2

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he stood at the window of his office high up in the castle, watching the far away dots that were Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape stroll around the grounds of Hogwarts. The sun was shining down on the pair, but Albus could not bring himself to think of how fortunate the pair had been. They had both survived a fight that should have seen their deaths. They both had friends, a home and a chance to fight for their futures. But they had such deep scars as well.

By the time Madam Pomfrey had seen to Draco, it was too late. The cuts down one side of his face could be healed, but they couldn't be stopped from scarring. Harry had declared them roguish and handsome when he had first seen his boyfriend after the fight, but Albus knew from Severus that Draco avoided looking into mirrors as much as he could these days. And the Potion's professor was not faring much better. His throat had been badly damaged during the fight, the voice box being almost ripped out. Pomfrey had fixed it as best she could but it was going to take a while for the potions to repair the damage completely. In the meantime he couldn't speak, couldn't laugh, and had to use charms at all times to keep his head and neck in the right position. It was making him rather a lot snappier than he usually was, and Harry and Sirius were very luck that he was undergoing treatment in the hospital wing when they had brought Draco back, or Severus may well have cast some spells that he would regret later on down the line. In a few years or so, perhaps.

Of course, in the case of young Draco it was not just physical scars that he had to accept. The abrupt ending of the curse that Lucius had cast on his son had shattered Draco's mind to pieces. The pieces of himself that were his originally, that were not some fabrication of his father's, had scattered, and now he had to fit them back together, back where they should be.

"And Lucius knew that it would happen," Albus ground out, fury flashing in his normally genial eyes. Fawkes squawked loudly from his perch, agreeing with his master. When the news finally broke to the rest of the wizarding world, Albus was sure that, for all their faults, they would react the same way. It was unthinkable to most of the magical population to hurt one's own heir, even if it was in an attempt to corral them. That was why spells such as the one Lucius used went out of fashion. That was why Sirius had never been disowned as well. With the magical population declining, and bloodlines becoming more important, most families were unwilling to risk either harming or discarding a potential heir to carry on their name. On this, at least, they would all be agreed. The matter of Voldemort's return, however, was less clear.

Minister Fudge had been to visit Albus the day before. He stopped his eyes from flickering over to the desk, where the copy of the ministerial decree still lay. The ministry would have the power to appoint a teacher should Albus be unable to provide a suitable candidate. It was aimed, of course, at the defence post. Every year Albus struggled to find even one half-way suitable teacher, and this year he had found himself unable to do even that. With his decline in popularity as his 'claims' about Voldemort's brief return reached the general populace, not even one of those he had asked was willing to align themselves with the headmaster. He only had one contact left to try.

"Dobby?" He asked the empty office, unsure of whether or not the little elf would answer him. A free elf was something that Albus had not dealt with in many, many years. And a free elf belonging to Harry and Sirius? Dobby was certainly unique, and therefore unpredictable.

"Yes Mr Dumbles?" The elf squeaked the instant he popped into the room. He was wearing an orange Hawaiian shirt and cut off denim shorts. He was also swaying slightly where he stood.

"Hello, Dobby," the headmaster smiled kindly, "I was wondering if you could help me with a little problem I've been having."

"Master doggy be telling me that you would ask for help with a problem and to be telling you that under no circumstances will I go near your private parts, no matter what sort of problem you be having."

Albus gaped down at the elf, for once lost for words. Dobby swayed on the spot a bit more violently and Fawkes let out a gentle trill in the hopes that it would stop the elf from vomiting on the carpet.

"I, ah, it's not that sort of problem, Dobby. No, I actually have a vacant teaching spot to fill, and I was wondering if you knew anybody? I have already tried my other contacts and they could not come up with a suitable candidate, but I thought that you would, perhaps, have a rather unique perspective on the situation."

"Hmm, I's be seeing who I can find, Mr Dumbles," Dobby said through clenched teeth, and then he was gone. Albus severely hoped that he had apparated right in front of Sirius and puked all over him. It would serve him right for that genitals joke.

When Harry woke up, it was to bright light and the sound of loud singing coming from downstairs. Both were highly undesirable in his hungover state, and to demonstrate his annoyance he groaned weakly and pulled a pillow over his head. The exertion needed to complete even this small action was enough to make him groan weakly again, though this time it was muffled by the pillow so nobody else had to listen to his pitiful whines.

"C'mon, pup, get up!" Sirius shouted, right into his godson's ear. Harry yelped and jumped backwards, colliding the back of his head with Sirius's chin in his hurry to find his wand and curse the attacker. He didn't get far, however, as the collision caused his headache to intensify and so he mostly just fell onto the floor with a whimper.

"You're a fucking wanker in the morning, you know that, right?" He asked as soon as he'd figured out what was actually going on.

"I know!" Sirius grinned, "I'm a wanker most of the rest of the time as well. Well, apart from when Ruby's around and then it's less wanki-"

"Fucking hell, Pads, I did not want to imagine that! You're old, it's gross, and I already bloody feel sick."

"Enough of the old stuff, you little shit!" Sirius yelped indignantly, "Or next time I won't tell you that Moony's cooking breakfast. I'll just leave you to whinge in bed by yourself."

"Wait, that's Moony singing down there?" Harry asked, picking himself up from the floor and beginning to crash around his room in an attempt to find some clothing that wasn't fishnets and black boxers. Where that outfit had come from, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. If he didn't know, he could believe it was a prank. Yes, definitely a prank.

"Yeah," Sirius frowned, "But don't mention it to him. I heard him and Dobby talking about barber shop quartets last week and I really don't want to get dragged into it."

Harry shuddered violently at the thought of Dobby in a striped outfit serenading people. And then he shuddered even more violently as a wave of nausea went through him.

"Be right back," he threw over his shoulder as he ran for the bathroom.

By the time he got downstairs, his breakfast was half cold but he ate it anyway after downing the hangover potion Dobby had helpfully placed next to Harry's orange juice.

"What we doing today then, pup?" Sirius asked energetically, leaning forward over the table until he could almost touch Harry's face with his outstretched fingers. Harry batted his godfather's hands away before answering.

"What are you doing, Pads? Get your grubby hands away from me," He moaned, reaching into the pocket of his tight green jeans in a search for a lighter. He found it eventually in his back pocket and, flicking it open, lit the cigarette poking out from between his lips.

Remus frowned slightly at Harry's continual smoking in the kitchen but let it go. Last time he'd complained about it had left him with pink clothes (even his boxers) and a muggle werewolf mask superglued to his head. He still hated Hermione just a little for introducing Sirius to superglue.

"Well, I'm giving Winky another reading lesson and then I thought that I'd-"

"Do something boring and nerdy?" Sirius asked, grinning as he cut Remus off mid-sentence.

"I thought that I'd," Remus carried on without even glancing at his friend's obnoxiously happy face, "Carry on combing through your library for information on horcruxes, or Voldemort, or, well, anything really."

"Booooriiiinngg!"

"Oh yeah, and I'm sure it'll be really boring when I figure out how to destroy his horcruxes and we kill him once and for all. Sounds like a yawn."

"Oh, pish," Harry waved Remus' words away with a hand, "Leave all that reading stuff to Dumbles. Let's do something fun!"

"Harry, we have to at least work on-"

"Fiiiineee," Harry sighed. "But in a fun way, alright?"

"I know!" Sirius announced loudly, knocking his chair over backwards when he stood up in excitement, "Let's go rob the Malfoys!"