CHAPTER 13

03 September 1991 - Tom's Study - 6:22AM

"The absolute nerve of that drunken ignorant imbecile!" Tom Riddle was more furious than ever, his face contorted into a rictus of righteous anger. He was stiffly reclined in his study chair, paying only partial attention to an equally angry Severus, who sat stone-faced on the divan. Tom - an early riser - had entered his study at his usual time to find an angry Severus pacing the length of his desk, walnut wand clutched in one hand and a steaming cup of tea in the other. Severus had been muttering to himself, and Tom had immediately grown concerned at the manner of obscenities he'd heard. It'd taken Tom a few minutes to sufficiently settle the man into the divan, where he'd gone on to reveal the cause of his visible distress.

"Yes, some nerve indeed. I have never, in all my years, witnessed something so utterly heinous. In his drunken belligerence he not only humiliated Harry, Lily and himself, he went as far as to threaten his second son and his ex-wife with banishment. And that's on top of referring to the mother of his children as a… mudblood." Severus ended the last word on a whisper, its loathsomeness feeling like lead on his tongue. He recalled the last time someone had called Lily Evans a mudblood to her face, and a light shiver passed through him at her reprisal.

"What was Lily's reaction?" Severus darkly chuckled at that, pausing to take a sip of his tea before responding.

"Well, naturally she was absolutely furious, moreso at the assault on her son than the egregious insult on her person. You will be disappointed to hear that I was responsible for talking her down from her initial cause of action."

"Oh?" said Tom, his smile positively wicked.

"Indeed. She'd initially wanted to storm Potter Manor and just raze the entire edifice to the ground with James Potter still in it." Both men laughed, knowing that Lily was perfectly capable of doing exactly that, since she'd done it before. "She then toyed with the idea of literally emasculating him, a process which apparently involves a needle, thread, a mirror, and a rusted straight razor." Both men shuddered at the implication, and Tom looked distinctly alarmed.

"What the hell is the mirror for?!"

"So he could… watch." Twin shudders passed through both men, both reflexively crossing their legs.

"Regardless, I was able to talk her into just responding in kind, and I imagine that Potter will be getting a wonderful welcome message this morning." Both men laughed in unison, wishing they could be there to witness the look on the idiot man's face.

"Well, thank you for ensuring our dear Lily won't end up in Azkaban, though she would be completely justified in her actions. Her ex-husband openly threatened her and her child with snapping their wands and having them expelled from Wizarding Britain. And loath as I am to admit it, he would be completely in his legal right to do so, especially with the enduring social capital his Heir possesses as the Boy-Who-Lived." Tom resisted the urge to sneer at the title, once more regretting his decision in convincing Lily to free Rita Skeeter from her well-earned belljar prison.

"Indeed. In spite of our best efforts, if James truly felt compelled to have them expelled and their wands snapped, his status as Lord of an Ancient and Noble House, and yes, the father of the Boy-Who-Lived would give him a very unfair advantage. Granted, while he would face opposition from ourselves, Lord Black, and Madam Longbottom, there are still a few traditionalists that would side with him based on the established precedence. That he and Lily are divorced would only help his case, even moreso since she initiated the divorce proceedings. It also wouldn't help that Lily has ruffled quite a few of their stuffy feathers by daring to exist as a muggleborn, and daring to excel in the snake's nest that they foolishly believed would eat her alive." Both men snorted at that.

"You're correct Severus. And as such, that is an outcome we cannot allow to happen. We'll have to keep an even closer eye on James Potter; it seems whatever lingering bitterness over his divorce has… festered into something considerably more dangerous, and I fear the future consequences should he be allowed to unleash its full force. Especially now that Harry is a Slytherin, and will more than likely be taking on the Prince of Slytherin mantle."

"Very much so. I will say that young Harry has come up with a rather ingenious solution to tackle part of this problem."

"Oh?" Tom asked, completely intrigued. "What scheme has our budding Slytherin protege concocted?"

Auror Department - 8:12AM

James Potter sat hunched over his desk, regretting his decision to not take a Sobering Potion. His head was pounding, and he wondered how he was going to get through a full work day. His mind was still a haze, recalling just how much Firewhiskey he'd consumed the night before. He remembered reading a letter from Jim about meeting Harry, and Harry's sorting into Slytherin. He'd been shocked, horrified, and angry (he was always angry these days), taking comfort in too much alcohol. He blearily remembered making a Howler in a pique of drunken rage, but exactly what was said and whom it'd been sent to was all blur. James shifted in his chair, groaning as his head pounded at the movement. He heard a small commotion at the office entrance, but he chose to ignore it as he rubbed his temples. It would cost him when he felt a heavy fist connect with the side of his face.

"YOU STUPID SONOFABITCH! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING AT?!" The punch threw James out of his chair, his head spinning and throbbing. He tried to get up but he found himself pinned down by an enraged Sirius Black, his eyes glowing bloody murder. To James' alarm, he could hear the man growling in a manner reminiscent of his Grimm form, and from Sirius' vantage, it would only take seconds to transform and rip him to shreds.

"Getoff! What the hell are you talking about Black?!" He struggled to get Sirius off, who was decidedly not budging. Regrettably, James realized that he'd left his wand sitting on his desk.

"I am talking, Potter" he spit the name furiously "about that despicable Howler you sent your own son. You know, Harry Potter? My godson?! The one you were willing to send away to muggles because you thought he was a Squib? A Squib that would steal your precious little Heir's magic?" Sirius was now snarling, and his words had caused a noticeable murmur to go through the office. Alastor Moody looked ready to hex the two men silly, and Rufus Scrimgeour openly glared at James, his leontine visage noticeably pinched in anger. Jerome Varens openly gawked, used to the men's cold exchanges, but never having seen them involved in fisticuffs. Kingsley Shacklebolt was staring at James, radiating disappointment. The remaining occupants stared in varying degrees of shock, with the noticeable exception of Sr. Auror Corban Yaxley, who watched the debacle with a most curious expression.

"He was a Squib!" James responded angrily. "I do recall you being there when Dumbledore told us all that Harry was a Squib! Bloody hell Sirius, it was for his own good!" Quick as a flash Sirius punched him again, and James felt his mouth pool with blood. He tried with all his might to buck Sirius off but the man was unmoveable. James attempted to raise his hand to strike Sirius but the latter was faster, pinning the former's arms down with a strength James didn't know he possessed. Sirius leaned closer, his handsome face downright savage in his rage.

"Well as you can see now Potter, Harry is very much magical, a fact you were quite aware of when you sent him a drunken Howler threatening to snap his and Lily's wands because he was sorted into Slytherin! And calling the mother of your children a mudblood!" A shocked gasp rang through the room, all occupants staring at James in varying degrees of appallment. James looked momentarily stricken, before his face hardened in anger.

"Fuck you Sirius! The so-called mother of my children who abandoned her husband and abandoned her firstborn. She failed in her duties as my wife and failed in her duties to be Jim's mother! She left me! As if that's not bad enough, she raised my son to be a fucking Slytherin! A Slytherin! NO POTTER HAS EVER BEEN A SLYTHERIN!" Sirius looked momentarily shocked by James' screaming, before scowling viciously.

"Are you forgetting, arse, that your own mother, my grand-aunt Dorea Black was a Slytherin?! Or are you too fucking stupid to have realized that fact?!" Sirius shook him in his anger, and James felt his already throbbing head rattle painfully.

"Fuck you Black! You don't know anything about my family! My mother she may have been, but she was not the Potter Heir! There's a difference, and it matters. No Potter son has ever been a Slytherin, that is how it's always been, and that is how it will remain." James' tone brokered no argument, and Sirius just resisted the urge to throttle him senselessly. He leaned closer to James, so close that their noses were touching and he could see his reflection in the man's crooked glasses. Though James looked mutinous, his eyes showed a small flash of concern.

"Well heed me when I say this Lord Potter. If you ever threaten my Godson - my oath-sworn Godson - and his mother ever again, nothing and no one will stop me from destroying you, not even Albus Dumbledore. I will use every capacity I possess in my stead as Lord Black to see you and your House in ruins." At this point Sirius smiled a truly terrifying smile, his sharpened teeth gleaming. James was alarmed to discover that in this moment, Sirius' eyes glowed with the same madness he'd often seen in Walburga Black's eyes. "Oh James, poor stupid James," his voice turned condescending, "I'll render you a kite, dancing on the winds of my hurricane. And there shall be no eye of reprieve to save you." Sirius gave him a hard shove before hopping off and leaving the office, slamming the door in his wake. Groaning, James picked himself up off the floor, avoiding eye contact with everyone who stared at him with varying expressions of disgust, shock, and in some cases, anger. Moody looked particularly apoplectic, wishing he had the chance to throttle James with the same vigor Sirius had. Scrimgeour and Shackebolt looked equally disgusted, openly sneering at James while he gathered himself to sit. The sole exception was Corban Yaxley, who stared with calculating eyes that bode nothing but trouble.

Some minutes later, the day's owl deliveries began, and a gorgeous snowy owl headed straight towards James, with three familiar blood red envelopes clutched in its talons, along with another bearing a solicitor's seal. Internally groaning, James braced himself for impact.

AN 1: Well, that was unpleasant! James has a hell of a ride in front of him, all thanks to his drunken stupidity. But a drunk tongue does speak a sober mind, and you can see that James has harbored a lot of bitterness towards Lily 'leaving him', that's manifested into hate. Dangerous emotions to have. He and Sirius will clash several more times, and Moody & Scrimgeour & Shacklebolt will be less tolerant of James' foolishness.

AN 2: The 'literally emasculate' bit is courtesy of Malory Archer (RIP Jessica Walters!)

Next up, Potions Class and the aftermath!