Harry Potter and the Secret Promise by SaimheofAvalon
Summary: At the end of GoF, Harry is sent home for a very specific reason – it is time for the secrets of Harry’s past to end, for a new journey to begin and for old friendships to be tested, new friendships to be formed. And, as always, Dumbledore is right, only through friendship, trust and love will the treat of Voldemort be ended.
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape > Severitus Challenge Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Hermione, Original Character, Ron, Sirius
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Drama, General
Media Type: None
Tags: None
Takes Place: 5th summer
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 39 Completed: No Word count: 124421 Read: 94746 Published: 02 Feb 2005 Updated: 05 Nov 2005
Rose Colored Glasses Under Foot by SaimheofAvalon

And he thought things were looking up…

Even as the sound of conversation upon conversation filled the Great Hall and the students poured though the large doors, he began to realize he had been a bit too optimistic. It wasn't long before he and Livia were drawing quite a bit of attention; too much attention in Darrius' opinion. He smiled at a few he caught blatantly staring, if for no other reason than to see them squirm and in the process caught a few definitely hostile glances in their direction. Ron led them quickly to the Gryffindor table. They took their seats, flanked by both Ginny and Neville on either side with Ron across from them.

It was Ron who introduced them to the other Gryffindors – skillfully avoiding using their last names – and simply stating they were new students. He even explained that Dumbledore had placed them in Gryffindor for the time being.

It was then that he realized this wasn't going to be as easy as he had convinced himself it would be. Even with Ron's friendliness, the others seemed awkward and hesitant; like they were suspicious and looking for a reason to dislike or distrust him and his sister.

As more Gryffindors came in and took seats, Darrius turned his attention to the head table, scanning the teachers with his eyes. Most of them were familiar as he had met them earlier – all except the odd woman with the mousy brown hair that was held tightly away from her face by a wide pink headband and wearing the ugliest fluffy pink thing over her robes that he had ever seen. It looked like it had more stray hairs coming off it than that ruddy, fat tabby Dumbledore had given Mum and Livia.

" Check out Snape," some third or fourth year boy said a bit too loudly, "The git actually washed his hair. "

" I surprised he knew what to do with shampoo,"

" I bet the house elves got bored over the summer and ambushed him so he wouldn't get their nice clean sheets all oily."

Darrius did his best to ignore the comments. Hexing a bunch of idiot children would not be the best way to start in his new school. Instead, he directed his attention around the room; unfortunately discovering he and his sister were still the object of curiosity. Groaning he turned back to his table and the apologetic expressions of Ron, Neville and Ginny. He fervently wished everyone would settle in so the damned sorting could start.

Ron launched into talks of quidditch, and although it had been their main shared topic on the train, he welcomed the diversion. The conversation, however, didn't stop the odd comment about his father's suddenly clean hair - at least from their perspective – from registering. A tap on Darrius shoulder startled him a bit more than it should and he spun around to see a beautiful Asian girl.

" Is it true?"

Annoyed and more than a little confused by her question, he gave into the need to glare while suppressing the desire to snarl a snide reply.

" I'll take that as a yes," she said quickly before turning back to her whispering gaggle of cohorts at the Ravenclaw table.Glancing up at the head table, Darrius' eyes met his father's black gaze and gruff, menacing expression, yet to Darrius it was all but intimidating. He had learned over the past year how to see through that mask, to read the inconsequential details that slipped through. For instance, his father's head was cocked just slightly to the side, and though is eyes were narrowed – usually a sign of agitation or annoyance – his brow was furrowed a tad – an indication of concern and curiosity. As he turned back to face his fellow students at the table, he found all eyes – save the Weasleys – fixed on him and Livia. The Gryffindors wore a combination of expressions; some were doing fair impressions of goldfish, all bulging eyes and doing the open mouth- close mouth thing. The other fifth years, minus Ron and Neville, were ashen and their faces contorted in disgust.

Before he had a chance to react, however, great doors opened and the mass of incoming first years shuffled down the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables in a mass huddle. Relief that the sorting was beginning temporarily distracted him from his ire, though not long. He listened intently as the Sorting Hat burst into song. Darrius snickered as it sang about the friendship between Gryffindor and Slytherin; the way the school was now, he never would have guessed. He wasn't surprised to learn, as the hat continued to sing, that the discord between houses started way back then.

When the Merlin and The Lady were indifferent no more

Fearing for that on Avalon's domain

Imparted a dire warning to the Four.

" Has our history taught you nothing?

From the Isle of Mists, the Lady cried

" You must stand together, not alone

To save Hogwarts, put your differences aside

For should you heed us not

The Goddess will not bear this division

Banished you will be from land Holy and Hers

Head our warning – restore your vision.

The words shocked him, and he could tell from the murmur around him, that it was news to others as well. She could almost hear his sister scoffing about no one reading Hogwarts: A History, the book that was her latest obsession. He would have to remember to ask his mother if she held such sway over this school.

After nearly an hour, the sorting ended leaving Darrius to turn his attention to the food that suddenly appeared on the table, hoping to avoid the spectacle threatened earlier. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards.

" Do you think he's Snape's son?"

" I don't know. That's what the Ravenclaws said. They heard it from the Slytherins."

Ron chose that moment to restart their quidditch conversation - again– much to Darrius relief. He was peripherally aware of Ginny starting a conversation with Livia and was grateful she would have a distraction from the crudeness around them.

" Shame. He's not that hard to look at."

" Neither is she."

" They obviously take after their mother in looks. Maybe we'll be lucky and they got her personality, too."

The outside conversation broke through his debate with Ron about brooms and he turned for a moment to a glare at the oblivious, offending parties. Closing his eyes, he reigned in the desire to throw a hex or two down the table; it wouldn't really help matters, even if it did give him temporary satisfaction. He wanted to push away his plate, his early hunger quickly turning to nausea with each disrespectful and contempt-ridden word that drifted down the table to him, but it was a satisfaction he was unwilling to give. Instead he, he steadily forced his fork to his mouth and swallowed bite after bite.

" Uhghhh!"

" What?"

" Think about. What kind of woman would let him touch her, much less have sex. Just the thought… Yewhh!"

Two forks dropped loudly to their plates.

" Thank you so much for that image!"

" I've lost my appetite."

Darrius just sat there, looking straight ahead and straight through Ron as he lowered his own fork quietly to his plate. He tried to concentrate on clearing his mind and body of the riotous emotions bubbling in him. He felt his sister slip her hand into his and squeeze gently. Glancing toward her, he noticed her down cast expression and how she pushed her food around her plate, not eating. Beside Livia, Ginny seemed to be doing the same aside from the occasional brutal stabbing of her fork. As if feeling his gaze, Ginny lifted her warm brown eyes toward him and offered a small, apologetic smile. Oddly, he found it comforting that this virtual stranger felt such compassion for him and his sister. Ron's reaction, however, was what truly surprised him.

" Where you all raised in a barn or are you all just that stupid and self-centered?" the redhead prefect practically bellowed. Even without glancing toward the High table, Darrius knew the eyes of his parents and a few of the teachers were trained on him and his sister. He could imagine the narrow-eyed scowl of his father and the momentary flash of indignation and protective anger from his mother. He wondered if he turned around - would he see Draco watching them with concern, as well?

A soft tap on his shoulder drew him out of his musings. Turning he found himself looking straight at the chest of a young woman. Drawing his eyes up slowly, he was pleasantly surprised to be looking into the apologetic and slightly ashamed expression of a natural beauty. Her sun-kissed blonde hair was held back from her face by a series of twists and clips, her complexion was fresh and lightly bronzed and her eyes were a clear blue.

" I'm sorry, " she said as soon as Livia had turned around. "My behavior was reprehensible. Please accept my apology for any discomfort or hurt I may have caused."

The girl spoke with amazing sincerity and Darrius found himself smiling and accepting far easier than he would have normally.

" I'm Lavender Brown, by the way. I'm a fifth year, as well."

Darrius returned the introductions and watched her return to her seat as the optimistic feeling began to return. Turning back to the table, he was greeted by others with the decency to appear chagrinned and embarrassed by their behavior. A few of them even managed to display their "Gryffindor" courage and looked up to meet Darrius' eyes and offer an apology for their rudeness. Gradually the noise began to return to the room. Darrius and Ron returned to their quidditch talk and were joined this time by the other boys sitting nearby. Beside him, he could make out the amicable conversation of Livia and Ginny.

Darrius realized, as he finished off his dessert, that dinner was nearly at an end and that he had actually enjoyed the meal, once the initial ugliness had passed. He was actually regretting it was nearly over – until that ugly, little woman in the ridiculous fluffy pink sweater interrupted the Headmaster's closing speech for a diatribe of her own. The woman – Professor Umbridge's – incessant twittering, however, turned out to be easy to ignore and he diverted his attention to watching his parents. He glanced at his father first; he seemed to be "pretending" to pay attention, his "school scowl" firmly attached to his face. His mother, on the other had a pleasant, engaged and yet vapid look on her face as she listened and watched the short, pudgy thing in her self-important chest puffing speech. Oddly enough to Darrius, his mother's expression seemed extremely false. Not that anyone else would know that. He couldn't even put a finger on what gave it away, aside from the fact that his mother, in general, never looked affable, much less dull-minded.

He turned his attention back to the droll little woman, wondering what she could possibly be saying that could agitate his mother to the extent she felt it necessary to completely mask her thoughts. He felt the odd tingle of magic quickly followed by a barely controlled burst of agitation. Reaching back, he grasped his sister's hand again, hoping to lend her a bit of his control even as he through a quick glance toward Draco. The brief second their eyes locked was long enough for Darrius to confirm the other boy had felt the surge as well. Unfortunately, as he turned back to the head table, the pudgy troll was taking her seat.

Dumbledore was quick to dismiss the student body after a few concluding words. As soon as those around him began to rise, he turned to his sister and studied her concerned expression.

" What the hell was that about?" he asked in a hushed voice.

" Not sure, but it sounds like the Ministry is trying to interfere with how the school is run."

" You don't think it will have anything to do with Mum and the instruction in the old ways she plans on resurrecting?"

" I hope that is all there is to it, Darrius," she replied. "Mum can handle them if she has to."

Darrius glanced up toward the staff table, where his parents were talking softly as they climbed down from the dais and moved to the side entrance reserved for Professors and staff. At the same time, they looked over toward him and nodded slightly. He smiled back, squashing ruthlessly the desire to go over and hug them both.

" Come on Darrius," Neville's voice interrupted his thoughts, "We'll show you to the dorm. Ron and Lavender have to lead the First Years."

With one last glance back at his parent's, he offered his arm to his sister and followed Neville and the others from the Hall.

To be continued...


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