After class, Tobias immediately headed for the library to start his homework.

Okay...essay for Snape, not due until Thursday, Dream Journal for Trelawney, but I haven't dreamed anything yet, so that'll have to wait...essay for History of Magic, due Wednesday...reading for Defense, also due Wednesday. Nothing due tomorrow. But there's no way I can get both the reading and the essay done for Wednesday without starting tonight. And he'd need the library for the essay, but not the reading. Okay then, Battle of Cuthbert's Creek it is.

At 5:00, Tobias glumly packed up his research and left the library. He headed for the nearest bathroom, to feed and change Mo, then down to detention with the toad. Aaaand I forgot to eat again. He'd have to ask the poor brownies to heat something up for him later. In the meantime he'd have to go hungry. Probably a good thing anyway, he realized as he knocked. At least it'll keep me awake.

“Come in,” a syrupy voice answered his knock.

Grimacing, he opened the door. His eyes widened slightly as he walked in and took in the new...decor. This is supposed to be the Defense office? It looked like somebody's tea shop on Valentine's Day, all ruffles and hearts and decorative plates. With kittens. Don't forget the beribboned kittens.

“Good evening, Mr. Bâtard,” Umbridge said from a corner of the room. Her gaze put the contrast to her friendly words. She hated him, and it was abundantly obvious, even when she wore that horrible smile.

“Good evening,” he said with all the courtesy he could muster. It came out stiff.

“Well, sit down,” she said, motioning to a small table off to one side.

He lifted his bookbag off his shoulders, careful not to jostle Mo, who was sleeping quietly, and put it down next to the chair before sitting. The table was already set up with a mug of quills and a piece of parchment, but no ink.

“Now, I want you to write, 'I will not tell lies,'” she said sweetly.

“How many times?”

“Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,” she answered. “Off you go.”

Oooookay... Umbridge made her way back to her desk, and Tobias reached into his bookbag for ink.

“What are you doing, Mr. Bâtard?” she asked.

“Getting ink?” He couldn't help the hint of sarcasm in the two words.

“Oh, you won't need ink,” Umbridge answered. She sounded vaguely...amused.

Okay, self-inking quill. Fine. Putting the quill to the paper, he wrote what she asked.

I will not tell lies.

He gasped and stood defensively, teeth bared and one wing coming to encircle Mo against his chest, as a searing pain lit up his right hand. Looking down disbelievingly, he saw the words he had written carved into the back of his hand in addition to written on the paper in a shining red ink. They closed over and healed as fast as the cuts he made for Mo did. That evil bitch. Unbelievable. He looked over at Umbridge to find her smiling. His growls multiplied, but though she looked slightly taken aback, her smile didn't fade.

“Yes?”

Tobias just stared at her for a moment, thinking. He couldn't leave. He had no evidence, and no-one to go to. Dumbledore had been avoiding him, he had no parents, and he didn't want to get any of his teachers in trouble. He could kill her, but that would likely cause more problems than it solved. Likely. Really. If he just waited, he could perhaps leave with evidence. I am Tobias-she of the Unseelie Court, he realized, all I have to do is wait, and I can bury her with this. Watching her go down under her own weight, perhaps bringing the Ministry down with her, would be eminently satisfying. And so he simply returned Umbridge's sick smile with a sadistic one of his own. “Nothing, I'm great,” he answered. Her smile wavered, and he sat back down.

I will not tell lies.

Ow. He gritted his teeth and continued.

I will not tell lies.

I will not tell lies.

It didn't hurt much more than when he ripped into his wrist for Mo, but then, when he ripped into his wrist, it had a chance to heal for at least an hour before he did it again. This never got the chance to really heal, and in not too long, the place where the words appeared was red and raw, painful and legible even when he wasn't actively cutting into it. He was too pissed off to particularly care. He'd get her later.

I will not tell lies.

I will not tell lies.

I will not tell lies.

FUCK this hurts. Umbridge was dead.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts twenty minutes later. “Come in,” Umbridge sang sweetly.

To Tobias' surprise, Severus Snape opened the door.

“Oh, Severus, my dear colleague, how can I help you?”

“I have come to collect Mr. Bâtard. He was scheduled for a detention with me starting five minutes ago.”

“Oh, how inconvenient!” Umbridge exclaimed with obvious glee, “He is scheduled for detention with me for the next half-hour! I thought I had informed you!”

“Yes, you did inform me. And yes, it is indeed inconvenient that he had a prior engagement,” Snape answered with a sneer. “Mr. Bâtard?”

Happy for the rescue, even by Snape, Tobias packed up, ignoring Umbridge's inarticulate protests, and followed the other professor out of the classroom.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

“I trust that you have a babysitter set up to take the infant now?” Snape said without turning around as they entered the Potions classroom.

“No,” Tobias answered bluntly. “But she is asleep. She shouldn't be any trouble.”

“I don't care, Mr. Bâtard,” Snape told him, going to a floo in the back of the room. “I may not be able to keep the child out of my class, but I can and will keep her out of my detentions.”

Before Tobias could protest further, Snape had shouted, “the Burrow!” and thrown down the floo powder. He stuck his head through for about two minutes, apparently talking to someone on the other side, before withdrawing it and backing away from the floo to allow room for Molly Weasley, who immediately turned to Snape.

“Honestly, Severus, you know perfectly well a child that young shouldn't floo. I'll take her to H-Tobias' dorm, that is if he agrees.”

“Mr. Batard, hand over the child so that we can get on with this,” Snape said disdainfully. A low growl rolled out of Tobias' throat. That bastard.

“Honestly, Severus,” Molly snapped at Snape. “You didn't give Tobias any warning whatsoever, and it's the first time he's been this far from the child. At least try to understand. Now. Tobias. I will be right in your dormitory when you're done. And next time you need a babysitter, please try to give me more a little more warning, too, alright?”

Returning her smile with a small one of his own, he gently unhooked the whole carrier off his stomach and handed it carefully to Molly, hoping not to wake Mo. Molly was equally careful in putting it on, but it didn't matter. As soon as the carrier was off him and on Molly, Mo woke up and started to cry. Tobias swallowed hard. This is ridiculous. It's an hour. She'll be fine. Let it be.

“Are you certain this is prudent, Severus?” Molly asked then, sounding annoyed and slightly anxious even as she started bouncing Mo gently.

Snape scoffed. “You doubt the headmaster?”

Molly frowned. “Albus? Surely he's too busy-”

What on earth are they talking about? They were probably just picking up from a conversation they'd had before, but why now? Strange.

“He seems to think it...important,” Snape said disdainfully. “Regardless, we should not be having this conversation here. Go babysit.” He said the word with heavy disdain and Tobias felt the growl resound in his throat again.

Molly just nodded, then turned to Tobias. “Don't you worry about a thing. I've got her.”

He gave her a slight smile and a nod, then watched her as she left before turning back to Snape and speaking with exaggerated politeness. “What is it you wanted me to do, sir?”

Snape smiled sadistically. “I thought I'd have you scrub cauldrons. Wandlessly, of course. The cauldrons must remain magically inert.”

Tobias restrained a wince. The soaps used to scrub cauldrons were harsh, and his hand was really irritated. Yet another detention that's going to actually hurt.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

When he got out of the detention, Tobias headed immediately for the dormitory. Apparently pissed off, Snape had kept him for more than the normal hour-long detention. It had been okay, at first, but after about forty-five minutes, Tobias had found himself continuously looking for Mo and finding her gone, and having to remind himself that she was with Molly, and safe. The anxiety seemed to build from there, until it was a physical ache, all over his body. By the end of the hour and a half, he was in actual pain. Snape just put the icing on the cake when he announced at the end of the detention,

“By the way, Mr. Bâtard, you have another detention with me tomorrow.”

Tobias had clenched his jaw. “Why, sir?”

“I don't like your attitude.”

Unbelievable. Tobias carefully bit back his temper before responding, “What time, sir?”

“Five.”

“I already have detention with Umbridge at five thirty, sir.”

Snape had smiled maliciously. “She'll be informed.”

Thinking about it, Tobias let out the growl that he'd contained at the time. Snape had given him detention purely in order to piss of Umbridge. That was monstrously unfair. Why the HELL does he hate me so much? He'd thought Snape was unfair before, but this was getting ridiculous.

When he got to the door of the dorm, he could hear Mo crying, and sped up, barely remembering to avoid the guard plant on his way by.

Molly looked relieved to see him, and handed the screaming infant over to him. His pain went away immediately, but Mo kept crying.

“She started crying about fifteen minutes ago,” Molly said apologetically. “She won't stop.”

“It's not your fault,” Tobias said absently, cursing in his head. “I just apparently can't leave her for that long. The first hour was alright.” I should have just bloody left. He should've figured out that if he was in pain, she might be unhappy, too. But it just felt like a muscle ache, or something.

“That's why she's crying?”

He nodded absently, too focused on Mo to want to answer. “You'll be okay, now?” Molly asked him.

Mo was quieting, and he nodded again. “Thanks for your help.” Bloody hell. One hour. The best I can do is one hour.

“Do you need me tomorrow?”

He never wanted to do this ever again. It'll only be an hour. “Yes, please.”

“What time?”

He had two detentions, he suddenly remembered. He'd have to choose which to bring Mo to, and which to leave her. I can bring her to Snape's. There was no way he was bringing Mo that close to Umbridge again. “Five thirty, please, or – well, I think so.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. Snape scheduled his on top of Umbridge, and I don't really know how it'll work out, but I'd like you to take Mo for Umbridge's detention.”

“He- oh, that man! Unbelievable. Very well, I'll come at five thirty, and if needs be I'll just wait.”

“Thank you.”

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Once Tobias got Mo calmed down, he fed and changed her, glad to note that Sprout had gotten him a new changing table, then laid her in the middle of the bed, where he could see her easily from his desk.. Please sleep, he begged silently. It was already eight thirty, and he was exhausted. Worse, his homework wasn't even started yet. But I have to eat.

“Zuka?” he called softly. She appeared instantly, a brilliant smile on her homely face.

“Zuka can help Master fae?” she asked excitedly.

“Umm...yes. I missed dinner. Could you get me a sandwich or something? Nothing too messy, please, I have to do work.”

“Absolutely, Master Fae, sir!” she answered, “is there anything else, sir?”

“No, I'm fine otherwise, thanks.”

She disappeared, and he turned back to his assignment sheet, grateful to hear nothing more than quiet breathing from Mo. He'd started the research for his History paper, and wouldn've liked to continue that, but he couldn't do the research outside of the library. The earliest due-date he had other that was his Defense reading.

He sighed. Start with that. Chapter two, pages twenty-five to forty. But he hadn't finished chapter one in class, and the last thing he wanted to do was hand Umbridge reasons to give him more detentions. Not that she's going to be around long enough to matter. Not if he had any say in it. We'll see. Right now, just keep your nose clean. Looking back down at the chapter, he grimaced. He had a lot of work to do. Don't work hard, work smart. Going back to the first chapter, he skimmed it as best he could before moving to the second.

Defensive Magical Theory Chapter Two: Building on the Basics

Sounds fascinating, Tobias thought to himself. Forcing his brain to pay attention, he started in. Ten minutes later, Zuka arrived with a plateful of small, thin sandwiches, easy to eat with one hand without dropping crumbs. He ate while he read. Ten minutes after he'd finished eating, Mo started crying. Sighing, he put his work aside to pick her up and walk around the room, soothing her. When she was finally quiet, it was nine fifteen. Strapping her to his chest, he tried again.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

That took way too long, Tobias thought glumly, putting his Defense textbook away. It was already ten forty-five, and, barring a miracle, he'd be up at six. Potions next. If he finished the essay, then he could concentrate on his History one tomorrow, when he could get to the library. Hauling out his textbook, he looked up moonstones.

Moonstone: a hard, adularescent stone used frequently as a potions ingredient or divination aid. The stone can be used in powdered, sliced, or cut forms, each contributing different uses in potion-making. In divination, it is generally used in whole, polished form.

I'm supposed to expand that to fill twelve inches of parchment? He'd have to go to the library. Which meant he couldn't work on it tonight without moving Mo. And he hadn't gotten enough research done in the afternoon to start the History essay. There was nothing more he could do tonight.

Well, at least this way I'll get enough sleep, he thought, trying not to be frustrated. That is, if Mo lets me.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The next morning, Mo woke up at exactly 6:00 am. She'd woken him up twice during the night, hungry. He hadn't gotten enough sleep, and he hadn't gotten enough homework done. Hoping to get a little more sleep, Tobias pulled her close and slit his wrist, offering it to her sleepily. Hopefully she'd let him sleep while she ate. She did, and he snoozed for about fifteen minutes before she started getting restless again, and he had to actually get up. Rolling out of bed, he went to the new changing table in his room and changed her. Attaching the strap across her body so she wouldn't roll, he left her on the changing table and pulled on clothing. Next he put her in the playpen to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth. By seven o'clock he was up and on his way to breakfast. Maybe I'll actually get some work done.

Classes didn't start until nine o'clock, and so the only other people down at breakfast were McGonagall, Snape, and a couple of the Slytherins. Grateful to eat a meal in peace, Tobias asked Zuka to bring oatmeal and coffee. Sharing the bowl with Mo, he ate breakfast quickly, then headed to the library. It was closed until 8:30. I'm cursed. Somebody up there hates me. Or at least didn't want him to get his work done. My “Dream Journal.” I can do that, at least. Sitting down where he was, he hauled out his Divination notebook and wrote,

Walking down a hallway, door at the end. Something I want is through the door.

Fascinating. And now he had an hour before the library opened, and nothing to do with it. The book, Tobias realized. I should look at all the annoying etiquette crud before the Court shows up. Getting up, he headed back up to the dorm.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

When was the last time he'd looked in the book for a letter from the court? He'd been so busy he'd forgotten entirely. Whoops. His last letter to them had been pretty rude, too, he remembered. Surprisingly, the response was still pretty polite.

Greetings, Harry-she.

We apologize if you find your duty to your subjects inconvenient, but we remind you once again that we have no more choice in making you our Heir than you had in taking Mo. You became our Heir at the moment that you accepted Moriyana-she. Do you truly resent our daughter's choice to give you the care of her daughter?

Signed, his Royal Majesty Consort Mohira Karrillre Ardkrandin-She.

Tobias stared at the message, startled. Did he resent Mo? Of course not. But the Consort's choice of words stung him. He made him sound like a spoiled child.

To his Royal Majesty Consort Mohira Karrillre Ardkrandin-She of the Unseelie Court, greetings.

I do not resent my daughter. I love her, and would not dream of giving her up. On the other hand, nobody saw fit to tell me that accepting her made me your 'Heir'. I resent the fact that the 'duty' was pressed on me without my knowledge or consent, and that you have seen fit since then to hunt me down.

Signed, Harry the Switch

Flipping away from the messages, Tobias returned to his original goal: the bows and greetings portion of the 'Proper Deportment' chapter.

Hey, this is new. The pictures used to teach the bows had been pretty basic diagrams – immobile and antiquated, and Tobias figured that the Court probably figured on the Heir having grown up in the court, and seen them. They were more like reminders, for the heir to study at his leisure. But the diagrams had been changed since he looked at them last – now they were wizarding-style photographs of an old sidhe demonstrating all the bows. Archivist Kylpin? he wondered. At any rate, the pictures were a lot more helpful, now, and he read through the ones he should expect to see others do for him, and what they would tell him about the person who approached, and then started looking through the ones that he would have to actually do.

Looking at these, he almost despaired at the complexity. There were four generic categories for strict inferiors - 'fae nobility,' 'foreign nobility', 'human nobles and government officials', and 'common folk,' with a note that, while encouraged, these bows were optional. The one to 'common folk' even had a note that it should not be used except in situations where the commoner is held in high esteem. Ok, I don't have to bow to everybody in the street, then. Good.

The next section was on bows for his superiors – apparently only his 'parents', and the King and Consort of the Sea Court. There was a note, too, that he was only to bow to his Queen and Consort in extremely formal situations, but that the ones to the Sea Court King and Consort were very important. Then there were bows for those who were equal or only slightly below him in power – foreign and human leaders.

The last section was on special bows for 'technical equals', leaders of courts who were technically equal to the court, but who in reality deferred to the Queen and Consort, and for 'technical inferiors' – teachers and the like who, though lower in birth and power, deserved the Heir's respect and deference within a certain context. This, too, was an honor to be given out at the Heir's discretion, though not giving it could be considered an insult if the person in question very obviously fit the category.

All of that would have been bad enough, but then there were variations for special situations – a bow changed slightly, for example, if Tobias were to be apologizing, or if he had been insulted. Lastly, there was a note that using a 'lower' bow for someone who deserved a higher one could be taken as extremely insulting.

But don't worry too much, your Highness. Nobody expects you to know it all, yet.

Thank you, archivist Kylpin, Tobias thought, shaking his head. At any rate, it was 8:30, and the library would finally be open. He had half an hour to try and get work done before he had to get to class. No, I have half an hour to feed and change Mo again, before I have to get to class. At this rate, the work was never going to get done.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

“Good morning, Mr. Bâtard,” McGonagall greeted when he arrived in class. “How is Hufflepuff?” She sounded a little sad, and Tobias realized suddenly that she was no longer his Head-of-House. It was a distinctly strange feeling.

“It's been good,” he told her. “The 'puffs are really cool.”

“Yeah we are,” Jody said, coming in behind him with Esmeralda.

“Yeah, too bad nobody other than us notices,” Gabriel said from right behind them.

Tobias laughed with them, but turned back to McGonagall when she asked him another question.

“How are you making out in your classes?”

Tobias winced. “Not well,” he had to tell her.

She frowned. “What's wrong?”

“I'm not getting my work done, and I probably have the world record for most detentions earned on the first day,” he confessed.

She scowled at him. “Mr. Bâtard, one would think that you would wish to stay out of trouble, now that you have other responsibilities.”

“Hey! It's not his fault!” Jody said, “just 'cause Snape and Umbitch hate him!”

“Professor Umbridge, Ms. Petrovich.”

“Sorry,” Jody said. She didn't sound sorry at all, but then McGonagall didn't seem particularly cross, either.

“It's still not his fault,” Esmeralda told her. “Umbridge gave him five detentions, just for telling the truth.”

“Then perhaps he ought to wait for a better time to tell the truth,” McGonagall answered sharply, looking at Tobias.

He grimaced, but nodded. She was probably right, though it was strange to hear McGonagall counselling him to caution, while the Hufflepuffs lauded his heroics. Still, if Sprout and McGonagall were both telling him to be leery of the woman, they were probably right. Tobias had his own ways of fighting back that they didn't know about, but he couldn't use them yet. Two days. Maybe three. He was almost looking forward to it.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

After Transfigurations, he had a short break to feed and change Mo before Charms. It didn't take long, and he arrived in class early.

“Good morning, your Highness.”

Tobias looked at Flitwick and glanced around the room frantically. Nobody was there, but he only relaxed halfway. Flitwick smiled, and bent deeply into what Tobias was surprised to recognize as a commoner's bow. Scrambling in his mind, he finally remembered the strange 'theoretical inferior' bow that he'd studied an hour and a half before, and bowed shallowly back to the diminutive professor. I'm screwed. How many people knew, at this point?

“Not to worry, your Highness, the goblins are not obligated to reveal anything to the crown.”

“Don't call me that,” Tobias ordered, once again looking around anxiously.

Flitwick smiled kindly. “As your Highness wishes. Mr. Bâtard.”

Tobias shook his head. Of course Flitwick would know. I'm like headline news among the goblins. But he'd always thought of Flitwick as a very small human. Sure, there'd been rumors that he was related to the goblins, but those had been rumors, and Tobias had been human. He hadn't realized that Flitwick's identity might actually lie with the goblins.

After that, other students started coming in, and Tobias found a seat near the door, as usual. To his relief, as soon as the others came in, Flitwick treated him exactly as every other student. He started the class by speaking to them all about the importance of the O.W.Ls, before setting them all to reviewing summoning charms. Tobias had cemented the use of 'accio' during the Triwizard tournament and the terror afterward, and so had little trouble. This proved to be a good thing, as halfway through the class, Mo started to cry and he had to leave.

Walking up and down the corridor outside the Charms classroom with Mo, Tobias threw his head back to stare at the ceiling in frustration. This was not working. A surprising number of the students at Hogwarts were being nice to him, and most of the faculty was being helpful, and yet he already knew he wasn't keeping up. The reason none of his homework from the night before was due today was because he didn't have any classes repeated. All of his classes today were new, which meant that he'd have four whole new classes worth of homework to do. He'd never find the time.

My grades'll suffer. I already knew that. All I have to do is pass. He'd just have to keep track of which homework assignments he got done, and which he didn't, such that he could spread the zeros out as widely across his classes as he could.

When he got back to the classroom, they were still practicing summoning objects, and Tobias breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't really missed anything. He winced, though, when Flitwick announced the homework assignment: three feet of parchment on summoning and repelling charms and their uses, for Thursday, in addition to reading about Repelling charms for the next day. It was the most Flitwick had assigned to date, and yet another assignment due Thursday. Well that clinches it, no way I'm getting everything done.

Deciding to try and get as much as he could done during his Lunch period, Tobias brought his books to the Great Hall with him. He ate quickly, fed Mo, and headed for the library to continue his research on the Battle of Cuthbert's Creek for his History essay. If his next two classes gave no homework, he'd still have five feet of parchment on that, and his reading for Charms, both due the next day.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

“Hey, Tobias,” Hagrid greeted when he joined the group. “How're yeh doing, there? Your first couple of days gone alright?”

“Well enough, thank you,” Tobias said, reminding himself once again that he wasn't supposed to know the man well.

“Hufflepuff, huh? I'da sworn you'd be in Gryffindor, way you arrived at the school.”

Knowing that the man meant it as a compliment, Tobias smiled. “Nah, the Sorting Hat said that I was brave enough for Gryffindor, but decided that my-” he blushed a little - “- my devotion to Mo put me in Hufflepuff.”

“Oh yes, of course,” Hagrid said, smiling. “Do yeh like it?”

“Quite a bit, yes,” he said.

“An' your classes? Do yeh like them, too?”

“For the most part,” Tobias answered.

“Didn't you hear?” Malfoy called over, “he's already got himself six detentions for being a disrespectful, lying, delinquent.”

Tobias growled lightly, but didn't turn towards Malfoy. At least he's learned to keep his distance, he thought. He did look over, however, when he heard Ron shout back.

“He wasn't lying! Harry said Voldemort was back, too!”

“Oh, yes, the delusional psychopath backs up the lying delinquent,” Malfoy mocked. “World, take note!”

Bastard, Tobias thought, growl picking up. He knows Voldemort has returned. He has to.

“Alright, alright, stop it, you two. I have a class to run,” Hagrid said, giving Tobias a cautioning glance. “I got somethin' real special to show you all today. C'mon.”

Hagrid started heading for the lake. “Now this is very important, so listen up. Whatever you do, do not touch this creature. The only ones as have ever survived touching a live Kelpie were those with the presence of mind and the wherewithal to cut off their own flesh. Nasty buggers, the Kelpie'll drown yeh soon's look at yeh, an' there's no way to unstick yourself once it's got yeh save for cutting off what's stuck.”

Tobias saw Malfoy swallow hard, and grinned. The lesson looked to be a lot of fun.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

“Oy, Bâtard! Wait up!”

Tobias looked back to see Blaise Zabini coming up the hill behind him, and stopped to let him catch up.

“Yes?”

Zabini hesitated a moment before speaking. “Someone is looking for you,” he finally said.

Tobias furrowed his brow, confused. “Excuse me?”

Zabini met his eyes, serious and honest. “Someone is looking for you and Moriyana-she. I am more-or-less obligated to tell them where you are, but I figured I'd have the decency to at least warn you first.”

Tobias took a sharp breath. Oh. “Why are you obligated to tell them? Do they know that you know?”

Zabini shook his head. “Never mind that. You have your warning.” As he shook his head, Tobias noticed something startling: two small gold studs at the top of his left ear. I have two hoops, Mo has a hoop and a stud. What do two studs mean? Maybe they were the reason Zabini had to report him.

Too soon. It's too soon, Tobias thought, mildly panicked. “Two days.”

Zabini frowned. “What?”

“Two days. Just give me two days.”

Zabini bit his lip, and once again hesitated before he spoke. “Alright. You have two days. I send my message Thursday afternoon.”

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

His last class of the day was Herbology. It was a mixed Gryffindor-and-Hufflepuff class, and it went smoothly. The plant they were studying for the day was ugly and messy, but not dangerous, and so Tobias was able to participate fully without worrying about Mo. He actually appreciated the messiness – it helped him forget his anxiety, and the strange looks the Gryffindors kept giving him after his display in Potions, and just focus on the task at hand.

It would have been perfect, even, if Sprout hadn't finished by assigning them all yet another essay due the next day. He wasn't the only one that groaned, and Sprout put her hands on her hips to give them all a look of exasperation.

“You will appreciate the added work, when your O.W.Ls come around,” she told them.

Maybe I will if I actually manage to get it done, Tobias conceded in his mind, but that is not at all certain.

Shaking his head, he trooped back to the castle with the others for a shower and a change before dinner.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

“Mr. Potter, I believe I made it clear last night that you were to get a babysitter before coming to my detention?” Snape said snarkily as Tobias walked into the classroom.

“I apologize,” Tobias answered, trying to be polite. “But I can't do that.”

“I'm sure Molly Weasley would be thrilled to take the child for an hour or two,” Snape sneered.

“Yes, but I cannot be away from Mo for more than an hour at a time.” Figuring he might as well sit down, Tobias pulled one of the chairs out and lowered himself into it.

“Which is plenty for one detention, Mr. Bâtard,” Snape said, a tick in his jaw indicating his annoyance.

“But not for two,” Tobias answered. Or even for one if you let your damned detention drag out for an hour and a half.

“That is your problem, Mr. Bâtard,” Snape answered, still sneering. “You will have to bring her with you to your detention with Professor Umbridge.”

“I will not bring her with me to that detention.”

Snape raised his eyebrows. “Perhaps that is true, but regardless you will not bring her to mine.”

Tobias clenched his jaw. “I do not have a choice, sir.”

“And once again that is your problem, and not mine, Mr. Potter. I have every right to demand that you come alone to your detention. You will have to bring her to your detention with Professor Umbridge, as you did yesterday.”

“I will not bring my child that close to that woman again,” Tobias answered, feeling his lips lifting off his canines.

That time, Snape frowned. “Why?”

Tobias shook his head. “I just won't.”

“You will, or you will leave your child with the babysitter for both detentions.”

“I can't!”

“And I couldn't care less, Mr. Bâtard.”

Shit. Unfortunately, the man had every right to do exactly as he was doing. As far as the school was concerned, he could do as he liked with his own detention, barring a couple of specific rules.

So I have to hope he won't carry his resentment over onto Mo. “I do not feel that Mo is safe in her presence.”

“Why?”

“I just don't.”

Snape sneered. “You 'just' won't, and you 'just' don't. An arrogant refusal, and yet another baseless accusation, Mr. Bâtard. You always have had a penchant for them, haven't you? You do not like her, and therefore she is evil. As usual, you just know better than everybody else.”

“Actually, yes, this time, I do,” Tobias answered, getting angry. “That woman is a monster, and belongs in a school even less than you do.”

“Oh, really, Mr. Bâtard?” Snape snarled back, “Where is your evidence? Or are you above such things, and your word is simply law?”

Tobias heard a low growl start in his throat as he fought his anger. “I have evidence.”

“Oh, you do? Show it.”

Oh, hell no. “I'm not going to show you.”

“You will if you want me to even consider your little favor, Bâtard.”

Favor. Maybe that's what he wants. He closed on his eyes, calming his anger and trying to ignore a sense of humiliation. “Please.”

“Why, Mr. Bâtard?”

Tobias shook his head, but opened his eyes and met Snape's. “Please. I beg you. Do not ask me to bring my child closer to that woman than I have to.”

Snape's sneer deepened. “You beg me, Mr. Bâtard?”

Tobias clenched his jaw. “I would beg on both knees in front of Draco Malfoy if I thought that was what was necessary to keep Mo safe, Professor. Yes. I beg you.”

Snape snorted lightly. “Humility at last?”

Tobias didn't respond.

“And yet you will not show me the evidence that the woman is dangerous to your child. Has it occurred to you, Mr. Bâtard, that if she is dangerous to your child, she could be equally dangerous to your fellow students, especially the younger ones? Your 'Toby' comes to mind.”

Tobias closed his eyes again. He hadn't thought of that. “Please, Professor.”

“Show me your evidence, Mr. Bâtard, and I will grant your request.”

Snape's eyes bored into his, and finally Tobias nodded, and held up his right hand so Snape could see. The man's gaze hardened, and he latched onto Tobias' wrist with one long fingered hand to inspect it more closely.

“She did this to you?” There was no sneer in the man's voice or on his face.

“Yesterday in detention.”

“And you just allowed her?”

“Why?” Tobias asked, suddenly uncomfortable as the man held his wrist. “Because you care all of a sudden?”

Snape frowned deeply, but ignored him, still studying the lines on his hand. When he spoke, his voice was grim and angry.

“I had you scrub cauldrons, and you didn't see fit to tell me that you had an open wound on your hand?”

“You couldn't care less,” Tobias parroted back to him angrily.

Snape ignored him. “You really weren't going to tell anyone.”

It was said with disbelief, and Tobias' temper flared again. “I don't need help, Professor. I just need to keep Mo away from her, and I can deal with it on my own.”

Snape's sneer returned. “Back to arrogance, I see.”

“No, I just figure I can screw her over a lot better than you can,” Tobias said frankly.

“Which is arrogance.”

“Fact,” Tobias retorted.

“Blood quills are illegal, Mr. Bâtard,” Snape informed him bitingly. “At the very least I could get her fired. I could probably even get her arrested.”

Tobias smiled. “I still think I can do better than that.”

“Because you're Harry Potter, Mr. Bâtard?” Snape said, sneer firmly in place. “The headmaster will hardly allow you to reveal yourself for the sake of a little political mayhem.”

Tobias felt his grin broaden. “Good thing that's not what I'm planning, then.”

Snape frowned. “What are you planning, Mr. Bâtard?”

“Give me three days.”

“You're going to let her abuse you for three days?”

Actually only two, probably. Tobias shrugged. “It'll be worth it.”

Snape's frown deepened, and he stared at Tobias for a second before unexpectedly nodding his head.

“Very well, Mr. Bâtard. Three days.”