Harry sat on the old stone wall in front of his house with a little smile on his face. The summer was almost half over, but he felt good. The summer had been sweltering enough that his mum had convinced his dad to come down to St. Margaret's beach and wade in the waves on more than one occasion. Harry smiled and looked down before he polished the apple in his hand against his shirt. As he bit into the fresh apple, the one he and mum had picked the day before at a local orchard, the juice burst in his mouth with a wave of sweetness. He couldn't help but let his smile widen.

Yes, life was good.

"Harry darling!"

"Coming!" Harry bellowed back before he spun around on the wall and launched himself for the door of the cottage. As soon as he opened it the overwhelming smell of apples wafted over him. He smiled and rushed for the kitchen then blinked. His mum was taking one of three trays of apple turnovers out of the stove. Beside her a bowl of dough was kneading itself while on the other side featured a peeler and knife working in tandem, peeling and dicing apple after apple. "Whoa."

"Come help me move these to the cooling rack," Emmeline begged desperately. "Otherwise the bottoms will burn."

"Sure!" Harry said as he rolled up his sleeves and did just that, occasionally hissing and shaking out his hands as he did. They were piping hot! But they smelt divine. He eyed the first turnover he'd taken off the sheet with a conspiratory grin and went back to the rack. As soon as he lifted the last one and placed it down he reached for it.

"Ah ah ah!" Emmeline harped as she tapped his hand with a wooden spoon. Harry turned to her with what he hoped were very convincing puppy dog eyes. Emmeline tried very hard to withstand them before she huffed. "Oh fine." Harry grinned and snatched it up with a smile. As soon as he bit into the gooey treat he moaned in delight.

"Oh, mum!" He cried through the mouthful "These are amazing!"

"Oh good!" Emmeline said with a sigh of relief. "I've never made these before so I wasn't sure they'd be any good."

"You're great at baking though!" Harry argued. And she was. Her cakes were always deliciously moist and her cookies had the perfect balance of crunch and crumble. 

"Precisely why I decided to do this!" Emmeline said with a smile before she turned back to her work.

"Although," Harry began with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Emmeline said with a note of panic as she whipped back around.

"Erm… well it's a bit much isn't it?" Harry argued with a glance around the kitchen. "Dad's not gonna be back from the conference until the day after tomorrow! There's got to be at least a hundred turnovers in here!" Harry argued. Then he gestured to the still-working charms. “And more on the way!” Emmeline laughed.

"Well thank goodness they're not all for us!" She said before she turned back around and pulled out a sheet of paper from under the thick book of recipes on the counter. 'Mrs. Butters 101 Tasty Tantrics' it proudly proclaimed across the front featuring below a cauldron with various sweets flying out of it. Emmeline fluttered the page at Harry and he took it.

Welcome one and all 

To the annual

MARGARET'S CATHEDRAL CHARITY BAKE SALE AND COOK OFF!

 

Open to all residents of St. Margaret's Bay. 

All proceeds will go towards helping the needy.

Held on the church green of St. Margaret's Cathedral

Please Donate Generously

Setup begins this Sunday, July 23 @ 10:30am after mass

Volunteers welcome

Sale from 11am-4pm

 

"One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, And He will repay him for his good deed." ~ Proverbs 19:17

Harry blinked and looked up at his mum.

"Er… we've never really gone to church," Harry admitted. Emmeline blinked. Then she laughed.

"Oh well, I never have, no dear! Well, not since I was a little girl. My grandmother was Lutheran. She used to take me to church on holidays. But I was raised in the Celtic traditions. Your father was raised Anglican. Neither of his parents were exceptionally religious, but apparently, his mother did make sure he went to church on Sundays with his father." She put the paper off to the side. "But your faith is hardly the point dear! It's a charity event for a good cause. I'm sure we won't be turned away just because we aren't part of the parish. That wouldn't be very conducive. Besides! It says 'volunteers welcome'!" Emmeline finished with a grin. Harry nodded before he gave another wince.

"Er… but are we sure that Dad would like this? There'll be a lot of people there. Seems like a perfect place for an attack." Harry argued. Not that there had been any Death Eater attacks in the last year. Ever since Sirius Black had been put in charge of the Anti-Dark Wizard Auror Task Force the Death Eaters seemed to have melted away into the wind. The press had been showing the ex-convict with praise and admiration, something the man seemed to be eating up with relish. It made Harry a bit miffed. It didn't seem fair. The man had been nothing but nasty to Harry for most of the year. But because he'd saved Harry once, he got to get showered with glory. And Harry was expected to be grateful!

"Oh honestly!" Emmeline cried with a guffawing chuckle. "You're as paranoid as your father! What do you think is going to happen?! Death Eaters will swoop down and start murdering people over the brownies?! They would have to be pretty spectacular to warrant that!" 

"I still think it might be a good idea to wait until he gets home…" Harry argued. " It might be better to just… drop them off," Harry said. Emmeline huffed.

"Fine. But I still think you're being paranoid." Emmeline argued before she went back to her baking. Harry hummed and went back to nibbling his turnover. 

Harry looked up from snappy as the flames flashed green and a smile quickly sprouted.

"Dad!" He cried ecstatically as the tall imposing figure of Severus Snape stepped out of the floor and dusted himself off.

"Darling!" Emmeline cried with a smile as she swept into the room. "Welcome home!" She leaned in to give the man a kiss which he sunk into with some relief before she pulled away. "You're a day late!"

"Yes," Severus said with a scathing note. "Damocles Belby, the conceited twat, issued a rite of challenge against me."

"What? Why?!" Emmeline demanded with a snort of derision.

"He 'took offence' to my alterations." Severus sneered bitterly.

"I'm lost," Harry said with a slight laugh. "Who is Damocles Belby? What sort of alterations to what did you do? And what is a 'rite of challenge'?"

"Master Damocles Belby is the man who invented the Wolfsbane potion," Severus explained first as he began taking off his coat. The conference he'd been attending was in Siberia, which he had informed his family through letters, was exceedingly cold, even in July. "While Remus was teaching at Hogwarts I modified the formula slightly to improve his condition. Specifically, I helped relieve some lingering joint pain in order to reduce his recovery time. However, I did not consult Master Belby before making these alliterations." Severus rolled his eyes. "He took offence, as I said before. He said I 'mangled it'."

"Oh come off it!" Harry snarked coldly. "Uncle Remus says your potion was leagues better than the swill the Ministry gives him! And it's not as if you rubbed the improvements in his face! Er… you didn't, did you?" 

"Hardly!" Severus cried with a sniff. "I shared my notes with him and recommended he use his resources to test my hypothesis better!" The man looked very cross now, jaw jumping and eye twitching

"I'm sorry darling," Emmeline said with a sigh, rubbing his back. "Why don't I make you some cocoa." Severus relaxed as his future wife (goodness they still had to plan that didn't they!) Soothed him.

"I'd like that a lot." He admitted after a beat. Emmeline smiled and nodded before retreating back into the kitchen.

"That Belby sure sounds like a piece of work." Harry agreed with a huff. "But what is a rite of challenge?"

"Essentially, It's a potion-making contest," Severus said flatly. Harry blinked. "Two masters create the same formula. Whoever makes it better, according to the grand Masters, wins the challenge and may receive whatever they wish from their opponent, as long as it's potions related. That last rule was instituted after one master tried to steal another man's wife for his reward sometime in the 1400s." Severus snarked sardonically.

"Who are the Grand Masters?" Harry asked in awe. 

"Anyone who has obtained the grand seal for excellence in their field. They are awarded by the international confederation of Wizards. Only one is awarded every year. There are 5 grand potion masters…" Severus trailed off, tapping his hand on the armrest thoughtfully.

"Your father has been working towards becoming the 6th since he was your age," Emmeline said with a grin as she returned with a tray containing three hot cocoa.

"Really?!" Harry cried with a grin. "That's amazing!"

"Unfortunately," Severus said with a sniff. "The bar for reaching excellence in potions has become exceptionally high. There hasn't been a grand potions seal awarded since 1942."

"Who was it awarded to?" Harry asked curiously.

"Mistress Glinda Briggs," Severus drawled "for her development of the Veritaserum."

"That truth potion?"

"Yes. Keep in mind this was the height of the second world war and the war against Grindelwald." Severus reminded with an eye roll. "Anything useful for the war was considered extraordinary."

"So… she didn't really deserve it?" Harry asked.

"No, she did," Severus said quickly. "Veritaserum is dastardly difficult to brew and its versatility is definitely worthy of recognition… I just think that another discovery could have easily been overlooked in the confederation's zeal for war. Which unfortunately we are seeing ice again," Severus finished under his breath with a slight huff over his mug. "The more things change…" There was a moment of peaceful quiet as the small family settled.

"So who won the challenge?" Harry finally asked. 

"I did, of course," Severus said with a smirk. "Belby has gotten out of practice thanks to his successes. Overconfident. Sloppy."

"So what did you win?" Harry asked. "What did you ask for?"

"The right to administer Belby's experiments with wolfsbane," Severus said coolly. Harry blinked then grinned. "If the man is too stubborn to make changes, I'll make them for him!"

"Surely… surely not the profits as well…" Emmeline began quietly. Severus sniffed.

"No. I left the man his fortune. But now he has to take my advice. Hopefully, the test will back me up. If they do then…" he leaned back into his chair and began to quietly smirk. "That grand seal will be as good as mine!" 

"How do you mean?" Harry questioned. Severus grinned at his son.

"Because if I'm right, this may be the key to the first steps towards the cure."

"The cure?" Harry asked curiously.

"The cure for lycanthropy." Severus clarified. Harry nearly dropped his cocoa.

"You want to figure out how to cure a werewolf!?" He demanded in shock. The man huffed.

"If you read the theory, it should be so simple! The problem stems from a number of allergies that werewolves gain upon infection. It creates a bunch of hoops in the brewing process that eliminate the theories." Severus explained. "But according to Remus, my alterations resulted in a marked benefit! I have a number of hypotheses I've been dying to try out! But I lacked the resources. Now though I can begin to indulge them." Severus said as the glint of anticipation flickered in his eyes. Emmeline smiled.

"I'm glad the conference was a success," she began. "But I hope you can hold off your research for just a day!" Severus’ face scrunched in confusion.

"Why?" He demanded with a frown.

"We're going down to St. Margaret's Cathedral tomorrow." Emmeline declared. "They're hosting a charity bake sale. I've already prepared our contribution." Severus' face was bland.

"Emmeline," he began slowly. Harry winced. 

That was not a nice Severus Snape voice.

It was one of the ones Harry remembered from his first year. The sort that felt like he was ripping into you with a hot poker.

"Surely you wouldn't try to do something so monumentally daft."

"What?" Emmeline demanded with a scowl.

"Emmeline we are in the middle of a war," Severus told her plainly. "Now is not the time to go prancing around to bake sales."

"Oh do be ridiculous Severus!" Emmeline shouted back with an angry look. "It's a local bake sale! Death Eaters are not going to be skulking around!"

"You don't know that!" Severus growled, shooting to his feet, trying to tower over her. The fact that she was only a few inches shorter than him cut the effect a bit. "I absolutely forbid such reckless unnecessary actions!"

"You are my partner Severus!" Emmeline bellowed back, face flushed with fury. "Not my keeper! I can do whatever I damn well, please! With or without your approval!"

"THEN YOU CAN DO IT WITHOUT MY SON!" Severus finally screamed. Harry flinched as soon as his father said that. Emmeline also seemed to blink, a lot of her anger turning into shock. Then her expression grew very cold.

"Go take a walk." She commanded. Severus was already walking towards the door as she said it. He too seemed to have left most of his rage for shame. But he was still angry enough to slam the door behind him. Harry flinched again at the sound.

"Oh darling, I'm sorry you had to see that…" Emmeline said quietly, coming to sit beside Harry with a sigh. "Your father and I both have a habit of… well we both inherited rather famous tempers." She admitted with a sigh. "Granted I have a touch more control over mine than your father." Her scathing tone made Harry smile a bit. Maybe Emmeline thought she did, but to Harry, it seemed that her temper simply manifested in… other ways. She let out a tired sigh. "Come, let's start dinner." Harry nodded and followed his mum into the kitchen.

Severus came back twenty minutes later looking tired, but not angry. He came in and immediately started helping make dinner. His parents didn't say anything, but Harry could tell that the fight was over, though the discussion would probably continue. Sure enough

"Harry," Severus began after wiping his mouth free of crumbs "can you please go upstairs."

"Sure," Harry said before he stood up and did just that. Emmeline took a deep breath and watched him go with a smile before looking back to Severus.

"I'm sorry," Severus began first. "For what I said… Harry is as much your son as mine and it was wrong of me to say such a thing."

"It's alright. I could tell you didn't really mean it. Heat of the moment and all that." Emmeline assured him quietly. Severus nodded.

"Now… about this bake sale." He began sounding exhausted. "I really don't think it's a good idea."

"Whyever not?" Emmeline demanded, sounding exasperated.

"I have spent the last decade turning this place into a fortress, Emmeline," Severus began quietly. "That ward wall was not nearly as impressive as when I bought this cottage. Be that as it may, those wards are not infallible. More than anything, the thing which has kept me safe these past few years, has been keeping a very low profile."

"Well we don't have to tell everyone where we live," Emmeline said with an eye roll. "We can just claim to be a new move-in."

"The priest is going to try and rope us into going to mass," Severus argued with a grimace. He did not have particularly fond memories of his time at church growing up. It was too stuffy and boring to be fully engaging. 

"Then we politely decline." Emmeline insisted. Severus looked at her.

"You're going to be very stubborn about this, aren't you?"

"Yes," Emmeline admitted. Then she huffed. "Harry isn't like you, Severus. He's personable and friendly. I know he won't admit it, but he feels lonely here. Letters from friends can only go so far. He needs to meet other children. People, his age, to interact with over the summer. Now if he was raised like I was, I could see a concern for him not interacting with muggle very well. But he wasn't. So I see no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to meet new people." She reached out and grasped his hand. "I know that open war is fast approaching… but in this calm before the storm, Harry deserves to have a normal life." Severus took a deep breath and let out a deeper sigh.

"Very well." He finally relented. Emmeline smiled.

"Thank you, darling." She got up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Now come to bed. It's late. You're still on Siberia time and it's making you grouchy." Severus scoffed but did as his future wife bid. 

"Emm," Severus suddenly said from behind her on the stairs. She turned back to him with a raised eyebrow. "I’ll make you a promise now. By the end of the year, we will have our wedding planned." The woman threw her head back and laughed.

"That's what you said last year!" She reminded him.

"I mean it!" Severus argued though he did have a very subtle blush. "The Triwizard Tournament and Crouch Jr made last year too complicated…"

"I know," Emmeline assured him. "But somehow I doubt we'll manage anything again this year," Emmeline said with a sigh. Then she smiled down at him. "Just promise me I'll be an honest woman before Harry leaves Hogwarts!"

"You have my word," Severus swore with a hand over his heart. Emmeline smiled and led the way to their room once again

Severus always rose early on Sundays. It was a holdover from the times he did go to church. He'd never really managed to kick the habit. Even worse, back then his family had lived far from the church and, lacking the funds to own a car, a 45-minute walk had preceded any kind of service. He and his father were often late, to the point where the priest had begun to expect it and had begun planning around their arrival. As he rolled over, gently so as not to wake Emmeline, he felt a sense of deja vu descend. St. Margaret's Bay was also a good walk away. He sighed and made his way downstairs. As he set about making coffee a small smile graced his lips. He remembered the first year that Harry had come to stay (goodness that was a long time ago!) He too had a tendency to wake up exceedingly early. He'd thought it was very odd since the boy was on holiday and surely didn't need to be up at the crack of dawn. He only found later it was because of his abusive relatives, who made him get up early to cater to their every whim, like an overtired overworked maid of all works. Severus sighed and sipped his coffee. 

"Mornin'" Harry murmured behind him with a wide yawn. 

"You're up early," Severus commented with a raised eyebrow. He had seen Harry get up that early since he was thirteen.

"Well… I figured we were going to church. So I set an alarm." Harry explained. Severus paused.

"You want to go to the service?" He asked candidly. Harry shrugged.

"The Dursleys used to go to church not every Sunday, but often enough." Harry paused and looked out the window at the early morning sun. "I vaguely remember what it was like. They used to take me when I was really little, but they stopped after I started doing magic, so I don't really remember …" Severus hummed before he set his mug down.

"In that case, fix yourself a quick breakfast, then go upstairs and put on some nicer clothes. I'll go wake your mother." Severus said plainly. If Harry wanted to see service again, Severus would indulge him.

Emmeline was still staring up at the church ceiling with wonder.

"I've never seen a building this beautiful before." She muttered, in less than a whisper, to Severus. The man chuckled slightly. Emmeline's architectural roots were showing. He'd first noticed it when she gasped upon seeing the exterior, and then again when they first entered. He'd then had a moment of utter embarrassment as Emmeline had tried to touch one of the stained glass windows and was scolded by an usher. He'd quickly pulled her into the pews and sat her down. He was then infinitely grateful that Harry seemed to recall more than he thought because the boy was already in his contemplations. The priest stepped forward and said a few words before beginning the service. Severus surreptitiously leaned over to Emmeline.

"Just follow my lead," he breathed into her ear. Emmeline nodded slightly. The service continued as expected with a bit of sitting and standing and listening to the priest deliver his sermons. Emmeline smiled brightly when Severus told her that there would be singing shortly. Harry also smiled when he saw his mother's face. He knew how much she loved to sing, so this was right up her alley. After the singing and sitting and standing the family rose as the service came to an end. Emmeline tried to gravitate towards the front when Severus grabbed her.

"Not that way." He hissed.

"But-" Emmeline said in confusion.

"You've not been baptized. Communion is only for those who have been." Severus explained quietly.

"Well, then shouldn't you be doing it?" Emmeline argued. Severus looked over before looking back and shaking his head.

"It wouldn't be right," he finished as he turned away. Emmeline's face grew contemplative. Something about the way her future husband was standing had set off alarm bells in her head. She noted a certain discomfort in the way he walked and the way he averted his eyes from certain iconography.

Almost as if he was ashamed.

She sighed and turned to Harry. He was standing fixated on a painting on the wall. It showed a man in a long white robe with a large cross on his back, carrying it down a road while onlookers either wept or jeered. Harry was staring at it, eyes hallowed.

"Sometimes I feel like that…" he admitted quietly. Emmeline turned to him with horrified, sad eyes. "Everyone wants me to save them … but I'm just a 15-year-old kid. I don't even know what I want to do after Hogwarts! If I even get that far!"

"Harrison James Potter you stop that nonsense at once!" Emmeline snapped angrily. Harry blinked and turned to her. "Don't you dare say such horrid things! You have a long life ahead of you!" She took a deep breath and pulled him away from the now deeply disturbing mural. "It is perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed, given the circumstances. But I want you to know that your father and I do not expect you to swoop in and save the world. In fact, it would be my personal hope that other, more suitable, people took up the charge, instead of leaving it to a boy."

"But it's not going to work out like that," Harry said blandly. Emmeline grimaced.

"Probably not." She muttered under her breath, hoping Harry hadn't heard her, but he had, judging by his half grimace, half smirk. She huffed and continued leading him out of the building.

"Thank you for coming to the service," the priest said with a smile. Then the smile took on a weary light. "I notice you did not bring your son up for communion…"

"Oh!" Emmeline said with a blink. Then she winced. "Oh, I didn't think it would be proper. Harry has been to church for a very long time. I'm not even sure if he was baptized…" she muttered thinking back.

"You didn't baptize your son?" The priest began to sigh.

"Oh well he's not my son by birth," Emmeline admitted with a swallow. "I'm his stepmother… well, future stepmother. His father and I aren't married yet. We've been engaged for over a year now and we haven't even decided when we want to get married!" She said, ending with a laugh. The laugh quickly faltered as the priest eyed her with a look of slight distaste.

"I see," he finally finished. "Why did you come to the service today?"

"Oh well, we were hoping to help with the charity bake sale!" Emmeline said with a broad smile. "Harry here wanted to see service again. It was absolutely wonderful. And your cathedral is a masterpiece!"

"Mum's an architect by trade," Harry explained with a chuckle. "She got a bit lost in the spectacle when we first arrived."

"I noticed," the priest remarked, a bit of the earlier disdain melting away. "Thank you for joining us. If you step off to the right my wife will gladly help you set up a table."

"Thank you!" Emmeline said before pulling Harry away. "What did I say?" She hissed to him worriedly. Harry winced.

"Erm… well certain people in certain churches don't think that people should… you know, outside of marriage." Harry admitted with a blush. Emmeline blinked 

"What?! That's absurd!" She remarked. Harry shrugged. "I wonder how they would have reacted had they known I was a witch…"

"I wouldn't," Harry said with a wince. "My 3rd-year history homework was supposed to be about witch burnings."

"Oh right," Emmeline remarked sardonically. Then she noticed a slightly frazzled woman with a clipboard and smiled brightly. "Hello! The pastor said we should look for his wife to get set up for the bake sale, is that you?"

"Indeed it is!" The woman said with a slightly weary smile. "Are you here to help set up, or do you have goods?"

"Goods!" Emmeline said happily, "But we can help set up as well."

"Oh thank goodness!" The woman cried. "Most of the volunteers have been older women from the parish not really suited to manual labour. Your son seems like a strapping lad! Could you be a dear and start setting up that stack of folding tables? A large u shape would be ideal." 

"Sure!" Harry said before he walked over to the pile. 

"Oh!" The woman suddenly piped up. "One more thing! If you see a little girl with pigtails in a blue dress, can you please tell her to come back to help me? She's always off in some fantasy world that girl! I have no idea where she wandered off to."

"Aren't you worried something might have happened to her?!" Emmeline cried in horror. Harry winced. His mum had a protective streak the size of the black lake and just as deep. The pastor's wife made a face.

"I'm sure she's perfectly fine. She never wanders far. She's probably sitting on the green on the other side of the church watching the clouds." The woman argued, and judging by her look she would not appreciate any more comments from Emmeline on her fitness as a parent. The witch noticed it and took the diplomatic route of silently nodding before changing the subject altogether back to the bake sale.

The bake sale was turning out to be a huge success. After Severus had returned with the turnovers and Emmeline finished setting up a small display the sweets started flying away. Harry was amazed.

"We're going to run out soon!" He remarked in awe.

"Well, now I know next year to make more!" Emmeline remarked with a grin.

"Next year?" Severus grumbled as he took the ten-pound note from Emmeline and gave her the change. She was hopeless with Muggle money, even though Severus insisted its base ten system was easier to understand. Emmeline just complained that it was 'too many coins'.

"It's an annual event, dear!" Emmeline reminded him with a smile.

"Can I have a few pounds and look around?" Harry suddenly pipes up. Emmeline and Severus turned to him a blink before Severus followed his son's eyes and couldn't hold back a chuckle. Three booths down, a little old lady was selling homemade treacle tart. The man rolled his eyes but still reached to give the boy a note when a young girl cleared her throat.

"Excuse me," she said quietly, pigtails swinging a bit as she eyed them. "I'm here to get your profit envelope."

"Is it 4 already?!" Emmeline cried as she glanced at her watch. 

"No," the girl said. "But mummy wants to collect them to free up some space."

"Certainly," Emmeline said, as she tried to Severus. The man was rapidly counting the money before he stuffed it into the envelope. 

"£80 50p." He said smoothly.

"Whoa!" The girl said with a grin. "That's almost as good as the toffee stall! These must be really good!"

"Here!" Emmeline said as she handed one to her.

"Oh, I don't have any money." The girl insisted.

"Call it a sample," Emmeline said cheerfully complete with a small wink. The girl couldn't resist that delicious offer and took the turnover. One bite and she hummed in delight.

"These are delicious Mrs…"

"Just Emmeline." Emmeline insisted. The girl grinned a little shyly.

"Ms. Emmeline," she responded. Emmeline huffed indulgently, eyes glittering with mirth. Harry grinned with a snicker. He remembered when he used to call his mum that. "My name is Lucy."

"Hello Lucy," Emmeline responded. "It's very nice to meet you."

"You too!" Lucy insisted before she dashed away. But as she turned her foot caught a patch of uneven turf. She gave a yelp as she pitched forward the bundle of envelopes flying into the air. The little family behind her all yelped in shock and concern when suddenly the girl was not so much falling as floating. The envelopes were fluttering all around her in a flurry before settling into a neat stack as she finished falling, gracefully slowly onto the grass. Severus blinked before he turned, grasping Harry's arm.

“Harrisson!” he hissed angrily.

“It wasn't me!” Harry argued desperately with a wince. Severus glared at him for a moment before his face softened, seeing no lie in his son's face. He turned instead to his wife with a scathing look. It would be so like her to do something so foolishly protective.

“Don't give me that look!” Emmeline grumbled. “I didn’t do a thing!”

“Then who-” he turned and realized the girl had disappeared. “Where did she go?” he asked in a panic.

“Why?”

“Because I have to obliviate her, obviously!” Severus snarled.

“But we didn’t do anything!” Harry argued angrily.

“Well someone must have!” Severus barked.

“Is there a problem?” a voice called. The family jumped and looked up. The pastor was eyeing them with a raised eyebrow. Severus immediately straightened up.

“Forgive us, Pastor. Just a family discussion.”

“I see.” the man said with a bowed head. “I was wondering if you could help me with something sir. We have a sign that needs putting up.” Severus looked over to see two other men trying to pull a sign that was strung up between two trees on the edge of the green and nodded slowly. As they walked away the pastor cleared his throat.

“I was wondering… I have not seen you among the parishioners before… your fiance remarked that your son had not attended a service in a while… forgive me, but were you raised in the faith?”

“Yes,” Severus answered plainly. He knew this would come up. It was part of what he wanted to avoid.

“I see…” the pastor was silent, but Severus could see the disdain under his eyes. Severus took a deep breath.

“My relationship with the church is… complicated,” Severus said coldly. He hoped the man would let it drop.

“I will not press,” the pastor said stiffly. “But I am always available if you find yourself in need of… better guidance,” Severus grunted and gave a jerk of his head that might have looked like a nod. Better to let the man think he was agreeable. A small gasp from behind him made him turn. His wand hand twitched as he realized it was the little girl from before. “Lucy?”

“Father,” she murmured quietly with a nod. Severus raised an eyebrow. Father was the Catholic term if he wasn't mistaken.

“What is it?” the man responded with a cold expression. Severus’s face twitched. The man was addressing her fairly rudely for a supposedly guiding pastor.

“Mother was looking for you.” the girl said. She was knotting her dress up nervously now which made Severus glower slightly.

“Tell her I will be with her shortly. Go back to your duties.” the pastor said with a sour expression. The girl nodded before turning and dashing away. “I know that God is all-knowing… but even still, I can't help but feel he gave that girl too much spirit for her own good.”

“Why do you say that?” Severus asked with narrowed eyes. The pastor gave him a look but said nothing else as he continued to walk away. Severus watched him go for a pace then found his eyes drifting out to the crowd. He was searching for a little girl with pigtails. His expertly trained eye found her talking to the woman who Emmeline had told him was organizing the event. The pastor's wife. "An odd thing to say about your own daughter." He finally piped up again. The pastor's eye twitched. He breathed something under his breath that Severus didn't quite catch before he whirled away, expression conspicuously blank. Severus filed the entire interaction away for later reference. 

Emmeline smiled as she folded the tablecloth up. They'd run out of turnovers and had stuck around to help collect profits from other stands. Now the event was ending. 

"Thank you so much, Emmeline!" The pastor's wife, Hannah said with a weary smile. "I dearly love running this event, but every year it becomes bigger and bigger! It's nearly too much for me as it is." 

"Well, I'm happy to help!" Emmeline insisted with a grin. "It gets Harry out of the house."

"Do you live far?" Hannah asked casually.

"Down at the end of the Droveway," Emmeline responded. Hannah's expression went from confused to sad.

"I didn't realize Greta had passed! Please give my condolences to the family!" The woman cried sadly. Emmeline's expression flashed in worry for a second before she smiled weakly. 

"I will." 

"Mummy!" Lucy cried with delight as she ran up to her. Then she froze and gasped at Emmeline with wide saucer eyes. Emmeline looked down at her in confusion. 

"Lucy dear, what's wrong?" Hannah asked in confusion. Lucy looked up at her mother with a bite of her lip. The woman's eyes widened a fraction and she turned to Emmeline slowly. "This… might seem strange… but … did Lucy do something… odd… in front of you?" Hannah said with a slight wobble of her lip. Emmeline's eyes lit up.

"You're a witch?!" She cried in awe. Hannah flinched while Lucy's expression went distraught.

"'Exodus 22:18, thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'!" Lucy shouted in fright. "I am not a witch! I just…" She swallowed and shrunk into herself slightly. Emmeline's expression grew sad 

"Oh darling, it wasn't an insult!" She insisted as she dropped to her knees. "I happen to be a witch as well."

"W-what?!" Hannah cried in shock. Emmeline looked up to her with a smile.

"Both my parents were magical. Severus and Harry are both wizards as well. Severus and I work at a school for witches and wizards in northern Scotland."

"I thought you said your husband was a chemist," Hannah muttered with an uncomfortable expression.

"Well, he's a potions master," Emmeline admitted. "Chemist is the best comparison."

"There are more of me?" Lucy whispered after she'd had a moment to recover. Emmeline smiled at her brightly.

"Yes! There is a whole magical world! With shops and schools! Even a magical government!" Emmeline admitted. " We have to stay secret from muggles, however, so you would never have noticed us before." Emmeline paused and looked her over. "How old are you darling?"

"10. But I turn eleven in a few weeks!" Lucy responded.

"You'll be getting a letter soon then!" Emmeline assured her. "An invitation to Hogwarts. That's the name of the school. I work at."

"Hogwarts?!" Lucy cried before she giggled. "What a silly name for a school!"

"I always thought so too!" Emmeline admitted. She looked back up to Hannah and her smile dimmed a bit. The woman looked extremely uncomfortable but also… worried. Emmeline stood up and grabbed her hands. "I assure you that everything will be alright. Hogwarts is the best institution in Great Britain." Hannah gave her a look before she swallowed lightly.

"Perhaps… if this letter arrives… you could help Lucy get more… used… to this… magic world." Hannah said slowly. Emmeline’s expression grew worried. There was a shadow of fear in her eyes now. A flicker of some desperate emotion. Emmeline nodded slowly which made Lucy smile brightly. 

"Hannah love," the pastor suddenly called from behind them, walking up with a gentle smile. "Is everything alright?" 

"Everything is fine!" Hannah replied with a bright smile, all of her previous fear melting away. "I was just thanking Emmeline for all of her wonderful help!" Emmeline quickly stretched a smile over her face as well. But her eyes never left the pastor. Lucy seemed stiff as she moved towards him. And his hand on her shoulder seemed more perfunctory than a sign of affection like he would be dashing his hand away as soon as Emmeline turned away. It made her want to seethe. But instead, she just took the man's thanks. She gave Lucy one last smile, pouring as much support as she could into her eyes before she walked away.

"Lucy Mathers is a witch." Emmeline declared over the family's dinner of Chinese takeaway. 

"I knew it," Severus muttered darkly. "Pastor Richmond is neglectful of her."

"Bloody hell," Harry whispered in horror.

"Language." Both parents admonished quietly. Harry dropped his takeaway box with a frown.

"But!" He huffed before he gave his parents a worried expression. "What are we gonna do?" Emmeline opened her mouth, but Severus cut her off.

"There's nothing we can do." At his future wife's affronted expression he sighed. "The man is neglectful, but his wife isn't. At least that was the impression I received."

"You're right," Emmeline said softly. "If anything she seemed overly concerned for Lucy… I don't think he's as neglectful as you think. When I called her a witch she quoted something at me… Exodus 20 something.

"Exodus 22:18?" Severus muttered wearily.

"Yes!" Emmeline confirmed

"What's Exodus 22:18?" Harry asked.

"It's a bible verse. Part of the King James Bible, which is the version Anglicans typically use."

"What's the quote?" Harry asked.

"'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'." Emmeline recalled bitterly. "What a horrible thing to teach a child. Especially a magical one!"

"Verbal abuse is abuse," Severus admitted. "But it is not grounds enough for the Ministry to confiscate a child."

"What about the DoE? cant we give a report to them?" Harry asked. 

"She is a magical child. Therefore, any case issued under her name will be handled by the Ministry's Department of Family Services." Severus explained. "And the ministry has very… stringent requirements for cases of child abuse. There has to be proof of physical effect."

"That's stupid!" Harry argued angrily.

"I agree," Emmeline grumbled bitterly. The family went back to their dinner, feeling dejected. Suddenly Severus paused in his eating, expression grim.

"I have seen cases like this before," Severus admitted. Emmeline and Harry looked up at him worriedly. "It typically goes one of two ways… the parents of the child reject their child, usually the first or second year after Hogwarts, and they get rehomed with a different family through family services," he trailed off, expression weary.

"Or?" Emmeline egged him on with pursed lips.

"Or the neglect graduates to full-on physical abuse and the DFS confiscates the child." He finished. Emmeline's expression went distraught.

"Oh, Severus!" She sobbed. The man swallowed.

"I'm sure Pastor Richmond, God-fearing man that he is, would never dare raise a hand to his daughter… even if he thinks she's the spawn of Satan."

"But either outcome is wretched!" Emmeline argued, hand over her eyes. "That poor poor girl!"

"Dad," Harry began wearily. Severus looked at his son. He knew how hard it must be to hear such a wretched thing, given how he himself had grown up in an abusive household. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Hannah asked me to help Lucy adjust to living around magic," Emmeline said, suddenly upright again determined. "So we are going to help and support her as much as we can!"

"Right! " Harry agreed with a nod. Severus also nodded. Mission confirmed the family finished their dinner before turning in for an uneasy sleep.

It started with a base of one part vinegar to two parts water with a quarter parts alcohol, each added in time while you stirred vigorously.  Pure ethanol worked best, but rubbing or isopropyl was just as effective if one didn't have time or money to create or purchase the pure distilled liquid. It did require a few extra minutes of stirring after all of the bases were combined, to ensure the solution was properly combined. He’d discovered that failing to do so made the area more easily stained later, a phenomenon that baffled him still. Once the base was thoroughly combined you had to light a hot fire under the cauldron, to bring it to a boil quickly. While you waited, you crushed and mixed one parts Quartz salt with 1 parts Sodium Bicarbonate. Then you sprinkled it in gently while stirring counterclockwise. He tisked and shook his hair out of his eyes as he worked over his mortar before he huffed and very quickly pulled it back with a tie. He was grateful that there was a large enough margin of error that this small pause would not ruin the batch completely. He watched the potion begin to foam and very quickly added a drop of Essence of Milkweed. He grin as the potion slowly turned that same, slight gross greenish-white colour it was supposed to. He lifted his spoon and confirmed with a grimace the slight stringy stickiness of the mixture. This stage always revolted him. He pulled down the jar of Demiguise saliva and grimaced. Then he took a measure of the slimy substance and drizzled it into the cauldron, first in a clockwise spiral then a counterclockwise one. Then he waited. Slowly the clear viscous liquid sunk into the potion. As it began to bubble he rolled up his sleeves, put on his dragonhide gloves, tilted the cauldron, and began to rapidly whisk the entire mixture. It was hard to do at first, and he had to be careful that not a drop of sweat landed in the solution, or it wouldn't work for sweat stains. But the more air he introduced the easier it became until he was staring at a rather revolting, when you thought of it, off-white meringue. He smiled again. Now this was the cool part! Using a beaker and a test tube, he tipped one thimble of crushed luna moth wings into two measures of lemon juice and swirled it again. As it fizzed and bubble he tipped the beaker into the cauldron. Instantly the potion let out a loud fizz. The whole thing sizzled and frothed. And went. The meringue was collapsing, and slowly losing its greenish hue. And finally, Harry looked down at the clear liquid inside the cauldron with a beaming smile. He looked down at the pair of jeans his mother had been complaining about earlier and took a small spoon and poured it on. The effect was instant. The potions soaked into the fabric, and the offending grass stain melted away. A quick drying charm and the fabric was completely unblemished as if it had never been stained in the first place.

“Ha ha!” Harry cried excitedly. Then quietly he heard a clap of hands. He looked over to his father with a cheeky grin.

“Very well done!” Severus cried. He looked at the ladle and frowned. “Slightly less viscous…”

“I used less demiguise spit,” he shuddered. “I hate that stuff. And I don't need as much as I originally thought. I wonder if your formula needs as much either? The stuff is not cheap! Nearly a whole galleon for this jar!” Harry complained, lifting the already almost empty half-gallon jar up to the light with a scowl. Severus let out a chuckle. “What?”

“You sound like me more and more every day,” Severus admitted. “I too spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about reagent prices.” Harry pulled a face before he let his hair down and scowled slightly.

“I need a haircut,” he complained. His expression was grim, which Severus knew was due to past experiences being unpleasant. “It always gets so unruly at this length! I never know what to do with it!”

“Conversely,” Severus began. “You could grow it out longer. I have a feeling that your hair will be much like mine if it grows longer.” Harry winced slightly as he heard that and Severus’s face went blank. “It will not be as greasy.”

“Erm,” Harry began with a slight blush. “Do you mind me asking… that is-”

“It is because of potions fumes. Excessive time around potions has been shown to negatively affect the pH balance of the skin, especially with repeated exposure to noxious or poisonous vapours. It is also why my skin is so clammy. One solution is to wear a cap, which many in the potions community do. I have yet to find a cap which doesn't make me look like either a 17th-century crusader or else a 16th-century bishop. Another solution would be to cut my hair exceedingly short. But I find it makes me look too militaristic for my tastes. The final solution is to bathe every time I leave the lab and apply a revolting number of skin care products all over my person. But as I spend up to ten cumulative hours a day in my lab, taking a break between each class and research session to wash my hair and apply products would be excessive and in the end pointless.” Severus lectured bitterly. “Especially with Longbottom there wreaking havoc…”

“Well, good news!” Harry argued. “This year is the last year you have to deal with Neville or he has to deal with you! He’s planning to drop potions after his owls.”

“Mercy of mercies!” Severus cried in relief. “Finally.”

“He wants to focus more on Herbology,” Harry explained as he went about cleaning up his workstation. Now that it was brewed the ‘Potter Stain Stopper’ (god he still hated that name) was perfectly stable and wouldn't begin to evaporate or spoil for at least a few hours. It would eventually, which is why the labels on their bottles instructed people to keep it closed when not in use, but it took a very long time. As he worked his father came up beside him and assisted, wiping down the pestle and mortar and various implements with practised expertise. Harry had watched his father work a few times now and was honestly astounded by how amazing he could be. Potions master indeed. 

“Indeed? Yes, I have noticed he seems to handle the plant portion of the reagent class quite well. He seems to know which part of the plant is used intrinsically.”

“He really liked plants.” Harry agreed. “Not just what they're used for, but how they grow, and what you need to do to make them the best they could possibly be. It's honestly amazing sometimes listening to him… and a bit annoying.” Harry finished with a wince.

“Annoying?”

“He says ‘amazing!’ a lot,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes. “A lot.”

“I see,” Severus said with a chuckle as he finished putting away the last of the unnecessary equipment. He pulled forward the case he had lent Harry, filled with the newly labelled potion vials and pulled one out, inspecting the label again.

Harry Potter’s Stain Stopper

Directions: Apply 1-3 drops onto the stain, wait for the potion to be absorbed, then apply drying charm. Safe for all fabric types. Works best on fresh stains.

“I feel as though that last line is a touch of false advertising,” Severus argued. “You know as well as I that the age of the stain has yet to have made a difference.”

“I know,” Harry agreed. “But Tracey says that it's smart to cover our bases. This stuff lasts for a long time. So it's possible people who bought it last year are trying it on old clothes they had at home with stains.”

“Harry, we tested it on my training apron from 1978!” Severus reminded him with a snort. “If it can remove stains from over 20 years ago, when none of your classmates were even alive, you can remove the line about fresh stains!”

“Alright!” Harry said with a huff. “I'll talk to Tracey about it.”

“Speaking of Miss Davies…” Severus began with a swallow. “How is she enjoying Japan?”

“She loves it,” Harry said casually. “She says that Kyoto is so much more beautiful than London. She went to Mount Fuji last week, she sent me a photo,” Harry reached into his back pocket and pulled it out and smiled. The girl was leaning on a fence, backdropped by a fantastic view of a massive mountain framed by bonsai and Japanese maples. Then she noticed the camera turned and gave it a beaming smile and a little wave. Severus watched Harry's own smile beam down at the little miniature of his girlfriend. Then he noticed a second photo behind it and quirked an eyebrow.

“What about the other one?” Harry blushed and tried to hide it.

“Erm… well,” Harry began with a swallow. Severus narrowed his eyes.

“Show me.” Harry blushed beet red but slowly revealed it. Severus' eyebrows shot up. It was another photo of Miss Davies, but her face was half hidden, with sultry eyes, behind a paper fan, which she was fluttering rather… suggestively. Her outfit was reminiscent of a traditional Japanese dress but less formal, in a light teal base covered in an orange and white koi fish pattern. Her hair was piled high on her head and was decorated with pale orange silk flowers.

“Her family was in Himeji a few days back. The family she was staying with decided to dress her up for the Yukata Festival.” Harry looked down at it again and blushed. “She er… said she posed just for me,” Severus grunted and thrust the photo back into his hands.

“I do hope I don't have to remind you of… certain dangers.”

“Oh god!” Harry cried in horror. “Please don't! Madam Pomfrey cornered everyone last year before the Yule Ball… it was awful!”

“Yes, well… good.” Severus choked out. The air became much too hot and embarrassing for Harry's liking and he quickly turned away, stuffing the photos back into his pocket.

“Let's just bottle this batch!” Harry said quickly. Severus cleared his throat and nodded. The pair went back to work in silence, for which Harry was exceedingly grateful.

Harry put the final period on the scroll he was holding and leaned back.

"I'm done." He declared, with an air of awe.

"Hmm?" Emmeline asked from beside him.

"I'm done with my summer homework!" He cried with a grin. "I actually managed to finish it all before my birthday!"

"Congratulations!" Severus cried before his voice gained a tone of sarcasm. "And here I thought it would be impossible to break your procrastination habits."

"Shush!" Harry argued back with a pout. "It wasn't procrastination! It was… habit." Harry finished with slight melancholy. Severus nodded with understanding and didn't say anything more. 

"So," Emmeline said, artfully steering the conversation. "What are you going to do with the rest of your free time?" Harry grinned. A whole month of free time!

"I'm going to train Snappy a bit more." Harry started. "Hagrid said he could be trained to fetch things and be used to keep things safe. Nothing too big, but still useful. I also want to get some flying in of course. Maybe I can visit the Weasleys," he looked to his parents who both gave nods which made him smile wider. "We'll need to go to Diagon Alley at some point for new school stuff. I think I need new robes again."

"You have shot up like a weed this year," Emmeline remarked with a sniff. Harry turned to see she had a somewhat heartbroken expression and smiled slightly. He leaned into her and she immediately pulled him in for a hug. Snuggled up against his mother he went back to his list. "Tracey won't be back until a week before Hogwarts so I'll have to wait to see her. Maybe I'll practise brewing some more!" He craned his neck to his dad with a questioning look. The man had a small prideful smile and nodded. Harry grinned and turned back.

"Careful Darling," Emmeline began warningly. "Your father had all but given up on you becoming a potions master. But you're starting to get his hopes up again." Harry blinked and turned to give his father a sheepishly apologetic look. Severus for his part didn't look the least bit ashamed

"I think I can convince you yet." Severus declared. Harry laughed.

"Sorry Dad, but I don't know about that," he shrugged. "Potions are cool, but Runes are fascinating… I think I want to become an artificer." He admitted candidly. His parents blinked in shock. Harry's expression twisted up. "Maybe… I really don't know."

"Well, this is the year you'll receive career counselling from your head of house," Severus explained casually. "She can help you figure out your best options. But I think you would enjoy being an artificer. Your Yule medallions are proof of your skill."

"Last year proved that if I had been wearing it properly I wouldn't have been as badly hurt during the train attack in your third year," Emmeline said candidly, referring to the charred remains of the medallion Harry had been wearing during the World Cup attack last year. Harry smiled and leaned into her for a hug.

"I guess I'll wait till McGonagall gives her advice." Harry finished with a sigh. Then he sat up with a grin. "Which means I don't have to worry about anything! No more stress!"

"Indeed," Severus agreed with a chuckle. "Just don't forget your chores." Harry's expression faltered a bit as his parents laughed at his expense.

Harry opened the cupboard and made a noise.

"Muuuum!" He cried with a touch of a whine to his mother, hanging the laundry in the backyard.

"Yes dear?" Emmeline shouted back.

"We're out of crisps!" Harry cried. "Can I run down to the corner Tesco's and grab some more?"

"Harry," Severus said with a frown as he opened the pantry door and crossed his arm. "Please, for the millionth time, no shouting in the house like a hooligan."

"Sorry dad," Harry apologised with a blush. 

"And no, you can not go down to Tesco's." Severus said plainly.

"Why not?!" Harry cried incredulously, despite his father's admonishment. Emmeline had walked in by now and was watching the argument before her unfold with a tired sigh. She'd been waiting for this.

"It's dangerous." Severus reminded him. Harry gaped at him.

"It's less than ten minutes away! And if god forbid anything happens I can run back home-"

"It's far too great a risk!" Severus cut him off angrily. Harry scowled.

"I hate being trapped in this house! I can't go anywhere on my own! It's ridiculous!" Harry shouted as he stomped away.

"Harrison!" Severus bellowed furiously.

"Just leave me alone!" Harry snapped angrily. 

Then there was a quiet, almost timid knock on the door. 

Harry blinked and turned to the door with a blink. 

"Who on earth-" Emmeline began before Severus lifted his hand for silence and drew his wand, creeping towards the door with well practised stealth. Harry held his breath as he father reached the door and peered through the peephole. Then he drew back with shock, making both Emmeline and Harry jump and opened the door fully.

"Miss Mathers,"he said quietly, stepping aside to allow the girl to enter. She remained rooted in place, so Severus cleared his throat and tried again. "What brings you here?"

"W-what were you shouting about?" She asked quietly, twisting knots into her jumper. Both Harry and Severus exchanged a wince with each other.

"It was nothing!" Harry quickly insisted, putting on a somewhat forced smile. Then it relaxed a bit as he tried for humour. "Dad would tell you I've really bought into the whole 'stubborn teenager phase' thing." Severus let out a grunt of agreement. 

"Come inside dear!" Emmeline suddenly cried with a smile, "I'll whip you up some cocoa… you didn't walk here did you?"

"N-no," Lucy confirmed nervously, taking a selfconscious step over the threshold. "My mum dropped me off at the end of the droveway. She had to get back though… so she couldn't walk with me." Lucy explained, peering at her sneakers. Severus‘s face twitched as he closed the door behind her. Harry stepped forward, keeping his stance un threatening as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“So, what brings you up here?” he asked casually.

“It came.” Lucy admittedly candidly before she drew a familiar letter out of her back pocket. “The letter you all said would come.” she held it out to Harry with a somewhat weary expression. Harry took it with a grin and read it. It was the same green ink he remembered from his own letter, and the same red Hogwarts seal. And the same owl post stamps.

Miss. Lucy Mary Mathers

The Bay Window Bedroom of the St.Margaret’s Bay Cathedral Rectory

12 Chuch Street,

St. Margaret’s Bay,

DOVER

“Oh that’s Wonderful darling!” Emmeline cried with a smile before she took the letter from Harry and handed it back to her with an encouraging smile. “Go on! Open it!” Lucy flinched slightly and wrung her hands.

“I… I don't know if I should.” she insisted. “I mean… what if it's not an acceptance letter… what if it's something else?” Lucy insisted.

“That's Professor Mcgongall’s handwriting,” Harry informed her. “She's the deputy headmistress. It's the same letter I got when I turned eleven. So trust me when I say, that's definitely a Hogwarts acceptance letter.” Lucy looked back and forth between Emmeline and Harry before she took a deep breath and tore it open.

“Why don't you read it to us,” Severus said casually. Lucy jumped slightly at his voice before she nodded and drew the first page out of the parchment envelope.

“‘Dear Miss. Mathers, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!’” Lucy began, voice rising to a crescendo with a beaming smile.

“Told you!” Harry insisted with a laugh. Lucy grinned before she cleared her throat and began to read again.

“‘Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment…’” she paused and dug into the envelope to retrieve the other paper with an intrigued humm. “‘Term begins September 1st. We await your… owl?’” Lucy blinked. “Owl? What do they mean by that?” at this Severus leaned back and gave a sharp whistle. There was a fluttering sound before a loud shriek and then a sound of shattering glass.

“Oh for the love of Merlin!" Severus snarled as he stood up and marched into the kitchen. "ORVILLE! HEDWIG!" Lucy blinked, leaning away from the sound with worry then felt her jaw drop as Severus returned with a snowy owl on his shoulder and a tawny in his hands. "You are both acting like petulant children! Behave yourselves!"

"Hedwig." Harry piped up quietly. The snowy took off, but not without clipping the top of her wing onto Orville's head, who gave a squeal of displeasure. "Hedwig!" Harry admonished. The snowy puffed up and repositioned herself on his shoulder so that she was facing away from the group. Lucy put a hand on her mouth to hold back a giggle.

"If you two can't behave, one of you won't be allowed in the house anymore." Severus warmed the owls sternly. Hedwig spun her head around and gave him a look which was surprisingly sad for an owl. Orville did the same, giving his long-time master a puppy-dog like expression and gave a worried sounding warble. The potions master groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Emmeline chuckled before she cleared her throat and straightened up. 

"In the wizarding world we use owls to deliver letters. As you can see, they're not like normal wild owls. They're far more intelligent,and have very distinct personalities." Lucy nodded. 

"I'll go get some ink and parchment!" Harry declared. "Then you can write your letter! And trust me, you want to! The alternative is a bit… chaotic." Harry recalled with a weary chuckle. Lucy blinked at him and Severus cleared his throat.

"That was only because of who you are, Harry." He explained. The teen blinked and his shoulders slumped a bit before he turned away.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked quietly. "Why is Harry any different than everyone else?" Both Emmeline and Severus exchanged a glance.

"It's a very long story darling." Emmeline finally responded. "But suffice to say, Harry is special… even amongst Wizards." She clarified when Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Here you go!" Harry cried as he rushed back down the stairs with a quill and parchment. "Have you ever written a letter before?" Lucy nodded

"We had penpals last year in primary. I got a letter from someone all the way in America!" Then she looked closer at the implements Harry had given her and bulked. "but… not with a feather before."

"Don't worry!" Harry repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. "You'll get the hang of it. Took me just a few days!"

"Hardly," Severus drawled. "Your handwriting is abysmal!"

"I'm trying my best!" Harry argued.

"Don't be discouraging Severus!" Emmeline admonished grumpily. The potions professor grunted. Emmeline huffed before turning to Lucy with a softer expression. "If you'd like, I can help you learn how to write with it for a bit before you write your letter."

"Yes please," the young girl said gratefully before Emmeline led her to the dining room table and began her quick explanation of how to hold the quill.

Harry sat on the sofa with Lucy with a bright smile as she played with snappy on the floor.

"Who's a good book?!" She purred to the furry creature as it hopped around her making excited cooing noises "yep! It's you! Snappy! Snappy is a good book!" Suddenly Harry's eyebrows jumped up as the book flipped onto its front and presented its bottom for scritches. Snappy almost never did that. "Oh, such a good book!" Lucy cried as she gave the enchanted textbook a hardy scratch of his proverbial belly. Suddenly a throat cleared.

"Miss. Mathers," Severus began cautiously. "It is nearly 5 in the evening. Don't you think it would be prudent to begin making your way home?" The little girl's face fell a fraction while Snappy suddenly flipped over and began whining slightly.

"No whining." Severus admonished blandly. Training Snappy had been slow going. He thanked the gods that the author had had the forethought to not make the book produce waste. Snappy gave one last petulant whimper before going still. 

"Do I have to?" Lucy whined. Then her eyes lit up. "I can give you my phone number and you could call my mum and ask if I could stay! I'm sure she'd say yes!" 

"Unfortunately, we do not process a telephone." Severus admitted blandly.

"No phone?!" Lucy asked incredulously "but then how do you keep in touch with people?!"

"Owl post."

"Only?! But doesn’t that take a long time?" Lucy demanded. She sent the reply to her Hogwarts letter hours ago and Orville still hadn't returned.

"It depends on the species of owl, the distance, and weather." Severus explained. "Hedwig can make it all the way to Hogwarts and back in about a day, provided she is not sidetracked by bad weather. But we only use her in the winter, when she is least likely to be spotted. Orville can make the trip in about 3 days."

"But that's forever!" Lucy cried in horror “a phone would be so much faster!”

“Magic doesn't mix with electricity very well.” Harry explained casually. “Most of the time it wouldn't work properly.

“What about the lights?!” Lucy cried, pointing to the ceiling light.

“Gas.” Severus said casually. “Lit and doused instantly with magic.”

“Really?” Lucy cried in awe.

“Don't think I haven’t noticed how the conversation has derailed, miss. Mathers.” Severus drawled. “Say goodbye to Snappy and Harry, then it's time to go home.” the young girl sighed and gave the book another pat before climbing to her feet and giving Harry a tight hug. Harry leaned down and pulled her in. He held her as tight as he thought she'd like when he released his grin she was still clinging to him.

"Lucy, I know how you're feeling. It probably feels like you're all alone." Harry whispered, "but trust me okay. it's gonna be alright. You're not alone anymore." The girl drew back and gave him a surprised look, her lips tugged up into the smallest, most unsure smile. Then she turned back to Severus. The man's posture was stiff and Harry could see in his face that his dad really didn't want to bring her back to a place that wasn't treating her right. But he also knew that until her parents did or said otherwise, his father had no choice but to return her. 

"Here," Emmeline said, rushing forward with a small bag of cookies and a thermos of hot cocoa. "Be sure you drink all of that when you get back home."

"Thank you Ms. Emmeline." Lucy said. "Bye Harry, bye bye Snappy." Then she turned to Severus. He pulled open the door and gestured for her to leave ahead of him. Then they were gone. Harry and Emmeline stood in the living room staring at the door for a few minutes before Emmeline let out the most forlorn sigh Harry had ever heard.

"She'll be fine." Harry whispered. "I was."

"Fine and happy are two very different things, Harry." Emmeline reminded me. "And, I'll remind you, that you were not as 'fine' as you thought you were."

"At least she's got an actual bedroom!" Harry argued with a weak grin. But Emmelines face was so distraught that Harry couldn't keep his mirth for very long. "Sorry."

"We all do things to cope." Emmeline muttered before she flopped down onto the couch and began furiously knitting. "Some have better -damn- coping skills then others." Emmeline said, quietly cursing with each dropped stitch. Harry watched her then went to the couch and leaned into her. Just for a small comfort. But Emmeline immediately dropped her failing knitting and pulled him into a full hug. They stayed like that for a very long time until the door opened again. They both looked to see Severus holding Chinese take away with a grin expression.

"We are going to help her," he declared. "One way or another. It will be done."

The circle of runes was like cracks in the earth itself, from which emanated a sickly green glow. It was pulsating, like the beating of a human heart. The air was so thick with magic he could almost see it. His breath rippled and flowed out of him like a cold winter's day. But the heat of the summer was still in full swing.

Begin

He spun around, fear gripping his heart. That voice… that horribly familiar voice. It sounded like it was right behind him.

Or maybe it was him.

Then another figure stepped from the shadows. And suddenly a flame shot from the end of his wand to ignite the fire beneath a massive cauldron. He'd never seen one that big before! And here he thought his dad owned every size imaginable.

Then his blood ran cold as he realized where they were.

A cemetery.

There was even a freshly dug grave.

He shivered in horror and tried to shrink into himself, praying he wasn't spotted, even though he was standing in the middle of the clearing housing the ritual. Then suddenly the figure stepped back into the light.

Barty Crouch Jr!

So that's where he'd been hiding these past few weeks!

There was something in his arms. A bundle of rags it seemed. Then Harry choked as the man pulled the rags away.

It was the monster from his nightmares! The ones from the beginning of the year! He'd all but forgotten about them by now! Then Barty stepped forward and dropped the thing into the cauldron. Harry felt his skin prickle as the runes around him began to grow brighter and the magic in the air grew that much more pronounced.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given." Barty enchanted. Harry flinched back. A ritual?! No no no no! Whatever was happening, if he stayed in the circle he would be bound to it. He didn't question if such rules still applied in dreams. But when he turned to run he found that no matter how hard or fast he did, the ritual followed him. He was trapped watching this terrible spectacle. "You will resurrect your son."

"Stop!" Harry shouted. He knew it was suicide, but maybe if he disrupted the ritual he'd be able to escape! But Barty Crouch Jr couldn't seem to hear him.

"flesh of the servant, willingly given." Barty continued before he rose up that same knife he'd attacked Harry with last year and his own right hand. Then Harry screamed as the Death Eater brought it down across his own wrist, severing the hand and dropping it into the cauldron. The man let out a guttural scream. But it turned into a victorious cry at the end and he had a mad grin on his face, now smattered with a bit of blood. "You will revive your master."

Harry was panting now, chest rising and falling like a racehorse as he watched the ritual unfold.

"Blood of the enemy," Barty suddenly purred, fishing that vial from his pocket, fumbling slightly as his non-dominant hand shook from incoming shock. "Forcibly taken." Then he tipped it. Harry watched entranced and yet still shivering in terror as the drops of blood fell from their vicious prison, yet that self-same liquid remained behind.

But then the blood hit the surface of the potion bubbling in the cauldron. Harry fell to his knees, clutching his scar with a guttural scream of pain.

"The Dark Lord shall rise again!" Barty snarled with a viscous grin even as his bloody stump continued to drip into the grass below. Harry moaned in anguish as suddenly a figure rose from inside the cauldron. Harry felt bile rise into his throat as terror gripped his body.

It was a man, in shape at least. However, that was where all similarities ended. Its skin was white and translucent, with dark blue veins cross-crossing the surface occasionally. The nose and ears were flat, making its profile inhuman and unnatural. Then the figure opened its eyes, revealing the blood-red serpentine orbs below.

Voldemort.

Harry couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak. All there was was fear.

Then slowly Voldemort smiled, baring his fangs to Harry.

"My Lord," Barty purred with noticeable awe on his face even as he dragged himself to the man's side, weak-kneed from blood loss. Voldemort chuckled, leaning down a fraction to run his hand along Barty's face like one might pet a loyal dog. Then he waved his hand. A fantastical iron hand grew out from Barty's stump, stemming the flow of blood. The man flexed his new fingers before giving the man a pleased, but also horrifyingly cruel grin.

"My victory is at hand, dear Barty." Voldemort finally spoke, with a cold voice like something slimy sliding down one's back. "There is just one thing we need."

"Ask it my lord, and I will bring it to you," Barty promised.

"Bring me the boy," Voldemort said. "Bring me…

Harry Potter.

"Harry!" Emmeline screamed. She'd heard his scream and rushed down the hall to his room. She pushed it open just in time to see the convulsing boy suddenly still and begin choking. "Sweet Merlin! Harry!" She rushed to his side. She got closer and realized he was still breathing, but it was stuttering because he was breathing so fast. "Severus! Oh Severus, please get in here!" Then suddenly there was another shout and a loud thump. Emmeline frowned. The man had been as awake as she was, he just hadn't been as quick pulling on a robe. Why on earth-

She rushed out of the room and down the hall and froze. Severus was collapsed in their bedroom doorway, his face pale and sweaty and he was shivering as though it were the middle of winter. But the thing which made Emmeline still with fear was that he was clutching his left arm above his mark, which was pitch black with sinister veins of dark magic streaking out from it. The man was staring at it with bloodshot eyes when he looked up at her, lips quivering.

"Summon the order."

Alastor banged the table with his staff several times.

"Order! Order! Everyone! Will you stop panicking like a bunch of Hufflepuffs?!"

"Excuse me?!" several in the room cried at once a couple adding an extra explicative in the shout. Alastor winced back and clamped his mouth shut.

"Friends!" Albus suddenly shouted. "Please. We will be of no use if we allow fear to divide and conquer us." The fervour of the room relaxed as several people took breaths.

"The Minister should be told." Tonks called out.

"Already tried that," Sirius muttered darkly. "He sent me a very thinly veiled threat that I would lose more than my job if I kept spouting lies."

"Are you serious?!" Hestia cried in horror.

"Did all of you forget about me? So rude." Sirius responded with a smirk. 

"Some maturity in light of the situation if you don't mind." Emmeline spat coldly. Sirius scowled at her and opened his mouth to say something (probably a profanity ridden insult) but Minerva cleared her throat.

"Emmeline and Albus are right." The elderly animagus said with gravely pursed lips. "We must focus on the task at hand."

"We need more information." Alastor said quietly. "We need to know what You-Know-Who's next move will be." 

Every head in the room turned to Severus. 

The man was still bloodshot and his left hand was twitching reflexively from pain. The man looked at them all and his face was taken over by a bitter scowl.

"Oh yes," he drawled, "I'll just pop right over. I'm sure he'll be sooooo happy to se-" he was cut off by a spike of pain, doubling over in his chair with a groan. Emmeline immediately jumped up to help him, but he was upright and smacking her hands away by the time she arrived. "I'm fine!" He snarled furiously.

"Apple, meet tree." Emmeline spat back. Severus's face crumpled a fraction before he sighed.

"Severus is not an option " Albus finally said, with grave seriousness. "We must find some other way to obtain information." The room looked grave before Sirius suddenly straightened up.

"Snape!" He barked

"Sirius, we already said he's not an option!" Tonks grumbled.

"No not that!" Sirius shouted. "Snape, are the robes you've got… they're the same ones you first received right?" He asked. Severus blinked.

"Yes. They're nearly impossible to get rid of. Even when I tried, they showed up in my wardrobe again." Severus let out a bitter snort "one time they even came back pressed."

"Then we can use this!" Sirius cried as flicked his wrist and a small glass sphere popped into his hand.

"The listening devices!" Emmeline cried in awe. 

"What?" Tonks questioned.

"In the first war Snape managed to plant listening devices on several members of the inner circle." Alastor said, leaning forward as Sirius placed the sphere into the middle of the table. "Been a while since we used these… will the magic even work anymore?"

"For all the ones I created." Sirius muttered "which admittedly weren't a lot… the original form of the device was a small wire with a crystal on the end of it though… maybe it was passed over." Sirius tapped the sphere with his wand then put his hand over it. Instantly the room was filled with a loud shrieking noise which made everyone cover their ears as Sirius quickly adjusted the frequency.

"Sorry! Feedback."

"Bloody hell that hurt," Hestia whined 

"I think I've got deaf!" Tonks wailed.

"Shush!" Alastor growled. The room fell deathly quiet as Sirius slowly waved his hand over the sphere.

"Come on," the animagus hissed. "Come o-"

"-ord's will is absolute."

"YEAH!" The room cried with glee, several people cheering and clapping Sirius on the back.

"QUIET!" Severus roared. The room fell silent again and began to listen.

"-annot let anything distract us Marcus."

"But father-" Severus felt his heart sink. That was Marcus Flint, meaning it must be the device he planted on Augustus Flint. The man had been an up and coming in the 80s. A worthy candidate for the inner circle. He'd likely fallen in favour now however, since he’d claimed to have been under the imperius curse as an excuse for his previous illegal activities. He'd read about Marcus being released on house arrest. Seemed that hadn't been as 'rehabilitating' as August claimed it would be.

"Enough! Cast the traitor from your mind. Our Lord has a greater purpose for us. And we must abide by his will, as I have said!" Augusted snarled

"But-" Marcus began again

The room echoed with the sound of a sharp smack. Severus felt his hand tighten around his chair arm. 

"DO NOT CONTRADICT ME BOY! YOU WILL OBEY OUR MASTER! UNDERSTOOD?"

"y-yes father." Marcus's voice said meekly, barely a whisper from a distance. There was a silence before the older voice sighed.

"I am hard on you for your own good Marcus," Augustus told him. "Our Lord will not be so merciful. You must be prepared."

"Yes father." Marcus said, firmer now. Then the conversation drifted away to other things, and Sirius severed the connection. The room was still silent. Then Emmeline rose and left the room. She looked shaken. Severus sighed and leaned into the table. He didn't have the strength to chase after her. 

Harry sat on his bed with his head in his hands. It was too quiet in this house. Every creak reminded him of that awful nightmare from weeks ago. He couldn't stop kicking himself. He was so stupid! How could he have dismissed something so obviously important! He growled and picked up an object on the bedside table and threw it. The shatter made him freeze them wince. He crossed the room and picked up the picture frame. He blinked in confusion. He recognized the boy on the left as Sirius black, young to be sure but familiar scowl in place. Next to him though was a boy Harry couldn't recognize. He had shorter hair than Sirius with steely blue eyes that stared at him, only occasional blinking showing that this photo was indeed magic. Occasionally Sirius would try to pull away from the boy before his face twisted into a scowl as he glanced at something out of frame and grudgingly slid back into place. Harry slowly slid the photo out from under the now broken glass and flipped it over.

Sirius and Regulus, 1970

Harry blinked and flipped the photo back over.

"He has a brother?" Harry whispered. Suddenly the door opened.

"Harry? Darling what are you doing up? What happened to the picture frame?"

"Erm," Harry began with a wince. "I couldn't sleep." Then she looked at the picture frame again. "it… fell." Harry decided. Emmeline raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry." Harry whispered.

"What's wrong darling?" Emmeline asked as she guided him back to his bed.

"I knew this was gonna happen." Harry admitted. Emmeline looked at him incredulously before she burst out laughing.

"Harry darling! That's impossible! How could you have known?!"

"That nightmare I had at the start of the summer," Harry muttered quietly as he started unconsciously rubbing the scar on his arm from where Crouch had attacked him at the end of the year. "It was about Voldemort and Crouch talking about the ritual. I thought it was just a nightmare. But it wasn't. It was… some kind of premonition."

"But you didn't know that then sweetheart." Emmeline consoled him, wrapping her arms around him protectively. "How could you have known."

"If I hadn't just dismissed it-" Harry began.

"Hush," Emmeline said calmingly. Then suddenly the sound of quiet murmuring drifted upstairs before someone loudly shushed everyone. Harry held his breath, waiting for the portrait of Mrs. Black to start screaming again. But nothing happened.

"The meeting is over," Emmeline muttered quietly. "Wait here. I'll bring up some hot cocoa. Would you like that?" Harry sighed before he nodded, though much more sadly then he normally would. Emmeline's brows knotted with worry before she rubbed his back. "After that, try to get more sleep darling." Harry nodded slowly and even lay down as she got up. Emmeline smiled and turned out of the room.

"There you are Vance." Sirius said with a grunt "you missed the end of the meeting. What could possibly be more important than fighting Voldemort?"

"Being a mother." Emmeline said with a scowl. Sirius snorted.

"Still can't believe you willingly play mother to the bastard son of your future husband and his adulterous former friend. Surely you see the irony." Sirius said with a smirk.

"Wipe that look off your filthy face Black, before I hex it clean off!" Emmeline snapped.

"Careful Vance," Sirius drawled. "Threatening an auror is a lofty offence. Punishable by several years in Azkaban." Emmeline lips pursed closed and she gave him his coldest look before she pushed past him. The auror snorted before we walked away giving the door that led to Harry's room only a cursory disgusted sneer.

Severus groaned as he leaned into the table. Every inch of his body ached. Every minute or so a lance of pain would shoot up his arm, though he had noticed the pain beginning to recede. He didn't know if he should be glad, or apprehensive. Glad because it was finally gone. Apprehensive because it likely meant that the Dark Lord was preoccupied with other things. And those 'other things' would not be good.

"Here," Molly said, sliding a cup of hot cocoa into his hands. "Drink up. You need your strength." Severus didn't have the energy to snap back that he had plenty of strength, thank you very much! Instead he just took a slow drink and allowed himself to sigh in relief as a bit of warmth spread back into his limbs.

"Oh good. Can I have some of that for Harry?" Emmeline called from behind.

"Oh certainly!" Molly assured her, pouring out a mug and then putting it on a plate with a few cookies for good measure. "How is the poor dear?"

"He's… doing as well as might be expected." Emmeline finished weakly. "One part terrified, one part guilty, with just a hint of his father's stubbornness thrown in for good measure of course." Severus grunted out a complaint, too tired to really put up a fight. Emmeline came up behind him and ran her hands over his shoulders before leaning down to give him a kiss of the temple. "You know I love you darling… honestly, how are you holding up?"

"The pain has started to recede." Severus admitted under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear. "It's just aftershocks now. Plus I don't think the Dark Lord will keep it up. It takes too much focus on his part." Emmeline furrowed her brow in worry and gave him another quick peck, on the cheek next time, before she retreated back upstairs. Severus remained where he was before he felt eyes on him and turned to them with a glare.

"Oh don't give me that look!" Molly harped before she gave him a little smile as she reached out and refilled his mug "Domestic bliss looks good on you dear." Severus let out another grunt and passed the rest of the night in silence as the blinding pain finally stopped, though he knew the memory would linger forever.

Lucy looked at the list again before she looked up at Severus.

"Everything?"

"Yes Miss Mathers, for the millionth time, we will be purchasing everything on that list," Severus said with a bit of force this time so that maybe the eleven-year-old would actually get the message.

"But how will we carry it all?!" She demanded in awe.

"We'll stop at Maver & and Daughters first and pick up a school trunk," Severus said plainly.

"Oh! Well, that makes sense." 

"This we'll go to Madam Malkin's and get you fitted. Harry needs a hem taken out, so during that Severus or I procure lunch. Then we'll zig-zag down the alley and finally stop at Ollivander's. Does that sound good?" Emmeline asked. Severus frowned. 

"I think it would be better to go up the alley on one side after Maver's before going down the other."

"Still rather conveniently ending at Ollivander's." Emmeline agreed with a smile.

"Indeed," Severus said with a smirk.

"Can we stop talking about what we're gonna do and actually go do it!?" Harry begged with a grin. "Tracey said she would be going shopping as soon as she got back home!"

"Whose Tracey?" Lucy asked. Harry blushed 

"Erm, well she's... just a friend."

"No way!" Lucy cried in shock. "You have a girlfriend?!"

"Hey!" Harry cried. "Why'd you say it like that?!"

"Harry's got a girlfriend, Harry got a girlfriend!" Lucy teased.

"Quit it!" Harry shouted.

"Lucy, stop tormenting the poor dear," Emmeline said with a chuckle.

"So what can I know about Tracey?" Lucy asked with a smile.

"She's my age, she's in Slytherin house, and we sell potions to our fellow students together." Harry listed. "And she just got back from a family trip to Japan. If anyone asks, her mother was going to a health retreat, but it wasn't as effective as they had hoped and Tracey doesn't want to talk about it. But between you and me, she had an awesome time going to all sorts of festivals and trying all sorts of food and seeing a bunch of cool things. She sent me a few pictures I could maybe show you later."

"Why would she say it was a health retreat for her mom?" Lucy asked in confusion. Harry groaned.

"It's a really long and complicated story," Harry explained. "Just stick with it if anyone asks okay? Not that I think anyone will. But just in case." Lucy nodded slowly, still looking confused.

"Come along," Severus insisted. "The sooner we get to Diagon the sooner we can get back." Emmeline chuckled before she put a gentle hand on the children's backs and ushered them out of the house.

Lucy sat down on a bench with a loud groan. 

So. Much. Shopping! 

"Are we done yet?" She asked weakly. Severus chuckled as he sat down next to her.

"Not quite darling. We still have to get you some flying gloves, quill and parchment, potions supplies and your wand." Emmeline read as she crossed out her list. Harry groaned and slid down the bench.

"I don't remember it taking so long when I started Hogwarts," Harry complained.

"That's because Hagrid went out and bought most of your supplies for you while you were getting your wand and robes." Severus reminded him. Harry blinked. 

"Oh... well why didn't we do that then?"

"Because leaving an eleven-year-old unsupervised in a busy shopping district is the most idiotic, irresponsible, unprofessional-" Severus began, growing more and more upset as the rant got into high gear. Emmeline cleared her throat to cut him off before he really started.

"It wouldn't be right." Emmeline insisted. "Lucy is under our care to help her adjust to the wizarding world. So we should be there to explain things and provide assistance." 

"Yeah!" Lucy piped up with a scowl. "Are you saying you want to ditch me?"

"No!" Harry insisted with a blush. Then he realized the girl was giving him a cheeky grin. "Oh, you-" he began before he dove at her and tried to put her into a headlock so he could ruffle her hair, despite her squealing of protest.

"Alright, alright!" Severus barked. "No roughhousing."

"Sorry," Harry said with a blush. Lucy was frantically fixing her missed hair with a slight whine. 

"Harry!" The teen looked toward the voice and beamed

"Ron!" He got up and gave the teen a tight hug. The tall ginger pulled back with a grin before he looked over at Lucy and blinked.

"When did you get a sister?!" He asked, flabbergasted. Instantly Lucy blinked and shrunk into herself a bit. Harry for his part winced.

"Uh... well you see...she's not really my sister." He muttered. Lucy perked back up again in confusion. Not really? What did that mean? "She's a muggle-born from my town. We're helping her get all of her supplies and stuff."

"Oh! Cool!" Ron said with a grin before he walked up to her. "Nice to meet you! Name's Ron! Ron Weasley!" He said with a friendly outstretched hand.

"Lucy, Mathers." She said with a small smile and a shy handshake. Ron turned back towards the crowd.

"HEY! HERMIONE! I FOUND HARRY!" He bellowed, making Harry, Lucy, Emmeline, and Severus all flinch and wince to varying degrees.

"Ronald!" Hermione cried back as she made her out of the crowd, less loud, but more shrill. "Do you have to be such an obnoxious ignoramus all the time?! You probably deafened him with all your shouting!"

"Oh...Sorry." Ron apologized with a blush. Harry laughed before he gave Hermione a tight hug.

"So lovely to see you again Harry!" Hermione said before she pulled back. "You as well professors! And-" she blinked. "Oh! Hello! Who might you be?"

"Lucy," the girl responded with a smile. "The Snapes are helping find all of my school supplies. Cause my parents don't have magic."

"Oh!" Hermione said with a grin. "Well, that's nice of them. I'm guessing your parents are off staring at a shop display? My own were the same way you know! My dad stood outside Eyelop's for hours!" Harry winced as Hermione started going on about her parents adjusting to the wizarding world. Lucy's expression had crumpled a bit and she was staring at her hands in her lap. The more Hermione talked the tighter the grip on her dress became.

"Miss Granger!" Severus finally snapped after almost 5 minutes of incessant talking. "Kindly shut. up."

"Severus!" Emmeline hissed with a slight smack on his shoulder

"Oh... sorry," Hermione muttered with a blush. "I got a bit... carried away again...didn't I?"

"Yeah, a bit," Ron said with a chuckle. Emmeline cleared her throat. 

"It was very lovely to see you both, but I'm afraid we really should get back to our shopping." The woman said as delicately as she could without snapping at the girl for obviously upsetting Lucy. Couldn't the girl see beyond her own nose for- Emmeline took another deep breath and then stretched a smile over her frustration. "Be seeing you."

"Oh! Right, of course!" Hermione insisted as she latched onto Ron's arm. "Goodbye Harry, professors," she gave Lucy an encouraging smile. "Lucy. We'll see you all at Hogwarts!"

"Bye Harry!" Ron called back as he was dragged back to his family by Hermione. Lucy still looked a bit melancholic, though she had returned Hermione's smile with her own weak one. Severus saw this before clearing his throat.

"Fortescue's." He declared.

"Absolutely!" Emmeline agreed.

"Yes!" Harry cried with a fist pump.

"What's Fortescue's?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Only the greatest ice cream parlour ever!" Harry cried happily. "They have every possible flavour of ice cream you could think of! Candied pineapple, cheesecake, strawberry upside down cake, soft or hard serve. Every kind of popsicle dipped in all sorts of toppings!" Harry listed ecstatically.

"Harry had made it his life's mission to attempt to taste every single one of Fortescue's ice cream flavours," Severus replied flatly. "Which is a nearly impossible feat, as the man is inventing new flavours near every minute."

"Don't forget to brush your teeth tonight." Emmeline reminded scathingly.

"Do they have regular flavours too?" Lucy asked sheepishly. 

"Well sure," Harry responded with a roll of his eyes. "But why would you want that when you can have lemon meringue pie flavour topped with peanuts and whipped cream? Or peanut butter and Jam topping with chocolate drizzle? Or butterbeer?!"

"What butterbeer?" Lucy responded, flabbergasted.

"A disgustingly sugary mix between a rootbeer float and cream soda with a rich butterscotch aftertaste," Severus responded with a slight scowl. "The company makes an alcoholic version as well, but the non-alcoholic version is very popular with children." Lucy had begun licking her lips about halfway through Severus' description and was not looking at the ice cream parlour's crowded storefront with new eyes.

"Okay. Maybe I'll try butterbeer ice cream." She responded. The little family chuckled with her. The parlour was understandably crowded since today was one of the last weekends before Hogwarts, and as such many families were coming to Diagon for school supplies. It wasn't as hectic as it would have been if it had been the last weekend, which Harry vividly remembered from his first and second year, but the crowds were still decent and it would be easy to lose someone. Which is why the minute they entered the shop Harry instinctively grabbed onto Lucy's hand.

"Stay with me okay?" He said reassuringly. The girl looked at him again, a surprisingly nebulous expression on her face before she looked away again.

"Harry darling!" Emmeline called through the crowd before she finally cut through. "You father and I have just joined the line. Why don't you two go wait outside for a bit? Stay close to the entrance though."

"Yes, mum," Harry assures her before he left Lucy put, still clutching her hand. Harry immediately sat them down the minute the little bench near the entrance became available with a sigh and released her hand. As they sat Harry noticed Lucy's eyes trained on something down the street. He followed her eyes and felt his heart twist. The girl was watching a mother and father admire their daughter's new robes, complete with clapping and hugs and kisses.

"You know, my family didn't come to me the first time I went to Diagon Alley." Harry suddenly blurted out. Lucy blinked and turned to him with a frown. "In fact, they wanted nothing to do with magic. They tried to stop my Hogwarts letter from ever coming."

"But I thought your parents work there," Lucy remarked with a frown. Harry sighed.

"I wasn't living with them back then. I was living with my aunt and uncle." Harry sighed. "See my mum... isn't really my mum." Harry tried to explain. "I'm her adopted son. My real mum and my adopted dad died when I was a baby." Harry explained, completely glossing over Voldemort for a much much later date. "When they died, I was sent to my aunt and uncle. And they hated magic. Which also made them hate me."

"Is that why you stopped living with them?" Lucy asked quietly, staring at the cobbles below.

"No," Harry said quietly. "They died as well." Lucy looked at him before she reached over then grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. It was a sweet gesture that made his heart throb again. "Anyway, and all this to say, just ignore everything Hermione said. She doesn't realize how lucky she is..." The little girl smiled before she leaned her head against his shoulder. He grinned and leaned his head back to show her more support.

"Here we are," Severus began, extending two cones to the children. "Two butterbeer. I took the liberty of adding treacle topping to your Harry... though heaven knows it doesn't really need it." He complained. The boy had already practically inhaled his first bite with big eyes. Lucy's first experimental lick had her recoiling in shock.

"It's fizzy!" She cried in awe.

"Well, it is a carbonated beverage," Emmeline said with a raised eyebrow. 

"But! It's ice cream?! How do you make ice cream fizzy like a soda?!" Lucy questioned incredulously.

"Magic." The three others responded with grins. Lucy blinked then burst out laughing.

A wave of nostalgia swept over Harry as Lucy timidly pushed open the door to Ollivander's. The same dusty bell was ringing overhead, and the same dusty, almost claustrophobic atmosphere dominated the shop. Lucy looked around in awe while Emmeline gestured for Harry to sit with her in one of the chairs against the shelving opposite the wandmakers counter.

"Aw!" Ollivader cried, staring at the poor girl so much she gave a small scream. "Mr. Potter... I trust the wand is serving you well? Despite its... complications?" The man said smoothly. Harry was still momentarily taken aback by his strange appearance. "Well! Emmeline Vance! 10 inches, elm, dragon heartstring. Sturdy, good for swishing. Adept at charms. Finally getting to enjoy motherhood I see." He said before giving her a wink. The woman didn't look the slightest bit phased. He turned to Severus and raised an eyebrow. "Severus Snape. 12 inches. African Blackwood. Dragon heartstring... unbending and solid. Particularly jabby. Good for curses." Severus held the man's piercing gaze for several seconds, face blank and unaffected until the man turned away and finally landed his gaze on the little. Harry could have sworn he saw his father smirk. "Well hello, my dear. Might I have your name?"

"Lucy Mathers." The girl responded, looking perfectly calm. But Harry could tell from the way she was shifting her feet and clutching her dress that she was not in fact fine, but absolutely terrified. It was only her sheer will which was stopping her from shaking. 

"Lucy," Ollivander repeated before he smiled. "A lovely name." He held her gaze for a moment, and Harry watched as she slowly calmed down a bit. Ollivander smiled wider as she saw her calm a fraction. "Now then my dear, which hand would you say is your dominant?"

"Right," Lucy said confidently. The man nodded before suddenly whirling away and the dreaded tape measure Harry remembered came whirling out. Lucy froze and watched it with her eyes as it floated around her, taking the ludicrous measurements Harry also remembered. Surely the space between one's septum and upper lip couldn't possibly be necessary for a wand. Suddenly Ollivander gave a loud shout.

"Oh away with you!" He cried as he walked back into the room with a few boxes and a few loose wands. "Sorry, the tape is a bit... over-enthusiastic." He opened the first box. "Holly, unicorn horn. Nice and whippy." Lucy took it, only for the man to snatch it back and throw it away. "No no. Maybe- yes! Ash, phoenix feather. Gentle bend." But Lucy gave one swish and two trays of boxes suddenly flew off the boxes behind the wandmakers. Harry chuckled. He remembered doing something similar. Ollivander had turned around to inspect the damage. Lucy looked mortified and began stumbling over her own tongue.

"I'm so sorry! I can help fix it! I can't believe I did that! I hope I didn't ruin things too much!" but when he turned back he had a smile and a steely glint Harry remembered. "Ahhh." He began "finally found the tricky one this year I see." Severus and Emmeline both blinked while Harry got a little grin and tilted his head. Lucy was tricky too? So Lucy tried every wand Ollivander had collected. And then a few more he grabbed a second time. The girl apologized profusely each time the wrong wand caused her to do some terrible damage. After a solid hour, Ollivander was starting to actually look stumped.

"My dear you are by far the trickiest person I have ever served." He readily admitted. Lucy bit her lip.

"Does... does that mean you don't have a wand for me?" She asked worriedly. The man quickly shook his head.

"I know I do! It's just a matter of finding it. It must be buried somewhere in n-" the man paused. He looked at the family in turn then down to Lucy and smiled before he turned away. Lucy blinked and turned to the others with a slight shrug. Harry shrugged back. Ollivander came back, not with the typical paper box, but with a small intricately carved wooden one instead. He set it on the counter and opened its creaky lid. Then he reached into it and pulled out the wand inside. Harry blinked. It was a complex colour, black with streaks of beige interspersed, and the handle was almost like the tree had been grown into it rather than carved. Ollivander's hands were shaking slightly before he offered it to Lucy. She took it and gasped. The man slowly began beaming.

"That, Miss Mathers," he began "is the very first wand I ever made." The girl blinked. "I was quite experimental in my youth. My father was always getting on me to shape up. Leave the fanciful designs and methods behind and stick to what worked. But I was adventurous back then. When I finished it, my father told me it would never choose a wizard. Too capricious he said." He reached to hold it again, and Lucy handed it over. He turned it in his hands, feeling the wood. "It's wenge, with a length of 11 and u32; inches." That drew a noise from Severus, who balked slightly. "Yes, you see the first hurdle-an unusual length for an unusual wood. Both are symbols of power. But Wenge is a very hard wood. So typically, it would work as a wand with half, let alone third, measures. So to subvert that, I hollowed it out using magic, so that it could mimic a lighter wood. If you were to snap it in half, which I would not recommend, you would find it not dissimilar to a bird bone." Ollivander spun it in his hands, smiling further. "And then, on top of that, rather than filling it with unicorn hair, which would lend it a stability and foundation, I chose a phoenix feather. Not from a tail plume, however, but from the crest on its head." Emmeline made a grunt of disbelief. Ollivander smiled and handed the wand back to the little girl. "As I said, my father always said it would never work. But I always told him that all the wand needed was someone with an adept mind, a strong soul, and, above all, a good heart." Ollivander said, locking eyes with the girl. Lucy beamed up at him.

"How much do we owe you?" Severus asked casually. Ollivander grinned.

"I've been waiting 73 years for that wand to choose its companion, Master Snape. There is truly no payment necessary." He looked down at Lucy, expression suddenly very familiar to Harry. "We can expect great great things from you, Miss Mathers. I look forward to seeing them."

Lucy was holding her chin up high with a self-satisfied smirk on her face as she left the wand shop.

"What's got you all snooty?" Harry demanded with a snicker.

"He said I have a strong soul," Lucy replied with a grin. Emmeline and Severus chuckled at her indulgently. Suddenly a cold feeling descended over Harry. Then a blinding pain flared up in his scar, making him double over in pain, slapping a hand over it.

"Darling?!" Emmeline cried in shock when suddenly a spell shot passed her ear. She whipped around in time to dodge another one.

"DEATH EATERS!" someone shrieked. And suddenly the Alley descended into chaos. Harry whipped around in time to see three more of the sinisterly robed men descended on the alley. He frowned for a moment because they didn't look like the Death Eaters he remember from the World Cup when he was suddenly being dragged by the arm by his mother.

"Lucy!" Severus bellowed to the girl who had ducked and dove for cover behind a bench. The girl screamed and then rushed to him. Without even a thought the man scooped her up into his arms and rushed for a sheltered alcove along with Emmeline and Harry. There were several loud cracks as the flashy-robed Aurors descended as well and began duelling with the death eaters. Lucy screamed when they first landed which had Severus placing a hand on her head and shushing into her hair.

"It's alright." he assured her "It's just the Aurors."

"They're like policemen." Harry clarified.

It was a pretty quick fight. These Death Eaters were not very skilled.

"Everyone!" came the loud voice of Sirius Black, echoing from a sonorous charm. "The Death Eaters have been apprehended! You can all come out now!" The Snapes slowly emerged from the alcove, Lucy still clutching onto Severus for dear life. And as soon as Severus looked down at the Death Eaters, tied up on the cobbles, his face fell. The reason for these Death Eaters' lack of skill was very apparent now. It was a group of five teenagers. Four would be seventh-year Slytherins led by one Marcus Flint. He let out a sad sigh, a weight of guilt descending on his soul. Suddenly Flint looked up at him and growled.

"YOU'LL GET YOURS, TRAITOR!" he bellowed.

"That's enough from you!" one of the Aurors shouted before shooting out another spell that gagged the screaming teen.

"Come on," Emmeline began sadly. "We've finished shopping. Let's get out of here."

"Snape!" black shouted. The woman took a deep breath, seemingly trying to soothe herself, but it sounded more like a furious huff. 

"Black, I really don't have the time or energy to deal with you right now." Severus snarled as he turned to face the man. 

"Whose daughter is that?" Sirius demanded. Severus blinked and suddenly remembered that he was holding Lucy in his arms. He'd forgotten she was there for a moment, so natural it was to be holding her. Now that the adrenaline had worn off her considerable weight was suddenly making itself known as he had to adjust his grip slightly.

"She's a muggle-born that lives in our area," Harry responded quickly. "Her parents asked us to take her to get her things for Hogwarts." Sirius gave him a look, a mix between a sneer of distaste and scowl before he looked up at Severus again.

"Did you know that this was going to happen?" Sirius demanded. The man scowled

"Use your brain, Black," Severus snapped, "how in the name of Merlin could I possibly know about this?"

"Perhaps you're not so separate from your old friends as you've been letting on." Sirius drawled coldly. "I wonder, did you tell this girl's parents you used to be part of a muggle-killing terrorist organization? For that matter I wonder if the DFS kno-" Severus took a step forward, getting right into Sirius' space with a furious snarl.

"I swear to god Black if you so much as finish that sentence, I will show just how much I learn from those muggle-killing terrorists!" Sirius smirked.

"Tut tut! Threatening an Auror. "Quite a serious offence Mr. Snape. I've already had to give your fiance a warning you know." Sirius purred. Severus flinched and took a step back, though he looked as though he'd swallowed something very sour indeed. "Consider this my final one. Any more threats against the auror department and I'll be forced to open an investigation." there was silence as Emmeline, Severus and Harry all scowled at him

"You're a terrible person." Lucy suddenly declared with a disgusted face. Sirius blinked at her in shock. Severus looked down at her before he looked back at the auror. He was still transfixed, staring at the girl in confusion. Severus nodded before he turned around again, and led the family away. As they did Emmeline began to chuckle

"From the mouth of babes." Emmeline muttered in mirth. Then Harry started to snicker.

"Did you see his face?" he demanded with a grin. 

"Let's just get home," Severus said, suddenly becoming weary beyond his years. Then he went to put the girl in his arms down. But her grip around his neck suddenly became almost choking.

"Don't let go," Lucy whispered in his ear. "Please." Severus swallowed before he straightened up and adjusted his hold once again. 

"Darling," Emmeline called with a hand extended to Harry. The teen stepped to his mother's hand and then disappeared with a swift twist of the ankle, which Severus imitated shortly after. 

Severus sighed as he slid into his chair in front of the fire with a melancholy expression. He turned his eyes to Lucy, who was quietly nibbling on a biscuit as she drank her tea.

"Where's Harry?" He asked gently. The girl still jumped a mile, eyes darting to him with fear, before relaxing after the split-second recognition.

"He took Orville and Hedwig upstairs to send letters to his friends. To make sure they're alright." She explained into her tea cup. Severus hummed in response. There was a moment of quiet as they simply say and enjoyed the fire, punctuated occasionally by a loud pop of cracking wood.  "Thank you."

"Whatever for?" Severus demanded with a raised eyebrow. Surely she wasn't about to thank him for protecting her! That was just common decency.

"For... for carrying me like that." She whispered with a slight blush.

"I was only doing what would be expected of me," Severus assured her. Lucy gave him a nebulous look before looking away.

"My father has never carried me like that." She whispered. Severus blinked before he frowned slightly. "He only carried me when I was a baby. And even then, it was only for my christening and my baptism. Aside from that, my mummy is the only one who's ever carried me." Severus' grip on his own mug had become very tight. The next time he saw pastor Mathers they would be having... words. "It felt nice." Lucy suddenly mumbled. "Safe. Like I-" she trailed off, eyes growing sad. It took a second for Severus to recognize the expression.

It was the same as Harry's that first summer.

And suddenly another thought popped into his head.

He stared down at his mug and muddled through for a few moments.

It was a bold idea. And had the benefit from much less interference for certain interfering old bastards who would remain nameless. 

But he had a feeling it would require a certain amount of... persuasion.

He couldn't help a little self-satisfied smirk as he sipped his cocoa. 

Good thing he was very persuasive.

Harry could feel eyes on him in the darkness. It was like an itchy feeling on the back of his neck. He slowly turned to the side.

“Barty.” he hissed out under his breath.

“My lord,” came a voice from the shadows.

“Our plans remain on track?”

“Yes, my lord. I silenced the fools myself,” he said, placing his iron hand against his chest with reverence.

“Excellent.” Harry breathed. “We cannot allow anything to jeopardize our plans no matter the cost,” Harry turned to the right and sneered. “ Right, Flint? ” he growled. The man was bloody and bruised, and covered in weeping wounds.

“M-y ‘ord” the man slurred, with blood dribbling from his mouth “please…” Harry drew his wand, long and white as bone.

“Let this be a testament to my mercy.” he purred, trailing the wand through the air like a child might twirl an ordinary stick. Then suddenly the muscles of his arm grew taught. “Avada kedavra!”

“HARRY!”

The teen sat bolt upright, shaking like a leaf. His skin was clammy and cold. He gasped and went to wipe the tear from his face. But when he pulled his hand away he flinched and gasped in horror. His hand was covered in blood!

“Shh shhh shhh!” Emmeline cried, worry etched all over her face. “You’re okay. You’re safe… you’re home,” she said as she wiped his face with one hand and rubbed his back with the other. It helped calm his panic a bit, but he was still shaking when his father returned with a calming draft. He hadn’t even known the man was standing there.

“Flint’s dad…” he suddenly choked out. Severus blinked. “Voldemort killed him.” his parents exchanged an incredulous look.

“how do you know?” Emmeline demanded.

“I saw it,” Harry whispered with a swallow. “I watched it happen.”

“Saw it?” Albus demanded again, looking very grave.

“Yes,” Severus said firmly. “From the dark lord’s perspective.” Albus looked up at him.

“His perspective…” he whispered. Severus’s eyes narrowed.

“There is something you’re not telling me.” the potions master snarled coldly.

“Severus-” Albus began slowly.

“If you think ,” Severus began dangerously, “for one second that I will accept another one of your pathetic excuses , you really are a mad fool,” Severus said, making reference to that morning’s Prophet article. Albus looked up at him in silence. That silence stretched on in a cosmic battle of wills until finally, Albus dropped his gaze. Severus wanted to smirk in satisfaction but the elderly headmaster simply shook his head.

“Severus… I cannot tell you. It is too dangerous. Not yet at least…”

“Not even part of it?” the man demanded. The elderly headmaster let out a monumentally exhausted sigh and rubbed his face with his hands before looking up at the man, seemingly trying to formulate a worthy response. “Albus, whatever is happening, it is killing him !” Severus choked out. The headmaster's expression crumpled before he took a deep breath.

“Sit down,” Albus insisted. “I will… attempt, to tell you what I can… and then… we can see about a possible solution.” Severus huffed at the half-truths he was inevitably going to hear. But he needed something. So he settled in and leaned back as Albus took a deep breath and began his tale.

“Thanks for taking me out for lunch Miss Emmeline,” Lucy said as he walked in between her and Harry.

“Oh, it was my pleasure dear. The white horse is our favourite spot in Dover.” Emmeline said before her eyes got wistful. “It's where Severus proposed too.”

“With the chocolate cake.”

“It was mousse actually.” Emmeline corrected. Then she blinked. “Hang on? You knew?!”

“Course!” Harry cried with a tired smile. “Who do you think helped him plan it?”

“You were thirteen!” Emmeline cried flabbergasted. Harry snickered.

“Well, I had help. Uncle Remus suggested the mood music. I was the one who told Dad to just tell you how he felt.” 

“Well,” Emmeline cried with a laugh. “Good job!”

“Thanks,” Harry said. Then suddenly he swayed on his feet. Emmeline gasped and put a hand on his back to stabilize him.

“Alright darling?” she whispered. Harry smiled weakly at her.

“‘M fine,” he assured her. Lucy bit her lip with worry before she grabbed Harry's hand. 

“Let's get you home so Miss Emmeline can make you some hot cocoa.” Lucy declared.

“And another strengthening solution,” Emmeline muttered worriedly.

“I’m fine.” Harry insisted, strong now. “I don't need more potions.”

“Not even cocoa?” Lucy demanded. She’d gotten the ‘only potion with sugar’ speech from Severus a few days ago. 

“Well, I'll never say no to cocoa,” Harry admitted with a grin. Emmeline's smile relaxed before she let the children in. Then she froze in the doorway. 

“ Mother? ” she demanded, flabbergasted. Harry blinked and oggled the woman in shock. She had a rounder face than Emmeline, more similar to Arnold Cleansweep, but the same expressive open eyes. She was also tall and thin like Emmeline with the same dark brown hair. Her air was sharper though; more austere. She held herself with a grace that marked her out as coming from money. Lots and lots of money. “What are you doing here?! Is father with you?”

“Oh no! You know he's much too busy!” Mrs. Vance cried with a bat of her hand. “I simply came to see how the wedding preparations have been going! You’ve already been engaged for a year you know! People will start to talk!” she looked away from Emmeline to Harry and grinned. “And there he is! My grandson!”

“Hi,” Harry responded with a small smile. Well, that was surprising. For all of Mrs. Vance's air of superiority, she certainly talked like a normal, down-to-earth person. She reminded him a bit of Molly Weasley. “It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Vance.”

“Oh none of that nonsense!” the woman cried. “Call me Nana! Or you can call me Mary if you’d prefer” Then her expression grew worried. “Are you alright dear? You look a bit peaky…”

“Just a bit under the weather is all…” Harry murmured reassuringly. Mary hummed worriedly before her eyes trailed down and she blinked.

“Oh! Oh my word I didn’t realize. Well hello my dear!” Lucy smiled at her slowly.

“Hullo,” she murmured.

“Emmeline… you didn’t tell me that Severus had a daughter as well,'' Mary muttered matter of factly. 

“Oh, Lucy isn’t Severus' daughter!” Emmeline explained quickly. “She's a family friend. A new witch in fact! We’ve been helping her adjust to the magical world.” 

“Ah!” Mary cried. “Well, that's alright!” The woman gave Lucy a gentle smile. “You can call me Nana too if you like.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” at the woman's sharp look and raised eyebrow she blushed. “Er… Nana.”

“So!” Mary Vance cried with a smile. “Wedding planning?” Emmeline tried to smile. To keep a cheerful face but she couldn’t hold it for long before she finally broke.

“Oh Mother, it's been a disaster,” Emmeline admitted finally in a rush. “Severus and I have been trying to get everything together, but it's much too much with our work with the school and all that's been happening,” she put a hand over her brow and sighed heavily. “It's been incredibly stressful.”

“That's why I’m here dear!” Mary cried before she pulled out a scroll and a never-ink quill. “Let's see if we can't organize some of it right now. I’ve got a kettle on. As we always say:” she began cheerfully.

“Cocoa always fixes everything,” Emmeline said in unison with her mother. Harry threw his head back and laughed. But the laughing soon turned to a violent coughing fit. Emmeline was at his side, tutting in worry. As the coughing died down Harry straightened again to give his mum a reassuring smile.

“Sweet Merlin!” Mary cried in horror. Harry blinked before he touched his lips and recoiled a bit.

“I’m okay!” he insisted, even as he held a hand over his mouth to shield their eyes from the blood he’d evidently coughed up. He immediately rushed for the kitchen and rinsed his mouth out, gargling a bit when the copper taste lingered. He was sure to be back quickly, but he could tell the incident had caused a stir.

"-know the sign dearest! You really should take him to a doctor!" Mary hissed at Emmeline worriedly. Emmeline looked exasperated.

"Mother, there hasn't been a case of the Spanish flu in 90 years." She said,

"Well still!" Mary insisted before she noticed Harry and her worry turned to him fully. "Oh darling are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," Harry repeated. He'd been saying that a lot lately. "Just been a bit ill. Coughing fits. We'll go see a healer if it gets worse."

"Healers aren't always that grand." Mary insisted with a sniff. "I much prefer doctors."

"My grandmother was a field nurse." Emmeline explained with a chuckle "So mum was raised with doctors, rather than healers. She's always been a bit skeptical."

"But it takes way longer to heal from things like broken bones."

"Oh with broken appendages, cuts and scrapes, I am more than willing to trust healers and their 'modus operandi'." Mary assured him with a bat of her hand. "But they become blithering idiots when there's something wrong with you they can't see. Take my Gallbladder for instance! Took healers a year to diagnose me with the wrong thing! Took an NHS hospital two months and a three-hour surgery to actually fix the issue! I was glad to rely on wizards for recovery. But that experience taught me that you cannot rely on magic for everything. Especially not your health."

"Well, in this case, I think I'll be fine," Harry assured her with a smile. "It's just a bad cough."

"But to cough so hard you cough up blood-" Mary began

"It's because I've been coughing so much ." Harry lied smoothly. He really hadn't been coughing all that much, but he didn't want his nana to worry. The woman still didn't look pleased.

"Severus and I have been handling it," Emmeline assured her when the woman opened her mouth. "There's no need to fret."

"Hmph." Mary began. "Well if you're sure. But if it doesn't clear up soon I really think you should go to a hospital. a muggle one!"

"Yes, mother." Emmeline agreed with a roll of her eyes.

"Anyway!" The woman said before she flicked her wand and summoned their cocoa from the kitchen. "Wedding planning! Let's start with colours!"

Lucy took one look at the latest bouquet and shook her head.

"No way! All that black and white makes it look like a funeral wreath!"

"She's right," Emmeline agreed grimly, eyeing the black roses with a grimace of disdain.

"How about purple then!" Mary offered as the roses turned a flashing purple. It was Harry's turn to pull a face. 

"Those are an eyesore." He complained.

"I really think we should stick with red, burgundy or pink." Emmeline insisted.

"But you said you wanted blue or green robes!" Mary complained. "You can't have green robes and red roses! The clash!" 

"Not even a muted green?" Emmeline insisted. Mary conjured a swatch of mint green fabric and draped it around the bouquets. 

"See! It clashes! You'll look like a garden salad!"

"Glad I can always count on you for a compliment Mother," Emmeline muttered.

"I'm trying to make sure you don't look like a garden salad!" Mary reminded her with a roll of her eyes. 

"What about blue?" Harry asked casually. Mary blinked and changed the roses again before making a small hum.

"It could work." She conceded

"Ooo add tiny pink flowers too!" Lucy said excitedly. "And those long pointy leaves." Mary complied, a wide grin spreading.

"Oh hey, what about some English ivy!" Harry piped up again.

"Yes! And forget-me-nots!" Mary agreed.

"Yeah! Put them around with the pink flowers." Lucy added excitedly. At this point they had all stood up and circled the floating cluster of flowers, blocking it from view.

"Am I ever going to see it?" Emmeline demanded with a sigh. Then they all stepped away and her breath caught.

It was effortlessly beautiful in its relative simplicity. A cascade of flowers that made Emmeline want to tear up.

"Add a bit of lavender for nerves," Mary muttered, adding the fronds in a few strategic places around the top of the bouquet before she hummed. "Darling…"

"Yes?" Emmeline asked with a slight hitch. Mary looked over in shock before she smiled.

"This is your bouquet." She insisted. "Which means you can't shoot down my next recommendation."

"What?" Emmeline asked worriedly.

"Lilac blue robes." Mary declared, changing Emmeline's shawl to a soft purplish blue and handing her the flowers. Emmeline blinked and looked down at herself then the flowers before she really did tear up and leapt to give her mother a big hug.

"Oh thank you, mother! With your help, it's going to be perfect!"

"Always happy to help darling." Mary insisted with a kiss on her temple. Then she drew back, eyeing her with her same water smile. She took a deep breath and shook the most from her eyes. "Now, when were you hoping to be married?" Emmeline winced.

"That's a whole other bucket of flobberworms." Emmeline responded with a sigh. "Severus and-" As if on cue the fire leapt up to green flames and Severus stepped out. "Oh darling I-" Emmeline before her face fell. The man looked pale and shaky and not at all like he'd found a solution for Harry's ailment like he said he was going to. 

"Well hello there!" Mary cried, turning around with a smile. "Nice to finally meet…" she trailed off slightly as she recognized his grave expression. Severus very quickly switched to confused and somewhat weary.

"Hello," he said cautiously "who are you exactly?"

"Mary Vance," she replied with a raised eyebrow. Instantly he was blinking and stumbling over himself.

"Oh! Oh, my apologies! It's a pleasure to meet you, madam." He said quickly, before lifting her hand to give it a kiss. Mary smiled.

"Why Emmeline! You never told me he was such a gentleman!" She said cheerfully.

"Sometimes," Emmeline muttered, eyeing Severus with worry. They seemed to share a moment of silent communication before Emmeline cleared her throat.

"We should probably start dinner." She declared before turning for the kitchen. Severus was fast behind her. 

"I can help!" Harry offered.

"No!" Severus cried with a sternness that made Harry jump back slightly. The man's face crumpled and he took a fortifying breath. "It's alright Harry, we can manage. Stay here with madam Vance and Lucy… bring down snappy or… something." Severus finished rather lamely before he rushed to the kitchen. Harry frowned worriedly. Mary hummed thoughtfully before she cleared her throat and smiled at him.

"So who's snappy darling?"

"Harry's pet book," Lucy said with a cautious smile.

"Pet… book?" Mary asked with a blink. 

"I'll bring him down," Harry said robotically, still staring after his parents. After a few moments, he suddenly whirled and marched off. The act instantly made Mary smile.

"He and his father are terribly alike are they not?" She whispered to Lucy. The girl sighed.

"In more ways than one, unfortunately." She responded.

"Unfortunately?" Mary demanded.

"Severus is really bad at admitting when things are bothering him too," Lucy complained.  Mary's eyes lit up as she smiled at the darling child beside her. Harry came thumping down the stairs with the furry book in his arms and Lucy instantly focused on the magical textbook, cooing in delight as he purred to her.

"I will never not be amazed by how much magic can do." Mary declared with a smile after petting the book for a few moments. Harry smiled.

This was so casually domestic.

It filled him with a strange sense of nostalgia. Back in the days when he was begging and wishing for a family. Lucy and Nana seemed to fit in so perfectly. Like they'd always been there. 

"Say," Severus suddenly declared, coming from the kitchen with a conspicuously unworried face for how grave he had seemed early. "Would you all like to help with dinner after all? Emmeline wants to make something big as thanks for your help with our wedding."

"Well," Mary said eyeing him with a look she hoped conveyed just how much she knew he was hiding something "I don't see why not." Severus' eye bore into her eyes with a silent plea she recognized well from her own husband. 

Don't. Ask.

She'd seen it most during the last war when he'd been forced to agree to the ministry censorship. He'd often been complicit in under-reporting a number of heinous actions for the sake of ministry security and public image. It had been a terrible time. So that look made her soften. 

"What are we making?" Harry asked as he readily rolled up his sleeves.

"Butternut Ravioli, buttered roasted broccoli, an autumn salad and fresh bread." Emmeline declared, walking out with an apron smeared in flour.

"Well!" Mary cried before she flicked her wrist, wrapping herself, Harry and Lucy in matching blue aprons covered in little white chickens. "Let's get started!"

"That was absolutely delicious Miss Emmeline!" Lucy declared with a wide smile.

"Thank you, darling!" Emmeline said, reaching to give her hand a gentle pat. Severus laced his fingers before he cleared his throat.

"Mary," he began casually. "Might you do us a favour?"

"Certainly." The woman agreed readily. Severus' posture screamed of a tension that was threatening to overwhelm him, so anything she could do to release it was preferred. 

"Could you walk Lucy home?" He nearly begged. Mary blinked before she smiled and turned to the girl.

"Certainly? Where do you live dear?"

"12 church street," Lucy replied, "in the rectory."

"Oh?" Mary questioned with a blink. "Did your family purchase it?"

"My father is the pastor of the local Anglican parish." Lucy declared with a subtle tone that set off alarm bells. Mary's face twitched before she schooled it into an innocent smile. 

"How lovely," Mary said. Then she stood. "Well I'm afraid I don't know this area terribly well, so I can't offer much more than companionship, but I would be more than willing to walk you home."

"Okay," Lucy said as she rose from the table. Then she turned and went around to give Harry a tight hug. "You better get well again. You promised we'd be going to Hogwarts together. Can't do that if you're sick!"

"I'll definitely be well by then," Harry promised her with a reassuring smile, despite the frailty that Lucy could feel in his posture. Her eyes felt drawn to Severus, full of worry and uncertainty. His expression in response was gentle and kind, full of understanding and assurance as he nodded to her in agreement. Her worry melted away as soon as he did this, instantly seeing the action as the silent promise that it surely was. Then she turned back to Mary with a now worry-free smile.

"Come on Nana." She declared easily. "I'll show you the way!"

"Of course!" Mary declared happily. She turned to Emmeline and Severus with a smile. "Once again, It was wonderful to finally meet you, Severus. My Emmeline has not always had the best of luck when it comes to romance,"

"Mother!" Emmeline squeaked indignantly. Mary smile.

"But you and your son are certainly the best thing that has ever happened to her." Mary finished happily before turning and following Lucy out the door. The silence that followed was a bit awkward.

"How much is she going to loathe me when she finds out that I was the one who walked out on you in 1979?" Severus finally muttered, sounding prematurely defeated.

"Not terribly much," Emmeline insisted. "She was much more upset about Charles treating me so poorly than you walking out. She thought you just had commitment issues, and that it was better than stringing me along."

"Oh joy." Severus drawled bitterly. "So our getting married is going to make her very irritated won't it." Emmeline didn't respond as she let her eyes drift closed. Then she turned to Severus with the same thoughtful expression she had hours ago. Severus's gravity returned with gusto as he turned to Harry, expression calculating.

"I'm going to start the washing up." Emmeline suddenly declared.

"I can help." Harry offered.

"I'm afraid that will have to wait," Severus insisted. "We need to have… a discussion." Harry blinked up at the man before nodding slowly. “Come along.” he led Harry down into the basement. The teen grew more nervous as his fathers continued to walk about his lab in silence. He seemed to be tidying, muttering under his breath a few complaints about his own sloppiness. Then he cursed and slammed his hands on the table, making Harry jump from the stool he'd sat on.

“My apologies,” Severus grunted. “I'm stalling.”

“Why?” Harry asked nervously. “Is it really that bad?” Severus sighed before he pulled up a stool and sat across from his teenage son.

“It is… deeply troubling,” he admitted quietly. Then he took a deep breath. “As you know, I left earlier this morning to speak with Albus about your condition and possible solutions.”

“I thought you said I shouldn't trust him anymore…” Harry muttered worriedly.

“And you shouldn't,” Severus confirmed candidly. “But he is also the most knowledgeable man I know in terms of magic and, regrettably, your person. If anyone would know what has been causing your issues it would be him.”

“And did he? Know what's causing it I mean.” Harry asked.

“He had a theory,” Severus muttered.

“What is it?”

“He believes that the night of your attack the dark lord unwittingly created a connection between you. Your scar was created by extremely powerful magic. Similar scars have been known to have parallel effects on victims in the past. I know of one case where a witch would have muscle spasms every time her past aggressor cast certain spells. Your case seems a touch more… extreme,” Severus admitted with a grunt. “But then, no one has ever survived the killing curse before, and we still don't know how it happened exactly. Any number of factors could contribute to this situation.”

“So… what you're saying is that Voldemort and I are… sharing a mind?” Harry demanded, feeling queasy at the thought.

“No,” Severus assured him quickly. Harry sagged in relief. “However,” the relief was instantly chased away by dread. “It appears that they may be linked, and you or he have been unwittingly slipping through the link while you sleep.”

“Bloody hell.” Harry cursed in horror. Then he frowned. “You said unwittingly. I know mine would definitely be unwittingly, but Voldemort?”

“It seemed very likely to Albus that the dark lord is not yet aware of the connection you share. Otherwise… well you likely would already be dead.” Severus admitted candidly. Harry blaunched. “In the past, the dark lord loved to use his ability to enter others' minds to torment them, as well as gain valuable information. It would sometimes last for hours and be excruciating. The victims would often beg for death by the end.” Severus recounted all of this in a monotonous tone and hollow eyes. Afterwards, he seemed to realize what he said, eyes flicking to Harry's face with worry. While it was important for the teen to know the facts he didn't want to overly frighten the boy. But Harry didn't look afraid, he looked worried, eyeing his father with deep concern. Severus took a deep breath and rubbed his face to help recenter himself. “There is a magic that can be used to protect yourself. It's typically only used to circumvent in-person outside attacks, but Albus believes there is a possibility it could be used to defend your mind against the link you share with the dark lord.”

“What's it called?” Harry asked

“Occlumency. It allows a witch or wizard, through discipline and practice, to shield their minds from all manner of outside influence. Most members of the order are able to practice it. There are those who possess a natural affinity for it, including myself.” Severus explained. Harry nodded slowly before adjusting, sitting a bit straighter and flexing his fingers as he did before his brewing or flying session, an indication that he was ready to jump right in, which Severus was more than happy to take advantage of.

“How do you do it?”

“Take a deep breath,” Severus began standing straighter. “Now push aside all of your thoughts, feelings, emotions, distractions. Clear your mind. In doing so, you will create a shield through which an outside attacker, in this case myself, will be unable to penetrate.”

“Hang on,” Harry said, growing nervous. “You're going to attack me?!”

“I'm afraid it is really the only way to teach you,” Severus said, though he also found the prospect less than appealing. “It is the only way for me to test whether you are understanding the process.”

“Okay,” Harry said. But his tone was weary. But he did as instructed. Or at least he tried to. It was hard to try and clear one's mind or push away emotions like apprehension when you know you're going to be attacked at any moment. But he did his best. He was pretty sure it was fairly good too.

“Ready?” Severus asked after a few minutes. Harry took another deep breath and nodded. “Legilimens!”

The cupboard door slammed shut. Then the shutter. Utter darkness

The basilisk lunged for him. Sharp teeth, bloody eyes, hot breath

Death eaters and chaos. Screaming crowds, running feet.

Sirius Black stared down at him with a sneer. Cold eyes.

Then suddenly he was back in his father's lab, choking on air, feeling like he’d just been hit in the head with a sledgehammer. He swallowed a mouthful of bile and shuddered.

“You need to block out your emotions,” Severus repeated worriedly. “You cannot allow fear and apprehension to take control.”

“I was trying!” Harry complained. “I thought I had…” he rubbed his face with a shaky hand. “It's harder than I thought.”

“It is, but it will become much easier with practice. However, It's important you master this skill as quickly as possible. You will need to use it while you sleep as well as when you are awake.”

“How am I supposed to do that?!” Harry demanded in horror. 

“Occluding before you fall asleep will be the first step. Eventually, your magic will begin to do it on its own. Magic is a lot like a muscle. If you train it to do something enough times, it will begin to do that thing naturally.” Severus explained.

“So you're just… always occluding?” Harry demanded slightly horrified. Surely that couldn't be the case.

“It is what allows me to compartmentalize so well.” was Severus response. “There are degrees. My magic naturally puts up my strongest occlumency shields when I sleep, so it is not possible for me to be caught off guard.”

“Can you still dream?” Harry asked weakly. At this, his father's expression turned a bit weary.

“Yes. Although I'm afraid I have not had peaceful dreams in,” the man paused, face becoming very sallow. “a very long time.” Harry believed it. With all of the horrors he'd been forced to witness, maybe even participate in, against his will for the sake of the order. It couldn't have been easy. Severus let out a deep sigh. “It would be foolish to continue anymore tonight. But remember everything I've said and keep practicing. We'll continue once we’re back at Hogwarts.” Harry nodded and stumbled up to his bed, before collapsing onto it without even undressing. If he had any dreams or visions from Voldemort that night, his mind was too exhausted to remember them.

Lucy looked down at her ticket and then up at the big digital clock on the wall.

"Lucy!" Severus called loudly across the station. The girl turned and grinned at him excitedly before running up to him with her trolley.

"Sorry we couldn't come to pick you up, darling!" Emmeline said worriedly. "Albus called to tell Severus about a meeting and it threw all of our morning plans into chaos. Were you waiting long?"

"No! Only twenty minutes or so!" Lucy assured her happily.

"Where are your parents?" Severus demanded. Lucy sagged a bit but kept on her smile. 

"Father didn't come," she nervously started to wring her hands into her dress. "He got into a bit of a fight with Mum yesterday. He wanted her to drop me off with you… or get me a train. Or a bus. Or-"

"Where is your mother?" Severus demanded, cutting off her growing worry. Lucy stared at him for a moment before she swallowed and peered down at her shoes.

"S-she had to go." She whispered. "Father said if she wasn't back…" the girl looked up at him, face stern and stubborn. "She had to go." Severus sighed, keeping his gaze linked with hers. Then he reached out a hand. Instantly the girl beamed and grabbed it, not a care in the world. Of course behind both Emmeline and Harry looked worried, though Harry's worry was tinged with a scowl. "So the ticket says 9 and ¾… how does that work?"

"The platform is hidden from non-magical eyes, in a pocket of space cleverly created using illusions. It's actually placed where the original platforms nine and ten were. The station was expanded in the 1830s and then cleverly disguised by the ministry." Severus explained smoothly.

"Neat!" Lucy cried. "But… how do we get in?"

"It requires a bit of courage, and in this case, I suppose some trust," Severus muttered before he gripped the trolley on either side of the petite girl. " Hold on tight."

"Okay," Lucy said, gripping the trolley handle until her knuckles were white.

"Now, put your feet on the crossbar," Severus instructed. Lucy raised an eyebrow but did just that. Severus smirked and then burst into a run. The girl laughed in delight before her face fell.

"Severus, you're gonna hit the wall!" She cried worriedly. The man smirked wider and started running faster. "Severus! SEVERUS! DAD!" Lucy shrieked before she screamed and screwed her eyes shut. Then a weird ripple went over her skin. She opened her eyes and gapped in shock as Severus slowly stopped the speeding trolley. Then he let go of one arm. Lucy hopped off and took several steps from her trolley and stared at the train in awe. Then she turned around, seeing more people emerge from the various walls up and down the platform. She turned again just as Harry rushed in followed by Emmeline.

"Severus!" The woman harped. "That was a cruel trick!"

"I thought it was funny," Harry argued with a snicker.

"Harrison!" Emmeline scolded with a harsh frown. Lucy laughed.

"To be fair, I probably wouldn't have done it if he told me to run at a solid brick wall." She trained back to Severus with a grin. The man was leaning on her trolley by his forearms with an easy smile and a surprisingly open expression. He then stood up and pushed it forward for the girl to take.

"Come on Lucy! I'll show you where to put your trunk!" Harry offered happily before leading the girl towards the baggage car. Emmeline noticed the man's expression and frowned.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"Hm?" Severus asked, turning to her with a curious expression. Emmeline smirked.

"You have that look like you think you're getting away with something… what are you up to?"

"Just got confirmation of something," Severus assured his fiance easily. "May make future plans easier."

"Future plans?" Emmeline demanded.

"Later," Severus said as he guided Emmeline closer to the train. Both Lucy and Harry came running back with their rucksacks.

"You have your robes?" Emmeline asked.

"Yep!"

"Here you are," Severus said, handing Harry four galleons and Lucy one.

"What's this for?" The girl asked.

"There's a trolley with all sorts of sweets on it," Emmeline explained happily. "That should be enough for you to get two or three treats. Not too much to spoil your dinner either."

"Well then How come Harry gets more?" Lucy complained lightly.

"Harry is going to be sharing with his friends," Severus said candidly.

"But what if he doesn't?!" Lucy demanded.

"I will," Harry assured her with a grin then he leaned closer and muttered into her ear. "Some of my friends… Well, they don't have a lot of money, so they can't afford to get things from the trolley. Their mum packs them biscuits and things like that but it's not the same as candy you know?" Lucy leaned away and looked at him with a smile.

"Well, that's really nice!" She declared. Harry shrugged.

"I'm sure they do the same for me." A whistle sounded from the head of the train.

"All aboard!!!" The conductor hollered with a sonorous 

"On you get." Severus urged. The pair climbed the steps just as one of the baggage hands came down and closed their train door.

"See you soon, darlings!" Emmeline cried.

"Bye Mum!" Harry shouted back happily as the train gave a lurch and began to chug forward. Beside him, Lucy sucked in a breath 

"This is happening… I'm really doing it! I'm going to Hogwarts!" The girl exclaimed happily.

"Yep!" Harry said with a laugh before he moved down the corridor. Then he stopped and turned back to her with a kind smile "Do you wanna find your own compartment or sit with me?"

"Can I sit with you? Won't your friends mind?" Lucy demanded wearily.

"Oh, not at all I'm sure!" Harry cried as he continued to guide the girl through the crowd of excited students.

"Harry!"

"Hey Neville!" Harry called back with a grin. "How was your summer? What is that?!" He said, cutting himself off with slight horror at the strange moving plant in his arms.

"It's a mimbulois mimbletonia! My gran got it for me for my birthday this year! Isn't it brilliant?!" The excitable boy cried, thrusting it forward with a wide grin. One of the lumps on the side of its trunk pulsed then deflated, letting a stream of foul-smelling green ooze seep out of it. Lucy leaned back and made a disgusted whine before smiling nervously.

"V-very lovely." She said weakly. Neville blinked.

"Oh! Hello! Harry, who is this?"

"Oh right! Neville, this is Lucy, Lucy, this is Neville Longbottom. He's one of my dorm mates, and well, just mates in general."

"Nice to meet you," Lucy said.

"You too!" Neville responded easily. 

"Lucy is from St. Margaret's Bay. My folks and I have been helping her get ready for Hogwarts." Harry explained.

"Oh! Well great! Hogwarts is amazing!" Neville declared. Lucy smiled and followed Harry as he and Neville continued walking down the corridor.

"Harry!" A voice called before the familiar head of Ron Weasley poked up from the crowd of shorter students.

"Wicked seek Ginny!" Ron cried in awe.

"You know I'm always excellent." The girl responded smugly.

"Hey Ginny, hey Ron!" Neville responded.

"Hey Nev!" Ron responded. "Hi Harry! And Lucy again!"

"Hullo!" Lucy responded merrily.

"Who?" Ginny asked in confusion

"Lucy!" Ron declared, pointing the girl out. "Harry's parents were helping her around since her parents are muggles."

"Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you! My name is Ginny. This idiot is my older brother." The ginger girl introduced herself 

"Hey!" Ron cried in irritation. 

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Didn't she tell you? She made prefect this year!" Ginny declared. Harry blinked.

"No, she didn't! But that's no surprise! Who's the other one?"

"Dean," Ron said flatly. Harry blinked.

"Well, that's a good pick. Why'd you say it like that?"

"Mum was upset because it wasn't him. Hermione was over when she got the letter and Mum had thought it was for Ron. So excited to have two prefects." Ginny recounted with a snicker. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as the ginger boy scowled and started nagging his sister, which she did not at all seem phased by. As the five of them settled into the train car the teens all took turns telling Lucy about all the wonderful things Hogwarts had to offer. The girl was buzzing in her seat as the sun was starting to pass its peak. Then the compartment door opened.

"Hello handsome." The tall coffee-skinned girl in the doorway purred with a grin.

"Tracey!" Harry cried excitedly as he leapt up and gave the girl a big kiss. As she pulled away Ron gave a wolf whistle. Harry turned and swatted at the boy with a scowl. 

"I love your hair!" Ginny cried in awe.

"Thank you! I got it done in Osaka." Tracey declared showing off the done-up style with the jewelled comb keeping it in place. "Now Harry! We have to talk! I heard a rumour that you've got a new girl trailing after you!" Her eyes flicked down to Lucy with a jovial smirk. "Should I be worried?"

"No!" Lucy and Harry both cried in horror. The entire compartment burst into laughter at their expense. As the trolley witch came by Lucy's eyes boggled at the selection.

"What should I get?" She demanded.

"Chocolate frog!" Ron cried "They've got famous witch and wizard cards in each one! I've got at least five hundred of them myself!"

"I prefer fizzy whizbees!" Neville argued. "They sort of rocket around your mouth and make it all tingly!"

"Doubles best is loads of fun! You can make the bubbles float!" Ginny added. The girl was suddenly feeling very overwhelmed. Harry put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he saw her hands gravitating towards her dress.

"Hey," he muttered. "I'm gonna be getting all that and more, so don't worry too much. We always share anyway."

"O-okay," Lucy said, giving Harry a wobbly smile before taking a deep breath and steadying herself. "I'll take a chocolate frog and… the gummy snake please."

"Excellent choice dearest!" The old trolley witch assured her before handing the girl her sweets and her change of four sickles. Harry  took a couple of coins from Neville and Tracey each before he stepped forward and took a deep breath

"One Bertie Botts, four red licorice wands, a packet of blueberry droobles, five chocolate frogs, three fizzy whizbees, two pumpkin pasties, one bar of Honeyduke's best and a package of ice mice." He blurted out all in one breath before taking in a gasp. "Please." 

"Oi Potter! Save some for the rest of us, yeah?!" A cry came from down the train, where various people were leaning out in anticipation of the trolley.

"Oh shut it!" Harry hollered back as he took the precariously stacked sweets. "Keep the change."

"Thank you dearest." The woman responded with a smile before travelling forward. Harry turned around and let out a sigh of relief as all his friends dove for their favourites. 

"Here Lucy! You have to try this!" Ron insisted as he broke the Honeyduke's bar up into squares and divided it up amongst them all, saving a few squares. The girl took a square and let out an appreciative noise.

"That's the best chocolate I've ever tasted."

"Honeydukes are the best." Tracey insisted happily. 

"One thing about the frog!" Harry said quickly as the girl pulled open the box. But it was too late. She was already flinging the box away with a shriek.

"It's alive?!" She cried in horror as the frog jumped onto Harry's lap. The boy laughed and grabbed it before it could leap away. When he opened his hands he revealed the now-frozen frog.

"They're enchanted to appear alive, but they can only manage a few good jumps."

"The trick is to catch them before they get away!" Ron insisted as he ripped his own box open and then quickly bit the chocolate's head off before it could jump. Lucy looked slightly horrified at the concept but took the no longer enchanted frog from Harry and nibbled on it cautiously before she flipped over her card.

"Newton 'Newt' Scamander." She read quietly.

"Oh he's super common. I've got at least thirty of him." Ron complained. Then he flipped his own. "St. Mungo." He looked up. "You guys?"

"Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore."

"McGonagall."

"Me," Harry said in awe. Everyone looked over in shock.

"Wot?" Ron demanded.

"They made me into a chocolate frog!" Harry cried as he showed his card off. Inside the gilded frame was a small official-looking portrait of Harry a bit younger than he was now, though he couldn't remember ever posing for that kind of photo. The miniature him looked a bit nervous and would occasionally scratch the back of his head or take off his glasses to clean them before sliding them back onto his face.

"What's it say on the back?" Tracey asked. Harry flipped it over.

"'Born: July 31st 1980. The son of James and Lily Potter, famously known as the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. He was instrumental in the defeat of You-Know-Who on Halloween 1981.'"

"Well, that's boring! You were one! Wouldn't exactly call your input 'instrumental'... Erm… no offence " Ron finished weakly.

"None taken." Harry agreed. Ron grinned before he let out a huff.

"It doesn't even mention all the much cooler things you have done! Like battling a troll or killing a basilisk!" He complained loudly.

"I think they did it on purpose." Tracey suddenly piped up, eyeing the card closely. "Have you been following The Prophet at all?"

"Erm… well not really," Ron admitted.

"I was trying to have a more relaxed summer," Harry argued. Course his summer had turned out to be anything but. He hadn't had a proper night's sleep in over a month. His birthday had been particularly bad…

"The Prophet has been slandering Dumbledore almost nonstop for weeks now," Tracey revealed gravely.

"What?! Why?!" Harry demanded in horror.

"Because he's been saying the You-Know-Who has returned." Tracey declared. Harry paled while Ron and Ginny exchanged worried glances. Neville just looked puzzled.

"Why would he say that?"

"Because he has," Tracey said in unison with Harry. The pair shared a look of shock. "Father was informed a few days ago by a colleague."

"I found out in June," Harry explained quietly.

"You're serious?" Neville demanded in horror. "Bloody hell…"

"Mum told us not to make too big a deal about it," Ginny said cautiously. "She said it wasn't up to us to try and convince everyone. We'll just seem like nutters if we try."

"Which incidentally is what The Prophet has been accusing Dumbledore of being. Off his rocker I mean."

"Bloody hell," Neville repeated, looking sick to his stomach. Harry looked at his friend worriedly.

"It’ll be alright." He tried. But everyone seemed very grave. Even Lucy, who didn't fully understand what was happening, but understood that something terrible was happening in the wizarding world. She had a feeling it had to do with those sinister men who attacked them when they were shopping. Probably their leader, but she didn't understand how Harry could be famous for being the only one to survive an attack when he was only a baby. It was very far-fetched. 

"But if you notice, the chocolate frog card specifies your defeat of You-Know-Who. They released this as emphasis. To say flat out 'we do not support Dumbledore and his views'. Probably because they're still printing his chocolate frog card. It makes it seem like they support him. They want it to be clear, without saying it flat out. That's marketing for you. It's like the disclaimer clause in our sales contract." Tracey explained. "But with the added benefit of more profits. It's a collector's item after all. You have to get one to complete your set."

"Hey yeah…" Ron said slowly. "Say Harry-"

"Keep it." The boy said quickly, which made the taller teen gush with delight.  

"You should sue." Tracey blurted out. Harry spit out his bite of licorice wand with a choke.

"Wot?!" he cried in shock.

"I'm sure that the company is supposed to ask permission to use a person's visage for their cards. But from your expression, I can tell that you received no such request. You should tell your parents and then file a suit against the company. Because if you let them get away with this, pretty soon people will be using your face to get away with all sorts of things." Tracey muttered darkly. Harry slumped into his seat in horror.

"That's a good bloody point," he muttered before getting a faraway look in his eyes, likely imagining worst-case scenarios. 

"Can't we have just one quiet year?" Neville begged to the compartment in general. Ron let out a bitter laugh.

"With Harry around? Not a chance. We should just get rid of him. Chuck him in the lake I say."

"Oi!" Harry barked, with a worried frown.

"Only joking!" Ron insisted before giving the compartment a very exaggerated wink. That set Harry off and pretty soon he and Ron were half-heartedly wrestling with each other with the others laughing at their expense, worries temporarily forgotten.

Harry patted his thigh nervously as he rode along in the carriage with his friend.

"Honestly Harry, she'll be alright." Hermione griped with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, mate. And Hagrid is with her, remember! She'll be fine!"

"Yeah but remember when Dennis fell in?" Harry demanded worriedly.

"Lucy has got much more sense than the Creeveys," Hermione assured him.

" 'spose," Harry murmured. He still didn't like it though. He felt responsible for the girl. He wanted to show her that she wasn't alone, that she could count on him. It felt weird to have to send her off on her own. "God I hope she's a Gryffindor."

"Why?" Hermione demanded with a frown.

"Well… so she's not alone," Harry argued.

"She'll make friends," Ron argued. "You did."

"Yeah… but Lucy is new to magic! And her transition hasn't exactly been what I'd call smooth. Death eaters attacked Diagon the day we went shopping."

"Oh right…"

"You were there?!" Neville cried in horror.

"We all were actually." Hermione clarified. "I was visiting Ron at the time. Tom took us into the leaky cauldron with a bunch of other families."

"My family hid in an alcove between two shops," Harry said quickly. 

"Blimey." Neville exclaimed worriedly. "you weren't kidding about not having a very peaceful summer."

"Decidedly not." Harry agreed.

"Well, there's no need to worry now!" Hermione insisted as the carriage pulled forward through the gates of Hogwarts. A shudder ran down Harry's spine as they crossed the threshold. "We're safe at Hogwarts."

"Safe as we can be anyway," Ron argued with a snicker. Hermione scowled and smacked his arm. Harry frowned again. There certainly were a lot of potential dangers lurking around Hogwarts. 

That settled it.

Harry was officially Lucy's protector.

Nothing was going to hurt her in any way. 

Not without going through him!

Emmeline tried very hard not to stare. It was EXTREMELY difficult. Not only was the woman dressed in flashing pink but that ridiculous bow on her head was like a homing beacon. She huffed.

"I hate not being part of the start of term staff meeting." She complained.

"Core subjects only," Charity muttered.

"Well, that's unfairly biased if you ask me!" Rolanda gripped.

"We know Rolanda," Batsheda muttered with a roll of her eyes. Charity chuckled and leaned over to give her wife a quick peck on the cheek. Aurora twitched and picked up her goblet.

"Don't look now, but the woman is staring at you two."

"What?" Charity questioned and tried to turn, but Rolanda stopped her.

"She said don't look!" She hissed.

"Why shouldn't I? How was the look, Aurora?"

"Decidedly not friendly." The astronomy professor muttered. Charity scowled.

"Oh? Well, what's her problem? Has she never seen a happy couple before?"

"Probably not," Severus grumbled as he slid into the empty chair at Emmeline's right. Rolanda turned to Filius with a frown.

"What is her deal anyway?" The flying instructor demanded bitterly. The short charms professor let out an exhausted groan, while across from Albus and Minerva’s chairs, Pomona busied herself pouring a very tall glass of wine. Then she snapped her fingers twice. That made the colour drain from the normal pretty stoic woman's face. "Oh, bollocks."

"Rolanda!" Charity hissed with a scowl.

"It's another bloody Lockhart isn't it?" Was her response. 

"I wish," Severus muttered darkly as the doors opened to admit the students. His eyes immediately gravitated towards Gryffindor and watched as Harry settled in with his friends. Then he frowned.

"Where are Finnegan and Thomas?" Emmeline piped up under her breath. Severus smirked lightly before a quick scan found the boys. The dark-skinned one looked a touch nervous, sitting next to the positions left open for first years. He relaxed somewhat when Granger came to join him. But the minute she sat Finnegan rose and sullenly marched off to sit with a few thirds years.  Severus' eyebrows knotted slightly before Dumbledore called the hall to attention before sitting down again. Then Minerva appeared with the sorting hat and her trailing of first years. Both he and Emmeline quickly squared in on Lucy who was looking up at the ceiling in wonder and delight. He tried not to be too impatient as the sorting began, making sure to clap for all of his new Slytherins. But it seemed to be taking forever!

"Mathers, Lucy." Minerva intoned. The little girl sucked in a breath before she stepped forward. Under the table, Emmeline fished for his hand. The family held their breath and waited as the hat grumbled.

"Hmm… yes… yes I see… Right… Right! Better be… HUFFLEPUFF!" It finally cried with a flourish of its brim. Lucy jumped up with a smile as Minerva took the hat off and skipped over to the cheering Hufflepuff table with a bright smile. Severus let go of a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.

"Well! I expected Gryffindor myself…" Emmeline remarked with a somewhat shocked expression.

"I thought Ravenclaw personally " Severus muttered "but Hufflepuff…"

"Latest addition to your little family I take it? Well, I'll be sure to keep an eye on her Severus!" Pomona piped up with a gentle smile and a wink. Albus raised an eyebrow and sent his potions master a smile as he opened his mouth to comment, but a firm glare from Severus kept him silent.

"Oh well she's not technically-" Emmeline piped up nervously.

"Thank you." Severus cut her off with a smile. "That would put us all at ease." Emmeline blinked and turned to Severus with a curious frown. "Later," Severus muttered as the sorting finished and Albus rose to deliver his start-of-term address. It was very typical of his usual addresses. Nothing truly worth paying attention to. Especially not the announcement of the new defence professor, which by now was so engrained it was practically a Hogwarts tradition.

"Hem hem!"

Severus blinked and leaned over the table slightly, along with Rolanda and Charity to peer at the woman perched at the other end. She was notably contrasted with the very stiff-looking Poppy and bug-like Sybil. Minerva looked like someone had just closed her tail in a door and was trying very hard to keep a straight face. Hagrid was absent, though his chair remained. Septima was the only one managing to fully maintain her composure. Which she seemed to be doing by simply pretending that the pink woman was invisible. That was of course until she stood up and began to trot her way around the table. That made even Septima stare in shock.

"Thank you, headmaster, for those kind words of welcome." The woman purred, sounding so saccharine Severus had a sudden urge to remind Harry and Lucy to brush their teeth. "I simply cannot express the joy I feel to see such lovely young faces smiling up at me."

"Is she being serious?" Rolanda demanded in slight horror to Filius.

"Unfortunately." The man responded back with an ill-looking expression. Severus made a quick scan of the Great Hall as the woman continued to deliver her monotonous and heavily propaganda-filled speech. Not a single face in the hall was smiling (with the exception, somewhat worryingly, of Filch, who was staring at Umbridge as if Christmas had come early).

"Good lord this year is going to be a nightmare…" Charity complained bitterly.

"Do you think we'd be able to take a leave of absence? Maybe let one of the ghosts take over for a spell?" Rolanda complained.

"Probably not." Filius piped up, though he too looked as though he desperately wished they could. 

"Maybe we should push the wedding up, then we could go for our honeymoon." Emmeline injected.

"What?! In the middle of the school year?!" Charity piped up in horror. "You can’t spring that on me! I need time to prepare!"

"We haven't agreed on the date yet," Severus assured the muggle studies professor, who sighed in relief. "Besides, You honestly think we should leave Lucy and Harry alone with her running about?" Sweet Merlin, she was still going on! All this talk about best practices and the excessive alliteration was going to put the children to sleep!

"Oh right." Emmeline drawled bitterly before loudly clapping as the woman finally finished her god-awful speech. Albus seemed to have glazed over as she was speaking and was still standing in a daze until Minerva cleared her throat with a cough and startled him.

"Thank you professor for those rousing words!" Albus cried, with a touch more enthusiasm that was really warranted Which finally did put a few smiles on the sleepy faces. "Now! Let's eat!" The amazed cries of the first years made a smile grace Severus' lips before he began to fill his plate. 

Harry yawned as he left the Great Hall with Ron in tow.

"Merlin, I'm tired," Neville said sleepily.

"It was that Umbridge!" Ginny complained. "She just kept talking and talking!"

"Said some weird stuff too," the twins injected with matching frowns.

"All this talk about the school being outdated."

"Rubbish."

"Well said.

"Harry!" came a cry. The boy turned and then sucked in a breath as Lucy barrelled into him with a tight hug.

"Hufflepuff! Can you believe it?!" She cried happily. Harry grinned.

"Well, it's the house for the hardest workers and the nicest people so I can." He assured her with a grin.

"Mathers!" Came a bark as Susan Bones marched up with a huff. The second she saw Harry her expression softened a fraction. "Oh. Hello Harry."

"Susan," he replied cordially. "Lucy was just seeing me off." He peered down at her. "Have a good night."

"You too! Can I see you tomorrow?"

"Course! You can come eat lunch with us if you like!" Harry offered.

"Excellent." Lucy declared before she turned to Susan with a bright smile. "Now! Let's go see this common room! I've heard all sorts of rumours that I don't believe for a second!" Susan stared after the girl who was moving rather confidently in a direction that likely wasn't at all accurate before she turned to Harry with a mirthful grin.

"Your sister is adorable!" She declared before scampering off to catch the girl before she stumbled somewhere she shouldn't. Harry blinked.

"Why does everyone think she's my sister?" He asked his friends curiously.

"Because you act like it?" Ginny argued with a chuckle.

"You really do." Neville insisted to his blinking face. Harry's expression softened and he puffed up his chest.

"Well, you know what? Good! I'm glad!" He turned to the twins with a suddenly stern face. "If you do anything-"

"Wouldn't dream of it, my fellow comrade in brotherhood." The right assured him

"We too have a solemn duty to protect our little sister." The left agreed. Ginny harumphed.

"I can protect myself, thanks!"

"And we'll be there for you when she too enters that despicable teenage phase and casts you away without a care!" The right moaned pitifully.

"Yes, woe is us! Cast aside by our dearest sister! How ever will we recover?!"

"Something tells me you'll manage," Ginny replied in a deadpanned tone. 

"Harry!" Hermione called from the top of the staircase.

"Hermione! Congratulations on becoming a prefect!"

"Yes sorry I couldn't meet you on the train. I had a meeting…" the girl trailed off before giving the teen a worried frown. "I think something is up with Seamus. I asked Dean, but he was really cagey about the whole thing."

"Well I'm sure whatever it is we can sort it out," Harry insisted. Hermione nodded and turned to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Mimbulus mimbletonia." She declared.

"Are you serious?!" Neville cried with a beaming grin. "Brilliant! Finally, a password I won't forget!" 

“Something tells me we won't either.” Harry joked merrily as he climbed into the portrait hole. Then his smile fell a bit as he saw Dean and Seamus sitting on the couch cushions. He took a deep breath. “Hey, guys. How was your summer?”

“Alright,” Dean muttered nervously. “Better than his anyway…”

“No shit.” Seamus cursed bitterly. 

“What happened?” Harry asked worriedly. The teen scoffed.

“My mum tried to ship me off to a military academy.”

“Blimey are you joking?” Ron demanded in horror. “Why?”

“Because of Dumbledore.” Seamus spat before he fished a daily prophet out from somewhere and slapped into on the table in front of him.

DUMBLEDORE: DAFT OR DANGEROUS?

Is Albus Dumbledore stirring up trouble to push his own political agenda? Interviews inside TELL ALL!

“Don't tell your mum actually believe that rubbish!” Harry scoffed with a roll of his eyes. Seamus saw red.

“Don't you dare talk about my mother like that!” he spat before he tried to shove Harry away. The teen jumped back and scowled.

“Hey! Don't bite my head off! All I'm saying is that what he's saying makes sense!”

“You actually believe it?! That You-Know-Who is back?!” Seamus demanded. Harry growled.

“Yeah, I do! Only an idiot would think this sudden increase in death eater activity is a coincidence!”

“What did you just say to me?” Seamus said coldly. Harry growled.

“I called your mother an idiot.” he sneered. Seamus roared and rushed forward, fully intending to beat him to a pulp. But everyone jumped between them, including the twins, who each grabbed Seamus’s arms to hold the Irish teen back.

“That's enough!” Hermione shrieked, shoving Harry back, who looked just as ready to fight Seamus.

“Just go, Harry!” Dean begged helplessly. 

“Go!” Neville agreed, shoving him toward the portrait hole

“YOU'RE DEAD POTTER!” Seamus screamed after him furiously until the portrait closed behind him.

“What on earth? In trouble already dear?” the fat lady demanded with wide eyes.

“I didn't do anything!” Harry insisted furiously. “Seamus was the one who-”

“Harry…”

“No really!” Harry insisted to the fat lady, not really looking at her, just ranting to the various portraits in general. “He's angry at me because his mum is angry at Dumbledore! Like it's somehow my fault!”

“Harry.”

“I mean how am I supposed to stop Dumbledore? And never mind that he's right!”

“Harrison!” Harry jumped and spun around.

“Mum!” he cried sheepishly. The history professor chuckled slightly before frowning. 

“What happened?” Harry groaned.

“Seamus is angry at the world, so he's taking it out on everyone else… and I may have made it worse.”

“Oh?” Emmeline demanded with a raised eyebrow. “How so?”

“I er… might have called his mother an idiot,” Harry admitted sheepishly. Emmeline frowned at him in disappointment which made his insides wiggle nervously.

“You're going to apologize to him in the morning young man.”

“Yesmum,” he murmured, peering at his shoes. Then Emmeline sighed skyward.

“Come along. You can sleep on our couch for tonight.” Harry smiled and followed his mother when suddenly the woman huffed. “But honestly Harry! That must be a record! You've only been at the school for a few hours and already you're in trouble! You couldn't wait a day?”

“I once got six detentions before I even arrived,” Harry admitted to her candidly with a slight blush. The woman froze and turned to him in shock. “I flew an electric blue flying Ford Angelina from King's Cross Station to Hogwarts without a license and a faulty cloaking device.”

“And did not receive nearly enough punishment, if I do say so myself.” Severus drawled from behind the pair. Harry jumped and turned to his father with a sheepish expression. Emmeline just rolled her eyes and shook her head indulgently. “What did you do this time Harry?”

“I er… insulted my roommate's mother. He was really upset." Harry admitted wearily. Severus took a deep breath and muttered something under his breath. It sounded almost like a prayer.

“Lamb’s quarters.” he declared to the portrait guarding the pair's quarters, which was a young woman on a bench with a single rose. Her counterpart and partner, a tall knight in burnished armour, was absent at night, used as he was for patrols. Harry stepped in and settled on the couch and turned to sleep when Severus cleared his throat. "Just a moment Harry. I wanted to speak to you." The teen turned to his father with a curious frown. "I'm sure it hasn't escaped your notice that there are certain… changes… coming to Hogwarts."

"You mean Umbridge is actually going to change things?! We thought she was just blowing hot air!" Harry cried in horror.

"Unfortunately not." Severus drawled bitterly. "It is likely that she will do just about anything in her power to take over."

"Take over… you don't mean…" Harry began, growing weary.

"It seems to be the minister's end game to have Albus removed, yes." Severus declared. At this, Emmeline sat on the armrest and gripped Harry's shoulder in a slight panic.

"Severus if that happens-" Emmeline began, going terrified.

"Hogwarts' defences will hold," Severus assured her sternly.

"For how long?" Harry demanded, face hardened. Severus sighed heavily before he shook his head.

"This is not the point I was trying to make." He insisted firmly. "Umbridge is going to be saying anything and everything to discredit Dumbledore. So please Harry do NOT do anything to provoke her."

"I won't," Harry promised.

"Like you didn't with Mr. Finnegan?" He demanded with a stern expression. Harry blushed.

"That was… different. He was coming after me for nothing!" Severus's expression remained unchanged and he slumped. "You… you think she'll do that with me too?!"

"It's likely."

"Bollocks."

"Language." Both parents admonished quietly. Harry sighed before he nodded.

"Okay. I'll try to keep my mouth shut…"

"Just remember your occlumency training. Deep breaths. Clear your mind. Control your emotions."

"Right," Harry said. But despite his best efforts he hadn't seen any improvement in his occlumency with all the practice he'd been doing each night. The physical effect of his weird visions had lessened somewhat. But they hadn't gone away. And when he tried it tonight his swirling thoughts, whether Umbridge, Seamus, or what the year had in store, made any attempt a lost cause.

"Morning!" Lucy cried cheerfully.

"Mmmm," the various Gryffindors murmured with mixed expressions of gloom and tiredness. 

"Whoa... what happened?" She asked worriedly, sliding into the open space across from Harry. Harry opened his mouth.

"Harrison insulted one of his roommates' mother, so he had to sleep in his parents' dorm. Meanwhile, we had to calm him down, which took hours, so none of us got very good sleep last night." Hermione complained snottily. Lucy rolled her eyes slightly at Hermione petulant tone before giving Harry a frown. 

"That doesn't seem like you Harry,"

"He was biting my head off for no reason! I'm allowed to be angry!" Harry argued in irritation. He'd been justifying himself all morning and it was starting to grate on his nerves. He took a deep breath before he gave her a smile. "Never mind all of us, how was your first night in Hufflepuff?"

"It was great! Susan and Ernie are really nice. And Justin was helping me with a few basic charms to make getting up quicker. Everyone in my dorm is really nice as well!"

"That's great! I'm really glad you're getting on well with everyone."

"Here you are Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall cut in, handing out the timetables. "Miss Mathers, you ought to head back, Professor Sprout is handing these out as well."

"Okay! See you at lunch, Harry!" Lucy cried before rushing back to the other Hufflepuff first years.

"Ugh. This day just got so much worse!" Neville bemoaned.

"Umbridge then Snape?! Professor, are you trying to kill us?!" Ron whined. Minerva rolled her eyes.

"Professor Snape marks much fairer now Mr. Weasley. Continuing poor marks is no one's fault but your own."

"Hey, Harry! Maybe you could tutor us!" Neville piped up hopefully.

"I can try." Harry agreed slowly. "Not sure how good of a teacher I'll be though..."

"Let's head up to defence." Hermione insisted with a sigh. "Get Umbridge over with..."

"Agreed," Ron said with a sigh. They all arrived relatively early and settled in before Umbridge arrived. The Slytherins were watching them with smirking grins. Draco looked particularly smug.

"It's probably because most of their parents work at the ministry, so she'll go easy on them."

"My dad works there too!" Ron reminded her. Hermione winced.

"Well no offence Ronald but your dad doesn't exactly have a prestigious position." The teen grumbled under his breath grumpily.

"I wonder why we didn't have to buy any books this year." Pavarti piped up with a frown.

"Yeah, that was weird." Lavender agreed. Suddenly the office door opened and Umbridge began descending the stairs, a wide smile making her look toad-like as ever. 

"Good morning class!" She cried in that same sweet voice. The class parrotted back an uneven chorus of greetings.

"Tut tut! That won't do! Not at all!" She admonished sweetly. "When I say good morning, I want each of you to respond with 'good morning Professor Umbridge.' nice and clear. So... let's try again! Good morning class!" 

"Good morning Professor Umbridge!" The class cried in unison.

"And suddenly I'm back in primary," Harry whispered to Hermione who had to momentarily bite her lip to keep from laughing. A seat over Dean was struggling not to shake with repressed laughter. Seamus sent the black boy a dirty look which cut it somewhat. Umbridge had her back turned and seemed to have missed the entire thing as she wrote on the blackboard. The class was sure to return to full composure as she turned back around.

"Now! As you all know in your fifth year you will be taking the Ordinary Wizarding Levels, or O.W.L.s for short. They are standardized examinations which the ministry uses to determine your qualifications for your future careers."

"Does that also apply to careers with apprenticeships or continuing education?" Hermione demanded worriedly.

"Students will please raise their hands and wait to be called on in my classroom!" Umbridge snapped in irritation, suddenly losing her sweet voice. The class jumped and Hermione flinched before raising her hand. Umbridge smiled.

"Yes, Mrs. Granger?"

"As I was saying..." she began slowly. Umbridge looked like he wanted her to ask the whole thing all over again then sniffed and answered anyway.

"Not technically. Apprenticeships and continuing education are determined by your N.E.W.T. scores. However! Qualification for N.E.W.T. level classes is based entirely on your final O.W.L. scores, so in a way, yes!" The woman explained. "And as such, the ministry is taking the curriculum of this year extra seriously. You will be tested on every possible theoretical application of the spells of Defence Against the Dark Arts-"

"What about practicals?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Students must raise their hands!" Umbridge snapped. Harry frowned and raised his hand. Umbridge didn't bother calling him again.

"The ministry believes that a theoretical education will be more than sufficient to get you through your examinations with flying colours."

"You mean we're not going to be doing any magic?!" Ron cried in horror.

"Hand!" Umbridge snapped. But then she ignored Ron again. "The ministry is... concerned with the approach of your previous professors. You have had a different professor each year for five years. Of the four previous, only one has really been up to ministry standards."

"Well, the ministry was the one who got rid of Professor Lupin in the first place!" Harry complained. 

"Goodness no!" Umbridge cried in horror. "That man's very presence placed all of you at great risk!"

"Do you mean Professor Black then? He was alright! I loved his practicals." Dean argued. Harry would grudgingly admire that once Black wasn't working with him one-on-one, he was at least theoretically a good teacher.

"Sirius Black is not the sort of person best suited to a ministry-approved education plan!" Umbridge snarled.

"Surely not Lockhart?" Hermione argued, looking green at the concept.

"As I have come to understand, the man released a cage of Cornish pixies into a classroom of second years," Umbridge said with a sniff. The class let out a sigh of relief. All except Harry, whose eye began to twitch.

"So... Quirell." He said slowly. 

"Yes! Professor Quirell was an excellent professor! Teaching in a safe, non-threatening environment, encouraging research and caution and using practicals only with his most advanced classes." Umbridge praised.

"You're joking!" Ron cried in horror. "The guy had You-Know-Who on the back of his head!" Suddenly the chalk in Umbridge's hand snapped.

"Mr. Weasley! I will not have you spouting such blatant lies!"

"Lies? It wasn't a lie! The whole school knew about it! Ask anyone!" Every Gryffindor nodded heavily, even Seamus who was staring at Umbridge with the same silent expression he'd thrown at Harry last night. The Slytherins meanwhile were shrinking into their seats, and a few were averting their eyes, because one glance would reveal that they too agreed with the Gryffindors.

"That story is a despicable fabrication made up after the man's tragic accident to smear his reputation."

"Tragic accident?! He tried to bloody kill me!" Harry bellowed furiously. Umbridge scoffed.

"Obviously Mr. Potter, you were simply too young to understand what was really going on." Then she laughed. "Besides? Who would want to attack children?"

"What about death eaters?" Harry demanded. Umbridge pursed her lips coldly. "My family has been attacked by them loads of times! I was personally the target of two attacks in the same amount of years!"

"He's right! His whole family got killed by them in the summer before third year! They killed his cousin too! He was only twelve at the time!" Ron agreed though he felt a bit bad about bringing it up. Harry was too furious to care.

"It is not the job of children to defend themselves from death eaters! The ministry task force is working around the clock to protect you!"

"But what if they don't come in time? What if it's not just death eaters?! Voldemort is out there-" 

"ENOUGH!" Umbridge finally shrieked. The class stilled. The woman was breathing very heavily before her smile curled onto her face. "Detention, Mr. Potter."

"Huh?" Harry demanded in shock.

"8 o'clock. Tonight. My office." She finished with her sweet tone restored. Then she took a deep breath. "You have been told, that a certain dark wizard has risen once again. This is a lie." Harry growled under his breath. "It is meant to scare you. But I want to put you all at ease. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is Dead!" She took a deep breath. "Now! Onto the subject of your textbooks!"

Harry trudged down to potions feeling sorry for himself. In fact, everyone looked a bit miserable. Even the Slytherins looked put out. Turns out Umbridge's idea of a defence class was even more boring than Binns's lecturing. 

"This year will be the defining year of your potions education." Severus declared as he pushed open the door to his office. "It is make," he glanced around a few of the better students, sweeping a quick glance over Harry. "Or break." He levelled Neville with a look. It wasn't... harsh persay. But it definitely got the message across that he did not expect Neville to last very long. He took a deep sniff. "There once was a time when only those who achieved an Outstanding in their O.W.L.s would be allowed into my N.E.W.T.s program. But I have been encouraged by my fellow potions masters to... ease my admittance somewhat. But make no mistake! My standards have not lessened. I still expect the very best." He glanced around the room. Then he frowned. The speech was usually enough to light a fire under the more ambitious brewers in the class. But even Granger looked melancholy. "What happened?" He found himself blurting out. The class blinked at him when a tentative hand shot up.

"Permission to speak freely, professor?" Tracey asked candidly. Severus raised an eyebrow and flicked his wand towards the door.

"Go ahead, Miss. Davies." 

"It's Umbridge!" The black girl complained with a whine. "She's horrible!"

"Yeah! She's not letting us do any sort of magic!" Dean complained.

"She's making us read this absolutely rubbish textbook!" Theodore Nott complained, angrily fishing the useless textbook from his book bag.

"It's so outdated my grandad probably used it!" Ronald agreed with a snarl.

"How on earth can she claim to be working with the ministry?! Surely they require at least some level of aptitude!" Blaise Zabini injected with a scowl.

"Exactly! She couldn't possibly expect us to pass out practicals without actually practising!" Hermione argued. Suddenly Draco stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"I know Father told me to listen to her," he grimaced and looked up at his head of house. "but honestly professor! It's just unacceptable!"

"Exactly!" Harry agreed. Draco shuddered.

"Can you hear this?! Slytherins and Gryffindors agreeing! That's how you know it's drastic!" The blond teen argued.

"Honestly this is kind of impressive..." Crabbe muttered.

"What is Mr. Crabbe?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, she was supposedly sent by the ministry to fix things right? Well, she's only been here one day and she solved the house rivalry issues." Vincent murmured. Beside him, Gregory let out a croak of laughter.

"Hey yeah! She finally united the house!"

"United in our hatred of her!" Vincent finished with a grin. Severus was staring at them all looking amazed. Then he sighed, training his eyes to the floor. A moment later he let them drift closed.

"What I am about to say will not be popular. But I think that Mr. Malfoy has the right idea."

"What?!" Harry cried in horror. Draco also looked ill at the prospect. 

"Delores Umbridge was not sent to improve things. She was sent to spy on Professor Dumbledore, with the express wish of getting him removed. It is very likely that she will do anything in her power to achieve this goal. And I doubt she will bat an eyelash if doing so should require the removal of any problematic students. As I'm sure Harry has already informed you all. Since I told him this last night" Severus muttered. Harry flinched before clearing his throat.

"Let's say that a hypothetical student didn't take the advice of their parents. Who hypothetically work at the school where they go, and then they receive a detention from the teacher that their parents warned them about..."

"Hypothetically?" Severus drawled dryly, making the classes snicker.

"Yes! Hypothetically!" Harry insisted. "Would there be a way for the student to hypothetically... get out of it?"

"Not without the hypothetical son receiving a very harsh talking to from the hypothetical father." Severus snapped in frustration.

"Hey! I never said the student was a boy! Maybe it's a hypothetical daughter!"

"She wouldn't dare," Severus muttered under his breath before he huffed. "I'll see what I can do. But I'm telling your mother."

"But-" Harry cried in horror. Severus gave him a firm look and the teen shrunk down a bit before he sighed and peered at his shoes. 

Harry spent the rest of the day dejected, while various students snickered at his expense. At lunch, Lucy marched up to him with her hands on her hips with a scolding expression. He then had to sit through her admonishments, which somehow hurt more than Severus' scolding from earlier in the day. Transfiguration and charm were also a nightmare, as he had both subjects with the Slytherins and they would snicker every time anyone said 'hypothetically'. Something that neither professor could understand. He spent most of dinner in a state of dread since he still hadn't heard if his father had figured out how to get him out of his detention, which made it very hard to eat. 

"Mr. Potter." Emmeline drawled from behind him. "Come with me."

"Yes, professor." Harry moaned in defeat. Of course, his mum would give him a dressing down right before his detention. As soon as they left the Great Hall she took a deep breath.

"I am deeply disappointed in you," she began, refusing to look at him, which somehow made it worse. "After your father expressly stated to maintain your self-control and keep that temper of yours in check, twice now in as many days you have allowed it to get the better of you!" She finally turned to him with a very angry expression. "The most disappointing thing of all is that I know you can behave better. And yet since arriving at Hogwarts, you have shown a disgusting lack of maturity. Not only taunting your housemate but creating a scene in front of a teacher that you know is out to get you! So I don't want to hear about any further incidents with either your housemates or Delores Umbridge. Is that clear?"

"Yes, mum," Harry promised without a thought. If it meant never getting dressed down like this again, he'd be nice to Voldemort! 

"Good," Emmeline said with a relieved sigh. "Now go down to the dungeons. I believe your father has some tasks for you."

"Hem hem!" Umbridge coughed from behind them. Harry whipped around while Emmeline turned slowly and gave her an unimpressed look.

"Do you need a pepper-up Delores? That cough sounds wretched." She with a small smile. The pink-clad woman pursed her lips.

"I'm afraid that whatever tasks Severus has for Mr. Potter with have to wait. You see he is meant to be serving detention with me tonight."

"Ah," Emmeline said before she gave Umbridge a pitying look akin to one you might give a particularly stupid student or a moderately dumb dog. "Well, I'm afraid that's where you're wrong. You see it's Hogwarts policy that and child of a professor who attends is the full responsibility of that professor, and as such they are in charge of all of their detentions." Delores blinked and opened her mouth when Emmeline smiled and cut her off. "Oh, I assure you it's true. You can review the Hogwarts rule book if you like. I believe the library has a copy." Then she pushed Harry to turn back towards the dungeons. "March." She commanded, giving Harry a conspiratorial wink. Harry nodded, keeping his face as distraught as warranted before turning away. There was a moment of silence as Umbridge eyed Emmeline with a look reminiscent of a particularly grumpy cat.

"Well, that seems like a foolish rule." Delores finally said with a cheerful smile after that momentary scowling. "In my experience, parents tend to be much too lax with their children. They never quite manage to drive the message home." At this, Emmeline gave an almost genuine laugh.

"Oh trust me, Delores, Harry will get the message. I believe his father has him dividing demiguise saliva and dissecting bats. He should have well and truly received the message about 30 minutes in. And you had better believe Severus will be keeping him until just before curfew."

"Hmmm," Delores said with pursed lips. Then she shook her head. "We will see about that professor... oh I'm terribly sorry, but I seem to have forgotten your name." Delores declared candidly. Emmeline frowned. There was a thinly veiled threat there, but she couldn't quite figure out what it meant.

"Emmeline. Emmeline Vance." She provided. At this Delores blinked.

"Vance... your father-"

"Augustus Vance, of V & Karmichael's publishing house, yes," Emmeline responded with an exhausted sigh. "My grandfather is Arnold Cleansweep, founder and CEO of the Cleansweep broom-making Company

"Well! Why ever did you decide to go into teaching?" Delores demanded with a broad smile. Emmeline froze. This was a trap. She was trying to find something out, Emmeline just wasn't sure what.

"Well, I have dabbled in archeology throughout the years. I have a runic mastery and spent several years as an architect. But I've always been fascinated with history. The old professor, ancient really the man was a ghost, was... encouraged to take a leave of absence. I took over afterwards."

"I don't recall an advertisement for the position in the Daily Prophet. How was it you found out about it?"

"Severus." Emmeline blurted out. "He told me. After Albus told him. Suggested I offer my services to him. Albus was very impressed and hired me on the spot."

"I see," Delores said with an air of intrigue. "And why did Severus tell you?"

"He knew I was looking for a change of pace. Commissions are well and good, but there are only so many ward walls one can make before they get bored."

"You're close?" Delores demanded.

"We're engaged actually," Emmeline declared, flashing her ring. At this, Delores blinked and took a step back. Then suddenly a slow grin crept into her face.

"I see," she said slowly, sounding surprisingly sinister. "Well, congratulations. I'll leave you to your night."

"Right," Emmeline responded suddenly uneasy.

Something she said had been wrong. But she wasn't quite sure what. And somehow she knew it would not end well for anyone.

He could almost reach it.

Just a little further.

But every time he reached forward for the door it seemed to be just out of his grasp. Sometimes he thought he could feel the cold of the doorknob, but when he went to close his fist around it, he would grab only air.

But he was so close!

So very very close...

"Harry!"

Harry woke with a start and blinked blearily.

"You alright mate?" Ron asked worriedly. Harry blinked a bit more.

"Wha?" He murmured.

"You were tossing in your sleep," Ron explained. Harry looked down to see that indeed his sheets were all twisted around his legs.

"Muttering too," Seamus drawled. "Sounding like a real nutter. Not that I'm surprised." Harry ignored his quips, the way he had for the last couple of weeks. 

"It was just a bad dream," Harry assured his friend. 

"But I thought you weren't supposed to be getting those anymore..." Ron argued with a frown. 

"Don't worry about it," Harry grumbled under his breath. He got dressed and went downstairs ignoring the various glances he received from people. By now news of his clash had swept over Hogwarts, and his insistence on supporting Dumbledore had gained him a reputation for being just as mad as the old headmaster. There hadn't been any death eater attacks since he'd come back to Hogwarts, which wasn't doing the order any favours. In fact, yesterday the paper had detailed Sirius Black's suspension from the Auror task force pending a disciplinary hearing. Supposedly he'd been a little too heavy-handed with his continued investigation and was accused of using unnecessary force against an innocent ministry worker.

Of course, Harry knew that more than likely the ministry worker was a secret death eater, but Fudge wanted to get rid of Black and his 'warmongering', and was using this incident as the perfect ploy.

And then there was occlumency.

No matter how Harry tried, no matter how he attempted to follow his dad's instructions, the deep breathing, the clearing his mind (whatever that meant since his father hadn't been clear), and the latest tactic, creating harmless scenes to waylay your attacker, he just couldn't do it. Every Friday Harry would trudge down to the dungeon, listen to his father lecture on the basic principles again and then they would start. It was always excruciating. The headache he would have afterwards made it difficult to think sometimes. And it was never good enough. His father always had a grumpy expression on his face and always repeated the same thing.

'You have to control your emotions!'

What his father seemed not to recognize was that he was trying. 

He couldn't tell you why he just couldn't do what his father wanted. But because of his continued struggles, they're relationship had become quite strained. He barely ever went to visit his parents at lunchtime. He almost never asked for extra lab time. He even skipped Monday potions a few times when he was feeling particularly grumpy. He kept the promise he had made to his parents about staying out of trouble. He never rose to Seamus' taunting. He never contradicted Professor Umbridge, even when she said things he knew for a fact were untrue. Like how werewolves, even in human form, were brutal monsters in need of control. Or how centaurs could not be trusted and needed to be contained. 

Then one day something changed. 

There were whispers around Hogwarts. Whispers about Umbridge.

Whispers that she was dangerous.

Harry couldn't see how. She seemed ignorant, mildly stupid, and very irritating; but dangerous? What could she have possibly done? Then there was a rumour that she and McGonagall had gotten into a fight in the staff room about something Umbridge had done. The very next day a sign appeared beside the door.

Educational Decree 01

Let it hereby be stated by the

MINISTRY FOR MAGIC

That

DOLORES JANE UMBRIDGE

is Hogwarts' official

HIGH INQUISITOR

"High inquisitor? What, like the Spanish Inquisition?" Harry demanded to Hermione with a confused frown. The teen girl just pursed her lips.

"I knew she'd be trouble." She muttered. "Trust me. This is only the beginning."

And it was. There were nine more education decrees before the end of the week. First, it was all about proper dress and 'maintaining decorum' (rumour has it she'd seen a bit of snogging between two Ravenclaw boys and almost blown a gasket). Then there was the one where she disbanded all school groups ("including quidditch teams!" Ron cried indignantly) pending review. She ended up keeping quidditch banned, much to Hooch's consternation. Umbridge insisted that it 'encouraged unnecessary violence.' Apparently, Hooch had muttered something about her face encouraging unnecessary violence. The last one made Harry pause in the entrance hall that morning.

Education decree 09

THE HIGH INQUISITOR 

Will conduct

PUBLIC REVIEWS

Of 

ALL STAFF

currently working at

Hogwarts

"Public reviews? What do you think that means?" Ron asked over breakfast. Hermione got a worried frown.

"It means she's going to try and discredit Dumbledore by proving that certain hires are unacceptable."

"But what happens if she decides you're unacceptable?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Sacking most likely," Hermione said candidly. Ron paled.

"So long Hagrid..." he muttered worriedly. The half-giant had only returned to the castle two weeks previous and hadn't set foot in the Great Hall once. Everyone knew about Umbridge's views on so-called 'half breeds' by now, so they weren't surprised.

"Hagrid is a special case. He's also the groundskeeper, remember? More than likely he'll simply be removed from teaching care of magical creatures."

"Which is a shame, because he's gotten surprisingly good at it," Ron admitted. This was true. Their first lessons in third year had been a bit chaotic, with Hagrid bringing in all sorts of extremely dangerous creatures to meet. But he'd since mellowed out a bit with lessons on nifflers, bowtruckles, mooncalves, and one particularly fascinating lesson in which he introduced the call to a baby runespoor. Harry had dazzled the class by talking to its heads and informed Hagrid that the left was hungry, the middle was itchy, and the right didn't like his snoring. 

"Who else do you think will go?" Harry asked. Hermione pursed her lips.

"Well if the rumours about her views on same-sex couples are true, Professor Babbling and Burbage are probably on the chopping block. Professor Flitwick may be in trouble as well, but he's got tenure and an impeccable reputation. Hooch might go if she doesn't control her temper during the review. It's no secret she's hated her from the start. Beyond that, it's hard to say..." Hermione finished with a thoughtful expression. Then she growled. "And we STILL aren't being properly prepared for our defence O.W.L.s!"

"Ugh, don't remind me. I still have to get all the reading done. Then that stupid essay." Ron complained. Harry understood the reluctance to do any kind of schoolwork for defence. The book was dry and had a tendency to treat its reader as if they were an incompetent idiot who couldn't tell his wand from his arse. And while the book contained diagrams and instructions on how to perform the spells within it, Umbridge had banned all use of defence-related spells inside and outside of class. 

"You too?" Tracey piped up from behind Ron. Harry grinned and shifted over to let the Slytherin girl sit next to him.

"Honestly, why even bother? It's not like I'm actually learning anything." Ron argued.

"Because you'll get detention." Hermione reminded him.

"Oh... right," Ron said with a queasy expression. 

That was another thing.

Rumour had it Umbridge's detentions were particularly nasty, in a way even Snape's never were. And she seemed to hand them out for some truly arbitrary and upsetting reasons.

"Hello," Lucy said as she settled on Harry's other side. The group each gave her quiet replies. Then Harry frowned. She seemed more subdued than usual.

"What's wrong?" He asked. The young Hufflepuff blinked and shook her head.

"Nothing! I'm fine!" She said quickly. Harry frowned. That sounded like one of his 'fine' s which suddenly made him realise how annoying that must be for his parents. "Did you see the sign by the Great Hall?"

"Which one?" The fifth years all asked scathingly.

"The one about the teacher reviews," Lucy said, gaining a worried brow. "I just... you don't think anything will happen to Professor Snape, do you?" Harry paled. He hadn't thought of that! The man had been a death eater. Who's to say Umbridge wouldn't sack him on those grounds alone!

"Oh, Professor Snape will be fine!" Hermione declared assuredly, instantly calming the pair. "He's got tenure. Plus, the potions scores have seen a ten-year rise thanks to him. And that's not taking into account the recent rise due to his relaxed teaching style. Not only that but he's got an excellent reputation! Youngest potions master ever and has several prestigious awards. Umbridge would never be able to fire him" Harry smiled as he and Lucy relaxed. "It's Professor Vance I'm worried about."

"WHAT?!" Both cried in panic, startling a few people around them. Tracey hissed for them to keep their voices down.

"Well, she doesn't have much experience. She's only been teaching for a few years. And yes, the test scores have increased dramatically, but she doesn't have a history background. Her mastery is in runes, not history. If she were in Professor Babbling's position, maybe she'd be fine, but as it stands Umbridge could easily find reason to terminate her for her lack of experience. Plus, she was hired during an order meeting, so she can chalk her hiring up to Dumbledore's nepotism. Which in this case is a very real observation. Not that she's a bad teacher!" Hermione added quickly as Harry opened his mouth to angrily defend his mum. "But that is likely how Umbridge is going to see it."

"Great," Harry drawled bitterly "I'm going to be worried about that all day now..." So much for occlumency training tonight.

"Well, the performance reviews will probably cover core classes first." Hermione insisted. "So your mum won't come up until later!"

"Doesn't change the fact that you just said she's probably gonna get sacked!" Harry snarled bitterly before he stood up and stormed off. Hermione bit her lip while Tracey gave her a look of disdain and followed him.

It was after the defence the next Monday that Hermione finally lost it. The fifth-year Gryffindors were all in the common room, trying to get through chapter 7 of their absolutely useless textbook when suddenly Hermione stood and flung hers across the room.

"Oh, I have just HAD IT!" She roared to her startled peers. "She's not teaching us how to pass our exams! She's not teaching us how to defend ourselves! She's taking over the bloody school! I can't anymore! I just can't!"

"Bloody hell Hermione, calm down!" Ron cried in horror. 

"No! I refuse! Someone needs to stop her! It's gone on long enough!" She declared before she began marching towards the portrait hall. At that point, all the other fifth-year Gryffindors got up and frantically followed her, for fear (and maybe just a smidge of anticipation) of what she might do. The portrait swung open to a slightly startled Lucy which stopped Hermione dead in her tracks.

"Oh! Lucy! Are you here to see Harry?" She asked, seemingly not realizing that all of the fifth-year Gryffindors had scrambled to stop behind her.

"Er..." Lucy began, looking at the crowd behind the bushy-haired girl with some confusion before she grinned. "Well, I was, but then I got distracted talking to Vivienne and Philomena. They're both very interesting women, you know."

"Who's Philomena?" Ron piped up, startling Hermione. She turned around and blinked.

"What are you all doing?"

"Stopping you from doing something utterly mad!" Seamus barked with a slowly forming grin. Hermione blinked and then scowled.

"I was going to talk to Professor McGonagall!" She said,

"Oooohhhhh..." everyone but Harry and Ron said slowly, calming and looking much more relaxed before drifting off. Lucy snickered slightly at some of the more disappointed faces. 

"What were you going to talk to Professor McGonagall about?" She asked.

"I want to get rid of Umbridge." She declared brazenly.

"Oh, good luck!" The portrait of the woman with the baby next to the fat lady insisted, while her child made grumpy gurgle noises. "That woman has always been wretched, even as a student! Isn't that right Vivienne?" Suddenly the fat lady closed behind the trio to reveal her friend, nestled between the three maidens in the portrait on her other side.

"Oh yes indeed!" The Renaissance woman cried with a frantic nod. "My portrait is by the charms hall you know! Why I remember this one time when she was a student. It was that same year there was this wretched boy going around with that quill. Do you remember? Oh, he was so nasty! "

"Oh, don't get started on that again!" One of the Maidens whined with a roll of their eyes.

"Honestly no one wants to hear about the time you had a curly mustache for two weeks again!" Another complained.

"Why I never!" Vivienne bellowed indignantly before the portraits all started bickering amongst themselves, each surrounding one having more and more to add until nearly the entire wall was going on. 

"Let's get out of here!" Ron cried with hands over her ears.

"I wish I could!" The fat lady responded, looking miserable. Lucy winced.

"Bye Philomena!" She cried with a wave, before leading the group.

"Who's Philomena?" Ron asked again. Lucy blinked.

"You don't know the name of your own guardian portrait?" The Gryffindors blinked owlishly.

"The fat lady has a name?" Ron responded in shock. Lucy looked very unimpressed before rolling her eyes. 

"I didn't even know that" Hermione muttered under her breath looking minorly impressed. Lucy brought them to McGonagall's office but

"Oh damn," Hermione cursed quietly. "She's not here."

"Lucy to the rescue!" The girl cried before skipping down the hall a few steps. "Hello Lord Horace!" She cheered at the portrait on the wall.

"Ah! Why it is the dear lady Mathers!" The man bellowed back with a joyful gleam in his eye "Verily how fair thee, fair maiden?"

"Very well thank you!" The girl responded politely "Tell me Lord Horace, have you seen Professor McGonagall today?"

"Why by the saints indeed I have my lady!" The man responded. "She travelled past but an hour hence headed to speak with her fellow faculty judging by her air."

"She's going to the staff room," Lucy said "Thank you, lord Horace! Come on!"

"I wish thee well on thy quest, my little friend!" The man shouted after her.

"How do you know his name?" Harry asked in awe.

"I asked," Lucy responded with a roll of her eyes. Then Hermione yelped as she turned a corner and nearly bowled into Tracey.

 "Well, hello there," Tracey said with a chuckle. "You Gryffindors sure do love tearing around the halls."

"Sorry, Tracey!" Hermione said with a wince. "We're on our way to speak to McGonagall."

"What for?"

"To get rid of Umbridge." Hermione declared. The black girl rolled her eyes. 

"Well, there's no point in that. In case it escaped your notice she's going to be the headmistress soon."

"McGonagall?"

"Umbridge."

"What?! No! Never! McGonagall would never allow it!" Hermione insisted vehemently.

"She won't have much of a choice now, will she? Not with the ministry backing Umbridge." Tracey declared bitterly. All of Hermione's fight left her in one gust of utter dejection. But Harry saw a glimmer in Tracey's eye. A glimmer he recognized as her 'selling things' look.

"What are you up to?" He demanded. The teen grinned.

"I had an absolutely brilliant idea the other night." She admitted. Then she pulled out a book. "I was reading tales of Beedle the Bard-"

"Why?!" Ron demanded with a laugh "It's kids' stuff!"

"Shut up Weasley," Tracey snapped in irritation, making the ginger scoff indignantly. "Anyway! My copy is a special edition that Professor Dumbledore did commentary on and I discovered an interesting little tidbit about the school."

"What?"

"Hogwarts used to have an acting club." The girl declared proudly. "It was disbanded in the 60s because of drama with their last play."

"How does an acting club have anything to do with Umbridge?' Harry asked in confusion.

"Well, you see," Tracey began with a glimmer "most magic plays feature some kind of duel. Well, mock duel. But the funny thing about practising for a mock duel. It's just like practising for a real one." Hermione's eyes began to sparkle the same as Tracey's. She turned to the boys.

"You two stay here. We'll be back."

"Hang on! Why do we have to stay behind?" Ron demanded whiny.

"Because Harry has a bad reputation with Umbridge, and your parents are too closely associated with Dumbledore. We're going to have to propose this to Umbridge, so having you there would make us look bad." Hermione said bluntly. Harry gapped at them before he nodded.

"Can I come?" Lucy asked excitedly. The two teen girls turned to her before Tracey shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Do you think you can pretend to like Umbridge?" the girl's face fell before she took a deep breath.

"Yes." she said with certainty. "She's a lot like some of the more... conservative ladies in my parish. So I've got lots of practice being nice to people like her."

"It's settled then. You boys wait here, we'll go create a club on the fly." Tracey declared.

"Technically it could be considered improv. Which is a form of dramatic Art." Hermione countered with a smile.

"Well look at that!" Tracey answered with a grin. 

Septima had always been a very strict, no-nonsense kind of woman. Even as a girl, she was very particular about anything and everything. Her dolls were always immaculate. Her room was always pristine. She kept meticulous records. Her office was always straight and tidy. Everything in her life had a place and there was a place for everything. 

She was rarely spontaneous. Rarely did she indulge in any sort of frivolity. She has a strict self-regulated schedule that she does not like having to adjust. 

The only thing which she was more passionate about than order was how much she absolutely despised Delores Umbridge.

The woman was the most revolting person she had ever been forced to be in the same room with. The public review of her teaching had cemented her hatred. The woman had constantly interrupted her lecture with inane questions about her qualifications, her education, and her personal life as if such things even mattered when it came to teaching. 

Any idiot could see the woman was a ministry spy. 

And she was no idiot.

And that was precisely why she continued to have afternoon tea in the staffroom.

Umbridge was almost always there, trying to poke her nose into things. But by acting as though she was compliant and demure, she had successfully placated the vile wretch. Delores firmly believed that Septima was on her side, or at least ministry-leaning neutral, thereby shielding the arithmancy teacher from any future reprisals. 

The hat hadn't placed her in Slytherin for nothing after all. 

So, there she was, listening to Umbridge babble on about inane propaganda when there was a knock at the door. Septima looked over as Sprout jumped up from where she'd been trying very hard not to fall asleep and answered the door.

"Oh! Miss. Davies and Miss. Granger... oh! And young miss. Mathers! How can I help you all this fine afternoon?" Pomona said cheerfully, glad for the distraction.

"Fine indeed, isn't it?" Tracey Davies responded with a smile. "Begging your pardon professor, but is Professor Umbridge here?" Pomona blinked then turned to the pink-clad woman with a blank face.

"Delores, there are some students here to speak to you."

"If it is regarding any of the education decrees, I will remind them that any complaint must be taken up with the ministry itself and must have proof of harm," Delores said with her same cheerful tone as always.

"Actually professor!" Tracey cried, stepping into the staffroom, and gesturing for the other girls to follow. "I was hoping to propose a new club to you."

"A new club? Surely, it's a bit late in the term don't you think?" Delores purred with a roll of her eyes. "Let me begin by saying that I stand firm to my previous position on quidditch. And I have already refused the barbaric muggle sports of 'football' and 'rugby'.

"Oh, trust me, professor!" Tracey said with a laugh "It's nothing like that! Why, Hermione here can barely stay on a broom, let alone play quidditch!" The bushy-haired girl's eye twitched before she put on a wobbly smile.

"She right, I'm hopeless with flying. I am far more academically inclined."

"Indeed?" Delores began, eyeing Hermione with a look of thinly veiled disdain. "What sort of club are you hoping to start?"

"An acting club." Tracey declared. Septima suddenly stopped mid-sip. She'd been mostly ignoring the conversation till then, but there was something new in the black girl's tone that gave her pause.

"Acting?!" Delores blurted out in shock. "Why ever would you want to do that?"

"Well, you see professor," Lucy began with her typically cheerful and bubbly smile. "Hermione and I were telling Tracey about this Shakespeare festival that happens in Dover every summer. A small mobile troupe comes to Cliff Field and does a weekend of shows. We were talking about how strange it is that wizards don't have plays. But then Tracey told us about how they do! She introduced us to Tales of the Beedle Bard, and then! We discovered how Hogwarts used to put on a play every year! And we realised that, well wouldn't it be wonderful to start that tradition up again?"

"I was so shocked that neither one of them had heard of Beedle the Bard," Tracey said, looking convincingly horrified. "Can you just imagine all the other muggle-borns who don't know a thing about wizard folktales or storybooks? This would be the perfect way to introduce them to the real world." Tracey finished. Lucy and Hermione both flinched at that line, with Lucy's hands reflexively flying to her skirt to twist it around. But Umbridge didn't seem to notice. She only had eyes for Tracey, looking rather impressed.

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought."

"Well, I really feel that bringing muggle-borns into the wizarding world and teaching them how to be proper citizens is the noblest goal a person could have." Tracey insisted with an upturned chin.  Septima smiled into her teacup. This girl was playing that pink Toad like a fiddle. The woman cleared her throat then flicked her wand to produce the necessary paperwork and began filling it out.

"This club will need a professor to manage it before I can authorize... unless you already have one organized." Delores

"That would be me," Septima heard herself declare, then blinked as every head in the room turned to her in shock.

"Septima?" Delores asked in shock.

 "I wasn't aware you enjoyed the theatre." Pomona declared with a raised eyebrow.

"I prefer Marlowe to Shakespeare," Septima declared candidly "but I have always had a fondness for the classics."

"Well then... does this club have a name?" Delores asked.

"Students for the Conservation of Acting and Monologue." Tracey intoned smoothly. Septima sucked in a breath through her nose. Would Delores realize...

"...and Monologue," Umbridge spoke as she finished filling out the form. " When will you be meeting?"

"Weekends and holidays mostly. The occasional Thursday for the older students, owing to the free period. Outside of exam times obviously." Hermione insisted. Delores nodded as she continued writing before she put on the final period on the document. "There!" Then she waved her wand with a flourish and the parchment rolled itself up and was filed away. "All signed and sorted! You may begin your meetings whenever you like."

"Excellent!" Septima declared before she rose to her full height. "Perhaps we might be able to organize a performance with a dinner or two."

"Oh well, that would be simply marvellous!" Delores declared with a grin. The arithmancy professor bowed her head before guiding the trio of girls out of the staff room. As they walked down the hall Tracey let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry I had to say all those awful things back there."

"It's okay," Lucy insisted, though she was still crunching her hands into her skirt.

"I loathe her more now." Hermione declared. 

"Indeed," Septima muttered before he pulled them to a stop. "Now... Scam?"

"So you noticed," Tracey said, but her face had an unabashed smirk that only a Slytherin who had gotten away with a perfect lie would ever have.

"The acting club is just a front. We're going to be using the time to practice defence." Hermione admitted.

"I see... well you'll have to find someplace more out of the way then. Of course, I'll pop in occasionally. It would be wise to stage a few fake practices to allow Umbridge to see your progress."

"Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that." Tracey muttered flatly. 

"My classroom isn't big enough I'm afraid."

"Professor..." Lucy began giving the woman a curious look. "Why are you helping us?" Septima smiled.

"Because I despise that woman, Miss. Mathers. And nothing will give me more joy than helping you young ones pull the wool over her eyes." She admitted candidly. Then she straightened up again. "Mission one of scam: find a place to practice. Mission two: recruitment. It must be a trustworthy bunch, willing to circumvent the education decrees. Mission three: choose your first production to practice at the end of each meeting."

"Every meeting?" Tracey whined slightly.

"If Delores gets it in her mind to use truth-seeking methods of interrogation on the students, those practices will give you cover."

"But that's illegal!" Hermione crowed in horror.

"I think you'll find the ministry is more than willing to assuage legality, Miss. Granger, if they deem it... necessary." Septima finished with a disgusted drawl. Hermione scowled.

"We'll get right on those first three missions, professor Vector," Tracey muttered, jotting down the mission objectives into her daily planner. "Well let you know when we find a place."

"Excellent," Septima said with a nod. "Carry on then." Then she swept away. As she walked a small smile crept into her face as a small giggle bubbled up and out of her chest. She took a deep sigh and looked skyward.

Perhaps it paid to be spontaneous, at least once in a little while.

The first few meetings of SCAM were held in the arithmancy room. This was only possible, however, because the club currently only had five members: Hermione, Tracey, Lucy, Harry and Ron. This was because, despite their best efforts, they'd yet to find a room both large and private enough to facilitate not only the scheme but the number of people they all hoped would flock to them once the time came to announce it to the school. Well... announce was a bit louder than what was actually planned. Tracey was just intending to mutter about it to one of her customers and have Hogwart's infamous rumour machine take care of the rest.

"What about a room down in the dungeons? The acoustics are great and it's nicely secluded." Tracey argued.

"Oh yes, very nice..." Hermione began. "Until it's time for the four of us to leave and suddenly we're all smudges on the dungeon walls."

"Oh right." Tracey bemoaned.

"What about the lawn behind the school? Near the black lake." Ron offered.

"Too cold!" Lucy cried in horror.

"Plus the lake would pick up what we're doing and broadcast it to the world." Tracey insisted.

"Forbidden forest?" Harry reasoned.

"No. Because it's forbidden. The second anyone sees us going in there we'd be in huge trouble no matter what we're doing." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes

"Well, I meant just in the paddock!" Harry insisted though it didn't sound terribly convincing.

"Ah," Professor Vector suddenly called from her office door. "Still no luck with mission 1 I see."

"No, sorry professor," Tracey said with a sigh.

"It's quite alright dear. I understand how tall an order this must be." Vector assured the black teen who had become if not the leader than a sort of quasi secretary, keeping track of all of their preplanned lessons and schedules. Harry often marvelled at how organized the girl really was. She had explained it was in no small part thanks to both her grandfather and father working in the records department at the ministry. Their experience filing things away (or in some cases 'misplacing' records) had been well taught to her at a very young age. "But the holidays may approach faster than you think. So I suggest you all try your absolute hardest this weekend." 

"Yes, professor." The students responded. 

"Mr. Potter, I'm been meaning to ask, do your mother and father know of your... activities?" Professor Vector asked slowly. Harry froze.

"Er... well... no, not really," Harry admitted quietly. He hadn't been speaking with his father much actually. Their last occlumency lesson had gone rather terribly wrong. Severus had snapped and accused Harry of being lazy and selfish, Harry in turn blew his top and had called his father a bad teacher. Then he left in a huff. 

He couldn't rightly say if it was guilt or still simmering anger that made him continue his avoidance.

"I wonder if perhaps we should keep it that way." Professor Vector responded. "The fewer people who know about this scheme the better." 

Something about that made Harry's stomach flip-flop with uncertainty.

He'd never kept something like this (so serious and potentially dangerous) from his parents.

But then he remembered Hermione and Tracey's earlier summation of his parents' precarious positions and nodded solemnly. 

What they didn't know could very well save them.

Lucy was the one who solved their problems, just a few days later. And it was all thanks to her surprisingly good relationship with all of the portraits. She'd been talking with a one Lady Thistlewethers of Upper Kentingburgh. She was hanging in the charms corridor and was often surrounded by a massive menagerie of cats, which made her look perpetually ill. According to Lucy, the portrait had been commissioned by the subject's nephew shortly before she died, and when the nephew (whom the subject had never really liked) found out he wasn't in her will, he had the artist add in the cat to spite her. Despite this, the woman was really quite kind, though the constant sneezing did make her somewhat hard to understand at times. Lucy had casually brought up her quest in passing. The woman had immediately perked up.

"Well my dear - sneeze gasps groan - you really ought to try -wheeze choke sneeze sniff - the come and go room! - sputter cough sneeze siiiigh"

Turns out the suggestion was stellar. Even better when Hermione took over and set up the room to be exactly how they needed it. Much to the astonishment of the other four. 

Then it was just a matter of Tracey saying the right things to the right people. Until that Thursday.

"Um..." Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones muttered as they walked up to the five of them, plus Professor Vector, standing outside the room. "We heard they're was an... acting club... meeting here?"

"Indeed," Septima responded before she turned to the doors. "We'll leave the doors open for a few minutes until everyone arrives."

"Wait just a moment," Hermione muttered, eyes still closed as she concentrated before she nodded. The teacher then opened the doors with a flourish and paused.

"Very nicely done Miss. Granger." She responded, with just a note of awe.

"Whoa!!!" Hannah and Susan both cried in awe, joined from behind by the Patil Twins and Lavender Brown. Further down the hall, Neville was walking up, accompanied by a small cluster of ravenclaws. 

"What is this place?" Hannah asked stepping onto the sandy ground and looking at the round wooden structure surrounding them.

"It's an exact replica of the Original Theatre in Statford-Upon-Avon," Hermione responded with a self-satisfied smile. "Birthplace of William Shakespeare. And where his plays were first performed."

"Cool," Neville muttered in awe before he frowned. "Who's Shakespeare?" Every muggle-raised student in the vicinity cringed. Harry huffed and jumped up onto the stage.

"Okay! Meeting 1 lesson plan! Theatre 101! The names of the important playwrights throughout history, both muggle and magical!" Harry shouted in frustration.

"Who made you in charge?" Came an irritated voice from the door. It was Zacharias Smith. Behind him, Seamus and Dean were just arriving, and the Irish teen looked equally skeptical."

"He's not." Tracey piped up, climbing onto the stage beside him. "We're all going to work together on this. Lessons will be run and organized by all of us in turn. This is a coalition."

"Well said Miss. Davies." Professor Septima agreed, stepping up beside the pair. "That being said, I for one find Mr. Potter's suggestion quite apt. To cement this fact, I ask a question: as a show of hands, who here has heard of Beedle the Bard?" Every pure-blood hand shot up, and a few half-bloods rose tentative hands. Then they all gapped at their muggle-born classmates.

"You've never heard of Babbitt rabbity?!" Hannah asked Justin in horror.

"Who or what?" Justin responded, completely flabbergasted. 

"Very well then," Septima said before she waved her wand, sending the doors closed and locking them. "Mr. Potter, please take your bow. Miss. Granger, if you could please join me and Miss. Davies up here."

The lecture wasn't long. Maybe an hour. They discussed both Shakespeare as well as Marlow, and also ancient Greek theatre and the way it continued to influence modern plays. Everyone looks pretty excited by the end of the lecture and casually intrigued.

"Any questions?" Hermione piped up. Seamus shot up his hand from where he'd been sitting sullenly in the back against a pillar. Hermione called on him.

"I thought we were gonna be learning defence here. That's what Davies led me to believe... unless she was lying." He said with narrowed eyes at the Slytherin. The girl just lifted her chin with a smirk.

"We are going to be learning defence." She assured them all before she began to pace the stage. "You see, most plays, both muggle and magical, have some kind of altercation... a duel if you will." The class all perked up. "And those altercations, duels, are very important to the various plots. We couldn't very well just cut them out. We're conserving these plays after all. But we can't just go out onto a stage waving our wands, but not casting any spells! It would look silly! Not to mention unprofessional! But then we can't have you all casting spells all willy-nilly with no practice! Think how dangerous that would be!" As Tracey finished her speech she was graced with a room full of smirking students all with a very relatable glint in their eyes. 

"But while all Miss. Davies has said is true," Professor Vector intersected, with a small smile. "I don't want you to discount your acting lessons or preformances. They also impart important lessons. The art of delivery, the importance of wording, the effect that context has on what we say... essentially: how to lie and get away with it." She finished. A tentative hand rose. "Yes, Miss. Bones?"

"You should lecture like this more often, professor. It's very engaging." Susan said candidly. The arithmancy professor blinked before she scowled slightly.

"A point from Hufflepuff." She snapped. The girl blushed and clamped her mouth shut. "With that... note, I declared the first meeting of Students for the Conservation of Acting and Monologue adjourned. We shall meet here again this Saturday. Go enjoy the rest of your week." The students milled out slowly, chattering with each other excitedly about their next 'acting lesson'. Harry smiled.

"Mate," Ron complained quietly. "You're doing it again!"

"Doing what?"

"You got one of your Snape faces on... it's really creepy." Ron whined.

"Oh shut up Ronald," Tracey said with a roll of her eyes. Ron blinked.

"You... you called me Ronald." He declared in awe. Tracey smirked.

"We're partners in crime now. Might as well be on first names basis." The teen reminded him cheekily. Lucy laughed.

"This year just got so much more interesting!" She exclaimed excitedly. Ron grinned.

"I told you! With Harry around it's bound to be! We ought to tie him up in a sack and pitch him into the lake." Harry growled and started to play wrestling the much taller ginger with a scowl while the girls laughed at their expense.

Harry's heart hit the floor as he and his fellow fifth-year Gryffindors turned around the corner to the potions classroom. His father was standing with the Slytherins waiting patiently. And next to the austere potions master was Delores Umbridge, clipboard in hand with a judgemental gaze.

"Tut tut," she declared loudly. "You mustn't keep your fellow classmates waiting like this. It's a waste of their valuable time." Next to him, Harry could hear Hermione grinding her teeth in frustration.

"We only left charms ten minutes ago," Seamus piped up, looking put out. "Ya can't cross the West campus in less than that."

"Class isn't supposed to start till the bell anyway," Pavarti added with a frown.

"Enter.".Severus declared, giving the class a very clear 'heads down, eyes forward, mouths. Shut.' kind of look. The Gryffindors didn't need more prompting and shuffled in behind the Slytherins. Meanwhile, Umbridge was making a note on her board already which made Harry very queasy.

"Today we will be doing a test on the concepts covered in the previous unit." Severus declared which made a small disturbance run through the class. They were supposed to be doing the second stage of their practical from last week. That's what he had said in the previous class. Everyone knew things had changed because of Umbridge. "There will be twenty minutes of review. Use that time wisely." Severus's gaze landed on a few people in the class. The ones that tended to spend their review time whispering in the back of the classroom or doodling. Somehow Harry didn't think anyone would be doing that with Umbridge hovering. Everyone was scribbling away on their note sheet, copying formulas and interaction charts at a fervid pace all while Umbridge hovered on the edge of their vision.

"Hem hem," she suddenly coughed. 

"Delores, the students review best when there is silence." Severus all but snapped.

"I'll only take a moment of your time," the woman insisted. "I just wanted to ask a few questions. The students can surely focus through that." Severus grunted before he waved his hand in assent.

"When did you start working here?"

"1982 was my first year of teaching," Severus responded flatly. 

"Your received you potions mastery-"

"April, 1979." He responded with a note of pride. "I was 19. It broke records. Youngest potions master in the world."

"Indeed..." Umbridge said in a slightly clipped tone, while an eye twitched. Something about his father's success irked the vile woman, which drew a self-satisfied smirk onto his face. Maybe it was because his father had actually accomplished something outside of being a judgemental old b-

"It says here you applied for defence first- is that correct?"

"Yes," Severus responded, a sum less proud.

"I see that you also reapplied for the position. nearly every year?"

"Yes." Severus drawled, daring the woman to get to her point.

"Unsuccessfully?" She finished with her sugary voice. A Vien in Severus' forehead was throbbing. 

"Ob-vious-ly." he bit out with a touch more rage than before. All of Harry's previous mirth had evaporated alongside his father. He was no glaring holes into the back of the woman's head, so strongly that several Slytherins had taken notice and were consciously inching ever so slightly away from him, so as to be out of the blast radius. Umbridge seemed satisfied in her breaking down of his ego and readjusted herself. 

"Just one more question: when are you planning on getting married? You are engaged to Professor Vance correct?"

"I fail to see how that has anything to do with my current position." Severus snarled coldly. Umbridge chuckled as if he was a fool for not. 

"Well, it's simply that I want to know when I should be planning for professor... I suppose she'll be taking your name?" Umbridge added. Severus grunted.

"That is entirely her prerogative." He responded.

"I see..." she murmured still smirking. "Well regardless, maternity leave will need to be discussed."

A crack resonated around the classroom before Hermione yelped.

"Professors!" She cried. Then Harry stood, clasping his bloody left hand in his right.

"May I be excused?" He asked shakily.

"What happened?" Severus demanded worriedly.

"There was a crack in my quill," Harry explained flatly. Severus looked at him before he huffed and waved his hand to make the door open.

"Be sure you come back tonight to make up your test."

"Yes sir." Harry agreed before rushing out. Umbridge watched him go with pursed lips and judgmental eyes. When she turned back she jumped. Severus was looking over her, looking murderous. Then he leaned into her face and sneered.

"Not." He began coldly "That is is any of your business but, for reasons that you do not need to know, there will be no more children in Emmeline and I's future. Do I make myself crystal clear?" He finished coldly. Umbridge lingered a moment. She seemed to be debating asking more questions. But then she looked at his face again and shifted every so slightly away. She nodded. "Excellent." Severus drawled coldly. "Now...Get. Out." He said gesturing to the door. The woman pursed her lips and opened her mouth, then thought better of it and turned around. But once she was out of the classroom Severus waved his hand and slammed the door shut in her face, then locked it. The class was completely silent as the professor stood in the centre pinching the bridge of his nose. A slight rustle caught his ear. "Put. that bloody hand. down. Miss. Granger. The bushy-haired girl blushed and let the hand fall. No one dared snicker. 

Harry was taking his time up to the hospital wing, trying very hard to calm down. He just felt so utterly furious. And the throbbing of his hand seemed to be echoing the throbbing rage of his heart. And no matter how many times he took a deep breath or stopped to rest his forehead against the wall to cool it, it wasn't enough. He wanted to scream and kick and curse that foul toad. Rip her guts out and stomp on them. Chop her up into bits and make her into a potion. He was pretty sure his father had a book on dark potions that required human remains at home. He could probably make it there and back with no one the wiser! He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. No! That wasn't like him. He didn't go around plotting how to eviscerate people. As he turned the corner toward the hospital wing he stopped.

"-necessary." He could hear Umbridge saying for a few classrooms down the hall. "In fact! As high inquisitor, I hereby declare this class dismissed."

"We still have an hour of lecture to get through," Emmeline said with a cold matter-of-fact voice. Umbridge giggled in a way that made Harry's veins turn to ice.

"As I said, Miss Vance. That won't be necessary." Emmeline stared down at this woman before her expression slowly melted away into a sad expression of bitter acceptance.

"Class dismissed." She said in a sad tone that made all of her students hesitate. Then one of the ravenclaws in the back slowly stood up, looking uncertain, but then more students joined in. "Penelope," Emmeline began tiredly. The Ravenclaw head girl turned to the professor with a worried expression. "Please close the door behind you."

"Yes, professor." She agreed before she did as requested.

"Bloody hell..." Angelina Johnson muttered in horror to her fellow classmates.

"You don't think she's getting fired do you?" Daphne Greengrass asked worriedly.

"She's been bad-mouthing Umbridge all year." Another Slytherin argued with a worried frown.

"Yeah, but I thought she was really discreet about it!" Angelina argued. The Slytherin snorted.

"Well, it couldn't have been if you Gryffindor could pick up on it."

"Hey!" Angelina snarled with a glare.

"Harry?" Penelope suddenly piped up, startling the soon-to-be-fighting fellow seventh years. Angelina looked over and instantly grew worried. Harry was standing behind the small cluster, shaking like a leaf and breathing hard and fast. His hand, which he had released in his shock, was now dripping blood onto the floor.

"Harry?" Angelina called with a sad expression. When the boy didn't respond she grew even more worried. "Harry?" She called again. Then she reached out a hand and shook his shoulder. "Harry!" That finally jolted the boy out of his panic. "Harry, are you okay?" He looked at his ex-teammate with a sickly expression before he suddenly turned and bolted, racing down the stairs so fast he nearly slipped several times. "HARRY!" Angelina called after him in fear before she raced after him, followed shortly by her fellow seventh-year history students. But when they crossed the fifth-floor corridor they ran into a class of sixth years who looked pale and nervous.

"What happened?" Daphne demanded one of the Slytherins.

"Filch just dragged Trelawney out of the north tower!" They declared with an anguish expression. "He was waving around this paper saying Umbridge had the authority to remove anyone she wished.

"Oh no..." Penelope said with a sad expression. She turned to her fellow seventh years. "Just how many professors is she going to remove?"

"One thing at a time!" Angelina insisted before turning on the sixth year again. "Where was he taking her?" 

"Down to the entrance courtyard probably..."

"Umbridge will probably take Professor Vance there too..."

"Professor Vance?!" One of the sixth years cried in horror.

"Listen up!" Angelina barked. "Each of you go grab your head of house! Corner!" I'll go get Professor Dumbledore! He's the only one who can put a stop to this!" The. She turned and began running back up the stairs. There was a moment of silence before Daphne huffed.

"You heard the captain! Let's move!"  All the students scattered, heading for their respective heads classrooms and offices. 

Emmeline watched with cold unfeeling eyes as Argus dropped her suitcase, rather unceremoniously, onto the cobblestone courtyard. Across from the space Delores was watching with a cold expression. Beside her, Sybil was wringing her hands, looking very distressed and uncertain. 

"Y-you can't do this!" The woman suddenly sobbed, turning for her bags to the pink-clad woman with fear and anguish.

"Oh, indeed a can!" Umbridge declared gleefully. "You see, you two are no longer an asset to this institution. Your curriculums are not ministry approved, and, in fact, you have been teaching things which go against the values and principles which This institution is designed to uphold and nurture." Emmeline swallowed bile.

"So," she spoke up, conscious of the large crowd of students slowly gathering around the courtyard. "I am being fired because I have taught my student the truth?"

"Truth?!" Umbridge cried before she threw her head back in laughter. "My dear you are completely delusional if you think the rubbish you've been teaching is the truth! You said that the goblin had every right to attack us without provocation and that the giants were defending themselves even though they attacked first!"

"There was plenty of provocation," Emmeline snarled coldly. "And the English dishonoured an Irish druidic treaty with the giants when we colonized. They were defending their rights as stated."

"You truly are just utterly uneducated." Umbridge declared with a look of pity. 

"Funny," Emmeline said, a smile forming. "Because from where I'm standing it is you who seems the least educated of us all. And there are children in our audience. Not that I think any child is uneducated, though I suppose you would disagree. Which is why you are such a terrible teacher." Umbridge's eye twitched as she took a deep breath.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Minerva suddenly bellowed as she made her way through the crowd of students. "Sybil!" She cried when she saw the distraught woman. The divination professor sobbed as Minerva rushed forward to comfort her. The deputy then turned to give Umbridge a cold look. 

"Is there something you'd like to say, Minerva?" Umbridge demanded.

"Several things," Minerva snarled. "Nothing in this present company."

"Emmeline!" Severus cried rushing forward.

"Severus," Emmeline said, reaching to grab her fiance's arms.

"Are you alright?" She whispered to her worriedly.

"Perfect fine," Emmeline assured him. 

"Out of the way!" The booming voice of Angelina Johnson suddenly cut through the crowd, wheezy and out of breath. The students parted as the doors to the entrance hall opened, revealing the headmaster.

"Thank you, Miss. Johnson. It was good of you to fetch me." Albus declared to the tall teen with a bow of his head. The girl nodded breathlessly. He strode out onto the courtyard alongside Pomona and Filius. Then he cleared his throat.

"Minerva, please escort Sybil and her things back up to the north tower," he declared firmly. Sybil's eyes lit up with relief and she rushed forward to grab his hands.

"Oh thank you, Albus! Thank you!" The elderly man patted her hands with a gentle smile.

"Severus, bring Emmeline and her things back to your quarters."

"Dumbledore!" Umbridge cried with a furious expression. "Education's decree 11 is clear! As high inquisitor, I have the power to dismiss any staff I deem unfit!"

"You have the right to dismiss them," Albus agreed "but you do not have the right to expel them from the grounds, their home. That right still rests exclusively with the headmaster."  Umbridge slowly smiled, Toad-like as ever.

"For now," she purred before she walked past the professor and back into the castle. The students all have her looks ranging from fear to disgust, to anger, to pure contempt. None more so than a first-year Hufflepuff and fifth-year Gryffindor who were fighting through the crowd to reach the door

The trudge up to their quarters was sullen and quiet. Severus could pick up on Emmeline's rage easily. As soon as they were back Emmeline stood in the entryway with a sour expression. 

"I'll put on the kettle." Severus declared.

"What for?" Emmeline demanded sourly.

"For cocoa."

"Oh so now you care about my emotional wellbeing." Emmeline spat. Severus froze and then turned with a frown.

"What are you talking about?" He asked

"What did you say to Umbridge about my... condition?" She asked in turn.

"Nothing!" Severus cried in horror. "I would never-"

"Then why was she making comments!" Emmeline demanded coldly. "Talking about how 'it's perfectly natural'! Or that 'teaching is no substitute for real motherhood'!"

"I don't know how she found out! All she-" he paused and groaned. "Oh..."

"So you did say something!" Emmeline growled.

"She asked about maternity leave... I was trying to dissuade her..." Severus admitted. Emmeline smacked him on the arm furiously.

"You blithering ignoramus! You knew that wouldn't work!"

"She was berating me as well!" Severus argued back, looking furious. "It's not my fault she's the scum of the earth!"

"Well, maybe you should think before you speak!" Emmeline snarled.

"You know perfectly well that I always do!" He growled back. "Her cruelty is not my fault!" He took a deep breath. "I understand you're upset, but you have no right to take it out on me."

"Oh, don't you dare go on acting as though you're better than me!" Emmeline shrieked. "Your temper is worse than mine! I can't count how many times you've taken your anger out on me!"

"I am not discussing this with you while you're this upset." Severus declared as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back when you've calmed down a bit."

"Typical!" Emmeline screamed. "When things get tough you walk away! Go then! Leave! Just like you always do! Coward!" Severus froze. He turned slowly, giving Emmeline a steely look.

"Take. That. Back." He demanded coldly.

"So you think you were brave slinking out in the night with no explanation?!" Emmeline demanded. Severus frowned watching his fiance. A lot of her anger was leaving her. She looked mostly just tired and teary-eyed. he crossed his arms.

"What are we arguing about ?" He asked.

"I don't know!" Emmeline admitted with a quiet sob. Suddenly the door opened.

"Mum, Lucy and I-" Harry stopped mid-stride holding Lucy's hand comfortingly from where the girl looked very worried. "Is.... Everything alright?"

"Yes!" Both parents declared firmly, though Emmeline looked seconds from tears.

"Everything is fine." Severus insisted. Harry looked between the pair nervously.

"You're both terrible liars," Lucy said with a slight smile. Emmeline blinked while Severus stared before he scowled slightly. Eventually, Emmeline sighed and flopped onto the couch.

"Umbridge said ... some very cruel things."

"And you both have tempers to match?" Harry offered with a cheeky grin.

"Quiet you," Severus grumbled. Harry did as told, but the grin remained as he walked over to sit beside his mother. As soon as he did he was in her arms. Lucy hovered awkwardly off to the side before Severus came over and put his hands on her shoulders. He'd meant it the way that he did with Harry, just a stabilizing force, but then Lucy had her arms around his midriff, squeezing tighter than he was expecting which drew out a grunt.

"When I heard you were in the entrance hall with Professor Trewlawney and Ms. Emmeline..." Lucy murmured into his chest. Severus sighed and put a hand on her head. 

"It will take far more than Delores Umbridge to get rid of me," Severus assured her with a disgusted sniff as if the very notion was slightly offensive. The girl smiled up at him but didn't look up right away. When she did it was to let him go and join Harry on the couch. Without prompting Emmeline scooped the little girl into a hug as well and finally let out a contented sigh. Severus smiled and settled into the armchair alongside the couch and watched the trio with an air of peace.

"So what happens now?" Harry asked after a few minutes. Emmeline sighed again, sounding far more melancholic.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Nothing good I suppose... I wonder who's going to replace me." She muttered glumly.

"Probably Binns." Harry groaned pathetically.

"Is he bad?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"Worse than Emmeline, that's for sure," Severus grumbled.

"Well, the classes are great for catching up on sleep." Harry reasoned. Then hissed out a laugh at his mother's light smack up the backside of his head. 

"Don't listen to him," Severus said with a stern frown. "Try to pay attention in class, as best you can." The trio went back to snuggling.

"We're gonna miss you, Mum," Harry said after a few more minutes tucked into his mother's side.

"Save those goodbyes for when I'm actually gone." Emmeline insisted. No one commented on the fact that such a thing was much more an inevitability than a possibility.

"Romeo Romeo, wherefore art..." Seamus suddenly dropped his script with a pitiful scowl. "This is stupid."

"Seamus," Hermione barked from the pit with her own much angrier scowl. "You are the only one complaining!"

"Can you blame me? I'm in a bloody dress!" The teen shouted furiously gesturing to his costume, a 14th-century pink smock encrusted with pearls and embroidery.

"So it Harry!" Hermione reminded him! The Irish teen turned to his fellow co-star who was struggling not to laugh in his smock, complete with ridiculous head covering and apron.

"This is stupid." He repeated.

"Hey!" Tracey barked. "We agreed after our production of the tale of the three brothers that we would do a traditional Shakespeare production. That means no actresses! So shut up and practice your lines! You're the only one who hasn't memorized them yet!" Seamus let out a pained sigh.

"How about we start from the top of the scene again?" Harry argued.

"Alright! Hannah! Susan! Can we get a scene reset please!"

"You got it!" Hannah shouted back before the dias on wheels that Harry and Seamus were standing on suddenly lurched forward, nearly pitching them into the ground.

"Left! Left!" Susan admonished.

"Sorry!" Hannah called back before the dias lurched back instead.

"Bloody hell are you trying to break our necks?!" Seamus complained.

"Shhh!" Hermione shouted before she waved a hand up to Parvati. With a wave of her wand, the light changed. Dean Thomas walked out onto stage, decked out in full costume, twirling a carnival mask in his hands.

"He jests at scars that never felt a wound." 

Dean spoke with a trace of bitterness in his voice. Then a light shown for stage right. He turned to it eyes suddenly alright. 

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief,

That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.

Be not her maid since she is envious.

Her vestal livery is but sick and green,

And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off."

Suddenly the dias crept halfway into the stage, Seamus was standing by the railing, looking like he desperately wanted to be somewhere else, but still following the visual crews that Astoria Greengrass (one of the new Slytherin members of SCAM that Tracey had brought in, too much initial skepticism) was giving him. Hermione huffed but found herself uninclined to scold him since Juliet was supposed to be forlorn in that scene. Dean's began to beam, eyes alright with affection.

"It is my lady, O, it is my love!                                       

O, that she knew she were!

She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?

Her eye discourses; I will answer it.

I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks.

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,

Having some business, do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres till they return.

What if her eyes were there, they in her head?

The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,

As daylight doth a lamp. Her eye in heaven                 

Would, through the airy region, stream so bright

That birds would sing and think it were not night.

See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand.

O, that I were a glove upon that hand,

That I might touch that cheek!"

Dean had been creeping closer and closer to the dias as he spoke, despite the fact he was supposed to be stationary. Hermione scowled and wondered why Padma wasn't giving him his cue. Seamus was standing transfixed as Dean spoke, eyes wide and shining. As the black teen finished speaking all he could do was stare.

"Line!" Harry hissed

"Bloody hell," Seamus muttered back, which rose a laugh from the cast. Hermione opened her mouth to admonish him, but Dean suddenly grabbed the teen's hands and continued his speech. Only...

"He speaks!

O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art

As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,

As is a wingèd messenger of heaven

Unto the white upturnèd wond'ring eyes

Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him 

When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds

And sails upon the bosom of the air." 

Dean finished. The entire theatre was silent before suddenly Seamus flew out his hands, grabbed Dean's face and the two started snogging furiously over the dias railing. A whoop rose from the side as Ernie, Ron and Blaise Zabini all jumped from backstage, followed by Colin and Zacharias. Hermione sputtered and started laughing which finally startled the pair.

"What are you laughing at?!" Seamus demanded furiously despite his gasp.

"No wonder you haven't memorized your lines! I've had you practicing with Dean this whole time! Tell me, did you get anything done?"

"Shut up!" Seamus squeaked with a flushed face. Suddenly there was clapping from all of the girls in the crew as Pavarti changed the light to a spotlight on the pair. Now Dean was starting to get flustered as everyone shouted congratulations and praise. After a few minutes, Hermione cleared her throat with a sonorous.

"Alright alright!" She shouted, gaining everyone's attention back. "Let's try this again! Act 2, scene 2! From the top!"

Suddenly the door to the theatre opened, admitted Professor Vector and Professor Umbridge. The second the short pink-clad woman saw the stage she shrieked.

"Good Merlin! Those Boys Are In Dresses!"

"Yes," Septima said casually. "I told you. They're doing a traditional Shakespeare production."

"Traditional?! How on earth is that traditional?!" She demanded furiously.

"Well you see professor," Blaise said, stepping forward. "It's been recorded that muggles thought that acting was a very base profession. Something even lower than a beggar or even a lady of the night, as it were. No self-respecting woman would ever perform on a stage. So all of the female parts in Shakespeare and Marlowe's plays were written with actors in mind." The woman blinked.

"Mr. Zabini? I wasn't aware you were a member of this club."

"Miss. Davies invited me." Blaise said casually "and I must say, it's been quite enjoyable."

"Indeed," Umbridge replied. She looked around before she shook her head. "Nevertheless, I simply cannot allow this production to continue. It wouldn't do to expose young people to this sort of... behaviour."

"What's wrong with wearing a dress?" Seamus argued.

"Simply that you are a boy Mr. Fineggan! And you should dress like one!" Umbridge barked. Seamus scowled.

"But I like the dress!" He argued. Ron and Harry exchange a glance. Not twenty minutes ago the boy was raging against his costume. 

"That's ridiculous Mr. Fineggan!" Delores barked. "Take it off at once!" The Irish teen looked at her with a scowl before he smiled. 

"Okay." Then he reached his arms behind him undid the bow holding it up and let the dress fall, revealing his corset and stockings. Umbridge shrieked and covered her eyes.

"DETENTION YOU REVOLTING LITTLE BRAT!" she shrieked before she turned and ran from the theatre. Seamus then scooped up the dress to properly cover himself.

"Sorry Professor Vector." He said casually.

"Mr. Finnegan... that was excellent." She responded which rose a round of laughter and applause from his fellow students. "But also very foolish."

"Sorry professor," Seamus repeated, much more repentant this time.

"Also... no more traditional productions I'm afraid. And I think it would be better to do something with a little less... romance." Vector finished.

"Awwww..." the students chorused with a frown.

"But the romances are so fun!" Lucy cried with sad eyes.

"You'll be lucky if you haven't turned Delores off Shakespeare entirely," Septima argued. Hermione slumped.

"But... but this was nearly the end of dress rehearsals! You're saying we have to start all over again?!" She bemoaned. Septima gave her an apologetic pat on the shoulder.

"Dammit..." Seamus muttered sadly. "I was just getting into it." Then Dean leaned in and whispered something into the Irish boy's ear which made him go bright red, raising a laugh.

"I think it's a good change!" Astoria argued, "it didn't seem fair to have all the boys have all the fun!"

"You missed our last production," Lucy argued. "Lovegood played death. It was... awe-inspiring."

"And just a touch terrifying," Ron added with a snicker. 

"Thank you!" Luna piped up from where she was wrapping up the curtain ropes. "That's a lovely compliment."

"Is it?" Ron questioned with a blink.

"Well isn't death supposed to be a little frightening? The unknown always is. But I'm sure once you get to know it, it won't be so bad. Like the youngest brother! He knew death well and wasn't afraid at all! Maybe death just seems frightening because you haven't tried to get to know it." Luna said airily. The trio were all staring at her with wide eyes. After a while, Lucy cleared her throat.

"Anyway! I'm sure whatever this next  production will be, they'll be a lot more interesting roles to fill."

"We'll see." Astoria reasoned before she helped Lucy move the rest of the sets back away. Meanwhile, Hermione and Tracey had their heads together over a tome.

"No," Hermione said bitterly. "No."

"Too raunchy. Too graphic... ugh! Too short!" Tracey argued with a scoff of disgust.

"Too boring," Hermione muttered.

"What about the king collection?" Tracey offered. Hermione's eyes lit up and she ruffled through the book before she landed on one with a triumphant grin. Tracey blinked.

"Isn't that... but the main character is the villain!"

"It's a very compelling character! And has some of the best monologues that Shakespeare ever wrote!" Hermione argued. Tracye hummed before she shrugged.

"Alright... sound fun I suppose"

"You picked a new production already?" Harry asked.

"Everyone!" Hermione called, grabbing the attention of the whole club. "Our next production is going to be Richard the Third!"

"You weren't kidding," Harry muttered to Tracey as they walked down the halls together while Harry reviewed the translated script Hermione had drafted (after Seamus and Ron complained about their inability to understand the dodgy old English) "he really is a villain."

"You still want to audition?" Tracey asked.

"I do," Harry admitted. "I like acting. I never knew it until now, but it's a lot of fun. It's surprisingly comforting. It's like telling a story but using everything you... Lucy?" Harry stopped as he spotted something out of the corner of his eyes down a side hall. Sure enough when he turned back the little Hufflepuff was sitting in an alcove sniffling. "Lucy!" He cried in horror. "Are you okay?! What happened?!" Then he looked down and gasped. The poor girl's hands were covered in blisters, a sign of the curse of boils. His eyes grew dark. The upperclassman had been working on that in SCAM not a week before. "Who did this Lucy?" He demanded. The girl shook her head. "Hey," Harry said a little gentler. "Come on, you know you can tell me..." the girl looked him over, hesitated for a moment,  before she took a deep breath.

"Zacharias..." she admitted. "He's always been a little cold, but lately..." she rubbed her face with the back of her hand. "He said... that I should keep my mouth shut...when I was defending you. He called you a liar." Lucy explained. Harry stood up. 

"Tracey," he said darkly "take Lucy to the hospital wing." Then he turned on his heels and stalked back down the hall. Tracey blinked at his expression before she put her head down and scooped Lucy up. 

"He is way too much like his dad sometimes." She muttered worriedly. 

He marched down the hall with a purpose. His grim expression had everyone flattening themselves against the wall or turning down the hall to avoid it.

"Oh, Severus!" Minerva called from one hallway then blinked as the man marched by without turning his head. "What on earth..."

"Yes, Minerva?" Severus said, coming from the other end of the hall. The woman jumped and spun around.

"Oh! There you..." she looked down the wall. "I swear I just saw you marching by... hell on your heels."

"I was heading to tea with Emmeline," Severus insisted, gesturing behind him. 

"Then who-" Minerva said with a blink.

"SMITH!" came a roar around the corner. Both teachers jumped and rushed around the corner with matching expressions of worry. They came around the corner just in time for Harry to land a wicked right hook straight into Smith's nose. The lanky blond dropped like a rock with a groan. Then Harry grabbed his collar with both hands and shook him. "Stay the fuck away from my little sister you bastard!"

"Enough!" Severus shouted angrily before he pulled Harry off the Hufflepuff. Smith fell to the floor again before scrambling to his feet and running away. Harry tried to run after him but Severus physically held him back. "That's enough!"

"What on earth was that about Mr. Potter?" Minerva demanded with pursed lips

"He deserved it!" Harry bellowed furiously as he tried to run past his father after the boy.

"I said that's enough," Severus repeated with a firm hand on his shoulder. Harry shrugged it off.

"What do you care?!" He snarled. "All you do is criticize anyway!"

"Harry, tell us what happened and we can settle this!" Severus growled in frustration. Harry had been so argumentative lately. Not only had he been skipping his occlumency lessons, but he, as well as his other professors, had noticed a marked lack of class participation. They all remarked that he seemed distant, and when he was singled out was prone to snarky retorts or biting comebacks.

"I don't need your help!" Harry snarled before he turned and prowled away, thankfully in the opposite direction than Smith.

"What on earth..." Minerva began worriedly before turning to Severus. "What has gotten into him lately?!" The potions master lifted and then let his arms fall in a silent show of bewildered defeat. Minerva took a deep, calming breath before she paused.

"You know," she began thoughtfully, giving Severus side eyes. "I seem to recall a certain tall black haired sullen boy in his fifth year-"

"Don't start." Severus bit back with a scoff.

"His professors were very concerned about him." Minerva continued anyway. "He'd withdrawn from everyone. Friendships fell away..." She gave him a meaningful look. "It took him years to recover." Severus gave her a withering look. "I often felt that his parents were to blame. They didn't seem to pay him enough attention." Minerva muttered bitterly

"It wasn't their fault!" Severus snarled, whirling on her. "And you have no right to say such things!" Minerva blinked in shock. "We didn't have much! Just each other! And that was enough!" Severus let his shoulders droop. "Until we didn't even have that anymore..." he said, trailing off. He looked over at his older colleague before he sighed. "My apologies Minerva I-"

"No." Minerva assented. "You're right... perhaps I was too quick to judge." She sighed. "It's just... well I remember Eileen from my days at Hogwarts. She was such a bright young woman. And so kind to us younger years. Even us Gryffs."

"She always was kind to the kids on our street," Severus recalled with an air of melancholy "especially the one who didn't have something to hold on to."

"She was a gentle soul. It doesn't surprise me that she would love strongly enough to leave everything she knew behind." Minerva paused. "You know... I always thought... well some of your professors, myself included... well we thought your father was a brute."

"What?" Severus said with a blink.

"Well, you always came back so gaunt and thin. We thought that maybe he was treating you and your mother poorly." Severus let out a bitter laugh.

"Oh no. We were all pretty gaunt after the mill closed. It was hard, but we got by. He never told mother but father took donations from our church every week when I was home. Just to put a little extra food on the table. It's like I said... we didn't have much. But we had each other... and it was enough."

"She sent me a letter," Minerva blurted out. "When she got her diagnosis... she had to explain it to me of course, and in all honesty... I still don't fully understand it..."

"Essentially, your body makes an error when trying to repair itself, and that error starts repeating itself over and over again until it forces your body to shut down," Severus said thickly. "It is more likely for an error to occur when the body is exposed to certain chemicals."

"It was the mill then? That's what caused it?"

"Mesothelioma." Severus clarified. "It's a form of cancer that attacks the lungs. Usually from inhalation of chemicals. Most of the men over fifty in cokeworth have it. Wives get it mostly from vicinity, though there is also a possible link to housekeeping. Specifically laundry. Cleaning the dirty soot and dust-covered clothes of their husbands leads to the same kind of inhalation after all." Severus looked skyward. "Most of my father's coworkers were already dead by the time my mother got her diagnosis. He was one of the lucky ones." He scoffed. "Though I don't know if I would call watching your wife slowly and painfully wasting away in front of you as 'lucky'."

"I know he took it hard..."

"We both did." Severus insisted. "I just... handled it differently than he did."

"You buried yourself in your work."

"I kept busy." Severus insisted with a sniff. "He's the one that turned to the bottle."

"But work becomes your own form of addiction," Minerva argued with knowing eyes. "Tell me... and be truthful... if your mother had still been alive would you have done the Christmas mission in 1979?" Minerva demanded. Severus felt his chest tighten then he scowled and looked away.

"A lot of things would have been different if she'd still been alive." was all he muttered before he turned to stomp away, back to his fiance and the peace. Minerva shot out a hand to stop him.

"Severus... when was the last time you spoke to your son outside of work?" she demanded. Severus opened his mouth and felt his words die. It had been some time. Probably too long... "talk to him. Not as a professor. As his father. He is still young. He still needs you. And you need him, whether you realize it or not." then she was gone. And to make sure he didn't try and make some kind of bitter comeback she changed into a cat mid-stride and loped away gracefully. Severus was left alone and frustrated in the corridor, uncertain of where he should go first.

That question was answered for him when he arrived at his quarters and found Emmeline consoling Lucy while Tracey hovered off to the side awkwardly.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Zacharias Smith," Tracey responded coldly. Severus let his eyes drift closed. That explained quite a bit. He came to the couch and came and knelt in front of the 11-year-old girl.

"What happened my dear," he asked her, gently as he could. The girl sniffed quietly.

"He got mad, 'cause I told him that Harry wasn't lying." the girl sniffed and rubbed her face with one of Emmeline's handkerchiefs. The man took a deep breath to regulate his temper.

"How long has this been happening?" he asked then reached out to grab her hand as she tried to twist her jumper into knots. She took a deep breath.

"For a while," she admitted quietly. "The first week was fine. I made a few friends and everything was okay. But then we started the acting club and Zacharias joined. He started to get really nasty. Calling Harry a liar and making fun of him for no reason. I tried to make him stop, but he just turned around and started bad-mouthing me instead. Call me a crybaby and a teacher's pet, stuff like that. At first, the other first years were on my side and would tell him off when he was being mean. But they stopped talking to me after a while. I think Zacharias was threatening them for helping me. Yesterday he was going on about how Harry only got everything he wanted cause he was famous, and how he wasn't actually good at anything," the girl was shaking now, her face and tears turning from sorrow to fury. "I was so mad! So I... well I got some help from some upperclassman. It was just a simple prank. We made it so that everything he touched turned pink. Just the common room. Silly really..." Lucy admitted with a sniff.

Severus couldn't help his slight smile. For all that Smith had been cruel to her, forcing her into isolation and belittling her, she hadn't conceived of a revenge worse than minor schoolyard shenanigans. It was proof positive of her gentle and kind nature. "But Zacharias was so angry. He started screaming about how he would hex whoever had done it. And I guess he got it out of one of the upperclassmen 'cause he came and found me during lunch today..." she trailed off looking away from him with a faint blush. Likely shame, though she didn't have any reason to feel any. 

"What did he do?" Severus asked, a little louder expecting an answer from one of the other people in the room.

"Looked like a curse of boils," Tracey responded candidly. "We were working on it last week for our dress rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet. For the scene with the plague village."

"Clever," Severus drawled with a grumble. "I take it you were practicing how to keep your victims from experiencing pain?"

"I thought Umbridge banned all casting of defensive spells,'' Emmeline said with narrowed eyes.

"We're not using them in a defensive setting," Tracey replied with almost rehearsed ease. Both parents looked grim. Then Severus sighed.

"I will talk with Smith," he declared to Lucy. "What he did was truly abhorrent. No one should have gone through this. Such acts of bullying are expressly forbidden at Hogwarts and I will not allow it to continue." he rose to his full height and turned from the room. Then he paused.

"Miss Davies, please make sure that Lucy makes it back to Hufflepuff common room tonight. Before curfew."

"Yes sir." the girl agreed with a bow of her head. Severus nodded in thanks before he turned and left the apartments on the hunt for a certain lanky blond teenager. 

The pair of them would be having... words.

"Is this really necessary?" Septima asked casually as she sat on the bench that Tracey and Hermione set up in front of the stage.

"Yes," Tracey insisted. 

"We know how good everyone here is. You can be impartial. Not-" Hermione began quickly. "That you haven't been supervising, but you don't stay for every rehearsal."

"Very well. What are the auditions today?"

"The titular Richard, Queen Margaret and Queen Elanor" Tracey read. "We're starting with Richard... Corner, Micheal!" She beckoned. The tall ravenclaw strutted out with a smirk.

"Act 1, scene 1, opening soliloquy, if you please," Hermione said plainly. Micheal smirked before he took a deep breath.

"Now the winter of our troubles has been transformed into glorious summer by the ascension of my brother, King Edward IV, son of the house of York!" 

Micheal recited passionately, with a bright smile. Hermione flinched while Tracey raised an eyebrow. 

"All the clouds that had descended over our family have now been banished and returned to the sea! Now we wear wreaths of victory on our foreheads, and -"

"Next!" Septima cried in disgust. Micheal blinked and visibly deflated before walking off the stage. Hermione sucked in a breath.

"Erm - professor -  we try to be a little more... delicate when we tell people to stop."

"Why?" Septima demanded with a frown.

"Well it spares their feelings," Hermione offered with a sad expression.

Septima frowned before Blaise strutted on stage.

"Shall I begin?" He asked cockily. 

"Just get on with it, zabini." Tracey barked in irritation.

 The lanky teen took a deep breath.

"Now the winter of our troubles has been transformed into glorious summer by the ascension of my brother, King Edward IV, son of the house of York. All the clouds that had descended over our family have now been banished and returned to the sea. Now we wear wreaths of victory on our foreheads, and we've hung up our armour as decoration. We've exchanged the sound of our battle trumpets for the sound of joyful greetings, and our death marches have become stately dances." 

Blaise's delivery was much better. He stood with an air about him like he was demanding respect. But there was a coldness to his voice that made Hermione shudder.

"That will be all Mr. Zabini," Septima said as the boy began the rest of the soliloquy. As he walked off she adjusted herself. "He... was exceptional. A strong candidate."

"We have a couple more-" Tracey said.

"Smith and Ernie backed out this morning actually," Hermione admitted. "Smith... didn't give a reason." She finished after a beat with a pointed look, but both knew it was related to the... incident, just yesterday. "And Ernie said he read the script a bit more and didn't think he had the chops."

"So who is left?" Septima asked. That's when Harry walked onto the stage. "Mr. Potter? These are the auditions for the part of Richard. The auditions for Clarence are later. 

"Ooh, pick Neville!" Harry cried with a grin. "He's a whippet, don't let him tell you otherwise."

"Whenever you're ready!" Hermione called with a grin. Harry nodded then closed his eyes and took a deep breath and removed his glasses. When he opened them Septima sucked in a breath. 

The boy looked just like his father.

True the nose was less hooked and the face a little less world-weary. But his eyes had taken on the same haunted lustre, for all their verdant hue. And the way he held himself. She'd always said that Severus stood like a pureblood. Right now Harry stood like a prince. Why his great grandfather, who Septima remembered and loathed well, would be proud of his stance if nothing else. Then he drew a breath.

"Now the winter of our troubles has been transformed into glorious summer by the ascension of my brother, King Edward IV, son of the house of York." 

Harry said. Though spat would be more accurate. He'd delivered the line with a very Snape-like sneer, complete with disdainful brow. 

"All the clouds that had descended over our family have now been banished and returned to the sea. Now we wear wreaths of victory on our foreheads, and we've hung up our armour as decoration. We've exchanged the sound of our battle trumpets for the sound of joyful greetings, and our death marches have become stately dances." 

He ended that last line with a scoff in his throat, casting his eyes to the sky as if looking up at an opulent ceiling with disgust at the excess. 

"The grim, warlike expressions on our faces have smoothed. And instead of charging on armoured horses to frighten our opponents, we now dance in ladies' chambers to seductive songs on the lute." 

The next line was mocking. He even did a little half bow, making sure to lean, ever so slightly to one side, mimicking a limp. When he straightened all signs of mirth had vanished from his face, replaced only with cold bitter anger. 

"But as for me, I am not made for such games of love, or to admire myself in a mirror. I was badly made, and I lack the good looks to strut in front of passing girls. Nature has cheated me out of handsome features and proper proportions. I was born deformed, unfinished, and premature. I was barely half-created when I came into the world, and left so lame and misshapen that dogs bark at me as I limp past them" 

he was staring at the floor now, the bitter rage tracing even more familiar lines onto his face. For but a moment Septima was sure that it really was Severus on the stage, though Potter's voice was less baritone than his father's. She wondered in passing if that might one day change. 

"In such delicate times of peace, I have nothing to do." 

She was startled then because Potter delivered that line with a trace of boredom. As if the thought of peace filled him with minor dread. She felt her soul shudder. 

"No joys help me pass the time, unless I want to see my own shadow in the sun and make speeches about my deformity." 

He paused and slowly a sinister smile crept onto his face, the kind that Septima had seen but once before when Severus was describing a particularly brutal poison to one of the wretched students from two years ago who had tried to murder him. Now her heart was pounding in her chest in fear. 

"Therefore, since I cannot amuse myself by being a lover during these peaceful days, I am determined to become a villain." 

Harry finished this with a truly Slytherin-worthy smirk. After just a few moments, in which he let the line sink in, he straightened up and put his glasses back on. The theatre was silent. Hermione had gone slack-jawed at some point during the performance and Tracey was staring at Harry with awed eyes. After a moment Septima cleared her throat.

"Can you see without your glasses, Mr. Potter?"

"Yeah," Harry assured her. "I mostly keep them out of habit now."

"Good. You'll need to keep them off when you perform."

"Er... usually Hermione waist to list the whole cast before she decides who-"

"Nonsense." Septima insisted. "You are Richard the Third. You have more lines to memorize than anyone. Best to start now."

"Right... great!" Harry finished as he realized the full implications of what she said. "Fantastic!"

"Get to it, Mr. Potter!"

Severus looked out at the Great Hall, watching first Lucy, chatting happily with her fellow first years. It was a relief to see, and proof that Smith had taken their little... discussion to heart. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to repeat himself, for the teenager's sake. Then he paned to Harry. He was sitting alone, reading a scroll, half focused on what he was eating with rapidly moving eyes. At some point, he reached up and removed his glasses. Then he seemed to grow frustrated before he dropped the scroll and pulled his hair up into a messy ponytail. When he looked back Severus was struck with an odd sense of deja vu. Harry had never looked more like Lily in that moment. It filled him with a wave of sad nostalgia. Suddenly he found himself walking down the Great Hall towards the boy. As he stopped, hovering, he found once again his words had died. After a moment Harry turned to him, instincts raising alarm bells.

"Yes sir?" Harry asked with a look of slight fear. Severus felt bile rise to his throat. Harry hadn't looked at him like that in years. It was unsettling.

"I... was wondering if you'd like to come have lunch with me in my office." Severus finally muttered out. "It's been a long time since we had a chat." Harry blinked. Then he grimaced slightly.

"Erm... well I'm kind of busy," Harry explained. "I made the lead in our latest play and-"

"Lead? You made the lead?" Severus demanded, a bit of pride bubbling up.

"Yeah. I'm playing Richard the Third." Harry explained cooly. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Bit of a departure for you isn't it? I didn't know you ever thought of playing a villian..."

"You don't know a lot of things," Harry muttered bitterly. Then he stood up, slinging his book bag over his shoulder. "I gotta go. I have at least a hundred lines to memorize by Saturday." Then he walked out of the door. Severus made an uncharacteristic rush to follow.

"Harry!" Severus called fearfully. He wasn't sure why he was so afraid, but something in his very core was terrified. Harry turned back to his father with worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, Dad?" Harry asked, a little more open than he was a moment ago. The relief that flooded Severus was immense. Then he looked down.

"Please... come down to my office tonight. You've skipped the last five sessions. Occlumency is a skill that needs to be practiced as much as possible. I... I'm worried about you." Severus admitted. Harry scowled, looking very much like he wanted to tell him to piss off. But then he took his father's face and seemed to falter. After a few moments of deliberation, he sighed.

"Fine... I'll see you at 8."

"Excellent!" Severus said, with a small relieved smile. But Harry had already turned away. He stared after the teen before he rushed for his quarters

"I only have one shot at this Emmeline," Severus said wearily as he paced in front of her. "If I mess this up... he might never speak to me again."

"Oh don't be so dramatic," Emmeline insisted as she sorted through seating arrangements. "Do you think we should put Minerva with Charity and Bethesda or my parents?"

"Your parents. Rolanda is sitting with Charity and she and Minerva get into too many arguments about quidditch when alcohol is involved." Severus muttered in response. "I don't think I am being dramatic, Emmeline. He has been drifting away from me for months. It's these damned occlumency lessons."

"Those lessons were your idea though!" Emmeline insisted as she looked at the menu.

"We need to take that walnut salad off the menu and replace it. Aurora's husband has a nut allergy." Severus pointed out. "I know they were my idea. But I just can't seem to get through to him! I don't understand it! I'm not teaching him any different than I was taught!" Emmeline looked up and blinked.

"What? Severus, you learned occlumency when you were seven!"

"Exactly! It should be easier for him! It's exactly how my mother taught me!" Severus argued.

"She probably learned when she was four!" Emmeline argued back with a flabbergasted laugh. "From her father who probably was trained before he could even speak!" She took a deep breath. "You probably think that you have a natural aptitude. But not everyone in a family line shares the connection to the old magic. Look at my mother! She can barely ride a training broom! But more than that! He wasn't raised with magic, remember? It wasn't ingrained in him. Those pathways are being forged later than ours were. So of course he hasn't been able to learn it the same way you did!" Severus blinked at her before he sat into his armchair a bit more forcefully than usual and stared at the fire with a melancholy frown 

"So I did bollucks everything up..." Severus muttered pathetically. Emmeline smiled and got up to rub his shoulders.

"You still have time to fix this. You just need a new approach." She hummed in thought. "You need to talk to someone who's trained Harry one-on-one. Someone who knows the best ways to teach him."

"Well, who would that be? He hasn't really done private lessons with anyone... well except-" he trailed off, and his face twisted into a grimace. Then he let out a groan of distaste. Emmeline smiled and chuckled before she leaned down and gave him a gentle Peck on the cheek.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to swallow your pride, my love. After all, it's just like you said, this is your last chance."

Remus Lupin opened the front door of his one-room basement flat, shuffled through the door with an air of utter exhaustion, tossed his keys into the dish by the door, slammed the door closed behind him, and threw himself into the couch he called his bed with a sigh of relief. Within seconds he was asleep, snoring slightly after a very long night. It was a nice, simple job, working as security in a library. Very relaxing. But as the moon drew closer the night grew harder to manage. And his monthly absences were making his boss irritable. Pretty soon he'd been back to soda crackers and watery soup until he found the next job to get fired from. Suddenly the floor flared and he was sitting upright.

"Yes!" He cried, staring at the fire blearily. "I'm up! I'm awake! What do you need, Albus?!" 

"Is this a bad time?" Severus Snape responded as casually as he could. Remus blinked.

"Severus?" He called back before he turned on his lights. "No no! Everything is fine here! Is everything fine there?" He asked, growing worried. It would take a crisis of epic proportions to make Severus Snape call the likes of him. And he meant that in every sense of the word. The potions master responded with an awkward sigh.

"It's not a short discussion," he admitted after a moment of deliberation. "May I come through?"

"Of course!" Remus responded readily. Then he realized what an absolute mess his flat was and frantically scrambled to at least throw some of the scattered take-out containers away. Then he chucked a blanket over the armchair in the corner that currently housed a large pile of clothes he'd been meaning to fold just as Severus immerged from the floo and made a noise of alarm. "Yes, the edge is a bit short!" Remus cried with a wince. Severus had to bend nearly double but he managed to climb out. Until he tripped and nearly sprawled into the floor."Sorry! Forgot about the screen!" Remus cried as he caught the man's arm and pulled him upright. Severus huffed slightly as he dusted himself off. Remus winced and swept away a few embers on his shoulders. "Need to clean the chimney soon..." Severus scanned his surroundings and found his heart squeeze. The Remus Lupin he remembered was eclectic, but organized, with a general rule of reasonable and comfortable clutter. This was absolute chaos. Rubbish and clothes were scattered everywhere, nearly every surface taken up by paperwork and, most distressingly, empty potions viles. He looked down and saw that he had been sleeping on the couch. Then he noted that the flat didn't even have a bedroom. He looked up at the wolf with a questioning look. It was as gentle as he could be. But the silent 'Are you alright?' apparently shone through. Remus immediately averted his eyes and went about shifting things in a futile attempt to make the mess seem more... well not cleaned away but... manageable. Instead, it just made it more obvious. Remus refused to meet Severus eyes again, knowing the pity that would be there. Though he would have surprised to see no pity, but instead worry, and a small morsel of shame.

 "What did you need to discuss with me?" Remus asked after a minute of needlessly shifting his pillow.

"It's about Harry," Severus began wearily.

"Has something happened to him?!" Remus cried worriedly. He cared very deeply for the boy. He meant it when he told Harry he could call him uncle. He saw it as a duty. To make up for how terribly Sirius had turned out. 

"Physically he's fine. Mentally..." Severus trailed off before he sighed. "I've been trying to teach him occlumency."

"That's fairly advanced stuff, isn't it? And doesn't it take years of study?" Remus questioned with a frown as he sat on the sofa. Severus sighed and settled into the armchair adjacent. 

"Usually, yes, but it is vital that Harry learn it as quickly as possible."

"I see. So how's it going?"

"Not good," Severus admitted point blank. "In fact... abysmal comes to mind... a right bloody mess is another good one."

"That bad huh?" Remus asked with a grin. Severus glowered at him, seeing the grin for the cheeky look that it was. "Alright alright... so why are you struggling?"

"It's been months and he still can't clear his mind!" Severus cried in frustration. "I've told him to clear his mind. To control his emotions. To focus. I've explained it to him at least a hundred times! I'm at my wit's end!"

"Have you asked him how he's doing it?" Remus asked casually. Severus blinked.

"What?"

"Have you asked Harry how he's been clearing his mind?" Remus questioned. Severus blinked at him. The werewolf let out an exhausted huff. "Harry learns best when you help guide him to the correct answers with questions. Like when I helped him with the patronus. He was struggling with the shields, so I asked what sort of memory he was using. He said the first time he rode a broom. Not nearly the right sort of emotions. I asked him just that, what he was feeling then. Then I asked him if he felt those emotions were strong enough. Of course, he admitted no. Then I asked him what emotions he thought were strong," at this Remus smiled. "His very first one was love. Very wise. I know what memory he uses for his Patronus. It's very personal. And very very powerful."

"I... would never have thought..." Severus began with a whine. Remus chuckled.

"You're a great lecturer, Severus. One of the best. And you know potions better than anyone I know. But you can be very foolish sometimes." Severus sent him a half-hearted glare before he sighed and looked down at his folded hands "Do you have another lesson tonight?"

"Yes," Severus admitted. "It's why I came to speak to you. I want to get this right."

"Alright. Ask questions. And guide Harry to the right answers by letting him get there himself. He's a very smart young man. He can muddle through almost anything if he puts his whole mind behind it."

"Yes, I have seen that first hand." Severus conceded. He gave Remus a slight smirk. "Has he told you that he and his girlfriend are currently engrossed in a potions venture?"

"I didn't even know he had a girlfriend!" Remus remarked, though his eyes glittered with mirth. "What sort of venture?"

"They sell stain removers to their fellow classmates. It's a modified version of one of my cleanup potions. Very powerful stuff. Managed to clean 20-year-old stains off my training robe from 78." Remus let out a long slow whistle.

"Don't suppose you have a vial? I could use something like that. My best suit has really seen better days." Remus remarked with a chuckle.

"They currently go for 1 galleon a pop," Severus admitted quietly. Davies had upped the piece when they started the refill program. The profits continued to increase despite the price rise.

"A whole galleon?!" Remus cried in shock. "That's..."

"Miss. Davies is also very strict about discounts and freebies," Severus grumbled. "She says that the word of mouth might cut into the positive feedback and drive down prices."

"Talk about harsh business policies..." Remus muttered. Severus nodded before he rose. 

"Anyways! Thank you for the advice, Remus. I shall take it all to heart and action."

"Of course," Remus began before she smiled. "Oh! And by the way! Consider me RSVP'd!"

"Excellent," Severus said with a smile. "Emmeline could use some good news."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"She's become a target of Delores Umbridge's ire, for reasons only that damned woman knows," Severus complained. Remus scowled darkly.

"Don't suppose you could slip something into her morning tea do you? Do us all a favour?" Remus asked bitterly. 

"If only," Severus muttered before he finished his goodbye and returned to Hogwarts in a swirl of green fire. 

Upon arrival, Severus instantly knew that something was wrong. The papers, which had covered the coffee table by the fire in a very chaotic mosaic for days now, were stacked neatly. The throw pillows were organized. There was even a doily under an abandoned cup of tea. Severus felt his blood turn to ice.

A doily?

Oh no...

He bolted from his quarters, running like a madman to the entrance courtyard. He didn't care if any of the students saw him in such a dishevelled state. He just had to be certain! He had to know. The depth of his panic was so great that the heavy metal entrance doors flew open as he approached them, banging against the wall. A few students jumped and turned, and after a moment of panic regarded him with a very grim expression. He moved through the small channel they were forming to the front of the crowd and confirmed the worst of his fears. Filch dropped the last piece of Emmeline's luggage with a grunt as the ex-professor looked on, face of cool disinterest. "Emmeline," Severus called into the silence. The woman turned her head to him and gave a very sad and weak smile.

"MUM!" Harry suddenly cried from the other side of the crowd. Severus flinched as Harry rushed out to her, burying his face into her chest with a sob. He was muttering something to her which she was responding to with soft whispers into his hair. Severus slowly approached, very aware of the Cheshire cat grin that Umbridge currently had. Once he was close enough he sighed.

"Harry," he muttered. The teen turned a fraction but didn't remove his face from his desperate embrace. "Go find your sister and meet me in our quarters. Please." Severus said softly. Harry sighed before he complied, letting go of his mother and stepping away. Severus gave his one last reassuring nod before the teen ran away. "What now?" Severus demanded, eyeing Umbridge with distaste.

"I insisted I wouldn't leave until Albus was made aware of the situation." Emmeline muttered back. Severus nodded and instantly drew himself up to his full height. Several students took unconscious steps back. This was a Severus Snape they recognized from a few years back. The one who had dared everyone to try and kill him.

 A dangerous one. 

The doors to the entrance hall opened again and the faculty rushed out. And it was all of the faculty. Rolanda and Charity looked absolutely livid. The flying instructor came and stood between Umbridge and Emmeline with a firm scowl and even firmer crossed arms. Once again several students flinched back. 

Ref Hooch was scary.

"Don't worry dears! Albus will sort everything out." Charity assured the couple with hard eyes. "And I will personally make Umbridge's life a living hell if he doesn't." She added under her breath.

"You mean if he can't." Emmeline corrected with a flat tone. Severus too felt the dread slowly slip away into a full sense of inevitability. 

They had known this was coming. They'd always known. It was just a matter of when.

This fact was solidified when Minerva and Albus looked up from the scroll Umbridge had thrust at them as soon as they'd come to protest.

"As you can see!" Umbridge began with a self-satisfied smile. "The law is clear. I may not be able to expel anyone who lists Hogwarts as their primary residence. But in the interest of saving costs, I am perfectly within my rights to expel those that don't."

Albus looked over to Severus and gave him the same heartbroken look he had back in June. 

"Severus," Emmeline muttered quietly. He looked down and saw her look of cold acceptance and nodded, stepping back to stand with Rolanda. Then her eyes flicked to Umbridge and scowled. "Take care of him."

"Of course," Severus responded easily with a slightly affronted look. Of course, he would take care of Harry! That was a given!

"I mean no offence dear," Minerva responded with a small smile. "But she wasn't talking to you."

"You have our word," Rolanda responded firmly. "Not a hair off his pretty... er...well... unconventionally handsome head." That rose a slight chuckle from the crowd of students as Rolanda gave Severus a child-like pat on the shoulder.

"And everything will be intact and uncharred upon your happy return!" Charity declared loudly with a wide grin. now Severus really was affronted, giving Rolanda a disgusted look which she took with bland grace. Umbridge scoffed, which ruined the mood.

"Not likely." She said coldly. Severus clenched his fist just as Charity squeezed his arm and Minerva gave a light pat of her own. He was, in fact, slightly comforted. But as Umbridge stepped forward they stepped away. Emmeline stared at her before a slow smile spread across her face.

"I just realized something, Delores."

"What is that?"

"As I am not longer a professor, and no longer a resident of this school, I am no longer burdened to you." She smiled wider. "And that might just have been your biggest mistake."

"Are you threatening me?" Umbridge demanded with her sickly sweet tone.

"Perhaps," Emmeline responded with her sweet voice. And for the first time when interacting with Emmeline Umbridge flinched. That made Emmeline smile wider. "You seem to have forgotten, as much of the world admittedly does, that I was a Slytherin, dear Delores." The woman paled slightly and Emmeline chuckled. "Or perhaps you didn't know at all." Then she turned away, determined as always to have the last word. Then she turned back. "Oh, one more thing!" She said with a sweet smile. "You are the most disgusting person I have ever been forced to share a building with. I hope greatly that I will be there to see your enviable demise. It will be truly a magnificent sight."

And with that pronouncement, she was gone, walking down the long path towards the gates. She didn't look back again, which twisted Severus' heart. But he figured she didn't because then she would never be able to go. And there was no telling what Umbridge would do if she refused.

"Hem hem!"

Six syllables. A soft 'A' followed by five more soft 'A' consonant pairings in iambic rhythm. Two words. Quick jab. He had the hatred. That wasn't the hard part to be certain.

"Hem hem." She repeated, snootier than the first time.

Snap

"Delores I highly suggest that whatever you intend to say you think it through very very carefully!" Severus snarled furiously. Then his rage-shaking hand flew to his face covering his eyes. "In fact. Never mind! I have neither the desire nor the patience to deal with you right now! Now, if you excuse me, I have to go console my children, as you have seen fit, in your infinite wisdom, to expel their mother from the grounds!" And then he was off, tearing into the castle like a demon straight from hell. For once not a single student seemed phased. They were all glowering at Umbridge with disgusted scowls. Then they began to slowly trickle away until the only ones left in the courtyard were Umbridge and Filch, the latter blinking in confusion while the former stared straight ahead, face pale as milk, gently shaking in fear.

Severus took a deep breath as he approached the portrait.

"Severus!" Sir Gedevere said grimly, standing at attention. "That vile woman has come to take poor lady Emmeline away!"

"I am aware."

"You Son and daughter are within." Lady Gedevere said softly, contrasting her cold-looking husband in soft purple robes. "They are beset with rage and sadness."

"I'm aware," Severus repeated, even more exhausted than the first time. It was easy to know who was angry and who was sad. 

"We will refuse entry from all until you emerge, milord." Sir Gedevere promised firmly.

"Blessings of Circe on you all..." Lady Gedevere confirmed before they opened. Severus took one last deep breath and stepped in. Harry was holding Lucy on the couch, rubbing her back and the girl silently cried into her hands. Severus stepped forward and sat down on her other side. Instantly she leaned into him instead, sobbing into his robes instead. Harry didn't look too hurt by it. He was staring down at his clenched fists on his lap.

"We can get through this." Severus declared firmly. "We will get through this."

"It's not fair," Harry growled. "Why is she like this?"

"Because she doesn't have what we have," Severus said softly. Harry looked at him with a confused frown. "She doesn't have kind and loving parents who support her, or an older brother to protect her, or a little sister to drive her mental." At this, Lucy gave a choking sobbing laugh which made Harry smile. "She has no one to love her. And a life without love would make monsters of us all." Severus finished with an air of reminiscence.

"Who said that?" Lucy asked.

"My mother..." Severus murmured quietly. "She was an exceptionally wise woman. Wise beyond her years. And I strive to keep her wisdom with me day after day."

"What else did she say?" Harry whispered quietly.

"Be better than those who would seek to tear you down. Rising to their taunts only makes them succeed." Severus recounted as he looked skyward in his deep remembrance. "Never allow anyone's assumptions of you to become reality. And Always keep a daffodil in your pocket."

"Huh?" Lucy asked in confusion. "That last one doesn't really fit..."

"It's a potioneers thing," Severus muttered flippantly. "Flower symbology is a large part of memorizing the different uses of various herbs and plants."

"What do daffodils mean?" Lucy asked.

"Hope. Recovery. New Beggings." Severus recited. "No surprise, daffodil leaves are a key ingredient in the draught of peace as well as several restorative brews."

"So... always keep a bit of hope in your pocket?" Lucy asked with a little smile. Severus nodded.

"As I said, wise beyond her years," he repeated.

"We're gonna need a lot of daffodils," Harry argued bitterly. Severus gave his son a look before he looked down at Lucy.

"My dear, it is almost time for your curfew." He murmured slowly. "Can you make it to Hufflepuff on your own?"

"Yeah." Lucy accented with a final sniff and rub of her cheeks. Then she took a deep breath and composed herself in a manner so reminiscent of Emmeline it made Severus' heart simultaneously float and clench. Then she was gone. The silence that descended was unbearable.

"Shall w-" Severus tried to begin.

"Dad I don't think I'm going to be much use in occlumency tonight." Harry cut him off with an exasperated huff.

"I'm not either," Severus admitted candidly, running a hand through his hair. "Nothing practical tonight. Just a review of the fundamentals."

"What's there to review? Clear your mind. Control your emotions. You've been shouting it at me for three months!" Harry complained.

"Well, how are you doing it?" Severus asked with a huff. Harry scowled.

"Well, I'm trying not to feel anything, obviously!" He snarled the last bit out with a viscous sneer that gave Severus momentary pause.

Good lord, it was like looking in a mirror!

Albeit a very flattering one that made him look fifteen again...

Hang on...

"What?" Severus demanded with a flabbergasted frown. "Where on earth did you get an idea like that?"

"You told me!" Harry cried with frustration. Severus blinked.

"I said 'control your emotions' and you understood that as 'don't feel anything'?"

"Well... yeah," Harry said his expression softening.

"Harry... that's nigh impossible," Severus said with a tired sigh. "No wonder you've been struggling!"

"But... but you do it all the time!" Harry argued. "When your face goes blank and you don't-" he took in his father's exhausted expression and faltered. "Don't you?"

"Come here." Severus declared as he moved to sit in front of the fire.

"I thought you said nothing practical..."

"Well, now I know what you've been doing wrong, I'm going to teach you how to do it right. I think you'll find it a lot simpler to begin than you thought." As he went to fold himself in a full cross-legged position his knees ached and he let out a grunt of bitter frustration "You're only getting half." He finally declared. Harry joined him on the floor. "You're going full."

"Oh, what?" Harry complained.

"You're a quidditch player! You can handle sitting in a full cross-legged position for a few minutes." Severus snarled crankily. Harry did as instructed, with a bit of muttered grumbles nonetheless. "Forward, so we're knees to knees," Severus said with a gesture before he lay his hands, palms up, on the junctions of said knees. "Hands on mine, palms up." Harry complied looking confused. "Now close your eyes."

"Really?" Harry demanded, starting to get wise to how stupid this looked. Severus sent him a withering raised eyebrow and he huffed before complying.

"Now. Take a deep breath." Harry complied. "hold." Severus counted to five in his head. "And release. Continue this rhythm while I lecture." He waited a few more cycles before he continued. "Now. When I say clear your mind and control your emotions, I mean that you cannot allow your emotions to control you. To do this requires a foundation of calm. Picture in your head a scene which represents calm to you. I use an open field, with wind blowing through the grass. It should be a wide space, with something to help ground your breaths. Wind, a pendulum swinging back and forth. My mother used a metronome."

Harry immediately thought of St. Margaret's beach, with the waves rolling back and forth. He could hear the sound in his ears and it instantly soothed him. "Do you have something?"

"Hmm," Harry hummed, half asleep in relaxation.

"Now... what happens when you think about Umbridge."

The effect was instantaneous. Harry began to seeth with rage at all the terrible things the woman had done. It was so intense he started shaking. 

"What do you feel?"

"Angry. Furious. Like I want to strangle her with a rusty clothes hanger." Harry growled angrily, with eyes squeezed tight. Severus hummed in interest.

"Personally I find imagining drowning her in a cauldron of acid to be a very enjoyable pastime." He admitted with a hint of pleasure in his voice. "Now... let the winds carry your anger away." Harry frowned a bit in effort. That was the hard part. He was so angry he didn't know if the waves could take it all away. But he tried anyway, imagining his anger was a sandcastle and with each wave, a little more of it washed back into the sea. It was... surprisingly difficult and he could feel himself sweating slightly with effort, but eventually, he succeeded.

"Now how are you feeling?" Severus asked. Harry took one last deep breath to smooth the beach out once again.

"Calm." He said truthfully.

"Congratulations, you just did occlumency," Severus said flatly as he pulled his hands out from under Harry's and crossed his arms with a smirk. Harry's eyes flew open and he stared at his dad in shock.

"That... that's it?!" Harry cried in shock. But that was so easy!

"Yes," Severus said firmly. "When someone attacks you, force them to remain as you are. In your calm environment, where the winds hold everything at bay." Harry leaned back and flopped over with a groan. 

"Well that's just brilliant," he complained lightly. "I wasted nearly four months being an idiot..."

"The blame lies with me," Severus insisted cooly. "I should have explained it better. My mother taught me when I was much much younger than you, and it came much more naturally to me. I expected you to be the same. My assumptions have made us woefully behind schedule."

"When can I learn that thing you do where you shut everything down and stay absolutely focused?" Harry asked, lifting just his head with a smile. 

"I have never done such a technique in front of you," Severus said flatly.

"But there is a way?" Harry asked excitedly

"I will not be teaching you that." He declared firmly. Harry blinked before he pouted.

"What not? I thought you said I had to master it."

"Because I'm 35 and look and very often feel 50." Severus declared candidly. Harry blinked. "That technique is... useful when you are in life or death situations where interrogation is a common threat. But it burdens the soul and would lead to darker places than I am comfortable letting you go." Harry frowned a little more worry than consternation.

"But... how do you do it?" Severus huffed.

"I will tell you the very fundamentals. But you are never to attempt it. Understood? Not even if you should find yourself face to face with the dark lord himself." He let out a shuddery sigh. "It is, in fact, the only way to truly stop feeling. A master occlumens will shut himself off completely, surrounding his mind fully in a shroud of impenetrable darkness. In the absence of inner distraction, you become hyper-aware and your senses can become heightened." He levelled Harry with a serious look. "However, only a master should attempt this, as it is possible that attempting to remove the shroud could lead the occlumens to become trapped in their own mind. There is a whole ward in St. Mungo's dedicated to the foolhardy and desperate who are near catatonic, unable to function without aid, due to this technique. And even masters say that every time you do manage to do it successfully, a little piece of you is trapped in the darkness forever."

"So... how many times have you done it?" Harry asked wearily. Severus stared off into space before he gave Harry a very weary look.

"Too many."

"I don't really feel comfortable pretending to stab Ron on stage." Fred declared with a wince. "I mean... he is an annoying little swot-"

"Hey!" The younger brother cried in afront.

"But he's not that bad." Fred finished.

"Good! Use that!" Hermione cried with a beaming smile.

"Use it?!" George cried in horror.

"She's gone bloody barking." Fred pointed out in horror.

"The whole point is that the murderers are beset with foul conscience! The fact that you don't want to do it will make the performance more real!" Hermione insisted.

"Who made you the director anyway?" George argued.

"We voted on it, you idiots." Blaise barked from where he was getting tied into his costume. "It was either her or Bell."

"Jokes on you lot, I would have been an awesome director." Katie harped in annoyance. 

"Sure," Hannah agreed. "But Hermione had the entire thing memorized in old and modern English," Katie grumbled under her breath about show-offs before she went back to helping Dean paint the sets on the dirt.

"Alright, everyone!" Hermione cried. "Places please! Dress rehearsal part three! Act 3 scene 7! The 'convincing' of Richard!" The stage cleared with both Fred and George still grumbling under their breath about their previous scene.

"I am not an annoying swot!" Ron hissed to them with a growl. 

"Shhhh!" The various members of the crew hissed at him. Then Hannah dropped the settings. Harry limped out onto the stage from the right, looking anxious. He was pacing, in an uneven gait. Then a door on the back of the set opened and Blaise rushed in, with a smirk.

"Tell me, tell me, what did the citizens say?" Harry demanded desperately, grasping the man's elbows. Blaise took a deep breath.

"I swear by the holy mother of our Lord-the citizens didn't say a word." He finally let out after a pause. Harry dropped his arms and took a step back, face conspicuously blank.

"Did you mention that Edward's children are bastards?" He demanded sharply. Blaise took another breath and began to pace in front of the villain, delivering to the 'crowd'.

"I did. I brought up his earlier engagements-to Lady Lucy, who bore him a child, and Lady Bona in France." Blaise listed plainly

"And I described the insatiable greediness of his lust, and his rape of citizens' wives." Harry sneered at that line with a disgusted frown.

"I reminded them of his harsh punishments for trivial offences, and said that he was nothing like the duke your father, as the duke was away in France when Edward was conceived." Harry nodded harshly here.

"Then I brought up your own appearance and suggested that you were the spitting image of your father, both in your looks and in your noble mind." Blaise turned his head a portion to Harry here with a gentile smile. Harry remained snooty-faced and scowling in response to the compliment.

"I described all your victories in Scotland, your discipline in battle, your wisdom in peacetime, your generosity, your virtue, and your noble humility." Here Blaise's face was... surprisingly sarcastic. Hermione frowned a bit. Here Blaise was engaging in a bit of crowd work, knowing that the crowd surely would find such a description of Richard entirely false.

"Indeed, I didn't leave out anything that might have helped your case at all!" He said with another smirk. 

"And then when my speech came to an end, I asked those who loved their country to cry, 'God save Richard, England's royal king!'." Blaise finished passionately. Hermione was grinning ear to ear watching his performance. Blaise really was the perfect Buckingham.

"And did they do it?" Harry demanded, stepping forward with a scowl. It fit Richard's character to be a bit cynical of Buckingham's boastful nature, another reason that Blaise was a perfect choice.

"No. So help me God, they didn't say a word, but just sat there like silent statues or breathing stones." Blaise admitted, finally turning to Harry with a grin expression.

"They looked at each other and turned deadly pale, and when I saw this, I scolded them and asked the mayor what they meant by this stubborn silence." Here Blaise scowled and rolled his eyes.

"The mayor said that the citizens weren't used to being spoken to except by the town's official recorder." He added a little huff of irritation.

"So I made the recorder repeat my tale. Everything was "the duke said this" and "the duke means that," and he added nothing of his own opinion."

"When he was done, some of my own followers at the end of the hall threw their caps in the air, and ten or so voices cried, 'God save King Richard!'." Blaise delivered with a smile. Harry allowed himself the tiniest of smirks as he drew his posture as straight as the character allowed.

"So I pounced on that feeble opportunity and said, 'Thank you, noble citizens and friends. This public applause and joyful shouting clearly shows your wisdom and your love for Richard.' And then I broke off my speech, and came straight here." Blaise ended, eying the villain with an expression somewhere between intrigue and worry. Harry was chewing on his cuticles through Blaise's whole speech, a quirk he and Hermione had agreed on to make the character seem more shifty and nervous. But once Blaise finished he dashed his hand away from his mouth with a snarling scowl.

"What tongueless blockheads! Why wouldn't they speak? Will the mayor and his fellow citizens not come here?" Harry demanded furiously. Suddenly the door opened, startling Blaise out of his next line.

"Ah!" Hermione cried with a twitching smile. "Professors! Hello again! DON'T!" she shrieked at Professor Umbridge loudly. "Step on the sets! Please, professor." She said at a lower volume. The pink-clad woman had jumped slightly at her shriek then looked down and made a little yelp as she jumped a bit away from the wet canvas set. 

"Professor Vector tells me you have begun dress rehearsals for your new play. I came to... sit in." She declared before she flicked her wrist and conjured a squat pink stool to perch on. "Just to be sure everything is... in order." She finished.

"Just pretend we're not here." Septima declared firmly as she conjured her own high-backed chair.

"Right," Hermione said before she cleared her throat. "Continue!"

"Right..." Blaise said slowly before he gave Harry a look. After a few moments, he huffed. "Line!"

"The mayor." Nigel cried from the side as the male understudy. Blaise nodded before taking Harry's arm and pulling him towards another door in the back of the set.

"The mayor is on his way and nearly here. Pretend to be afraid, and don't let yourself be spoken to until we plead with you." Blaise insisted, half-shoving Harry towards the door.

"And get a prayer book in your hand and stand between two priests, my good lord. I'll use that to improvise an argument for your holiness." He picked up said bible and shoved it into Harry's hands.

"But don't be easily won over by our requests to be king. Be like a coy virgin: refuse for a long time, and then finally accept." Blaise insisted as he pulled the door open. Harry was nodding through this whole exchange, a smirk growing wider as Blaise spoke.

"I'm going now. If you're as good at pleading on their behalf as I am at saying "no" to you, then there's no doubt this will end well." Harry delivered with a hand on Blaise's shoulder. Then someone knocked on the door Blaise had entered through.

"Go, go, up to the balcony. The Lord Mayor knocks!" Blaise hissed with a slight nudge. Harry nodded with a grin. Then he dashed through the door and rushed up the stairs behind the set to the balcony on stage left. The door opened, admitting Ron as the Lord Mayor and a cluster of others.

"Welcome, my lord. I'm just entertaining myself and waiting for an audience with the duke. I don't think he wants to be spoken to." Blaise said, looking contrite. Seamus entered next, coming from the same door Harry had left through. Blaise let out a sigh of relief. "Now, Catesby, what does your lord say to my request?" Seamus sniffed.

"He asked your Grace to visit him tomorrow or the next day. He's inside with two priests. He doesn't want to be disturbed by anybody." Seamus delivered.

"CUT!" Hermione shouted furiously, once again startling Umbridge. The tall lights went up as Blaise and Ron both let out furious growls.

"Seamus!" Harry barked, coming onto the balcony with a sneer. "You were supposed to have memorized your lines!"

"She was supposed to draft a modern script!" Seamus bellowed back angrily, flapping said script in Hermione's direction. "It's all flowery and confusing!" He picked up the script and found the line. "'He doesn't want to be disturbed from his holy labours by any worldly business.' How the bloody hell is that modern?!"

"Would you prefer:

'He is within, with two right reverend fathers,

Divinely bent to meditation,

And in no worldly suits would he be moved

To draw him from his holy exercise'?!" Hermione demanded with eloquent recitation. The Irish boy winced with a scrunched-up face.

"Not a chance..." he muttered with a weak grunt. Hermione let out a long sigh before she turned to the professors with an irritated scowl. 

"I'm sorry professors, but it seems practice is over for today. SOMEONE still has to memorize his lines!" She growled. Seamus was already reading the script, muttering the lines under his breath with a bit of stumbling here and there. 

"Got tied into this coat for nothing!" Blaise hissed in irritation as he marched off stage. 

"Well," Umbridge began with a sniff. "What I did see was... rather good." She admitted quietly. "Mr. Zabini's performance was inspiring." She smiled. "You did well to cast him as the lead."

"Oh, he's not the lead." Septima clarified. "It just happens to be a Buckingham-heavy scene. Mr. Potter is playing the titular Richard."

"What?!" Umbridge cried before the door to the set opened, admitting a cross-looking Harry, pulling off his modified coat with a sour expression.

"I'm going to smother Seamus with his own script soon!" He barked angrily. 

"Steady on!" Dean shouted from the ground where he was painting. Harry rolled his eyes before he pulled his hair up and out of his face.

"I see..." Umbridge said with pursed lips.

"His delivery of Richard's first soliloquy is awe-inspiring," Septima added. "Chills you right to the bone."

"Indeed?" Umbridge murmured, still eyeing Harry with distrust.

"We'll probably be ready to perform this play in May, professor," Hermione said, stepping up to the pink professor with a grin. "We're all planning to do a lot of work over the holidays." Her face scrunched up slightly. "We had intended to perform something at the Christmas going away fears, but... well..."

"I look forward to seeing it." Umbridge finally muttered before she turned and started strutting away.

"That's not going to end well," Harry argued as he stood above Hermione and Septima with a worried expression.

"We're leaving in two weeks," Hermione said firmly. "There is nothing she can do about it right now. I'm not concerned. You! Just need to focus on memorizing your last few lines! Seamus will be my only hurdle, do you understand me!"

"Yes ma'am," Harry said with a grin and a salute. The young witch huffed and rolled her eyes. 

"He wonders why you have assembled such a large group of citizens to come to him without warning him. He fears that you mean him harm." Seamus recited.

"Better," Hermione muttered. "But you forgot the honorific."

"Makes me sound like a bloody death eater," Seamus complained bitterly. Hermione huffed.

"It's important for continuity!" She insisted as she went back to her arithmancy homework. Then the portrait opened.

"Thanks, Philomena!" Lucy said with a wave as she skipped into the common room.

"Hey, Lucy!" Neville said happily. "Do you need to study more herbology?"

"No, but thanks again for last week," Lucy said happily. "I got an E on the test, which I'm told is pretty good."

"It's an 85%." Hermione clarified without looking up.

"Oh! That is really good!" Lucy cried with a grin.

"What up?" Harry asked casually.

"I need help with my history homework," Lucy admitted with a sigh. "You were right, it is almost impossible to stay awake..." Harry's face fell slightly as she spoke.

"I miss Professor Vance." Nigel suddenly blurted out with a melancholy expression. The entire common room went silent as both Lucy and Harry looked at their fellow student with pained scowls. He flinched and buried his face into his script. Lucy sighed and flopped onto the couch next to Harry and leaned against him with a sad expression. Harry took a deep breath before he sat up and rolled up his sleeves.

"Enough moping," he declared firmly. "Let's get to this studying!" Lucy smiled and pulled her books out of her bag. The common room let out a sigh as everyone went back to their work. They stayed there for a long while, long after Lucy had finished her history work. She helped Seamus finish memorizing his lines and she laughed and joked and shared candy with Ginny, Katie, Neville, Ron and Harry. And she was still there when Dean and Hermione returned from their prefect duties.

"It's almost curfew for first years Harry," Hermione reminded him with a slight frown. "You should take Lucy to Hufflepuff soon."

"In a bit," Harry assured her. The pair were currently engaged in a round of exploding snap. 

"Oh alright." Hermione relented with a slight huff before she yawned and went to her dorm for an early night in. But then they started talking about SCAM and the lessons that were planned for the battle scenes. Dismaring spells, shield charms, this one spell he found that made your skin impervious to cuts which would be super useful. Blaise knew a spell that could turn feathers into knives that still weighed as much as the feather. He was going to research to see if you could have a sword instead and then teach the group, the first time a Slytherin other than Tracey would be teaching. Luna had taught them all a very clever charm to create a thick fog that obscured vision. Neville had been instrumental in the creation of the Romeo and Juliet set, as he knew a spell to conjure flowering vines. The concept of everyone getting a chance to teach something had turned out marvellously. 

"I've been thinking though," Harry muttered. "You know how in act five all of these ghosts come to torment Richard and encourage Richmond?"

"Oh yes!" Lucy cried happily. "I love that part, it's like a big wave of catharsis!"

"I've been thinking... maybe we could do it with patronuses," Harry muttered thoughtfully.

"Patronuses?" Lucy asked in confusion. Harry smiled and drew his wand.

"Watch," he took a deep breath. "Expecto Patronum!" With a bright flash, his impressive hippocampus flowed out of the top of his wand. Then he blinked and smiled. "Go to mum, tell her: Hi mum! Hope you're doing okay. We all miss you a ton. Looking forward to seeing you during the holidays." The horse-fish hybrid tossed its head then shrunk into a ball and zipped through the nearest window. Lucy was staring at the space where it had been with a wide mouth. "That," Harry said, stowing his wand. "Was a Patronus. It's primarily used to fight off dark creatures, but if you're particular enough you can send messages with them. It's a bit flashy though, so not great if you're trying to be stealthy..." he paled. "Oh damn... I forgot about the spell ban!"

"I'm sure it'll be fine!" Lucy argued. "Just tell Umbridge it was for the play!"

"Hopefully she won't even ask," Harry muttered wearily. Lucy nodded emphatically.

"Miss. Mathers." Minerva McGonagall piped up from the portrait hallway. Both Harry and her jumped a mile. "Mister Potter, it is nearly 11 o'clock at night. You should be in bed, and Miss. Mathers should be in Hufflepuff." 

"Oh geez," Harry cried with a wince as he turned to look at the clock on the shelf. "Sorry professor, we lost track of time." Minerva took a deep breath.

"It's fine. I'll inform Pomona where Miss. Mathers is for tonight. But this will not be a common occurrence, do I make myself clear?" She demanded, peering at them over her spectacles. 

"Yes, professor!" Both cried with wide smiles. Minerva smiled to herself.

"Ten more minutes, then you should head to bed, Mr. Potter." She finally replied. 

"Right," Harry promised with a small smile.

"Also, the signup sheet for Christmas will be posted tomorrow. I took the liberty of adding your name immediately." 

"Thanks, professor," Harry said in relief. The head of house then turned and went for the first-year dorms. Lucy turned to the fire and gained a small sad smile. Harry saw the look and grew worried.

"What's up?" He asked as casually as he could.

"I... I don't think I want to go home for Christmas" Lucy said sadly. "I can't remember the last time my Christmas was actually... good." She twisted up the blanket Harry had thrown over their legs a while ago into knots in her lap. "But... I also really miss Miss Emmeline. And Christmas would be the perfect time to see her again." Lucy sighed sadly. Harry hummed in thought.

"Well... you can always spend the whole Christmas holidays with us?" He offered before he winced slightly. "Provided Dad is cool with it."

"Do you think he would be?" Lucy asked with a touch of hope.

"Couldn't hurt to ask," Harry argued, but he had a sneaking suspicion the answer was yes. With that, he wished his honorary little sister a good night and went to bed. That night he dreamed of patronuses, his mother's pheasant descending from the sky and wrapping around him in a soft blue cocoon of love and protection, keeping the demons at bay.

Quiet.

That was the thing Emmeline had always loathed most about living alone. 

The soul-crushing mind numbingly lonely feeling of absolute quiet. 

It greeted her every morning, like a shroud over her tomb. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Ten more days." She whispered up to the ceiling. It was her mantra. Every morning she counted down the days that she would see Harry and Severus and they could finally be a whole family again. Then she sighed and sat up. She looked over to Severus' side of the bed and lifted the parchment with the seating plans again. One benefit to all this free time was that she was finally starting to make some actual strides in wedding planning. She was just glad they'd finally agreed on a date! Next August on the first day of the golden harvest season. Yes it was a year away and would be the third year of their engagement. But it was perfect. The leaves would just be starting to crisp at the edges, and it was far enough away from Hogwarts that Severus and Harry wouldn't be scrambling. She let the paper fall as she recalled how important that had been for her a week ago when they finally agreed on that date. Now... well who knew what the future held. The curse on the position wasn't coming fast enough in her furious opinion! It really ought to speed things up a bit! She trudged down to the kitchen and thought about making herself some pancakes. But the longer she looked at the stove the less and less she wanted to. She didn't even know how she could make pancakes for just one person. The concept was appalling. So she made a boring old pan of eggs and bacon instead. But even that was disappointing as the silence made everything taste vaguely bland. Finally, after giving up on her catastrophic meal she left the house. She was getting low on eggs now. So she walked through the early winter chill with a weary expression. The winds were biting this close to the sea, but also blew in that calming scent which helped to ease just a fraction of Emmeline's melancholy mood.

Not enough to put a smile on her face.

But it was something. 

As she walked through the local market, hemming and hawing over produce, someone cleared their throat. Emmeline blinked and turned in shock.

Someone was talking to her?

"Emmeline?" Hannah Mathers whispered, sounding awed.

"Hannah!" Emmeline cried in glee. Thank goodness for a kind familiar face. "How are you?"

"What are you doing here?" Hannah asked worriedly. Emmeline blinked. Something about Hannah's tone seemed... weary. Emmeline frowned slightly. Something about it was giving her pause.

"I'm on a sabbatical," Emmeline answered. And that's what it was, she was sure of it. Once the curse kicked in and Delores was gone, she'd be back to Hogwarts. Even if Albus was gone, Minerva would hire her back.

Probably...

"Oh... so Severus is looking after Lucy?"

"Yes. And her head of house, Pomona! Dont worry. She's a very dear friend of ours." Emmeline assured her. Hannah nodded slowly before she swallowed.

"Is she happy?"

"Well, She's doing very well in her classes and made many friends," Emmeline assured her. Hannah's face scrunched up slightly.

"Well that's all well and good... but is she happy?" Hannah demanded. "In that world?"

"I suppose," Emmeline said with a bit of confusion. Hannah was acting a bit strange. But the moment Emmeline said that a wave of relief spread over Hannah's face, even as her smile grew a bit more wobbly.

"Thank you." she suddenly blurted out. "For everything."

"Of course!" Emmeline cried with a reassuring smile. She took a deep breath. "I know it's an adjustment, but I'm sure everything will work out, Hannah darling." The pastor's wife gave the witch a strained look before nodding softly.

"It was good to see you again," Hannah said before she suddenly turned and walked away. Emmeline blinked and watched her turn away, disappearing into the aisles. Emmeline stared after her with a blink.

What a very odd interaction.

After purchasing her goods she decided to apparate home, rather than lug everything back. She reorganized the wedding seating and menu one more time before she groaned and tossed it away. There were only so many times you could revise something before it started to eat at your spirit. And as she sat, getting grumpier and grumpier she let out a growl and rose to her feet.

She wanted to scream at something.

The sheer frustration of her situation was utterly maddening. So a moment later she was out the door trudging towards the cliffs with a scowl that would make Severus proud. As she approached the edge she took a deep breath and let out a furious yell. A few deep breaths later she fell back, sitting on a rock near the edge. She stared out at the setting sun on the sea and sighed. 

" 'llo there," a voice suddenly cut through the silence. Emmeline looked over and gasped.

Severus?!

Only... it couldn't be Severus. This man's hair was white as snow, cut shorter than Severus would ever keep it, and he had a short beard with salt and pepper on his jaw. He was also using a cane.

But that face.

And those eyes.

"Hello," Emmeline replied softly.

"Ya... perchance weren't the one screaming just now, were ya?" The man asked, Yorkshire lilt coming off in thick waves. Emmeline swallowed thickly.

"Y-yes." She admitted softly. "It's a family tradition... of sorts."

"Really?" The man muttered with a grin. "What a coincidence. I used to bring my lad up here to do just that myself!"

"Well," Emmeline muttered, feeling the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach deepening.

"Oh begging her pardon miss. Forgettin my manners in my old age. Might I ask yer name?"

"Emmeline, Emmeline Vance."

"Pleasure to meet ya. The name's Tobias Snape. Friends call me Toby."

"And so," Umbridge purred eye alight with fire, but face smiling as always. "In the interest of student safety, in addition to the hospital matron, all heads must remain over the winter holidays." She finished. The room, which had previously been staring with vapid glazed eyes, suddenly perked up.

"What?!" Pomona cried in horror. "But! But I don't even have students staying!"

"What about our plans!" Flitwick added. "I'm supposed to be speaking at a lecture on Ancient Celtic Charming Circles in Belgium!"

"You'll simply have to write to them and inform them that unfortunately, your job is more important." Umbridge countered with a sniff.

"But I've already RSVP'D! And paid for transport! I submitted my portkey application to the ministry months ago!"

"What about our families!" Minerva bellowed, rising to her feet. "Christmas is the one time in the year that I actually see my sister and my nieces and nephews in person!"

"You should have visited them over the summer then. That seems to be a very irresponsible use of your time."

"I am deputy headmistress Delores! I'm busy over the summer! Drafting admission letters! Putting together book lists! Coordinating schedules!" Minerva listed off, glaring at the woman with a scowl.

"Perhaps you should hire a secretary to handle such things." Umbridge countered coolly. Minerva pursed her lips so fine that the entire room held its breath, waiting for the outburst. But she didn't have to.

"Delores," Severus began, a bitter scowl on his face. "Why must you always couch your vitriolic attacks on our happiness and well-being behind pathetic excuses and blatant lies?" He stood up, towering over the pink-clad toad with a sneer. "Just admit it. The only reason why you're doing this is because you are a sad pathetic ugly lonely cold bitter old woman with whom no one has ever expressed a shred of love, and you want us to be just as sad and bitter and lonely as you." He took a deep breath. "Well fine. Have it your way. But know this. I refuse to be pathetic. You might take some sick twisted joy in tearing my family apart, but I refuse to let you break me. I have faced far worse than you, and I have endured it. I will endure you too." Then he turned and stormed out of the room. Delores was absolutely furious, though the blush on her face was blending into her hat and coat so that she looked completely pink. Then the colour went deeper and deeper until the woman's skin was fluorescent. Minerva blinked.

"Delores... you're glowing."

"DON'T PATRONISE ME YOU WRETCH!" She bellowed shrilly. The deputy blinked before scoffing and turned to leave.

"Delores," Poppy muttered softly. "Look in a mirror."

"YOU ARE THE EASIEST TO REPLACE!" She cried. "There are dozens of healers at Saint Mungo's who would KILL for your job Pomphrey! Don't test me!" Umbridge roared. The matron snorted and shook her head.

"Never mind then." She declared. Flitwick nodded and got up, while Pomona followed.

"Do you think it was Severus or the Weasley twins?"

"My bet is the twins," Pomona muttered casually. 

"It does seem like their type of prank." Poppy agreed.

"Severus is much more vindictive than that." Minerva agreed. Then the door closed leaving a very confused Umbridge behind.

Emmeline couldn't tell you why she went back the next day. Tobias had been kind enough to offer her a sandwich from his lunch. He seemed just as lonely as she was if she was being perfectly honest. He'd admitted that he hadn't expected anyone to be up there and had been pleasantly surprised. She asked after his family, already knowing the answers. Or so she'd thought.

"My wife has sadly passed. Cancer. It was a rough time. My lad took it hard. Not as hard as me 'course. I was wretched to him. I'm not proud of it. Not by a long shot. But he made good in the end. He got his doctorate, no thanks to me. He teaches now. I keep tabs on him. Got a whole book of newspaper clippings." Toby had murmured, looking far away but with an unmistakable glimmer of pride in his eyes.

"My fiance is a teacher." Emmeline blurted out without thinking. That had made the man's eyes light up.

"Where?"

"Oh, it's a prestigious school in Scotland," Emmeline said quickly, using the regular line. "Very exclusive."

"Oh really?" Tobias said softly. "What's he teaching?"

"Chemistry," Emmeline murmured casually. That made Tobias smile. 

"Well good for him. And congratulations."

"Thank you."

The conversation had drifted after that, to her own family (my grandfather owns a racing bike company.) And his history in Dover (I was stationed here in 46. Yes I know, I look good for 72.). As the sun sank into the horizon Tobias smiled and casually invited her to meet again the next day.

And Emmeline had (inexplicably) agreed.

That was three days ago.

" 'llo Emmie!" Tobias called with a grin and a wave from his seat on the rocks. The woman didn't answer as chipper as usual, which made him frown. "What's got yer knit in a twist?"

"My fiance was just barred from leaving the school for Christmas holidays." Tobias blinked and frowned.

"On who's authority?"

"This absolutely wretchedly vile woman the government sent to 'fix' the school. In reality, she's ruined everything! She makes everyone miserable, she's banned everything she doesn't like. She won't allow students to learn anything other than inane ministry-approved dribble or her own insanely backwards views on creatures! She's trying to indoctrinate the next generation into mindless ministry-working drones who'd follow Cornelius blood Fudge off a bloody cliff! And all the while she's decided to make it her life's mission, for some reason, to ruin my family's lives in particular as much as possible! I would very much like to drown her in the black lake and feed her to the giant squid!" Emmeline ended furiously.

"Sounds like Hogwarts isn't having a good time," Tobias muttered gravely.

"No, it's really not!" Emmeline agreed bitterly.

"Probably driving Severus mental."

"Yes, it is!" Emmeline agreed.

"Don't worry love, I'm sure he'll find some way to be with ya over the holidays." Tobias finished cheerfully.

"Thank-" Emmeline began. Then her blood turned to ice. She looked at the man who was smirking as her face went pale and fearful. "H-how-"

"Since ya said yer fiance worked in a fancy school in Scotland. Words for wise love, don't use the same excuse every time. Contrary to what yer government thinks, us muggles aren't all stupid. Severus didn't get all his brains from his mum after all." He added with a wink. Emmeline was utterly flabbergasted as she sat down on the rocks as the wind fell out of her sails. The pair sat there, the occasional gust of wind blustering the light snow about a bit.

"Glad to hear he's finally ask ya to marry him." Tobias suddenly muttered. "I was starting to think he'd be alone forever. At least, that's what Albus led me to believe."

"You know Albus?" Emmeline asked softly. Tobias hemmed as he scratched his short beard. 

"Never met him personally, but he was my point of contact when I tried to reach out and find Severus again." He looked skyward. "part of my program. To climb out of the hole I'd dug myself." Emmeline stared at the old man as his eyes grew far away. "Me and Clive are the only two left in our regiment ya know... Jim and Dave both offed themselves in 58. And Brian was killed in the Falklands, the fool." Tobias swallowed. "I... I was on that edge myself. But Clive... he pulled me back. Saw me through the thick of it. Reaching out to Severus was the last step I had to take. To fix what I'd done. But... Well, I lost contact with him a decade ago. All I had was Hogwarts. So I sent them a letter. Didn't expect a reply. How was I supposed to know muggle mail could go through? But an owl came. Albus said that Severus didn't want anything to do with me. Which I understood. I blamed him for his own mother's death at her own bloody funeral. And that was before I hit him."

Emmeline's soul hurt to hear that. No wonder Severus had been so hurt. He never responded well to guilt. Even when he had no reason to be guilty.

"I still wanted to know what was happening in his life though... Albus was kind enough to keep me posted and help me sign up for the prophet. Good to stay in the loop, even if it's turned into a wartime rag." He was scowling now, the familiar harsh lines making the striking resemblance between him and his son that much more obvious. "reminds me more of the Cokeworth Times back in 38 more and more every day. Cept at least they admitted the war was going on!"

"When did you reach out?" Emmeline suddenly asked. Tobias smiled.

"1985." Emmeline blinked.

"Ten years ago?" She muttered. Had Severus really ignored his father for ten years?

"I send him a letter every year on his birthday now. My owl usually comes back with no reply of course..."Tobias murmured. This made Emmeline frown. She didn't recall Severus mentioning any owls on his birthday. "I get it. I hurt him. But I hope the repeated letters make him realize I still care."

"Would you like to come to our wedding?" Emmeline suddenly blurted out without thinking. Tobias blinked and his eyes glimmered a moment before dimming slightly.

"Yer a good lass, but I'm not sure that would be such a good idea. Heaven knows Severus wouldn't want me to be there..."

"Maybe this would be the best time for reconciliation," Emmeline argued. "It's a new beginning." Tobias smiled softly.

"You remind me of my Ellie." He declared. Emmeline blinked. "She had a lot of optimism too." He let out a slow huff. "alright. I'll come. Thank you for the invitation."

"I have to go home and adjust the seating plans." Emmeline suddenly declared with a touch of melancholy. Tobias threw his head back and laughed. 

"What?" Lucy cried, her entire posture slackening.

"Unfortunately, Umbridge has decreed that as head of house I must remain here for the holidays," Severus admitted softly.

"So she's banning bloody Christmas now?!" Harry cried in disgust.

"Language," Severus said flatly. Harry scowled.

"Think I should get a pass whenever her name pops up in a sentence," Harry argued angrily. Severus momentarily considered it before shaking his head. 

"Don't stoop to a level she can punish you for."

"Christmas won't be the same without you though!" Lucy suddenly blurted out, eyes filling with tears. Severus' heart clenched and he stepped forward to wrap his cloak around the girl into a protective hug. She sniffed and hugged him back, burying her face into his chest.

"It's not enough to make us miserable here," Harry added as he also stepped forward. But rather than join Lucy in her embrace, he leaned against his father with a sad sigh. "Now she's making us miserable at home." Severus looked over at him with a sad expression. This would only be the second Christmas Harry spent at home, and he knew it must invoc bad memories to have Severus be away. Then he blinked and realized that he was meeting his son's eyes, just by turning his head.

The boy was nearly his height.

He felt his throat tighten a bit and swallowed roughly to clear it.

"I will do everything in my power to find some way to be with you." Severus declared. "Perhaps not physically, but I will be there." Lucy sniffed as she pulled away again. 

"We're really gonna miss you," she murmured even as she wiped her face. "We'll bring back as many cookies as we can fit in our trunks." she declared boldly. Harry nodded emphatically. Severus chuckled.

"I'd like that immensely."

Emmeline looked up from her knitting to the fire as it burned green.

"Hello darling," she murmured softly as she set it aside and dropped down to the rug.

"How are you, my dear?" Severus responded with a weary expression.

"Well enough..." she said with a soft sigh. "Three more days..."

"I am so sorry I can't get away."

"It's fine," Emmeline assured him for the hundredth time. "I know it's not your fault."

"Has anything of note been happening in Dover?" Emmeline opened her mouth.

"I saw Hannah." she finished.

"Hannah?"

"Mathers. Lucy's mother."

"Oh... and?"

"I don't know... the interaction was... strange," Emmeline admitted softly. Severus made a face, not quite a sneer, but not a happy face to be sure.

"Well that doesn't bode well..." Severus murmured. "Lucy knows she is welcome whenever of course... so perhaps she can spend as little time around her father as possible."

"Yes." Emmeline agreed. 

"Anything else?"

"No," Emmeline said with a swallow. "Absolutely nothing."

"Very well. I'm working on figuring something out to see you over the holidays. Something a little more... secure."

"Of course." Emmeline agreed. Umbridge had been monitoring the floos since October, so she wasn't surprised that Severus didn't consider the fireplace suitable.

"Have a good night my dear."

"You too darling," Emmeline said softly before the fire flickered orange again. 

Maybe I should have told him about Tobias...

Emmeline shook her head quickly with a wince

That's not the sort of thing people discussed in fireplaces. She would tell him when she saw him in person next. Whenever that would be.

The vibe on the Hogwarts Express was one of excitement and relaxation. The members of SCAM were entertaining their various cars with little skit recitations of the tales of Beedle Bard. Dean Thomas passionately recited Romeo's farewell soliloquy to Seamus which made the Irish teen turn varying shades of pink. Everyone seemed so relieved to be out from Umbridge's thumb. All except Harry and Lucy, who seemed to still be melancholy despite the festive air.

"Come on mate..." Ron cried with a soft smile. "Come read for the silver knight."

"No thanks," he muttered softly. Tracey came and sat beside him. Trailing behind were Blaise, Astoria, and Daphne, then Angelina behind them, the latest additions to SCAM. 

"Come on Potter," Blaise complained. "Your gloomy mood is making us all miserable."

"Look," Harry began in slight irritation. "Everyone here is so happy to be away from Umbridge, but I can't help but think that I left a major part of my family, alone, back at the castle..."

"Well, he's not alone!" Hermione piped up. "The professors have all stayed in solidarity! So he's got plenty of people to keep him company."

"Regardless!" Blaise piped up with a roll of his eyes. "Professor Snape is a big boy Potter. He can take care of himself."

"Well, how would you feel if your dad was stuck with Umbridge all Christmas?" Harry argued.

"Which one?" Blaise asked flatly. "I've had seven."

"Blimey," Ron crowed with a shocked face. "That's a lot of Christmas presents..."

"Only one of them is still alive Weasley," Blaise said with a roll of his eyes.

"Huh?"

"My mother there married them for their money."

"Are you saying your mother killed all of your stepfathers?" Hermione demanded in slight horror.

"Of course not," Blaise assured her with a casual smirk. "They all had sudden unexplained illnesses or tragic accidents."

"Wow..." Ron murmured in slight horror.

"It's like Professor Vector always says Weasley," Daphne piped up from her book. "It's all in the delivery"

"Kay but... Your mum killed people...." Ron argued softly. "Doesn't that bother you?" Blaise took a moment to think.

"Nope." He finished before he opened the daily prophet and proceeded to ignore the conversation around him. 

Emmeline beamed as Harry and Lucy rushed off and train and nearly bowled her over with tight hugs.

"We missed you so much!" Harry sobbed into her shoulder. Emmeline chuckled and let out a squeak as suddenly several other students were rushing forward to give her hugs and little Christmas presents. She was blubbering by the end of it which made Lucy and Harry grin. The ex history professor took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes with her scarf before she took a deep breath. She quickly flicked her wand, shrinking the trunks down, then stuffed them into her pockets and grabbed each of the children's hands.

"I have a ton planned today! We're going to bake cookies and decorate the tree and go to The White Horse for dinner." Emmeline declared happily as she led the way through the gate and down the platform  "But for now. We're going to sit on this bench," the three of them plopped onto the wooden bench near the arrivals gate. "And wait for Lucy's mother."

"Erm..." Lucy murmured softly. "Well, I don't know when she's coming."

"That's fine dear. You sent her a letter saying when the train was arriving yes?"

"Yes."

"Then it shouldn't be long," Emmeline assured her. "Now! Tell me what you've been up to! How's your play coming along?"

And so Lucy and Harry launched into an excitable explanation of the lessons that had happened recently in SCAM. Harry proudly explained how he had taught all of the major actors how to conjure corporeal patronuses, and his idea for how to use them.

"It's so spooky!" Lucy said. "But in all the right ways!" Emmeline smiled.

"Well I'm very glad it all worked out," she said before her eyes gained a knowing glint. "Just as I'm sure your classmates appreciate all of the useful spells they've been learning. I'm sure you've told them all about their practicality outside of acting yes?"

"Er..." Harry began with a wince. "You're... not angry are you?"

"No!" Emmeline assured him with a smile. "Quite the opposite! I'm very proud of you! You're showing a bit of Slytherin cunning." Harry laughed a bit along with Lucy and his mother before he frowned. "Mum,"

"Yes, darling?"

"It's almost 1." He pointed out wearily. "Shouldn't Lucy's mum be here by now?" The witch frowned worriedly and looked up at the clock. She knew the train from Dover had been on time last she checked. Sure enough, the train was now departing again. She scanned the crowd for Hannah and frowned deeper.

"M-maybe I got the date wrong," Lucy murmured wobbly as her free hand scrunched up her jumper nervously. Emmeline smiled down at her reassuringly.

"Why don't I just take you directly home? Then, if your mother is on the way, I'll come back and wait for her more."

"O-okay," Lucy said wearily. Emmeline winced.

"You can stay at the cottage with Harry until I get back." That made Lucy's stiff posture relax a fraction. Emmeline led them around a corner to a secluded area.

"Close your eyes and hold your breath." Harry reminded Lucy even as Emmeline grabbed her arm a little more securely. Lucy nodded and complied as Emmeline turned on her heel and disappeared with a crack.

The trip reappeared not far from the cathedral in a little alley between two shops. Lucy quickly straightened herself up. Before she turned to the massive church. 

"My house is right there" She pointed out the small grey stone building across the lawn from the church.

"Let's go see if anyone's home." Emmeline encouraged as the trio made their way towards it. Harry looked around in curiosity as they climbed the steps. He'd never seen the house before, let alone inside of it. Lucy reached out and knocked on the door. She waited nervously as the sound of footsteps came from within before the door opened.

The man was tall, with kind eyes buried beneath a layer of wrinkles. His eyebrows were bushy, with a bushy beard to match, and his hair was silver streaked with white.

"Hello," he said with a slightly raspy voice. "Can I help you?"

Lucy was frozen in horror.

"W-who are you?!" She cried "Where is pastor Mathers?!"

"Ah!" The man replied with a weary voice. "I'm afraid Pastor Mathers requested a transfer. He's been relocated. Somewhere in America... New York, I believe."

"When did they leave?" Emmeline demanded coldly.  the old man blinked in confusion at the woman's clipped tone.

"Day before yesterday I believe." The man replied softly. Lucy was shaking now, and struggling to hold back tears. Emmeline could barely contain her rage. Why hadn't Hannah said anything?! How could she just leave without saying anything?! 

Is she happy?

Had Hannah asked that because she knew she would be leaving?

"Is there something wrong?" The pastor asked worriedly. He noticed Lucy in severe distress and hummed in worry. "Would you like some tea perhaps?"

"No," Emmeline suddenly blurted out. "Thank you." Then she turned and scooped Lucy into her arms and marched off with Harry hot on her heels.

"W-what now?" Lucy sobbed. "What's going to happen to me? Am I going to have to leave?"

"No!" Both Harry and Emmeline cried in unison, one in horror, the other with a bit of anger in her voice. Emmeline took a breath and recentred herself.

"We're going home and we're going to spend Christmas together, like we'd initially planned." Emmeline insisted softly despite the fact that Lucy was still sobbing. 

Emmeline had hoped that the walk would calm her nerves a bit but didn't really work. Lucy had gone still in her arms as they arrived at the Droveway but she stopped crying and was merely leaning her head against the woman's shoulder, barely making a sound. She remained emotionless and still even as Emmeline gently placed her on the couch. Seeing her there, staring straight ahead unseeing, set Emmeline's temper past the point of control and she had to leave the room. She meant to make cocoa, but her hands were shaking too much to hold the canister steady. Not to mention the counters were filthy. She scowled and began aggressively dusting the cupboards. She couldn't believe how much dirt and grime could accumulate in just a few days.

"Mum."

"What?!" She snapped at Harry who flinched a bit. 

That made her absolutely crumble. 

She let out a sob and put a hand over her eyes.

"Oh, Harry darling I'm so sorry!" She said desperately before she pulled her son in for a deep hug. Harry sighed and reached up to rub her back with his spare hand. Emmeline coughed a bit. "I should be the one comforting-" she cut herself off as she pulled away and saw the mug of cocoa Harry had in his hand. He'd even added whipped cream and marshmallows. She let out another sob before she took it with soft eyes. "I'm sorry... I let my temper get the better of me."

"It's fine. I understand," Harry muttered as he grabbed his own mug from the counter. He stared into it for a moment before he sighed. "Honestly... this is the better way it could have turned out."

"Harrison James Potter!" Emmeline cried with a scowl. "This is no time for jokes!"

"I'm not," Harry argued with a sigh. "I'm being completely serious... remember what dad said? The day after we met Lucy. He said he'd seen things like this before, and this was the better way it ended. The alternative was actual physical abuse." Emmeline pursed her lips in distaste. 

"Regardless,"

"All I'm saying is it could have been worse," Harry argued before he gave his mother a faraway look. "She could have suffered for years in silence, never letting anyone know how bad it got until she had no choice." Emmeline blinked at his tone then let out another sob and pulled her son in for another hug. This time she was the one offering comfort as she placed kisses on his head and rubbed his back. When she released him he looked tired. Exhausted really.

"Go and try to get some sleep darling," Emmeline assured him softly. Harry tossed a worried frown to the girl sitting on the couch, still staring straight ahead holding an untouched and slowly cooling mug of hot cocoa. Emmeline smiled and rubbed his back in encouragement before he sighed and nodded. Emmeline watched him climb the stairs and then she went to sit by the girl on the couch.

"Lucy darling," she began softly. The girl jumped a mile and turned to Emmeline with wide eyes. Then she let out a sob and began to cry, clutching the mug in her hands tightly as she sobbed. Emmeline pulled her into another firm hug and whispered soft comforts into her hair. This time when the girl fell silent it was into a deep sleep. Emmeline sighed, picked the girl up, and brought her up to the master bedroom. After tucking the girl in she returned to the couch and stared at the fire for a few minutes before a firm scowl took over her face. It was only 3 in the afternoon. She had time. Emmeline very quickly did something to make her look more presentable before she quickly secured the house. Then she threw a handful of floo powder into the fire.

"Ministry of magic." Emmeline declared before stepping into the flames.

Benjamin Grummy had worked for the DFS relocations branch for nearly twenty years. Almost immediately after he had graduated from Hogwarts in fact. And he had done so proudly, knowing why the institution was so important. 

Because he had been a part of it from a very young age.

His parents had died, very shortly before he started Hogwarts, from dragon pox. After a bit of shuffling around he had landed in the care of his great uncle. He hadn't known the man very well back then. The man didn't say much at family gatherings. When Benjamin started living with that uncle he found out why. The man was a tyrant prone to violence and harsh words. But the most horrifying part was when he found his cousin in the basement. Ben hadn't even known he had a cousin. The man had decided to chain his own son up because it appeared he didn't have any magic. According to his uncle, "Without magic, you're nothing.". The DFS had been instrumental in saving them both, for which Ben would be eternally grateful. 

Of course that didn't mean his childhood had instantly turned around.

He had nightmares for years, including through his first few years attending Hogwarts, and his initial lacklustre marks had earned him a place of ridicule among his Ravenclaw housemates.

Benjamin Crummy was a popular taunt.

"Benjamin?" a familiar voice spoke up with a note of awe. The desk worker looked up and blinked.

"Emmeline Vance..." he muttered. Now this was a surprise. Benjamin usually wasn't too keen to speak with any of his old classmates, least of all the Slytherins, but he had rather fond memories of Emmeline. She had been two years above him and had run a little study group that saw him through his owls with reasonable scores. It was just a shame that she had hung around with such awful people. Alecto and Amycyus Carrow were vile. Granted she only was around the Carrows cause they were all on the Quidditch team together, but it was still a bad look. Especially since those two went on to become death eaters. 

"Goodness!" Emmeline cried, gaining a soft smile. "It's been so long! How are you?"

"I am well thank you," Benjamin replied softly. "What brings you to the Department of Family Services today?" Emmeline's face hardened before she let out a breath through her nose.

"I have come to report the abandonment of a child and request temporary guardianship." Benjamin blinked and his shoulders fell a fraction.

"During Christmas?" He groaned out tiredly.

"Yes," Emmeline said softly. Benjamin sighed before he pulled out a form.

"What indication did the parents give to you that they intend to abandon their child?"

"Not intend. Have. The pair of them moved to America and left their daughter behind while she was at Hogwarts." Emmeline explained cooly. The man looked up with a pained expression.

"I see... Do you know where she's from?"

"St. Margarets Bay, Dover."

"Well typically during the holidays we like to keep children in the same town they grew up in, just so they don't have to adjust to as much-"

"I also live in St. Margarets Bay," Emmeline said firmly. Benjamin blinked. Then Emmeline sighed. "Her mother asked my family if we could help her daughter adjust to the magical world... I don't know how you would go about confirming it but I believe it was her mother's wish that we be the one to continue raising the girl." Benjamin hummed softly as he looked over the paperwork in his hands. Then he huffed and crumpled it up.

"What's her name?"

"Lucy Mathers."

"Don't worry about anything. We can start this process after the holidays... for now, just try and give her the best holiday you can." Benjamin declared. Emmeline beamed at the man.

"Thank you! Have a very Merry Christmas!"

"You as well," Benjamin said softly even as Emmeline rushed out of the office heading back the way she came.

The holidays had been rather more subdued than Emmeline had prepared for. That was to be expected of course. After all, Lucy had been essentially orphaned right from the start. No one expected her to be happy or cheerful. Despite this, the girl had still managed a few smiles here and there. Harry took her riding on his broom a few times which she initially found slightly terrifying but gradually came to enjoy. Snappy had been overjoyed when Harry woke him up and Lucy was there. He jumped up and down making happy flappy noises before crawling into the girl's lap with a gentle purr. Emmeline had gone out back and did a bit of magic to make their little pond freeze so the three of them could do some ice skating. Now it was Christmas Eve and after a week of all that excitement, Lucy was buzzing with anticipation.

"Lucy darling!" Emmeline called from the kitchen. The girl looked up from Snappy's chapter on unicorns.

"Coming!" She called back before gently closing the enchanted book. But as she got up from the couch there was a knock at the door. "I got it!" She called out as she walked up to the door.

"Lucy!" Emmeline cried in a panic. She'd forgotten to warn the girl about the dangers of opening the door during a wizarding war. But then the door opened. "Mother!"

"Emmeline!" Mary Vance cried with a beaming smile.

"Now what am I? Minced manticore?" Arnold Cleansweep cried with a jovial sniff.

"Grandfather!" Emmeline cheered as she rushed forward, wiping her hands from her baking to give them both firm hugs. 

"Granddad!" Harry cried in delight as he rushed down the stairs and nearly bowled the elderly gentleman over with an enthusiastic hug. 

"Oof! Well, I'll say! You've certainly grown in the last few years!" Arnold said with a big grin. Harry laughed before he spotted something out of the corner of his eye and blinked.

"Is that..." he began, trailing off slightly.

"welp! Ffraid the cats out of the bag Mary!" Arnold cried as he picked up the broom from where he'd leaned it against the door frame.

"Maybe because you didn't even bother to hide it?" Mary argued with a roll of her eyes. Harry looked at the Nimbus 2000 with a wave of nostalgia before he frowned. 

"Granddad... I already have a firebolt."

"That's why it's not for you," the man said with a wink before he thrust the broom toward Lucy "Happy Christmas!"

"Grandfather!" Emmeline cried in slight horror "She's eleven!"

"And? Harry got his at eleven didn't you?"

"Yeah,"

"And it's not that fast right?"

"Er..."

"See! It's fine!"

"I... thank you," Lucy finally got out.

"Well, I was going to suggest we hide them so they could all come from Santa Claus!" Mary began with a pointed look at her father, who wasn't the least bit abashed "But I suppose we can give you all your gifts now." Then she reached into her purse and pulled out four wrapped packages, including two that didn't appear as though they ought to fit in said purse. "Truly though, happy Christmas."

"Thanks, Nana!" Harry cried ecstatically as he took the two packages marked for him.  Emmeline tore her paper off first and blinked.

"A waffle maker?"

"Yes!" Mary cried happily. "I won it! In that golden waffle raffle! I thought of you instantly."

"Thank you, Mother," Emmeline said with a chuckle as she looked at the waffle iron's specifications a little closer. Lucy was already flicking the dials on her new wireless with an intrigued expression. 

"I've never had my own radio before..." she murmured softly. "I wasn't allowed..."

"Goodness! Well, Emmeline can help you figure out how it works!" Mary cried with a bat of her hand. Harry opened the smaller box and frowned. It looked like a snow globe attached to a wristwatch. But it was meant for an extremely thin wrist.

"Erm... thanks," Harry began casually "What is it?"

"It's a clock, a barometer, a speedometer, a compass, and an altitude gauge." Arnold supplied. Harry raised an eyebrow and looked down before he dawned on him.

"Oh! For my broom!"

"Yes!" Arnold agreed with a laugh. "It should also have a proximity alert system and should be able to navigate."

"like GPS?" Harry asked. Arnold blinked.

"That a muggle thing?"

"Yeah. For navigating."

"Well if it gives directions with arrows then probably" Arnold agreed. Harry grinned before he frowned. 

"How does it work?"

"Voice commands." Arnold said before he cleared his throat. "speed!" The little bobble glowed blue before it projected the current speed of 0 km/h in smokey blue letters. Harry grinned. Now this was bloody useful. "Let me know how it works alright? It's a prototype. The first one we completed. I wanted you to be the one to test it out."

"I'll send you a letter once I'm back at Hogwarts." Harry agreed happily before he tore into the last package. Inside was a pile of hand-knit socks lined with soft woolly fleece. He grinned as he felt the side and his hand instantly warmed.

"I put gripping charms on the bottom as well," Mary explained, turning a pair so Harry could feel the surface. "perfect for wearing around the house!" 

"Thank you, Nana!" Harry cried before he leaned in for a hug.

"They're also charmed to muffle footsteps," Mary muttered into his ear as she hugged him back. The teen pulled away in time to see his Nana give him a cheeky wink she cleared her throat. "Now all that's left is to wait for Augustus."

"F-father?!" Emmeline cried in shock. "Coming here?!"

"Yes!" Mary insisted. "he promised me he would take some time off work and come meet his grandson."

"I suppose you'll be staying for dinner then..." Emmeline said slowly.

"As long as it's no trouble!" Mary cried worriedly.

"Oh, it's not!" Emmeline assured her mother. "It's just that I have a lot of baking I wanted to get done before then."

"Oh! Well, that's no problem!" Mary cried before she waved her wand with a flourish. Instantly she, Arnold, Harry, and Lucy were all wrapped up in matching cook's aprons, bright red with little snowflakes on them. "Let's get to it!" Harry laughed before the five of them entered the kitchen. 

It was hours later when all the baking had been finished and the family had just started preparing dinner when there was another knock on the door. Harry was the one to get it this time marching up to the door with a smile.

"Seasons greetings!" The man in the doorway cried. Harry blinked and took a small step back.

Where Mary and Arnold were all soft edges and round shapes, Augustus Vance was the picture of angels. With a sharp jaw, a sharp nose, painfully stiff starched robes, and a delicately manicured and pointed moustache. The only round part of him was his mostly bald head which he was trying, rather desperately and pathetically in Harry's opinion, to hide with an unflattering comb-over. The only familiar part of him was his eyes. His eyes were the same soft hazel colour as Emmeline's. But while Emmeline's were almost always glittering with mirth and positivity, Augustus seemed cold, even to Harry.

"Augustus! You made it!" Mary cried happily as he came forward to give her husband a peck on the cheek. "We were starting to think you'd never arrive..."

"I know!" Augustus began somberly. Harry winced. His voice reminded him vaguely of Gilderoy Lockhart in all the wrong was. "But you know how it is! Christmas issues, holiday book deals, every business this side of Cornwall wanting a spot on the papers!" He let out a wheezing laugh. "It's positively exhausting! But forget all that! Where is my grandson!"

"Hi." Harry began softly. Augustus beamed.

"There you are! Strapping fine lad, aren't you! Here you are! Happy Christmas!" Then he thrust a magazine at Harry. The teen blinked and took it with a strained smile.

"Uh... thanks, Mr. Vance," Harry said softly.

"Oh, none of that!" Augustus insisted. Harry felt his apprehension dip somewhat. "Grandfather or sir will suffice!" And suddenly it came back. Harry looked down to avert his eyes and then blinked again. The magazine was the latest issue of potions masters monthly.

"Er... isn't this more for... you know... masters?" Harry argued. Augustus laughed.

"Well! Always a good idea to read what the masters do!"

"Sure..." Harry murmured with a wince. It also didn't help that his father already had a subscription to this magazine. Surely Mr. Vance must realize that.

"Did you bring anything for Lucy?" Mary asked casually.

"Who?" Augustus asked with a blink.

"Lucy," Mary began with a bit of an irritated tone. "The little girl Emmeline is taking in for the holidays. I told you about her weeks ago."

"Ah," Augustus said, trailing off with a somewhat irritated expression of his own. "Right... here," he held out the magazine with a little less graciousness than he had for Harry. The young girl frowned a bit but took it nonetheless.

"Thank you," she muttered softly without even bothering to look at it. Augustus immediately looked away as soon as she grasped it with a bright smile, seemingly airbrushing the girl from his sights 

"So! Is dinner ready yet?" he asked jovialy.

"We were just about to start making it," Emmeline told her father with a slightly clipped tone. He was being awfully rude today. 

"Ah well! Arnold! Harry! Why don't we relax in the parlour while the girls get to it." Augustus offered with a smile. Harry frowned.

"Actually," Harry began softly. "I usually help Mum with dinner."

"Really? Don't you and your father have better things to do in the evening?" Augustus argued.

"Dad usually helps make dinner too." The boy scathingly told the man.

"Really? You'd think a potions master would be more diligent." Augustus muttered with a sniff. Harry scowled at him before turning away and back into the kitchen. Emmeline pursed her lips and gave her father a dirty look before following suit. 

"Augustus!" Mary hissed coldly. 

"What?" The man asked looking a bit put out. 

"That was incredibly rude!"

"I only meant-"

"Go apologize!"

"Oh alright..." Augustus muttered as he went into the kitchen with a contrite expression. "Emmi," he began softly. "I'm sorry... you know how easy it is for me to put my foot in it... can we let bygones be bygones? It is Christmas after all!" Emmeline was standing with her back to him, peeling carrots over a board. Only she'd paused in her peeling as her father spoke. She sighed and put the knife down.

"Oh alright," she said weakly before she turned and gave her father a soft hug and a kiss on the cheek. Harry watched this from the corner of his eye as he stirred the rice on the stove. 

"Now Augustus," Mary began gently. "Why don't you and Dad go wait in the living room? I'm sure we'll have dinner ready before you know it!" Arnold gave his daughter a pitiful look which she glared at until the elderly man relented and let out a played-up groan.

"Yeah, I suppose I should take a bit of weight off the ole knee..." Arnold ‘agreed' as he came to sit in the living room with Augustus. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the man was out of earshot. Christmas Eve dinner sure was turning out to be exhausting.

Lucy curled up against Emmeline, wrapped up into her shawl and sipped her cocoa slowly while Harry flipped through the magazine Augustus had given him with a bland expression.

"How could he possibly think this was a good magazine for a teenager?" Harry complained as he flashed the page he was on, which had a series of complex alchemical tables and arithmantic circles detailing the latest theories proposed by some potions master from who knew where. Emmeline sighed.

"My father has never been much of a family person," she muttered, "work has always come first."

"Hmph,'' Harry grumbled as he tossed the magazine onto the coffee table. Suddenly the clock on the mantle chimed out. As the twelfth bell chimed the fire in the grate suddenly burned emerald green.

"Sorry I'm late," Severus began casually

"DAD!" Harry cried ecstatically as he and Lucy both dove for the fireplace with brilliant grins. Severus chuckled.

"I had to wait to make sure Delores was asleep."

"Happy Christmas darling," Emmeline said with a bright smile of her own.

"I know it's a bit unorthodox, but it is technically Christmas day is it not?" Severus began softly. "And I would love to see you open your gifts."

"Can we?" Lucy asked Emmeline excitedly.

"I suppose." the woman said with a soft smile and a knowing glance at her future husband. Lucy squealed in excitement as Harry raced across the room to pull their gifts out from under the tree. There were a few more for Lucy than Harry, but he didn't mind much. Lucy got the same sort of gifts he got the last few years. Enchanted PJs, these ones with little owls that flew across the fabric. Homemade mits and hats, charmed to always be warm and never get wet. Meanwhile, Harry made a noise of intrigue as he opened the small box from his mother. Inside it was a strange disc with two overlapping layers made of a smooth stone. The inner and outer rings were each etched with the runic alphabet. Harry turned the inner disk and made a noise when two symbols lined up and glowed, projecting a new rune in the middle.

"It's a runic codex," Emmeline explained casually. "It's a helpful tool for memorization, but it can also be used to combine runes in new and interesting ways. There are a few basic interactions etched onto the back to get you started." Harry flipped it over and saw the star his mother was referring to. 

"Thanks!" Harry cried genuinely. 

Suddenly Lucy gasped. Harry looked over. The girl was holding a small hinged jewelry box and staring at its contents with glittering shocked eyes. What she pulled out made Harry's jaw drop. It was a stunningly gorgeous vintage jewelled hairpin. The body was made of pure glittering silver while its wings were fitted with delicately formed sapphires that glittered in the firelight in such a way that the pegasus' feathers seemed to be rippling in the wind. In its eye was a single glittering diamond, sparkling like mad even in the dim light.

"That," Severus began softly. "belonged to my mother." Lucy looked over in awe. "It was the only piece of the family jewels she was allowed to keep. The Pegasus is the crest of the Prince Family. It symbolizes freedom, self-determination, rehabilitation, and above all hope."

"I-I can't take this!" Lucy cried in distress "It belonged to your mother! It's a family heirloom! I-"

"I insist," Severus told her firmly. "My mother would want you to have it. You are quite a lot like her, and I think she would be pleased." Lucy was left speechless as she stared down at the hairpin again before she swallowed thickly.

"Thank you..." she said softly. Harry smiled wide.

"My turn," he said with a hint of excitement. He knew his gift would be just as wonderful as Lucy's. But as he tore the paper off and opened the box his smile wavered a bit. It was a mirror. True it was a relatively nice mirror, with a nice frame, but it was just a mirror.

"Thanks, Dad," Harry said, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice. Suddenly Severus made a noise.

"Oh. Terribly sorry. I've run out of time."

"Huh?" Harry cried in shock. Before suddenly the fire flashed orange for a moment then sputtered out. "Dad?! Dad!" Harry cried in horror as he tossed the mirror aside and dove for the fireplace

"Yes?" came the voice of Severus Snape from behind him, sounding a bit mirthful. Harry blinked and whipped his head around. 

"Dad?" he called again.

"Over here," Severus called. Harry blinked and scrambled back to the sofa and looked in the mirror. Severus chuckled as Harry's face filled the mirror in his own hands with almost comical shock and awe.

"Bloody Wicked!" Harry cried ecstatically.

"Language!" Both his parents cried with scowls.

"S-sorry..." Harry cried with a wince before he held the mirror away from his face so that Emmeline and Lucy could see into it as well. "Does... can Umbridge see us?"

"This is a secure connection," Severus said casually with a smile.

"Wicked..." Harry cried in awe. "How did you figure this out anyway?"

"Your uncle."

"Uncle Remus?"

"Apparently Black and Potter had mirrors like this at Hogwarts, which explains quite a lot," Severus complained scathingly, making Harry and Emmeline chuckle. "I told him how I was looking for a way to be with you all for Christmas without prying eyes. He helped me figure out how to recreate them." Harry grinned. "According to Remus, the mirrors are quite effective even at long distances, though distortion can take effect if you try to use it on the mainland. Unfortunately, they aren't terribly discrete. Apparently black and Potter tried testing the charms out on smaller mirrors and found they never quite worked as well as the big ones."

"Well, it's not like I'll be trying to contact you about sensitive stuff in public anyway," Harry argued.

"Yeah but with Umbridge around, anything could be sensitive," Lucy complained. Harry huffed.

"Now there'll be no more talk of Delores Umbridge tonight!" Emmeline insisted with a grin. "It's Christmas Eve! Or... well Christmas day actually!"

"Yes," Severus began slowly. "In fact, you children should probably be heading to bed."

"Oh but-" Lucy began with a pout.

"You can speak with Severus again tomorrow darlings," Emmeline assured them. The little girl sighed before getting up to give Emmeline a hug.

"Thank you for all the wonderful gifts..." she paused and gave Severus a worried expression. "Are you sure about the harpin?"

"Yes!" Severus insisted again with a slight huff.

"Here Dad," Harry began, "I'll leave the mirror with Mum for now."

"Oh thank you, darling," Emmeline began with a soft smile.

"Have a good night!" Harry called from out of frame before dashing up the stairs.

"Happy Christmas my dear," Severus muttered softly. Emmeline smiled.

"To you as well my darling."