Chapter 8
Just as the dessert appeared during dinner, Snape walked over to where Harry was sitting with Neville, Theo and Luna. Luna didn't have a reason as to why she was sitting with them, she just plopped down just before the food appeared and hadn't left. Harry hadn't even thought about sending her away, he's always liked Luna and the way she could ground him by just standing near. Neville and Theo didn't mind either, so there's that.
"Potter, come with me." Snape ordered and gave Harry's friend a side-eye before adding, "You can bring your friends too, if you want. The wolf and the mutt are waiting for you."
Harry's eyes lit up and he immediately stood up, the rest following suit. "They're here?" He asked excitedly. Harry hadn't seen them for weeks, so of course he was thrilled! The last time he had 'talked' to them was when Sirius had sent them a letter at the beginning of the school year, which contained information about his upcoming trial.
After the Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones, heard from her niece that Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without a trial, she took immediate action, and Sirius' trial was set to be held on the 23rd of November, the day previous to the first task. If Sirius was lucky, he would be able to attend.
While they descended down the stairs and headed towards Snape's office, Harry was visibly shaking from hapiness. His happiness had an effect on everyone. Neville had a huge grin plastered on his face, Theo was chuckling quietly, Luna was matching Harry's energy and skipping beside him, and Snape wasn't even wearing his usual sneer, instead showing a hint of a smile.
As soon as they arrived, Harry slammed the door open and pounced on the two men, who had been conversing quietly before the interruption. "Padfoot! Moony!" Harry shouted in greeting as he squeezed the live out of them.
Sirius laughed in glee. "Hey, pup. Happy to see us, huh?" He asked jokingly.
Remus smiled warmly. "It's good to see you, cub." He told Harry and ruffled his hair.
"I'm so glad you're here!" Harry said as he let go. He then pointed to his friends. "These are my friends Theo Nott, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Guys, these are my godfathers Remus Lupin, as you all know, and Sirius Black. Don't worry, Sirius, Theo and Neville are both aware that you're innocent, and Luna somehow knows too." He hurriedly added the last part at the concerned look on Sirius' face, and the man in question sighed in relief.
"It's good to finally meet you, Lord Black. Harry has told me a lot about you." Theo told Sirius politely, then turned to Remus. "It's nice to see you again, Professor."
Neville quickly introcuded himself, followed by Luna.
Remus chuckled. "Enough with the formalities! You can call me Remus. I'm not your teacher anymore, so there's no reason to treat me as such." He pointed to Sirius. "You can call him Sirius, or Padfoot, whatever you want."
"Padfoot? Isn't that one of the people the Twins are constantly talking about?" Neville questioned, and Harry laughed.
"Yes, these two, along with my father and that traitor Pettigrew, are the ones they have admired since their first year. It's quite funny to see them praising everything the Marauders do, especially when you realize one was their teacher for a full year." Harry said, and Sirius snorted.
"You'll love them, Siri. Their pranks match the ones we pulled back then. They even invent their own products!" Remus praised, and Sirius' eyes lit up with joy.
Snape groaned from where he was standing behind Remus. "Merlin, help us all." He muttered as he held his head in his hands.
"Don't worry, Severus. I'll try to keep him in line as much as I can." Remus reassured as he squeezed Severus' shoulder. Severus lifted his head and looked Remus in the eye for a moment, before turning away and staring at the wall, a barely noticeable pink covering his cheeks.
Sirius looked at Harry and rolled his eyes playfully. He pointed at the duo standing beside him and then shaped his fingers like a heart, which made Harry snort loudly.
Remus raised a brow at Harry, and the latter smiled innocently, his eyes flickering between the werewolf and the Potions teacher. Theo and Neville hid their laughs behind their hands at the interaction, and Luna had a knowing look in her eyes.
"So, Harry. How's preparing for the tasks going?" Sirius then asked.
"You know what the first task is going to be, right? I figured Snape told you already." When Harry got nods in confirmation, he continued. "Well, Theo and I went over some books after we found out what dragons I might face, and recently I found a book on elemental magic, which I thought might be useful. In this book there were specific spells in fire magic that you could also use for dragons, and we went over all of them, before finding two that I might be able to use: Mirage Inferno or the Veil of Embers. The Mirago Inferno has our preference, but it's always nice to have another option. The Mirage Inferno creates fire figures, which I can use to distract the dragon to get the egg safely. The Veil of Embers creates a cloak of fire around me, which will let the dragon see me as a friend, not a foe. The latter is the riskiest one, hence the reason why it's the second choice."
Sirius rubbed his chin in contemplation. "I agree that the second might be too risky, though I do think that you should have more than two options. You should maybe think of something to calm the dragon, especially if you get the Hungarian Horntail." He told Harry, who nodded in agreement. Sirius then got an idea. "Harry? You can speak to snakes, right?"
Harry furrowed his brows in confusion as he nodded.
Theo, however, immediately understood why Sirius was asking that. "Dragons are very similar to snakes, seeing as they are both reptiles and evolved very closely to one another. There's no reasearch indicating that it's actually possible to talk to dragons as a parselmouth, but there's a chance." He explained, and most people in the room 'Oh'ed' in understanding.
"That might work! Maybe I could try that first, and then a spell. No need to use such a power-draining spell if there's an easier solution." Harry said and grinned.
"Less chance of you being burnt to a crisp, you mean." Theo added playfully, and Harry flipped him the bird while sticking his tongue out. Theo gasped in mock-offense and held a hand to his heart as if actually offended. They then started another staring contest.
Neville snorted loudly at the confused looks on the godfathers' faces. "They do this all the time, one time I even had to get McGonagall once to pull them apart. They'd been staring for at least 10 minutes by then, only blinking once a minute. It's absolutely terrifying." He explained.
Sirius barked out a laugh, and pinched Harry's side to stop the psuedo match. Harry yelped and slapped Sirius' hands away, making Theo raise a fist in the air in victory.
"Oh, no, no, no, Theo. This is not a win!" Harry protested, pouting slightly. So far, it was 7-5 to Harry, and he didn't want to lose. It had started as a joke. Harry had tried to trip Theo as they entered their dorm, and Theo had stared at him in shock. Harry had stared back, and they didn't stop, turning it into a contest without realizing. Now, when one insulted or tried to psychically harm (not aggressively, just tripping, or pinching, etc.) the other, they forced each other to stare until one of them looked away or backed down. So far, their record was 24 minutes and 17 seconds, timed by Daphne when they had done it in the common room.
"Oh, yes, it definitely is!" Theo denied with a smirk. Harry just groaned and threw his arms in the air in defeat. "Siri! You made me lose! Now Theo is only one point behind me!"
"Sorry, not sorry, Pup." Sirius said. "Now, what's this I hear about Ron being a total dick?"
---
As the three boys, as Luna had left to find the shoes she once again couldn't find, walked towards the Slytherin common room after having left Snape's quarters, they completely forgot about the Gryffindor amongst them. Well, the Gryffindor who was not living there, that is.
Theo said the password absent-mindedly and they entered, still engrossed in a conversation. As soon as they stepped into the sight of the other Slytherins already there, their conversation was interrupted.
"Potter, Nott! What is Longbottom doing here? One Gryffindor is already too much!" Blaise Zabini shouted from where he sat next to Daphne. At this comment, everyone swivelled their heads to look at the trio.
Harry looked from Blaise to Neville, from Neville to Blaise and from Blaise to Theo. "Did we just-"
"Enter the Slytherin common room with Neville without noticing? Then yes." Theo confirmed as he laughed quietly.
"I can go?" Neville asked uncertainly as he wringed his hands together, suddenly very insecure from the stares he got.
Theo waved him off before looking at Blaise. "He's staying. He's already in here, and we need help with our Herbology homework." Theo stated and crossed his arms as he leveled Blaise with a glare, daring him to refuse.
Blaise opened and closed his mouth like a fish, trying to find an answer, but Daphne stepped in. "He can stay, Theo. I, personally, don't mind if Longbottom is here. He's one of the nicest Gryffindors. You should be happy it wasn't Weasley or Finnegan." She told the boy beside her. Blaise hesitantly nodded, figuring Neville wasn't the worst Gryffindor who could've entered, then went back to finish his Transfiguration homework.
Daphne rolled her eyes and stood up, waltzing towards Neville. "It's very nice to have you here, Longbottom. I'm sure you won't mind if I ask some questions about Herbology after you're done helping them, do you? I'm stuck on the Mandrake part of the essay." She told him politely.
Neville flushed red and stammered as he answered, "Y-Yeah, I don't mind."
Daphne smiled sincerely. "Great! Come find me when you're done." With that, she sat down on the same spot she was before, continuing to re-write her Potions notes.
Harry grinned at the still flushed face of Neville. "Interesting." He muttered, and Neville looked away immediately, avaoiding Harry's gaze. Theo just patted Neville on the back in support.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Harry asked as he clapped his hands together, dragging them to an empty table.
From then on, Neville could be seen in the Slytherin common room at least once per day. Surprisingly, he'd even been trusted with the password. Now, whenever someone in Gryffindor was being rude to Neville, he came here, and only returned once he needed to go to bed.