Better Be Slytherin!

Brat thought he'd get away with that, he must have been Confunded. 'Elaborate.'

'Me and Teddy and Millicent are good friends.'

'Mm.' Severus had been bowled over to learn as much, in fact. But since then, he had seen the three students growing closer, spending much of their free -- and study -- time together. Not the trusting sort, he was keeping a close eye on the Nott boy, for obvious reasons. He doubted any son of Hiram Nott's would stand idly by -- or even less likely, attend -- while the Brat Who Sent the Dark Lord Scurrying continued to live and learn in the den of Snakes. So far, he had seen nothing incriminating, but he would not stop watching. Over a dozen years as a spy had ingrained that habit in him.

As had his promise to keep the boy safe.

As if he had gleaned some disbelief in Severus' expression, Harry defended his statement with an almost petulant, 'They are. Teddy helped me figure out my Frogs weren't cursed. And Millie's always standing up for me against the upper years.'

Severus raised one eyebrow. 'Cursed frogs?'

Without objecting to the additional question, Harry smiled wryly. 'Well, they weren't cursed, were they. Was nice, really, Hermione -- from Gryffindor -- she gave me some Chocolate Frogs when I went to hospital.' Another wry look. 'Both times. But she didn't sign the card, so I didn't trust to try them.'

Severus nodded, though he was surprised. Not many children would be so suspicious of sweets. If he let it, the fact that Harry was so suspicious, at his age, would have distressed him. 'What did you try?' He managed to put a note of admiration in his tone, which often worked wonders with children who had rarely, if ever, been praised in their lives.

Harry grinned, looking pleased. Severus suppressed an answering smile, but he was glad to see one on the boy; they were rare enough. 'First, of course, we tried Revelio and Finite Incantatem, which I'd read about before, but then Teddy taught me Ostendo Virum, the one where you look for poisons, and then one for specific curses. We did some research--'

'In the library?' Severus interrupted, eyes wide with mock incredulity.

The boy's grin turned cheeky. 'Yes, sir.'

'Please.' Severus waved his hand. 'Do go on.'

'Very well,' Harry said slowly, in a fair imitation of Severus' own tones, and Severus shook his head, a smile touching his lips at last. 'So, we did research, sir, in the library, and then tried Quiest Vomica and . . .' He listed a few more diagnostic spells, rather enthusiastically, and Severus was duly impressed.

He decided to say as much. 'I'm heartened by your thoroughness. You did far more than I would expect the average first year to do. Did you discover who sent the sweets?'

'Yeah! Er, I mean, yes, sir. By eliminating our own signatures, we figured out the magical signature of the one who'd sent the Frogs . . . and 'cause we had two samples, we were able to cross reference it to make sure. Then I checked the signatures of a couple people I thought it might be, and found out it was 'Mione. I mean, Hermione Granger.'

'Magical signatures? That's a fairly advanced bit of spellwork there. I believe it's taught in fourth year Charms.'

The boy ducked his head at the perceived compliment. Severus waited till the tousled head came back up before he steered the conversation back to his question. 'So, Mr. Nott assisted you with a project. You said Miss Bulstrode supports you in conflicts with other students . . .'

'Not conflicts, sir. Not really.'