House of snakes

Chapter 1

"Alright there, Harry?"

Harry looked up from his plate to smile at his deputy headmaster. Neville Longbottom, the Herbology professor of Hogwarts, had become his best friend in the ten years they'd been working at Hogwarts together. "Fine, Nev."

Neville snorted, sensing the lie. Harry shrugged, moving his gaze to the sea of students sitting below the head table. There were so few students at Hogwarts now that they'd had to do away with house tables a few years ago. Now there were just two long tables in the Great Hall, and even they weren't completely full.

It was the end of term feast and the students seemed excited about the prospect of going home. Harry had to give a real smile at that. He loved his students—they were one of the few joys left in his life. He'd always wanted children of his own, but after three years of marriage to Ginny she'd proclaimed disgust at the thought of pregnancy. He'd thought they'd be able to work past that hurdle, but things built up one after another and soon enough they were getting divorced.

The move had served as a method that tore Harry from the rest of the Weasley family. Though Harry occasionally was able to drop by and see George at his shop, he was never again invited to the Burrow for Sunday brunches. Ron had stopped talking to him as well, though perhaps that friendship had broken up earlier when Harry had told the redhead of his plan to teach instead of joining him in auror training. With the loss of Ron came the loss of Hermione, though she tried to send him the occasional owl behind her husband's back.

"You're growing maudlin again," Neville said.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. He'd grown it out a bit, which helped with the messiness, but even shoulder length and tied back at the nape of his neck it still held more volume that he would like. "I know. It's a bad habit."

"Trust me, I remember fifth year."

Harry grinned at Neville. It had taken years for the reminder of that year, and the death of his godfather that came with it, to stop hurting. He'd always miss Sirius but it was the same way he'd miss Remus and Tonks and Fred and everyone else who'd lost their life. He knew mourning them any longer than he already had wouldn't help anyone, so instead he'd learned to celebrate the lives they'd had.

Teddy helped with that, he mused as he glanced at the Ravenclaw table where his thirteen-year-old godson sat. Teddy's hair was a dark black, probably reflecting his mood. Like Harry when he was a student at Hogwarts, Teddy's home was the castle and not his grandmother's house where he lived over the summer.

At least Andromeda was nicer than the Dursleys.

Harry stood and cleared his throat. He tapped his wand to his goblet and cast a silent sonorus on his voice. "Attention, please."

The students quieted down, turning to face him. Harry took a deep breath. "I want to thank you all for a wonderful year. Times have been hard lately, but I saw you all push past your troubles to work on learning as much magic as you can. I admire each and every one of you for that."

Harry looked over his students, noting with pride that houses were mixed together. Gryffindors sat next to Slytherins, debated with Ravenclaws, and laughed with Hufflepuffs. In a time where the British wizarding world was crumbling under their feet, house unity had finally been found at Hogwarts.

"I will miss you all and I hope to see most of you back here next year. For the graduating seventh years, I know many of you are hesitant to step out into the world. The market out there is tough. I can't guarantee you will find a job. I can't guarantee your safety from the muggle terrorist groups which seek the destruction of all things magical. I hope to, one day, be able to guarantee such things. Until then, I wish you luck. I hope your time at Hogwarts has prepared you as much as it can."