Chapter 190 : Secrets of the Wizarding World

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"The Daily Prophet?" Remus asked. "Why? What ha…" His eyes zeroed on the headlines, the rest of his sentence coming out in the form of a gasp. The more he read, the dizzier he got, until he reached a point were he just had to sit down. Even if one overlooked Harry being the creator of the Firebolt -and how the ruddy hell could one overlook that!- Severus Snape finding the cure for lycanthropy? That was a little too much to take in.

"Is this for real?" An ashen faced James asked the Headmaster who simply nodded; how could he have missed that? He remembered Harry asking him if he could get a summer job, a year back. Was that what he had meant?

"I double checked with my connections in the Ministry and in Grigotts; it's the truth." Dumbledore assured them, rubbing his eyes. That had been quite a surprise. Enter understatement of the century here.

"But how?" Remus asked from the couch, his head still cradled between his hands. His voice sounded broken.

"Severus is the youngest potions master in centuries and Harry had always been above average, we knew that. He's also the brother of the Boy Who Lived." Albus stated, his words sounding hollow in his own ears; when had the last time when he had stopped to really look at Harry Potter been? More than a decade, he decided ashamed.

"We should ask them." Adrian stated, his eyes never leaving the image of his smiling brother on the front page; why hadn't Harry said anything?

"They're in the kitchen after all." Lily mumbled. Albus and Minerva looked at her confused. "They are." She assured them. Albus nodded and led the way, James and Sirius following up close and the rest trotting after them.

In the mean time, Harry and Severus were in the kitchen, laughing their hearts out. This had gone better than planned, the potions master thought. And it was definitely worth the wait.

"They've grown terribly quiet." Harry observed. They had listened to McGonagall's voice and her proclamation of Dumbledore arriving, so they figured the questioning was about to begin. Harry for one, was ready to enjoy it thoroughly. He had promised Neville to wreck havoc after all.

"It must be the shock." Severus offered, taking a bite from his chocolate cake. "Do you think either Minerva or Albus are subscribers to Witch Weekly?" The potions master asked, making Harry almost choke at the notion.

"No." He stated. "I think we'll have the honour of witnessing their reaction to that first hand." Footsteps sounded in the hallway, signalling the crowd outside had snapped out of their shock enough to start moving.

"Let the games begin." Harry muttered, as the door slammed open.

"Subtle." Severus stated from the corner of the kitchen counter where he sat.

"Severus." A confused Headmaster greeted him. Albus had of course seen the picture that accompanied the article on the Daily Prophet, but witnessing the changes first hand was a completely different issue. And that would be the first time of many when Albus Dumbledore would start doubting his judgement.

"Albus." The potions master greeted back with a soft smile. The Headmaster gulped and pointed at the newspaper.

"I believe congratulations are in order." He stated. "To both of you." He turned to look at Harry too; the young man was smiling back calmly.

"Thank you, professor." The teen offered.

"When did that happen?" James asked, his eyes locking with his youngest son's emerald gaze. "The Firebolt, Harry?" The young man in question just shrugged.

"I did ask your permission for a summer job." Harry said lightly. "In the beginning I didn't even know how it would go; then everything with Pettigrew just got in the way and I figured I shouldn't bother you. I simply decided to make it public and the news kind of coincided with Severus's, so… surprise?" He asked chuckling.

"That's all you have to say?" Adrian asked shocked. "Surprise?" Harry kept his carefree air but wouldn't allow being reprimanded for his actions.

"Look, you were always somewhere training and I had to do something with my time. And I happen to be very good at designing. Who knew, right?" The silence that followed his words was almost deafening.

"And what about the Wolfsbane?" Remus asked, his eyes zeroing on Severus. "And don't you dare shrug that off!" Severus's demeanour turned completely sober as he looked at the werewolf straight in the eyes.

"The Wolfsbane represents nine years of my life. And besides, I saw what you had to go through every month since I was a child, Remus. I would never shrug that off." The werewolf nodded and smiled. Then he proceeded to do something unexpected, something Harry had never even thought he would witness; he moved forward and hugged the potions master as strongly as he could. Severus smiled and patted him on the back.

"Thank you, Severus."

"Don't mention it." The potions master stated, making the werewolf step back and look at him sternly.

"It's the cure for lycanthropy! Of course I will bloody mention it!" Severus chuckled and shook his head.

"I meant the hug. Never mention it. Ever." The two men looked at each other for a moment, before breaking into laughter.

"This isn't happening." Sirius muttered from his corner. He was observing the whole scene without speaking, his brain slowly processing everything.

"Keep telling that to yourself, mutt." Severus said.

"And there we go again." Harry muttered. Suddenly, he looked at the newspaper and made a startling realization. "Hm."

"Hm?" Severus repeated.

"I just realized, I haven't gotten my copy of the Daily Prophet yet." The teen pointed out.

"Oh, they mail individuals after institutions, so anyone in Hogwarts would receive it first." Severus explained smirking. "Magazines included." Harry just groaned.

"What magazines?" Lily asked, looking at the interaction between her son and her childhood friend with an unreadable expression.

"Just one. Witch Weekly." Harry explained.

"Yes, we gave an interview to Rita Skeeter and…"

"Don't mention that name!" Harry grunted, dropping his head on the table. "She's evil."

"She is." Severus agreed, his gaze going blank for a second. "She's one scary woman." He elaborated, looking at a confused Lily. "I would rather not talk about it." Severus stated and shuddered.

"Why not?" Adrian asked, before he managed to hold his question. He blanched as Severus looked at him. And his jaw hit the floor as the potions master smiled apologetically.

"Because if I talk about it, I'll think about it and I'm in the process of convincing myself it never happened." He explained. A grey owl flew in, dropping the offending piece of written word on the kitchen counter. "Yet the world won't let me." Severus commented.

"May I…" Lily asked, moving to pick up the magazine.

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