Title: The Thespian, the Rouge, and the Scholar

Part five of the Silent Song Series

Author: PLS.

Date: June 9, 2003

Rating: PG.

Summery: Response to a challenge on HarryXSnapeML- Alternate Timeline/ Albus didn't stop the Dark Wizard Grindelwald, instead he joined him. How has that impacted the wizarding world?

Quote of the Section: Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love and to be loved is the greatest happiness of existence. -- Sydney Smith

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The Halloween feast was fast approaching. It had been nearly two whole months since he and Severus became roommates and teachers at his old home. Since then Lumos had adopted Severus as his master and Nox was always on Harry's shoulder. It was amazing the way students had just adopted the two newest professors as normal after the first two days of classes.

Now things were running smoothly and Harry was always being stunned at how much the students wanted to learn. The second years had taken to street fighting with the ease of a duck to water. Sure there were students who were better at the magic parts of the style Harry was teaching and there were still others who were natural-born wrestlers. No one was perfect and he was also trying to teach them to play to their strengths. He was also having trouble getting the four houses to work as one. Each house was created to put those with similar virtues together and Harry had assumed that it was his job as their teacher to inform them that in the real world they would need to work with those with virtues they don't have in order to get a job done. Severus told him while it was true, he was fighting an uphill battle. The students of Hogwarts were so used to the competition and fighting between houses that to get them to do differently was going to be impossible. Harry refused to give up. He was reading in the staff room. It was a Muggle psychology book on teaching methods and the nature vs. nurture issue. By now both of the mercenary professors were thoroughly left alone. Though most of the professors knew him very well they still were unnerved by his past deeds, the same went for Severus. He looked around, he was indeed alone. "Argh! Why can't I get the kids to understand?" he asked himself as he threw the book on a table. He got up and started to pace and rant under his breath about stupid house rivalries and empty headed teachers. He was so engrossed in his frustration that he almost yelled in fright when he heard a laugh. He turned around to see the smiling History of Magic Professor, Hermione Granger.

"I'm sorry, but you were too funny to watch." she said apologetically.

"It's okay. You're the first to say me ranting is funny though. Are you sure you are sane?" asked Harry slipping on his happy face. He couldn't hide his emotions like Severus could. He had to cover them up with masks of happiness, anger, and concentration.

"Yes, I'm sane. I could ask you the same. What's got you so riled up?" asked the brown haired young woman. She took a seat by the window and gestured for Harry to do the same.

Harry took the seat and sighed, for once dropping his masks. It was a sign of respect and trust that so far he had only really given to Severus. Harry smiled," Well, I'm sure you have heard of my quest for the houses to get along well enough to work together." He paused and she nodded, "I just can't seem to get them to understand that they need to find others with strengths where they are weak. It is the single most important thing I can teach them. The best defense is to have people you rely on watching your back as you watch theirs. The combat, hexes, potions, and knowledge is all secondary."

"So, you think if you can get the four houses to work as one, the students have a better chance of surviving?" she asked.

"Yes, I know they will." said Harry. She looked curious.

"Harry, I fully agree. Do you want help?" Harry looked stunned and happy beyond measure. Severus had been helping, but the man had his own classes to prepare. Harry was just no good at the whole research deal, he really never cared in school enough to try. Not to mention it all came so easily then.

"Are you sure? don't you have your own classes to teach?" he asked nervously.

"You don't listen much, do you? I'm writing a wizarding teaching methods book, this fits right in. Come on, my private library has a good collection of books. We'll grab a few, get the house elves to pack us some snacks and go read outside. The fresh air and change of scenery will do you good."

Hermione whisked him away so quickly that before his brain really registered it, he was sitting on the green sloping lawns of Hogwarts eating a ham sandwich and listening to her voice read Freud. They read together and made notes for several hours until a familiar voice interrupted Harry's comments on how messed up the Behaviorist view on learning was.

"After standing me up for the third time, what is you excuse?" snapped Severus. Harry was laying down with his eyes partly closed to shield them from the sun. He looked up and backwards at the tall man. Severus was standing over Harry's body with a scowl deeply etched into his face.

"Want a ham sandwich?" asked Harry as he sat up. Severus was looking very angry now and Hermione looked nervous. She had nothing to fear, Severus was always like this when he was amused and really just wanted to know what was going on. Harry handed Severus a sandwich and the man sat down next to Harry.

"You forgot the conditioning training we both did. The behaviorists are more right than wrong." said Severus after he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Oops, you're right as always, Sev. Well, how in the world can Freud be right if everyone else is right as well?" Harry collapsed again on to his back and he folded his hands under his head.

Hermione transfigured a couple of spoons she had into wraparound mirrored sunglasses, put them on, and picked up another book and her ink pen. She made notes in her journal and then spoke," I see the points made, but I get the feeling we are missing something. Maybe you can see it." she tossed her notes to Severus who caught them with ease.

He scanned over them speedily. He then pulled out of the large pockets in his over-robe a highlighter, his notes, and an ink pen. He highlighted bits of Hermione's notes, wrote things down in his notes and highlighted them and tossed both his and her notes to Harry. Harry sat up and read both sets quickly and made notes in his journal and scribbled things on both sets of notes then handed all three to Hermione. She made notes on all three then handed the journals back to the ones they belonged to.

"Wow, you both are brilliant!" exclaimed Harry. "I think we should work together more often like this."

"Severus, your notes were eyeopening. I never quite understood Pavlov like that." said Hermione with a small smile.

"Yes, well, that was how I was trained. First hand exsperience is needed to understand some of his ideas. Your ideas on how to bridge behavior modification and biological factors was rather good as well."

"Thank you. And you Harry, you know more than you let on. Are you trying to con me into doing the work for you?" she asked in a mock serious voice. Harry grinned.

"Don't worry, he tries to do that to me as well. After that fails he tries to charm me into doing his bidding. He's like a kid mostly." said Severus with a smirk. Hermione laughed at the hurt look on Harry's face.

"Ouch, you wounded me. Right to the core." Harry pouted as he put a hand on his chest.

They continued to laugh and joke as they continued their research. The sun was setting as they went in for supper. They just made it to the Head Table as Minerva finished the announcements and the plates were filled magically. The three talked animatedly all through dinner and as soon as the meal was over they went to the northeast tower to talk more. Hermione ended up accepting Harry's offer to spend the night in his second guest suite in the third floor of the tall tower. He had the very top of the tower and Severus had the second floor suite.

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"Come on 'Mione. You basically live with us. Just move your books and the rest of your things to the dungion library and your suite. Both Sev and I know you want to." Harry said to the woman across from him at their table at the Three Broomsticks. It had been three months since the three first became friends and since then Hermione had ended up in the third floor suite so often that it was now her main haunt other than her office.

"But can you imagine the rumors? The students will know." she said and then took a sip of her bloody mary. Harry laughed.

"You mean the ones where we are a threesome, and have wild sex all night long. Or maybe you mean the ones where Sev and I are day waking vampires and we have made you one as well. Then there is the one where Sev and I are a couple and we asked you to carry a child for us."

"Point made," said Hermione glaring at Harry," Well, it would be more conveniant for us all, and the book will get done sooner. Are you sure? I mean I get really bad every twentith of the month."

"We've delt with it before. Trust me, it's going to be fine. The only reason Sev isn't here trying to stare you down too is his father's mess. He was the one who persuded me that this was a good idea. I'll even help you move." Hermione smiled at Harry's sincerity and Harry and Hermione shared a look that spoke the rest of the conversation for them.

He was never like this for anyone but her and Severus. They were the only two he trusted compleatly now. With anyone else it was all an act, used to charm and get people to like him. The three were often compared to the Three Musketeers, they were always together when they were not teaching. All three had grown so close they were almost like a family. Each helped the other two be themselves. When alone with Harry and Hermione, Severus would smile, laugh, and drop the cold exterior. He was still sarcatic and easally pervoked into arguing, but he wasn't as silent and angry with the world. Hermione would forget about being mature and distant, she told them everything and joked around like she should have when she was a student. It was amazing how they needed each other. Combined classes were becoming more common, and the students seemed to like the combined courses more than the three regular subjects.

Harry knew that this was how he was supposed to feel around those he really would die for. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.