DISCLAIMER: DO NOT OWN IT (unfortunately)
A/N: I told you two weeks, and here I have it up in a little over a week. Yay! Anyway, we're getting close to the end!
Thanks To: Nocturnal007MyrrSailorHecateCedric55dsunsethillSerpent91Tazgirl18992lady sakura cosmosVickiWeasleyanimegurl088, and Beth5572 for the reviews. Sorry if I missed anyone.
Chapter 6 - Behind Your Back
"Back to Hogwarts in a week!" Severus said.
"Yeah, whatever," Harry answered, turning over, trying desperately to get back to sleep.
"You can sleep later, Harry. My mother and sister are waiting downstairs. And my mother got you something, so you have no reason not to be down there."
"Fine," Harry spat, rolling out of the bed onto the floor. "Ow. You know, it's your fault I'm so tired. If you didn't keep me up all night with your stupid game . . ."
"You liked the game. It's just as much your fault as mine."
"Oh, shut up," Harry said, standing up. He quickly threw on one of his school robes over his pajamas. "Let's go," he said, stumbling a little while walking. It had been about three weeks that Harry had been living with Severus, and he was happy to say that he got used to it pretty quick. The village Severus lived in was nearly all muggle, but the neighborhood was full of wizards and witches. Most of them went to a public wizarding school in Italy, and two of them to Beauxbatons. Most of the time, they were over at one of their houses.
Life at Severus' house was a lot different than any place he was used to. At the Burrow, everyone would mostly just talk and hang around with each other, and at the Dursley's, he really didn't have anyone to hang out with. But at Severus', they were rarely home. No one was. And Harry had to admit, he liked it. He also had to admit he was rarely bored.
The side of Severus that Harry saw at home was different than at Hogwarts. This neighborhood grew up together, so they knew each other well, but at Hogwarts, especially in Slytherin, it was much more guarded. Much harder to make friends.
"Happy Christmas, Harry!" said Sel when the boys got to the living room. Selena reminded Harry a lot of Luna, but more sane. She had the same airy feeling about her, but she was more stuck in reality than Luna. In fact, she was very stuck in reality. She was one of those "Must see it to believe it" people. Okay, so maybe she's not like Luna, Harry thought. Luna only seems to believe in the stuff she can't see.
Harry sat down on the couch, while Ms. Prince sat down in her usual wooden, padded rocking chair. Selena sat on the floor, and after some consideration, Severus sat down next to Harry. The area under the tree wasn't stuffed with presents like it was every Christmas like it was at the Dursley's. In fact, there only appeared to be a few presents per person.
"This pile is your's, Shadow!" Sel said, handing Harry three presents, and Harry nearly gawked. When Severus said Ms. Prince got him something, he assumed it was one, small present, not the same amount as she got her children. "Serpentine, here's your's," she said, handing Severus his pile of three as Severus shook his head. Sel rarely used Severus and Harry's real names, even with the neighbor friends, so the names stuck stronger than expected. Everyone was calling them Shadow and Serpentine now. Although Severus found it slightly annoying, he no longer protested the name.
Harry waited until Severus and Sel started unwrapping their presents before he started. He was slightly uncomfortable being there at the moment. Actually, a little more than uncomfortable. This was the first time he had a Christmas like this.
Ms. Prince got him a jumper, a book on the theories of time travel, and a pair of quidditch gloves. The jumper wasn't hand made like Mrs. Weasley's, but it was the exact green shade his eyes were.
The next morning, while Severus and Sel reluctantly got ready to go to their dad's, Harry sat at his trunk, wondering what to bring. Since Mr. Snape hated magic, that pretty much meant that he was only bringing clothes. Everything else he owned in this time was magical.
Harry didn't quite understand the young Snape's reluctance at going to their father's house. He obviously wanted his children there for Christmas, so it wasn't like at the Dursley's, where they didn't want him there.
A few hours later, Harry found out why.
"You need a nice, non-magical career choice," said Mr. Snape, for the third time that hour. "The wizarding world is not suitable for a young man such as yourself, Severus. With your learning ability, you could catch up in a normal school in no time. What's the use of a magical education? It's good for absolutely nothing. And how about you boy?" Mr. Snape asked, turning to Harry. "Were your parents wizards? Or were they normal?"
"Er . . ." Harry answered. "I was raised by muggles."
"And I'm sure they disapprove of your magical education?"
"Er . . ." They did, but Harry wasn't about to say that. The Dursley's opinions didn't matter much to Harry anymore.
"See?" Mr. Snape said. "So why are you still going to that . . . magic school?" the older man sneered.
"Because I'm a wizard . . ." Harry answered, slightly confused as to where this was going.
"Just because you are able to do magic, doesn't mean that it should be your life! You were raised in the normal world, you should stay in the normal world. There is no need for that . . . freakiness!"
The rest of the day went similar to that, with Sel, Severus and Harry doing their best to stay away from Mr. Snape. Not that it worked too well. The old house of Spinner's End was small, so everywhere they went, they ran into him.
Other than that, it went, basically, smoothly up until the last hour, when Severus could no longer take it.
"Shut up!" he shouted at his father. "Just . . . Shut! Up!" Mr. Snape was silent for a few seconds before he regained his voice.
"How dare you speak to me that way!" the muggle bellowed. "I am your father and you are to treat me with respect!"
"I am staying in the magical world, no matter what you say! So stop talking about it!" Severus shouted back. It was at that moment that Sel took Harry by the hand and dragged him out of the room.
"We don't want to be in the same room when they are fighting. You'll just get a headache," she said, but she was obviously worried for her brother.
Severus remembered that fight well. It was the fight that alienated him from everything muggle from then on. His father had gone too far that day. It was the first time, and the only time that Severus would get close enough for it to happen, that his father hit him.
The rest of the holiday wasn't much fun for anyone in the Prince household. Soon enough, though, they were back at Hogwarts. Severus was currently in the library, doing some research, which was where Harry was on this way to now. He was disappointed that he didn't get there without running into Malfoy.
"Yes?" Harry asked, trying to be polite. He didn't fancy Malfoy knowing how much he disliked him.
"The Dark Lord has a spot for you, Woshda. A spot of power. You have the abilities that could make you rise to one of his favorites quickly." Harry stayed silent while he thought about what Malfoy was getting at. Of course, even though he thought about it, he didn't think about the consequences of what he was about to say.
"I would never join your Lord, Malfoy. I, for one, don't take pleasure in killing. In fact, I don't think your Lord should even be in power!" Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry before leaning close to the smaller boy's ear.
"You will regret saying that, Woshda. You will regret that you turned down the offer to be part of the Dark Lord's service. You will regret it." Malfoy left, and Harry already regretted speaking before he thought. He did his best to stay out of Malfoy's sight before, but now, he proved himself an enemy against Voldemort. Not a very safe thing to do. Especially with the Order not there to protect him.
His next thought was to warn Severus. If Malfoy came to him, then he would most likely go after Severus. Preventing him from joining Voldemort would most likely change the future, a thought that argued in Harry's head for a few moments, but he decided he didn't care. Severus was his friend, and if saving him meant losing a spy in the future, then that is the price he would have to pay.
"Woshda!" came a voice behind him, and Harry recognized it immediately as James Potter.
"What do you want, Potter?" he asked, turning around to see Potter, Black, and Lupin.
"To talk," answered Lupin. "We overhead you talking to Malfoy."
"You're in Slytherin," stated Black.
"Wow, you have a very good sense of the obvious," Harry sneered.
"What he meant to say," Potter cut in, "is that we thought all Slytherins were sided with You Know Who. But you're in Slytherin, and you look like you oppose him."
"Of course I oppose him! He's insane!"
"So you stand for what he stands for? The dislike of muggles?"
"I'll have you know that one of my best friends at my other school is muggleborn. I have absolutely nothing against muggles," Harry said through clenched teeth.
"He could be lying," hissed Black, and Lupin shook his head.
"I don't think he is," Lupin whispered to his two friends, and Harry rolled his eyes. They were talking about him, secretly, but loud enough for him to hear. How stupid. They must have realized this, though, because they started talking quieter. Harry was seriously thinking about forgetting the Marauders and leaving when Potter spoke up.
"Look, Woshda, we work for Dumbledore. Not officially, because we are still underage, but we pass information on to him, and the likes. Do you know what the Death Eaters are?"
"Yes," Harry said, acting bored, but was actually quite interested.
"Good. Well, Dumbledore believes that there are students that are Death Eaters. We kind of . . . spy on the students. But since you're in Slytherin, and opposed to You Know Who. You could help."
"Well, Potter, I'd hate to break it to you, but, now that I turned down and put down their Dark Lord," Harry sneered, "They won't trust me. In fact, they'll probably do what they can to bring me down."
"What can you tell us? Malfoy is obviously a Death Eater. Who else that you know of?"
"I don't know if anyone is marked, it's too hard to tell, but Crabbe and Goyle have some loyalty to Voldemort, I think. Other than that, I don't know. I'm not real popular in my house."
"But you're their Seeker!" Potter said. Typical.
"And they are constantly trying to beat me to take my place. Just because I win for them doesn't make them like me."
"You Slytherins are weird," Black said.
"As are you Gryffindors," Harry sneered back. "Listen, if I find out anything, I'll go to you or Dumbledore. But we shouldn't be talking about this in the open. Anyone could be listening. Need to go now," he said, turning around and leaving the three behind him, wondering if they were this careless about everything.
Lucius' mood turned for the worst when he remembered Woshda's refusal, but for the like of him, he couldn't remember what happened to the fool.
"Father, I must be going," he heard Draco from the doorway, and turned to face him.
"I assume your mother is bringing you to the train station?"
"Yes, Father. Any order's from our Lord?"
"Just find out all you can on Potter, Draco. And keep out of sight of Dumbledore. The last thing we need is for him to suspect you of anything."
"Of course, Father. I will write. Good bye."
"Good bye. As usual, I will send any letters or orders through your mother." Draco nodded and left.
"Master Malfoy!" one of the house elves popped in.
"What?"
"Mr. Snape is here to see you!"
"Well, send him in!" Lucius snapped. A minute later, Severus was in the room. "I would think that you would be at Hogwarts at this time," he commented.
"I have news I wish for you to pass on to our Lord, as I will not be able to get away later. It is news on Potter."
"News? This is good."
"Potter is unable to throw decent offensive spells, at the moment. The old fool is trying to change that, but the brat is being his usual, self absorbed self at the moment."
"And is defense?"
"Is strong," Severus answered, and Lucius nodded.
"I will relay the information."
"Good, now I must be going. Good day to you, Lucius."
"Good day, Severus."
Severus left the room, suppressing the smirk that threatened to surface. Thankfully, Voldemort believed the rumors that Potter was training outside of Hogwarts at the moment. The only downfall that Severus saw was that Potter wasn't really training. Apart of their study group, Potter wasn't learning much defense, as Severus remembered. Unless he was studying on his own. After all, Severus did it quite a bit back then.
"The first potion we need you to work on is a truth potion. One with ingredients that are not uncommon. Make it so that the victim does not remember what happened during that time, but doesn't make them zombies like Veritaserum does. Also, so it works until given an antidote. So you will need to come up with an antidote as well."
"That might take awhile," Severus said, but he found the assignment intriguing.
"Of course it might. Just work on it as much as you are able, and you'll be fine," Jason said. "I must be going. Good luck." After he left, Severus moved to the section of potions that affected the brain, and took down three that he knew would help in his research. He didn't hear the Jason and Malfoy talking a few shelves over.
"Woshda's against us," Malfoy said. "Our Lord will want to know this. I heard him discussing with Potter and the other Gryffindor, and he will be watching us for information. For the old fool Dumbledore. Make sure nothing is said around him."
"Easy enough. I told Snape his assignment, and he seems to like it."
"Good, good. We may have lost Woshda, but we will not lose Snape. You said he dislikes his muggle father?"
"Yeah," replied Jason. He said his father hates magic, and he actually hit him!"
"Muggles," hissed Malfoy. "They do need to be wiped from the planet."
Harry, after finally getting away from all the distractions, made it to the library. He found Severus in one of his friend's favorite sections of the library: magic that affects the brain. Not that there was much there. Because of the dark tendencies of that kind of magic, most of it was in the Restricted Section.
"Working on something new?" Harry asked. He most likely was, since last time Harry checked, about two days ago, Severus was still working on the invisibility potion. At the moment, it just blended you into whatever color you were touching at the moment. Severus decided to keep that potion, and Harry had to agree that it was quite useful.
Harry had come into the habit of copying down the useful potions Severus came up with in his own notebook. After all, they might come of some use later on . . .
"Yeah, I am," Severus answered, not wanting to go into detail. He didn't know if he wanted Harry to know of his new job. Knowing Harry, he would be suspicious, so, at the moment, he kept it quiet.
