Full Circle

Chapter 4 - A Brief History Lesson

It felt so good to be back at Hogwarts, sitting here by the fire in the red and gold decorated common room. "I'll just wait here quietly," thought Harry "and wait for Ron and Hermione to get back from wherever they are. Imagine the look on their faces when they seen that I've returned."

His eyes glanced around the room as he waited. Though he couldn't put his finger on it, something about it seemed unusual. Different drapes on the windows perhaps? A new armchair? No, that was not it either. At that moment, two teenaged girls came down the staircase leading from the dormitories - students that Harry had never seen before, even though they looked to be at least in their fifth year. They both sat down on a cushioned window seat to chat, neither one noticing Harry sitting across from them.

"She went to see him again, last night," said the girl with the short disheveled brown hair.

"I really don't think that is such a good idea," scolded the taller student, whose long dark tresses went halfway down her waist.

"And why not, Minnie? Are you jealous?"

She stared back in disbelief. "Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Well, he is attractive and head boy - what's not to like? If you were not so busy admiring certain professors, you might have noticed."

Minnie was about to respond when they were interrupted by a tall middle aged man entering the common room. He was dressed much as any professor at Hogwarts would be: long black robes and a pointed hat covering his auburn hair that was graying at the temples. In fact, the teacher looked strangely like a much younger..."

Harry almost fell out of his chair. "Professor Dumbledore!" he called out, but to his surprise no one turned around. The two girls stopped their gossiping and stood up to address their Transfiguration instructor.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore!" They chimed.

"Good evening. Minerva, Arabella. You wouldn't out by chance know where Katherine is?"

They exchanged nervous glances. "I believe she is in the library studying," replied Arabella.

"Ah, well that would explain it. I have not yet checked there. Thank you, girls," he smiled kindly as he turned to head out before remembering something else. "Oh, and by the way Minerva - you did a very good job in transfiguration today. Your effort has much improved."

She fought back the red color rising to her cheeks. "Thank you very much, Professor" and with that he left.

Minerva? Arabella? Where was he? Harry jumped up quickly to follow Professor Dumbledore. He would have the answers - he always did! But his efforts to find his mentor were lost when his shoe got caught on the scarlet carpet and fell face first to the ground.

"Harry, are you ok?" he heard a familiar voice ask.

Harry opened his eyes to find himself lying on the floor of the London flat where he had been living for the last three months. Above him Sirius was sitting on an armchair drinking a cup of coffee and reading the Daily Prophet. He didn't look terribly concerned that his godson was sprawled out on the ground. Grabbing his glasses which had been mangled during his fall from the couch, Harry stood up and walked over to the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Any news, Sirius?"

He took another long sip. "Nothing yet, but it is still early."

"What the hell!" yelled Harry, almost dropping the glass into which he was pouring orange juice.

"Happy Halloween, Harry!" smiled Lupin, coming out from the bathroom.

"Is that spider?" Harry replied disgustedly, staring at the glass.

"Not a real one, Harry. Just a prank one - for a quick scare to start your Halloween off." Lupin fished out the offending insect with a long handled spoon and handed it back to Harry.

"I've already had a fun start to my day, but thanks anyway." He tried to fruitlessly to bend his glasses back into their original shape.

"How did you mess up your glasses?" asked Lupin, chewing on a pumpkin muffin.

"He fell of the couch," said Sirius, dryly. "Any more unusual dreams recently, Harry?"

Giving up on fixing the glasses, he replaced them on his head, lopsided. "Nothing with Voldemort in them." Lupin pulled his wand out of his pocket and said the words "Oculus Repairus!"

"Thank you," Harry said quietly. Why had he not remembered this spell before? Hermione had used it on him dozens of times. Hermione...

"When do you think I'll be able to go back to Hogwarts? It been almost three months and we haven't really done anything."

Lupin and Sirius exchanged glances. Up until then, Harry had made no complaints about being away from school - he just followed their requests to stay in the apartment during the day and study in effort to keep up with his schoolwork. On a few occasions the three of them had gone out at night to underground meetings for the order, but honestly there had been nothing for them to do. The surge of terror that everyone expected would occur after Dumbledore's sudden death never happened. No mass destruction, no muggle deaths, no bizarre events at all. But yet they were still reluctant to send Harry back to school. At least here, he was hidden. If Voldemort was looking for him, and they knew he would be eventually, he would have no problem finding him at Hogwarts. And with Dumbledore gone, no one knew how well the protective spells he placed on the castle would hold up.

"We know you miss your friends, but staying here with us is very important," said Sirius. "Voldemort could attack at any time, most likely when we are caught off guard."

"I know, I know," replied Harry, crossing over to the window. "But I haven't even been able to send them an owl to let them know I'm ok. I promised them I would."

"They will not be worried, Harry. Professor McGonagall knows that you are fine and she will quell any fears they might have about the situation."

McGonagall! Images of last night's dream flooded Harry's mind. It was not uncommon for Harry to have strange dreams, but normally they involved Voldemort and his attempts to find and kill Harry. Hardly what you would consider to be dreams, he thought to himself. Definitely more like nightmares. But this was not like the others; it was almost as if he had once again been sucked into Tom Riddle's diary and transported to another time - a time when Professor McGonagall and Mrs. Figg had been students at Hogwarts. Not possible, he thought shaking his head. Probably a result of eating a ham and cheese sandwich at three o'clock in the morning. People say you have weird dreams if you eat late at night.

Had the night of his birthday been a dream? It certainly was a strange and unexpected series of events. He wished he could talk to Hermione - to see if any of that was real. What if it was a dream...how embarrassing it would be to bring it up to her! But what if it had really happened and he never bothered to discuss it with her! How can I not know the difference between dreams and reality? The thought screamed in his head as he ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. Looking at Sirius, he was half tempted to tell him about it, but then thought better of it. How do you explain that you are not exactly sure whether or not you shagged your best friend in your godfather's backyard on the night of your seventeenth birthday? Who would believe that you honestly could not remember if it even happened at all?

Sighing, Harry picked up a textbook and went to go study in his bedroom. Once the door closed behind him, Sirius spoke.

"What do you think you were doing pulling a prank on Harry this morning?" he growled.

"I thought it would be funny. I thought it would cheer him up on a day like today," replied Lupin, defensively.

"He probably wouldn't have even realized it was Halloween if you had not mentioned it to him." Sirius looked away. "Besides, if anyone needs some cheering up today, it will probably be us and not him."

Lupin sat down on the couch across from Sirius. "Frankly, I don't know how you managed all summer," he confessed. "Just seeing him on a constant basis brings back so many memories of his parents. I mean, he's a spitting image of his father - the hair, the glasses, even some of his mannerisms."

"But not his eyes," Sirius said quietly.

Lupin's breath caught in his throat. "No. Those are Lily's eyes." A dense silence hung between the two for a moment.

"Sometimes it still surprises me that James and Lily ended up together and not you two..."

Lupin looked away distractedly. "Lily only liked me because James was too wrapped up in Quidditch to notice her as anything special for all those years. Too busy pining after Emerald Donovan to see what was right in front of his face. I noticed and I paid attention to her and she liked me because of it. But deep down, she always loved James."

"And when they finally got together our seventh year, you never said anything to stop it."

"James was one of my closest friends in the whole world. Once he fell in love with Lily, it changed everything about him. I wasn't about to stand in the way of his happiness."

"Even though it stood in the way of your happiness?" Sirius stared at Lupin.

"He never knew how I felt. Neither did she, really." Lupin looked his long time friend right in the face. "It doesn't matter now anyway, Sirius. Twenty years have gone by and James and Lily are both dead. What matters now is that we take care of their son to the best of our abilities."

"You're right," Sirius replied sullenly. "Come on, Remus, we've got work to do."

The next day at Hogwarts all third year students and above were eagerly anticipating the first Hogsmeade trip of the semester. They waited outside the main entrance bundled in their cloaks against the now November chill, chatting about the great Halloween party they had attended the night before. Just as the carriages arrived to take the teenagers to one of the most popular wizarding attractions in the area, Hermione rushed through doors, still wrapping her red and gold scarf tightly around her neck. She was out of breath when she had finally caught up with Ron, Ginny and Neville.

"Hey, 'Mione. What took so long? We were afraid you weren't coming," said Ron, which would not have come as a surprise considering that she had baled on the party the night before.

"Are you kidding?" she smiled, her face a glow for the cool air. "I wouldn't miss a trip to Hogsmeade for anything. Besides, I want to get started on my Christmas shopping."

"Already?" asked Neville. "Man, you are ambitious. I haven't even started thinking about it." An empty carriage pulled up in front of them and the four climbed in carefully.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me at all," replied Ginny, sitting down next to Hermione. "Frankly, I am just glad you came. I dreaded the thought of riding all the way to Hogsmeade alone with Ron and Neville.

Ron rolled his eyes, but Neville just smiled mischievously. "So I guess that means you are not interested in hearing a certain story that I might happen to have concerning a few Hogwarts professors..."

"Who?!?" His three traveling companions asked simultaneously.

"McGonagall? Trelawney?" Ginny suggested.

"Fleur?" tried Ron.

Hermione sighed. "Her name is Professor Delacour, Ron. My guess is Snape."

"Not just Snape," grinned the stocky boy, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.

"Well, don't hold out on us, Neville. What happened?" Ron pestered.

Neville hesitated for a moment, but realized what he had discovered was just too good to keep to himself. "I'll start at the beginning. Last night during the party, I happened to be in the trophy room and-"

"Wait a minute!" Ginny interrupted. "What were you doing in the trophy room?"

Neville was caught completely off guard. "Umm...well...I was waiting to meet up with someone."

"Who is this 'someone'?" asked Ron.

"Well, it doesn't really have anything to do with the story..." Three pairs of eyes watched him intently before he gave in. "...but if you must know, it was Hannah Abbott," he sighed.

"The seventh year Hufflepuff?" asked Hermione and Neville nodded.

"Wohoo! Go, Neville. Sneaking off for a late night hook up!"

"Ron!" Both of the girls chided as their storyteller blushed. "Go on, Neville. Continue with your story," said Hermione, sternly staring at her red-haired friend.

"Anyway, I was waiting in the trophy room last night, when I heard footsteps shuffling down the hall that certainly weren't Hannah's. Quickly I hid behind one of the long curtains praying to Merlin that I wouldn't be caught away from the party. Looking through the small gap in the fabric I saw Professor Snape, looking miserable as he normally does and pulled away hoping that he hadn't seen me. I held my breath and waited for a few minutes, not knowing whether or not Snape was still out there. After a long period of silence, I was about to come out from my hiding place, when suddenly I heard a voice..."

"Good evening, Severus," said a sultry voice. "What brings you to the trophy room late at night, when every one else is in the great hall celebrating?"

"Evening, Professor Malfoy and if you must know, I don't particularly like parties. Too many people, too much noise. All those silly games and decorations," he replied coolly.

"Now, now, Severus. No need to be so formal with me. Call me, Narcissa."

Snape scoffed at the idea. "Why should I bother, Professor? First names are things to be used between friends. You and I are merely co-workers. There is no need for further intimacy."

"And the six years we spent as classmates here at Hogwarts means nothing?"

Snape coughed, hoarsely. "No, not really."

"Don't be like this, Severus. I've been here for two months and you haven't spoken more than a few words to me. I thought you and I had been friends."

Peering through the curtain again, I saw Professor Malfoy reach out to touch Snape on his arm, but he pulled away from her with disdain. "I would hardly consider someone I have not spoken to in twenty years to be a friend of mine."

"How could I? Once you turned your back on the Death Eaters, there was no way I could get in contact with you!"

His face was like stone as he glared at her. "Oh, so that was the reason. You refused to owl your best friend because one day I grew up and realized that this whole Dark Lord business was crazy!" Snape began to pace back and forth. "Because I knew that Voldemort was just using us, because we were naïve teenagers who wanted to belong to something powerful. That is what we Slytherins are taught to do - achieve greatness no matter what the cost. We both understood in our hearts that this situation was bad and yet you stayed." For a moment he just stared at a glass cabinet filled with awards, his fists clenched as his sides. "You stayed because of him."

"Damn it, Severus. He was my fiancé, soon to be husband. I didn't really have a choice."

"You had a choice, Narcissa," he snarled, turning back to face her. "You did not have to marry Lucius. You agreed because he was rich. He was handsome and popular, but most of all he was rich and marrying him would restore prestige to your family. It would cover up the devastation your father caused when he gambled away the Beauvais fortune. You were so ashamed of your parents and so concerned with your precious image that you married that creep and look what it got you."

She returned his stare painfully, her face stricken pale. "And what would you have suggested that I had done, Severus - left the Death Eaters and married you instead?"

Those words were like a rock that shattered Snape's frozen expression of hatred. For a moment, he actually looked shocked to hear her say such things. But just as quickly the anger returned with full force. "You spiteful little bitch," he growled as he started to leave.

"Severus! Wait!" Professor Malfoy called, almost too loudly.

Snape whipped around frustratedly. "I don't even know why that dim-witted McGonagall decided to hire you - to take over my teaching position no less - considering who you are..."

A silence hung heavy between them for a minute before she could respond. "Minerva has a heart that resembles the same person who gave you a second chance. How quick you are to judge, Severus, considering who you are..."

He was silenced by her comment. The two stood facing each other, but averting their eyes. "If you must know, Professor Snape, Minerva has done me a great favor by hiring me to teach here at Hogwarts. I have wanted to dissociate from the Death Eaters for many years now, but I couldn't for fear of ruining my marriage. Well, that and the terror of what Lucius would do to me if I tried to leave." Her voice wavered as she said this.

"But now that I've done it... left him for good...I was desperate for a safe place to stay. Luckily for me, there was an opening here at one of the most protected havens in the wizarding world. Now, if you'll excuse me, Professor..." With that she turned and walked hastily out of the room. For a few minutes, Snape just stood there, speechless. Then after what seemed like forever (since I was still hiding behind the curtain), he left and I managed to sneak back to the party without further incident."

The carriage was deadly still as Neville finished his tale. "So, what do you guys think? I wanted to tell someone last night, but I didn't have a chance."

"Wow!" was the only response Ron could muster.

"Well, it explains a great deal," said Hermione, hesitantly. "At least about why Professor McGonagall hired Malfoy's mother."

"I can't believe his parents are getting divorced," said Ginny. "I wonder if anyone else knows about this..."

Neville shook his head unknowingly. "It's a shame it had to happen, but can you blame the woman for leaving him? Lucius Malfoy is one of the creepiest guys I've ever seen!"

"Creepier than Snape?" laughed Ron. "I don't know if that is even possible."

"Oh it is!" said Hermione. "As much as I hate Snape, I am comforted by the fact that Professor Dumbledore trusted him. Lucius, on the other hand, is truly wicked somehow."

"It almost makes me feel sorry for Malfoy," said Ginny, quietly.

Her three friends stared at her in disbelief. "I wouldn't go that far," Hermione retorted.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," said Ron "And I think Malfoy will turn out to be just as bad as his father."

Neville and Hermione nodded in agreement, silencing Ginny for the remainder of their ride to Hogsmeade.