Severus Snape was in immediate danger of losing his title of Professor With the Most Impressively Billowing Robes.
Anyone watching Professor Black, as he strode determinedly down the corridors of the castle, would have had the good sense to stay far clear of the man. His normally dancing gray eyes were scarily stormy and the way his jaw was set in fierce concentration would have frightened even Voldemort himself. Sirius didn't notice the students that scurried out of his way as he thundered by them. Professor Black's midnight blue robes swirled behind him menacingly, giving one the impression of him flying across the ground as opposed to striding. He had one target on his mind at the moment, and it was the great greasy bat that haunted the dungeons.
Earlier that morning, Sirius had anxiously searched the Great Hall at breakfast to get a good look at his godson. He didn't want to hover over the boy like a coddling nanny goat, but he was worried about what had happened during Harry's detention with Snape the night before. To his immense relief, he saw his beloved boy sitting at the Gryffindor table with Ron and Hermione, laughing good naturedly at something that one of them had said.
He had a plump sausage speared onto his fork and was taking large bites of it between snickers with great gusto. Catching his godfather staring at him, he grinned and made his usual big production of downing his vitamins, a routine that had become a source of morning humor between them. Relaxing significantly, Sirius winked at him and returned to his own breakfast. Whatever had happened last night in the dungeons, it didn't appear to be upsetting the child.
It wasn't until Sirius had approached Harry after the meal to inquire about the details of the detention that his blood had begun to boil. In all honesty, he had briefly considered the possibility that it was a ploy to explain Harry meeting with Severus for the resuming of the lessons. However, just as quickly as he had thought it, he had dismissed it as implausible.
Although he had certainly discussed Harry's continuing education in Occlumency upon his return to Hogwarts with Snape and the headmaster, no details had been finalized yet, and Sirius had been left under the distinct impression by Albus and by Snape himself, that the lessons would not resume until they had all met and agreed upon a course of action. Sirius, of course, fully expected to be consulted on any plans made. He was determined to be close by while they took place as he had during the summer.
To find out that Snape had acted of his own accord, without any regard to Sirius' parental rights, infuriated the godfather and he was determined to express his displeasure to the obnoxious git and leave him in no doubt of what the consequences would be should he try anything like this again.
Harry had seen the fury in his godfather's eyes spark almost immediately after he explained about the true nature of his detention. Panicking, he had pleaded with Sirius to let it be. After all, nothing bad had happened during the lesson other than him receiving a rather stern scolding for letting his studies lapse. It had been readily apparant that Harry had not been practicing since his return to school and Snape had verbally expressed his displeasure for several minutes before continuing the exercises. Although Harry had blushed with embarrassment from the severity of the rebuke, he knew that his professor was right and he had offered a sincere apology as well as a promise to not ignore his responsibilities again. Snape nodded curtly and the rest of the evening went as productively as his lessons had before during the summer.
"Sirius, do you have to say anything to him about it?" Harry begged, knowing his godfather's temper. "Nothing bad happened. He was really quite decent about the whole thing. He even gave me full marks for the potion."
Sirius frowned, his anger far from abated. Gritting his teeth he looked down at his godson's anxious face. "Yes, Harry. I do have to say something to him. He was out of line doing anything like that with you without my consent. We were supposed to have an understanding about these things and he just threw it in my face."
Harry's eyes pleaded with his godfather to change his mind. Softening, Sirius reached down and cupped the side of his face. "I won't have you treated like a pawn in a game of wizard's chess. Severus and I will most likely never see eye to eye and I won't have him using you to try and get the upper hand in our personal affairs. As your guardian, it is my duty to make sure that no one takes advantage of you. Do you understand that?"
Harry nodded sullenly, casting his eyes down to the floor. He did understand Sirius' need to feel protective of him, but he didn't want anyone fighting over him. Seeing his godson so upset after he had been happily grinning at the breakfast table, Sirius felt almost sick with the guilt. However, his paternal stance kicked in and he convinced himself that confronting Snape over his blatant deviousness would be in Harry's greater good. He firmly believed that giving Snape an inch would encourage the man to take a mile and, when it came to Harry's well being, that was just not on.
Sirius gave Harry a quick squeeze and hurried him off to his morning class, telling him not to worry. He watched his godson trudge off to his lesson, significantly less cheerful than he had been. The sight revved Sirius' ire back up a few notches and he resolutely turned in the direction of the dungeons.
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It was fortunate that neither Sirius nor Snape had classes first thing that morning. In the mood he was in, Sirius would have had no compunction about bursting into the Potions classroom and storming down the aisle with his wand raised in front of whatever students were there.
Which is exactly what he did in the almost empty room.
Only Severus was present, sitting at his desk preparing for his late morning lesson. He didn't even look up from his notes as Sirius pounded across the floor in a fury. He had been expecting this.
"Do come in, Black. No need to knock or anything," the Potions Master sneered as he kept his attention on the parchment in front of him. "We don't need a little thing like basic common courtesy to get in the way."
Sirius seethed as he desperately fought to keep himself from ripping Snape's throat out. He had promised Harry that he would not hurt the man, after all.
Snape let out a small snort as he perceived Sirius trying to calm himself. "I take it you spoke with Mr. Potter about our little get together last night?"
"You had absolutely no right, Snape!" Sirius thundered dangerously. "I was very clear about being consulted before these lessons resumed."
Severus let out a bored yawn as he kept the enraged godfather's wand hand in the periphery of his sight. "Honestly, Black. Must you watch over that boy's shoulder twenty four hours a day? As if you could even protect him as well as I could," he added with a lazy curl of his lip.
Severus Snape was a smart man and a talented wizard, but he wasn't perfect. In his arrogance during the exquisite taunting of one of his former tormentors, he made two large miscalculations in judgment.
The first one being, having never had a paternal bond with a child, he grossly underestimated just how colossal a mistake it was to make light of the single minded dedication that came with such a bond.
The second one being, when engaged in a school yard variety row, never forget any of your opponent's strengths.
In his overconfidence in the belief that he could take Sirius Black in a duel, he quite forgot about the fact that the man didn't need a wand to attack him.
Sirius, wide eyed with rage, didn't even consciously plan his attack. As Snape kept a sharp corner of his eye raptly trained on the other man's wand, he didn't even see the instantaneous shift from man to enraged beast until the massive black Goliath that was Padfoot hurtled through the air with amazing speed and beautifully horrific grace, the dark snarling demon shoving him viciously to the ground.
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Oblivious to the turmoil commencing in the dungeons, a lone wizard sat at his work.
The unnatural peace and calm of the man's mind should have disturbed him more than it did. On some small conscious level, he knew that the mental state he was currently in was cheap somehow, and inherently wrong. Unfortunately for him, the larger part of his muddled awareness was too focused on the task at hand to pay any attention to the small worried voice in the back of his brain that was screaming in protest.
Meticulously and methodically, he worked through the morning, heeding the sinisterly whispered instructions that broke through the filters of his mind. He obeyed them like a desperate servant, his willpower all but drained against the near constant onslaught of his senses. An even smaller part of his tortured intellectual state was praying fervently that he would be released from his mental bounds when he had successfully completed his assignment.
The talented man cast spell after spell in a near feverish state preparing the glowing blue object in front of him. Everything had to be perfect and the magical manipulations required were extensive and extremely sensitive. He struggled to take great pains to avoid detection. In his precarious position of employment, all would be lost if he was ever to be revealed. Even in his faux euphoric ecstasy, he could feel the impending doom of disaster and pain if he failed.
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Severus lay on his back, his breath coming in sharp jagged gasps as he struggled to breathe under the enormous weight of his attacker and regain his composure. It was a near Herculean feat. The assault of the beast Padfoot had resulted in the loss of Snape's wand which had been flung from his grasp and sent clattering across the stone floor. He closed his eyes and focused his mind away from the oppressive weight of the behemoth pressing down on his chest, the demon's head dangerously close to Snape's face, the hot, panting foul breath burning against his pale skin, the large swags of sticky mucous cascading from the growling muzzle and pooling onto his exposed neck. His mind whirled from the onslaught of nightmarish memories that poured forth into his mind.
Snape had gone too far provoking Black and he knew it.
Of course, Black didn't know about Snape's childhood fears. He would have had no idea about Tobias Snape's sadistically trained wolfhound that the bully of a father used to torture his son. For years before Severus was allowed to leave the miserable home life at Spinner's End for Hogwarts, he was constantly at the mercy of his father's brutish temper and liberal use of a four legged implement of torture. When Tobias wasn't beating his son himself, he allowed his faithful companion to have free reign in tormenting the boy.
Severus spent many nights sleeping in the dilapidated tool shed behind the ramshackle house, unable to leave because of the snarling guard keeping watch over the door. Laddie Boy had bitten the child on numerous occasions with his master's encouragement. As they were among the only times that Eileen showed real concern for her son's well being, Severus had almost found himself looking forward to the attacks. While his mother magically attended to his wounds, he could at least try to pretend that his mother loved him.
Sirius didn't know how the presence of his animagus form triggered the cold, placid former Death Eater's one true fear.
Against his will, Snape trembled slightly under the oppressive weight of the monstrous beast. Not even in the presence of Voldemort himself did the spy's blood ever run this cold. Unable to coherently defend himself, Snape just lay there with his back pressed against the cold stone, willing himself to ignore the panic. Lost in the feral rage of his animagus form, Padfoot's only conscious thought was the foul creature underneath his massive paws presenting a threat against his pup, Sirius was lost to the rest of his surroundings until he heard a familiar worried cry from the doorway of the dungeon.
"Sirius, no!"
The beast Padfoot did not release his prey, especially at the sound of his pup drawing closer to the threat of danger. Baring his massive teeth, he growled a warning to the pup to stay away.
Harry ran towards the commotion, undeterred by his godfather's vicious snarl. He wouldn't allow Sirius to be returned to prison for harming Snape. Approaching the man with the large black beast still crouching on top of his chest, Harry skidded to a halt next to them and reached out a small hand to tentatively stroke the coarse black fur in what he thought would be a soothing manner.
"Sirius. Please," he begged, hoping to snap his godfather out of his rage.
Padfoot regained enough of his senses to realize that his pup was upset. Sirius took the opportunity to regain control of the canine mind and pushed to the surface of consciousness. He regarded the fallen man underneath him with distaste and loathing, but his godson's worried green eyes were the more pressing matter to address. Reluctantly, he initiated the shift back into his human form.
Immediately, Harry grabbed his godfather's wand arm in concern. Keeping his stare trained fully on Snape, Sirius tried to push Harry behind himself in a protective stance. Seeing that Sirius was regaining control of his temper, Harry yanked himself from his godfather's grasp and moved forward, his hand outstretched to his professor still stunned on the ground. Ignoring the boy, Severus leapt to his feet, his coal black eyes seething. The two men glared at each other wordlessly, each trying to decide how to maximally neutralize the other.
Harry looked from the stormy gray to the hard black back and forth until his own emerald green raged.
"Enough!" the boy finally yelled, his worry gone, his patience at an end.
Stunned, the two men looked at the red faced boy who was panting furiously with impatience. Seeing that he had finally acquired both of their attentions, Harry squared his jaw and damned the consequences.
"Professor, Sirius is my guardian. You should have talked to him first. I appreciate your help, but I don't appreciate they way you are trying to bait my godfather," he stated firmly as he looked at Snape's surprised face. Turning to his godfather, he glared with a vehemence that he would normally never dare use. "Sirius, I love you, but I'm not your pawn either. It's hypocritical of you to accuse him of something that you seem to be doing yourself."
With that, he spun on his heel and stalked out of the classroom. Dumbfounded, the two men watched him go, neither one of them failing to notice, with a small measure of satisfaction, the inherent strength of the boy that was destined to be their saviour shining through. Returning their glares to each other, a cold and silent understanding seemed to pass between them. Without a word, Sirius turned and followed his godson's path out the door.
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Once his initial anger had died down, Harry was struck with terrible guilt for his words to his godfather and professor. He couldn't help himself at the time, though. He could see the glint in Sirius' eyes that morning that the matter was not going to be resolved amicably. It wasn't until he had already reached his Charms class and was sitting there unnerved that he belatedly remembered that Sirius had once before reacted on impulse. That time had resulted in twelve long years in Azkaban.
Panic stricken, he had grabbed his book bag and bolted out the door and fled, as quickly as his Quidditch toned frame would carry him, down to the dungeons. He was upset, but not surprised to see the scene going on inside the classroom.
Something had snapped inside of him. He was tired, so tired and irritated about the whole ongoing rivalry between Snape and the remainder of the Marauders. Sirius, although he had tried for Harry's sake during the summer, could barely contain his loathing for the potions master. Even kind hearted Remus, although extremely grateful for the potion that the headmaster had insisted on Snape providing every month, could show flashes of distaste for Snape when he didn't think that Harry was paying attention.
Not that he blamed his godfather and honorary uncle entirely. Harry himself knew what Snape could be like and he had not appreciated the man's deception either once he had learned the whole story from Sirius regarding the continuation of his Occulmency lessons. He was just really tired of being manipulated by everyone. After learning about the friction between the Marauders and Snape during their school years and realizing how much his own life had been impacted by events that had been beyond his control, Harry was just sick to death of being caught in the middle.
Seeing himself in immediate danger of losing his guardian once again to his fiery temper, Harry did what he thought he had had to do. Now he felt sick to his stomach over the harsh manner in which he had treated the men. Snape was doing him a great favor at great risk. Harry knew that above anyone else. The headmaster had explained the enormous chances that Snape was taking to help him. As for Sirius, he was nauseous over the way he had spoken to his beloved guardian. He had been rude and insolent and he wouldn't blame the man for giving him a good smack when he went up to the tower for dinner.
He dragged himself around for the rest of the day in a funk. Unfortunately, it was his day for Potions and Astronomy. Snape had barely even acknowledged his presence in the class. Proabably a good thing as Harry was still on edge and he didn't want to lose it in front of all the Gryffindors and the Slytherins. For once, he was grateful that Snape treated him coldly, all but ignoring his existence. He was surprised when the man did not tear into him in a vicious manner for any sort of perceived insolence.
As for Astronomy, Sirius wouldn't even look him in the eye during the lesson. Possibly because whenever he came close to Harry, Harry cast his eyes to the ground or looked away. When the lesson had ended, Harry had bolted for the door before Sirius could ask him to stay after. As he had over an hour before he was expected in Sirius' quarters for dinner, he didn't want to lose one precious moment of potential calming.
He had explained what had happened to Ron and Hermione after their late morning class. Thoughtful as always, Hermione had grabbed them all sandwiches from the Great Hall and they joined him walking around the lake to keep him from running into either man during a time when he would not be able to escape. Hermione had thoroughly voiced her approval for his actions. She even promised to give him extra help with the Charms lesson that he had run out on as well as to speak to Professor Flitwick so that Harry would not suffer any penalty for his disappearance. Flitwick was extremely fond of Hermione. She could make him hear reason. As for Ron, he didn't know what to say and settled for giving encouraging looks and occasionally patting Harry's shoulder in support.
He was extremely grateful to the both of them. Walking back to Gryffindor tower after Astronomy, they bookended him in the corridors in a comforting gesture of support and sat with him in the common room until he could no longer put off meeting his godfather. Sighing heavily, he trudged out of the portrait hole and made his way slowly back to the Astronomy tower.
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When he reached Sirius' quarters, he slipped in the door as silently as he could. He knew that he needed to apologize, but he didn't know how to do it. All Sirius had wanted to do was protect him. The idea of it warmed him inside, but he couldn't stand the way he felt constantly manipulated in the middle of the old feud. But, he knew that he had been out of line with what he had said. As much as he believed his own words to be true, he owed his godfather more respect than that.
Sirius was standing at the table mixing a salad in a large wooden bowl. He didn't acknowledge Harry as he entered the room. His focus was fixated on the bright greens and reds in front of him. Wordlessly, Harry pulled off his school robe and draped it on the sofa as usual. He observed his godfather warily as he slowly walked over to the table and slipped into his usual chair. He wanted to wait to see in what kind of tone Sirius greeted him before he said anything. That was usually the best judge of the man's mood.
Sirius continued to ignore him as he pulled a container of milk from his small refrigerator and filled Harry's glass. As Sirius fussed with plates and cutlery, Harry watched as every few minutes, he would rake his fingers through his hair in an agitated manner. While the minutes ticked by, Harry was becoming more and more unnerved. He had never seen his godfather this scarily quiet. He began to slowly nibble on his salad, seeing, out of the corner of his eye, Sirius fill two plates with pork chops and carrots and carry them back to the table. Keeping his eyes turned away from his godson's gaze, he sat down next to Harry and took a long drink from his wine glass. Harry couldn't take the silence anymore. Summoning up his courage, he decided to be the one to break the awkward silence.
"Sirius, I'm really sorry for the way I acted this morning," he whispered, his eyes downcast. "I didn't mean it."
Harry waited for a second for his godfather's response. He was at least expecting an irrate scolding or a disappointed lecture on his poor behavior. When he didn't get either, he raised his face up in confusion. Sirius was staring past him silently with the most indescribable look on his face. It kicked up his discomfort level a notch and the renewed sense of panic engulfed him. Obviously the man was much more angry than Harry had comprehended. Nervous now, he tried to stammer out another apology.
"I..I know that I was very disrespectful and I...really do apologize. I was completely out of line with what I said." Wearily, he hung his head let out a small sigh. "I'll accept whatever punishment you think I deserve and I won't complain. Just, please don't be mad at me."
Harry waited during a few more seconds of silence before he scrunched his eyes up in fear. "Please say something, Sirius. I really am sorry."
The next thing he knew, he felt his godfather's strong arms around him, the man's face pressed against the top of his head. Sirius had him in a fairly frantic embrace and Harry was thrown for a loop as to what was going on. Harry wasn't complaining. A hug was certainly better than the silent treatment he had been getting. He didn't start to worry until he felt his godfather start to shake.
"Sirius? Are you okay?" he asked in a voice laden with concern. Finally, he heard his godfather croak out a response.
"I almost failed you again today, little one," he said miserably. "If you hadn't come along when you did, I could have done something that would have ruined everything we have together."
Harry heard the real fear in the man's voice and he instinctively wrapped his arms around his godfather's waist.
"I almost let my emotions get the better of me again," Sirius continued brokenly. "I don't know how I let myself get to that point. How can you ever forgive me for almost ruining your life a second time?" Harry felt Sirius shudder and just gripped him tighter. Slowly he began to realize that Sirius had not been ignoring him out of anger at him, but out of loathing for himself. It gave him a deep pain in his stomach to finally see just how guilty his godfather had been feeling all day.
"You were right, Harry," he whispered throatily. "I wasn't treating you any better than Snape did. I tried to convince myself that it was because I was protecting you, but that wasn't the only reason I got so angry. I was mad because I could only see Snape going behind my back and I let myself fuel that anger and the results could have been devastating. I'm so very sorry. In the state I was in, I could have really hurt him and you would have ultimately paid the price if I had been put back in prison."
Harry didn't say anything. He just stood there and hugged his godfather as the man gripped him tightly and occasionally stroked the back of his head. He knew that his godfather was rattled beyond belief with how close he had come to making another impetuous decision that would have had catastrophic results. With his record, there was no way the Ministry would have ignored an attack on Snape if the man had actually been hurt and Harry would once again find himself at the mercy of the Dursleys. Sirius had told him himself that Remus would never be allowed to take custody of him. Prejudices ran deep at the Ministry.
Sirius held his most precious treasure as tightly as he could. It sickened him that he would now always find it necessary to protect Harry from his own impetuous actions as well. With his temper, thought long dormant but apparantly still readily available when provoked, he was just as much a danger to the boy's happiness and well being as anything else.
Their dinner long forgotten, they just embraced each other, the only sounds in the room were Sirius' repeated whispered promises to do better for his child in the future.
Harry believed him.