Shattering Timelines

An unlikely duo comprised of a Slytherin and Gryffindor walked through the halls of Hogwarts at a leisurely pace. If anyone would have seen them together, they would have been shocked, but since the halls were surprisingly empty for a Saturday morning, the two were allowed to happily chat as they made their way to the Great Hall. When they finally reached the large wooden doors, Harry paused and turned to Regulus.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked, “I doubt there’s very many people in there, but still,” A smile pulled at his lips. “This is Hogwarts so even if we try to keep whatever this is a secret, the whole school will know.”

Regulus arched an eyebrow at him and drawled, “Your point being?”

“What I’m trying to say is I get it if you don’t want to sit with me or even be seen with me. I know Slytherins are usually very careful about the image they portray and a Gryffindor doesn’t exactly fit with that imagine,” Harry said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck harshly, “If you want, you can go first, and I can wait a few minutes before I go in.”

Regulus crossed his arms, looking completely unimpressed. “Now, why would I want to do that?” he said rather harshly, before sighing, “Hadrian, you seem to forget the fact that I chose this. I wouldn’t have told you to call me by my first name if I hadn’t. Whatever comes next, we’ll deal with it together.” A small smirk appeared on his face. “Did you honestly think I’d feed you to the Lions? We Snakes may be vicious but we’re not cruel.”

Harry chuckled. “No, I suppose you’re not.” He glanced at the doors. “So, we’re really doing this?”

“Yep!” Regulus said cheerfully, as he began to push open one of the doors. Harry glanced at him in concern. Never in his life would he have thought that the mysterious R.A.B. would be cheerful. Dramatic yes. Cheerful? Not in a million years. Regulus continued speaking, unaware of the thoughts coursing through Harry’s head. “Plus, we’re here early, so we don’t have to deal with---” He cut himself off abruptly before growling, “Oh, I hate you.”

“Wait, what? Why?”

Regulus turned around stiffly. “I thought you said it was early.”

“What are you talking about? Of course we’re early. Last time I checked it was around six o’clock.”

“Well, then explain this,” The Slytherin grumbled as he stepped out of the way and allowed Harry the ability to see into the hall for the first time. Harry’s eyes widened as he peered around the boy. Now he understood why Regulus was frustrated. The hall was packed full of students and teachers alike who were staring at the duo curiously.

“Maybe our conversation went a bit long?”  Harry winced at how his voice sounded an octave higher. He paled suddenly when a thought occurred to him. “Uhm… now might not be a good time but where are we going to sit?”

Regulus leveled a glare at him. “I changed my mind. Can I feed you to the Lions?”

“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Harry said dryly, “Now, where are we gonna sit? If it was empty we could sit wherever we wanted but now…” His eyes drifted to the Gryffindor table, specifically the Marauders, who seemed to be in the middle of a fight. “We definitely can’t sit at the Gryffindor table.”

Regulus snorted. “Like I would ever sit there.” He nervously scanned the hall before sighing. “Just follow my lead, ok?”

Before Harry could respond, the Slytherin started sauntering through the crowd of curious students, not bothering to check if his new friend was following him.  Harry could only watch as he walked to the one table he did not want to sit at. He hesitated only for a moment before following the younger boy. Regulus was the only friend he had right now, and he wasn’t willing to lose that simply because Harry didn’t want to sit with the Slytherins. Besides, he already decided he was going to trust Regulus. He even told the younger boy the story behind one of his scars! He should trust him enough to let him pick what table they were going to sit at for breakfast.

With each step, Harry could feel the stares of curious classmates digging into his back. He could hear the whispers and sometimes even blatantly said comments about the unlikely duo as he passed. Harry ignored them as best as he could. It was fine; he could handle this. He had handled much worse over the past few years. He could handle this.

He surveyed the Slytherin table carefully. They seemed entirely unaffected by the scene Harry was sure they were making. Although some of the younger years were looking at Regulus curiously, the fourth through seventh years were politely conversing with each other as if nothing was out of the ordinary. The only thing that betrayed their interest in the two was the way their eyes seemed to follow the pair.

Regulus stopped suddenly, almost causing Harry to run into him which abruptly drug the Gryffindor from his assessments.

“Hello, Severus,” Regulus said lightly, “Do you mind if we sit here?”

The seventh year looked at them appraisingly from under a curtain of hair. “You’re always welcome to sit with me, Regulus,” Snape carefully said, “But what of your Gryffindor?”

Harry stiffened and opened his mouth to snap that nobody owned him, but Regulus stamped on his foot and replied, “I was hoping he could sit here as well.”

Snape sneered. “I thought you knew better than to associate with those simple-minded hypocrites?”

“I do,” Regulus snapped, “But Hadrian is not one of them.”

“He’s a Gryffindor. How can he not be?”

“He’s more of a Slytherin than most of the people in this house,” Regulus argued adamantly before his eyes narrowed, “Might I add that you had your own Gryffindor at one time. I accepted her when no one else in this house would, even though I didn’t exactly agree with your….friendship. Why don’t you return the favor, Severus?”

Snape’s eyes narrowed before he spat out, “Sit down, Black.”

“Only if Hadrian can as well.”

“You’re making a scene, Black.”

“I don’t care. I’ll be able to handle the scandal,” his tone suddenly turned dark, “Will you?”

Snape snarled, “Fine!” Several Slytherins looked down the table at the loud exclamation. Snape immediately cleared his face of any emotion and said quietly, “You and your pet

Gryffindor can sit down.”

Regulus immediately smiled brightly and sat down, dragging Harry with him. “Thanks, Severus! You won’t regret this!”

“I already do,” he grumbled before snapping, “Try to compose yourself, Black. You’re acting like a Hufflepuff.” Snape sneered at Harry. “I see the Gryffindor has already contaminated you.”

The smile was gone as soon as it appeared and replaced with a cold scowl. “If I’m contaminated what does that make you? After all you were in--” Snape sent the younger Slytherin a dark look that Harry immediately recognized. That look always promised pain and humiliation when it was leveled at him during his previous six years at Hogwarts. “Fatuated with a Gryffindor. Merlin, Severus, lighten up.”

Snape smiled a cruel smile. “With each passing day you act more and more like your brother.” The smile dropped off his face. “That’ll get you in trouble one day.”
Regulus snarled. “And one of these days, you’ll learn to hold your tongue--”

“Ok!” Harry cut in before Regulus said something that Harry would object to. “Do you guys always talk to each other this way?”

“Stay out of this, Emrys!” Snape snapped, “This conversation doesn’t include you!”

Regulus’ eyes burned with a fire, and he said passionately, “He’s my friend, and I say he’s a part of this conversation! You have no right to speak like that to him!”

“I’ll speak to him however I like, Black!”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Harry growled, “You’re acting like a pair of Gryffindors!”

The two Slytherins’ jaws snapped shut immediately and they turned to stare at Harry. “Yeah, that’s right. I said it! You’re acting just like those Marauders over there; the only difference is that you’re not throwing punches!”

“He’s right, cousin. Imagine what your mother would say if she saw you yelling and snarling like an animal,” A simpering voice said from behind the trio.

Harry froze and slowly closed his eyes. This could not be happening. Not after everything from this morning. It just wasn’t fair! First, he was forced to deal with her in his thoughts this morning and now he had to deal with her in person?!

“Hello, Bellatrix,” Regulus said tightly.

Kali curled around his wrist, her claws digging into his skin in an attempt to distract him from distant memories.

“May I ask why we have been graced with your presence?” Snape asked drily. Harry’s lips twitched upwards slightly. He could always count on Snape to be willing to snark at someone. He was always an equal opportunist; it didn’t matter if it was friend or foe.

Harry heard the bitch laugh airly behind him, but he refused to turn around. If he acknowledged her existence than that would mean she was actually there and not a hallucination.

A flicker of movement in his peripheral vision caught his eyes. A dainty hand came to rest gently on Regulus’ shoulder. Harry quickly averted his eyes intent on avoiding any sight of the woman who had made his teenage years hell. He didn’t see the way the younger Slytherin had tensed at the contact.

As much as he tried to will her not to, Bellatrix started speaking once again. “Well, I just came to see what all the commotion was about. After all, it’s not every day when someone from the Slytherin table causes this much… excitement,” She rolled the word in her mouth as if it was a nasty thing, before asking in a bright tone, “So, cousin, who is your new acquaintance?”

“Surely, you remember him, Black?” Snape drawled, “After all, you claimed we could expect ‘great things’ from him. Remember?”

Bellatrix was silent for a moment, but Harry refused to turn and look at her. “Things certainly have been… interesting since he was sorted.”

“He’s sitting right here,” Regulus snapped, “Don’t act like he isn’t!”

Harry blinked and turned to face his new friend. What surprised Harry was the clear look of concern that was on his face and the fact that he wasn’t trying to hide it. A smile twitched on his lips.

“Yeah, Bella,” Harry found himself saying as he turned around to face her, “Shouldn't you be worried what your mother would think if you? After all, you're the one who has been ignoring the new lord at Hogwarts. I came here hoping to experience this fine school my ancestor helped create and maybe even make a few connections with some of the students, but instead I found myself shunned by the very House Salazar Slytherin founded.” Harry looked the witch square in the eyes. “If it hadn’t been for Regulus here, I would have been extremely disappointed.”

Harry heard Snape choke on his drink.

Bellatrix’s face was a pasty white, making her almost black eyes stand out against the rest of her face. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl, showing off her brilliant white teeth and bright red gums. She hissed dangerously, “There is only one true Lord Slytherin.”

A carefully made mask devoid of any emotion slipped onto Harry’s face. This was what he was used to. The madness gleaming in her eyes was almost preferable to sophisticated lady he first met. At least he was familiar with this woman. A smirk threatened to slip through his mask. He had known she wouldn’t be able to hide the madness forever.

“And he is sitting right in front of you,” Harry said lightly, “In the eyes of the Wizengamot, I am the true Lord Slytherin. Anyone else who may claim that he is shouldn’t be trusted. If he’s lying about his lordship what else could he be lying about?”

A series of emotions flickered across Bellatrix’s face before they were replaced with a deceptively calm look. But Harry wasn’t focused on her face. He was focused on her hand. It was curled into a claw, her long nails piercing into his friend’s shoulder, but Regulus looked completely unaffected by it. Harry narrowed his eyes. He knew from experience her nails were painful and she had an extremely hard grip; there was no way that the boy was completely unaffected.

“I suggest you remove your hand, Miss Black,” Harry said stiffly, “There are consequences for hurting your own blood.”

Yeah, Harry couldn’t help but think, And I’ll be the one dishing them out if you don’t get your fucking hands off him.

Bellatrix stilled and glanced down at her hand, frowning. Had she not known what she had been doing? She uncurled her hand and simply patted Regulus’ shoulder. She sent a scathing look at Harry, though. “I would never hurt my family!”

Harry looked at her blankly. “Then what were you doing just now?”

“I wasn’t hurting him. I simply have a strong grip.” Bellatrix sneered, “Is that your actual problem with me? You don’t like strong women?”

“I don’t have a problem with strong women. I was raised to respect them.” Well. Sort of. Petunia had detested women with any kind of drive or passion almost as much as she hated him, so Harry took that to mean he should respect them above all others. If Petunia hated them they couldn’t be bad. “But I do have a problem with people who hurt others for no other reason than because they can.”

Bellatrix sneered and opened her mouth for what Harry was sure would be a scathing reply but Regulus cut her off. “I’m fine, Hadrian. Really.” Harry narrowed his eyes. His friend’s voice sounded strange. It wasn’t exactly monotone but it was…empty. “She may have a strong grip, but it didn’t hurt. It runs in the family.”

Harry stilled, and he felt rather then saw Snape do the same. They both knew what that meant. Bellatrix, on the other hand, looked victorious. She sneered down at Harry, but he was too busy gazing at his new friend in concern to notice. She huffed. “Now, if you’re finished accusing me of wanting to harm my family, I think I’ll be going.” Bellatrix turned on her heels and took two steps before pausing. “Oh, and Regulus,” She called over her shoulder, “I suggest you tread lightly and don’t do anything to embarrass the House of Black.”

As she walked away, quiet whispers traveled down the Slytherin table, chasing away the silence that the trio hadn’t noticed during their conversation with Bellatrix. Slytherins glanced at them speculatively, curious about the new arrival and Bellatrix’s unexpected show of rage. Snape sneered at the closest surrounding students which happened to be some unfortunate third year students. Harry fought a smile when he saw how their eyes widened in barely concealed fear and immediately whirled around. No matter how old Snape was he could always put the fear of god into the students of Hogwarts.

Harry turned his eyes back towards Regulus. The boy was spreading a thin layer of butter on his toast completely oblivious to his friends’ concern. Harry sighed and said, “Runs in the family, huh?”

Regulus didn’t even look up. “Yes, all Blacks have a very firm grip. Makes handshakes very dangerous. Practically turns into a competition,” he said drily.

“Yes,” Snape drawled, “Handshakes are what’s dangerous.”

“Hey, don’t try to twist this conversation back on me!” Regulus waved the butter knife at Snape. “We weren’t able to finish our previous conversation before we were interrupted.”

“You call that a conversation?” The Gryffindor muttered.

The Slytherins ignored him. Snape rolled his eyes. “Yes, because that was going so well.”

“Well, it would have been if you had just stopped being an arse.”

“It would have been if you stopped insulting the one friend you’ve had for the past five years,” Snape snapped back.

“Or maybe you could just talk like civilized human beings,” Harry grumbled into his cup, his eyes bouncing from Slytherin to Slytherin as if he was watching a tennis match.

Regulus evidently didn’t hear him since he glared at Snape. “I have other friends!”

Snape quirked an eyebrow at the younger boy. “Really? Name five.”

Regulus spluttered before saying indignantly, “I am not going to start listing off my friends just to satisfy your curiosity!”

Snape rolled his eyes. “This isn’t about my curiosity; this is about finding out if you have any other friends besides me. Which, I can say, is highly doubtful since you are adamantly refusing to even give me one name.”

“Hadrian’s my friend!” Regulus cried, looking extremely smug.

“Your pet doesn’t count.”

“Does too!” Regulus whined at the same time Harry barked, “Oi! Quit calling me a pet!”

Snape ignored Harry, focusing entirely on the other Slytherin. “No, he does not because just yesterday you were complaining about the fact that you were stuck in the same Arithmancy class as him and, I quote, ‘forced to breathe the same air as the future Marauder.’”

Harry slowly turned to face the younger boy, a questioning look on his face. Regulus flushed a pale pink. “What? I’m positive I didn’t say that,” he quickly denied before turning to Harry and trying to reassure him. “I would never say that.”

“My pensieve would disagree,” Snape stated, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips.

Regulus paled. “Well-well-well, that was back before I actually knew Hadrian! I obviously don’t think that now !”

“Yes, you two are obviously besties after spending less than twelve hours together,” Snape drawled sarcastically, “You probably told each other your deepest darkest secrets as you braided each other’s hair last night as well.”

Harry forced himself to remain still and not wince at the wording. They may not have braided each other’s hair, but the conversation had become rather...revealing both last night and this morning. Both of them had revealed probably more than they should have.

Regulus stilled beside him, a serious look on his face. Harry tensed slightly and closed his eyes. Please, don’t let him say anything. Please, don’t let him say anything.

“Although it is none of your business, we actually did have some serious conversations last night.”

He fucking said something.

Harry awkwardly tried to ignore what was going on around him and instead forced himself to focus entirely on swirling his food around his plate.

Snape stilled at the words and eyed the two carefully, a speculative look on his face. “I see,” he said eventually before turning back to his food.

The rest of the meal was spent with an awkward silence hanging in the air around the three students. Regulus was sulking due to Snape’s quick dismissal of Harry, Snape was refusing to talk to either of them, and for the first time in a long time, Harry felt distinctly uncomfortable. Unsure if he should say anything or not, he picked at his food and tried not to make eye contact with anybody.

The stifling silence amplified everything else in the Great Hall. The stares from the other students were digging into his back. Snippets of gossip about the trio seemed to echo in his ears. Everything was grating on his nerves. The courage and energy he had felt earlier this morning after telling Regulus the story of one of his scars had faded very after leaving the Room of Requirement. Now, his emotions were about as jumbled as the noise echoing throughout the Great Hall. Harry glanced at the two Slytherins. Were they feeling as awkward as he was? If they were they certainly weren't showing it. They were off in there own little worlds, leaving Harry to suffer through the silence surrounding them alone.

Eventually, Regulus sighed and moved. Harry’s head shot up, relief evident in his eyes.

“Well, we’re going to go now,” Regulus grumbled, sending a glare at Snape, “I would say it was a pleasant breakfast, but it really, really wasn't.”

Snaps looked nonplussed, and he grabbed his bag. “I'll walk out with you.”

Before either of them could say anything, the Slytherin stood up and walked out the large wooden doors. Harry rolled his eyes, assuming this was just another time when Snape decided to be dramatic, but Regulus was looking after the other boy with a strange look on his face.

“Come on, let's see what he wants,” Regulus grumbled before storming after him. Harry followed after the two boys at a much slower base in an attempt to dissuade some of the whispers caused by the two Slytherins practically fleeing the hall.

As soon as Harry stepped through the doors something was thrust into his face. He blinked several times and stumbled back. His eyes went crossed as he tried to focus on the muddy green potion bottle centimeters away from his nose.

“Put this on that cut of yours every morning and night until it’s healed. Use it sparingly. This is all you’ll get from me.”

Harry reached out and hesitantly plucked the bottle out of Snape’s hand. “Uh… thank you?”

Snape rolled his eyes. “That potion doesn’t react badly with anything else, so you can use it with whatever you want.” He glared at the Gryffindor. “But I wouldn’t go chugging multiple pain relievers if I were you.

“And you!” The Slytherin whirled around suddenly, his robes flaring out behind him. Regulus jumped slightly, the confusion on his face morphing into a startled look. Snape waved an accusing finger at the younger boy.

“I don’t know what you two got up to last night, and I don’t want to know. Whatever happened between you guys to turn you from hating each other to,” He waved his hand vaguely. “ This is none of my business. But you two should be prepared because you’re going to make enemies. Lots. From everyone in this school. It won’t just be the Gryffindors or the Slytherins that try to make your world hell. It’s going to be everyone.”

The seriousness of the situation seemed to settle around Regulus and Harry. Snape was right. They were about to attempt the impossible: a friendship between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin. If they were anyone else the outfall wouldn’t be so bad, but they were too well known, or rather, unknown in Harry’s case. The whole school would pass judgement on the Gryffindor Lord Slytherin and the youngest Black.

“Thank you,” Regulus said quietly, “I appreciate your concern.”

Snape snorted. “Please. I’m just making sure you don’t drag me down with you.”

Harry huffed out a laugh. That sounded more like the potion’s master he knew.

Snape spun on his heels and began to stroll away, before calling over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner of the hallway, “And switch your shirts! I refuse to be friends with somebody who thinks it’s appropriate to wear someone else’s clothing.”

Harry furrowed his brows in confusion and glanced over at Regulus who was staring at the Gryffindor in horror. A low, desolate moan rumbled in his throat.

“What?” Harry asked in bewilderment. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“How could we be so stupid?” Regulus wailed dramatically.

“ What? ”

“ We’re wearing each other’s shirts, idiot! ”

Harry blinked in shock before glancing down at his shirt. Sure enough, a thin green band circled the bottom of the shirt. “Oh.”

“ Oh?! ” Regulus repeated incredulously, “That’s all you got to say? Oh?! ”

Harry shrugged. “It could have been worse. We were both really out of it this morning with you being semi-drugged and me being hungover.”

“ Could have been-- wait, semi-drugged?”

“Yeah…” Harry said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck, “I may or may not  have given you and extra strong anti-hangover potion…”

The Slytherin’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but just as he opened his mouth to give what Harry assumed would be a scathing rebuke, a red streak barreled through the doors of the Great Hall.

“ Hadri- ” The streak cut itself off with a help as it barreled into Harry’s chest. Harry grunted in pain, his still healing ribs protesting against whatever was digging into them. Pushing the other person away gently but firmly, he was finally able to tell who ran into him. “Lily?”

Lily looked up, her green eyes wide with surprise. “Oh! Hadrian!”

“Yes….?” Harry drew out the word uncertainty.

She shook her head suddenly, the red curls surrounding her face bouncing violently. “Sorry, I-- I wanted to talk to you-- But the you were gone and I thought--” Lily cut herself off and took a deep breath. “Can we talk?”

Harry rocked back on his heels, trying to process all of the words that had been thrown at him so suddenly. “…Sure.”

Regulus glanced between the two Gryffindors before asking Harry, “Do you want me to stay?”

He immediately shook his head. “No, you don’t have to stay. We’ll be fine. You should go do homework or something.”

Regulus looked hesitant but nodded his assent anyway. “I’ll be in the library if you need me.”

The two Gryffindors stood awkwardly in the hallway as the younger boy walked away.

“So,” Harry said nervously as he scuffed his shoe against the floor. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah, um, let’s go somewhere less,” Lily waved her hand at the large wooden doors. “ Public. ”

  Harry smiled nervously. Great , he thought to himself, no witnesses. Just perfect. Instead of voicing his thoughts, he forced himself to reply with a pleasant “Of course.”

   Harry lost himself in his thoughts as Lily started to lead him through the halls of Hogwarts. He had no lue what she wanted to talk to him about. She had been avoiding him for weeks, but now she was suddenly so desperate to talk to him that she ran out of the Great Hall in search of him. Hopefully, this conversation wouldn’t end up as an argument. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle that. Not after yesterday.

Lily suddenly ducked into an empty classroom and closed the door behind them. Harry eyed his mother carefully. There was only one exit in the room, and she was blocking it. Maybe he should have asked Regulus to say.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Or maybe not.

“What?” Harry asked in confusion. He could have sworn this conversation had been about to go a completely different route.

Lily crossed her arms in front of her stomach and looked down at the ground despondently. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I overreacted. The whole situation was stupid to begin with. Honestly,” she scoffed at herself, “Being mad and suspicious when somebody knows your sister’s name? It’s ridiculous! I--I just--I--”

“Hey,” Harry said softly, “It’s ok. Honestly, you had a right to be suspicious. Especially in these times.”

“No, it was stupid. I was stupid. I only said what I said because I--because I,” Lily sighed and rubbed her face, “I really wasn’t handling the Dementor thing very well and I took it out on everyone around me. All of my negative emotions seemed to be heightened. I swear I was only running on confusion and anger for a week after the event. The Dementor attack….hurt something inside of me and I wanted everyone else around me to hurt too. I’m sorry.”

Harry nodded sympathetically. He knew exactly what she meant.

“I spent all of last week trying to figure out how to apologize to you,” She informed him before wincing, “Actually I spent most of last week debating whether or not I should apologize or if I would be able to just bounce back into your life and ignore the entire thing. I eventually forced myself to admit that an apology was necessary but then I couldn’t find you! I searched and searched and searched before I finally gave up and went to watch Alice try out for the Quidditch team. And what do you know, I find you there! I was going to apologize to you afterwards but then-- oh, Hadrian are you ok ? Those tryouts were horrible and then you just ran off the field and….” she trailed off uncertainly before saying quietly, “I know I have no right after the way I’ve treated you, but I was really worried about you.”

Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure what to say. “I’m… ok,” he said eventually. Not quite the truth but at least it wasn’t a blatant lie. “Could be better.”

“Is there anything I can do,” Lily asked desperately, “To make up for being such a bitch lately? I feel horrible about it and then on top of it all, you spent all last night being tortured by those Marauders . It just put everything into perspective, you know? I was acting just like they would in this the situation.” She looked down despondently. “ I'm no better than a cruel bully  who just wants to hurt people.”

Harry immediately stepped forward and comfortingly ran his hands up and down her arms, trying to ignore the fact that the potion Snape had given him was still tucked in his hand. “Don’t think like that. You are not a bully, Lily. You’re a sweet girl who was just struggling with a tough situation. So what, you got angry and snapped at a few people. It happens to the best of us.”

Lily sniffed. “I still feel like a total bitch.”

“That’s good--”

“Good?!”

“Yes, good, because that means you truly are sorry that you snapped at other people,” Harry said impatiently. “As long as you don’t take it overboard, a little guilt can be good for you.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Lily replied with a weak smile. She moved her arm too push her hair out of her face, causing Harry to quickly pull back his hands. Lily frowned. “What is that in your hand? It was digging into my arm.”

“Oh, this?” Harry flashed the green potion bottle carefully position between his forefinger and thumb at her. “It’s a potion Snape gave me for my cut. I think the guy took pity on me.”

Surprise flickered across her face. “Severus gave that-- wait, what cut?”

“The one on my head.”

“ What cut on your--” She repeated incredulously before her eyes widened. In two steps, Lily had crossed the distance between them and pushed back his hair. “Merlin, I didn’t realize your curls were covering it! Does it hurt? It looks deep. Why haven’t you gone to Madame Pomfrey? She could probably heal this in under a second. Wait, did you not go to the hospital wing last night?” She slapped his arm. “Do you have any idea how far up you fell from?! You’re lucky you didn’t break a bone! You need to go to the hospital wing! You could have a concussion or, Merlin, you could have internal bleeding--”

“Have you always rambled this much?”

Lily blushed. “Only when I’m stressed. But don’t think this will distract me, mister!” She said passionately, wagging a finger at him. “You’re still going to the hospital wing.”

A small smile played on Harry’s lips. He could imagine her saying that to him when he was little in another life. It was just such a motherly thing to say. His smile faltered, though, and the feeling dampened with this next thought. “No, I just- I never knew you rambled.”

 Her eyes narrowed. “You’re trying to distract me.”

“Is it working?” Harry asked as he pasted on a smile.

“No.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.”

“Only for you.” Lily grabbed his wrist and yanked him towards the door. “Now, come on! We have a nurse to see!”

Harry dug his feet into the floor, refusing to be moved. The humor in this situation was quickly disappearing. “No, m-Lily, I don’t need to go the the hospital wing.”

“Yes, you do!”

“No, I don’t-”

“Yes-”

“No-”

“ Listen to me! ” Lily whirled around, slamming her hand into his chest, her forefinger pointing up towards his face. She banged it into his chest, emphasizing every word. “You need to go to the hospital wing! You could be seriously hurt--”

“ Lily, stop! ” Harry growled as he forcefully shoved her back. She stumbled back a few steps before she was able to catch her balance and look up at him with a hurt expression. He couldn’t really bring himself to care, though. She had been slamming her hand into a particularly nasty bruise, and it fucking hurt. He clenched his fist in an attempt to keep himself from rubbing at hiss sore chest. If he did, she would figure it out.

“I am fine ,” Harry snapped,” I am not going to the hospital wing; I do not need to.”

“But-”

“ No, buts! I’m fine, ok! I don’t need to go to the hospital wing!” He sighed before saying quietly, “Just drop it, ok? You owe me that , at least.”

Lily flinched slightly. “Yeah. Sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed. It’s none of my business.”

“Thanks, Lil,” Harry smiled weakly before offering, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

The tension in his mother’s shoulders eased and she smiled back. “Yeah, of course.”

Harry’s smile became real and he nodded. Calling out a goodbye over his shoulder, Harry hurried to escape the room. He needed to get back to the Room of Requirement in order to check out the damage his mother had inadvertently caused to his chest. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the unused classroom, he rubbed his chest in an attempt to relieve the pain, not realizing that the door hadn’t closed behind him all the way.

Lily’s eyes narrowed as she watched the other boys retreating form. Hadrian may not think there was anything she should do, but obviously something needed to be done. He was hurt, and she was partially at fault for that but at least she had only hurt their friendship. The Marauders on the other hand…

Lily nodded to herself, her mind made up. Yes, she needed to have a few words with Potter.