Disclaimer: Uh, like, what I said before. Uh huh. *nods*
pixyfairy120 - Yes, yes, thanks. Severitus' full challenge can be viewed from a link in her user profile.
Kateri - thanks
Creamy Mimi – The research for the snake part was awful. I hate pictures of snakes. I always feel like they are going to bite me. So, imagine me, dumpy witch in a cloak, in a bookstore, trying to read a book without touching the pages. Lol.
Kitala – My thanks to you as well.
Enfleurage – Do not get used to people staying in character. *giggles* I will try to pull them gradually into the shapes I wish them to assume, tell me if someone switches too fast. (care for some tea anyone?) And thank you for the compliment.
Them Girl – They sucked me in and twisted my mind. Lol.
Cricket – I will post when I can. I have more planned out than I have typed so far, and I am still being bombarded with ideas while I am at work. Originality is something of a goal, yes.
Elfmoon87 – You will find out. You will find out. Everyone should go read your story. As they are reading the acknowledgements, we can tell that they have time on their hands.
Thank you to all my readers.
*****
Snape scowled when he realized he was rubbing his arm as he walked. He placed both arms firmly at his sides and clenched his teeth.
He swept round another corner and came face to face with the blasted poltergeist.
Peeves was tying ropes into a web across the corridor.
Snape did not pause for a moment. He pulled out his wand and caused the strands of the web to wrap firmly around Peeves. He then strode on by without comment.
Snape ignored the shrill protests emanating from the resulting cocoon. He allowed himself the smallest of smiles.
He stopped beside a doorway and knocked firmly on the open door.
Minerva MacGonagall looked up from the enormous tome she was studying.
"Oh, Severus, come in." She marked her place, closed the book and reached for another, slimmer volume.
"Dumbledore said you might have something new." He grimaced, and then reminded himself to try and be pleasant. She was helping him.
"Yes, indeed." She said. "Please, have a seat."
"Thank you." Snape said as he sat.
MacGonagall opened the book in her hands and offered it to him. Snape skimmed over the page quickly. Snape carefully put the marker back in the book and closed it. He placed the volume back on the desk and closed his eyes.
"You see?" MacGonagall said sadly. "We know now how it probably was done…"
"But so far, the only remedy would be to have Voldemort himself touch it and will it back to its original state." Snape shook his head slightly. He opened his eyes and looked directly at his colleague. "Unfortunately, that is not an option."
"No. I should say not." MacGonagall lowered her eyes, frowning slightly. "Still, there is that paragraph about removing birthmarks we found last week."
"I still do not agree that it is relevant." Snape growled.
"And I still think that it could be modified." She sighed. "Let's not argue, Severus. There are still several volumes from Madame Maxine to plod through."
Snape nodded. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Start with the one that I have already finished." She gestured to the book he had just set down. "There were some alchemical references that I did not quite understand."
Snape picked the book back up and began at the beginning.
*****
The morning of Harry's birthday was a case of life as usual at Number Four. Aunt Petunia took Dudley to the shops, leaving Harry to work in the garden.
Harry finished before the main heat of the day and settled down in the shade of the house where he could see his relatives returning before they spotted him.
He had almost dozed off when he had the odd feeling that he was being watched.
Harry snapped alert and glanced around uneasily. He peered closely at the hedge and suddenly saw eyes in it. Not big house elf eyes, as he had seen once before, but rather eyes set in the face of a big black dog.
"Sirius?" Harry asked quietly. "Is that you?"
The dog nodded and tossed his head away from the house.
"No one is here. Wouldn't you rather come inside?"
Sirius considered for a moment before nodding. Harry let them in through the back door and closed the kitchen curtains.
Sirius Transformed. He was looking remarkably well for someone who was still officially on the run. His long black hair was clean and neatly brushed. The front locks were braided to keep it out of his face, but the rest hung loosely down his back. His face and body had filled out, so that he no longer looked half starved. He looked very much like his parent's best man again.
"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. "You have grown."
They both grinned, and then Harry stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
"You look really good, Sirius. I don't think the Muggles would recognize you from your fugitive photos now."
"I have been worried about you, Harry, after everything that happened at school."
"Sit down." Harry invited. "I've been fine. Can I fix you some tea?"
"Sure." Sirius said, sitting. "What about your nightmares, you scar?"
"Not a twinge all summer." Harry said, putting the kettle on. "And before you ask, I promise to let Dumbledore know the moment anything happens."
"That's good."
"I've taken to mixing my own teas. It makes the Muggles nervous." Harry grinned. "Would you rather have a tea bag?"
"No, whatever you are having would be fine." Sirius looked around the kitchen.
Harry pulled out a tray full of small glass bottles. Bottles that looked exactly like potion ingredient jars. He set the tray on the table and turned back to the cupboard for his mortar and pestle.
Sirius looked at the bottles in amusement. Each was labeled with an obscure and scary looking name. Sirius laughed, recognizing some of the names. Harry grinned in response.
"Nothing I could not purchase at the Muggle market." Harry said. "I got the bottles from an advertisement in the Daily Prophet. I have been getting it delivered after dark. The names I got out of one of my school books."
Harry sat at the table. He lifted each jar in turn and opened it. He sniffed the aroma of each herb and added varying amounts to his mortar. He crushed the herbs before adding them to the teapot. Finally he added a large spoonful from a jar labeled tea.
Sirius watched the process in amused astonishment.
"I have researched my ingredients, of course." Harry said. He jumped up to fetch the whistling kettle. "There is nothing dangerous about what I am doing." He poured the boiling water into the teapot and replaced the lid. "I don't have any sweetener, but I added a good deal of licorice root, so it shouldn't need it. Would you like some cream?"
"Yes, and then sit, Harry." Sirius grinned. "Listen, I'm really sorry I didn't come sooner. Dumbledore has me running here and there. I'm sort of staying with Remus, but I have been gone more often then there. Are the Muggles treating you all right?"
"Yes, actually. They generally give me a wide berth these days. I have plenty of time to myself." Harry poured out the tea and offered Sirius the cream pitcher. "Chores, of course, but that is to be expected."
"I really wish I could take you in, Harry." Sirius said.
"Don't worry about it, Sirius. I know why you can't. Seriously. It has even gotten easier to deal with the Muggles. I just mention you or Aunt Marge." Harry grinned. "Did you hear about that? It was the only magic I have ever done here. The fact I never got punished for it has made the Muggles doubt all they know about the restriction of underage wizardry. That is one reason they put up with my tea things."
"You still hold that over them?" Sirius asked dubiously.
"Anything to get them to leave me alone." Harry said, sipping his tea without cream. "They even let me work on my homework this summer. I suppose it helps that I stay out of the way as much as possible."
"Remus wants to invite you to stay, but Dumbledore thinks it would be too dangerous. As your relatives, the Dursleys are part of a protection spell that is very deep and ancient magic." Sirius explained.
Harry grinned. "I would love to see Uncle Vernon's face if he knew that. Oh, well, he'd try to throw me out, I expect."
"And according to Dumbledore, that is the last thing we would want." Sirius said seriously.
"Oh, I know." Harry said. He finished his tea and swirled the leaves around as he had been taught in Divination class. He tipped his cup to drain it. He looked up at Sirius, who was watching him, slack-jawed.
Harry blushed, but peered into his cup anyway.
"Anything interesting?" Sirius asked blandly.
"Just a moment." Harry turned the cup carefully. "Fortune, friends, separated by an inverted enemy. Inverted enemy?" Harry frowned. "No matter how I turn it, it is either inverted or negated." He sighed.
Sirius was still watching him skeptically. "You're not taking the tea leaves seriously, are you?"
Harry laughed aloud. "Not seriously, exactly. Like any oracle, they give you something to ponder in relation to whatever you are currently thinking about." He winked. "Besides, I had to memorize the meanings for my Divination class."
"Ah, of course." Sirius agreed.
"It has become part of my daily 'Freak out the Muggles' routine." Harry shook his hair out of his face. "Actually, it has been getting more and more accurate the more I do it. Want to know what I saw this morning?"
"Um, Harry…" Sirius frowned.
"The Grim."
Sirius gasped and Harry grinned.
"A great big, spectral dog filling the whole cup. It wouldn't change shape, no matter how I looked at it."
"Harry!" Sirius looked shocked and frightened.
Harry laughed. "I knew how to interpret that, of course, and here you are, sure enough."
Sirius' mouth fell open and Harry laughed even harder. "Every time I have ever seen a grim anywhere, it has been you, Padfoot."
Sirius looked seriously taken aback. "Harry…um…"
Harry quieted. "Sorry, Sirius. The look on your face when I said 'the Grim.'" Harry smiled harder than ever, and pushed his hair out of his eyes again.
"Is your hair getting longer, Harry?" Sirius asked suddenly.
"Um, I hadn't really noticed, but I guess it might be. I haven't had it cut recently." Harry pulled on a lock of his hair, as if to measure it.
"James never cut his hair either, but it never got any longer. I used to tease him about it because he could never do anything with it." Sirius smiled.
Harry shrugged, trying to think of the last time he had actually gotten a haircut. Aunt Petunia had taken him when… When he was ten! Harry quickly changed the subject.
"Would you like me to read your leaves?"
Sirius looked skeptical.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Harry cajoled. "You don't have too take it seriously."
Sirius drank the last of his tea and handed the cup to Harry. Harry turned it as he had been taught and then peered into it.
"Upheavals, a bit of danger, and…that's odd, I've never actually seen that in a cup before. A life changing shock requiring rethinking old grievances." Harry set the cup back down, smiling uneasily.
"Thanks, Harry; I'm sure I needed to hear that." Sirius grimaced.
"Erm, sorry."
"Here, I brought you something." Sirius reached into his pocket and drew out a small package. "For your birthday, you know."
"Thanks, Sirius." Harry opened the paper to reveal a small flat box. He lifted the lid. His head turned to the side a little as he tried to figure out what exactly it was. "Um, it's very pretty." He said diplomatically. It was a circular, with feathers and crystals and a silver bell attached…
Sirius laughed. "It's a dream catcher, Harry. A group of American witches make them and bewitch them beyond what the Muggles traditionally do. It is supposed to catch bad dreams and nightmares while letting the good dreams slip through the net." He grinned.
"Thank you, Sirius. That was very thoughtful." Harry said.
Just then the front door opened and slammed shut. Harry started at the noise, but Sirius acted even before Harry could speak. He transformed and was out the door in a flash. Harry cleared up the tea things and slipped his present into his pocket.
He was washing the dishes at the sink by the time his aunt got to the kitchen.
"Can I make you something for lunch, Aunt Petunia?" He asked calmly, trying to be pleasant.
"No." She said shortly. "We ate out."
Harry began wiping the dishes dry. "I shall need to go to London for my school things. I got my lists last night."
Aunt Petunia grunted without commenting.
"When shall I count on going, then?" He persisted.
"Vernon and I will only take you to Town once. We will drive you up on August 31. You will buy your things and make your own way to the station. Perhaps they will let you sleep on a bench at the station."
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Aunt Petunia."
She looked a bit surprised, but then her eagle eyes noticed something that distracted her. "You need a haircut, boy."
Harry pushed the hair out from behind his glasses, but it fell right back in. "I rather like it, actually. Thanks anyway."
He put away the tea things and strode out the back door, whistling.
Harry found Sirius crouched under the hedge. He patted the dog and spoke to him in a low voice.
"I will be in Diagon Alley the day before school starts to get my things." He said in a low voice. "I will try to stay at the Leaky Cauldron if there is a room free."
The dog nodded and bounded off down the road.
*****
pixyfairy120 - Yes, yes, thanks. Severitus' full challenge can be viewed from a link in her user profile.
Kateri - thanks
Creamy Mimi – The research for the snake part was awful. I hate pictures of snakes. I always feel like they are going to bite me. So, imagine me, dumpy witch in a cloak, in a bookstore, trying to read a book without touching the pages. Lol.
Kitala – My thanks to you as well.
Enfleurage – Do not get used to people staying in character. *giggles* I will try to pull them gradually into the shapes I wish them to assume, tell me if someone switches too fast. (care for some tea anyone?) And thank you for the compliment.
Them Girl – They sucked me in and twisted my mind. Lol.
Cricket – I will post when I can. I have more planned out than I have typed so far, and I am still being bombarded with ideas while I am at work. Originality is something of a goal, yes.
Elfmoon87 – You will find out. You will find out. Everyone should go read your story. As they are reading the acknowledgements, we can tell that they have time on their hands.
Thank you to all my readers.
*****
Snape scowled when he realized he was rubbing his arm as he walked. He placed both arms firmly at his sides and clenched his teeth.
He swept round another corner and came face to face with the blasted poltergeist.
Peeves was tying ropes into a web across the corridor.
Snape did not pause for a moment. He pulled out his wand and caused the strands of the web to wrap firmly around Peeves. He then strode on by without comment.
Snape ignored the shrill protests emanating from the resulting cocoon. He allowed himself the smallest of smiles.
He stopped beside a doorway and knocked firmly on the open door.
Minerva MacGonagall looked up from the enormous tome she was studying.
"Oh, Severus, come in." She marked her place, closed the book and reached for another, slimmer volume.
"Dumbledore said you might have something new." He grimaced, and then reminded himself to try and be pleasant. She was helping him.
"Yes, indeed." She said. "Please, have a seat."
"Thank you." Snape said as he sat.
MacGonagall opened the book in her hands and offered it to him. Snape skimmed over the page quickly. Snape carefully put the marker back in the book and closed it. He placed the volume back on the desk and closed his eyes.
"You see?" MacGonagall said sadly. "We know now how it probably was done…"
"But so far, the only remedy would be to have Voldemort himself touch it and will it back to its original state." Snape shook his head slightly. He opened his eyes and looked directly at his colleague. "Unfortunately, that is not an option."
"No. I should say not." MacGonagall lowered her eyes, frowning slightly. "Still, there is that paragraph about removing birthmarks we found last week."
"I still do not agree that it is relevant." Snape growled.
"And I still think that it could be modified." She sighed. "Let's not argue, Severus. There are still several volumes from Madame Maxine to plod through."
Snape nodded. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Start with the one that I have already finished." She gestured to the book he had just set down. "There were some alchemical references that I did not quite understand."
Snape picked the book back up and began at the beginning.
*****
The morning of Harry's birthday was a case of life as usual at Number Four. Aunt Petunia took Dudley to the shops, leaving Harry to work in the garden.
Harry finished before the main heat of the day and settled down in the shade of the house where he could see his relatives returning before they spotted him.
He had almost dozed off when he had the odd feeling that he was being watched.
Harry snapped alert and glanced around uneasily. He peered closely at the hedge and suddenly saw eyes in it. Not big house elf eyes, as he had seen once before, but rather eyes set in the face of a big black dog.
"Sirius?" Harry asked quietly. "Is that you?"
The dog nodded and tossed his head away from the house.
"No one is here. Wouldn't you rather come inside?"
Sirius considered for a moment before nodding. Harry let them in through the back door and closed the kitchen curtains.
Sirius Transformed. He was looking remarkably well for someone who was still officially on the run. His long black hair was clean and neatly brushed. The front locks were braided to keep it out of his face, but the rest hung loosely down his back. His face and body had filled out, so that he no longer looked half starved. He looked very much like his parent's best man again.
"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. "You have grown."
They both grinned, and then Harry stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
"You look really good, Sirius. I don't think the Muggles would recognize you from your fugitive photos now."
"I have been worried about you, Harry, after everything that happened at school."
"Sit down." Harry invited. "I've been fine. Can I fix you some tea?"
"Sure." Sirius said, sitting. "What about your nightmares, you scar?"
"Not a twinge all summer." Harry said, putting the kettle on. "And before you ask, I promise to let Dumbledore know the moment anything happens."
"That's good."
"I've taken to mixing my own teas. It makes the Muggles nervous." Harry grinned. "Would you rather have a tea bag?"
"No, whatever you are having would be fine." Sirius looked around the kitchen.
Harry pulled out a tray full of small glass bottles. Bottles that looked exactly like potion ingredient jars. He set the tray on the table and turned back to the cupboard for his mortar and pestle.
Sirius looked at the bottles in amusement. Each was labeled with an obscure and scary looking name. Sirius laughed, recognizing some of the names. Harry grinned in response.
"Nothing I could not purchase at the Muggle market." Harry said. "I got the bottles from an advertisement in the Daily Prophet. I have been getting it delivered after dark. The names I got out of one of my school books."
Harry sat at the table. He lifted each jar in turn and opened it. He sniffed the aroma of each herb and added varying amounts to his mortar. He crushed the herbs before adding them to the teapot. Finally he added a large spoonful from a jar labeled tea.
Sirius watched the process in amused astonishment.
"I have researched my ingredients, of course." Harry said. He jumped up to fetch the whistling kettle. "There is nothing dangerous about what I am doing." He poured the boiling water into the teapot and replaced the lid. "I don't have any sweetener, but I added a good deal of licorice root, so it shouldn't need it. Would you like some cream?"
"Yes, and then sit, Harry." Sirius grinned. "Listen, I'm really sorry I didn't come sooner. Dumbledore has me running here and there. I'm sort of staying with Remus, but I have been gone more often then there. Are the Muggles treating you all right?"
"Yes, actually. They generally give me a wide berth these days. I have plenty of time to myself." Harry poured out the tea and offered Sirius the cream pitcher. "Chores, of course, but that is to be expected."
"I really wish I could take you in, Harry." Sirius said.
"Don't worry about it, Sirius. I know why you can't. Seriously. It has even gotten easier to deal with the Muggles. I just mention you or Aunt Marge." Harry grinned. "Did you hear about that? It was the only magic I have ever done here. The fact I never got punished for it has made the Muggles doubt all they know about the restriction of underage wizardry. That is one reason they put up with my tea things."
"You still hold that over them?" Sirius asked dubiously.
"Anything to get them to leave me alone." Harry said, sipping his tea without cream. "They even let me work on my homework this summer. I suppose it helps that I stay out of the way as much as possible."
"Remus wants to invite you to stay, but Dumbledore thinks it would be too dangerous. As your relatives, the Dursleys are part of a protection spell that is very deep and ancient magic." Sirius explained.
Harry grinned. "I would love to see Uncle Vernon's face if he knew that. Oh, well, he'd try to throw me out, I expect."
"And according to Dumbledore, that is the last thing we would want." Sirius said seriously.
"Oh, I know." Harry said. He finished his tea and swirled the leaves around as he had been taught in Divination class. He tipped his cup to drain it. He looked up at Sirius, who was watching him, slack-jawed.
Harry blushed, but peered into his cup anyway.
"Anything interesting?" Sirius asked blandly.
"Just a moment." Harry turned the cup carefully. "Fortune, friends, separated by an inverted enemy. Inverted enemy?" Harry frowned. "No matter how I turn it, it is either inverted or negated." He sighed.
Sirius was still watching him skeptically. "You're not taking the tea leaves seriously, are you?"
Harry laughed aloud. "Not seriously, exactly. Like any oracle, they give you something to ponder in relation to whatever you are currently thinking about." He winked. "Besides, I had to memorize the meanings for my Divination class."
"Ah, of course." Sirius agreed.
"It has become part of my daily 'Freak out the Muggles' routine." Harry shook his hair out of his face. "Actually, it has been getting more and more accurate the more I do it. Want to know what I saw this morning?"
"Um, Harry…" Sirius frowned.
"The Grim."
Sirius gasped and Harry grinned.
"A great big, spectral dog filling the whole cup. It wouldn't change shape, no matter how I looked at it."
"Harry!" Sirius looked shocked and frightened.
Harry laughed. "I knew how to interpret that, of course, and here you are, sure enough."
Sirius' mouth fell open and Harry laughed even harder. "Every time I have ever seen a grim anywhere, it has been you, Padfoot."
Sirius looked seriously taken aback. "Harry…um…"
Harry quieted. "Sorry, Sirius. The look on your face when I said 'the Grim.'" Harry smiled harder than ever, and pushed his hair out of his eyes again.
"Is your hair getting longer, Harry?" Sirius asked suddenly.
"Um, I hadn't really noticed, but I guess it might be. I haven't had it cut recently." Harry pulled on a lock of his hair, as if to measure it.
"James never cut his hair either, but it never got any longer. I used to tease him about it because he could never do anything with it." Sirius smiled.
Harry shrugged, trying to think of the last time he had actually gotten a haircut. Aunt Petunia had taken him when… When he was ten! Harry quickly changed the subject.
"Would you like me to read your leaves?"
Sirius looked skeptical.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Harry cajoled. "You don't have too take it seriously."
Sirius drank the last of his tea and handed the cup to Harry. Harry turned it as he had been taught and then peered into it.
"Upheavals, a bit of danger, and…that's odd, I've never actually seen that in a cup before. A life changing shock requiring rethinking old grievances." Harry set the cup back down, smiling uneasily.
"Thanks, Harry; I'm sure I needed to hear that." Sirius grimaced.
"Erm, sorry."
"Here, I brought you something." Sirius reached into his pocket and drew out a small package. "For your birthday, you know."
"Thanks, Sirius." Harry opened the paper to reveal a small flat box. He lifted the lid. His head turned to the side a little as he tried to figure out what exactly it was. "Um, it's very pretty." He said diplomatically. It was a circular, with feathers and crystals and a silver bell attached…
Sirius laughed. "It's a dream catcher, Harry. A group of American witches make them and bewitch them beyond what the Muggles traditionally do. It is supposed to catch bad dreams and nightmares while letting the good dreams slip through the net." He grinned.
"Thank you, Sirius. That was very thoughtful." Harry said.
Just then the front door opened and slammed shut. Harry started at the noise, but Sirius acted even before Harry could speak. He transformed and was out the door in a flash. Harry cleared up the tea things and slipped his present into his pocket.
He was washing the dishes at the sink by the time his aunt got to the kitchen.
"Can I make you something for lunch, Aunt Petunia?" He asked calmly, trying to be pleasant.
"No." She said shortly. "We ate out."
Harry began wiping the dishes dry. "I shall need to go to London for my school things. I got my lists last night."
Aunt Petunia grunted without commenting.
"When shall I count on going, then?" He persisted.
"Vernon and I will only take you to Town once. We will drive you up on August 31. You will buy your things and make your own way to the station. Perhaps they will let you sleep on a bench at the station."
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Aunt Petunia."
She looked a bit surprised, but then her eagle eyes noticed something that distracted her. "You need a haircut, boy."
Harry pushed the hair out from behind his glasses, but it fell right back in. "I rather like it, actually. Thanks anyway."
He put away the tea things and strode out the back door, whistling.
Harry found Sirius crouched under the hedge. He patted the dog and spoke to him in a low voice.
"I will be in Diagon Alley the day before school starts to get my things." He said in a low voice. "I will try to stay at the Leaky Cauldron if there is a room free."
The dog nodded and bounded off down the road.
*****