A New Snake

Chapter 20

         

Dinner was pleasant, and compared to dinners with the Dursleys, Harry thought it was downright enjoyable. They were all a little tired, it had been a long day, so Severus simply ordered some take-out. Harry enjoyed listening to Lily and his Professor speak to each other. It was clear they were close, that they had a good relationship. The sight made him happy for her, but it made him slightly wistful. What would his life had been like if he even had one of his parents? Would it have been better? Would he be happier? Safer? Would he have still been a Slytherin? He wasn't sure, but he didn't want to dwell on those thoughts. Thinking that way wouldn't bring them back, it would just upset him, and he had cried as much he could for his loss.

Instead, Harry moved his thoughts to more agreeable topics, like whether he might be chosen for the Slytherin Quidditch team the next year. Those thoughts were interrupted by a question from Lily.

"By the way, Harry. What did you do with the thousand-galleon prize money?"

Harry smiled and swallowed his bite, "I put most of it in Gringotts, but I also anonymously invested a good amount to an independent, up-and-coming business."

The other two at the table looked at him with a bit of surprise then Lily smiled, "That was bloody brilliant!"

"Language, young lady."

"Sorry, Papa. But, Harry, you really did deserve that prize money. I'm sure anyone else would have spent it on silly, over-expensive things. You were proper smart about it!"

Harry flushed a bit, ducked his head, and continued eating. He never had much of a want to spend money simply to spend it. He never had the money to do that anyway. He'd rather give some to people who need it and save the rest for a rainy day.

Throughout dinner, he began opening up more. He joined in the conversation and put in his opinion when they were discussing re-decorating his room for him. He decided to make the room ivory. It would help keep the room bright with natural lighting and it would help keep his mood up. He wanted a canopy bed with emerald muslin lined with faux-silver lining. His linens would be a pale-tan paired with a pale-green duvet. The woodwork in the room would be walnut—this included his bed, wardrobe, window panes, door frames, etc. His carpet would be the same pale green as his duvet.

It had all been settled and supper was cleaned up and done with. Severus told the two to hangout in the living room until he was finished cleaning and decorating the room. They told stories of the first three years of their education that they had not known each other. Lily told him how her tutor took her to the Dragon caves of Southern Africa to witness the hatching of the new broods in her third year. She said that it would normally have been a seventh year trip, but since her father was planning on transferring her to Hogwarts, they went ahead and did it. Harry told her about his adventures with his friends with the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, and Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. He also told her exactly what happened in each task fourth year and what happened when he disappeared in the last task. Lily laughed at that, "I don't doubt that if you had been more Gryffindor, you would have stayed and dove right into every problem instead of finding another way out." She said wiping tears from her eyes. Harry watched them sparkle in mirth and firelight. The orange flames made her ice-blue eyes look like a sunset in a frosty pond. Like at the beginnings of a sunset in a cloudless sky. These thoughts made Harry blush. What was he doing, thinking things like that?

He was spared having to answer that question by Severus rejoining the two, announcing that the room was complete and he had taken the liberty to put a few of Harry's things away—with magic of course—and Harry thanked him graciously. He spent the rest of the evening adding some minor details to his room. He put a picture of Hermione, Ron, and himself on the bedside table, beside which he placed the photo album of his parents that Hagrid had put together for him. He put his school books on the bookshelf as well as books he'd gotten as gifts—mostly from Hermione. He put his broom and broom care things in the top of the wardrobe where he could reach, but they wouldn't be in the way. He hung up his school robes and everyday clothes in the wardrobe and lined the bottom with his shoes. Satisfied with his work so far, he decided to continue in the morning. He put on his pajamas, yawning as he did, and buried himself under his blankets, hoping for a peaceful sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~

Harry woke in the darkness of his room with a start—a bright green flash still staining his vision. He threw off the duvet and untangled his feet—suddenly too hot. He took a few deep breaths, calming his heartrate, and moved to his window. The moon was still hours from setting, meaning it was after midnight, but not even close to daybreak. As he stood, mesmerized by the swaying flora outside of his window, his stomach growled. They had some leftover takeout in the fridge, so he padded barefoot down the hall and into the kitchen, the dream that woke him long-forgotten.

Lily came into the kitchen as he was eating, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What's wrong, Harry? Why are you up?" She took the seat beside him and resting her sleep-laden head heavily on one hand.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm sorry I woke you. I just woke up hungry and decided to get some of the leftovers. You can go back to bed." He smiled at her as she yawned, stood, and returned to her room. He finished his late night—or was it early morning?—snack and returned to his room. He sat for a while with his bedside lamp on looking at the moving photos of his parents waving up at him. He turned off the lamp, holding the photo album to his chest, and fell into a dreamless sleep. But a dreamless sleep was better than one filled with nightmares of returning Dark Lords, bright green curses, and the Dursleys.

The next morning saw Harry at the breakfast table with messy hair and bags under his eyes. Unfortunately, even though he hadn't had any more nightmares, sleep had not come easy and the fact that his body was used to waking up at 7:00 every morning didn't help. So he hadn't had a very good sleep and the other occupants of the table noticed this. They didn't say anything, probably assuming that Harry would brush it off as nothing. And they'd be right.

Breakfast was cooked by Kreature—which Sirius had lent to Severus because it was the first morning back from school for all of them, and Severus would have another teenager to cook for—and consisted of coffee for Severus, and tea for the others. They all had fried eggs and beans on toast with bangers and bacon. Harry was glad his stomach wasn't as tiny as it was when he first came to Hogwarts. He would never have been able to even imagine eating all of the food on his plate. Surprisingly enough, Kreature always cooked fantastic meals, despite his permanently cross personality. He never burnt a meal or served a bad dish, not even to Sirius, who he hated more than anyone. So Harry, Severus, and Lily all enjoyed their meals; the latter two were glad to see Harry perk up considerably once he had gotten some breakfast in him.

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