Back To School?
Severus folded his hands on the kitchen table at Grimmauld. “I have vetted everyone.” He stared across the table at Remus and Sirius. “I brought back Kettleburn, who is going to assist Hagrid with teaching and tutor him while he’s completing his NEWTs. Minerva promises she will return and be headmistress, as soon as Narcissa clears her, so long as Percy Weasley agrees to be Deputy Headmaster, which he has agreed to do provided Minerva is Headmistress and both he and Minerva are each provided an assistant, which the Board of Governors are willing to supply. Fleur is stepping into the Defense position, which we are renaming because we want to subtly begin calming the fearful stereotypes regarding ‘dark arts’. I’ve recruited Horace Slughorn for potions and I will be his assistant until he acclimates. I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on him because of his strange desire to collect favorites…”
“You’re assisting? Not teaching? Why?” Sirius broke in to ask.
“Because I am making free potions for all the Werewolves in the United Kingdom, Black. Do keep up, you’re the one who told me to do this!”
“Right, right, of course…”
“‘I’ll provide funding for ingredients and time, Sev, just make sure the werewolves have their wolfsbane, their nutrition potions, their calming draughts…’ thus far, I have been paying for ingredients out of my own savings, do not tell me you are going back on your word…”
“I’m not, I’m not; there’s an account at Gringotts for you; I just lost track for a minute, that’s all. I know you love potions; I thought you were giving that up for a second.” Sirius was laughing heartily.
“I am endlessly enchanted with potion making; if I have to teach potions another year, I shall go mad. Now, where was I…Tom Riddle…or should I say Professor Thomas Devenne?Tom has passed the requisite testing and will be installed as our Muggle Studies teacher. He is also, as we speak, leading a committee of concerned parents, teachers, and the Board of Governors on an exploration of the Hogwarts Sublevels, pointing out your concerns about the leaky run-down nature of the Slytherin areas in the dungeons, as well as, of course, his worries about the lack of stability of the foundation. He will also be submitting his preliminary ideas for reaching out to Muggleborn students at their first accidental magic and placing a charm on them that sends constant running diagnostic reports on their physical and emotional wellbeing to a healer at St. Mungos. If there is any issue of health or safety, they will receive a magical nanny of sorts, thus placing their parents under intense supervision until it is determined that they are willing and able to properly care for a magical child. If not, the child will be placed with families vetted by Hogwarts and St. Mungos. There are also several families running successful businesses out of old Black properties who have been vetted to care for children on a temporary or in some cases, permanent basis.
“Flitwick, Sinestra, and all our previous teachers are returning. Now, once all of that is in place and you and Lord Grandfather have finished your warding, I hope that, surely to Merlin, you will consider the school safe and allow Harry and Longbottom to return.”
Sirius folded his hands and stared at him. “I…I don’t know, Sev.”
Severus released a long breath. “I…what are your concerns? Surely you aren’t worried that Fleur or Tom will try to kill him.”
“No, but I told him I would pull him out of school.” Sirius said. “If he was in danger. And so far, he was tortured by a teacher…”
“Dead,” Severus pointed out under his breath.
“Harassed, threatened, and nearly killed by the Headmaster…”
“Dead,” Severus said, but nodded along.
“Had to deal with an angry dragon…”
“Your relative, but continue…”
“Had his hand in a basilisks’ mouth…”
“A dead one, but I hear you…”
“And was turned into a creature against his will.”
“Debatable, but again, valid.”
“And all of that happened,” Sirius leaned further and stared into his eyes. “When you were supposed to have a fucking plan.”
“Siri,” Remus said, a soft rebuke in his tone.
Severus was nodding, a lump in his throat. “I…you’re right, of course.”
“No, I’m fucking not.” Sirius banged his fist on the table and groaned. “I lumped Umbridge in with the others. That was before the whole plan thing even came up.”
“And to be fair, you took care of that immediately.” Remus said quietly, eyes glowing golden. “Thank you, Severus.”
Severus’s eyes burned and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He never thought he’d be receiving thanks from Remus Lupin for murdering someone, but he also didn’t know how he was surprised, considering how much the man loved Harry and also, how utterly batshit his life had become over the last year or so.
“Yeah, yeah, you did fucking fantastic.” Sirius put his head in his hands. “And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t given permission. And let him go back in the first place. And if fucking Dumbledore hadn’t hijacked my wards…”
“You mean the Hogwarts Wards? Of which he was Headmaster? And had a perfect right to alter?”
“Yes, yes, but all wards are my wards. The world is mine. Dark Lord bullshit. Mwahahahahaha…” Sirius gave a melodramatic villainous laugh and laid his head on the table. “He could have died because I couldn’t fucking get to him and you couldn’t fucking hear him because I couldn’t do the one thing I’m supposed to be good at.”
“Animagus,” Severus said immediately.
“Auror,” Remus supplied.
“Cursebreaker,” Severus threw out.
“Dark Lord of all Magic,” Remus stated.
“Can we focus on the actual subject, please? I failed my kid.” Sirius sounded on the verge of tears. “I failed him and now I need to bring him home because I fucking said I wouldn’t leave him in school if bad things kept happening to him.”
“If it’s a matter of keeping your word to Harry,” Remus said slowly. “Then I don’t think there’s any reason for further discussion. He and Neville will stay home and work with me for the rest of the school year. If things seem stable and safe and they would both like to return, they can both start again in September.”
Sirius released a slow breath. “He’s gonna hate me. Fleur’s gonna hate me. Sev’s gonna hate me. Ron and Hermione and the twins are gonna hate me. And they should, because I’m punishing them for things that are my fault.”
“Oh, dear God, the dramatics,” Severus sighed. “Look, Black. Are Fleur and I welcome in this house or not?”
“What? Welcome? Sev, you’ve got rooms!” Sirius groaned.
“Exactly. And as I am the current Headmaster, I have access to the Floo Network. Fleur and I will floo here every evening possible, certainly every night. As the other children also have space here, they may also come as often as they wish, with your permission of course. It would probably be a relief to my new hires as Heads of Houses to have a few less Weasleys to deal with, even if only for a few hours.”
Remus began laughing a little. “You worked it out?”
“Molly and Arthur at Gryffindor, along with a male and female head for every other house. About bloody time, I would say. I myself was serving as potions master, potions teacher, and head of Slytherin House. Besides taking rotations patrolling the corridors, of course. It’s no wonder I am barely functional.” Severus rested his forehead on his hands.
“You were also a double agent and being tortured.” Sirius muttered.
“I cannot honestly say that was worse than the paperwork.” Severus said, eyes closed.
“Okay, so, you won’t hate me forever if we keep Harry home until next year?” Sirius asked, sounding absurdly childlike and hopeful.
Severus laughed a little. “Honestly, as long as I still get to see him, it would be a load off my mind not to have Harry Potter at Hogwarts.”
He realized they should have put up a privacy charm when a muffled sob sounded from the hallway and footsteps started to run away.
“Oh, no…” Sirius groaned.
“Accio Harry Potter,” Severus said, so, so tired. He caught the flying boy in his arms and immediately pressed his head against his shoulder. “I take it you heard the very end of that conversation. That sentence, even.”
“You don’t want me at Hogwarts,” Harry choked, and Severus could have cried with him. Making Harry Potter sad was his least favorite thing to do.
Severus opened the mate bond and sent all the love and care and concern he felt as he hugged the boy close. “I’ve been working very hard to make it safe for you there, Harry.” Severus said gently, even as the dads converged on them. “And I believe that when you choose to come back, it will be safe for you. But I cannot deny that I would rather you stayed here with your fathers, because if you come back, and I am Headmaster, I am responsible for you. And I am terrified, utterly terrified, that something will happen to you under my care. It would be you,” he said, cutting off Harry’s protest, “And hundreds of other students under my responsibility. And if there is a school-wide emergency of any kind, can you imagine that my first thought will be ‘let me make certain all the students are safe?’. No. It will be ‘where is Harry Potter?’. And Harry,” he still spoke gently. “Can you look me in the eye and tell me that the amount of trouble you get into is equal to the average student?”
“It’s usually not my fault,” Harry muttered a little sullenly, but clung to him as for dear life.
“No, but you need your own damn Headmaster,” Severus laughed a little. “An entire team of people to make certain you are safe and cared for and contained. And you’ve had that, between Fleur and I, and the twins, and Ron and Hermione. And you still were tortured, kidnapped, and attacked.”
“But Voldemort is gone. And Dumbledore. Surely…”
“Do not finish that sentence,” Severus grumbled to general rumbles of approval. “There is absolutely no guarantee that your life will calm itself. After all, you are Harry Potter.”
Harry sighed. “It’s true.” He mumbled.
“I can handle the entire school.” Severus said. “Until the end of term. And I can handle Harry Potter. Hell, I’m volunteering, most happily, to be here for you for the rest of our lives. But I don’t know that I can handle both. And that’s what I was expressing to your fathers, who are seriously considering keeping you home for the rest of the year. After that, Harry, I will be delighted if you return to Hogwarts. I will be the school’s potions master, not the headmaster, and I can be there for you as you deserve. We’ll let Minerva handle the school and I will be available to you.”
“You’re…you’re not tired of me?” Harry said, a little shakily.
Severus laughed softly. “Harry, I am tired. To the bone. But tired of you? You make my life bearable. You give everything hope and meaning. I intend to invade your fathers’ house every possible evening just so I can sit in a corner and do paperwork and breathe easier because you’re in the room or hell, the damn house. Don’t you know that, Potter? Can’t you feel it?”
Harry released a heavy sigh and held on tightly. “Yeah. Yeah, I feel it. It’s just…it just seems so…it just seems impossible, sometimes. I’ve never had this before. This…this…knowing. I’ve had it, on some level, with Ron and Hermione, I guess. Knowing that they would always be there. And now I have it with my dads. And you and Fleur. It’s just…it seems too good to be true, that’s all.”
I love you very much, Harry Potter. Severus said down the mate bond. He kissed the top of the boy’s head and then said it aloud. “I love you so much, Harry. I’m not trying to be rid of you. I’m just trying to make sure you’re safe and cared for properly.”
“I’m sorry I freaked out,” Harry muttered. “You’d think I would have this figured out by now. I love you and you love me, and my dads love us and everybody’s just trying to keep everybody safe. And hell, I’d like to stay and be homeschooled with Nev - with the baby dragon needing to be heated up with dragon fire and sometimes changing randomly and all the shit that’s happened…I was even going to ask if I could stay home! It just…it scared me when I thought…even for a second…”
“Blimey, Harry, is this why you wish you were gay for Nev or me?” Ronald Weasley asked, shaking his head as he brought in a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate. “Sounds bloody exhausting, mate.”
“What?” Sirius asked, but Severus just reached for the blanket, closing his eyes as he wrapped Harry up in it and put the warm mug in his hands. “Harry, kiddo, do we need to have another talk?”
“Having fated mates is the best thing ever,” Harry sighed into Severus’ shoulder. He took a long sip of hot chocolate. “It also sometimes makes me want to scream.”
Sirius nodded. “Fair enough, my prongslet. Just let me know if we need to chat, or have Narcissa sit with you extra, or be involved with several nice chats with a bunch of us.”
“Thanks. I’m good for now.” Harry sighed, sounding so very tired. “I don’t know why I was so upset. I don’t want to go to Hogwarts right now. I can’t even stay human very long. I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna fall asleep soon and wake up as a dragon.”
“And sentences like that are why I was concerned.” Severus said quietly, trying not to laugh. “Can you imagine? I’m looking out my office window as Headmaster as I’m doing paperwork and I would have to abandon it and the other students and go chasing off after the baby dragon blowing through the air, caught by a stiff breeze.”
Harry laughed into his shoulder and Severus could breathe easily again. “Can you imagine when my fire breath kicks in? What if I don’t know how to stop it? Baby dragon blown away like a flyaway kite, leaving a trail of fire?”
“The Daily Prophet Article ‘Former Death Eater Headmaster Creates Fiery Creature and Falls Under Its Enchantment: Abandons School to Chase After Tiny Fireball’.” Severus laughed softly.
“‘Severus Snape: Man Or Moth: You Decide,” Harry giggled.
Severus had to laugh and that caught the attention of the room and then Harry had to share, and the entire room was laughing. Which, honestly, Severus didn’t know that he would ever get used to. A room of people laughing. Not at him or anyone else, but out of shared humor and happiness.
Suddenly, he ached for Fleur.
“Such a welcome,” she whispered, gliding into the room and Severus blushed as he realized his feelings had bled through the mate bond. She kissed his neck and sat on the bench beside him. “Oh, no. Not the blanket and chocolate. What have we done, now?” She whispered and leaned in to kiss Harry’s cheek. Harry blushed a little.
“It was a misunderstanding. We’re laughing at the idea of Snape the Mothman. And I’m really, really sleepy and will probably be a baby dragon in a minute.”
“Harry, mate, you really are pants at explaining things.” Ron sighed. “Also, is homeschool open enrollment or is there a number limit or…”