Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Chapter 9

He hated flooing.

He was reminded just how much he hated it when he was deposited right on top of a pile of dirty dishes, scattering spoons and teacups all over the dirt floor.

He picked himself up, the sound of clattering china and a dog's pitiful yelps ringing in his ears. Fang had dived under the bed, raising up a cloud of dust.

"It's... er... just me," Harry said, feeling foolish. "You can come out."

Fang didn't.

Harry pulled out a chair and sat down to wait.

He couldn't help looking at the clock, watching as the hands crept along.

What if Ron didn't make it, and he had to go back without even talking with him? Or what if they only had a few minutes together?

He wished he could look out the window to see if Ron was coming, but he didn't think that would be a good idea.

The door was flung open suddenly. "Here Fang! I brought you a bo-- HARRY!"

Harry, who had got to his feet quickly, was almost knocked backwards by the force of the taller boy launching himself at him.

"Ron! Hang on, let me breathe..."

Ron let go, looking sheepish. "All right there, mate?"

"Yeah." Harry grinned. "It's great to see you."

Ron stared at him. "No joking. Where the hell have you been?"

Harry shrugged. "Around. You know. For my own good, and all that."

"Dad said --" Ron stopped and shook his head. "Forget it. Just tell me everything."

"Not much to tell, really. I had to leave the Dursleys' in a hurry. I can't tell you where I'm staying right now, but it hasn't been very exciting."

"All of us were mad worried when we heard Grimmauld Place had been ransacked. Is that where you were?"

"No. I hadn't even heard. Makes sense they'd look for me there, though." Harry looked away, feeling terrible about having to lie to Ron, even if it couldn't be helped.

He noticed a big bone lying forgotten on the floor. "Hey, were you going to feed Fang?"

"Lupin told me..." Ron rolled his eyes. "Now I get it."

"So Lupin's here? He's teaching for sure?" Harry asked. If he wasn't supposed to have spent much time with Lupin, he figured a little curiosity was in order.

"Teaching?" Ron repeated, frowning. "I don't know anything about that. He is here though."

"And your family -- you've been here all this time?"

Ron nodded. "It's great, really. I can use magic, for one thing!"

As if to prove it, he took out his wand and levitated Fang's abandoned bone toward the bed. Fang stuck his muzzle out just long enough to snatch the bone out of the air.

Harry laughed nervously. A sudden thought had sprung into his mind.

They hadn't even considered his wand. He was carrying his new wand. Or, he should say, the old spare Snape had provided. His old wand had been hidden; Lupin hadn't even told him where.

He had to wonder how may other little details might have been forgotten or had escaped notice. This time it was just Ron, but next time it might be someone who could make real trouble for all of them.

"Bill and Charlie might be teaching this year," Ron went on. "Can you imagine that?"

Harry shook his head.

"Mum's excited, of course."

Harry snickered. He could easily imagine that.

"You know Dad had to hex Percy? The bloody git wouldn't come with us --"

Ron's expression turned dark, and he scowled at the wall.

"What?" Harry asked finally.

"Oh, nothing. I don't want to talk about that greasy git when we don't know when we'll get to talk again."

Harry looked at the clock. "About that... I have to leave in twenty minutes, Ron."

"WHAT?!"

"I know it. It was hard enough arranging this. Anyway, what did Snape do?"

Ron kept frowning, and shook his head. "It's not Snape, it's his bloody kid."

"Oh," Harry said as casually as he could. "You mean Hadrian?"

Ron goggled at him.

"We met," Harry said, shrugging. "Snape brought him to an Order meeting once."

Ron's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "Don't talk like... like you like the git!"

Harry shrugged again. "He was all right, I thought. Why?"

"Well, he... he..." Ron sputtered. "He bumped into me yesterday... rude as all hell... and just now he wanted to know where I was going, the nosy greaseball!"

Harry sighed a little, realizing it was hopeless.

Ron didn't notice. He had jerked the edge of the curtain back and was peering out of the window. "There, look."

Harry moved to stand next to him and looked out cautiously through the dirty glass.

Tonks was going a bit too far in impersonating Snape's son. Hadrian was currently making a fool of himself stalking the edge of the lake kicking stones into the water.

"Oh, who cares?" Harry said grumpily. "Let's not waste any more time."

He dragged Ron back to the table and they sat down.

"You probably know more about what's going on than I do. Where's Hermione?"

Ron looked like he wasn't quite ready to abandon the subject of Snape's offspring, but didn't insist. "Not sure. For all we know she's in hiding too, and we just haven't been told about it. A lot of strange things going on lately..."

Isn't that the truth, Harry thought.

"I had a letter from her two days ago. If I'd known I was going to see you, I would have brought it."

"That's all right," Harry said. "I had one too. Short one, just telling me not to write if it wasn't safe."

Ron nodded. "They told me not to write to you. Owls would just get hurt for nothing."

"Hedwig..." Harry started, Lupin's admission that letters had been intercepted springing to his mind. "Hedwig hasn't been hurt, has she?"

"No, mate, she's all right," Ron said quickly. "Came back with some singed feathers once, and we haven't let her out since. She's even staying in my room, with Pig."

"Thanks, Ron."

Ron waved him off.

Harry frowned. "I did have a letter from you, though. I only got it a few days ago, but it was the one where you told me your family was going to Egypt."

Ron looked uncomfortable. "I didn't write that, mate. I just copied it out."

"Oh," Harry said, feeling deflated. "Well, I had figured everything it in was a lie." Seeing that Ron was still avoiding eye contact, he hurriedly changed the subject. "What's been happening at Hogwarts?"

"Not very much, to tell you the truth." Ron wrinkled his nose. "House-elves have up and left. Most of them, anyway. Mum's making us help clean. Half of it's left over from Fred and George's big exit, and she's laying the guilt on thick." He paused, and the corner of his mouth quirked up impishly. "They'll be here this year, you know. Fred and George, I mean. Mum pitched a fit. So, McGonagall's letting them repeat."

"Oh no," Harry said, grinning. "I bet they don't like that much."

"Not much," Ron agreed, his face almost splitting in two. He sobered suddenly. "She's been at me, too, a bit. I think McGonagall let her have a peek at my O.W.L.s early. I keep telling her what it was like last year..."

Harry swallowed hard.

For a few moments there was a silence between them.

"I wish you could stay at Hogwarts, too," Ron said. "Why can't you? It's got to be safe, don't you reckon?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know."

"Can you ask?"

Harry nodded glumly.

Ron looked at him and frowned. "You are coming back when school starts, aren't you?" He leaned forward when Harry didn't answer immediately. "Harry? You are, right?"

"I don't know," Harry said, feeling just dreadful. "I don't know yet, Ron."

And it was then, with Ron staring at him in stunned disbelief, that the fireplace roared to life, spewing green flames.

"I... I have to go," Harry said helplessly.

"But we haven't had time to... to talk about anything! Harry...!"

"I have to go," Harry repeated, giving Ron's shoulder a quick squeeze. "I'm sorry. Tell everyone I... I miss them and I... I hope they don't hate me."

"Why would they hate you?" Ron called after him. "Harry, wait!"

But the green flames closed around him, and he was spinning away.


 


 

After being spat out onto the floor of Snape's office, Harry sat staring at the wall for a few moments before picking himself up and brushing soot off his clothes.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting.

He just knew that meeting with Ron had left him feeling even more mixed up, and feeling even worse about all the lies that he would have to tell just to get through each and every day.

Starting with the biggest lie of all.

He looked glumly at the bronze goblet and the potion that would turn him back into Hadrian. Or, he supposed, he could just wait. Wouldn't he turn back an hour after drinking the potion from the silver goblet?

No one ever explained things to his satisfaction.

He glanced at the clock. Only five minutes remained of his time as himself. Unless Snape and Lupin had just been trying to scare him, the potion would wear off by itself.

Well, why hasten it? He had no way of knowing when he would get to be Harry Potter again. This might be his last chance for a long time to wear his own face.

He took off the Weasley jumper and folded it carefully, kicked off Dudley's trainers, and started to put on his new, still less than perfectly comfortable clothes.

His skin prickled.

He glanced into the shiny surface of a polished platter, and watched as his features stretched and changed before his eyes.

He left everything on the table, poured the unused potion out onto the floor, and flicked his new wand to vanish the mess.

"Yeeeow!" He waved his hand frantically to cool his burned fingertips. "Bloody hell!"

Well, it was a different wand, and probably wasn't a very good fit for him. He would have to practice simple spells until he got used to it. He just hoped he wouldn't be as accident prone as Neville had been for years.

The scorch mark on the floor was barely visible, if one didn't look too closely. He rubbed it with the toe of his boot and decided it wasn't worth worrying about.

Remembering Snape's instructions, he sat down to wait. He wished he could escape to his own room, but he wasn't even sure he could find the way.

He was just about to reach for a copy of the Daily Prophet, which was lying on Snape's desk and proclaimed, POTTER STILL MISSING, MINISTER FURIOUS, when the door opened just enough for Hadrian Snape to slip inside and close it behind him.

"Hey Tonks," Harry said half-heartedly. Looking at what he looked like now was depressing. "Did we pull it off?"

She grinned, and in a flash her hair was a blinding pink, her face already rearranging itself into her usual features. "Sure did. No one suspects a thing." She looked him over carefully. "Looks like you're ready to go. Snape wants you to go straight up to the staff room, and bring his lesson book with you. That's what he sent you down here for."

Harry nodded. The thin leather book was lying on Snape's desk, half-buried under a stack of unopened mail. "Thanks."

"Cheer up, Harry," she said, frowning slightly as she tried to ruffle his hair and was caught in a tangle. "Think of it as an undercover operation. I have to do it all the time."

"Really?" He hadn't thought of it before, but it made sense that her talent would come in handy as an Auror.

"Of course. Aren't you thinking of going for Auror training?"

Harry nodded.

"Think of this as the start of your training, then. Don't blow your cover."

Or else, Harry added silently. "I won't."

"It'll be over before you know it. Get going. I have to floo out of here if I'm going to get to work on time."

"Bye," Harry said, reluctantly pulling open the door and looking out to make sure the hallway outside was empty. When he looked back, Tonks had already gone.

With a sigh, he trudged to the staff room, only straightening himself when he reached the door. He really needed to work on making a better impression on people. He didn't want anyone to think he was as bad as Snape, did he? Ron already thought that.

He knocked, and the door opened at once.

They were seated around a long table, which was strewn with papers. McGonagall was at the head, and Harry noted that several of his professors were present. So were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and their two eldest sons.

Without a word, he walked up to Snape and handed the lesson book to him. Snape took it, acknowledging Harry with only a curt nod.

Lupin gave him a slight smile. No one else paid any attention to him.

He turned on his heel and walked out.

Hogwarts was where he had always wanted to be in the summer, but now that he was there he couldn't think of how to pass the time. He decided to go back to his room.

"There he is --"

"Shhhhhhh!"

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, but Harry forced himself to keep walking as though he hadn't heard the voices.

Great. Exactly what he needed.

He was caught under the arms from behind, and now Fred and George were walking on either side of him, their shoulders hard against his.

"Hold up there. Hadrian, isn't it?"

Harry couldn't help scowling. He wasn't afraid of the twins, exactly, but he knew they hated Snape and he knew they could get nasty. "So what?"

Fred -- or possibly George, Harry wasn't very sure -- smiled innocently at him. "Just thought we'd get to know each other. Hogwarts isn't such a big place --"

"-- And it's ages before classes start..." continued George (or maybe Fred).

Harry tried to shake them off. They were forcing him in the opposite direction from the dungeon stairwell, and he was sure he didn't want to find out what they really wanted.

Their hold on him just tightened.

They rounded the corner, and Harry realized with some apprehension that they were far enough now from the staff room that no one was likely to see or hear anything that went on.

"What do you want?" he demanded, making a final effort to free himself.

They let him go suddenly, letting him stumble before he regained his balance, and put on hurt faces.

"Doesn't sound like he wants to talk, does it, George?" said Fred, shaking his head with a false air of sadness.

"Doesn't seem very friendly, does he, Fred?" replied George, shaking his head and sighing.

Harry looked warily from one to the other. He was no longer very sure that he wasn't afraid of them.

"And to think -- !" said Fred.

"-- That we just wanted to welcome him -- !" continued George.

"-- To Hoggy Woggy Hogwarts!" they finished together. And they stared at him with avid disappointment.

Harry kept his mouth shut.

"Well," said Fred, sounding defeated, "I suppose there isn't anything we can do, George."

George sighed like his heart was breaking, and nodded. "Let's just give him his present and go."

Fred fished a lumpy little red paper sack out of his pocket. "The very best from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. That's our shop." He shoved it into Harry's hand and closed Harry's fingers over it as if expecting him to drop it.

And they both watched expectantly.

Harry cautiously ripped open the top and shook several sweets into the palm of his hand.

Puking Pastilles.

So that's what they were up to. He almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, he felt a bit trapped. How would Hadrian Snape react, having never met or even heard of Fred and George Weasley, or Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, before?

"Sorry," he said, pouring the sweets back into the sack, "I don't take sweets from strangers."

He held it out, but Fred refused to take it.

"Keep it," he said, barely concealing a sneer. "You might want to try it later."

"Bit of advice to you, Snape," said George, all hint of friendliness gone from his voice, "If I were you, I'd be careful about whom I choose to be friends with around here --"

"-- And whom I choose for my enemies," finished Fred, taking George by the elbow. "Come on, George."

"You wouldn't want to fall in with the wrong sort," George said over his shoulder as they sauntered away.

Harry swallowed, reminded suddenly of another conversation that had ended just thus.

He whispered, his voice not reaching even his own ears.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself."

And he swallowed very hard again.


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