18

18: Journey on the Hogwarts Express (July 20, 2003 to July 23, 2003)

"Bast, Draco!" Hermione cried out as she launched herself at them. She kissed both of them affectionately on the cheeks and linked her arms through theirs. "How have you two been? I can't believe you made Head Boy, Draco! I'm so proud of you!" She hugged him enthusiastically, and Harry winked at her teasingly in which she gave him a brief scowl. In his owl response to her present, he'd said she might want to get another copy of the advice book for herself. The glower faded as her expression shifted to a more worried one. "Are you all right? You look a tad pale, Bast."

"Majority spiel," Draco answered for him before he could even open his mouth.

Hermione's eyes widened when she heard that and her eyes quickly flickered back to Sebastian to survey his form carefully. "I've read about it," she began with her typical epithet. "Most wizards don't hit it until sometime in their 20s, usually their early 20s. The only wizards to hit their majority when they're 16 in modern day are Dumbledore and the Dark Lord."

"I was 17, am 17," Harry interrupted, not really wanting to share anymore similarities than necessary with Voldemort than he already did. "I'm nothing like Voldemort."

Both of them flinched when they heard Sebastian use the Dark Lord's name. Hermione was the first to recover from the shock and moved over to her best friend who was more like the brother she never to touch him comfortingly. "It's just that I'm concerned about you," she murmured softly. "Majority isn't an easy thing to go through, and I read that it's much harder the younger that you are. Having something to do that the younger, the more powerful and thus the more changes your body has to adjust to."

"Hermione's not the only one worried," Draco spoke up, placing his hand on Sebastian's shoulder. "You have no idea how terrifying it was for me to see you fall off Amphitrite, then start having seizures from the changes that were taking place in your body. It was horrible, and we couldn't do anything for the longest time. All we could do was wait for it to run its course through. I've never seen Snape so… anxious before."

Lucius and Narcissa had called for Severus, since they thought since they couldn't use medimagic on the boy since it would interfere with his maturation that they might be able to use potions to make it easier on him. Unfortunately, nothing could be used to make it more bearable. Simply put, majority had to happen naturally and if it was worse on the wizard, the rewards afterwards were more than worth the temporary pain of transition.

Certainly, it'd been hard to watch and when the Malfoys knew that Severus couldn't do anything, they'd sent him away since watching his pace up and down the corridors began to grate on their nerves. It was bad enough watching their son fidget next to Sebastian, since he refused to leave his best friend's side. At the same time, it was good seeing Draco more concerned about someone other than himself.

"You scared us shitless," Draco finished, running his hand through his blond hair to let his hands do something. It was a habit of Draco's, having to do something with his hands when he felt anxiety. That was part of the reason that Harry had brewed that calming potion for Draco for his examinations.

Both Hermione's and Draco's anxious eyes were still aimed at him, and while it was nice to have such great friends worried about him he didn't want their last ride on the Hogwarts Express to be a dampening atmosphere. Besides, majority had run its ravaging course through his body and he felt stronger than he'd ever felt before. It was quite true, the reassuring words from Narcissa that the pain was well worth it. While her majority hadn't been anywhere near as intense as his, she did liken it to childbirth and said that the pains of impending motherhood likely compared well to his majority. The result was worth the suffering.

It was time to change the subject to other matters, but first he would have to convince them that he was all right. "I didn't mean to," he began apologetically. "But it's over now, and I'm fine. It's great that you two care for me so much, but you really don't have to worry about me anymore. You should be worrying about your duties as Head Boy and Head Girl! Shouldn't you be heading over to your private compartment to discuss such important school affairs that you're in charge of?"

Draco nodded and grabbed Sebastian's hand. "We should, but if we are… you're coming with us."

Hermione grinned and reached for Sebastian's other hand. "It's only for the Head Boy and Head Girl anyway, and who says that we can't invite our best friend along with us? No one. Come on, let's go. It's got to be better than what we normally travel in."

Harry found himself returning Hermione' smile and let them drag him good-naturedly down the hallway to the Head Boy's and Head Girl's compartment. Once they were settled into it, Hermione's chocolate brown eyes sparkled with mischievous spirit that reminded Harry too much of the Gryffindor part of her personality. "Did you ever use the book?" she asked offhandedly. "After all, you had the whole summer."

"What book?" Draco queried curiously. "Is it the book that you've always reading and hiding so that I can't find out what it is?"

Harry groaned loudly. He had been keeping the book from Draco's prying eyes because Draco was doing everything in his power to set up Severus and himself ever since he'd told Draco he had a crush on Severus. He didn't need Draco to be getting anymore ideas. Draco was already plotting enough as it was, having come up with an entire outline for a plan of seduction. To make it even worse, Draco had been dropping insinuations whenever he got them together when he was with them.

"It's a book called…" Hermione's voice trailed off when she caught the threatening glower Sebastian sent her way. It basically told her if she kept going, he had secrets of her own that he could spill in front of Draco. That shut her mouth up.

Draco glanced from Sebastian to Hermione, knowing that there was something that they were keeping from him but he didn't know what. Not that he could drag it out of them either, how frustrating. How annoying. They weren't going to tell him, and there was nothing that Draco disliked more than being kept in the dark about something. "Tell me!" Draco whined, deciding being pathetic might get the desired affect. "You two know I hate it when you keep secrets from me!"

Hermione opened her mouth again, but one sharper look from Sebastian had her shutting her lips tightly into a thin line. "We should go over the speech that we'll be giving the prefects at the first meeting tomorrow morning, Draco." She gave Sebastian an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid this will be boring for you, but unfortunately we might as well get it out of the way and then we can go over other mother interesting conversation."

Waving his hand in the air in a careless manner, Harry settled himself in the seat across from them and proceeded to doze off. Even if he was technically recovered from his majority spiel as Draco called it, it didn't mean he was 100% back to the way he was. No, he still tired easily. It wasn't long before he found himself drifting off into the wonderland of sleep. Before he felt himself fall into the sweet unconsciousness, he thought he heard Hermione transfigure a blanket for him. But he wasn't sure…

"He's tired," Hermione noted, noticing that Sebastian had nodded off not too long after they're voices had provided a nice lullaby for him. "But it's been a rather hectic year for him, hasn't it? Between transferring from a school, the transition to Hogwarts, doing all the potion work with Professor Snape, and whatever extra classes he takes- he's had a busy year. Not to mention that dreadful accident over Christmas hols, everything seems to happen to poor Bast. I'm really proud of how he did on his studies despite all that!"

Draco grinned fondly at his best friend who had snuggled up underneath the blanket Hermione had transfigured for him just like a little child. "It's not like he's Weasel, who has problems reading a book without charming it to be read to him. Bast's brilliant, and his early majority just proves that. He nearly did better than I did, and he doesn't try half as hard as you and I do, Herm. If he did, he might even top you."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know how he did on his marks, since he didn't tell me. But I read between the lines and it seemed like he did really well on them. He said he did better than he expected, but didn't elaborate. I don't know why. He's one of the best students in our class. I suspect he keeps comparing himself to us, but really we study a lot more than he does since he has all those extra activities that keep him busy."

"He did awesome," Draco told her. "He nearly topped me, but his History and Herbology scores dragged him down. He only got a P in those, but he was all anxious about Charms and he received an O in that. And Transfiguration, his practical wasn't that awesome but his written part must have been bloody good since he got an A in that. Of course, in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts he received O's. He's the only one that's gotten an O in Advanced Potions in the last decade."

"Unbelievable," Hermione remarked as she stared warmly at Sebastian's sleeping form, "that he did that well. To think he didn't even go through our cram session to do that well. Imagine what he'd have done if he had actually went through our study session…"

"Of hell," Draco finished her sentence for her. "He would have done even more brilliantly. Bloody hell."

"Precisely."

"A start to another new year," Dumbledore began, the welcoming speech starting off a bit differently than usual, "and I'm sure all of you are quite eager, especially this class about to graduate." He swept a meaningful look at all the 7th years. "This year will be quite a challenge for those in our graduating class, I'm sure. But alas, like every year we must welcome our newest students first, let the sorting begin!"

Dumbledore always knew how to make an impression, Harry thought with amusement. He wondered what was up, but he was distracted by the scowl that was gracing Severus's darkly beautiful face. Well, he thought Severus was beautiful. That reminded him of the book he kept shrunk in his right pocket. When would it be the right time to confess to the Potions Master that he was seriously carrying a torch for him?

Those thoughts had been plaguing him ever since Hermione had given him the book at his birthday. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Severus much since that time because both Poppy and Severus had agreed that he needed the rest of the summer off to recover from his maturation. It hadn't only let the thought fester, and his imagination had run away from him. The question was when, how, and where? Soon, definitely. How… that still needed to be considered carefully. Where? He had no idea.

He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that the Sorting Ceremony had ended until Draco elbowed him so that he'd pay attention to what Dumbledore was about to announce. "I'm sure most of you are expecting my typical speech, and I hate to disappoint you all. Especially since the first years have never heard it. Quidditch tryouts for those wishing to join their house team will be conducted by Madame Hooch in two weeks, and I'm certain that it will be quite necessary for a few teams. Also, the Forbidden Forest is strictly forbidden.

"Now onto more exciting matters," Dumbledore continued. "As most of you surely know, when the Dark Lord came into power he restarted the Triwizard Tournament. And he stipulated it to take place whenever he thought it best to test the schools, as well as always randomizing the conditions to make it impossible to prepare for. This year is one of those years, and it's neither the longest nor the shortest time between Tournaments. The last, which was held three years ago and won by Durmstrang's Viktor Krum.

"That year's conditions were for the tournament to be held at Hogwarts for students in the 6th year. Our champion that year was Cedric Diggory, who did us all proud by failing by a narrow margin to win the Goblet of Fire. This year, the conditions have again changed like they have every year. This Triwizard is to take place at Durmstrang and only those in 7th year are eligible. Like years past, the Dark Lord has suggested for those that must journey for the Tournament for the school to pick at their discretion who is to go.

"The entire staff has thought carefully about this the whole summer, and we have selected five students that we feel represent Hogwarts exceedingly well. With her brilliant mind and her responsible mind, who else but Head Girl Hermione Granger for our first selection? Her name was the first and the only unanimous choice of all the staff, who each got to select two candidates they felt would make the next Hogwarts Champion."

Dumbledore's gaze shifted to Draco after having paused to give Hermione a twinkled look. "Head Boy Draco also has to join the Head Girl in representing Hogwarts at Durmstrang. We can very well be well represented without our top two students at the Tournament, can we? No doubt he will prove a good guide and exercise the necessary shrewdness. In addition, Ron Weasley will join the selected group and will certainly add his courage in the face of danger.

"Not to leave loyalty and faithfulness out, the 4th student chosen hails from Hufflepuff, Susan Bones." He paused to let the riotous applause from the Hufflepuff die down. "The final selection proved most difficult as it was no longer based on selecting the best representative from each house. Ravenclaws are renowned for their wit and Top of Year, Hermione Granger is the epitome of a wise Ravenclaw. Same can be said of Draco Malfoy, who like every Slytherin goes after what he wants.

"And of course, Ron Weasley embodies all the trademark Gryffindor bravery. Lastly, Susan Bones exemplifies the goodness and solidarity of Hufflepuff. However, the fifth person brought up much debate with the staff. Who to choose so that there would be no favoritism to any particular House? Was there such a person that wasn't exclusively attached to any one House?

"I believe that there is and he wasn't only selected by his Head of House. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, both Heads of their own House both selected Sebastian Biggerstaff to be the final addition, choosing him above other members from their House. Surprising yes, but Mr. Biggerstaff has shown himself to be able to befriend many outside of his own House. Versatility is quite the virtue."

Dumbledore's sparkling eyes rested heavily on Sebastian. "While our Head Boy and Head Girl will be doing their duty at Durmstrang, the staff has selected replacements to hold the spots while they're gone. It was difficult, but Blaise Zabini from Slytherin and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw were chosen." He paused once more to let the crowd applaud for the two stunned students. "Those that have been selected to represent Hogwarts at Durmstrang will be chaperoned by Professor Snape and mediwitch Pomfrey."

Again the Headmaster's eyes flickered to him, Harry noted. It was no coincident Severus and Poppy were chosen. He was to continue his studies with them. "A proper replacement for Professor Snape has been found for all the Potions classes except Advanced Potions. Since only a Potions Master is fit to teach that particular class, Professor Snape will be flooing back for those classes. As for Madame Pomfrey, her post will be covered by a level 6 mediwizard from St. Mungo's in her absence.

"No, please enjoy this welcoming feast to the fullest since after this, the Triwizard selected group will need to depart to Durmstrang via the Hogwarts Express." Dumbledore took his glass and raise up to them in a salute. "For those going, I have a piece of advice for each of you. He glanced around the room. "Intuition" to Hermione, "heart" to Draco, "open-mindedness" to Ron, "friendship" to Susan, and for Sebastian "persistence." He then grinned at all of them pleasantly. "Let the feast begin!"

Harry's mind was in a complete whirlwind. A Triwizard Tournament for the second time in his life, and this time he really was qualified to participate. But still, he didn't particularly want to go even if it meant being separated from his best friends, Draco and Hermione. He didn't get a good feeling about it; in his gut, this felt wrong. There was nothing he could do now; he'd already been selected, so he had to go. For a brief second, a very brief second he thought it wasn't going to be him but as soon as the words had come out of Dumbledore's mouth he'd known it was him.

"Come on, Bast," Draco growled, grabbing his best friend by the arm and pulling him to the front entrance where they'd be leaving on the Hogwarts Express for Durmstrang, "they're loading the train now."

"I'm coming," Harry muttered, spelling his trunk to be light and also charming it to hover near him, whenever he moved. Useful thing to know since he wouldn't ever have to keep track of his trunk, especially when he was caught up in a maelstrom of thought.

Draco knew from that tone that he'd have to drag Sebastian along the entire path since he was too distracted to even worry about missing the train. He could understand why Sebastian was lost in thought, it'd been rather quiet between them at the feast since they'd both been thinking about the Tournament. Well, at least Sebastian had been in such deep thought that whenever Draco had tried to start a conversation with him, he'd been silent rebuked. Draco hated that, being ignored even if it wasn't deliberate.

Luckily, Draco wasn't given the chance to rail on Sebastian because Hermione had caught sight of them and was hurrying over to join them. "Goodness!" she exclaimed. "I knew that something was up, but I figured it was just our NEWTs. But I never thought that something like this was going to occur, I mean the last Triwizard was only three years ago! I remember it quite well, and well I didn't expect it to happen again while I was at Hogwarts. I can't believe I'll be part of the contenders in the Tournament, considering…" her voice trailed off, "that I'm muggleborn."

Harry snapped out of his funk at her last statement and he pulled his arm from Draco's grasp so that he could give Hermione an affectionate hug. "Don't say that, Hermione," he murmured softly in comfort. "You're the best witch in the school; you should know that. I don't think you made below an O in any of your classes! That should say something, shouldn't it?"

"Only potions," she mumbled. "I received an A for Advanced Potions."

Harry chuckled and rubbed her back. "But you know how Sev- Professor Snape is, he's like that. Even Draco here didn't make an O, and you know how he adores Draco. The examination was extremely extensive and quite frankly it wasn't that much easier than testing for you Potions Mastery, I suspect. I wonder why he made it that hard?"

"It's because of you," Hermione remarked bluntly. "He's testing you."

"Me? Why?" Harry asked with confusion.

Draco groaned and Hermione stared at Sebastian very seriously. "He's testing you in this examination to see if you'll be ready to test for your Potions Mastery probably after your 7th year like he was. Very few every attempt to do that, but considering he's been spending time that much time with you in his lab, I think that you probably do have a shot in passing the Mastery after graduation. I mean, you did get an O on the final and I was very happy to receive an A."

Harry shrugged and started shuffling his feet forward. "Come on, we can talk while we're walking to the train."

Taking Sebastian's suggestion, they continued on their way to board the train. Before they got to the train, Severus in his elegantly billowing robes stopped them. "Mr. Biggerstaff," he declared in the voice that carried throughout the classroom, "if you will follow me, there is something that I need to discuss with you."

Harry gave his friends an apologetic look and gestured for them to go on ahead of him. "I'll catch up with you two later." He waved them off and then turned to face Severus. "Do you want to talk here or do you have a place in mind?"

It was hard conversing to Severus like he had before, especially since the book's weight in his pocket only seemed to increase the longer he stood in front of Severus. Damn reminder. In his mind, Severus was no longer only his Potions Professor and Head of House but much more. Over the past months, he had grown to see Severus as someone he wanted to be in a serious romantic relationship with. Of course, there was the problem of convincing Severus that but he was certain he could manage eventually. It didn't hurt that Draco was dropping clues like crazy either.

"We might as well board the train," Severus remarked dryly. So they boarded the train and found an empty compartment. While they'd been walking to the train had given Severus plenty of time to think and carefully consider what he was going to approach Sebastian. He wanted to do this for Sebastian since he deserved the opportunity. He'd definitely proved himself when he had received an O on his Potions examination. It'd been an extremely difficult final. Even Granger had failed to measure up.

But there was the growing problem of his attraction to the gorgeous young man to consider. This would undoubtedly make it worse. However, his weakness should not be punishment for Sebastian. He would just have to learn to live with it like he'd lived throughout this past year. It'd be hard, but nothing he hadn't done before. His first concern was Sebastian. "How are you feeling?" he inquired when they were settled in the compartment.

"Good," Harry answered. "How are you?"

"Good," Severus responded.

Silence ensued. "Is there something else you wanted to talk to me about?" Harry finally asked, drawing on his Gryffindor courage that the Sorting Hat must have seen in him to sort him in Gryffindor in his universe.

"Yes, there is," Severus finally admitted. With his dark eyes, he met the brilliant emeralds of Sebastian's dead on. He wanted to be able to read Sebastian's expression when he told him this. This was the first time he was ever offering something like this, most likely the last time. "I know that you've a lot going on in your life with the Dark Art lessons and training with Pomfrey to become a mediwizard, but… I'd like you to seriously consider becoming my Potions Apprentice."