Phoenix Rising

Chapter 2: Gaining Allies

Over the next couple of days, Harry looked for an opportunity to be alone with Lupin, to discuss Severus, but none presented itself until they all went to Diagon Alley and Harry found himself alone with Lupin in Madam Malkin's Robe Shop.

"So, aren't you ticked off at Sev- Snape for getting you fired third year?" Harry asked, testing the waters.

Lupin shrugged as he felt the material of a very warm looking light brown robe. "I was going to quit anyway, Harry," Lupin sighed wearily. "Severus was right about it being possible that something might make me forget to take the Wolfsbane Potion. Everyone laughed at him when he said that but he was right," Lupin turned to Harry, a self-deprecating grin on his face. "I made Dumbledore elicit a strict promise out of Severus that he would make sure that I always took that Wolfsbane Potion, no matter what. Even if he has to track me down, hit me over the head with his cauldron, and pour the vile concoction down my throat. I haven't bitten anyone yet and I plan on keeping it that way. Going back to teach has me more worried than anyone else. I put everyone's life in danger that night. That must never happen again."

Harry, who had never thought Lupin was actually glad to get fired, felt ashamed of himself. Of course Lupin would have been mortified about changing into a werewolf when there were children around. And it was something that might happen again, despite all the precautions they put in place.

"I promise to make sure you take the Potion, too," Harry assured him. "And I'll try not to have any adventures on the full moon."

Lupin laughed, but he seemed relieved. "I don't think you can plan when they are going to happen but I appreciate the offer."

Harry glanced at the robe that Lupin was still fingering. "I could buy that for you," Harry offered, and seeing the look of embarrassment and protest on Lupin's face, Harry put up a hand. "It's the least I can do for you. And I like buying things for people."

Harry bought his robes, and he bought Lupin two robes instead of just the one. He wanted to buy more for Lupin, but figured Lupin wouldn't let him. Besides, there was always Christmas coming up.

"I wonder how Severus is going to take not getting the DADA job again?" Harry asked, still trying to see if Lupin had any desire to be Sev's friend.

Harry wanted to ask Lupin straight out but didn't dare. People were suspicious enough of him as it was. He was still getting funny looks from people occasionally for defending Severus so adamantly that one day.

"I don't know, Harry," Lupin said as they walked to the book shop to meet up with everyone. It was the last stop of the day. "I've always wondered if that rumor is true. Severus loves potions; even when we were in school that was the class he enjoyed the most, despite the teacher hating him, though he did know more about the Dark Arts."

Nodding his head, Harry was getting rather frustrated. Lupin wasn't answering his unspoken question! He didn't hate Severus, that was obvious, but Harry couldn't tell if he wanted to be friends with him, either. Might as well just come out and say it when no one else was around.

"So," Harry said, pausing as he reached to open the door of the book shop, "do you want to be friends with Snape?"

Lupin shrugged. "I tried during your third year, it didn't work. But, then again, Severus honestly believed I was helping Sirius that year. I would like to try again," Lupin admitted, "but I don't think Sirius will be thrilled to find that out."

Harry, who still hadn't opened the door, smiled. "I would like to try to be his friend, too. We can help each other out. And Sirius wouldn't ditch us, even if he did find out."

"True," Lupin said as Harry finally opened the door and they walked in.

Harry groaned. It was the Malfoys! Lucius and Draco were looking pleased with themselves, no doubt Voldemort's rebirth being the source, and sneered at Harry and Lupin both. Narcissa was looking at books, a look of bored indifference on her face.

The Weasleys were already there, with Snuffles (Harry wondered how they had convinced the store owner to let a dog in the shop) and Hermione. Mr. Weasley was holding onto Snuffle's collar as he growled at the Malfoys. Mr. Weasley looked liked he wanted to growl too, but his wife had a firm hand on his shoulder.

The twins were standing behind Ron and Ginny, whispering to each other, no doubt plotting something.

"Well," Mr. Malfoy sneered, looking down at a smirking Draco, "if it isn't the werewolf. Tell me, Draco, how are you going to enjoy having a monster teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts? Think he'll let you practice on himself?"

Lupin blushed, Snuffles snarled, showing all his teeth, Ron said something bad, and Hermione told Mr. Malfoy that he wasn't being polite.

Harry wanted to say something too, but at the same time a person had moved to stand behind Mr. Malfoy, the last person that Harry would have ever expected to see in real life, Melusine.

"How amusing, Lucius," said her icy voice.

As all eyes turned to her, Harry heard gasping and choking noises, and most everyone moved a step backwards. Harry didn't blame them. She looked more evil in real life than she had in the Pensieve.

Her skin was sallow, her dark red hair was still to her feet and gleaming in the light, her blue eyes were staring at Mr. Malfoy in a very unfriendly way, and her face was cold and dangerous looking. Harry noticed she wore a black robe with a black cloak, and she had a wand stuck in a black rope belt that went around her waist. Harry guessed she had to pretend to be a witch instead of a Seidr and had to leave her staff at home.

"Severus!" she called over her shoulder. "Let's go."

Severus came into sight, carrying a thick book, and Harry had to rapidly blink back tears as his cold black eyes flickered over Narcissa. Narcissa was staring at the book in her hand, ignoring everything around her. How could she ignore her brother like that! Harry wanted to kick her. In fact, he must have moved to do just that, when a restraining hand fell on his shoulder.

Melusine and Severus left the store, both their cloaks billowing out behind them in the same manner. Severus hadn't even looked at anyone but his sister; not even Snuffles or Lupin, the two people he despised, had been given a glance. Maybe he was afraid that someone would notice the pain in his eyes that Harry was sure had to be there.

"Was that his mother?!" Draco asked.

Narcissa slammed her book shut. "No," she hissed, her face twisted, "it isn't!"

Draco stepped back into his father, and Harry, for the first time, felt sorry for him. He was scared! Even Mr. Malfoy was looking at his wife with worry.

"Let's go look at Quidditch supplies," Mr. Malfoy volunteered. "This shop has suddenly gone to the wolves," he spat, getting back in control of himself.

Harry, wanting to kick Narcissa, decided that Mr. Malfoy would do just fine. And so, with the restraining hand gone, Harry darted to him and kicked him as hard as he could in the shin, fighting back the tears. Narcissa hadn't even looked at her brother! How could she have done that to him?!

Harry moved his leg back to kick him again when Lupin grabbed him around the chest and hauled him off his feet.

"Lemme go!" Harry screamed.

Mr. Weasley moved in front of Harry, drawing his wand, as Mr. Malfoy did just that.

"Let's go," Narcissa snapped. "I don't want to be in the same shop with these flea carriers."

Harry bit his lip, hard enough to make it bleed, as they left, to prevent himself from screaming at her. Lupin dragged him off to a back room, with Snuffles, and then shut the door, locking it, as Snuffles changed back into his godfather.

"What is wrong with you?!" Sirius demanded.

But seeing the tears in Harry's eyes and the bleeding lip, Sirius looked helplessly at Lupin and then hugged Harry.

"What's wrong?" he asked, softer, as Harry tried to get himself under control.

"I guess seeing Mr. Malfoy reminded me of Cedric," Harry said, half-lying. It had reminded him of that but that wasn't the reason why he was crying.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said, hugging him tighter. "We shouldn't have let you go in the same room with Malfoy yet. I'm sorry."

Harry wiped at his eyes and pulled back, grinning sheepishly and blushing. "I need to work on not attacking Mr. Malfoy, huh?" Though it hadn't been Mr. Malfoy Harry's foot had wanted to connect with, it had been Narcissa.

"You okay now?" Lupin asked.

Harry nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Though Harry found himself worried. How was he going to handle Severus looking at Draco in Potions Class? At least he wouldn't feel an urge to kick Draco for ignoring his uncle, since Draco didn't know, and Draco was always sucking up to his Head of House anyway. For the first time, Harry was glad that Draco was sucking up to Severus. That had to help a little. Harry just hoped that Draco's feelings for Severus were genuine.

"We better get our books," Harry said, going out the door.

Everyone was staring at him again. Harry decided that it was something he was just going to have to get used to.

The twins looked impressed, even Mr. Weasley looked rather happy. Mrs. Weasley and Hermione were looking shocked, while Ron and Ginny were fighting between looking shocked and happy.

"You kicked him!" Fred said, impressed.

Mrs. Weasley knocked him on the head. "That's nothing to be happy about."

"Speak for yourself!" George said. "How did it feel?"

Harry shrugged. "I shouldn't have done it. I should have controlled my temper."

Mrs. Weasley looked pleased. "Come on, let's get your books and then go home for a bite to eat, and then you all can play Quidditch again."

Harry smiled and bought his books.

When they had finally made it back to the Burrow he wanted to play Quidditch first, to work out his emotions, but everyone else was too hungry, so they sat down to eat. Because of his swollen bottom lip, Harry had a bit of trouble eating.

"Did you see that woman!" Fred said, laughing. "Scared old Malfoy to pieces!"

"She scared me too!" Ginny piped up, shuddering. "Is that Snape's mother?"

Harry drank down some juice to keep himself from speaking up. He wasn't supposed to know, after all.

"Narcissa said it wasn't," Mr. Weasley said. "Though I don't see how she would know. I don't think they know each other."

Harry stuffed bread into his mouth to keep it too full to talk.

"Yeah, well," Sirius spoke up, "it would explain a lot. She looks as evil as he does! They must scare everyone to pieces as they walk down the streets together. One of them would be bad enough, but two!"

Harry kept his hands busy by tearing a roll into pieces so he didn't hit his godfather.

"I don't know," Lupin said, "she seemed fine to me. She stuck up for me, too."

Harry gratefully smiled at Lupin.

"I personally think that she's his mother, no matter what Mrs. Malfoy says," Hermione said softly. "That woman has that same prowling walk that Snape does and the way they get their cloaks to billow out behind them is the same. I think he picked it up from her."

Harry, while listening to this, had a few thoughts of his own pop into his head. If Melusine was talking with Severus, then maybe he could too. Confide in her about Evan Rosier's Pensieve. Evan hadn't mentioned anything about not talking with Melusine. He was going to have to write her a letter and just hope that owls delivered into the Dark Forest.

"Imagine having a mother like that!" Mrs. Weasley said, shivering.

Harry looked at them all and frowned. They didn't know her, didn't know Melusine at all and yet they were judging her, judging her only on the basis of the way she looked. No wonder why Severus was so angry, no matter how nice he was, everyone would always think the worst of him, just because of something he couldn't help.

Not feeling like playing Quidditch anymore after they ate, Harry sat with Lupin on the grass, watching. Harry had lied about hurting his leg while kicking Malfoy and wanting to rest it for the upcoming Quidditch season at school. His swollen bottom lip helped him look pathetic. Nobody bothered to convince him otherwise, they were still being too nice to him after his little slip with Mr. Malfoy.

"So, you liked that lady?" Harry asked him, watching Ron hit an enchanted flying pillow at his sister with a stick.

"Yeah," Lupin said. "Being a werewolf, I'm very careful about judging people at first glance. I give people the chance I wish they would give me. I personally think that's one reason why Severus hated your father and me so much. I was a werewolf, and could hide what I was, but Severus couldn't. And James had all sorts of people following him around, admiring him, wanting to date him, and telling him how wonderful he was. I don't think Severus wanted to be popular, but I do think he would have enjoyed having people running to him instead of away from him. That's got to get old after awhile and start hurting."

Harry had had a taste of that once in a while and knew that it did hurt. When he had lost all those points for Gryffindor his first year, and then his second year when everyone thought he was an evil dark wizard, and then fourth year when everyone thought he had put his name into the Goblet of Fire. But they never lasted, and he also had had his fair share of the good kind of attention, and while it embarrassed him, it was still better than that other kind. Severus had never had the other kind, just the bad attention.

"Why does Sirius hate him so much?" Harry asked.

Lupin shrugged. "In sixth year, Severus was mean. He said some very nasty things to your father, right after your father lost his parents, and Sirius was always getting into fist fights with him over it. Sirius always lost them, and Severus probably would have done some damage, but Rosier always got him up and off Sirius. Sirius is quite protective of his friends and he hates Severus for the way he made James feel that year."

"Was he mean in seventh year?" Harry asked.

"Sort of," Lupin said, no longer watching the game but staring at some blades of grass in his hand. "He still said mean things to us but they weren't as personal as they had been in sixth year, and he no longer followed us around all the time. He was usually with Florence Wilkes and Evan Rosier doing things together."

"So," Harry said casually, "Severus was mean in fifth year too?"

Lupin's head snapped up, his face sad. "No, he was nice."

"Nice?!" Harry exclaimed, trying to sound as surprised as he was supposed to.

Lupin laughed. "Yeah, he was," Lupin said, turning to him. "First through fifth year Severus was a pretty nice kid. James often wondered how he ended up in Slytherin. We found out the reason in sixth year, I guess."

Harry chewed on his lip. He couldn't tell him, but maybe he could hint. "Maybe he lost someone. I've heard that losing family members can make people temporarily insane."

Lupin stared at him, hard. Harry squirmed. "What makes you think he lost someone?" Lupin demanded.

Harry shrugged. "Such a drastic change in a person indicates loss," he said, repeating something he had read once. "Why does it surprise you that I said that?"

Lupin looked around, making sure no one was in earshot. "That's what I always thought." He leaned closer to Harry. "Have you ever heard of the Dark Forest?"

"The Dark Forest?" Harry asked, perplexed. He was getting good at this, though he was wondering why Lupin would have brought that up, of all things. Did he know?! But how?

"It's a place where dark witches and wizards live," Lupin explained, very quietly. "They can do their dark magic in there and not get caught. And teach their children all about the Dark Arts. There's even a blanket effect on the forest so children can use wands in it."

"What does that have to do with Severus?" Harry asked, keeping his voice down. "I mean Professor Snape?"

Lupin scratched his gray-streaked head. "I'm not sure, but I always thought he might come from there. He knew so much about the Dark Arts when he came to school and he already knew how to use a wand. I grew up around the Dark Forest, the only place werewolves are allowed to live, and Severus just really reminded me of the people that I saw coming in and out of it occasionally. Sallow skin for the most part, greasy hair, yellow teeth, and clothes that were poor. I don't know for sure, of course. And then the Ministry, getting a bright idea," Lupin said sarcastically, "attacked it the summer before our sixth year. All but two of the raiders were found the next day, burning on a pyre, slashed to pieces. The two that escaped told a gruesome tale. The raiders apparently managed to kill over two hundred dark witches and wizards before they were slaughtered." Harry had to resist the urge to snort. Bunch of liars. "Those two that got out were killed withi! n a week, no one knows how. And then an order came out for anyone that is from the Dark Forest to be hunted down and killed. The Ministry tried attacking the Dark Forest again, but they kept getting repelled by something. Even now, no one dares to go into it, too many people have had bad experiences in it."

Harry was pleased. Melusine was protecting it well.

Lupin sighed. "Severus changed during that summer, and I never thought it was coincidence that it happened when that Dark Forest Raid occurred. I bet he lost someone in it. If that woman is his mother, maybe he lost his father. And coming back to school, terrified someone would find out and try to kill him, and angry that everyone was glad the Dark Forest had been attacked, had to have killed him," Lupin shrugged. "I might be totally wrong, but until I know for sure that he isn't from there, I just can't hate him for the way he acts. Don't tell anyone about my suspicions," Lupin warned. "People are still angry about that Dark Forest Raid and might try to do something to Severus."

"I won't tell anyone," Harry promised, turning his attention back to the Quidditch game.

Harry was going to have to write to Melusine and ask her if he could confide in Lupin about what was in Evan's Pensieve. It would be much better to be able to tell an adult, especially an adult like Lupin, about Severus and get their input and help. Owls had better be able to go into the Dark Forest or Harry would just have to take his broom and go himself. He just hoped that nothing happened to him while he was in it.