A Sliver of Change | S. Black

Part 3: Chapter 10

Part 3:

Chapter 10 -

May 8th, 1977

Lia was positively scornful as she walked through the halls of Hogwarts, her eyes roaming around each corner of the castle as she headed towards the office that held Dumbledore and her troublemaking godson. She couldn't remember ever being this angry at someone she cared about before, her mind roaming over things that Sirius had done in the past – especially the stunt with Snape and Remus – but deciding that Harry's actions of the day completely overlapped that.

She quickly muttered the password to Dumbledore's office as she reached it, taking the steps two at a time as she huffed out embarrassing breaths, deciding that after today she really needed to get back in shape. She hadn't done much since her return to the living as many people would say, and she deducted that it was about time she got back to the person she remembered she once was.

All thoughts left her mind as she noticed the people in the room, her eyes roaming over each one of them. Harry was sitting in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, reminding her quite vividly of the many times that James had sat there, but this time the young Potter had a horrified look on his face. Dumbledore sat in front of him, his hands resting on the growing beard that covered his chin, and McGonagall stood beside him, one hand resting on the back of his chair.

But it was Snape that surprised her, his surreptitious form was standing near a pile of books, his eyes narrowed on Harry before turning his glare towards her. Lia tried not to smirk in his direction, realizing that despite the fact they were technically supposed to be the same age, she was still younger than him and wanted nothing more than to prove her maturity.

She slowly creeped towards the back of Harry's chair, his nervous gaze following her movements before deciding to stare at the ground in front of him, and Lia took that as a sign that he was currently scared of her in that moment.

Good, she thought, he should be.

"Ms. Potter, thank you for coming in on such short notice," Dumbledore muttered, "I'm surprised to not see Mr. Black with you."

Lia didn't miss the darkening of Snape's eyes at the mention of Sirius, and it took everything in her not to glare his way as she kept her gaze on Dumbledore.

"Sirius apologizes for not being able to attend," she responded, "but we both thought it best if I assessed the situation first."

Lia watched as Harry shuttered slightly at the venom behind her words, keeping his gaze on the floor.

"I see it more as Black condoning the actions of Mr. Potter today," Snape gurtled, "what a true act of parenting this is."

Despite wanting to act more mature, Lia couldn't help the anger that bubbled underneath her at the dig towards Sirius, her mouth opening to tell Snape off, but McGonagall beat her to it.

"That is quite inappropriate Professor," she cut in, "and I see that myself as a truly terrible form of leadership, especially for someone who is head of Slytherin."

A smug grin besotted Lia's face and she saw Harry do the same before she lightly pinched the back of his neck, silently reminding him that she was still very upset with him, and he had no leg room to act so prejudiced.

"Onto other subjects," Dumbledore muttered, wiping a hand over his tired eyes, "the actions of Mr. Potter today were extremely inappropriate and almost cost a student their life."

Lia frowned at his words, completely angry at Harry for what he did still, but hating the way the professor had worded it. She knew that Harry was unjustified for what he did today, and she had the right mind to pull him from school and punish him the way her mother used to do to James, but she knew that he never intentionally meant to harm Draco.