Veritas et Tempus

"Harry." Ron nudged Harry in the ribs and nodded up at the teacher's table, with a broad smirk on his face. With some annoyance, Harry informed Ron that he looked scarily like Malfoy when he did that. With some vague look of ignorance, Ron jutted his finger at - of all people - Snape, who was leaning over and looking at Bell, who was having a rather forced conversation with McGonagall about animagi.

"Now, really, Prof-"

"Minerva."

"Minerva. That it is absolutely fine for them if they know what they're doing. And if they mess up it's their own fault, isn't it?" said Bell firmly. McGonagall looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"And what if there is some kind of accident?"

"Like I said, if they want to go playing around trying to be animagi they should be LET and if summat goes wrong well that's their problem." Bell then shrugged and looked the other way, slightly guiltily.

"I really don't think so. Most people don't know how very dangerous it is. Some people have been known to disappear and only turn up later due to some accident of transfiguration of a dog or a cat! Most of them end up being animals for the rest of their lives!" she protested. Bell looked exasperated. Very patiently and firmly she explained once again that it was their own fault, and they'd have to live with it.

McGonagall seemed to have gotten very absorbed into this debate. She was practically bristling with rage at Bell’s apparent blindness. Finally she growled in utter exasperation, looking about ready to give up, when an idea seemed to take her.

“Well… what do you think about the whole thing, Severus?” she asked in a syrupy sweet voice. Bell gave a little shudder and choked on a small laugh.

“About what?” came the quiet reply, although Bell couldn’t properly see past McGonagall to see the speaker. She looked quite irritated though.

“Ricki and I were debating about whether Animagus transformations should be moderated by the ministry?” said McGonagall, ending in a question even though it wasn’t one.

“I think that they should mind their own bloody business,” chipped in Bell. “And if something goes wrong it won’t be their problem, and they’ll have more time to go out and catch people who should really be in Azkaban.” There was a forced sweet tone in her voice although she was almost speaking through clenched teeth.

Harry didn’t get to hear her answer, however, as Hermione nudged him so hard he fell to the ground. She had already got Ron out of the arm and was trying to get the two of them to sneak out of the hall early with her. Ron was looking at her with wide-eyed innocence and asking if she should suggest such a thing as breaking the rules.

Hermione was obvious avoiding Rika Stebbins so that she wouldn’t have to face her embarrassment all over again so Harry consented rather exasperatedly, although Ron seemed less pleased with the entire idea, and kept persisting in a voice imitating Hermione scarily accurately, that they were breaking the rules.

Hermione pulled them underneath the table, making a shushing noise. She then banged on a stone on the floor twice with her clenched fist. The stones slid apart to form a trapdoor. She then lipped her fingers around the edge of it and pulled it up, before grabbing on by the list and pushing him down into the darkness.

“Is it safe?” she called.

”Thanks for risking my life!” called Ron crossly. “It’s only a four foot drop, I’m bending down.”

”Harry, you go next,” said Hermione, rolling her eyes with a small smile. Harry looked at her as if she was mad, and indeed there was a small hint of insanity on the usually studious face of his friend. Her blue eyes were sparkling with a sense of adventure, which he hadn’t seen before. He shook his head warily.

And with an exasperated moan, Hermione shoved him in.

“Hey guys? Where’s Harry, Ron and Hermione gone off to?” said Seamus out loud.

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“Okay, so you didn’t want to be embarrassed. But answer me this, why did you bring us?” asked Ron, running his hand through his hair with an air of distraction, and then folding his arms. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him crossly and explained that she didn’t need his smart comments, and to just hurry up.

”Shh, I have a cunning plan,” she muttered.

”How cunning?” asked Harry curiously.

“It’s so cunning that it’s too cunning for the most cunning fox who used to be the professor of cunning in cunning university, but has now moved on and is head of the department of cunning in the U.N!” explained Hermione.

”Oh,” said Ron, in a slightly impressed tone. Hermione let out an uncharacteristic giggle and hit him. But Harry didn’t ever get to hear what that impressive cunning plan of hers, as at that moment a tapestry to the left of him moved, someone reached out, grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him in. Before he could make a noise a hand was clapped over his mouth.

”Shh,” afeminine voice whispered. “I promise I’ll let you go if you don’t make a sound until I tell you to.” Harry shook his head.

“Aw come on,” whined the voice. “Because I don’t want to hex you.” Harry suppressed a sigh that he wouldn’t have been able to make anyway, and nodded slightly. He was quite suddenly turned to face the person, who had already released her hand before he’d even nodded, seeming to know what he would do.

Before him was the slightly familiar visage of Ricki Bell, her red hair in frizzle over her face, her glasses crooked. She was standing with her hands on her hips looking exasperated. Harry raised an eyebrow, and with an angry mutter proclaimed that, "Just once, once, I’d like a Defence teacher who hasn’t got some kind of issue, isn’t a death eater and hasn’t won the witch weekly’s most charming smile award.”

Bell snorted. “What did you say?” she giggled.

Harry simply frowned at her, patting his robes and wondering where in the name of god his wand had gone. He was quite frankly wondering why she hadn’t made an attempt on his life yet. Bell slipped her foot forward and tapped against his, signaling him to look up. With a jolt of fear, Harry realized she had his wand in her hand.

“I’m going to give it back in a second, I just have something very important to tell you,” she whispered, and in an odd way she reached forward and brushed a bit of hair out of his eyes, looking at him critically.

”Believe it or not you’ve met me before, Harry,” she said in a deep voice, looking him in the eye.

“I don’t think so,” said Harry, with a slight glare.

“You haven’t been getting many letters from Sirius lately, have you,” she said, eyes casting very warily around her, looking at the ground. Harry couldn’t stop himself from gawping.

“Oh fuck,” he muttered.

“Oi! Language!” laughed ‘Bell.’ Trying to look stern. Ricki handed Harry’s wand back to him, and then took her own and whispered “Patifacio verus.” Quite suddenly her face sort of transfigured unexplainably into that of Sirius.

”Long time, no see.” His voice was the same as it had been last summer, slightly scratchy but reassuring in an odd way. All Harry could do was stare in horror and stutter, "H-h-how? Why-why?”

“A little accident that worked out. Because I don’t really think you’re safe here on your-“ he started, but trailed off at the look of indignation on Harry’s face. “Alright, so you can look after yourself,” he said in a sorrowful voice that wasn’t fooling Harry for a second.

“Does Dumbledore know?” asked Harry.

”I don’t think so, but I figure he guessed it,” said Sirius scratching his head. He looked a lot younger, more like the person in the photos Harry had now than he had ever seen him before, he was smiling brightly and sitting against the wall of the passage, looking as if he was trying to keep a straight face.

“You won’t believe this,” said Sirius, trying to keep down his laughter.

“What?” asked Harry warily.

“I think Snape has a bloody crush on me!” Sirius cracked up. At this, Harry stared for a split second, before he passed out. His head smacked against the stone floor and the last thing he heard was a worried “Oops.”

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"Oh Poppy I'm so sorry! It was a total accident! This place is really creepy and it gives me the heebie-jeebies and I was walking around the corner and Potter bumped into me so I ... ah... hexed him and I must've knocked him out!" Those were the first words Harry heard as his ears slowly adjusted the muffled sounds around him. He pulled a small smile at Bell's voice, at what he could determine as an attempt at being as feminine as possible (A mean feat for 73's most eligible bachelor.)

"Now Ricki... Potter's always in trouble of some sort, just relax. He's not even bruised,” said Pomfrey's exasperated voice. Harry tried to open his eyes and found that he couldn't, although there was a searing pain going across the back of his skull. Sirius had obviously known what he was doing when he made cover-up-plans. Harry realized he must have been body locked somewhere along the way.

A second later he felt his limbs loosen up and his body being pulled into a sitting position.

"Sorry Harry," whispered Bell's voice.

"HARRY! Ooh, what did you do to him you ... you ... witch!" shouted Hermione's voice. He could tell just by the tone of her voice that she was glaring at Sirius, blissfully unaware of what was going on.

"Now, Hermione..." muttered Sirius (or Bell... he wasn't sure what to call him. Finally deciding on Sirius.) In a worried tone.

"Miss Granger! Do you mind keeping your voice down? This is an infirmary, not a playground!" Pomfrey shouted over Hermione, sounding utterly outraged. Hermione's voice died down, and a few seconds later there was a shoving sound and a small surprised noise in Bell's voice. There was then a soft thumping noise.

"I'm not leaving him anywhere alone with her," he could hear Hermione mutter under her breath.

"One small strengthening spell and I can let him go. Alright?" Pomfrey's voice seemed to be directed at Hermione as she said this, as if talking to a small three year old who didn't seem to know what was going on. Hermione replied with a small 'huff.'

There was some more muttering, and with a sudden shocking surge an electric shock jolted through his body. His limbs regained feeling and with a twitch he found he could move his fingers again. When he opened his eyes he was relieved of the flickering light of a candle as opposed to stinging daylight.

“Oh Harry I’m so sorry!” said Sirius immediately.

“It was an accident. Forget about it,” replied Harry sleepily. Hermione’s face was darkened in utter rage.

“What, memory charmed too?” she gasped, turning to Sirius.

“How many times, Hermione, I didn’t try to kill your friend!” grumbled Sirius, looking extremely irritated. Hermione glared at ‘Bell.’ With such utter fury that Sirius moved away from her. Harry stifled a laugh. Both Sirius and Hermione looked at him gravely.

“This is serious!” said Hermione. Sirius nodded along sagely, until Hermione turned her grave look to Sirius and informed him that she didn’t need a yes-man and to not get involved. She then informed him that she obviously knew what was best for Harry because she’d known him since first year, whereas: “You’ve only met him tonight. And you only know him because you’re a teacher. So there.”

At this point Harry began to laugh again, with Sirius joining in.

“Batty!” exclaimed Hermione, getting up and storming out, proclaiming different ways in which they were mad. "Barking, Nuts, Crackers, Out of it!’

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The next day was no better, with Hermione barely speaking to Harry at all. Ron had decided to side with neither, deeming it better to be a go-between than have one of them angry with him. Hermione had - in desperation - formed what seemed like a friendship (or an alliance) with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, who snubbed Harry for being, in their words ‘Chauvinist Male Oppressor, not fit to live on this earth for his utter disregard of feelings on poor Hermione’s part.’

Quite abnormally, their first class that morning was Potions. Usually the first class before or after break for the past four years, it was unusual and rather cruel to see it as the first class of a Monday morning. At this point in time, they were actually dashing to their first class, having overslept. Dean still had his toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, while Ron had a comb tangled in the back of his hair. Harry was sure all five boys (Including himself.) would look a right state by the time they managed to clear the entire school and get to the dungeons.

“First class of the first day of the first week of the first year… And I’m already going to get a detention,” moaned Neville.

“At least we’re not late for transfiguration!” breathed Dean, skidding to a halt as he got a stitch in his side. He neglected to warn the other boys of this, creating a domino effect. Ron crashed into Dean, while Neville crashed into Ron and Seamus tripped over the entire pile of them. Harry chuckled, while Seamus glared at him.

“You got in trouble for that once before, now shut up and help us up,” he growled. Harry raised an eyebrow but helped him up anyway.

“What the devil do you mean at least we’re not going to be late for transfiguration?” demanded someone from the bottom of the pile.

”Well McGonagall would have given us extra homework or detention or taken points from Gryffindor,” said Dean earnestly, with a sheepish smile at the rest of them.

“And what the feck d’ya think Snape’s going ta do?” asked Seamus crossly, tugging at him. “Get a move on!”

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As the five finally reached the dungeons, a full twenty minutes late and dreading what would happen, Seamus finally lost his nerve and suggested that maybe they should just miss class, or go up to Madam Pomfrey faking a stomach ache or something. Harry pointed out that Pomfrey seemed to know exactly when someone was faking, before Seamus handed his wand to Neville.

”Hex me,” he said, stretching his arms out.

“No!” spluttered Neville. The door swung open, and the five boys jumped.

“Well, come on, in. You’re late, you know,” said an unusual voice, awfully like Snape’s but… pleasant… it was quite unnerving. They shuffled in like sheep, and before sitting down, caught a glance at the terrified class. The utterly unimaginable had happened. Harry didn’t know how, or why…

But Snape had dyed his hair blonde…

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