A\N: I'm back with a long one ;)
Chapter 9 - Like a True Slytherin
2 years ago
"You don't get to decide," said Hermione, busy frying the eggs," the rules are set into place to ensure order and discipline, you must follow them like all the others."
"But what if they're just stupid," complained Theo, who was preparing the table, as his mother had asked.
She and Theo were having their usual morning conversation while they prepared breakfast, which was something they did often and quite enjoyed, being the family's early risers.
Their discussions varied according to which event would take place in their day, or about a book one of them has recently read, or a simple chit-chat that'd ensue between a mother and a child.
These morning talks helped both of them get ready for the day, and ease their nervousness before they'd have to go out and face what life has to offer.
Theo, especially, would usually tell his mother about his troubles during these talks, seeking whatever advice she has to offer so he can finally deal with them.
He was already in his school uniform, having woken up early as he normally does, while his mother was wearing her dressing gown over her nightclothes; she didn't have work today.
His father was also awake –Theo heard him talk to his mother while he was getting dressed in his room, but when he came out his Mum told him that he was shaving.
Arya, on the other hand, was still sleeping, having no school or work to head to, Theo envied her.
"They are not stupid, Theo, you just don't see the benefits of them," Hermione replied patiently.
She was always calm in the mornings, welcoming ideas Theo knew she wouldn't agree to at other times, which was why he always used that time to 'politely' ask for things.
His father was still a problem, of course, forever standing between Theo and his ridiculous ideas, but his mother always found a way to convince him- Theo wished he could learn the secret.
"Nobody does," he muttered, heading to the fridge.
"I could come up with quite a few," his mother smirked.
"Honestly! " Theo huffed, taking the juice out of the fridge "what's the point of asking to go to the loo, for example? I know when I need to go, I'm not two years old! so why do I have to ask permission?"
"Did they ever say no ?" Hermione asked.
"No, not really," Theo answered honestly," not unless another classmate is already there, but sometimes they'd say that 'you should've gone in the break', we can't control our bodies!"
"It's just out of principle; they have to know where you're going to make sure you're safe"
"Where else would I go " he rolled his eyes, "besides, it's just the loo, of course, I'd be safe."
It was then that his father entered the kitchen, clean-shaved, dressed in his black robes, but still missing the cloak, which he'd finally wear when he leaves to the school once they finish breakfast.
He flicked his eyes between the two of them with a raised eyebrow and then walked to the kitchen counter and proceeded to pour himself coffee that his wife had prepared.
"You may think it's unnecessary, but you do not know what could happen to you in the lavatory," Severus suddenly said, breaking the silence, apparently well aware of what they had been talking about even though he wasn't in the room, for someone who admonishes others for eavesdropping, he's certainly a hypocrite.
He then turned around, holding his coffee mug in hand and looked directly at Theo "You may end up being stuck with a troll because you didn't care to inform the authorities of your whereabouts" he said taking a sip of his coffee, which was clearly a move to hide his smirk.
Theo looked at him flabbergasted, "why would there be a troll in a muggle school? " he asked, not understanding his father's comment.
Why would there be a troll in any school?
"There wouldn't," his mother said quickly, Theo looked at her only to see her glaring at his father " your father didn't sleep well, don't pay what he says any mind."
"I beg to differ," his father said, still smirking as he sat on his place at the table, he looked at his wife pointedly, "I slept splendidly."
Theo looked at both of them suspiciously.
He noticed that his mother had a slight blush as she turned her head and ignored his father, but he didn't understand why she was blushing.
Did they have some type of argument or something? and now they're just throwing words?
But that didn't explain why his dad was amused and his mum was flustered.
Is this a joke I don't get?
"I can deal with trolls," he told his father confidently, taking a seat across from him," even without magic, I'd knock them out with a heavy object on their head or something"
His father chuckled suddenly, he was almost outright laughing.
Theo looked at him with wide eyes, what the hell is going on?
His father would never laugh for no reason, especially not in the mornings. The man was far from a morning person, in fact, he was the exact opposite; they'd all be talking animatedly at breakfasts while he'd only occasionally participate with a nod or a short sentence, usually a sarcastic one.
Theo opened his mouth to ask if it was really that funny to knock a troll out, but his mother was suddenly in front of him, putting food on the table with a force far more than was necessary, ensuing loud noises in the process.
She was leaning on the table between them, facing his father, so Theo couldn't tell what either of them was doing.
When she finally moved, Theo could see that his father had sobered up, and was paying extra attention to his coffee mug.
"What's going on?" he asked both of them.
His mother stayed quiet but his father answered" Nothing," he said seriously, and then he cracked, his smirk back on his face "I shall think the object would have to be high enough to make an impact—"
"—Severus!" his mother interrupted loudly.
"Yes, my dear?"
His mother stayed silent for a few moments, her eyes never leaving his father's, and then she said," your son is trying to undermine the rules, don't encourage him."
"Certainly," his father said, and then looked at Theo" You must abide by the rules, young man, regardless of what you think of them."
" I do abide by them, I just don't get why we should follow stupid ones" Theo defended himself.
"It's not your job to decide what's stupid or not," Hermione said, finally joining them, sitting next to her husband, intentionally avoiding his gaze.
"Who does then?" Theo asked, putting a toast on his plate.
"Adults with authorities," she replied.
"Always the adults" Theo huffed.
"I know," said his father, faking sympathy, "it must be exhausting to be a child"
Theo rolled his eyes at the comment, and then looked at his father with a challenge.
"Well you probably broke the rules as a kid, I'd bet you've had plenty of detentions"
His father looked insulted "you'd lose your money," he said, " And here I thought that you'd be more careful giving that you've only recently got your allowance back " he gave Theo a pointed look.
Theo's face turned red at the reminder. Leave it to his father to admonish him even after his punishment was over.
"You mean you never broke a school rule before?" Theo asked suspiciously, not buying it.
"No, Theo, he means he was never caught doing so," his mother finally participated.
His father took another sip " your mother, on the other hand—"
"— was a perfectly obedient student" she countered.
"perhaps in primary school—"
"— unless I was provoked."
There was a momentary silence, in which his mother took her turn to sip her own coffee, while his father applied some jam on his toast before he spoke, "Of course, that would certainly explain setting a teacher on fire"
Both Theo and his mother almost choked on their drinks.
"You set a teacher on fire?!" Theo asked loudly.
"Only his robes," his mother explained, pointedly ignoring her husband, who was looking at her amused.
"You set a teacher's robes on fire ?" even more alarmed now that his mother has confirmed it.
"He deserved it" his mother replied, not a sign of regret.
Theo only looked at her with wide eyes, gobsmacked.
He knew his mother had fought in a war and was told by many people that she was a force to be reckoned with.
But he never thought about how fierce she can get.
"In what sense did I deserve it? I was peacefully watching a Quidditch game," his father finally said, dropping another bomb.
"You were clearly muttering a curse!" his mother replied quickly, finally meeting his father's gaze.
His father was about to reply but Theo has had enough bombs for one morning.
"Mum!" he shouted.
they both stared at him
"You set Dad on fire?!"
What the hell is wrong with his parents?
"Yes," his father said quietly, but they heard him," she does that."
~*\~
Today
"Theo!" Finn shouted, earning a hissed "Shh" from Madam Pince.
"What?" asked Theo, coming out of his head.
"We've asked you a question, mate," Dan said quietly.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
He's been having a hard time organizing his thoughts these days. Whenever he lost interest in whatever is taking place in front of him, he'd find himself being swept away by millions of unrelated thoughts.
And though this was not a new development, for it was always easy for him to be lost in his mind, he only recently came to define the issue as a problem.
Because, while before he'd be distracted by thoughts on things he enjoyed or things that propped him to be creative, lately he'd find himself thinking of things that'd make him feel miserable, or memories that he didn't want to remember because it'd only remind him of what he lost.
Right at this moment, he wished he asked his father to teach him Occlumency, no matter how difficult the man claimed it to be.
"Well, that's obvious," said Nathan.
"What is it then?" Theo huffed, not having the patience to be teased over how distracted he is.
"I asked if you still wanted the books about the war I said I'd lend you," said Dan," I'm going to write my parents today, so I can tell them to owl them back if you want."
"Oh yeah sure," smiled Theo appreciatively, "that'd be awesome."
A book about the war would be just the thing he needs, it'd focus his mind on things that he really wanted to know and would bash the distracting unwanted thoughts away.
Dan nodded absentmindedly as his eyes strayed to a scene that was taking place in the area beside them.
Theo looked in the same direction and saw three students trying to sneak into the restricted section.
"They're getting caught" whispered Finn, nodding towards the approaching prefect.
They all watched in awe as the Slytherin prefect caught the delinquent students before they even entered the section, and all winced as he took ten house points from each.
When they turned around, their ties revealed that they were Ravenclaws, Theo saw Finn smirk at that, somewhat happy that the other house is losing points instead of them.
"You know," said Nathan, bringing their attention to him "he probably won't act the same if they were other students"
"What do you mean?" asked Michael.
"The Slytherin prefect," explained Nathan, " he would have acted differently were the students from another house"
"You mean he'd let them through if they were Slytherins, for example?" asked Dan.
"Or give them detention in addition to the loss of house points if they were Gryffindors," added Finn, rolling his eyes.
"Not exactly," said Nathan," but yes, he'd probably choose to not notice it if they were Slytherins, and wait until he caught them in the act if they were Gryffindors."
"Not making the discrimination obvious" concluded Daniel.
"But do it in a Slytherin way" nodded Finn.
"You don't know that " Michael defended.
"I'm just saying," said Nathan.
"He's probably right though," said Dan, "I have Slytherin friends and they do seem to turn most situations into their benefit"
"Could be just your friends," said Michael.
"It's literally their house trait, to be cunning, being perceptive and manipulating things to their advantage is in their nature, it is an issue of using it for the good or the bad," explained Nathan.
"And making their house win the house cup, is something greatly encouraged so it's for the greater good," continued Dan.
"Cunning gits," said Finn bitterly.
"Why are we always talking about Slytherins?" Michael complained.
They all laughed.
"Get used to it, mate, it is just the nature of house rivalry"
Theo was contemplating that, trying to link it to his father's general attitude. He was surprised at how well it fit, his father did seem the more think before you act type, he also always lectured Theo about 'the art of perception'.
"I bet he'd let Theo in as well," said Finn suddenly.
They all looked at him.
"Why me?" Theo asked, bewildered.
" 'Cause Snape's your father," said Nathan, only for everyone to turn his gaze upon him.
Snape's my father.
Theo didn't think he'd ever get used to everyone calling his dad 'Snape', it didn't help that many students called Theo Snape too.
He wished everyone would just stick to the respectful way to call a professor, even when said professor is not around.
"So?" he asked, though he felt he knew where this was headed.
"If you get caught and get into trouble, he'd probably know about it and would know who caught you," Finn explained.
"And Slytherins wouldn't risk being in their head of house's bad book," Nathan concluded.
"He doesn't show me favouritism" Theo defended.
"They don't know that," countered Nathan.
"For all they know, Snape would personally punish anyone who comes your way," Finn said.
Theo suddenly remembered Austin's words on the train, how they could use him to avoid trouble.
Do people really think his father would allow Theo to do things other students couldn't just because he is his son ...
That was the farthest they could get from what his father is like.
"But isn't catching delinquent students a part of the prefects' job?" asked Michael.
"Even so, as Nathan explained, they could just choose to not notice it, just like they'd do if it were any Slytherin student"
Theo had the mental image of his father lecturing the prefects on how they could have handled the situations better, as he would Theo.
Does his father expect his Slytherins to act ... more Slytherin?
"That's probably why Austin said you're already one of their own" Daniel told him.
Theo looked at him and contemplated that.
Is it true?
Does he get some kind of special treatment because he is Slytherin's head of house's son?
"I dare you to do it," challenged Finn.
"Do what?" asked Theo
"Go retrieve a book from the restricted section, see how I am right."
What?
Theo's eyes widened.
"No, Theo, don't listen to him it is restricted for a reason!" said Michael.
"To be honest the reason for the restriction is probably because it contains books that are above our levels rather than it being not safe. After all, some students get permission to go in and retrieve some books"
"To retrieve certain books that are about certain safe topics, not just enter and get any book you can get like Finn is suggesting," countered Dan.
"Well, there are probably many books about the war in there," said Finn ignoring the others and focusing on Theo," things that have so many details that are not safe to sell to the huge public or something."
Theo looked at him uncertainly, Finn's eyes were glinting when he said the next sentence "Probably also contains many things about Voldemort and perhaps even Snape, considering his role."
Theo's interest immediately peaked and it must have shown because Finn smirked, "I dare you to go in and retrieve a book about the war," he said finally.
"I... " Theo hesitated
" Don't worry we will be watching," Finn immediately assured, "if he comes near you we will make a scene here and make him come to us instead."
" I don't want to get in trouble Finn!" Said, Michael
"But we won't that's the whole point!" Finn said excitedly.
If Finn's willingness to risk getting punished for creating a scene wasn't enough indication of how eager and determined he was, the glim in his eyes as he looked at Theo certainly was.
Theo looked at the other two boys, Dan and Nathan, and though Dan looked apprehensive he also seemed interested to test that theory.
Nathan, for his part, was looking at him with something of a challenge as if eager to know whether Theo was brave enough to do it or not.
Theo looked back at Finn, who was looking at him expectantly.
The only one who didn't seem up to it in any way shape or form was Michael. He looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.
Theo didn't know why he was even considering it, he knew it was a stupid idea.
But the fact that they're testing a theory somehow excited him. Something within him really wanted to be daring and actually do it.
Still, his rational side couldn't help but think about the consequences of his actions, what if he gets in trouble and his friends fail to make a distraction.
Then he'd probably face detention, and unlike what most people seem to think, his father would probably double it if he became aware of his transgression.
They really didn't know what kind of person his father is.
"I'll not hesitate to take points off my own son, in fact, I'd be delighted to"
Those were his exact words on the first day of term, the last time they'd spoken in private.
They hadn't talked to each other privately ever since and Theo really didn't want their next private meeting to be a detention, which would likely be the case if Theo got caught.
Because, as far as Theo knew, his parents would never let anything pass, especially not his father; The man would give Theo punishments that would make him deeply regret his decisions, even if Theo was already punished or admonished by his mother.
Flashes of the times he spent tending to the garden as punishment after he ruined his mother's roses came to mind.
But then, something else popped in his brain, something he only noticed now.
The last time Theo received any sort of punishment from his father was before the man left the house.
That was it. He has not been punished by his father ever since.
Theo knew he wasn't acting any more decent than he normally is, so the only logical explanation would be that his father wasn't disciplining him as he used to.
We barely see each other of course he doesn't punish me. Maybe I haven't really misbehaved in front of him.
But Theo knew that wasn't true, he still remembers the first weekend he spent with his father in spinner's end, where he locked himself in his bedroom. He didn't come out despite his father repeatedly asking him to, and refused to attend meals claiming he wasn't hungry. But when it finally was dinner and his father sent Arya carefully holding a plate with sandwiches in it to his room, he shouted at her that he wasn't hungry rudely shoving the food from her hands, resulting in her crying. Hearing the noise, his father came to his room within seconds, carried Arya and took her out of the room, calming her. He returned minutes later, ordering him to clean the food spread on the floor, and lecturing him on how rude he was, which Theo already knew and regretted ever since Arya started crying.
Of course, Theo didn't dare skip a meal after the incident, lest he really pushes his luck this time.
But that was it, his father didn't give him one of his tiresome punishments that would really teach Theo a lesson.
No, he didn't have to cook most of the dinner the next day or have to clean the table after each meal.
Nothing that would show Theo the error of his decisions.
His father didn't act as he normally would.
He didn't punish him as he normally would.
'He lets him get away with lots of things'
Theo remembered Nathan's words about how his father treats Sam and it just hit so close to home.
Is that where we're headed?
Am I gonna be just like Sam is now?
Theo didn't want that! He didn't want the thoughts that invaded his brain earlier today to come back again!
That was the thing that triggered it.
The feelings that he has to know, he has to test his limits.
He wanted to see if his father would really punish him or let things slide as Sam's father would.
He wanted to know if his father is ... well.. still his father.
He looked at Finn again, with new determination.
"I will do it."
If things fail, if I do get in trouble, I'll get to test another theory of my own.
"For real?!" exclaimed Michael, looking at him with so much bewilderment that he almost made Theo hesitate.
But not quite.
"Watch my back," he said and stood up.
They all stared at him as he approached the restricted section.
Theo tried to be as cautious as possible, even if it was true that the prefect would let him pass, it wouldn't do for him to be so obvious.
He approached slowly all the way keeping his eyes on the prefect who was busy scrutinizing a piece of paper in his hand.
Maybe he won't notice after all.
Despite the whole thing being a testing of a theory, Theo found himself wishing he wouldn't be caught regardless of whether he was noticed or not.
His heart started beating fast as he finally entered the restricted section, he looked back at his friends, they were far from him now and he could only see Dan and Finn, who weren't even looking at him but instead looking in the other direction, watching the prefect he presumed.
With mixed fear and excitement, Theo scanned the books in front of him, dark though it might be, he could still see some of the books' titles.
Many of them were old and faded, some of them didn't even have titles while others were written in foreign languages.
He could recognize one word in a Latin title, Mortem, written among other words he didn't know, and he found his hand reaching for it.
As soon as he touched the book, he felt a strange feeling of emptiness, as though everything around him disappeared and didn't even matter, his thoughts and fears of getting caught or lost or jinxed were gone as though they never existed.
He took a deep breath and tried to remember why he was here in the first place or to figure out why he couldn't will his hand to leave the book, but to no avail.
He kept staring vacantly at the book, without realizing or caring how much time had passed, his whole body satisfied with just looking at the single word he recognized.
Until something light hit his head and forced his eyes away from the book and his right hand reached unconsciously to rub the offended spot on his head.
He looked around trying to understand what happened when he saw Dan standing next to the entry of the restricted section trying to gain his attention.
He was whisper-shouting at him and his body language clearly indicated that he was telling Theo to hurry up.
Theo nodded and moved away from the section that contained the strange book, determined this time not to touch anything unless it was about the war.
It didn't take long, as fate would have it, the next row he scanned contained several books that had titles about wars, though not the one he was searching for.
He was so compelled to reach for some of them and maybe even scrutinize them, but his last experience with the strange book prevented him from doing that.
Better just get what I came for.
He didn't know whether he should keep searching in this section or try another one, for he found out that the books weren't exactly ordered, and though this section contained many books about wars it also contained books about other things like the magic of the mind or magic cores and other unrelated things.
He was glad he decided to stay, however, when his eyes finally settled on a book with the title Why Lord Voldermort Had So Many Followers.
Perfect.
Theo couldn't believe his luck, not only would he gain knowledge about the war from this book, but also information about the dark lord and his death eaters, something he knew very little about, for, despite his parents' open discussions of the events that took place in the war, they still avoided topics about the dark lord himself, giving away as little as possible.
Just as he reached for the book with his hand, someone touched his shoulder and Theo jumped in surprise, knocking down several books in the process.
He turned around with fear, only to sigh in relief when he noticed it was just Daniel.
"Hurry up, we'll get caught"
"What happened? " he asked.
"The prefect, he went to notify Madam Pince!" Daniel said, fear shown in his face " The others are trying to distract her, we have to get out now!"
Theo nodded and kneeled down quickly to pick up the books.
Fortunately one of them was the book he reached for in the first place, with two others.
As soon as he put one of the books back in its place, he was shoved away by Daniel, and in the next second, he found himself being squeezed into a narrow way between two bookcases, with Daniel standing across from him.
Holding his breath, Theo looked around the bookcase and found that Madam Pince was standing right where they just were.
He held the books he had tightly when he noticed that she was scanning the books on the bookshelves, hoping, nay, praying Madam Pince didn't keep track of which books were in the restricted section and where exactly they're supposed to be.
There was no denying how terrified he was now, he could feel his heart beating fast and was sure he was sweating furiously.
Despite his initial intent to test his limits with his father, he was desperately wishing the man won't find out, or at least won't be notified once Theo was caught.
Professor Lupin might give him detention till the end of the year, but if his father found out, he will use Theo's fingers in one of his potions. The man had even forwarned him that son or not he will not tolerate misbehaviour.
What the hell was I thinking when I agreed to this.
Just then, Theo remembered, that not only will he be getting into trouble, but Dan will be as well.
His friend will be caught with him and be shown no mercy, just because he tried to help Theo get out of his own mess.
Theo was sure he will feel ten times worse when his fear over the situation subsides and the guilt over what he put his friend through sinks in.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked again around the bookcase, only for his eyes to widen when Madam Pince was nowhere to be seen.
With panic, he started scanning the area.
She was just standing there! how can she just disappear?
Theo could hear his own heartbeat now, it was like his heart moved to his head and was beating against his ears.
Just then, Daniel nudged him and Theo looked at his friend worriedly. Dan was looking around the other side of the bookcase, and Theo looked around to see Madam Pince standing just across from them.
Theo sighed, glad to know where the danger was, but his relief was short-lived when Madam Pince started walking their way.
Theo was sure he stopped breathing then.
We're gonna get caught.
He searched around for something, anything, that might help them distract her, but the only way was to throw a book away and Theo knew it won't work.
I have to do something!
He looked at Daniel and saw the same fear he felt mirrored back at him, his friend closed his eyes tightly and was trying to come one with the bookcase behind him.
I have to get him out of here.
With one last look at Madam Pince, Theo made up his mind.
He nudged Dan lightly, and when he opened his eyes he motioned for him to be quiet, then he started moving slowly and carefully towards the edge of the bookcase.
He could see Madam Pince clearly now, just enough to know how to surprise her and make her forget to check for another culprit once she saw him.
He braced himself and held his breath, but just as he was about to reveal himself, he heard a voice calling.
"Madam Pince!"
Theo couldn't believe himself when he saw her turn around and head to the exit.
He looked back at Dan, who was looking at him with trepidation mixed with the relief Theo felt.
"Let's get out," Theo whispered.
With as much discreteness as they could manage, they made their way out of the restricted section, glad to see that there was no sign of Madam Pince on their way out.
They both sighed when they reached the exit and started moving quickly to get far away from it.
Just when they reached their table they noticed that it was empty, none of their friends nor their bags were there.
He looked questionably at Dan who shrugged.
"Let's just get out, I've had enough library for one day," Theo said, his voice somewhat higher than usual.
"I agree, I don't think my heart will rest until I leave this place."
With that, they made their way to the exit of the library slowing when they reached the front desk.
Theo was hiding the books with his robe and repeatedly asked Dan if he was acting too obvious.
But Madam Pince wasn't paying them any mind, she was agitatedly talking to someone, who they were both surprised to discover was Austin.
" I don't know Madam Pince! I can't seem to find a copy!"
"Maybe it's currently being used by one of the other students."
"But I need it now for my potions assignment," Austin said, clearly annoyed.
Theo would have believed him if not for the wink he sent their way, he looked at Dan with wide eyes only to see his friend doing the same.
He saved us!
They quickly moved to the exit, without anyone noticing.
Just as they made it out, they found their friends standing across from the entry, leaning on the wall, looking like culprits.
"Madam Pince kicked us out for making too much noise," explained Finn.
"You made too much noise!" said Nathan.
"Well, I had to distract her somehow!"
"You could've found a million other ways," said Michael, clearly annoyed he was caught " We've brought your bags with us, didn't want Madam Pince to see them and put two and two together," he said, extending Theo's bag to him.
"Did you make it out safely?" Nathan asked as he gave Dan his bag.
"Barely, we were almost caught! but Austin helped us"
" See? I knew we could trust him!" exclaimed Micheal.
"Lower your voice!" hissed Nathan, " we saw him enter just as Madam Pince kicked us out and Michael told him you both were in trouble, he said Austin was Dan's friend and would probably help."
"And I was right!" said Michael.
" A bit risky to trust a Slytherin when we were just outsmarted by one," said Finn.
"The prefect just left and notified Madam Pince and walked out with clean hands, not getting in any trouble for being the one to catch you" Nathan explained.
"Like a true Slytherin prat," huffed Finn.
"Did you get the books? hate to think we went into all this trouble for nothing" asked Michael, glaring at Finn.
"We did," said Theo, grinning as he revealed the books he was hiding in his robes.
"Put them in your bag quickly, and let's leave before anyone notices us," directed Nathan.
Books safely tucked in the bag, they started moving towards the Gryffindor tower.
"How did Brute help you anyway?" asked Finn
"He called Madam Pince out of the restricted section, and when we finally got out he was incessantly complaining to her about a book he can't seem to find or something," Theo explained
"She looked so agitated I'm sure she even forgot someone might have sneaked into the restricted section," said Dan chuckling, the fear of getting caught long gone.
"I bet that was intentional," said Nathan.
"It was!" said Theo" We would have actually believed him had he not winked at us."
"Wouldn't expect any less from a Slytherin"
"See!" exclaimed Michael, looking at Finn "They can actually use their skills to be good"
Finn only shook his head.
"Knowing Austin," Daniel said," he'd probably expect a payback."
"Of course he would," intervened Theo, " like a true Slytherin prat," he said mimicking Finn, which resulted in them all laughing.
"Mummy!" exclaimed Arya, running towards Hermione.
"Hello sweety"
The mother and daughter shared a warm hug, as they usually would whenever Hermione came to take Arya home from school.
The unusual part was that as soon as Arya stepped back from the hug she said, "I need to speak to Daddy!"
Hermione didn't miss the urgency of her voice.
Of course, it wasn't the first time the little girl demanded such a thing, she missed her father a lot, and Hermione always let her use her owl if she wanted to send him a message.
But the way she said it led Hermione to conclude that the little girl had something in mind.
"You 'need' to?" she asked.
Arya's eyes widened a bit, but then she nodded her head "I miss him," she said innocently.
Hermione raised her eyebrow, Arya was clearly hiding something.
"I'm sure he misses you too," she assured the little girl, "you can owl him when we get home."
The girl nodded and held her mother's hand as they made their way to the hidden apparition spot.
As they walked, Hermione kept sideglancing at the little girl trying to figure out what she's thinking about. Usually, the little girl would talk her heart out after school, telling her mother every little detail without any need to be asked, so the fact that she was yet to say anything greatly intrigued Hermione.
It amused Hermione that despite the girl being awfully quiet, she still upheld her habit of swinging her mother's hand back and forth.
As they neared the apparition area, Hermione turned around.
She could feel that someone was walking behind them, not necessarily following them, but she still had to make sure lest she accidentally reveals the hidden spot to a clueless muggle.
"Mummy that's Alex," Arya said, pointing towards a lady holding hands with who indeed was Arya's friend.
Hermione immediately recognized the woman as the one who seemed to know Hermione on the first day of school.
Alex also noticed Arya and started waving, so Hermione politely waited until they reached them.
"Hello" she greeted the other mother.
"Oh hi, Hermione right?" the woman greeted back.
Hermione didn't remember giving the woman her name, as they talked very briefly the first day.
She also didn't think Arya somehow gave her name away.
"I am, but I highly doubt that would be anybody's first guess," she replied, giving a woman a pointed look.
" Oh of course," the woman chuckled, her face somewhat reddening, "forgive me, I'm Susan by the way, and I know your name because I know you," at Hermione's raised eyebrow she explained quietly, "I mean, I know of you, you're quite famous in our world."
Having her suspicions confirmed, Hermione nodded her head, smiling slightly.
Arya was trying to free herself from his mother's grip as she talked animatedly to her classmate, but Hermione refused to let go and started walking, motioning to the other woman to walk with her to their now shared destination.
"I'll be honest," said Susan," I was surprised when I recognized you the first day, it was one thing for Alex to share the same school with one of our kind, but for it to be your daughter is extremely baffling."
"I hope you'll forgive me, I'm not exactly used to being recognized, especially here."
"Ooh it's nothing, dear, I'd be creeped out if someone even gave me a second glance without me knowing who they are, let alone knew my name."
Hermione nodded," Still, I'm glad they have each other," she said smiling at the children.
The other woman chuckled, " Oh I adore your little girl, Alex always talks about her antiques. They're quite the pair"
"I hope they don't get themselves in many troubles," Hermione said smiling.
"I somehow highly doubt that."
They both laughed while the children were none the wiser, busy talking about whatever five years olds talk about.
As they walked, Hermione pondered her daughter's luck.
Having a magical friend in a muggle school, her daughter was indeed fortunate.
Hermione waited for Susan and Alex to apparate first when they finally reached the apparition spot and made sure not to accidentally leave any magical trace once she apparated with Arya.
Having been married to an extremely paranoid spy for over twelve years taught her to always be cautious, no matter how friendly the people around her seemed to be.
Once they finally reached their street and walked towards their house, Arya finally started talking to her, which reminded Hermione of the subject at hand; what was the little girl hiding?
"Mummy?"
"Yes, sweety?"
"Do you like Alex?"
"He seems like a nice boy," she said amusedly, "why?"
Arya nodded, " I know he's nice, he plays with me and Emma all the time," she said.
"Is that so?"
They stopped as Hermione started opening the front gate.
"Yes, but his mummy keeps asking me questions sometimes when I see her."
Hermione stopped her movements at that.
"Like what?" she asked cautiously, hoping that her daughter would be forthcoming and she wouldn't have to question her more later.
"I dunno, just random stuff about you and Daddy, do you think she knows we're wizards?"
It wasn't exactly alarming, the woman clearly knew who they were and what they've done and would naturally be curious to ask questions about them and their life now that she had the chance.
But Hermione was extremely uncomfortable with the woman questioning her daughter to the point where the girl thought it strange enough to mention it.
She sighed, she'd certainly talk to the woman about that the next time she saw her.
"As a matter of fact, I think she does know we're magical," she told Arya, closing the gate and following the little girl to the front door.
"But Mummy! isn't that a secret?"
Hermione chuckled, " well, it's not a secret if they're wizards too"
Arya's eyes went wide " Alex is a wizard too ?! does that mean we can do spells together and stuff?"
Hermione waited until she finished adjusting the wards on their house before opening the front door and answering the girl, "You can only do spells when you're old enough Arya"
"But about when stuff happens ?"
"We talked about this, sweety, accidental magic is out of your control, and the ministry deals with it when it happens."
"But if it happened in front of Alex, it's okay right ?" Arya asked as her mother removed her jacket and motioned for her to remove her shoes.
Hermione smirked, " I suppose it is"
Arya nodded, satisfied.
"The teachers asked us what we wanted to do in the future today", she said, finally telling Hermione details about her day.
"And what did you say?"
Arya shrugged "I just said a doctor like the other kids did."
"But you don't want to be a doctor," Hermione commented.
Arya shook her head,"no, I want to be a potions mistress or maybe a healer, but I can't say that in front of them right ?"
Hermione supposed that if she had done so the teachers would dismiss it as childish fantasy, but she nodded her head.
"They asked us to bring one parent to talk about their jobs next Wednesday but..."
"But?" Hermione asked amusingly.
"You work at the wizarding ministry, you can't tell them that!"
Hermione chuckled, "That's true," she conceded, waiting for the little girl to continue.
The girl eyed her shyly, " do you think Daddy would come ?"
Hermione smirked, "your father also works at a magical school."
"Yes but Daddy can say he's a professor somewhere else, he knows how to do that," Arya said confidently
"And what makes you think I can't?" Hermione challenged.
"Daddy's good at it, Mummy! He's a Slytherin, he knows how to pretend," Arya told her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Hermione could only chuckle.
"It's okay if you want to come!" Arya said, trying to console her mother, "I just don't know if you can pull it out."
"So you have no faith in your poor mother's skills?" Hermione teased tapping the girl's nose with her finger.
The little girl looked somewhat sheepish, afraid she'd hurt her mother's feelings.
Hermione shook her head smiling, "I don't mind your father going, Arya, But I'm not sure he'll be able to come, you'll have to ask him"
"I will," the girl said excitedly, running to the study.
Ooh, Severus is in trouble.
Hermione knew Severus would be one hundred per cent against the idea, he'd never put himself in a situation like that; sitting amongst muggle children and parents, having to talk about a profession he doesn't have and listen to whatever the other parents have to say.
Yeah, that's absolutely nothing like Severus.
The man would be bloody uncomfortable.
But Hermione knew he'd do that and more if Arya asked him to, especially since the little girl missed him so much and he was less likely to tell her no.
Of course, had the circumstances were different he would have begged Hermione to relieve him of that task, perhaps even giving her something else in return if she chose to use the opportunity to ask.
But now, he can't escape it.
The little girl has him wrapped around her little finger.
When the Arya returned excitedly holding a parchment in one hand, and a quill with the ink bottle in the other, Hermione remembered something.
"Is that why you said you needed to talk to him?"
The girl only chuckled mischievously, and Hermione had a sudden realization; Arya didn't want to tell Hermione the truth until she gave her consent. She had planned to ask her father all along, but not without ensuring that Hermione wouldn't mind.
What a little Slytherin indeed.
I hope you liked the little snippet of the past at the beginning as I plan to add more of those into future chapters :)
Don't forget to tell me what you think about this chapter ت~