Chapter summary:
The aftermath of the boggart incident through Snape's eyes.
Word count:
About 3200.
Author's note:
It's a necessary prelude to the arch that's about to come (and hopefully will not exceed past five chapters at the maximum that I'm planning for it at the moment). I just couldn't not address the issues raised in this chapter or not do anything about it. I swear that I will not turn that into another spin-off and keep it condensed to the weekend.
As for posting schedule… It largely depends on my work schedule and my work schedule is not something to write home about. It also depends of how much buffer I have left. At the moment it isn't very big, not big enough for me to feel comfortable with posting closer than about a month between chapters. So, tentatively I'm putting down the last week of January as a posting date for next chapter.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
I just glanced at the wishes from last year and after some careful consideration, I decided to not add anything beyond the above. I'd rather not invite trouble…
As usual, I dedicate this story to all of you, my readers, for sticking with me for so long in spite of my shortcomings.
I adore seeing your reactions and answering your questions. They motivate me, and yes, sometimes an innocent question will make me go out of my way to write a nearly 100k words spin-off that I will integrate into the story.
Your comments and kudos are and always will be welcome here because they're my motivation.
Secrets & Keepers –Contentions
Chapter sixteen: The Gathering
Severus Snape, 9th September 1993, Hogwarts.
The news had reached him by accident when he entered the staff room to pick up graded summer essays he accidentally left behind in there yesterday. At first he ignored giggling Sinistra and Charity, as he often did when they were in one of those moods, outside of offering the usual grumbled out greeting and started looking for his essays.
The giggling died down quickly but not before Sinistra whispered something to Charity that sounded like 'Lupin', 'Severus' and 'boggart'. What they were talking about he found out about half an hour later when he made a quick inspection of his dry storage and heard a group of students, fourth years probably and most likely Gryffindors discussing what apparently occurred in Lupin's third year class.
One of the news was that Potter had fainted during the lesson after encountering a boggart version of some scary creature. Dementor most definitely, Severus saw him fainting at the sight of them at the very least twice and a couple of odd times later he caught him swaying on his legs while Lupin tried to teach him how to handle a dementor turned boggart. Potter fainting at the sight of a dementor was nothing that Lupin couldn't handle even though both of them should have realised that Potter shouldn't participate in a demonstration.
And then there was Neville Bloody Longbottom and his boggart. On one hand it was flattering and proved that Longbottom wasn't that much of an idiot if he recognised Severus's authority to fear him so much. And on the other was what the boggart Severus turned into which was downright humiliating.
Bloody Lupin, motherfucking Marauder, he should have known that sooner rather than later one of them would try to pull some sort of humiliating prank on Severus. He just expected Black to be the one who cracked first, not that optimistic ray of sunshine that quickly won the regard and respect of the other teachers.
He was so angry and in such a foul mood that he gave fifth years an impromptu test on what they remembered from their last year and seethed while they were hastily scribbling on their parchments.
He should pay Lupin back in kind and with something extremely humiliating as well. Or just mess up his next Wolfsbane potion. No, that would have been too extreme even for him. Besides Dumbledore was going to return eventually to Hogwarts and his deal on delivering the impeccable wolfsbane potion was with Headmaster and not with the werewolf. Not wolfsbane then but something drastic. Setting his clothes on fire maybe? Pointless, Black could and would easily replace them. Changing Lupin's clothes into the one that infernal boggart was wearing? At dinner or at the very least during the staff meeting.
Revenge plans gnawed at him all the way until dinner, for which Lupin had failed to show, the bloody coward. He was in such a foul mood that he barely ate anything and everything had tasted as if he was chewing on cardboard. He was so pissed that he almost didn't notice Bathsheda passing by his side of the table. Which wasn't something she often did but every time she did her choosing that particular way to leave the staff table was a sign that she wanted to meet with him after dinner.
Well, at the very least visiting her would give him an opportunity to vent his spleen over the incident. She might also be able to help him settle on something that was harmless enough to not incur Dumbledore's wrath but at the same time also extremely humiliating.
He concluded his duties for the day and made his trek to her quarters via the secret passage and first thing he saw after opening the exit from the passage was Lupin. Severus glared at the man and for a second he felt deaf and blind to everything and everyone else. Because as he looked around he found the entire group in there, minus Potter and Tonks, spread over armchairs and couches and talking animatedly.
"Severus," said Lupin, the first one to realise that Severus entered the room. "I'm so sorry…"
"No, you blood are not," Severus sneered. "And I bet that you gathered in here just to have a nice laugh at the expense of the dungeon's bat."
"Does any of us looks as if we were just laughing?" asked Black calmly as he turned his head towards Severus.
Severus glared at him. Black didn't look as if he was just laughing but he was also an experienced Occlumens and a thorn in Severus's side that didn't waste any given opportunity to have a laugh at Severus's expense. Well, maybe with the exception of a part of the sixth year and a tiny bit of it on that.
"We were however discussing Mr Longbottom," supplied Bathsheda as she passed him a glass of whiskey. "And we would like to hear your input on the subject."
"Longbottom is a moron, end of the story," stated Severus before he took a big swig of whiskey from the glass.
"We know that you don't like him…" started Lupin.
"I'm not contractually obligated to like him, you perky, furry ray of sunshine," replied Severus scathingly. "However I'm contractually obligated to teach him until he will inevitably fail his Potions OWLs. That's the only reason why I'm allowing him and any other moron in my classes to pass their exams even though none of them deserve it. Because once they reach their OWLs they're out of my class and no longer my bloody problem."
"Point," Bathsheda agreed. "It takes a special kind of talent to fail a year."
"Also has any of you, you rose-tinted idiots considered for a moment what would have happened if the Dark Lord instead of going after the Potters went after the Longbottoms?" Severus added lividly. "Anyone?" he offered.
"We probably would have been royally screwed and most certainly under the Dark Lord's thumb," muttered Regulus. "But it does explain why you can't stand him."
"Why don't you sit down and listen to us for a moment. I promise that we will keep it short and return to comparing our research notes," said Bathsheda calmly. "Remus, if you please."
"Why me?" Lupin protested.
"Because it was your idea," said Black simply. "Bring him up to speed," he waved his hand towards Severus and patted the couch next to him.
Severus narrowed his eyes but with Bathsheda occupying an armchair he didn't exactly had much of a choice. Unless he wanted to sit on a rickety (and very uncomfortable) chair by the desk. On the couch he would have to angle himself towards Black just to have a good angle for swift hexing if Black tried something.
He sat down on Black's left, crossing his left leg over right and turning just so that hexing Black wouldn't have taken him longer than a flick of the wand. Black, unlike the other three hadn't appear to be holding onto a beverage. Which wasn't surprising because he saw Black turn down multiple offers of alcoholic beverages. Instead he was twirling a cigarette in his hand.
He offered it to Severus with a questioning look on his face.
"No, thank you, I know how adept you are at booby-trapping the stuff you hand out," replied Severus.
"Suit yourself then," said Black with a shrug and put the cigarette in his mouth.
No sooner than he lit it there was a loud crack and Lupin squeaked out, "Sirius!"
Severus's head whirled that way and he found himself at dress-clad Lupin, holding onto a giant crimson handbag and with a high top hat with a stuffed vulture perched on the top of his head. He looked bloody ridiculous and Severus barely managed to conceal a snort as a cough.
"Thought that would cheer you up a bit," said Black simply.
"Timing," scoffed Lupin. "Jesus," he huffed. "Also you should have taken under consideration that I'm not a frail old lady," he grumbled. "Jesus, my ribs."
"You put him in a bra too?" asked Bathsheda curiously.
"Yep," Black confirmed, smoothly popping the p.
"Arsehole," Lupin mumbled as he fumbled with the clasp of the bra behind his back. "Just a second," he breathed out.
"Knickers too?" asked Severus, feeling his lips twitch at the thought.
"If I put him in knickers, trust me you would have noticed," replied Black. "Remus is very touchy about any magic touching his privates."
"Unless you count your cousin's vagina," replied Severus dryly. "That he likes very, very much."
"Shut the fuck up and be glad that you didn't share the same floor with them, you cock," grumbled out Regulus.
"Our bathrooms shared the ventilation with yours, I have heard enough, you goblin-sized twerp," countered Severus.
"Boys behave or I will ground all of you," sighed Bathsheda. "Pity that Dora isn't around, you behave better when it isn't four against one."
"Three and a half against one," muttered Severus.
Black barked out with laughter at that.
"Just so you know I have Potions tomorrow and I'm feeling a deep unyielding need to blow something up," replied Regulus.
"Only if you want to spend the rest of the semester in a detention," said Bathsheda sweetly. "My dear, pint-sized nephew."
"Fuck you, you bathing shed," scoffed Regulus.
"Hey!" Lupin cried out. "Shut it, all of you," he called out. "Can we resolve one issue before you will return to sniffing de-aging potion? Because I'm having a sudden flashback to the year of 1974."
"1975," coughed Black.
"1976," Severus corrected him. "That's when Bathsheda and even your girlfriend let themselves go with insults. I kind of lost count of how many times in one day she managed to call you a cock."
"Only seven," sighed Black. "She was more partial to bastard, that was I think about fifteen or sixteen in one day."
"Merlin," Lupin groaned. "My dear colleagues and friends," he said loudly, "supposedly grown up adults over the age of thirty. Could you for ten minutes act your age, please?"
"Yes, mother," muttered Regulus.
"Just get on with it," said Severus with a shrug. "How are your seventh years?" he asked with a twitch of his lips.
"Stressed out already," Lupin replied. "And the only thing I really done with them was reading out the NEWTs requirements," he added with a sigh. "Now please focus on Mr Longbottom."
He paused and when no one interrupted he continued, "What you," he gestured towards Severus, "said about Mr Longbottom during the summer made me wonder what could possibly be wrong with him…"
"Everything," muttered Severus.
"So you've said," Lupin countered. "But I wanted to test it," he added. "So I went around asking other teachers how they were handling struggling students and I discovered the same pattern you had. And before you will tell me that you already knew that let me remind you that I wanted to be thorough."
"And?" asked Severus, because this whole introduction was made for his benefit.
"Mr Longbottom performs badly all across the board in every class that requires even minimal spell-work. That said he isn't completely inept," said Lupin. "Not when it comes to the theory. He isn't better than most students his age, he occasionally makes mistakes but he scores higher on theory than he does on practical tasks."
"Another Pettigrew?" offered Severus pensively.
"That's the thing," sighed Lupin. "We didn't test Pettigrew at that age…" he grimaced. "But I had Bathsheda place the reading charm on the entrance to my classroom and I tried to test all students individually," he added. "Longbottom is no less powerful than Harry or the rest of his classmates."
"Who is the most powerful?" asked Regulus curiously.
"Ms Granger who according to the school records had been born in September, so it's safe to assume that she could have started puberty," replied Lupin. "Not that she's leaps ahead of the others, she's just the best of them all."
"And the worst?" asked Severus. "Weasley?"
"Strangely, no," answered Lupin. "From each house of their year that would have been Lavender Brown, from Gryffindord; Mandy Brocklehurst, from Ravenclaw; Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff and Gregory Goyle from Slytherin."
"Goyle and Crabbe are the worst students amongst the Slytherins," said Severus sourly.
"To be fair Crabbe won over Goyle by a smidgeon," Lupin replied. "Those two are comparatively the least powerful in the entire year."
"And how Longbottom looks in that?" asked Severus pensively. "In numbers."
"Granger, Malfoy, MacMillan, Nott, Greengrass, Davis, Potter, Longbottom," Lupin counted out. "But we're talking about differences going into decimal points between one and the other, Severus. We also have to take into the account that they're all at the brink of puberty and that will certainly muddle the results."
"The first three you mentioned are the top students in their class," admitted Severus grudgingly. "And power wise you put Longbottom not too far behind them in a group of over thirty," he sighed. "Then if not power levels then what?"
"I have an idea," offered Black as he stood up and pulled his wand. "Bear in mind that I worked with Frank and Alice, not as often as I worked with Mirzam but often enough to see them both in action. Frank more than Alice, he was a very capable wizard, terrific and decorated Auror, not that Alice was a slouch either. She just liked clinical side of the job better and was very good at it, she also left the job as soon as they found out that they were going to have a child."
"Is there a point in there somewhere?" asked Severus sourly.
"My point is I've seen Frank duel," said Black calmly. "And bear in mind that a trained Auror will absent-mindedly keep the track of all wands involved in a duel. Frank, much like me, was a simultaneous caster, which often got us in trouble with our supervisor. At one point or another I've seen all of the wands he was using and I can say with almost ninety percent certainty that the wand I saw his son use is one of his."
"And the remaining ten percent?" asked Severus simply.
"Remaining ten percent spent almost twelve years in Azkaban's top security ward and might have their memories a little muddled by that," replied Black with a shrug.
"Then there's the obvious," said Bathsheda pensively. "Neither Bellatrix, nor her husband or his brother or that twerp that was caught with them were selective about their victims," she added grimly.
"Bella almost killed Narcissa when she was an infant," said Regulus as he scratched his chin. "And Bella I knew would have gone after the baby first to get his parents to talk."
She definitely would have, conceded Severus. And what saved the boy from suffering the similar fate than that of his parents was an inordinate stroke of luck that the Aurors responded quickly to the attack on one of their own. He frowned and tried to recall what Dumbledore ever said on the subject. Hadn't one of the Aurors grabbed the boy and made a run for it? Or had the parents thrown themselves between the attackers much like Lily had for her son.
What became the obvious to him was that they could theorise on the subject for the rest of the night but without data there was very little thing they could do. What he didn't understand was how he fit into all of it.
"What do you need me for?" he asked with a sigh. "And what I will get out of it?" he added.
"Aside from satisfying your curiosity?" offered Bathsheda.
"It's your curiosity that would be satisfied my unwavering Ravenclaw," he replied. "Also Lupin's. Black got himself into it because he has to be bored out of his mind since there isn't a lot that he can do in his Animagi form aside of sitting on his brother or his godson alternatively."
"Point meticulously taken," snorted Black. "Arsehole," he muttered and after a brief moment he added, "No offense."
"None had been taken, you cock," replied Severus smoothly. "What's in there for me?" he paraphrased his earlier question.
"Aside of making your long-suffering sleeping companion happy and potentially minimising the number of Longbottom related incidents in Potions class?" asked Regulus dryly.
"Sirius had an idea," muttered Lupin sourly as he levelled a glare at Black. "He thinks that you will find this," he gestured at himself, "as an appropriate compensation."
"It's entertaining but hardly appropriate compensation," replied Severus. "If the boggart story isn't all over the school already it surely will be tomorrow before dinner. You humiliated me, you furball."
"Not on purpose," Lupin pointed out. "I didn't know that Neville's boggart was you."
"But you went ahead with it," Severus countered. "Drag was your preferred method of humiliation, don't even think for one second that I would have forgotten that. Transfiguration part was always Black or Potter's but you were the one charming the booby-traps because you were better at time delayed spells."
"Which is why," said Black calmly, "Remus here offered," he looked at Lupin pointedly, "to wear this entire get up through the entire weekend. In public. Hat and all."
It was a very tempting offer.
"Hat and all you say," Severus said slowly.
"I also offered to wear that bloody hat for an entire week," said Lupin slowly. "If you will help me with testing the boy. I can't get Sirius or Regulus to help me with it, he doesn't know Bathsheda but he knows you."
"He's also terrified of me enough to have my doppelganger for a boggart," pointed out Severus. "My presence in the room would be counterproductive to any tests you wish to perform."
"I just really need to perform one," replied Lupin. "Mental blockade caused by the lingering aftereffects of Cruciatus would be very hard to test without getting an experienced mind-healer on board."
"Or an experienced Legilimens," added Black. "Which is another reason why you would be the best person for the job. Remus sucks at Legilimency, I could swing it but I can't exactly get myself into the same room with him."
"And the wand theory?" asked Severus in resignation.
"I offered him some samples," said Bathsheda. "And you will have his and your own wands. All that you need is testing trifecta."
Longbottom, with my wand, Severus shook his head at that thought. What the world is coming down to. On the other hand Lupin in drag, in public.
He hesitated for another moment before he asked, "When and where?"
"I was hoping tomorrow, my office," replied Lupin.
"Bathsheda and I have a schedule planning meeting with Flitwick and McGonagall after dinner," Severus pointed out.
"Your classes end along with theirs," Bathsheda supplied. "The testing isn't going to take an eternity."
"It's Longbottom," Severus retorted. "It might," he added and then sighed. "Just get him in there and be prepared to face the consequences of your actions. Friday is the start of the weekend."
"Friday afternoon," argued Lupin. "And the tests might go better if I won't be in this get up."
TBC
Next: The aftermath of the boggart incident through Neville's eyes.