Chapter 18 – Woods for the Trees

Severus wakes the next morning with dread in his heart. Even during the summer holidays, it is rare for him to have a lie-in: when not at Hogwarts, it was routine to have breakfast with the Malfoy family. After that, he was usually free to do as he pleased, which generally involved catching up on academic potions journals and experiments. A routine he could thankfully continue, given he is no longer required to be a spy. Though it was a situation he dreaded, Severus would have taken up the burden of that assignment regardless of his personal feelings[1] [2] .

Now, however, rising from his bed would mean facing the wrath of his daughter. Severus has always prided himself on his control - and so, how is it then that an insufferable whelp like Potter could force him to lose it? Reluctantly, Severus forces himself to roll out of the warm and inviting blankets, out of his bedroom and into the bathroom, deliberately putting all thoughts of Potter from his mind.

Severus has lost his temper on many occasions during his teaching career, even verbally shredding his ignorant students to tears and beyond. All complaints that reached the Headmaster were only met with a token reprimand[3] ; thus, Severus had placidly continued in his brilliant teaching method, not giving any thought to the complainants, nor tempering his behaviour in any way. However, he had never gone so far as to physically assault a student before.

His thoughts briefly flit to his father’s temper before deliberately shying away from the comparison. He is nothing like his father. And, more importantly, Harry Potter is not his son.

Thirty minutes later, Severus seats himself at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee. He heard Holly go into the bathroom and the shower run whilst he was changing, but the water jet stops now, and Severus pauses, his mug frozen inches from his lips. He slowly lowers the mug back to the table.

The bathroom door silently opens, and his daughter creeps through the sitting room to her bedroom just as silently, not even deigning him with a look. Only the gleam of the yellow towel around her shoulders, standing out starkly against his dark walls, draws his attention to her. He tenses, expecting her to slam her door, but is surprised when she slowly eases it closed. At her age, Draco was loud in his ire, wanting everyone to suffer when, on rare occasions, he didn’t get what he wanted.

With a dejected sigh, Severus returns his attention to his cup of coffee. As he lifts the mug, he is again interrupted by a knock on the door. Heaving himself from his chair, he strides to the door, unfazed as he opens it to see Lucius on the other side.

 “Good morning,” the Malfoy patriarch greets, though thankfully, without a smile.

“Speak for yourself,” Severus mutters, stepping aside to allow his friend to enter.

“How has she been?”

“I wouldn’t know,” comes the bitter answer. “She just came out of the shower and didn’t even look in my direction. I suppose you’re here to take her to Potter.”

Lucius gives a single, slow nod to Severus’ biting statement, who leads the short way to his kitchen table.

“Coffee?”

Lucius takes a seat, accepting the offer, and Severus goes about the business of making one for the blond.

 Filling the heavy silence that has fallen, Severus asks, trying to appear disinterested but failing miserably: “Is Regulus still in the Hospital Wing?”

“He is,” the blond confirms. “Though he plans to leave after breakfast.”

Severus nods jerkily in acknowledgement of his words.

This is the second time Regulus has been angry with Severus in as many months - over Potter, again.

“How were your classes yesterday?” Severus queries stiffly.

Lucius levels him with a well-deserved look of contempt, to which the Potion Master grimaces in response.

“Right,” he mumbles, recalling that Lucius, just like himself, only had two classes before calamity struck.

“You have two weeks with no classes, no responsibility, no students and no expectations; what are you planning to do with your free time - other than trying to think of a way to separate Holly and Potter?”

Severus huffs out a breath.

“I shall probably bring out my journals and work on some experiments,” he admits. Only after he’s gone through Holly’s photo album. “Albus has confined me to my rooms.”

Luckily he has a hidden door to enter his private lab from quarters.

“You can still go home,” Lucius offers quietly.

“Holly would not go with me,” Severus remarks acidly, “and I will not leave her here alone for two weeks.” With Potter, he adds silently.

“She would not be alone…”

Severus arches a brow at his friend.

“She would not,” he acknowledges with a nod. “Yet, you kept Potter from me.”

Lucius does not look repentant to the Potions Master’s consternation. Nor is there any assurance that Lucius wouldn’t do the same again.

Any chance of further conversation is cut off as Holly’s bedroom door finally opens, and the girl in question finally emerges, now fully dressed. Her still-wet hair is brushed back, though not tied up.

Severus makes to greet her but, not unexpectedly, is ignored.

When it is Lucius who wishes her good morning, she replies softly in a voice reduced to a whisper - still not looking at Severus.

“Breakfast?” Lucius asks.

“I’m eating with Harry,” she says firmly. “Aunt Poppy said I could.”

It is on the tip of Severus’ tongue to say that Aunt Poppy has no say as to whom Holly could eat breakfast with, but he manages to resist the urge.

ooOoo

Draco sees the looks his Housemates give him. He has hardly been able to concentrate in classes since yesterday - confused and angry at recent events as he was. His father has been avoiding him, using many excuses to delay the explanation.

He is fuming at the turn of events. How the hell does Potter know Holly? From the way they greeted each other at the carriages, he is now aware that they have history. Why didn’t Holly mention that during the summer? She had plenty of opportunities. Potter had been mentioned several times over the past few weeks.

“You’ll give yourself a headache gritting your teeth like that,” Pansy points out.

Draco scowls at her briefly.

“Your father still avoiding you?” Daphne asks, looking entirely too pleased.

“He’s not avoiding me,” Draco lies. “He’s busy.”

He’s been strictly forbidden from that old fool Dumbledore and from his father to mention how Severus beat Potter unconscious. Which is a pity, he thinks to himself. He’d love nothing more than for people to see that there’s nothing special about Potter, if only it didn’t get Severus in trouble. Besides, he firmly believes Potter deserved it. If only he could convince Holly of the same…

ooOoo

Regulus watches like an indulgent father as Harry and Holly eat breakfast together. Truthfully, he expected Harry to sleep a little longer, but the boy woke up barely minutes before Lucius arrived at the Infirmary with Holly.

They all gave him his privacy as he used the facilities and then again when Poppy examined Harry once more. After Severus’s use of Occlumency, Poppy decided to keep Harry under observation for a few hours longer before releasing him around lunchtime.

Lucius left reluctantly to join the rest of the school in the Great Hall, where Albus would make his announcement about Severus to the students. His blond acquaintance looked like he would much rather stay and have breakfast with them.

Watching the two fuss over each other amuses him greatly. Holly insists that Harry braid her hair again, and Regulus is astonished at Harry’s skill, though he immediately reminds himself that Harry is most likely practised at many things[4] .

They are both very protective of each other. Seeing Harry worry over Holly during the summer is quite different from seeing the boy in action around the girl. Likewise, Holly is equally fierce in her protectiveness. Indeed, her first concern upon seeing Regulus was for Harry rather than her own rescue.

He can’t help but think that he and Sirius had never been this protective of each other. Even for all their dedication earlier in their friendship, Lily and Severus too had never been this strong to each other - not according to Regulus’s silent observations. Needless to say, even James and Sirius’s relationship had been entirely different to this.

“Have you been exploring yet?” Harry asks, watching Holly eat even as he works away on finishing his porridge.

“A little,” she answers. “Uncle Albus gave me a map and said I must only stay in the places shown on the map. I walked around the dungeons once, but I wasn’t allowed to again because Aunt Minerva, Uncle Lucius and Mr Filch had to rescue me from a boggart.”

“A boggart?” Harry repeats sharply, throwing an accusatory look in Regulus’s direction. He can only shrug helplessly in response since he himself didn’t know about this.

Holly shrinks under Harry’s gaze.

“Are you okay?” Harry asks more calmly, although the frenzy is still perceptible in his strained voice. “Did you get hurt?”       

Holly shakes her head, but it is easy to see she is still shaken.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Harry proposes more gently and kindly than Regulus would have done.

Holly pushes away her food, biting her lip, and her eyes begin to glitter in unshed tears. Harry moves the food out of the way and pulls her close in a tight embrace.

“It was you,” her voice comes muffled as her face is sunk into Harry’s shoulders. “It turned into you and told me you didn’t want me around anymore.”

His arms tighten around her even more, as if to protect her from that invisible monster and reassure her that it would never hurt her again.

“That would never happen,” Harry vows fiercely. “Never. You’re stuck with me forever. I’ll only leave if you tell me to.”

Holly’s arms, likewise, tighten around Harry’s neck.

“Don’t leave me,” she wails. “Don’t let me go.”

“Never.”

Regulus finds himself helpless as the two cling to each other. Should Severus realise this, he knows it will make him even more determined to split the two - not different from the way James Potter had attempted to do with Lily. Regulus makes his vow to Harry and Holly not to let Severus succeed. And if Lucius wants to gain Harry’s trust, he will have to help Regulus.

In an attempt to break the unpleasant atmosphere, Harry jokes, “You’ve not even started at school yet, and you’ve already had your own adventure.”

Holly tenses in his lap, not taking her face from the crook of his neck, mumbling something incomprehensible.

Harry firmly but gently pulls her away, asking, “What was that?”

“There’s one more thing,” she mutters, fidgeting with the buttons of Harry’s hospital pyjamas.

“What?” he enquires, giving her a look Regulus has seen Andromeda and Narcissa give their respective children, knowing their next confession will not be good.

Regulus has to bite his lip to stop himself from chortling aloud.

“I got lost in the Forbidden Forest,” she says, not looking at either of them.

“You got lost in the Forbidden Forest?” Harry repeats in a deadpan voice. “What were you doing there? I’ve told you how dangerous that place is.”

Regulus decides to continue watching them, pointedly not commenting on Harry’s hypocrisy.

“I was there with Mr Snape, Uncle Luc and Aunt Pomona,” Holly rushes to explain - the way she called her father not ignored. “We were collecting potions ingredients… well, they were, and I helped a little. I wanted to, but no one would let me touch any plants - even though Aunt Pomona gave me gloves - so I just gave everyone empty baskets. Then I saw a unicorn, and I followed it, and I got turned around, and then I realised I was lost.”

“At least it was unicorns and not spiders,” Harry mutters, to Regulus’s confusion. Then, catching the look on Holly’s face, he says resignedly, “There’s more, isn’t there?”

“I saw the giant spiders,” Holly confesses, shuddering at the memory.

Harry pulls her close again, resting his chin on her head.

“Twit,” he calls her affectionately.

“You’re a twit,” she retaliates in much the same tone.

Pulling their breakfast back toward her, Harry spurs her to swallow at least a few bites.

After several minutes, Harry asks quietly - almost whispering:  “Did they hurt you?”

Holly shakes her head in denial. “I just hurt my ankle when I fell out of the tree. Mr Hagrid and Uncle Albus saved me before they could do anything. Mr Hagrid was so angry with them… I think they were friends.”

“Hagrid has a skewed idea of what sort of creatures are safe, but I trust him to keep me safe,” Harry comments. “I know he’d look after you as well.”

Regulus intrudes on the conversation between the two, exclaiming pointedly: “Please tell me that’s the last of surprises.”

Holly makes a show of thinking about it before shaking her head and impishly declaring, “Harry will be there to protect me if I have any more adventures like that.”

Regulus snorts in laughter, and Harry’s expression takes on a rueful visage.

“I don’t go looking for trouble,” he mumbles, cheeks turning red.

“Of course, you don’t,” Holly pats the arm around her waist patronisingly as she rests her head on his shoulder.

Looking at them, it is hard to believe that Harry is the same boy who spent all summer plagued by nightmares. Regulus had monitored the young wizard after he moved out of the shared room with Neville and Ron. If Harry wasn’t dreaming about Holly and Eileen, he dreamed about Cedric Diggory and the graveyard. Yet, he never sought medicinal help to keep those dreams at bay. During the day, the boy threw himself into worrying about his sister, and if his friends offered any commiserations about the Diggory boy’s death, Regulus certainly never heard of it. In fact, Harry himself only asked after the Diggorys once regarding the funeral. Regulus had inquired discreetly for Harry, informing him that the funeral had taken place three weeks after the start of the school holidays and that the Diggorys had packed up and left the country shortly afterwards.

Harry had taken the news quietly, nodded once, thanked Regulus, and never brought the topic up again.

“Harry?” Holly speaks up hesitantly.

“What is it?”

“Will you promise me something?”

“Anything,” Harry agrees immediately and without question.

“Don’t let anyone hurt you anymore,” she begs, looking at him tearfully.

Harry pulls her close and promises her solemnly to protect himself.

Regulus feels his heart clenching at their words. They’ve both suffered so much from ridiculously young ages. Despite her rocky relationship with her father, Holly would rather have Harry stand up to Severus rather than suffer his abuse again- no matter the reason. Regulus has already promised Harry, Holly and Albus that he won’t allow Harry to return to the Dursleys, and he fully intends to keep that promise - no matter what.

Seeing Harry looking the most carefree since he had moved into Grimmauld Place is worrying and relieving simultaneously. Regulus fears Harry’s single-mindedness in regard to Holly - it reminds him too much of Severus - and what it would cost him.

ooOoo

Harry isn’t surprised that Hermione and Ron come to see him before breakfast ends. He isn’t even surprised to see Neville, who he had made a determined effort to know better after reading about his parents in third year.

He is amazed to see Dean and Seamus, though, and even more so when Lavender trails behind, standing awkwardly on the peripheral edge of the group.

Moving toward his bed, Hermione asks: “Where’s Regulus?”

“Gone home,” Harry answers. “Madam Pomfrey said I could rest in the Common room when she releases me around lunch, but she’s not allowing me to go back to classes until tomorrow.”

“Professor McGonagall passed me our homework assignments from yesterday’s lessons,” Hermione said, digging into her school bag for the homework, “I’ll get the rest of yours today. She asked that you meet her in her office after dinner to discuss your missed classes and extensions for the homework.”

Harry nods his understanding, taking the wrapping of densely written sheets from Hermione.

“And Luna?” Neville asks, looking around.

“She’s already been,” Holly pipes up.

“Luna came up earlier,” Harry expands further, a smile unknowingly touching his lips. “She only stayed for a bit, then had to shoot off for breakfast.”

“Oh, okay,” Hermione nods. “Are you okay to join us in the Great Hall for lunch?”

“I think so,” Harry says uncertainly. To Holly, he asks: “Will you be meeting us there?”

Holly immediately confirms her presence.

“You’re not staying in the Hospital Wing with Harry?” Seamus asks with surprise.

A sour look comes over her face, and Holly pouts, answering, “I have lessons to go to as well. I have to get my bag from my room first and go to Uncle Albus’s office. He’ll probably make me do loads of work to make up for the ones I missed yesterday.”

Uncle Albus? Ron mouths at Harry with bemusement, who only shakes his head with a fond smile.

“Oh, do you want me to walk you down?” Hermione offers kindly.

“No, it’s okay,” Holly replies. “I know my way around.”

Harry doesn’t know why Lavender has followed his friends to the Hospital wing but can only speculate it is to get more gossip for herself. Regulus informed him earlier that everyone in the Infirmary yesterday was not allowed to speak about the incident in any way, though Harry knows that the Hogwarts Rumour Mill is likely already strife with the most outlandish speculations. As it has come from the Headmaster directly, everyone involved, including Draco (though that is likely due to Lucius’s influence), will comply.

Regulus also updated Harry on Snape’s two-week suspension and subsequent restrictions, while Dumbledore made the announcement earlier at breakfast. Holly has stayed obstinately silent on it all, and Harry knows he will have to work hard to ensure Holly doesn’t give Snape too hard a time. However, he knows his sister well enough not to broach the subject until she calms down.

Harry is alone for almost an hour after Holly, his friends, and his Housemates leave for their respective lessons. Holly is the most reluctant to go, but Harry manages to push her out with a promise to meet her for lunch in the Great Hall.

“All your posse departed?” Madam Pomfrey teases as she comes out of her office, interrupting Harry’s perusal of his homework. He has his book bag from yesterday, and Hermione has handed him other assignments from their missed classes. As Madam Pomfrey will not be releasing him until lunchtime, he can at least get a headstart on structuring his work and fill in the gaps after lunch with a visit to the library. He’ll still be behind, as he’ll also have missed today’s lessons. If Harry let him, Ron would drag him down to leaving his homework at the last minute, as the redhead is never eager to complete his homework sooner than needed.

However, Iris has always ingrained good study habits into Harry and Holly. When he’d started attending Hogwarts in his first two months, he’d allowed Ron to distract him with the newness of everything and the novelty of having a friend his own age. After saving Hermione from the troll and becoming friends with her, Harry had made sure to structure his time well to complete his homework, balance Quidditch and gymnastics, and play chess with Ron - who had grumbled at the time, but Harry had been adamant.

The Dursleys only cared about his schoolwork if he showed up their precious Dudley, but Oma made sure he learned to the best of his ability, even if he wasn’t allowed to show it with his relatives. However, Oma reminded him that he’d only do himself a disservice if he didn’t make a full commitment to learning. She constantly assured him it was okay if he wasn’t brilliant at everything, but his effort had to be a hundred per cent. Harry wasn’t quite as fanatic as Hermione regarding schoolwork and learning, but he was driven by the desire to make Oma proud.

After a few seconds of pause, Harry confirms: “They’re gone.”

“Right, then,” Madam Pomfrey begins brusquely, brandishing her wand, “I managed to get an appointment with an eye specialist. She shall be here in half an hour to discuss your options, but I can test you for your prescription in the meantime.”

Harry nods eagerly. Had it not been for Oma, Harry’s eyesight would have been a lot worse. Petunia had grudgingly taken him to an optician when his teachers at Primary School informed her of his trouble seeing the board, grumbling about the time it took her. He was lucky that the NHS didn’t charge for children, but that hadn’t meant that the Dursleys didn’t act like he was costing them the earth. And he knew better to complain when Dudley and his friends broke his glasses.

By the time he met Oma, he’d already had the glasses for almost a year, and she made sure she took him to any subsequent check-ups to keep his prescription up to date. The Dursleys certainly wouldn’t have bothered.

Harry allows the Hogwarts Matron to check his prescription.

“It looks like your eyesight has improved slightly,” Pomfrey announces, pleasantly surprised.

Harry, too, is pleased with this. Between Oma and Madam Pomfrey, he knows he has been dosed with Nutrient Potions and various correction concoctions to undo the damage inflicted by a Dursley diet and lifestyle. Though he has never told Madam Pomfrey about life with the Dursleys, she’s been able to guess enough of the truth from his scars. Thankfully, she never crossed any boundaries, but from the first year, she has insisted he come to visit her at the beginning of each school year to be assessed. He owes a lot to both women, who have done - and one of them continues to do - so much for him without ever asking for anything in return.

He knows objectively that if he had told Madam Pomfrey when she first asked, he might have been removed from the Dursleys all those years ago. However, a big part of him was too scared to hope that might be true, and an even bigger part didn’t want to move away from Oma and Holly. He only has to worry about Holly now, and even though Regulus has promised him he will never have to go back to the Dursleys, he’s not sure he could genuinely believe that. Not with Voldemort’s return.

Many school teachers had promised to remove him from the Dursleys over the years - not to mention the occasional well-meaning neighbour - only to turn on him after believing the Dursleys’ lies. Oma never promised him any such thing. She believed him without ever seeing his scars, and when Harry told her that other people had already tried to help, only to abandon him, she would hug him tight and promise to help in any way she could. He respected her more for never promising to take him away from Vernon and Petunia. Despite the abuse, violence, and a nightmarish childhood, she knew that would be hard. So, instead, she gave him a safe haven, patched up his wounds and gave him the courage to endure it all until he was old enough to leave them altogether.

Oma taught him the ability to rely on himself and still managed to be there for him. He wished there was some way to communicate to her that he didn’t hate her for the truths she’s kept hidden from him. Even when the Dursleys dressed him in Dudley’s rags and never spent a penny on him, he’d never wished for money or power. He’d only hoped for a family and found that in Iris and Holly.

Once the specialist arrives, Harry decides to keep the same frames after his prescription is updated. However, he splurges on optional extras, such as permanent Impervius and Unbreakable Charms and a discrete variation of a Sticking Charm that would stop his glasses from falling off.

“I just put my headaches down to sleeping problems,” Harry tells Pomfrey uncomfortably. She is well aware of Harry’s nightmares.

“Understandable,” she nods. “However, at least your sister knows to look for the signs of your failing eyesight.”

Harry’s lips twitch into a smile.

After one final check-up, he leaves the Hospital Wing and heads down to the Kitchens to speak to Dobby again.

ooOoo

Severus looks at Holly’s photo album in consternation. He’s been staring at the damnable thing for at least an hour. He’d meant to make a beeline straight for his daughter’s room as soon as she left with Lucius, but he’d been interrupted by the unexpected visit of Pomona Sprout.

Severus gets along with Pomona the most out of all the teachers; she is surprisingly sympathetic about his suspension and restrictions, though extremely disapproving of his assault of a student – as she should be. He’d certainly been horrified at his own actions and lack of control. 

However, despite his usual camaraderie with the Herbology professor, he’d spent the whole breakfast wishing she’d leave so that he could nab Holly’s photo album and finally see the damage control he would have to operate between his daughter and the Brat-Who-Lived-To-Stick-His-Nose-In-Everywhere.

Only, he’s not been able to bring himself to open the damn album in the first place. After spending twenty minutes searching for it, dumping everything from her bedside drawer onto the bed and then plonking himself next to it all, he sits there, staring at the front cover, trying to persuade himself to open it.

He doesn’t understand what’s stopping him from finding out what he needs to know - to know how deep Potter has his hooks into Holly. He despairs at the unfairness of it all.

Severus has been trying to connect with his daughter since the moment he’s known about her. For the last nine years, he’s been relegated to the role of the absent father, and yet, here was Potter, who’d known his child since she was a toddler, if his calculations are correct. For the past four years, Potter has been sitting in his classroom while Severus has been ignorant of the existence of his child. The boy knew Holly was Severus’s daughter; that much was obvious. All summer, Regulus had been acting as an owl between the two. How long had Potter known Holly was Severus’s? He must have known Jasmine as well. Had Jasmine told Potter? She would have recognised him as the Boy-Who-Lived. She was ambitious enough to capitalise on the acquaintance from what Severus remembers of her.

Jasmine had probably filled Potter’s head with stories of him, just as she had with Holly, turning both against him. Not that it matters to Severus what Potter thinks of him, but he has seen enough of Potter and Holly’s interactions to know that she values the boy’s opinion.

 An angry voice interrupts his musings. “What are you doing here?”

Severus turns so fast to see Holly glaring at him that he almost falls off the bed, throwing the album onto the bed as if he’s been hit with a Stinging Hex as he stands up.

Holly pins him with an accusing look, taking in the mess on her bed and the newly thrown photo album.

“Why are you going through my things?” she snaps at him.

 Getting caught is Severus’s mistake.

Expecting Holly to return after lunch, he is caught on the back foot. She is supposed to be on her way to Albus’s office now for lessons with the Headmaster. His luck, never good at the best of times, is seriously on the wane at the moment.

ooOoo

Regulus steps out of the Floo from Poppy’s office and straight into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, where, as he expected, Sirius, Lupin, Andromeda and Narcissa are waiting.

Sirius doesn’t look like he has slept all night; in fact, he seems to have spent sitting at the kitchen table.

“Is Harry okay?” Sirius shoots the question rapidly as soon he lays eyes on Regulus, jumping anxiously to his feet.    

Regulus nods sanguinely, gratefully taking the cup of tea from Narcissa.

“Do you want some breakfast?” Andromeda offers, standing up from her own chair.  

“No. Thank you,” Regulus sighs. “I ate with Harry and Holly.”

He does, however, take a fortifying sip of his tea.

Sirius slowly, reluctantly, lowers himself back down into his seat.

“Harry’s fine,” Regulus reassures his brother, seeing the other is still unconvinced.

“What happened?” Sirius asks quietly, staring intently at Regulus.

The youngest Black hides a grimace behind his cup of tea. As Harry’s godfather, Sirius is entitled to know exactly how he was injured to the point it required a Hospital wing stay. Though, it will not portray Severus in a good light, especially considering Regulus has advocated for the Potions Master all summer and defended the wizard against Sirius. However, Regulus is not blind regarding his friend, nor will he lie to Sirius about Severus’s part in the debacle.

As Sirius now knows about Holly, though he is still trying to get his head around how she and Harry are connected, Regulus gives a succinct explanation of Severus’s actions. He does, however, leave out the Legilimency attack. Even though he is not happy with Severus’s actions, there’s no need to add more fuel to Sirius’s fire.

“Harry will be okay, I mean it. Madam Pomfrey will release him from the Infirmary at lunchtime today after she gives him an eye test.”

“Is Snape getting sacked?” Sirius demands.

“No,” Regulus says with a calm he doesn’t feel.

“Why not?”

“Severus is getting suspended. And put on probation with several restrictions upon his return.”

“But he’s allowed to stay in school?” Sirius asks with deceptive composure, standing up and coming close to Regulus.

“Yes.”

The others quietly watch, not daring to interfere between the brother’s conversation, if it could be called that.

“He attacked a student. In front of witnesses,” Sirius states as if Regulus isn’t the one who just told him.

“Yes,” Regulus answers, adjusting in his seat to track Sirius’s movement.

“But he’s allowed to stay in the castle,” Sirius says with rising fury.

Regulus doesn’t verbalise an answer, but Sirius doesn’t care.

“Remus was sacked because he forgot his potion one time,” Sirius yells, holding up his finger in Regulus’s face to emphasise his point. “He didn’t even hurt anyone, and he was forced to leave his job. But Snape - Snape hurts a student - hurts Harry bad enough for him to be hospitalised - in front of several witnesses, but he gets to carry on like nothing happened?”

“Er - I wasn’t sacked,” Lupin interrupts, holding up his hand uncertainly. “I resigned. Voluntarily. Just wanted to make that clear.”

Lupin subsides with a flush as they look at him as if he is mad to try to make that point.

Ignoring his friend completely, Sirius turns back to Regulus with furious eyes. For the sake of going down a different tangent, Regulus doesn’t point out that Lupin had almost attacked three students because he ‘forgot’ his potion or that he’d put the entire school in danger by not telling anyone that Sirius was an animagus.

“I hit Harry by accident, and you acted like I was some uncontrollable beast and wouldn’t let me anywhere near my own godson,” Sirius hisses, betrayed. “And Snape - he gets to stay in the castle with Harry and teach him like nothing’s happened?”

“He’s suspended for two weeks,” Regulus says firmly.

Ignoring his brother’s words, Sirius says, as understanding dawns, “It’s because of that girl, isn’t it? Holly? Snape’s daughter?”

When Regulus doesn’t answer, Sirius continues to get worked up.

“You - you should have pushed for a harsher punishment,” Sirius rages, pointing his finger at Regulus once more.

Not liking being loomed over, Regulus, too, stands up.

“Albus and Minerva made-”

“I don’t care,” Sirius shouts over Regulus’s feeble explanation. “Snape hurt Harry, and he gets a crappy little punishment that isn’t really a punishment. He still gets to stay in school where Harry has to see him every day.”

“Severus is restricted to his quarters,” Regulus tries to explain again.

“Snape shouldn’t be in school at all,” Sirius yells, unwilling to listen. “Why Dumbledore insists on defending that Death Eater, I don’t know. And why the hell are you going along with it? For that girl? For Snape’s kid? She should be kicked out of the school along with her monster of a father.”

“Shut up, Sirius,” Regulus bites out, but his brother is beyond listening.

“You’re still defending him,” Sirius pokes Regulus. “After what he did to Harry, you’re still defending him.”

“Harry wanted to stay with Holly,” Regulus says, pushing his brother away. “And I made that happen - for Harry. And for Holly.”

Sirius scoffs at the girl’s name.

“Whether you believe it or not, Severus saw the error of his ways,” Regulus continues. “He won’t be hurting Harry again.”

This doesn’t allay Sirius’s anger in any regard.

The only thing that stops Sirius from storming out of Grimmauld Place, as he yells, “I’ll be speaking to Dumbledore myself,” is Kreacher, who has no compunction in knocking him out cold with a click of his fingers and binding him up in ropes.

As the remaining trio look at the House Elf with questioning eyes, Kreacher gives them an innocent look, saying, “Master Regulus says Master Sirius is not allowed out without permission. Kreacher hears no permission for Master Sirius to leave.”

 “Take him up to bed, Kreacher,” Regulus tells him tiredly, slumping back into his chair

“Yes, Master Regulus,” the House Elf nods and levitates the unconscious animagus out of the kitchen with another click of fingers.

“How is Mr Potter?” Narcissa asks, taking a sip of her tea as Sirius is cleared out of the kitchen.

Regulus levels Narcissa with a knowing look. He doesn’t believe she truly cares about the boy as he or Sirius does. As he is to Lucius, Harry is nothing more than a means to an end to Narcissa: the Malfoys need the boy only to achieve their ultimate goal.

Andromeda stays out of the silent conversation, though she does have a smile twitching at her upper lip.

Somewhat chastised, Narcissa changes her query to, “How is Holly?”

“Angry,” Regulus reveals wearily. “Whatever progress Severus had made in the last two weeks, he’s flushed them down the drain by letting his temper get the best of him.”

Narcissa frowns in exasperation, shaking her head at Severus’s careless actions.

“And Albus has truly suspended Snape?” Andromeda asks in disbelief. “Will he really impose those restrictions?”

“So it would seem,” Regulus nods.

“Who will take over his classes for the next two weeks?”

“They had an emergency faculty meeting last night,” Regulus answers. “Lucius told me they’re going to have to split the classes between various teachers who are free. He didn’t tell me who the volunteers were, but he said that the meeting lasted quite long to determine who would be teaching what.”

“Oh, Severus,” Narcissa laments. “What an imbecile.”

“Be honest, Narcissa,” Regulus prompts, “did you really expect something different when Severus finally found out?”

Narcissa grimaces at the truth of this, “No. I expected his anger, his fury, just… not his violence.”

Andromeda enquiries, interposing herself between the two. “He truly hates the boy that much?”

“Truthfully, Severus needs to deal with his emotions much better,” Regulus comments scathingly. “I doubt very much he knows exactly what he feels about Harry Potter.”

Narcissa cannot defend Severus against this.

ooOoo

Albus listens to Pomona, who, having visited Severus earlier this morning, now sits in front of him to relay Severus’s regret.

Albus is very aware of precisely what Severus regrets. His angry Potions Master might regret losing control and harming a student - he might even regret that the student is Harry Potter - but not enough to truly repent. Severus’s history of James and Lily is so muddled that he loses all sight of rational thought when it comes to dear Harry. Albus won’t deny the soft spot he has for the boy, and yes, he might be more lenient with Harry than anyone else; but he also knows that is offset by the burdens Harry himself carries on his shoulders. Even now, Harry might have more information than he has had in previous years, what with the awareness of the prophecy. However, he does not yet know of the Horcruxes or that he carries one in his scar.

His eyes flick to the contraption he’d enchanted to Eileen’s life. It is silent and as lifeless as Eileen herself. She had raised Harry as he wished Petunia had raised the boy. Only because of her have the wards remained strong, for if there was no Eileen, the boy would have stopped thinking of Petunia’s house as home long ago. If Arabella is to be believed, Eileen’s influence affected Petunia’s son, Dudley, to the extent that he genuinely took an interest in his cousin, who should have been a brother to him the second Petunia accepted Harry into her home.

Holly and Harry were Eileen’s second chance at raising children away from violent influences like Tobias Snape. Alas, neither children seem to be able to escape violent influences. Harry in the form of his aunt and uncle, who should have loved him like a son, and Holly from her own mother, who left her mark on her child, to the point where the little girl couldn’t even form a relationship with her own father.

Still, despite those influences, Eileen had done a brilliant job of being a role model to both. Not that she failed Severus. Albus doesn’t believe Eileen had failed her son for a single moment. No, Albus believes it is he who has failed Severus. Several times over the many years. In fact, he has let down many people over the decades he has taken over as Headmaster. Possibly, even as a teacher. Regulus, certainly, had no hesitation in calling him out on his deficiencies.

Despite what he sees around him, he still finds it difficult to believe that family would let family down. His own father allowed himself to be sent to Azkaban for the sake of his family rather than admit the real reason he hurt those muggle boys. His mother sacrificed everything for Ariana; his brother, Aberforth, had been willing to sacrifice his education. Albus couldn’t allow that, so he had sacrificed his own ambitions to stay at home. He had been a young and impetuous teen, though he knew everything. It hurt to put his plans on hold, but, for Ariana, he had been reluctantly willing.

He forces himself to concentrate on Pomona, who has now moved on to talk about the subsequent supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for the kitchens. Pomona and her lovely House-elf assistants have been looking after the fresh produce for the kitchens for many years.

“We’re actually running out of space for carrots and potatoes. I’ve already reached out to Rosmerta, and she’s agreed to buy some of the surpluses, but with your permission, I would like to send the rest to the Hogsmeade market?”

“Of course,” Albus grants her, reaching for the relevant form to sign off the request.

Hogwarts is almost entirely self-sufficient in supplying food for the school. . Apart from Greenhouses for class purposes, there are separate greenhouses for growing fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. With the help of Preservation Charms and Wizard space enchantments, the kitchens are never in danger of running out of food, but any surplus is often sold to certain businesses within the village at discount prices, and the rest is set up with the Hogsmeade market for village residents. The money made from these sales usually went to buy those items that Hogwarts doesn’t grow in its greenhouses or didn’t raise within the school grounds, such as certain meats, like lamb or beef. 

Hogwarts keeps a small poultry farm under Hagrid’s purview, so they always have hens and eggs in supply. However, after the whole Chamber of Secrets misfortune, they had to replace all the dead roosters.

Pomona also runs a separate meeting with several teachers and House-elves to discuss changing the menu every so often. This is a relatively new development that came about after the contingent of students who came from different countries for the Triwizard tournament. Hogwarts had catered to different cuisines, which the students and staff enjoyed so much that a petition was raised to include a diverse cuisine regularly.

Albus had no issues agreeing to this, so Pomona took it upon herself to coordinate with the House-elves to sample different recipes. It generated positive reviews all around, especially from those from different ethnic backgrounds who wanted a taste of home.

The wards around the gargoyle alert him to a new guest’s arrival, interrupting Pomona’s story of a new spinach dish she wants to introduce to the menu.

“I thought you said Severus is restricted to his rooms?” Pomona questions, canting her head to listen to the familiar-sounding stomping gait coming up the stairs.

Albus has adjusted the wards around Severus’s quarters to only allow the Potions Master out of his rooms for emergency purposes. As the wards would alert him to any emergency, his new guest is most assuredly not Severus, though she is a Snape.

The stomping ceases outside his door, and again a familiar-sounding knock pounds imperiously on his door.

“Come in, darling,” Albus calls out, and Pomona immediately understands it is Holly on the other side.

The door is shoved open with great force and slammed shut with an intensity that makes Albus hide a wince.

“Oh, dear,” Albus exclaims in a mild voice, exchanging a look of amusement with his Herbology professor.

“Hello, Professors,” Holly greets them in a tight voice. She clutches her school bag firmly to her chest, looking like her father would if he were standing in front of them with his arms crossed. She looks like the very picture of an angry Severus Snape, with the same scowl and furrowed brow. All that is missing is the billowing black robes and her hair hanging around her shoulders instead of the braid it is currently in.

“I’m here for my lesson, Headmaster,” she continues, still in a fury.

Headmaster? Albus is surprised, though he doesn’t let his astonishment show. Last night, she was calling him Uncle Albus. He pays closer attention to her body language and notices she avoids eye contact with him, trembling underneath her angry form.

“Holly, my darling girl. What’s the matter?” Albus asks, leaning forward in concern.

The amusement leaves Pomona’s face as she, too, sees Holly angrily wipe what they see are tears from her eyes.

Holly shakes her head, still not looking at either of them and clutches her bag tighter to her chest.

“Holly?” Albus presses, standing up from behind his desk.

Pomona reaches for the girl, pulling her onto her lap as Albus moves around his desk to take the other seat.

He conjures a handkerchief that matches her lovely blue top and gently wipes her tears while Pomona gently encourages her to talk.

She shakes her head and buries it in Pomona’s ample bosom, her shoulders heaving, her sobs muffled.

Oh, Severus, what have you done now? Albus wonders silently to himself as he watches Pomona calm the distressed child.

ooOoo

Harry tickles the pear on the painting, entering the kitchen, when the handle appears. There is the usual hustle and bustle of the elves moving around to meet the lunch rush. He spots Dobby straight away, though he is surprised by the presence of Fred and George.

“George, Fred,” he nods at them with a smile and then greets Dobby with a grin, “You doing well, Dobby?”

“Dobby is well, Harry Potter, sir,”  Dobby replies. “Though Harry Potter is not being well.”

Harry can only shrug at his House-Elf friend.

“Is Harry Potter, sir, wanting some food?” Dobby asks.

“Just something to drink, please,” he requests, taking a seat across from the twins.

They both eye him seriously, the look almost uncharacteristic on them, but he’s seen it often enough over the summer.

“How are you feeling, Harry?” George asks as Dobby races off to get another tea set.

“I’m all right,” he assures them. “All fixed up.”

“No one’s allowed to outright say what happened,” Fred begins grimly, “but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”

Harry keeps his silence.

“Got it,” George sighs, reading his silence correctly. “But if you want help getting back at him…”

“He’s Holly’s dad. He’s off-limits,” Harry warns them, hoping they’ll take him seriously.

They both give him a hard stare. Harry always got on well with Fred and George. Apart from Hermione, they were the only ones who believed him when he denied putting his own name in the Goblet of Fire last year - after they’d gone through the obligatory celebrations of having a Gryffindor champion - and unlike their own family, Harry believed in their inventions and creativity enough to hand over his tournament winnings.

“If you ever change your mind…” Fred reluctantly concedes.

“Why are you hiding in the kitchens?” Harry asks, changing the topic. “Surely you have better hiding spots than this?”

“We’re supposed to be in Defence class right now,” Fred tells him tersely.

“Ah – right,” Harry nods, understanding immediately. Despite their rule-breaking ways, the twins have never actually bunked a class, even if they are in the process of devising their skiving snack boxes. Staying in Lucius Malfoy’s class might be a perfect opportunity to be disruptive and get some payback, but Harry knows them well enough to see that they could take things too far. And Lucius Malfoy is not a bumbling buffoon like Lockhart. He is a (supposedly) former Death Eater, with all the experience that the title entails.

They would either hurt Lucius and possibly get expelled for attacking a professor (not that Harry particularly believed the twins cared about school), or he would hurt them.

Seemingly reading his mind, Fred gives him a shrewd look and says, “We don’t really care about school and exams, you know? We’re only here because Mum and Dad expect it. We have enough to go out and start our own business with your money.”

“We even have a building picked out in Diagon Alley,” George adds, looking proud.

“Regulus and Sirius said they’d secure it for us until we’re ready to move in,” Fred informs Harry, who looks astonished, at which point he gives the younger wizard a bitter smile and says, “They’re more supportive than our dear mother is.”

“You sound like Sirius and Regulus when you call your mum our dear mother,” Harry says without thinking.            

It is the twin’s turn to be surprised now.

“She wants all of us to follow Dad in the Ministry,” Fred continues. “Percy’s the only one of us so far who has, and look how that’s turned out.”

“At least Sirius and Regulus get us. They understand that this is our passion,” George tells him. “Sirius and Lupin even helped us develop some of our stuff.”

“She’ll eventually come around,” Harry says bracingly, although even he finds it hard to believe in that optimism, so much so that the older boys give Harry a sardonic look.

“Mum still tries to persuade Bill and Charlie to return home and take a Ministry position,” George comments bitterly.

“Dad’s a lot more laid back,” Fred sighs. “He thinks our inventions are brilliant.”

“He’s a tinkerer himself,” Harry points out, thinking back to the Ford Anglia. He wonders if it’s still riding wild in the forest somewhere. He’s not seen it since the car rescued him and Ron from the giant spiders.

“We were going to stick it out until the end of the year. Getting our NEWTs would make Mum happy, and we’d hopefully open up our shop mid-summer.”

“Now, with Malfoy here, I’m not sure we can stick with that plan. I can’t believe Dumbledore hired Malfoy,” Fred bursts out angrily. “After what he put Ginny through?”

Harry’s heart begins to race. Dumbledore only agreed to hire Malfoy because the alternate was someone called Umbridge. Regulus assured Harry that she would have been a much worse proposition than Lucius Malfoy.            

“I don’t think you should go,” Harry tries to reason with them. Oma had always told Harry that education was important and should never be taken for granted. The Weasleys always struggled financially. He remembers the first time he accompanied Mrs Weasley and the twins to their vault in Gringotts and the paltry handful of coins she’d picked up to do their back-to-school shopping. And how quickly he’d shovelled money into his money bag so they wouldn’t feel bad. Privately, Harry thinks it would be a disservice to Mr and Mrs Weasley if Fred and George left before completing their NEWTs. Not after how hard they’d worked to ensure all their children had the necessary learning equipment.

“Your mum might be mad at first if you left before you took your NEWTs, and probably she’d come around – eventually,” Harry begins. “And yes, you’ll get to open your shop earlier than you’d planned, be successful, and make loads of money. But you’ll be abandoning Ginny.”

They both pin him with sharp looks.

“That’s pretty selfish of you,” Harry drives home the point.

George shakes his head ruefully. “You play dirty, Potter.”

Harry shrugs.

“I don’t trust Malfoy,” he admits. “Knowing Holly was in his house, with Snape, it wasn’t easy. I worried for her every day. But she’s with me now, and I won’t let anyone stand in my way. Not Snape, not Malfoy, not Ron. Don’t leave Ginny - not when she needs you.”

“You play really dirty, Potter,” George repeats with a sigh.

Harry smirks at them.

“Ginny said you offered to teach her Defence,” Fred refers, raising an eyebrow at the younger wizard.                

Cautiously, Harry answers, “Yes. She doesn’t need to sit in Malfoy’s class. I did enough training for the tournament last year that I could tutor her in Defence… with Hermione’s help, of course.”

He is careful to tack that on at the end. Harry might have spent most of the previous year training for the tournament, but it was Hermione who made sure he knew which spells he needed to learn. Between Hermione’s research, Oma’s books and Sirius and Regulus’s experience, Harry had been extensively trained and highly confident as a result.

“Now, now, young Harry, no need to be modest,” Fred teases, “we all know how Defence is your speciality.”

“Bet you could probably sit your OWL in Defence tomorrow and pass it, no sweat,” George adds.

“Probably your NEWT, too, with that sweet Patronus of yours,” Fred winks.

“What’s your point?” Harry asks though he guesses where this is going.

“We’ll speak to McGonagall about dropping Defence, which she’ll only let us do if we still sit the exam,” Fred explains. “As long as you tutor us.”

“Would McGonagall really let you drop a class? I thought your place on the Quidditch team depended on you doing a certain number of NEWT classes,” Harry states.

With the twins’ disappointing OWL results, McGonagall had made it a condition that they take a set amount of classes if they were to keep their places on the Quidditch team. Every NEWT level class has a standard, set by each teacher, before a student is allowed to continue with that class. Although anything above an Acceptable is considered a pass, the twins actually only qualified for three classes apiece, if Harry recalls correctly, as per the teacher’s standards. Mrs Weasley had been particularly loud in her anger about that.

The fewer NEWT qualifications Fred and George had, the more their chances diminished to work in the Ministry, even in a low-level entry position. For all the mockery Percy endured about his studious habits, he still ended up with a good job at the Ministry because all his hard work paid off. Harry isn’t sure if he wants to work for the Ministry, to be perfectly frank. He doesn’t believe they have the integrity, from what he has experienced so far, for it to be a good fit for him.

He’s seen the Minister himself throw Hagrid in Azkaban just so he could be seen as doing something rather than actually taking any action to investigate, simply on the assumption that Hagrid had been expelled the first time around. Not that anyone properly investigated the first time, either. On Draco Malfoy’s completely biased, not to mention wholly fabricated, testimony Buckbeak wasn’t even given a chance. It was only because Newt Scamander and his grandson (at Dumbledore’s request) offered to take the hippogriff away that Harry is convinced that the beast wasn’t executed - which was what the Malfoys were pushing for.

Given the way Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without a trial, the tournament fiasco and the current slander campaign, it’s not surprising that Harry doesn’t have a high opinion of the Ministry and doesn’t blame Fred and George for not wanting to work there - not when honest people like their father are in the minority.

“McGonagall did put that condition on, yeah,” George agrees with a grimace.

They all know McGonagall is as much a fanatic of Quidditch as their former captain was.

Defence Against the Dark Arts, due to its revolving door of teachers, has no set standard, so if an individual is inclined to continue the NEWT, they could still do so, even if they scored less than an Acceptable.

Apart from Charms and Divination, where an Acceptable was… acceptable, all other classes have a standard of Exceeds Expectations, but depending on a teacher’s discretion, an exemption might be made.

Potions is the only class where Snape refuses to lower his standard from Outstanding and has never made an exception.

Harry knows the twins passed their OWLs for Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology and are taking the Defence class as well; as mentioned before, it has no standard. But McGonagall spoke to Vector and managed to get them both into Arithmancy, too. Harry suspects that they have been studying Potions in their own time. It is very rare for any Gryffindor to continue with Potions, not with Snape as a teacher. Only the particularly studious, like Percy or Hermione, would. Or the highly talented.

Harry doesn’t know any Gryffindor talented enough to continue with Potions, not when Snape does his best to stomp out any interest. Hermione is not especially gifted, for all her intellect, when it comes to Potions. She can take a recipe, follow it, and even understand the reactions between ingredients; however, she lacks the imagination and instinct to create or even adapt her own. Hermione is an academic at heart, and Harry can see her as a perennial student. He can easily imagine her as a Historian, and if she took it in her mind to work for the Ministry, he hopes she succeeds in generating the equality he knows she is dying to bring.

For himself, Harry knows, had it not been for Oma, he would have lost interest in Potions long ago. Like the twins, he tends to study most of it in his own time. He finds it hilarious that he’s learned Potions from Snape’s mother, just like the man himself had. But Snape couldn’t teach worth a damn, and Harry stopped trying to please the man sometime around third year. After finding Eileen Prince and Iris Pierce were one and the same, Harry convinced the woman that Snape would never mark him fairly and instead sent all his assignments to her. Effectively, treating Potions as a correspondence course with Oma. Snape only got rough drafts of his homework, and Harry put the same effort into those as Snape did in marking them fairly.

“You leave McGonagall to us, Harry,” George says decisively, pulling Harry out of his thoughts.

“Right,” Harry agrees. “Now, let’s talk about you guys testing your products on the first years.”

“Is Prefect Hermione pulling your strings?” Fred asks mockingly, and George groans. “Never thought you’d pull a Percy on us.”

Harry only smiles at them. “Let’s make a deal.”

The twins look at each other, doing that silent communication thing they sometimes do.

“We’re listening,” they sing together.

ooOoo

Lucius makes a mental note to visit Pomfrey for a Headache potion. Or cadge one from Severus. Perhaps he’d harass Severus since his oncoming headache is entirely due to his idiotic foster brother.

When Severus found out about Potter’s connection to Holly, he and Regulus expected problems, but this is getting ridiculous. It is as if Severus has lost all sense of sneakiness and cunning. How had this man been a spy all those months leading up to the Dark Lord’s defeat?

Seriously, who gets caught in their child’s bedroom while looking for evidence?

Now, Lucius has a pseudo-goddaughter crying in the Headmaster’s office, refusing to return to Severus’s chambers. Besides the Weasley twins, who Severus has warned him about, who have skipped his class (he will need to report them to McGonagall), he’s had no problems with the actual teaching part of the job.

Fair enough, it is still in its early stages. He’s not even had any of the teenage drama Severus tried to scare him with, though he remembers it well from his own school days. Some things just never leave you, no matter how many years pass. He’s had more drama from Severus in the last two days than from being a teacher.

He knocks imperiously on Severus’s door and does not utter a word when the other wizard opens the door. He waits until he’s, reluctantly, invited inside, and Severus closes the door behind them before laying into[5]  his friend.

            “You are an idiot,” he says to the Potions Master, uncaring of the other’s thunderous expression. “Mordred and Morgana, Severus, where is your head right now? It’s like you’re deliberately trying to push your daughter away.”

“Oh, yes,” Severus snaps, “you’re the wonderful uncle who can do no wrong. It’s all well and good being the perfect parent when you’ve had all the necessary information to manipulate my daughter into liking you better.”

“Perhaps you could use your brain to turn everything around for yourself if you stopped licking your wounds like an injured lion and pulled your head from your arse. Severus, you’ve been on the back foot since the moment you brought her home. You back off when she says something horrible that hurts your feelings, and you’ve made no effort to dispel any of her misconceptions.”

Severus doesn’t look pleased with Lucius’s assessment.

“You had ample opportunity to learn more about your daughter at the manor,” Lucius shakes his head. “You simply didn’t take advantage of it.”

“Jasmine spent my child’s entire life turning her against me. Holly must have been four or five years old when she died, but still, her venom followed my daughter,” Severus says, his face twisting bitterly. “Iris must have carried on where she left off, and I bet Potter,” he spits out the name, “wasted no time in telling twisted little tales about his horrible Potions teacher. I wanted to know my daughter on my own merit.”

“That was your mistake, friend,” Lucius rebukes. “Where is your mind, fool? Severus, I have seen you put more thought into buying a new cauldron, yet with Holly, all rational thoughts seem to take a flying leap off the Astronomy tower. I’m seriously beginning to have doubts as to how you were going to spy for Dumbledore. Seriously, Severus, how do you get caught raiding your daughter’s bedroom?”

 An ugly flush rises up his foster brother’s cheeks as he turns away to hide his face from Lucius.

“I hadn’t meant to sit there for so long,” Severus admits, still looking away from Lucius. “I couldn’t bring myself to open the album. I am – unsure if it was because I didn’t want to see Holly and Potter growing up together or just seeing Holly growing up happy and healthy… without me.”

A part of the blond relaxes at those words. At least Regulus’s enchantments have held true. Severus walks slowly to his sofa and collapses on it, hiding his head in his hands. He is reminded of the night of Holly’s first nightmare and how his friend hid his tears from Lucius when his daughter rejected his attempt to comfort her. 

“How upset is she?”

Lucius falls into his normal armchair and tells the other wizard, “She’s fiercely angry and in tears - completely understandable since you violated her privacy. Worse, you idiot, you were caught doing it. Dumbledore told me he spent most of the morning trying to calm her down.”

He’d had a note from the Headmaster waiting for him on his desk, telling him to come to his office as soon as his class ended. Lucius had visions of being told off before abruptly reminding himself he was no longer a student but a teacher.

Upon arriving at the Headmaster’s office, Lucius was told in low tones what had upset his little darling. Holly had been tucked well into Dumbledore’s ugly beard and refused to come out. It was all Lucius could do at the time not to snatch her away from the senile old fool. So instead, he marched himself down to Severus’s quarters to lay into the daft wizard.

“I need a Headache potion,” he announces abruptly. “Dealing with your folly has given me an abominable pain in my skull.”

“On the kitchen table,” Severus directs him without moving his head from his hands. Lucius believes it will take the wizard just as long to remove his head from his backside.

Lucius represses a snort as he sees that Severus has already taken two when he gets up from his seat to retrieve said potion. He throws it back quickly, sighing in relief as the pain in his head immediately starts to recede.

“Severus, I understand, truly,” he begins with a sigh as he drops back into his armchair, “this is a completely new situation for you. However, you have had sufficient time to adapt to it. You found out you had a daughter, and you rose to the occasion to bring her home.”

“She’s my child, Lucius. How could I not?”

Lucius doesn’t voice the thought he’s kept to himself all these months. Severus, who hates children and certainly hates teaching, has unquestionably been dogged in his determination to be a father to his daughter. Though Lucius named his foster brother his child’s godfather, Severus was never particularly good with Draco when he was a child. Perhaps because his approval was rarely given, Draco often worked harder to earn Severus’s goodwill.

That’s not to say Severus had ever been a lousy godfather. The man indulged Draco in his own way but never spoiled him as Lucius and Narcissa had done. Draco was not talented at Potions as Severus would have liked, but he had been tutored in the art according to the Potions Master’s high standards from a young age.

Considering how blindly devoted Severus was to the memory of Lily, Lucius had never expected his foster brother to marry and have children of his own – ever - despite Narcissa’s attempts to matchmake him to suitable witches. Yet, several months ago, Severus never doubted his father’s letter for a second upon being told he had a ready-made daughter. Indeed, he had gone to find out more information about his child, but he never doubted the missive’s contents.

Lucius briefly entertains himself with the imaginings of Severus waking up in the middle of the night for feedings and nappy changes. Such things were taken care of by House-Elves under Narcissa’s strict supervision. Severus likely would have done the same had he had custody of Holly from birth. And it would have been custody. For all her declarations of love for Severus, Jasmine would never have held his foster brother’s heart, even if she wasn’t a mudblood.

“All is not lost,” Lucius assures the other wizard.

“I need to get Holly away from Potter,” Severus firmly states, finally looking up from his hands.

Lucius pushes back his annoyance at Severus’s one-track mind. He’s trying to save his family, and Potter is the way to do it. The boy is more powerful than Severus gives him credit for. He knows Severus believes Lucius switched sides because of Dumbledore, but Lucius has been watching the boy since the boy freed his House Elf. And especially during the Triwizard Tournament. The boy had consistently performed better than his adult competitors, though Lucius is under no illusion that the boy didn’t receive assistance.

Severus’s dismissal of the boy simply because he is a Potter grates on Lucius’s nerves.

Letting none of this show in his voice, he says, “You will find that difficult, my friend. You’ve not seen them as I have. They are dedicated to each other.”

“There must be a way,” Severus says ignorantly, jumping to his feet as he paces. “Potter is a nuisance, and Holly is just a naïve child. She was easily led by Jasmine and her mother, and Potter has just taken advantage of her innocence and gullibility.”

Lucius, too, rises to stand, feeling disadvantaged by his friend’s crazed ranting.

“Severus, interfering will win you no points from Holly. Don’t do anything that will push her away further. Don’t keep making the same mistake,” Lucius attempts to make his bull-headed friend understand.

“Potter will not take what is mine from me,” Severus swears venomously. “Not again.”

Lucius ignores these words, though they sound like the Potions Master is talking about the wrong Potter.

“Holly,” he emphasises, “is not a possession, Severus. You must tread carefully if you want to tear her away from Potter. They are family and have known each other for many years.”

“You will not help him any longer, Lucius,” Severus orders, his nostrils flaring.

This is not something Lucius can promise. He needs Potter. And though he has kept Potter’s presence in Holly’s life a secret during the summer, now that the truth is known, he no longer needs to do so. He is also hesitant to lie so flagrantly to Severus about this.

Severus picks up on his unwillingness to follow his directive.

“You are either with me on this, Lucius, or you are against me,” Severus pronounces high-handedly, stalking closer to the blond.

Treading carefully, surprising himself with the words that flow out of his mouth, Lucius announces softly: “They are brother and sister, Severus. They are family to each other. Same as we are brothers.”

Severus steps closer until they are practically nose to nose and hisses angrily, “Potter is no more a brother to Holly than you are to me.”

Lucius rears back as if struck, his breath stuck in his throat. He steps back from Severus, giving him a cold look.

“Holly’s staying with me tonight,” he imparts stonily and leaves Severus’s room with a stiff back and hurt in his heart.

Does he mean he would become a spy again if he had to here? Sorry I'm just dumb and need clearfication

yes - he would have become a spy again if he wasn't outed

Only ever met with a token telling off? I think adding a ever here makes it read better, but that just my opinion

Very many things just read weird

I don't understand who is referring to who.