Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch

CHAPTER FIVE

~Shock horror~

The next day, Harry luxuriously loped around the house. He was in a remarkably good mood, now that his dreams of becoming an Auror weren't squashed after all, and his birthday was only a mere two days away - one which he wouldn't have to spend at the Dursleys. The second one, he might add; the first being with Hagrid when he was just about to start at Hogwarts.

Even better was the fact that Snape had yet to make an appearance too, since that morning at breakfast. From what he guessed, Snape was too busy spying on Voldemort to come to the Order headquarters, which was fine by Harry.

After breakfast that morning, Harry followed the Weasley children and Hermione up to Harry's and Ron's room. It was when they reached the safety of Harry and Ron's room that the conversation took an unexpected and unpleasant turn.

"Harry, I was thinking ... what did Professor Dumbledore mean when he mentioned the prophecy?" asked Hermione, sitting down on Ron's bed beside Ginny.

Harry was instantly nervous, and his head shot up in alarm. "Uh, what do you mean?" he replied back, forcing his voice to take on a confused tone.

Hermione seemed in deep thought. "Well he said he should have told you about it ages ago." Harry couldn't help but gulp slightly. "But I thought you didn't know what the prophecy was about, other than it concerned you and Voldemort?"

This was the moment he had been dreading. The moment when the prophecy would be brought up. He just couldn't find it in him to tell them ... they wouldn't understand ... for Merlin's sake, he hadn't even come to grips with it!

"I don't know, Hermione." Harry lied desperately, hoping that Hermione would believe the next thing he would add. "H- He just meant that he should have told me there was a prophecy, so then I would have known from the beginning what Voldemort wanted."

"Oh." was Hermione's only reply as she seemed to ponder what Harry had said.

Before Hermione could ask anything else, Ron thankfully shifted the attention away from the prophecy.

"And what's this about you making old Dumbledore cry and breaking all his things?" he asked, with a wry grin. "I forgot to ask you the other day."

"It happened just after ..." Harry stopped to give a meaningful look at Ron, whose grin faded. Needless to say, he didn't have to say exactly what had happened. "And whilst you were still bumbling around with that brain, Dumbledore sent me back to his office. I was a - bit angry-"

"If it's anything from last year," Fred began mischievously, "I'd say your 'bit' of an anger was probably-"

"Pretty intense." George finished, grinning from ear to ear.

Harry flushed. "It could have been," he admitted reluctantly.

"Oh Harry, how could you destroy all of Dumbledore's things?" Hermione reprimanded gently.

"Sirius just died." Harry snapped back suddenly, making Hermione jump back at his unexpected mood swing. "What was I supposed to do? Have a party? Perhaps invite Voldemort and his Death Eaters over to celebrate a job well done?"

Hermione's features tensed in alarm and she looked stricken.

"I'm sorry," she began hysterically. "I didn't mean it like that. I-"

"No offence Hermione," interrupted Harry, his stomach clenching with the guilt of snapping at Hermione. "I'm sorry, but I'm really not in the mood to talk about all this. I just got given the first good news in a long time, so just drop it."

Ron tapped Harry on the shoulder. "I wouldn't exactly call it good news mate. You're gonna have to put up with Snape in Potions class again." he said.

"Still, imagine the look on Snape's face when he finds out the bane of his existence has been accepted into his Potions class," said Fred.

"Imagine the cries of-"

"THERE IS NO WAY I'M GOING TO ALLOW THAT INSOLENT BOY BACK INTO MY CLASS!" A voice shouted from downstairs, cutting George off abruptly.

"Now, Severus-"

"NO! NO EXCEPTIONS THIS TIME MINERVA!" The voice grew quieter as he was most likely led into the meeting room.

Fred and George turned to each other, grinning.

"Anger-" Fred continued on.

"Disbelief-"

"Shock-"

"Horror." they both finished, giving Harry a slap on the back.

"You are the only one, apart from me and Fred, who really gets to Snape like that," congratulated George, looking almost wistful as he seemed to remember his potion days. "And we worked our butts off to piss him off as much as you do."

"Yeah, except unlike you, all I have to do is breathe." Harry murmured sarcastically to Ron, who was sitting beside him on Harry's bed.

Ron roared with laughter, and repeated Harry's comment out loud to the others, who laughed as well. After the laughter had died down, Ron pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them.

"Up for a game of Exploding Snap?" he suggested.

Apart from Hermione who was studiously reading 'Standard Book of Spells, Year 6', everyone clambered onto the floor to begin the roughest game of Exploding Snap that Harry had ever played.

After the fourth glass of water was poured onto Harry's hair to extinguish the fire starting there, another shout suddenly arose that could be clearly heard at the bottom of the staircase.

"GET THAT BOY NOW."

Harry paled drastically in the middle of patting his wet hair down, and turned to the others in assurance that he had just heard wrong.

"I wouldn't fancy a chat with him now." Ginny commented casually, cementing Harry's fears. He jumped up in a panic, ignoring everyone else's sympathetic mumblings.

"Where's my cloak? I have to hide before they make me go down there." he gibbered wildly, leaping over to his trunk and pulling it open. He ignored Fred's whispered "Cloak?" to George. "There's no way I'm talking to that prat now."

Just as he was halfway through looking in his trunk though, the door opened to reveal a flushing Mrs Weasley. Her eyes latched onto Harry immediately, and she smiled apologetically.

"Harry dear," she said softly. "Can you come downstairs for a moment?"

Harry sent a frantic look in Ron's direction, who looked equally as frazzled. Groaning inwardly in defeat, Harry closed his trunk with a loud snap.

"I'll see you soon then." Harry said, gulping. Ron nodded nervously in return.

Walking past Fred and George, he heard Fred mumble discreetly to George "Famous last words."

He grumpily followed Mrs Weasley, only half-listening to her as she quietly explained that Snape wanted to see him. He scoffed inwardly. Why bother telling him this? He and obviously the rest of the world had heard Snape's yelling. Still, he decided to keep quiet. Snape was only half of what Mrs Weasley could be.

Finally, reaching the dining room, Harry came face to face with an extremely pissed off Potions Master. Professor McGonagall seemed to have left, so other than Mrs Weasley, he was alone with the greasy haired man.

"You," the greasy haired man hissed, pointing at Harry. "Sit down now."

With a contemptuous glare in Snape's direction, he sat down on the chair with the most distance between him and Snape. Mrs Weasley cleared her throat purposely, and both Harry and Snape turned to face her.

"I'll be in the kitchen cleaning, if anyone needs me," she said, before retreating into the kitchen. Harry turned back to Snape who was scowling.

"What did you want me for, sir?" asked Harry rudely. No points could be taken out of school, so he wouldn't hesitate to give as good as he got. "I gather it's not a social call."

Snape sneered, pacing up and down the room.

"You gather right." he replied back silkily. "I've just been given the unfortunate-" Here he stopped momentarily as though to calm himself. "-news, that you will be in my Potions class this coming year. Tell me Potter, what do you think you'll accomplish by coming into my Potions class?"

"To learn Potions," Harry replied back snidely, "sir."

Snape walked briskly over to Harry's chair and pulled out his wand, though did not point it at Harry.

"I am not in the mood for your foolish games, Potter." he spat through clenched teeth.

"I'm not playing any games. I want to do Potions to become an Auror." Harry said honestly, narrowing his eyes as he eyed Snape's wand, which still thankfully wasn't pointed towards him.

"And how can you possibly believe that you will make it through to become an Auror?" Snape mocked cruelly, his lip curled in disgust. "No one has been accepted for over three years. Surely your ego doesn't reach that far."

Taking a deep breath to quell his rising anger, Harry remained silent. Snape seemed satisfied by this and smirked.

"Of course, how could I forget." continued Snape. "You're the boy-who-lived ... the saviour of the wizarding world. Of course you'll get it ... just like you get everything ... just like your excuse of a father did."

"Leave my father out of this." Harry shouted angrily, rising to his feet. His hands were clenched tightly by his side and unknowingly, his fingers puncturing his palm. "In case you haven't noticed, he's dead. As are all your other little school enemies now. Shouldn't that make you happy?"

"Sit down, Potter.' Snape commanded harshly, making Harry's scar twinge in pain. "If you want to remain in my class you will at least obey my commands."

Damn, the stupid prat was right. Harry groaned softly, as there was nothing he could do other than sit. He reluctantly did so, without knowing until that moment that he had been, and still was shaking considerably.

"My my, Potter. Getting rather a temper these days." Snape commented. "Are you planning on following in your dear godfather's footsteps?"

"Don't you dare mention Sirius," Harry growled menacingly, gripping the arms of the chair with all his strength. "You have no right."

"Don't worry Potter, I don't plan on mentioning that stupid mutt again," retorted Snape. "Seeing as I won't be meeting him anytime soon, that is."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SUCH A HEARTLESS BASTARD?" Harry roared, unable to control his fury any longer. "YOU DESERVE TO BE WITH VOLDEMORT-"

"-The DARK LORD." Snape interrupted angrily, his black eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Voldemort." Harry countered firmly, glaring furiously at Snape. "You deserve to be with Voldemort."

He turned to storm out of the room, but Snape roughly grabbed an arm to yank him back. Stifling a yelp, Harry tried to pull out of the grip. No such luck.

"I have not finished with you Potter," snapped Snape, not releasing the painful grip on Harry's arm. "You are to listen to me at all times, you hear me? I won't hesitate to kick you out of my potions class if you set just one toe out of line ... because I don't care how highly you think of yourself ... I said, do you hear me?"

He released Harry's arm, and Harry rubbed it tenderly. "Loud and clear." he bit back.

Snape put away his wand, and crossed his arms in grim satisfaction. "Your father and that mutt always seemed to think rules were above them ... something that you have inherited from them. Let's just see if you can break that habit ... no doubt you can't ... and I for one am waiting eagerly for that to happen."

"You just wait and see then, professor." Harry spat, but before turning around added callously, "Are we finished now?"

"Yes." sneered Snape, and walked out without another word, slamming the front door shut behind him. With a moan of pure frustration, Harry stomped his way up the staircase, ignoring Mrs Black's indignant shrieks. Leave Mrs Weasley to put up with that old hag, he thought angrily.

With a quick yank then slam of his own door, he entered his bedroom again, where everyone (except Hermione) was still playing exploding snap. They all looked up at him in alarm, but Harry hardly noticed them.

"Trust Snape to ruin the good mood." he fumed, striding over to his trunk and wrenching it open. He suddenly had a maddening itch to flick through his photo album again ... just to show that his parents and Sirius weren't always as bad as Snape always said they were. As his hands progressively dug deeper in his trunk, Harry found himself visualising his parent's wedding. His parents and Sirius wouldn't have been like that there. They would have been loving, and kind, and-

"Oww!"

Hermione immediately jumped up to Harry's side, throwing her book down. The others weren't far behind and soon enough they were all watching Harry anxiously.

"What's wrong Harry?" demanded Hermione.

Ron's eyes were opened wide as he fidgeted with his hands. "It wasn't your scar again was it?"

Without answering, Harry pulled out his hand from the bottom of the trunk, his right thumb bleeding deeply from a cut.

Hermione almost sobbed in relief, but then grabbed Harry's hand in a maternal manner.

"You've cut yourself," she stated, pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket and tightly wrapping it around his thumb.

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. He'd already figured that bit out on his own. Sneaking a look at Ron, he saw that Ron was thinking the same thing. That was the smartest witch at Hogwarts?

"What did you cut yourself on?" Ginny asked curiously, and Harry followed her gaze to his trunk. He had an unpleasant suspicion, but didn't answer as he watched Fred and George rummage carefully through his trunk.

"Blimey!" Fred exclaimed suddenly, pulling his hand back as he reached the bottom. "It's broken glass or something, and it's all over the bottom of your trunk."

"Been at the Firewhiskey again have you Harry?" George joked, closing Harry's trunk.

Harry could only manage a feeble smile, as his mind went back to when he had smashed Sirius' mirror ... that's where those glass shards were from. Until now, he had completely forgotten about the mirror. Well, it was more like deliberately pushing his mind away from the mirror. He wasn't stupid. He knew that if he had just used the mirror instead of Umbridge's fireplace last year, then Sirius would still be here. He had thought of it time and time again while he lounged around the Dursleys.

"Harry?"

"Huh?" he asked, his mind wrenched abruptly out of his guilty thoughts.

"It won't stop bleeding, and I obviously can't heal it." Hermione repeated slowly, motioning to his thumb. "So Ginny just suggested that we get Mrs Weasley to heal it for you."

Harry nodded vaguely, allowing himself to be led through the door by Ginny and Hermione, (the others in tow) where Mrs Black screams were slowly receding. They all silently walked downstairs and into the dining room, where Lupin, Tonks, Moody and Mrs Weasley were now all sitting. Snape thankfully hadn't returned, but Harry wondered where the others had been just before.

Mrs Weasley jumped up at the look on their faces, and the way Hermione and Ginny were beside Harry. She frantically rushed over to them.

"What's happened?" she asked urgently.

Ginny gestured to Harry's hand, and he sheepishly lifted it up to show Mrs Weasley the now bloody handkerchief still wrapped around his thumb. He was a bit embarrassed with all the attention. It was only a cut, after all; he'd had much worse at the Dursleys, and all he'd get there would have been a bandaid.

"He cut himself on some broken glass in his trunk." explained Ginny, "We thought you'd be able to heal it."

There was a collective sigh in the room, and Harry flushed in embarrassment.

" 'Tis nothing really." he mumbled.

Mrs Weasley shook her head, returning from the kitchen where she had grabbed a small white box.

"Nonsense." She dismissed, opening the box and pulling out a tube of ointment. A couple of minutes later and Harry's thumb was completely healed. Rubbing it thoughtfully, Harry didn't hear when Mrs Weasley asked him another question.

"What? Sorry, I didn't catch that." he apologised.

"I asked how on earth did broken glass get in your trunk?" she asked, frowning.

George sighed regrettably. "I'm afraid Harry's been at the Firewhiskey a bit much, mum."

"WHAT?" Mrs Weasley turned to Harry in astonishment. She looked about ready to start another one of her boisterous lectures.

"Of course he hasn't, mum." Ginny cut in firmly, though she was smiling.

Harry ignored Mrs Wesley's shrieks at George for joking about something so serious, absently shifting his gaze onto Remus who was again watching him intently. He had a foolish feeling that Remus might have guessed to where that broken glass came from. Hadn't he known about the mirror too, when him, James and Sirius had been at school? Hadn't he known that Sirius had given him the mirror?

"Where did you get that broken glass from?" Tonks interrupted suddenly, making Harry jump.

"Uh -" he began hesitantly. "I - uh - it was from a ..." he trailed off to look at Remus again. He continued on softly, so that Remus might not be able to hear properly. "It was from a mirror."

He was out of luck though.

"You broke a mirror?" Ron asked incredulously, and very loudly.

"Seven years bad luck!" Fred and George crowed dramatically, clutching onto each other in mock grief.

"Oh hush you two." Mrs Weasley chided angrily. "Where did you get that mirror from Harry? I'm sure you can chuck this one out and get another one."

This, Harry wasn't too keen on answering. Shuffling his feet nervously and his gaze now permanently fixed onto the ground, he eventually said, 'I'd rather not say, and I don't - think it can be replaced.'

A silence immediately came up, and Harry squirmed uncomfortably as he felt everyone's gaze upon him.

"Well," said Mrs Weasley, finally breaking through the silence. She seemed to want to say more, but held back. "I'm sure one of us will be able to fix it."

It was then that Lupin abruptly cleared his throat and stood up.

"I think," he said, walking over to stand by Harry and looking straight at Mrs Weasley. "That I'll be the one to help Harry fix up that mirror now, if you don't mind Molly?"

Mrs Weasley nodded, and her face bore an understanding expression. She straightened herself up as she turned to face everyone, and clapped her hands briskly. "The rest of you can help me fix dinner."

Harry left the room to the Weasleys wails of slave labour, Lupin smiling alongside him. Like at the Dursleys, they walked in silence until they reached their destination, Harry's room.

When Lupin softly closed the door behind them, Harry was at a loss for words. Thankfully Lupin seemed to pick up on this and he went straight to business.

"Right." he said, pulling out his wand. "Where are all the little bits and pieces of this mirror that I'm supposed to put back together?"

With special care not to touch the sharp glass again, Harry showed Lupin the bottom of his trunk. For a moment, he thought he saw pain flash across Lupin's features, but when he blinked, thought he was mistaken when Lupin then faced him with a reassuring grin.

"Don't worry Harry," said Lupin. "This is easily fixed." Pointing his wand at the trunk, he clearly pronounced "Reparo" before the shards of glass resumed their original shape of the mirror. Lupin bent over and picked it up from the trunk, studying it thoughtfully.

Looking at the mirror in Lupin's hands, Harry suddenly felt dizzy, and he made his way over to his bed.

"Thanks." he found himself saying mechanically, as he shut his now burning eyes. He felt the bed tip a little, and knew that Lupin had sat beside him. Neither of them talked for a while, and Harry found he liked it better that way. The Weasleys and Hermione all felt that the more talk the better, asking how he was feeling, or if he needed anything. But this silence felt truer, nobody was lying to him about their or his feelings, and he didn't have to lie back.

"I lost count on how many times your father and Sirius used these mirrors at school," Lupin spoke suddenly, causing Harry's eyes to pop open. He continued on almost absently. "Though I do remember one particular time, when Sirius's face popped up in this particular mirror."

"What happened?" Harry asked curiously, shifting so he could lean his head onto the bed frame. This kind of talking he didn't mind, especially when it had to do with his parents or Sirius's past. After all, he didn't really know all that much about them.

Lupin chuckled, turning the mirror over and running his fingers over the initials that were engraved in it. He showed it to Harry. 'JP' was etched into it. 'Well, this was your father's mirror, and there was this one time when your father and your mother had started dating.' he began, settling himself comfortably on the bed. 'You see Lily - your mother, didn't really approve of James carrying the mirror on their dates ... she said the thought of Sirius being able to watch and listen to their every move was nauseating ...

"So, it was on one of these dates that James asked me to look after the mirror. What he and I didn't know, is that very same night, Sirius was walking around the castle in the hopes of pranking Filch ... I was halfway through my defence book in the common room, when Sirius's face popped up in the mirror. He was looking distressed, and breathing quite heavily."

"Was he running from Filch?" interrupted Harry, grinning as he remembered some past incidents with the filthy caretaker.

"At first he was," Lupin replied, grinning in a boyish manner that reminded Harry of the boy Lupin he had seen in Snape's Pensieve. "But then it became someone worse."

"Who was it?" Harry enquired eagerly.

"Casey Connors from Ravenclaw." was the prompt reply. Catching the confused look on Harry's face, Lupin chuckled again. "No doubt you noticed in - Snape's memory, that Sirius was a rather popular guy with the ladies."

Harry snorted at that.

"Yes," Lupin coughed, "well Casey was one of his more AVID fans ... Used to follow him around for hours, if I recall correctly. Not to her success though, as he was always surrounded by the rest of us Marauders ... it was this night though, that she finally managed to catch him unawares outside Filch's office."

Harry gasped. "She didn't -?" he left it hanging, but Lupin obviously understood.

"She tried." Lupin smiled. "But Sirius led her on a great chase around the castle, until he managed to find a large enough cupboard for him to hide in. That's where he used the mirror to talk to me. That's where he hid for more than an hour before I could get to him, without Casey noticing."

Harry was laughing hysterically as Lupin finished retelling the story, and tears of laughter were streaming down his face. When both could finally regain their breath, Lupin said sombrely,

"I know you miss him Harry - I do as well - we all do."

Harry nodded mutely.

"But I know Sirius - and I know he wouldn't want us to dwell on all the bad and unfair things in life ... including his death." Lupin finished.

"How can I not though?" said Harry, suddenly.

Lupin frowned. "What do you mean exactly?"

"How can I not think about Sirius all the time?" replied Harry, grimacing. "If it wasn't for me and my stupid hero complex, he'd still be alive."

Lupin sighed deeply and looked down at Sirius' mirror.

"Don't blame yourself Harry, especially when it wasn't your fault."

"It was though," Harry argued fiercely, pointing one finger at the mirror and blinking rapidly. "In more ways than one. I- I never used that mirror to find out if Sirius had been captured or not. I - went to the - the stupid Ministry and - got into trouble with the death eaters. If I hadn't gone there, you and Sirius and the Order wouldn't have had to come after me."

"Voldemort did this, not you," said Lupin, softly but determinedly. "He's done everything. You weren't responsible for your parent's death or Cedric's death either, Voldemort was - so you certainly were not for Sirius'."

"Whatever." Harry muttered, still not believing Lupin, but not wanting to hurt his feelings. Lupin sighed again, but didn't say anything else.

A few minutes later, a knock came at the door, and Ron's face came peeking through the doorway.

"Mum says for you two to come and eat dinner now.' he called softly. "Said you're both too close to wasting away to be able to skip any meals when she's around."

"Tell Molly we're coming in a minute." Lupin called back, grinning wryly, as he stood up and straightened his worn robes. Ron nodded, and after grinning at Harry, walked back downstairs, leaving the two alone again.

Nervously Harry stood up too, and hesitantly said, "Thank you - for - for everything Professor Lupin."

Lupin smiled and surprisingly embraced Harry in a one-arm hug, similar to that of Sirius's last Christmas. "It's no problem Harry."

Harry found himself smiling back and walked towards the door.

"And Harry?" Harry turned around at the sound of Lupin's voice. "Do call me Remus if you please. I'm no longer your professor, and we're close enough to use first names, don't you think?"

Nodding, Harry turned back wordlessly, smiling goofily as he and ... Remus walked downstairs for dinner. The chat had definitely done him some good, and he had finally been able to hear the better side of his parents and Sirius. He could just imagine the look on Sirius's face as he hid in the cupboard, waiting nervously as a girl (who Harry visualised as looking like Millicent Bulstrode) strode past looking for him.

Sniggering, he helped himself to a large serving of Mrs Weasley's steaming shepherd's pie.