CHAPTER TWO: SECRETS AND LATE-NIGHT WANDERINGS

Icarus had always had good relationships with the teachers in Hogwarts - even the more hated ones, such as Mr. Filch and Professor Snape. So when he was sat in Potions class a few weeks later after his encounter with the boys, he stayed behind to help the Professor clean the room. It wasn't often he did this, and it was the only class he volunteered his time for (he enjoyed potions exactly like how - well, it didn't matter) but it also rare for the Professor and himself to be able to talk when the term was on.

"How was your day, Professor?" he asked, scrubbing the pewter cauldron in front of him.

"It was fine. It's quite frustrating following a, what is it called? curriculum. Making certain potions is fine, but making cures for boils all day - ugh."

"You've never really liked teaching."

"You know me well."

Icarus liked to think he looked a good bit like his father - especially when he wasn't wearing that damn glamour. Of course, no one would think that they were related. It was their best kept secret.

"You can take it down, if you like. I don't think anyone's going to be coming anytime soon."

It was actually quite a simple glamour. It just changed certain features to make sure he looked - well, unappealing. Icarus watched as his father's hair lost it's greasy shine and pulled itself into a ponytail, a few streaks of silver running through it and his skin became fuller. He was still pale, with dark, seeking eyes, but he was no longer cruel looking and venomous, like the rest of Hogwarts knew him to be.

Severus Snape had learnt this trick when he was much younger, so that, had he needed to go into hiding, it would have worked wonderfully well. The issue was, he'd used it so often and for so long, sometimes even he would forget to remove it. When the two stood next to each other, they looked almost like clones, with the exception of Icarus' blue eyes and the fuller, more adult proportioning of himself.

"Hi there, Dad."

"I only took off the glamour, Icarus. I didn't shape shift."

"Well..."

"Shut up." laughed Severus.

Icarus gaped at him, "You laugh now?"

The Professor threw the ladle he had been holding at the boy. Icarus ducked, it missing his head by only a few wisps of hair.

"You're in a good mood."

"Suppose I am. It's been quite the successful day. Managed to make sure Potter didn't blow up his cauldron - or anyone else."

"I thought the blowing up was Longbottom's job - or, what's his name, Seamus?"

"You keep a better track of the Gryffindors than I do. Maybe we should swap."

"Oh god no. Teaching? Imagine Malfoy," Icarus raised his voice to a high pitch, making sure it cracked "'I'm going to tell my father about this..My father said that Dumbledore..My father will be most displeased when he hears...' god, I think I'd force feed him his own potions."

"I take it you don't like him then."

"No, Dad. He's a snob. In fact, he's more of a snob than most of Slytherin and you know my fondness, or lack thereof, for my own house."

There was a pause. Severus shivered a little as he lit a fire in the usually empty fireplace - he wasn't as fond of the cold, as his character forced him to be.

"Dumbledore's put me in charge of looking after the Potter boy."

Icarus rarely showed signs of emotion, but as he stopped scrubbing and looked up, cheeks flaming a soft shade of pink, Severus could understand how pissed off his son was.

"Why can't he do it?"

"You know how it is, Potter's mother -"

"Doesn't matter," snapped Icarus.

Severus scowled, pale lips grimacing. His son wasn't usually so angry, but this was a subject of tenderness for both of them.

"Why," Icarus repeated "can't he do it?"

A cruel silence fell upon the room as Severus was unable to come up with a suitable answer.

"I see. He's a selfish git then."

"Icarus, mind what you -"

"No. I don't care what I say because I mean it. I'll stick by it until he proves otherwise."

And that was that, they seemed to hear from the echos of dripping water around them as they returned to work.

. . .

It was another week before he had a chance to run into Miss Granger from Gryffindor house.

They met, as expected, in the library. There were oftentimes he found himself there, when he didn't feel like being in his house dorms, and he'd almost finished reading everything in both the potions section and Care for Magical Creatures. He was currently on a very obscure book - something along the lines of "Potions: Moste Complex" by someone Gibbons.

He flicked a glance over to his right as he saw a young girl, with enormous amounts of hair and rather large front teeth, put down the heavy contents she was carrying. He saw what she had picked out to read.

"Good choice." he murmured as he returned to his content.

"Sorry?" she said, startled.

He raised a finger to his lips, a smile tickling his face.

"Good choice," he murmured again "I remember reading those last year. 3rd year level, I believe."

"I suppose so," she shuffled, a little flushed, evidently there weren't many people she knew that were as passionate about learning within her age group as she was. She glanced at his robes. "You're in Slytherin."

"Yes," he replied, a little disappointed - a little interested in what she might say. Would she be like the others? Like the ginger boy at Hagrid's?

She furrowed her brow a little, "Are you the boy Harry and Ron met at Hagrid's a few weeks ago?"

"Yes."

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you also, Miss Granger. I'm Icarus."

. . .

The next night he'd decided to detach yet again from his body and roam the halls of Hogwarts. Often, he wouldn't find living people wandering the pathways, especially after 1 O'clock, then again, he was starting to notice that Harry Potter and his crew were certainly unique.

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me?" he heard Hermione say "If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up." Though she was smart, she was still naive when it came to human interaction - specially in the case of Mr. Filch.

"You've got some nerve-" said Ron rather loudly.

"Shut up, both of you!" snapped Harry "I heard something."

It was the Longbottom boy, lying next to the portrait on the wall. Icarus wasn't saw if he should've felt sorry for him, or kept on laughing at the predicament they were all finding themselves in. He decided to do both.

As they left, Icarus, finding himself curious, leapt down from his post and followed them. Soon, they arrived at the Trophy room on the third floor. He watched as Harry pulled out his wand. They waited.

"He's late, maybe he chickened out." said Ron.

Ah, thought Icarus, a duel. Then he chuckled to himself. A trap, more like. First years only a month or so into school barely know any spells.

They waited a little longer and he jumped along with the others as they heard a noise in the next room. He'd forgotten he was invisible.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." said a voice that was very much not Malfoy.

As he watched them scamper away, Filch and Mrs Norris lurked in from the shadows, searching. He wouldn't find much. He'd only taken a few steps, following their trail, before he heard a loud crashing and Harry yell "RUN!".

He found himself joining in the chase, Mr. Filch and his cat not that far behind.

He had a feeling he knew exactly where they would end up. As he ran, following the gasping sounds echoing from the around the halls, his face split into a bigger grin than he often found himself wearing. This was fun, he found himself thinking.

As he came out from the other side of the secret passageway he heard Hermione say: "Malfoy tricked you. You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you - Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

Harry ignored her. Man, these kids have some pride, Icarus thought to himself.

"Let's go." and as they went to advance, Peeves shot out of the classroom in front of them. Icarus saw the looks of dread on their faces and without wanting to, burst out laughing. He couldn't run out of air either, so it just continued as chaos exploded in front of him.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" the orange thing bellowed "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

They ran for their lives, him doubling over with laughter and Filch's pounding footsteps behind them. As they approached a locked door, he accidentally fell through (going through objects was not a pleasant experience) and landed on his back, looking up - he managed to say "Shit" before the door swung open and all of the children fell inside, panting for breath as the door shut behind them.

Sitting up, he tried telling them to run, then remembered he was invisible and cursed again.

Neville was the first to see it, and giving a terrified squeak, tugged on Harry's bath robe. "-Get off, Neville!" He said, turning around. There was time enough for them to process what was in front of them - a monstrous, three headed dog with three pairs of rolling eyes, three twitching, black noses and three drooling mouths. Harry opened the door again and Icarus had a very close encounter with one of the creatures jaws as it snapped towards them.

Luckily, he noticed, as he yet again went through the door, Filch was no longer outside. He watched the first-years scamper back towards the seventh floor and went to sit next to the suit of armor next to him to think.

He knew the creature was Hagrid's. There was no doubt - he only knew one teacher in the school that was brave enough, and sometimes stupid enough, to own a pet like that. The question he now had to figure out was what was it guarding?

It was going to take a while before he had an answer to that.