Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Severus Snape and/or any other characters. Their JK Rowling's.
A/N: Well, I'm back! So peoples, thanks for waiting, and yeah, hope you like this chapter. Also…
WARNING: Spoilers for OotP after here. Basically, it's just whoever died in Order of the Phoenix is going to stay alive in my fic. And in later chapters, certain places and new people are coming in. Thanks!
***
Well, you would think that maybe after all that had been going on in his life, what with Voldermort permanently on his trail, the nightmares and Snape, Harry Potter would somehow be excused from exams. Apparently not. The NEWTs were in four months, and these days were, well, in the words of Ron Weasley:
"As stressful as being the TriWizard Tournament! I just can't stand it anymore!"
"Ron. You were never in the TriWizard Tournament. I was."
"Yeah, well, it was stressful wasn't it?"
Harry had to agree. He was right.
"Boys, I'm telling you, you should have listened to me and studied when you had the chance." Hermione intervened, late from her Arithmacy Class.
"What, and have studied a year earlier like you?"
Hermione usually would've sent him a glare, but this time surprised the red head with a simple:
"Yes. You should have."
"Oh MAN," Ron moaned. "When Hermione starts talking like that, we ARE ruined."
"Exactly."
"Shut up Hermione." Harry replied calmly, and Hermione looked slightly offended. "Just, will you help us, or not?"
"No way, Harry. You've got to learn, you two." She gave a small wave with her fingers and strolled quickly to her next class. "I'll see you at dinner."
Harry and Ron were left slightly dismayed and more than a little surprised, while the bell rang for their next lesson: Divination. They hurried off, climbing into the classroom seconds before Professor Trelawney called for quiet.
"Today," she began, "we will be looking at Premonitions and Precognition. Take out your books and turn to page 205."
"Great," Harry muttered. "It's not like I don't have enough of this already."
"What was that Harry?"
"Nothing."
The class seemed to finally shut up, and began to write summaries of the fifteenth chapter in the book: The Seeing Eye. A few quills squeaked and Trelawney floated around the room, commenting every now and then. Then she glided back to her desk and began to make her own insightful comments about the topic.
"To have a Seeing Eye is to be blessed with a gift…"
"That nobody wants," Ron inserted with a whisper.
"…It is knowledge of the future, through visions or foreboding. True Seers are rare…"
"Which is why you're a fake," Ron muttered.
"… And even then, do they have to endure training in order to control such a gift. One will know that they have the Sight very early in the process, but one will not acknowledge it unless they begin to understand it…"
"Which is why one will never, ever become a Seer. Because one doesn't understand a word you're saying." Ron murmured.
"… Seers may also have the ability to sense other Seers, as it is the only way to differentiate one Sighted to one not..."
"Then why don't you just give up on us since obviously you can tell that none of us here ar – "
"Ron, shut up." Harry finally whispered, and both boys focused their attention on Lavender's waving hand.
"Yes, Miss Brown?" Trelawney asked.
"I want to know if there are any Seers in this room at the moment."
Ron turned to Harry again. "More likely that she wants to know if she can follow in the footsteps of her heroine Professor Trelawney."
But Harry wasn't listening to him, he was still concentrating on Trelawney, who, strangely enough, was looking at him when she answered the girl's question.
"There is… potential …here in this room, Miss Brown."
***
Harry and Ron rushed into the Great Hall just as the food had appeared. Most students were already sitting, but Hermione had saved seats for them beside her.
"Thanks 'Mione." Ron said as he slid into his seat.
"Don't call me that," She replied automatically, and Harry laughed as he sat down.
They began to eat and listen to the conversations that were being held around them. Quidditch being one the main topics, as the Quidditch Cup was only months away. Which wasn't necessarily a good thing, Ron reminded Harry, as their skills on the field seriously needed some polishing.
"Hey, look." Hermione said suddenly, making a few heads turn.
An ordinary brown owl swooped in over the Gryffindor table, and though it made no noise at all, the fact that there was a letter at dinner was enough to draw the eyes of the more curious. It dropped into Harry's [luckily empty] plate. The boy picked it up and moved to put it in his bag, which caused most of the people looking at him to drop their eyes back to their plates.
He took it out again, opened it and skimmed it quickly, eyes widening with every sentence.
"It's from Severus and Snuffles." He said quietly to Ron and Hermione.
"You mean Snape and Sirius." Ron remarked.
Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. "Snuffles."
"Oh. Right. Well, what does it say?"
Harry was reading it properly this time, and seemed to be part stunned, part amused. "Here. Read." He passed it to his friends.
*
Dear Harry,
This is Sirius. Firstly, HOW COULD YOU HAVE NOT TOLD ME ABOUT SNAPE BEING YOUR –
Great way to start a letter, Black.
You shut up Snape. And Harry. I'm your guardian, you should have told me first no matter what –
And I'm his father, Black. It took two hours to sink in, I sure hope you haven't forgotten already.
I said shut up. And stop interrupting my sentences. Harry, when I see you, we are going to talk this over. But there are more important things. Right now, I'm in hiding with Snape, and some other Aurors. Secret location that I can't tell you, not even in this letter. I'm alright, except that I'm stuck here with Snape –
I'm not exactly happy about it either, Black.
If you keep doing that, I'll snap the quill, Snape. But Harry, hope you're doing alright, 'cause I've heard about these nightmares you've been having. And how Snape here thinks they might be more than that. But if anything happens, got to Dumbledore. He'll know what to do.
Harry. This is Severus. Black's said pretty much all there is to say, so I'm going to make this short. Firstly, your appearance changes should have slowed considerably, a flaw in the original potion. It may take a full month for your appearance to –
Appearance changes? What appearance changes? Harry, if you look the slightest like this git here when I come back, I swear I will murder him.
Black, I'm right here. You can say that to my face.
Damn hell I will.
Harry, but most importantly, even when the potion wears, you can't admit to anyone that you're the son of Snape okay? Do you understand that? Especially not followers. That information is dangerous, and even when confronted, don't agree.
What he said, Harry.
Harry, this letter is being delivered by a friend. An animagi. So it's safer than you can imagine. It'll become a danger if we write all the time, but we'll keep in touch.
Bye Harry.
*
Harry, Ron and Hermione turned to the owl and looked at it with admiration. Realizing the brown bird in front of them could be an Auror put them in some sort of awe. Obviously, the animagi didn't feel the same, and pecked at their fingers, urging them to reply.
Hermione responded first, pulling a quill and a piece of parchment from her bag. "Here."
Harry scrawled a quick letter. He felt like he had so much more to say, but he knew this wasn't the right time. And Severus had already said too many letters would be a danger.
Severus, Sirius.
Thanks for the letter, it's good to know you're both safe. It's even better to know that you two are on speaking terms. Sirius, sorry I didn't tell you, but I was afraid of your reaction. Obviously, I was right. But it's nice to hear from you after so long. What's going on at the moment? Outside, I mean. Do you two even know? When does it all begin? What's going on with the Aurors?
Severus, I'm sorry all this has happened because of me, all because of some connection between me and the Dark Lord. I can promise I'll stay Harry Potter for the while, but I'll have to say the reactions I'm getting are slightly strange. Some don't see it. Most people just ignore it, or ignore me. But some even think it's a spell gone wrong. I hope you're doing okay,
Harry.
Harry rolled it up and clipped it on the bird's wing. It whistled softly, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if it really was an Auror.
"Thanks." He murmured to it. "Be careful."
The owl hooted again, and as the three of them watched in silent fascination, it's feathers changed quite suddenly to a fluorescent pink, then to a dark purple. It lifted off and left the Great Hall.
***
Hehe. Since we all know who it is [people who haven't read OotP, it's your own fault], does anyone agree with me that Tonks has such a cute character? She's only a minor character in OotP though. And I can't think of a word to describe her… She's clumsy, but charming I guess.
Also, Snape and Sirius's letter to Harry was more than a little strange, I know, but it was fun to write. Well, please review, I like feedback.
