Hey how are we all out there in fanfic land??? Lol Ok well thanks a mil for the class reviews dolls and fellas!! There is one thing that I want to clear up though. Moody is NOT an impostor. All the characters are for real. There is a slight twist at the end but it does NOT involve polyjuice potion. If YOU want to know who put Harrys name into the goblet of fire you are just going to have to stay tuned but it was NOT Moody!!!!!!! Ok now that's said and done...hope you will enjoy this chapter.

"Wow wow wow hang on a second Harry...Snape offered to help you? Or at least keep an eye out for you? Why would he do that? He hates your guts mate!"

"Yeah, I was just as confused Ron but maybe my talk with him and the others really did help him see me as Harry and not James."

"All the same Harry...I would watch yourself. Snape doesn't do nice unless you are a Slytherin."

"Dean even agrees with me Harry!" Harry just rolled his eyes. He was sitting on the arm chair next to the fire. Ron was standing in front of him but moved to the couch next to Hermione as Dean sat on the arm.

"Well what do you think Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I don't know Harry. It does seem rather peculiar that Snape would suddenly start being amiable towards you. But perhaps you are right. Maybe he really has changed..." She smiled quizzically at him. He returned a broad smile. Their friends picked up on it but before they could leave Hermione stood up and said...

"I think I might head to bed. I suppose that I will see you in the morning then..."

She looked around at all three who nodded. She then smiled and left.

The next morning Harry went down for breakfast with his friends. As they approached the great hall the marauders were coming out. Upon seeing Harry the requested a quiet word with him. Harry told his friends that he would see them in there as he followed the marauders down to Remus room.

"So what is this we hear about you being all palsy walsy with Snivelus then Prongslet?" Sirius asked as they piled into the classroom single file.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Padfoot." Harry replied innocently.

Sirius eyed him curiously as he took a seat on one of the desks near the top of the room.

"Harry whatever Snape has told you...he was partly to blame alright? So don't you go feeling sorry for him."

"Dad...I...why do hate him so much? How did all this start actually? I mean if I am supposed to hate him then you could at least give me a good reason to."

Harry exclaimed as he folded his arms and stared at James and Sirius in turn. Remus was descending the stairs from his office looking through some notes when Sirius turned around and called out...

"Remus help us out here mate. Prongslet reckons that Snivelus has good intentions towards him..."

"Well maybe he has Sirius. I have never had any difficulty working with him aside from the fact that the three of us are all friends..."

"Oh don't tell me you feel sorry for the sap too!" Sirius exclaimed as he hopped off the desk and faced his friend.

"Harry is old enough to decide certain things for himself Sirius...besides I am going to be here..."

"Sirius what about the truce you made?"

"Yes, a truce to be civil Harry...not to be his best bloody friend!"

Harry rolled his eyes as he said...

"Look alright...fine...I don't know why Snape offered to look out for me but I am prepared to reserve judgement for now. He said last night that he was prepared to let old grudges go so long as ye were..."

"Oh yes that is what they all say Harry but this year things are different. The devils are inside the walls. Igor Karkaroff was a notorious death eater and nobody Harry stops being a death eater! I dont care how much Dumbledore trusts Snape. I don't and I never will."

"What about Reg? You trust him don't you? He was a death eater..."

"That is different Harry!" Sirius barked.

"How because he is family? Just cut him some slack Sirius ok? Now if you are done I am going to get some breakfast. See you all around I am sure."

On Harry's way back to the great hall he ran into Karkaroff who was coming out of the great hall. Harry simply rolled his eyes as Karkaroff offered him a menacing smile. Nevertheless Harry continued to enter the great hall but Karkaroff stopped him, placing a hand up against the door frame. Harry looked at him perplexed as Karkaroff continued to glare at him. Eventually he spoke.

"So….Dumbledore's little golden boy has entered the tri-wizard tournament."

Harry ignored him as he turned his head in the direction he came from.

"Do you really think that you stand a chance against Krum?" He laughed a little before he continued….. "You really must be desperate to play with the big boys Potter. Tell me, what do you want?"

Harry looked at him as he said in a defiant, fearless voice…..

"Well right now I would like to get some breakfast so if you will excuse me…"

He went to get past him but Karkaroff stopped him by placing his other hand against the door frame. Up at the staff table Mc Gonagall ushered Snape to go down there and see what was going on. Snape obliged. He hurried down to the door. As he reached it he tapped Karkaroff on the shoulder. Karkaroff turned around as Snape asked quizzically.

"What exactly is the meaning of this Karkaroff?"

"I just wished to talk to the youngest contestant Severus. Surely there is no harm in that." He replied with a smug smirk. Snape looked at Harry who was standing behind Karkaroff. Harry raised an eye brow at Snape who turned back to Igor and said…

"Potter has lessons which commence in ten minutes. To the best of my knowledge he has not had any breakfast so perhaps it would be fruitful for you to have a chat with him later."

"But of course Severus….." He bowed a little as he exited the great hall, glaring once at Harry who eyed him suspiciously. After he was out of ear shot Snape turned to Harry and asked in a low voice.

"What exactly did he say to you Potter?"

"Oh….not much really sir. He just wanted to know if "Dumbledore's golden boy" thought he had what it took to take on Krum."

Snape nodded as he said in a grave voice…..

"Be careful with him Harry. He isn't out of Azkaban all that long. As far as I am concerned he has never done much to prove to me personally that he has reformed. You know that he was a death eater don't you?"

"Yes. Sirius mentioned that to me earlier. He believes that he can't be trusted either."

"Right…..well just don't ever find yourself alone with him." Harry nodded.

"You had best get some breakfast before it's cleared away….." Snape began to walk away but Harry called out to him.

"Sir it's almost nine O'clock….I don't have time…."

Snape walked back as he said in the same tone he had spoken to him in….

"Take your time. Potions are first so I will allow you to be a few minutes late. Just make sure you turn up."

Harry smirked and said "Thank you Sir."

Snape nodded as he quickly walked away to the top of the room again.

At 9:10 Harry found himself outside the dungeons. He sighed once as he walked in hoping that the Snape he had spoken to last night and this morning wasn't an impostor. He pulled down on the handle as he cagily walked inside. Snape was at the top of the room writing ingredients for a potion up on the board.

"Well it's nice of you to join us Potter!" Draco bellowed which did him no favours. Everyone turned around and started chattering amongst themselves.

Snape swept down from where he was, banged his hand down on Draco and Crabbes desk as he ushered in a fierce voice, glaring at Draco….."Silence!"

Draco gazed at him perplexed as Snape stood erect and said….

"Take your seat as quickly as possible Potter. I want to see this sleeping draught on my desk in forty minutes."

Harry nodded as Snape swept back to the board. Harry took a seat next to Ron as Draco continued to eye him suspiciously.

"Snape really has changed….towards you at least Harry." Ron muttered to his friend who was in the process of taking down the list from the board. He turned to Ron saying…"Yeah, it's so weird though. I never thought I would see the day. Sirius still doesn't trust him though."

"What about James and Remus?" Ron asked.

Harry jolted his head as he said…."Remus is pretty cool. He doubts that it's all an act. My dad is just curious to see where this can lead but Sirius…..there is not a snowballs chance in hell that is going to wager that easily." They both laughed a little before getting started on the potion.

After potions there came Harry's favourite class and Gryffindors favourite teacher….

Defence against the dark arts with Remus. Snape was highly impressed with how Harry had progressed from last year and even awarded him by giving Gryffindor five points. This of course was much to Slytherins disgust. As they all filed in to Remus classroom, Draco took it upon himself to have it out with Harry. Harry shared a desk with Hermione in the middle of the second row from the front; Draco sat on the left with Goyle whilst Ron and Neville sat on the right. They were all chattering amongst themselves waiting for Remus to arrive down from the office.

"So Potter….what exactly did daddy do to Professor Snape to make him treat you the way he is then?" Harry turned to face Draco as he said….

"What the hell are you on about? My dad has got nothing to do with it…."

"Oh really?" Draco asked with a sly smirk. "He and that blood traitor Godfather of yours seem to hovering around the school a hell of a lot since the term began. You expect me to…." Harry stood up and approached his desk as he shouted….

"Don't you EVER refer to Sirius like that again, Malfoy!"

"Or what? What are you going to do Potter?" He asked cynically still remaining in his seat. Harry then turned away to go back to his desk as Draco and his fellow Slytherins laughed….."I knew that he didn't have the bottle. Just like his father…."

Harry turned back just as Remus was descending the stairs and punched Draco in the face. He fell of his seat with a ferocious thud as everyone gasped or laughed; depending on which house they were in. Goyle helped him up as Malfoy wiped away the blood that was pumping down his face. Remus immediately ran over to him.

"Draco…..you had best go and see Madam Pompfrey…."

"You need to put a leash on that!" He bellowed at Harry as he stood at his desk. Harry made another attempt to lunge at him but Remus threw one arm around his chest to prevent him from doing so.

"See…." Malfoy pointed as he and Goyle left for the hospital wing.

Remus released Harry as they faced each other. Remus stared at him for an explanation so Harry eventually said….

"He was insulting dad and Sirius….." Remus rolled his eyes as he headed up to his desk. Harry shouted after him……"What did you expect me to do?"

"I expect you take your seat. Now sit and I will speak to you after class."

Harry sighed as he obeyed. Hermione glared at him but Harry shook his head.

"Oh you are as bad as Remus…."

"I can't believe you fell for it again……" Harry stated at her irritably.

"Alright well…..welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a good summer break but unfortunately we have to get back to work now. However, I would like to congratulate you all on your remarkable exams. I didn't expect some of you to do so well but…..you managed to prove me wrong." There was light chuckling before Hermione raised her hand and asked…..

"Excuse me Professor Lupin but I have one question for you."

"Are you sure it's just the one?" Ron asked.

"She smiled cynically at him as a few more including Remus laughed lightly.

"Well what is it Hermione?"

"Well…..since next year we will be faced with the owls…..I was just wondering if we will be doing some practical magic this year or will that be reserved for next year?"

"Oh Hermione…..cant we just get through this year first?" Dean asked from behind.

Harry and others laughed as Harry said…."You know what she is like."

"Harry….well now that is an interesting question Hermione. What I was thinking though was that maybe we could reserve one lesson a week for practical magic and the rest of the week perhaps we could focus on the theory. What do you all think of that?"

"Oh yeah….wow…..cool….." This was heard throughout the room.

"Yes that would be brilliant Professor Lupin." Hermione replied politely.

Remus smiled warmly at her as he said….

"Well good. I am glad you like it Hermione."

Harry who was doodling on the cover of his book with his quill caught Remus attention.

"Is that alright with you then Harry?" He asked turning a page in his own book.

Harry shrugged as he said….."Yeah…..you are the teacher after all…..Professor."

He smiled cynically at Remus who smirked against his better judgement.

"I wonder how Malfoy is." Seamus exclaimed jovially which earned him scowls from the Slytherins and laughter from the Gryffindors.

"Well after Harry socked him senseless…." Dean said humorously. Harry and Ron smiled at them and each other as Hermione just shook her head.

"Okay now that is enough. I want you all to please open your books to page 24 where we learn how to disarm our opponent safely."

After class Harry remained behind as Remus asked him to. Harry stayed in his seat as Remus sat on the desk in front of him and said…..

"Harry I would have thought that we were past all this nonsense."

"Remus, Malfoy was insulting my dad and Sirius. What did you expect me to do?"

"I expected you to ignore him and have the sense to realise when someone is looking for retaliation. You broke his nose Harry for goodness sake…." Remus looked out the window as he placed a hand under his chin. Harry who had his head bowed tapped his fingers lightly on the desk as he muttered…. "He deserved it."

"No Harry he did not!" He got off the desk, walked up towards his with his hands running through his hair. He let out a loud sigh as he turned around and walked back to Harry and asked…."When are you going to get it? After everything we have been through…….

"Okay….I am sorry Remus….." Harry replied meekly.

"Sorry is not going to cut it this time Harry. Do you not know who Dracos father is?"

"Yes…."

"Well then you should know that he can make life very unpleasant not just for you but for all of us….."

"Remus he is hardly going to get me chucked into Azkaban….."

Remus slammed his hands down on either side of the desk as he said sternly…

"Lucius Malfoy is NOT someone that you want to mess with Harry!"

"Why are you angry with me Remus?" Harry asked perplexed.

Remus stood erect as he said…..

"I don't want to be Harry but I don't think that you realise the seriousness of all this. There are order members here……Malfoy is a death eater…..do you see where I am going with this?" Harry shook his head so Remus breathed in deeply as he bent down in front of him.

"Ok. I am sorry Harry for shouting. It's just that….I am disappointed that you gave Draco the satisfaction of getting his father fired up. Dumbledore has enough on his mind without having Lucius Malfoy throwing his weight around here and making life unpleasant…..the less outside hassle we have this year Harry, the better."

"Ok. I am sorry Remus." Harry said sincerely.

"Yeah. I know you are Harry. What's done is done. Let's just hope that nothing comes of this. Anyway…..how has your morning been so far?" He asked smiling warmly at him as he walked up to his desk and began to clear it.

"It's been really good actually. Snape is being…..nice."

"So he is still at that then?" Remus asked smirking. Harry half laughed as he rose from his desk and said….

"Yeah. Karkaroff was interrogating me….banging on about how I was Dumbledore's golden boy but wasn't good enough to defeat Krum and Snape….defended me. He even allowed me to be a few minutes late for his class so I could get some breakfast."

"Did he now? Well that's…..great Harry."

"I get the impression that you don't trust him though Remus."

"Well it's like I said earlier Harry…..I have had no issues working with him. We aren't friends as you can imagine but…..he is an ambiguous character to sketch. I even found it difficult to come to a conclusion about him at school even though James and Sirius despised him from day one. Lily though had great time for him. I even think that on some level…..they could be called friends but they never socialised. They did study together on occasion particularly if a potions exam was coming up."

"Why did my dad and Sirius hate him so much? I mean there were loads of Slytherins there that they could pick on…..why Snape?"

Remus eyed him curiously. A slight smirk passed his lips as he said…..

"Up to a month ago you were the same as them Harry. I even recall you being sent to see Dumbledore by him last year for calling him all sorts in class. Why are you suddenly so keen to be his best friend?" Remus sat back down on the desk he had previously occupied as Harry did the same opposite him.

"I just see that he is trying to make an effort to treat me fairly for whatever reason and I want to give him a chance. Sirius won't relent though. Did Snape do something unforgivable to him at school or something? I mean he forgave Regulus so why not Snape?"

"Snape is not his brother Harry. Nothing happened at school between them that can't be resolved. However, Sirius is stubborn. He refuses to believe that people have changed, particularly when they were death eaters. He didn't forgive Regulus so easily if you remember?"

"Yeah, Vertiserium did that….."

"Exactly. Sirius idolises you Harry. He isn't so quick to letting just anyone walk into your life. Snape was a death eater. To some he still is but to many he is not."

"What do you think Remus?" Remus thought about that for a few seconds and said…

"I don't think he is but then again I wasn't brought up to become one myself. Sirius was so you ask him to cut Snape some slack? Maybe you should cut Sirius some slack Harry. Yes, he quite possibly does still hold a grudge against him from his Hogwarts days but he is only thinking of you. You know how protective he is of you. As I said before he didn't want to accept that Reg had changed until he took Vertiserium. All that was for your sake. He wasn't going to have a death eater living under the same roof as you. Give him some space and he will come around once he sees that Snapes intentions are honourable. Anyway….you had best get to your next class. You have transfiguration in ten minutes don't you?"

"Have we been talking that long? I'll see you later Remus." Harry ran out of the room in the direction of Mc Gonagalls class. Remus laughed as he said….

"Take care Harry." He then headed up to his office to prepare for his first years in the afternoon.

So…..what did we think:)