A Darker Form of Magic, book three: Dementors

Chapter twelve

Snape had no idea how the children managed to talk him into this.

The potions Professor found himself sitting in the teachers section of the Quidditch stands two hours before dinner was due to start on the same Saturday afternoon as when Harry had brought Theo with him to brew. The worst part wasn't even the hours lost spent watching children play the sport while it isn't even in season, no he could see the advantage to this as it brought the houses together whether Harry was doing so on purpose or not. No, the worst part about it was the other Professor that some of the Hufflepuffs brats had brought along to help keep things civil between everyone:

Remus Lupin.

The wolf sat close to Snape in the Professors' section as the pair watched the children divide themselves up into two teams down on the pitch. Each man pretended that the other wasn't there, though Snape noticed that the air between them had changed even though his own feelings hadn't. He wondered for a moment if it had to do with the boggart lesson, with the things that the fear creature had said that luckily enough only Harry, Nott junior and the wolf himself seemed to have heard in full.

Harry had been very brief in his explanation of the class when handing over his blades two nights ago. He only said that the boggart had taken the form of the man that he had killed and had spoken to him, didn't say of what - and the potions master hadn't asked, still waiting for the day that the boy would tell him of his own free will, hoping to be one of the adults that didn't take from him. Knowing about what had occurred with the teen's magic was needed, this he could wait out until the trust was earned - but Snape thought that it couldn't be good if the wolf of all people now seemed to have some sort of tolerance for him.

He didn't know which part of that idea made him feel more sick.

Snape thought that they might be having one or two choice words by now if it wasn't for the two children sitting a row or two in front of them.

Luna and Theo sat next to one another in the place usually taken by Lee Jordan, the pair looking equally out of place - but for different reasons- in the quidditch stands.

Theo, who usually spent most games reading one of his books, was sitting before the score machine with the expression of someone that wanted to be anywhere else but where they currently found themselves. The only time that he usually paid attention to any of the games was when Slytherin was playing, and even then it was usually restricted to when Harry was doing something dangerous that was sure to take years off of Theo's life just from watching, but did so anyhow to see for himself that the other Slytherin was still in one piece.

Luna, on the other hand, who watched all of the games where Slytherin or Ravenclaw played, still looked out of place as she wore her snake crown despite this not being an official game, and was swaying slightly to a song that no one else could hear as she looked up into the clouds. It was a bizarre sight to see for the newest defense Professor, but no one else paid it any mind as this was his Luna was, and no one would change it. Harry would kill them if they were to try.

Harry snickered as he glanced up at the four for a moment before turning his attention back to the people before him, the small bit of amusement that he'd found dying quicker than it had even after the dementors.

(Sometimes Harry wondered how much a person could break before the glass that they were made of had become sand. Before it had to be melted down to create something entirely new.

He didn't want to know how close he was to either of those options, though a part of him thought that he already did)

They divided up the teams rather quickly, most gravitating to those that they know, or could be used for an advantage for when the season actually started. Which was how there ended up being a team consisting of Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang, two Hufflepuffs and two Ravenclaws that all looked to be about fifth years that Harry didn't know and could be bothered to learn the names of, and Draco Malfoy all on the same team.