Disclaimer: All recognized characters and elements goes to J.K Rowling
And another chapter is up, unfortunately this won't last forever, the next chapter should be up in around a week to two since school's starting. Sorry!
Yes! My writing 'stamina' is improving, this chapter in 3000+ words, next time I'm aiming for more than 4000.
THANKS ALL FOR THE REVIEWS AND STUFF! :D it really made my day/s
Anyways, lots of POV changes so keep up! :)
"Severus. Hey Sev?"
"Do not call me that."
Harry jumped when the potions master's sharp voice suddenly appeared, cutting through the stillness of his living quarters.
He grinned sheepishly at the man that's currently sprawled out on the couch, "Right sorry… I forgot."
"Brat." The professor said fondly as he pulled himself into a more presentable position.
Without waiting for an order, Harry crossed the room and grabbed a Hangover Potion from the shelf; he passed it to the man and waited patiently for a response.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Severus asked after tossing back the potion. He rubbed his head with his hand as he felt a cool feeling settle over his formerly throbbing head.
Harry hesitated, "I thought about what you said…"
"The part where I sounded like a Hufflepuff?" Severus asked wryly.
The boy ran a hand through his raven hair in slight embarrassment, "Uh, yeah. That part."
The former Slytherin leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Right…" Harry said as he trailed off nervously, "Well I'm not going to suddenly become a hero overnight okay? I'm fine with leaving all that to Longbottom and his minions."
Harry looked up and was met with an expectant stare.
"So yeah… I guess you're right, kind of." He said.
"Kind of?"
Harry winced as he looked away.
Beat.
"Alright, alright! You're right okay? Merlin! No need to rub it in." Harry exclaimed, "Ugh, what I'm trying to say is that… I'm not going to start saving everyone left and right. I know I sound like a total bastard for saying this, but I'm not going to be sacrificing my life for anyone okay? I just don't- I don't want to be afraid anymore."
The fifth year pursed his lips and looked up to stare defiantly at his mentor.
"Good."
"Good." Harry deadpanned, "Is that all you have to say?"
The Head of Slytherin met his stare, "Actions speaks louder than words."
"Oh you cannot be serious! Now you're resorting to clichés huh?"
The man ignored his comment, "You don't want to be afraid anymore?"
Harry shook his head vigorously, "No."
Coal black eyes met striking emerald green, "Prove it. Don't just say it, show it."
Harry raised his eyebrows at the surprisingly Gryffindor-ish response.
"Wipe that look off you face," the potions master snapped, "There's a reason why I taught you Occlumency, what use is it if a person can just read your thoughts by looking at your face?"
"Okay, okay chill." Harry mumbled as he got up and headed towards the door that leads out of the quarters.
"Oh and brat."
Harry looked back and raised an eyebrow, mimicking the man's motions.
"Leave being the selfless hero to Longbottom."
Harry laughed as he stepped out of the door. The entrance shimmered and the door disappeared, it was replaced by a painting of a field of cheery yellow sunflowers.
He froze briefly when he felt his magic hum, but then relaxed when nothing else happened.
"I think we should let her join."
"No."
"Oh c'mon 'Mione! Nev?"
Neville shrugged, "Yeah, I think she's nice."
"Of course you'll think she's nice." Hermione scoffed.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Neville complained weakly.
The girl pushed her bushy hair out of her face, "You want her to join because you think she's pretty."
"Um, 'Mione… Cho Chang is pretty." Ron pointed out slowly as if hesitant to be made fun of.
"So?" Hermione snapped, "Looks isn't everything."
Neville and Ron exchanged a glance before shrugging simultaneously.
"I still say we should let her join. She likes Neville." Ron said.
Hermione leveled him with a glare that can kill but relented, "Fine."
"How 'bout Potter?" Neville asked.
"NO!" Hermione practically shrieked, "Absolutely not."
Ron looked confused.
"Why not?" Neville pressed.
"Because he's Potter!" Hermione said fiercely, "He's going to mess everything up! He's going to get caught! He's going to slow us all down! He's going to-"
"-Pull a Potter?" Ron inserted.
"YES!" Hermione exclaimed, "He's going to pull a Potter! Honestly Neville, we're talking about the boy whose name is used interchangeably with 'mess up'-"
"-she means fuck up Nev-"
"-language Ronald! But yes, basically. Neville, why are you even considering allowing him to join the DA?"
Neville frowned at her, "Hermione, the point of the DA is to help others to learn. You can't just exclude Potter like that. I mean, I know he's going to be a handful-"
"-more like a cauldron full-" Ron muttered.
"-but we still have to try!"
"What about what he's doing?" Hermione countered, "You said we should keep an eye on him. You said he's off Neville."
Neville sighed, "Well, that's even more reason to include him, that way we can see why he's acting weird."
"He's always weird."
Neville and Hermione both took a minute to shoot identical glares at the redhead for interrupting before turning back to each other.
"What if he betrays us?" Hermione demanded.
"Isn't that why we're going to draw up that contract?" Neville shot back, not missing a beat.
The brunette paused as she tried to come up with another argument as to why they shouldn't include the boy-who-lived-to-be-an-annoyance.
"Oh would you stop it Hermione?" Neville said, clearly annoyed, "I don't know what you have against Potter, but he needs help, and I am going to help him."
He glanced at Ron and the redhead shrugged carelessly.
"Yeah sure Nev." He turned to Hermione, "You really think he's going to turn traitor 'Mione? I mean, it is Potter we're talking about."
Said girl frowned at them, "So what, you're just going to go up to him and invite him to join?"
Neville hesitated, "He is acting a bit odd…" The triumphant look appearing on Hermione's face was immediately wiped off when Neville continued, "I think we should give him a trial."
"A trial?" Ron asked, once again confused.
"We should you know, get to know him a little-"
"-What's there to know about him." Hermione cut in.
Neville shot her a glare and she dropped her gaze as a slight blush appeared on her face, "As I was saying, we should just spend more time with him and drop a few hints, see how he reacts to everything, maybe shadow him for a few days."
"So homework is a three feet long essay on how the Muggle World War affected Grindelwald's rise to power. Due next Friday. Dismissed." Sirius Black announced as the fifth year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students scrambled to leave their last class of the day, "Mr. Potter, stay behind."
Sirius took in a deep calming breath as he eyed the small hunched form of his godson. His eyes darted to the Golden Trio as they exited; the three of them shot him encouraging looks. He returned their smiles with a weak one of his own.
"P-professor?"
Sirius turned and met those striking emerald eyes that are so similar to Lily's, surprisingly, and thankfully his, like his mother's were not hidden behind glasses, "Harry…"
The boy shuffled nervously as Sirius continued to stare at him; distantly Sirius noted how he must be really creeping the kid out.
"Um… Professor?"
Sirius shook his head, "I'm sorry, take a seat Harry. May I call you Harry?"
The boy ducked his head but didn't answer.
"Right." Sirius said, "So I just wanted to ask… how are you?"
"F-fine." Wide frightened eyes stared up at him.
"Okay." Sirius sighed as he prepared himself, "I know this sounds totally bizarre, but- Argh, I don't know how I'm supposed to-"
"-Professor?"
Sirius mentally berated himself for scaring the boy, he's definitely not as easy going as James, "Right. What I'm trying to say is that… is that… I'myourgodfather."
"W-what?"
Sirius fiddled with his wand and instantly stopped doing so when he noticed Harry tense slightly, "Sorry, sorry. What I'm trying to say is that, ern- I… I'm your godfather."
Pause.
Pause.
Godfather. My godfather. Harry thought incredulously as he struggled to keep his facial expression in order, What. The. Fuck.
"Harry? Please say something."
That's the problem. Harry didn't know what to say. A godfather, what the hell was he supposed to do with a godfather?
He suddenly felt fury pulse through him.
"Harry?" Sirius asked desperately.
"What."
The man reeled back at the cold word, heavy with anger and annoyance. His head flared with pain at the suffocating amount of magic that suddenly appeared. The Blacks had always been magic sensitive, a rare genetic talent. He was surprised when he traced the source of magic to the raven haired boy.
"I-I'm your god-"
"-father. Yeah, I know I heard you the first time."
Sirius blinked, this does not sound like the shy, albeit somewhat slow boy he had been teaching for the past two months.
"Uh… I thought you had a stutter problem?" Sirius said. He immediately wanted to slap himself at the ridiculous words.
Judging by the raised eyebrow and twitching hand, the boy before him was thinking along the same lines.
The two stared at each other.
Finally Harry broke the silence; an annoyed sigh escaped him as he leaned back in the wooden chair he was sitting in. Somehow he made the simple chair look like a throne; the action reminded Sirius of himself back when he too was a Hogwarts student, "Look Black. Personally, I have nothing against you. Well yeah, actually I do. I'm downright pissed that you've been out of Azkaban for what? Two years? And now you tell me you're my godfather."
"I am your godfather! I swear-"
"-Yeah, yeah. I know. I mean, I didn't know. But it's a possibility since you and my dad were friends back in the days…" Harry ran a hand through his hair and Sirius nearly choked at the familiar motion he had seen countless times, ever since he was eleven, "Here's the thing Black. I do not need a godfather."
"W-what? I can be your guardian-"
"-I don't need a guardian."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, "You're only fifteen."
Harry cocked his head to the side, "I'm an emancipated minor."
"What?! Why?!"
"The Dursleys were never-"
"The Dursleys?" the history professor paused, "Y-you mean Lily's sister, the Dursleys?"
Harry inclined his head, his eyes glittered with curiosity as the man before him paled.
"What? Who? How? … Dumbledore."
Harry was surprised at the malice in the man's voice when he said the headmaster's name. Perhaps he has hope? Harry thought.
"Why I'm going to strangle that old- Lily's sister!- gone mad- no wonder-" Followed by a string of curse words which made Harry raise his eyebrows even higher.
"Dumbledore. He left you with Petunia and her whale of a husband?" Black said at last.
Harry shrugged, "Yeah. But I don't live with them now."
Black's head shot up and his eyes widened, "You don't? Who do you live with then?"
"Does it matter?"
"I'm your godfather Harry! It does matter!" the man exclaimed.
Harry's eyes narrowed, "Yeah, whatever. If you think you can just appear in my life and start calling the shots, you're insane."
The Gryffindor stood up from his seat, grabbed his bag and headed towards the door.
"Wait, Harry." Black called out, "I-I just want to help okay? I don't expect you to immediately trust me, but I'm willing to work for it. I'll be whatever you need me to be. Godfather, friend, professor… just give me a chance to help. Please."
"Who said I need help?" Harry retorted, not bothering to turn around.
"Everyone needs help." The man quietly, "You especially. Why else would you pretend?"
Harry jolted with surprise at the man's words. He stiffened and pursed his lips as a sense of déjà vu washed over him.
"H-Harry?"
The boy turned around and leveled the professor with a hard stare, "You really want to help me?"
The man nodded furiously.
"Stay out of my way and don't go babbling around."
Harry watched coolly as the man's face dropped slightly, "I-I, okay."
Giving his… godfather a curt nod, Harry left the classroom, his usual stumbling steps replaced with the gracefulness of an athlete.
Sirius watched as his godson walked out, his usual stumbling steps replaced with a gracefulness that reminded Sirius of a trained athlete. He briefly wondered if Harry played a sport.
The animagus sighed, he didn't expect their reunion to be tearful hugs and all that… but then again, he hadn't expected his godson to be so guarded… and to be wearing a mask of all things.
Sirius Black may be a former member of Gryffindor House, he may be reckless and quite selfless… but seven years as a member of Gryffindor House can't possibly erase eleven years of training to be the proper pureblood heir.
Even after all these years, his childhood training was still embedded in his mind. For years it had been locked up and stored away in a secure part of his Occluded mind, but perhaps now it's time he let his Black traits come out to play… after all, the apple never falls far from the tree, even if said figurative apple had tried very hard to roll far, far, away from the tree.
Harry doesn't need him as the fun, loving, Gryffindor godfather. What he needs now is the cunning, sharp, political, Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.
One day, Sirius promised himself, one day he'll be able to trust me and view me as his godfather.
For now, he just needed another ally.
And Dumbledore has a nasty surprise coming his way, putting my godson with those muggles. Sirius thought darkly, as he started grading a stack of history essays.
"Aconite." Harry snapped as the portrait opened. He quickly strode into the dimly lit quarters of the Head of Slytherin, "Severus?"
Harry groaned when he caught no sign of the potions master. Muttering a few curse words under his breath, the prefect threw himself onto one of the chairs around the crackling fireplace.
He heard the portrait open and another person enter the room.
"Uncle Se- Potter?"
Harry looked up and met the silvery grey eyes of his Slytherin counterpart, "Malfoy." He greeted before turning back to the fireplace.
"What happened?" The blond asked as he stepped into the room.
"What makes you think something happened?" Harry replied.
The blond settled himself in the seat next to Harry and raised an eyebrow. Harry glared halfheartedly at his friend; he had never been able to get the same affect that the Malfoy Heir did when he raised an eyebrow.
"Well? My head feels like it's about to split in two. Either you reel that magic in or you start talking." The Slytherin said haughtily.
Right. Harry always forgot that the Blacks are very sensitive to magic. That was how Draco had caught on to his act near the end of their first year, it also didn't help that Severus was his godfather. Harry briefly wondered if Sirius Black had been affected when Harry had briefly lost control of his magic in the classroom.
"Black." Harry said at last.
"What. Did he give you too good of a grade? Perhaps he gave you a Poor instead of a Troll?"
Harry scoffed, "I wish. Apparently he's my… godfather."
"Good. Perhaps now you can stop hogging my godfather since you now have your own." Draco drawled arrogantly though his eyes glinted with amusement.
Harry felt a small smile twitch at the corner of his lips before he burst out laughing. The blond, ever the aristocrat, only allowed a small smug smirk to grace his features before once again becoming emotionless.
"You're just jealous since your godfather likes me better." Harry shot back.
"Rest assured, I find you two equally annoying." The two fifth years turned as Severus Snape entered his quarters, "I don't have all day. What are you two doing here?"
"Potter is upset because he just found out that Black's his godfather."
Severus turned to Harry, "So the mutt finally told you."
Harry scowled at him, "You knew!"
"And so I did." The man said as he started reorganizing his potions shelf.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It never came up, and I don't see how it is important."
Harry huffed, "Yeah, well it took me by surprise. He knows now."
"I'm sure you handled it." Severus responded.
"Of course he did." Draco said, "He loves his mask more than anything."
"Just like you love you hair gel?" Harry retorted.
The Slytherin shot him a dark look, "I only slicked my hair back in my first and second year. It was fashionable."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Whatever Malfoy. But yeah, I don't think he'll be telling anyone."
"Are you certain?" Severus asked sharply.
Harry hesitated, "Yeah. I'm pretty sure."
"He won't."
Harry glanced at Draco, surprised at his certainty.
The blond inclined his head, "You're his godson, family. Family always comes first, that is how all Blacks are raised."
"Seriously? It sure as hell doesn't show, looking at the history of disownments." Harry said.
"It does." Draco said with finality, "The Blacks only disown. If it were any other dark pureblood family, people like Andromeda Black who ran off and married a mudbl- I mean muggleborn- would be hunted down and killed."
"Damn…" Harry whistled, "I'm glad I'm not mixed in with that shit."
His friend shot him an annoyed look but didn't bother countering him, being so used to it.
"Language." Severus said, purely out of habit, "What do you need Draco?" he questioned as he looked at his godson.
"Bruise Paste. Pucey's sure there's going to be accidents this practice." The blond grimaced as he rose gracefully from his seat, "I don't see why he insists on practicing this play, it only has a thirty percent chance of success."
"This is why you should play football instead of Quidditch, Malfoy." Harry put in, standing up as well, "Less chance of falling off broomsticks."
"It's because you don't have broomsticks in football." Draco said.
"Exactly." Harry grinned as him, "You're getting better at knowing your muggle terms."
Draco shuddered dramatically at the comment, "I am not." He said as he took the Bruise Paste from his godfather before heading for the door.
"Oh yes you are! Welcome… to the dark side." Harry's grin widened as he followed after the other student.
Draco opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted.
"Draco." Severus called out.
"Yes?"
"Tell Pucey: Don't pull a Potter. I expect the Quidditch Cup to be in my office once again this year." Draco smirked and Harry made a face at the potions professor before stepping out of the living quarters.
The brief moment of lightheartedness disappeared. Harry sighed as he navigated through the empty dungeons with Draco by his side.
"What now Potter." The blond said.
"Tomorrow's Halloween." Harry pointed out.
"Damn."
For once, Harry couldn't agree more with his Slytherin friend.
Coming up next: Something always happens on Halloween :) more on the DA, and it seems like Harry doesn't exactly fly solo as we all thought!
IMPORTANT: Because there are a lot of plot holes, I'm going back to rewrite a lot of stuff. I'll tell you guys when each chapter is edited, I highly recommend going back and rereading it since there will be a lot of changes after it's redone.
And I know the story is kind of slow now, but I'm just setting up the scenario, it'll start picking up soon!
I've decided on no pairings... though it may still change, but that's the idea for now.
I'm also open for suggestions, in fact: PLEASE give me ideas/suggestions, everyone needs inspiration from time to time.
Review!
xoxlollipopxox