Harry took Minnie's advice, he didn't go down to the abandoned classroom again. He even went so far as to tell Hermione about his late night escapades so that her ensuing lecture would be motivating enough to keep him from wandering. Hermione had borrowed his cloak, sneaking into the library's restricted section in order to check the books for anyone with the name 'Flamel.' Meanwhile, now that everyone knew about the 'Youngest Seeker in a Century,' Harry was forced to attend regular Quidditch practice times, which were much less conducive to a study schedule than his previous times of whenever he was free. It made him wonder how Fred and George even managed to keep up. It was during one of these practices that he learned that Severus would be refereeing the next match.
"I'm telling you, Hermione! This is how I die!" Harry exclaimed, collapsing dramatically beside her.
"Why don't you owl Sirius and tell him of your worries?" Hermione asked.
"Because Hestia got onto the two of them over Christmas hols. She said that the Severus Snape she knew in school wouldn't hex a kid. Sirius then allowed that they must have known two different Severus Snapes," Ron snickered.
"To which," George Weasley cut in, "Hestia replied that of course they knew different Snapes."
"She wasn't an absolute git to him," Fred finished for his twin. "What are we talking about, ickle firsties?"
"Snape refereeing the game," Harry sulked.
"Ah, yes, that bit of upset," George nodded sagely, stroking an imaginary beard.
"We think it's because he wants Hufflepuff to lose. Ravenclaw can't handle emotional upheaval like this and are afraid he'll pull the same stunt on them. There's no 'black and white' to it, Snape just wants to referee a game for a change. They're all pouting in the locker rooms, discussing what the meaning of this is, and what the odds are of him just letting Hooch do it as usual," Fred explained.
"'Course, a certain little birdie overheard Hooch say she was happy someone else was taking an interest, so there's no way Snape's not going to be on the pitch," George smirked, causing Hermione to bite on her lip to avoid asking their source.
Just then, Neville hopped into the room, his legs locked together.
"I've forgotten the counter-jinx!" He exclaimed.
"How far have you hopped and no one in this bloody school had offered to help?" Harry asked.
"From the library! And it's not like the corridors were deserted! I passed at least 25 upper years, and three professors to boot!" Neville complained as Ron released him.
"Who did this to you?" Hermione asked, focusing on the real question.
"Nott… and his new mate, Zabini," Neville said, face downcast.
"Neville, mate, you've really got to start standing up for yourself," Ron said sagely.
"That aside, do you want us to hex him?" Fred offered.
"Yeah, 'cause you're our ickle firsties, and no one can pick on you but us," Fred finished.
"Naw, we'll get them back. Unite front from Gryffindor first years. Looks better that way," Ron shrugged, answering for his friend.
"We should get Draco to help us," Hermione informed them bossily. "He was telling me about the Slytherin hierarchy, and this act severely undermines his power."
"Why do we care about that git's power in his own house?" Ron asked, cocking an eyebrow in her direction.
"Because, if he's in power in Slytherin, they'll leave us alone," Harry said with a roll of his eyes. " I thought you were supposed to be the strategist of the group."
"Oh, that's right. I'm the strategist. And, as the strategist, I say we involved Draco… because he's the one who didn't KISS MY SISTER!" Ron yelled, attracting attention.
"Hey, Potter, he has a point. You kissed Ginny at New Year…" Fred started, standing on one side of Harry.
"Let's go out to the Black Lake and have a friendly conversation, yeah?" George finished from Harry's other side. The twins each grabbed one of Harry's arms and drug him away.
Ron, Hermione, and Neville all shrugged, not wanting to interrupt the moment, lest they be next. Neville suddenly began digging around in his pocket.
"Here, Hermione, I know you like to collect these. It's Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card. It won't tell you much about why Sirius doesn't trust him, but it does talk about him a bit," Neville said, handing the girl a shiny bit of paper. He wasn't prepared for her to gasp dramatically and pull Ron from the Great Hall.
"Okay, great talk. Bye," Neville said, looking at his plate.
"I checked it out weeks ago for a bit of light reading," Hermione informed Ron and Harry, thumping a gigantic book down on the library table. They had saved Harry from what could have been a painful talk about who gets to kiss their little sister and when.
"Do you even know what light means?" Ron asked, cocking an eyebrow at the book. Hermione glared at him until he raised his hands in submission.
"Here it is!" Hermione said after several seconds of frantic flipping and finger pointing.
"Are we allowed to talk, or are you going to give us that scary death look again?" Ron asked, only half joking.
"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone," Hermione whispered as if that explained everything. Harry and Ron stared at her in confusion for several seconds.
"Yeah… just because we grew up in the Wizarding World doesn't mean we know what you're talking about. What, exactly, is that?" Harry asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Here, just read this bit," Hermione pointed to part of the text. They skimmed over it, quickly gathering the information Hermione had deemed important.
"Nicholas Flamel is 665 years old?" Ron said immediately. "That's why we couldn't find him in any recent histories we looked in."
"The stone can make you live forever and turns metal into pure gold!" Harry exclaimed. "No wonder Snape's after it! He could finally have more money that Sirius! He could buy a real house for Aunt Cissy! And they could live together … forever…"
"Didn't think that one all the way through, did you?" Draco said, sneaking up on the group. "You three aren't as sneaky as you think. It doesn't take that much to find three first years running to the library this part of the term."
"So, how long have you been lurking? Are you caught up?" Hermione asked, folding her hands professionally, the way her parents did when they were negotiating.
"I know enough to know that this git thinks Snape wants to live forever… with mother," Draco sneered.
"Nicholas Flamel made the Sorcerer's Stone. He's over 600 years old and it let's you live forever and make metal turn gold," Hermione recapped. "It's obvious that's what's under the trap door in Fluffy's corridor. Dumbledore and Flamel are friends, so he must be keeping it safe, since it obviously wasn't in Gringotts. Don't tell the goblins I said that, they may not exchange my money if they knew I thought that."
"Don't worry, we won't," Harry said, patting her on the back. "But this isn't the most important thing that's happened today."
"What's that, mate?" Ron asked, staring at Draco, knowing where Harry was going.
"Neville had to hop all the way to the Great Hall because Nott and Zabini put him in a leg-locker curse," Harry said, cracking his knuckles.
"Don't do that, you sound like Crabbe and Goyle. I didn't know they were going to do that, but it will be taken care of," Draco promised. "Wait… Why didn't he just do the counter curse?"
"Nerves, as usual. He forgot and hopped down till he found us. Said he passed several upper years and, get this, three professors too busy to notice," Harry informed him.
"No offense to Neville, but that it the best part. The teachers are too busy to notice first years? We can work with that," Draco said, plotting.
"We need your help. We're going to prank Nott and Zabini. A show of solidarity amongst the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Get Crabbe and Goyle to be lookouts or something," Harry explained.
"Alright, let's plot!" Draco said, putting his head in with Ron and Harry.
"I'm leaving, I'll have no part of this. Don't get expelled, I'll be lonely with just the twins," Hermione said, grabbing the book to shelve it before leaving the boys alone.
The three boys looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to plotting
"Sirius, do you think I'll die? Do you think he'll kill me?" Harry asked the next morning. Sirius and Remus had brought Rigel as a surprise for Harry and they were eating lunch at the Gryffindor table. Rigel had charmed Hermione into helping him fill a plate with as much sugar was as possible considering her parents' profession.
"Harry, if you're so worried, just don't play," Hermione said, gently smacking Rigel's hand as he reached for another scone.
"Say you're sick," Ron advised from his place next to Harry.
"Pretend to break your leg," Neville suggested.
"Really break your leg!" Ron jumped in again, enthusiastically.
"No one will be sitting out of the game, feigning injury or illness, nor putting themselves in harm's way, just to get out of Quidditch," Remus said with a roll of his eyes.
"Nor will you be pulling any silly stunts like catching the snitch as fast as you can. If you do that and Gryffindor hasn't scored enough points, then you could lose the Quidditch Cup even though you win all the games. There is strategy involved, don't forget that!" Sirius ranted, causing Rigel to cheer.
"Besides, if you shorten the game, you let him win, Harry," Remus said, using a professor voice that made Harry regret everything. "We are Gryffindors, we don't run from danger, we embrace it with open arms."
"And they thought you were the sweet, innocent one with unfortunate roommates," Sirius said, smirking at his friend. "Harry, listen to me. Sniv will leave you alone. We had a lovely chat on Boxing Day and we discussed appropriate behavior towards students. He may go easier on Hufflepuff than Gryffindor, but what's Quidditch without the extra challenge?"
"Says you, all the teachers love Gryffindor when you were in school," Harry pouted.
"Harry, that's not true. That's not true at all. We were just very charming and all the teachers had a hard time saying 'no' is all," Sirius explained.
"Yeah, right. That's not how you tell the stories. You always tell me that Dumbledore was good then and that you had all the teachers wrapped around your fingers, even Slughorn," Harry said, calling Sirius out.
"Harry, I think it's time for you to go to the locker room. Fred and George just left, and they're always late. You don't want Oliver to give you extra workouts, do you?" Hermione said, sensing Sirius' disapproval with Harry's attitude. She then turned to Rigel and asked, "Would you like to walk with us to the locker room, Rigel?"
"Yeah! Harry, can I, please?" Rigel asked, giving Harry a perfect Padfoot pout. Harry and Ron rolled their eyes, knowing there was only one answer to this question.
"Yeah, Rigel, let's go," Harry said, leading his god-sibling away.
Sirius and Remus watched them walk away, drinking from their goblets.
"Padfoot, I hate to admit it, but Sniv may be right. Harry may be a bit rude and impetuous," Remus said, looking at his friend.
"I was just thinking the same thing, Moony. I was really hoping that it was all Sniv, like Harry says in the mirror when we talk at night, but it's not," Sirius said, looking at his plate and shaking his head.
Harry mounted his broom with dread in his gut. Oliver suggested he get the snitch as soon as possible. Sirius said the point count may be off and that wouldn't work later. Harry had asked the twins, instead of listening to Oliver's pep talk, and they had done some magnificent calculations in their heads very quickly. Harry forgot at times just how brilliant the twins really were. They allowed that even if they won the game by only 150 points, they would have enough to win no matter what. Harry was still weighing his options as Snape released the quaffle.
In the stands, Hermione, Ron, and Neville were sitting together, fingers crossed that Snape wouldn't favor Hufflepuff too much. They were surprised to see the whole school out for what was supposed to be one of the more routine games. No rivalries, no fuss, but here they all were, even Dumbledore. They were doing good until Nott showed up, bumping Ron in the back.
"Oi, watch it Nott, or I'll…" Ron started.
"Or you'll what? Run to Professor McGonagall and tattle?" Nott smirked.
"I won't do that! I'm not you," Ron said, cocking an eyebrow. "Boy, you are stupid."
"I'm not stupid, that would be Longbottom over here. If brains were gold, he'd be poorer than you," Nott sneered. "Didn't even know the counter-curse to a Leg-Locker curse and he still has the audacity to call himself Sacred 28? Ludicrous."
"I don't call myself Sacred 28, only purists do. I can't help my family hasn't married any Muggleborns yet, so don't act like it's my fault," Neville said, crossing his arms.
The conversation got no better from there. Quickly, it devolved into two-on-one wrestling while Hermione bit her nails, eyes on Harry the whole time. Just as Harry drove spectacularly towards Snape, she started kicking Ron to get him up. Snape barely dodged to the side before Harry ran him over, catching the snitch in the process.
Harry held the snitch up, triumphant. 5 minutes was a new school record, or at least he assumed it was because Oliver was screaming it at anyone who would listen. Sirius rushed to him and swung him in a circle, thoroughly embarrassing him.
"Your granddad used to embarrass James just like this. I'll have to do it for him," Sirius whispered into his ear.
"Congratulations, Cub!" Remus said, hugging Harry tightly. They then moved to the side to do an elaborate handshake with the twins.
Hermione rushed to him with Ron and Neville in tow, looking a little worse for the wear.
"What happened to this lot, then?" Harry laughed.
"Nott," was all they said in way of explanation. Then, they proceeded to celebrate the miraculous win.
Later, after the commotion had died down, and Sirius was done singing 'We Are the Champions' at the top of his lungs, Harry took his Nimbus back to the broom locker. On his way, he saw Snape slinking into the Forbidden Forest. He mounted his broom with the intentions of hovering above and staying out of sight.
He found Snape easily, but wasn't expecting Quirrell to be there, too. It looked like they were having a secret meeting. He strained his ears, hoping to catch every word.
"... d-don't k-know why w-we have t-to m-meet out h-here," Quirrel stuttered.
"This is a private meeting since students aren't to know of the Sorcerer's Stone," Snape said irritably.
Quirrell, the flaw in Harry's eavesdropping plan, muttered and mumbled until Snape interrupted him.
"Have you, or have you not, found a way past that beast of Hagrid's?" Snape said, not quite touching Quirrel.
"B-b-but, Severus…" Quirrell started.
"Don't make me your enemy, Quinarius," Snape threatened.
"I d-d-don't k-know…"
"Yes, you do. You've heard the stories. Find me a way past that monster so you don't become one," Snape warned.
"I-I d-don't k-know…" Quirrell said.
"Fine, we'll have this chat again. After you've had time to figure your loyalties out," Snape said, tossing his cloak and billowing away.
Harry waited until Snape was almost to the castle to leave, leaving Professor Quirrell standing and staring as if petrified.
"I'm telling you! It's Snape for sure!" Harry ranted. He ran into Ron, Neville, and Hermione on the way back to the common room. They had broken into an abandoned classroom with Hermione's neat little charm and were discussing the conversation Harry had overheard.
"So the Sorcerer's Stone is under the trapdoor somewhere?" Hermione verified, pulling at her lip and concentrating very hard.
"Yeah! And he wants Quirrell to help him get passed Fluffy. But the way they were talking, I'll bet there's loads of enchantments down there protecting the stone! And Snape is trying to get Quirrell to help him!" Harry continued to rant.
"So, you're saying what is possibly the most powerful stone in all of the wizarding world is only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione questioned, brows furrowed.
"Shite, it'll be gone next Tuesday," Ron said, hanging his head in defeat.
Gabs: To our lovely guest reviewer, my question is this: It's the early 90s, what parent would actually believe a student when they say a teacher is 'torturing' them? Sirius only believed it in the books because he was so emotionally stunted by his time in Azkaban that he had little to no grip on reality. This Sirius has grown as a character, so he would have to 'see' it fully for himself. And not just, 'oh I think he might be doing a curse on a broom.' Hestia would smack him for that.
Kat: Yes, we also have to remember that they are eleven and that Sirius doesn't see Snape like he did when they were in Hogwarts. Both characters don't necessarily have the same motives as they did in the books.
Gabs: I also apologize for the late update. We teach and it's the week before break. Things are hectic. Well… I sub and Kat teaches, but technicalities.
Kat: And I spent most of my night at the doctor last night. I think we can blame that too. Remember, there will be no Saturday update! We have somewhere to be, and we plan on enjoying the day together!
Gabs: As always, we own nothing. Especially not the bits we copied from The Cannon. And also, review. Tell us how much of a little shit you think Harry is being.
Kat: YES! Oh my goodness, even I want to punch him in the face!
Gabs: Aw, thanks!
XOXO
Gabs and Kat
