– – – – – Rebirth Chapter 17 – – – – –

The week before the winter holiday break began, Harry received an invitation from the Malfoys to their annual Yule Holiday Party. It was to be held on the 22nd, a Sunday, and Harry saw it as a legitimate opportunity to set his plans regarding Sirius Black in motion, since the person he wished to speak with would be at the party. With plans quickly forming and solidifying in his mind, he sent a response back, accepting the invitation to the party.

If Dumbledore, or any of the other professors approached him about his attendance, he would deal with it then, but he knew they couldn't reasonably stop him from going. It was only for one evening; he wouldn't be spending the night; and there would be enough influential people from the Ministry in attendance that no one could reasonably argue that Harry would be in danger.

The only potential problem that Harry could imagine arising from the situation was the whole transportation issue, and getting permission to leave the castle.

When he did get a solution to that problem, it was not exactly what he had expected, and he wasn't sure if it was even appreciated...

– –

Severus Snape scowled with annoyance as he made his way up, through the Grand Staircase, towards the seventh floor corridor. He had received a summons from the Headmaster when he was in the middle of a delicate brew and did not appreciate the interruption.

He came upon the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office, spoke the password – 'peppermint humbugs' – and made his way up the revolving staircase. The headmaster bid him enter before he could even knock on the door and he pushed his way inside.

"You wanted to speak to me about something, Headmaster?" Several drawled as he came to stand beside the headmaster's desk.

"Yes, Severus. Please, have a seat," Dumbledore said smiling up at the glowering potions master.

With a barely concealed sigh of annoyance, Severus Snape sat down in the chair, crossed one leg over the other and threaded his fingers together on his knee. He gave the headmaster an impatient look when he didn't instantly begin.

"Sherbet lemon?" Dumbledore asked, motioning towards the bowl of candies on the edge of his desk. Severus rolled his eyes and declined as politely as he was honestly capable of. Dumbledore smiled genially back, making no outward acknowledgment of the man's eternal rudeness or his obvious irritation at having been called up.

"Tell me, Severus – do you still receive an invitation to the Malfoy's yearly holiday party?" Dumbledore finally asked.

Severus kept his face blank of any reaction and answered with disinterested ease. "Yes, I received the invitation two days ago."

"Ah, good. It has come to my attention that Mr. Potter has also been invited this year."

Severus rose a single brow. "Did he?"

"Yes. I fear that Lucius Malfoy may be taking advantage of the friendship that Harry is forming with young Draco Malfoy, to draw Harry into his home," Dumbledore said with a grave expression on his face.

"Of course you realize that it would be impossible for Lucius or anyone else to bring any harm to Potter in such a setting. There will be far too many prominent figures in attendance. Even the Minister will be there."

"Yes, I realize this, but I still feel rather uneasy allowing Mr. Potter to attend such an event unchaperoned. If I could, I would prevent him from going all together, but I doubt I would be able to do so."

"What is it that you're suggesting?" Severus asked, not liking where this was going.

"I would like for you to keep an eye on Mr. Potter at the party. I do, of course, intend to try and convince Mr. Potter not to go at all, but if I am unable to prevent it, I would feel better knowing that a member of staff was there to watch out for him. Seeing as how you already have an invitation, I saw it as the ideal opportunity."

Severus sneered. "Of course you did," he drawled sarcastically.

"I would also appreciate it," Dumbledore continued, "if you could keep me informed after the end of the party, of any attempts at discussion that Lucius Malfoy or any other former associates might make towards Mr. Potter."

Severus' eyes narrowed slightly, but he curtly nodded his head in acknowledgment of the headmaster's request.

"Mr. Potter will likely be needing help getting to the party. I rather doubt he's very familiar with most forms of wizarding travel, seeing as how he was raised in the muggle world. Perhaps you could offer him assistance in that regard. You could escort him down to Hogsmeade and the two of you could take the Floo from the Three Broomsticks."

Severus grimaced. "Is there a reason that we cannot simply Floo directly from the school?"

"You would invite Mr. Potter into your private quarters?" Dumbledore asked with an air of mild disbelief.

Severus' grimace deepened. He would honestly rather not, but there wasn't any serious harm that could come from it. He could give Potter permission for entry for that evening, and then revoke it immediately after the party. And the idea of walking down to Hogsmeade in the snow was very unappealing. Especially in dress robes.

"I will allow it. It is preferable to walking."

Dumbledore nodded. "Fine. I expect you are capable of approaching Mr. Potter and making arrangements?"

Severus looked as if he had swallowed something especially sour, but he merely nodded in response to Dumbledore's question. He was definitely not looking forward to this.

The two finished up their meeting and Severus left the headmaster's office trying to work out in his mind exactly how he would approach his latest task.

His encounters with Potter since the 'incident' after the first class he substituted for the wolf, had been strained and yet not. He had been tense around the boy, and yet the boy had acted around him as if nothing had happened at all. In class, Potter had easily slipped back into treating Severus exactly as he had the first month of school.

He was polite, performed his classwork to near-perfection, answered questions in class when called upon, and turned in flawless essays. He presented to Severus the same mask that he presented to the rest of the staff. The difference was that Severus had seen the real Potter... or at least, he was convinced that what he had seen was closer to the real Potter than what he showed the rest of the world.

Severus had been watching Potter closely, and he knew Potter was aware he was watching him, and yet the boy had given no outward acknowledgment of it. The Ravenclaw was clearly skilled at creating false personas because Severus had noticed the boy took on several different personality guises depending on who he was with. Around teachers he was a fiercely bright, polite young man who came off as slightly shy and bashful when it came to praise or being called upon in class, and yet also confident when it came to his studies and his intelligence.

Depending on which students he was with, he often came off as very different person. He acted one way around the children of the old-magic families of moderate political standing, and another way around the muggleborn students, and another way entirely around the old purebloods where he often slipped into the haughty, confident, superiority that many of them often carried. Severus suspected the closest to his 'real' personality that ever showed to anyone at school appeared when he was in the company of Draco Malfoy and his small group of Slytherin 'friends' where he occasionally let some of his more devious tendencies show.

Many of Severus' snakes were still convinced that Potter was just being used by young Draco, but Severus knew now without a doubt, that wasn't the case. And Draco clearly knew it too.

Despite the numerous things that Severus had seen through his close observations, he also knew that no one else had noticed. Even the headmaster had remained completely oblivious to Potter's hidden persona. Severus had been in on quite a few staff meetings and been present for several chats where his colleges had discussed Potter and it was obvious that none suspected anything was amiss with the boy.

In fact, it seemed that Minerva had gotten into quite a heated row with Dumbledore over Potter's home living accommodations. Apparently Potter's muggle relatives were violent? Severus vaguely recalled Potter making reference to something along those lines during his confrontation with the boy, but hadn't quite known what to make of it, and had been overwhelmed by all of the other things Potter had said at the time to fully process what had been said. Even now, the fact that Potter had clearly wanted Minerva to overhear him and to know about his 'living situation' made Severus wonder what the motives were, and how much of what had been perceived of his living situation was true.

He was convinced that Potter wouldn't let something like that out unless he had a reason. Some ulterior motive or hidden scheme behind it. And then he realized what it was. It quickly became clear what the intent had been. He wanted to plant the seed of doubt in Minerva's unwavering faith in the Headmaster, and it had clearly worked. Not only for her, but for Filius as well, since Minerva had gone to him with her concerns since he was Harry's Head of House and the two had both been speaking quietly one day about how horrified they were to think that Dumbledore could allow anything of that nature to continue to go on unchecked. It appeared that even after the row, Dumbledore had continued to insist that Potter to back to his relatives and that had only infuriated Minerva further.

Potter was a devious one. Brilliant... and frightening.

It was with considerable trepidation that the following Wednesday, he asked Potter to remain after class. Potter had given him a mostly blank, expression that came off as innocently curious to anyone who didn't know any better. His eyes held caution, but also warning.

As soon as the room had completely cleared and Severus and Potter were the only ones left in the room, Potter turned a suddenly cold, calculating gaze on Severus and waited.

Severus almost flinched from the intensity of those familiar green eyes as they glared at him with unhidden dislike. He very much hated that Potter had those eyes. It just wasn't fair... But when was life ever fair?

"The headmaster is aware that you have received an invitation to the Malfoy's Yule party. Since I have also been invited, he has asked me to offer to accompany you," Severus said, deciding to get straight to the point.

Potter's eyes widened before narrowing again, but this time his hateful gaze was no longer zeroed in on Severus.

He heard Potter mutter something angrily under his breath about 'still intercepting my bloody mail'.

"He has asked that I... keep an eye on you, while at the party," Severus continued. "There will be people there who could potentially pose a threat to you."

Potter snorted. "Yes, I'm sure that he's doing this entirely because he's concerned for my welfare," he said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Quite a few of Lucius' associates were followers of the Dark Lord, and they will be in attendance. The concerns are valid."

Potter turned and smirked up at Severus. "I'm not worried about any Death Eaters. The only wizard who legitimately poses a threat to my continued good health is the headmaster of my school, and I don't have a chaperon here, do it?"

"You believe that the headmaster wishes you harm?" Severus asked, unable to completely hide his curiosity. "Would you not say that the Dark Lord would pose a greater threat 'to your health' than Dumbledore who has sworn to protect you?"

Again Potter turned that infuriating smirk on Severus. The one that said 'I know something you don't know', and managed to come off as superior and smug and powerful all at once. Severus felt his eye twitch and his lip start to curl in response.

"Why should I sooth any of your curiosities, Severus Snape?" Potter asked after a moment, letting his expression shift towards a disinterested boredom and lazily walking around one of the workstations, trailing his fingers along the surface. "I'm already sure that you're loyalties are only to yourself. You've improved my opinion of you, marginally, by not revealing our last encounter to Dumbledore. You also heeded my advice and never once brought up werewolves again in any of the classes you substituted for Remus. I also appreciate that you came right out and were honest with me about this 'accompanying me' to the Malfoy's party thing, but what guarantee do I have that you won't still go to Dumbledore in the future?"

"You don't."

"Exactly," Potter replied with a grin. "I don't have any guarantee at all. You could just be biding your time and waiting until you think you've got enough evidence to stand on... of course, the question still remains as to whether or not anyone would really believe you... but even if Dumbledore didn't believe you right off, you pointing it out would draw additional scrutiny to me, and that would be inconvenient. So, why should I give you even more evidence by answering any of your questions?"

"Perhaps, if you answered my questions, it would persuade me to continue refraining from telling him," Severus said with a smooth, disinterested tone.

Potter gave him a crooked grin. "Perhaps it would. Perhaps it wouldn't." He paused and looked thoughtful for a moment before the crooked grin returned. "How about you and I play a game? I'll answer one question of yours, absolutely truthful, if you answer one of mine."

Severus' eyes narrowed. "What question would you ask me?"

Potter paused and pulled out his wand. He began to wave it in several complicated gestures that Severus recognized as some surprisingly high level security wards. On top of that, the boy never spoke a single word, so he was casting them non-verbally. Finally he finished up, faced Severus head on, and spoke. "Why did you switch sides?"

"Excuse me?" Severus exclaimed, glowering angrily at the child who was still looking up at him with that smug superiority that was quickly becoming totally and utterly infuriating.

"What part of the question did you not understand? Why did you switch sides? You have the Dark Mark. One can only take it when they have complete willingness and loyalty to the Dark Lord in their hearts. Anyone with overwhelming ulterior motives, disloyalty, or trickery in mind who tries to take the mark will be rejected by it. It's possible to change your mind after you've taken it, and then it's too late because it can't be removed – but when you took the mark, you had to be loyal to the Dark Lord. What changed? Why did you go to Dumbledore?"

"You impudent little brat! You have no right to question me of such things!"

Potter shrugged and looked bored. "Fine by me. Then I won't be answering any of your questions either."

Severus' jaw clenched and his eye twitched as he fought down the rush of anger that had filled him when the brat had the nerve to ask him such a question. He tried to clear his mind of the rage and force himself to think rationally. He couldn't let his temper hamper this opportunity. His curiosity revolving around this child had been driving him mad for months and the chance to finally get some answers to his questions was far too great to pass up.

He pulled in a slow breath through his nose as he reentered himself. He opened his eyes and locked them on the smirking child standing before him. Damn the brat. He knew exactly what he was doing, and the fact that he was clearly good at what he was doing only made him that much more infuriating.

"Your mother," Severus bit out through clenched teeth.

Potter frowned and took on a curious expression.

"My mother?" he echoed. "Lily Potter? What about her?"

"When I knew her she was still Lily Evans. We were... close, when we were younger."

"You cared about her," Potter stated rather than asking.

Severus nodded jerkily.

Potter's eyes took on a calculating look as he looked across the room at nothing in particular as his mind went to work. Finally he looked back at Severus with the look of one who had just figured out a puzzle.

"You fancied her. A mudblood?"

Severus shot him a furious glare and practically snarled at him. "Don't say such a filthy word about your own mother!" he spat.

Potter's eyes rose into his forehead with an obvious look of surprise, but it shlowly shifted into a broad, accomplished grin.

"You loved her. That's why you hate my father so much. Not just because he tormented you with pranks, but because he got the girl."

Severus sneered and was about to bite out an angry retort, but Potter interrupted him by continuing on. "When you overheard the prophecy you had no idea who it might be about, and you took it straight to the Dark Lord... you went to Dumbledore because the Dark Lord determined that the prophecy was about Lily's child. You wanted to warn them. To save her. You felt guilty because by telling the Dark Lord the prophecy you had basically signed her death warrant." Potter smirked. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Severus grimaced and a pained expression flitted across his face for a moment before he quickly looked away. "I asked the Dark Lord to spare her but... I knew he wouldn't. She was muggleborn and the mother of... of you."

Potter's face suddenly shifted to mild surprise and then dawning comprehension. "So that's why he did that!"

Severus looked back at Potter with a furrowed brow. "Did what?"

"The Dark Lord tried to spare her! He told her to stand aside. He told her that that she didn't have to die; that he was only there for me! But she refused to move. She just stood there, unarmed, begging him to take her instead. To spare me."

Severus' eyes widened and his face slackened.

"I always wondered why he would do that..." Potter continued looking thoughtful. "It seemed rather out of character... he must have liked you, to try to honor such a request. Especially considering that she was muggleborn."

Severus looked dumbstruck as he attempted to process what Potter had just said. Finally he shook his head and looked back down at the small boy, wishing desperately that he could understand what was really going on with this child.

"Liked me?" Severus echoed, latching onto the last thing the boy had said. "You say these things sometimes... you make it sound as if you actually knew the Dark Lord. But that's impossible."

"You answered my question, Severus Snape. I'm good for my word. I'll answer one of yours. Better make it a good one because I make no guarantees that I'll be interested in playing this game with you again any time soon," Potter said, suddenly.

Severus snapped his jaw shut, not having even realized that his mouth was hanging open slightly and scowled that his mask was slipping so easily in front of this brat. He had his opportunity and he needed to make the best of it. But what to ask? What question would have the best chance of getting him the most answers?

"Earlier you suggested that you had more to fear from Dumbledore than the Dark Lord, yet I know for a fact that the Dark Lord wanted you dead, and Dumbledore wants you alive so that you can fulfill the prophecy. So why would you feel that Dumbledore was a greater threat?" Severus asked.

Potter smirked. "That's a very big question."

"Are you going to back out on our deal?" Severus asked while narrowing his eyes.

Potter just chuckled and shook his head. "No. I'm good for it. I'm more inclined to let you in on some things now that I understand why you switched sides. You didn't leave the Dark Lord's side because you lost faith in the cause or changed your political ideals, you did it for love. I can appreciate that. Doing the wrong things for the right reasons. I've done that plenty of times over the years."

Severus watched with narrowed eyes as Potter went over and pushed himself up so he could sit on one of the workstation tables and let his legs swing back and forth in front of him as they dangled from the table.

"I'm not worried about the Dark Lord being after me because I know that once I'm able to talk with him, I know he'll change his mind. He didn't realize who I really am when he came after me the first time. All he knew was that I was the child of a Potter, and that the three lines of some prophecy he'd heard said I had the potential to be a legitimate threat to him. I can certainly forgive him for jumping the gun and coming after me. It was an act of cautious self preservation. Obviously, it backfired...

"As for Dumbledore, if he found out who I really am, he would likely try to kill me. So you see – it's a complete role reversal. Tom finds out who I am and he'll want me alive. Dumbledore finds out who I am, and he'll want me dead. Dumbledore already killed me once, actually, and I don't intend to give him a second chance. But if he does, I'll just come back again. I'll always come back. And he won't. So I win." Potter gave a bright, smug and yet also strangely devious smile and chuckled.

Severus just blinked at him, trying to make some sense of what the brat had just said.

"That doesn't make any sense. What do you mean, 'who you really are'? You're Harry Potter. Who else could you be?"

Potter tilted his head down and looked up at Severus through his long black eyelashes while giving him a surprisingly scary, Cheshire-cat grin. "You know... I think I might just tell you. Alright, Severus Snape. Since you asked, I am a reincarnated necromancer. In my last life, I underwent a ritual that has allowed me to retain all of my memories, knowledge, and powers from my previous life. It's my own personal brand of immortality. Every time I die, I'll be reborn, and with every new life I will retain everything that makes me who I am. So while my bodies may die, I never will. I will always continue.

"So while it is true that I am Harry Potter, I'm also someone else. Seeing as how I spent forty years in my previous life, and have had just over eleven in this one, I still tend to think of myself as my old self more than 'Harry Potter'. Although, by a rather amusing fluke, my name is quite similar, so it hasn't been a dramatic adjustment."

"Reincarnation?" Severus whispered as the enormity of what the boy claimed hit him.

"Yes. And in my previous life I personally knew both the Dark Lord and Albus Dumbledore. As I said before, Dumbledore was actually the man who murdered me. I do intend to repay him for that at some point... just not yet."

Severus leaned against his desk, trying to steady himself from the sudden weakness in his legs. This changed everything.

He looked up, meeting those playful green eyes and the devious curl of those lips and shuddered. "You were one of his followers? The Dark Lord?"

"No."

"No?" Severus echoed in confusion.

"I wasn't one of his followers, I was his lover."

Severus blanched and felt his knees buckle for a moment as he was hit with the sudden realization of just who it was that Potter was claiming to be. "Herakles Jude," he whispered.

Potter's face brightened. "You've heard of me!"

A stunned, shuddering breath escaped Severus' lips as he stared in shock at the small boy sitting opposite him. Necromancer. That's what he'd said. That he was a necromancer. He should have realized it the second the boy said it. Necromancers were incredibly rare, and those that did practice the arts almost never became publicly known for it. It was a banned art. It was forbidden to even study it. The last man to be known for having become a powerful Necromancer was the Dark Lord's lover and right-hand man. The man who had helped him form his initial army and stood by his side... up until he was killed in a battle at some point in the late 60's.

Harry Potter was the reincarnation of the Dark Lord's dead lover? But Potter was prophecized...

"The prophecy..." Severus said with uncertainty.

Potter rolled his eyes and sneered. "Fucking divination. Nothing but rubbish, if you ask me. But even aside from that – how much of the prophecy do you know? I've only heard the first three lines."

"That's all I am aware of as well."

Potter huffed and folded his arms over his chest. "Yes, well, without knowing the whole thing, I can't really argue against most of it, but the first line is easy. It says that the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, right? Well, honestly... its probably true. I'm willing to bet that I am the only one with the knowledge and power to actually kill him. But guess what? I'm not doing it. Ha. So there. Dumbledore can go stick a pencil up his arse, because I'm not vanquishing any Dark Lords. Now, or ever."

A breath escaped Severus that was something between a shocked cough and almost a laugh. He didn't know how to feel at this revelation. He had all but given up on the cause of the Dark sect. He still preferred it, and his own personal convictions were far more in line with it, but he had accepted that the chances of the Dark winning were slim-to-nothing. With the prophecy in play; Dumbledore's control over the chosen child, and the fact that it already seemed to be in play with the temporary defeat of the Dark Lord that Halloween night ten years ago... Severus had all but given up any hope that the Dark could ever win. It was why he had convinced himself that continuing to remain by Dumbledore's side was for the best. That, and his guilt. Guilt and anger that the Dark Lord had taken the life of the only woman he had ever...

Of course he'd lost Lily long before then. Lost her to Potter.

Potter.

He had been so ready to despise this child because he was Potter's son. But he wasn't really a child, was he? And he was only barely Potter's son at all. Mostly, it was an association by technicality.

Merlin! This was insane! And it truly did change everything. The savior of the Light was no savior at all! He was a vicious, insane, murdering monster who had personally slaughtered entire villages and reanimated their corpses to join his own army of infiri! He was Herakles Jude! The child that Dumbledore had placed all of his bets on would never, ever, fight for him! He had a personal grudge against the man! And it seemed fairly clear that this boy had every intention of trying to kill Dumbledore at some point!

"I need to sit down," Severus mumbled weakly as he shifted around his desk and sunk down into his chair

Potter gave Severus a moment to sit and try and sort his hectic thoughts out, and Severus was grateful for that. He finally looked up when he heard Potter's stomach rumbling. The child who wasn't really a child at all looked down at his own stomach with wide eyes before chuckling and shrugging.

"Sorry 'bout that, but you are making me miss lunch for this."

"My apologies," Severus rasped weakly. He'd heard stories of Herakles Jude from his mother. She had practically worshiped the man. Said she'd never seen a more merciless and dangerous dark wizard in all her years, second only to the Dark Lord himself. This... this child was that man, reborn? He still had difficulties wrapping his mind around such a notion.

One thing was for sure... Dumbledore was screwed. Assuming that he remained ignorant, and Severus... well, he really didn't know what he felt at the moment. He was just too overwhelmed. But he did know that he did not feel the slightest inclination to go running to the old man and fill him in. Severus valued his own life too much to do something so stupid. Dumbledore was a powerful and dangerous man in his own right, but this boy... this boy had the potential to be far more dangerous. Not to mention the fact that this boy brought with him hope. A genuine chance that the Dark's cause was not lost. They could... Merlin, they could win!

The Boy-Who-Lived was...

Oh, this was going to be big.

"Who else knows... about you?" Severus asked once he'd found his voice again.

"Only Lucius. No one else. I've been trying to find the Dark Lord, you see. I managed to assist him in getting a physical body back, but I had to do it long-distance and I don't think he realizes he was me who was helping him. I have no idea what he's doing right now... honestly, that part is incredibly frustrating. I finally enlisted Lucius' assistance because I was fairly sure that when the Dark Lord finally makes his return to Britain that he'll be contacting his inner circle first and Lucius would be one of the first to hear from him. Still – nothing yet. Quite frustrating, actually."

"You helped him get a body back?" Severus asked, feeling somewhat bewildered by how that would have worked if Potter hadn't been able to get into direct contact with the Dark Lord.

"Using some of my necromantic powers, I was able to form a magical connection to his disembodied spirit and send him energy through it," Potter said with a shrug as if what he had just said were something that was simple and anyone could have done it. "But like I said, I don't think he realizes he was me who was sending the energy. I don't know what exactly he ended up doing in order to get himself a body, but I'm positive that he's got one. One more mystery is what he's been up to since he got his body back. It's been more than two years at this point. I'm fairly convinced that he's abroad... just sort of a gut feeling, I suppose. But I have no idea what he's doing." Potter huffed out a frustrated sigh and scowled in annoyance at the wall.

Severus nodded his head slowly. "So Lucius knows... does Draco suspect anything?"

Potter looked up and his mouth twisted slightly in thought. "I'm not really sure what Draco suspects, exactly. Obviously, there's next to no chance he could ever guess the truth. A person would have to have a rather wild imagination to just come up with the truth," he smirked. "But he obviously knows that I'm doing things with his father in secret." Potter paused for a moment. "And he's more than bright enough to have picked up on the fact that I'm less than fond of Dumbledore." He shrugged.

Severus almost snorted, but just barely refrained. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. "What about Lupin?"

Potter shook his head. "No. No, he has no idea. Honestly, I have no idea how he'd take it if he got even a vague indication of the truth. But he knows that I don't trust Dumbledore, and I've got him seriously questioning his own faith in the man. I'm trying to disconnect myself, legally, from Dumbledore's 'guardianship'. Remus, being what he is, could never gain magical guardianship over me, however, if I can get Sirius Black out of Azkaban, I can easily get it arranged so that he recovers the guardianship that he should have gotten originally. Then Dumbledore will no longer have any legal say over me at all."

"Wait, get Black out of Azkaban? How exactly do you intend to do something like that?"

"He's innocent. At least, I know for a fact that he didn't betray my parents to the Dark Lord and I'm fairly positive that he was never a Death Eater. Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper on our Fidelius Charm, and Dumbledore knows that because he cast the spell."

Severus frowned. "You did say something like that before, didn't you?"

"Right. So anyway, I was thinking and I realized that the only reason Dumbledore would have for preventing Sirius from ever getting a trial is if the trial would prove that he was wholly and truly innocent of all the crimes he was accused of. If he had killed Pettigrew and those muggles, a trial would only prove that he wasn't the secret keeper or a Death Eater. He still would have ended up in prison for the murders and Dumbledore still would have gained custody of me. So the fact that Dumbledore allowed Crouch to stuff Sirius away in Azkaban without a trial and then assisted in burying the paperwork, just lends credence to the idea that Sirius was totally innocent. If I can get him out, I get out from under Dumbledore's legal thumb. As long as I'm a minor, and he's my magical guardian, that man has a potential leash around my neck and I don't like that. Remus is helping me in getting Sirius free. Although the biggest step for my current plan is actually going to take place at the Malfoy's party."

"At the party?"

"Right. I'm planning on having a nice little chat with one of the guests," Potter said with a smirk.

The topic shift reminded Severus how this entire thing started and he tried to shake the overwhelmed fogginess from his mind. "Yes... the party. I intended to continue... Dumbledore suggested that as a way to persuade you to accept my accompanying you was to offer assistance to you in getting to Malfoy Manor. Have you already made other travel arrangements?"

"No, I haven't. Are you saying that we can use your Floo?"

"That is correct."

Potter smiled brightly. "Brilliant. I was afraid that Dumbledore was going to try and forbid me from going by refusing me use to any Floos and insisting that I not leave the school grounds."

"He did say that he was going to attempt to persuade you to reconsider attending the party."

Potter nodded. "I expected as much." Potter jumped down off the desk and rocked back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels, swaying his body with the movement in a strangely uncharacteristically youthful gesture. Severus was still reeling from all the things he'd learned and seeing this wasn't helping his still overwhelmed mind. "Well, this whole encounter has gone better than I'd expected," Potter said cheerfully. "I've decided that I don't entirely hate you anymore. We might even be able to work well together. Assuming you don't do anything stupid."

That managed to shake Severus from his stupor and he sneered in annoyance at the brat and was about to bite out an angry retort when his brain kicked in enough to remind him who it was he was about to snark at and he managed to hold his tongue at the last moment.

"Are you so sure that being under the guardianship of Sirius Black will be much better than being under Dumbledore?" Severus asked instead.

Potter shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure it'll be better. Although I do have to wonder whether Black will still be sane enough to assume custody after a decade in Azkaban. My efforts may be pointless in the end, but it's keeping me busy which is better than sitting around and doing nothing but bloody schoolwork. And if Black does still have enough of his mind left, I'm sure I can get him on my side rather than Dumbledore's, easily enough, considering that Dumbledore left him to rot when he could have gotten him out at any point during the last ten years. I get that he sided with the Light wizards during the last war, but he's still a Black. I've always been rather fond of the Blacks... well, in general, anyways. Walburga was a bitch... but Lucretia, Orion and Cygnus were all nice enough company. And I'm finding myself growing fond of Narcissa."

"Sirius Black is nothing like the other Blacks," Severus spat.

"I do recall that from the year and three months I got to spend with my parents before they died. But he was an enjoyable enough person. A bit boisterous. Obviously a Gryffindor."

Severus made a derisive snort at that comment.

"Still," Potter continued, "preferable to being under Dumbledore's legal control. I'll take whatever sanity is left in the man and run with it."

"What do you intend to do to try and get Black freed?" Severus asked.

Potter grinned. "What happened the Halloween night where the Dark Lord lost his body was a bizarre fluke, and while I can't say what caused it, I know it wasn't me. Despite that fact, the rest of the wizarding world is convinced that it was me, and as a result, I've got all this unearned fame floating around my name. All this potential political weight just sitting around going to waste. I figured, I'd finally try making use of it. What good is it being the Boy-Who-Lived if I don't at least take advantage of what I've got available to me?"

Potter grinned widely and Severus felt his eye twitch again. He didn't think he was going to like this...

– –

Term came to an end and the majority of the students went home to spend the winter holidays with their family. All of Harry's Slytherin 'friends' went home, and all of the Ravenclaws in Harry's year also left, although there were a few Ravens from other years who had remained behind.

The Weasley's had remained in the school for the holidays. Harry didn't know why, but he honestly wished they'd left because Ronald clearly thought it was his duty to keep an eye on Harry now. The twins had told Harry that they would help him keep their brother occupied a bit, though. Hopefully they'd succeed.

Harry was certainly capable of dodging the ginger git easily enough though, so it wasn't honestly that big of a concern. He spent more time in the chamber of secrets, going through some more of the books. He also spent some of his now copious amounts of freetime in the Room of Hidden Things working on figuring out the quickest and most effective way to dismantle all of the wards he had observed on the door in the room filled with flying keys.

His notes were rather thorough and he was positive he had them all worked out now. It really hadn't been that terribly hard. Tom had cast tougher wards to dismantle than that while he and Harry were practicing their ward breaking techniques decades ago. Harry would ward something and Tom would ward something else and they would each then try to work out exactly how to break each other's protections apart. Harry was fairly sure that if he had really needed to, he could have dismantled the wards on the door right then and there, but he knew that caution was the better route to take when one had the option.

He was debating the merits of making another trip down the third floor corridor passage in a few weeks when Hagrid and Sprout made their weekly visit, and seeing what might be in the room beyond the keys. The problem with that was that, while he could easily dismantle the wards Dumbledore had placed on the door, putting them back and hooking them back up exactly as Dumbledore had originally constructed them, would be time consuming and he likely wouldn't have the time to do that before Sprout was done tending to the Devil's Snare.

Instead, Harry decided that he would wait to try going beyond the key room until the time he was confident he could try and make it all the way to the stone. And for that, he wanted to wait until Dumbledore was out of the castle... and ideally, closer to the end of the school year so that Harry wouldn't have to be around the school so long with the stolen Stone in his possession. The longer school was in session with the Stone missing, the more time Dumbledore and the other professors had to try and figure out who might of taken it, or how.

Harry managed to add another feature to his version of the Marauder's map that he considered it's most valuable aspect. He added a spell that could track and record things that happened on it, depending on a set of specifications. He had a few copies of the charm running, actually, each copy linked to a specially charmed quill and parchment. One was to record any activity that happened in any of the rooms stemming from the third floor passage. Whenever someone entered it, their name, along with the time was logged. Their footprints were also recorded and Harry could replay it at a later time to try and extrapolate what they could have been doing.

The other charm he had active wasn't on a room, but on a person. He had it tracking everything that Dumbledore did. Obviously this resulted in a lot of filled parchment. It wasn't terribly detailed. Mostly just the time and date, and recording what rooms Dumbledore went to and how long he remained there. Of course it also made note of who was in what rooms with him and when. Still, Harry intended to pour over the information for patterns in the man's movements and habits that he could possibly use to his advantage.

Harry made it a point to attend breakfast and dinner every day of his winter holiday so far. He showed up for lunch now and then, but not as consistently, since he tended to work through lunch. Since so few people were left in the school, the four house tables had been condensed down to a single table that held all of the students. Weasley tended to sit somewhere near him and glower at him from across the table. Harry completely ignored him.

Dumbledore did finally make a move in regards to trying to prevent Harry from attending the Malfoy's party, but he didn't do it in the way Harry had expected him to. Instead of approaching Harry directly, he tried to do it through Remus.

He spoke with the werewolf about his concerns upon having learned that Harry planned to attend a party at Malfoy Manor in the company of so many people that they had suspected of being Death Eaters or sympathizers of Voldemort, and that he was worried about Harry's safety in such an environment. He asked Remus to speak with Harry and try to convince him that it would be far safer to remain in the castle.

Remus had apparently done an admirable job of responding to Dumbledore as expected and then spoke with Harry later that evening about his own concerns. Obviously, he didn't exactly like Dumbledore sticking his nose into Harry's private matters, and yet he also couldn't help but worrying a bit about the sorts of wizards that would be attending the party.

Harry assured Remus that he knew exactly who would be there, and that no one would be able to try anything malicious because there would be too many witnesses. He also pointed out that he intended in set his plans regarding freeing Sirius in motion that night and needed to attend.

When having Remus do the work for him had failed, Dumbledore finally tried approaching Harry himself. He did it one evening after dinner as Harry was leaving the Great Hall to return to the Ravenclaw common room. Dumbledore had tried the genial, wise old grandfather routine, and expressed his concern for Harry's safety. Harry played his part perfectly, despite the intense desire to try and call the old man on his lies and attempts at subtle manipulation.

He insisted to Dumbledore that he really truly wanted to go. That he was very excited to attend since it was the very first Yule party he had ever been invited to, and he was looking forward to seeing Draco, Daphne, Blaise, Vincent, Greg, and Theo there.

Then he dropped the bombshell. With innocent excitement, he expressed how much he was looking forward to speaking with his cousin, Draco's mother Narcissa, again, since he hadn't seen her since summer.

It was terribly difficult to keep a straight face and stay in character at the expression on Dumbledore's face. The old man had actually sputtered a bit as he tried to recover from his surprise. He had then asked Harry what he meant, at which point, Harry had gone into a story about how he had gotten the book 'Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy' during his first visit to Diagon Alley over the summer because he wanted to see if it had the Potters listed. Through that, he had seen that his grandmother was Dorea Black, and then he'd gone to the Black's section and seen Narcissa listed there. Apparently Harry's grandmother, and Narcissa's grandfather were siblings, making them cousins-once-removed. When Harry had met Draco in one of the shops, he had realized he was Narcissa's son and that made them actually related.

Dumbledore was flummoxed, but managed to partially mask his reaction and pretended to be cautiously happy for the seemingly gleeful young man who appeared elated to have found family in the wizarding world that he could connect with. Harry then explained that this connection was why he and Draco had grown to be such good friends so quickly, despite being sorted into different houses.

Dumbledore finally made a move and took on a grave, worried expression. He expressed to Harry that he was happy for him, but that Harry needed to be cautious in regards to the Malfoys. That Lucius Malfoy had been suspected of being a Death Eater – one of Voldemort's loyal followers – and that he might wish harm upon Harry.

Harry was quick to defend his cousin's husband, looking indignant and properly offended. He insisted with seemingly honest concern that there had been no proof of any willing wrong-doing and that poor Lucius had been under the Imperius curse! He had been cleared of all charges, and it wasn't far to continue to hold it against him all these years later!

Dumbledore had heaved a heavy sigh and given Harry a look that was clearly intended to give Harry the impression the old man was disappointed in him, but Harry maintained the stubborn air of an offended eleven year old and held his ground.

Dumbledore finally conceded the argument by simply insisting that Harry stick close to Professor Snape during the evening, and to remain cautious and vigilant.