Group Dynamics
Disclaimer: Characters and setting are the property of J.K. Rowling, I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.
dimhigie:Thanks for the review, it's really nice to know that someone's reading.
Duj: The Dueling Club scenes from CoS were definately on my mind while writing the last chapter. Snape's father uses Expelliarmus (and only that spell) as a bit of an insult, Severus knows what's coming, it's a basic spell and he still can't block it. Artalocus describes Serpensortia as being ineffective against anyone but an undisciplined child; in my head Snape wanted Harry to panic and need a very public rescue in CoS from a minimal danger.
The next day
Two boys stood outside of the Three Broomsticks, glaring intently at each other as they argued in hushed whispers.
"I've explained this to you already; we can't split up. We both told our parents we were here together if my father sees us…"
"Yeah, yeah he'll tell my mom, I'll get in trouble, big deal. She'll send me back to my room for the rest of break, who cares."
"We'llbothbe in trouble you moron, and I do care." Severus hissed. "You got us in this mess, you deal with it."
"Look Snape, I swear I won't let your dad see me, you do the same and everything will be fine." Sirius insisted.
"Until I get home and my father tests his latest batch of Veritaserum on me. Defying my father, or lying to him isn't an option for me!" Severus argued.
"You can't give kids Veritaserum, you're lying."
"He's a potions master, Black."
"I'm meeting James, Peter and Remus. I don't want to be seen with you. You don't want to hang around with us." Sirius insisted.
"What part of I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE are you failing to understand?" Severus demanded.
"Fine then." Sirius snapped. "Just let me do the talking."
"This should be good." Severus remarked but he allowed the other boy to lead him into the Three Broomsticks.
Several minutes later a boy with dark, artfully tousled hair and thick, round-lensed glasses tumbled out of the fireplace, like Sirius he was darkly tanned and lean from constant activity. Even when they were in class the pair were generally fidgeting and made their Professors wish that the chairs came equipped with restraints. He stood gracefully and immediately caught sight of his friend. "Siri! The old hag let you out after all." James laughed and slapped the other boy's shoulder. Then he noticed Severus sitting in the back of the booth. "Who's he?" James frowned a bit as a memory tickled the back of his brain. "You're in Slytherin aren't you?" He accused.
Sirius made a face. "His parents are friends with my parents. Letting him tag along was my mom's price to let me out."
James and Severus glared at each other with a mixture of suspicion and dislike.
Sirius gritted his teeth then gave in to his conscious and Andromeda's advice. "Come on James, we should just ignore him."
James shrugged and dismissed Severus from his mind. "Whatever. Peter and his parents are going to pick up Remus from school. We might as well walk up and meet them halfway."
Severus distanced himself slightly from the two friends as they gossiped about the trouble they'd caused during the holidays so far.
The other half of the Gryffindor quartet: a small, rotund boy with longish sandy blonde hair and a boy with dark brown hair and a thin face, already marked by too much familiarity with pain, showed up ambling down the path from Hogwarts with a bland but cheerful-looking couple in tow.
The Pettigrews hung back while the boys greeted their friends. After the initial round of hellos was finished Severus suddenly found himself at the center of attention.
"Severus." Remus greeted the Slytherin cautiously. "You must be friends with Sirius' family."
"I'm certainly not a friend to the lot of you." Severus replied snidely.
Remus rolled his eyes.
"We're ignoring him." James volunteered.
Peter glared hatefully at Severus.
"Peter, are you going to introduce us to your friends?" Mrs. Pettigrew asked.
"Sorry Mom." Peter said. "This is James Potter and Sirius, they share the dorm with Remus and I. James, Sirius, meet my mom and dad."
"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew." Sirius replied with a slight bow.
"From hearing Peter talk, you four have the first year dorm to yourselves. Gryffindor had a small turn out this year it seems." Mr. Pettigrew remarked.
"A bit larger than expected." James replied with a fond glance at Sirius.
"The girls more than make up for it." Remus said as he wrinkled his nose. "The common room is just packed with them, fussing over their hair and gossiping; I'm afraid to go in there."
"Peter dear, you left someone out." Mrs. Pettigrew said. She offered Severus a warm smile.
"Severus Snape." The dark eyed boy responded shortly.
"It's nice to meet you dear." Mrs. Pettigrew replied. "Which house are you in? I don't believe I've heard Peter mention you."
"Slytherin."
"Oh… um, I'm sure you'll do well there." Mrs. Pettigrew offered. She seemed taken aback.
Severus sneered bitterly, unsurprised at her reaction.
When they reached the first few buildings the elder Pettigrews waved. "Now don't get into mischief boys. We'll be about town if you run into trouble." Mr. Pettigrew said. "Peter, Remus, remember; we promised Headmaster Dumbledor that we'd have Remus back by six. Don't make us go hunting for you."
"You don't have to. I can walk back on my own." Remus offered.
"Nonsense." Mrs. Pettigrew stated. "The road borders on the Forbidden Forest, who knows what sort of dark beasts might be lurking."
"Oh, right." Remus grimaced.
"Have a good time; remember, no mischief." Mr. Pettigrew reiterated.
"Just a moment boys." Mrs. Pettigrew called as she dug a camera out of her bag. "Everyone smile."
"Send Peter back with enough copies for all of us." Sirius said with a grin as he threw an arm around James' shoulders.
Remus wandered into the in the display area of the Quidditch Shop. "Have you guys run out of drool yet?" He asked hopefully.
Sirius sighed and brushed a finger lovingly over the Nimbus 1800. "We promised you equal time at Flourish and Blots didn't we?"
"You did." Remus said.
"Hey Pete, go yell at Snape won't you?" Sirius called.
"Why can't we just leave him?" Peter complained.
Sirius shrugged. "I might need him to get out of the house again sometime."
Peter scowled. "I'd worry that he might be contagious; you sounded positively Slytherin just now."
"Better one Slytherin and you guys rather than a house full of them and me all by myself." Sirius said. "Just go get him will ya?"
"Fine." Peter stalked to the back of the Quidditch Shop where a bored Severus Snape flipped though a book
Peter glared at the other boy. "I know what you're doing." He accused. "We've got all the friends we need. We don't want any creepy Slytherin hanging around so why don't you just get lost."
Severus shut his book sharply and stood up. He towered over the pudgy Gryffindor. "You don't tell me where I can or can't go."
"James'll make you leave us alone. Sirius might think you're normal, but James, Remus and I come from nice families, we know better."
"Is there a reason you're bothering me?" Severus demanded. "Or are you simply that in love with your yammering?"
"We're heading over to the bookstore." Peter admitted.
"Finally." Severus exclaimed.
Severus stood back and watched as Sirius and James saw the Pettigrews and Remus off. Once the foursome passed out of sight, hidden by a dip in the road, he stepped up next to Sirius. "I think it's time we returned as well." He stated.
Sirius made a face. "I'm putting off going back to that prison my parents call a home as long as possible." He informed the other boy. "Hey James, could we go over to your place for dinner?"
"Sure, my parents won't mind." James responded easily.
"It's late, I don't have permission to traipsing off to some Gryffindor household..." Severus trailed off in defeat and gritted his teeth. It was quite obvious that James and Sirius weren't paying any attention to him. They had made their plans and nothing he could say would dissuade them. That he could probably take off without incurring his father's disapprove didn't really occur to him; while he might never say it, certainly not to a bunch of Gryffindor brats, deep down he wasn't looking forward to going home any more than Sirius was. The only real difference was Sirius was utterly delighted to be going to the Potters' and Severus was still trying to make up his mind as to which option was the lesser evil.
In the end it seemed simpler to just let them drag him along and so several minutes later he found himself tumbling out of a fireplace into a large-ish living room that was trying to look cozy. There was an older coupled sitting on the couch, apparently waiting for their arrival.
"James, you promised to be back an hour ago." The man stood up to reprimand the unrepentant looking Gryffindor. In the background Severus climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. "Your dinner's long since gone cold."
"I was having fun! Professor Dumbledor let Remus stay out till six, the Pettigrews weren't making Peter go home. Why should I have to be the first to go home?" James whined.
For a moment Severus wondered if the couple were James' grandparents. Then he remembered that James' father was the head of the Auror division at the Ministry, and couldn't possibly be a young man, not if he'd risen to that position.
"Oh don't fuss Harold, the house elves won't mind throwing something together for him and his guests. Now Sirius, we're not going to be getting another call from your parents accusing us of kidnapping again, are we?" James' mother asked.
" 'Course not Mrs. Potter." Sirius replied with a cheeky grin. "This time I'll go home before they miss me. My mom just isn't happy when she misses an opportunity to lecture me on how ashamed she is of all my Gryffindor habits."
James' mother ruffled Sirius' hair with an expression of fond exasperation. "Alright you scamps; I'll ring up the house elves, get you all dinner then everyone's back to their own beds."
Mr. Potter noticed his son's second guest. "You're Artalocus Snape's boy aren't you?" He asked.
Severus nodded with a suspicious look.
"Tell your father that the Aurors miss his potions. I'm not half as confident sending my people out into the field with Potion Master Cadris' brews."
The unexpected compliment surprised a smile out of the boy. "I'm Severus." He said as he extended his hand.
"Harold Potter and my wife; Eleanor, it's a pleasure." The graying gentleman replied as he shook the boy's hand. "Will you be following in your father's footsteps?"
"Potions is my best subject, but I like Defense better." Severus supplied, his normal defensiveness lost to shock.
"If you excel at potions you must be the meticulous type." Harold remarked. "We can always use a few Aurors with those traits; they keep all us crazy Gryffindors from rushing off half-cocked."
Severus gave up completely and let his mouth dropped open and just stared. Gryffindors weren't nice, let alone complimentary toward Slytherins.
"Like a Slytherin would ever make it as an Auror." James muttered to Sirius.
"Like one'd even try to do something positive." Sirius replied.
Harold frowned at the boys. "The best unit I ever served with had representative from all four houses. The Wizarding World's greatest accomplishments have always come about with the strengths valued by Goddric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin were combined."
"Twenty years ago you could find alumni from all four houses in almost every branch of the Ministry, working side by side." Eleanor added. "But it seems that we draw further apart every year now a days. How long has it been since you've had anyone but Gryffindors apply to the Auror's program Harold? Sometimes it just doesn't seem like anyone else cares anymore."
"My parents say the Ministry wouldn't know real power if they tripped over it." Sirius volunteered.
Harold Potter's gaze sharpened, but his voice remained casual as he asked. "Have they ever said who does hold the power in their opinion?"
Severus bit his lip, he knew better than to tell tales but there was a name his parents fought about. One day his father came home radiating magic and told them he'd resigned from the Ministry, they'd been arguing ever since. Severus believed the bogarts had moved into the attic about then too.
"They talk about some guy called Voldemort." Sirius volunteered. "All the old blood types love him, he hates all the same people they look down their noses on."
"Harold, don't." Eleanor said quietly.
"Sirius, have you overheard anything about where this Voldemort meets with his followers?" Harold asked.
Sirius shook his head. "Mom and Dad just talk about how great he is, and how all 'right thinking people'; meaning everybody who's stuck up and mean; are behind him. I don't think they've ever met him or anything."
"Harold, don't interrogate our guests." Eleanor insisted. "I'm certain dinner's ready, you know how the elves practically anticipate our needs. Let's just sit down and eat."
"I could ask my parents if they know anything else about him, if you want." Sirius offered eagerly.
"No." Harold said harshly. Then he smiled and forced a laugh. "It's nothing important. Don't mention that I asked about him. These sorts of groups come and go all the time; in another five years it'll be someone else and this Voldemort will be forgotten. Ella's right, we should eat and get you boys home before your parents start worrying."
Eleanor smiled gratefully and gestured toward the dining room. "So how have your holidays been?" She asked.
"Horrible!" Sirius exclaimed and launched into a recitation of the indignities he'd suffered at his parents' hands. He reveled in having an appropriately sympathetic audience; well except for Severus they were sympathetic.
While the Potters encouraged Sirius and promised him he could always come to them, Severus sneered. The things Sirius called 'punishments' were less harsh than the instruction he'd suffered through at his father's hands. The Slytherin boy shivered and wondered what Sirius would do if his parents had made him take Veritaserum then list all of his faults and flaws. The drug stripped away a person's ability to lie to one's self and it was true that everyone was their own worst critic. That little exercise in knowing ones' self had left Severus nauseous with self-loathing for days afterwards.
"Severus how was your holiday?" Eleanor asked.
"Fine."
"Siri, I sent you a whole box of stuff from Zonko's for Christmas, but I thought your parents might confiscate it so it's waiting at school." James said.
"That's cool." Sirius replied. "Think of all the fun we'll have when classes start."
"Oh James," Mrs. Potter sighed. "Should I be expecting even more owls from Professor McGonagall?"
"Only if they get caught." Severus muttered. "I've been meaning to ask. Would you two know anything about the Slytherin dungeons turning red and gold?"
Sirius and James exchanged a gleeful look. "A couple of Gryffindors like us wouldn't know how to get into the dungeons now would we?" Sirius replied.
"How long did it take for you guys to figure out how to turn it back?" James asked. "Or are you still waking up to our house colors?"
"One hour and fifteen minutes." Severus replied. "I made a nice sum charging the other students for the appropriate reversal potion. You really shouldn't count on charms for permanent, I had to relock the damn thing four different times."
"You made it last longer?" James asked, torn between being impressed and appalled.
"I couldn't have them figuring out that your spell would have worn off on it's own in four hours after I'd found a couple of customers." Severus replied.
"Please tell me happened before Peter took that nasty fall when you tried to sneak him into the Hufflepuff dorms." James' mother remarked.
"We didn't have to float anyone to get into the Dungeons." Sirius pointed out.
Mrs. Potter just sighed. Severus came to the conclusion that James could admit to anything and he'd get nothing more than a lecture from his parents.
After the plates cleared away the boys were ushered into the Potter's receiving room. Severus collected a handful of floo powder and departed while Sirius and James lingered over their goodbyes.