this from all of us, probably didn't plan to tell Harry, either." Sirius sneered.
"But how do we destroy a horcrux?" Minerva asked. "How did Potter destroy the diary?"
"A basilisk fang," Hermione said.
"Which Albus and I retrieved…." Severus trailed off as the memory flashed before him. "Six."
"Six?" Lupin said, sounding near gagging.
"You sure?" Alastor asked.
"Positive." Severus nodded. "So, unless there is another reason to have them, and I don't recall basilisk venom being used in anything but an anti-venom."
"So, six horcruxes." Alastor said, shaking his head.
"But he can't mean to kill Harry," Hermione reasoned. "He was meant to kill defeat the Dark Lord, after all."
"Unless defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named means dying so the horcrux in him dies too." Sirius added sadly.
"If my mother still has the family books, it may pay to have a trip there and see if there is anything on living horcruxes. In the meantime…."
"We gotta keep this to ourselves." Sirius said. "The children can't know."
"I think it may be times we start bringing the children in on all this." Hermione reasoned.
"At fifteen?" Severus asked.
Hermione shrugged. "You were asked to spy at sixteen. And let's face it, the Death Eaters are not going to care that Harry is a child, nor the friends he has who will inevitably stand beside him.
"I've told Potter I will teach him occlumency, but I don't think I could do all of them."
"Your daughter got a shield?" Alastor asked.
"Rory is proficient. Not a natural, but she can keep people out." Hermione replied.
"Draco was taught by Narcissa, and aided by me, when he was younger." Severus interjected.
"So, it is the Weasley children, Miss Lovegood, and Mr Longbottom we will need to worry about aside from Harry." Minerva said thoughtfully.
"But wouldn't it look awfully suspicious if, quite suddenly, Harry and all his friends know how to shield their mind?" Lupin asked.
"It would mean Dumbledore actually bothering with him." Sirius replied. "Last letter I got from Harry said that Albus hadn't bothered to talk to him virtually at all."
"I will report to you, Sirius, how Potter's occlumency is going. You can pass on the information to Alastor."
"Want help?" he asked gruffly.
Severus shook his head. "Albus will sense you entering the school, and without a reason he has declared himself, it will only draw suspicion to all of us."
"Which brings up the fact that you and I have both disappeared from the castle via floo." Minerva pointed out. "How are we to explain if an explanation is demanded of us."
Severus shrugged, "I came to visit my wife, as our song had developed a fever and she had no fever reducer in the cottage, nor the ingredients to make it. Perhaps I sent you a message to deliver some for me, or just the ingredients. While here, you two got to talking…."
"Yes, yes. Then let me go through first and wait a bit." Minerva stood. "I assumed we were done plotting."
"Of course." Severus smirked. Minerva smiled back, then headed through the floo to Hogwarts.
"I'll be by now and then to teach the boy." Alastor said.
"We look forward to seeing you, Alastor." Hermione smiled at the grizzly old auror, who appeared a touch bashful before he apparated away.
"I don't like to think Dumbledore is using us." Lupin said when it was just the four of them.
"He used myself at sixteen, thought he was using a fourteen-year-old Hermione as well. And how odd is it that, so promptly after graduation, when it seemed like the prospect of a future for you was so very limited, he magically had you join the order and promised you a job. How quickly was Potter the elder asked to try and secure his seat with the Wizengamot? I can guarantee you, Lupin, we are all pieces on his chess board."
"Severus is right, Remus." Sirius said.
"I have a hard time believing it." Lupin confessed.
"Then come back with me to Grimmauld place, and I can tell you my side of things. Tell you exactly why I agree whole heartedly with Severus, and why I am fully encouraging Harry to form his own defense class." At Lupin's frown, Sirius smirked. "Exactly. You aren't in touch as you should be, Moony. Perhaps you need to be brought up to speed."
With a flabbergasted nod, Lupin followed Sirius through the floo to Grimmauld place.
Once again alone, Hermione turned to Severus. "Are we really going behind everyone else's back? You know my level of trust when it comes to Albus, but Molly and Arthur? Kingsley?"
"We are the only five that had at least some level of occlumency." Severus replied, caressing his wife's cheek. "Albus cannot know we have figured it all out, for he will try to twist it around in some way or think us a threat to his plans. I know there was more to the prophecy, more that would help us understand. And I am beginning to think the Dark Lord suspects as much as well, as I have a feeling it is that in which he seeks."
October 9th, 1995
—A—
They entered the Room of Requirement, and while Aurora logically knew it would be different, she hadn't expected this. She ventured toward one of the metal dummies on the far end of the room, away from the books and the wall of dark detectors. Reaching up a hand, she stopped just short of touching the face.
"It looks so much like the mask my father has to wear." She said, looking over her shoulder at the others. "What did you ask for?" She asked.
Harry shrugged. "A place to train to fight. A place to practice. One where we won't be found."
"You didn't mention anything about Death Eaters in that thought?" She asked. He shook his head.
"Is that really what they look like?" Neville asked, coming up to stand beside her.
"More or less," She said. "They tend to all be slightly different, sorta how they can tell one another apart when they're wearing them, and yet still concealing their identities."
"I hadn't noticed." Harry said.
"Well it's not like we would have looked at them real close." Ginny suggested. "We were running from them, after all."
"But even in the grave yard…"
"Mate," Ron said, "Pretty sure you're allowed to have over looked that."
Harry absently rubbed his left arm where it was sliced open not that long ago.
There was a quiet knock, and then the door opened, admitting Draco and a Theodore Nott.
"Ladies, gentlemen." Draco said, looking around the lot of them. "Weasel," he said as he spotted Ron, and the singled out Weasley's face burned. "Know it's not the stellar turn out you'd all have liked from Slytherin, but it is what it is."
"He signed the parchment?" Ginny asked.
Theodore shrugged. "I signed."
"Good enough, why don't you guys go take a spot on the cushion while you wait." Harry suggested, and Theodore did so while Draco went to Harry. They never got a chance to say anything before the door opened, and a group of Ravenclaws came in.
Since there was going to be some commotion for a bit, Aurora gestured for Neville to follow her to a cushion. There wasn't much point in staring at the dummy, after all.
Once they were seated, they were joined by the twins, Fred, of course, sitting closest to her.
It wasn't as though the conversation she'd had with her parents a few days ago affected their… whatever it was. Fred continued to flirt with her, and even in this moment he draped his arm around her, nearly touching Neville as he did so. But there hadn't been any more attempted kisses, nor any hints about a date in the future. Really, she didn't know if she should be grateful or disappointed. Aurora frequently went between the two emotions.
She watched as Ginny went to take a seat with Ron, Luna staying with Draco and Harry as the rest of the Ravenclaws split up. A couple went to sit with Theodore Nott, a couple with the youngest Weasleys, but the majority went off on their own.
A few lagging Gryffindors, ones that weren't really part of their group, came in with the Hufflepuffs.
"Think we're gonna get some more grief from good ol' Zacharias?" Fred asked as he leaned in.
Neville must have heard, for he replied, "I heard he was pretty reluctant to sign up, thinking Harry was full of it. But Justin believes, so Zach went with him."
Once everyone was settled, with Justin Finch-Fletchely as the member of Hufflepuff standing by Harry, the four turned to face the rest of the room.
"Right, so, welcome everyone. Glad you found the place okay." Harry said, shifting about. "So, we're all here because…."
"Umbridge is a toad." Angelina called out, a chorus of agreement following her.
"Yeah, well, that too. But we're mostly here because we want to be ready to defend ourselves. So, ummm." Harry looked to Draco at his right, and for one moment, Draco smiled.
"Don't look to me, you're the leader of this operation." He said.
"Am I?" Harry asked, voice breaking.
"I can't imagine anyone better to lead us than the teacher." Luna smiled serenely."
"I'm not sure I get a vote, but I'm in agreement." Justin said, inciting chuckles from the rest of the room.
"Alright." Harry said, nodding, licking his lips, frowning as he gathered his thoughts. Like a curtain coming down, Harry straightened, shoulders back, head held high. "Right, so the first thing we should all know how to do is disarm. So, the first spell we will learn, and all get down perfect, is Expelliarmus."
"Oh please, Professor Lockhart taught us that in second year." Zacharias sneered, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"But can you perform it?" Draco challenged, to which no reply came.
"And I think, more accurately, if anyone taught us it, not just told us, but really showed us, it was Professor Snape. And simple as it may be, I used it last June against You-Know-Who. It saved my life."
"So, let's get to it, then, mate." George said.
"Right, so, everyone pair off. Draco, mind demonstrating with me?"
Draco nodded, and the room rose to their feet.
"Partner with me?" Neville asked immediately, and Aurora looked to see he was nervous.
"Sure, Neville." She said with a nod.
They branched off a bit away from the twins, watching Harry and Draco's demonstration. They each disarmed each other flawlessly, and withe the example set, they turned their focus to one another.
"Lady's first." Neville said, gesturing for her to proceed.
Aurora focused inward, flicked her wrist, "Expelliarmus." She said, barely raising her voice.
The spark of red and white flickered from the tip of her gray wand, and Neville's own as plucked from his hand as if she'd accioed it. Catching it deftly, she tossed it back to him. "Ready?" She asked.
He nodded, got into position, and, "Expelliarmus!" Neville went flying back, his own wand leaving his hand.
Aurora ran over to him, kneeling beside him and glaring at everyone who laughed at him.
"You alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think I'm fine."
"You need to not put so much flick into it." Harry said as he helped Aurora get Neville to his feet. "Smaller movements. You'll get it."
"Right, of course."
They went back to practicing, and after Neville's twelfth failed, but less violent, attempt, the twins came over.
"Maybe you need a different target?" Fred suggested.
"'Cause you obviously don't want to harm Rory."
"Not that you would."
"With this spell anyway."
"A-Alright." Neville agreed.
Fred looked to Aurora and winked, then guided her to his brother while he took over challenging Neville.
"Alright, sis." George teased, "Show me what you got."
"I'm not your sister." Aurora replied.
"Not yet you aren't." He countered with a smirk.
She disarmed him nearly instantly after that.
As they carried on, George would tease her a bit about her not quite but almost relationship with Fred, and the two would go back and forth disarming each other.
Just before Harry called an end to the evening, Neville hit Fred with a fairly powerful disarming spell.
October 10th, 1995
—A—
It was after midnight when Aurora crept back down to the common room, the fireplace providing the only light in the room. There was someone silhouetted by the light, laid back and at ease on the sofa, appearing as though he was watching the flames.
She moved toward him, her bare feet barely registering the rapidly cooling stone floor, her long sleeved t-shirt and flannel pajama pants keeping the chill at bay for the most part. She certainly would be much more comfortable in her dorm, but this….
Aurora stepped around the couch and sat down on the empty space, tucking her feet beneath her to warm her toes back up. She turned to her companion, her heart stuttering just a bit as she met his eye and glimpsed his mischievous smirk.
"Out of bed awfully late, Snape." He deadpanned.
"And who was it that left me a note to meet here?" She challenged, arching a brow.
Fred chuckled. "You have the Snape brow down."
'If you think I'm bad, you should see my brother."
"I hope I do."
They fell silent for a moment.
"Neville really likes you."
"We're friends.' Aurora shrugged.
"We're friends." Fred pointed out. "Friend's who've had a snog."
"Can it actually be called a snog, though?" she retorted.
"Suppose you're right." He said sagely. "Wasn't long enough to be a proper snog. A powerful peck, perhaps?"
She laughed, "Yes, I suppose so."
He chuckled with her but had sobered slowly. "Rory, I really like you."
"I really like you, too." She replied quietly.
"And I get the feeling that your dad doesn't like the idea of us dating." He said, reaching out and taking her hand gently in his.
She watched him run his thumb over her knuckles. "He doesn't want me to date anyone, it's mum who doesn't like the idea of you specifically."
Fred frowned. "Does she know me?'
"Yes," Aurora replied with a smirk, then continued before Fred could ask particulars. "But I may still have to be Draco's beard, as it were. And… and even if I don't, I can't be seen with you in that capacity where others might…."
"So even Neville doesn't stand a chance." Fred smirked, and Aurora giggled again.
"I suppose not." She said. "Especially because I think my father would have rather been asked permission for my hand or some rot. He did saw something along the lines of any courtship I have, blah blah."
"Oh, so that wasn't just limited to the Yule Ball." Fred nodded. "Alright, done."
"Done?"
"Yes," Fred said, looking her directly in the eye and causing Aurora's breath to catch. "I will go to him tomorrow and ask for permission to court you. That is, if the lady does not object?" He asked, bringing their joined hands closer to him.
"I-I don't." Aurora stuttered and was thankful for the low light and the heat of the fire to blame the blush on.
"Then it's done." He said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. "I know it's hard to believe, but I can be discreet."
"Really?"
"When it's worth it to be, yes. And you, Rory Snape, are worth it."
"Fred, I think you're being very near sentimental." She teased.
"Blimey, you're right. Best fix that now."
He leaned in, not slow, not fast, but allowing enough time for her to have pulled away if she had wanted to. And Aurora did not.
It remained chaste, but just. Their lips met and parted more times than Aurora could count, and if her father said no when Fred asked, and he honored it, it was a kiss worthy of a final one. The fingers of one of Fred's hands gently weaved through her hair, the other placed at her waist. She kept one hand on his shoulder, the other rounding on to his back.
Just as the oddest flutter of something hit her, Fred pulled back. "Get to bed, Snape."
"You too, Weasley." She retorted.
He laughed, shifting off the sofa and offering her a hand to get her off the couch. He didn't let go of it as he walked her over to the stairs of the girl's dormitory. There were no departing pecks, or one last stolen anything. Fred gave her hand a squeeze, and then headed up the stairs to his dorm. Aurora smirked to herself as she headed back up to her own bed, noting to herself that she was not the only one who climbed the steps with a slight spring to their step.
—S—
"I need a drink," Severus said by way of greeting as he stormed into Minerva's office just after dinner.
"Don't tell me you've unraveled another of Albus' secrets?" She asked, looking at him with a touch of panic.
"Worse." He said, raking a hand through his hair. "Against my better judgement, I've just permitted Fred Weasley to court my daughter."
"Court?" Minerva repeated.
"Yes," Severus replied.
She stared at him for a long while before she slowly began to chuckle. When he scowled, it became whooping hoots of laughter that had the witch in tears.
"It is not amusing. My daughter has a … boyfriend."
Minerva did not cease laughing, and after a long enough interval in which it seemed like she was not going to relent, Severus rose and went to her liquor cabinet to pour him a couple fingers of scotch.
Fred Weasley had promised discretion. Promised to be a perfect gentleman. Swore that he would willingly allow Severus to gut him should he ever hurt her. And he agreed.
If it ever came back to bite him, Severus would plead stress induced insanity. There was nothing else for it. Well, perhaps there was good Scotch.
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