For Neither Can Live While the Other Survives

Chapter Eight

Potions

Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.

Harry sat down violently at the Gryffindor table for breakfast.

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked, in concern, "Where you been?"

"I'm fine," said Harry, grabbing some toast, "I just went to send a letter to Sirius,"

"Oh," said Ron, "Look, new timetables are here. We have Potions first thing. Apparently the professor is really nice,"

"Cool," muttered Harry, trying to ignore all the stares directed at him, "Come on, Ron. We don't want to be late."

Ron grabbed another slice of toast and followed Harry out of the Great Hall and down some steps into the dungeons.

"Here we are," said Ron, looking around, "It's a bit dark!"

Harry waited while his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He saw a person in the corner staring at them.

"Hi," he said,

"Hi," returned the figure,

"What's your name?"

"Draco Malfoy," said the person, coming out of the shadows. Harry saw it was the blond boy he'd seen at the Sorting who wore the ragged clothes.

"Hi! I'm…"

"Harry Potter, yeah I know," muttered Draco,

"Yeah," said Harry, "So… What is Slytherin like?"

"It's great. I made some friends in my year but they're still at breakfast," said Draco, "Sometimes I like to be on my own and I'm used to it anyway,"

"Why's that?" asked Harry, curiously,

"I live in an orphanage," replied Draco,

"Are your parents dead?"

"No, they're in Azkaban. Apparently they were supporters of Voldemort and got arrested when I was one and a half. I don't have any other family who could or was willing to take me in so I got shoved into a magical orphanage and that's where I've spent my life," said Draco, heavily,

"We're sort of the same then," said Harry, "You know, not having any parents?"

Draco grunted.

"Do you want to be friends?" asked Harry,

"Yeah that'll be cool," said Draco, his moody face breaking into a small smile,

"It's a good thing Slytherin and Gryffindor aren't enemies anymore," laughed Harry, "Apparently, before I killed… I mean Voldemort was killed, Slytherin and Gryffindor never got on. Sirius- my godfather- told me about this guy that he and my dad absolutely hated and always pranked. He was called…"

"Severus Snape," said a silky voice, "That would be me, Mr. Potter."

Harry gasped and looked behind him. A tall man wearing black robes stood there staring down at him.

"Sorry, sir!" he said, "I didn't know you were there,"

"That, Mr. Potter is obvious," sneered the Potions Master, "But I'm willing to forgive you this once. Everybody inside!"

The first years hastened inside and Ron, Harry and Draco took the second bench from the front.

Once everybody was settled, Professor Snape began to speak. "Good morning and welcome to your first potions class of many. I am Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House. You will refer to me as Professor Snape during class time. Now, this morning I thought I'd make the Veritaserum potion. It is among the hardest potion to make and controlled by the Ministry. I would expect you to be able to make this potion by the time you leave Hogwarts if you study Potions at NEWT level. Now, who can tell me what the Veritaserum potion is?"

By the end of the lesson, the first years and Professor Snape had successfully made Veritaserum and bottled it.

"You are dismissed," called Professor Snape, "Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter, can you stay behind for a minute?"

Ron looked curiously at Harry who shrugged. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall," he promised as everybody left. Draco and Harry made their way to stand in front of Snape's desk.

Professor Snape put down his quill and peered up at the two eleven year olds, appearing to be in deep thought.

"Mr. Malfoy, will you wait outside for a minute while I speak to Mr. Potter?" he asked, eventually.

Draco nodded and slipped outside of the door.

"Right then. Firstly Mr. Potter I wanted to talk to you about what you said before class,"

"I didn't mean to be rude, Professor, I didn't know," stammered Harry, flushing,

"It's perfectly acceptable. Myself and Mr. Black did despise each other from our first day at Hogwarts and I am not surprised he told you tales about it while you were growing up. However, you are not Mr. Black or your father and my first instincts of you is that you are a very polite young man,"

"Thank you, sir," said Harry. A sudden thought struck him. "What about Remus? He was in the Marauder's too. Do you hate him too?"

"No," said Snape, "In fact, over the years, unknown to your god father, Remus and I have become very good friends. We both share a common bond over Potions and I have enjoyed his and his wife Victoria's company for many evenings,"

"I like Aunt Vicky," said Harry, smiling. Remus had got married about two years ago to a St. Mungo's Nurse. They had met in the Werewolf Unit where Victoria was a nurse and Remus had been admitted after a violent Full Moon. They had hit it off straight away and Remus proposed approximately a year and a half after they had begun dating. Vicky didn't care about Remus being a werewolf and loved him even more for it. Consequently, Remus, Harry and Sirius all loved her very much. In fact, the couple were even expecting their first child in four months time.

Snape smiled too. "Well Mr. Potter, if you need any help don't hesitate to ask,"

"Thank you very much, sir," said Harry. He grinned and went to the door.

"Shall I wait for you?" he asked Draco,

"Yeah, ok," mumbled Draco, pale with nerves. He entered the dungeon and the door closed behind him.

Harry waited patiently, glad that he had sort of made friends with Professor Snape. After about five minutes, the door reopened and Draco came out looking very happy.

"You look happy," said Harry, as they made their way towards the Great Hall,

"I am!" said Draco, "Professor Snape just told me he's my godfather and he's willing to take me in if he can get the authorities to agree! Apparently, he couldn't find me before even though he did try…"

"That's great!" said Harry, "I'm so pleased for you!"

"Thanks," Draco said, cheerfully, "come on or we'll be late for lunch!"

Thanks to It Doesn't Matter At All, Sir Gawain of Camelot and duj for reviewing the last chapter.

Don't forget this story is AU and I thought it was about time Remus had some happiness in his life. I don't think that everybody is going to be deathly afraid of werewolves in the Wizarding World- some people have got to be fascinated by them and also the werewolf is just a small part of Remus that affects him once a month.

Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received.