1/25/09 A/N

How sad is this; I set myself a dead line for New Years and post nearly a month late xD I'm never making dead lines again, I just mess myself up. A little longer (or it feels like it) than normal.

Rating

PG13 for swears and violence, rating may change in certain chapters, you will be informed when such happens.

Harry Potter and the Inner Demon

Chapter 20

It was with speedy, loud steps that Natsu headed in the direction of the Headmaster's office. Anger was boiling down but the bitterness remained. He loved his aniki but he would not let him take control of his life. Anything Seshomaru planned that included Natsu should be run through him first—no exceptions.

The condensed magic lay cold against his chest, the chill permeating through the shirt he had under his robes. It was with mumbled words that he told the gargoyle the password and a bent head as he jogged up the moving spiral staircase, allowing him to be at Dumbldore's door in an instant. Mahogany doors opened for him before his knuckles touched them and the Headmaster sat behind his desk with a wide smile beneath his snowy beard.

"Hello there, Natsu," he started. "Thank you for coming." Natsu nodded and sat the chair across from the desk but rejected the lemon drop offered to him. Popping it in his own mouth, Dumbledore gave another bright smile, "I have an excellent idea as to where Harry Potter has disappeared to this year."

Natsu blinked a little stupidly; mind still somewhat wrapped around his argument with Seshomaru, "What, sir?"

"Well, Miss Higurashi came to me to ask if there were any tutors she could learn with and that gave me the most brilliant plan. Harry Potter, after a most harassing year at Hogwarts, has decided to take on a private tutor. Now, most tutors are signed up with the ministry of their country but not all are. My nephew, Marcus, was a tutor for 30 years and chose to remain off the list. He's settled down and currently doesn't have a student to teach. Harry Potter, not wanting anything more to do with the Ministry, has hired Marcus Dumbledore and will not be returning to Hogwarts this year."

With this swirling in his head, Natsu contemplated the idea. It would make sense: maltreated by a ministry placed teacher, slandered by the ministry run Prophet, abused by his peers, why would anyone stand for this. 'Why have I sat back and taken this every year?' he wondered. Looking to Dumbledore he smiled, fangs glinting in the firelight, and said, "Harry Potter has officially quit Hogwarts so as to pursue private tutelage."

Natsu did not return to his rooms but took a walk down to the lake. Darkness had long since descended and the moon was nearly full, shimmering ethereally in the thick night time sky. It was a bit chilly for the end of the summer but he wrapped his tail around himself to keep warm. Watching the Giant Squid lift its tentacle from the water and curl in the air, Natsu took the time to think.

He knew Seshomaru was looking out for him—he really did! But freedom was something Natsu had always had to fight for, and that the battle would continue with his brother somehow hurt. He was not a push over, nor was he going to simply roll over. Seshomaru was going to have to realize that Natsu wasn't the baby he knew so long ago.

It wasn't really the training that bothered Natsu though. He couldn't wait to see what this beast form was, and kendo really was important. Nevertheless, having potions thrown into the mix and school starting again was just havoc. It would be reckless to take on so many projects at once, especially with kendo being so tiring still. A beast transformation would be best left for another time.

A breeze ruffled his hair and the cold finally penetrated his lukewarm bubble and he rose to his feet. He would be expected back by now, though he guessed he'd only left the Headmaster's office a half hour ago, and Seshomaru might take it into his head to look for him.

Once passed the entrance to their chambers, Natsu looked around for his brother only to find that he was not in the sitting area, however, a light slivered out through the cracks of his door. Deciding it best not to disturb him, he climbed the stairs and stalked into the bathroom to prepare for bed.

As he climbed under the covers and turned off his light, he made himself comfortable on his pillow and drifted off, the orb still hanging around his neck and humming with warmth against him.

"Dice the orchid stem for me."

"Alright-"

"No, no no! What are you doing, you imbecile! I said dice, not mutilate!"

"I'm not mutilating anything!"

Natsu was very much prepared to through the knife, clenched tightly in his fist, to the stone floor if only to frustrate his ex-Potions professor. The git had no reason, in Natsu's mind, to be so picky!

"To dice is to cute finely, Mister Janfrer, not hacking the ingredients to your heart's content. Stir the potion clockwise for me while I attempt to salvage your pitiful massacre of innocent orchid."

The two swapped places and Natsu began to stir the lemon colored potion. It was thick and his arms quickly weakened and he wondered how Snape did it. Peeking through the corners of his eyes, he watched in amazement as his—mentor?—diced the stem with ease and speed. Natsu compared it to the way the chefs on the telly prepared their vegetables. Snape scooped up the orchid stem and gently slipped it into the potion. He shooed Natsu away and returned to his stirring.

"I'll put it to simmer and we'll prepare to store it in an hour. Go clean yourself up, I'll be there in a minute."

Natsu, gratefully, left the lab and headed straight to the sinks in a room just off to the left. He had questioned whether they were actually sinks when he'd first seen them; they were large enough for him to lay quite comfortably in. Washing his hands thoroughly, he scrubbed his face and hair to remove any reside from the potion's fumes. Snape joined him and the cleaned in silence, turning off the water when they finished and Snape cast a drying charm on them both.

It was the night before the start of the school year and Natsu had yet to encounter Remus or make up with his brother. They hadn't crossed paths during breakfast and Natsu had remained in their common room until lunch. It appeared Seshomaru was giving him a wide berth until Natsu sorted whatever he needed to out in his head.

Snape had informed him he would be dining with him in his chambers that night as the potion they were making—a healing salve to treat magically induced boils and rashes—would take up most of the evening. So, as they walked into the Potion Master's office, Snape snapped his fingers twice and a hous elf popped into the room. "What can Gilly be doings for masters?" Natsu couldn't look the elf in it's great twinkling grey eyes; it was too sad with it's grummy pillow case. Snape, however, had no such problem and ordered imperiously," Bring us up two sandwiches and some tea, Gilly. That will be all."

"Yes Master Snape, sir! Gilly will be bringing it up in just a moment." Just as quickly as Gilly came, Gilly left, only for a large tray to appear on the desk. Sitting themselves down, Snape noticed the grimace on his student's face. "What is it, Mister Janfrer, that has you expressing such a distasteful visage?" Reaching for a sandwich—ham and swiss, he believed—Natsu stalled for a moment before asked, "What do you do when you when you're angry at someone when you know that the only reason they did what they did was to protect you?"

Snape watched him through limp black hair that had fallen out of the band that kept it back, black eyes unfeeling. "I assume that you are referring to either your older brother or Mister Lupin?" At Natsu flushed nod he continued, " If you already know their reasoning and accept it then there are only two option; Forgive them or hold a grudge." The young dog demon snorted and Snape raised an elegant brow.

"I don't see any reason for you to continue to blame either man for whatever has been done—though I have not been informed exactly what the conflict is—and it seems that the best move would be to forgive them. What have they done to spur your anger?"

Taking a sip of his tea, Natsu grumbled, "Seshomaru been a bit of a control freak. I know he wants to protect me but he keep doing throwing all of these goals on me and expects me to just sit back and take them all on." His eye narrowed at the liquid that swirled in his cup before closing them with a sigh. "I've already forgiven him but I haven't gotten the chance to talk to him more about it. He's giving me space." The last bit was growled out with a scrunched nose.

Snape smirked pleasantly—if one can smirk and pleasant at the same time—and replied, "this is just a small disagreement, you'll most likely work it out between tonight and tomorrow morning." The cold eyes stared straight into his own. "I'm more concerned about Lupin. I'd have thought you'd be smitten with the idea of being able to be yourself around him. Weren't you two fine at the end of last year?"

"I dunno," Natsu muttered. "I..I just can't help but be angry at him. He held me back at the ministry." Natsu bit his lip. " Every time I see him I think that if he hadn't held me back I could have…could have stopped Sirius from falling through.." He felt his eyes getting wet and quickly focused on drinking his tea, hoping it would loosen the lump in his throat. " I know it's not logical but…it just hurts. For all I know, he blames me too." Snape rubbed his chin, fingering his sandwich—was that raw steak he saw soaking the bread?—and seemed to consider his next few words carefully. "I believe," he started, "that you need to confer with Lupin. He should be released the hospital wing in the morning-"

"What!" Natsu started, worry coursing through him. "What's he doing there?" Another have-you-been-practicing-or-are-you-just-naturally-that-stupid look from Snape sent his mind reeling. Hospital wing…Remus…Werewolf… "The full moon!" Natsu groaned in guilt. Perhaps that was why he been so irritated with the man lately. Could his…issues…with Remus have been a purely canine reaction? It wouldn't surprise him from what Seshomaru had once mentioned about territories and dominance controversies that often broke out between the canine species. The full moon was so close that it probably brought out more of the wolf in Remus, in turn aggravating his instincts.

"I think I get everything, sir." What was about to happen next would undoubtedly come back to haunt him but he went on to mutter a soft, "thank you, sir." He buried himself in his sandwich once more. Over the table Snape did the same with a wide grin that revealed his lethal looking fangs, stained a bloody red from—well—blood.

Finishing their dinner, the two returned to the Potion Lab. Snape pulled out his wand only to think a moment and return it to his pocket. "I suppose you'll need to know how to do this by hand." A wave of misery passed over Natsu but he shook it off. Using magic was no longer an option for him. Snape pulled on a pair of dragon hide gloves ("Heat resistant, never go for anything lower than grade three or you will burn yourself faster than you can bite your tongue.") and grabbed onto the rim of the cauldron. The potion had gotten even thicker in the hour that they had spent away and was now resembled a tub of wax rather than the toothpaste it had been before. He cautiously poured it out on the wooden table that had been used to dice the orchid stem earlier and returned the cauldron to the table it had simmered on.

The next half-hour was spent learning to fill each glass jar to the proper amount so that it wouldn't end up half full from shrinking because of the cooler temperature. "We can't just leave it in the cauldron," Snape explained, "because it would develop the hardness of a diamond from the remaining heat from the cauldron. Like when fixing a meal, it would continue to 'cook' even after removed from the stove or oven. As you won't be able to use any magic at all, you can't simply place a cooling or neutralizing charm on the cauldron so you'll need to remove the salve completely and allow it to cool naturally. Of course, you'll find it quite difficult to use in this state." He gestured to one of the jars that had been filled already. The salve had already shrunken and turned to a solid candle like wax.

"We keep it in such a state to preserve it," Snape continued, rolling up another batch to fill the next jar. "When you want to use it you'll need to heat it up again." Bringing the jar to the burner on the other table he began a demonstration. "See how the salve melts and seems to create more again? It's actually reverted back to it's state before simmering. If you wanted, you could skip the simmering but you would have to deal with a greater mess while storing it and there would always be the worry of spilling it as you can't put a lid on it. If you did it would rot. It needs exposure to the air when kept over the long term." Natsu nodded, feeling more than a bit over whelmed. He would take a day or so stew over all this information.

After finishing, they returned to the potion's classroom where Natsu asked, "What should I do for the school year? I know you'll be busy grading and teaching so when should I come?"

"I expect for you to be in this classroom a minimum of two periods every day, Mister Janfrer," Snape replied with a sniff. "I don't really care about what you do with the rest of your time so long as you aren't in my way or causing trouble." Natsu gave him a small smile and bid him good night before leaving the room and turning to the left, intending to return to his chambers to sleep the rest of the night away.

He did not expect an exhausted Remus Lupin to be waiting for him just outside the door.