Chapter 7: Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun
"Sir, the others aren't due to meet us here for at least 10 minutes-"
"Go stand in the corner," Snape pointed to a corner at the bottom of a stairwell.
"What? Like a timeout?" Harry was facing his master with his arms crossed.
Snape sighed and stepped toward his apprentice. "Your behavior in front of Sterling and the Headmaster has been out of line, Apprentice, are going to stand with your nose in that corner, whilst your schoolmates walk by. They will be on their way to dinner- turn and face the corner now- and will undoubtedly see you being punished like a toddler. Which is fitting- your temper tantrums recently have reminded me of a naughty five-year-old who didn't get the candy he wanted. I believe ten minutes in the corner will do. You are not to move, and not to speak. Do I make myself clear?"
Harry was silent, and did not move. "I am not a child! I apologized for my outburst, but even you must understand how overwhelming this all has been. There is a lot going on!"
Snape glared at the boy. "I do not like to repeat myself, Aeternus. I think you know that well enough. Is there any part of my directions that are unclear?" Harry did not move for another few moments as he weighed his options.
Reluctantly, Harry uncrossed his arms, lowered his eyes, and said, "No, Master Shadowman," before going to stand in the corner as indicated.
"Ah, good afternoon, Severus. I see you have found a fitting punishment for his childish behavior this week!" Harry heard Saldor's voice behind him and closed his eyes, suddenly realizing the true power of Snape's punishment: this was utterly humiliating. "Ferraldin, I imagine he is under strict orders not to speak. Please do not tempt Severus."
Harry heard the other apprentice agree and imagined him nodding in agreement. He nearly snorted to himself- Ferraldin likely was not even tempted to approach him. He still hadn't spoken to him unless necessary. He felt the other boy move away, even as he heard the hall get busier with people. Silently, he prayed that Ron and Hermione would not notice him among the crowds of people.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, a word," Harry heard his master say menacingly from his place a few feet away. "Ah, do not speak, Ms. Granger. Particularly to Aeternus. I daresay his keeping secrets has gotten him into enough trouble, don't you agree?"
"What do you mean, Sir?" Hermione's voice was quiet, but unwilling to give up the game. Over the years, she and the boys had created a lot of secrets, and while there was no real indication what secret Snape had discovered, Hermione's loyalty was unwavering toward her friends.
Harry could practically feel the frustration in his master's voice and could picture his sneer. "I mean, Ms. Granger, that in not telling me as soon as your friend was having visions, you exposed him to harm."
Before Hermione could defend herself, Harry felt himself speak impulsively. "Sir, I forced them not to! They wanted to come to you!" He was still staring at the corner, not willing to disobey two direct commands.
"What," Snape was speaking slowly, his voice dangerously low now, "were my direct orders to you?"
"Do not speak, or move, Sir."
"Yes, continue that, or perhaps I will need to call your godfather to cancel dinner." Harry wisely stayed silent, because despite the injustice of this punishment, he saw Sirius far too rarely to risk that cancellation. Snape had never gone back on his word. "Granger, Weasley. Detention, every Sunday. The first will be tomorrow at 6 am. Do not be late. Mr. Weasley, I believe your sister was a knowing and willing accomplice here. If she is not with you in the morning, you will take her share of the blame, too."
As Ron sputtered his objection to the early hour, Hermione agreed. "Yes, Sir. We will have Ginny with us. Bye, Harry. I'm sorry."
Harry loosened his fists, stretching his fingers, anxious he could not go to them. After what felt like ten more minutes, Harry's master bid him to come join himself and Saldor in conversation. "You will of course be present tomorrow morning," Snape announced. "Your friends will be learning to defend themselves, so dress appropriately. Ah! Hello, Sirius, Remus," Snape's attention had turned to the two men coming down the steps.
"I take my leave," Saldor announced. "I will see you all in the morning. Come, Ferraldin."
"Pup!" Sirius cried, hugging his godson. "Oh, those are muscles," he announced, poking Harry's biceps as he laughed. "Remus, come feel!" Remus declined.
"Your cloak," Snape handed Harry his cloak. "Come, we can trade stories at dinner."
Harry had assumed they'd be dining at Hogwarts, so was pleasantly surprised when the Portkey left himself, Snape, Sirius, and Remus in Diagon Alley. Inside The Dragon's Lair, the host quickly ushered the group into a quiet room. The host gave Harry a curious glance as the boy waited behind his chair, only seating himself once he had been given permission to be seated.
Once they were alone again, Snape gestured at Harry's menu, "You may choose what you wish tonight."
Harry glanced at the menu and then to his master. "Thank you, Sir. Erm, I shouldn't ask, but… that's usually a reward. I cannot help but notice that you are unhappy with me today."
Remus and Sirius gazed on curiously, as Snape stared at his apprentice for a moment. "You are correct. That is a perceptive observation, Aeter. You are forgiven. We can chat more about this after we have ordered. First, Sirius, Remus, thank you for your support and removing Albus. He means well."
Sirius opened his mouth to speak when the waiter returned to take their orders. When the waiter left, Remus looked at Snape. "It is as we planned?"
"It will be exactly as we agreed."
Remus smiled sadly. "It is best."
"It is the only way," Snape shook his head. "Aeternus, to answer your question: yes, you've lacked self-discipline and respect today. You made mistakes. We have addressed some, though others will still need to be addressed. We will. But I am proud of you, Aeter."
Harry stopped and stared, as did Sirius, gobsmacked. Remus smiled and took a sip from his goblet. "You've broken them, Severus."
Snape scowled. "Don't be stupid! You've received a lot of overwhelming information today, and you've accepted what is to come with minimal argument. You've begun planning how you can work harder, push yourself." He paused as the waiter left their plates before each of them. "Thank you." He turned his attention to the boy. "Is it so surprising, Aeter, that we care for you so deeply and will see you through this, at any cost?"
Harry looked at his master's face. "You…" he couldn't finish, this was Snape, his cruel potion's master; the harsh master. How could he say he cared when he was so hard on Harry? And yet, Harry had noticed, but did not dare believe, at the Trials last year, and the fear that very moment when Harry's own screams tore his master out of bed… Harry had been alone for so long that to now be surrounded by adult figures that wanted to support him was overwhelming.
"Harry," Remus' voice was gentle and understanding. "Severus is right. We love you, and will get you through this."
Harry's eyes had yet to leave his Master's face, and he felt bad for ignoring Remus and Sirius, but he was perplexed. "That's… it can't be allowed! You hate me!"
Sirius finally appeared to shake himself out of his own stupor. "Come, Harry, Snape's always been a dour fellow," Sirius ignored Snape's menacing glare, "but even I've seen he wants what's best for you. It's going to be okay, I promise!"
Harry closed his eyes and thought about how he could change the subject to anything less touchy-feely than this. "Can we talk about something more fun? Master, what are the second year trials like?"
Harry did not notice the look that passed among the three men.
"You know I can't tell you," he said firmly. "But I do believe your godfather and uncle would like to hear about last year's."
Harry grinned, still feeling pride wash over him as he spent the rest of dinner telling them about his spectacular victories in the dueling tournament. Snape, looking like the cat that caught the canary, would insert editorials where Harry was too humble or too easy on the details.
Remus and Sirius smiled and "oohed!" at all the right places, and Harry suddenly felt content in life, as temporary as he knew that feeling might be for now.
By the time the quartet arrived back at the castle, it was nearing 10 pm. Despite his late wake-up, Harry was already yawning. He bid goodnight to Sirius and Remus before he and Snape returned to their quarters. As they walked, Snape slowed his pace. "Aeter, what you said is not true. I do not hate you. It is not unusual for masters to become close and feel a certain fondness for their apprentices. This is why Master Saldor is one of my most trusted advisors. It is a bond that is difficult to break. My hope is that one day, you will understand that." He paused a moment, then the peacefulness was gone. "Do not forget: 6 am. Ready to go tomorrow morning. I expect 200 lines, 'I will respect my master's orders and be obedient' at the beginning of tomorrow's detention."
Harry sighed. He was exhausted. "Yes, Sir."
When Harry and Snape arrived at the Entrance Hall at five to 6 the next morning, he was not surprised that they were the first to arrive, followed very closely by Saldor and Ferral, the latter looking very much as though he'd just rolled out of bed and dressed hastily. Terran and Silverwood came almost immediately behind the other Master and Apprentice.
"Good morning, Milords," Harry greeted as he bowed to Saldor and Silverwood, the other boys doing the same.
Saldor nodded in return. "Good morning, Severus, Apprentice. You seem to do mornings much better than Ferraldin, here."
Harry smiled. "Sunrise is my favorite time to run, actually. It's just a bit harder to start that schedule when so much happens late at night at the school."
Terran rolled his eyes, "You would, Aeter. Good morning, Ginny."
All turned as Ginny approached. She quirked an eyebrow, "Ah. Ron and Hermione were, uh, still working on getting ready for the day when I left the Tower. But I've been up for ages, so figured I'd come down on time."
"Well," Snape glanced at his watch. "Your friends do not have much time themselves."
Harry looked at his menacing superior. "Sir, what have you planned for them?" Bizarrely, Harry had no idea what fate awaited somebody who had overslept on Snape. The sharp "up!" often came as he was already dressing for the day, and he'd certainly never taken more than a half an hour to be to the breakfast table.
"Ah, I imagine Ferraldin here can attest to his master's penchant for water spells when one has overslept?" Snape asked with a raised eyebrow. "If-then magic, or Conditional Magic can be tricky to pull off at times, but we'll be getting to it in a few weeks, if all goes well. Who would care to wager how much longer we must wait?"
Saldor laughed. "No more than five minutes, Sev," he guessed.
Silverwood shook his head. "You know that I won't gamble with you two every since the Brazilian Beach Incident." Harry looked between the three men, as though he had just realized how many things he didn't know about them.
Snape sneered. "You're a coward, Reg. I take that wager. I say ten minutes- had it just been Granger, she'd've been here already. But Mr. Weasley gets… clumsy when frazzled, rushed, or thrown off. Granger will likely wait for the boy and, exasperated, remind him he forgot a shoe or something."
Harry choked. He'd have defended his friends, but Snape had described many mornings in Gryffindor tower eerily well. In fact, it was exactly nine minutes and thirteen seconds later that the two Gryffindors were seen running down the steps, their hair still looking very wet as they skidded to a halt before the masters and apprentices. "9:25, Master Shadowman," Harry announced, trying to conceal his laughter. He shared a look with Ginny, who was clearly just as surprised as he.
Saldor grunted as he crossed his arms. "You actually timed that?"
Harry shrugged. "He really described Gryffindor moments, I was curious to see how long they really took. I have an omniscient master, it seems."
"Flattery," Snape scoffed, "it won't keep you from being this morning's guinea pig."
"Aren't you all chipper," Ron muttered. "Bloody six am."
They all ignored him, though Ferral shot the red-haired boy a sympathetic look. "Outside!" Snape announced. "We're going for an easy run. Harry and Saldor will set the front pace. Apprentice Ferraldin and I will set the rear pace. You three," he gestured at the three Gryffindors, should try very hard to stay in front of, or with us.
"We will then begin practicing dodging curses. Apprentice Aeternus will demonstrate though 'dodging' should really cover the expectations." He smirked at Harry's poorly disguised groan. Dodging exercises were almost always quite painful for him. "We will then move into partner work. If we've finished, you will join the school for lunch."
"Lunch!" Ron's eyes widened. "What about breakfast? Surely we'll pass out without breakfast and all that exercise! You can't do that!"
Harry groaned. "Ron, somehow you've gotten yourselves into this, and you likely won't appreciate it. But we're here. So a rule that will make all of our lives easier: We do not use the word can't ever. Any future uses will be punished. This rule applies at all times."
"Well said," Saldor said, sweeping outside, the others following in his wake. Once he got to the bottom of the steps, he set off at an easy jog, Harry falling into step beside him. "So, Apprentice, you enjoy running?"
Harry smiled. "Yes, Sir. It can be brutal, but I enjoy a long, easy run most mornings, if I can. At Terran's over the summer, I was able to get one in most mornings. They help calm my mind and refocus my energy into something productive."
"Your master felt the same when he was an apprentice. I imagine he still does. I think he still gets his morning runs in before he wakes you, actually. Personally, I've always preferred shorter sprint distances, but I can't argue with the cleansing feeling of a long, hard run."
Harry didn't realize either man enjoyed running, or that they continued to do so on a daily basis. "Sir, why are we running so slow?" Harry ventured.
"You forget what it was like to begin running. We are already moving far too fast for your friends. Master Shadowman planned this deliberately. Though Fletcher is doing admirably, two-a-week sessions is not a great deal of exposure to make one fit for combat. We do not want them to be injured by starting somewhere that will only allow for failure.
"Your master and I chatted briefly after your dinner last night. He wanted me to have an opportunity to answer your questions. Because you do enjoy running, this seemed a good way to take some of the pressure off that conversation. He's quite… worried about you."
"Sir, isn't it frowned upon for a master to care for his apprentice?"
Saldor snorted. "We're humans, Aeter, not tools. It's not actively encouraged, but it's certainly not discouraged. In many ways, for most, it's expected. When you spend so much time with someone, taking care of his needs, walking him through some of the most challenging times of his life, you naturally begin to see him as a favorite nephew or as a son. The Board only takes exception if these feelings keep you from training your apprentices appropriately, of course."
"It makes sense. All of the masters I've met just seem so…"
"Harsh?" Focused on discipline?" Saldor waited for Harry to cautiously agree. "Yes, we all come from similar schools of thought. Masters Silverwood, Shadowman, Varneck, and myself have had extremely successful students. We are all immensely proud and fond of them. But we all fought in the last war. We all know, and strongly believe, the best way to keep you all alive is discipline. You are yet young, prone to rash behavior. You will mature, but for now, you must understand that, here, your consequences are painful. In the future, they could be death, though."
Harry nodded. He knew the stakes, perhaps better than most. "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate the honesty." They were rounding the lake and Harry realized he could no longer see the others. "Sir, should we circle back for them?"
"No need. Your master and my apprentice will be debriefing them as they run and as they learn to stretch, as to the purpose of this training regime. We'll likely be joined by Fletcher in the future. He'll also be coming down to ascertain your friends' dodging capabilities later this morning."
Harry nodded. After a moment of their rhythmic breathing, Harry figured he'd begin his questions. "Sir, what do you think has happened to me?"
A moment of silence before Saldor began to answer. "I can't be certain, Aeter, but I have my suspicions about what happened that night. I believe your nightmares have to do with the failed Killing Curse cast the night your parents died. I cannot say, as of yet, exactly what. We will run diagnostic spells, as soon as the Board approves it."
"Will it kill me, eventually? It sometimes feels as though these dreams might."
"I am certain we will find a way to remove the problem without killing you. We do not know what side effects it may have, however, so we would strongly prefer to test the method before using it on you."
They had just jogged the path that wound behind Hagrid's hut, along the edge of the forest. In the distance, Harry could see the others had stopped near the lake. "Thank you for this, Sir. I'm nervous, but I think, the sooner we can run those tests and figure this out, the better I will feel."
"Us too, Aeternus. Master Sterling will likely return this afternoon with the Board's orders. I'm certain your Master intends to keep you informed."
Harry nodded. He did not think the master required response. After a moment, Saldor motioned along the path, a somewhat steep incline that headed back toward the others. "It wouldn't be a good workout if we didn't push a little. The incline is good- inclines give you power. We're going to pick up the pace to a sprint. I want you to stay with me at all costs. If you can beat me to the others, I will convince your master that Ferraldin should demo dodging."
"Quickly it became glaringly obvious that Saldor had the speed, and fortitude, to take the uphill at a sprint. Harry did not. Panting heavily, Harry stuck to Saldor's heels, and in a burst of energy thought to pass the older man. The man barked out a laugh as he surged forward, only sounding slightly winded as they slowed before the small group stretching on the front lawn. Harry was only slightly surprised to see that Ginny looked far less worn than the other two Gryffindors, with Hermione looking as though she would not be able to stand again.
"Drink," Harry ordered, pulling water from his bag and tossing them to the others.
"So Aeternus," Snape began with a raised brow, "what wager did he make to race you up that hill so self-assuredly?"
"Ferraldin as your testing dummy," Harry said brightly, ignoring the other boy's glares. "And I was so close!"
Saldor scoffed. Snape laughed. "You'll get there, but he was having you on. Today you weren't anywhere close. So I hope you're ready to dodge! Fletcher will be here momentarily." Harry, having done this exercise before, thought he sounded much too cheerful.
"Good morning," Harry startled at Fletcher's greeting from behind him. "Ah! A good run, this morning?"
"A perfect morning for it, Sir!" Harry enthused.
"Wait, you actually, erm, enjoyed that?" Ron asked doubtfully.
"Ron," Terran lazily began, "Harry asked this morning if he could do 4 am runs every day. I wouldn't say your friend is, uh, normal."
"I didn't ask! It just came up!"
"How does that just- nevermind," Hermione said from where she was lying on the ground with her eyes closed.
"What are we catching flies for?" Fletcher asked, again far too cheerful for Harry's tastes.
Tossing his bottle of water on the grass, Harry took off his shirt, a habit since it once caught fire in one of these exercises. "We can stay out here, yeah?" Harry handed his wand to his master, also a habit for these exercises as he once forgot he was strictly to dodge and began firing spells back. "Strictly dodging?" At Snape's nod, he began to couch into a lower position to center himself. "And, uh, who am I dodging?"
Snape smiled as Saldor and Silverwood moved to positions on either side of him. "We thought we'd try something new this morning. Very rarely will there just be one attacker, so you need to get used to keeping your attention on both sides. And, begin."
Instantly, Harry backed several steps up, attempting to keep both wizards in his peripheral vision. As expected, Silverwood cast the first red hex, a stinging curse, Harry guessed. Once Saldor cast his first bright blue spell, they were off, both wizards casting in quick succession, while Harry attempted to dodge. As the expectation was for Harry to dodge and not be disabled, only stinging, pinching, or other mildly uncomfortable hexes were used. It would leave him slightly sore, but would wear off quickly. In fact, while both wizards were exceptional casters, it was clear Harry was a fair shake at dodging. Snape was pleased, knowing the boy had outgrown a single caster.
Harry, of course, had no chance to look at the audience's faces, so missed Snape speaking to Ferraldin: "You know the rules: nothing to disarm." Ferraldin nodded, though unlike the older wizards, was still new to silent casting, so his spells took a bit more time. Getting hit by a stinging hex, Harry turned to realize Ferraldin had joined in. "Ah, 3 now? Thank you, Master Shadowman, I wasn't-argh-" Harry quickly rolled to get below a hex sent by Saldor, "-getting hit by enough of these-Oi!" a purple hex hit his left shoulder "-damn hexes!"
For his part, Snape just kept watching. "Your feet, Apprentice! Make your stance work for you! Lower your center of gravity!" About twelve minutes in, Snape called for a stop, allowing his apprentice a moment to breathe, and handing his wand back.
"Passable," Snape nodded. "We will continue this exercise with multiple casters."
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."
"Granger," Snape turned his attention to the bookish girl, "Fletcher will be observing your form. Ferraldin will be casting. This will give him an opportunity to work on his offensive movements."
Hermione gulped. It was clear the apprentices were lightyears ahead of her. She knew there was no way she'd escape untouched. She stood, and Harry could tell her legs must be tight from the run already. He raised a brow, he'd presumed the activity in Fletcher's class would have ensured his peers were in decent shape. He wondered idly if Fletcher noticed too.
He stood between Saldor and Snape, watching Ferraldin and Hermione. Fletcher came to stand near them. "Aeter, once they've finished, I'd like you to give your honest assessment before I comment. Make this a learning experience so you aren't just standing there doing nothing," he announced, never taking his eyes off the action.
Harry nodded. "Yes, Sir, though I've never assessed an exercise like this before, I will do my best."
After a few moments, Fletcher called for Ferraldin to stop and motioned for Harry to begin his observations. "Right," Harry felt his face heat up. "Hermione, good first attempt- you'll get better, and the stinging wears off quickly. You're too tense and you aren't allowing one movement to flow into another naturally. Relax your body, trust it. Allow yourself to hit the deck if something is coming high. I would start lower, a lower center of gravity means you're less likely to trip yourself up."
Fletcher nodded. "Good Aeter. Only thing I would add, Granger, is that we need to work on putting bursts of speed in there. As Aeter said, good first attempt. Weasley, you're up. Ferraldin, if you don't mind?"
Harry and Fletcher's criticism of Ron's performance was similar to Hermione's. It became clear, quickly, that physical conditioning, and practice, would greatly help both. Ginny was the real surprise- it was clear that she had kept up her conditioning over the summer. Harry would have to ask her about that later. "What's next boss?" Fletcher grinned at Snape.
Snape stared at the professor before drawling, "I'd intended partner work… Mr. Weasley, you're with Ferraldin. Granger, with Aeter. Ms. Weasley, Terran."
Harry was disappointed, though he'd never say, that he and Terran were not partnered: their fitness levels were similar, so they'd not hold one another back. By partnering each apprentice with a Gryffindor, quite on purpose, Snape had ensured a much more drawn out workout for the apprentices.
"Weasley, Weasley, Granger, plank position while your partner does one push-up. He will then hold a plank while you do one pushup. You will increase your pushups by one, taking turns in this way, up to ten. Once each partner has done 10, you will decrease by 1, until you reach zero." Harry was relieved. While he'd done this before with Terran in London, it was a challenging workout, but nothing too terribly taxing anymore. He was not sure, though, how his friends would cope. Nonetheless, Harry got into a pushup position facing Hermione. The real challenge of this workout was the lack of a true rest. He realized that wasting time between sets would only prolong the stress on the shoulders in the plank position.
As they began, Ron and Hermione realized that if Fletcher was bad during class, it was nothing as intense as also having the two masters alternating and offering criticism to all of them. It did not escape Hermione's notice, however, that Snape was taking particular enjoyment in seeing her and Ron struggle as they began their fifth set of push-ups. She had grossly underestimated the challenge of planking between sets.
On six, Snape crouched low between Harry and Ferraldin who were facing their respective partners. He fixed an intense glare on the three Gryffindors. "If I ever find out you are keeping secrets that threaten my apprentice's health, safety, and well-being ever again- and I do not care if he has sworn you to secrecy- I believe your partner is waiting for you, Granger- I will have you within an inch of your life, begging for clemency. He is your friend, and your job is to protect him, at all costs. Do I make myself clear?"
Ginny was the first to speak, even as she watched Terran complete his push-ups before beginning hers. "Yes, Professor Snape."
Hermione, her body now shaking as she held a plank, finally spoke. "Yes, Sir. We understand. Sorry, Sir."
"And you, Weasley?"
"I understand, Sir."
"Good," the potions' master stood and stepped back.
Hermione, having just finished the ninth set, was shaking. "Almost halfway, Hermione," Harry cheered. "You've got this!" Harry for his part recognized that neither Ron nor Hermione had the mental stamina yet to push through the difficulty of a hard workout. Ginny, though showing clear evidence of fatigue, was clearly athletic. Terran would be fine. Harry and Ferraldin, though, needed their partners to finish their sets.
As if sensing his thoughts, Saldor spoke. "Granger, Weasley, it's best if you complete your sets. As these two know, partner work means you are a team. Whatever you do not finish, your partner must."
For her part, on her shaking, fatiguing arms, Hermione struggled through set 10, and a set of nine before her arms collapsed, her breathing coming in spurts. "Good job, Hermione," Harry smiled at his friend.
Fletcher looked disappointed as Ron, too, appeared to give up. "I realize we've only met once as a class since the new term, but I'd hoped students had done at least some summer conditioning."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Fletcher. You know how long it took us to get Aeter back after his month of sloth."
Harry snorted. "Sir, I would like to prove that I am still in perfect shape. Name the price."
"Well, to start with, you can do 36 push-ups- your partners. You will complete a 45 second plank, and then your own remaining 36 push-ups." Harry nodded and began. "Granger, Weasley, up. You will partner for this one: squats… lower, Weasley!"
