----
Chapter 2 - Revelations
----
A chilly March wind had kicked up across the lake and clouds were beginning to roll in across the mountains. Harry leapt down from his perch on a rock overlooking the lake, wrapped his robes tighter around himself, and picked up his books which he had haphazardly thrown on the ground in a fit of fury four hours before. If that stupid, arrogant, sorry-arsed excuse for a scientist had only listened to him… Wasn't that one of the key principles of scientific research? To listen to one's colleagues for input? For crying out loud, he was only trying to save the git's life. Everyone knows how volatile bat's wing can be when put in the wrong potion. Was it his fault if Snape's stupid greasy hair got in his stupid greasy face and blocked his view of the lable on the bottle? With a deep sigh, he took hold of a tree root, swung himself back up onto the the dirt ledge above his favorite thinking rock, and made his way back to the path that led to the school.
He arrived back in the common room shortly thereafter and stood by the fire for a moment to thaw back out.
"Hiya Harry."
Grunt.
"Where have you been hiding? You missed dinner."
Another grunt.
"Come on, Mate. Something bothering you?"
"No. Nothing's wrong. I saved Snape's sorry arse, and I'll probably wind up in detention. I'm absolutely fantastic, Ron. Thanks for asking."
"I'm only trying to help."
Harry let out yet another exasperated sigh. They were really becoming too many to count today. Running a hand through his unruly hair, he looked back at his friend.
"I know. I'm sorry. You know how it is."
"Yeah."
"Be back down in a bit." He took the steps to his dormitory two at a time.
Harry arrived in the dormitory to change out of his uncomfortable school uniform and into a pair of jeans and a comfortable wooly jumper for an evening in the common room with his friends. He dropped his pile of books to the floor and pushed them under his bed with his foot. Tossing his robes across his chair, he caught a glance at his reflection in the mirror. Where had the bags under his eyes come from? Did they just appear suddenly, or were they the effect of years of emotional torment? Just as he was untying his crimson and gold tie, he glanced down at his bed and found a scroll of parchment addressed to him in neat, official-looking penmanship with a Slytherin seal holding it shut. Fearing the worst, he broke the glimmering green wax seal of the scroll open with his wand. He unrolled it, sitting down on his bed to read, thinking it would be a reprimand from Snape and a detention notice. He read the first few lines, and allowed his face to fall. After a few minutes of stunned silence, he gathered his thoughts and made his way down to the common room.
----
"Ron? Hermione?"
"That was quick. Want to play winner?" Ron gestured to the chess board and cheerfully greeted his friend who was slowly coming back down the stairs to the common room.
"Do you two have a moment?" They looked up at him from their chess game. Hermione frowned.
"Something wrong?"
"I… I suppose. I don't know if wrong's the word. I just need to talk to someone, preferably in private."
"Where d'you want to go?" Inquired Ron. "The common room's a bit full, not to mention dead noisy."
"Yeah. Our room? Hermione's allowed in there, right?" Harry asked, referring to the incident a few years ago when they went sliding back down the warded staircase to the girls' dormitories.
The other two gathered their cloaks and headed up to the sixth year boys' dormitory while Harry led the way. He checked their room to ensure that Seamus and Dean weren't around. They entered, leaving the door open a crack so things wouldn't look too fishy with a girl in the boys' dormitory. Hermione sat on Ron's bed and Harry sat on his own while Ron crossed his arms and leaned against the wall between the two.
"I found this on my bed when I came up here." He handed the letter to Hermione. Ron joined her on the bed. The two read the letter, and an awkward pause followed while Hermione waited for Ron to finish.
"So where do I go from here?"
"Dunno really. Wait for Snape to say something?" Ron suggested.
"He already has said something. So I guess it's your move, Harry. Or you wait for a situation to arise. I mean, this all really isn't that relevant. It doesn't change much… unless Snape's expecting something… maybe it's about Voldemort."
Ron cringed. "You know I hate it when you call him that."
Harry and Hermione ignored him. "Oh sure, Hermione, that would be great. I'm standing there, face to face with Voldemort, when Snape goes, 'Let me handle that for you, my boy! I shall not let you perish!'" he said, putting on a mock-hero voice and flexing a somewhat-developed bicep. "I'm gonna have to face the git every day, you know. I suppose I should stop calling him git now, huh? I mean, he's my uncle." Harry snorted. "Uncle Snape. Uncle Severus. Uncle Sevvie-kins." He tried the various names on for size, but still screwed up his face in the end.
A quiet knock sounded at the partially opened door, and Ginny poked her head through.
"Neville said you'd be up here. Mind if I join you? It's dead boring downstairs. Nothing but first years playing exploding snap."
Ginny sat down on the bed next to Harry, looking curiously at everyone's long faces as he handed her the letter. Casually, he put an arm around her waist as she leaned her head into the crook of his neck while reading. Her eyes grew progressively wider as they traveled down the page.
"So, you've found yourself a new relative then?"
Ron filled in the fuzzy details. "Yeah, and it's Snape, no less. Apparently he hates Harry because he reminds him too much of his dad."
"I caught that, Ronald. Thank you for enlightening me." Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother and changed the subject to what everyone would be doing over the approaching Easter holidays. She knew her boyfriend would hate to dwell on his newest discovery and pushed the conversation forward.
"So Hermione, where are you and the folks headed off to this year?"
"My parents want to get an early jump on looking around at some of the wizarding Universities. There's one in Ireland that I've grown particularly fond of. I think we may check out the one in Rome too."
"What, not Bulgaria?" Ron rolled his eyes and tutted.
"Oh bugger off, Weasley." Hermione punched his arm.
"You'll have to be a bit more specific there, 'Mi." Ginny teased. "So have you heard from Krum at all lately?"
"No, but it's not like he's much of a loss. It's a wonder he had two brain cells to rub together, what with all the bludgers he's taken over the years."
"You know, I don't think he did," Ginny pointed out. "Ron, didn't dad want to take us to Diagon Alley to check out that new Muggle History museum?"
"Yeah, I think he knows the owner, Mr. Ringwill or whatever his name was. Probably wants to talk him into letting him display his plug collection."
"So, did your dad ever find out what rubber ducks are for?" Harry asked. He remembered Ron's dad being quite curious about them during the summer before his second year.
"No, but I bought him one just to see what he'd do. Mum said she walked in on him in the bath once, and caught him singing to it."
"Rubber ducky, you're the one. You make bath time lots of fun…" Hermione faded to a hum, a smirk sprawled across her face, squashing her cheeks up to her eye sockets, obviously suppressing an all-out hysterical gigglefit.
"How'd you know?" Ron asked, surprised.
"Muggle thing. I suspect he got his department to do some research for him. Very, erm, intellectual." Hermione glanced at Harry, whose face was also contorted into a knowing grin.
A loud grumbling sound resonated through the room and Harry blushed furiously, arms clutched around his waist.
"That's what I get for missing dinner."
The four chatted well into the night, but the girls were forced to leave when Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan started giving them dirty looks. Neville didn't seem to mind, as his crush on Harry's girlfriend was common knowledge around Gryffindor tower.
Chapter 2 - Revelations
----
A chilly March wind had kicked up across the lake and clouds were beginning to roll in across the mountains. Harry leapt down from his perch on a rock overlooking the lake, wrapped his robes tighter around himself, and picked up his books which he had haphazardly thrown on the ground in a fit of fury four hours before. If that stupid, arrogant, sorry-arsed excuse for a scientist had only listened to him… Wasn't that one of the key principles of scientific research? To listen to one's colleagues for input? For crying out loud, he was only trying to save the git's life. Everyone knows how volatile bat's wing can be when put in the wrong potion. Was it his fault if Snape's stupid greasy hair got in his stupid greasy face and blocked his view of the lable on the bottle? With a deep sigh, he took hold of a tree root, swung himself back up onto the the dirt ledge above his favorite thinking rock, and made his way back to the path that led to the school.
He arrived back in the common room shortly thereafter and stood by the fire for a moment to thaw back out.
"Hiya Harry."
Grunt.
"Where have you been hiding? You missed dinner."
Another grunt.
"Come on, Mate. Something bothering you?"
"No. Nothing's wrong. I saved Snape's sorry arse, and I'll probably wind up in detention. I'm absolutely fantastic, Ron. Thanks for asking."
"I'm only trying to help."
Harry let out yet another exasperated sigh. They were really becoming too many to count today. Running a hand through his unruly hair, he looked back at his friend.
"I know. I'm sorry. You know how it is."
"Yeah."
"Be back down in a bit." He took the steps to his dormitory two at a time.
Harry arrived in the dormitory to change out of his uncomfortable school uniform and into a pair of jeans and a comfortable wooly jumper for an evening in the common room with his friends. He dropped his pile of books to the floor and pushed them under his bed with his foot. Tossing his robes across his chair, he caught a glance at his reflection in the mirror. Where had the bags under his eyes come from? Did they just appear suddenly, or were they the effect of years of emotional torment? Just as he was untying his crimson and gold tie, he glanced down at his bed and found a scroll of parchment addressed to him in neat, official-looking penmanship with a Slytherin seal holding it shut. Fearing the worst, he broke the glimmering green wax seal of the scroll open with his wand. He unrolled it, sitting down on his bed to read, thinking it would be a reprimand from Snape and a detention notice. He read the first few lines, and allowed his face to fall. After a few minutes of stunned silence, he gathered his thoughts and made his way down to the common room.
----
"Ron? Hermione?"
"That was quick. Want to play winner?" Ron gestured to the chess board and cheerfully greeted his friend who was slowly coming back down the stairs to the common room.
"Do you two have a moment?" They looked up at him from their chess game. Hermione frowned.
"Something wrong?"
"I… I suppose. I don't know if wrong's the word. I just need to talk to someone, preferably in private."
"Where d'you want to go?" Inquired Ron. "The common room's a bit full, not to mention dead noisy."
"Yeah. Our room? Hermione's allowed in there, right?" Harry asked, referring to the incident a few years ago when they went sliding back down the warded staircase to the girls' dormitories.
The other two gathered their cloaks and headed up to the sixth year boys' dormitory while Harry led the way. He checked their room to ensure that Seamus and Dean weren't around. They entered, leaving the door open a crack so things wouldn't look too fishy with a girl in the boys' dormitory. Hermione sat on Ron's bed and Harry sat on his own while Ron crossed his arms and leaned against the wall between the two.
"I found this on my bed when I came up here." He handed the letter to Hermione. Ron joined her on the bed. The two read the letter, and an awkward pause followed while Hermione waited for Ron to finish.
"So where do I go from here?"
"Dunno really. Wait for Snape to say something?" Ron suggested.
"He already has said something. So I guess it's your move, Harry. Or you wait for a situation to arise. I mean, this all really isn't that relevant. It doesn't change much… unless Snape's expecting something… maybe it's about Voldemort."
Ron cringed. "You know I hate it when you call him that."
Harry and Hermione ignored him. "Oh sure, Hermione, that would be great. I'm standing there, face to face with Voldemort, when Snape goes, 'Let me handle that for you, my boy! I shall not let you perish!'" he said, putting on a mock-hero voice and flexing a somewhat-developed bicep. "I'm gonna have to face the git every day, you know. I suppose I should stop calling him git now, huh? I mean, he's my uncle." Harry snorted. "Uncle Snape. Uncle Severus. Uncle Sevvie-kins." He tried the various names on for size, but still screwed up his face in the end.
A quiet knock sounded at the partially opened door, and Ginny poked her head through.
"Neville said you'd be up here. Mind if I join you? It's dead boring downstairs. Nothing but first years playing exploding snap."
Ginny sat down on the bed next to Harry, looking curiously at everyone's long faces as he handed her the letter. Casually, he put an arm around her waist as she leaned her head into the crook of his neck while reading. Her eyes grew progressively wider as they traveled down the page.
"So, you've found yourself a new relative then?"
Ron filled in the fuzzy details. "Yeah, and it's Snape, no less. Apparently he hates Harry because he reminds him too much of his dad."
"I caught that, Ronald. Thank you for enlightening me." Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother and changed the subject to what everyone would be doing over the approaching Easter holidays. She knew her boyfriend would hate to dwell on his newest discovery and pushed the conversation forward.
"So Hermione, where are you and the folks headed off to this year?"
"My parents want to get an early jump on looking around at some of the wizarding Universities. There's one in Ireland that I've grown particularly fond of. I think we may check out the one in Rome too."
"What, not Bulgaria?" Ron rolled his eyes and tutted.
"Oh bugger off, Weasley." Hermione punched his arm.
"You'll have to be a bit more specific there, 'Mi." Ginny teased. "So have you heard from Krum at all lately?"
"No, but it's not like he's much of a loss. It's a wonder he had two brain cells to rub together, what with all the bludgers he's taken over the years."
"You know, I don't think he did," Ginny pointed out. "Ron, didn't dad want to take us to Diagon Alley to check out that new Muggle History museum?"
"Yeah, I think he knows the owner, Mr. Ringwill or whatever his name was. Probably wants to talk him into letting him display his plug collection."
"So, did your dad ever find out what rubber ducks are for?" Harry asked. He remembered Ron's dad being quite curious about them during the summer before his second year.
"No, but I bought him one just to see what he'd do. Mum said she walked in on him in the bath once, and caught him singing to it."
"Rubber ducky, you're the one. You make bath time lots of fun…" Hermione faded to a hum, a smirk sprawled across her face, squashing her cheeks up to her eye sockets, obviously suppressing an all-out hysterical gigglefit.
"How'd you know?" Ron asked, surprised.
"Muggle thing. I suspect he got his department to do some research for him. Very, erm, intellectual." Hermione glanced at Harry, whose face was also contorted into a knowing grin.
A loud grumbling sound resonated through the room and Harry blushed furiously, arms clutched around his waist.
"That's what I get for missing dinner."
The four chatted well into the night, but the girls were forced to leave when Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan started giving them dirty looks. Neville didn't seem to mind, as his crush on Harry's girlfriend was common knowledge around Gryffindor tower.