White Heather for Protection

The Wolf and the Hound...and the Hippogriff?

Heather smiled sheepishly. "I may or may not have a permanent tracking charm on him."

Sirius goggled in shock. Even the Professor shot her a disbelieving glance.

Sighing, she said, "He has all the curiosity of a cat and eight less lives."

"Like a true Marauder!" Sirius announced proudly.

Professor Snape made a derisive sound. "Only you, mutt, would be proud of your godson being a good-for-nothing hooligan."

Heather frowned disapprovingly but remained silent. She didn't like the way he spoke of Rian, but he had a certain persona to uphold. She only knew about it because of how he much more relaxed he was during their Wednesday sessions.

Her godfather had no such restraint. "What did you say, you slimy snake?" he snarled.

"Sirius!" Heather admonished. Granted, the other wizard had started it. But it irked her that Sirius had insulted her Professor. She chalked it up to the Slyth Unity thing. "I'm a Slytherin too, in case you hadn't realised."

Sirius turned to her quickly and gave her a pleading look. "Of course I didn't mean you! It was just Snivellus."

Heather bristled at the slur against her Head of House. "His name," she said coldly, "is Severus Snape - Master of Potions and Hogwarts' Potion Professor. Technically, you should either be addressing him as Master or Professor Snape."

"Sure as bloody hell not gonna call him Master," Sirius muttered scornfully.

"My, my, Black. Cursing in front of your young goddaughter? What an excellent role model you are turning out to be," the Professor said slyly.

"Sod off, Sniv-" he cut of abruptly at her warning look. "Professor Snape," he forced out through gritted teeth.

Heather caught the nod and tiny smirk her Professor sent to her and she looked down quickly.

The sudden heat in her cheeks must have been due to the long walk from the Headmaster's office to the pitch.

~~~

Professor Snape left them at the Quidditch pitch, but not before giving a subtle glance in her direction. She nodded to signal that she could handle it. Sirius really was innocent, after all. Her Professor's misgivings stemmed from his personal vendetta against the man.

She and Sirius found Rian flying circles around Ron. She saw that Hermione was sitting on the stands, engrossed in a book. Waving at her brother, she gestured to Sirius. As she expected, Hadrian sped towards them and pulled out from his dive dangerously close to the ground.

"Heather! You found Snuffles!" Rian exclaimed.

"Hey there, pup!" The man hugged Hadrian enthusiastically. "You fly amazingly! Just like James used to."

"It's also due to my awesome broom. Thanks for this, by the way!"

"You knew it was from me?"

"We kind of guessed. Not many would spend that much on gifts for us. We already knew you were innocent by then, so..." Hadrian trailed off. "Anyway, I've got nothing on Heather! She flies even better than some professionals!"

Heather's embarrassed protests were drowned out by the two wizards' chattering. She'd figured they would get on well. Hadrian was the cheerier and more sociable of them two. Despite Azkaban, she could tell Sirius had that sort of irrepressible enthusiasm as well.

"Oh, you've met Hermione and Ron, right? When you were Snuffles?" Hadrian dragged Sirius by the arm towards his two friends.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Black," Hermione said politely while Ron mumbled something along those lines at her pointed glance.