Sirius stumbled into the flat that he and Remus shared in Edinburgh. Somehow, he’d managed to make it back from Hogwarts. He knew that with his migraine, apparating was probably a bad idea, so he begrudgingly took the Knight Bus and tried to not vomit the entire trip back.
Unfortunately, he was going to pay for it now; he rushed to the bathroom as he felt bile burn the back of his throat and proceeded to throw up the measly piece of toast and black coffee he’d managed to scarf down for breakfast.
Feeling slightly better, he rested his still-pounding head against the cool tile of the bathroom floor, relishing in the relief it bought him. Of course, Remus had hidden away all of the hangover potions, undoubtedly punishing him for his actions last night. Sirius couldn’t blame him, he deserved the hangover from hell. He also couldn’t blame Snivell- no, Snape, he corrected- for being mad at him this morning. Hell, if their roles were reversed and Snape blamed him for James’ death, Sirius would never forgive him. However, what he wasn’t expecting was Harry’s anger. That hurt much worse.
He still remembered playing with Harry when he was just a baby, teaching him how to fly in that toy broom he’d gotten him. God Harry loved that thing. It was why Sirius was so excited to buy him the Firebolt. It was a fitting gift, from the man that bought him his first broom. Even though he knew it was impossible, some small part of him hoped it would jog Harry’s memories of him.
Sirius sighed, if he was being honest, he couldn’t blame Harry for his anger this morning either. What he said about Snape and Lily was truly awful, and Lily was Harry’s mother. What Sirius was really upset about was how much Snape had wormed his way into Harry’s life in only three days. It should have been Sirius taking Harry shopping in Diagon Alley and comforting him after his nightmares. Instead, all of this was his fault. If it wasn’t for his rash behavior the night Lily and James died, Harry would have never been sent to the Dursley’s and been abused. He would’ve grown up loved and surrounded by magic with him and Remy. He sniffled as tears trickled down his face. This was all his fault, he thought, as he slowly drifted asleep on the bathroom floor.
He awoke with a groan and cracked his neck. Why the fuck is my neck so stiff, he thought. Then he felt the cool tile beneath him. “Shit,” he breathed; he’d fallen asleep on the floor of the bathroom, merely feet away from the toilet he’d puked in only a few hours ago. This was a new low even for him.
Rising, he turned the sink tap on a scooped water into his mouth. He leaned against the sink, letting his head fall. He stood like this for a few moments before he heard the door open. Wordlessly, Remus stepped in, and Sirius felt his gaze on his back
“Did they forgive you?” he asked. Sirius raised his head and met his mate’s gaze in the mirror. He shook his head no.
“Good,” Remus said.
Sirius let out a humorless chuckle, “That’s harsh, even for you Remy. Although I do deserve it. I really fucked up this time, didn’t I?” He watched as Remus nodded before stepping forward and hugging him from behind. Sirius closed his eyes as he felt Remus place a kiss on the back of his neck.
Stepping away, Remus said, “Clean up in here, and then meet me for lunch.”
Sirius released a breath before turning the sink on and splashing water on his face. It was going to be a long day.
Hermione sat at the end of the Gryffindor table, pointedly ignoring the looks Ron was sending her way. She’d been ignoring him since the night they saw Harry and learned that he was Snape’s son.
She chased him down the corridor begging him to understand. “Harry can hardly help who his parents are,” she told him as they made their way out of the dungeons.
“Besides, can’t you understand that this may be good for Harry. Finally, he has an adult in his life to give a damn about him.”
Ron spun around to face her, his face turning as red as his hair. “He has US, Hermione! He has my parents, and Dumbledore, and McGonagall, and Lupin, and Sirius. What the hell is that git going to do? Take care of Harry? More like serve him up on a platter to the Death Eaters. I bet he was wearing a mask terrorizing muggles during the World Cup. Harry’s better off at the Dursleys and with two dead parents than him.”
Throughout his whole speech, Hermione felt her ire rise until it was going to suffocate her. With tears in her eyes, she lashed out and slapped him across the cheek. Ron cradled a hand to his cheek, looking at her with betrayal.
“How dare you,” she said, choking on a sob. “Harry is our friend. He single-handedly faced Voldemort and a basilisk to save your sister. And he would do the same for either of us without a second thought. Some help your parents are, they completely ignored you when you and your brothers told them about the bars on his windows. McGonagall has never once listened to us and Dumbledore sends him back there every summer. And a fat lot of good Remus and Sirius were when they up and left him this summer- Harry barely received any letters from them. Not a single one of them has helped Harry and neither have we. We know that he doesn’t get fed at the Dursleys and we’ve speculated that his punishments have gone far beyond chores, yet we’ve done nothing.
“Fuck you, Ronald Weasley. Didn’t you see how pale he looked, how ill? We’ve only seen him twice this week; he was undoubtedly in the infirmary. Harry deserves better than all of us and I for one hope he never forgives you.”
After her speech, Hermione stormed off without looking back and hadn’t spoken to him since. She made a point of sitting away from him in classes and spending all her free time until curfew in the library so she could avoid him in the common room. She even managed to convince Neville to sit at a different potions table. She knew that everyone in Gryffindor and the other houses noticed the rift between the two of them and that, compounded with the fact that Harry was missing, fueled the rumor mill like kerosene on a grill. But she didn’t mind being the center of speculation. At her muggle primary school, she usually was the subject of cruel rumors simply because the other kids didn’t like her, and tales of the trio’s numerous adventures always made their way around Hogwarts, so she paid no mind to the curious eyes that followed her.
Hermione didn’t startle or even look up from her book when two redheads suddenly sat down next to her. “Hermione my darling, my sun, my salvation,” Fred said as he put his arm around her shoulders. “You, my brother, and Harry are the talk of the House- dare I say school, George?”
“I think you may dare,” George replied as he plucked Hermione's book from her hands.
Hermione finally looked up and shot George a glare worthy of Mrs. Weasley. She felt a wave of victory and smirked when she saw George gulp involuntarily as he slowly handed her book back to her. “Thank you. I trust you’ll know better than to take a book from me again?” Her parents always compared her to Smaug when it came to books and she was quite proud of that reputation.
“Yes, yes,” Fred said, raising his hands in surrender. “We hereby pledge our undying loyalty to Hermione, keeper and defender of books, may a dog-eared page never cross your path.” Hermione made no reply, simply assessed first Fred and then George before giving a curt nod.
“I assume you two have another motive in sitting here, aside from irritating me?”
Fred and George grinned at each other. “Alas Hermione,” George said. “You are omniscient, nothing will ever escape you. We are indeed here for intel.”
“Tell us,” George continued, “Whatever did you do to our fickle Ronny-kins to have his panties in such a twist?”
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” Hermione pointedly looked at her book, avoiding their gaze.
“Hermione, Hermione, Hermione,” Fred drawled. “We may not have your high marks, but you have to give us more credit than that. Anyone with two eyes can see that you had a falling out.”
“And we’re willing to bet that it has something to do with Harry being absent,” George finished.
Hermione still said nothing and merely pursed her lips.
“Come on now, Fred and I are sure that our brother is to blame. Sometimes he can really get his head stuck so far up his arse that he won’t see daylight for months. So what did he do this time?”
“Your brother is a prat and undeserving of Harry’s friendship and that’s all you need to know,” Hermione ground out in a harsh whisper.
Fred and George looked at each other, clearly not satisfied with her answer. “Is that all you’re going to give us?” George asked.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Fred said, not backing down as Hermione glared at him. “You and Harry are our friends and Ron, for better or worse is our brother, so don’t we deser-” he was cut off by Professor Dumbledore rising and asking for quiet.
Despite her fury at the headmaster for his treatment of Harry, Hermione was grateful for the reprieve from the interrogation as she and the redheaded twins directed their attention towards the podium.
“Good evening, students,” Professor Dumbledore started, his hands clasped lightly in front of him. “I trust that you all had a nice first week back and none of the professors were too tough on you.” He looked at Professor McGonagall, who rolled her eyes, garnering chuckles from many of the students.
“I am aware that it has not been a typical week back. We are missing two vital members of our community and that has undoubtedly led to much speculation amongst yourselves.” With this the whispers started again, and Hermione knew that everyone was discussing Harry and Snape. Hermione braced herself for the fallout; this was it-Dumbledore was going to tell everyone the truth.
“In the beginning of the week, a secret came to light. We have discovered that Harry Potter is the son of Professor Snape.” As if lighting a flame on a canister of hydrogen, the room erupted at this news. Everyone started talking with appalled looks on their faces. “What the fuck?” Hermione heard a Hufflepuff behind her say. Down the table, Seamus and Dean were insisting this must be a prank while Ron stared at his dinner plate with a scowl on his face. The Slytherins looked just as aghast as the Gryffindors were, clearly revulsed at the concept of Snape being related to the Boy Who Lived.
As Hermione peered closer though, she saw that there was one Slytherin who was not crying with outrage. In fact, the blonde kept quietly to himself much like her and Ron, as if this news was not a surprise. Why on earth would Draco Malfoy be privy to this information? Hermione had no idea, but she was determined to figure out how he knew about it.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and held up his hands, “Please settle down everyone. I know that this comes as quite a shock to you all. Professor Snape and Harry took the week off to adjust to their new roles, but will be back next week. I trust you will not hound them with questions when they return.” His gaze lingered first on the Gryffindor table and then the Slytherins. “Very well, that is all the news we have to discuss. I hope you all have a relaxing weekend.” Hermione rolled her eyes, as if anyone will have a relaxing weekend after he dropped that bombshell.
“Well, well Hermione,” she looked up at George staring at her with a raised eyebrow. “It seems you’ve been holding out on us.”
“It wasn’t any of your business.”
“None of our business?” Fred asked her. She was shocked by the serious tone his voice had taken, a tone she only heard once when he was talking about the aftermath of Ginny being taken into the Chamber of Secrets. “Harry is our friend. We’ve been worried about him these past four days, and now to find out he’s been going through this- hell if we’d known we would’ve at least sent him a toilet seat to cheer him up.”
“Well now you know, so no harm done,” Hermione said as she got up from her seat and followed the crowd of students leaving the Great Hall. She paid no mind to the stares following her but knew Harry would hate it when he returned to classes.
“Hermione, wait!” she turned around as she felt one of the twins grab her arm.
“What?” she asked, exasperated with this day, the other students, Dumbledore…Ron.
“Is Harry ok?” She took a deep breath. The middle of the hall was not the place for this conversation. She grasped Fred’s wrist and George followed as she led them into an empty classroom.
“Yes, no, I don’t know. I think he must’ve been pretty injured earlier this week. He seemed out of it on the train but brushed things off like he always does. Professor Snape seems to be treating him all right. To be honest, subconsciously I think he’s glad to have someone who cares about him.” She continued quickly, as she saw George was about to interrupt her. “I know you and your parents do. We all do- well Ronald clearly doesn’t, the git- but I think he’s glad to have someone to himself, who’s not just a professor or his friend's parents.” The twins nodded, seeming to understand.
“You’re okay with this right?” she asked hesitantly.
“You’re not going to turn on him like your brother?”
Fred clutched his chest as if she had mortally wounded him with a sword. “How little you think of us, Hermione. Of course not, Harry is our brother.”
“Besides,” George said with a devious smirk. “Think of how much we can annoy Snapey now. I’m sure Harry can sneak us into his quarters for some pranks.” Hermione rolled her eyes at their antics, leave it to the twins to already be hatching up prank plots. Secretly though, she was relieved that at least Harry had a few Gryffindors on his side.
The three made their way out of the classroom and up the moving staircases to their common room. “Bafflegab,” she gave the password and the portrait swung open. Hermione felt a headache pull at her temples as she walked towards the cacophonous din that awaited them. It seemed that everyone in Gryffindor was discussing the events of the night as loudly as they could.
“Can you believe it, Snape, the dungeon bat, Harry's father?” Colin Creevy asked Romilda Vane.
“I don’t buy it for a second, Dumbledore must be messing with us,” said a second year Hermione didn’t know.
“But what about James Potter?” Lavender Brown asked Parvati Patil. “He and Lily were soul mates. I can’t believe that Lily would cheat on him.”
“Nah mate it's true,” she heard Ron telling the other fourth year boys from across the room.
“And good riddance in my opinion. He’s done nothing but cause trouble for us over the years. I’ve nearly died twice ‘cause of him.”
Fred started clapping slowly, “Wow Ronald. How brave of you to turn on your best friend like that.” Everyone quieted as they watched the Weasley twins confront their younger brother.
“Oh come on. You can’t tell me that you still consider that traitor your friend?” Ron crossed his arms over his chest as he made his way towards them. “He’s no longer a Gryffindor, he belongs with the Snakes now. In fact, I say we kick him out.” Hermione ground her teeth as several of her housemates gave jeers of support including Seamus Finnegan.
Suddenly bats started to squeak as they flew out of Ron’s nose and began to beat around his head. Ginny stood behind him with her wand pointed. “Maybe you’re the one that should be kicked out. What happened to your Gryffindor loyalty? Wait till Mum hears about this.”
Ron's ears started to grow red, “You wouldn’t.”
“I would.” They were now nose to nose and Ginny stood glaring up at him. He was the first to look away and she directed her gaze towards everyone that cheered earlier.
Neville chose this moment to pipe up, drawing attention away from the feuding siblings. “Harry is our friend. He’s been there for all of us, led us to Quidditch victories, stood up to bullies for us. Who are we if we turn on him now? Who cares who his parents are, he’s our friend and that’s all that matters.” Her speech was met with even more cheers, but Hermione noticed more than one person keeping quiet, who didn’t look thrilled with his words.
“Well said Mr. Longbottom,” a harsh Scottish accent sounded from the fireplace. “Five points to Gryffindor for supporting a friend and housemate. Now, I expect Gryffindor loyalty from all of you,” Professor McGonagall continued, fixing her lethal stare on everyone who clapped when Ron said Harry should be kicked out. “Harry is a fellow student and Gryffindor and I expect you all to support him. He will be back on Monday and you all are to present a unified front. There will be no bullying, no jokes, no gossip, and no one is being expelled from my house without my say-so. Is that understood?” She surveyed the room as everyone gave meek nods, her eyes narrowing at certain students. “Very well. Now, I do not want to hear another word of this this weekend. The next person to say something inflammatory will be spending the week in detention with me.” With that final threat and a sweep of her robes, she left the common room.
The noise slowly returned, but did not reach the deafening quality it was at before which Hermione was thankful for. Everyone was far more subdued after their scolding. She breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, it could’ve gone much better, but it also could’ve gone far worse. For now, it seems that Professor McGonagall staved off the worst of it. At least for the weekend.