Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: I know I should be writing my other stories but I found this in my files and decided to post it for you. It's been quite a while since I've written a one-shot, it was quite fun. Happy reading! Xx HogwartsPrincess89
"So how are lessons with Sni…Snape?" Sirius asked from behind his ridiculously ornate, probably solid gold, House of Black chalice. He liked to drink out of them as a screw you to his family, damaging their worth through use. Harry, Sirius, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had retreated to the drab kitchen after Fred and George had finally gone to bed. Mrs. Weasley and Bill were staying the night at the hospital.
Harry's expression darkened. "He sort of kicked me out." Sirius looked furious and Harry realized he'd have to tell him the truth. "Because I saw that memory." He darted a nervous look at Ron and Hermione, hoping they wouldn't notice Luckily, Hermione was distracted by Ron putting her in checkmate. She used to hate that but now she just smiled and shook her head. Harry wondered why it didn't bother her anymore. Perhaps she had just resigned herself to the fact that chess was the one area Ron would always best her. Ginny was absorbed in a book.
"Ah," Sirius said, tapping his fingers absently against the table. "Wish I could set Snivellus on fire," he murmured quietly, though not enough. Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing and exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione. Sirius noticed. "What?"
"Nothing," Ron muttered, grinning broadly.
Sirius sat up straight, interested now. "Has someone set him on fire?"
Hermione raised her hand slowly. "Guilty," she giggled. For a beat Sirius only stared at them. Then he burst into raucous laughter. They joined in and his shoulders were shaking as tears of mirth rolled down his face.
"Oh Merlin," he gasped. "You set Snape on fire?"
Remus had chosen that moment to push the door open. He stopped at the threshold with raised eyebrows, assessing the situation.
"Moony!" Sirius roared upon seeing him. "Hermione set Snape on fire!" Lupin's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline and Harry thought he might reprimand them, or at least be respectful of even Snape as only Lupin could be. To Harry's astonishment, he too burst into laughter.
Harry grinned with them and felt a sort of inner peace he hadn't felt all year. Intuitively, he knew that this was the way it was supposed to be. The way it could have been if Voldemort hadn't killed his parents. He imagined them sitting there, laughing at the story. They would still be young, only thirty-five. He imagined them beaming at him from across the table and felt a deep ache settle in his heart. He shook it off and savoured the moment, laughing with his best friends, godfather, and the man who should have been his uncle.
Eventually they calmed down and Sirius turned his eyes on Hermione, wiping them with his sleeve. "Tell me everything," he said eagerly.
"It was during Harry's first Quidditch game in first year," she explained. "Someone was cursing his broom and he almost fell off. I saw Snape muttering a spell, his eyes never blinked. I assumed he was cursing Harry's broom so I went up to the teacher's section and…" she turned slightly pink. "I set his robes on fire."
"Was he cursing Harry's broom?" Lupin demanded. Hermione shook her head.
"Quirrell. Snape was saving Harry's life." She glanced sideways at Sirius who looked distinctly unhappy at this fact.
"The flames distracted Quirrell though. And as far as we know Snape has no idea Hermione made his robes catch on fire," Harry interjected.
"He looked stunned," Hermione giggled. "I'm not going to lie, it was satisfying. I never would have done it if I didn't think he was trying to kill Harry though."
"Of course not," Lupin said, amused.
"Never would have done what?" a voice asked from behind them and they all jumped. Sirius and Remus instinctively had their wands pointed at the intruder. "Wotcher," Tonks grinned. They lowered their wands at once and Harry noticed a curious expression come over Lupin's face.
"Nymphadora," Sirius greeted cheekily. "How on earth did someone as clumsy as you sneak up on us?" She looked affronted.
"Excuse me I am an auror." Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I used muffliato," she muttered darkly, glaring at her cousin. "And don't call me Nymphadora." She made a face as she said the name before taking a seat beside Remus. "So what were we talking about?"
"Hermione set Snape on fire in first year." Her eyes bulged and she snickered.
"Wicked. Hope he doesn't know though, he gets very angry when he gets pranked."
"Yes, he does…wait what?!" Sirius asked her. "We pranked him all the time but he was a student too. Are you telling me that you pranked Snape when he was your teacher?"
"Yep." She grinned broadly and Lupin smiled almost against his will, shaking his head in amusement. "I uh," she coughed, "impersonated him." The others looked blankly at her and she transformed her face into an uncanny impression of Snape. "He was late to class and I was entertaining everyone. Got a month's detention for that. 'Impersonating a teacher is very immature Nymphadora and you know how sensitive Professor Snape is' she mimicked, turning her features into those of Professor Sprout.
"I would always change my hair to distract him too. I told him I couldn't control it but he knew I could. Dumbledore refused to punish me for that though. He said it was discrimination and I agreed." Hermione and Lupin both snorted.
"You should see him teaching Luna. Potions with the Ravenclaws was my favourite time of day." Harry jumped. He had almost forgot Ginny was there. She smiled as everyone's eyes rested on her.
"Every time he asked her 'Miss Lovegood what on earth are you doing?'" She drawled in a passable imitation of Snape, "I knew it was going to be good." "One time, oh Merlin, she was dancing around her cauldron to ward off the 'Feuerfeen'. She told him that and he just stared at her in stunned silence and let her carry on. He never has any idea how to deal with her and it's hilarious."
"She told me I had a very serious Nargle infestation at one point," Remus smiled. "Teaching at Hogwarts was a very interesting experience. It's a good thing Minerva did not know just how many of our pranks I was behind, or she would have mocked me even more," he confessed, grinning at Sirius. For a second Harry could see them as they had been as teenagers. Wild and rebellious and much less sad.
"Mocked you even more?" Tonks asked him, bumping him with her shoulder. Lupin nodded.
"She just happened to be walking by when my fifth-year class let out." Ginny giggled in understanding, but Harry was utterly lost.
"Why your fifth-year class?" he asked.
"Fred and George's class," he elaborated. "I said, 'I brought this on myself, didn't I?' and Minerva walked by positively cackling and told me in no uncertain terms that I deserved it."
The clock chimed one a.m. and Lupin looked up startled. He and Tonks exchanged looks. "We have Order business tonight and it appears we're late. If you'll excuse us." He gestured her out of the door in front of him, and she stumbled on the mop bucket and would have fallen if Lupin hadn't caught her.
He cleared his throat and straightened up, pulling away from her. She smiled widely at him and the expression seemed to make him light up too. His scars seemed much less harsh next to her. Tonks looped her arm though his as they walked out the door.
Harry pulled his head out of the silvery pensieve and stood next to his own godson, heart aching. Teddy turned to look at him and there were tears in his eyes but he was beaming. Teddy threw his arms around his godfather and Harry clutched him tightly. It had been much too long since he had properly hugged his godson.
"Thank you," the metamorphmagus murmured. "This is the best birthday present anyone has ever given me." Harry nodded into his shoulder as they were the same height. He thought he could see them all now, standing there with them. Their lost loved ones. In his mind's eye he saw his parents and Teddy's, and Sirius and Fred. Merlin but Teddy reminded Harry of Remus and Tonks. And little Fred was more like Fred than his own father. The next generation kept those they'd lost alive for the people who'd known them, and those who'd known them kept them alive in stories for the next generation. He couldn't help but think of his own godfather, and how right he had been. The ones who love you never really leave you.
