Secrets and Consequences

Snape Can Say Merry?

Harry lagged behind the others as they unloaded from the vehicle, feeling vaguely amused as he watched his aunt dart into the house as if the hounds of Hell chased after her. He stopped and looked at the dilapidated old manor house with grim humor. Once again he was stuck in this place, only this time, Sirius wouldn't be there. No one would be there. Just he, the Dursleys and painful memories trapped within this dark mausoleum. He felt vaguely comforted when Remus came back to walk him into the house. It was a caring gesture that Harry wouldn't let go unappreciated. He smiled up at his former professor and headed for the front door. He wondered when it would be easier for him to enter this house.

Inside the atmosphere wasn't any cheerier. There was a definite oppressive feel to the air. The sight of Severus Snape scowling at an unusually cowed Vernon Dursley in the living room really didn't help matters. "About time, Potter," Snape frowned. "I do have other things to do than baby sit to your charming relatives." The sarcasm in Snape's voice was almost palpable.

Harry felt a familiar rage build beneath his skin. "I apologize, sir," Harry restrained himself from snarling. "I wasn't aware that you would receive the unpleasant assignment."

"Nevertheless, I did." Snape's low tones seem to crawl along Harry's skin like insects. "Meanwhile, you and your merry men there were gallivanting around London. I do hope you are quite finished with this idiocy."

Harry wanted to yell and scream at the man but bit back his bitter words. "Quite finished, thank you," was all he said. Harry turned away from the disagreeable man and made his way towards the stairs. "I trust you can see yourself out?" Not waiting for a reply he ran up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door to vent some repressed anger.

Lupin looked around the room in apology before realizing that none of those in the room with him really deserved it. Sighing, he headed toward the room of the angry teenager. He really missed his friends' right then. It wasn't fair. They should have been there for the first day of school, for scraped knees, and the teenage angst. It should have been them with Harry. Not Harry with an old broken werewolf. Lupin shuffled from foot to foot outside of Harry's bedroom door. He wanted to comfort the teen but didn't have the foggiest idea how to go about doing it.

Harry listened to the hesitant steps of his ex-professor outside his bedroom door and sighed unevenly. He really just wanted to be alone at the moment, but couldn't turn him away. "Come in, Professor," Harry cleared a spot off of Ron's bed. Hard to believe that one boy could make such a mess and not even live there.

Lupin walked into the room cautiously, unsure of how to proceed. Teenagers could be dangerous and scary animals at the best of times, let alone when they were upset or angry. He had reason to believe that Harry was a little of both. "Harry..." Lupin lost track of his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Harry smiled wearily at his mentor. "Yes sir. I will be, anyhow. Things can be a bit too much sometimes, you know? Today was a very full day."

Lupin nodded smiling; glad it wasn't a serious problem. "Too true. It was a very interesting day for you, wasn't it?" He chuckled as he remembered Petunia's face during the interrogation at the mall. "Though some of the moments were downright priceless."

Harry's smile grew wider as he nodded in agreement. "Very much so. I am a little tired, actually. I think I'm gonna unpack my new clothes and maybe take a nap before dinner."

Lupin gazed into Harry's weary eyes. "Of course," he frowned. "It's been a rough couple of days for you. For me as well," he trailed off, speaking more to himself. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Harry nodded his head, "I'll be fine." Harry tried to smile reassuringly but failed. "You wouldn't mind unshrinking some of this for me would you?"

Lupin murmured a spell, unshrinking the packages as he waved his wand over the purchases. "I'll leave you to it then." He turned one lat worried glance at the teen before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Harry sighed in relief once he was certain he was alone. He respected Lupin greatly, but didn't need someone hovering over him at the moment. He sat back on the bed, tucking his knees beneath his chin, and thought of his life. This was the darkest point in his life to date. Everyone he cared for seemed to be leaving him; everything around him seemed to be crumbling. Carefully, he removed his new wand from amongst the packages and smiled. It really was quite gorgeous. He could feel its strength running in electric currents up his arm. It was as though it were made for him. He felt strong and powerful; he knew he could do so many great things with it.

So enthralled by the wand was he, that he didn't notice the tears that leaked down his face until they managed to fall with miniscule splashes onto his tightly gripped hand. Harry began to shake in shock as he watched the tears light up with an internal sapphire light. The wand in his hand seemed to pulse with each tear he felt leave his weeping eyes. Within his mind he heard Sirius's barking laugh, almost as if proud of him. Mentally weary, and more than a little confused, Harry drifted off.

The room was dark, yet seemed oddly illuminated by blue light. Almost cave-like. No light source was evident. The room seemed to carry the scent of rain and tears. It was both a refreshing and cleansing smell. His perusal of the room was interrupted by a melodious soft voice.

"It's an odd combination; it doesn't really seem to suit you." An enchanting woman with midnight hair laughed at him. "I always saw you as the quicksilver type. Not Griffin feather."

"Is that a comment on my temper?" A strange voice seemed to laugh from within him. "I never saw myself as the temperamental type."

"No, that is a comment on your personality in general." The brunette became breathtaking as she smiled. "You never seem to be the same person twice, you kenn."

"Tis true." The voice laughingly agreed. "But you always seem to be right, Nimue. Actually, that is the core of my staff. This, however, is not meant for me."

"Ah, I should have known." Nimue tilted her head in thought. "Then you too have dreamt of his coming." Her statement seemed to be approving. "There is hope for you yet, Emrys.

He nodded. "His time is far from now; however, all must be prepared. I do not think I shall be able to guide him to where he must go."

The woman smiled gently. "Then I shall." Her smile became provocative. "Come my love. You and I have much to teach each other, and time for us is short."

He took hold of the proffered hand and followed her into a room of fluid glass.

Harry woke up to a growling stomach and a sore neck; he'd fallen asleep sitting up on the bed, gazing at his new wand. Grimacing, he straightened up his protesting body and put away the wand in its trunk. Sighing in good humor at his growling stomach, he made his way toward the kitchen, and a good snack. As he walked down the hall his mind over went the events of the day. His eyes widened in realization as he realized exactly what Snape had said. Merry men? So did that mean he was Robin Hood? And on that same train of thought, did that make Snape the Sheriff of Nottingham, or Prince John? Or perhaps, maybe Snape just had his mind wrapped around merry men at the moment. Harry couldn't help but snicker even louder at that thought. Questioning Snape's sexuality just went a little too far into the realm of too much information. It wasn't everyday he managed to gross himself out.

Petunia's Story

Harry hadn't realized exactly how long he'd slept until he reached the kitchen. The whole house was completely dark; moonlight shimmered through the dingy glass panes of the kitchen windows. Sighing, he lit a candle and moved toward the icebox, hoping for a cold glass of water. Luck was with him and not only did he get a wonderful, refreshing, and hydrating glass of water, but also found a bowl of stew left out with a nice warming spell on it. It looked like Lupin had stayed long enough to help Petunia with dinner. Smiling, Harry sat with his meal at the worn wooden table and dug in. He was just finishing up the last bit when his Aunt wandered in, looking just a little lost. The sight of his aunt brought all the days events crashing down around his shoulders. Rage bubbled up inside him, eating away at his stomach as he suppressed the urge to strangle the lying bitch that stood uncertainly by the sink. Tamping down the fires of anger, he walked over to the sink and turned on the water for her. "Tell me."

Petunia looked into the fiery eyes of her nephew and shook her head in resignation. "Very well. Let's sit, shall we. I'll put on some tea." Petunia busied herself at the stove as she tried to think of a way to explain. Harry merely sat and waited. Finally, teapot on the table and tea poured out, Petunia began her story. "It started when I was very young. Before Lily was born, my parents said strange things happened. They'd find me out of my pram when I didn't want to be in it when we went to the park. Bottles would appear out of thin air. I think I even set the curtains on fire once," she laughed. "As I grew older and Lily was born, things got worse. Our favorite biscuits would somehow make their way down from the top of the refrigerator, she and I would often find ways of getting into all the good things together, and though I am not sure which one of us it was, one of us even managed to make my father pop home from work one day. One minute he was there, the next... POOF. I feel sorry for my parents. It couldn't have been easy to manage both of us at that early stage. I was a rather awkward child and was made fun of a lot. I didn't like being called names and being different. It was the summer after my eleventh birthday when I got my letter. Lily was around six and we were so close. I was so excited. I was going to go to a mysterious school that would teach me magic. A nice witch came to see me and made things out of thin air. We had tea and biscuits that she just conjured up, I was enthralled. She took us to Diagon Alley. When the bricks parted and revealed a whole other world, I was hooked. It was so magical and interesting. We all went to the wizarding bank. Mum, Dad, Lily and I. The goblins made Lily cry. It was kind of funny," she stopped, lost in memories. "The money was strange. But I was a kid, I didn't know much about money anyway. We went to Ollivander's, just like today. I can remember how terrified I was. He was a lot younger then, but just as enigmatic. I tried many wands. None of them seemed to work for me well. Finally one found me that seemed to work reasonably well, though he said it wasn't my true wand. I was a very difficult witch to match, he said. I didn't care though; I had a shiny new wand. I was officially a witch. And for weeks afterwards I was still excited, until one summer afternoon. Lily and I had gone to the store to get an ice cream cone. We were walking home when some older bigger girls came up to us. Lily was so scared when they started pushing me around. She got so scared, in fact, that her magic got a wee bit out of control." Petunia looked guilty. "All the girls were blown back about twenty feet and some kind of shield seemed to form around us. The girls kept charging at us and bouncing off of thin air. They called us freaks and various other names. They vowed they'd find us and get us when we least expected it." Petunia glanced at her shaking hands wrapped around her teacup. "I realized that they were right. We were freaks. We were different than everyone else. It was a dangerous difference that could get us hurt. Human kind instinctively fears that which they don't understand. I understood that then. I told my parents that I didn't want to be a witch, so they told the school I wasn't coming." Petunia smiled bitterly.

"When Lily got her letter, I tried to talk her out of it, but she was always the stubborn one. Every year she would come home a little changed. After a while it was like she wasn't my sister anymore. She was just another freak in the world. I felt I made the right choice." Petunia took a calming sip. "Then she met James. I was already engaged to Vernon at the time. Vernon didn't know anything about Lily and her world. He never even thought that I could be the same. I was grateful for that ignorance. Things changed however. In the months leading up to the weddings, Lily and I met often. She told me of a war that was raging in her world. She told me that they would be coming after all the mud-bloods and muggles first. That when she taught me. She taught me a few defensive spells and a couple of shielding tricks, just in case. I didn't want to be known as a witch though. I had given up that when I had said no to school, so she turned my wand into a bracelet, so that it would always be handy. With a word I can turn it back into my wand to use it. She stayed long enough to watch me marry Vernon, and then she was gone. It was almost a year before I saw her again at her own wedding. It was also that last time. I guess all those wizards and muggles gathered in one place was too much of a temptation for the darker side of their world. They attacked in force. The reception was a blood bath. Many witches and wizards died in the attack, as well as our parents and grandfather. I was appalled and very glad that I had cut all ties with the people. I never wanted to see your mother again. I hated her. It was her fault for going against my advice and joining the wizarding world. Our whole family was gone," Petunia shook in rage as the memories overwhelmed her. I told Lily I never wanted to see her again. And I didn't." Petunia grimaced. "I heard that you were born, not too long after my Duddikins was born. A year later I found you on my doorstep. End of story." She poured another cup of tea and sat quietly.

Harry listened to the tale in amazement, but wasn't satisfied. "Why were you shoplifting today?"

Petunia winced in dismay as she remembered the horrible events of the day. "We're broke." She ground the admission out. "Vernon has been taking a few risks at the races lately. This wasn't a good time for us to lose everything. I didn't exactly plan for a destroyed house in my budget."

"So," Harry was silently fuming. "You let me think that I was nothing, less than the dirt on your shoe for eleven years, and all that time you were the same. You let me think my parents were killed in a car accident. You treated me like a slave all these years, and you have no real explanation." Harry wanted to scream his rage but kept his voice soft and modulated. "You blame me for the crimes of all wizard kind." Harry didn't trust himself to speak anymore. He stalked from the room, leaving an emotionally beaten Petunia to examine her own actions. Meanwhile, he felt the rage still bubbling inside him. It pulsed against his temples demanding to be let loose. Rubbing his head, he tried to block out the feelings of hate inspired within him. He managed to make it into his room before blacking out completely.

Sprawled on the floor and loosing consciousness fast, he felt his eyes widen in horror as a familiar mocking laugh filled his head. Then all was darkness.