A/N: the sections in italics are from The Half Blood Prince, Chapter 9
The first week of term had, so far, been relatively quiet, thought Hermione Granger, or quiet for Hogwarts in any case. That meant that no mystery had presented itself and no one had tried to kill Harry. Yet.
That was not to say there had not been any number of minor disturbances, just that so far, none of them had been life threatening. The most persistent cause of unrest was, unsurprisingly, Ron's jealously at the presence of the new boy, Aries, and of Harry's rapidly forming friendship with him. Though he had only been at Hogwarts since the Welcome Feast on Monday night, Sirius' son had immediately been welcomed by the Gryffindors, in particular by Harry but also, surprisingly, Neville. The bond between Harry and Aries was, perhaps, to be expected, after all, they were both still reeling from the death of a father or a man who was as good as a father, but Aries friendship with Neville seemed just as genuine, though not as immediate or intense.
The events at the Ministry had changed Neville; he seemed to have matured massively over the summer. Whether it was being trusted and included to go along, actually holding his own against the Death Eaters or facing and then defying his parents' torturer, Bellatrix Lestrange, something had triggered a metamorphosis of sorts in the blonde Gryffindor. He was no longer the shy, awkward boy who had proudly shown off his Mimbulus Mimbletonia on the Hogwarts Express the previous year. There was a definite air of confidence around him that occasionally allowed glimpses of the steely determination and iron will that lay hidden beneath the surface.
Ron was not doing a good job at concealing his jealously and dislike of Aries and subsequently Harry, Aries and Neville had distanced themselves slightly from the glowering red-head. Hermione, while pleased to be spending time with Ron alone, did not appreciate the fact that he spent most of that time complaining about another boy. She knew Ron had always prized his position as Harry's best male friend but this jealousy was getting ridiculous; his dislike of Aries was completely irrational. From the time she had spent with him in Ancient Runes he was highly intelligent, kind, a little shy sometimes but could be as animated and cheerful as Sirius sometimes. Hopefully it wouldn't take long for Ron to recognise these good traits and see that Aries was not trying to replace him. Ron had his brothers, why could he not accept Harry having a god-brother?She sighed and slipped her Defence book back into her bag, standing and waiting for the others to join her to head to class.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was, whilst not her strongest subject, probably the most important at this point in time, after all, they were at war. And who better to teach them to defend themselves against the Dark Arts and Death Eaters than Snape? The spy may have an unpleasant character but he had more experience than any of their previous teachers, not counting Moody as he had never really taught them. Needless to say, the boys were not looking forward to the lesson.
"I still can't believe Dumbledore's letting Snape teach Defence!" Ron exclaimed, grabbing a last piece of toast and stuffing it in his mouth as they left the Gryffindor table.
"Ronald that's disgusting. At least try to chew your food!" Hermione scolded. Ron rolled his eyes but slowed, the toast disappeared at a slightly less alarming rate after her reprimand.
"I know what you mean Ron. I finally escape from Potions and Snape starts teaching Defence?! One of the few subjects I'm good at and Snape has to teach it. He still hasn't forgiven me for the boggart!" groaned Neville looking glum.
"Or blowing up that Pepper-Up" sniggered Harry, shoving his friend teasingly on the shoulder "I still haven't figured out how you managed to turn his hair purple."
The other Gryffindors guffawed loudly as the boisterous group made their way to class but Neville just glared balefully at Harry who pouted and pretended to look contrite.
The door to the Defence classroom was flung slammed against the wall with a crash that made the students queuing outside jump as the deep, resonant voice of their Professor ordered them to enter. They filed, a little apprehensively, into the room in complete silence so as to avoid drawing the wrath of Snape down upon themselves. The man had been bad enough teaching potions, how much worse would he be when he was teaching a subject where he could use curses and hexes on them to demonstrate their effects?
The class looked around curiously as they entered the room, though subtly enough to avoid catching their teacher's attention and attracting his scorn. Snape had imposed his personality upon the room already; it was gloomier than usual, as curtains had been drawn over the windows, and was lit by candlelight. New pictures adorned the walls, many of them showing people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly injuries or strangely contorted body parts. Nobody spoke as they settled down, looking around at the shadowy, gruesome pictures.
"The Dark Arts," said Snape, "are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."
Hermione was fascinated, the Professor was clearly very experienced and was attempting to explain to them, who had never faced any of these awful things, the danger of their foes."Your defenses," said Snape, a little louder, "must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo." Hermione focused even more intently, she didn't want to miss anything. "These pictures" - he indicated a few of them as he swept past - "give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse" - he waved a hand toward a witch who was clearly shrieking in agony - "feel the Dementor's Kiss" - a wizard lying huddled and blank-eyed, slumped against a wall - "or provoke the aggression of the Inferius" - a bloody mass upon ground. The images were shocking yet they brought home the reality of what they were up against, she thought with a muted approval.
"Doubtless some of you little Gryffindors" he sneered "believe you know how to fight, know what the Dark Lord's followers are capable. You are wrong. If you take it upon yourself to laugh in the face of the Death Eaters you will die," He shot a nasty look at Harry and Aries "at the very least your recklessness will get other people killed. Anyone who goes into a fight with less than complete control and focus is a fool who deserves to die." Harry was pale, his eyes massive and fighting back tears. Beside him, Aries face had closed off and his clenched fists, resting on the table, were shaking with barely suppressed rage.
Snape turned in a swirl of black robes to face them all as he reached the front of the room, obsidian eyes raking over the students, lingering on the Gryffindors. He picked up the register and read the first name on the list. "Black. Ah yes, the mutt's son. Tell me boy, was he too ashamed of you to allow you to attend school before now or were you merely too much of a dunderhead?" He spat the words, a sneer twisting his lip. "Never mind, the heroic fool is finally dead, it does not matter what he wanted. I suggest you pay attention in this class, mutt, you will need it should you run into your dear cousin. I hear she normally likes to play more but was, unfortunately, denied the opportunity."
Aries snapped; he stood abruptly, fury etched in every line of his stance, eyes blazing with rage and hatred. "YOU SHUT UP, SNIVELLUS!" he roared, his whole body shaking with the force of his fury. A wind made of pure magic whipped up around him. He was the eye of the storm, hair merely ruffled gently as if by a light breeze while further out it ripped the posters from the wall, swept books, parchments and quills off the desks and set the windows rattling desperately in their frame. Suddenly a book set aflame, followed by another and another, breaking Aries from his daze as he turned and stormed from the class.
Hermione sat at her desk, stunned, for once, into silence. She couldn't believe Snape had said any of that. Sure, the man was vindictive but it appeared they had all underestimated his hatred for Sirius and by extension, Aries. Nonetheless, she would not have expected that sort of reaction from Aries. He had always come across a little reserved, though that could have been a result of his grief. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that sort of wildΒΈ raw magical power and rage dwelling beneath the front he put on for the world.
She turned to Harry in time to see a single tear trickle down his face as he too fled from the class. She had never seen Harry cry before. Hermione believed it was a residue of his time with the Dursleys; she was sure they would not have comforted him when he was a small child and cried so he had learnt that tears did not help, in fact, sometimes they made things worse, and so he suppressed them whenever they threatened.
Neville, who had been sitting beside Harry and Aries, had gradually paled as the Professor had spoken and at the mentioned of Bellatrix he had blanched but his face hardened and resolved. He stood and glared at the dark man at the front of the room. "That was the most despicable thing I have ever seen you do. I was there, I saw Sirius Black fight for his godson, for all of us who were there, and I saw him die. He fought well and gave his life protecting those he loved. There is nothing more any of us could ask in these troubled times. He died a hero. And for you to mock the man and his sacrifice to the face of his son and godson is unpardonable. You do not speak ill of the dead. I did not think even you would sink that low. And the Lestrange scum does not play, the bitch is a psychopath who enjoys torturing people before she kills them- if they're lucky. Do not ever mention her in my presence again." And with that, he turned smartly on his heel and marched from the room, looking every inch the aristocratic, pureblood heir.
A ringing silence filled the room when he left, as everyone stared after the three departed boys in shock, even Snape was momentarily stunned. He seemed to collect himself then, "A hundred points from Gryffindor" he snarled. The students broke from their collective shock and a few grumbles could be heard from the remaining Gryffindors. "Silence! Now, you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of non-verbal spells" The lesson began in earnest, though with the absence of three of Hermione's friends. She snapped herself out of her contemplation and redoubled her concentration, determined to be able to fill them in on the lesson if necessary.
A/N: sorry this took slightly longer than usual to get out, i've been ill :( anyhoo, if you like it or have any suggestions for improvement or future plot or anything, please review :)
Thanks to doscabezas and cytankee for the reviews :) also, thanks to Becka, my unofficial beta and sounding board for ideas :)