Last time:

Beckoning to Harry, Snape walked down to his dungeon office. Harry followed with a heavy heart, knowing that this interview wasn't going to be pleasant. He hoped that he wouldn't be assigned more detention on top of Umbridge's, but he knew that hope was fleeting, and often wasn't answered reliably. This just wasn't his week.

Severus walked at a steady pace, not wishing for Harry to fall behind. This had it so they reached his office door slower then usual. Which gave him time to contemplate, and to put his thoughts into a well organized system. Foremost on his mind was that the boy had been avoiding him like the plague. Sev wondered why, and resolved to find out that night. After all, they were going to have to spend some time in each other's company anyways. Might as well find out all he could before he dismissed Harry.

Harry resisted the urge to squirm. He hoped that Snape hadn't noticed that he'd been avoiding him all week. But he seriously doubted it. The man missed very little, and was sure to be disappointed in Harry, both at getting two weeks worth of detention and at avoiding Snape simply because he didn't want to face that disappointment. He was showing very little Gryffindor bravery lately, and wondered if he shouldn't call himself a 'cowardly lion'. Harry laughed mentally at that, and Draco sent to him that his mind had too many Muggle-culture info. Harry stuck his mental 'tongue' out at Draco childishly.

Their playful banter was interrupted by Snape opening his office door. He motioned for Harry to go first, and followed him in afterwards. This made Harry very nervous, though he tried not to show it. He sat in the seat that was pointed out to him, and waited. He bit his tongue, as he was very tempted to say something fairly rude, and not at all self-preserving. He might not be in trouble at the moment, but if he were to say what he was thinking, he most definitely would be in trouble. Snape never let a student get away with bad-mouthing, even when that student was his ward.

Severus watched as the boy cautiously looked about. Harry was as skittish as a fawn, and Sev knew that he would have to be very careful while questioning him. He didn't want the very fragile trust the child had put in him to break. But he did need to know some things, and he wasn't going to let it go until he had the answers. The thing he needed to remember was to keep his temper. They both were too hot-headed for their own good, and that temper seemed to spark a flame in both of them. That was usually how most of their arguments escalated to unreasonable heights.

Harry sighed mentally, as the man was taking quite a long time to get to the point. Why had he had brought Harry down here, instead of just assigning him detention immediately on the spot? Or after a good tongue-lashing? Why take so long to say something? It disturbed him a great deal, for Snape was not one to hesitate in delivering punishment when catching a student out of bed after curfew. The man may treat Harry better then he had, but he was still a stickler for the rules. He said that it kept the students safe, and to break one was putting oneself in danger. Which, of course, was something Snape couldn't stand.

Severus finally decided to break the silence, and asked in a very gentle tone that he used rarely: "Why have you been avoiding me, Harry?" That got Harry's attention, and the boy looked up with frightened green eyes. Sev almost could see why, and he said "Was it because you thought I'd be angry or disappointed about the detentions?" When Harry nodded, the dour man almost chuckled, and said "Let me assure you, I'm not. Only concerned for you. Minerva might show it differently, but she also cares." Though thought Severus she could have done better by the boy then taking points. That is counterproductive in trying to get Harry to trust in adults. That had annoyed him greatly to find out that the Head Lioness had taken points from her own House because of a child's difficulty in keeping his temper in line. Of course, he hadn't said anything, but he had avoided Minerva for a good couple days after that event, letting her know that he had disapproved of her methods.

Harry, meanwhile, was stunned. The adults were concerned for him? That went against everything he had ever been taught. Though he should have suspected that Snape would be different then others, and he scolded himself for doubting the man. Hadn't he shown some of his mettle this last summer? He had definitely shown without a doubt that he would never hurt Harry purposefully, though some accidents were unavoidable. Also, they were fairly hot-headed, and tended to argue, which led to very sharp tongues, which cut off their owners lips just as they cut the receiver. More then once he had regretted arguing with Snape that summer, especially over small things. And he was very glad that the man wouldn't hurt him, as Vernon would have if Harry had said some of the things he'd said to Snape.

Draco sent to Harry ~Maybe you should tell him what goes on at your detentions. I don't know all of it, but they must be horrible for you to feel the loathing you do towards Umbridge.~ Harry sighed, and thought about it. Then he shook his head, knowing that there was nothing the man could do. The woman was too close to Fudge, and if she wanted to stay there, Fudge would make sure of it. The only one who might have had power was Dumbledore, but he seemed to be letting her have her own way. Besides, Harry didn't trust him, as the man had been avoiding his gaze since Harry had come back to the wizarding world. Harry didn't know why Dumbledore was doing that; all he knew was that it made him very unwanted, for some strange reason.

Severus, seeing that the boy was preoccupied, waited for a bit before saying anything more. He then looked a bit more carefully, as something was triggering his always alert senses. Harry was trembling slightly, and his eyes seemed to have shadows under them from lack of sleep. And he seemed to be keeping his hands hidden, though the left arm was a bit more tense than the right. Sev pondered for a moment, then said softly "May I see your left hand, Harry?" Again the fearful gaze, and a slight negative shake of the head. That hadn't proved useful, so he pondered some more. He had to get to the bottom of this, otherwise something bad might happen. How he knew this he wasn't sure, he only knew that it was true. And whatever happened would effect this boy, whom he had started to care for, the most.

Harry trembled slightly, and pushed the almost instant terror he had felt when Snape had asked about his hand. He was sure the man hadn't caught sight of it when they were coming down here. Then he realized he was tensing his left shoulder, and figured that was how Snape knew. Letting his muscle loosen, he suppressed a wince as the fabric rubbed against the raw, and likely still bleeding cuts. He expected more questioning, which he couldn't answer. His childhood conditioning still held him tight in it's grip. Don't tell, lest your life become even more a misery. He didn't trust Umbridge not to be the same as Vernon on that count.

Sev grinned mentally, finally figuring out a way to find out what had happened that the boy refused to show his hand. He called to the kitchen, and ordered tea and biscuits. If he had to play the trick hand, he would. He wasn't above it, and it might just cause Harry to become incautious. That was what he was hoping for, and he offered the boy a cup of tea. It was accepted, and they sat in quiet contemplation of each other. The child at first refused a biscuit, but he eventually took one with his right hand. Severus nodded encouragement, all the while hoping that Harry would lose that instinct to guard a secret. It might happen, it might not, but he knew that he couldn't force the matter.

Harry watched Snape warily, before testing the biscuit he had chosen. He could sense no difference in taste, instead discovering that it was quite delicious. They continued like that for quite awhile, before Harry made one big blunder. While still holding the tea in his right hand, he reached for another of the amazing biscuits. Before he realized what he had done, and could pull the hand back, Snape's larger, though slender, hand grasped Harry's left hand. Harry looked up quietly, unwittingly displaying his dismay in his brilliant green eyes.

Severus nearly winced backwards from the look in those eyes, but he knew better then to let go. Not when he had managed to get the boy to settle down enough to make a mistake. Putting down his tea-cup, and gesturing for Harry to do so as well, he looked intently at the handkerchief wrapped hand. Though the thing was white, it was almost completely blood stained on the back of the hand portion. Feeling that he had to look at the cut to determine if it needed cleaning, he began to slowly unwrap the boy's hand.

This, of course, caused Harry to jerk in an attempt to pull his hand from Sev's grip. He, in turn, held on long enough to make sure the boy wouldn't get the hand away before he had inspected it. When the handkerchief had finally come off, and Severus had a proper look at it, he almost wished he had allowed Harry to pull away. But that thought was lost with the rage that surged through him on the sight of the words on the boy's hand. How dare that bitch use a Blood Quill on the boy? Those items had been banned for a reason. And when Sev felt the shaking that Harry was trying to suppress, he felt another surge of rage, before finally getting control of himself. This act would not go unpunished, he would make sure of that.

Harry flinched slightly seeing the rage upon Snape's face. But when the man got up and went to the fireplace instead, Harry realized that the anger wasn't directed at him. Or at least he hoped it wasn't. When the Professor tossed powder Harry recognized as Floo powder, and shouted into the Floo "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts, Phoenix cannon balls.", Harry shivered slightly. He could alternately be in trouble, or have gotten an adult in trouble (and in turn be in trouble from that adult.) He just hoped that everything would be alright, though he seriously doubted it.

Severus had rolled his eyes briefly at the new password that Albus had chosen. Honestly, hadn't the muggle cannon ball candy been hot enough? But he shrugged it off in favor of asking the Headmaster if he would consent to stepping through. The man agreed, and was soon in his office. When he saw Harry, he gave Severus a look. The dour man glared back quietly, and said for only Albus' ears "Don't assume to accuse me of setting the boy detention on top of a detention. Look and see before you jump to conclusions." He was grating that the man had even considered that he would punish Harry for being caught after curfew because of detention. He may have done that before, but not this year. The only time his mask was truly up was during the day where his Slytherins might catch him and report should he show any kindness to the child he had claimed to hate for the past four school years.

Harry looked away as the Headmaster examined him carefully. There was no point in denying it now, and besides, he was too tired to fight any more. Though he was tempted to look up at the horrified gasp that had escaped Dumbledore's mouth, he resisted. Instead he tried to calm Draco down, who was raging and cursing mentally. This, of course, got him told off by the other boy for not going to anyone before it got this bad. He said in his defense that 'how was he to know it would get this bad.' That only seemed to make Draco even madder, but before the blond could scold him some more, Harry pulled away from the conversation to look up at the two Professors through his fringe. They were talking to each other, both very angry, though not at him apparently. Snape, surprisingly, seemed to be having difficulty keeping his temper. Harry wondered at that, but shrugged it off. There was nothing more to do then just wait for the conversation to be over. He assumed that would be when they would confront him about the detentions, and he was dreading it. Instead of concentrating on that, however, he worked on calming his troubled mind. He suspected that he would need to have all of his wits about him when the time came.