Chapter Twenty-Two: Making Fun of Mr. Filch

A/N: Hey everyone thanks for all your amazing reviews!

~Severus Addicted

Severus stood as he watched Harry slowly make his way back to him. Once Harry was standing in front of him Severus asked in a soft voice, "Are you ready, Harry?"

Harry gradually lifted his head to stare at his guardian, "Yeah, I guess..."

Severus gently placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and said in understanding, "If you are not ready yet, Harry, we do not have to go. We can stay as long as you want, child."

Harry nodded his head and slowly turned around to stare at the deserted grave yard. After a few moments of silence Harry said in a quiet voice as if to not disturb the calming aura of the grave yard, "He didn't kill himself..."

Severus whipped his head around to stare at Harry in shock, "How did you come to this conclusion, Harry?"

Harry gave a soft smile as he continued to stare off into the grave yard, "He told me."

"You mean he came to you?" Severus asked softly.

Harry slowly turned to look up at his guardian, "Yes. He apologized as well... I forgave him."

Severus nodded his head and whispered, "I'm glad you forgave him, child."

A small smile graced his lips as he said, "Me too..."

Suddenly someone from behind them asked in a voice that would calm Lord Voldemort's heart, "Is that you, Harry?"

Harry slowly turned to face the owner of the voice that sounded vaguely familiar. As soon as he noticed the deep brown eyes realization quickly dawned on him and he quickly made his way over to give the lady a hug. Tears slowly ran down both of their faces as they embraced one another.

Severus watched on in silence as he wondered if this lady was who he thought she was.

"Oh Harry, my dear, I've missed you so much!" Jane said through her tears of happiness.

"I missed you too..." Harry whispered.

"Dear?" Tom called out to his wife from thier car.

Jane slowly stepped back from the embrace and called over to Tom, "Tom, come here it's Harry!"

The sound of a car door quickly shutting and quick foot steps on gravel told Harry and Jane he was on his way. When he arrived at thier side he placed his hands on Harry's shoulders and said, "And where have you been hiding out these past years, child?"

Harry gave him a grin and said, "It's a secret. We can't discuss it out in the open."

Tom smiled and said, "So definitely not by a corn field?"

Harry smirked and continued the joke, "Definitely not by a corn field; there's too many ears there."

Tom chuckled and ruffled Harry's hair, "I'm surprised you still remember it."

"I still remember everything, Tom." Harry said with a sad smile.

Jane interrupted the painful silence in an attempt to bring the colorful mood back, "And who may I ask is your friend here, Harry?"

Harry looked up to see who she was talking about, "Oh he's my new guardian, his name is Severus Snape."

Jane gave him a confused look and said, "New guardian?"

Severus took that as his cue to step in, "Yes, I am his new guardian, madam."

Tom nodded his head as he realized there was more to tell to this story, "Would you two like to come back to our house and have some tea? Then we could continue this conversation behind closed doors."

Severus nodded his head in agreement, "What do you say, Harry?"

Harry smiled broadly and nodded his head, "I would love to."

Jane and Tom lead the way back to their car and once everyone was settled in with their seat belts on they began their way back to the Thomas house.

'Home.' Harry smiled when he saw the familiar building. Nothing really changed since the last time he'd seen the house. "I thought you moved?" Harry asked from the backseat of the car.

Jane nodded her head as she opened her door, "Yes we did but it didn't last, we missed our old home too much so a few weeks ago we moved back. We only lived in our other house for about 7 years but it did not seem right; I was never really happy with it..."

Harry nodded in understanding then opened his door and climbed out of the car as well.

Once everyone was out of the car Tom locked it up then lead the way into their living room, "Please have a seat."

While everyone was getting situated Jane went into the kitchen and began brewing some tea.

"So, Harry, can you tell me where you have been lately now that we are alone?" Tom asked patiently.

Harry glanced at Severus to see if it was alright to tell the Thomas' about Hogwarts. When he noticed the slight nod and Jane was back into the living room he began his story about Hogwarts, the magical world, and even about how he became known as The Boy-Who-Lived. Once his story was finished Jane and Tom sat in silence as they thought of all Harry had told them.

"That's wicked..." Tom muttered in amazement, "So you can do magic?"

Harry smiled happily and said, "Yes, wanna see?"

Severus sent Harry a look that told him he knew better as he said, "Child, you know you are under the age and can not use magic outside of Hogwarts."

Tom smirked at Harry and said, "I doubt that would stop him."

Severus shook his head with a light smile playing at his lips, "Yes, it hardly does. But if he gets caught by the Ministry of Magic he could get his wand snapped in half."

Harry flinched at the thought of having his wand broken.

Severus then continued to say, "But if you would like I can show you some magic?"

Jane and Tom quickly agreed and watched in astonishment as Severus pointed his wand at a vase with daisies in it then he muttered under his breath, "Reducto." Suddenly the vase exploded into millions of tiny pieces.

Both muggles stared in shock at the broken vase.

Severus nodded his head then said, "Reparo." After he said this all the millions of pieces began to float back up from the ground and remake the flower vase. Once the vase was completely fixed Jane and Tom began to clap their hands in excitement.

"That was amazing!" Jane exclaimed happily. Tom nodded his head too shocked to say anything.

Severus gave her a small smile as he nodded his head, "So, now that you have gotten to see a little sign of our magical abilities would you like to know anything else?"

Jane looked to Tom who shook his head. She quietly shook her head as well, "It's pretty much apparent as to why you got guardianship of young Harry here." Jane smiled sadly at Harry who slowly looked at the ground. "We tried to adopt him once, but it obviously did not go through; Vernon Dursley made sure of that..."

Severus sighed softly and squeezed Harry's shoulder in reassurance.

Jane quickly noticed Harry's tense posture and decided it was time to change the subject, for Harry's sake, "So, what are you interested in lately?"

Harry smiled softly at the quick change in conversation, "I play Quidditch for my house in Hogwarts, it's fun."

Tom cocked his head to the side and asked curiously, "How do you play Quidditch, Harry?"

A full grin spread over Harry's face as he explained to them what Quidditch was and how to play it. Once he was done explaining to them all about his favorite wizarding sport they were amazed.

"So let me get this straight," Tom replied in awe, "You ride a broom and chase this little ball that has wings called the Snitch? What did you say your position was again?"

Harry smiled proudly as he nodded his head, "I am the Seeker."

Tom nodded his head, "And if you catch the... the Snitch your team automatically wins?" Tom asked trying to understand everything there was to know about Quidditch.

Harry quickly nodded his head in agreement, "Yes, if I catch the Snitch my team wins."

Before Tom could say anything else Jane said quickly, "This doesn't sound very safe, Harry."

Severus shook his head in agreement, "It really isn't. Especially if someone is into doing tricks on his broom..." Severus gave Harry a pointed look when he mentioned tricks.

Jane's jaw dropped as she glanced at Harry, "Please tell me you don't do that!"

Harry gave her a small smile as he said, "Fine... I don't do that."

Severus narrowed his eyes at his ward, "Harry James do not lie, young man!"

Harry gave him a smirk and replied, "She asked very politely for me to tell her I don't do tricks, I was simply following her wishes."

Severus shook his head, "There is no need for your cheek, child."

Before Harry could say something Jane said, "Wait, so you do engage in tricks while in the air?"

Harry slowly nodded his head not really sure where this conversation was heading.

Jane's eyes almost popped out of her head when she noticed Harry agreeing.

Tom smiled broadly and clapped his hands, "That's amazing! You'll have to show me so-" Jane slapped him on the back of his head making him suddenly come to an end of his sentence. Tom glared playfully at her.

"Do not encourage his dangerous stunts, Thomas!" Jane told her husband strictly.

Tom sighed softly, "What's so wrong with doing tricks in the air?"

Jane gave him a look that told him she had no idea why she married such an idiotic man, "He could fall off his broom in mid air and fall to the ground! Do you know how dangerous that is?" She looked at both Harry and her husband when she asked her demanding question.

Harry almost groaned out loud, "I've never gotten hurt..."

Severus shook his head in denial, "No, remember there was that one time when you fell off your broom and you broke your arm so Gilderoy Lockhart attempted to fix it for you and ended up removing every single bone in your arm. How could you forget that? Wasn't that a painful task to re-grow your bones?"

Harry glared at his guardian as Jane gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth in shock, "I wasn't doing tricks then! I was simply trying to catch the Snitch..."

Severus shook his head, "That's beside the point, Harry James."

Harry gave him an outraged glare as he snapped, "Beside the point? No, that's not 'beside the point' that is exactly the point!"

Before Severus could say something about his disrespect Jane beat him to it, "Harry James Potter, apologize immediately for your blatant disrespect towards your guardian!"

Frustration was clearly evident in Harry's bright emerald eyes, "But-"

"No 'buts' Harry, apologize to him right now." Jane replied firmly.

Harry sighed in defeat, it was obviously pointless to argue any further; he would just dig his grave deeper and deeper if he continued, "I'm sorry."

Severus nodded his head then asked, "For what, Harry?"

Harry forced himself not to glare at him as he replied a little forcefully, "For being disrespectful..."

Severus gave a firm nod of his head but Jane said before he could even open his mouth, "Lower your tone young man and repeat it with less force behind your words."

Severus gave her a shocked look but he quickly pushed it away; he was just going to let it go and drop the subject but obviously Jane had other ideas in her head.

'You have got to be fucking kidding me!' Harry thought angrily.

Jane waited a few more seconds before she said, "Harry James! Do not make me start to count, young man. It wouldn't be the first time I've had to count, now would it?"

Harry quickly pushed away the memory that was daring to pop up; he'd prefer not to remember that day...

Jane sighed and put up one finger, "One."

Harry huffed in frustration then closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Once he felt a little calmed down he said softly to Severus, "I'm sorry for being disrespectful."

Jane looked at Severus to see if it was good enough for him.

Severus nodded his head and smiled lightly at Harry, "You are forgiven, child."

Tom clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention, "Alright, time to change the subject."

Harry smiled and gave him a grateful look.

Jane nodded her head in agreement then asked, "So, Severus, what do you do in the magical world?"

"I am a professor at Hogwarts; I teach a class known as Potions. You probably know this class as Chemistry." Severus said calmly.

Jane nodded her head, "I use to be a Chemistry teacher but then I had Austin and I decided to become a stay-at-home mother for him. Are you good at Potions, Harry?"

Harry went to reply in denial but Severus beat him to it, "He does acceptable work when he feels like it."

Harry gave Severus a small smile. 'I bet I will never hear that one again...'

"When he feels like it?" Jane repeated curiously.

Harry quickly replied in an attempt to not go back into another argument which would just end in him getting in more trouble, "Potions is not my strong subject..."

Tom nodded in understanding, "That's understandable, Math isn't my strong subject. What is your strong subject, Harry?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "I like Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is also known as DADA."

Severus nodded his head in agreement, "He is rather good at that subject, I've heard many times by his professor at how well Harry does."

Harry smiled happily, 'Maybe Hell is slowly freezing over...'

Jane gave Harry a proud look then asked, "What other classes are there at Hogwarts, Severus?"

Severus began listing off all the classes in the school, "There is Transfiguration, Astronomy, Charms, Herbology, History of Magic-" A low groan could be heard from Harry when he mentioned History of Magic; Severus gave him a smirk then continued to list off the rest of the classes, "Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies."

Tom smirked at Harry once Severus was done listing off the classes, "I take it you don't like History of Magic, Harry?"

Harry shook his head in denial, "No, that class is pure torture!"

Tom chuckled, "What? Do they hang you by your toe nails in that class?"

Harry smirked, "No, that's Filch that does that..."

Once again Jane's eyes could have popped out of her head, "WHAT? Does he seriously do that?"

Severus rolled his eyes at his ward, "No, he only threatened Harry with that once."

"He threatened him?" Jane asked in outrage.

Harry smiled and tried to keep from laughing. He liked where this conversation was going.

"Mr. Filch doesn't like children, especially children who he has to deal with during their detentions." Severus responded softly.

Harry shook his head, "More like he's a crazy old fool who hates children with a passion and instead of dreaming of gumdrops and rainbows he dreams of blood and torture... Oh yea and he dreams of his love sick cat." Harry burst into a fit of giggles 'More like he has fantasies of his cat!' After he thought that Harry burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Harry, be respectful to Mr. Filch." Severus warned him.

Harry quickly got himself under control but his smile wouldn't come off his face.

Severus smirked and shook his head at him, "You're bad." Severus chuckled softly at the look on Harry's face; Harry was way too happy, he obviously missed something...

Harry smirked at him, "I try."

Severus nodded his head, "Oh I know... Trust me, I know."

Harry flashed him a wicked smile.

"So, this Mr. Filch guy, does he really hang people by their toenails?" Jane asked them horrified.

"He wishes..." Harry muttered under his breath.

"No he does not hang the children by their toenails, Madam." Severus replied.

Jane nodded her head, "Good, he better not or I'll beat him up."

"It wouldn't take much to beat him up..." Harry muttered with a chuckle.

Severus sighed and shook his head at Harry, "Alright, Harry, you've had your fun now let's leave Mr. Filch alone, child."

Harry sighed, "Alright, alright..." 'For now...' Harry smiled softly.

After another half an hour of talking about everything and anything Severus slowly stood from the couch, "Well, we better get going, Harry here has a room he needs to get cleaned up before tomorrow." Severus said softly.

Harry sighed sadly as he too stood, "You never said I had to clean my room..."

Severus nodded, "I did now. It is a mess, child. I don't know how you can sleep in that place. Now say your goodbyes, child, we best be on our way." Severus shook both Jane and Tom's hands then walked over to their fireplace and waited for Harry to finish saying goodbye.

Jane wrapped her arms around Harry and pulled him into a bear hug, "I missed you so much, Harry. You will have to come visit us again soon, alright child?" She softly placed a kiss to his lightning bolt shaped scar.

"I will, I promise." Harry smiled softly at her then he moved out of the embrace and shook hands with Tom, "It was nice seeing you, Tom."

"You too, Harry. Now I believe your guardian is ready to leave." Tom nodded over at Severus who pulled a bag out of his robe pocket.

Harry nodded his head goodbye then walked over to Severus, "Are you going to use the Floo?"

Severus nodded his head then stepped into the fireplace then waited for Harry to join him. Once Harry was in the fireplace with him he through the floo powder down and whispered his destination. In a blink of an eye they were gone.

Jane looked at Tom in shock, "I will never get use to that..."

Tom smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review!

~Severus Addicted