kbinnz - Harry's New Home

He found himself looking at the man from the newspaper photo (minus the thong). His godfather was tall, with dark hair and blue eyes that Hermione insisted were "gorgeous". His face was lined, but right now it was lit up with a huge smile. "HARRY!" he let out a joyous shout that was almost a bark.

"Um, hi," Harry said, suddenly feeling shy.

"Come here тАУ let me take a look at you!" the man commanded, holding out his arms.

Harry felt his professor's grip tighten for a second but then Snape's arm withdrew entirely, and Harry obediently stepped towards his godfather. Only to yelp in surprise as he was grabbed and tossed high in the air.

"I used to do that when you were a pup!" Sirius grinned, catching him and hugging him tight. "Do you remember?"

"Padfoot, Harry was just a baby then. I doubt he remembers us at all," another man said, smiling, as he stepped from behind the couch. "Hello, Harry, I'm Remus Lupin."

"Er, hello," Harry offered. He glanced at his professor. "Erm, they were my father's friends, yeah?" he asked uncertainly.

Snape looked sour. "Yes. The idiot and the werewolf."

"Hey!" Sirius protested. "Who are you calling an idiot?"

Snape just looked at him and after a moment, Sirius shrugged resignedly and turned back to Harry. "Well, okay, but I'm a lot better now."

Harry giggled.

"I'll just leave you alone," the other man said quietly. Harry noticed that he'd made no effort to come any closer.

"Wait," Harry said, twisting to see him. "Mr тАУ uh тАУ Lupin? Why are you leaving?"

"Yeah, Moony," Sirius protested. "Don't go."

"I think your visitors would be more comfortable if I weren't here." Remus gave Sirius a pointed look.

"Oh!" Sirius looked torn as he glanced from Harry to Remus and back again.

Harry looked puzzled. "Why would you make us feel uncomfortable?" he asked blankly.

"Lupin is playing the martyr because he assumes that you share the prejudice against werewolves common to most in the Wizarding world," Snape commented in a bored tone. "He believes that you will be frightened of him and shy from his touch."

Remus shot Snape a dirty look. "Well, since someone obviously saw fit to inform Harry of my condition," he retorted, "the least I can do is not interfere with his reunion with his godfather."

Harry squirmed until his godfather let him down, then walked up to Lupin. "I'm not afraid of you, sir," he offered, holding out his hand. "I know you were one of my father's best friends."

Amazed, Lupin shook Harry's hand, tears coming to his eyes. He looked over at Snape, who stood arms crossed over his chest. "Severus, again you shame me. Thank you for this gift."

Snape grumbled in irritation. "I don't know what you're talking about, wolf. I certainly wasn't going to frighten the brat half to death with some nonsensical propaganda, though neither did I pretend you're a harmless little puppy dog."

"That would be me!" Sirius, never one to allow the spotlight to be off him for long, promptly transformed into his canine form, leaving Harry speechless.

Remus sighed. "Trust your godfather to keep a secret. Padfoot, I thought we agreed that it was better for Harry not to know about your secret animagus form."

"That's so wicked!" Harry yelled, running over to pat his godfather. Padfoot promptly rolled on his back so Harry could scratch his tummy. "You're just like Professor McGonagall! Wow!"

"Brilliant, Black," Snape sneered. "Do you really imagine that confiding in an 11 year old is a way to safeguard your secret? Let me guess тАУ you've shown off for at least a dozen local women as well."

Sirius transformed back and grinned at the Potion Master. "Snape, my lad, trust me. I impress the women just fine with my human form, though I admit there's quite a transformation involved there as well," he leered.

Harry looked quizzical, and Snape gritted his teeth. "Spare me your smut, Black."

"Jealous?"

Remus stepped in before Severus could answer. "Sirius, I doubt you want to get into this kind of comparison with a Slytherin. Remember what Missy Rogers told you?"

"Oh." Sirius scowled. "Right."

Snape blinked. Who was - ? Oh, yes. Rogers. A Slytherin the year behind him. But what did she have to do withтАж?

Remus stepped over to Snape, who managed (barely) to control his flinch. The werewolf lowered his voice confidingly. "Sirius dated Missy for a few weeks our sixth year. When they broke up, she made some comments about his, er, prowess, and told him that, ah, the Slytherin mascot had special тАУ uh тАУ meaning for the males in your House. That they were taught special spells to тАУ er тАУ emulate a serpent with, erm, a certain part of their anatomy and that, uh," Remus was a brilliant red, but he gamely continued his whispered explanation, "well, it was hard for a girl to go back after having had a Slytherin boy. Sirius sulked for three days straight."

Snape's eyes were wide, and only his stern control prevented him from clutching himself. That was what the other Houses said about Slytherin? Where the hell had he been when those spells were being taught?

"A few weeks later, Missy told me she'd made it all up, just to teach Sirius a lesson, but somehow I never quite got around to sharing the news with him." Remus grinned at Snape's expression. "It's good to keep Sirius feeling a little humble."

"He's never figured it out?" Snape asked, stunned.

"Well, he tried to get his brother to teach him the spells, but of course he and Regulus were estranged by then, so Reg just told him to sod off." Remus' eyes were crinkled as he held back his laughter, and Snape suddenly found it hard to despise the creature quite as much as he had.

Sirius had gone back to talking to Harry after Remus interrupted his little spat with Snape, and now he gave another bark of laughter. "Sure, you can learn to be an animagus, Harry. I mean, your dad did, so why not you? We weren't much older than you when we started to learn."

"My dad was an animagus? Cool! Do you get to choose your form? 'Cause I want to be a talking snake."

The words were met with a moment of shocked silence, then Snape took two steps forward. "A talking snake? What do you mean by that?" he demanded, the back of his neck prickling with dread. Sirius and Remus exchanged worried glances.

"You know," Harry explained innocently, "since wizards can talk to snakes, I think that'd be a wicked choice. You'd get to be an animal but you could still talk to people who weren't animaguses."

"Animagi," Snape corrected automatically, his mind racing. Sirius and Remus were looking at each other in horror. "You can talk to snakes?"

Harry nodded.

"Show me." Snape abruptly conjured a snake. Startled, the Marauders pulled out their own wands, but before they could do anything, Harry had stepped forward. "Hello," he said politely to the hissing cobra. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Harry."

"A ssspeaker!! Hello, ssspeaker," the snake dipped its head in welcome. "Why have you ssummoned me?"

"My guardian wanted to see me talk to you. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all. Is there anyone you would like me to bite before I go?"

"No, thank you. But do you think you could find your way to Surrey? I have тАУ" But Snape, having heard enough, had banished the snake, and now all three adults were staring at Harry.

"What?" he asked, then realized he was still speaking Snake. "Sorry. What is it?"

"He's a Parselmouth?" Sirius gulped, looking a bit sick. "When did that happen?"

"If anyone finds outтАж" Remus looked worriedly at Snape. "The reaction could be bad. People can be very cruel."

Snape nodded absently, busy calculating all the benefits this talent could bring, if handled properly. Perhaps Harry could challenge the Dark Lord for mastery of his familiar Nagini? Or obtain his own, even more powerful, snake familiar? Hmmm. How long did it take to grow a basiliskтАж.?