Of Monsters, Of Men

Chapter 33

Because as much as Harry might not like Severus Snape, he understood intellectually that his professor had stuck his neck out for him and Tom, albeit in his own peculiar and oftentimes nasty way.

Where were you during all that? was left unsaid.

Sirius Black swallowed, looking wildly from Professor Snape to Harry. "Harry, I'm so sorry," he croaked, putting his hands on his head and shaking his head rapidly, "Merlin, I should have been there for you—"

Harry responded gently, "No, it wasn't your fault. Things just turned out how they turned out that night. There's not much else you could have done—what child could have survived that fire? You did what you believed in, and perhaps it wasn't right, but it was what you thought was the best option at the time. Don't blame yourself for something you can't control."

"You're too kind to him," Professor Snape said coldly.

Harry shook his head. "He's already suffered enough. He spent thirteen years in Azkaban as an innocent man. If anything, I should be kinder to him," he said softly.

Is it so hard for both of you to understand that I won't be needlessly cruel to either of you?

Seeing Professor Snape's pinched face, Harry massaged his temples. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'd better get going. Tom's waiting for me upstairs."

Please don't try to kill each other again, Harry thought irritably as he walked away, noticing Professor Snape and Black glaring heavily at each other.

Once Harry reached Tom's room, he knocked once before entering. Inside, he cast a variety of anti-eavesdropping charms.

Tom said, "I listened in."

"I know," Harry said tiredly, rubbing his eyes. "What a shitshow."

"Both Snape and Black are too caught-up in the past for their own good. They're both quite obsessed with James and Lily," Tom commented.

"I agree."

"At least that'll make it easy to fish out information from Sirius," Tom mused. "Snape, too."

Sighing frustratedly, Harry said, "I'm not sure if that's even what I want. I don't know how to get closer to Black. And why would we even need to know more about Black and Snape?"

Tom's eyes gleamed. "Information is power. The more we learn about Black and Snape, I'm sure we'll learn more about Dumbledore. And the more we learn about Dumbledore, the more we ultimately learn about the Deathly Hallows. We must learn more about this cloak of yours, and I'm sure that Dumbledore wouldn't tell us any more than the bare minimum we need to know. We also need to determine that Snape isn't a threat to you. Even though Dumbledore trusts him as a double agent, we can't be certain he's not a triple agent."

"It seems pretty convincing to me that Snape truly has switched to Dumbledore's side. Or rather, against Grindelwald."

Tom dipped his head. "I suppose." Almost as if an afterthought, he added, "And thank you for defending me against Black earlier. I do appreciate it."

Harry snorted. "I don't think he understands that you're closer to me than he ever could be."

Tom smiled darkly. "He'll never be the one that protected you, saved you."

That'll always be you, thought Harry. Always.

The next day, Professor Lupin approached Harry and Tom after breakfast. Tom was cleaning the kitchen table and countertops, while Harry was washing the dishes.

"I was wondering if I could talk to both of you?" he asked. "After you both finish, of course."

"Give us a minute," Harry said. He cleaned the last bowl, patted his hands dry on the dish towel and followed Professor Lupin to the living room. Tom similarly finished up and followed Lupin.