Chapter 15
Severus didn’t bother knocking. He shoved open the door to Professor Lupin’s office with enough force to send it banging against the wall. The abrupt entrance startled Remus, who had been hunched over his desk, grading essays with a steaming cup of tea beside him.
He looked up, already sighing. “Severus, you do realize what time it is?”
Severus did not answer. Instead, he unceremoniously dropped the bag onto Lupin’s desk. The bag squawked.
Lupin blinked. “Did you bring me a… bird?”
Severus shot him a venomous look. “Look closer.”
Still frowning, Lupin did. The small, sleek black creature fluffed up at his scrutiny, giving him a deeply unimpressed look. And that was when it hit him. The frustration in those glowing green eyes was too familiar.
Lupin’s breath hitched. “Oh. Oh no.”
Harry chirped angrily.
Jayce, who had been sulking near the door, threw his hands up again. “THANK YOU! Finally, someone else sees it!”
Lupin, however, was no longer paying attention. He was laughing. Hard.
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose again. “Why, exactly, are you having a hysterical breakdown?”
Lupin tried to get himself under control, wiping at his eyes. “S-Sorry, it’s just… I’ve seen this before.”
Severus’s scowl deepened. “What.”
“Oh, Merlin, he really is James’s son.” Lupin was still chuckling, shaking his head in pure disbelief. “You know, the first time James and Sirius transformed, neither of them could turn back for a week. And guess who had to cover for them? Me. I had to tell the teachers James and Sirius had ‘come down with something’ while they panicked over how to un-bloody-hell turn back.”
Jayce groaned. “So you’re saying he’s stuck like this?”
Lupin, finally recovering, gave Harry a gentle pat on the head, ignoring the way the tiny bird attempted to peck his fingers in protest. “No, I’m saying it just takes time. His magic will figure it out, but he has to do it himself.”
Severus scowled. “Fantastic. So we just wait?”
Lupin shrugged. “Pretty much.” He glanced at Harry, smiling slightly. “Though it usually helps if he wants to change back.”
Jayce turned to Harry, looking utterly betrayed. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Harry gave a very deliberate chirp.
Jayce groaned again, collapsing into a chair while Viktor rubbed his temples. “This is why we don’t let you talk to Jinx after dark.”
Severus sighed. “Merlin, help us all.”
Just then, a sudden burst of black feathers erupted into the air. With a flap and a yelp that turned into a human yelp mid-air, Harry reappeared, and promptly collapsed onto Severus’s desk, sending parchment flying everywhere.
There was a long silence.
Harry groaned, his face smushed against the wood. “I’m gonna pretend none of this ever happened.”
Severus stared down at the mess that used to be his neat stack of essays.
Then, very quietly, he said, “Get. Out.”
Jayce bolted for the door like he feared for his life. Viktor picked up the dazed, human-shaped Harry by the back of his robes, slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Thank you, Severus.”
And then they were gone.
Severus took a deep breath, rushed to his office, and flicked his wand toward the door…
SLAM.
Then he sat back at his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose.
He needed several hours of sleep.
And possibly a stronger lock.
The fireplace roared to life, green flames crackling as Narcissa Malfoy gracefully stepped out of the Floo. Her pristine silver robes were untouched by the soot that clung to lesser beings, and not a single golden curl was out of place. She was, as always, immaculate.
Severus, on the other hand, was not. Exhaustion tightened his usually sharp features; dark, bloodshot shadows ringed his eyes. He looked like a man who had spent the entire night either brewing potions, wrestling a small, unruly creature, or contemplating his own mortality. Most likely, it was all three.
“You look dreadful,” Narcissa observed, tilting her head in mock sympathy. “Did you finally try sleeping upside down?”
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. “Cissa,” he muttered in greeting. “To what do I owe the displeasure?”
Narcissa took her time settling into the chair opposite him, adjusting the folds of her robes before leveling him with a sharp gaze. “Lucius has been insufferable since last night. Something about a black phoenix in the dungeons. I assume that’s your fault?”
Severus sighed, leaning back in his chair. “That is an exceedingly strong accusation coming from a woman who once hexed a governess because she found her voice ‘annoying.’”
Narcissa dismissed this with a flick of her fingers. “She was annoying. She hummed off-key.”
Severus merely groaned. “Lucius,” he drawled, “is an imbecile. However, in a rare turn of events, he is not entirely wrong.”
Narcissa arched a brow. “You do have a bird in your office?”
“I had a black phoenix,” he admitted. “Unfortunately, it is not actually a bird.”
Narcissa frowned in confusion. “What on earth are you talking about?”
Severus leaned back in his chair, watching her carefully. “You know… you do remind me of one of my students.”
That seemed to startle her even more than the phoenix comment. “Excuse me?”
Severus studied her for a long moment before exhaling in defeat. “Would you like to meet her?”
Narcissa tilted her head, intrigued. “If she reminds you of me? Then, yes. Very much so.”
Severus waved a hand toward the floo. “Then brace yourself.”
For the first time since she had arrived, Narcissa’s mask of perfect composure cracked just a little. She narrowed her eyes. “Severus.”
But Severus, for once, was smiling. Smirking, actually.
Because this was about to be her problem too.