Tony stood in front of the door. It was Harry's professor's office. At first, he was going to leave with Gellert and return to New York; however, he wanted to speak with this man before leaving.
Hermione was the one who guided him here and then left. It was getting late, and students could not be seen roaming around the castle at this hour.
He didn't know why he hadn't knocked on the door yet.
Before he could raise his fist to knock, the door opened on its own, and Snape stood in front of him, raising an eyebrow, unimpressed by his appearance. Tony felt offended. He didn't look that bad in his armor. Whoever saw his armor was usually awed or curious! What was with that reaction?!
"Mr. Stark, how may I help you?" Snape crossed his arms against his chest. "If you didn't know, this isn't the time for chit-chat. I have other things to do tomorrow."
Tony swallowed the retort. Nope, he was an adult. Tony wasn't going to fall for this bait. "Yes, sorry. I need to speak with you—"
"Can't we wrap this up tomorrow, then?" Snape cut him off. "Because I need my sleep."
"Listen," Tony was really close to snapping. "I know your beef with James Potter. And I'm not the one to make assumptions… I want to know what happened between you and them. Leave the kid out of the mess… please."
Snape stared at him blankly before stepping aside. "Get inside before I change my mind."
Sighing in relief, Tony stepped in. The door closed.
—————————
Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus, and Gellert were in the office, waiting for Tony to return. The couple was still somewhat nervous around Gellert Grindelwald. After all, the man was an ex–Dark Lord who had been defeated by the Light Lord, Albus Dumbledore. They were legends.
Gellert, on the other hand, grabbed a book from the shelf and sat down. These books were personally written by Albus, while others had been taken from the Restricted Section of the library.
He smiled upon seeing Albus's familiar handwriting. The books were about theories of alchemy and potions.
The silence was bothering Sirius. If only the phoenix were here.
What was taking Tony so long anyway? Why did he suddenly want to meet Snape?
"What's bothering you so much?" Remus whispered beside him. "Can't you calm down? You're making me nervous."
"I was about to go check on Tony. Wanna come with me?"
"He specifically told us not to follow him. He wants to speak with him alone. Besides, Tony can handle himself from what I've seen…"
"This is Snape! What if he attacks him?"
Remus snorted. "Did you forget Tony's armor has protection charms and Gellert Grindelwald is here? You think Snape would be suicidal enough to harm him?"
"He doesn't know their relationship," Sirius pointed out. "And—"
"Will you calm yourself down, Mr. Black?" Gellert spoke without even looking away from the book he was reading, nor acknowledging their startled expressions, as if they had been caught misbehaving like children. "Tony is already on his way here."
"How do you know?" Remus and Sirius exclaimed at the same time, surprised.
Gellert smirked, turning the next page of the book as he continued reading. "Tracker charm."
Just as he said that, the office door opened and Tony walked in. Sirius and Remus stood up to question him, only to freeze when they saw the expression on his face. Wait—why was he angry?
"Sirius, Remus…" Tony's voice was painfully sweet. Too sweet. "Mind explaining to me why you two, James, and Peter used to do this at Hogwarts all those years ago?"
Sirius shook his head. "Whatever that snake told you, it's not true!"
"Hanging him upside down with his pants exposed wasn't true?" Tony snapped.
Remus went pale. Right. He knew what Snape had told him, and it wasn't a lie. Even though Remus hadn't been there that day—unlike Sirius and James—he still knew what they had done to Snape.
"Care to explain, Sirius?" Tony glared at him. "The fact that you all were bullying him over Lily?!"
Gellert closed the book, resting it on his lap, and looked at them. The book wasn't bad, really, but real drama was unfolding right in front of him. Gellert was a bit of a sucker for angsty drama.
Sirius's throat went dry as he tried to speak. "It's in the past—"
Tony was glad he had let JARVIS take control of the armor's weapon systems, because good lord, he wanted to hit him. That didn't mean he couldn't physically slap him. "Did either of you ever apologize to him?"
"We tried to…" Remus looked shaken. "We really did. He wouldn't listen, and…" He looked down. "…"
"But?" Tony pressed.
"…He and Sirius got into a fight," Remus admitted. "Then Sirius and I got into another fight with him today after Harry told us how Snape treated him when he arrived at Hogwarts."
"Yeah, I already know that part," Tony nodded. "I even gave him a good punch. Now, Snape isn't going to bully Harry—no. However, he is still going to be an asshole to you two, which honestly isn't wrong. If Harry ever finds out what you idiots did, then it's bye-bye. He hates bullies with a passion, and I swear—right here and now—that kid will compare you to his cousin who bullied him throughout his childhood!"
That hit Sirius harder than a slap, and Remus whimpered at the thought of Harry hating them. No—Sirius couldn't even live with the idea of Harry hating him and Remus.
Being compared to those Muggle relatives? Yeah, Sirius understood how fucked up that was. He knew how badly Harry had been treated—
Gellert stood up and walked over to the shelf, placing the book back where it belonged. "Tony, dear, it's time to leave. We've overstayed our welcome."
"Yeah…" Tony walked over to him without even looking at the two men. "I might not be able to hold back…" Sometimes he truly couldn't control his aggressive nature and might attack them. God, he never thought it was this bad.
No—both sides were fucked up. Snape admitted he was a bully, but he never went as far as James and his group did. He even told Tony how he discovered Remus was a werewolf and how Sirius nearly got him killed if it hadn't been for Potter saving him that night.
Tony was also furious with Dumbledore. Snape was an orphan, and these fucking idiots bullied him. Over Lily.
Still, Snape wasn't a good guy either. He had bullied others and became a Death Eater—or a former Death Eater now. Geez. Fucking teenagers.
Tony opened a portal leading to the living room of the Tower and stepped through. Gellert followed behind him, and the portal closed.
Leaving Sirius and Remus alone in the office.