A/N: I'm thinking about making Snape an Animagus in this story so that he and Black can have a confrontation, if any of you don't like it, let me know and I'll fix it, given that my writer's block doesn't get in the way like it has been for a while now which is why it was taking me this long to get this ch done. Hopefully I'll finish it with at least one more ch after this.
2
A few days went by after that day. And before anyone knew it, it was winter and the snow was covering the ground up to the ankles.
Harry had tried to go to Hogsmeade, but couldn't because McGonagall wouldn't sign his permission slip, saying only that a guardian or a parent could sign it and since he had screwed that chance of his aunt or uncle signing it, he remained at the castle and watched as his friends went on without him.
Of course he also tried to go using his invisibility cloak, but that was stopped by the Weasley twins, who instead of letting him go as he was, gave him a map that they had nicked from Flitch's office and had been using it to come and go from the castle as they pleased as well as avoiding any teachers.
Once Harry saw the map, it took everything he had to not gasp and snatch it out of their hands. His dad, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew had created the map. And it was an amazing map, it showed the inside of the castle, the grounds, part of the lake and forest, where all the teachers, and remaining students that were in the castle were right now. Dumbledore was pacing around in his office, McGonagall was in her office, Snape was patrolling the halls or maybe just walking around, Lupin was in his office, pacing as well.
Harry also noticed that the map showed secret passage-ways out of the school and into Hogsmeade. It even showed secret hiding places to hide if you didn't want to be caught by a teacher.
Harry thanked the twins and with his cloak, he snuck out and into Hogsmeade to join his friends.
Time skip
Harry stomped through the halls later that day, still pissed at what he had discovered while he was in Hogsmeade with his friends. He knew that Black had been friends with his father and Lupin, but he had no idea that the man was also his godfather, which now explained why he was sent to the Dursley's as the only other person who could've taken him was a murdering traitor! But couldn't there have been anyone else to take him in? What about someone his mum chose? But if she had picked someone to take him in that hadn't been her sister, would she have chosen Snape to take him in?
Harry paused for a moment as he thought about that.
Snape and his mum were friends and Snape had fancied his mum too. What if they hadn't had a fallen out? Would they still be friends? Would his mum would've married him if he confessed and she returned his feelings? Would Harry had been their child instead? What would he look like if he was? Or would they stay the same, with his mum marrying someone else and Snape would let her go and be happy with that person? Would Snape be his godfather? Would his mum bring him over to see Snape and they got along? Would Snape treat him like a nephew? Or would he treat him like a son if something happened to his mum and the person she had married?
Shaking his head, Harry continued on his way to the Great Hall for dinner. He was just so confused and angry about the whole situation.
It seemed that everyone could sense that he was angry when he entered the Great Hall a few minutes later. He was so angry he didn't even touch any of the food that was there in front of him. And the only one who was willing to talk to him in this state was Hermione.
He flinched at her touch, though as gentle as it was, he hated when people touched him, he knew that no one here would hurt him physically and that the touches they did give was friendly, caring, or comforting, he didn't like the touch.
Either she didn't see the flinch or chose to ignore it, he didn't know, but she continued to keep her hand on his shoulder, " Harry, I know that your upset. " she said quietly, soothingly, almost motherly and that only made Harry feel worse, " Can you try to eat something? " she continued.
" No 'mione. "
" Then at least drink something and try to calm down. Would you like some water or pumpkin juice? "
" I don't want anything right now Hermione! " he exclaimed quietly and shrugged her hand off his shoulder before stomping out of the Hall, not caring that everyone was staring after him.
Slight time skip
Sometime later, Harry sat at a window opening, looking out at the grounds, not really looking at anything special, just looking, shivering from the cold, though he paid it no mind as he was too deep into his thoughts. Though every little bit, he'd look at the map to make sure that no one came looking for him to talk to. He wasn't in the mood for talking anyway. He felt bad for shouting at Hermione earlier, he knew that she was just trying to help him to calm down, he'd make it up to her later, if she'd let him that is.
He looked to the map again and saw a name that he knew that shouldn't be there, 'Peter Pettigrew' was walking in a corridor near him. He looked over the map for anyone else that might be there and saw both Snape and Lupin's names, Snape was the closest to him with Lupin being the farthest away.
Between the two, Harry felt it would be better to get Snape than Lupin even though the man was friends with this Pettigrew, Harry wasn't sure that he could trust Lupin with this, but he was also nervous of showing this to Snape as this map was the reason why he had been in Hogsmeade without permission and had found out about Pettigrew in the first place, along with his connection to Black. He could lie and say that he had heard in gossip that the Pettigrew was connected to his parents and as for the map, he could say that it was a gift, which technically wasn't a lie as the twins did give it to him to help him out.
Decision made, Harry set out to find Snape.
Scene change
Snape, needless to say was surprised that Harry had come looking for him or that he knew where he was. But he was more surprised to hear what the teen had to say and show him. Though he didn't believe that he had heard about Pettigrew in gossip or how he got such a map as a gift. He was more intrigued by what it all meant.
He led the way through the corridors to find Pettigrew, having Harry direct him where to go, though he had rather to hold the map himself than let Harry have it and be with him in case they did come across the supposed dead man. Snape had found out later that Pettigrew was apart of the Death Eaters and suspected that it was him that betrayed the Potters and not Black as Black was like a brother to Potter Sr., the same could be said of Lupin, though when word got out that it was Black that betrayed them and had killed a group of muggles that included Pettigrew, to which the only thing they found of him was a finger, which Snape thought odd, if Black had killed them, why leave a finger? Lupin had turned his back on him and joined everyone else in believing that he had murdered those muggles along with Pettigrew.
But if this map was correct, than that would mean that Pettigrew was alive and well. That would also mean that he was the one who betrayed the Potter's and not Black, which meant, much to his disappointment, Black had been in prison for 12 years for a crime he didn't do. Which means backlash on the Ministry for convicting the wrong man for mass murder, including being accused of assisting in the murders of Lily and James and attempted murder of Harry.
Snape may not want Harry to be present with him if they came across the murderer, but he would protect him from Pettigrew, no matter what. In a way, Snape sort of wished that they did come across Pettigrew, so that he could get his own revenge against the bastard for betraying Lily and getting her killed.
" Where is he now Potter? " he asked, he made sure to keep Harry behind him, he had also put up an invisible shield around them in case of an attack.
" It keeps showing him walking ahead of us, he's walking pretty fast too. Like he's running. But I don't hear any foot steps. Could he be using a silencing charm so we don't hear him? "
" Possibly. Let's stop for a moment. "
They stopped, " Here's a little trick you might want to learn. Close your eyes. " Snape muttered low enough for only Harry to hear.
Harry did as he said, Snape continued, " Now, slow your breathing. " Harry did so until it was almost none existent, " Now listen. Just listen. "
Harry did this as well. At first, he didn't hear anything, not even Snape's breathing and he was right in front of him, but then a slight sound caught his attention, it was faint, but he heard it, like a dog's nails hitting tile, but it was faster and lighter.
Snape didn't let on that he could hear the sound as well, but he knew the moment that Harry did as his face scrunched up in concentration.
" What do you hear? "
" A rat or a mouse running. "
" And where is it heading? "
"...Ahead of us. The same direction as Pettigrew. "
" Which explains why we haven't seen him yet. He's in his Animagus form. "
Harry had read about the Animagus when he did the essay Snape assigned. A witch or wizard that can turn into an animal willingly while a werewolf had no chose.
" He's an Animagus? " Harry asked.
" He wasn't the only one, Black is one as well, so was your father. "
" My dad was an Animagus?! "
" Keep your voice down. "
" Sorry. What was his Animagus form? What's Black's? In case I come across him or the other way around. "
" Your father's form was a Stag. Black's is that of a large black dog with yellow eyes. Lupin of course is a werewolf, and Pettigrew's is a rat. Rather fitting if you ask me. "
" Why did they become Animagus'? "
" Lupin. " was all Snape said before they continued, casting a 'notice me not' charm as well as a silencing charm on his and Harry's feet so that they could sneak up on the rat.
They continued to look for the rat until it was passed curfew. That's when Lupin showed up, though Harry had informed Snape of this ahead of time; Snape canceled the silencing and 'notice me not' charms, but kept the shield up, before the man even showed his face to them. He questioned why Snape was with Harry and made it out to seem that he was helping Harry by trying to get Snape to let him come with him. And even seemed to try and get a rise out of Snape as well, which Harry knew he was because he had the same tone as Dudley, Petunia, Vernon, and Malfoy; younger and older, did when they thought they were better than those around them.
Normally Lupin was a kind teacher with the students and other teachers, except when it came to Snape, something that Harry noticed quiet a bit lately, though he sounded polite, Harry could hear the 'I'm better than you' tone when he spoke to him.
" Professor Snape's already taken points and gave me a detention Professor. He's also escorting me to the Tower. " Harry intervened, he and Snape were close to the Tower, he knew because of the map, Snape knew because of him being a teacher as well being a student here once himself, like Lupin, so they all three knew that, but one of three didn't know the real reason as to why they were close to the Tower.
Lupin seemed a bit taken a aback by what Harry had said. " I see. Well then, allow me to take him from here Severus. I'm sure you still have other corridors to search for anymore stragglers. "
" I think not Lupin. I'm more than capable of taking Potter to the Tower and continue to search the corridors. Now, if you'll excuse me. " Snape led Harry down the corridor that would take them to the Tower.
When they were far enough away, Snape turned to Harry, " You go on to the Tower Potter. I'll keep looking for Pettigrew. "
" But..."
" No buts Potter. I can handle him. You on the other hand, are an underage wizard with not enough training to take on a fully trained wizard, one that is a supporter of the Dark Lord, one that knows dark magic, one that has killed once before and will have no problem killing again. Now go to the Tower where it is safe. " Snape gave his best glare to the teen to get the point across that this was not to be argued against.
Harry tried his best to match his glare that he was going with him, but after Snape sharpened his glare further, Harry relented and said that he would go, he stopped at half a turn of leaving before he offered the map to Snape,
" You'll need it to find him. " he began, " If you want to hide it from view, put your wand to it and say 'mischief managed' it'll disappear and become a blank parchment. If you want to see it say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'. " he instructed.
Snape looked from the map to Potter, " Keep it with you Potter. You may need it to help yourself if your friends aren't with you to help. " he said, silently hoping that he wasn't making a mistake by letting the teen keep the map.
To his surprise, Harry looked unsure of this, like he wanted to insist that Snape take the map and that he would be fine instead and wanting to keep the map like he suggested.
" Keep it Potter. As I said, I can handle that rat. "
Harry relented again by sighing and nodded his head, taking the map and placing it in his back pocket before going on ahead to the Tower. Snape watched him until he disappeared from view and waited until the portrait closed after him before setting out to find that despicable rat and turn him inside out.
Time skip
Snape had searched the entire night looking for Pettigrew, but hadn't been successful, which put him in a bad mood for the rest of the day and he wasn't afraid to let others know about it either. Though it seemed that only Harry was safe from his bad mood as the man refused to acknowledge him throughout the day.
Harry for his part was glad that the man was ignoring him and not taking his irritation out on him. He apologized to Hermione the night before as she was up and waiting for him when he entered the dorm. They had stayed up a bit talking, which helped Harry to calm down a bit more and forget about Black and Pettigrew as he showed Hermione the map and had told her about it.
That morning Harry had ate breakfast much to Hermione's delight and it was a bit more than what he would normally eat, he regretted eating that much later and wound up in the bathroom throwing up what he ate. He quickly covered up the fact that he did and went on about his day ignoring the rumbling in his stomach and the slight nausea.
That night, Harry was looking at the map with Hermione, who was watching the teachers move throughout the castle with her usual fasination and wonder of something new that was to be learned.
" And it shows them in real time? "
" From what I understand of it, yeah. "
They were looking for Pettigrew. They hadn't spotted his name yet, but they did notice that Lupin's name was missing, they guessed that he had went somewhere for the night as it was a full moon tonight.
While they looked over the map, Hermione spotted a name just outside of the castle near the forest. She looked to Harry, unsure if she should show it to him as she didn't know how he would react to it. But she knew Harry knew that something was up because she had paused in her search. Harry was smart, she knew, maybe not a genius smart, but smart enough and very observant when the situation called for it.
" Did you find him? "
" No...But I did find someone that shouldn't be here. " she pointed to the name that was staying near the forest.
Harry looked over to where she pointed and felt his blood run cold, 'Sirius Black' was inside the castle grounds and near the forest.
Hermione watched him, ready to stun him if he made to go after the man. Instead he quickly looked back to the rest of the map, looking for someone else. She wondered who when he said,
" Found him. "
She looked at the name and her eyebrows raised to her hair line, 'Severus Snape'.
" Harry... " she didn't get much further than that as Harry hoped up, grabbed the map and took off out of the dorm, she hesitated for just a moment before going after him as well.
" Harry! " She called out after him, nearly missing him with how fast he was running to get to Snape.
Thankfully, Harry slowed down just enough for her to catch up before they went off to Snape.
Scene change
Snape was in his office going over his lesson plans when the door to his office slammed open and Potter, along with Granger came in, huffing and out of breath.
" What is the meaning of this?! " Snape questioned angrily as he stood up, hands on his desk.
Huffing, Harry answered, " ...Black...outside...forest. "
" What! How did he get in?! " Snape, Hermione noticed, hadn't questioned how they knew Black was on the grounds, exclaimed and was visibly upset.
" Inform the Headmaster. " Snape ordered as he unsheathed his wand from his sleeve and took off out the door.
" But... "
" Now Potter! The last thing I need is for you to be there with Black. Now go inform the Headmaster. The password is Toffee Cakes. " Snape ordered when they made to follow him.
Harry made another move to go with him, but Hermione grabbed his sleeve, " Harry. He's a fully trained wizard, he knows what he's doing, come on, let's go. " she urged and pleaded.
Sighing deeply, Harry relented to her and they went to the Headmaster's office, they knew that he was there and Harry didn't the map to know where the office was.
" Toffee Cakes! " Harry shouted at the statue blocking their path.
The statue moved away and the staircase opened up for them as well.
" Professor! Professor! " Harry called as they ran up the stairs.
" Harry my boy, what ever is the matter? " Albus asked calmly from his office. His door had already opened for them.
" Black is outside of the castle, Professor Snape is already on his way there. He told us to tell you. "
" Where outside? " Albus asked getting up from his chair.
" Near the forest. " Hermione answered.
" Very well. You two go back to your dorm. " Albus replied as he left the office without asking how they knew where Black was, just like Snape.
The two stayed there for a few moments before Harry took off after Albus.
" Harry! " Hermione shouted after him, knowing what he was doing.
Scene change
The two had made it in time to see that Snape was keeping a large black dog, a dog that Harry had seen not long after he had blown up his aunt Marge over the summer, at wand point. The dog was baring it's teeth at him and growling so loudly and deeply that Harry might've thought it a wolf rather than a dog. Albus was there also, but he didn't appear to have his wand out.
They dared to sneak closer to the three.
" You can act like a rabid dog all you like. We know who you are. " They heard Snape say to the dog, who only growled more viciously.
" Severus. " Albus called calmly.
" I'm not letting him go Headmaster. As it is, some new information has come to light and I believe someone has some explaining to do. " Snape kept his eyes and wand on the dog, it still didn't let up on it's growling and snarling.
" Then perhaps Mr. Black would like to say something as well? "
" I'll drop my wand when he transforms back. "
" Mr. Black, if you would kindly return to normal. I assure you, you will not be bound unless given reason to be. " Albus spoke to the dog, which finally stopped it's growling and then right before Harry and Hermione's eyes, the dog morphed into a man that was dirty, wearing an even dirtier prison uniform, stringy hair, tattoos on his chest, with a beard and didn't look all that healthy.
He was breathing a bit erratically, his eyes locked onto to Snape with such hatred, Harry could feel it from where he hid. This man was supposed to be his Godfather? Harry was more scared of him than he was of Snape when he first met him.
And when he began to talk, he even sounded erratic, if not a bit crazed, " Where's Harry? Where's my godson?! " was the first thing he said.
" You'll not be seeing him anytime soon, Black. Not with how your acting, he'd sooner run for the hills than see you as you are now. " Snape said, though he had lowered his wand, he still kept it in view.
" I wasn't talking to you Snivelius! " Black shouted.
Both Hermione and Harry gasped at hearing that. " Does that man have a death wish?! " Hermione asked quietly, knowing that anyone who dared to insult a man like Snape was asking for it. That man was not to be messed with in the slightest.
" And why are you here anyway, you filthy Death Eater. " Black continued, causing Harry to gasp now.
' Snape's a Death Eater? No, that can't be. I mean I know he can be scary at times, but he wouldn't...'
" Severus is a spy for our side and has been for quiet sometime now Sirius. He's no more a Death Eater than I am. " Albus defended.
" Yeah right! Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater! And once a Slytherin, always Slytherin, nothing but liars and cons! "
" You are really trying my patience Black. " Snape ground out.
" Oh why don't you just run along and go play with your chemistry set like a good little snake, Snivelius! "
" Why you... "
" That's enough boys! " Albus shouted this time, stopping the two's arguing.
" Now then, " Albus continued after he saw that they were done for the moment, " As Severus said, some new information has come to light. He informed me of it not too long ago. It seems that young Peter is still alive. "
" Yes he is and he's here in the school! That's why I'm here, I need to protect Harry. That bastard's after him! He's the rat that belongs to that Weasley boy! I've seen him! I know it's him! You have to get Harry out of the Tower! " Sirius shouted, wanting to go and save Harry from that murderer.
" Potter is safe Black. " Snape informed with a knowing tone.
" And since when do you care about Harry? Feeling guilty about what you did to his mother? Is that why you care? " Sirius asked with taunting tone, one that was the same as it was in their youth, but he wasn't that weak teen anymore and he would gladly show this mutt just that if given the chance, after all, Snape had 12 years on Black and Black hadn't been using his magic during those 12 years and wouldn't have a chance in hell of beating him this time. Not that Snape was overconfident of his abilities, he knew that he was stronger and more powerful than when he was just a scared kid being ganged up on.
Classic case of a small kid getting bullied by the bigger kids until they all grow up and the small kid is bigger than the ones that bullied him and he knocks them down scenario.
" What's the matter Snivelly? Got nothing to say because it's true? " Sirius continued to taunt him causing Harry to get so upset, he felt tears coming to his eyes at hearing all of this.
" That's enough! Leave him alone! " Harry shouted, jumping up from his hiding spot with Hermione.
All three men turned to the teen and only Black was surprised to see the two teens there.
" Harry? " Sirius asked as he took in his godson, he knew that it was him, because he looked just like James only much more smaller with Lily's green eyes. Eyes, he saw, were filled with angry tears,
" Your part of the reason why Professor Snape and my mum stopped being friends in the first place! " Harry continued, Hermione turned to him sharply at hearing that bit of news, she'll defiantly want to be hearing more about that later.
" And what did he ever do to you anyway?! " Harry asked, coming over, but didn't get very far as Snape met him halfway over, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him there and no further towards the other man.
" Potter. That's enough... "
" No, I want to know why he's so hell bent on making it his mission to mock you and try to fight him for no other reason than for the purpose of just fighting him because he thinks he's better than you! What gives him the right to make you feel worthless when your not?! " Harry was getting more upset the more he said; the last of which was directed at Snape as his tears ran down his face as he pressed himself into Snape's chest to hide his tears.
Snape was at a loss for words, there was only two people that he could say that defended him against others, one of course was his best friend, the other was Albus.
Sirius was beside himself. He couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing. His godson was yelling at him and defending Snape of all people. He briefly recalled how Lily herself defended Snape in school.
" Harry, listen, that man is dangerous. He's a Death Eater. "
" Was he a Death Eater in school? Was he a Death Eater when he was a little kid? I heard what Dumbledore said. I've known these two longer than I've known you. And yeah, Snape can be strict and a little scary at times, but he's not ever once hurt me or any other student here. He even tried to save me my first year during Quidditch. " Harry replied, though his voice was a bit muffled because he was still pressed against Snape.
Sirius' mouth opened and shut a few times at that.
" Perhaps we should take this inside. And discuss more about what to do with Pettigrew. "
" But... "
" Calm yourself Sirius. I assure you, young Harry is perfectly safe with Severus. He won't let anything happen to him, you have my word. As it stands, the most dangerous place for Harry right now is the Tower. And it seems that Pettigrew is unaware of the fact that he has been found out so far. We shall use this to our advantage and surprise him. " Albus assured the man.
" Now, how about we see about getting you cleaned up a bit, hm? " he continued, wanting to avoid anyone else seeing Sirius and reporting it the Ministry before they had a chance to capture Pettigrew.
Sirius reluctantly agreed with Albus. He followed after him, feeling a tingle over him, knowing that Albus had put a 'notice me not' charm on him so as to not cause a panic.
" Severus? " Albus called back to the man.
Severus looked over to him.
" I believe that Harry may need to go to the Hospital Wing for a Calming Draught. Ms. Granger, " Albus continued, turning to Hermione as he finished speaking to Snape, " Would you mind accompanying them? "
" Not at all Professor. " she answered and joined Snape and Harry as they made their way to the Hospital Wing, or tried to, Harry's legs seem to not want to move at the moment due to the strain of his fit had on him. He already wasn't in the best shape.
Snape sighed, holstered his wand up his sleeve, picked Harry up princess style, much to Harry's embarrassment. But he didn't say anything nor did he care, he was too worn out, instead; and he'll blame this on fatigue, he pressed his face into Snape's chest like a sick child would with a parent, seeking comfort from what was upsetting them.
Snape ignored this, or tried to as he continued on his way with Hermione in tow to the Hospital Wing.
Sirius watched them go, unsure of how he felt about the whole thing. But he did know that he was angry that his godson had gone to Snape and that something was wrong with Harry because he shouldn't have been that small or that skinny at 13.
" Albus, what has happened to Prongslet? " he finally spoke.
" What do you mean Sirius? "
" What do you mean 'what do I mean'?! He's far too thin and small for his age! What has Lily's sister done to him?! Neither James or Lily was that small or thin at that age. If anything, he's like Snape was when he was that age, except he's smaller instead of lanky. His robes look as though he's had them since his first year. He doesn't even look healthy for Merlin's sake! I swear when this mess is cleared up, I'm taking him out of that house, I don't care about the Blood wards, I'm taking him out of that house and away from Petunia. "
" I understand that you would like to take him in. But you'll have to be patient with him as he hasn't seen you since he was a baby and doesn't remember you that well. Once you get cleaned up and changed, you can try again to get to know him. " Albus replied.
Scene change
It was sometime later in the Hospital Wing that Harry woke up. He felt someone next to him, he looked and saw Hermione there, she was resting her head on crossed arms with one hand on top of his right one. She must've sensed him getting up because she lifted her head to look at him.
" Hey. " she said sleepily.
" Hey. " he returned.
" Feeling any better? " she asked, sitting up, handing him his glasses.
" Thanks. Yeah a bit...Where's Snape? What happened to Black? " he replied.
" Professor Snape stepped out a while ago. As for Black, I haven't seen him since we came here. " she answered.
Harry nodded as he sat up, groaning slightly as his head ached a bit.
" You okay? " she asked.
" Yeah. Just achy. " he answered.
The two were quiet for a moment. The doors to the Hospital Wing opened then and in came Black, though he looked a lot better than when they last saw him just little over an hour or so ago. He was wearing clean clothes, his skin was clean, his hair was wavy now instead of stringy, his beard was trimmed down to a mustache with a thin strip on his chin.
Though his appearance changed, Harry still tensed up as he came closer to him and Hermione. Harry relaxed some when he stopped a few feet away from them. Sirius offered a kind smile this time as he looked at him,
" Hello Harry. " he said in a much calmer tone than he had earlier.
Harry gave a small tentative smile in return, but didn't say anything back.
" May I sit down with you and your friend? " Sirius asked.
" If you'd like. " Hermione answered him, he could see that she was eyeing him to make sure that he didn't do anything funny or strange, ' a good friend that one. ' he thought as he took a seat on the other side of Harry, he saw that he was watching him like a hawk too. It hurt him to see that from the teen.
" I, uh, don't know if you know this or not, but I'm your Godfather..." Sirius than told Harry of what happened after he heard what happened to his parents and that they had switched secret keepers to be safe as anyone that knew James or Lily knew how close they were to each other and would go after him to get the location from him. They had chosen Peter Pettigrew to be their secret keeper instead as they felt no one would suspect him and that was actually true as they didn't suspect him to betray them like he did.
" I had chased him into a crowd of muggles, I was trying to follow him when I saw him raise his wand, I couldn't do anything but duck out of the way. When I looked back out into the street, all the muggles were dead, Peter was gone as well. But before I could go after him again, the Aurora's came in and took me in for the murders instead, including Peter's. "
" How did you know that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew? "
" I over heard you and that ginger lad talking about him while hiding out in an alley in Hogsmeade. Rather odd that a common rat would live for 12 years don't you think? Missing a toe as well ain't he? "
" Ron insisted that it was because they had taken good care of him. "
" Still, he does have a point. 12 years is a long time for a rat to live. And the only thing they found of Pettigrew was a finger. " Harry added.
" That might also explain why Crookshanks has been trying to go after him all the time too. " he continued to add.
" Crookshanks? " Sirius asked.
" My cat. " Hermione answered.
" Smart cat then. I'd like to thank him for trying. " Sirius said with a smile.
They grew quiet after that before Sirius asked, " I hear that Moony's teaching here. How's he doing? " he looked to Harry.
Hermione was a bit confused as to who 'Moony' was, but Harry cleared that up, " Professor Lupin's a great teacher. He's been teaching me to do the Patronus charm so that I can keep the Dementor's away. "
" That's rather advanced magic. But I'm sure you'll have no problem mastering it. After all your mother was a down right genius when it came to Charms. Potions too if memory serves me right. "
" My mum liked potions? "
" Sure did. In fact, I remember her and Snivelius hanging out and talking about them after class a few times. " Sirius answered with wistful smile, but frowned when he saw Harry glaring at him.
" What's the matter Harry? " he asked him.
" Can you please stop calling Professor Snape that name? And the other one too? I get the feeling that you don't know what it's like to be bullied. I do, Hermione does, and so does our friend Ron. It is not funny in the least. Being bullied makes that person feel lower than dirt. And taunting someone into a fight just so you can show them that your better brings them down even further. And from what I understand, Snape hadn't done anything to you, Lupin, Pettigrew, or my dad. So why antagonize him or bully him? Was it because my dad fancied mum and hated that she was always with Snape and you went along with it because you were his best mate? "
" Harry... "
" I don't want to hear any excuses. I want to know why you felt you had to bully someone who never did anything to you other than just exist and that you didn't like him because he was in Slytherin! Well guess what? I was almost put Slytherin my first year! What would you have done when you came here and saw that I was in Slytherin? Would call me a liar and a con too? "
Sirius was stunned to silence at hearing this. He just didn't know what to say to any of it.
When he didn't answer him, Harry said, " So you only did it because you thought it would be funny to put someone down. "
" Harry... " Sirius tried again.
" Can you please just leave me alone? " Harry interrupted again, turning away from him.
Hermione saw the hurt and crushed look that crossed Sirius' face at this display of rejection from his godson.
" Alright then. If that's how you feel about it... "
" Just leave! " Harry shouted.
Sirius' shoulders slumped in defeat as he stood up and walked slowly out of the Hospital Wing.
" Harry, don't you think that that was a bit too harsh? " Hermione asked after she was sure that he was gone.
" No. I don't care how awful Snape can be or is, no one, deserves to be treated like that. " he answered.
" You mentioned that Professor Snape and your mother were friends once? " she asked, curious about how that happened and wanted to change the subject to calm Harry down.
" I don't know much of it myself only of what Snape was willing to share of it... " Harry then told her what he knew of his mum and Snape's friendship and how they ended up not being friends anymore because of what his dad and Black did, using Snape's example of what happened as the man didn't say what it was exactly that they did but was bad enough to cause him and his mum to stop being friends.
" They were best friends Hermione. Like you, Ron, and me are. They knew each other since they were 8 years old! 8! And because of my dad, Black, Pettigrew, and Lupin they stopped being friends. How can anyone do that? How can my own father do that! Everyone was always telling me how great he was, except for Snape. Turns out, he was more right about him than anyone else was. And from what I understand from both Lupin and Snape, my mum was far more nicer and kinder than my dad. So how the hell did they end up together? After finding all of this out recently, I'd rather have Snape as my father than my actual father who was nothing but a bully! " Harry knew that he was probably ranting now, but he had a lot of pint up frustration over the whole thing and it was annoying.
" Harry! Breath! " Hermione said putting a hand to his mouth to stop him from saying more.
Harry took a deep breath and Hermione took her hand away. " Sorry. It's just...I don't know. "
Hermione nodded that she understood, after all, it's not every day you find out that your most hated teacher was once best friends with your mother or that your father was a bully or that a supposed murderer was your godfather and also a bully along with their werewolf friend. Boy does this boy have an interesting life!
" Let's just take this one step at a time Harry, alright? "
" Alright. One step at a time. " he agreed.
Here's ch 2! hope ya'll like it!
And thank you to those reviewed, favorited, and followed.