The next morning, Snape woke and dressed quietly, trying to not wake the boy still slumbering on the sofa. Snape cleaned up his quarters, even moving Harry's clean clothes to the chair right beside the sofa. The clock edged closer and closer to breakfast time, and still Harry did not wake.

"A-hem," Snape cleared his throat loudly.

The boy did not stir.

"A-HEM!" Snape said ever louder.

Harry's nose twitched, and his hand shifted against the pillows, but he started snoring softly.

"Time to wake up," Snape announced. "Harry, wake up."

Harry moaned softly, squeezing his eyes tight. "Go ‘way," he muttered.

"It's morning, and it's breakfast time."

"Not hungry," Harry groaned and slumped his face into his pillow.

"You need food," Snape argued. "And you have class today, one of which is mine."

"Then tell yourself I'm absent ‘cause I'm sick."

Snape reached about and gave Harry's shoulder a hard shake. "Wake up, Potter! Enough of this nonsense, and get up. I mean it, right now, young man."

"I'm up," Harry said into his pillow. "I'm getting dressed, I'm off to class . . ."

Snape waited very patiently for one minute before pulling out his wand. He turned towards his bedroom, swishing his wand towards the sleeping boy.

Before Harry could lift his head, the sofa and covers disappeared, and he found himself dropping into a tub of ice and water.

The cubes of ice and freezing water gushed all over him, and he yanked his head up to howl at the awful shock to his system as he thrashed in the water.

"I'm sorry," Snape leaned back in the doorway. "Did you say something?"

"Agh!" Harry lunged out of the water and stood on the water, his pajamas soaked and water running down his face. "What was that for? I was getting up."

Snape smirked coldly and turned to leave.

Harry plunged his hand in the tub and grabbed handful of ice cubes. Then he flung them at Snape. Much like the dirt he had thrown in the summer, the ice hit Snape's robe and slid to the floor below.

Snape turned ominously to give his adopted son a scorching look. Harry dashed for his robe to pull out his wand. And then he ducked behind the chair as Snape's flying curse lobbed over his head. Harry stood with his own wand at the ready.

"You wouldn't dare," Snape warned. "You wouldn't dare pull your wand on a teacher."

"Normally, no," Harry replied snidely. "I wouldn't dare. But if I thought a teacher's hair was on fire, well," Harry pointed his wand at the ice tub. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The tub floated up in the air towards Snape. Eyes narrowed, Snape raised his own wand and pushed back against the tub.

Harry felt the force, the magic pressing against his own wand. He pushed back, testing his magical strength against Snape. It was strong, no denying that. Snape had terrific will power tied into his wand, magic that pulsed strong and true. And yet . . . Harry thought he might be a bit stronger in his own magic.

He shoved against the tub with all his might, and Harry watched the tub inch closer and closer to Snape. And most amazingly, Snape seemed to be fighting back very hard.

And then Harry realized he didn't want to win - he didn't want to think that Snape was weaker, Snape who seemed almost all-powerful, Snape who could snap him out of his moods, Snape who had adopted him and promised to take care of him.

Harry let the magic slip for a second, and Snape sent the tub careening towards Harry. The tub poured the melting ice over Harry's head, and he let out a yell which was closer to a girlish screech than he would like to admit. Even over his wet pajamas, the ice felt horrible, and he shook his head to get the water out of his eyes.

"I'm freezing!" Harry protested.

"I'm so sorry," Snape commented in a tone that implied he was not.

"You will be when I catch pneumonia," Harry growled, stepping out of the puddle of icy water on the floor.

"Well, we don't want that," Snape said. "But I have a nice thick potion that will ward off any cold. I think a extra large dose before breakfast will be just the thing for our young hero."

Harry grimaced, remembering the awful potions he had taken in the summer. Especially that dark, gooey stuff in that huge spoonful. "I'm fine," he assured Snape. "I'll just get dressed now."

"Good - you have five minutes before I send you to breakfast in those wet pajamas," Snape headed for the door. "And just so you know, I would have beaten you without you giving up so easily."

Harry threw another clump of ice at Snape before grabbing his clothes and scrambling to the bathroom.

------

"Where were you?" Neville asked as Harry sat down at breakfast, his hair still wet. "We didn't see you last night."

"What?" Hermione leaned across Ron who was stuffing his cheeks with bacon. "Harry, did you sneak out again? You need your sleep."

"I'll be fine," Harry muttered as he started eating fried eggs. He wondered if they would keep hounding him to tell them where he had been, but they began talking about other things. Apparently, Harry's nocturnal activities had been common enough last year for no one to make a big deal out of them. Harry prayed Snape didn't find out about how often he had sneaked around at night, or Harry knew he would be facing one very displeased potions master.

Across the table, Harry saw Worty eating breakfast. The small boy saw him looking and raised a hand timidly in greeting. Harry smiled at him and continued eating.

". . . really must have some kind of study timetable," Hermione was saying, tapping her fork on her plate emphatically. "With all these classes and our NEWTs at the end of next semester - no more slacking off, boys."

"I'm not worried about them," a floaty voice said from next to Hermione. Harry looked down the table to see Luna gazing off into the air as she twirled her finger over her cup of tea, making the spoon whirl around to stir up the sugar. "I never worry about tests - they usually record things we should know that we don't while avoiding things we shouldn't know but we do."

Hermione frowned, her smooth brow showing lines of disapproval. "Luna, that may be so, but we need to study to do our very best and not play around like last year."

Luna turned her wide eyes on Hermione. "We didn't play around last year - we had the DA meetings."

"Speaking of which," Ron said around a bite of sausage, "are we going to have those again this year, Harry?"

Harry shot a quick look at the teachers' table. Snape was there, but not looking in the direction of the Gryffindor's table. Harry debated for a second before answering. He wondered if Snape would like them continuing the DA meetings considering that Umbridge was gone. And Snape was the new DADA teacher and he probably wanted to run his class without Harry's interference. However, Snape had encouraged Harry to think of becoming a teacher instead of an auror, and what better time to prepare for teaching than now when he had a willing group to lead? And Snape was always harping on studying more for class and being prepared . . .

"Sure," Harry replied. "No reason to stop now. We might as well keep going cause he's still out there, you know."

"And it'd be wise to practice up in case Snape turns evil," Ron muttered.

Harry shot him a cold look, but Ron continued eating, oblivious to Harry's glares.

"This Saturday night?" Hermione suggested.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. Then he blinked, "Oh, no, wait. I have something that night."

"What?" Ron demanded.

"Er - detention with Snape," Harry replied.

"Again?" Hermione pressed her lips together in concern. "Harry, what did you do the other night?"

"Nothing," Harry protested. He could feel his face turn red, and he wondered how long he could keep a secret from Ron and Hermione. Ron - probably longer as his red-headed friends didn't like to push thing. But Hermione - she was already eyeing Harry suspiciously, and Harry wondered if she already guessed, if not knew, what had happened to him over the summer.

"Fine, maybe Sunday," Hermione decided. "But Harry - you really must learn to control yourself. And behave in class today."

------

Potions with Madame Moretta was odd again as they started working on a potion to heal burns instantly without leaving a scar. The potion wasn't that difficult, Harry thought Hermione could whip it up in a matter of hours, but they set down to work putting stuff in cauldrons. Madame Moretta did not move around the class, trying to sneak up on them like Snape used to. Instead, she sat at her desk and tried to avoid looking at everyone.

Towards the end of the lesson, Draco, who was sitting at the back, tried hexing a student in front of him. The student was all right, but everyone looked towards the potions mistress to see what she would do. Detention seemed obvious, but Moretta only said in a clear, cold voice,

"Anyone disrupting my class will be asked to leave. You have been given a warning, Draco. You will not get another."

Draco sneered, but said nothing. Moretta nodded to show she was serious, and then she looked away from Draco. Yet, her eyes rested for a second of Harry. There was some expression, some depth of feeling in her gaze, but he could not discern what. And then she looked away before dismissing the class.

Snape's class was stressful as Harry felt that Snape was going out of his way to be difficult around students. They were working on casting a spell to create light for several minutes, a much harder spell than simple Lumos. They worked in pairs, Ron and Hermione together, Seamus and Dean, and Harry found himself teaming up with Neville.

Snape swooped around the room, finding fault with fault with Hermione's cast and Ron's stance, and of course Neville couldn't do a thing to please Snape.

"Really, Longbottom," Snape frowned, "you seemed to have lost any small skill you found over these last five years. It isn't too late to sent off for a Squib pamphlet."

"Hey!" Harry objected before he could stop himself.

Snape whirled on him next. "Yes, Mr. Potter? Perhaps you would like to show us the spell since you obviously grasp it so much more fully than the rest of us poor idiots?"

Harry met Snape's gaze defiantly and raised his wand. "Lux lucio!" he yelled.

Immediately, the room exploded with bright light, almost as strong as the sun. Students screamed and covered their eyes. The light was warm, nearly hot, and it flooded the room in pure white splendor, washing away all the dark corners and stone walls in a brilliant hue of brightness.

Harry covered his own eyes, wondering how long it would last. It hurt, even with his eyes shut, but he had had no idea his cast would be that powerful.

"Congratulation, Mr. Potter," Snape's voice said above his head. "You've managed to blind us all. Next time, perhaps you will give your cast a bit less temper and more control."

But in the blinding whiteness of the room, Harry felt Snape's hand on his shoulder, and the grip tightened. Harry recognized that as a get-control-of-yourself-or-I-will squeeze, and he nodded, silently telling Snape that he got the message.

"Once the light diminishes," Snape continued in a dry voice, "we will try again. Mr. Potter will not, but I'm sure he would be glad to help the rest of you since he is so far developed beyond his own class. But what else would you expect from our great hero?"

Most students were stumbling around with closed eyes, but Harry managed to back against the wall and wait until the glare subsided.

For the rest of the class, he helped Neville and tried to stay out of the way. Snape dismissed the class a little earlier than usual since students were still rubbing their eyes and complaining of headaches.

"I want a one foot essay on ghouls and counter-curses against darkness for next week," Snape instructed. "Use the second chapter of your books. I will check closely for errors. Mr. Potter, please stay afterwards."

Ron and Neville gave Harry sympathetic looks, but Hermione glared at him with the same intensity as if she had shaken her finger at him. Harry shrugged, trying to appear casual. Draco smirked at him as the blond left the room, but Harry ignored him.

Snape waited until the last student had left before instructing Harry to shut the door. After Harry pushed the door closed (so careful not to slam it), Harry turned back to Snape. "Look, I know what you're going to say."

"Ah, you've learned to mind-read," Snape observed. "I can stop scolding you and simply think it for next time."

"I didn't mean to cast such a strong spell," Harry protested, ignoring Snape's sarcasm. "I was distracted."

"Well, then I'll have to find a way of securing your attention," Snape decided. "Come here for a moment, Potter, and -"

"No!" Harry frantically shook his head. "You can't! I wasn't even that bad. I didn't mean to, and you only punish me when I do something deliberately wrong. I can't always control -"

"Harry!" Snape interrupted with a firm stare. "I'm not going to punish you. I just wanted to examine your wand to make sure nothing is wrong with it."

"Oh," Harry felt a little foolish. Today, he was just making great strides in the whole cool, causal hero department. He went over to Snape's desk and handed him his wand.

Snape began to run a series of tests with his own wand. Harry glanced around, bored, and took a nearby chair while he waited. It was kind of funny - this time last year if Snape had asked for his wand, Harry would have been sure Snape was about to hand him over to the Death Eaters. But now -

Harry leaned back in the chair and began clicking his tongue absentmindedly. And then he stuck his tongue out to see how long it could go. Then he rolled his tongue up like a hot dog. He started hissing between his teeth. Imaging he was talking to a snake, Harry began carrying on a conversation with himself in parscel-tongue, only knowing he was speaking it because his lips tingled slightly.

"Do you want to help me fight?"

"Yes, but not with a broken wand."

"It's not broken."

"Then why is Snape looking at it?"

He was between long and short hisses when he caught Snape's frown.

"English in my classroom, young man," Snape told him.

"Selfish git," Harry said in parscel-tongue.

"I see nothing wrong with your wand," Snape handed it back, and Harry stuck it in his pocket.

"Told you," Harry replied though he had said nothing of the sort.

"Then that means the spell came from you and not a fault in the wand. Care to tell me why you're upset?"

"I'm not upset!" Harry cried, hating that his voice went up so high at the end.

"You're jittery, jumping, and fidgeting," Snape shook his head. "Now either you have a case of wild hormones or you're up to something."

"I'm not!"

"Hiding something?" Snape prodded.

"No," Harry looked away. Should he tell Snape about the meeting with Moretta on Saturday now? Would Snape find out anyway? What about the DA meetings? "Er - um," Harry stalled for time.

"Is it a girl?" Snape questioned. "Or girls?"

It was the dumbest question Harry had ever heard, but for some reason his cheeks flamed red. He began sneering and grinning at the same time, and the worst part was Harry couldn't think of a single girl he really liked at the moment.

"My," Snape leaned back to consider Harry, "I'm going to have fun with this. Why don't you take your blushing, squirming self out of my classroom and get some fresh air?"

"Can I fly?" Harry asked, glad to have something else to talk about. "Quidditch practice starts next week."

"Aren't you still banned for life?" Snape asked blankly.

Harry's face shadowed. "Oh, yeah, last year with Umbridge, but surely that won't hold what with Dumbledore back and all."

"Well, the ban can be removed," Snape nodded, "but under the new Minister of Magic, anyone underage and under the ban must have a parent or guardian sign for them to participate."

"Oh," Harry thought for a second. "So this where I start begging for you to sign it, and you refuse just to torture me, and then in the end you sign it, making me look like a babbling fool?"

"Girls," Snape said pointedly, and Harry blushed again.

"Stop it!" he begged. "And please sign."

"I'll have it done by this weekend," Snape promised. "Now run along and stay out of trouble. And I better not find you kissing some fifth year in a broom closet anytime soon."

"I can't have a girlfriend?" Harry had stood up out of the chair, but he paused to glance at Snape.

"A girlfriend? Yes," Snape agreed. "A respectable young lady whom you study with and share afternoon walks and frivolous conversations. Not some flashy chit who wants to stick her tongue down our hero's throat."

"Snape - ugh!" Harry made a disgusted face.

"Yes," Snape nodded fervently, "you keep that attitude in mind when you start looking for a girlfriend, and we'll have no more problems with this matter. Now, off you go and remember you're coming to help me tonight if your want an allowance this week."

Ron and Hermione were waiting for Harry outside in the hallway.

"What happened?" Hermione questioned, rushing up to Harry. "You look like you're about to be sick."

"Yeah," Harry admitted, "Snape was talking about something - really gross. Well, not in general, but for him to talk about - double yuck! And I have detention with him tonight."

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with Snape," Hermione noted.

Harry tried not to look overly suspicious or guilty. "It's just detention."

"No, I only meant," Hermione paused. "Just that - after last year, I was sure Snape wouldn't want to see you ever again. Yet, it's not the end of the first week, and he keeps dragging you into his office."

"Ruddy luck," Ron agreed.

"Harry," Hermione turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell us anything, all right? So just tell us this one thing."

"Yeah?" Harry waited nervously.

"Is Snape having the Occlumency lessons with you again?" Hermione questioned. "Has he started doing them, trying to build back your mind's resistance?"

"Oh, no," Harry felt a surge of relief. "No, he hasn't. Look, Snape's just his regular old self, right? Nothing unusual for now, and once there it, I'll tell you."

"Sure," Ron nodded.

Hermione did not look convinced, but she said nothing.

"Okay," Harry swallowed, "so who's up for a walk down to see Hagrid?"

"I have class," Hermione reminded them.

"I got a bit of free time," Ron said. "We'll go see Hagrid for a while, maybe break our teeth on those cakes again."

"Have fun," Hermione smiled as she headed for the stairs.

Ron slouched along, whistling as he headed outside. Harry followed, glad to have something to take his mind off the upcoming Saturday night.