It was like a dance, Harry mused, the way that he and Snape avoided each other for the next two weeks. They both knew where the other was most likely to be at any given moment, and took pains to avoid that place. There was no stepping on each other’s feet. Hermione glared at him when he explained it to her. She was sure that they needed to sit down and hash out their feelings on the matter. Harry was pretty sure they just needed to maintain their distance.

The only time Harry saw Snape outside of meals was once when he was in the library. He had gotten a pass from Dumbledore to look at Advanced Defense books in the Restricted Section, and was reading in one of the armchairs when he heard robes rustling from his right. Looking up, he saw Snape, holding a book, and apparently destined for the very chair that Harry occupied. The man glanced at Harry’s book and rose one eyebrow slightly before turning and gliding away.

Hermione was caught up in a strange book she found at Grimmauld Place. He was curious, but she promised to show it to him when she was done reading, and explain an idea she had for the war. That of course, only made Harry more anxious to see the book, but he knew better than to ask to borrow a book Hermione wasn’t completely done with. She was rather possessive about her books.

As it turned out, Hermione was also rather possessive about her boyfriend. She noticed Lavender Brown flirting with Harry in the Great Hall the first morning back from vacation. Harry looked extremely uncomfortable, and Hermione’s glare could have melted stone.

“Oh, Lavender, could you do me a favor and stop drooling all over my boyfriend? Thank you.” And then she reached up and pulled Harry into a kiss, setting off a wave of whispers, and a catcall from Draco, who had taken to sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Blaise and Padma. Harry noticed, with some satisfaction, that Patrick, sitting farther down the Gryffindor table, looked a bit put out at the kiss.

At the first DA meeting they had to explain their relationship before they could get started, and squash some of the rumors that were flying around, including one that maintained Harry was under a love potion, and another that suggested they had been secretly dating since third year, and were only now telling everyone so that it wouldn’t come as a shock when they got married.

“Yes, we’re dating. No, there are no love potions involved. Yes, we just got together over the break. No, we haven’t even talked about marriage. Okay people, partner up, and let’s duel!”

The Room of Requirement was filled with spells, curses, and hexes as everyone paired off and began throwing every spell in their arsenal into the fray. Neville, Harry noted, was becoming an excellent dueler. So were the Bolton siblings. Alyssa was paired with Ginny, and though Ginny was obviously going to win, the younger girl was getting some good shots in.

“Harry?” Hermione called, as the last DA member left. The room transformed into their usual getaway. She walked over to the counter, and pulled out one vial of a golden potion. “Can we test this now?”

“Of course! What do I need to do?”

“Hex it.”

“What?”

“Harry, did you read the book I gave you on spell storage, in lockets, or crystal? So that you can retrieve the spell later, and use stored energy, instead of your present energy? It’s very useful in a battle.”

“I did read it Maya. But shouldn’t I be casting a shield spell or something? This is a protective measure, isn’t it?”

“I altered the calculations. That’s why I’m so nervous. This is an all purpose shielding potion, but so much more potent. It will block all low level spells, but I also added an element of spell storage. Instead of releasing the stored spell, the potion will protect you from that spell being cast at the drinker, as long as the stored spell is of the same or a higher power level.”

“So if I store a really powerful stunner in this potion, and then I drink it, and you try to stun me, nothing will happen? But it won’t protect against other spells? So you could still use a tickling spell on me?”

“Not a tickling spell. The potion does still block the normal low level curses that an ordinary shield potion would block. But if I shot a cutting hex at you, and you had only stored a shield spell, yes, you would be vulnerable. It’s limited”

“It’s still a hell of a lot better than anything we have now. So, a stunner. Right at the potion?”

“Dip your wand into the potion.” Hermione watched anxiously as Harry touched the tip of his wand to the golden liquid in the vial. He had to store the spell in the potion, because his spells were more powerful than hers. If she stored it, his stunner would overwhelm hers and the potion wouldn’t work. As he cast the spell, the potion glowed red briefly, and then turned back to gold, though a lighter shade than it had been previously. “Great! When it turns clear, like a normal shield potion, that should mean it’s filled to capacity. You could probably store another hex in there. But don’t! I want to test this first” She held out her hand for the vial. Harry smirked, and drank its contents himself.

“You didn’t think you were going to drink it?” He asked, smiling. “You need to record the results. I’ll be the lab rat.” Hermione glared at him.

“Harry! I was supposed to test it, because it’s my potion. What if something happens to you because of it? It would be my fault.”

“I trust you Maya. There’s nothing wrong with the potion. Now, stun me.”

“Stupefy!” Shouted Hermione, still glaring at the Boyfriend-who-was-to-chivalrous-for-his-own-good. The beam of red light shot from her wand and hit Harry in the center of his chest. He looked down, and then back up at her, and started to grin. “Stupefy! Stupefy!”

“Hey, one was enough!” Harry looked at her quizzically. She stared back at him. She rose her wand again.

“Stupefy!” she shouted, and this time, when the spell hit, he fell. With a wave of her wand, she woke him, mulling it over in her head. When he sat up, and simply rose an eyebrow at her, she answered his unspoken question. “Your stunner is at least three times more powerful than mine. It took four stunners to take you down. I need more test subjects.”

“Couldn’t you have told me what you were testing, before stunning me?”

“Maybe if you had asked before drinking the potion that I was going to test.” She answered reasonably, before sticking out her tongue at him. And then Harry was very close, his eyes dancing mischievously. Tilting her head, she stood up on tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. He kissed back, putting his hands on her waist and pulling her close, as she buried her hands in his hair. They pulled away when the need for oxygen became too great. And then kissed again. Ten minutes later, with only moments left until curfew, they emerged from the Room of Requirement, lips swollen, and hair in an incredible state of disarray.

Hermione waited after Arithmancy. She was nervous about bringing in outside help on this project, but she trusted Professor Vector. Harry agreed, and stayed with her after class as she approached the professor’s desk.

“Do you have a moment Professor?” The usually stern teacher looked up at the sound of Hermione’s voice and smiled.

“For a real, intelligent question? Anytime.” Her eyes shifted to Harry. “I’m a bit surprised at the development, but it seems you two are the best students in my class. Neither of your parents was much good at Arithmancy in school, Mr. Potter, but you’re showing real talent. And it’s not often I get to teach a student as talented as you Miss Granger. So what can I help you with?”

“This…” Hermione handed her the sheaf of papers detailing all of her research and calculations for the spell storage potion. Professor Vector rose her eyebrows.

“Very impressive. Spell storage? So much of the work done on that is highly theoretical… Wait, you want to store spells in a potion? What’s the trigger? Oh, hold on… You’ve switched it? I’ve never seen anything like this… Have you tested it?” Suddenly the teacher looked years younger, her blue eyes shining with excitement.

“Yes, we did. On Harry. He stored the stunning spell, and then I had to stun him four times to knock him out. The thing is, it’s so limited. Harry could store maybe two powerful spells in a vial, and it’s not safe to take more than one vial an hour.” Hermione’s expression matched the teacher’s as she explained the areas of her work that could use improvement.

“We talked about using it to block Unforgivables.” Harry interrupted quietly.

“But Harry, I already told you, you can’t block them. That’s why…”

“No, Miss Granger, he’s right. You might be able to. No spell is powerful enough to block an Unforgivable, because those spells are powered by hate. The only thing that can combat that is love, and it’s too difficult to harness into a spell. But this… You would use the power of an Unforgivable to block it… If we could increase the power capacity of the potion…”

“So, will you help?” Hermione asked hopefully.

“Of course! Not only is it the most interesting project I’ve seen in years, but it’s potential in the fight against Voldemort…”

“You say his name?” Harry asked, surprised. She looked at him sadly.

“I lost so many friends to that monster. I won’t give him the satisfaction of fearing his name. Your mother… She and I were pretty close in school.” She paused. “Severus. We need Professor Snape.”

“I think I’m going to go…” Harry started to edge towards the door. Hermione grabbed his arm.

“No, you are going with us to ask Professor Snape for his help. Because you’re a supportive boyfriend, and it’s your project too.” She smiled sweetly up at him, and he nodded, resigned. Professor Vector laughed.

“Oh, you remind me too much of Lily Evans. Though it was mostly Severus she handled like that in school, not James… Come on. Let’s go visit the dugeons.”

Severus looked up from the endless essays to the knock on his door. “Come in,” He called, assuming that one of his Slytherins needed to talk to him. He was rather surprised when Septima Vector opened the door. She never ventured down here. She was one of the few people he still enjoyed talking to, but their friendship had faded after Lily’s death.

“Do you have a moment Severus?” She asked. He nodded and set down his quill. Septima entered, followed by Hermione Granger. And Harry Potter. Severus struggled to keep his expression neutral, while a thousand questions whirled around in his head. Is this about the boy? Did he tell her? Does the Granger girl know? Of course she does. But why would they tell Septima? And why is the boy down here? What happened to the avoidance plan?

“Professor Snape, we’d like to ask for your help. With a project of mine. Well, Harry’s and mine really. Professor Vector has agreed to assist in the improvements, and I was hoping you would help with the potions aspect. So…” the Granger girl trailed off and held out a packet of papers. Relieved that this seemed to be only a school related request, which he could easily brush off, Severus relaxed. He took the papers and glanced through them.

They brewed a shield potion? I don’t even teach that in NEWT classes. Might be useful to have this girl assist when the war breaks out… Merlin! If I’m reading this right that will be one powerful shield. Reminds me of the project I did in seventh year. Now what’s this… Spell storage? In a POTION? If this works… Why is this child in Gryffindor?

“Rather far-fetched, but an interesting concept,” Severus said coolly, handing the papers back to Granger. “Our” project indeed. This is so far over Potter’s head… “Potter! How long does this potion simmer after adding murtlap essence?”

“Forty eight hours sir,” the boy replied, looking up at him defiantly. Maybe it was only Severus’s perception that had changed, but the boy looked more like Lily than he had even two weeks ago.

“And what, Mr. Potter, keeps the potion stable when that ingredient is added?” This one was difficult, Severus knew. He even had to think about it a bit when he was reading the girl’s notes.

“That one Hermione had to explain to me. I thought the potion was going to explode when she added it, but she said the salamander blood stabilizes it, which makes sense, as murtlap essence cools, and salamander blood burns. They cancel each other out.” The boy actually smirked a bit. Why does it surprise you that he has a brain Severus? His mother did, his father does… Maybe because he never showed it before…

“Have you tested the potion for spell storage yet?” Severus asked. Granger gave a huge grin and launched into the narrative of their test. When she mentioned how many times she had to stun Har… Potter before he fell, Severus stopped her. “He absorbed three stunners?”

“Couldn’t the potion have amplified it?” Asked Septima curiously. Severus shook his head.

“If anything, the potion would make the stored spell less powerful, simply because a tiny amount of energy is used in the act of storing the spell, and then unleashing it as a shield. Mr. Potter, can you maintain a continuous blasting hex?” Severus asked suddenly. The boy nodded. “Good. Finally a glimmer of competence. I’m going to shield this empty vial, with a very strong spell. Focus the hex on the vial, and don’t end the spell until it breaks.”

“Okay…” Potter stared at the empty vial on the table, and cast a blasting hex. Severus counted as he watched the yellow beam that stretched between his wand and the shield around the vial. At thirty seconds, the vial broke, sending glass everywhere. “So what did that do?”

“That, Mr. Potter, was a widely accepted test of magical power. It takes me forty three seconds to break the shield. The average is about one minute. I believe Dumbledore has accomplished it in twenty four seconds. Apparently, under your ignorant and childish exterior lies a well of power that, with training, could match the headmaster’s.”

“I… So what do I do to train?” Potter asked, looking rather helpless and pathetic. Granger reached over and squeezed his hand, and he smiled at her. Severus sneered at their display.

“You find somebody willing to teach you to harness the power. Now, Septima, are you free on Wednesday evenings to work on this project?” At her slight smile and nod, he turned to the two Gryffindors. “Miss Granger?”

“Wednesdays are fine sir. Thank you.”

“Mr. Potter, I assume you are also going to grace us with your presence?”

“Yes sir.” If the “sir” was rather sarcastic, neither Septima nor Granger seemed to notice. Both of them nodded farewell and left the office. Potter remained behind.

“Well, Mr. Potter? What is it?” If the boy wanted to talk about that, he was in for a rude awakening. Severus didn’t even want to think about that.

“Professor, will you train me?” the boy asked, his face an unreadable mask. Well that’s… unexpected.