Chapter 7
They had almost finished setting up the chairs when the first order members started to arrive. Harry and Sirius dashed to hug Remus while Severus stood, maintaining some distance. The two men had grown to respect each other but still maintained their distance. Severus knew that would change as soon as Remus found out about his relationship with Sirius and they would likely even become friends.
"Lupin, have you told Potter the good news?" Severus asked when they got settled in.
"No, but how do you know about that?" Remus questioned for a while the other two men looked at them in confusion.
"As you know, dark arts was one of my specialties, and I spearheaded the campaign to bypass the curse," Severus explained.
"I don't understand," Sirius said. "What's going on with dark arts? What's the good news?"
"Well, Black, you may have heard that the DADA position is considered to be cursed. To bypass that, we split the course into two courses and divided the rest amongst the other curricula." Severus said, slipping back into his old persona.
"Having to take two classes instead of one is good news?" Harry asked.
Before Severus could snark back, Remus interrupted. "No, but having me as a professor might be."
"What?" Harry asked with excitement and disbelief.
"One of the two classes will be dark creatures. Albus, Minerva, and I convinced the board that having a dark creature teach the subject may have the best outcome." Severus said, a hint of pride shining through his voice. Remus began to tear up at the support he had received unbeknownst to him.
"Congratulations!" Harry exclaimed.
"I'm so happy for you, Mooney!" Sirius said at the same time.
"I- Thank you, Severus," Remus replied, gratefully.
"Do not thank me, Lupin. I assure you this was in no way meant to be a favor for you. If there's one thing all of the students can agree on, regardless of what house they belong to, is that you were the best defense teacher they've had. This is a subject they need to excel in right now." Severus explained. Somehow, that warmed Remus' heart even more. No one had done this out of pity, they had genuinely believed in him enough to stand up against the board for him.
"Well, to be fair," Harry started, "Our previous defense professors were a guy wearing Voldemort (or Voldemort wearing a guy, I still can't tell), an incompetent, stuck-up snob, a Death Eater posing as Mad-Eye and the devil who wore Prada." Harry joked.
“I certainly hope you do not speak about all of your professors this way, Potter.” Severus drawled at the lack of respect Harry showed.
Harry gave Severus a cheeky smile. “If you are asking about yourself, I haven’t spoken about you that way until I-” Harry paused, eyes darting at Remus. He redirected his statement to not cause trouble for the new couple. “Until I started learning occlumency from you.”
“That was three days ago.” Severus replied.
Sirius decided to switch the subject, knowing they were headed into a war zone. "Okay but, what the fuck is your process to hire a defense teacher?" Sirius asked.
"That's a question for Dumbledore," answered Severus.
"Ahem!" came the headmaster's voice. The four turned around, not realizing the room had quickly filled up. "We are joined by a special guest today who can provide more insight regarding what happened at the ministry last week. Come on up, Harry." Dumbledore called out to him.
Harry awkwardly made his way to the front of the room. He cleared his throat as his gaze swept through the crowd, taking in all the eyes on him. His eyes finally landed on Sirius, who gave him an encouraging smile.
"Right, well, I had this nightmare that Voldemort was keeping Sirius hostage in the ministry. I tried to tell Professor Snape but he couldn't tell me that he would check because we were with our defense professor who works for the ministry. When I got there, I realized it was a trap, and the Death Eaters wanted us to find a prophecy. I refused, and the fight broke out. It seemed like they were out for blood. They were using lethal spells." Harry awkwardly completed as the silence from the rest of the room continued.
"Very well, thank you, Harry. You may return back to Hogwarts." said Dumbledore.
Before Harry could ask to stay, Severus intervened. "If I may, Albus. I have been teaching Mr. Potter Occlumency. The contents of these meetings will be safe, and it might do the Chosen One some good to see that we don't just sit around and gossip. That way, he and his friends won’t feel that the burden of defeating Voldemort does not rely on a bunch of dimwitted teenagers." Just a few days ago, Harry would have been highly offended by Severus' statement. Now, however, he knows his professor is trying to stick up for him but cannot afford to blow his cover.
"Why has Harry been learning Occlumency?" Dumbledore asked.
"We decided to take that step after Potter had the nightmare, just in case the Dark Lord is able to manipulate Harry's mind." Severus said. The two engaged in strong eye contact. It was then that Harry realized Dumbledore was likely using Legilimency to confirm whether its address was telling the truth or not. Harry made a mental note to be careful with Dumbledore in order to keep Sirius and Severus' relationship a secret.
Finally, Dumbledore seemed satisfied with what he found. "Very well, Severus. I trust your judgment.” The headmaster turned to Harry. “You can remain in the meeting, however no one else is to find out what was discussed in this room. It is to ensure everyone's safety."
"Thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore. I won't say a word about this to anyone." Harry assured.
"Alright. And since the weekend is coming up, you can stay over here if you'd like as well." Sirius beamed at Dumbledore's statement. Harry rushed to join his Godfather, making a mental note to thank his potions professor later.
As Harry took his seat, he began to realize what serious had been trying to explain to him in the past week. 'We, Gryffindors, wear our hearts on our sleeves while the Slytherins keep it hidden away.' Sirius had said. Throughout the day, Harry realized just how true that statement was. Even now, Sirius' joy and gratefulness was evident on his face, while Severus had remained neutral and kept the persona of not giving a crap about anybody in the room. Despite that, Severus had made it so that Harry could stay and spend the weekend with his Godfather.
The rest of the debrief went without a hitch. They moved on to the next part of the meeting, which was assigning tasks. Sirius was asked to reach out to Regulus about the locket they had found in his belongings. Remus was asked to work on recruiting as many dark creatures to their side as he could. Dumbledore split the rest of the members into teams to research how to find and destroy Horcruxes. Finally, his eyes landed on Severus. "You may have the most dangerous job, Severus."
The younger man nodded, awaiting instructions. "You will need to infiltrate Voldemort's inner circle one more time. Gain his trust and learn about his plans." the room became eerily silent at Dumbledore's request. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Harry turned to see Sirius with a horrified expression on his face. He looked desperate to interject, to refuse to allow his boyfriend near that vile creature. The glare Severus was giving him held him back. Harry finally understood why Sirius and Severus’ relationship had to be a secret. Severus would have to be a spy again, having any attachments to the Order would make his cover less believable. If Severus was ever discovered… Well, Sirius would be the first person the Death Eaters would come after.
"I'll reach out to my Death Eater contacts and see if I can set up a meeting with Voldemort. However, he will want proof of my loyalty by telling him the secrets of the order." Severus accepted.
"Very well." Dumbledore said. "We will meet before these meetings to discuss which 'secrets' are appropriate to give away."
Sirius finally reached a breaking point. This mission was pretty much the same as placing Severus on a silver platter in front of death. The sleepless nights Srius had spent the last time Severus was away came back to haunt him. "You can’t send him in!” the man exclaimed before he could stop himself. Severus turned to Sirius, maintaining a neutral expression. Harry was sure Sirius would spill the beans.
Before anyone could say anything, Severus piped up in his dry but pointed voice. “While you have never trusted my capabilities, Black, I assure you, I can handle the task. I have done it once before and it was crucial for his defeat last time.” Severus sent Sirius a clear message hidden in his response. ‘Have faith in me. I’ll come back to you.’
Sirius remained silent after Severus’ response and Dumbledore moved on to the next assignment. As the meeting was coming to a close, Harry looked around to find Severus missing. He gently nudged Sirius, who turned over to face the younger man.
“Where’s Professor Snape?” Harry asked.
“Hmm?” Sirius asked, his mind being somewhere far away. Harry repeated the question and Sirius seemed to come back to himself.
“Don’t worry about it. He’ll be back soon enough.” he answered cryptically. Harry shrugged and went back to zoning out for the remainder of the meeting. Soon, the order members trickled out one by one, Remus being the last one to leave. It was just Harry and Sirius alone in the room.
“Everyone’s gone!” Sirius called out into the staircase. Severus emerged cautiously, making sure no one else was lurking.
“I will be leaving now. I just wanted to make sure I got a chance to say goodbye.” Severus said.
“No, stay.” Sirius replied. It didn’t take long for Harry to understand that this had become a routine for them. Severus snuck out before the meeting was over so he could stay behind without having to justify it to anyone.
“I don’t want to…”
“You’re not imposing!” Sirius said, slightly irritated. Sirius took a deep breath. “I want you to stay.” His tone was softer, a little desperate.
“Alright,” agreed Severus, stepping a little closer.
“Harry, why don’t you unpack in your room for a few minutes? I need to talk to Severus.” Sirius said. Harry walked off to his room, leaving the two men behind. The air drained of the lingering lightheartedness as the tension between the couple rose.