A/N: Wow…so my poll ended up being pretty confusing. Then I realized that there were some options I had mentioned earlier involving Voldemort that I didn't even list! (thanks to everyone who pointed that out) Between the choices I put forth and the many, many wonderful options you all presented my A/N would be longer than the chapter just to sum them up. I'm going to simplify things for now and then we can vote again on the details later.
For now, your choices are:
A. We have a trial, either big and revealing or small (we can pick later, along with the punishments) 44 votes so far (all including various punishments)
B. We do not have a trial. We will pick potential punishments (or lack of) inflicted by Severus and the Weasleys later. 7 votes so far (including various punishments/endings)
C. We avoid the whole issue of a trial and have Voldemort capture/kill Dumbledore and potentially out his deeds to the world. I can't really see him killing the Dursleys though once he found out how well they tortured Harry regardless of their status as muggles. They seem to be the sort of people he'd like. Just my opinion. 3 clear votes so far (a lot mentioned him in passing but seemed more pro-trial or anti-trial than specifically pro-Voldemort dealing with things).
Anyone who already voted for a trial in any way will be put into that category and anyone who voted against it in any way will be placed there. If the Voldemort category changes your vote you can go ahead and revote. Yes, I am fully aware that doing so will make this completely unscientific but I don't particularly care. I'm really just trying to feel everyone out and get some good opinions.
If the votes are really close I will go back and try to eliminate double votes by ignoring the earliest one(s) and only counting the most recent. I suspect that it will be like last time though with one specific choice being the clear winner, double voting or not. I'm kind of anxious to see what you all think since I'm damned if I can decide on my own! I can definitely see pluses to each one.
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Chapter 36Tallis nervously made his way to the Defense classroom. It was the week of the full moon and it was his turn to fill in for Remus. His first lesson of the day was a seventh year class. He had never taught the upper levels by himself before, without his Father in the room as well. He was worried that they wouldn't listen to him. He was only supposedly a year older than them and he was smaller than nearly every one of the students. He hadn't had any problems with the older students while under the watchful eye of his Father but this would be an entirely new experience for him.
Nearly all of the seventh years had opted to take the class so Defense had become a sort of filler class and students were placed into whatever slot best fit their schedule. The NEWT level class was no longer divided by house but was instead a mix of all four. His first class had Hermione, Ron and Draco in it, which was actually a relief to Tallis. At least he had three people he knew would behave and participate well. Hopefully the rest would follow their example.
It was the third week of the year and so far everything had gone well. His class of first years was doing wonderfully and seemed to be progressing well. The second years that he shared with his Father enjoyed his lessons and he found that he and his Father worked well as team teachers. Both had strengths where the other had weaknesses, making them an effective team. The upper levels had also behaved well and seemed to enjoy his assistance when he was present during their classes. He tended to answer a lot of questions since his Father disliked doing so. His time in the Infirmary with Poppy had been wonderful too. He hadn't gotten to move to active spellwork yet as they were still dealing with general healing theory and theoretical applications. He hoped to move on to actual patients soon.
He entered the classroom only moments after the last student had taken her seat. He walked briskly up to the front of the room. "Tonight is the night of the full moon and so Professor Lupin is resting in his quarters in preparation for this evening. I will be filling in for him today and the next two days while he is recovering. For those of you whom I have not yet met, I am Apprentice Snape. Today we will be working on your dueling—specifically on your speed and accuracy.
"Both speed and accuracy are incredibly important in any duel—more so many times than your knowledge of spells or your magical strength. It is your speed in dodging and retaliating that will save you when you are attacked and it is your accuracy with your own attacks that will bring your opponent down as quickly as possible.
"In light of this, today we will be doing something that is perhaps unusual in this classroom. I ask all of you to remove your robes so that you can duel without the added encumbrance of the material. Ladies, I invite you to transfigure your skirts into shorts or pants. If you need assistance, please raise your hand and I will come and do so for you." All of the young women quickly did as he had requested; curious as to what exactly they would be doing since he was recommending such a step to retain modesty.
"Gentlemen, feel free to remove your ties and roll up your sleeves. Allowing yourself free range of movement will be the most helpful thing you can do to prepare for this lesson." The young men immediately pulled off their ties and many rolled up their sleeves. Tallis followed suit, slipping off his deep blue robes leaving himself in dark gray trousers and a fitted white button down shirt. He too rolled his sleeves up, evidently shocking a few students who had not yet seen his tattoos. He had assumed that the Slytherins had told everyone but evidently they had kept the information to themselves. He rolled his eyes. He was getting rather tired of the typical response to his artwork. Honestly, had no one ever seen a tattoo before? Tattoos weren't quite as common in the wizarding world but they were common enough that the students shouldn't be this shocked.
"All right. Now then, I need you to get together in groups of four because you will duel two on two. You need to learn to work with a partner and to expect attacks from more than one source. You may choose your own groups; I have no desire to force you to work with people you do not know well—at least today. We will do that later on, if we have time. It is a valuable skill to be able to duel well with a randomly assigned partner and many witches and wizards are incapable of it. We'll work up to that. For now though, please partner up."
The sixteen students quickly formed four groups and Tallis magically pushed the desks to the sides of the room creating a large open space in the middle. "Remember now, the objective of this duel is not to show off how many spells you have memorized but to avoid as many spells as you can while your opponents attack as directly as they can. Don't waste time on a counter spell when you can simply dodge it and send an attack of your own. In fact, those who are on the defensive won't use their wands at all, just their bodies to defend themselves. Don't assume that something cannot be dodged just because it will require a larger movement than simply stepping aside. I expect you to do whatever necessary to avoid the attack, hence my request that you make yourselves comfortable. Remember: if you are hit it will become more difficult for you to fight back.
"For those of you who are attacking your main goal is accuracy. I will not be watching to see how many spells you use and how often you repeat yourself. I don't care if you only cast a single spell repeatedly all period. Your main objective—your only objective is to practice your accuracy when you are dealing with more than one moving target at a time. Many of you will struggle to hit even one moving object and today you will be faced with two. Remember: for the purposes of this exercise, if your opponents reach you and disarm you, you have lost the fight, even if you are still standing."
The students looked slightly puzzled. Their classes had always, up to now, been focused exclusively on learning new spells. Points were gained for perfectly done spells and for knowledge of spells that had not yet been taught in class. They had never focused on anything like this before. Tallis sighed, seeing their confusion. Evidently a demonstration was in order. "Mr. Malfoy, will you please attack me? You may do so until either I am unconscious or I disarm you." Draco looked nervous at this request. He was fully aware that Tallis was incredibly strong and also brilliant at DADA. He had seen his friend's scores when they were published in the paper. He gained some confidence when he saw Tallis set his wand on the podium and step forward unarmed although he knew to still expect a challenge from his small friend.
"In an ideal world you would all be capable of fighting back even when unarmed. Today, I am only looking for an effort on everyone's part to not get hit by spells rather than truly fighting back. We'll work up to that. I promise you, those you meet on a battlefield will not be honorable. They will not bow to you and take the requisite number of paces before they send a single spell at you and wait for you to send one back. Fights are quick and they are dirty. Best to learn that now in relative safety."
The students looked between their tiny professor and Draco Malfoy in amazement. He honestly believed that he could beat Draco Malfoy in a fight without using magic? Draco was by no means a giant but he was a good six inches taller than their teacher and certainly stronger. If it came down to a physical fight there was no way that Tallis could win. They all stepped back to watch the show.
"Are you ready, sir?" Draco asked.
"Anytime."
Draco immediately began his attack, sending spell after spell at Tallis. Tallis moved with incredible skill and speed, jumping out of the way, bending in ways that Draco would have believed to be impossible, and even tumbling on the ground when necessary. Not a single spell touched him. His skill was largely due to his many, many years of dodging punches from Dudley and Vernon. He had also learned through them to anticipate movements, studying his opponent's body closely to see when muscles tensed and he could expect another hit…or spell, in this case.
His incredible flexibility was partially natural and partially helped along by his rather active lover. He had realized the benefits of such training a few years back and had started working on something similar to this with Ron and Hermione. All of them had honed their skills while working one on two since they didn't have a fourth person to practice with regularly.
Draco was growing frustrated and started sending more powerful curses at him. In his irritation though he grew less accurate and it became even easier for Tallis to dodge the spells. He started moving closer to Draco, slowly but surely. After about five minutes of constant spell flinging Draco was growing weary and he had not managed to land a single hit. Tallis twisted one last time and, in a move of flexibility that Draco never would have imagined would have allowed the small boy to reach him, grabbed the wand from Draco's hand.
The students all sat in silence, completely shocked. They had all put their money on Draco beating Apprentice Snape within a few seconds. Their teacher was barely winded, too. "Thank you Mr. Malfoy. Ten points to Slytherin. All right class. Let's discuss what went wrong. Mr. Malfoy began excellently. His spells were spot on and very difficult to dodge. However, at a bit more than two minutes he began to grow frustrated and his spells lost their accuracy. That is something that you must never do. Always remain calm. Always remain focused. Losing your calm can often mean the same thing as losing the battle.
"Moving on. Mr. Malfoy underestimated my flexibility and my reach. These are very easy things to mistake in an opponent, especially if your opponent is much taller or shorter than average as I clearly am. I am certain that all of you would have been tricked by my last move. It is one of the benefits of my size and I can show some of you the same move later. I doubt it will help anyone over about 5'6" though. Some moves simply work better for smaller people. Many find it more difficult to fight someone my size than to fight someone who is average or even above average. My NEWT examiners found it more difficult to fight me than to fight someone like Professor Snape because they kept underestimating me in every way possible. If you are small, use that to your advantage. Every size witch or wizard has his or her strong points. There is no best size, best height, best strength, or best weight when it comes to fighting.
"What you need to realize is that you will need your own style of fighting. It will be different for every one of you. It will be based partially on your size and physical strength and partly on your magical strength and your personality. I want you to use today to begin to develop this. You all noticed that I played to my strengths—my speed and my flexibility. I made no effort whatsoever to overpower Mr. Malfoy or to attack him full on. I would have adjusted my fighting style slightly if I were fighting someone closer to my size, allowing for moves that would not work when fighting someone larger than me. A remotely experienced opponent who was closer my size would not have made that last mistake that Mr. Malfoy made and I would have needed to end the duel in a different way, perhaps even with a physical attack.
"While the purpose of today is to begin to find your style you must also realize that such things are always fluid and change for each circumstance, depending on your opponent and various other issues. This is not a specific series of moves you can memorize and them implement in a set order. It will always be changing and you need to change with it. Improvisation is your single best weapon.
"A few rules. No physical fighting of any kind. This includes punches, slaps, kicks and any other form of physically harming a classmate. May the gods help you if you pull an actual weapon on a classmate—not that any of you should be carrying any weapons to begin with. I managed to get Mr. Malfoy's wand from him without actually touching him. You can all do the same. If you want a boxing practice do it on your own time.
"There will be no use of high level spells of any kind. The main purpose of this exercise is to work on dodging and attacking, not to practice difficult and dangerous spells on an unarmed classmate. If anyone uses a spell over the fifth year level or one specifically designed to cause pain the caster will be removed from this room. You will not return to this class until Professor Lupin approves your return. And finally, you will remember that your partner is on your side. You are fighting together. Hitting a partner with a spell will be grounds for removal from this classroom immediately. Remember: it is you and your partner fighting against your other two group mates. This is not a one on one fight. I do not expect this to be a problem right now as you have undoubtedly chosen friends to work with but tomorrow you will work with a group of my choosing. These rules will, of course, be in effect tomorrow as well."
The students listened solemnly. "Are there any questions? Miss Granger."
"How long will we continue on the sides we currently are on? I mean, will we switch from being the attacking team to the defending team?"
"Excellent question. When the bell sounds after five minutes of the exercise you will have a three minute break to regroup and then switch places. If the defense team actually manages to disarm the attack team before that time they will return the wands and begin anew. If the attack team incapacitates the defense team they will immediately reverse any spells and also begin anew. Any more questions? All right, begin."
The students immediately split into separate areas of the room and began the exercise. Tallis walked through the students, taking mental notes and assisting students when necessary. He demonstrated a few quick moves as he went to individual students, tailoring his instruction according to each student's needs. No defense group managed to make it past the one minute thirty second mark. Ron and Hermione would have been able to but they had decided to be in the same group but on opposite teams in order to help disguise their skill in addition to trying to downplay their abilities. They were no where near as good as Tallis but they were much, much better than their classmates were. Tallis sighed, looking over the class once more. They had a lot of work to do.
Tallis made his way over to the last group, a mixed group of Slytherins and Ravenclaws. "Very good Mr. Perry" Tallis said to a Ravenclaw who had just dodged an attack that would have caught most of his classmates. The bell sounded announcing a break and everyone relaxed. Draco and Millie walked in closer to Apprentice Snape as he was talking quietly with Malcus Perry and Theo Nott about their work. They were just in time to hear Malcus ask a question they had never imagined he would.
"So, Tallis, what are you doing Friday night?" he said casually, leaning in heavily and openly leering at Tallis.
Tallis took a quick step back. "Mr. Perry. I do not believe that is an appropriate or pertinent question here. Miss Bulstrode, when you attack you need to ease up on your right shoulder. I've noticed that you tend to be a bit stiff in your efforts to be accurate. You don't need to use this time to practice accuracy—you have that down. Use it instead to practice fluidity of movement. You will find that you speed up quite a bit if you aren't as stiff."
Malcus had walked up closely behind Tallis as he spoke with Mille. Draco's face must have shown some of his shock because Tallis wasn't as taken by surprise as he would have been without seeing his expression. Malcus wrapped his arms around Tallis' waist and bent down to whisper something in his ear that no one could make out. Tallis pushed him away roughly, his eyes bright with anger. "You will remember your place Mr. Perry. Two weeks detention, starting tonight," he bit out, his magic pulsing violently around him.
"What? You can't be serious! I've seen the way you look at me, begging for it."
Tallis shuddered imperceptibly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. The air itself grew thick with Tallis' anger, making most of the students shudder. Hermione and Ron exchanged worried looks and started slowly making their way over to him. "Let's make it three, shall we Mr. Perry?" Tallis asked, clearly livid. Malcus looked irritated but he shut up. The bell rang again, calling everyone back to his or her place. Hermione looked at Tallis, still worried. Draco too looked concerned for his new friend but he returned to his place, knowing that Tallis needed everyone to behave right now, including him. He knew that Tallis really couldn't take another student misbehaving.
Tallis continued his rounds, complimenting and gently correcting students as he went, calming down slowly. Class continued smoothly for the next half hour with a few more changes of position for the students. He finally made his way back to Draco's group that also unfortunately held Malcus Perry, dreading being near the ill-mannered boy. He didn't want to neglect the rest of the group for his bad behavior though. He stood near Draco, who was once again attacking, to observe the group's work. Malcus actually made it close to Draco and then, in a blatant attempt to grope Tallis, threw himself at Tallis and Draco, "accidentally" missing Draco entirely.
He pulled Tallis to him roughly, holding him tightly against himself, trying to get a quick grope. Hermione and Ron dropped their wands in shock and cried out, terrified of what Tallis might do. Draco barely registered what had happened before Malcus was thrown from Tallis by an otherworldly force, his body still crackling with the excess power from the spell. Malcus lay in a heap against the wall, moaning. Tallis hurriedly pushed his sleeves down but Draco caught sight of the fact that the previously black runes around his arms were now bright silver. He looked over to the desk where Tallis' wand was still sitting and then looked back to his friend. He stared at Tallis in shock, not really understanding what had happened.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, please escort Mr. Perry to the Infirmary" Tallis said with a calm that he was definitely not feeling. He needed them to explain to Poppy what had happened so she would know how to treat the boy. No one else had any idea what curse he had used. Ron roughly spelled the moaning boy into the air, not bothering with the nicety of a stretcher to smooth the ride along. Tallis ignored the departing students. "Please continue." The students nervously began again, all of them desperate to gossip about what had happened but not daring to do so with their teacher so angry.
The class ended shortly after that. "You all did very well today," Tallis said quietly. "As I said earlier, during our next class we will be doing the same thing but I will be choosing your groups for you. Professor Lupin left no assignment for tonight and I have decided not to set one. Please come to class prepared next time for similar activities. Remember to return your uniforms to their original condition before you go to your next class—I'll not take any blame for you being out of dress code. Good day."
The students quickly redressed and filed out, already gossiping about what had happened. Draco remained behind. "What happened, Tallis?"
Tallis sat down in the seat, shaking visibly. "I…I'll tell you, soon. I just really need my dad right now. Can you get him for me?" He sounded so young and desperate it scared Draco. He had never heard him call Severus 'dad' before. He knew that Tallis was more than just a bit upset about an unruly student. Something was really wrong.
"Sure. I'll be right back." Draco left his things on his desk and ran down the hall toward the dungeons. He knew that there wasn't a class after theirs in the Defense room until one and he hoped that Sev was free to come. He burst into the potions lab just as a class of fourth years was letting out. Severus looked up, startled. Before he could inquire as to what was wrong Draco began his convoluted story. "He needs you. Perry grabbed him and he's freaking out and he needs you now."
Severus took a moment to understand the babble and he took off down the hall as quickly as he could without drawing attention. Draco walked quickly by his side, barely keeping up with his godfather's long stride. "Explain" Severus growled out.
Draco spoke as quietly as possible, not wanting to draw attention to the story, although he knew it would be all over the school within minutes. "We were dueling, practicing dodging and accuracy. Perry had been harassing him earlier. I'm not sure what he said but it was bad enough for Tallis to give him three weeks detention." This nearly brought Severus to a stop but he quickly started moving again with even more speed than before. Tallis had never assigned more than one night of detention to a student at any one time.
"Continue."
"Well, Perry stopped bothering him and class continued. The next time Tallis made it to our group though I thought that something was up and evidently Tallis did too. Tallis came and stood behind me. I think he may have been nervous or something, I don't know. Anyway, Perry just threw himself at Tallis and grabbed him. I don't know what Tallis did but suddenly Perry was thrown across the room by some incredibly strong spell and his whole body was running over with magic."
Severus knew exactly what his son had done but he refrained from commenting at all. They had reached the Defense room. Severus cautiously opened the door and saw his son hunched over in the seat behind the desk. "Tallis? Tallie?"
Tallis looked up, terror still plain on his face and his shoulders shaking hard. Severus walked close to him slowly, trying to read what his son needed right now. "I'm here now. Everything's ok." Draco closed the door and stood in the classroom, watching what was happening with open curiosity. Severus lightly touched Tallis on the shoulder making Tallis jerk aside violently. Severus quickly backed away a few steps. "It's just me, Tallie. Just your Father." Tallis stared at him for a few, long minutes, evidently trying to sort out his memories. He was one the verge of another episode and he was struggling to keep his mind. Tallis finally moved back toward him slowly, this time accepting his Father's hug.
After a few moments to make certain that his son was at least marginally calm, Severus transfigured the chair into a small sofa and sat down next to him. Tallis almost immediately scooted in close to his Father, resting his head on his chest, calming once he heard his Father's soothing heartbeat. Severus ran his fingers through his son's hair, murmuring quietly to keep him calm. It was amazing how quickly Tallis had learned to take comfort in touch and not to fear it. He had clearly found Bill's touch comforting before this summer but for him to have adjusted so quickly to him as a Father was incredible.
Draco stood staring at the two Snapes, absolutely floored. He had known that Severus was close with his son but he had never expected such sensitivity and gentleness from the spy. He was very close to his godfather and even he had never seen his godfather like this.
A knock sounded at the door. Hermione and Ron walked in after waiting a moment. They saw Draco watching their friend and his father. "Is he all right?" Hermione asked softly.
"Getting there. Do you know why he was so upset? I mean I know he clearly didn't want Perry to be bothering him, especially while he was teaching, but this is more than just irritation at unwanted attentions." Draco was still in too much shock to comprehend that he was conversing civilly with two Gryffindors.
Ron and Hermione exchanged quick looks. "I'm not exactly sure but I think he had a bad experience a while back" Ron said quietly. "Bill never really told me anything though and neither did Tallis." Neither entirely true nor an outright lie and enough information to keep him from digging too deeply yet still vague enough that it didn't really tell him anything.
Draco nodded, thinking about the vague words. Perhaps this was what Severus had meant when he said that not everything was good in his son's life. Perhaps he had been raped recently. No wonder Sev didn't want him to press. He watched as Severus asked his son a question and Tallis started speaking softly to his Father. Severus tensed visibly in his seat, jaw clenched tight whenever he heard whatever his son had said. "I wonder if he just told the Professor what Malcus said to him. Did you hear it, Malfoy?" Hermione asked.
Draco shook his head and watched avidly as his godfather visibly started to calm himself and place his attention on his son again, trying to keep him relaxed. "What spell did Tallis hit Perry with?"
Hermione paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say. "We're not really sure," she said slowly. "It was some kind of electricity spell of something. Madame Pomfrey said it was like he had been hit by lightning or something similar."
Draco nodded. "Let's pack his stuff up for him so Sev can take him back to their rooms. He doesn't have another class to teach until after lunch…if he's ready to teach then." The two Gryffindors went to help him and the three quickly got Tallis' books and papers organized. Severus noticed that they were ready and he quietly prepared his son to leave, helping him put his robes back on. "Ready?" he asked quietly.
Tallis nodded, still in a daze. Severus accepted the stack of papers and books from Draco and walked next to his son as they slowly made their way back down to their rooms. The Gryffindors left as well, going their separate way back to the Tower to avoid any suspicion. As much as they wanted to be there to comfort their friend they knew that they couldn't be. Their plan over the summer had allowed them to be close acquaintances, nearly friends even, but not close enough that no one would question their presence walking down to their Professor's private quarters. Draco followed his godfather and Tallis down to the dungeons.
When they reached their door Tallis leaned in closer to his Father and said something quietly. Severus looked startled but when his son nodded again, he reluctantly agreed. Tallis stepped into the rooms while Severus turned to Draco. "My son wishes to explain a few things to you." Draco started forward into the room but Severus held his arm out, impeding his progress. "He needs a few hours to recover. Please come back after dinner and he will tell you what he can. I can guarantee you that it won't be everything. He will tell you what he feels comfortable telling you. Do not push him," he said firmly.
Draco nodded slowly, looked longingly into the rooms, wanting to be in there with his friend. He didn't understand exactly what was going on but he knew that Tallis was hurting and it bothered him that he couldn't do anything. He looked at his godfather one last time, nodded quickly, and turned and left for his dormitory to wait his meeting.
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Sorry again about the voting confusion. I got too excited about it and tried to do too much in one short poll. I promise I will have some more polls in the future though so you can all express opinions on punishments, etc.
Next chapter we'll see the meeting between Tallis and Draco!