Author's note: This chapter is going to be one of the last that is uploaded directly after another is uploaded because I'm getting a job! Whoopie! But you can still count on me to work on the story when I get home and when I have. . .the time. I plan to have finished the story by at least the middle of August, so there shouldn't be more than at least fifteen chapters coming out. Thanks for your support!
***************************************Harry*******************************************
Harry looked at Ron and Hermione's schedules the next morning and frowned. Hermione was taking Advanced Muggle studies instead of Potions and Ron was taking Dueling instead of Potions. Luckily, he was still taking Divination with Harry and he'd see Hermione in all of his other classes. He hadn't seen Scipio all morning, when he and Ron woke up the next morning, his bed was abandoned and his comb thrown into the sink.
"You reckon he's a bit odd?"
"Why, because he gets up earlier than we do? Yeah."
"Maybe that, but sometimes looking at him is like looking at Sirius years younger. He acts just like him, does things just like Sirius did and I just find it all a little de-ja-vou, you know?"
"Yeah, I know what you mean. He's like Sirius as a kid. It's a shame he never got to meet his father, though. They'd have had some real laughs."
"Maybe it all works out for the best, though. You know, like some great master plan."
"I hope so. I really do hope so, Ron."
***************************************Scipio*******************************************
Scipio was a very focused student. He'd been very active in his pursuit of education because he one day wanted to be in charge of Italy's Ministry of Magic. He'd be able to start wizarding orphanages so that no child would have to run away to study magic like he did. Compared with some of the students in Hogwarts, Scipio was genius. Most people figured this out when Scipio was on the Gryffindor schedule for the N.E.W.T. potions class. Scipio couldn't have been more delighted. Potions was his favorite class and he'd be off to a really good start because Harry would be there too. Between the two of them, Scipio was certain he would pass this class with nothing short of an O.
What he didn't know was that his professor would make their lives a living hell.
Scipio ad Harry walked to class together that day to Professor Snape's dungeon-like classroom. Scipio found the room fascinating, all of the different vials of potions and ingredients lined upon shelves like candy in a candy store. Harry had more than once warned Scipio of Snape's attitude towards anybody outside of his own house, and his particular hatred towards Harry. Harry seemed almost certain that Snap would focus his hatred on Scipio just because he was Sirius's son, but Scipio thought it a bit extreme. Professor Snape was a grown adult. He couldn't possibly still be holding onto childhood grudges, could he?
The bell rung immediately after Scipio and Harry had taken their seats in the rear of the classroom. In walked what was undoubtedly Professor Snape, a greasy haired hooked nose man of at least forty. Scipio remembered this man from the sorting, he'd looked none too pleased with Scipio and he even caught what he thought was a snarl. Quickly deciding to make a good impression, he pulled out his quill and parchment and faced towards the front of the nearly empty classroom.
"I see mostly everyone decided to drop potions this year," Harry muttered, pulling out his own quill and parchment.
"Yeah, I noticed the room was a bit empty from the get-go."
"Your cousin is here."
"Great . . .just wonderful," Scipio muttered, looking at Malfoy through the corner of his eye.
"There will be no tolerance for any of you this year," Snape announced as he glared over the halfway empty desks. "You know how I handle business and you know how to handle yourselves accordingly. You should also be very knowledgeable about your potions this year, all of you receiving the highest marks in your Potions classes."
Scipio saw Harry take a slight breath inward. Perhaps Harry hadn't studied over the summer.
"You should also know that you will be competing for grades in this classroom. I expect it to be a back-breaking experience for each of you, but do try to catch up, or you may find yourself on academic probation." Snape said this smiling directly at Harry and Scipio's direction.
"We'll begin our potion brewing today. You will be creating a potion of your choice from page one-seventy-seven in your Advanced Potions book. Each of you will create your own potion, no pairing up today. At the end of class, each of you will test your own potion in front of the classroom. I'd suggest you pick something simple, Potter, we wouldn't want you to brew a permanent sleep potion, would we?"
Scipio saw the Slytherin half of the classroom giggle. Harry only looked more intently at his potions book. This made Scipio rather angry.
"Sir, if you wouldn't mind, why don't we try Harry's potion on me?"
Harry gaped at Scipio's face, trying to mutter something like "No, you shouldn't have said that!" Snape caught Harry's terrified look and curled his lip into a smile.
"Mr. Black, perhaps you are unaware of Mr. Potter's poor ability to make even the simplest of potions work."
"If that is so, it must have been due to an incompetent professor," Scipio said snappily, smiling furtively.
Silence hung in the room, eyes shifting from Professor Snape back to Scipio.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor, Mr. Black, for not knowing how to hold your tongue. You are obviously just as simple-minded as your father, he couldn't hold his tongue for even a matter of seconds."
More giggles erupted from the Slytherin table. Scipio opened his mouth to retaliate, but Harry elbowed him hard in the gut and they soon got down to work. Scipio noticed Harry go for the simplest potion on the page, a potion of wisdom. Scipio went for the most difficult potion on the page, an invisibility potion, which could go horribly wrong if not paid close attention to. Scipio slowly added the ingredients, stirred the potions at just the precise speed and temperature and found he had time to read a book while it came to a slight simmer. His potion was exactly the right color, a very thin silvery liquid that smoked slightly. Harry noticed and smiled at him, now making absolutely sure that nothing went wrong with his potion, for Scipio's sake. At the end of class, Professor Snape called the two boys up to the front of the classroom.
"Show us what disaster you've made this time, Potter."
Scipio handed Snape his own potion.
"He made this, an invisibility potion. Harry's rather good at brewing potions, it must be that he cannot do them correctly when people hover over his shoulder and critique his every move."
Snape looked from Harry to the potion and then at Scipio. His eyes flamed with great loathing and if his eyes were loaded pistols, Scipio would without a doubt have been lying on the floor, dead. Then surprisingly, his snarl turned into a great grin.
"That's very bold, Mr. Black. I'm sure Mr. Potter wouldn't mind telling the class how he did the potion then, would he?"
Harry looked downcast at the floor, expecting the worst. Scipio didn't know what to do or say. Now, Harry would look like a fool because he didn't know how Scipio created the potion. Just as Harry opened his mouth to confess what he'd done, the bell rung and the students began to walk out of the classroom. Scipio and Harry smiled at each other and Snape growled in anger. But before the two boys made it out of the classroom, Snape called out to them.
"That was very brave Mr. Black. Very brave and very stupid. Tomorrow, you and Harry will be separated for the remainder of the semester. Then we will witness with our own eyes the great potion brewing abilities of Harry Potter. Good day."
Harry and Scipio ran out of the room and took a deep breath. Finally, Harry looked at Scipio and grinned.
"Thanks Scip, I owe you one, whenever you need it."
"I have a feeling that the time will come soon enough, Harry. I'll keep you at your word."