A Brother To Basilisks (a Drarry fanfic)

Chapter 28: Things That Trembled

"Mr. Potter," said McGonagall softly behind him, as Harry was finishing up his exam for Transfiguration. "If you could stay behind for a few minutes when you're done?"

What did I do now? Harry wondered, out of habit, as he scribbled down the last line and shook his hand. It didn't hurt as much as it used to when he was trying to write with a pencil in Muggle primary school, but a quill made things awkward in other ways. He had to concentrate really hard to make sure that he didn't blot the ink, for one thing.

You shouldn't think like that, said Dash, and his tail gently squeezed around Harry's waist. You shouldn't always think that you're in trouble, that you're the guilty one.

Harry didn't respond, only stood up and hurried after McGonagall, who had withdrawn to the front of the room. Only a few people remained—Transfiguration wasn't horrible for Harry, but it wasn't his best subject—and they were all in the back. Harry smiled a little. He knew McGonagall was keeping one eye on them even as she talked with him, and she would make anyone who tried to cheat wish they hadn't.

"I understood there was some confusion about your summer plans," McGonagall told Harry, peering at him with concerned eyes. "About whether you were going to stay with Mr. Black or go somewhere else."

Harry found himself a little relieved that she called Sirius by his last name, instead of his first, the way Dumbledore did. It made Sirius sound like he wasn't an adult when Dumbledore called him that.

Well, he is not.

Dash's opinion, Harry could also safely ignore. He shook his head. "No, I'm staying with Sirius, ma'am. There was—we had an argument, but everything's okay now." He saw the soft, relieved breath that escaped McGonagall.

For one second, he was sort of sad that Snape knew more about the "argument" than his Head of House did, but he shook that away. He did have people who cared for him now, and it wasn't like he had ever wanted to talk about his abuse with the Dursleys before, much less what had happened with Sirius. And he hadn't ever relied on McGonagall for much before.

"I also wanted to say, Mr. Potter," and McGonagall also paused and took off her glasses and wiped them. "I am so sorry that I never noticed what was happening when you returned from the summer before." Her accent was so thick on the last words, Harry had trouble understanding them. "If I had known..."

"I know," said Harry, uncomfortable as always when someone started blubbing like this. At least Snape had never blubbed. And Sirius had, but not about this. "But I didn't tell anyone. How were you supposed to know?"

She should have looked, said Dash, and for a moment, the hold of his tail became constricting. If she had paid attention instead of sinking into her own obliviousness, then you could have had better guardians last year. Or the year before.

Who would I have stayed with? Harry asked. I didn't have Sirius then, and there's no one else who could have taken me in.

Dash's silence abounded in discontent. Harry thought he was doing his friend a favor by ignoring it. He said to McGonagall, "Is that all, ma'am? I mean, I've got a Herbology exam in ten minutes."

McGonagall went on looking broodingly at him for what had to be another minute, though, before she nodded. "You realize that you can come to me if you have any more concerns or need help, Mr. Potter?"

Oh. Harry thought he knew what this was about, now. She was feeling guilty, and she wanted some reassurance. That was easy enough to give. Harry knew the right way to smile and the right words to speak, the way he had known how to soothe the Muggles who sometimes thought they could make the Dursleys stop the abuse.