Only Time

Chapter Eleven

Harry looked up from grading his fourth-years' essays on mid-level curses and hexes to see the door to his classroom opening and Sirius and Remus slipping inside.

"Hello boys," Harry said, putting down his quill and standing up. "Ready for your lesson, then?"

"Yes sir," Sirius said, while Remus simple nodded.

"Come in and sit down, then," Harry said, moving around to the front of his desk, dragging a chair in front of him, and sitting down on the desk with his feet on the chair. "We're going to try something a bit different today."

"Sir?" Sirius asked as both he and Remus grabbed some chairs and moved them to the front of the room before plopping down in them.

"Well, this is Remus's first lesson with us," Harry started, "and now that we have two people, I'm not going to just cast the Imperius on you in turns. That was fine for class, when I needed to get through everyone and I wasn't specifically trying to help anyone throw it off, but for here, I thought of something else. You're going to cast the Imperius on each other."

Remus blinked in rapid succession. "Uh...sir...isn't that, you know, illegal?" he finally asked. Sirius just stared at Harry in surprise.

Harry shrugged. "Dumbledore told me I could teach you. This is just another method of teaching you, and one I think will be effective. You two, not used to casting spells like the Imperius, won't be as strong, so you'll find it easier to cast off each other's curses than mine. Once you get used to the feel of fighting off the Imperius, then we can move on to me."

"Oh," Remus said, blinking again.

"Right," Sirius agreed, eyes wide.

"But remember, you two are only to do this under my supervision. No doing it on your own, right?" Harry asked sternly, leveling a heavy gaze at the two Gryffindors sitting in front of him. Both of them nodded quickly.

"Right then," Harry smiled. "Now, who's going first...Sirius. You already have some experience with fighting the curse, so cast it on Remus. Remus, all you need to do is stand there until you feel the curse settling on you. When it does, do what you can to fight it off."

Both boys hopped out of the chairs they were sitting in and faced each other, wands out. Sirius gave an apologetic half-smile to Remus, who smiled weakly in response. Then Sirius bit his lip, closed his eyes, and said, "Imperio!", pointing his wand at Remus.

"Give me your wand," Sirius said out loud. Harry made a mental note to tell him that he didn't need to say his order out loud, all he had to do was just think it at the person under the curse.

But slowly, Remus walked towards Sirius, slowly held up his wand arm, and slowly offered the wand to Sirius. Sirius took it, showing no emotion on his face, and ended the curse. When it was off, Remus blinked a bit and shook his head slightly, reorienting himself. When he saw Sirius holding his wand, he bit his lip in disappointment and turned away.

"Very good for only your second encounter with the Imperius curse, Remus," Harry told him, seeing him fight to keep the disappointment from showing on his face. Remus turned to face him, raising an eyebrow.

"But...I did what the curse told me to. That's not very good, is it?" Remus asked, obviously confused.

"You did," Harry replied, "but you did it so very slowly that no one could assume that was your normal intention. The Imperius curse counts on being undetectable, so the victim has to be able to do his or her typical activities in a normal way. Doing them that slowly won't be convincing many people that it was your intention to give your wand to Sirius. If you do things that are out of the ordinary but still within the bounds of the curse, then it's a very big clue, and could let others know that someone cast the Imperius on you."

Remus looked a bit happier. "Thanks, Professor. Is it my turn, then? There's something I wanted to do..." Remus asked, turning to face Sirius, who grinned and tossed him his wand, raising his eyebrow as if saying 'Come on, do your worst.' Harry laughed.

"Yes, it's your turn. Just remember, nothing too bad, or I'll be blamed," Harry reminded him, still chuckling. Remus bowed exaggeratingly to him, and Harry grinned, bowing back from his seat on the desk. "Oh, and you don't have to speak the order out loud. You can just tell him to do it in your mind." Remus grinned and Sirius groaned.

Remus held up his wand and said quietly but forcefully, "Imperio!" Sirius dropped his wand and fell to his knees, crawling under the desks with his nose to the ground in the manner of a dog sniffing out a bone. Harry was irresistibly reminded of Padfoot and laughed. Remus probably had the Grim-like dog in mind too, because he was smiling slightly as he watched Sirius act like Padfoot. But not long after the curse was cast, Sirius suddenly shot up, hitting his head on the bottom of the desk he was under, and rubbing his head and cursing when he came back down. Harry grinned. Sirius had obviously been able to throw the curse off, even if he had humiliated himself first.

"Remus, that wasn't fair!" Sirius called in an aggrieved tone, and Remus muffled laughter. "I didn't do something embarrassing to you!"

"And that's supposed to preclude me doing something to you?" Remus asked, arching an eyebrow and Sirius came out from under the desk, pouting.

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed. "Where's your Gryffindor sense of fairness, here?"

"Rolling on the floor laughing at the thought of you acting like a dog," Remus replied wryly, and Harry chuckled.

Sirius pouted again and plopped down in his chair, arms crossed petulantly. "I shall ignore you now," he informed Remus, and turned away.

"We'll see how long that lasts," Remus replied, but Sirius didn't say anything, instead looking out the window. Remus turned to Harry. "Professor, in a lesson that requires both of us, is he allowed to ignore me?" Sirius continued looking out the window, but his sudden glance at Harry made it obvious he was waiting for an answer.

"Well," Harry said solemnly, "no, I suppose not, since this would normally require both of your cooperation. But this is probably a good place to end the lesson. You two should get back to Gryffindor Tower now, and Remus, be sure and tell me how long he lasts before he stops ignoring you. I think possibly an hour." Sirius turned an outraged look on his professor, but Harry ignored him.

Remus grinned. "Will do, Professor. I'm betting maybe five, ten minutes at the most."

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed. "Have you no faith in my abilities? I can last longer than that, I..." but Harry and Remus were laughing, and soon Sirius was laughing too at how he had been manipulated.

"That's still not fair," he informed a chuckling Remus.

"Oh, I think it is," Remus replied. "You would have cracked sometime. Professor Patterson and I just helped the process along a bit."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say," Sirius said grumpily. "Now let's just get back to Gryffindor. We'll see you later, Professor." Sirius nodded to Harry, who nodded back, before walking out the door. Harry and Remus shared one last amused glance before Remus followed him. When they were gone, Harry shook his head, smiling slightly with amusement. It was nice to see them when they were so young and happy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Not long after Harry had retired to his office to grade essays, someone politely rapped on the door. Harry absently told whoever it was to come in while making sure he was still wearing his contacts--it wouldn't do to repeat what happened with James Potter--but was rather surprised when he looked up and saw Severus Snape standing there.

"Professor. I'd like to ask you for something, if you don't mind," Snape said in an oddly formal tone.

Harry blinked. "All right then, Mr. Snape. Do sit down," Harry gestured towards the chair in front of his desk, and Snape sat down, staring at Harry with unreadable eyes. "So what can I do for you, then?"

Snape was silent for a moment. "I heard you were giving lessons on resisting the Imperius curse to Black and Lupin," he said abruptly.

Harry blinked. "I am," he replied. "Why, do you want to join them too?"

Snape shook his head. "I don't think that would be necessary. I'd like to ask for a different sort of lesson, if I may."

"What sort of lesson?" Harry asked, trying not to think of why Snape would think lessons in resisting the Imperius curse unnecessary. Snape smiled thinly.

"Dueling lessons," he replied, and Harry blinked again. "I would like to improve my dueling skills," Snape continued, "but there are very few opponents in this school that can really challenge me. You are the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, you fought in the war, and I'm sure there are many things you can teach me."

Harry sat back in his chair, considering what Snape said. On one hand, if he gave Snape dueling lessons, Snape would most certainly use those skills for Voldemort the duration he was a Death Eater. But on the other hand, Snape's dueling skills would save his life in the future, and he had to have learned those skills somewhere.

"All right then," Harry said, and Snape nodded curtly. "How are, say, Wednesday and Friday evenings at nine in my classroom?"

Snape nodded again. "That will work," he said, then paused. "Thank you." Then with a whish of his black robes, he was out the door. Harry rubbed his forehead, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.

Later that night, another person knocked on the door of Harry's study as he was grading his seventh years' list of spells. It was amazing how little effort some of them had put into the assignment...when the knock came again, Harry shook himself out of his paper-grading reverie and called, "Come in."

But when he saw who his visitor was, he raised an eyebrow. James again? Harry wondered as his father shifted nervously in place. "What brings you here at this time of night, Mr. Potter?" Harry asked, gesturing James to the seat across from his desk. James perched gingerly on the edge of his chair, biting his lip.

"Ah...Professor, the others didn't really want me to tell you this...they thought they should keep it amongst ourselves...but you're the Defense professor, and I think it would be best if we told you, so here I am..." James babbled.

Harry blinked. Well that doesn't help much... "James, do you mind telling me exactly what you're talking about?" Harry asked, confused.

James flushed. "Well, a couple days ago, on Saturday, me and Sirius and Remus and Peter went down to Hogsmeade. I know it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend, but we went down there anyway because we wanted some butterbeer. And we went to the Three Broomsticks, but while we were there, we saw Sirius's mum with a bunch of people in black cloaks, and we found out they were plotting things," James said very quickly, as if he was trying to get it off his chest.

Harry sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "What do you want me to do about this, James?" he asked tiredly.

James looked confused. "Umm...stop them from carrying out their plot?" James replied, and Harry rolled his eyes slightly at his naivete.

"I need more information for that," Harry informed him. "First off all, exactly what they were plotting, why you were suspicious, how you found out what they were plotting, and several other things."

"Well, we were suspicious because Sirius's mum is Dark, and she hates the Three Broomsticks, so it was rather odd to see her there. Then we sent Peter--since he's really unnoticeable sometimes--to see what they were talking about. He came back and told us they were looking over a map of Hogwarts, that they had a plan involving Sirius's brother Regulus and me, and that Mrs. Black's reward for helping them was getting Sirius back," James explained further, fear and confusion running rampant across his face and eyes.

Harry felt sick. "Something involving you and Regulus?" he asked, just to make sure, and swore aloud when James nodded. James looked rather surprised at the various expletives Harry used, but Harry didn't care. Albus told me Voldemort never came to Hogwarts! Unless...damn. Just because Voldemort didn't come to Hogwarts didn't mean there wasn't a plot involving him. Damn Dumbledore and his blasted loopholes. Ooooh, Albus, be glad you're dead, because if you weren't, I'd kill you!

"Uh...sir?" James asked when Harry showed no sign of stopping his stream of inventive invectives. Finally Harry cut himself off and rested his head on his desk for a moment, getting himself under control before looking up at James again.

"You think Voldemort's behind it, don't you?" Harry asked calmly. James nodded nervously.

"I don't think there's anyone else who could get Mrs. Black's cooperation like that, sir. Or offer her Sirius unless he thinks he can really deliver...not that we'll let him, of course. But...I have no idea why he wants me too..." James looked at Harry hopefully, and Harry sighed mentally.

"I don't have any direct answers for you, James," Harry said, and James's face fell. "I don't know exactly why Voldemort would want to, or what he's up to. Nor do I think I would be able to stop it without more information. I will try, of course, but I can't guarantee success."

"I know," James said in a subdued tone. "But I just thought you should know, since you're the Defense teacher and all, and one of the best ones we've had."

Harry smiled, touched that his father thought he was a good teacher. "What have your other teachers been like, then?" Harry asked, curious. He really wanted to know if James's past teachers had been nearly as bad as the majority of his own.

"For the last three years, we've had Professor Dreyer," James said, scoffing a bit. "He was nice and all, but he treated us all like we were little kids, afraid of anything he would should us. That's why he didn't tell us anything about the Unforgivables last year, even though that was when we should have learned about them. He thought we couldn't handle curses as 'nasty' as those." James laughed, and Harry chuckled a bit. James's description of Professor Dreyer was reminding a bit of Lockhart and the dreadful, fear-inspiring pixies...

"You said the past three years. What about your first three?" Harry asked once he chased the image of Gilderoy Lockhart--who was actually one of his fifth-year Slytherins, Regulus Black's classmate, and as insufferable as a student as he was when he was a teacher--out of his mind.

James looked thoughtful. "The woman we had our first three years was okay. She was a bit strict, an okay teacher, but she wasn't very knowledgeable about her subject. I remember how Snape kept correcting her about curses in second year, and Remus about Dark creatures in third. After third year, she left to get some experience, and we got Dreyer."

"I hope I'm knowledgeable enough for you," Harry said wryly. "This is only my first year of actual teaching, so I don't know how well I'm doing."

James grinned. "You're much better than the other two," he enthused. "You don't coddle us, and you know your subject. What with the way things are going, with the war and all, we need teachers like you."

Harry flushed a bit with pleasure. "I know some areas of my subject better than others," Harry said. "Especially the parts I got first-hand experience in, like curses and hexes. I'm glad to be teaching, though. I used to want to be an Auror, but I think teaching really suits me better."

James nodded. "I want to be an Auror," he announced quietly. "I want to try and make a difference in the war. I probably won't be able to, but even one Death Eater capture will help. You-Know-Who must be stopped."

"Call him Voldemort, James," Harry reminded gently, and James flinched slightly before recovering and nodding.

"Sirius calls him that now. He says he's not going to let an evil megalomaniac's name scare him," James commented.

"Good for Sirius," Harry smiled. "Does he want to be an Auror too?"

"Yeah," James said, nodding. "We want to fight Dark wizards together. Remus wants to be a teacher--he loves teaching, just like you--and Peter wants to be a medi-wizard. He doesn't think he would be able to capture or kill Death Eaters himself, but he wants to help the war effort."

"Good for all of you," Harry replied, though he wondered how Peter could have gone from being a medi-wizard to a Death Eater. "I know you'll be able to make a difference if you just put your mind to it. Don't let anything discourage you."

James nodded decisively. "Don't worry, Professor. We won't. We're going to help put an end to this war."

Harry smiled and stood up. "That's the attitude to take, James. Now, if I'm not mistaken, it's..." he looked at his watch "...eleven thirty, and you should be in bed. Feel free to come see me whenever you need to talk."

"Thanks Professor," James said, also standing up. "I will. I'll see you in class."

"Good night, James," Harry replied. James waved, then walked out the door. After a couple minutes of just standing there, thinking a bit, Harry decided it would be best if he went to bed too, so he walked down to the staff quarters, reveling in being able to stroll the halls at night without fearing getting caught.

Harry walked along the corridors, cordially saying hello to Nearly Headless Nick as he was floating by, muttering at a ghostly letter in his hand. Harry hid his smile. Apparently Nick was still applying for the Headless Hunt...or rather, already had. But Harry learned his lesson about offering to help. He didn't fancy hanging around in a cold dungeon with rotting food and tons of ghosts on Halloween again.

Finally Harry reached the entrance to the staff quarters--which weren't on the Marauder's Map...had the Marauders really never been in the staff quarters, despite all the other places they've been?--and spoke the password. He went inside and walked until he reached his own door. Once he went in, Hikari immediately flew to land on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek with her head. Harry stroked her crest with a knuckle before moving her so he could undress. Then he laid down on his bead, staring up overhead into the darkness.

"Something's happening, Hikari," he said suddenly, and Hikari, who was on her perch by his bed, raised her head and looked at him. "Something big. I don't think this year is going to be relatively peaceful for much longer..."