average human’s Reviews > Veritaserum > Status Update

He had built two different obstacle courses. One for his third years to complete this morning, and one for his sixth years to take after lunch. The third year obstacle course had taken him weeks to figure out. They had studied an impressive array of creatures this year, but only five of the creatures were required to be tested on. The standards for third year Defense Against Dark Art students were that they were able to prove their competency in defending themselves against hinkypunks, Kappas, grindylows, Red Caps, and boggarts in order to receive a passing grade in the course for the year.

Remus had drug Minerva up to Albus’ office when he realized that there was no way to test a students capabilities against a boggart, aside from forcing them to face it.



“Albus you don’t understand,” Remus pleaded. “Some of the students have horrifying boggarts. I told you before that Theodore Nott’s boggart is his own father. We can’t make the students face their possibly abusive parents as a school test!”

“I believe it may be a reach to accuse Mister Nott’s father of abuse based on a young boys fear,” Albus said gently, repeating the same sentiment he shared the first time Remus immediately informed him of Theodore’s boggart.

“It’s still cruel,” Remus insisted. “We can’t expect young children to face their deepest fears and then grade them on it!”

“Are boggarts a part of the final curriculum for the third years?” Minerva asked while Albus just stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“It is, but it shouldn’t be,” Remus said. “I think it should be pushed back until at least fifth year, if not sixth.”

“I’m afraid if it’s in the standards then there is nothing we can do about it,” Albus said quietly. “I can petition the board for it to be changed at our meeting this summer, but unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it this year. I’m sorry my boy.”



So Remus had thought about it for weeks. He’d thought of how group approaches to the boggart clearly hadn’t been a good idea. He thought of how many students had been frozen by emotionally gut wrenching fears. And he thought of how some of the students had seemed humiliated to have anyone at all witness their fear.

And he had finally, thanks to an off handed remark from Sirius, come up with a solution.

“Did I tell you about the ghoul that used to live in my mother’s trunk?” Sirius had laughed over dinner at his flat one evening. “She’d been so frightened over the damn thing you’d think it was her boggart.”

“Wait- what?” Remus blinked quickly at Sirius as the puzzle pieces suddenly clicked in to place. “Pads that’s it! You’ve cracked the code!” he laughed.

“What code? What are you on about?” Sirius asked curiously.

“The boggart problem! A trunk! That’s how I can test everyone! Then it’ll fit in the obstacle course I told you about for the third years!”

“Oh yeah,” Sirius’ eyes brightened like they always did at even the vaguest mention of Harry. “So you’re going to put the boggart in a trunk and what? Have the kids get in with it?”

“Exactly!” Remus summoned a parchment out of Sirius’ kitchen and quickly scribbled his idea so he didn’t forget it. “Then it’s private, but it’s still part of the obstacle course.”

“An obstacle course would have been so wicked to have as a student,” Sirius grumbled. “How will you fix it in case any of the students need help?”

“Damn,” Remus swore under his breath. “I could...” he hesitated while he tried to think of a private way he could be alerted if a student needed help without having to be there with them. “An alarm!” he said with a broad smile. “I can put a switch in the trunk and if they flip it then I can go in and help them. Or they can just accept the grade drop for leaving the trunk without assistance.”

“You’re brilliant,” Sirius smiled at him with the same charming smile Remus has loved for twenty years now. “Those students are lucky to have you.”

“Tell them that,” Remus scoffed with a pleased grin. “But maybe this will take me off Susan Bone’s hit list.”

Sirius laughed deeply at that, he seemed just as fond of Susan as he was Harry.

“Amy’s niece is a fireball,” he chuckled. “Almost makes me wish Harry saw her as more than just a sister.”

“Don’t let Fred Weasley hear that,” Remus shook the quill in his hand at Sirius. “He’s been trying to carry Harry’s bag around for him and looking like a lovesick puppy ever since he got back from St Mungo’s.”

“Trying to carry his bag?” Sirius asked. “Does Harry not let him or something?”

“I heard Harry lecturing him that Fred carrying Harry’s bag somehow makes him look weak,” Remus said with a small grin. “He’s worse than James ever was with always trying to seem like the toughest guy in any room.”

“Well,” Sirius frowned, “Harry’s got his reasons.”



Remus had felt a pang of remorse for his own thoughtless remark later when he returned to the castle that night. James had been a bit pig-headed as a student, and was constantly trying to impress someone, usually Lily, all for an ego boost. Harry’s show of strength probably came from the insecurity he felt after having been a victim during his earlier life.

Remus also felt guilty as he hadn’t told Sirius about what Severus told him, which he desperately wished he could forget ever hearing, about Harry living on the streets and being assaulted. But he suspected Sirius knew quite a bit already. He said that he’d spent a lot of time with Harry before he was exonerated and had even attended a therapy session with Harry and Severus, and told Remus he couldn’t share what he had heard during either time.

“I can’t break his trust, you get it right Moony?” he’d pleaded. And Remus did get it. Harry was the most important person in Sirius’ life and he’d never want him to do anything to hurt his relationship with his godson.

Of course, Remus still would have given quite a bit to see Severus, Harry, and Sirius talking about their feelings with a therapist. The fact none of them drew blood seemed to be the beginning of a peaceful period for the three of them.



Sirius had never seemed so happy as he was when he recounted his brief Hogsmeade visits with Harry, or when he got an unexpected letter from him.

And Harry had seemed to be happy as well, he had practically bounced around the castle until the night Remus unfortunately had to bust him from a party. Partially undressed. Drunk. Reeking of pot. And with a fifth year draped over his lap.

It wasn’t his best night.

Harry, unsurprisingly, got even with Remus the very next morning. While he was sitting at breakfast and felt the map he temporarily confiscated from Harry fly out of his robe pocket and speed towards his classroom.

“Goodness,” Pomona gasped. “What was that?”

“That is James’ karma,” Remus grumbled, mopping up his spilt tea, as he realized what must have happened. “It’s just a shame he isn’t here to receive it.”

Pomona gave him a curious look, but didn’t say any more about it.

Sirius had unsympathetically thought the whole thing was hilarious when he vented about it to him that night at Rosmerta’s pub.

“Fred was on his knees in front of him Pads!” Remus wailed in to his lager. “And I had to turn Harry in to Severus! Do you know what a hypocrite I felt like?”

“Probably a pretty big one,” Sirius laughed loudly as he downed his third glass of bourbon. “Harry’ll forgive you this summer, it’s going to be brilliant Rem.”

Even in his partially inebriated state Remus knew there was something wrong with Harry’s abrupt decision to move in with Sirius. Harry was closer to Severus than any other student in the castle. He defended him at any perceived slight and ran to him for any problems he had. Harry hardly knew Sirius. And Harry didn’t seem like the type of kid that was comfortable with sudden big changes.

“Harry might feel different later,” Remus said gently. “I’m sure Severus punished him for what happened last night and he probably just ran to you to try and avoid being in trouble. You should talk to him and Severus both about it later.”

Sirius waved off his concerns and started rambling on about his plans for the summer. Remus listened with his usual loving exhaustion he had when it came to what he called Sirius’ ‘energetic moods’. The man would talk his ear off, trash his flat as he bounced around, be easily prompted in to a shouting match over the smallest disagreements, and he made rash decisions without thinking. But he also was ravenous and insatiable in bed during these energetic moods as well, so Remus tolerated them with privately mixed emotions. Plus, they were much better than when Sirius used to go in to his ‘dark moods’. He hadn’t had one since he’d had his name cleared and Remus hoped that maybe he wouldn’t have them anymore. He knew it was unrealistic, but a man could hope.

Sirius’ energetic mood had crashed hard the very next day when he burst in to Remus’ second year defense class and started shouting about Harry being in a coma at St Mungo’s.

Remus quickly got Filius to agree to supervise his class so he could follow Sirius to the Wixen hospital in London where they’d discovered that Harry was indeed in a coma.

“Pup... wake up... please... please... I love you...”

Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius as he sobbed next to Harry’s bed. Severus and the Healers assured them that Harry would wake up when the poison in his brain disappeared and reduced the swelling but... but Harry looked so tiny and vulnerable in the large hospital bed. His face was pale white beneath his scars and he looked years younger as his perpetual scowl had disappeared in favor of a slack jawed look of peace.

Sirius refused to leave the hospital, which left him sharing a room with an equally stubborn Severus, until Harry woke up.

“You go back,” Sirius told Remus. “I want to be here when he wakes up.”

So Remus went back and forth between the castle and the hospital for two weeks. He brought Sirius and Severus food and tried to urge them both to rest, not that either of them listened. He also escorted various students to the hospital at Minerva’s request.

“If you’re going anyway would you mind allowing the students who have permission to visit to go with you?” she had asked softly. “There’s quite the line of worried students.”

Remus was bemused by some of the students who insisted on visiting Harry, including Roger Davies and Jonathan Abbott.

“Harry’s an old friend,” Jonathan grinned lazily. “I’d hate for anything to happen to the bloke.”

Remus carefully warned Severus to make sure any gift Jonathan left was checked since he was the one Remus had confiscated three baggies of pot off of at the party he’d busted up.



In the middle of the three men fretting over the health of Harry, they were hit with another blow.

“HE ESCAPED??” Sirius bellowed in Harry’s private hospital room (apparently Severus would settle for nothing less) when Remus immediately brought the two other men the newspaper he himself had spit his tea out over.

“Fucking Merlin damned stupid bastards,” Severus growled. “They knew Pettigrew was an animagus.”

“He’s a sneaking nasty little rat,” Sirius snarled.

And then Remus Lupin witnessed his first ever miracle at thirty three years old- Severus Snape agreed with something Sirius Black said.



Finally, after sixteen days, Harry had woken up.

And immediately crushed Sirius’ highly held hopes by saying he wouldn’t come live with him.

“You tried to warn me,” Sirius moped on their way back to Hogwarts the day Harry woke up. “I just... I want him to be happy. But I wish it was with me.”

“I know,” Remus tried to comfort him. “But he’s still your godson love. And if he lives with Severus then you get to be the fun godfather you always wanted to be. All the good times without any of the discipline involved in raising a teenager.”

Sirius had perked up at that reminder and his good mood had carried him all the way through to finals week. He had wished Remus good luck the night before after helping him set up the obstacle courses and now Remus proudly surveyed their work as his third years trooped across the lawn towards him.

“Morning!” he called to them all brightly. “I thought we’d try something out a little different for your final exam today.”

The students looked curious at the course laid out behind him and Remus hoped it was a good sign.

“Here’s how today will work! One at a time you will go through the course and will be faced with five creatures we’ve talked about in class. Each obstacle will require you to defeat them in order to move on. Grades will be based on how many creatures you defeat. If you defeat all five creatures you’ll get an Outstanding. Four creatures will get you an Exceeds Expectations. Defeating three creatures will earn an Acceptable. Only defeating one or two creatures will get you a Poor. And if you don’t defeat any you’ll get Dreadful. Any questions?”

“What creatures are they?” Ronald Weasley asked after raising his hand.

“I can’t give the whole game away,” Remus chuckled. “But I can tell you that all five are ones I warned you guys would be on the final exam. Also,” Remus waited until everyone’s attention returned to him. “I will actually warn you that the last obstacle is a boggart AND anyone who requires assistance should flip the switch to the right of the entrance once you climb in the trunk. I did not want to include it, but rules are rules apparently. Please do your best and if you need assistance, or can’t face yours again, understand that there is no shame at all in not laughing in the face of what is meant to be your deepest fear. Okay?”

Most of the students nodded thoughtfully, but Remus saw a handful of Slytherins balk at the idea of facing their boggart. Most notably were Harry and Theodore. Both of whom had incredibly disturbing boggarts.

“Alright, once I call you up you’ll take the course then you guys are free to hang around for your friends or leave. First up, Hannah!”

Remus and the students watched as Hannah determinedly fought her way through the obstacle course.

“Only missed two,” he told Hannah quietly once she climbed out of the trunk, the green light on the trunk lock indicating she had successfully defeated the boggart. “Susan!” he called loudly towards the waiting students.

Susan strutted towards him, her chin stuck out, exuding pure confidence.

“Good luck,” he laughed before she took off. Susan was a force to be reckoned with. Even as much as she’d tormented Remus this year, he thought perhaps Harry had it right when he said Remus himself used to find those same pranks funny when he was a student. Apparently Susan was determined to teach him a lesson on how hindsight is a bitch.

“Exceeds Expectations,” he told her when she climbed out of the trunk, pale faced, with the absent green light indicating to him which creature she missed. “No shame in that one Miss Bones.”

Susan nodded at him, which he thought was quite an accomplishment since she’d appeared ready to curse him after the first time she’d faced her boggart.

Remus was hesitant when he reached Theodore’s name on his parchment. “Theodore!” he called.

Theodore looked quickly towards Harry and raised his brows, as if asking a silent question, that Harry answered with a curt nod.

Remus seemed to hold his breath when Theodore entered the trunk, but after only a few minutes the Slytherin boy exited the trunk with a blinking green light. “Only missed the second creature!” Remus informed him proudly.

Harry and Theodore shared another subtle look once Theodore rejoined the group of lingering and waiting students.

“Harry!” Remus eventually called. Harry swaggered up with a confident strut that made Lupin smile. Harry had seemed much more confident and comfortable ever since he arrived back from the hospital. Remus wasn’t sure what the shift was that the hospital stay triggered, but he was pleased to see the return of a more settled Harry.

Remus would probably never forget the night he found Harry after hearing the boy punch a stone wall until his bones cracked and his knuckles bled.

“Good luck,” he murmured quietly. He watched as Harry, unsurprisingly, made the best time in the course so far. He’d barely even flicked, waved, and jerked his hand to incapacitate the first four creatures before climbing in to the trunk.

Remus, and most of the crowd of third years, watched quietly as Harry spent four... five... six minutes in the trunk. Just as Remus had decided to pull Harry out of it, red light be damned, the trunk exploded.

Remus threw a hasty shield over the students who were closest to getting struck with the debris and hurried forward, yanking Harry backwards as soon as the dust cleared and Remus saw that Harry was still cowering in front of a sneering Severus Snape.

“Riddikulus,” Remus said quickly, causing his newly formed moon to deflate to the ground before he moved it back to the box that also survived the explosion of the magically expanded trunk.

“Are you alright?” Remus asked Harry who jumped to his feet as Susan and Theodore both rushed to his side.

“Brill,” Harry grit out with a nervous glance towards the waiting students.

“I don’t think they saw,” Theodore whispered directly in Harry’s ear. “I think there was too much dust.”

Theodore’s assurance was almost immediately proven false as Seamus Finnigan, the Gryffindor boy whose boggart was Harry, started laughing loudly.

“He’s afraid of Snape? What’s wrong Potter? Does Daddy Sev lock you up in the summers or something?”

Remus grimaced both at Finnigan’s juvenile taunt and at the implication that Severus had somehow replaced James as Harry’s father.

(Which, when Remus considered it that night in private, wasn’t far off the mark. As sad as it was that Harry didn’t get the opportunity to know James, Severus had stepped up in a way Remus never would have considered the man would have. And he clearly cared for Harry, just as much, if not more, than Harry’s own godfather did.)

But the moment the jeer left Seamus’ mouth, Harry turned a fierce look of accusation at Remus. The two held eye contact for a long moment as the other students started whispering about Harry’s boggart.

“Lupin’s a fuckin werewolf,” Harry eventually said coldly and loudly, still staring at Remus with narrowed eyes lit by a furious fire.

Remus was so shocked as he stared at Harry that he hardly noticed the quiet yelps from the watching students. Even through his haze of shock Remus could recognize the tightly coiled muscles, trembling hands, and red rimmed gaze that all pointed towards Harry reacting and not thinking in the moment.

“Harry... I...” Remus was honestly lost for words.

“Can I go?” Harry asked.

“Exceeds Expectations,” Remus all but whispered, still shocked to his core that his carefully guarded secret had just been announced to the entire third year class.

His career at Hogwarts was over.

Harry snorted and pointed a finger at the box the boggart was in and caught it on fire.

“Is it outstanding now?” he drawled as the boggart screeched from the box.

Remus nodded absently and watched as Harry and his friends, aside from Blaise and Ronald, quickly left towards the castle. Susan looked over her shoulder once and smiled sweetly when Seamus’ skin immediately broke out in painful boils that had Remus sending him to the hospital wing.

“I don’t get it Pads,” Remus moaned as he tried to drown his remorse in whisky that night at Sirius’ flat. “Seamus taunted him, but Harry still blamed me. It’s not my fault he blew up the trunk and everyone saw the boggart!”

“Harry’s... well... Harry thinks about things different than you do,” Sirius said softly. “It’s like...” Sirius trailed off while he tried to sort out what he wanted to say in his godsons defense. “It’s like, adults can be blamed for most of the problems he’s ever had, you know? So when things go wrong I think he just automatically blames the closest adult. And it wasn’t fair, but I doubt if he even thought it through before he said it.”

“Are we talking about Harry or thirteen year old you?” Remus asked wryly.

Sirius had rarely ever looked so solemn when he replied;

“Sometimes it’s one and the same Rem.”

And, when Remus thought more about it, he could see Sirius’ point. Harry and Sirius were a lot different, but any person with a working set of eyes could see the similarities in behavior between the two. Which wasn’t really comforting considering Sirius’ childhood had been a horrifying nightmare that Sirius still scarcely speaks about. Remus wondered once again what all had happened to Harry before he came under Severus’ care.

“It doesn’t matter now,” he sighed. “The damage is done. I gave Albus my resignation right before I came over.”

“It’ll work out,” Sirius said, returning to the bright eyed optimism that Remus’ own cynicism needs. “We’ll have the best summer ever together, and then maybe when Harry goes back to school next September you and I can go on a trip like we always talked about.”

Remus unwittingly smiled fondly as he remembered plans whispered under covers while the war raged on all around them and they worried that every night together might be their last.

“Harry is never going to spend any time with you if I’m around,” Remus said with a mournful sigh as he returned his thoughts to the present. “He hates me.”

“You both just doesn’t understand each other,” Sirius said. “The two of you can spend some time together this summer and he’ll get to know you and hopefully love you just as much as I do.”

“Or he’ll actually kill me,” Remus said.

Sirius laughed and wrapped Remus up in a hug, apparently believing that his very real fear was a joke.

Chapter End Notes

Up Next: The Leaving Feast

Ps: Did Harry do Remus dirty? Yes.
Does Harry ever have an appropriate response to trauma triggers? Not that I’ve seen.
Did it hurt me to hurt Remus? Very much so. But I gotta stay true to the characterization I’m building/have built.

99%

“You’ve resigned?”

“I have,” Lupin said calmly as he emptied his desk. “The students are all now aware of my problem. I assume Albus will be hounded with owls over the next few days from concerned parents who do not want their children to be taught by a werewolf.”

“Do you hold Harry responsible?” Severus asked bluntly, needing to know where Lupin stood on his opinion of Potter in order to know if he could proceed with the course he decided on the moment he was told Lupin was resigning.

“I don’t, I think this was Harry’s way of getting back at me for the boggart,” Lupin said thoughtfully, echoing Severus’ exact thoughts he had the moment he heard what had happened. “He’s certainly something, isn’t he?”

“He is,” Severus agreed carefully. “I doubt if he was aware that sharing your secret would lead to your resignation though.”

Lupin smiled an amused smile, apparently well aware that Severus was lying through his teeth. Draco had informed Severus what happened. Potter blew apart the trunk Lupin had cleverly used to test the students against the boggart which then revealed his fear to the entirety of the third year students. Severus privately believed Lupin was lucky that Potter chose to take the spotlight off himself by outing Lupin instead of immediately inspiring a new level of fear amongst the students by ending his life.

Perhaps Potter was maturing.

“His classmates saw something he wanted to keep a secret, and he blamed me. So he told them something about me that I wanted to keep a secret. And not a single student mentioned Harry’s boggart after he left and instead whispered about lycanthropy. It was rather well done. He’s quite the Slytherin,” Lupin said, still sounding inappropriately cheerful considering the conversation. “And the damage is done. Plus Harry’s... well... Harry has bigger problems to deal with than me being unemployed, doesn’t he?”

“He does,” Severus agreed. “Which is what I hoped to speak with you about.”

“Oh?” Lupin snapped his briefcase shut and gave Severus an interested look. “Let’s hear it then.”

“How would you like to pursue a new career?” Severus asked carefully. “I am unsure what all you know of the muggle field of psychology-“

“Severus, I was physically attacked and turned in to a monster when I was seven, my mother was a muggleborn nurse in a hospital treating soldiers from the muggle war, and I’m partners with a Black,” Lupin said with a grim smile. “I know quite a bit.”

“Excellent,” Severus said. “Then my question for you is- how would you like to pursue a career as the first Wixen Mind Healer?”



When Severus left Lupin’s office nearly an hour later, he felt a small sense of satisfaction. The moment he was informed that Lupin had resigned, thanks entirely to Potter’s retaliatory actions, he had what he hoped would prove to be an ingenious idea.

Lupin was an ideal candidate for a Mind Healer. He had a strong sense of emotional empathy for others, he had more patience than Severus would ever hope to have himself, and, thanks to his muggleborn mother, he had intimate knowledge of how to proceed in the muggle world in order to acquire the necessary education. The fact that Lupin also was raised by a pureblooded father and would be able to keenly utilize his magical inheritance to acquire this education and training much faster than muggles did was an undeniable asset as well.

Severus’ savings took a small blow, but Lupin had seemed much more interested and eager for this than Severus had initially hoped. Which wasn’t truly surprising. Despite the fact that Lupin was a werewolf the man always had the aptitude of a Healer. Or, perhaps, that was thanks to Lupin’s disease that he felt a strong pull towards the suffering of others.

Regardless. All Severus had to do now was convince Potter to willingly spend time with Lupin alone after Lupin finished his crash course in psychology over the summer. Lupin had pointed out that he believed that would be a challenge, especially considering that Potter had just forced his resignation, but Severus did not see it as one.

He had a plan.

He would encourage Potter to spend time with his godfather and Lupin over the summer and, with a small amount of luck, Potter would hopefully come to be drawn in by Lupin’s irksome ability to be liked by most people.

Personally, Severus did not believe that Albus would be flooded with owls demanding Lupin’s resignation. Lupin apparently held himself in very low esteem. Although Severus disliked the man, for good reason, he was in the minority when it came to the opinion of their previous classmates and current fellow staff. Albus would certainly receive owls from some parents, particularly the ones who had never met Lupin, demanding he be fired for his disease. But Severus was sure that there would be just as many, if not more, letters defending Lupin’s place amongst the Hogwarts staff.

He failed to share this sentiment with Lupin, seeing as his resignation helped Severus immensely.

Severus stopped by his office before making his way to the final feast of the year and was only mildly surprised to see Potter waiting outside his door.

“The seventh years have officially graduated, yeah?” Potter asked immediately.

“They have,” Severus confirmed as he strode past Potter to store the research he shared with Lupin back in his desk. “May I ask why you are asking?”

“Here-“ Potter thrust a parchment towards Severus with a nervous look of anticipation. “Will you think about it?”

Severus quirked a brow at his ward but dutifully unrolled the parchment, praying to Merlin it was not the ownership of another legendary beast that Potter killed without Severus’ knowledge.

Harry J. Potter’s Application for Slytherin Quidditch Team Captain

“What in blazes is this?” Severus chuckled as he read through the muggle-like application that listed Potter’s apparently numerous reasons why he believes he should be made team captain.

“It’s an application.” Potter’s voice was hesitant but he had a determined set to his jaw. “Mione said that’s how you apply for jobs, and I wanna apply. I want to be team captain now that Flint’s gone.”

Severus looked Potter over carefully before rolling the parchment up and sticking it in his pocket, “As you should be. The position is yours.”

Potter staggered backwards and looked up at Severus with wide eyes.

“Really?” he breathed.

“Of course,” Severus agreed easily. “You have proven your dedication to the team, you are a talented flier, and, if your application is to be believed, you have went out of your way to learn additional positions in case you are needed to fill them during matches while keeping your grades at a top level. I also believe you paid for the teams Nimbus 2001’s without seeking any recognition for the charitable act, which is further proof of your determination to win. The captaincy is yours.”

Potter did earn the position for all the reasons Severus listed, but also Severus had never in his entire career been handed an application and a direct request for an appointment to the captaincy. He typically had just chosen the oldest student with the highest grades in the past.

“Brill,” Potter smiled the new smile that Severus was beginning to adjust to. It was not as bright as his previous genuine smiles had been, nor as energetic as his mania driven ones were, but still showed the joy he was currently feeling.

“Thank you sir,” Potter said happily. “You won’t regret it.”

“I am quite sure I will at some point,” Severus smirked. “You have a knack for making me rethink every decision I have ever made.”

“You’re welcome then,” Potter said in the drawling tone he adopted from either Draco or Severus himself.

Severus chuckled lightly at Potter’s pure arrogance.

“Hey who told you I paid for those brooms?” Potter suddenly asked, his eyes narrowing in newfound irritation.

“Nobody,” Severus said truthfully. “I simply saw the brooms, narrowed it down to the only players who could afford such an outrageous purchase, and assumed if Draco had done it that every Slytherin in the castle would be well aware of the act. I presume that Flint refused to let the Boy-Who-Lived try out without the bribe?”

Potter was well-respected, and incredibly feared, by his housemates now. But it was respect and fear that was won mostly through his consistent determination to duel every available student and through gratuitous usage of his image of the Heir of Slytherin. Which he had not had during his second year tryouts.

“Nope,” Potter said with a sharp grin. “Well, kinda. Draco told him if he didn’t put me on the team after he saw me fly that he’d buy him a new broom, didn’t he? But then I earned my spot fair and square. So when the chasers were trying out I told Flint that if he put Draco on the team then I’d buy brooms for the whole lot.”

Potter puffed his chest out proudly and Severus was struck with a newfound sense of respect for his ward.

“That was quite kind of you,” Severus said genuinely. “Though I’m sure Draco was horrified to learn that his position was purchased instead of earned.”

“He doesn’t know, does he? I told Flint I’d kill him in his sleep if he said a word to anyone.” Potter laughed, which was rather chilling considering Severus fully believed he would have killed Flint without hesitation had he informed Draco of Potter’s purchase, before raising his brows at Severus. “And you better not tell him either. He’s practiced nonstop to be the best chaser on the team, hasn’t he?”

“Your generosity and loyalty to your friends is a secret safe with me.” Severus rolled his eyes but looked at Potter fondly. “Will you be flooing home with me after the train leaves or from the platform tomorrow?”

“You don’t wanna fight over me riding the train?” Potter asked. “Thought you might cause of Pettigrew.”

Severus snorted, amused that Potter anticipated another argument over his preferred method of travel.

“Black is a madman who trained to be a Hit Wizard before his incarceration,” Severus said. “Pettigrew is an incompetent moron who chose to hide for 12 years as a rat as opposed to killing you himself in service to the Dark Lord, despite his many opportunities to do so. The only concern I have if the man is foolish enough to confront you is making sure Lucius is prepared to adequately defend you at your trial.”

“That’s what I thought too. Not about getting arrested, cause I wouldn’t, but about Pettigrew,” Potter said with a pleased look in his eyes. “I was thinking that if he had killed me in my sleep or something he could have recruited all Timmy’s followers to his side and been the new Dark Lord but he’s too stupid for that, ain’t he?”

“It worries me that you have put that much thought in to how a person may replace the Dark Lord,” Severus said frankly.

Potter laughed and gave Severus a crooked grin.

“Don’t be daft,” he said. “‘M gonna be the Minister of Magic. I don’t think I’ll have time to be a ‘Dark Lord’ on the side.”

Severus was not reassured by that line of thought and prayed to Merlin, God, and the spirit of Lily Evans that Albus never overhears Potter state that the only thing preventing him from replacing Voldemort himself is the conflict it would hold with his plans of running the Ministry of Magic.

“Go eat with your misfits,” Severus said, choosing not to comment on Potter’s plans to take over Wixen Britain. “I will see you at home tomorrow evening.”

“‘Kay,” Potter said easily. “I’ve got a brill surprise for ya when I get back tomorrow.”

Severus groaned the moment the door closed behind Potter and summoned an entire case of pain relieving potions.

Any surprise that Potter believed would be ‘brill’ would doubtlessly give Severus a migraine and it would be best to be prepared.

It was not until Severus watched Potter and his friends celebrate during the leaving feast that he was struck with both a pleasant, and horrifying, realization;

For the first time since Potter started Hogwarts, he had managed to go an entire year without killing a single person.

Which Severus was obviously incredibly pleased about. A thirteen year olds body count should only be so high, despite the justifiable circumstances Potter found himself in each time.

But it was rather horrifying to even acknowledge that this was a turn of events that he should be pleased with.

Severus drank a generous glass of wine as he watched Potter and his friends and idly wondered if this was another thing he should be praising his ward for.

“Harry I am very proud of you for earning one of the top spots in your class on your final exams and for your rightful appointment to the Quidditch Captain vacancy. Also, good job not killing anyone this year.”

Chapter End Notes

Up Next: a Sneak Peek of Year Four, along with the link if you’d like to subscribe, will be posted here in a few.