Severus Snape sat down in an particular chair that was kept for him in the hospital wing. For the last decade, the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor had been rather hard on his Slytherins, putting an incredible number of both sides in Poppy's care. It tended to alternate who were in her care, rarely having both overnight at the same. It happened enough that he'd convinced Poppy to let him keep a good chair for him to sit at when he felt the need to stay with one. It was a lounger that he'd obtained second hand from an estate sale of one of his late father's co-workers. He kept the Slytherin green velveteen fabric like new with a series of well practiced charms, and the cushions just the right firmness.
Tonight he wasn't seated in his chair due to any of his Slytherins. The year had been remarkably light on his house. His third years had been rather frequent visitors, which was more infighting than conflict between houses, but other than that, nothing had spiked. First years had only been sent to the Hospital Wing for classroom or sports injuries this year when it came to inter-house conflict. So, the first year whose bed he was overlooking was not one of his Slytherins. No, it was the Gryffindor son of his childhood best friend Lily.
Harry Potter was living up to his house's reputation for brash behavior. He'd rescued a girl from a troll, on Halloween, which had been Severus's first sign of exactly how cursed the boy was. The boy was doomed already. It was the Potter luck, that seemed to even turn bad luck into good results. If the boy hadn't had the bad luck to stumble into the Ritual of the Rescuer, becoming a father with both them remaining virgins, Severus was sure that Minerva wouldn't have discovered that the boy had been abused.
It had been a wake up call for Minerva, who had promptly instituted many methods to make sure no student fell through the cracks again. Poppy had been really busy in January, and unfortunately had found seven more abused children. Severus had been surprised that one of his fourth years had been one of them, and unlike the lack of support he'd gotten for years from the DMLE's various child organizations, it had taken very little time to get the girl removed from her physically abusive parents.
Severus regretted the way he'd treated Lily's child the first term. He hoped he'd been better lately, but habits were hard to break. The boy looked so much like his father. And that one day when the Weasley Twins had turned Granger's hair red – it had reminded him so much of James and Lily.
That wasn't why he was in the Hospital Wing looking over Harry Potter tonight. No, that was because of the stupidity, and admittedly rightful brave actions of the entirety of the first year in Gryffindor. Of course it wouldn't have happened at all if the world hadn't conspired to leave Hogwarts under the command of the batty Divination Professor who he was quite surprised wasn't drunk on the bourbon when she'd been relieved. He wouldn't have blamed her one bit, this one time.
The Headmaster was first in command, followed by the Deputy Headmistress, then the Heads of House in order of appointment, followed by former Heads of House, then Professors in order of appointment. Thanks to issues over Christmas, Sybil was the most recent former head of house. Severus strongly suspected that Albus had arranged to put Sybil in the possition after Poppy informed him that her hands were too full to do both jobs just so Minerva would come back to Hogwarts quickly.
When Severus had arrived back at Hogwarts from assisting Minerva with the dundheads that were Surrey Child Protective Services, he'd been quite surprised to see Sybil dressing down no less than six sixth years that she'd caught after curfew in a broom closet. Her statement that they "each would loose sixty-nine points from their houses, and she particularly was looking forward to hearing how each of their houses reacted to hearing what had been up-to with their pants down amid cleaning supplies."
He'd almost smiled when she had told them that they "should unshrink the cleaning supplies when they were done with using the miniaturized scrub brushes to clean the mess they made in the said closet until it shined." When he'd admitted it a bit latter, she'd told him she was just channeling her inner Snape. His opinion of Sybil had improved this term.
He'd run across the Headmaster next, who was busy resetting the traps. The traps had been designed as a delaying measure, and they'd worked to prevent several students from reaching the stone, by alerting the Headmaster and the Heads of House. Twenty-two students had been caught trying to get past "Fluffy" ... Severus had to shake his head at Hagrid's naming. Three had been found in the devil's snare. Two had been caught trying to catch the key. The Hufflepuff Seeker had been caught three times, but he just wanted to catch the key.
Seekers were crazy ... and Severus was not excluding the one in the bed in front of him.
Potter had a least sent a message to the Headmaster before he had engaged on the foolish path. He hadn't gone alone, which was good, but he had brought the very pregnant with his own son, Granger. Fluffy was apparently to blame for her falling into the trap door, Severus had to admit that it was possible.
He was actually quite impressed at Granger's solving of his logic puzzle. It had taken the Headmaster much longer. The girl was already starting to get the title of the smartest witch of her generation as a first year ... save those who discounted her for getting pregnant. After this year, there was no way Severus was ever going to discount a young witch who got pregnant at school. With the right motivation and support, they were more driven and successful than he had expected. His new Quidditch Captain alone showed that.
Harry Potter seemed so small, sleeping in that bed. Severus bet that now that the boy had seen the keys, he'd end up wanting to try, especially since Miss Brown had apparently managed to pick the lock. Filius was quite ashamed that he hadn't protected the door that well, but if rumors were correct, Brown had connections in the muggle military intelligence community.
It was a bit boring sitting in the lounger. He was actually done with all of his grading. There was a chess board next to Potter's bed, left by the youngest Weasley boy, but none of the resident chess masters were in the hospital wing, in fact Potter was the only student in the wing. Minerva had said that the youngest Weasley boy was now among the few at Hogwarts who could occasionally beat her. It was a new development, one that had allowed the First Years to get past her particular protection. Severus didn't blame her for not knowing that the boy was becoming that good. Even if Minerva would have cut back her jobs, she wouldn't have spent the hours in her common room figuring out who could beat her five moves.
As for the troll that Quirrell had provided, well, Severus didn't find it hard to believe that some girls would have obtained materials to combat trolls after the first troll attack in the school year's result. He wasn't sure, but he suspected that the Gryffindor First Year girls were not the only girls at Hogwarts with the particular array of ingredients in their bags.
Severus looked back up at Potter, who seemed to be adjusting his position in the bed, but not yet awake. Given his magical exhaustion, he wasn't expected to wake for another day, and after a moment, his position adjusted, Potter settled back into the same slow calm breaths of sleep that he'd had since Severus had arrived.
Every once in a while something messed up Draco's morning routine. Sometimes he had something to blame, and if he didn't get enough sleep the prior night, he'd often end up grousing over it. This morning, he was trying his best not to do that. After the reason he'd stayed up the prior night was a very cranky baby nephew, who was also the very reason he was late this morning. He'd ended up falling asleep with his nephew in his arms, and waking up to said nephew needing his diaper changed.
He'd changed the diaper. It wasn't the first time, and certainly wouldn't be the last time. He certainly didn't want to have his nephew's crying wake up his older sister. Patrick Draco kept his mother up enough, in Draco's own opinion. It was a week before Hogwarts let out, and due to OWLs and NEWTs for fifth and seventh year students, schedules had been moved around a bit. First Year final tests had already been taken, and mostly graded. So he didn't need to get up for class. He was a creature of habit though, and Victoria did have her last final test today.
That was why Patrick Draco was in a sling as Draco arrived for a quite late breakfast. All his normal breakfast companions were long gone. In fact there were very few left in the Great Hall. Weasley was playing chess as he finished his breakfast with his older brother. Bones was talking with Tracey Davis as they finished up their breakfast. The two Hufflepuff prefects who were brother and sister were consuming a rather substantial breakfast with their violin and viola on the table next to them. He still hadn't figured out exactly what was wrong with playing the viola, an agreement that he'd somehow stumbled into several times.
As he sat down and his usual breakfast automatically appeared, he looked over at Davis. Both her and Bones were standing up, obviously done with breakfast. But only Bones left the Great Hall. Davis was staring and someone who had just entered the hall. She didn't have her usual cheerful expression, and in fact she looked like she absolutely positively despised the boy at the door. Judging from the tie, the boy was a Ravenclaw, and having seen Davis, he immediately turned around and left the hall.
Tracey came over to Draco's seat, and sat down across from him. "You seem to have scared that Ravenclaw boy," Draco remarked.
Tracey raised her right hand and carefully looked at her fingernails. "I may have recently reminded him of his place, and why his bigoted little brain should keep silent."
"Reminded him of his place? Bigoted?" Draco questioned. He was fairly sure that Davis was a half blood, which generally would have ruled out pure blood, sacred Twenty-Eight of the Cantankerus variety.
"He apparently thought that because his father had something over my father, he could get his way," Tracey said. "He might not have remembered that my family is a matriarchal house and exactly who I'm heir to, despite my last name. If you could encounter him later today and mention that the sun will come out tomorrow."
"Okay, but why?" Draco asked.
"I may have infected him with an earworm charm linked to a delightful song from a movie that my Father likes," Tracey replied with a big smile. "I had several choices I knew enough to do. I could have used that one hit about not giving or, that Poppins tune, but I settled on that because it has some better triggers. Oh, I've got to thank your older sister for teaching that one."
"That charm ... I suppose it could have been worse," Draco said. "You could have know 'Yellow Submarine.' Remind me to expose Patrick Draco to some more varied music. His mother's taste is ... needing some uplift."
"Are you still upset about the YMCA incident?"
"Yes."
Somehow, Tracey Davis had avoided catching the attention of Draco Malfoy this year. Tracey had no problem with this. Draco had appointed himself as the proto-prefect of his year in Slytherin after Yule, which Tracey thought was a good thing. The six prefects were okay, but they tended to ignore the first years. She'd seen how much Draco had helped the other Slytherins in her year. It was his half-sister Victoria that Tracey really considered the person who had changed her life at Hogwarts, however. There was no way any of them would have been as good as they were today if it wasn't for Draco, though.
Draco was a far cry from the wait until my father hears refrain that he'd been when the school year had begun. She had to wonder if anyone else had noticed. Surely, she wasn't the only one. So when she took her seat in the study room that First Year had taken as their own off the Common Room, and noticed that only Draco was missing, she had to ask. "Any one else notice just how much Draco has changed this year?"
"Not really," Pansy said from where she was sitting on the over stuffed chare that she'd claimed as her own, before she popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth. The last Hogsmeade weekend had just ended and she's sprung for getting a third-year to get all the first year girl Slytherins each a full Honeydukes' Chocolate Sampler. "He did stop that annoying wait 'wait until my father hears' line after Autumn Term, but that was just something he started when he got here."
"Victoria said that Draco just wanted to be someone and didn't know how," Daphne said as she shot a balled up chocolate cover at the ring that had been placed in the middle of the room.
"Probably true," Pansy said. "I mean he never went crying to his parents over anything before Hogwarts, and I'd have seen it, given how much my parents sent me over to Malfoy Manor." Daphne nodded.
"You know, one of the things I hate about Slytherin is that everyone seems to have known everyone and any half bloods like myself start at such a disadvantage," Tracey said, as she opened a strawberry cream.
"So that's why you kept trying to but your way in between Pansy and I during Autumn Term," Daphne said. "Good thing I like your sense of humor, Trace, or you'd probably have suffered the bat bogie hex. Speaking of spells, I heard something about a Ravenclaw in the year ahead of us getting stuck with an earworm spell?"
Tracey smiled. "Remember when I got Draco to sing that song to Millicent when she was depressed last month?" It had been fun using Victoria's advice not only to teach Draco the song and get him to sing it the right place, even if he'd ended up mad about the wig.
"Tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow you're always a day away," Millicent groaned. "I worked at cheering me up, especially when someone put that Morgana awful rainbow colored wig on his head but I keep getting it come back up. It doesn't go away."
"Sorry about that, but in order for the earworm spell to work, both the caster and the recipient have to know the song," Tracey had a long list of songs she knew enough to sing and use, thanks to her muggle grandparents living in the West End of London. "Well, I saw that Belby always sat behind you, Millicent, it was too good of an opportunity to set up."
"Where did you get the rainbow curly wig?" Pansy asked.
"Weasley twins," Tracey replied. "I wanted a Weasley red one, as it would have fit the character in the musical, but they only had the rainbow one, and I couldn't convince anyone to charm it to match their hair."
"You know, you got in Draco's head too," Pansy said. "Draco is really getting tried of it. Unfortunately for him, it works in getting Patrick Draco to sleep."
"Why does Draco keep insisting on calling his baby nephew Patrick Draco?" Daphne asked. "Victoria calls him her little Pat, and as far as I can tell everyone else is calling him Patrick."
"He likes the fact that Victoria gave his nephew his name as his middle name," Pansy said. "And yes it's getting annoying. Draco doesn't sing as well as you do, Tracey."
"It's all the musicals that I went to see on the West End when I was little," Tracey said. "My grandparents, the muggle ones, live just a couple tube stations away from some of the best Musical Theaters. I hope there is something good this summer. Last year I got to see Carmen Jones ... there is nothing like a good Hammerstein musical."
"Oh, Hammerstein ... isn't he the one that wrote that 'like a Dame' song that got the Weasley Twins slapped a couple months ago," Daphne asked.
"Yes, that's from South Pacific. I saw that at the Prince of Wales Theater when I was eight," Tracey said. "It has some really good songs, but that was not the one to chose. It's bit out of touch, I think. I kind of prefer 'A Cockeyed Optimist' though I have really been tempted to pull out 'Carefully Taught' in the common room a few times during the autumn."
"Is that the one about hating all the people your parents hate?" Pansy said. "I think I heard Thomas singing it to the Gryffindor Patil after those two third year idiots decided to use those words towards her. I want to learn it so I can make a few idiots and their parents maybe start thinking."
"It's for a male singer though, a Lieutenant Cable who fell in love with a native girl while deployed as a sailor in the South Pacific, though," Tracey said. "Maybe we can get one of the boys to sing it at the Midsummer Ball. We're all expected to be at one. I think the Yaxley one is the one to be at if we really want to really give that to where it needs to be heard. "
"We have spent way too much time around Victoria," Daphne said. "I'm actually considering it. Though if it's for a man's voice, I'm not sure it will work for this year. And I have no idea how we get people to listen to us."
"Oh that's easy," Pansy said. "We frame it as a debutante, which we will all be, performance. But it can't start with that. It has to be a second song. We need something that catches everyone's attention."
Tracey cleared her throat and began to softly sing. "Most people live on a lonely island, lost in the middle of a foggy sea. Most people long for another island, one where they know they would like to be. Bali Ha'i may call you, any night, any day. In your heart you will hear it call you. Come Away, come away. Bali Ha'i will whisper on the wind of the sea ..." Tracey trailed off.
"Wow, I didn't know you could sing that good," Millicent said. The others nodded.
Tracey blushed. "Well, I kind of really liked that tune. Anyway it works well passing from person to person, and if you almost whisper the Bali Ha'i together, and you're positioned just right you can make it seem like it's coming from everywhere."
"We have got to do that," Daphne said. "You think Flitwick has some time for us? He runs the Hogwarts Choir and maybe he can help us arrange it for all of us, and get the set out there as something we can do at Midsummer."
"We can only try," Pansy said. "Are you in Millicent?"
"Oh I'm in. And if we're going to do Yaxley, I think Nott is our Lieutenant Cabel."
"Oh, isn't Victoria also going to be a debutante this year?"
"Yes."
"Oh I know exactly what I want sung to her," Tracey said with an evil grin. She had several options, actually, but Victoria deserved 'Some Enchanted Evening.' "Let me talk to Julian Ollivander. This is going to be fun."
It was the Monday of last week that Julie would be going to school in Houndslow. It had been decided that next September she'd either go to some place closer to Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire or have tutors like Evangellia Zabini, possibly with said Zabini and her current classmate and best friend Astoria Greengrass. She had been debating telling her other friends all week. At the moment Mrs. Chou had left her and the class in the cafeteria for lunch. Dobby had packed Julie's lunch, and as usual, it was very good.
Across from her was Astoria, whose lunch didn't seem to be as good. Then again Astoria was still suffering from a very restricted diet after recent illness that she didn't want to talk about. Astoria was looking better today though, even if she was scowling at the pudding packed in her lunch. Astoria had missed several days of school. Julie had actually missed last Friday because of food poisoning on Thursday, when she'd bought her lunch
"Oh look, the bar-whore's daughter whore is back," Cassandra Winton-Henke said as approached the table with a sneer. The class had to sit together, and it looked like Winton-Henke and her loyal minions Bertrum-Jones and Darling-Smythe, or as Astoria and Julie called them the double barreled chic, had chosen seats next to them rather than the other end of the table.
Julie was instantly fuming the moment Winton-Henke had used the slur on her. It always hit her hard, and somehow Winton-Henke had found out that Julie had been raped by ... Julie took a deep breath. It was best not to think about what the man she'd known as her father had done to her. Across from her she could see Astoria's expression. Astoria was determined to say something, and didn't want Julie to react much. Julie took another deep breath and let it out slowly.
Astoria turned slightly, and tilted her nose up slightly, "Lady Juliet, it seems that the cur hath decided to show her lack of refinement by casting aspersions on thy mother, the Countess Amesbury. Did thou not tell me that thy father, the Earl of Amesbury, hath had a talk with our good teacher about the failure of etiquette in this place of learning."
The strange tone and formal language that Astoria had effected was enough to draw the growing anger out of Julie. "My dear Lady Astoria, it is as thou have stated. It is most distressing how such unfounded aspersions on my honorable mother hath been cast by such self promoted societal leaders of new wealth. Why even the poorest of the poor hath shown better comportment." Julie turned slightly to Beth. Beth was smiling with a certain glint in her eye that told Julie all she needed to know.
"We may be poor in council housing," Beth began. "We may not have much it all, really, but we have honor, and know that casting such aspersions on the characters of our friends and neighbors is not the action of anyone worthy. To vilify a victim of a crime, well a person who does that is not suitable for no only polite company, but company at all."
"I for one shall not speak to such a person," Diana said from across from Beth. "Really, my Lady Juliet, thou doth not hath to be concerned by such a ... well tradition does say that I should use a language the offender doesn't know, so petaQ!"
Julie looked at the puzzled expression on Winton-Henke. "reH tlhInganpu', Diana," Julie replied. "Fortunately for me, the Earl of Amesbury has informed me that since he lives in Wiltshire, I will not be returning to this school next year."
"I kind of figured that," Beth said, looking down at her lunch. Then she looked back up. "Maybe you can come to visit some time next year."
"I'm not going to forget where I came from," Julie promised. "Cross my heart."
Junior, or as his official name was now, Jupiter Romulas Malfoy was exactly one inch below the height that he'd been when he'd died, as he stood in front of the mirror after taking his bath. A week ago, his parents had finally decided that he should have his own room. There were five rooms on the first floor. From the main entrance, it was Draco and Julie on the right and Victoria and an empty room on the left, with his new room right at the end. There were doors between each pair of rooms on each side, and for some reason Junior's suite shared a hidden door that opened into Julie's bathroom from his.
According the portrait of his great-grandmother Antonia, which was positioned so it could slide to cover and hide the entrance to the family wing, his room had once been the room where the tutor lived that taught Malfoy children until they reached Hogwarts age. However an incident with his great-aunt Eleonore had ended that, and Junior didn't really need to know what it was. Junior had an idea what it was, as he'd stood by as a ghost after his death guarding his sister. Or at least attempting to do so. There had been nothing he could do to stop Fenton. All he'd been able to do was make sure Julie hadn't felt alone.
Junior examined himself carefully, looking for anything out of the ordinary. With his accelerated growth, anything not matching what was expected was an issue. So far the only anomaly that had been detected was that his heights at each age were a bit taller than what he had been according to the records taken at his annual doctor's appointments. The healer was blaming that on better nutrition this time around.
He put on the green night gown, apparently it was a chiton, a greek thing. This was his fourth one, and fit rather well at the moment, being loose enough that if he had another night time growth spurt, it wouldn't choke him, and tight enough that it stayed on. Then he stepped through the mirror into Julie's bathroom.
This time she was done with her bath. Yesterday she'd been still soaking when he'd come through the mirror. Julie liked soaking in very warm water. Junior, on the other hand actually liked much colder water for his baths. Not ice cold, of course. She had put her own chiton on and was brushing her hair as she sat before the bathroom vanity table. She'd decided to cut it just above her shoulders that morning, making their current hair styles matching, something that they'd had back when they were three and four years old. Julie had let her hair get long once Junior had died.
Junior thought it might be because she didn't want to be reminded of watching him die. Aside from their differing sex, Julie and Junior had been mirror images of each other. Of course now she was nine and he was five. He kind of hoped that he didn't stop at the age that he'd died at and matched up to Julie again. It didn't feel right that he and Julie wouldn't end up being the same age again. He took the brush from Julie and took over brushing her hair. It was something he'd started when his age had reached four, though then he hadn't been able to do it when he was standing behind her and she was seated on a chair like this.
"So, are you ready for Draco and Victoria to get home tomorrow from Hogwarts," Junior asked his twin.
"You just want them to see how big you've gotten since the Quidditch Match," Julie replied. "Ouch."
"Sorry, big tangle," Junior said. "Maybe a little. I have some questions for Victoria about things that were happening at Hogwarts when I was a ghost."
"I kind of wish I'd been able to see you more when you were a ghost," Julie admitted. "Not that you were really a traditional ghost."
"I certainly fit the definition, it's just that my hold to earth wasn't regrets, it was a bit of cells leftover from our joint occupancy of mum's womb in your body," Junior said.
"I believe that made you a physically pertinent phantasm," Julie said. "I have to admit that I'm looking forward to Draco coming home. He's kind of really went into being my big brother. I've been writing him every so often, but it's not the same as sliding into his chair next to him and talking to him."
"Healer Foster says that physical connections helps the family magic settle," Junior said, finishing brushing his twin sister's hair. "We were away from the family manor all our lives until Yule. She says that we should expect to want more contact with family, especially with how many of us there are. We need to bond with it."
"So, have you convinced father to let you go with him to get Victoria and Draco?" Julie said, standing up and turning towards him.
"No, he thinks handling Victoria, Patrick, and Draco will be too much as it is," Junior replied, giving a hug to his twin.
"I miss us being the same height," Julie said, as the hug ended. "I hope you don't really end up stopping your accelerated growth in two weeks when you're supposed to match when you died.
"I want to be back that way too," Junior said as they went into Julie's room and climbed into her bed to await a bedtime story from Mummy'cissa.
They were snuggled together under the covers, sitting up against the headboard a couple minutes later when Narcissa Malfoy entered the room with a copy of Dragondrums in her hand. "I believe we're about to start this one?" she said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"The rumble-thud-boom of the big drums answering a message from the east roused Piemer. In his five turns at the Harper Craft Hall...