Harry spent the night in Snape's quarters, curled up on the worn black
couch, the fire carving intricate shadows on his face. He woke once in the
night as his father pulled an old, slightly scratchy quilt over him.
His father.
It was foreign to him to even think the words, let alone connect them with someone he knew, someone whose face he had looked upon every day for four months.
It was nice.
Dear Merlin, it was nice.
In the morning, his father made him a cup of overly chocolate-tasting cocoa. It was obvious Snape wasn't used to making things, let alone a child's drink. Harry loved it and savored every last drop.
Classes were to restart again that morning. At the end of breakfast, Harry left Snape's quarters after a sudden hug. He hurried down the swarming corridors, face flushed with happiness and eyes bright. He took a seat right up front in Transfiguration. He paid rapt attention to McGonagall's lengthy lecture, volunteering information whenever he could, oblivious to the stunned whisperings of Cepheus, Blaise, and Draco, three seats behind him.
At the end of class, he gathered his things, humming quietly to himself. He walked right past his friends in the doorway without even noticing them, and made his way to Charms undisturbed. Again, he took a seat in front. Professor Flitwick was thrilled when Harry performed the Color-Changing Charm perfectly after only one trial run. Harry beamed as Flitwick praised him, and again, his friends muttered to each other about his strange behavior.
Lunch, he spent alone as well, eating absently and humming, filling his plate full and eating an extra roll. He left early for the class he was most anxious to be in-Potions.
When he got there, his father (his father! It was so strange to even think the words!) was busy writing out the lesson plan. Harry cheerfully took his usual seat and read over the instructions. He fetched his cauldron and sat quietly at his desk until people finished filing in and the bell rang.
Cepheus took the seat beside him and started chopping up the ginger roots as soon as Snape had finished instructing them. He cast a strange look at his friend as Harry, humming happily, dropped a unicorn hair into the boiling water.
"Where were you last night, Harry?" Cepheus finally asked. Harry looked up, green eyes vivid.
"Nowhere you should concern yourself over." He replied simply, returning to his stirring.
"Where were you?"
"I was cooling off."
"Where?"
"The Quidditch Pitch," Harry invented. Cepheus looked darkly at him.
"We checked the Quidditch Pitch. You weren't there."
"Believe me or not. You don't need to worry over where I spent the night."
"But why are you so happy today? You insulted Draco, and he insulted you. You were furious last night, the entire common room talked about it for hours."
"Cepheus," Harry said, turning a kind look upon his fellow Slytherin. "I won't tell you where I was. Leave it at that."
They spent the remainder of the period in silence, Harry focusing his attention on the potion and absently thinking about his father, Cepheus pondering any possible places for Harry to have been.
"Well?" Blaise ambushed Cepheus as soon as Harry had disappeared from earshot. "What did you find out?"
"Nothing. He didn't tell me."
"Unbelievable! We have to find out where he went!"
"Blaise," Cepheus began uneasily. "Maybe we should take Dumbledore's advice and let Harry be. He doesn't want to tell us, so maybe we aren't supposed to know just now."
Blaise glared at him. Cepheus glared back.
"All right," she sighed. "When he wants to tell us, I suppose he will."
* * *
Dinner, Harry also spent alone, eating happily. Afterwards, he went down to the library and asked Madam Pince if the library had any type of school yearbook. After a fierce glare and some suspicious questioning, she lent him the seven yearbooks from his parents' years of school. A bright smile on his face, Harry lugged them over to a random table and started leafing through the first one.
He struck gold about twenty pages in.
A picture of two figures sitting across from each other, busily writing notes, their mouths moving every so often. One was feminine, with blood- red hair that spilled over her shoulders messily. The other was masculine, with black hair and a pale face.
His mother and father.
He savored the picture before turning a few more pages.
There was another picture, this one of Severus and Lily concocting a potion in the dungeons, Lily looking up every now and then and smiling at her dark companion, who looked so much happier than he did these many years later.
Harry came upon a third picture, this one of four boys and a red-haired girl. He looked at each of the boys in turn, remembering the way his father had described them. One, who was mussing his hair up every now then, wore glasses and a grin directed at Lily. This must be James Potter, already besotted with Lily. The next was short and pudgy, with a rat-like face and small, watery blue eyes that were darted around nervously. This must be the one who was always scared . . . Peter Pettigrew. Another, with honey-brown hair streaked in bits of white, had a calm, relaxed smile and warm brown eyes. Remus Lupin, the one who sympathized with Severus. That left Sirius Black-and sure enough, the boy fit his description. A cool smile, eyes like ice chips, smooth black hair that fell elegantly to the bottoms of his ears. Harry turned the page.
In the second yearbook, Harry found more pictures of his mother and father together, brewing potions, studying, reading aloud from Potions books. Harry tried to commit each one to memory.
In the third yearbook, he found more pictures, but these were different. A subtle smile from Lily to Severus in one. A brief touch of Severus' hand to Lily's shoulder as he passed her in another. In one picture of the Great Hall at dinner, he distinguished his parents from the crowds. Lily had eyes only for Severus, and Severus for Lily. He smiled as he saw James Potter trying to get Lily's attention in vain. As Harry watched, the students got up and filed out-and he remembered that these were magical pictures, and the people couldn't stay at dinner forever.
In the fourth yearbook, someone had caught a picture two fourteen year olds kissing in a corner-Harry could make out Lily's dark red hair, and a pale hand on her shoulder. It was his parents. Someone had written on the photograph 'Lily and James-love or lust?' Harry grinned. If only they knew it wasn't James.
In the fifth yearbook, there were more pictures of the Lily and Severus. There was even one marked 'Post-O.W.L.s' that covered the entire grounds and, if you squinted, showed a glimpse of a boy hanging upside down in the air, and a girl with red hair sprinting across the lawns.
He was about to open the sixth notebook when someone sat down at his table. He glanced up and met the brown eyes of his Gryffindor friend.
"Hello, Hermione."
"Hello, Harry," she smiled at him. "Have you started that Charms essay yet?"
"I've got two paragraphs."
She gave him a look before glancing at the yearbook in front of him. "What's that?"
"Yearbook. It's from when my parents were in their sixth year."
"Looking for pictures?" she asked. He nodded. "Have fun. I have to get back to the common room. Lavender Brown wants my help on the Transfigurations homework."
"Alright. You have fun with that, too."
"See you later."
As Harry went back to looking through the last two yearbooks, Hermione returned to the hallway, where Draco was waiting for her.
"Well? What's up with him?"
"Nothing. He's looking through yearbooks for pictures of his parents."
"Bloody hell, Hermione! You're supposed to find out what's up with him!"
"Go in there and find out yourself, Draco. And while you're at it," she fixed him with a glare. "You might as well apologize."
With a heavy sigh, Draco turned on his heel and walked into the library.
A/N: End of chapter. Crappy ending, I know.
Peoples, I've revised chapters one, two, and sixteen. In chapter one I fixed a bit about Blaise, and in two and sixteen I revised Dumbledore's description of Lily and Severus' relationship and Severus' description of it respectively. I'd advise looking over sixteen.
Special thanks to Felicia, my beta-reader. Love you Felicia!
Reviews:
Simple Confusion: Thank you! Draco really is a spoiled brat, isn't he?
Madame Moony: I will.
Gryphnwng: Thank you for the awesome name suggestions! I agree-Alexander is used an amazing amount of times. I especially like Soterios.
SlytherinAtHeart: I love your names! Especially Regenfrithu-it has a great meaning and a confusing spelling.
Senshichan14: That's a neat name!
Klick: I like Tobias, but Alexander has been used at least twice. Thank you for the suggestions.
Athenakitty: Thank you for your confusing review.
Amid the double moon: Oooh.those are awesome names!!!! Thank you!
Nemati: (hangs head) I know, it took me forever. I am ashamed. I was thinking of using Septimius too, but I'm not sure.
Desert Fox: Snape and Lily forever.
Moonlady: Be calm!! (Covers ears) Narg!! Don't tell me all that or I'll chicken out on writing the next books!!!! :D
Jade: Nergers! That makes two errors I have to correct! Thank you for telling me that!
HaliJade Snape: Ok, since Blaise shouldn't be with Draco or Harry, should she be with Cepheus? Or no one? That's been troubling me for quite a while. I would LOVE to get Ron expelled for life, believe me!!
Bitchkitten: Thank you, and I will try to update more often.
crazy-lil-nae-nae: I'm glad you like it.
Unus Salus Salazar: Thanks :P
DragonQueen: (Blushes) So I've been told. Briar . . . that's very interesting. I'll consider it; definitely original!
Boomerang-chan: (sniggers)
Elessar: Thank you.
His father.
It was foreign to him to even think the words, let alone connect them with someone he knew, someone whose face he had looked upon every day for four months.
It was nice.
Dear Merlin, it was nice.
In the morning, his father made him a cup of overly chocolate-tasting cocoa. It was obvious Snape wasn't used to making things, let alone a child's drink. Harry loved it and savored every last drop.
Classes were to restart again that morning. At the end of breakfast, Harry left Snape's quarters after a sudden hug. He hurried down the swarming corridors, face flushed with happiness and eyes bright. He took a seat right up front in Transfiguration. He paid rapt attention to McGonagall's lengthy lecture, volunteering information whenever he could, oblivious to the stunned whisperings of Cepheus, Blaise, and Draco, three seats behind him.
At the end of class, he gathered his things, humming quietly to himself. He walked right past his friends in the doorway without even noticing them, and made his way to Charms undisturbed. Again, he took a seat in front. Professor Flitwick was thrilled when Harry performed the Color-Changing Charm perfectly after only one trial run. Harry beamed as Flitwick praised him, and again, his friends muttered to each other about his strange behavior.
Lunch, he spent alone as well, eating absently and humming, filling his plate full and eating an extra roll. He left early for the class he was most anxious to be in-Potions.
When he got there, his father (his father! It was so strange to even think the words!) was busy writing out the lesson plan. Harry cheerfully took his usual seat and read over the instructions. He fetched his cauldron and sat quietly at his desk until people finished filing in and the bell rang.
Cepheus took the seat beside him and started chopping up the ginger roots as soon as Snape had finished instructing them. He cast a strange look at his friend as Harry, humming happily, dropped a unicorn hair into the boiling water.
"Where were you last night, Harry?" Cepheus finally asked. Harry looked up, green eyes vivid.
"Nowhere you should concern yourself over." He replied simply, returning to his stirring.
"Where were you?"
"I was cooling off."
"Where?"
"The Quidditch Pitch," Harry invented. Cepheus looked darkly at him.
"We checked the Quidditch Pitch. You weren't there."
"Believe me or not. You don't need to worry over where I spent the night."
"But why are you so happy today? You insulted Draco, and he insulted you. You were furious last night, the entire common room talked about it for hours."
"Cepheus," Harry said, turning a kind look upon his fellow Slytherin. "I won't tell you where I was. Leave it at that."
They spent the remainder of the period in silence, Harry focusing his attention on the potion and absently thinking about his father, Cepheus pondering any possible places for Harry to have been.
"Well?" Blaise ambushed Cepheus as soon as Harry had disappeared from earshot. "What did you find out?"
"Nothing. He didn't tell me."
"Unbelievable! We have to find out where he went!"
"Blaise," Cepheus began uneasily. "Maybe we should take Dumbledore's advice and let Harry be. He doesn't want to tell us, so maybe we aren't supposed to know just now."
Blaise glared at him. Cepheus glared back.
"All right," she sighed. "When he wants to tell us, I suppose he will."
* * *
Dinner, Harry also spent alone, eating happily. Afterwards, he went down to the library and asked Madam Pince if the library had any type of school yearbook. After a fierce glare and some suspicious questioning, she lent him the seven yearbooks from his parents' years of school. A bright smile on his face, Harry lugged them over to a random table and started leafing through the first one.
He struck gold about twenty pages in.
A picture of two figures sitting across from each other, busily writing notes, their mouths moving every so often. One was feminine, with blood- red hair that spilled over her shoulders messily. The other was masculine, with black hair and a pale face.
His mother and father.
He savored the picture before turning a few more pages.
There was another picture, this one of Severus and Lily concocting a potion in the dungeons, Lily looking up every now and then and smiling at her dark companion, who looked so much happier than he did these many years later.
Harry came upon a third picture, this one of four boys and a red-haired girl. He looked at each of the boys in turn, remembering the way his father had described them. One, who was mussing his hair up every now then, wore glasses and a grin directed at Lily. This must be James Potter, already besotted with Lily. The next was short and pudgy, with a rat-like face and small, watery blue eyes that were darted around nervously. This must be the one who was always scared . . . Peter Pettigrew. Another, with honey-brown hair streaked in bits of white, had a calm, relaxed smile and warm brown eyes. Remus Lupin, the one who sympathized with Severus. That left Sirius Black-and sure enough, the boy fit his description. A cool smile, eyes like ice chips, smooth black hair that fell elegantly to the bottoms of his ears. Harry turned the page.
In the second yearbook, Harry found more pictures of his mother and father together, brewing potions, studying, reading aloud from Potions books. Harry tried to commit each one to memory.
In the third yearbook, he found more pictures, but these were different. A subtle smile from Lily to Severus in one. A brief touch of Severus' hand to Lily's shoulder as he passed her in another. In one picture of the Great Hall at dinner, he distinguished his parents from the crowds. Lily had eyes only for Severus, and Severus for Lily. He smiled as he saw James Potter trying to get Lily's attention in vain. As Harry watched, the students got up and filed out-and he remembered that these were magical pictures, and the people couldn't stay at dinner forever.
In the fourth yearbook, someone had caught a picture two fourteen year olds kissing in a corner-Harry could make out Lily's dark red hair, and a pale hand on her shoulder. It was his parents. Someone had written on the photograph 'Lily and James-love or lust?' Harry grinned. If only they knew it wasn't James.
In the fifth yearbook, there were more pictures of the Lily and Severus. There was even one marked 'Post-O.W.L.s' that covered the entire grounds and, if you squinted, showed a glimpse of a boy hanging upside down in the air, and a girl with red hair sprinting across the lawns.
He was about to open the sixth notebook when someone sat down at his table. He glanced up and met the brown eyes of his Gryffindor friend.
"Hello, Hermione."
"Hello, Harry," she smiled at him. "Have you started that Charms essay yet?"
"I've got two paragraphs."
She gave him a look before glancing at the yearbook in front of him. "What's that?"
"Yearbook. It's from when my parents were in their sixth year."
"Looking for pictures?" she asked. He nodded. "Have fun. I have to get back to the common room. Lavender Brown wants my help on the Transfigurations homework."
"Alright. You have fun with that, too."
"See you later."
As Harry went back to looking through the last two yearbooks, Hermione returned to the hallway, where Draco was waiting for her.
"Well? What's up with him?"
"Nothing. He's looking through yearbooks for pictures of his parents."
"Bloody hell, Hermione! You're supposed to find out what's up with him!"
"Go in there and find out yourself, Draco. And while you're at it," she fixed him with a glare. "You might as well apologize."
With a heavy sigh, Draco turned on his heel and walked into the library.
A/N: End of chapter. Crappy ending, I know.
Peoples, I've revised chapters one, two, and sixteen. In chapter one I fixed a bit about Blaise, and in two and sixteen I revised Dumbledore's description of Lily and Severus' relationship and Severus' description of it respectively. I'd advise looking over sixteen.
Special thanks to Felicia, my beta-reader. Love you Felicia!
Reviews:
Simple Confusion: Thank you! Draco really is a spoiled brat, isn't he?
Madame Moony: I will.
Gryphnwng: Thank you for the awesome name suggestions! I agree-Alexander is used an amazing amount of times. I especially like Soterios.
SlytherinAtHeart: I love your names! Especially Regenfrithu-it has a great meaning and a confusing spelling.
Senshichan14: That's a neat name!
Klick: I like Tobias, but Alexander has been used at least twice. Thank you for the suggestions.
Athenakitty: Thank you for your confusing review.
Amid the double moon: Oooh.those are awesome names!!!! Thank you!
Nemati: (hangs head) I know, it took me forever. I am ashamed. I was thinking of using Septimius too, but I'm not sure.
Desert Fox: Snape and Lily forever.
Moonlady: Be calm!! (Covers ears) Narg!! Don't tell me all that or I'll chicken out on writing the next books!!!! :D
Jade: Nergers! That makes two errors I have to correct! Thank you for telling me that!
HaliJade Snape: Ok, since Blaise shouldn't be with Draco or Harry, should she be with Cepheus? Or no one? That's been troubling me for quite a while. I would LOVE to get Ron expelled for life, believe me!!
Bitchkitten: Thank you, and I will try to update more often.
crazy-lil-nae-nae: I'm glad you like it.
Unus Salus Salazar: Thanks :P
DragonQueen: (Blushes) So I've been told. Briar . . . that's very interesting. I'll consider it; definitely original!
Boomerang-chan: (sniggers)
Elessar: Thank you.