Disclaimer: I own all the adventures, actions, etc. in this story. The characters belong mostly to Jo.
Author: zimagesto
Chapter two"Mum, Dad, Dudikinns, I'm going out!" Harry cried. He wore black pants with a white shirt and black boots and you could just tell that he'd been careful about the way he dressed. He usually was. The matter of his black spiky, messy hair was solved by the casualty of his clothes. He had his bag over his shoulder and he'd just turned the doorknob, ready to go. The sun was shining brightly that morning, it was a perfect day to go out.
"Where do you think you're going!" Petunia asked, rushing out of the living room, definitely not pleased. "I thought I told you to stay inside! We've talked about this yesterday and the day before. You have no…"
"I've got a girl to please, mum" Harry said, smirking deviously. "Can't keep her waiting, now can I? Don't expect me for a few days, she's all alone."
"Harry!" she cried, outraged. "How dare you! Come back here! Haven't we had a talk about this before? Son!"
"Sorry, mum" he said and went out the door.
"Harry!" she cried behind him and rushed towards him, but he'd closed the door behind him. She opened it and cried after her son, who was intentionally not hearing her. "You come back here, boy! You're not going anywhere, understand! Harry James Dursley!"
"Potter. Harry James Potter" Harry muttered to himself, but she didn't hear him. Now, where was Siri anyway? He was usually very punctual and Harry had always counted on that. He could hear his mother's steps right behind him and it was not good.
"Harry!" she spat and he had to turn towards her, and realized he'd pushed it too far. "You're getting far too arrogant for your own good, son, and if you don't listen to me, you'll be in huge trouble soon!"
"Yeah, I know" he said very calmly. "Don't worry though, I'm safe, but I should be going, ya know? Bye, mum, take care"
And with that he turned. Where the bloody hell was Sirius! If he wasn't there soon, he'd have to make a run for it. Which would not be too good for his dignity.
"Harry, you…" Petunia started, but Harry stopped paying attention as he heard the motorcycle he'd been waiting for rushing down the streets.
"There's my ride!" he said loudly enough for her to hear and, as soon as the two-wheeled vehicle made it on the street, he walked quickly towards it. It was very quick, but Sirius hit the breaks quite abruptly, somehow managing to stay on top of it, though. He smirked towards Petunia who had widened her eyes more than he'd ever thought possible and watched Harry jump behind him.
"Drive! Now!" the young man said and Sirius chuckled as Petunia started screaming behind them.
"Not you again! Bring my son back, biker! And stop teaching him all those…"
Sirius drove and the sounds of the engine covered her yells… Or did the yells stop because she was suddenly far away?
"Thanks, mate," Harry said loudly.
"No problem, glad to be of service, but what did you say to her? I haven't seen her fuming so bad since I nearly brought down your house."
"That I was out to please a girl."
Sirius laughed and Harry relaxed, feeling the warm air against his cheeks, running through his hair. He'd have to get a motorcycle also, this feeling was wonderful. They went at full speed down the streets and he wondered about the talk his mother would have with him soon. He'd been disguising nearly everything about his life outside Dursley residence as going out with his friends or with some girlfriend or another. Petunia was right to wonder what would become of her son in those circumstances, after all, Dudley was having the same problems. Well, as far as she was concerned, anyway. Harry was self-conscious enough not to drift down the path Dudley had taken.
The trip to the headquarters just outside of London was a short and uneventful one and Harry soon walked into the large building that was the upper part of the headquarters of the Order. The much larger lower part was underground and that was where most of the work was done. The Slytherins were all underground, as were some of the others, the upper part being saved for paperwork and low-importance, relaxing things, as well as the offices for their cover-up company, Ares Security. Their bodyguards and agents were well-known and well-paid. And usually Gryffindors.
Harry said goodbye to his godfather and went down the stairs towards the Slytherin side of the building. The underground was really an underground, sometimes going as low as twenty stories below and extendable so that if they ever needed more room, they could build it. Magic helped with that. But the level where Harry wanted to go in was Underground 5, where he had some rooms of his own and where he was sure he'd find Severus. The man usually brewed a potion or another in a lab on that level.
Surprisingly enough, the whole building was pleasant. With the help of magic, they'd added fake windows here and there, they'd placed plants and portraits (that moved!) and it looked much like the upper part of the building, with some exceptions.
He went down the stairs, not wanting to take the elevator, and ended up soon enough on the main corridor of Underground 5. There were people going around, Slyths and Ravenclaws mostly, since both had things to do around there. He walked past those people and nearly collided with a boy who didn't seem to look where he was going.
"Watch it, Slyth!" he said pompously.
Harry recognized him at once, he was a Gryffindor and not one of the nice ones. The redheaded, hotheaded Ron Weasley always picked a fight, Harry didn't know why. He shrugged and wanted to go past him, but Ron stopped him.
"What've you been up to lately, Dursley?"
"Call me Potter, please," Harry said coolly and looked around the lighted corridor. There was a small palm-tree at the end of it and he needed to reach the door just before it. Some sunlight came in through an opened window, looking very real. He looked at the redhead with boredom and sighed. "I've got to go, Weasley. See you around, maybe in class."
The classes were held in Underground 6 and were organized for any agent of the Order who wanted to learn anything, but mostly for children, teens and young adults who needed the courses to learn magic and some practical science. Ron and Harry were in the same age-category, but in different groups, Ron being a Gryff and Harry a Slyth.
"Yeah, see you then." Ron snorted and walked away. Harry sighed to himself and entered the room near the end of the corridor.
It was a small lab, clean, with a sink and a few tables around to prepare ingredients. The walls were a cream-ish color and the floor was made of white stone. Stone because if a potion went wrong, stone was the least likely to react to it and white because it suited the décor. Severus Snape was inside, brewing a potion in a small cauldron, humming to himself.
"Hello, Severus!" Harry greeted.
"Hello," the man replied without turning. Harry sat in one of the three chairs in the room and looked at the older man, who seemed concentrated.
"Wolfsbane?"
"Yes."
That was the only reply he got and Harry settled for waiting. The art of potion brewing required intelligence, patience and the power to pay attention, things which made sure there weren't too many potion-brewers out there. Harry knew for certain that he'd never become a potions master, he simply didn't have the attention span and the impossible patience.
He looked around the room, which seemed to be at about the fourth floor, if you looked at the sunlight coming through the window and felt the slight breeze. Wonderful, the magic. You could even look out the window and see a calming park. There was a door on one side of the room, leading to the ingredient storage. In case of a potion gone bad and starting to shoot out of the cauldron, it wouldn't be a good idea to have ingredients nearby to cause even more damage and strange reactions than necessary.
Severus turned from his cauldron and smiled at the raven-haired young man who sat on the chair.
"Decided to join us this fine Friday morning?"
"Yes, it's a pleasure, as always," Harry replied with a smirk. "So, how's the Wolfsbane? And how's the werewolf?"
"Lupin is alright, I'm afraid, but the potion is going well."
"Ah, good then," Harry replied, inwardly amused at the man's humor. "I brought you that essay about Wendelin the Weird, the Incredible Torch Woman!"
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling historical beings names, Potter?" Severus spat. After Harry had self-declared himself a Potter, Severus had humored him and started calling him that. Harry knew it was because the older man didn't want to hear anything about the Dursleys again (the teen had driven him crazy with his stories about his annoying family).
"Ok," Harry sighed. "I'll just call her Wendelin then. So, what was it all about?"
"You should know, I thought you said you brought the essay."
"You know what I meant. Why did you tell me to write it in the first place?"
"Because that's what we're studying next. Spells to protect you from fire, wandless magic. It's not much use to be able to do them only with a wand."
"That sounds cool!" Harry grinned. "Can I learn how to conjure fire, too?"
"Later."
Harry pouted. Severus ignored him. Harry was just about to complain when the door opened and Lily's head stuck in.
"Hello, boys," she said and the rest of her body followed her in the room. "Nice to see you. How's the Wolfsbane potion, Remus is a bit worried…"
"Tell the wolf that, as usual, I can handle my own domain of expertise without people asking me from two to two seconds about it."
"Sorry," Lily said with a slight blush. "Well, actually, I came in for something different. Me and James will be away for awhile, we're going to check up on that Dark Lord Voldemort Albus was talking about."
"Voldemort," Severus snorted. "A strange and not even original name, there was a Voldemortist around sometimes in the Middle Ages, I believe…"
"Well, anyway, we're going to look upon him and his… Death Eaters, I believe he calls them."
"Be careful," Severus said and Harry's eyes jumped open. For once, the Head of Slytherin was not cold and sarcastic, but actually concerned. Lily smiled at Severus with a closeness and warmth that made Harry feel a bit uncomfortable, as if he were interfering upon something.
"I'll be ok," she answered. "James might be a hothead sometimes, but he's very good at what we do, so we'll be fine."
"Be very careful nevertheless," Severus replied and she smiled again at him, then caught him in a half-embrace and kissed him in the left corner of his lips.
"We will," she answered.
She let go of Severus and turned towards Harry. She said a goodbye, then went out and shut the door behind him, leaving the young man to stare suspiciously at his unofficial mentor.
"Are you two…?" he started and Severus gave him a calm look.
"No. Yes. Maybe. But please don't mention it to James. She will tell him whatever he needs to know."
"Maybe?" Harry asked and the other man sighed.
"There is a certain comfort between us, I am sure you noticed it. Not love, she keeps most of it for that idiot she calls her husband, but I shan't lie and say that there is nothing between me and her in some way. If you ask me if we are lovers, then no, we are not. Haven't been since before she went out on her first date with James."
"Then…"
"Leave it, Harry. You'll understand someday. Maybe."
Harry's eyes watched the other man, who added the last ingredients to the Wolfsbane, then took it off the flame and cast a cooling spell with his elegant black wand. He then covered it with something and left for Lupin's place. Harry relaxed against the chair and stared at the ceiling. Well, he wasn't about to pry into the two's lives, so he'd leave it at that. So, concentrate on something else… how about the fire-lessons?
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