Chapter 8
Training With Tonks

The rest of the weekend passed by quickly for Harry. Practices were going well for the Gryffindor team, and Harry had a feeling that the Cup was in the bag for them this year, but paranoia still set in on Sunday night, as did with every House Quidditch captain.

"Stop, everyone, stop," he said when everything started to go badly on Sunday evening. Seamus and Dean had accidentally let the Bludgers hit Ginny and Katie more than once so that they became disoriented and threw towards the wrong goalposts, Zachary still wasn't fully participating with the team, and Ron's panic from the year before was starting to set in again and he kept on missing the easy saves. No one stopped when Harry said so. "I SAID STOP!" he yelled so that everyone within a mile radius could hear him. Everybody halted in midair at once. "Now that I finally have all of your attention, could we please regroup? The match is in less than ten weeks and it is not a time to fool around."

"Oh, come on, mate," Ron said cheerily. "We have ten weeks and Ravenclaw is bound to be a pushover this year. They have quite a few rookies on their team."

"As do we. Listen, Ron, you shouldn't think of this stuff lightly. If we slack off now, we'll slack off nine weeks from now. We have to get started."

Ron came up to put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, mate, I'm concerned about you. Listen, it's just a game. This isn't a life or death situation, just something that we do for fun. We'll do fine. Really."

* * *

Quidditch was now the main focus of Harry's mind. He wouldn't—or couldn't think of anything else. As much as he tried to concentrate on school and his studies, he always found himself studying a Quidditch field instead. Harry had become a mirror image of Oliver Wood when he had been captain of the Gryffindor house team. Hermione and Ron started to get worried when he sat in a corner, prodding miniature players with his wand around a tiny exact replica of the Hogwarts field.

"What should we do about him?" Ron asked Hermione.

"That he has to concentrate on something else or else his Aurorship will go down the drain," she replied while they heard Harry muttering under his breath, "That won't do at all...the Beaters have to protect the Chasers...but how will they do that if they're on the opposite end of the field?"

Hermione strode towards her friend. "Harry, can we talk?"

"In a minute, Hermione. No, I should be the one on the opposite end of the field...then I could win the game...unless they score on us more than that..."

"Harry, this has to stop."

"Ron can guard the goals, though. He's done it before...plus he's Keeper..."

This made Hermione angry. She picked up the mini field, opened the window, and held it out the window threateningly. "Harry, listen to me."

"No, Hermoine, don't drop it!"

"Then listen to what I have to say. Even if you don't want to admit it, the fate of the whole Wizarding world rests in your hands. You have to become an Auror in order to vanquish Voldemort. There are some spells that only Aurors know, and I bet you there will be more than one in use when you and Voldemort go all out in your final battle. You're spending way too much time on this rubbish," she gestured to the field and its players, "and not enough time on your studies. You have to achieve the 'Exceeds Expectations' rating in every one of your classes in order to continue with your training. Now promise me your studies will come first before Quidditch."

"But Hermione--"

"Or else this field drops to its doom."

Harry sighed as if in concentration. "All right, I'll put school first."

"Good," she said, handing the field back to him. He was about to start prodding the players again until Hermione gave him a threatening look.

"I'm glad I'm not in your shoes, mate," Ron muttered in his ear as Hermione walked up to the girls' dormitories. "Hermione sure can get ugly when it comes to school."

* * *

Snape's class steadily grew worse. Like before, he allowed the Slytherins to do whatever they liked, but if others put a toe out of line they found themselves in detention the next night. Harry felt the potion master's ever-watching eye constantly on him. He thought he'd snap one day when Snape was prowling the classroom and stopped at Harry's cauldron. "Too watery, Potter. Did you add the unicorn horn yet?"

"No, sir."

"You should have. Before the powdered root of asphodel. Half credit yet again, Potter. I say if this keeps up, you may never get to become an Auror after all." Snape was no longer whispering in Harry's ear. "You won't receive the glory of making the front page of the Daily Prophet. I dare say they're getting tired of hearing how you defeated the Dark Lord. The famous Potter who--"

"Stop picking on him, professor!" Justin Finch-Fletchley yelled, cracking. "Harry's the only one who will defeat V—Vol—Voldemort." Justin still hadn't mastered uttering the Dark Lord's name just yet. "You're supposed to be supporting him on his way to an Aurorship, not putting him down!"

"Fifty points from Hufflepuff, Finch-Fletchley. Stay after class to organize a detention."

* * *

That evil, foul, slimy..." Harry continued, expecting someone to stop him. Not even Hermione stepped up to stop the name-calling. "By the way, thanks, Justin. That certainly took guts to stand up to him like that."

"I can't believe that he said all that stuff to you, Harry," Justin said, still seething. "He knows that the prophecy said no one else could defeat Vo-Voldemort but you."

"Fifty points was a bit extensive, though, don't you think?" Hermione asked. "I mean, the highest he's taken away from Gryffindor for outbursts was only twenty. Do you think something's going on with him?"

"No one knows," Hannah Abbott said. "It has to be something from his past, though. I don't think he's been this foul all his life." Harry gave an awkward twitch but didn't say anything. The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors parted, everyone contemplating what had happened to Snape but Harry.

* * *

Ron exploded with rage when they told him about what Snape had done. "What does that slimeball think he's doing?!" Ron's face turned such a bright red with rage that it blended with his hair perfectly. "Justin's never been in trouble with him before and he takes fifty points from Hufflepuff? Who does he think he is?!"

Harry had calmed a bit since the incident. After thinking it over, he realized why Snape was worse today than any other day.

"Harry, mate, why so quiet?"

Harry hadn't heard his best friend. Instead he started muttering under his breath. "It's his mum...yes, the anniversary...it's either today or close to this time...that's the only thing that he seemed to really care about...I should have known...I should have stopped Justin before he exploded today..."

"Harry?" Hermione asked gently. "What are you talking about?"

Harry looked up in alarm. He couldn't tell them. No matter what, he couldn't tell them what he had seen in the candle this summer. "I can't tell you."

"What do you know about Snape, Harry?" Ron was intrigued.

"Listen, I can't tell you—neither of you. There's just something about Snape that you don't know about. I didn't before this summer. I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Listen, it would explain everything, but he wants to keep it secret. He doesn't even know that I know about it."

"What is it?" Ron's curiosity had gotten the hold of him.

"Haven't you been listening to me? I can't tell you. I'm going upstairs." Without another word, Harry walked up to his dormitory and lay down on his bed. He had let it slip. Now both Ron and Hermione knew that he knew something about the Potions master. They wouldn't relent until he told them. Harry drew the curtains around him shut.

Ten minutes later, Ron walked into the dormitory. "Harry? It's almost suppertime and I thought...well, I thought you'd be hungry." Harry pretended to be asleep. "Well, we're going down there, Hermione and I. You're welcome to join us."

Only when the door closed again did Harry sit up in his four-poster. He knew that he had to tell someone about Snape's secret. Dumbledore would have been his first choice, but he was still in St. Mungo's. Without Dumbledore he couldn't reach Sirius. Harry thought and thought of who he could go talk to until it finally hit him: Tonks.

* * *

When the common room emptied, Harry walked downstairs and out of the portrait hole. He had to go to his Auror training with her anyway, so why not get there early to talk to her? Harry navigated the familiar corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. He walked into the room and straight to Tonks' office. She had left the door ajar and Harry guessed had gone down to supper. He walked in and made himself at home. Glancing around at Tonks' posters of the Weird Sisters and other commonly known rock bands in the Wizarding world, Harry lost track of time and his surroundings.

"Potter!" a growing voice exclaimed, flustered. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in this office!"

Harry turned around to find himself face to face with Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker. "I—uh—have questions on the homework Tonks gave us, Mr. Filch. I—I didn't realize you were here."

"So I can tell," Filch growled menacingly, Mrs. Norris, his cat at his heels. "I'll just come back...later." He then started muttering something to Mrs. Norris that Harry could barely make out. "We'll search for clues later, my sweet."

* * *

Three minutes later, Tonks came bouncing up to her office her hair halfway down her back and a beautiful (and normal) auburn color. "Harry! How wonderful to see you. A bit early for training, are we?"

"Yes, I just wanted to tell you something. Well, now it's actually two things. First off, Mr. Filch was up here a few minutes ago. He said he'd come back later and I heard him muttering something under his breath about searching for clues."

"Was he now?" Tonks asked, plopping down in her purple chair. "Please sit down, Harry. You'll find it easier to talk."

"Do you mind me asking, what was Mr. Filch looking for?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it probably wasn't anything of importance. Now, what was this second thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Do you promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you? I'm not supposed to know, but I have to tell someone."

"Promise."

Harry took in a deep breath. "It's about Professor Snape."

Tonks leaned back in her chair, the smile fading off of her face. "You know then? About his mother?"

"Yes."

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor took in a deep breath and ran her hand through her hair. "I suppose I had better tell you everything. I knew you would have to know sometime, but I didn't expect it this soon...

"Lydia Snape was one of the best Aurors in the history of the Wizarding world. She is second only to Moody with the count of Death Eaters she put into Azkaban. She had a good heart, but failed in judging other people, specifically her husband.

"Lucas Snape appeared to many as a decent law-abiding citizen. Only those close to him knew he was associated with Voldemort. He inherited a fortune from his family and once was one of the most handsome young men anyone could set their eyes on. He was at the top of his class in many subjects. Slytherin house had a great pride in his skills on the Quidditch field. He was clever, smart, athletic, and handsome. What else could they ask for?

"Lydia was placed in Ravenclaw when she came to school, her intellect only second to Lucas' in their class. Heated rivalries often came between them. No one would have ever guessed the two would end up married. With Lucas in Slytherin, many accurately predicted his fate. Almost the whole school knew he would end up as one of Voldemort's closest followers. Lydia never believed school gossip, so she convinced herself that he would not give in to the Dark Lord.

"Eventually, Lucas attracted Lydia, and vice versa. They became a happily married couple, even though Lucas fully knew that Lydia was one of the best Aurors in the world. She was his last hope to ever steer clear of the evilness of Lord Voldemort, but she failed. Lydia did not know that her own husband was one of Voldemort's closest Death Eaters. Love betrayed her. She had convinced herself that he was a good man at heart. She could not see past what her heart yearned for.

"Frequently, Lucas left for days at a time without a valid reason. According to Dumbledore, Lydia thought it was for his work in the Ministry. How wrong she was.

"Soon after that, they had a son, Severus. They both loved him at heart, but Lydia much more than Lucas. Their seemingly perfect marriage started to falter and fights broke out between them. Severus found himself caught in the middle of many of them. He learned to hate his father and put all blame on him. Lucas' absences became more frequent. Severus grew up, his mother at his side. They loved each other dearly. Lydia found more and more excuses for Lucas not being a part of his son's life. When Severus was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts did she it hit her with full force that her husband was closely linked with Lord Voldemort himself."

"Wait a minute," Harry interrupted, "when I saw the scenes through the candle, Lydia was fighting with Lucas and she even mentioned Voldemort. If she knew he was signed up with the Dark Lord, then why didn't she stop her husband?"

"No one really knows. I think it is because she loved Lucas so much that he hindered her vision. Maybe she wanted to keep him safe, or maybe she wanted Severus to have a fatherly figure. Love is and always has been a mystery no one can understand, inside Wizarding community and out. She tried to escape her husband the year after Severus graduated from Hogwarts, but it proved to be unsuccessful. He was too powerful for her and her bond with him proved too strong for her to get away. Sadly, her love determined her fate." Tonks stopped, and wiped a tear from her eye. "Lydia Snape died bravely in order to save her son. As you now know, Voldemort forced Severus Snape to follow him."

"What happened to Lucas?"

"Aurors caught him five years later and put him in Azkaban. He died seven years ago."

Silence fell upon the two until Harry broke it, "I never knew all this stuff about Professor Snape. What day did she die?"

"September 9th."

"So today's the anniversary?"

"Yes."

"No wonder Snape was so foul to Justin today, then."

Tonks took a deep breath and paused for a few moments for Harry to consider all she had just told him. "Ready for training?"

"I guess," Harry said. "That stuff was rather deep, though."

"Yes, but you had to know. Professor Snape shouldn't know that you know about his past. He would be rather angry with both you and me. We don't want you out of his N.E.W.T. Potions class. It's required for your Aurorship."

"What are you going to teach me for my training today?" Harry asked, desperately trying to change the subject."

"Forms of invisibility. I dare say you already know one method rather well." She took the time to smile and wink at Harry. "Your dad's old cloak has come in handy on more than one occasion?"

Harry blushed. "Yes."

"Oh, come on, Harry. There's nothing to be ashamed about! I myself got into some trouble while sneaking around the school in the days I was here...but that's a different story. Now, you'll find your cloak will come in handy when it's at hand, but sometimes it won't be there when you need it most. There is one and only one spell for invisibility. It takes quite a bit of concentration for it to work completely, though. The incantation is Invisium. Let's get to work."

* * *

Harry walked back to the Gryffindor tower fulfilled from a successful day of training (and a meal that Tonks had managed to conjure up), but heavy- hearted with everything he had learned about the Snape family. Sighing, he walked through the portrait hole and up to his dormitory.