Harry was dragged for a game of chess with Ron while Hermione found a book she had been wanting to read for a while and sat down on an armchair next to them. It was just like being back in the Gryffindor common room. Luna sat chatting to Neville, who looked more than a little bemused by whatever the young Ravenclaw was talking about.
After having lost two games in a row, Harry let Neville take over. Luna joined him to watch the game but quickly got bored, pulled out a magazine and began reading it. Upside down. Harry decided not to comment on this and was soon distracted as he spotted Draco watching from a little further away.
"That was pathetic," the Slytherin announced as Harry made his way over.
"Yeah," Harry grinned ruefully. "I've never been good at chess. Strategy and pre-planning aren't my things."
"You are good at strategy. But apparently only when in a crisis," Draco smirked. "Come on. If we are to be friends, I simply cannot allow you to continue to be so abysmal at chess." He dragged Harry to another table and set up a game. While they played, Draco kept up a constant commentary, having had his mother silence the pieces, on what was going on and the different ways in which Harry could react. He even tried likening it to Quidditch, which did help somewhat.
It felt like forever before Draco decided that was enough teaching for one night. Harry's brain felt more like mush than it had after his potions lesson that morning.
"You do realise you're not going to be very popular in this book," Harry commented as they sat in their armchairs having just finished their game. "What with all your mud…er…mudblood comments." Draco winced.
"I know. Uncle Sev is going to murder me, let alone anyone else. He hates that word."
"He does?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yeah. No idea why, but he gets very angry if any of the Slytherins say it in his hearing. He says it's because using the word in public shows that Slytherin live down to the expectations of the other houses, but I know he's lying. At least partially, I just don't know why." Harry found that interesting, though he wasn't sure why, it just surprised him that Snape had such a specific dislike of that word. He wasn't muggleborn. Was he? But he was more focused on wondering if he should warn Draco that he and Ron had been in the Slytherin common room. And what they had heard him say. Not so much for Draco's sake, but Hermione didn't deserve to find out what he had said in the middle of the reading. He and Ron had never told her. Maybe he'd just let Hermione know. He and Draco might be tentatively friends now, but the other boy deserved all he got for wishing a classmate dead.
Mrs Weasley calling them for dinner broke him from his thoughts. He took a seat in between the twins at the table who regaled him with stories of pranks they'd played over the years.
Dinner was a rowdy affair and the professors had decided to take their own meals to a separate room.
"Do you have an idea who will replace you as the Head of Gryffindor, Minerva?" Pomona asked as they shut the door, silencing the noise of the children.
"Well, the only other Gryffindor currently on the staff is Septima. She is strict and fair. I think she will do an excellent job. Even better, she teaches an elective and so has fewer students to teach than one of the core classes."
"I wonder if it's possible to invite other people into this time bubble," Filius mused. "I feel Septima would do well to hear exactly what she will be getting herself into before she accepts the position," he added with a mischievous grin.
"Yes, I'm sure she will be thrilled to hear the Weasley twins aren't the students she will have to worry about the most," Pomona chuckled. Minerva pulled a face.
"They are on a day-to-day basis."
"You do recall what event Albus has foolishly allowed to be held at Hogwarts this coming school year?" Severus spoke up. "There is not a chance that Potter won't be right in the thick of it, be it through accident or design." Whether that design was Dumbledore's or the Dark Lord's, Severus was honestly not sure anymore. Those traps in Pot…Harry's first year had obviously been designed for Harry and his friends by the headmaster. Who was to say he wouldn't do the same again? The Triwizard Tournament would be the perfect thing to 'test' the 'saviour'. Or even if it was the Dark Lord's plan in the first place, Severus wouldn't put it past the headmaster to use the situation to his own advantage, no matter how it would affect Harry.
"Oh Merlin," Minerva groaned.
"Forewarned is forearmed?" Filius offered tentatively. "I have no doubt that Mr. Potter will certainly be in the thick of it in the future book, but we may be able to prevent that from happening once we know exactly what will happen." Minerva nodded a strained expression on her face.
"I can barely cope with the revelations of the books we've already lived through. The future ones may actually give me a heart attack," she complained.
"It wouldn't be quite so bad had Albus actually filled us in on what happened," Pomona pointed out with an uncomfortable frown. "Half the book has come as a complete surprise even if we have lived through it."
"More than half I'd dare say," Severus muttered bitterly. He was still furious with himself for allowing himself to be so blind and therefore inaccurate in his assessment of Potter. No to mention the headmaster's manipulations. He had been assured Harry was being taken care of. If he had known he'd been left with Tuna Fish of all people, well, Severus didn't honestly know what he would have done, but it wouldn't have been to simply sit by and watch the results.
"What do you think of the changes suggested so far?" Filius asked Severus.
"I'm unsure. Hearing about Pot…Harry's years at Hogwarts certainly bring certain things into question."
"Like your own blatant favouritism?" Minerva scowled.
"Because you're any better?" Severus snapped defensively. "Treating him like a hero one minute and a villain the next. I have been accusing of seeing him as James, not entirely incorrectly, but you are no better. Assuming he would trick fellow students out of bed for fun. Assuming he wanted to play Quidditch." He watched as Minerva bowed her head and it still didn't feel like he'd won. Severus fought back a groan.
He wondered if he shouldn't talk to the boy about his relationship with Lily. Severus couldn't think of anything he'd rather do less, but he knew the longer he left it, the more likely it was that Black would give his own account of their school years. Maybe he'd do it in one of their potion lessons, so there would be no audience except Andromeda who would keep her silence. And Longbottom, but the boy was unlikely to talk if Harry asked him not to.
I wonder how much we are going to find out about what truly happened that year?" Pomona wondered, changing the topics.
"More than you will ever want to," Minerva told her grimly. "I heard most of it from Mr. Potter's own mouth and I swear I nearly turned fully grey. And I have no doubts at all that he missed out rather a lot of facts that he didn't deem important enough to mention."
"I'm certain you know a darn slight more than we do," Filius murmured. Minerva couldn't deny that. She wasn't sure what Albus had told the other members of staff as she had been busy dealing with the school board at the time.
Once they had finished eating, they all broke up to go about their own ways for the evening. Severus retired to his rooms for brewing, it helped him to clear his mind. Minerva sat in the main sitting room, keeping an eye on all those who remained. Much to her delight and her suspicion, the Weasley twins were not present. Filius and Pomona both retired to their own rooms to think and spend some time alone.
Harry had just finished his second helping of treacle tart when a shadow fell over him indicating someone was standing behind him. Glancing around he saw Moody staring down at him with both eyes.
"Come with me, Potter," he instructed.
"Er…"
"Come on." Moody stomped away and Harry swore he could hear a strange clunking noise. Unsure what the strange man could want with him, he tentatively glanced around for Sirius. His godfather looked surprised but gave him an encouraging nod.
"Moody won't hurt you. I'll be in our rooms when you're done. I should speak with Remus." Harry nodded. He hurried after the retreating auror who led him into a large room full of training dummies and various other devices that he had never seen before.
"How many offensive spells do you know?" Moody grunted.
"Er…" Harry frowned, surprised by the question. "Well, I know Expelliarmus, petrificus totalus, and….um…rictusempra."
"That's it? I know your teachers have been shoddy, but I'd have thought Lupin would have taught you better."
"Professor Lupin mostly focused on dark creatures like Boggarts, Hinkypunks, Redcaps and others," Harry explained, wanting to defend Remus.
"Look, Potter, I don't agree with Albus, testing children, preparing them to fight Dark Lords at age eleven. However, Voldemort won't stop coming after you and you're not going to defeat with expelliarmus. It's a good spell to know, but you're going to need a lot stronger if you are going to survive taking on Death Eaters."
"But isn't that what the lessons we're having each morning are for?"
"That's to get you the education you should have already had. I'm going to be teaching you to survive. If you want. I'll warn you now, it won't be easy. I won't be gentle. You'll get no mollycoddling from me, but I guarantee you'll have a much better chance of surviving." Harry didn't even have to think about his answer.
"Brilliant!"
"Stupefy!" Moody grunted. Harry flung himself to the side to avoid the jet of red light. "Always expect an attack." Harry fished out his own wand and dived out of the way of another jet of light, this one a sickly purple.
"Expelliarmus!" He yelled as he took cover behind a training dummy.
"You need to work on your accuracy. Death eaters won't stand still waiting for you to hit 'em," Moody told him. "Conjunctus! Bombarda! Impedimenta!" The three curses came in quick succession. The second one caused the dummy he was hiding behind to explode, covering him in shrapnel and as he twisted out of the way, he felt the third spell come close enough to ruffle his hair. He'd barely raised his wand to cast another spell when he felt something hit him and everything went black.
"You've got some decent reflexes on you," Moody said from above him as Harry regained consciousness. He held out a hand that Harry eyed warily. He accepted it, wand still held tight in his free hand. Moody barked out a laugh. "Good lad. But for now, we're simply going to work on your spell repertoire. First of all, you'll need a good shield spell for when you can't dodge. The incantation is protego, and the wad movement like so." He demonstrated. Harry watched as he did the correct movement twice. It was a fairly simple semi-circular motion followed by a small flick to the left. He tried the motion with his own wand to get used to the feeling.
"Protego!" A faint shimmer came out of his wand, but nothing firm.
"Like this. Protego!" Moody called. A silvery, oval shield sprang up in front of him. "There is another type of shield that will cover your back as well, but that's more advanced. I'll teach it to you when you've mastered this spell."
"Protego!" Harry tried once again. He got the same result as before.
"Don't worry, lad. It'll take some time. I don't expect you to get it instantly." Harry kept trying and under Moody's tutelage managed to produce a decent shield charm within half an hour. Then Moody had insisted on testing it. He claimed it was like a muscle and the more it was worked, the stronger it would eventually become. Harry was less sure about this but spent the second half an hour being pelted with spells as he fought to keep his shield up.
Eventually, Moody called a halt to that practice and began to teach him the stunning spell. By the time Harry had managed to cast it successfully and reawaken Moody, he was feeling absolutely drained. The auror gave him a faint smile, which looked rather terrifying if Harry was honest, and clapped him on the shoulder.
"You did well. You certainly have a knack for defence. Keeping a shield up under spell fire is hard work. Especially when you've just learnt it. Keep practising and you'll build up the stamina. It's not like Quidditch, duelling for long periods takes magical stamina as well as physical stamina. You're going to need plenty of both with Voldemort out for your blood."
"Thank you for your help," Harry said.
"Think nothing of it, lad. I'll see how much you remember tomorrow evening." Harry winced at the idea of doing this again the next day but knew he was lucky to have the opportunity to train under such a renowned wizard. He'd already learnt two new spells. And Moody thought he was a quick learner. Nobody had ever said that about him before. It always seemed to take him ages to master new spells, especially compared to Hermione, but he'd learned the stunning spell and the shield charm in two hours.
He left the room and headed to the rooms he shared with Sirius and Remus, wondering if they'd finished their talk yet. He really needed a shower. Carefully pushing the door open, he peered inside.
Sirius had watched his godson leave the dinner table with Moody; a bit stunned. The old auror didn't just teach anybody. His cousin was the first person he'd taken under his personal wing in the last decade. Of course, Harry was a special case, but even so, Sirius was glad he had Moody in his corner. Nobody could prepare him better for what was to come. No matter what he thought about Dumbledore and his insistence that Harry was the one who had to defeat Voldemort, he knew Harry would need to learn to fight. Whatever happened, Voldemort wouldn't leave Harry alone. He was determined that his godson wouldn't have to fight alone, but at the same time, he was resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be able to keep Harry out of it entirely. And being able to defend himself would only serve him well, no matter what happened.
He was dragged out of his thoughts by Remus rising from the table. He still hadn't fully worked out how he felt about his old friend. Anger, betrayal, misery, loss, it all burned in his gut. But so did the love for one of his closest friends. He missed Moony. It had been hard, not engaging with most of his banter throughout the day. It would be so easy to slip into old patterns and pretend nothing had ever happened, but it would simmer underneath. The resentment would grow. And he was sick of feeling nothing but negative emotions. It had been all he felt for twelve years, and now he would do anything to make sure he didn't lose himself in that again.
Sirius followed Remus into their sitting room. They both sat on different couches. Sirius eyed a spot on the arm that had frayed badly.
"Sirius…what can I do? How can I make up for my mistakes?" The pain in Remus' voice made his heart clench.
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "How did you forgive me after sixth year, with Snape?"
"I realised that it wasn't your fault. Not entirely. I still hate that you told him about the trick with the willow, but I also understand that you didn't force him into the tunnel. Severus made his own decision. You thought he knew about my condition and wouldn't be foolish enough to try and find me on the night of a full moon."
"And I guess it wasn't entirely your fault you thought I was guilty. Even Dumbledore thought me guilty, and I'm sure when he told you that, you believed him. You always did think the sun shone out of his backside."
"So did you," Remus pointed out. Sirius had said the night before that he'd forgiven him for believing Sirius was the spy if not the rest of it. Had that been a lie?
"Not as much as you did."
"Yes. I believed him. But believing you did it seemed more…I don't know, more reasonable than Peter being the traitor, than Peter being able to get the better of you."
"Glad you had faith in my abilities, if not in me," Sirius snapped bitterly. Then he took a deep breath. "I don't like it, but as I said, I can understand believing me to be guilty. But you never came to see me. You never came to demand my side of the story, to find out why I would betray James and Lily."
"I know," Remus sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I don't have an excuse. I was hurt and betrayed and didn't think I could bear facing you. I loved you! And I hated that I still loved you despite what I thought you had done." Sirius finally looked up at his old friend, eyes searching the lined face he knew better than his own.
"I suppose I wasn't much better. I did believe you could be the spy. As you said, it seemed more believable than Peter having the guts to switch sides. I didn't consider him being so scared that he'd switch."
"We were all blinded."
"I don't know what to do, Remy. I want to forgive you, but I…I just…" Sirius struggled to put his feelings into words.
"It's ok. I understand," Remus sighed. "I won't give up on you this time. I'll give you space if that's what you need, but I'll be right there when you are able to forgive me."
"I don't need space, I need…I don't know what I need. But it isn't distance from you. I'm making no sense."
"Nothing unusual there then," Remus said with a wan smile. Sirius chuckled weakly.
"I do forgive you, Remy," he said with sudden certainty. "For everything. I just need time to work through everything. Azkaban isn't great for dealing with emotions."
"Because you were so good with emotions before then," teased Remus.
"That's what we had you for."
"We will get through this."
"I know. He took James and Lily from us. Harry too. I won't let him break us apart forever as well," Sirius promised. No matter what it took. He stood and pulled Remus into a tight hug. It took a few moments for his friend to tentatively return the gesture but soon they were clinging to each other tightly. Sirius revelled in the warmth of another person. Since his escape from Azkaban, he'd been perpetually cold. Living in the Forbidden Forest hadn't helped much either, not with the dementors surrounding the school. Winter had been particularly vicious. It was partially why he'd spent so much of the day cuddling Harry. His godson was a welcome warmth, and it helped to reassure himself that Harry wasn't currently in mortal danger or being forced into uncomfortable situations by that stupid Lockhart.
Hugging Remus was even better in respect to warmth. He always ran warmer than a regular human thanks to his werewolf blood. It was like hugging a furnace. Sirius nuzzled against his neck, unable to help himself. In Remus' arms, his mind settled, as did his emotions. It felt right and his negative thoughts were temporarily banished. He could get used to this feeling. It was addictive. Sirius forced himself away.
Thankfully, he was saved from saying anything by a knock at the door. He croakily called for them to come in before clearing his throat. The Weasley twins entered, and he beamed at them. They looked a bit nervous.
"Er, hi. We were hoping for a word with Mr. Black."
"Please, call me Sirius. Or Padfoot," Sirius waved away the formality easily. "Mr. Black makes me feel like I'm in trouble with Minnie." Both of the twins grinned at that.
"Alright then, Padfoot –"
"-we were wondering if we could –"
"-cast a charm on you to find out –"
"-what nutrients you are, er, missing thanks to Azkaban."
"We're brewing a specialised nutrient potion for Harry –"
"-And we thought you might need one too." Sirius blinked at the twin speak, his mind trying to keep up. It took him a few seconds to realise what they wanted.
"Oh, er, sure. I don't see why not," he said. They nodded. One of them, he thought it might be Fred, whipped out his wand and cast a quick charm. Sirius glowed a sickly yellow colour and a piece of parchment came spinning out of the twins' wand. He frowned at it for several seconds.
"Alright. That's all we need. We should have it ready for you to take with breakfast."
"That's very good of you boys," Remus smiled gratefully at the twins.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"It's no problem. Harry is our brother. And it's good he finally has an adult looking out for him properly," the twin who hadn't cast the spell, maybe George, said quietly. Sirius nodded. He knew he was on the list of adults who had failed Harry when he hadn't checked what Dumbledore had planned for his godson before he chased after Peter, but he would do everything he could to rectify that now.
"Harry tells me you've been inventing your own pranks," Sirius enquired. "How is that going?" Their faces cracked into identical grins.
"Brilliantly!" One exclaimed. "Would you like to come and see what we've got so far?"
"We could always use advice from the best pranksters before us."
"Excuse you! The Marauders are still the best pranksters!" Sirius exclaimed.
"We'll have to see if that's true."
"A prank war?" Remus raised an eyebrow.
"It's the only way to be sure."
"It's the only way to make Minerva, Severus and the Ministry workers rather angry."
"Even more reason," Fred smirked. Sirius chuckled.
"He has a point, Moony." Remus rolled his eyes.
"Fine. We start at dawn," he declared. Maybe working with Sirius on this prank war would bring them closer again. At the very least, it would give Sirius something to focus on. The twins grinned and left the room, plotting in whispers.
"This is going to be awesome!" Sirius grinned delightedly. He began talking rapidly, planning prank after prank. Remus just sat back, offering his input whenever Sirius paused to take a breath.
It was this that Harry peered in on. He entered the room to see his godfather looking livelier than he'd ever seen him. Or at least happier, he'd been rather lively when arguing with Dumbledore. Remus was wearing a bemused expression, but a slight smile was tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Ah, Harry. You should know your godfather has dragged me into a prank war with the twins."
"This is going to be brilliant!" Harry exclaimed. "Except I'm not sure Hogwarts is going to stay standing." Remus chuckled.
"Are you going to help?" Sirius asked his godson eagerly.
"I'm not getting in the middle of you two and the twins," Harry denied quickly. "I'm not stupid." Remus gave him an approving nod. They began talking about past pranks the marauders had played.
"So, you hexed him?" Harry interrupted one of Sirius' stories. "But what did he do?" He'd noticed that several of Sirius' tales had mentioned one of the marauders, usually, his dad or Sirius, hexing another student, usually Snape, for seemingly no reason at all. And some of the hexes didn't sound nice at all. Honestly, it kind of sounded like the marauders had been bullies. And the idea that his dad and godfather, not to mention the nice Professor Lupin, had been bullies didn't sit well with him.
"He'd been intimidating Peter the week before," Sirius said, spitting out Peter's name.
"No. That was Rosier, not Wrexham," Remus corrected.
"Oh, yeah." Sirius shrugged unconcernedly. Harry frowned. "Was Wrexham the one who was being rude about you?"
"No." Remus shot an uncomfortable look at Harry. He could tell the young man was unimpressed with Sirius' stories so far and didn't really want to remind Sirius that he'd hexed Wrexham because James had been bored and they couldn't find Severus. The night before they'd only really talked about pranks they'd played on the whole school, not ones that had targeted specific people in ways that weren't always…well, that weren't exactly just pranks.
"Ah well, it's not important. Anyway, his head grew about three sizes and he kept falling over because it was so heavy," Sirius continued with a barking laugh.
"But why is that funny?" Harry wondered. "He could have been seriously hurt if he had fallen down the stairs, especially the ones that move." He thought about Neville having to hop up several flights of stairs when Draco jinxed his legs together. Harry had thought it a little funny then, but nothing like everyone else had. But having heard about it again the day before, he couldn't remember why he'd found it even a bit funny. And honestly. Sirius kind of sounded like Draco right then. The Draco before they'd come here.
"Someone would have caught him." Sirius shrugged easily.
"What happened with Professor Snape? Why does he keep saying you tried to kill him in school?" He asked suddenly. Sirius looked at him in surprise.
"Oh, that? Sniv…Snape had been constantly bugging us about where we went every month. He kept dropping hints that he knew about Remus and planned to report him. One full moon a couple of months into fifth year, before we had finished becoming animagi, he made some comment about how he'd seen Remus with Madam Pomfrey and with any luck it was something serious. I snapped and told him that if he wanted proof of what we were up to, all he had to do was press the knot on the willow and he could get down the tunnel. I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to actually go if he knew Remus was a werewolf."
"You never told me he said that," Remus said sharply.
"It's not like he didn't say worse things on a regular basis," Sirius reminded him. "But anyway, James found me, and I told him about it. Instead of being outraged as I expected, he just charged off. He told me later that he'd just seen Snape heading out of the castle and figured he must have been going after Remus right then. He pulled Snape back before he got to the shack, but Snape caught a glimpse of Remus' werewolf form and marched straight to Dumbledore, hoping to get us all thrown out. He likes to pretend that I marched him to the tunnel personally and threw him to Remus myself. Like I'd give Remus indigestion like that," Sirius scoffed.
"But did Snape actually know Remus was a werewolf before then? If he didn't know for sure, then maybe he thought it was safe," Harry pointed out.
"Well, werewolves are taught in third year as you know. Your friend Hermione worked out my condition almost instantly, it's not much of a stretch to think Severus had a very good idea that I was a werewolf," Remus said fairly. "Especially given how much time he spent following us."
"If I'd warned Snivelly something dangerous was down the tunnel, he'd have either gone anyway because he was that desperate to get something on us to force Dumbledore to expel us, or he'd have worked out for definite that Moony was a werewolf and blabbed to the Ministry which would have gotten Dumbledore and Remus into huge trouble," Sirius added.
"Maybe. And I agree it was hardly attempted murder. Professor Snape didn't have to go down the tunnel, but you really shouldn't have told him how to get passed with willow," Harry said with a frown.
"I know," Sirius sighed. "I wasn't thinking at all and I put Remus in huge danger. If Dumbledore hadn't sworn Snape to secrecy, he'd have outed Remus far before a few days ago."
"I think I'm going to go to bed," Harry said after a few moments of silence. Sirius looked at him with a bit of concern.
"Are you alright? It's a bit early."
"Yeah. I'm just tired. It's been a long couple of days." It wasn't even a lie.
"Alright pup. Do you want me to tuck you in?" Sirius offered. He wore a teasing grin, but Harry could tell the offer was serious. He paused, unsure how to respond. He was almost fourteen, much too old to need tucking in by a parent figure. But, he'd never had anyone to do that for him before. Not even Mrs Weasley had done something like that. Probably to do with how Ron would have put up a huge fuss if she'd tried that with him. Sirius seemed to understand his silence and rose, ushering him into the bedroom.
Harry slipped into the bathroom to change, and Sirius was sitting on the bed waiting for him when he came out. As he slipped under the covers, his godfather smoothed the covers down and ruffled his hair gently. Then he began the story of Harry's parent's first date. As much as he wanted to hear it, Harry found his eyes slipping closed.
Sirius noticed his godson's breathing even out and smiled to himself. No matter how mixed up he felt, at least he had Harry. After a moment he went back to the sitting room where an awkward silence fell.
"Maybe Harry had the right idea. It's been a long couple of days," Sirius muttered.
"Yeah. Goodnight Padfoot."
"Night, Moony." He slipped into his own room and lay on the bed. Thankfully, unlike the night before he was able to slip off to sleep.
He could see the cottage in the distance. No dark mark over it. That should have given him hope, but instead, he felt the lump of tension in his gut grow even larger. The front door was hanging off of its hinges. No! He stumbled into the entry hallway and saw James. His best friend, his brother, was lying on the ground, eyes wide in terror.
"James! No! James!" The cries tore from his throat. Damn that vile, little, useless rat! He would pay for this.
"Why would Peter pay?" James' voice made him start in shock. But his friend wasn't alive. Instead, he hovered in front of Sirius' eyes. A ghost.
"Jamie! He betrayed you."
"It was your idea! You suggested we trust him with our lives. This is your fault! You killed us!"
"No! James! I would never. If I had any idea…"
"You should have had an idea. How could you?"
"Honestly, I tried to tell James you weren't trustworthy. That you would just let him down." Lily's voice joined his best friend's. The bluish glow of her ghostly form mingled with James' as they both stared at him with disgust and disdain.
"Lils?" Sirius could feel his heart breaking.
"All that time you spent picking on Sev, you're no better than he is. You killed us." Sirius recoiled.
"I…no! Lils, please."
"Leave this place. You can't be trusted to look after Harry. You'll let him down. Like you did us," James sneered at him. As he said these words, a cry sounded. Sirius blinked. His godson was alive. As he made to go and find Harry, his godson appeared before him. But it was wrong. He wasn't that old. Little Harry was lying on the floor, curled up into a little ball, shoulders shaking as if he were crying. He looked around five or six. But Harry was only a baby. What was going on?
"Why? W..why won't they l..l…love me like Dudley?" Harry sobbed to himself. Suddenly he was staring at Sirius, those big green eyes of his full of accusation. "Why won't you save me?"
"See?" Lily glared at him. "My poor boy. You let everyone down, Black!" The way she sneered his surname made Sirius feel like he'd been punched in the gut. The only thing worse was the look in his godson's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, sorry."
"Sirius! Sirius!" Remus' yells jolted him out of his dream. He lurched upwards and put his face in his hands trying to restrain his sobs. "Sirius, are you…did you have a nightmare?"
"All my fault," he muttered. Remus stared at his friend in shock. Calling his name didn't seem to have any effect, he just continued to cry and mutter about how it was his fault. Eventually, he couldn't stand it anymore and pulled Sirius into a hug. His friend's arms wrapped around him tightly and he sobbed into Remus' neck.
"It's alright. It's alright, Siri. It's not your fault. Nobody blames you." He wasn't sure exactly what Sirius' nightmare had contained, but he could hazard a guess. It wasn't the first he'd had.
Eventually, Sirius came back to himself and Remus made to pull away, afraid to make it awkward again, but Sirius just tightened his grip.
"Don't leave me. Please."
"Alright. Alright. I'll stay. I'm never leaving you again. I promise. Whatever you need." Remus knew he was babbling but he couldn't help himself. It seemed to help. Sirius relaxed ever so slightly. Remus gently manoeuvred them so that they were both lying down, Sirius' head on his chest. It took a long time for them both to fall asleep.
After they left the Marauders, Fred and George retreated to their room to continue brewing. One cauldron was already bubbling away, which contained the potion for Harry. Fred pulled out a second cauldron and began preparing the ingredients for Sirius' batch. He consulted the piece of parchment he'd gotten from the spell on Sirius and found it was similar to Harry's. Sirius was in a worse state because he hadn't been able to go to Hogwarts for the past three years and begin to reduce the effect of malnutrition, but hopefully, it wouldn't be irreversible.
"So, what's been on your mind?" Fred asked his twin. "You've been acting very oddly today." George turned to look at him, an oddly serious look on his face.
"You. And Percy. You need to lay off him." Fred's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline from shock.
"What?"
"You're going to end up pushing him away. He'll move out, he'll stop coming home. It'll be like Bill and Charlie, except even worse. Those stupid ministry people like Crouch will fill his head with nonsense and we'll lose our brother."
"All that because I tease Percy?"
"It's more than just teasing."
"What's brought all this on? Until today you've been just as happy pranking Percy as I have," Fred asked his twin curiously. It was odd, not knowing what George was thinking.
"Have you not been reading the same books? Not been part of the same family conversations? Percy doesn't see our pranks as trying to include him, he sees it as us punishing him for mum comparing us to him."
"Well, if he wasn't so…Percyish…" Fred began.
"That's not the point. I didn't mind pranking Percy when it was just for fun, but if it's just upsetting him…you know what dad always says about making sure we don't turn into bullies." Fred wanted to scoff but saw the look on George's face.
"If he turns his back because of a couple of pranks, then he deserves it anyway."
"It's been a bit more than a 'couple' of pranks," George said reasonably. "You know as well as I do, we always take out our anger at mum on Percy. Half the time it isn't him that's annoyed us, it's mum. Percy doesn't deserve that. I'm not saying stop pranking him altogether, just ease up a bit." Fred considered. He didn't really want Percy to end up like Bill and Charlie, living ridiculously far away and not coming home any more than he could help it. He'd never really considered that happening before. Everyone knew Percy was their mum's favourite, aside from Ginny as the only girl. He was the only one of them who actually wanted a job at the Ministry like she kept harping on about, he didn't have an earring like Bill or work with dragons like Charlie. He was the perfect one. The sibling Fred had resented his entire life. But maybe George had a point. It wasn't all Percy's fault. After Bill and Charlie left, their mother had put all of her hopes onto Percy, having long given up on the twins. Not that it stopped her from constantly nagging them.
"Fine. I'll ease up on Perc. But I reserve the right to prank him when he's particularly obnoxious."
"That's all I ask," George grinned. Fred could see relief in his twin's eyes. He'd do anything for his twin. And after all, George rarely asked for anything.
"Besides, I think this prank war with Sirius and Remus will keep us nicely busy."
"Yeah. About that. I have some more ideas."
"Brilliant!" They began plotting once more and everything was right again. They had some of their inventions that they'd brought with them when they'd been summoned to the room in the first place. The ton tongue toffees needed testing. They had tried them on each other, but they needed another, final test to be sure.
"There's always the fake wands too."
"I'd don't think they'd fall for that," George said, shaking his head. "And don't forget, Professor Lupin watched out work for a whole year. We should start with our new stuff he hasn't seen before."
"Right you are Forge." Fred stirred another couple of ingredients into the potion he was working on. While it simmered, he set up a third cauldron and began making what they would need to continue developing the fever fudge they'd be working on. It still wasn't quite right and they couldn't start on a cure until they had the right formula.
"Do you think we'll hear about our future selves finally getting a joke shop up and running?" George asked after a while. He didn't like long silences.
"Yeah. I trust we can do it," Fred replied confidently. "It'll be the best joke shop ever. Way better than Zonko's, or Gambol and Japes." George smiled.
"Do you think mum will ever accept our idea?" Fred shrugged.
"Who knows? If we get a shop up and running successfully then maybe. But who knows? Bill and Charlie are both highly successful at their jobs and she still always tries to convince them to quit their jobs."
"Yeah," George sighed.
"Maybe these books will finally get through to her. Or maybe dad will step in," Fred offered half-heartedly. He didn't really believe that himself. He didn't think their mother would ever change her mind about their chosen line of work. George nodded. He knew Fred was just trying to make him feel better, but he appreciated the effort.
They returned to their brewing, making small talk or bouncing random ideas off of each other. Eventually, the potions were done, and they packed everything away. They decided on an early night, not wanting to go back to the main room and deal with their family right then.
After he'd finished dinner, Draco went to find Severus. He figured he'd better confess to calling Granger a mudblood during second year. Better to get his initial reaction out of the way, rather than in the reading. As expected, his godfather was in his quarters, brewing.
"Ah, Draco. What can I do for you?" He asked, a rare half-smile appearing on his face.
"Hi, Uncle Sev. Er, I have something to confess." Draco decided to just get it out of the way. There was no point beating around the bush with his godfather.
"I assume this is about some misdeed of yours that will be coming up?" Severus raised an eyebrow. Draco winced.
"I, well, I might have called Granger a, um, a mudblood once or twice." As expected, any warmth on his godfather's face disappeared instantly. His eyes narrowed and Draco could momentarily understand why other students found Severus terrifying.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, what have I told you about that word?" He hissed dangerously.
"Not to use it."
"So why would you do so?"
"I…" Draco swallowed. "My father…"
"Yes, I'm well aware of Lucius' rather free use of the word, but you should know better. At least while you're at Hogwarts under my care."
"I know. Why do you hate it so much, Uncle Sev?" Draco asked. Severus sighed. The anger drained out of him.
"That word cost me my best friend." Draco looked at his godfather in shock.
"You were friends, best friends, with a muggleborn?"
"Yes. Lily Evans. Known nowadays as Lily Potter." Draco's mouth fell open.
"You…you…"
"Yes. I met Lily before Hogwarts. We lived near each other and became great friends. At Hogwarts were sorted into separate houses. We stayed friends, but over the years she became more and more distant. I had become friends with my dormmates and she didn't like it. They were all budding death eaters, so I suppose she had a point, but they were my dormmates. I couldn't openly go against them, and nor did I want to. It culminated in a very humiliating event where the marauders assaulted me and when Lily stepped in, I called her a mudblood. She never spoke to me again, even when I apologised several times. Instead, she fell in with Potter and the rest of his gang." Draco heard the underlying bitterness in his godfather's voice and wondered if there was more to his relationship with Lily Potter than just best friends. Then he shook his head because that was just too weird to even contemplate.
"So, you lashed out while being assaulted and she never forgave you?" Draco asked. He wondered if Harry would be the same. Surely not. After all, Draco had called Granger a mudblood more than once and insulted Harry and Harry's family several times, but Harry was still willing to be his friend now. Would it last though? Would Harry relive everything Draco had said before and decide he didn't want to be friends anymore? Or would it be something his future self said that eventually drove Harry away?
"No. She did not," Severus replied, voice full of self-loathing. Draco could see why his godfather hated the word now. But he was truly worried that Harry would turn his back on Draco in the future. Maybe if he apologised to Granger? Well, that hadn't helped Severus, had it? But Harry wasn't his parents. He'd agreed to be his friend, even after Draco had used that word. Draco would just have to trust that he would keep to that. Ha! Trust Harry Potter! It was absurd.
"Your situation with Mr. Potter is decidedly different to mine with Lily," Severus told him as if he were using Legilimency. "It wasn't just the use of that word that drove her away, it was my friendship with others in my house amongst other things. If Mr. Potter has forgiven you for everything that has happened between the two of you so far, then I believe you will alright."
"Thanks, Uncle Sev." Draco offered him a smile. It wasn't returned, but his godfather's expression did lose some of its melancholy.
"You are quite welcome, Draco. Now, would you like to help with some brewing?" Draco nodded. He joined the older man at his cauldrons and Severus removed the stasis charms he'd put on when Draco entered.
It was a pleasant evening in the end, but Draco still felt a kernel of worry about Harry's reaction to the next day's reading.
His mother was in their shared sitting room when he arrived back. She was reading in an armchair and smiled when he entered. They exchanged the usual pleasantries and Draco sat down, picking up a book at random and trying to focus on the words to take his mind off of his conversation with his godfather. Part of him was annoyed, why did he care so much if Potter didn't want to be his friend anymore? A few days ago, he'd hated him. Except, he hadn't really, had he? Deep down, he'd always wanted to be Potter's friend and had just wanted his attention. Wanted him to see what a mistake he'd made, choosing Weasley over him.
"What is the matter, my dragon?"
"Nothing mother. Just something Uncle Sev said. It surprised me, that's all."
"Oh?" Draco wasn't sure if he should tell his mother, but then realised that his parents had been at Hogwarts with Severus and so surely knew about his friendship with Lily Potter.
"He told me about Lily Potter being his friend."
"Oh, that. Yes. It ended badly, as we all knew it would, But Severus was never quite the same afterwards. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I would have thought they were secretly dating."
"Woah, really?"
"Oh yes. But it would never have worked. "What about that revelation has you so surprised, other than the obvious?"
"Nothing." His mother raised an eyebrow, but Draco ignored it. He put the book down and headed to his room. His sleep was slow in coming and rather disturbed.
Ron watched as his best friend went off with Mad-Eye Moody. He glanced towards Hermione, who looked like she desperately wanted to follow.
"What do you think Moody wants with Harry? Do you think he's teaching him advanced magic? Auror grade spells?" Hermione asked several questions in quick succession as was her usual fashion. Ron could only shrug. He was just glad he didn't have to do any more learning. Lessons all morning, every morning was enough for him. It was supposed to be summer for crying out loud!
Hermione was still talking so he looked at the table hopefully, trying to spot some leftover food. He managed to snag another slice of treacle tart.
"Do you think he'll let us join him?"
"I don't think it's up to Harry," Ron pointed out.
"I meant Mad-Eye Moody."
"Maybe. But if he were going to invite us it join, wouldn't he have done it just now?" Hermione pursed her lips. "Honestly, Mione, just leave it be," Ron groaned as she muttered to herself about making sure to ask Moody about joining Harry as soon as they emerged.
"But if we were there to help Harry it would be so much better."
"I'm sure Harry will tell us when he comes back."
"Yes. I suppose so." Ron left the table and looked around at he decided what to do. He knew Hermione would want to wait until Harry came back to bug him about the lessons, or she'd nag him about doing his summer homework. He decided to head to the rooms he was sharing with his family. His parents were both there, along with everyone except the twins.
"Hey Ron. Doing alright?" Bill asked as he came in.
"Yeah."
"How much trouble did you get yourselves into in second year?" Charlie wondered. His mum shuddered and held Ginny closer.
"A lot," Ron muttered, not looking at his parents.
"Let's not talk about it. Once will be enough," Arthur spoke up, unusually firm. Bill and Charlie eyed their parents curiously but agreed. Bill had heard some of what had happened when they came to Egypt, but he highly suspected they'd left a great deal out.
They talked about lighter topics and Ron couldn't remember having so many of his family in the same room without chaos ensuing. Sure, it helped that the twins weren't around, but it wasn't just them. Chaos was simply a side effect of having so many different personalities cramped together as they were at the Burrow, and in these rooms.
Percy had been thinking the exact same thing, although he thought far more of it was down to the twins not being around. But then, they had been a lot better since the readings started. Honestly, Percy had learnt so much in the past two days and almost all of it had been highly disturbing. His brother had been in so much danger and he'd never fully realised. It's hardly surprising everyone was so angry with Dumbledore. The headmaster had dipped greatly in Percy's esteem as well. He'd grown up on stories of how great the man was and when he'd first arrived at Hogwarts, he'd been rather disappointed.
The events around the cursed vaults had first made him question the headmaster, and then Harry Potter had arrived. And something terribly dangerous happened every year. Now he learnt that all of the dangerous things from his brother's first year had been allowed to happen by the headmaster at best, deliberately orchestrated by him at worst. He'd always wondered why the school hadn't been closed during his sixth year. Four students and a ghost had been petrified and his sister had almost died. But nothing had been done until Harry and Ron had done something. Finally, Sirius Black had gotten into the castle twice despite all of the headmaster's protections and even gotten into the boy's dormitory. If he had truly been a murderer, Ron and Harry would have been killed. Possibly alongside the other three boys. No to mention, as much as he liked Professor Lupin, he had failed to take his potion and almost bitten three students from what Professor Snape had reported. That might not have been Professor Dumbledore's fault directly, but his precautions had still failed and could have had fatal results.
He wasn't sure he liked the idea of what might happen in the upcoming school year. Harry Potter's luck had to run out at some point. Didn't it? He didn't want to find out. Especially not with his brother likely to be caught up in the mix as well.
He was still thinking things through when his mother announced that they should all go to bed. For once Percy wasn't eager to escape to the quiet of his room. He'd continue to overthink things. In the end, he slipped into the twins' room knowing that even if they drove him absolutely batty, they'd distract him. Unfortunately, they were already asleep when he arrived. He heaved a sigh and made to retreat when a sleepy voice called his name.
"Perc?" It was George. "Wassamatter?"
"Nothing. I was just…it doesn't matter. Go back to sleep."
"You ok?"
"Yes. Fine."
"Stay or go. Jus' shut the door!" Fred groaned, rolling over and covering his head with a pillow. Percy raised an eyebrow in surprise at the offer for him to stay.
Making a split-second decision, he moved inside and closed the door. He was sure he'd regret this in the morning, but he quickly slipped into the huge bed on George's side before he could change his mind, huddling close to the edge. A few seconds later an arm grabbed his arm and tugged him closer, causing him to roll closer to the twins. Smiling to himself, he fell asleep almost instantly, George's arm wrapped around his own.
The following morning, Amelia woke after a restful night. Her good mood lasted only a few seconds as she recalled the events of the day before. Gilderoy Lockhart's actions meant she had a whole new batch of investigations to start up once they finally got out of there. The work from these books alone would keep her busy for years, let alone her current workload. And this was only a book and a bit. They had another five-and-three-quarters left to go. It was a nightmare.
She quickly made sure her notes were organised before heading out to get some breakfast. There were a few people already up and in the main reading room, namely Kingsley, Alastor, Emmeline and Minerva. Amelia made herself tea and toast in the kitchen and settled down in a seat next to Kingsley. They began to discuss some ways in which they could use the information they had received and began to put proper plans in place. Alongside backup plans should their first attempts fall through. Just because they had the upper hand and advanced information did not mean they could get complacent. As Alastor was quick to remind them. Frequently.
The students had lessons all morning. First up on the schedule was Occlumency, which Severus was overseeing for those who already had some level of proficiency. Amelia took the time to refresh her own shields, the meditation proving useful in calming her mind as it was supposed to.
Once that was finished, she returned to her plans with Kingsley. Tonks came and joined them. Amelia had been dubious at first, not sure if she would be able to take it seriously but she was a fully-fledged auror and knew the same information they did. A third opinion was also always useful.
Eventually, a quick lunch was had, and they gathered around to begin reading once more. They all took the same seats as they had the day before. Molly picked up the book.
"I haven't read yet. Is there anyone else left to read?"
"I don't think so. Back to the beginning after your turn, Molly," Arthur said. She nodded and opened the book to the correct page before gasping loudly. "I'm not sure I want to read this."
"That bad already? It's only the chapter title," Amelia frowned. Molly glared at the book like it was a copy of the Monster Book of Monsters.
M…mud…bloods and Murmurs
Everyone gasped. Severus glanced at his godson with narrowed eyes and Draco winced. This wasn't going to be good. Even if he'd already confessed.