The very next day, Harry was surprised to see his potions professor rise early, although rather stiffly, and make his way to the infirmary doors without Pomfrey's leave. Harry knew that the professor had been injured pretty badly and was rather impressed to find that the man was bearing that pain with barely any outward sign, just as he had during the escape.  But his history with the man forestalled any comments he might have made on the subject otherwise.

Snape's escape was short-lived however, because just as he got to the doors, Dumbledore walked in requesting to speak with him.

"Ah Severus, I'm surprised to see you up so soon.  But then I always am."

"Headmaster," was the only reply that the Headmaster got, along with a curt nod.

"I wonder if I might have a word Severus."

Here both parties turned to look at Harry who was feigning sleep.

Harry heard Snape sigh and then say in a tone that clearly implied he had better things to be doing, "Very well Headmaster. What may I do for you?"

The Headmaster chuckled at Snape's manner.  "Well Severus, I know that you spend a great deal of your summers here preparing the school's potions and doing research. I'd hoped that I could convince you to spend your entire summer here this year. I believe it would be safest for you, but I admit, I have two ulterior motives." Here, Dumbledore paused to gauge the darker man's reaction, but as always, it was like trying to read a blank page.

For Severus' part, experience had taught him that people's actions and words very often had more than one motive behind them and he was always glad for a chance to have them clarified right away rather than having to dig for them. Not that he wouldn't consider other possible motives, but experience had also taught him that with Albus, it was always clear when information was being withheld from him or not.

Albus continued, "I have spoken with Harry's relatives and I believe that the situation cannot be ...remedied. The other alternatives for Harry's summer residency are all either unsafe or unpleasant, which is why I feel that it would be best for him to stay here at Hogwarts.  And I believe you equal to the task of ensuring his safety."

Seeing that Severus was about to protest, Albus continued without a pause. "It is not only this reason though. Since my reinstatement in the Wizengamot and the Ministry's acknowledgement of Voldemort's return, I find that I will have very little time to be here myself, unlike other years. I had planned to arrange for two or three Order members to be here at all times to keep the school safe so that it can be reopened."

"However," he spoke over Snape's attempt to speak again, "in light of recent events, I thought the better plan would be to request that you stay here. I believe you are equal to the work of two or three Order members in this matter and truly, there is no one I trust to keep this school safe as much as I trust in your ability to do so. I do not mean to curtail your activities Severus. I just hoped that you would agree to make this school your residence for the summer"

Harry was astonished at the great compliment the Headmaster had bestowed on Snape. Harry was even more than astonished to hear such a long winded and almost pleading and reasoning speech come from the Headmaster to one of his employees. But turning his eyes to the potions professor, he didn't doubt that it was necessary.

Severus Snape did not glare; he never had to. The spark of independence and defiance that had been there since he was a student at Hogwarts had never left him, even when he became Albus' employee. Harry had never observed this before, but was oddly amused by it now. He silently laughed at the poor Headmaster. Good luck, he thought.  You'd have more luck teaching a frog to juggle without magic than you would convincing Snape to do something he didn't want to do. Especially stay here all year with me.

Harry could not have guessed more correctly at the exchange he was seeing. Regarding the school and the students, Severus had always deferred to Dumbledore's judgment, even though he was quick to make his opinion known. But outside of school, he always did exactly as he wanted to do.

Of course, no one besides Severus and Albus himself knew this. After all, he attended Order meetings and appeared to follow Dumbledore's instructions without argument. But few noticed that Dumbledore never gave an outright order but would say instead, "Please see if you can," or "Severus, do you think...?" to the spy. And more often than not, the two met in private before Order meetings when they could to set the tone for the meeting. This appearance of complete obedience was an act for the Order, but it was not meant to cover any hostility toward the cause. Rather, it was easier for the others to at least trust his information if they believed that Albus had him firmly in control. 

But Albus and Severus had come to an agreement years ago. They used each other to achieve the same goals. It was true, Severus more often than not deferred to the Headmaster's judgment.  But as a spy, he often found himself in situations that fell outside of the realm of the Order and its unspoken rules.  There was of course, the small matter of his fond disregard for authority as well. 

But they had developed a relationship of sorts over the years beyond the war.  Albus had come to care about Severus a great deal, because, although Severus rarely opened up about things more personal than the dunderheads he had to teach or his opinion of the woefully incompetent potions journal articles, Albus suspected the magnitude of Severus' sacrifices and respected his dignity and strength, not to mention his sharp wit. And although Severus never revealed his true feelings, Albus suspected that Severus enjoyed his company as well. After all, with no one else did Severus relax or make jokes that were not always sarcastic and caustic.

This, of course, did not mean they didn't have their arguments.  But at least they both respected the other enough to have them in private.

Albus had expected an argument, especially in regard to watching Harry, so when he didn't get one he was rather surprised.

"Very well Headmaster, I find that that plan is consistent with my own...needs. However, a few ground rules."

Albus recovered quickly and motioning him to continue, said, "Well then, let's hear them."

"First, I will be solely in charge of the protection over the summer.  You know I work better if I do not have to check the shoddy work of others. And I will expect to receive any support I deem necessary from the Order, within reason. Second, from time to time, I will need to go out. In those cases I will sometimes require Order members to fill in, although I will rarely be gone long enough for that to be necessary. Lastly, I am not a babysitter nor am I a nurturing person. Mr. Potter will agree to be respectful, obedient and productive."

It was useless to feign sleep any longer as the two were not all that far away nor trying to be quiet, so Harry sat up fully when he heard his name. He was slightly embarrassed to see that Professor Snape was not surprised to see that he was awake and had addressed the last condition while staring directly at him.

The Headmaster, blue eyes ever bright, turned to Harry and said, "Well Harry, what do you say?"

Harry wanted to say, "Are you mad? He'll kill me," but wisely held his tongue, realizing how stupid that was in light of recent and even not so recent events. It was just so hard to reconcile Snape's words to his actions. Instead he settled for the ever handy, "That's fine, sir."

Dumbledore clapped his hands together and smiled genuinely. "Well, that settles it. I'll leave you two to your healing. And ah, here comes Madam Pomfrey now to see you back to your bed Severus."

By now, Snape was scowling, but Dumbledore was already beating a quick retreat. Unfortunately for Severus and Harry, he stopped before reaching the door to address one last issue.

"Oh, I almost forgot," although the twinkle in his eye clearly gave evidence to the lie that he had ‘forgotten' anything.

"As Harry here will be in your care in this large castle, I suppose I shall have his things sent to your guestrooms Severus?  I'm sure that this will make reacting to any situations of security that may arise much easier."

And with that, Dumbledore made a hasty retreat and unless Harry and Severus were both imagining it, they would have sworn that the Headmaster had run out the door like a child running from a spanking. And, indeed, if the look on Snape's face was any indication, that might nearly have been the case.

Scowling still, Snape turned only to see that Pomfrey was indeed hurrying his way. Moving quickly, he almost made it to the door before Poppy called out, "Just one minute Severus."

Snape stiffened almost imperceptibly and turned to see the annoyingly persistent nurse, who would most likely try to get him to stay here until he was nearly bored to death.  Another little lesson that experience had so kindly taught him.

"Surely you're not planning to leave so soon Severus. It's only been six hours since you've lost so much blood and I've barely healed all your chest and shoulder muscles. I don't think..."

But here Snape cut her off. "As always, Madam, your skillful ministrations have left me in better health faster than I could have imagined and I am grateful that your talents have allowed for me to return to my work so quickly. To show my gratitude, I will begin immediately restoring your potions supply."

Another lesson by that great mentor, experience, had taught him that flattery was an easy way to get what you wanted. But in his case, flattery was a double-edged weapon. In most cases, being nice occasionally made some people appreciative, but in his case, it more often astonished people, and he found that in situations like these it acted as a sort of sneak attack.

With those words, he left quickly, but not before hearing the ‘astonished' nurse try to stammer a response and not before meeting Potter's eyes and seeing the boy try to contain a laugh. Oddly enough, Harry could have sworn he saw the professor smile before firmly exiting, and indeed, he was correct. After all, every successful battle deserved a smile, no matter how small the stakes. And he had just battled the formidable Hogwarts nurse monster yet again.

Madam Pomfrey did recover quickly but not quickly enough to catch the Potions Master. She threw her arms up in the air in defeat. Muttering to herself, she made her way across the room to check on Harry's condition.

"...Always the same, every time he gets in here. Too damn often! One of these days I'm going to tie him to his bed and keep him for three weeks straight. No!  For the rest of his life.  Only way to keep the man healthy." Stopping at the bed, her voice rose a little.

"Well, Mr. Potter.  I suppose you'll be trying to escape as well. And what, pray, is so funny?"

"Nothing ma'am."

In truth, he found the situation hilarious and was having trouble keeping his laughter subdued. He knew the school nurse was always keeping patients longer than they liked although admittedly, probably no longer than they needed, but he had never seen anyone escape her clutches so easily before. And he had certainly never seen anyone bring her to swearing. But he knew better than to share his source of amusement with her. He was probably in as good a shape to leave as Snape, but he wouldn't risk her ire and have her keep him in the wing longer to make up for losing her other patient.

"Well, Mr. Potter, if you can promise to rest for a few more hours, I'll release you for lunch."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Very well, lay back down," and with that she stalked away muttering about stubborn wizards who didn't take proper care of themselves and who ended up in the hospital too often for their own good. At first, he thought she was referring to him as she had often threatened to set up a bed just for his use since he was in there so often. But then he saw her stop and stare at the bed that Snape had just left.

"Yes, a plaque I think. Perhaps I could just move him in," and then she continued into her office.

Was Snape in here that often?  And why? And most importantly, what was that spell he was chanting last night while they had been running from the Death Eaters?

 Harry needed questions answered. He was tired of always being in the dark, but now more than ever, he was tired of not understanding his Potions Master. Their mutual animosity had caused Harry too many problems, problems that might have been avoided had he trusted Snape. And he truly had no doubt after last night that he could trust that Snape was completely against Voldemort. He just didn't know how far that trust could be extended. And it was time to find out.

Willing to risk Pomfrey's displeasure and hoping to stop the Headmaster before he left for the day, Harry quietly got dressed and left the infirmary.  There were no people in the corridors as he moved stiffly toward the Headmaster's office.  He still felt sore everywhere but it was a far cry from the pain he had been in all of yesterday.

He found the Headmaster in his office.  After only a few guesses, the gargoyles finally sprang aside to ‘lemon taffy.'

"Ah, Harry, nice to see you.  I'm surprised Madam Pomfrey let you out so soon. Please have a seat. Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you, sir." Harry fought off his discomfort at having disobeyed Pomfrey's orders. After all, he had questions and he intended to get answers.

Seeing resolve creep into the boy's face, Albus folded his hands across his chest and said, "Well Harry, you look like you have something on your mind. What can I help you with?"