Lily giggled. "Nobody wants one of those." She looked up at Severus. "Do you remember that time fourth year when Sirius got that one from his mother after Minerva got fed up with his and James antics and wrote letters home to their parents?"
"Indeed. I think Mrs. Black's was even louder than Molly's. We got quite a chuckle out of that in Slytherin."
"Sirius didn't want to stay with his parents; he thought they were evil dark wizards even though his father, Orion was an Auror at the time, so he moved in with James when he was fifteen and never went back home."
"He has a younger brother who was sorted into Slytherin a year behind me and he never spoke to him again. Sirius and your father used to hex him."
"Is his brother like Sirius?"
"His name is Regulus, Reg for short, and he is nothing like Sirius. He actually works in Sarah Mullings office as a Child Protection Officer. When a Wizarding child needs to be removed from their home because of abuse or some other serious reason; Reg is one of the ones who goes and takes custody of the child or children. Perhaps, I will invite him over so you can meet him."
"I'd like that, Dad," Harry said. "Maybe I can ask him about his job. It sounds interesting." Harry had been thinking he'd like to work with abused children as a healer or in another capacity.
As she had promised, Cissa bought Lily a gorgeous green silk dress and accessories to wear to Gringotts on Monday and also a warm coat, hat and gloves. Harry spent all weekend sitting by his mum and doing his homework. He's already done all of his homework for Monday and Tuesday and this work was due later in the week. He somewhat reluctantly went back to Ravenclaw Tower on Sunday night.
"Harry seems to be doing very well in school," Lily remarked.
"Well, I have explained to him the importance of establishing good study habits now and how it will help him in the years to come especially with OWLs and NEWTs."
"You've done so well with Harry the short time you've had him, Sev and he loves you so much."
"I love him too and he is a good kid despite having had to live with Petunia, her oaf of a husband, and their spoiled son for over ten years."
"Once I'm completely recovered, there are a few people I'm going to be having some words with," Lily promised.
"In the meantime, you should be getting to bed," Severus suggested. "I have set up the guestroom for you." He helped Lily to her feet and helped her down the hall to the room. "If you need anything, I will be out here. I have still got some assignments that need correcting."
Well, don't stay up too late, Sev," Lily teased as she closed the door.
Severus went into the kitchen and made himself a pot of strong coffee and then sat down at his desk, quill and red ink at ready and began correcting and grading the assignments. He frowned and shook his head as he read. It seemed that some students were too lazy to even open their textbooks to find the correct answers and just wrote anything off the top of their heads. He worked his way through the stack. He finished with the last one with a sigh and then got up taking his coffee mug to the kitchen, washing it out, and putting it away again. He washed out he coffee pot, dried it and set it back on the stove for the morning. He walked quietly down the hallway so he wouldn't wake Lily and went into his room.
The next morning he rose at his usual time of 6:00 am and brewed a pot of coffee. He poured himself a cup and picked up his copy of the Prophet, scanning the front page for anything interesting. There was no mention of any kind of disturbance at the Ministry for Magic, but of course the Unspeakables could not reveal what had happened in the Veil Room on Halloween night. An unexpected knock on his door startled Severus out of his contemplation of the events of two nights ago. He looked at the door and saw Remus Lupin spelled out over the door. Severus walked over and opened the door.
"Good morning, Severus," Remus said pleasantly. "May I come in?"
"Good morning, Remus," Severus stepped aside and Remus came in. "Would you like some tea?"
"That would be good," Remus replied.
Severus called Blinky and asked him to bring a pot of tea. Blinky was back in a few moments with a tray containing a teapot wrapped in a Hogwarts cozy, a cup and saucer, and a plate of freshly baked Pumpkin muffins.
"Thank you, Blinky for your always excellent service," Severus said.
"Blinky is happy he has pleased Mr. Professor Severus," Blinky replied bowing before he popped away again.
"Mr. Professor Severus?" Remus asked quite amused.
"I have known Blinky since my first year at Hogwarts and when I came back here to teach we agreed that he would be my personal house elf."
"I wanted to speak with you about Harry," Remus said. At Severus' stormy expression he held up a hand. "I don't agree with what Albus and Sirius are planning. I hate them acting as if Harry's some kind of secret weapon, their secret weapon in the fight against of You-Know-Who." He sighed. "If one of Harry's parents were going to come back; why couldn't it have been Lily instead of James?"
"I thought Marauders stuck together?" Severus asked in a wry tone.
Remus took a sip of his tea and a bite of his muffin. "Well, I guess you wouldn't know, but James cut me off even before they went into hiding because many werewolves were going over to You-Know-Who with his promises of equality. Many unfortunately found out the hard way that it was a lie. He just wanted them to do his dirty work and when they did, he took care of them with a Avada Kedavra."
"He actually thought you would turn them over to You-Know-Who?" Severus asked stunned. "I did not of course know what the inner dynamics of the Marauders were, but I always knew you to be loyal."
"Yes, he said it was nothing personal, but he didn't want me coming to visit Lily or Harry anymore."