Reunions

REUNIONS - Part 4

By Crazy Taxi

Chapter 7

Harry and Ron hurried down the corridor. They were late for Defence Against the Dark Arts and Escoban was known for taking house points from late arrivals. It was a long way from Professor Flitwick's classroom and Ron's bag had burst along the way, its often re-sewn seams finally giving up the ghost. He held it tight to his side as they rounded the corner.

There they stopped. It was odd enough that Professor Escoban was not in her classroom, but what was odder was that she was talking to Arthur Weasley.

"Oh cripes!" said Ron. "You think I'm in trouble?"

"More likely to be Fred and George."

"Yeah. I mean, we haven't done anything, right."

"Other than a few hexes and stealing from Snape's supplies?"

"Shh."

They walked on.

"...can't believe you're still in the Muggle Office."

"But you should have seen what came in this week."

"Arthur, please don't regale me with another enchanted toaster story, I don't think I could take it."

"Right-oh."

"Mr Weasley, Mr Potter." Professor Escoban had spotted them over Arthur's shoulder.

"Ron!" Mr Weasley turned to face the pair. "Harry, how are you?"

"Er, fine thanks."

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Arthur winked at the two boys.

"Well I'm late, as are you boys," she narrowed her eyes at Harry and Ron. "I'll talk to you later Arthur."

"Of course."

The two shook hands and Escoban strode away.

"How do you know Professor Escoban, dad?"

Arthur paused for a moment before answering. "We used to work together. Anyway, I have to talk to Professor Dumbledore, maybe I'll catch up with you later, eh?"

"Er, right."

"BOYS!" Escoban's voice echoed down the corridor. Taking the hint they scurried off after her.

*****

"Hello there Professor Escoban," Harry called across the lawn in front of Hogwarts' front doors.

"Ah, Harry. Any progress with your project?"

"Er, well I think I may be getting some ideas. I'll let you know."

"Have you marked our tests?" Hermione couldn't resist.

"I have."

Harry almost laughed at the look on his friend's face. She was dieing to know. Escoban, however, was merely looking at her as if she had no idea of the poor girl's desperation.

"I'll let you know on Thursday."

"Thursday?!"

"Well, it would hardly be fair to tell you your result now, would it?"

"Erm...I suppose not."

Harry fought back a smile. This was killing Hermione.

"Well, I'll see you later," Escoban said, rather hurriedly.

"Oh, yes I..."

But she was already gone. Harry and Hermione shrugged at each other and turned to walk down to Hagrid's hut.

"Oh god, look who it is."

Hermione was looking over towards the main gates. Striding through them was Lucius Malfoy. He had a very sour look on his face. He glared at them in silence as he approached and entered the castle without a word.

"Wonder what he's doing here?"

Harry shrugged. "You think that's why Escoban disappeared?"

"Maybe she was worried he'd cause a scene about the Forbidden Forest lesson."

"Yeah, I bet that was it."

Odd though, Harry thought as they continued towards Hagrid's cabin.

*****

Next day Harry was reminded of Lucius Malfoy in the most unpleasant manner possible.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry turned quickly to find Draco Malfoy behind him.

"I don't know what you mean?" Malfoy sneered lazily.

"You've been following me around all day. It's a bit pathetic really."

"Perhaps he wants some Quidditch tips?" Ron suggested.

"From you?! I don't think so." But he'd obviously hit a nerve. "And I'm not following you around. Don't flatter yourself."

Harry shrugged. "Fine, buzz off then. Oh, but before you go. What was your dad doing here yesterday?"

Malfoy paused, considering his answer. "Father needed to talk to Dumbledore. He is the chair of the board of governors you know." He gave Harry a superior look.

"Was he up here trying to get Escoban the sack?"

"Amongst other things."

"That's cheap Malfoy, you got five points for figuring out that trap."

"She refused to see him anyway. Very cowardly of her." Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I don't see why you've got a problem with her. She was in Slytherin after all."

"Yeah. That filthy little Mudblood."

Before Harry could stop him Ron had Malfoy on the ground.

Fists and knees flew as the two of them let off months of frustration on each other. Finally Harry managed to haul Ron off Malfoy.

They stood, glaring at each other breathing fast.

"You'll pay for that Weasley. You and your poor, pathetic family will pay for that!" Malfoy turned and stalked off back towards the castle.

"Oh yeah. Well, screw you Malfoy!"

"Ron, what the hell was that about? He's said worse."

But Ron was grinning and holding up one hand. Clenched in his fist were several very blonde hairs.

*****

"Odd that, Escoban being a Muggle-born," Harry mused.

"Oh?" Hermione replied as she stirred the cauldron in front of her.

"Well she was in Slytherin. That must be unusual."

"And unpleasant. Imagine being a Muggle-born in Slytherin."

"She doesn't sound like a Muggle-born," Ron commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, her accent is pureblood. Upper class. I don't suppose you two would recognise it, but I'm sure it is. But there's some other stuff in there too. She says some words funny like 'sure' and 'charm'. Almost Irish, or Cornish. Or American maybe?"

"That's quite a range!"

"I know, I just can't put my finger on it." Ron frowned trying to get a grip of it in his head.

"Well, that's it then." Hermione gave the potion one last stir.

"It's ready?" Harry asked nervously.

"It just needs Malfoy's hair."

"Don't you just love that part?" Ron grinned impishly, clearly enjoying the fact that he didn't have to drink the potion this time. "At least we know they're definitely his, I yanked them straight out of his head!"

Harry grinned, cheered by the memory of the bloodied Draco on the ground yowling in pain.

Hermione dropped the hair in the cauldron, stirred, decanted a portion into a vial and handed it to Harry.

"Well, bottoms up!" Harry drank.

Moments later he was doubled up as he felt the familiar sensation of squirming inside him followed by an unpleasant burning feeling. Soon he felt his bones and muscles shift. And then it stopped and gingerly he straightened up.

Hermione and Ron were standing staring at him, open-mouthed. They looked in shock. Oh god, what's gone wrong? He turned to the mirror and suddenly he understood. Looking back at him was not the image of Draco Malfoy, but Lucius, his father.

They all started talking at once.

"Bloody hell!"

"What's happened?"

"Are you sure those hairs came out of his head?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"I don't know."

"Holy shit!"

Then, all at once, they shut up. They stood staring helplessly at each other until finally Harry broke the silence.

"Well this is bloody useless."

"But how did it happen?" asked Ron.

"I think I know," said Hermione, somewhat predictably. "Lucius Malfoy must be using Polyjuice Potion to look like Draco."

"Then where's Draco?"

"Maybe he left Hogwarts looking like Lucius?"

"But why?"

"Any number of reasons. To spy on Dumbledore, or Snape? Maybe to kidnap you?"

"Great."

"We've got to tell Dumbledore."

"Sure, Hermione. But we're going to be in a lot of trouble over this."

"But we have to tell him!"

"Okay," Harry agreed reluctantly. She was right after all.

"I'm not sure I'm going to fit under the cloak. I'm awfully tall now." Harry tried it on and sure enough, it didn't even reach down to his knees.

"Well, Ron and I will go under the cloak and make sure the coast is clear and you can follow. In an emergency you can always crouch under it can't you?"

"Right...er, Ron?"

Ron was still staring at Harry his eyes wide.

"It's just so weird Harry."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Come on guys, let's find Dumbledore."

Harry grabbed Malfoy's cloak, which he'd taken from the boy earlier. It was long enough, obviously very expensive and hid the fact that his trousers had split during the unexpected transformation into Malfoy Senior. He was also relieved to borrow Ron's shoes, which were several sizes larger than Harry's, although this did leave his poor friend barefoot.

Ron and Hermione huddled together under the cloak and left the bathroom. Harry wished he still had the Marauder's map so he could tell which way his friends were going and check that no teachers were close by. Instead Ron and Hermione had to shuffle their feet so he could follow the sound and Harry had to make sure he kept to the shadows as much as he could.

Harry thought back. Earlier that evening they had managed to sneak up on Malfoy who wasn't with Crabbe and Goyle for once. They stunned him and stuck him in a broom cupboard. He wouldn't wake up for a while, or at least they assumed not. Now that his true identity was known it might be a good idea if they checked on him sooner rather than later.

That done they had gone up to the disused girls' bathroom. Myrtle wasn't there, mercifully, so they could finish off the potion in peace. Then, of course, everything had gone pear shaped.

They hadn't got far when things went from bad to worse.

"Lucius?"

Harry froze. He knew that voice. Where the hell had he come from? He wrapped Malfoy's cloak around him and did up the top button to hide the Gryffindor tie. Then he slowly turned to see Severus Snape walking down the corridor towards him. Further down the hall Ron and Hermione stood very still watching the scene desperately trying to work out what to do.

"Er, hello Prof...er....Severus." Harry tried to make his voice as silky and malevolent as possible to cover the slip.

"What are you doing here?" Snape looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"I came to see my son."

"At this hour?"

"I am a governor you know." Harry put on an indignant tone.

Snape frowned, something wasn't right. "I think perhaps you should come down to my rooms. I have an excellent bottle of cognac and I know you can never resist drinking my private reserves."

Without waiting for a reply Snape turned and walked back down the corridor towards the stairs. Harry gave his friends a desperate look before following. Maybe he could think of what to do before he got to Snape's rooms? He really didn't want to explain all this to Snape. He was very likely to kill him. He'd know Harry had stolen the ingredients from his stores, brewing the Polyjuice Potion was banned and maybe he was in on the whole scam. Perhaps Harry could ride out an interview with Snape and get out before he turned back into his old self, he had an hour after all. Besides, part of him was rather curious.

Before long they had arrived at a picture of a man being dangled over a pit. Harry fought back a laugh; maybe there were badgers in there. Snape mumbled a password (perhaps he didn't trust Lucius after all) and a door opened behind the painting. Harry followed Snape into his quarters. Just inside he stopped abruptly, the enormity of the situation suddenly upon him. The door hit him as it closed.

"Are you feeling alright Lucius?"

"Fine...old chap." Harry tried to mimic Malfoy's condescending air, hoping that that was how he spoke to everybody. Since Snape didn't seem offended he evidently did.

"Well, make yourself at home."

Snape disappeared into another room so Harry sat in an expensive looking armchair in front of the fire. It was lit, which surprised him. He'd always assumed Snape enjoyed the bitter cold of the dungeons. From there he surveyed the room.

Over the fireplace was the Slytherin crest and another one. It was black with a silver hawk's head in the centre. Maybe the Snape family crest? The room itself was sparsely decorated. Two armchairs by the fire, an impressive wall hanging behind a long mahogany desk, several paintings of landscapes on the walls, a hard, stone floor. It wasn't a very welcoming room Harry decided. But then Snape probably didn't have many visitors.

Soon Snape returned, a bottle and two glasses in his hands. He carefully poured a generous portion for Harry and sat in the other chair stretching his legs out in front of him. He looked relaxed, though Harry got the impression that he was watching him very carefully.

"So, what was so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"

Harry paused; this was not going to be easy. He shifted in his seat slightly to cover his shoes with his cloak. Somehow he didn't think that Lucius Malfoy would wear trainers.

"I'd prefer not to discuss family matters with you."

"Fair enough." His voice matched the silky tone Harry had used. "But what is stopping me going to Dumbledore and telling him you are here? He'd be very interested after all and I'm not sure you could so easily dodge the question with him."

"What's stopping you?" Harry had to think fast. He took a risk. "Loyalty."

"To you?!"

Maybe he'd miscalculated.

"I may need a better reason." Snape smiled at his guest's discomfort.

Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound, Harry thought.

"No, loyalty to our master." Harry noticed Snape tense ever so slightly. "He will not be pleased if this does not go according to plan. Would you like to explain any mishaps to him?"

Harry rather enjoyed the look that flashed across Snape's face. A moment of fear mixed with anger and frustration. Harry knew that he'd hit the mark; there was nothing Snape could do about this. He was rather enjoying himself. But Snape quickly regained control of himself.

"You may see Draco, of course, but you must leave immediately afterwards. If you are found here questions will be asked."

"Of course. I wouldn't want to put you in a compromising position, Severus." Harry smiled sarcastically. This was fun.

"You're not drinking Lucius?"

Harry looked down at the glass in front of him. He could blow it right here. He wasn't sure what cognac was but it smelled very strong. He cautiously took a sip. Suddenly, it felt as if liquid fire was sliding down his throat. His eyes were starting to water as he fought back a cough.

"Something wrong?" Snape frowned at him.

"Went down the wrong way," Harry croaked.

Snape snorted and took a sip of his own drink. Harry followed suit, it was slightly less painful this time. He was going to have to get out of here soon or he'd not be able to walk straight.

"Excellent Severus. Almost as good as the bottles I have at home." He couldn't resist and was rewarded by another flash of anger across his professor's face. He quickly replaced it with his usual calculating look.

"How is Narcissa by the way?"

Harry tried to remain calm. He really had no idea how to answer this.

"Same as ever," he replied ambiguously.

Snape chuckled slightly at that. Harry wondered why.

"Do give her my love."

Was there a hint of sarcasm in his voice? Harry couldn't tell.

"Of course," Harry replied rather enjoying the role now. However, he thought, I mustn't get carried away. "I shouldn't be sitting here idly chatting. Things to do."

"At least finish your drink."

"Well..." Harry stopped. To his horror he began to feel his insides squirming. But he had at least half an hour left. He rose quickly as the burning sensation started. Oh shit, the Polyjuice Potion must act differently if the subject is on Polyjuice as well. Why didn't he think of that?

"What's wrong?" Snape also rose. Harry couldn't tell if the look of concern was genuine but at that point he couldn't care less he just had to get out of there.

"Got to go."

"Lucius, what's going on?"

"Nothing." Harry staggered towards the door, the excruciating feeling of bones morphing wracked his body.

"Obsero." Snape's voice rang out behind him. As Harry tugged on the door he realised he'd locked it. Oh crap he thought, I'm in for it now! Looking down he saw how tiny his hands were and suddenly he felt awfully small. He turned round to find Snape looming over him, shock and anger written across his face.

"Mister Potter," he breathed. "Would you kindly explain your presence in my rooms?"

Harry gulped loudly. He looked up at Snape, his mouth gawping open. No words came. Suddenly all the fun had been sucked out of the room.

Snape's eyes narrowed to darkened slits.

"It will be expulsion this time Potter." He couldn't mask the look of glee.

"But sir..."

"Be quiet!"

"But..."

"POTTER!"

"It's Draco!"

Harry got the reaction he'd hoped for, confusion.

"Kindly explain." Snape sounded as if he was fast losing patience.

"I, er, I was trying to turn myself into Draco Malfoy."

"Why?"

"Well, you see Professor Escoban has set me a task, to find out who among the Slytherins may be...you know...on our side. So I thought I could talk to some of them, as Draco, to see if I could work it out."

"I see. So why have you, in fact, turned into Lucius Malfoy?"

"Well, we....er....I think he's using Polyjuice Potion to masquerade as his son."

Snape froze. If possible he turned paler than ever.

"You're certain they were Draco's hairs you used?"

"Absolutely. Ron grabbed the hairs right out of his scalp."

Snape appeared to be thinking very fast.

"Who else knows?"

"Erm..."

"Don't lie to me boy, this is too important!"

"Just Ron and Hermione."

"Where are they now?"

"Probably outside." Harry didn't like to dump them in it but he sensed that this was more important than a detention.

Snape opened the door and looked up the corridor.

"Granger, Weasley. You will come here immediately!"

Harry poked his head out of the door.

"It's Okay, really." He felt like a bit of a worm lying to them like that.

After a moment his two friends appeared from behind a large stone statue. They were looking rather anxious. Harry noticed a slight bulge where Ron had evidently stuffed the invisibility cloak up his jumper.

"Nobody else knows?" Snape asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Go to Professor Dumbledore's office. Tell nobody else what has happened. I shall see you there presently."

With that he shoved Harry out of his room and closed the door. Harry stood silently staring at his two friends. Had he got away with this? Snape had evidently been too preoccupied with the news to take away house points or give out hideous detentions. He didn't want to push his luck though, so he hurried off towards the Headmaster's office followed by his rather startled partners in crime.

Inside his room Severus Snape leant heavily on the door. His heart was hammering, his breathing fast. This was not good, not good at all. He shook himself and walked over to the fireplace. Beside it was a small bowl of powder; he threw a handful into the fire.

"Escoban, get down here now. We need to talk."

****

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat, rather uncomfortably, in Albus Dumbledore's office. When they had explained what had happened a grave look came over the old man's face. He had said nothing since then; he had not even expressed his concern about the number of school rules they had broken. The silence was more terrifying than any lecture.

All three of them almost jumped out of their skins when Professor Escoban suddenly slammed the door open and ran into the room.

"Harry, a word."

She beckoned him outside. Harry quickly did as she asked. Escoban shut the door behind him.

"I just told Professor Snape that I took the boomslang from his office. I said we were working on a project, a morphing charm, and that you must have taken it from me. Understood?"

Harry stared at her, rather baffled.

"Look, his rooms are only a floor below mine, he'll be here soon..."

She turned sharply at a sound from below them. The gargoyle was turning.

"Understand?" she repeated urgently.

Harry nodded quickly. "Right. No problem." He scooted back into Dumbledore's office as Escoban hid behind a large coat of arms. He'd barely sat down when Snape came in.

"Exactly how many points am I allowed to deduct from a single house at one time?" He was clearly furious.

"I'm not sure there's a limit Severus. However, I would remind you that these three have uncovered a most dangerous plot. One that might very well have been our downfall. Perhaps you should consider that?"

"They stole boomslang, brewed the Polyjuice Potion, attempted to impersonate a member of my house, Granger is supposed to be a prefect..."

"All this is true. However, fifty points and a detention ought to suffice, don't you think?"

Snape evidently thought this was an outrage but said nothing. He merely paced behind the three students glaring down at them.

"Exactly how serious is the situation Severus?"

"We must hope, headmaster, that Lucius has only been here for the past two days. If it's been longer we are in a lot of trouble."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Kindly bring Mr Malfoy here, Severus. I believe he's in a cupboard just outside the transfiguration classroom."

Snape obviously wanted to stay and intimidate the three Gryffindors some more but he turned on his heel and left.

"Now, you three. Consider yourselves very lucky to get off as lightly as you have. Now go back to your common room and talk about this to absolutely no one. Is that clear?"

The three friends nodded. Dumbledore was looking very serious indeed.

"Off you go then." Harry thought he sounded very tired, and worried. They left as quickly as they could, they didn't want to meet Malfoy on the stairs...or run into Snape.

*****

The next day Harry found he wanted to talk to Professor Escoban. Her behaviour had been very strange, furtive even. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was certain that something was going on. Walking down the long corridor that lead to her classroom he could hear music. It wasn't at all like the music he'd heard before. It had a hard sound with fast, furious lyrics. He found his head bobbing to the beat.

Outside the door he paused to try to catch what the man was saying.

...so don't arouse my anger
Fool, death ain't nothing but a heartbeat away
I'm living life do or die, what can I say?
I'm twenty-three now but will I live to see twenty-four
The way things is going I don't know.

Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me?

Been spending most our lives livin' in a gangsters paradise

Been spending...

The music stopped abruptly.

"Come in."

How does she do that? Harry wondered as he pushed the door open.

"Er...hello. I can come back if..."

"No, no, that's quite alright."

"That wasn't Wagner was it?"

Her lips curled up slightly in amusement. "Er, no. That was Coolio. The words 'spinning' and 'grave' come to mind."

"Oh...er...I was wondering if I could ask you a question?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Why did you tell Professor Snape that you took the boomslang from his office?"

She leant back in her chair, pausing before answering.

"Well, two reasons really. You see, if there's one thing that annoys Professor Snape more than almost anything it's pupils steeling from his stores. I thought I could get you off the hook for that."

"And the other reason?"

"You mustn't tell anyone I said this."

Harry shook his head earnestly.

She smiled sheepishly. "I'm afraid Professor Snape rubbed me up the wrong way so I thought I'd wind him up a bit. You see, I knew the fact that he wouldn't be able to punish you for the crime would be a major disappointment. So I rather took advantage."

Harry couldn't suppress a smile.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure."

"Erm..."

"Yes?"

"Will Malfoy be expelled? I know he wasn't really responsible, but how can we possibly trust him?"

Escoban looked more serious now.

"No, he won't be. You see Harry, if he were expelled Draco would either go to Durmstrang or he would be educated at home. Either way he would be out of the influence of Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Without them, there really is no hope for the lad, he'd turn to the Dark Arts for sure. I know that it's hard to trust him, and there's really no reason why we should, but here is the best place for him. In fact, Professor Dumbledore effectively blackmailed Lucius into letting him stay. He said he would report last night's incident to the Ministry if he took Draco out of school. We can't exactly ask the Ministry to arrest him for being a Death Eater, they don't even believe that they're active anymore, but a stunt like this would get him into a lot of trouble. So, Lucius Malfoy has been banned from the school grounds and Draco will be carefully watched. That's the best we can do. It's a risk, but sometimes they're worth taking."

"What, for Malfoy?" Harry was incredulous.

"Yes, even for him."

Harry shrugged.

"So tell me, how is your Slytherin project going?"

"Well, I'm not getting very far at the moment."

He thought back to the duelling lesson Escoban had run in class. He hadn't noticed any of the Slytherins being careful about the curses they cast. Except perhaps Tracey Davis. He was sure she'd been holding back. He wasn't going to mention her to Escoban though, not until he was sure.

"Fair enough. Keep trying though, I guarantee it will be worth it."

"Er...Okay. Thanks, I'll see you later then."

"Indeed you will."

*****

Chapter 8

What a relief. Finally the Christmas holidays, Hogwarts almost entirely to himself. It was just a pity that his friends had gone home. Ron, Fred and George had been summoned home and Hermione was in Switzerland with her parents, skiing. He supposed he understood why. With the threat of war breathing down their necks they were all trying to grab what time they had for normalcy before all hell broke lose. Harry had wanted to go with Ron of course, but Dumbledore had put his foot down. He wouldn't be safe anywhere but Hogwarts or Private Drive and he would be damned if he was going to spend Christmas with his relatives.

Still, life was good. There was still homework and his extra lessons but hopefully they wouldn't be too arduous, after all even teachers celebrated Christmas...didn't they? When he thought about it, he'd never had lessons over the holiday before so maybe they didn't. Maybe they did research projects and wrote theses. Yeah, that's probably what they did. He hoped he wasn't going to have to do the same, he was planning some major relaxation.

With that in mind he was lying on a soft patch of grass in the grounds of Hogwarts. Sadly, the students were still not allowed into the village, but Dumbledore had said that he would buy items on request, so those staying for the holidays were making a list. Harry was still making up his mind what to order. He had presents to buy and it was hard when you couldn't do the shopping yourself.

He let his mind wander. He'd heard almost nothing of Sirius. Apparently he had been sent on a mission with Remus. However, the headmaster had promised that he would be at Hogwarts just after Christmas. But what could you get a dog that had nothing? Then there was Remus who was apparently coming up soon as well, another man who was hard to buy for. He'd already given Ron and Hermione their gifts, one book on Quidditch and one on advanced transfiguration, he rather hoped he hadn't got the parcels mixed up.

Hagrid was also difficult. He had no idea what to get him and there were only eight days left until Christmas. He'd have to get thinking. And should he give Dumbledore a gift? He often wondered. The man had done so much for him, he was essentially a father to him, but would a gift be appropriate? Maybe just a card this year.

Other than that he didn't have to worry. None of his year were staying for the holidays and he hardly knew the few Gryffindors who had. It seemed that everybody wanted their children home for what might turn out to be the last Christmas of peace for a while.

Harry sighed quietly to himself. It was odd to think that so many people didn't know about what was coming, that the Ministry were still trying to hush up the rumours. Of course, the fact that several Ministry workers had gone missing and there had been a couple of suspicious Muggle deaths was not making their job easy, but people could be so gullible. They wouldn't believe what they didn't want to believe. And nobody wanted to believe that Voldemort was back.

"'Lo 'arry."

Harry squinted up at the towering form standing over him.

"Hi there Hagrid, what are you up to?"

"Off to feed m' Hilas, wanna come?"

"Sure."

Harry followed the giant man towards his hut. He had no idea what Hilas were but he felt sure they would be large, dangerous and, according to Hagrid, absolute darlings.

He was mostly right, although they were smaller than he'd expected. Still, he eyed them warily. It never paid to take any of Hagrid's charges for granted.

"So...er...what are they for?"

"For, well nothin' really. Jus' like 'em." Hagrid was beaming at his new acquisitions. Harry wondered, not for the first time, if the man was quite sane.

He got stuck in all the same, heaving large bucketfuls of who-knew-what into large troughs. He was deeply engrossed, it felt good to do manual labour, it cleared the mind.

"What in Merlin's name are those?!"

Harry turned to find Professor Escoban looking into the enclosure. She wasn't bothering to hide the look of disgust. Harry felt unaccountably defensive.

"They're Hilas," he replied in an indignant tone.

"Really. How lovely."

"'Lo there professor." Hagrid appeared from behind his hut carrying a fresh load of straw.

"Hagrid, charming pets as always. What are they, Spiny Normans?"

"Er....no. You like 'em?"

Escoban rolled her eyes.

"Thought y' would." Hagrid chuckled quietly.

"Be seeing you then," she called over her shoulder. "Have fun Harry."

Harry watched as she set off back towards the school noticing, for the first time, a small cage in her hand.

"Er...Hagrid. Why's she got those rabbits?"

"I don' ask," Hagrid said solemnly.

*****

Eight days later the rabbits played on Harry's mind once more.

The Great Hall was decked out superbly again this year. The staff seemed to have gone to extra efforts despite the fact that there were so few of them at the table. Only twelve students had remained. A few had no family, some had families in other parts of the world and some just wanted to stay.

There were also some notable absences from the staff. Mercifully Snape hadn't been seen for a week. Harry wondered what he might be up to or if he had family to visit. Now there was a frightening thought. On a sadder note, Hagrid had left two days before and Dumbledore had just announced that he too would be leaving for London the next day. McGonagall was to be left in charge, which was fine with Harry, although he'd prefer the headmaster to be there on a permanent basis. Professor Sprout was visiting relatives, Professor Flitwick was away too, but nobody had mentioned where. Madame Hooch was playing in a Quidditch tournament. Professors Sinistra and Vector had last been seen jetting off to Israel. Harry thought he picked up on a few comments that suggested that they had not gone for research purposes. He immediately tried to get that image out of his head.

So, at dinner there was Dumbledore, McGonagall, Figg, Escoban, Trelawney, Samson (the Ancient Runes Professor), Madame Pomfrey and twelve students, none of which Harry particularly knew. Everyone sat at the staff table and Harry listened with interest.

It was apparent that nearly all the staff had the same opinion of Trelawney as Harry had. He suppressed a snigger at a particularly barbed comment from McGonagall. Trelawney was either blissfully unaware or used to the insults as she continued to spout utter nonsense. Harry had to admit that one thing bothered him about her though. She had failed to predict his death this year, and since she was invariably wrong about the future he hoped this was not a bad omen.

It was also clear that McGonagall and Escoban did not get along especially well. Although they were not confrontational, Harry noticed that they barely spoke to one another except to request a bowl of roast potatoes or peas. Harry wondered about that. There didn't seem anything particularly wrong with Escoban, nothing he could put his finger on, but he still felt slightly ill at ease every time she looked at him with those piercing pale eyes. Sure, her lessons were good and she had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Dark Arts. Well, maybe that was the point; it was almost frightening what she knew. And then there were the rabbits. The other day Harry had passed her in the corridor and he could have sworn that she'd had blood on her sleeve. Rather a lot of it, in fact. What the hell was she doing in the dungeons all day?

And then there was Professor Figg. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about her. She was teaching him some very useful stuff, and she seemed much nicer than he remembered, but there still remained a nagging feeling. He supposed it was resentment. Neither of them had discussed Privet Drive since their initial conversation, but it was ever present in Harry's mind when he saw her. Why had she done nothing? Why hadn't she told Dumbledore what was going on? Why hadn't she offered to have Harry over more often? Even cats would have been an improvement over the Dursleys. Harry realised he was slumping into his chair. He really didn't want to bring this up so he did his best to look cheerful and tucked into his Christmas pudding. The House Elves had surpassed themselves. He relaxed as he watched the brandy butter melt.

*****

It was like trying to listen through cotton wool and see through gauze.

Harry shook his head but it was no better. So he drifted. Odd that, he could have sworn he was flying. It felt like a movie where the camera swoops downward to a close up.

He caught words. None of them made sense. He couldn't see their faces but they made him shiver. All around him he could hear a hissing noise. He turned to face a mouth lined with needle sharp teeth. Two enormous fangs dripped venom as they closed on him.

Harry woke screaming.

After splashing his face with water he felt marginally better but suddenly he wished that Ron was there. Of course, when Ron had been there Harry hadn't wanted to talk to him about his dreams, but now he would have given anything to unburden himself. How bloody ironic.

As he stood staring at his pale reflection in the mirror words came back to him. Slowly he pieced it all together. The conversation, the three hooded men. A chill ran through him as he dressed. He had to tell somebody. Glancing at the clock he noticed that it was nine in the morning. He hadn't slept that long in a while. He wished sleep was a welcome as it had once been.

*****

Professor Escoban walked in silence up the stony path. She realised that she shouldn't really have slipped out of Hogwarts. Who knew who was lurking about the place, but she was tired of being cooped up. She was used to travel, foreign lands, the outdoors and as much as she'd tried, a walk around Hogwarts' Lake just didn't cut it. Besides, she'd been careful to skirt round the edge of Hogsmeade. There were too many people there and it was hard to anticipate a hex in the back.

Now she had relaxed a little. She felt like a school kid again, sneaking out while the headmaster was away. She smiled at that. Nobody would miss her anyway.

She was up above the village, half way up the mountain that overlooked it and it was turning into a beautiful day. She stopped at an outcrop beneath a long cliff. It had been seventeen years since she'd stood at that spot and she was going to savour every second of it. She closed her eyes, turned round and opened them again. Fantastic. She broke into a broad grin. Hogsmeade could just be seen nestled between rolling hills and woodland and behind that Hogwarts in all its glory. A large ripple was moving across the lake, the squid, she presumed.

The sun was barely up. Generally she avoided the sunrise. It came up so damned early after all, but in December the days were short so she took the chance while she could. She was about to clamber onto the rocky outcrop when she noticed a large dog padding up the path towards her. She watched its progress until it stopped near her. "Nice dog," she said as it looked at her for a moment before moving on up the path.

She turned back to the scene in front of her. Not a soul around, she thought, what a nice change.

It came as a great surprise, therefore, to hear a movement behind her. Before she could draw her wand, something hard hit her hard on the back of the head and then everything went black.

*****

Harry had made it around Hogsmeade without incident. He knew he shouldn't really be there, but he had to talk to someone. Dumbledore and Hagrid were still in London, McGonagall, Escoban and Figg were nowhere to be found so who did that leave? He hoped Sirius wouldn't be too angry. He had a good reason. He hoped Sirius would see it that way too.

As he neared the cave in the mountainside he slowed to catch his breath. No need to look too frantic, or unfit. Finally, with his breathing under control, he walked in. The entrance was dark. He waited for his eyes to grow accustomed to his new surroundings and that's when he heard his godfather's voice.

"So, I'm thinking, why don't I just kill you now?"

Harry froze.

There were no further sounds so he took a few tentative steps into the cave.

There, Sirius was leaning over a person who appeared to be tied to a chair. Sirius' head was turned around and he was staring straight at Harry, a puzzled look on his face.

Slowly Harry removed the invisibility cloak.

"How long have you been there?"

"I just heard..." Harry paused, how could he put this? "Why are you going to kill someone?" His voice came out at a higher pitch than he'd intended.

Sirius looked down. "I'm not Harry, I'm just angry."

"What's going on?"

In reply Sirius stepped aside. "I'll show you."

Harry's mouth dropped. Professor Escoban was sitting, tied to the chair looking a little groggy...and angry.

"Harry." Sirius motioned him towards the back of the chair. Still staring at Escoban he walked towards his godfather and looked down. Her left sleeve had been pushed up above the elbow. There it was, standing out against the pale flesh, the Dark Mark.

Harry thought he was going to faint. He gritted his teeth, his fists balling up. He took a step so he could look her in the eyes.

"I trusted you, you bastard! How could you be a, a, fucking Death Eater?"

She was still looking at him as if asking him for pity. It made him sick. How could he have missed this? How could Dumbledore?

"Aren't you even going to try to deny it?!"

She turned her gaze towards Black.

"Well!?" Harry almost screamed the word.

She flinched slightly. Then she looked briefly at Harry and then angrily back at Black.

And then something occurred to Harry. "You've not put a silence curse on her have you?"

Escoban nodded.

"Well there's not much point me asking her questions if she can't answer."

"She'd only lie."

Escoban shot another angry look at Sirius. After a moment Sirius shrugged. "Finite incantatem."

"Harry you've got to listen to me....."

"Don't you talk to him!"

"I'm not a Death Eater! I never have been."

"Be quiet!" Sirius had grabbed the front of her robe.

Escoban fell silent. She glared into Black's eyes until he backed off but she made no move to speak.

"Hang on Harry. You know her?" Sirius turned to his godson.

"She's the new Dark Arts teacher."

"What? What the hell was Dumbledore thinking?" He paused turning back to Escoban. "Unless you've put a memory charm on him..."

"Oh for fuck's sake Black, how the hell could I put a memory charm on Dumbledore?"

"Voldemort could have."

"Oh of course! So while he had Dumbledore at his mercy he thought, I know I'll put a memory charm on the old chap, that'd be a laugh! Use your brain Sirius, for once in your life."

"Shut up Attica! Just shut up!"

Harry frowned, so maybe Sirius knew her too.

After a moment Escoban's shoulders slumped.

"Why don't we just go wait for Dumbledore and he'll explain everything?" she suggested.

"Who knows when he'll be back," said Harry.

Escoban closed her eyes. "Shit," she muttered under her breath.

"Besides I'd rather you tell me." Sirius' voice was quiet and dark. "After all, last I heard you were dead."

She ignored him. "Think Harry, I could easily have hurt you, I've had so many opportunities. You've no reason not to trust me." Escoban sounded a little desperate.

"You cast the Imperius curse." Harry was still glaring at her.

"On a bug! Besides you checked with Dumbledore, right?"

Harry shook his head. "I trusted you."

"Why? Haven't you been listening to a damned thing I've been teaching you?"

"Well I don't trust you now, are you happy?!"

She didn't have a reply for that. She seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that they weren't going anywhere. She sat in silence, gathering her thoughts before looking up at Harry.

"I worked for Dumbledore for two years. About a month before Voldemort's fall we were investigating a high-level ministry official. Albus was convinced he was a Death Eater. I went to London to meet a contact, Greshny, in Knockturn Alley. When I got there I found Greshny dead and five Death Eaters at his house. They took me back to Voldemort. I realised that I had been betrayed, I just didn't know by whom."

She paused and looked back at Sirius. "I don't suppose you could loosen these things, it's just I can't feel my arms anymore."

Sirius stared back at her without reply. Escoban sighed slightly and went on.

"Voldemort knew there was a traitor in his Inner Circle. He thought I might know whom. Fortunately, it was Severus who arrived with the Veritaserum and he managed to switch it and give me a modified Living Death potion instead. A few hours later I 'died'."

"That doesn't explain the dark mark," Black snarled.

Escoban gritted her teeth and glared at Black. "As you know, Voldemort had a spy at Hogwarts. He knew that few of you trusted me and that you'd be ready to believe it was me. So, he burned the Dark Mark into my arm and after I was 'dead' he arranged to have my body dumped at Hogwarts' gates. Hagrid found me, took me to the infirmary and Albus gave me the antidote. Fortunately only he, Hagrid and Poppy knew about the mark. And Severus of course. The rest of you didn't find out." She narrowed her eyes at Black. "You'd have believed it though, wouldn't you Sirius?" she added bitterly. "You'd have been overjoyed to have been proved right. And you'd have relaxed your guard. Not that it made a lot of difference in the end."

Harry frowned. "I'd assumed nobody knew about the mark."

"We knew," Sirius replied.

"But you didn't know about it when I told you about Karkaroff."

Sirius paused. "I've realised that I've forgotten a lot of things that happened before Azkaban. But when Snape showed his mark after the third task it came back to me."

Harry nodded, and silently wondered about the state of his Godfather's mind after twelve years in that place.

Sirius turned back to Escoban. "So, where have you been since then?"

After a moment she continued. "Nobody could find out I was alive or Severus' cover would have been blown. So I stayed at Hogwart's while I recuperated, they held a funeral and Albus tried to work out what to do with me."

"And what was that?"

"At first I was going to leave the country, but then..." she looked at Harry once more, "...Voldemort fell and that changed everything. Harry, Arabella Figg was your secret keeper but at first Albus feared that an attempt would be made on your life, so he sent me to live with Arabella as well. I stayed there until you were three. After that the danger seemed to have diminished so we went back to plan A. I left the country to work as a liaison for Dumbledore. I've been travelling ever since."

"Does Remus know?"

She shook her head. "Dumbledore was going to tell him after James and Lily were, er, killed but he'd disappeared. By the time he came back I was out of the country so I suppose he decided not to drag up ancient history."

Escoban turned. "Harry, I could have killed you a hundred times over. I could have taken you beyond Hogwarts' wards; given you a portkey and you'd be with Voldemort now. It doesn't make sense for me to be working for him."

"Unless he's playing a waiting game"

"Why Sirius? Why would he wait? He wants Harry or he wants him dead, what would be the point of playing for time?" She sounded desperate and angry now. "I know you've got at least two brain cells, Black, try rubbing them together!"

Black didn't move, trying hard not to react to the taunt. Harry stepped forward trying to calm the situation down.

"Maybe we should go back to Hogwarts and wait for Dumbledore. Maybe Professor Escoban's telling the truth but..."

"Who?" Black snapped.

"Professor Escoban." Harry nodded towards her.

"Who the hell is Professor Escoban?" Sirius was looking at the professor with a glint of victory in his eyes.

Escoban sighed. "Samantha Escoban worked for Dumbledore. She had no family, few friends. She was run over by a bus about four months before I was captured. When I needed to run I took over her identity. She was at school with us in fact, six years above. I'm sure you don't remember her. I don't and she was in my house."

Black smiled, he looked very pleased with himself. "So are you going to tell him or am I?"

Escoban glared at Black.

"Oh my God," Harry gasped. "You're not a Malfoy!"

"No I'm not!" she snapped.

Black laughed. "He's not far off though, is he?" If possible, Escoban looked angrier than ever.

"Harry," she began hesitatingly, "my real name is Attica Snape."

Harry stared at her.

"Severus Snape is my brother."

He continued to stare.

She looked up at Black to see him smiling at her. It was not a nice smile.

"B-but you're nothing like him." Harry's voice came out at a high pitch.

"We weren't very alike physically."

"Oh I don't know." Black raised his wand. "Accio contacts."

Attica screwed her eyes shut. "Damn it, Black, that hurt!" She was blinking rapidly, but when she finally looked up Harry saw what Sirius meant. Two very familiar black eyes were staring into his.

"And blonde hair doesn't suit you."

"Shut up, Sirius. You ever tried to dye black hair? It's a wonder I've got any left."

Harry didn't know what to say. Everything had turned on its head. He didn't know what to believe. The sensible thing would be to return to Hogwarts and let Dumbledore sort it all out. He just wasn't sure that Sirius wanted to do the sensible thing. Nevertheless.

"I still think we should get back to Hogwarts. I'll stay under my cloak with my wand on her. I'll knock her out if she tries anything."

Sirius thought about it for a moment. He didn't really have a choice.

"Fine. But watch her Harry." He mumbled a counter-curse at Escoban and with that he promptly turned into a large black dog.

"What the...?" Escoban's eyes were wide. "Well that explains a lot."

Harry levelled his wand at her. She was clenching her fists and trying to shake the blood back into her arms.

"Let's go," Harry said as he shrugged the invisibility cloak over him.

She looked around, gingerly feeling the tender spot on the back of her skull. "Come on then doggie. Heel."

*****

They finally made it back to Hogwarts. To outsiders, it must have looked as if Escoban was taking her dog for a walk. Professor McGonagall knew better. She hurried to meet them in the front quad.

"What's going on Professor?"

"We need to talk to Albus, is he back?"

McGonagall nodded, her eyes narrowed. She looked down at Sirius and then back at Escoban. "What's happened to your eyes?"

"He has my contacts. I can only hope he hasn't eaten them," she replied bitterly.

"You've been fighting, I don't believe it!"

"I didn't do anything!" Escoban replied angrily.

McGonagall regarded her dubiously.

"I didn't even provoke him. Well, not until after he'd smacked me over the head and tied me to a chair."

McGonagall looked down at Sirius, turned and started to walk towards the front doors. "You'd better come along them. And keep your head down if we see anybody."

"Thanks for your concern," Escoban muttered.

Harry hurried after them. How was he going to explain the cloak with McGonagall there? All too soon they had arrived at the gargoyle and now they were heading up the stairs. She was knocking on the headmaster's door. Shit. They stepped inside. Sirius turned back into human form and both he and Escoban were looking around for him. Shit, shit, shit.

He took off the cloak.

"Mister Potter!" McGonagall was not pleased.

"Minerva, I think it can wait." Dumbledore was sitting at his desk looking at the pair in front of him. Escoban looked more confident now, Black a little less so.

Escoban raised an eyebrow at Black. "So, are you going to tell him or am I?" The irony was not lost on him.

"Attica has told me her version of why she's here, we were, er, wondering if you could...verify it."

Harry realised that Sirius believed her. He wasn't stupid after all, it did make sense, he just didn't want to believe it.

Dumbledore sighed and looked from one to the other.

"How much did you tell him, Attica?"

She half shrugged. "Pretty much all of it."

And Dumbledore began to speak. He didn't elaborate, he left out some minor details, he added others, but the story was the same. Harry noticed that Professor McGonagall did not appear surprised at all.

When the headmaster stopped speaking there was a long silence. Escoban was looking rather smug, Black somewhat subdued and Harry didn't know what to think.

"Now," Dumbledore continued, "I want you two to shake hands."

Neither moved.

"You are both on the same side. You need to put this behind you." Dumbledore paused. "Why do I feel like I've said this before?" He looked meaningfully at Black.

Black looked over at Escoban and stuck out his hand. She didn't move.

"Attica, if Severus could..."

She sighed, gasped Black's hand and shook it quickly before they both let go.

"Excellent."

Harry didn't feel Dumbledore's optimism.

"So Albus," Escoban broke the silence. "Did you always know he was a dog?"

"Not until recently."

"They were all Animagi weren't they? That's how they could sneak around the grounds in the middle of the night. James would have been, what, a lion or an eagle or something."

"A stag."

"Oh. And Pettigrew...a worm?"

"A rat."

"Figures."

Black almost smiled.

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Now, maybe you can explain why you were wandering about under that cloak of yours."

Harry shuffled his feet. His dream had been put to the back of his mind in light of current events.

"I, er, I had a dream."

"What about?" Sirius sounded concerned.

"Well, I couldn't see any faces but there were three of them, and they were talking about getting into Hogwarts. I think soon. I think they're going to come for me" He hated talking about his dreams, they'd always alarmed everyone.

"Did they say how?" Sirius looked extremely anxious.

"No," Harry replied miserably. He wasn't being a lot of use.

"Well, we'll have to post extra patrols from tonight. Minerva, can you see to that?"

"Of course." She swept passed Harry and left.

"Sirius, you'd better get back to Hogsmeade, you may overhear something."

He looked at Harry again. "Do you remember anything else?"

Harry shook his head.

"You'd better go too, I need to talk to Professor Escoban for a moment. And Harry, you must talk to nobody about this. Not even your friends. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

With that he and Sirius left Dumbledore's office.

Harry was still a little stunned. He looked up at his godfather as he paused at the top of the stairs. Sirius had an odd expression on his face.

"Harry," he began "I'm sorry about all that."

"I'm not sure I'm the one you should be apologising to."

Sirius sighed. "She wouldn't have accepted it. We're way beyond that."

Sirius sat on the top step. Harry joined him.

"Harry, I didn't hate her when we were at school. I didn't like her and I never trusted her but I didn't hate her, not really. Not until Azkaban. That place dredges up all the worst thoughts you have and twists them. I thought about Peter and how I'd get out and what I'd do to him. I thought about Severus Snape. I knew he was free and I was sure he was a Death Eater. God, I wanted to get my hands on him. And I thought about Attica Snape. She'd died a hero for the cause and I was rotting in Azkaban, the most hated person in the wizarding world. If I hadn't thought she was dead I would have wanted to kill her too." He paused. "I can't remember half of what happened at school really, just the worst parts. Remus has been helping me fill in the gaps. But I do remember that she wasn't as bad as her brother, although she was a psychopath on the Quidditch pitch and she had the worst temper."

"Worse than Snape's?" Harry found it hard to believe that anybody had a worse temper than Snape.

"Well, at least Snape vents his anger. Rather frequently in fact. But imagine if he kept it bottled up for years and then lost control."

Harry shuddered at the thought.

"One time in Transfiguration, Attica put twelve students in the infirmary and blasted McGonagall across the room. I wish I'd seen that actually, but I was unconscious at the time."

"Wasn't she expelled?"

"There were, um...extenuating circumstances. Anyway, I'm not saying how I behaved back there was right, and god knows I'm not perfect, far from it. I'm just saying, there are reasons and truly, I've not always been like this."

Harry nodded. He'd often wondered about what his godfather had been through in Azkaban. He tried not to think about it too much but sometimes the thoughts just wouldn't go away. "That's alright Sirius. This is going to take some getting used to, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded. They got up and headed down the stairs.

*****

Thursday evening came around. Harry slowly made his way down to the Dark Arts workroom for his fortnightly lesson. He was rather apprehensive. Since he'd found out the truth he hadn't talked to Escoban...Snape...whatever she was called. Was she going to be angry? From what Sirius had said he rather hoped not. He paused outside the door.

"Come in."

Harry jumped. Pull yourself together, he thought as he walked into the room.

"Hello Professor Escoban."

She smiled in acknowledgement of his discretion.

"Hello Harry, sit down. Do you have your homework?"

Harry sat and handed her a parchment, which she put into her briefcase.

"So, impressions of what you've read."

"Er, right. I, er, thought the bit on the counter-curses used during the Dreigeg Wars was very interesting."

"Interesting yes, but useful?"

"I suppose so. I mean I could get turned into a tree."

She frowned. "That was a different chapter."

"Oh, was it? What happened during the Dreigeg War then?"

"People didn't get turned into trees."

"Right."

"Anything else?"

"Um...I don't think my essay's very good."

"Tell me something I don't know."

Harry fell silent. He'd not really had chance to read the book. He'd thought it was a bit unfair having to do extra homework over the holidays and then the whole Escoban/Snape issue had put it out of his mind.

"Shall I give you this back?" Escoban said offering him the essay.

"I'll do it for next time."

"Thank you."

Harry stuffed the parchment into his bag trying hard to hide his embarrassment.

Escoban picked up her wand. "Silentium."

"What was that?"

"Now nobody can hear us. So Harry, if you haven't been working on my essay what have you been doing?"

"Thinking."

"I see." She was looking at him with an expression he couldn't read.

"You're not really angry are you?" he asked finally.

After a moment she smiled slightly. "Not really, it is Christmas after all."

Harry laughed nervously.

"So, what's on your mind Harry?"

Harry didn't know where to start. He didn't want to ask the wrong question. He picked what he hoped was a relatively neutral topic.

"So, er, you were at school with my parents then?"

She nodded.

"What was my mother like? It's just, nobody ever talks about her."

She thought for a moment. Harry couldn't tell what she was thinking. "I didn't really know her until the fifth year when she started dating your father. She was in a different house and rather quiet in class so I hardly noticed her."

"But you noticed her in the fifth year."

"Rather difficult not to. She never entered into the fights though, and I don't think she approved. I suppose, being Muggle-born, she couldn't see the immense importance of a house and family name. She was right of course. I suppose Muggle-borns, in a way, are lucky. They arrive at Hogwarts with no history to live up to, no preconceptions to fight. Of course they also get mercilessly abused by Slytherins so maybe it's not all roses." She smiled at Harry trying to get him to relax a little.

"I worked with her a little after school although I was never quite sure what she did for Dumbledore. She was always very nice to me, which I found rather suspicious. I never got to know her well which, frankly, I regret."

Harry nodded. She hadn't really told him much he didn't already know, except that she'd worked for Dumbledore, which he found intriguing.

"Did you get on with my father?"

She didn't answer immediately.

"My opinion of your father changed over the years. We tolerated each other for the first five years of school. But it was inevitable that I'd get dragged into the fights he had with my brother, so we did have our moments. Later, I admit, I grew to hate him in the way teenagers hate each other." She shrugged apologetically. "After school we worked together quite a bit and I have to say we managed to put our differences behind us. I suppose in the end we were friends. Not good ones, but friends. He trusted me and I trusted him which amounted to the same thing."

"But you never trusted Sirius."

She frowned. "Actually I did. At least I trusted him to be Sirius, the worst enemy you could have but the best friend you could ask for. I have to say I was stunned when I found out he'd betrayed your parents. I accepted that he'd sold me out, but not them, it just didn't make sense."

"So you didn't believe it."

"No, I believed it. After all he was their secret keeper so it had to be him. Of course I wasn't surprised when Dumbledore told me it had been Pettigrew. That was more his style."

"Why do you think he did it?"

"Pettigrew? Well, he was an odd chap. Quite bright, an anxious kid. He'd act big and tough around his friends but he'd never throw a punch until he was sure they were winning. Then he'd get a few hexes in. But if you caught him on his own he was a bit of an invertebrate. I suppose I had a grudging respect for your father, Sirius and Remus, at least they stood for something. Pettigrew we called The Worm in the Slytherin common room."

"What did you call my father?"

"Er, several things. Golden Boy usually." She looked almost sheepish as she got back to the original subject. "You have to understand that at the time Pettigrew turned against us things were going very badly. Voldemort had the upper hand, the Ministry was becoming increasingly desperate. I suppose he thought it was time to switch to the winning team."

"But he betrayed his friends!"

"He did." Escoban leaned forwards resting her elbows on the desk. "During those years many people had to make difficult choices. He made a bad one. Don't get me wrong, I loath the man. My current predicament is due to him. I just mention it because we are in similar times now and many more will be faced with the same choice. I don't envy you much, Harry Potter, but at least you won't have to wrestle with any moral dilemmas. Your course was decided for you a long time ago."

"Do you know why? I mean, why did he go after my parents, and how did I kill him?"

"I have no idea." She smiled slightly. "I was dead at the time."

After a moment Harry smiled as well. The atmosphere in the room had become intense and a little light relief was definitely needed.

"I do trust you, you know."

She raised her eyebrows at that.

"Thank you Harry. Although, as your Dark Arts teacher I feel I should caution you against it."

Harry smiled. "If Dumbledore trusts you then so do I."

She looked at him long and hard. "Fair enough." Harry shifted, still a little uncomfortable under her gaze.

"So, do you have any other burning questions or shall we call it a night?"

"Er...I was wondering...you're not a Muggle-born are you?"

She looked rather shocked by the question.

"You see Malfoy said something...oh, I guess he was talking about Escoban."

"Yes, I guess so. I didn't know her although I know all about her. For the record, I did play Quidditch for Slytherin, I did work for Dumbledore, I was never a Death Eater, and I am definitely not a morning person."

Harry smiled a little.

"And was all that arguing with Professor Snape just an act then?"

She raised an eyebrow, looking at him with amusement in her eyes.

"Er...No," she replied. "We argue, that's all. It's quite normal. You don't have a brother Harry; you wouldn't understand how irritating they are. Anyway, I couldn't exactly give him a hug in The Great Hall, that would rather have given the game away." She smiled wickedly. Looking at him she could see that Harry couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hug Severus Snape.

Harry picked at a nail on his left hand as he contemplated his next question. Would he get another chance to ask?

"Why does he hate me?" The words were out before he'd had time to reconsider.

She didn't say anything for a long while.

"I don't think I'm the one you should discuss that with."

"Well I can hardly ask him!" he replied bitterly. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"That's alright Harry," she cut in. "But I think you should be getting back now."

Harry grabbed his bag and rose, now desperate to leave. Why had he asked her that? But when he got to the door he felt he couldn't just leave on that note.

"I'm sorry Professor, I didn't mean to ask..."

"Harry, you can ask me anything. I just can't always give you an answer."

"Oh, right. Thanks."

"Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Professor."