Disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter eight: Weaseling Out Secrets

On Monday evening, Lucius came to visit. He was grinning like the cat that got the canary and Severus wondered what had him in such a good mood.

"You know," Lucius said when he was seated. "I might have had my doubts about Harry Potter belonging in Slytherin, but I take it all back. That boy is pure deviousness, wrapped in the package of an innocent waif-like boy."

"Really?" Severus asked sarcastically. "And what changed your opinion?"

Severus was curious but also apprehensive. Whatever had happened, it was obviously Lucius was very pleased with it. Severus didn't know if that would bode well for whatever it was that Harry had done.

"You know there was a meeting of the Board of Governors today?" Lucius asked.

Severus merely raised an eyebrow. As if he could forget, it was every month and they controlled his budget. He'd had to appear before them many times to justify expenses, most of them caused by students who simply couldn't read and remember simple instructions.

"Draco wrote to me about a week ago, asking if I could make sure the meeting wouldn't end until his last class had ended and if I could make sure all the governors would leave on foot, so they would go through the Entrance Hall," Lucius said. "And he added a cryptic little note about it being very beneficial for my health."

"I assume he aroused your curiosity enough that you complied?" Severus asked.

He knew his friend well. The blond wizard might act aloof most of the time, but Lucius' curiosity was greater than that of a Kneazle. Draco had truly played his father on his greatest weakness.

"Of course I did, and I am ever so glad for it," Lucius said. "We were stopped by Harry and his friend Miss Granger. Dumbledore must've felt something was up, because he desperately tried to herd all of us out."

"He didn't succeed?" Severus said, his own curiosity peaked.

"Oh no, Harry simply ignored him. Without seeming rude, I might add. And then he asked me about my early intervention law," Lucius said. "And basically told all the governors that if it had been allowed to pass earlier, he would never have been abused by his Muggle relatives. His friend, Miss Granger, than added her own two knuts, which of course was a nice addition, seeing as that she's a Muggleborn."

Severus saw immediately why Lucius was so very pleased. With Harry speaking his support for the law and basically saying it could've prevented him, the Boy Who Lived, from being abused, it was almost guaranteed to pass. Any last reserves the three opponents would have about it would've been wiped away by Hermione's approval of the law.

"I see," Severus said.

And he did see, perhaps even better than Lucius. While Lucius might know Harry had given his support for the law, he had no idea that his son, Theo, Hermione, and Harry had been working on this since the start of the school year. And if Severus wasn't mistaken, they had probably been working on much more than merely this. Oh yes, he saw. It was high time that he had that talk with Harry.

Severus had the opportunity to talk with Harry the next day during their scheduled extra Potions lesson. They started out preparing ingredients, and he made sure Harry wasn't handling a knife when he made an offhand remark about Harry passing a law. It got an instant reaction, as the boy froze up.

"Uh, I can explain that," Harry said.

"Please do," Severus replied dryly.

"It started after our first year, actually, when we were riding the train back," Harry said. "Hermione wanted to stay in contact during the holidays and Theo and Draco, well, you know."

Severus nodded his understanding. Yes, he knew all too well that neither sets of parents would've reacted well to their children writing to a Muggleborn. Although after today, he thought Lucius might not have such a problem with Hermione.

"And then when they explained why, Hermione decided to look into the differences between Muggleborn and Purebloods," Harry continued. "There were a lot and most of them weren't fair. But then Theo and Draco said that Muggleborn weren't even trying to fit in, you know. And they got into this huge fight."

Harry was talking animatedly now, waving his hands, completely forgoing working on his ingredients. Severus hid a smile, happy the child could talk with him like this. It must mean he was doing something right.

"But in the end, we decided it was probably a little bit of both," Harry said. "Muggleborns not always trying to fit in and at the same time, not getting enough information and everything so they can fit in. So we decided to change that. And then Hermione started calling us the Society for the Integration of Muggleborns, or S.I.M. for short."

"And that is why you supported Lucius' early intervention law?" Severus questioned.

"Yep," Harry said, going back to his work.

Severus sighed. He was foreseeing a great many outrageous actions by this foursome. And the scary part? Most of them would work simply because it was Harry Potter that was doing it, backed up by the Malfoy and Nott name. And if it went wrong? Then Severus was going to have to bail them out of it. He wondered if he should have a Wizarding Attorney on standby.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

January slid into February, but even though Severus had now figured out what Harry and his friends were up to, he still didn't think he had the whole story. Harry was still looking drawn and tired, as if he got too little sleep. He'd tried several times to talk to him, but Harry hadn't given Severus any answer he could work with to try and find the problem. So, in desperation, he went to see Lupin.

"Have you considered the fact that he might be ill?" Lupin asked.

Severus glared at him over the rim of his teacup. What did Lupin think, that he was stupid?

"Of course I have," he snapped. "None of my diagnostic scans have turned up anything."

Lupin was ever calm in the face of Severus' temper, much to Severus' chagrin, and merely hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, that's a relief. Do you want me to talk to him?" the man asked.

Severus actually considered it, which alone was a measure of how far out of his depth he felt. In the end, though, he discarded the idea as useful. After all, wasn't it Lupin himself who'd once said that Harry trusted Severus more than him? And if Harry wasn't opening up to Severus, then there would be no way he'd say anything to Lupin.

"I don't think that it will actually help," Severus said with a sigh. "I've given him plenty of opportunities to talk to me, but he either redirects the conversation or clams up completely."

"You know, when I was little and something was bothering me, my mother used to let me help her bake cookies," Lupin said. "At the end of the baking session, I'd usually told her what was bothering me."

"You're suggesting I bake cookies with Harry?" Severus asked incredulously.

Lupin had to gall to laugh at Severus. Severus glared at him until he'd calmed down enough to explain what he was trying to say with that ridiculous childhood memory.

"No, not at all," Lupin said, chuckling. "But children tend to tell you things they'd never share otherwise when they're engaged in something they find fun."

"But I've tried to talk to him during our Potions lessons," Severus said.

"Yes, but Potions might be a bit too much like a classroom setting," Lupin said.

Severus hummed in thought. Lupin might have a point, their Potions lessons were a bit like a class. Perhaps if he took Harry flying, that was something the child loved to do. Yes, he could do that. Flying wasn't really conductive to talking, but perhaps after the exercise, the boy would be tired enough to let something slip.

"Perhaps you are right," Severus conceded.

After that, the talk shifted to school matters and from that to other things. One cup of tea became two and before he knew it, Severus had been talking with Lupin for over an hour. Vaguely he wondered how Lupin kept managing to con him into being social. He drained his third cup of tea and abruptly stood.

"I don't know about you, but I've got more to do today than yammering with you," he said.

"Of course, Severus," Lupin said. "I'll see you out, shall I?

Damn the man for being so pleasant and accommodating, Severus thought as he stalked back to his quarters. It made it increasingly difficult to resent the man.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

When Harry came in for his potions lesson that Saturday, he was clearly taken aback by the fact that there were no ingredients and cauldrons set out.

"I thought we might do something else today," Severus explained with a smile.

Harry looked at him with curiosity but also with a bit of suspicion. It made Severus' heart ache that the child, his child, although not by blood, felt he needed to hide things from him. Harry obviously expected to be pushed to talk, but Severus was determined not to do that. He was trying out Lupin's crazy idea, yes, but if it didn't work, Severus would let it go for today. The last thing he wanted to do was make Harry suspicious of every little thing they did together.

"If you'd like, I thought we could do some flying today," Severus continued.

Harry's eyes widened with surprise, quickly followed by a big grin. Severus smiled back.

"Go get your broom and gloves, and don't forget a warm cloak," Severus said. "It's cold outside. I'll meet you in the entrance hall."

"Yes, sir," Harry said, then took off with a run.

Ten minutes later, Severus was waiting on Harry in the entrance hall. He'd pulled on his warmest cloak and donned gloves and had dug out his old broom. It was nowhere near as good as Harry's broom, but Severus thought he might still be able to give Harry a run for his money. When Harry arrived, excitement pouring off him, Severus guided him outside and towards the Forbidden Forest.

"I thought we were going flying?" Harry asked.

"We are," Severus replied. "But as a teacher, I am required to show some decorum, so we cannot use the Quidditch Pitch. But there's a clearing in the forest we can use."

"So basically, you're breaking the rules for this?" Harry asked mischievously.

"Of course not," Severus said. "I was merely showing you where to find certain potions ingredients, and the brooms were just a safety precaution."

"Of course," Harry replied, snickering.

When they reached the clearing, they took to the air. Severus had brought a Quaffle and a Snitch to play with, but they started out just flying around, getting increasingly acrobatic. Of course, Severus was a little bit rusty and Harry was just very good at flying, so it ended up being Harry who did most of the acrobatics. Eventually they started throwing the Quaffle around and in the end they even broke out the Snitch, much to the delight of Harry.

But while Harry's delighted laughter rang out across the clearing quite often and Severus' chuckles were heard as well, there wasn't much talking going on. What little talking there was, was mainly inconsequential. But as Severus walked back to the castle with a flushed and happy child at his side, he couldn't find it in himself to feel disgruntled by it.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Unfortunately, the next day, Severus' worry returned full force. With the amount of exercise Harry had gotten the day before he should've slept quite well. Instead, he appeared at breakfast looking like he hadn't slept at all. Severus was certain now that something was wrong and the only thing he could think of was that it had something to do with that wretched diary.

With that in mind, Severus Floo called Lucius after breakfast.

"Severus, something wrong?" Lucius asked.

"I need to know everything you know about that diary," Severus said without preamble. "What kind of effects it has on a person and what kind of influence it could have after its removal."

Lucius frowned.

"Well, you already know I don't know what it does, exactly," Lucius said. "But as far as I know, it shouldn't have an effect when it's not being used, let alone when it's no longer in someone's possession. Why?"

"It's Harry," Severus confessed. "Something's wrong with him, yet I cannot find out what. I've tried to talk with him several times, but he is not cooperating."

Lucius chuckled. Severus glared at the man. This was not a laughing matter. Something was wrong with Harry and he was at a loss as to what.

"Of course he's not, Severus," he said. "He's a boy, a child, they never cooperate."

"Yes, well, that's not helping," Severus said. "I've tried everything, I even went to Lupin for advice. Not that it did any good."

"Have you considered asking someone who might actually be able to help?" Lucius asked. "Someone like, oh, I don't know, another parent?"

Severus glared at Lucius, not appreciating his sarcasm, even though the man was right. Perhaps instead of asking Lupin for help, he should've asked someone with children first. After all, what did the wolf know about raising children anyway?

"Are you going to help me or not?" he snapped.

"You know how stubborn Draco can be," Lucius said. "Sometimes, the only way to get to the bottom of whatever was going on in that boy's mind was just sitting him down and telling him he wasn't going anywhere until he talked."

"And that helped?" Severus said.

"Oh yes," Lucius said. "Granted, there was this one time he sat there for close to eight hours, missing two meals, before he talked, but talk he did in the end."

"Well, it's worth a try," Severus said. "It's not like anything else has worked so far."

Severus thanked Lucius for his advice, then withdrew his head from the Floo. He wrote a note to Harry to come to his quarters, then steeled his resolve to do this. He vowed to himself that Harry wasn't going anywhere until he'd talked, no matter how stubborn the child proved to be.

It didn't take long before Harry showed up and Severus made him sit down on the couch, then took a seat in the chair opposite of that. He looked Harry in the eyes, making the child squirm a bit. Good, Severus thought, he's already nervous. That will make this a bit easier.

"Something is going on with you," Severus said. "It has been for awhile now. I've let you avoid the issue until now, but no more. Today, we are going to talk."

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Severus cut him off.

"No, do not say it is nothing! You are not sleeping well, not eating well either, and you are clearly worried about something," he said. "Now, you are going to talk to me. And until you do, you can just sit there."

Severus said back in his chair, watching the stunned look on Harry's face. The child didn't say anything, which was what Severus had suspected would happen at first. But no matter, he had time. He picked up a book and pretended to start reading. He could feel Harry's eyes resting on him, measuring if he really meant what he had said.

It took half an hour of increasing fidgeting on Harry's side and studied fake indifference on Severus' side before the boy cracked.

"It's just…I can't…you'll probably be angry," Harry stammered.

Severus put his book down and gave his full attention visibly to Harry.

"At the moment, I am just very concerned," he said. "I will not lie to you and tell you I won't be angry, for I have no idea what this is about. But I can promise you, that even if I will be angry, I won't stop caring for you and I will still do everything I can to help you."

"Do you remember when we were in Diagon Alley and Draco and Ron got into a fight in the bookstore?" Harry said softly after a moment.

Severus merely nodded, not wanting to interrupt now that the child had finally started talking.

"I saw Mr. Malfoy slip something in Ginny Weasley's cauldron," Harry continued. "I didn't know what it was, but I figured what with him being a Death Eater and all it couldn't be good, so I stole it. While everyone was watching Draco and Ron, I just… slipped it out of her cauldron and in between my books."

Ah, so that was how Harry had gotten the diary in his possession. Good to know Lucius hadn't been lying about that.

"I didn't want to tell you, because it was stealing, you know," Harry said, looking imploringly at Severus. "So I just put it in my trunk. I was planning on leaving it at your house when I was there next, for you to find."

And the child hadn't thought about what Severus would think if he found something like that? As if anyone else could've gotten through the wards to place it there without Severus knowing. Although, perhaps Harry had just hoped Severus wouldn't ask about it.

"But then it was just gone one day," Harry said. "I looked everywhere, but it was just gone. Someone must have stolen it and I still don't know what it does, but it felt Dark. And now someone has it and it's all my fault."

The child was near tears now and Severus sighed. All this worrying over something that could've been solved so easily. He felt relieved it was something this simple, although he still had a few choice words to share with the boy. This could never happen again.