Chapter 22

The Hogwarts Express had journeyed back to King's Cross two days ago. The castle contained perhaps a quarter of the seventh years, some sixths years and a small handful of the lower years. Many of the upper years were staying to get DADA practice. Finding a replacement teacher had been impossible at such short notice, and the lessons were taught by Dumbledore, Flitwick and Snape when their free periods allowed. It made continuity hard and the staff were very aware some students needed extra tuition.

Harry stayed from the Gryffindor fourth year, as had Hermione and Ron and the twins stayed with them. Harry was happy that all his friends were staying. It'd been difficult when they hadn't been on speaking terms.

At breakfast he got a note. 'It might be the holidays, but the third task won't solve itself. 7pm as usual.'

Harry sighed.

"You've still got sessions over the holidays, don't you?" asked Hermione.

"Yep."

Next day Albus stood up at breakfast. There were only two tables in the great hall. Being the holidays, the students all sat at one table and the staff remained at the top table. Everyone looked towards the Headmaster.

"We will be having two guests visiting during the day on and off during the holidays. They are here at my personal invitation. You will see them at lunch. Try not to stare, they need no introduction."

"You did that deliberately," said Minerva quietly.

"It's the holidays. It gives them something to wonder about and gossip over," replied Albus.

The students were all slightly early to lunch, so that they were there when the Headmaster arrived with his guests.

"Professor Lupin!" squeaked a Ravenclaw sixth year.

Lupin looked over, "Good morning, Miss O'Connor," said Remus with a smile.

The students were very happy to see their erstwhile professor. The relief on Lupin's face was plain to see. The students didn't care that he was a werewolf. They stood and gave him a round of applause. Remus waved them back down their seats, slightly embarrassed.

The second guest of Dumbledore's was standing on the far side of both Lupin and the Headmaster, deliberately keeping his face out of sight while Lupin was recognised by the students. Dumbledore stepped slightly to one side to reveal Sirius Black.

There was a sharp intake of breath from one student and silence from the others. Minerva stood. The prefects took the hint and stood, followed by the rest of the students. Fred and George started to applaud. The other students joined in. Sirius gave a slight bow and the three men joined the top table.

Everyone retook their seats, although there were a number of stares. Just before Dumbledore signalled for food to arrive, Severus stood up. All eyes turned towards him. For once, the man didn't visibly have his usual confident demeanour, he was nervous. The room waited.

"Last year, at the end of the academic year, Professor Lupin's lycanthropy became public knowledge," said Severus. "As a result there were a number of complaints regarding his suitability to continue to teach at Hogwarts. The Board of Governors terminated his contract. This is common knowledge to you all. What is not common knowledge is that I was the person who publicised Professor Lupin's status. I did not do it for the protection and safety of the students. I did it out of spite. I deeply regret my actions. I humbly apologise to you, Mr Lupin," Severus turned to Remus and bowed deeply, "I do not expect you to accept my apology, I certainly am not going to ask for your forgiveness, my actions were unforgivable. I publicly outed you and I publicly apologise for doing so. I cannot take my words back. If I could, I would. I was bitter and selfish. I do not even expect you to acknowledge my apology, it serves no meaning to you."

Severus sat down to stunned silence. There were enough students present from all years, that his apology would spread around the rest of the school like wildfire on the student's return. He had certainly lost some of his Bat of the Dungeons credibility. No-one would have him pegged as a person who apologised, or indeed someone who made mistakes. Especially ones of that calibre.

"Well that was certainly 'something else'," murmured Dumbledore in Severus' ear.

Lupin didn't accept Severus' apology. He didn't want to. But he did acknowledge that Snape had apologised in front of the student body. It didn't matter that it wasn't the whole student body. With the rumour mill around here, there would be a word for word description going around for months. The only acknowledgement Lupin gave was the merest nod of the head to indicate he'd heard it.

Dumbledore ended the scene with a wave of his arm bringing food.

"Is he really that politic?" asked Mooney as he and Padfoot stepped through their floo back in their cottage. "If he wanted to garner sympathy that's how he'd do it. And it forced me to acknowledge him, else I come across as the person holding a grudge."

"I hate to say it, Mooney," replied Sirius, "But he didn't gain any points with the student body for that at all. Think about it. That was a public, formal apology! His whole persona is to strike dread into students to stop them blowing up his room. You remember Slughorn. Affable until you did something dumb and then you didn't sit down for the rest of the day. Safety was about the only thing he seemed to take seriously. Harry says the students nickname him the Bat of the Dungeons, you must know that from past year. He bowed low. I think his reputation took a big hit."

"No, Padfoot, I think he got the sympathy vote. I glanced at Harry at his friends. They were shocked, I'll grant you, but they didn't look angry with him for outing me."

"Yeah, but those three knew already. They were shocked at the apology. Snape didn't look anyone in the eye for the rest of the meal, I was watching him. He's mortified and he did it publicly to himself."

"Why are you taking his side, Padfoot?" growled Mooney, slumping into an armchair.

"Because I want you to take his bloody potion next full moon. The man's a proper bastard, I'll agree, but he makes good potions. Please?"

"No," snapped Mooney.

"Nose. Face. Spite."

"Who's the one getting counselling around here, me or you?!" asked Remus.

"Please just think about it. You don't have to even speak to the man. I'll ask Albus to send them over." Mooney did not know Padfoot had kept them.

There was silence.

"I'm calling silence not a no," said Sirius lightly. He had to run away upstairs to avoid the stinging hex sent his way.

"No," confirmed Lupin.

"Sit down, Mr Potter," said Snape, indicating the chair. "Would you care to have a go at me now for outing Lupin? You are quite safe, it is a mentoring session."

"I knew it was you already but I would have made a comment at the beginning of the year," said Harry, honestly, "But I don't think there's much point. Seeing you bow is stuck in the students' consciousness for ever more," he added slyly.

"Thank you for affirming my loss of status, Mr Potter," said Snape, snarkily. "You spent time with him last year. Is he likely to accept an apology?"

"I don't know, sir," replied Harry. This was weird. This was not usual Snape. This was neither classroom Snape nor mentoring Snape. This one bothered him.

"Consider this a lesson, Mr Potter, this is a mentoring session after all. Try not to hold grudges. They nag at you and come back to bite you on the arse later. Here endeth the lesson, Mr Potter. Let us move on before you think me... fluffy."

"Of course not, sir. Bat, Dungeons. Got it." Phew. Normal service had resumed.

"Come along, Mr Potter, field trip."

Snape led the way to the top of the astronomy tower. He pointed. "What's that?"

"Lack of quidditch, sir," replied Harry looking over to the quidditch pitch covered in small trees.

"So sharp you could cut yourself, Potter. Answer the question."

"The maze Hagrid's been growing, sir. The one for the last task."

"Given that trees have roots, Mr Potter, they don't generally move about, do they?"

"No, sir?" asked Harry, lost.

"Are you missing quidditch, Mr Potter?" asked Snape.

The seeming non-sequitur was confusing to Harry.

"Yes, sir?" queried Harry, still lost.

"Merlin save me from idiot Gryffindors!" said Snape. "You can stay here until you've pondered the question enough. Don't come back down until you 'get it'."

Snape turned and called back up the stairs. "You'd have been eaten alive in Slytherin, Mr Potter."

Three quarters of an hour later Harry knocked on Snape's door, rather embarrassed.

"Really? It took you that long?"

"Sorry, sir."

"Well, for the rest of the holidays you've hopefully set yourself a task, Mr Potter."

"So, you're saying I can actually compete?" asked Harry hopefully.

"Yes, Mr Potter, against my sound judgement, you may. I reiterate, you are only a fourth year. Don't get your hopes up. If you want to have mentor sessions next week, you can, but if you want a week off, that would be acceptable. Let me know. Try not to fall off your broom, Potter, lack of recent practice et cetera et cetera."

"Goodnight, sir."

Harry, Ron, Fred and George spent the next week flying above the treetops on the quidditch pitch calling out measurements to Hermione on the ground. They created an accurate sketch of the layout. There were numerous arguments about exactly where the forested alleyways ended.

"Shame we don't have the Marauder's Map," said Fred, looking at Harry and Hermione who had the grace to look guilty. "We could try to add the maze to it."

"Do you really want to try to steal it out of Snape's office?" asked George incredulously. "What would you do? Have Ron and Harry run interference while we sneak into his office and filch it. That would only end one way."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," agreed Fred, absentmindedly rubbing a bum cheek.

"Perhaps we could ask Remus and Sirius to help?" asked Harry.

"Why would they want to help?" asked Fred.

"Oh! Oops. We never told you?" said Harry.

"Told us what?" asked Fred.

"I may know two of the Marauders. Specifically, one of them's my Godfather and the other is an ex-professor," said Harry apologetically.

"And you're only telling us this now?!" screeched George. Harry cringed.

"Do you know how many hours we've wasted not asking Lupin questions last year?! Which Marauders are they? Oh, Lupin will be Mooney, won't he?"

Harry nodded. "Sirius is Padfoot."

"Do you know who the others are?" asked Fred animatedly.

"Um, yeah," said Harry awkwardly, "Prongs was my father and Wormtail is Pettigrew."

"Right. One awkward silence coming up," said Fred. "Excuse me while I just go and take my foot out of my mouth."

"Why don't I think it bodes well if there's a whole delegation of you, Mr Potter?" asked Professor McGonagall. All five of them were standing in front of her desk.

"Professor," said Harry, "We were wondering, seeing as it's the holidays, and there's five of us, a big group, relatively speaking, if perhaps we'd be allowed to go to Hogsmeade?"

McGonagall wasn't an idiot. "You're up to something," she said, "I know this because of the Weasley twin contingent. What are you up to?"

"Honestly, we just want to visit Sirius and Remus, I mean Mr Lupin," said Harry.

"And do they know you're descending on them?" she asked.

"Not exactly, no, Professor," admitted Harry.

"Why didn't I ask to be head of Hufflepuff, honestly!" muttered McGonagall. She threw some floo powder into the flames of the fire in her office.

"Wisteria Cottage, Hogsmeade!"

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Mr Lupin, it's Minerva. I have a bunch of hoodlums here who want to descend on you and disturb your peace and quiet for the morning."

"Oh, that'd be lovely. Send them along!" said Lupin, his face appearing in the flames, "Oh, and the twins, the more the merrier, I say. "

"Thank you!" said Minerva. She closed the connection.

"Be back before lunch and report to me so I know you're back safe."

"Yes, Professor!" chorused the group.

"Come in! Come in! Guests! People!" said Sirius happily.

"Thank you for the resounding endorsement of my company, Padfoot," said Remus with a grin.

"You're most welcome," said Sirius. Sirius and Harry exchanged a hug. "I'm sorry we didn't get more to spend together when we were in the castle last week, Harry," said Sirius. "We were there for a nostalgia tour in the main. That kind of thing helps."

"There's plenty of time for us to see each other, it's not a problem," said Harry, "We're here to see you both now."

"Both of us?" asked Remus, surprised. He'd known he wasn't an unpopular professor, and Harry and his friends were obviously all in favour of him but he'd been surprised by the ovation he'd got from the students.

"Well," admitted Harry, "We might also have another reason for being here, other than your company of course," said Harry. "I may have let slip to the twins that you're Padfoot and Mooney of Marauder Map fame. They've got a bad case of hero worship. They like a good prank."

"I am well aware of their enjoyment of pranks after last year," said Remus, "I just assumed you all knew who we were when Harry knew."

"It must have slipped his mind," said Fred.

"Someone must have dropped him on his head when he was a baby," said George.

"Yeah, sorry, that was me," said Sirius with a grin. "Now, if you're not a professor anymore," said Sirius to Remus, "Does that mean I can finally get the marshmallow furniture prank underway?"

Remus buried his head in his hands, "Not this again! Padfoot, we all told you back in fifth year, that wasn't a viable prank. We did the maths, and we wouldn't have been able to pull it off without getting caught out after curfew. You can't still think that'd work?"

"Well, if it doesn't it'll be their backsides not ours," said Sirius with a grin.

"And that's why you're still speaking to the Healers," replied Lupin with a laugh. "So gentlemen, ask away, but I take no responsibility for anything he says or if you're caught."

"How did you make the map?" asked Fred.

"Oh, that's a nice set of charms," said Lupin, "It's easiest to show you." He held out his hand to Harry assuming he had the map.

"Well," said Harry awkwardly, "That's the problem. It got confiscated."

"Well you wouldn't pass a Marauder test!" said Sirius.

"Twice!" said Lupin. "I took it off him the first time. I gave him it back though. Who took it this time? Mr Filch?"

Harry scuffed his shoe. "Snape," he said in quiet embarrassment.

"How did you manage that?!" asked Lupin.

"Oh, you should have been there," said Hermione. "Terrifying experience."

"Oooh, stories," said Sirius, "Failed pranks are the best kind! Cough up! I'll go get the pumpkin juice."

They settled down for the story of Harry and Hermione testing Gillyweed in the prefects' bathroom.

"Oh, Merlin," said Fred as they got to the part about heading towards Snape's office. "You know what he keeps in his desk drawer, right?"

"Well aware now, thank you very much!" said Hermione.

"You picked the wrong time to start breaking the rules," said George.

Harry laughed, "That's what he said!" This cracked everyone up.

"Sorry," said Fred, "That must have stung. He's had plenty of practice. We know. We don't break curfew on the nights he patrols the corridors."

Harry looked Hermione dead in the eye, "Yeah, it smarted. Could have been worse though."

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, could have been worse."

"Harry," asked Padfoot seriously, noting Harry and Hermione's exchange of look, "Was he... unreasonable?"

"No, it hurt, sure, that's the point, but he's not cruel. Honest."

"When...?" began Hermione. She knew to be careful about what she said, but she really wanted to know. She'd obeyed Snape when he'd told her not to ask Harry about anything, but she didn't like not knowing things.

"I didn't exactly tell you the truth about how he ended up being my mentor," said Harry, knowing what she was really asking but not willing to give the answer, "I told you I'd bumped into him in a corridor and got a detention. And I told you it wasn't a detention, it was a mentor session that I'd been to? Well, it was actually like this. You remember me and Ron had a disagreement about the goblet? I was avoiding everyone and I was pissed off. I heard a snarky comment about me in the great hall at breakfast before the rest of you had come down and without turning round told that person to eff off. That person was Snape."

"Oh sweet Merlin, that's waaay worse than being out after curfew!" said George in horror.

"He hauled me up to Dumbledore. Dumbledore set him as my mentor and Snape took me to his office to make damn sure I'd think twice before saying that to him again. But he wasn't mean. He even got one of his house to explain his house rules to me. After that he told me that he mentored his house and mentoring sessions never involved a ruler. And he hasn't. He's been… good."

"Good?" growled Sirius.

"Padfoot, I refuse to forgive the man for publicising my condition, but if any student had told me to eff off I'd have done the same. Just contemplate for a moment saying that to Minerva," said Lupin.

Sirius went a funny shade of pale. "I don't think I'd have sat down for a week!" he said weakly. Lupin nodded.

Harry coughed. "Now that we've all analysed the stupidity of generations of Gryffindors, we came to ask about the map. How did you make it?"

"How safe is it for you to have a map?" asked Lupin responsibly. "I took it from you for a reason last time, and it seems that returning it to you was premature, seeing as you use it to purely break curfew."

"I want it for a specific reason. Not a whole map though. I want it for the third task's maze," replied Harry. "Snape wouldn't let me seriously compete in the first two. He knew that Death Eaters were after me. But he says it's safe for me to compete as a normal champion, or as safe as that is," he added. "He took me up to the astronomy tower and didn't very obviously point out how I could get an advantage. The five of us have spent the week sketching out the maze, but it'd be nice if I could map it to see what I'm up against, I mean, it's hardly going to be safe in there, but if I know where I am, where I've got to go and if there's something up ahead, I might not get eaten alive."

"That's… well thought out," said Lupin.

"And Gred and I were hoping you'd show us how you make it, so we can make our own for, um… study purposes," said Forge innocently.

Sirius and Lupin exchanged a look. "Let's see what we can do," said Lupin, "Accio parchment."

"Mate," said Ron as they headed back up to the castle, their map skills much improved, "I'm sorry about the beginning of the year. If I hadn't made you pissed off you'd never have been at breakfast on your own. I can't even contemplate telling Snape to… he'd go spare."

Harry burst out laughing so hard. It took a while to get himself under control. "I'm sorry. You know I said Snape got a student to explain how punishments in his house worked? Well it was Pucey. Snape asked Pucey what Snape would do if he told Snape to eff off and, oh I can see the funny side now, but you should have seen Pucey's face. He told Snape that Snape would go spare. I'd say you had to have been there, but no, you really didn't want to be there."

"It's shock, poor lad," said Fred to George. "He'll be in St. Mungo's soon. There is no funny side to Snape's ruler."

"Harry," said Hermione. They were in the common room on their own. The Weasleys had arranged to go home using the floo for an evening before term started up again.

"I really don't want to talk about it, Hermione. There's a reason Snape asked you not to."

"But I just want to know one thing," Hermione insisted, "Sirius and Remus clearly care about you a lot. They would protect you if needed. Has Professor Snape ever been too harsh to you?"

"No, Hermione, he really hasn't. The opposite in fact."

"But you said you were in credit? I'm not an idiot given the context of that conversation."

"Drop it, Hermione. I will promise on anything you like that Snape has never been over the top, cruel or harsh or wrongly punished me for something I've done."

"OK. I'll stop. Sorry, Harry."

"We're good, Hermione, just keep it dropped."