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Chapter 4 - Restricted Area
"Are you sure you can't tell me if you knew me in the future?" Severus asked, again, as if he didn't really care. They were in their lab (technically Severus' lab. Harry never claimed it to be his own), Harry working on his transfiguration assignment and Severus on the invisibility potion.
"Yes, I'm sure. Why would you want to know, though? What if it was bad, and you had no way to change it? Would you really want to go through your life knowing it will all go wrong?" Harry asked, annoyed. Severus wouldn't shut up about the future since he found out about Harry, which was over a month ago.
"I don't know. Are you giving me clues?"
"No," Harry answered flatly. "You know, you are really getting annoying, with all these questions. I should just hex you quiet." Severus looked up at Harry and saw he truly was annoyed, so Severus didn't bother saying anything. He wasn't positive, but he was sure that Harry would be able to beat him in a duel. Instead, he went back to his potion.
The invisibility potion was really getting on his nerves. Theoretically, it should have worked last time he tried it on the mouse, but it just turned the little gray critter completely white. He put that one aside – it would probably work for a prank of some sort, with a few adjustments.
The potion in front of him now was a disgusting greenish color. He was sure that it was at this step that he needed to change something, but he wasn't sure. Maybe if he . . .
"Ah, Mr. Woshda, you are here. Good. The Headmaster would like to speak with you as soon as possible, please," said a painting of middle age farm girl, interrupting Severus' strain of thought. Harry sighed, putting down his book.
"I'll be back, Severus. If I'm not back by the time you leave, bring my stuff with you, okay?"
"Sure," Severus mumbled, turning back to his potion. Harry made his way out of the dungeons, wondering what Dumbledore could want from him. Maybe he found something that would send me back, Harry thought. He felt ambivalent at that thought. Although Harry missed his friends back in his own time, he knew he would miss it in this time, too. He didn't have to worry about Voldemort coming for him, and he didn't have to worry about fame. Here, he was just "Harry".
Also, there was Snape. He liked Severus, but what would Professor Snape do to Harry when he realized what happened: that he made friends with the son of his arch-nemesis? Snape hated him enough. He would probably assume that Harry was doing it to get back at him for something. Which he wasn't.
Harry didn't really understand how he became friends with Severus Snape. Yeah, he was nice, but he knew he was a younger Snape. Before he knew it, he was at the gargoyle. He was about to give the password when it started moving.
"Ah, Harry," greeted Dumbledore. "Lemon drop?"
"No thank you, Professor," Harry answered, wanting to ask why he was here, but bit it back because it would have sounded rude.
"Harry, we need to talk about the holiday coming up. Unfortunately, all students must leave because we are updating the wards. With the war, you can never be too careful. You said you know of the Order?" Harry nodded, wondering where this was going. "Perhaps one of the members will be willing to host you for the month, though, it might be more suitable for you to stay with one of your friends. I know you haven't known anyone for very long, but . . ." Dumbledore trailed off, the first time Harry ever remembered him doing so.
"I'll see what I can do. I don't really want to impose on anyone, but I guess I have no choice?" Harry asked, more to himself than to his professor.
"Unfortunately, no. Try to ask as soon as possible, so I will have time to find someone if you can't. Now, I really must get to some paperwork. Come by and talk sometime, if you please," Dumbledore invited.
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, then left. Great, he thought, and went looking for Severus. He didn't know if he really wanted to ask him, if Snape's memory of his parents fighting was any indication of how it would be. I won't ask at first, Harry thought. I'll bring it up and hope he says something.
Back in the lab, Severus was still staring at a green liquid in the cauldron, but he looked up when Harry came in.
"You know, Serpentine, maybe you need a different kind of cauldron. Silver or gold, or something. I mean, you were close. White is pretty close to invisible," Harry suggested. Severus narrowed his eyes at his friend.
"I'll look into it," agreed Severus. "Now, what did the old man want?"
"Old man? Dumbledore wanted to tell me that I won't be able to stay at Hogwarts for the holiday. They are updating the wards or somthing."
"Where will you go?"
"I don't know. Er . . ."
"I could write my mother. I don't think she will mind, but I don't know. I've never had a friend from school over before," Severus suggested, making it sound like he didn't really care, but he really did want Harry to agree.
"If your mom doesn't mind, that would be great. I really don't want to get stuck at some stranger's house. With my luck, they'd try to kill me or something."
"You're too paranoid, Harry. You don't trust anyone. Not everyone is out to get you."
"In my time, there are a lot of people out to get me. And I'm not real good at trusting people, especially adults. My relatives made sure of that."
"Why?" Severus asked, walking toward Harry. His friend appeared to be lost in thought. "Harry?"
"What? Oh. My relatives hate me. I'm sure they'd be disappointed to find out how many times I could have died but didn't. When I was younger, they always used to tell me I should have died with my parents, and always threatened to send me to an orphanage. And that is something I don't want."
"That's understandable. How did your parents die?" Severus asked, curious. He knew very little about Harry's past. In fact, he knew very little about Harry at all. Except for little things, and that he could trust his friend with anything.
"They were killed when I was one. A dark wizard. I don't really want to talk about it," Harry said quickly, trying to suppress the tears.
"Oh. Sure, let's talk about something else. Do you have a girlfriend in your time?"
"Girlfriend? No. I'm not very good with girls."
"What about that Hermione?"
"She's my best friend. And bound to go out with Ron, if they aren't together yet."
"You do seem ignorant when it comes to girls," Severus agreed.
"Hey! I'm not ignorant about them. Just . . . not good with them."
"Sure. You don't even realize when girls flirt with you," Severus teased, and Harry blushed.
"They . . . er . . . oh, shut up. I don't see you going after any."
"Because there aren't any I'm interested in right now."
"Right. Hey, I wonder if there is anything in the Restricted Area about how I got here?"
"You walked here, Harry," Severus said dryly.
"Ha ha. Very funny. I mean, it was probably part dark magic that sent me here."
"Don't you think that Dumbledore already looked?"
"Well, I could ask. And if he didn't, I could ask for a pass."
"Trying to get rid of me?" Severus teased, but he was also a little disappointed.
"No, I'm not," Harry said, matter-of-factly. "But I could convince Dumbledore to give you a pass, too, to help me look," Harry hinted. The farmer girl just entered the painting, and Harry didn't want to say anything that she would tell the headmaster. Harry didn't know why Severus chose a room with a painting in, anyway.
"Of course," Severus said, brightening up. "That way, it would go quicker. Let's go," Severus said, pointing a glare at the painting. "I want to owl my mother before curfew."
"I'm worried about Harry, 'Mione," Ron said in a whisper. "I know Snape did something to him, no matter what Dumbledore says. He disappeared during detention with the greasy git!"
"Ronald! I highly doubt that Professor Snape did anything to Harry. In fact, he seemed . . . worried when Harry went missing. He might not like Harry, but he would never harm him."
"I bet it's just an act," sneered Ron. "He . . ."
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, the Headmaster would like a word with you," Snape drawled behind the two Gryffindors, and Ron turned red, hoping that Snape didn't hear what they were talking about.
"Yes, Professor Snape," answered Hermione, glaring at her friend. He never knew when to shut up. They both got up and headed out of the Great Hall toward the headmaster's office. The Gryffindors were surprised when Snape seemed to be following them.
In the office, Hermione and Ron sat together, and Snape sat on the edge of the room, looking as if he didn't want to be there.
"I remembered the events, as Harry told them to me in 1976, of what happened during the detention. I'm sure you want to hear them?" The two Gryffindors nodded. Snape didn't. In fact, he looked bored, but Albus could tell that he wanted to hear. "During the detention, a Death Eater apparated in and tried to hit him with Ala Kalmi. At the same time, Harry used stupify, and they hit. That was all he remembered."
"And who was this Death Eater?" Hermione asked, wary.
"Bellatrix Lestrange."
"She's been missing, though. After she was locked up, she disappeared. There was no way she could have gotten out on her own, and no Death Eater has seen her," Severus mused. "I wonder if she's in the past, too? No one remembers her, so I assume not. Perhaps the Ala Kalmi and the stupify combined differently for H-Potter than for Lestrange?" Severus was lost in his thoughts. It wasn't very often that something like that could happen. Ala Kalmi, a pain causing hex, and a stupify. How would those have combined to form a time warp?
"Yes. I have been doing some research. It turns out that Ala Kalmi combines oddly when hit with other curses. Usually, a small part of each would hit the person who threw the weaker curse, while the person who threw the stronger curse would get hit with the remaining amount. In every case, that person had died or disappeared, perhaps from an overload," Albus said. He glanced at the two students. They appeared stunned. "Now, that is all I wanted to say for now. I'm sure you will find that information useful."
"Yes, sir," Hermione answered. The Gryffindors left, and Albus turned to Severus.
"So, Lestrange is probably dead," Severus said slowly.
"Probably," agreed Albus, and Severus smirked.
"I must prepare for tomorrow's lessons. Good day, Headmaster."
"Good day, Severus."
Severus,
Of course, your friend can come! Tell Selena she is allowed to bring a friend, also, if she wishes.
I am glad to hear of your work in potions. I'm sorry, but we don't have anything books here that will help you with your current project.
Love,
Mother
"Selena," Severus said, and his sister looked up from what she was working on. "Mother says you are allowed to bring a friend home for the holidays if you wish because Harry is coming."
"Harry's coming?" Selena asked, sounding hopeful. She had taken a liking to Harry. They went flying together at least once a week. Severus didn't mind, much, mostly because Harry was no good with girls and didn't have to worry about his making a move on her. He had already warned Harry, and he confirmed that they were only friends.
Selena was a girl that almost everyone liked. Everyone in Slytherin, anyway. She had a few friends outside Slytherin, but they rarely saw each other. What everyone seemed to like about his sister was that she, although she could be very manipulative when she wanted to, was very forgiving and polite. To Severus, what other people saw her as wasn't natural, but Severus knew her well enough to know that she was pretty laid back with her views.
In some ways, she and Harry were very similar. If given a good reason, Harry would forgive almost anyone, as would Selena. They both didn't see the point of holding grudges. Well, that's what it seemed like.
They were opposites in other ways. Selena was too trusting for both Severus' and Harry's tastes, and wasn't afraid to talk to people about her life, but Harry was very secretive and a little too untrusting for Severus' taste. They balanced each other out, though, which Severus was grateful for, especially when he was stuck in a room with both of them.
"I think all of my friends have plans, but thank you," Selena said to stop her brother's musings.
"Yes, Harry's coming. He doesn't have a place to go for the holiday, and mother said he could come."
"Good. Perhaps you'll be in a better mood this year," Selena said, then went back to her work.
"So I'm coming?" Harry asked, entering the common room.
"Nice timing," Severus smirked. "Yes." Harry nodded, then moved toward the exit. "Where are you going?"
"To speak with Dumbledore," Harry answered.
"I'm going to Severus' house for the holidays," Harry said when Dumbledore invited him in. "And I was wondering . . . how much research have you done on my . . . situation?"
"Enough to know that it is not permanent, but nothing past that. Why, my boy?"
"Well, as much as I'd miss it here, we don't know how long it's going to be, and I would like to see if I could try to find a way back. Nothing in the regular part of the library has much information, so I was wondering if I could get a pass for the restricted area? Unless you have some books I could read on it . . ."
"I don't see why not. You have proved trustworthy. Anything else?" Dumbledore asked, taking out some parchment. Harry was surprised at how quickly the headmaster agreed.
"Er . . . yeah. I was wondering if Severus could help? He found out that I'm from the future, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping. Although, I think he believes that I want to leave."
"Do you?"
"Kind of. Not really. I don't know," Harry answered. "I'll miss some of the people here. I know some of them as adults, and a few of them don't like me very much. I don't want to go back to my own time and be rejected."
"Don't worry about it now, my boy. Worry will only hold you back. Here," Dumbledore said, handing Harry two slips of parchment. "I don't want to hear that you two are misusing them," he warned.
"Don't worry, we won't," promised Harry. "Good bye, Professor." Harry looked at the slips. They were for unlimited access until further notice from Dumbledore. Harry shook his head. Sometimes Dumbledore was just too trusting.
"Potter," a voice called from the corridor behind him. Harry turned around.
"Lupin," sneered Harry.
"I'm not looking for a fight," said Lupin, holding up empty hands. "I just want to apologize for not stopping my friends when they attack you. I've been thinking about it, and you are right. I made them promise not to go after you two anymore. Hopefully, they'll keep their word." Harry looked at Lupin. Harry knew that Remus was always the more responsible one, but he always just sat on the sideline, watching Black and Potter torment people. Well, namely Severus. Except for a few other Slytherins, they were actually quite civil.
"What do you want?" Harry asked flatly, trying not to be rude. Perhaps Lupin really did mean it. He never knew Remus to lie about something, but everyone always told him how nice of a person James was to everyone. People change when they grow older.
"A truce," replied Lupin. "Just a truce."
