Chapter 3
Just as Minerva arrived at the entrance to the Slytherin common room, the massive door opened. Snape stood in the doorway and ushered her inside before leading her upstairs, where Harry was apparently inspecting the details on the wall. When they had fully entered the room, they could hear hissing. Minerva choked when she realized that the hissing came from Harry.
"Harry?" Minerva tried to catch the attention of the hissing teen, in which she succeeded. Harry looked sheepish and rubbed his neck. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were already here." He apologized, but Minerva immediately said it was fine.
"Potter, where you just... talking to the walls?" Snape asked and Harry grinned at him. "Yes, the snakes are very talkative, especially now that there's someone that's not another snake to talk to." At Snape's confused look he added, "I'm a parseltongue, in case you forgot. Remember the duel in second year with Malfoy, the one were he literally threw a snake at me?" Minerva laughed quietly at the wide grin on Harry's face.
"It seems I did forget. The whole Heir of Slytherin debacle hadn't interested me much, except for the pretrifications. Why they thought it was you when you're not even a Slytherin was beyond me." Snape admitted, but Minerva and Harry shared a look that didn't go unseen. Snape squinted his eyes at them, trying to figure out what exactly he was missing.
Minerva eventually took pity on him. "Harry here was supposed to be a Slytherin, but he convinced the hat not to, for he didn't want to be in the same house as Malfoy. He told the hat that 'Malfoy reminded him too much of his cousin, so he'd rather be in another house where he would see him the least'. The last part was obviously ignored, because we all know Slytherins and Gryffindors are almost always paired up in classes, but at least he wasn't in Slytherin."
Snape actually lost his façade and was staring at the two with wide eyes. "You, Harry Potter, were supposed to be in my house?" Harry nodded with a tiny laugh. "But you didn't want to, because Malfoy reminded you of your muggle cousin?" Once again, Harry nodded. At this, Snape put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. Minerva and Harry laughed at him, which made him sigh even harder.
"I'm going to have to talk to Malfoy about this."
Harry then got a look in his eyes that reminded Minerva a bit too much of his father. She sighed at what was about to come. "Can I be the one to tell him? I want to see the look on his face from up close. Obviously, I'll do it when you're there too, but hearing it from me with you confirming it will be absolutely priceless." Harry basically pleaded, his hands together as he grinned maniacally at Snape, who merely rolled his eyes at the teen before nodding. Harry clapped his hands together in joy.
Harry then walked over to Minerva to relieve her of his trunk and Hedwig flew over, landing on his head instead of his shoulders. Why she always did that was something Harry would probably never find out. He tapped his trunk five times instead of three, and it grew to it's normal size. He then put it in front of his bed before turning back to his teachers.
Before he could say anything, he could hear chatter coming from the common room. It seemed that some of the Slytherins were starting to arrive. Because of this, Minerva sadly had to say goodbye as she realized now would be a good time to have a talk with Dumbledore. She went over and pulled Harry into a short hug. "Have a good night, Harry. If there's anything, go to either Professor Snape or me." She told him and he nodded in understanding. She then let go of him. "Also, please talk to Neville tomorrow. He was very worried about you. He was the one who packed your trunk while I talked with your other dormmates."
Harry smiled at her. "I will definitely do that, Professor McGonagall."
Minerva scoffed at the formal adress. "Please, Harry, call me Minerva, or as you father used to call me, Minnie. Just don't do it in class, alright?" She told Harry, who pulled her into another hug. "I will do that... Minnie." He told her, and she smiled broadly at him for one last time before turning to leave the room.
Once the door closed behind Minerva, Harry turned to Snape, who was staring out of one of the many windows in the dorm. When Snape realized Minerva was gone, he turned to look at Harry as well. "Well, Mr. Potter, since some of the students are starting to arrive, I think it would be smart for me to go down there and wait for everyone to arrive so I can inform them of these new circumstances. During that time, you should unpack your trunk and talk with the snakes some more. You never know what kind of... blackmail they might have." Snape said, and with that he also left the room.
Harry stood gaping at the closed door. He couldn't believe that Snape just said that. Nevertheless, it was a very good tip. That's exactly why Harry unpacked his trunk as fast as he could, before once again turning to the walls, excitedly chatting with the snakes, having forgotten his death sentence entirely.
----
Just as Snape went down the last step, the Head Boy and Head Girl approached him.
"Why was Professor McGonagall in the boys dorm, Professor?" Gemma Farley asked him in confusion, Terence Higgs standing behind her in equal confusion.
Snape waved her off. "Don't worry, Ms. Farley. I will explain it as soon as all the Slytherins are here. Would you mind telling everyone to stay here in case they try to go to their dorms or the library?" He asked the two, who nodded in confirmation before leaving to do exactly what was asked of them. Snape then quickly left the room and went to his own office down the hall.
It was a split-second decision to floo-call him, but given the circumstances, Severus found it would be a good idea. As he entered his private quarters, he immediately grabbed the Floo-powder from the shelf and went over to his fireplace.
"Rose Hedge!" He shouted, before sticking his head into the green fire. He could see the whole living room from where he was, but couldn't see the person he was looking for.
Severus was about to pull his head back out, but then the man entered. Shaggy blonde hair, scarred face, warm vest with holes here and there and the khaki pants who the man seemed to have at least 20 pairs of.
"Severus? What is the matter? I told you that you could only use the floo in case of an emergency." Remus Lupin asked as he sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace.
Severus clicked his tongue. "It seems that someone had the great idea to put Potter into danger once again." He told Remus, who immediately went still at the news.
The werewolf closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He then looked at Severus again. "He got entered into the Triwizard Tournament, didn't he?"
Severus nodded. "Yes, but instead of his friends asking him if he was okay, they turned a cold shoulder at him, accusing him of being a cheat and a liar."
"They did- Why would they do that? They of all people should know that Harry wouldn't do that to himself." Remus told Severus in disbelief. "How could they possibly think-"
"People have called Potter attention-seeking since his second year, so most people thought this was enough to publicly declare him so. " Severus interrupted and he could see Remus' eyes starting to turn slightly amber. "However, you shouldn't have to worry. Minerva and I managed to get him away from the angry Headmasters and have arranged a different place for him to sleep until this blows over." This calmed Remus significantly, which relieved Severus. An angry Remus was not something he wanted to see after such a long day.
"Where is he sleeping now?" Remus asked, still a bit fidgety from trying to contain his anger.
"He will be sleeping in the Slytherin dorms along with one of my snakes, Theodore Nott. Fret not, he is one of the snakes who doesn't try to hex Potter every time he turns his back. Let's say he's more of a sympathizer than a hater." Snape told him and Remus nodded in approval.
He then realized something. "Wait. Isn't his father-" Snape internally groaned, "Yes. His father is a Death Eater," He interrupted, "But you are not to judge him for whom his father is. The boy has explicitly told me that he will not follow into his fathers footsteps and wholehearted disagrees with everything his father stood for. It would be a shame to dismiss him because of that."
Remus nodded. "I apologize, I shouldn't have made any assumptions."
Severus sighed. "It's alright, Remus. Anyone would have asked that question." He told the man earnestly. "Now. I think it would be a good idea if you were to visit somewhere within the next few days. It would do Potter some good to see you and I hate to say this, but bring Black along with you." Snape said. He could see the smirk forming on Remus' face and scoffed. "It's nothing special, Remus. I'm just thinking about what's best for Potter, not me."
Remus was now actually grinning at him. "Admit it, you care about Harry." He teased and Severus sneered, but Remus has been able to look past that since they became friends in their fifth year. Even with his face not fully showing due to the fact he was not physically present, Remus could read him.
"Damn wolf." Severus muttered in slight annoyance.
"Don't be fussy, Severus." Remus told him with a laugh. "And don't you worry about me visiting. I'll ask Sirius when he has a day off from the Mind Healer and get back to you as soon as I can. Make sure to tell Harry so he won't be too shocked. I don't think he can handle surprises right now."
Severus told him he'd do exactly that. "I don't want a hysterical Potter in my private quarters, so I'll make sure he knows beforehand." He reassured. "I need to go back to my snakes now so I can inform them of our new addition. See you soon, Remus." Then he vanished from the flames, managing to hear the farewell followed by laughter just before the connection was cut off.
Once Severus was back in his office, he went to the Slytherin common room once again. When he entered, the chatter died down and everyone turned to look at their Head of House at the same time, which was, in Severus' opinion, less terrifying than it should be. He for sure taught them to be more intimidating than that.
He did a quick headcount, and when he noticed that everyone was present, he started speaking. "I think you all are wondering why you were held back from going back to your dorms?" Everyone nodded, as expected. "Well, after the events of this evening we came to a strange revelation. Not only did Potter not put his name in himself, he also didn't ask someone to do it for him. This means that he was unwillingly entered. It's quite possible that someone did this to hurt him, maybe even kill. When his name was called, Potter found himself in a difficult position. He found that most of his friends had apparently turned on him, actually believing that he had somehow managed to enter himself. Some, like Longbottom, were quick to claim that Potter couldn't have done this himself, but as I'm sure you all know, Longbottom doesn't have a lot of influence on other people, so his claim fell on deaf ears." There were some murmurs going around the room now, but they were wuickly shut up by the look Snape sent them.
He then continued, "After Potter had gone through the door, Professor McGonagall and I immediately knew something wasn't right and were quick to follow. When we walked in, it was absolute chaos. Dumbledore almost had Potter in a chokehold with how hard he was gripping at his clothes and clearly didn't seem to believe that Potter hadn't put his name in himself, which was weird, because wasn't Dumbledore the one who's always trying to right his mistakes?" He wondered, and everyone in the room seemed to share his confusion.
"Then, when Professor McGonagall finally managed to drag Potter away and to her office, we found out that he felt so betrayed by some of his friends that he didn't even feel comfortable sleeping in their vicinity. He didn't have to say so, but he actually looked scared-" "That's not okay! How can someone do that?" one of the older slytherins interrupted.
"Indeed, Ms. Greengrass, how could someone do that?" Snape repeated, which only made the girl's frown deepen.
"Now, because of these circumstances we decided that Potter would not be staying in the Tower. Instead, he'll be staying here with us in the dungeons." As soon as he was done speaking, there was an uproar. Everyone was asking him why he'd allow that, why it would be a bad idea and telling him Harry didn't belong here. He did note that one certain boy remained seated and silent.
Snape sighed, not even trying to control the chaos that was unfolding before his eyes.
Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a figure descending the stairs and turned his head to fully look over. Harry stood there, still in the same clothes he was in before, minus the sweater. He looked at Snape with empty eyes, as if he'd expected this reaction. Something unfamiliar stirred inside Snape. He felt an urge to protect him, defend him. 'It was probably a result of the oath', he thought.
Snape then snapped his fingers, and the room fell silent. "I will not accept this behaviour from you, as I was the one to offer Potter the chance to stay here for as long as he needed. Also, Potter knows very well that he might not be welcome here, but he definitely is more welcome here than he is in Gryffindor Tower right now. You will treat him as one of your own while he's here, do you understand?" He sneered and everyone quickly murmured in acknowledgement.
Snape nodded in approval before taking a quick glance at Harry, who remained exactly where he was just a few minutes ago. However, instead of an empty look, there was now a faint smile playing on the teens lips. Harry nodded at him before vanishing up the stairs.
"As for whom Potter will be sleeping with, he'll find out soon enough. Dismissed." Snape said, and everyone immediately stood up to leave.
It seemed that Snape didn't even need to look for Theo, because the boy was already walking over. Nothing ever seemed to get past that boy.
"I assume Potter will be sleeping in my dorm, Professor?" Theo inquired, to which Snape nodded, "Yes, Mr. Nott. We found you to be the best option, not only do you have a dorm to yourself, but you appear to be the only Slytherin from his year not opposed to the idea of him staying here." Snape explained.
"I already thought that would be the reason why. I've always wondered why they treat Potter in such a way, when he actually didn't do much wrong. The things they hate him for are the things they admire about themselves." Theo explained.
"Indeed, Mr.Nott. They are just too naive to see that, apparently." Snape agreed. "Why don't you go upstairs so you can discuss your rules with him? If there's anything you need to to discuss, you know where to find me." With that, Snape left.
Theo didn't even waste a second before going upstairs, very curious to see what was waiting for him.