Hello! Welcome readers old and new.

...seriously, more of you keep trickling in as this story goes along and I am amazed you see over a hundred chapters and go, 'I'ma binge read it in a single weekend'. Takes me back to my old sleepless nights in college, staying up later and later, promising myself I'd go to bed after reading one more chapter of a lengthy fanfic I found earlier when I was supposed to studying for a midterm.

Good times, good times.

Lets get on with it, shall we?

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter 135: Capable of Change?

"He seriously hasn't used it?" Severus asked with skeptical amazement, "Not even once?"

Remus shook his head.

"It's true," he said in between spoonfuls of French onion soup, "Ever since Dumbledore talked to him, I have seen hide nor hair of the cloak. He's got it locked tighter in his trunk than a jewel in Gringotts. Whatever Dumbledore said must have really had a profound effect on him."

Severus sent a curious glance towards the staff table, pursing his lips in irritation when Dumbledore caught his gaze and gaze him a subtle nod with that infuriating all-knowing smile of his, "I'm glad we don't have to worry about the cloak anymore, but I hate when that old coot's right."

Lily tapped Severus's hand with her fork in gentle rebuke, "That 'old coot' is the leader of our side in this war."

"Well I didn't vote for him," Severus muttered dourly, taking an aggressive bite out of his pear.

"I don't think war ranking is part of a democratic process," Remus mused with a raised brow.

Severus rolled his eyes, "Whatever. How about a change of subject? Isn't your boyfriend going to miss you if you're eating over here?"

Remus chuckled, "I don't think he's noticed that I'm gone yet. He's been regaling the first years with some cock and bull story about him facing down a basilisk with one hand tied behind his back."

Sure enough, Sirius was gesticulating widely at the Gryffindor table to a group of enraptured first years, James and Peter watching with bemusement and occasional throwing in their own absurd claims that Sirius would roll with without hesitation. Judging by the swaying and wiggling of his arms, they'd somehow added the giant squid to the tale at one point or another.

"See I told you that him helping would only make his head bigger," Severus stated, somehow both proud and annoyed that his prediction proved true, "Now he's going round acting like he's some bloody hero."

"Well technically he's as much a hero as any of us," Lily reminded her boyfriend, "I mean, we all did fight the basilisk."

"And he's not hogging all the glory," Remus pointed out with a smirk, "You're in the story too."

Sirius coincidentally pointed Severus way at that moment, the first years eyes turning to Severus with poorly concealed awe and borderline worshipful gazes.

Severus huffed, "He's not doing that to be nice; he's doing it because he knows they'll follow me around like a row of ducklings and it's hilarious to him how much it annoys me."

"I love ducklings!" Nesme exclaimed, plopping down into a spare opening on the bench, "What are we talking about?"

"Just Severus being a sourpuss about his fan base," Lily explained, "Hi, Nesme. Hello, Renée.

Davis—or rather Renée—smiled in greeting as they sat down beside Nesme and tucked into some mincemeat pie.

"So Severus is being his usual self then, hm?" they said, before taking a bite of lunch and perking up, "Ooh, there's venison in this!"

Nesme made a face, "You're eating Bambi."

"No, I'm eating his mum," Renée replied back casually, "And you don't know what you're missing."

"And I'd like to keep it that way," Nesme said, more than content with her turkey sandwich.

Renée took another bite of their pie, complete with an over the top groan of enjoyment, making Nesme grimace.

"Honestly venison isn't that different from beef," Remus tried to reason.

"Which I have also never had because my father's family is Hindu," Nesme snapped, "Stop trying to tempt me with the forbidden fruit…which is made of meat."

Severus bit back a smile at Nesme's pout, "You really want to try a cheeseburger, don't you?"

"Yes!" Nemse groaned, dropping her head to the table, "It always smells so good around the steak houses in London. Dad says he doesn't expect me to follow all his families ways, but their my family too and I want to be respectful. I never really minded when I was little because my mum moved us to India when she and dad got married and most of the people around us were Hindu. Hardly anyone ate beef. But then we came back to England so I could attend Hogwarts and I never realized before how much British people are all about the beef!"

Renée held out their fork, a bite-sized portion sitting temptingly on it, "Venison isn't beef. If you don't mind a bite of Bambi's mum, you could try a nice fatty, savory beef alternative," they sang the last part, waving the fork in front of Nesme's face.

"But deer are so cute and graceful," Nesme said pitifully, "And isn't it Potter's animagus form?"

"That's why I like deer jerky," Severus said with realization and an evil grin.

Lily smacked him, "You'd think that Nesme would be the one to make it weird, but no. You made it weird."

"Doesn't it smell good?" Renée tempted Nesme.

"Quit it," Nesme snapped, pushing the fork away, "Remus, you get it right? Isn't it weird with James being your friend and all?"

"To be honest, if Werewolves weren't predisposition to eat people, I'd probably be trying to eat James like every other wolf," Remus deadpanned with a shrug, "Besides, I was eating deer meat long before I was bitten."

"Well you're no help," Nesme said sourly.

"Just one bite, Nes," Renée reasoned, "It's almost like beef, but leaner. All the flavor, none of the religious-based guilt."

Nesme eyed the fork warily, sniffing the air a bit and trying to fight off the intoxicating smell of juicy red meat. Just as Renée was about to pull their fork away in defeat, Nesme leaned forward the popped the utensil in her mouth lighting fast, pulling back with a mouthful of mincemeat.

Nesme chewed and swallowed, her face crumpling in relishment with a satisfied hum.

"Damnit," she whined, "Bambi, why do you taste so good?"

The others chuckled around her, Renée putting their fork down with a victorious grin.

"So moving on from ridiculousness," they said, looking at the rest of the group, "What were you all discussing before we showed up."

"Potter's actually been responsible with the cloak," Severus explained, jerking a thumb towards the Gryffindor table, "Hasn't been gallivanting around the castle with it since he got it back."

Renée blinked, "Wow, really? That's…surprising if I'm being quite honest."

"That's what I said," Severus replied, "Potter being responsible; who knew he had it in him?"

"Give him some credit," Remus requested, "He's capable of some seriousness…when he's not around Sirius."

"Which is all the time," Lily remarked with a grin, watching a thoroughly unimpressed Mary break up the antics between Sirius and the first years while glaring at her less than effective Head Boy.

Severus followed Lily's gaze, "Mary must wish she could ban those two from ever interacting."

Remus snorted, "Trust me, she's considered hexing them into having to stay at least ten feet apart. Only reason she hasn't is the teachers would notice if those two can't be in the same class together without magically being thrown away from each other."

"As entertaining as an image as that is," Renée interjected, "Back on topic I'm genuinely surprised Potter's taking Dumbledore's words to heart. What do you think he said to him?"

"Knowing Dumbledore, he probably appealed to Potter's already established feeling of self-importance," Severus guessed, "Placed the 'burden' of guarding his family's heritage on James's shoulders, blah, blah, blah, the future head of the House of Potter must be a shining example to others and all that nonsense. Potter listens best when he thinks he's the only one capable of doing what is requested; it makes him feel special, like some sort of chosen one."

Remus nodded, "Severus's has got a point; James likes being the special one. I imagine being 'tasked' with something of 'grave importance' would make him more willing to act responsibly, if only to reap all the glory of being the most important person in the room."

"And Dumbledore framing it as James being the only suitable for guarding the Potter family cloak surely played to James's hero complex," Lily theorized, "He probably could have told him what the cloak really was and James would have guarded it with his life out of pride."

"No, he'd end up spilling the beans out of his need to gloat," Severus stated, "He's more careful with his own property than he is with anyone else's. He's more apt to keep the cloak secret because it's his and he doesn't want anyone taking it than he would if it was some relic belonging to someone else and entrusted to him. He values his own possessions more."

"It's true," Remus agreed, "Pretty sure the only reason he's taken such good care of the map is because it's just as much his as it is mine, Sirius's, or Peter's."

A thought occurred to Severus, "I've been meaning to ask; how much did Peter actually contribute to making the map. Spellwork wasn't really his strong point early on."

"Who do you think scoped out the entirety of the school?" Remus asked, "As Wormtail, he can get to practically every inch of the school."

"Except the come and go room," Nesme pointed out.

"Which you are not to tell Potter about," Severus warned Remus, "Unless you somehow manage to convince him not to record it to the map. I don't want that information written down in case the map ever falls into the wrong hands."

Remus shrugged, "Yeah, but there's a code word for it. It's not like just anyone can read the map."

"Passwords and codes can be overheard if one isn't careful," Severus cautioned, "So I for one would like to be as discreet as possible with any prudent information. So no map."

Remus raised his hands in surrender, "Fine. Not like I planned on telling him or Sirius anyway. Siri would just see it as a snogging hideout and pester me to go there all the time. Hard enough to keep his hands to himself as it is already."

Lily snickered, "Oh yeah, that room is a definitely tempting as a hot spot for snogging. Hard to focus on homework once you know it's there, just waiting for you to grab your boyfriend and fool around in it."

"I both rue and rejoice over discovering that room," Severus grumbled, head in his hands, "Nearly forgotten an assignment or two because someone keeps dragging me away from my studies."

Lily stuck her tongue between her teeth, "You love it."

"You guys woke up in the come and go room after Slughorn's party, right?" Renée brought up.

Lily nodded, "Thank god we made it there and didn't wind up getting down to business in the hallway."

Severus grimaced, "I don't fancy giving Filch a show, thank you very much."

"Yeah, that's right," Nesme joined in, "The room provided a bed for you and everything didn't it?"

"And breakfast by the fireplace," Lily added, "It was very romantic."

Renée fiddled with their utensils musingly, "I wonder if there's any limit to what the room can turn into? Conjuring up a bedroom would be easy enough, but it's managed cathedral high ceilings and enormous storage rooms before. What else do you think it can become?"

"Can't say I know," Severus said, "There isn't really much written about Hogwarts powers or abilities in any book; probably because it couldn't be considered such a safe place if all its secrets were common knowledge. The Room of Requirement is known only by word of mouth with no written record of it ever existing, so it's hard to imagine offhand just what its capabilities actually are."

"It's sort of a temporal plane from what I've gathered," Renée theorized, "Space is relative in it, though I'm not sure if the same can be said for time. So far, time hasn't moved any differently for us in or out of the room."

"There's also the question of where things go when not in the room," Lily brought up, "The room we found the diadem in disappears into nothing if we call upon a different room instead of it…so where does everything go? And do the things provided for us—like beds for example—come from somewhere else or does the room just magic them up?"

Severus hummed, "That's a good question. Well really, all of the questions are good. Sure wish I had the answer to at least one of them."

"How did the food taste?" Nesme asked, "Renée keeps saying the food the room provides is just conjured up and therefore not as filling as 'real' food."

Severus thought it over, "It was filling enough. Truthfully, I could barely focus on breakfast after I realized we had the cloak."

Renée snorted, "Must have been freaky to wake up and find that thing just sitting there. You really don't recall grabbing it?"

Severus shook his head, "Not the foggiest memory. Just woke up and there it was, sitting on the bed."

"On the—," Remus choked on his apple, "God Lord, you didn't shag on it, did you?"

Severus spit out his juice, spraying a cackling Nesme.

Lily looked away with a flush, refusing to answer.

"…wow," Renée said flatly.

"It's not funny," Remus sputtered at a still laughing and juice splattered Nesme, "I helped James put it away. I handled it!"

"We cleaned it," Lily weakly defended.

Nesme was rapidly turning red in the face from the lack of air laughing so hard.

Severus buried his face in his hands, unable to look Remus in the eye, "Somedays I wish that basilisk had killed me."

In case anyone is a little lost (I know the time between chapters can make previous tidbits grow faint in the memory) Davis is non binary and is testing out the name Renée for a more gender neutral name. They'll still be addressed as Davis by those outside the friends' inner circle since Renée is still testing the waters of expressing themselves and not many in the seventies truly understood gender the way we do now.

I know the little tidbits about Nesme don't contribute to the plot, but I just like fleshing her out. I mean, she's a white girl raised in India by her stepfather so there's certain religious restrictions when it comes to beef...and then her folks want her to attend Hogwarts so they move to England...a heavy cattle farming place where red meat is the staple of many traditional foods. That's got to be an odd adjustment.

Review please :)