Chapter fourteen: tutors, parents, and Snape

Remus started teaching the teens the next day. Permission from the Ministry or not, neither he nor Molly saw any reason to let them fall behind their peers. The lessons were welcomed heartily by the teens and they applied themselves with due diligence, competing against each other to push their learning forward. The friendly rivalry in lessons served a double purpose - not only did they progress more quickly than they would in a large class, it allowed them to be distracted from an unpleasant issue they had yet to deal with.

Harry and Ron had yet to discuss Hermione and Ginny's betrayal. It was an unspoken topic that hovered over them all the time, but neither teen was willing to be the one that brought it up. Harry was terribly confused as to why Hermione would turn on him in such a manner, and Ron had the double blow of his sister siding with the rest of the school instead of her family. Molly had been furious with her daughter, and both boys knew she was corresponding with Ginny, but if there had been any change in Ginny's attitude to Harry it hadn't been communicated to him.

Mr and Mrs Potter avoided Harry as often as they could. The green-eyed teen tried not to mind. It hurt that he was a disappointment to the people who'd created him, but at the same time he knew that the people who loved him now were proud of him and wanted him to keep doing his best. Harry had built a family that had little to do with blood and a lot to do with love, and until the Potters could open their eyes and see that there was very little at all he could do to make them feel better. Besides, as much as he wished it otherwise, he simply wasn't an average teen with average problems. As much as he hated it, he was a special case, and his parents had to set aside their idea of 'normal' and accept him as he was.

Lessons with Remus were fascinating. Sirius turned out to be very skilled at Charms, so he took over that lesson every now and then, teaching the theory thoroughly as the act of performing magic was still too taxing for his depleted strength, and Molly often took them for Transfiguration. Outside a formal classroom however, it was Remus that caught the teen's attention the most. He knew the most interesting facts and applications of the material he was teaching them, and often had suggestions for how to improve or alter the magic to fit the various situations they might encounter. Because he was not constrained by a formal syllabus - as long as they covered the major spells of each area they were allowed to learn whatever they wanted prior to taking their NEWTS as independent students - Remus could teach them things that were more practical and grounded than what was learnt in the formal settings of the classroom.

Sirius took both teens for Potions, as Remus instantly admitted that his were abysmal, though both men agreed that Prongs had been the best brewer of their group. However, the Potters were ignoring Harry as best they could, and Harry was determined not to ask them for favours. They didn't have Sirius teach them for long, as two weeks after their expulsion Snape himself Flooed to Grimmauld Place, demanded the teens accompany him to the cellar they had been using as a school room, and launched straight into a lesson without so much as a by-your-leave. While it was certainly disconcerting to have the man standing over them instead of over an entire class, Harry and Ron both knew better than to antagonise him by mucking about or doing less than their absolute best. Both produced a potion that Snape grudgingly allowed was 'tolerable' and that Sirius later tested and pronounced 'highly acceptable', and both were able to answer the questions he fired at them while they brewed, though Harry was nearly stumped on one. Snape set homework with his usual sneer, demanded it be done by the time he returned next week and Flooed off again without speaking to anyone else.

He was certainly the first teacher to drop by, but he wasn't the last. McGonagall stopped by in the evening several times to check on their work and Flitwick spent an entire Sunday afternoon with them to ensure they were 'up to snuff' with their charm work. Hagrid was unable to drop by - which was perhaps fortunate, as they didn't have room for any more dangerous and misunderstood magical beasts. Buckbeak was enough to deal with at the moment; he still inhabited Mrs Black's room, and both teens took to playing catching games with his food to give him something to do when it was their turn to feed him. Harry also took over his grooming, lavishing care on the cantankerous beast, to the point that Buckbeak only glared at him a little now instead of snapping his beak at him.

Professor Sprout also dropped by, which immediately reminded Sirius that the house had a conservatory attached to it. It was in terrible condition - all the plants had run wild, and there were some very strange hybrids in one corner that looked like they'd cross fertilized with each other by accident. Sprout was delighted and immediately set the teens to 'sorting this lot out then, and keep an accurate journal boys, so we'll know exactly what you found'. She warned them about the more dangerous plants there, went into positive raptures when she found five singing rose varieties that were in desperate need of pruning and took away so many cuttings that Ron speculated she'd need another greenhouse built at Hogwarts to culture them all in.

Whenever the Professors came by whatever lesson was being taught was always halted so they could have the teens for their speciality. This made sense to Harry, because after all the teachers were giving up their spare time to teach two excluded students. Most of the Professors were at least polite, some even a little apologetic that they had to interrupt the normal lessons to teach their own. Snape was emphatically not one of those. He would sweep into the kitchen from the Floo and demand they drop whatever they were doing to brew with him 'this instant'. Knowing the mans temper, neither Sirius or Remus objected to this - at least not in strong terms, it wouldn't do to let the taciturn man bully them outright without some display of defiance - but the third time Snape arrived the household was enduring lunch. James and Lily both glared at the Potions Master as he demanded Harry and Ron leave their meal to brew, and used that as an excuse to follow them down to the cellar and observe the lesson.

Mealtimes in the house were a bit of a strain because the Potters so obviously weren't speaking to anyone. Harry was fretting over this to some degree and no amount of reassurance from his lover or godfather and uncle could make him feel better. He didn't want his parents to dislike him; a part of him very much wanted their approval. Unfortunately a lack of any loving, positive memory of them meant building a relationship was fraught with difficulty to say the least. He didn't want to be babied, and they didn't seem to be able to understand that he had replaced them not out of ingratitude but necessity. Their return to his side did not negate the family he'd built in his heart, and nor should it. Harry would be happy to include them if they would only bend enough to see that in Harry's life there was room for companions and peers, but not formal parents.

Snape was his usual self, though Harry found the new potions lessons strangely stimulating. It was a challenge to formulate the potion correctly in such a structured environment, and Snape was forced to concentrate entirely on his two students, which oddly meant that he explained better. Ron and Harry were on their best behaviour, though this did not stem the tide of criticism, sarcasm and at times invective from their teacher.

"That's enough!" James snapped after a particularly gruesome description of their House's ineptitude. Despite the fact that they were no longer at Hogwarts, Snape continued to call them Gryffindor's and deride the House as he would in class. Fortunately he couldn't take points from them. Unfortunately James' interruption was likely to be taken out on his son and Harry winced, shooting a despairing look at Ron.

"I beg your pardon," Snape said with mocking civility, "I don't believe I asked your opinion Potter."

The tone he used on James' last name made all the other insulting tones he'd used on Harry sound like compliments. Ron and Harry both had to conceal reactions of surprise. Even Sirius and Remus hadn't been answered in such scathing and derisive tones, and they called the Professor Snivellus at times, to his face no less.

"I'll thank you to watch what you say to my son," James' voice showed that he was just itching for a good fight, "I don't believe he's made any mistakes that deserve to be addressed in that manner."

"Leave me out of it," Harry snapped at his father, "If you want to pick a fight with Professor Snape, then do it in your own time. He's trying to teach me a lesson right now."

Harry's own voice could have etched glass, and anyone familiar with him could see the Boy Who Lived lurking just below the surface, spoiling for a fight of his own. The Boy Who Lived didn't mind a bit of strife, in fact sometimes he seemed to thrive on it.

Snape got a very odd look on his face, staring at Harry, who ignored him to finish pulping his slugs.

"Harry, surely you don't expect us to standby and let you be insulted," Lily said quietly, "We are your parents, its our job to protect you."

"And when I was little you did," Harry put the pestle down and checked that he had enough newts eyes before tipping the pulped slugs into the cauldron and stirring methodically, "I don't need protection from Professor Snape. We're very lucky to have a talented Potions Master teaching us, and I know the difference between stinging criticism and character assassination."

"Finally!" Snape muttered under his breath and Ron had to swallow a smirk. Snape had an ego that liked to be stroked, and having Harry of all people finally admit that the man was top of his field and deserving of respect was a mighty big stroke indeed. Especially as it was James Potter himself that was being told by his only son how good Snape was. Harry's words were only partially politically motivated - they couldn't afford to lose the tutoring Snape was offering to them if they wanted to get through their NEWT exams in two years time - and at the same time it was an oblique apology for the years of animosity that the teen had directed at his teacher, deserved or not.

"Harry James Potter!" James spluttered, "How dare you! Apologise to your mother this instant!"

"I don't believe the boy has said anything that requires an apology," Snape interrupted smoothly, "Now get out Potter. You are in my way."

The wand in his hand was no accident, and also not required for this potion, as there were no charms to cast during brewing. James and Lily huffed and stormed upstairs. As the door slammed shut Harry swallowed a sigh. He'd never be forgiven now. He'd driven the final wedge between himself and his parents and all over Severus Snape of all people. Sometimes he got the feeling that Life was pointing at him, doubled over in laughter.

"Blind Gryffindor fools," Snape muttered and then returned his attention to the lesson. It was an endorsement of sorts, and all the more surprising considering the source.

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