Monday February 16
No.
Surely not.
Minerva was exaggerating, clutching at straws that simply did not exist.
The report said heart failure.
Heart failure would be impossible for Potter, brash, brazen, impulsive, reckless Potter to pull off...
... alone.
No.
It was ridiculous.
Potter was enjoying the game with his friends, the destructive pranks and overall chaos he was spreading.
Because that is who Potter is. Chaotic and loud and as subtle as a raging hippogriff.
It was ambition that carried him to Slytherin. Not subtlety or sneakiness.
Severus paced his sitting room until the rays of light began shining through his windows, alerting him to the hour.
Minerva was wrong.
Minerva had likely meant that Potter had killed Dolores by putting stress on her heart with the chaos he sowed.
Yes.
Severus decided that was just the explanation as he skipped breakfast in the hall to gulp tea and pepper-up in his office.
He had been shaken rather badly last night when Minerva indicated that Potter had killed all the previous defense professors. It wasn't wholly unfair, as the brat did kill Quirrell and Lockhart, but Lupin and Barty were both alive, and Dolores had heart failure.
Had Potter helped her any, with his never ending torments? No, but that is a far cry from indicating he had actually killed her.
By the time Severus' first hour Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw's arrived, he was much calmer. Though, he had spent so much time considering the likelihood of Potter killing Dolores and Minerva discovering it that he had forgotten who arrived this morning. His students were attempting to gossip in hushed whispers when he caught a snippet of conversation.
"...Black's very handsome, isn't he?"
"Ten points from Ravenclaw Yarrito," Severus snapped, his eyes unforgiving steel as he stared down the idiot boy. "Perhaps you should be working on your potion instead of gossip."
It was blessedly silent after that.
His students that day all maintained a level of quiet excitement. Undoubtedly a result of the immense amount of changes that Hogwarts has undergone the last week. It was the predictable excitement of children with little else to worry themselves with, and it was utterly unbearable.
Severus convinced himself that it was this behavior from his students that kept him from attending dinner Monday night or breakfast on Tuesday morning. It certainly had nothing to do with Black's undoubted presence at the staff table, a place where Severus had once found solitude amongst his true peers. It was merely quieter to eat in his chambers; comforting, relaxing.
Severus kept up his increased solidity until Tuesday evening. He had no more than just dismissed his OWLS-level Gryffindor and Slytherin's, before a student came skidding up to his desk.
"Hello Professor!"
Severus sighed and looked up to the bright eyes of one of his second year Slytherins, Trent Bailey.
"Mister Bailey, how can I help you?"
Bailey's large, slightly buck-toothed, smile dimmed and he appeared apprehensive.
"Uh... are we... you said to come today," the boy mumbled, scuffing at the stone floor with the toe of his trainers. "Sorry, I can go..."
"Apologies." Severus had actually completely forgotten about rescheduling his meeting with Bailey in the face of Dolores' death, Black's appointment, and Minerva's accusations about Potter. "Please, sit," he said calmly. "Why don't I call up for some biscuits and tea?"
"Alright sir." Bailey smiled happily once more, easily pleased by the slightest attentions.
A common trademark of children who garner only negative attention at home.
"How has your week been?" Severus asked after summoning a tea tray from his quarters. "Have you been staying on top of your studies?"
"Yes sir." Bailey was enthusiastic as he described his week. "That detention was terrible, but then me and Sapphire played gobstones on Wednesday—"
"Sapphire and I," Severus corrected him, sliding a cup of tea to the boy.
"Yes sir, Sapphire and I," Bailey nodded seriously before going on as he kicked his feet beneath the desk. "Well then Thursday Harry took us all flying all day since we didn't have classes."
"Of course he did," Severus scoffed. "I believe the Headmistress requested you utilize that time to study."
"Wellll... we didn't have any homework and Harry said everyone deserved to have a bit of fun since Umbridge was so terrible. Then this weekend..."
Bailey continued talking, but Severus tuned him out as the boy dipped his biscuit in his tea and Severus caught sight of a peculiar mark on his hand.
"Trent... have you injured yourself?" Severus asked slowly.
He hadn't believed the boy was depressed, shockingly despite his rather terrible home life, but his left hand was red with straight white scars across the top of it. Severus desperately hoped the boy wasn't self-harming. Though, it was just as likely that he'd been harmed by any one of the many rampant creatures in the castle recently.
Bailey followed Severus' eyes to see what injury he was talking about, and grimaced as he twisted his hand around to see the scars.
"That's from detention," he said, his normally cheery face twisting up in childish irritation. "Mione tried to heal it, with Murtlap Essence, but not even Harry could make the scars disappear."
"May I see?" Severus had a terrible feeling when Trent held his hand out and he was able to read 'I will sit still' in Bailey's own handwriting, carved deep enough to leave behind this white scar.
Severus dropped the boys hand and pushed down his anger, bit back the fury bubbling in his stomach. "I would like you to tell me precisely what happened during your detention and afterwards," he said with as much calm as he could muster in the face of an obvious abuse of his student.
"Sure."
Severus sat, and listened, and began to piece together a puzzle he had not realized he had.
Potter told Bailey to inform him if Dolores did anything untoward in his detention, and when the witch made Bailey carve open his own skin with a Blood Quill, Bailey went straight to Potter.
"And Harry was mad, real mad," Bailey said. "He told me to go with Mione and Theo, to fix my hand, and he hissed something out like a snake and I thought he was going to go shoot Umbridge! Because a gun flew right to his hand!"
Severus had forgotten, but he did mean to kill Lucius at some point for that.
"And then what happened?" he asked lightly, drawing Bailey in with his neutral tone.
"And then Theo told me and Mione to go to her common room, which by the way sir, Ravenclaw's common is not nearly as cool as ours, and then she gave me some yellow stuff to soak my hand in and let me sleep on the couch there."
Severus hummed as he attempted to fit pieces together in his mind. Potter was prepared to shoot Dolores on Tuesday night, then he was stopped by Theodore it seemed like.
And then Dolores coincidentally died of heart failure the next night?
Severus had never believed in coincidences before, and he hardly did now.
It merited heavy consideration when he was alone.
"That sounds like a terrible night," Severus told Bailey genuinely. "I imagine that it was quite painful. I am sorry that Dolores did that to you Trent."
"It's alright," Bailey smiled with all the innocence of a child. "It hurt then, but it's better now. And she's gone and I had Professor Black yesterday and he's super brill."
Severus bit back a scowl at the reminder of the mutt and the compliment taken from Potter's cockney vocabulary.
"Yes well." Severus cleared his throat and took a sip of his tea. "Dolores set the bar rather low for defense professors, I am sure."
"She did," Bailey agreed with a laugh. "But Professor Black uses magic in class, and he lets us use magic."
"Excellent," Severus said, his sarcasm flying right over the boys head. "Aside from Tuesday night then, you have not had any difficulties recently?"
"No sir." Bailey had been smiling, but some thought apparently drew a frown from the boy. "Uh... well... actually... you know that list you wanted?"
"Yes?" Severus prompted him, hoping the boy had not forgotten, although it would be understandable considering the recent events.
"I just only have my mom, my dad, and me," Bailey said slowly. "And my dad's not really around anymore, so... so did you want me to just write down me and mom?"
Severus withheld a sigh, not wanting the boy to think he was displeased with him. It was not Bailey he was displeased with, but the boy's entire situation.
Bailey's mother, during the one visit Severus had made to her muggle hovel, had been an unpleasant drunk who seemed to place all her difficulties in life squarely on her son's thin shoulders.
It was as reminiscent of Tobias Snape as Severus had ever seen. Aside from a current lack of physical punishments, which he had ensured with some light legillimency.
Severus had spoken with Amelia after his visit with Ms Bailey, and they attempted to reach some form of compromise. The child would be miserable (at best) returning to his mother's home with her verbal and emotional abuse, but without physical abuse it would be a difficult case to legally remove him. They hoped that Trent would have some distant relation that Amelia could reach out to, implore them to take in their kin, but apparently not.
Severus focused on the boy before him, steepling his fingers beneath his chin. "Trent, in an ideal world, where would you feel safest residing during your summer breaks?"
"Hogwarts," Bailey said immediately. His face lit up as he stared hopefully at Severus. "Is that possible?"
It was not.
But when Severus bade the child a good night less than an hour later, he assured him that he would attempt to find a solution before they met again after Easter.
What that solution would be, Severus had no idea. Though it did fall to the wayside in his thoughts as his mind trailed back to Potter.
"Expecto Patronum," Severus flicked his wand and settled his eyes on his fox. He hesitated for only the briefest of moments before sending a curt message, "I would like to speak with you, immediately and alone."
He had considered seeking out Theodore, but that boy was as tightly wound to Potter as Bones and Weasley were. If Theodore refused to name Potter's acts when Potter shot him in the knee over the summer, he would hardly give his faux-sibling up for murder.
It was eerie sometimes, when Severus saw Potter and his friends sitting together in various settings. If he squinted his eyes, Potter could pass for a young Tom Riddle. Charismatically drawing the others in with his own unique charms, power, his plans, his desire to change the world. Theodore, at his right hand, saved from an abusive father by Potter, reminiscent of Severus himself. Draco, drawn in by Potter's power and prestige, deeply loyal, easily passing for Lucius. Miss Bones, with her ferocity and the fire in her eyes when anyone insulted Potter in any way, always on the verge of waging a blood-filled war on his behalf, a red-headed vision of a young Bellatrix. Granger, with her Ravenclaw ties, eidetic memory, and the way she was talked in to joining Potter's group was quite similar to Barty.
He was certain he could draw a great many more distressing similarities to the Dark Lord's inner circle if he chose to. It was one of many reasons why Severus kept his eyes wide open and focused only on the present when he saw Potter's band of misfits.
Friends, not followers, for the Merlin damned, Morgana blessed, Boy-Who-Lived-To-Become-A-Serial-Killer.
Perhaps Severus should have made different decisions years ago, applied a firmer hand in Potter's behavior, but it was a fine line between guiding Potter away from his worst tendencies and understanding all too clearly why he was the way he was.
The muggle world was lucky Potter had no desire to wreck vengeance on the whole for the actions of the few.
Severus paced in his office, developing a cunning way to get the information he required, his head aching despite the many pain-relieving potions he had consumed in the last thirty-six hours.
Potter was going to eventually cause his kidneys to shut down, he was certain of it.
Eventually, thirty some odd minutes since sending his patronus, his office door opened and Potter himself stepped in.
"I'm here Sev," he said with a crooked smile. "You wanted to see me?"
"Sit," Severus snapped, pointing at Potter's seat. He continued his irritated pacing, watching as Potter easily loped across his classroom and settled in his seat.
Severus ignored Potter's politely puzzled look as he frowned at his ward and continued pacing. Potter looked as if a model student; his green shirt buttoned neatly, his tie tied tight, his robes pressed and clean. He hardly looked the part of what a killer should.
"I heard Trent Bailey had detention with Dolores last week," he said evenly, if not baldly. "He stated that he informed you of her abuse?"
"Yup." Potter crossed his legs at the knee and shrugged casually. "Guess she can't do that anymore, can she?"
There was no use dancing around the issue at hand. And, truth be told, as much as Potter's ambition and self-reliance made him a formidable Slytherin, Potter still had enough Gryffindor tendencies in him to appreciate a blunt approach.
"Did you kill her?" Severus asked, his feet coming to a halt behind his desk. His heart rate was slightly higher than normal, internally praying for a negative response.
"What kind of stupid question is that?" Potter scoffed. The child shook his head disapprovingly before wiggling his fingers in the direction of the door. "Your room wasn't even warded Sev."
"You did." Severus slammed one hand on his desk and pinched his nose with the other. "For Gods sake Potter, what is wrong with you?"
"Why do you always ask me that?" Potter asked, his voice laced with curiosity as he tapped his nails on the desk. "We do this all the time. You ask what's wrong with me, I get pissed, you get pissed, d'you really wanna fight?" Potter's voice was reasonable, even if his logic was flawed.
"I apologize for irritating you with my disdain for your murderous tendencies Potter," Severus sneered.
Potter rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. "Well seeing as she was carving up actual kids, I didn't really think you'd be so disdain-filled sir. If we're just gonna fight, I'm gonna go."
"Disdainful," Severus absently corrected him, his mind whirling with Potter's arrogance.
Self-confidence when it comes to inter-personal relationships? None.
Self-confidence when it came to murder? Potter had it in spades.
'Harry will likely qualify for a psychopathy diagnosis by eighteen.'
Potter likely qualified for it at fifteen, in Severus' opinion.
"Did it not once occur to you to inform me, or Madame Bones, or your friend the Minister of Magic that there was a professor abusing students?" Severus asked, watching as Potter cocked his head at him.
"I think that would have made it a bit more suspicious when I killed her, yeah?" Potter grinned.
Severus cared for Potter. He was incredibly fond of the child. He gave him his house, formally named him his heir, protected him when the occasion required it. He would kill for the child and he would die for him.
But damn if the brat didn't make himself incredibly unlikeable at times.
"This is amusing to you?" Severus asked, his voice taking a dangerously soft note. "You committed a senseless crime within Hogwarts halls and you find it amusing?"
"Kinda, yeah," Potter shrugged, his own annoyance clearly rising as he grabbed the back of the chair and thrummed his fingers against the wood. "I personally would just be happy that she's gone and no one's the wiser, but you can get over it however you want."
Severus' jaw actually dropped at Potter's absolute arrogance.What would the brat do if he did not simply 'get over it'? If he cut the child out as punishment? As a warning?
'Stop killing people or I will no longer speak with you.'
It was juvenile, but it wasn't as if Severus saw a great many options in that moment.
"Get out," he said sharply. "Speak to me when you have seen the multitude of other options you had to handle Dolores."
"'Kay," Potter shrugged, uncharacteristically unflappable. "Ta Sev, see ya later."
Severus waited until Potter closed the door behind himself to throw a book off his desk at it.
Fucking Potter.
Severus' determination to freeze Potter out until the child saw the flaw in his decisions lasted the rest of the week.
It was convenient that Severus already found excuses to miss meals in the Great Hall. He informed Minerva that he had an abundance of paperwork to do with his new professional title, and she conceded his appearance at meals, though she had not seemed convinced of his reasoning.
Though, as she was the one who brought Sirius Black to the castle, Severus doubted if she would force him to attend meals as he was technically required to do.
Severus was reflecting on his current 'Potter Problem' in his office on Friday evening. Truly, he never stopped having 'Potter Problem's', their severity simply increased as Potter aged.
Although... Severus leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes gently. However Potter managed to kill Dolores that mimicked heart failure was drastically less problematic than nearly every single decision he made last year.
If Potter was still not turning to adults for assistance with his problems, at least his friends were relatively competent.
Thank Merlin for Theodore Knott.
Though it hardly resolved the quandary he now found himself in. If he began speaking to Potter, as he had coolly ignored the brat all through his Thursday potions class, not that Potter had seemed to care, he would be going back on his own words. On the other hand, it appeared as if Potter was prepared to wait him out patiently with unshakeable confidence that Severus would 'get over it' eventually.
It was nearly heartening. There had been a time where Severus could say one sharp word to the child and he would imagine their relationship was severed.
Of course, that had been many murders ago. So Severus was not counting his blessings much.
He had simply brushed aside Potter's past behavior, never truly forcing him to understand that murder was a last resort option. Instead, he allowed Potter to grow in to a person who used it as a convenient first choice.
Potter's problematic and unrepentant behavior could be laid on Severus' shoulders as much as it could his own.
Severus was still debating on the best way to levitate himself out of the hole he dug with Potter when there was a knock on his door.
He hoped it was Potter, though since the person waited until after he told them to enter to open the door, he doubted it.
Delightful.
Black stepped in the room, closing the door behind him as if he were not the very person Severus least wished to see.
"Hey Snape." Black lifted the side of his mouth in a small smile. "Mind if I talk for a bit? I come bearing a gift." He held up a bottle of scotch and shook it invitingly.
It was inevitable that Severus would have to see the man. As peaceful as it had been, he could hardly continue isolating himself in his quarters for every meal.
"What do you want?" Severus asked curtly, unappreciative of the nonchalant way Black eased himself in the wooden chair across from him.
"I... well... I wanted to ask you for help, which is why I brought this," Black added hastily, pushing the bottle across the desk towards Severus. "I always thought teaching was easy, but... but it's rather hard, isn't it?"
Severus scoffed, inspecting the offering as Black rambled.
"None of these kids have done any defensive magic all year, they're pretty behind. But it's hard to let them do magic in class and have time to teach them stuff from the books. And if I do notes beforehand then they're all bored and not listening, but if I do notes after a demonstration then they're talking and not listening. How do you do it?"
Severus was surprised by Black's genuine curiosity and his willingness to share his shortcomings. It was this surprise that led him to answering truthfully.
"The students are testing you," he said. "You are a new professor, and they are looking to see how far they are able to misbehave before you assign punishments. How many points have you taken so far?"
"Uh..." Black pulled on his shirt collar for a moment while he thought. "None?"
Severus rolled his eyes and summoned two glass tumblers from his quarters.
"There lies your problem," he said, pouring them each a neat glass. "You say the students have been not listening, talking and being disrespectful, and you have yet to take a single point? Why would they listen to you when there is no incentive?"
"I just don't wanna be one of those teachers that kids are all afraid of," Black said, accepting his drink with a nod. "You know the type."
Severus raised a brow at Black silently until it dawned on the idiotic man who he was speaking with.
"You don't count," Black laughed, entirely too relaxed in Severus' company. "I've heard a few Gryffs complaining about 'the dungeon bat', but the kids all talk about how fair you are, how your class is 'sooo dangerous' that 'of course Snape has to be strict'. I even heard one Hufflepuff say she thinks you're 'the best teacher in Hogwarts'."
"That is why I refuse to listen to the opinions of Hufflepuffs," Severus scowled. He took a tentative sip of the scotch Black brought and found it not entirely intolerable.
"Don't let Susan or Tonks hear you say that," Black said with a light smile. "I'm starting to think that Hufflepuffs are the ones we really should have been worrying about this whole time. Hard workers with unshakable loyalty?" Black shuddered. "They make my lions look like little cubs."
Severus curled a lip at the realization that he agreed with Black. Hufflepuffs were rather dangerous.
"How are 'your lions' handling the change in leadership?" he asked instead. "Minerva has been the Head of Gryffindor for so long, I doubt if the Fat Lady even recognizes her change in title."
"She doesn't," Black said. "But Val and I go way back, a few compliments and a wink here and there and she's paint in my hands."
Severus scoffed. It was unsurprising that Black had managed to charm a portrait. Severus recalled all too easily the way that their classmates trailed behind Black as if eager krups in desperate need of petting.
"The kids don't really seem to care who their head of house is, I got the feeling it wasn't a real interactive job."
"It should be," Severus told him. He knew that the other heads interacted with their students differently than he did— Pomona with her monthly house meetings that Severus presumed included cocoa and story time or something equally preposterous. Filius who maintained an 'open door policy' and had his older students pair with the younger ones for assistance in classes they struggle with. Minerva was perhaps the most lax of the heads, though her students were also the least likely to 'suffer in silence', so she had a bit more leeway than the others.
Although... Severus eyed Black carefully as he considered stories Regulus shared of their upbringing. Abuse, while scoffed at by many adults who could hardly imagine such a thing, was not exclusive to any one Hogwarts House. Certainly Slytherin drew more than average, as children developed strong senses of self-preservation and cunning in those situations, but the man in front of him was proof that Gryffindor's were not exempt from it.
"One of the things I have attempted to push in the past is mandatory screenings for all students when they enter Hogwarts," Severus said as casually as he could. "I screen my new students every September, every applicant to the Slytherin Quidditch Team to ensure proper health conditions before allowing them to play a strenuous sport, and any students who I believe may have an unsatisfactory home life get annual screenings. Perhaps that could be a task you undertake for your students as well."
Black appeared surprisingly thoughtful, rubbing his chin as he looked down in his drink.
"Your screening for abuse, right?" he asked. "Trying to make sure kids don't have to go home to places they aren't wanted?"
"In simple terms," Severus agreed.
Black nodded slowly, his eyes lifting from his drink to meet Severus'. "Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea Snape. Why don't the others do that?"
Severus scoffed and refilled his glass, offering the bottle to Black to top off his own.
"Albus," he said as a single answer. "He believes that children's family lives are private and that a school should not interfere. It is an archaic way of thinking that only serves to protect the abusers from being caught."
Black's face flashed with a brief look of anger, a storm cloud passing over his grey eyes. "I guess it's a good think Minnie's in charge then," he said.
"Minerva, while perhaps good intentioned, tends to believe that children suffering from abuse could never be one of her loud and outgoing lions," Severus sneered. "As if children do not respond to situations in different ways."
Black raised his glass with a wry smile. "Sometimes kids are loud at school because they have to be quiet at home. And some kids might have begged the hat to put them in a house just so they could learn to be brave when it mattered."
Severus had an uncomfortable twist in his stomach at Black's words, a twist that was nearly camaraderie with the man. He inclined his head silently, questioning where the hat may have wanted to place Black originally.
Black took a small sip of his drink, choosing to mostly swirl it around the glass. "I guess that's how you got suspicious about Harry then? A new student screening?"
Severus smirked, nostalgia nearly filling him, as he recalled his early interactions with Potter.
"I found him on a bus and drug him to have lunch," Severus said. "The brat was rude, ill-mannered, spoke like a street urchin, and when I went to take him shopping, he had the audacity to jam a knife in my abdomen."
Black barked out a laugh, merriment returning to his face at the comfortable topic. "He's great at defense," he said gushingly. "You should see him Snape, not a spell he can't do."
"Harry is a magical prodigy," Severus agreed calmly, if not a tad haughtily. "I have always known this."
"So you're not purposefully avoiding him?" Black asked, squinting at Severus thoughtfully.
Slytherin.
The hat must have wanted Black in Slytherin.
"Who says I am avoiding Harry?" Severus asked, gazing at Black with only enough obvious curiosity to satisfy the man.
"Harry does," Black said, leaning back and crossing his legs with a modicum of what Severus could admit was grace. "He said that he did something you didn't like and now you're not talking to him anymore."
Severus bit back on the juvenile jealousy that reared it's green head at the knowledge that Black and Potter were close enough for the child to confide in the man.
"I believe that matter is between Harry and myself," Severus said. His eyes flicked from Black's to the clock on the wall, then to the door. A relatively unsubtle nudge towards the other man leaving.
Black followed Severus' gaze and chuckled at the blatant dismissal. "Alright, alright," he said. He sat his glass on Severus' desk, getting to his feet lightly. "All I was going to say was Harry likes you quite a bit, and he sort of... sort of copies you? Mimics you!" he cried. "He mimics you. So, I dunno." Black ruffled his hair and shrugged. "If you just talk to him then I bet he'll talk to you too, but maybe I just spend too much time listening to Remus study. He reads out loud Snape, all the time.""How dreadful for you," Severus said drily. "Accidentally being exposed to a higher education? It must be the pinnacle of terror."
"It is," Black said, the solemnity in his tone hardly matching the mischief in his eyes. "Thanks for the help Snape, maybe I'll eventually see you around?"
"Only if my very best efforts have failed," Severus drawled with a half-hearted sneer.
"You can eat in the Great Hall you know," Black said, a teasing smile curling up the side of his lips. "I won't even talk to you during meals if you'd like."
Severus hummed, unwilling to admit he had been purposefully avoiding Black.
He was rather resentful that Black had been able to determine the reason for his absence though. Teenage Severus never would have anticipated a future where he was forced to spend enough time with Sirius Black that Black could pick up his behavioral cues.
Potter's fault of course.
As most things were.