Harry Potter and the Return of the Parents

Chapter 5 - Old faces, New faces

Sirius Black was not a happy man.

He was not a happy man for many reasons, the most prominent – at that moment – being the lank-haired, greasy-faced, hook-nosed figure of Severus Snape stood before him, sneering around the room as he gave his report.

". . .and he will attempt to try and reach this item of desire by any means possible. . ."

Merlin, Sirius hated that man's voice. Every drawled syllable was like a tiny Cornish pixie wreaking havoc inside his gut. He sometimes wondered whether seven years of hate hadn't conditioned a physical response to the sound, because every time the potions master started to speak Sirius wanted to punch something.

". . .including exploiting such connections he may or may not know he has with the Potter boy."

Severus Snape concluded his account and sat down to an outbreak of worried mutters around the room. Sirius lounged back in his chair and tried to suppress the writhing apprehension in his own stomach. He wasn't so consumed with loathing for the orator to miss the seriousness of the report.

"Thank you, Severus" said Arthur Weasley from the head of the table. "As always, your intelligence is appreciated." Snape leered in response.

"No matter, Arthur" – his eyes flicked over to Sirius – "I am glad to help the cause in any means possible."

Sirius felt his face burn. He knew what the Slytherin was referring to; his own confinement to this house, and his resulting frustration at not being allowed to help fight. He had been making the same gibe for weeks, but it didn't make it any less galling. Sirius didn't know how much more he could stand. To live through twelve years of Azkaban (of the greatest suffering known to man), and to finally come back to some semblance of a home (of a proper life), only to be right back here trading taunts with his childhood nemesis, to still be this easy to work up after everything else he'd suffered –

Before he could respond however a hand clenched around his shoulder, warning him not to rise to the taunt, and he glanced next to him to see Remus shaking his head. Arthur must have noticed the mutinous look in Sirius' eyes, because he pressed on.

"Albus has been informed of this?" he queried. Snape nodded.

"I saw fit to report to him first, knowing that he could not be present." Arthur nodded wearily and sighed, presumably in concern for what this new information might mean for Harry. Sirius knew he had already come to think of the boy as one of his own; in fact, he rather thought the man had been a father for so long and to so many that he might not be able to help himself.

"In that case, that wraps up this meeting" he said, and was answered almost immediately by a loud clatter as the assembled rose from their chairs. "On a lighter note –" he continued at a prod from his wife, raising his voice above the din, "Molly wants me to remind you that any who wish to stay for dinner are more than welcome to."

Sirius rose from his chair, stretching muscles heavy with the familiar ache of sitting in one place too long. If he had it his way he would transform right there and then and just start running – not because he was running from the aurors, but just because he could, and he wouldn't stop until they caught him. Anything to release some of the incessant tension and restlessness that had built up in his bones.

He glared at the retreating figure of Severus Snape and ran a hand through his long hair as substitute for breaking something. One of the rings on his bony fingers became tangled and he yanked it free painfully with almost sinister satisfaction. Remus too was watching Snape, though his gaze didn't retain the same hatred as Sirus'; more a mild resentment that the man felt the need to keep nettling his friend for the sake of a school grudge. The room gradually emptied around them and those who were staying made their way into the adjacent kitchen, from which was drifting the clanking of pots and pans as Molly started cooking dinner. The last straggling order members made their way down the hall, and the kitchen clatter was joined a moment later by the bang of the front door and a sudden eruption of screeches and wails.