Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Harry was beginning to believe that McGonagall had a sick sense of humor. Why else would they be transfiguring toads into scarves during their class? He felt really bad for the toads. It was also annoying because he had to hiss several times at Nagini to stop trying to eat the toads and stay under his shirt. He had gone almost a month and a half with only his dormmates realizing he had a snake with him always. He wasn't about to let a class of toads and an over-enthusiastic snake break that record. He was fairly sure Nagini wouldn't help his "not evil" image he was recently enjoying after his disaster of a fifth year. Because of this, he was probably prodding at his scarf a little too viciously to get it to turn back into a toad.

Hermione finally reached over and grabbed his wand hand. "Harry, you're going to set the scarf on fire if you keep doing that," she warned with a tone of exasperation.

Harry took a deep breath, realizing she was right, and he was just a little on edge. His dad had taken to closing the Occlumency door at nights, so he hadn't had a Voldemort vision in a while. He had forgotten the night before because they had fallen asleep talking and both had to witness a pretty horrifyingly graphic torture session. "Sorry 'Mione. I didn't sleep well last night, and it's just getting to me, I guess. Plus, Nags keeps wanting to eat the toads."

"What happened to your wand?" Hermione asked, looking at the ebony wand in Harry's hand with confusion and concern spreading across her face.

"Huh?" Harry looked at his wand. "Oh, it broke," he lied. "This one works well for me though."

Hermione's look of confusion turned to horror. "Your wand…broke?"

"Er, yeah," Harry shrugged. "No worries though. I got a replacement."

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall's stern voice drifted over them from above. "Did I just hear correctly that your wand broke, and you had to replace it?"

Not seeing what the big deal was, he shrugged. "Yeah, this one works fine though. See…my toad's a scarf now. Might not be the prettiest, but Sirius tells me I have no fashion sense."

McGonagall pursed her lips and pinned him with a stare for a minute before turning back to the rest of the class. Hermione similarly looked at him with a worried look on her face before transfiguring her, very pretty, scarf back into a toad.

::Mental, the lot of them:: Harry grumbled to Nagini.

::Please, hatchling…just one little toad…::

Harry caved in exasperation. ::Fine, once I transfigure the scarf back and McGonagall sees it, then it's all yours::

Continuing with the weirdness of the day, Fawkes dropped a letter off for Harry during lunch asking for him to stop by the headmaster's office before his next class. Wondering what in Merlin's name he did this time, he hurried to the gargoyle thinking through anything he might have done. Surprisingly, it was a pretty tame year so far. He didn't remember doing anything major, unlike the year before when he seemed to break a rule weekly. He pushed open the door to the office to see Dumbledore sitting at his desk. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't know Professor McGonagall wanted to use the toads later for another class," he apologized quickly as he entered.

Dumbledore looked at him with confusion and not a little amusement. "Well, I don't know anything about Minerva's toads, but that does sound like an interesting story that I'd love to hear sometime."

Harry sat in the armchair in front of the headmaster and was immediately joined by Fawkes who landed on the armrest. "I don't understand what I did wrong then, sir," Harry asked in confusion.

"Minerva mentioned to me that you have a different wand, and your old one is broken," Dumbledore explained.

Harry petted Fawkes on the head and shrugged. "Yes, sir. I don't see what the big deal is though. This has to happen all the time. They're thin pieces of wood that eleven-year-olds carry around."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, quite. Normally it wouldn't be an issue beyond getting it replaced, but you have to remember that yours had the brother core to Voldemort's. It's what saved you in the graveyard."

Harry nodded. He had thought of that when he had handed his wand over to his dad, but he truly believed the next time he faced Voldemort, he wouldn't be using a wand. He still didn't know how to separate Voldemort from his dad, but the answer had to lie in either blood or soul magic, which he was much stronger at wandlessly. "Honestly, Headmaster, I don't think that'll work again now that Voldemort knows about it. It was pure luck that I survived since I was fourteen and poisoned by an acromantula at the time."

Dumbledore looked concerned but still nodded. "What is your new wand, may I ask?"

Harry took it out and showed him. "Ebony wood and thunderbird tail feather," he smiled at the wand. It really was growing on him and was working better for him the longer he used it.

"Interesting combination," Dumbledore mused. "I didn't know Ollivander used thunderbird tail feathers."

"Oh, I didn't get this from Ollivander," Harry shook his head. "Kreacher gave it to me when my wand broke. It's Orion Black's old wand."

Now this got Dumbledore's full attention. "Are you telling me that you have a wand without the Trace attached to it?"

Harry had not even thought about the Trace, surprisingly. Did this mean that his dad's wand still had the Trace on it? Why hadn't he gotten called in for underage magic over the summer? "Erm, I hadn't thought of that, sir," Harry said honestly. "Actually, after what happened the summer before fifth year, that's probably not a bad thing though…right?"

This reasoning seemed to catch Dumbledore off guard. "I suppose Sirius was in approval of all this," Dumbledore finally responded.

Harry raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I don't know, sir. Kreacher and I solved the problem, so I didn't see the point in saying anything to him. It's not like he wanted his dad's wand."

Fawkes let out a trill that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle. "Quite right, I'm sure. I do believe he would want to know of this though, Harry," Dumbledore advised him. "I suggest you tell him before he finds out on his own."

This sounded a bit like Dumbledore was threatening to tell Sirius, but Harry was fairly certain the man wouldn't care anyway. "Sure, I'll write him a letter," Harry shrugged. "May I go now, sir? I don't want to be late to Potions."

"Of course, my boy. Run along," Dumbledore nodded as Fawkes flew back to his perch. Harry left the office making a mental note to summon his parents sometime soon to hear what they had found out about the headmaster.

It was after dinner before Harry found the time to track down his dad. Of course, the man was in Professor Snape's chambers. "Hey Eb!" Harry called in greeting to Snape's portrait guardian. "Am I going to walk in on anything gross if I enter now?" He asked with a grimace.

Ebenezer chuckled understandingly. "No, fortunately they're just sitting on the couch. How were your classes today?"

"Fine," Harry shrugged. "A little boring, but Snape came up with some new insults for me in class today, so that at least kept me entertained through Potions."

"What about your plans for the young Malfoy?" Ebenezer asked after laughing at Snape and the teen's odd relationship.

"He's still avoiding me," Harry pouted. "I think I'm freaking him out a bit with all the concern. Maybe I should pick a fight or something to get him to chill out a bit."

"I wish you luck, young one," the portrait said kindly.

"Thanks, Eb. Er, Dad said Snape changed the password to moonstone?"

"That he did," Ebenezer laughed and opened to admit Harry.

"I swear, it can't be Ebenezer that's at fault. He has been the perfect door guardian for over a decade," Snape looked up from the potions journal he was reading when Harry entered.

"Don't blame, Eb," Harry glared at him and threw down his bag before sitting in the armchair. Tom chuckled from where he was curled up beside Snape on the couch.

"How do you two keep getting in my rooms then?" Snape asked in frustration.

"Now, dear, if we stopped coming in your rooms, you know you'd miss us," Tom said soothingly. "Why not just give up and stop changing the password?"

"Never," Snape grumbled. "I will find out how you're doing it!"

"Moving on from that. I do actually have a reason I stopped by," Harry rolled his eyes, knowing Snape was nowhere near to finding out how they kept getting in.

"Something about getting called to Dumbledore's office?" Tom asked.

Harry looked at him surprised. "How did you know?"

Tom laughed. "The Occlumency door was open and you were running very loudly through everything you might have done wrong this year. Been a slow year so far, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty boring honestly," Harry agreed. "But, yes, McGonagall told Dumbledore that I had a different wand. He was concerned since my old wand was the brother wand to Voldemort's."

"Yes, but evil me still has a horcrux, so normal magic isn't going to do much to stop him, regardless of the wand core," Tom thought it all through. "I suppose we'll need to do more research into soul and blood magic for next time we encounter him."

"Can't Potter just absorb him like he did all the other horcruxes?" Snape asked thoughtfully.

"I can't because he isn't a horcrux," Harry explained regretfully. "He's the main soul piece, so it doesn't work that direction. Plus, I was only able to absorb the other soul pieces because I was a horcrux myself, and I'm not anymore. Dad could absorb one now, but since he's still technically a horcrux, he can't absorb the main soul piece either."

"I would have liked to have seen my insane-self healed, but my soul magic isn't as strong as Harry's, so even if I could absorb the evil git, he would probably just turn me evil as well," Tom sighed, running his hands through his messy hair in a nervous habit very similar to Harry's own.

Snape nodded. "Yes, he seems too far gone at this point. I know I never met you when you were sane the first time, but even in the early days when I knew you, you still held some charisma and sanity, or I wouldn't have joined you. Those days are very far from the monster walking around now."

"Voldy is a problem for another day," Harry nodded in agreement with Snape. "Now though, Dumbledore brought up something I hadn't considered about the wand," Harry looked at Tom questioningly. "Why didn't I get in trouble for underage magic this summer? I forgot the wand I gave you still had the Trace on it."

"Well, fortunately I did remember," Tom chuckled and played with Snape's long fingers in his hand. "After asking Sev to do a spell for me like five times he finally got frustrated and fixed the wand for me."

"Fixed the wand?" Harry asked Snape in confusion. "You removed the Trace? How?"

Snape just smirked at him. "Like I'm going to tell you how I preformed highly illegal magic."

"He won't even tell me," the Dark Lord pouted at his boyfriend. "He just grabbed the wand and stared at it for a few minutes. There was a loud pop and he handed it back, telling me to do my own bloody spell."

Harry looked at his potions professor in awe. "Come on, Professor. You have to tell us! That sounds amazing!"

"Yeah, come on, Sev," Tom added on pleadingly.

Snape actually looked really uncomfortable. The usually very stoic man seemed upset at something. "What's wrong, Sev?" Tom asked as he turned and put an arm around Snape's shoulders. "We can't help you if you don't tell us."

"You'll think I'm weird or a freak," Snape finally said quietly as he closed his eyes to not have to see their expressions.

Harry and Tom both seethed at the term 'freak.' Tom grabbed Snape's chin to make him look him in the eyes. "Sev, there is absolutely nothing you could do to make either of us think of you as a freak. That term…we don't like it. Harry thought his name was Freak until he started school. We would never think that of anyone, ever."

"Yeah, Professor. I grew up as a horcrux, and Dad is the split off soul of an insane megalomaniac. We have no right to judge anyone," Harry added. "Besides," at this Harry removed his glamour. "Who looks the strangest of the three of us?"

Snape's look softened as he stared into Harry's red eyes. "I invent potions and spells. I find it quite effortless," he started.

"Yes, I always was in awe of your skills, even when I was part of that crazy version out there," Tom smiled at him.

Snape sighed; he was about to admit something he had never told a living soul. He found it surprisingly easy when supported by the two men beside him. "I find it effortless because I can see how the magic interacts. I can see the magic as it binds the potion ingredients together or as the spell is released. It's like color and emotion all rolled into one."

"You can see magic?" Harry grinned broadly at the man. "That's the coolest thing I think I've ever heard in my life!"

Snape nodded, a look of gratitude on his face as Harry and Tom both seemed to take it so well. "With students' wands, I can see the Trace underlying every spell someone uses from the wand that had it placed on it. I just had to use a little wandless magic, which I'm nowhere near as good at as you Harry, to separate the magic of the Trace from the wand."

Harry looked up and flinched. "You called me Harry and complemented me. The world must be ending. Am I dying?"

Snape actually chuckled at that. "No, just getting soft in my old age, I guess."

Tom was looking at Snape with a very intense expression on his face. Snape tried to figure out what it was. Maybe it was admiration, or amazement, but whatever it was, it quickly morphed into desire. "Harry," Tom said from where he was still looking at Snape intensely. "You have thirty seconds to escape from here before you see enough of the two of us to scar you for life."

Harry's eyes widened in fear as he quickly grabbed his bag and jumped up. Instead of heading to the portrait hole, he ran over and gave Snape a quick but tight hug. "You're amazing, I love you, and never think you're a freak ever," Harry gushed before running out of the potion master's chambers before he witnessed anything he really didn't want to. "Close the Occlumency door!" He yelled back as the portrait swung closed.

In half a second, Tom was straddling Snape on the couch and attacking his mouth with passion. In a daze, Snape shoved him off and stared at the man. "What?" Tom asked in confusion and a little hurt. "Did I do something wrong?"

Snape stared over to the door to his chambers at that. "Tom…did your son just tell me that he loves me? Did Harry Bloody Potter just say he loves me?!"

Tom smiled down at him. "Of course, he did…wait, has he not told you before?" Tom raised an eyebrow questioningly. "He's been thinking it for a while. I assumed he'd said it before now."

Snape shook his head with a look of fear and surprise in his eyes. At this a look of surprise crept into Tom's eyes. "Wait, Sev…I've told you I love you right? Living in someone's head so long, sometimes I think things, and I think I said them out loud, but I didn't really. I have actually said it out loud, right?"

Snape shook his head, panic settling into his expression. At this, Tom's looked softened, and now Snape could identify what it was. It was love. "Well, you acerbic git, I love you. I love you so much," Tom said kissing him once more. "And there's no need for you to tell either of us you love us back, so stop panicking," he said as he could feel the man's pulse racing under his hands. "The three of us are all damaged in our own unique ways, so you take the time you need and just know that we care, and we love you."

Snape might not have been able to say it, but he figured he could show this infuriating, baffling, and utterly generous man how he felt. Books and marking forgotten for the night, Snape sent a locking charm towards his door that would keep even the headmaster out. Harry was very lucky he escaped when he did.

The semester did get slightly more interesting for Harry when Draco Malfoy started to put some of his plans into action. Harry still hadn't quite figured out what the teen's mission was, but it had to be to kill someone in the castle, more than likely Dumbledore. It was really the only conclusion he could draw from the cursed necklace that Katie Bell fell victim to. Fortunately, no one was injured beyond recovery, but Harry was very concerned that Malfoy was just a very incompetent assassin. That should have been comforting, but when innocent bystanders were put in danger, it was more concerning than anything else. Operation Get Malfoy to Trust Him was not going so well.

It was early November before things really started to pick up for Harry though. It all started on a very normal uninteresting day…History of Magic class was always the hardest to stay awake in. Harry found himself jerking awake several times as Professor Binns droned on and on about one of the many Goblin Wars. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the bell rang for the end of class. Then, something happened that hadn't happened in any of their memories before. As they were packing their bags, Professor Binns looked out over the class, almost like he was seeing them for the first time. "Mr. Potter, please stay back for a minute," he called out into the room.

All the students looked at each other in shock as Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared a glance of confusion. Harry slowly grabbed his bag and walked to the front of the room as everyone else made their way out.

Hey, Dad? Harry projected over the link.

What's up? Tom quickly responded.

Stay in my head for just a bit. I think this might be interesting.

Oh really? What's happening? Tom asked as Harry felt his presence become a little stronger.

Binns asked me to stay after class.

Well…that's…unexpected.

I know, right?!

"Professor, you wanted to see me?" Harry asked the ghost as the last student left.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Potter," Binns nodded and waved a hand towards the door closing it. "It took me two decades to figure out how to do that," the ghost said with a hint of amusement to Harry.

"Is there something I can help you with, Professor?" Harry was very confused. Binns never seemed even remotely human or present, and here he was just chatting with a student.

"Actually, there is," Binns smiled. "You may remove your glamour if you would like. I promise we're alone here."

Harry jumped in shock but slowly raised his hand to dispel the glamour over his face. "How did you know?"

Binns chuckled. "Ghosts can feel death, and a necromancer is so closely tied into death that you are immediately recognizable."

Now Harry was even more shocked, confused, and especially worried. "So, all the ghosts know about me?"

Sensing the boy's worry, Binns explained. "They will not tell anyone. Most ghosts in this castle are from the old times. Myrtle and I are the only ones from this century. They all remember a time when necromancers were revered and considered a welcome and important part of society for their ability to heal and help spirits move on. They have all been saddened by the loss of some of the older forms of magic not being taught here anymore."

"Do the ghosts need help then?" Harry asked. He decided he really needed to speak to one of the older ghosts. He wanted to hear about the old times and the necromancers of the past as well as why they were all keeping his secret.

"I need help, Mr. Potter," Binns said kindly. "I would like your help to move on. I find that I can't even remember what my unfinished business was. I assume it must have something to do with teaching, but I lost my passion for teaching even before I died. I fear I have stayed long past my usefulness, but I don't know how to cross over myself."

Harry nodded in understanding. "You want me to take your spirit into the gray realm. I would be happy to help you."

Binns smiled and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, even though he didn't actually breathe. "Thank you, Mr. Potter. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Why now though? I've been able to help you for almost a year," Harry asked, wondering if the ghost was really that out of it to not have noticed for a year.

Binns shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you long before now. The other ghosts were trying to talk me into staying though. They finally gave me their support and blessing. When can we do this?"

Harry considered. "Well, we can't now. I don't think it's in my best interest to be the last one to see you before you cross over. There will be too many questions. Maybe the weekend? It'll give you time to say your goodbyes as well."

Binns smiled even more broadly. Frankly the ghost was freaking Harry out. He had never shown any sign of emotion at all until this one conversation. He must have been very unhappy for quite a long time. "Saturday night then! How about we do it here in the classroom?"

"I'll see you Saturday night," Harry agreed, not having history class again that week.

Wow, I did not see that coming. Tom mused as Harry left the classroom. I'll give Severus a warning so he can be prepared to help throw any suspicion off you.

Thank you. Harry agreed. I'm sure the fact that he held me after class is enough to get people talking.

Yeah, come up with a good story for that one.

Dear Sirius and Remus,

You seem to hear about everything that happens at Hogwarts (how is that by the way?), so I figured it would be best to head off the rumor mill and tell you before it happens. Professor Binns will be crossing over before next week. It's his decision, and I'm just helping since he asked me to. I don't need to tell you to keep this to yourselves.

If you happen to know anyone who could teach History of Magic, I'm sure Dumbledore will be looking. Also, by the way, Dumbledore told me to tell you that I got a new wand since my old one broke accidentally. Kreacher gave me Sirius's dad's old wand, and it works really well for me, not that I need a wand most of the time anyway. It happened over the summer, but I handled it, so I didn't think I needed to tell you. Dumbledore seems to think that isn't the case. So, this is me telling you.

Love you both,

Harry

x

x

x

Dear Harry,

Yes, getting a new wand is definitely something you should tell your guardians. Sirius seems to think we should do some kind of cleansing ritual on the wand as it has "bad mojo" in his words. We are glad you have a new wand though, whatever Sirius's feelings are about his dad. Please tell us things like this in the future. We realize you didn't know you should, but if there is ever a question, the answer is, yes, tell us.

As for Binns, wow, you know someone tried to do an exorcism in our 4th year and it didn't work. We're surprised he really did want to go. Good for him! You're getting some good business as Britain's only Necromancer, especially since no one knows about you.

Neither one of us are too sure about someone to teach the class. As you know, it wasn't taught very well during our time as well as yours. We'll keep on the lookout though.

Keep out of trouble

Don't listen to him, just don't get caught (this is Sirius)

Of course, he knows it's you, and don't tell him that!

We love you,

Remus

And Sirius

Saturday evening Severus Snape was alone in his quarters. He would normally be relaxing and enjoying his quiet evening, but instead he was casting all manner of revealing charms to check for listening spells, tracking wards, and anything else that might make it possible for Tom and Potter to get into his chambers even when he kept changing the password. He was at the point where, even if he wouldn't say it out loud, he could admit to himself that he liked the company. However, the mystery was grating on his nerves. He needed to know what they were doing. He was halfway through a complex spell to keep ghosts from his chamber, just in case that was how they did it, when the Gryffindor himself pushed through the portrait hole without even knocking.

"Potter, surely your Dad taught you to knock before entering a room?!" Snape chastised him as he finished up the spell.

"I asked Eb if anything untoward was going on first," Harry shrugged. "Besides, Dad and I don't really have boundaries since we shared a body for most my life."

Snape sighed, knowing very well that arguing with the teen was like beating one's head against a brick wall. "Why are you invading my space then, might I ask?"

"Could I possibly use your floo for just a bit? Charlie wanted to know how Binns's crossing over went," Harry asked as he removed his glamour and dropped his ritual bag on the floor.

"Curfew is in an hour, so only a quick conversation," Snape finally agreed, wondering why he wasn't doing this in Tom's chambers. "Your Dad busy right now?"

"I don't know. Didn't check, he just starts making snogging noises and insinuating comments anytime I talk to Charlie," Harry grimaced. He was uncomfortably aware that he had a crush on his best friend at this point, but he was certain the older man didn't feel the same for his teenaged friend. So, he was annoyed that his dad just made it all worse.

Realizing this was a bit out of character for himself, and filing the motivation away to examine later, Snape sat and looked at his boyfriend's son and started a conversation. "How did it go with Binns? Everything work out well?"

Harry smiled and joined him on the couch. "Yeah, it went smoothly. The worst part was explaining why Binns kept me after class. I told them all it was because he finally noticed I turned in the same exact essay five times. Hermione is pissed at me right now. His crossing over itself was actually kind of nice since he was surrounded by all the castle ghosts to see him off. It was really sad though. The ghosts have their own little family going here, and it was basically turned into a wake for the man. Myrtle especially seemed close to him, surprisingly."

"They all intend to keep your secret?" Snape asked, surprised the ghosts were that close.

"Oh yeah, there were all on board with…"

Before Harry could finish, Snape's portrait door slammed open and Tom rushed in, out of breath. "Dumbledore's trying to kill me!" He gasped out.

"You, you or evil you?" Harry asked for clarification.

"ME!" Tom exclaimed and warded the door, locking it behind himself.

"You're probably mistaken," Snape said, but with concern in his voice. "What actually happened?"

Tom began pacing frantically. "He asked me to his office to 'discuss' how my classes were going, then he tried to kill me…end of story!"

"Yeah, but how?" Harry reapplied his glamour and started wandlessly summoning books off Snape's shelves that he figured the man would want to keep. If they were going to run, he wanted to be prepared, and they weren't leaving the potion master behind, no matter what he said.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing, Potter?!" Snape followed the books with his eyes.

"Packing!"

"Right, good idea!" Tom nodded and conjured a bag that he threw the books into. "He tried to poison me," he explained as they moved on to Snape's potion stores.

"Stop this minute!" Snape exclaimed and jumped up when they opened the potions cabinet.

The floo flared right then and Albus Dumbledore strode out. "Shite! I forgot the floo!" Tom exclaimed, pulling his wand. Harry tried to move in front of him, hands raised defensively, but Tom pushed him aside.

"Ah, there you are," Dumbledore smiled at Tom, taking in the ransacked room, irate potions master, and packing professor and student. "May I ask what it was I did, Professor Shade? I'm at a loss as you why you would feel the need to banish my mead and run out of my office, let alone start to pack up my potions professor's chambers."

"Well, we aren't leaving him," Harry moved back in front of his dad who tried to shove him aside again.

"I'll not let you kill me or my family, Dumbledore," Tom growled. "I know how to recognize poisoned mead when I see it!"

Dumbledore's face blanched and his mouth hung open, twinkle missing from his eyes. "Evan, my boy, thank you," he sighed out after a full minute. "I believe you just saved my life!"

This had Tom and Harry gaping at him while Snape had a triumphant "I told you so" look on his face. "I take it, Headmaster, you didn't know the mead was poisoned?" Snape smirked as he clarified.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, it was on my desk yesterday, and I assumed it was an early Christmas gift from Minerva. She always gives me mead."

"Malfoy," Harry growled and plopped back onto the couch. "I've been nice, but it ends now!"

"Harry, we don't know that…"

Everyone in the room glared at Dumbledore, causing him to stop that train of thought. "Right, well, he's only a child. We must guide him away from the influence of the Dark Lord. I think a second chance and maybe an offer of help from his head of house is appropriate."

Harry snorted while Tom looked at Dumbledore in disbelief. Surprisingly, Snape looked like this was the response he expected and feared from the old man. "He almost killed you headmaster," Harry reminded him.

"Right, my boy, but he didn't," Dumbledore said, twinkle going crazy in his eye.

Harry rolled his eyes and crossed his arms while Tom put an arm around Snape, not understanding why he was upset, but seeing it plainly. "Headmaster, if you don't care about yourself, fine. However, Malfoy almost killed a friend of mine and we will have words if he doesn't get it together by the time we get back from break. I'll do my best to keep it from fists or curses, but I will confront the little ferret, no matter what you say."

"Why are we not talking about expelling him?" Tom asked in frustration. "Or turning him over to the aurors, not that I normally advocate for the aurors, but isn't this their job?"

"The headmaster is a big believer in second chances," Snape sneered at the old man.

"Isn't this more like a third for Malfoy though?" Harry reminded them.

"I fully believe there is still good in the boy," Dumbledore said sternly before turning back to the floo. "I'll leave you all to unpack," he added. "Thank you for saving my life," Dumbledore said to Tom as he disappeared into green flames.

"Merlin! I saved Dumbledore's life!" Tom collapsed on the couch. "Hell has frozen over, and pigs are flying everywhere. I bet evil me even has indigestion right now."

"How did you recognize the poison in the mead?" Snape asked in thought as he sat behind Tom and pulled him closer, realizing how close he almost came to losing him.

Tom scoffed. "What? I cast a contaminant revealing spell on everything I eat and drink. I'm not an idiot."

"Everything? Isn't that more than a little paranoid?" Snape raised an eyebrow. Tom and Harry looked at each other questioningly. "Let me guess…you have the boy doing it too?"

Harry shrugged. "I've caught three love potions and something that would have turned me blue in my food, so I don't think we're that paranoid. Plus…poisoned mead…need I say more?"

"How long have you been doing this?" Snape's eyes widened in concern.

Tom and Harry looked to each other again, seeming to have a silent conversation going on. "Er, since first year," Harry finally answered. "You have to admit, you were a little suspicious…and you're a potions master."

At this, Snape actually laughed. "Merlin! I'm the one that started this paranoia? I promise I've never poisoned your food or drink," he added seriously. "I'm sure you're safe over the summer at headquarters as well."

Harry raised a very Snape-like eyebrow at the man in disbelief. "The blue curse was on chocolates that Sirius sent me. You know not to trust anything a marauder gives you to eat."

Snape groaned and admitted defeat. "All right, so who's going to show me this spell? It sounds like I should probably join you in your paranoia."

After a blissfully relaxing free period, provided by the fact that History of Magic was cancelled until after break because of a missing ghost, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking to DADA class when Harry stopped mid-step in the hallway. "Something's different," he said looking around.

"What?" Ron asked as he looked around them in confusion. "I don't see anything."

"No, Harry's right. Something is definitely different," Hermione agreed. None of them could figure it out until Professor Shade threw open the DADA classroom door and welcomed them in.

Their eccentric professor was standing excitedly by the suit of armor that normally sat outside the DADA classroom in the hallway. "Why is the suit of armor in here?" Harry asked Tom suspiciously. It was always a good idea to start with suspicion when dealing with an excited Dark Lord.

"Well, class, it's our last time meeting before break, so I figured we'd have a little fun while I test you all on what you remember," Tom smiled at them all brightly. "We're going to completely and utterly destroy this suit of armor! Who's with me?!"

It took a minute as the class looked at him like he was crazy before they decided that, yeah, that actually did sound fun. When he started to see excited looks on faces, Tom brightened even more. "Ok, when it's your turn, I'll yell out what you're fighting, and I want you to use the best spell you can think of to attack either offensively or defensively the creature or person. Only rule is to not use any spells that will spread beyond the suit of armor, and unfortunately (here Tom rolled his eyes) no dark curses."

After a groan from the Slytherins he nodded his head. "Yes, I know, archaic restrictions. It's not coming from me though, so what can we do? Who's up first?"

Ron actually stepped up first, after Harry pushed him that is. "Acromantuala!" Tom called out with a slight smile, knowing Ron's fear.

"Bombarda!" Ron yelled a blasting curse that had the suit of armor flying against the wall before Tom spelled it back into place.

"Good job Mr. Weasley! Mr. Goyle, you're up! Boggart!"

Tom went through the class calling out different things like hinkypunks, dementors, giants, vampires, and so forth. When it got to Harry's turn, Tom smiled at him and called out "Inferi!"

Harry glanced at him and rolled his eyes, knowing full well the spell he would normally use to get rid of inferi was a dark spell. "Ignis flagellum!" Harry cast as he had seen Voldemort do at the end of the last year. It wasn't a dark spell per se; it wasn't exactly light either; it was more gray than anything else, so it didn't really go against his dad's rule. A fire whip erupted from the end of his ebony wand. He flicked the whip towards the suit of armor where it coiled around the steel, heating up until it melted through and severed the armor in half.

"Excellent!" Tom yelled out as everyone looked on in awe and fear at Harry using a fire-whip to sever a suit of armor in half. "Good job finding a loophole in my rule by using a gray spell!"

That class went down in history as the best DADA class for the sixth years, even beating out the boggart lesson of Lupin's which had traumatized a few people. "Is there a reason you had us destroying school property?" Harry asked as the rest of the class left, excitedly talking about the spells, and he hung back with Tom.

"Fiendfyre!" Tom cast, completely incinerating the suit of armor with the dark spell.

"Ok, what did the suit of armor do to you?" Harry clarified as he looked wide-eyed at the smoking pile of melted steel.

Tom banished the steel with a wave of his wand. "It's what I put the DADA curse on, so curse broken," he smiled. "That suit of armor has been outside of this classroom since way before I started school here, so I figured they'd never move it. I guess I was right."

"You're so going to get in trouble with Dumbledore or McGonagall or both," Harry smirked. "Why didn't you just counter the curse?"

Tom shrugged. "This was more fun. What can I say? Oops, I'm so sorry, and I won't do it again," he laughed. "They'll thank me when I stay around for next year. Plus, I saved Dumbledore's life. That should get me at least three suits of armor and a tapestry before I get yelled at."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, that sounds about right. See you at Grimmauld in a few days? It'll be so nice to have a break and not be grounded over it!"

"Sure, I'll try to talk Sev into joining me," Tom smiled and sat on a desk. "Maybe we can finally get them all together and figure out what in Salazar's name actually happened to make them hate each other so much."

Harry hummed in thought. "Yeah, maybe we should take their wands away first though."

"Good point," Tom nodded. "Talk to you tonight and see you in a few days!"

Up Next: Snape gets a new pet?