The next morning, Harry groaned as he woke up. Everyone that had been in his and Ron's rooms the previous night was gone. He sighed softly before throwing the covers off. He guessed they were downstairs eating breakfast, but he had to admit that he wasn't hungry. He knew that nobody would allow him to hang out upstairs all day, though. He quietly got dressed before heading downstairs to the kitchen. He immediately smiled towards Sirius when the wizard glanced towards him.

"How'd you sleep, kiddo?"

"All right," Harry replied quietly. He then sighed when Mrs. Weasley put down a plate full of pancakes, eggs, and bacon down. He really didn't feel like eating now. It did look delicious, but his stomach lurched at the smell. He knew he couldn't handle food quite yet.

"Perhaps a stomach calming draught is in order, Mr. Potter?" the silky voice across from him spoke. A small bottle then slid carefully in front of Harry.

Harry immediately glanced towards Snape. The wizard, however, didn't look up from whatever article he was reading in the Daily Prophet. Harry quietly grabbed it and uncorked the bottle before taking a sip of it. His mouth dropped. It didn't taste as horrible as it usually did.

"Did you experiment with this, Professor?" Harry heard the soft snort, but Snape didn't respond. 'Thank you, sir." He then felt Mrs. Weasley gently place her hand against his forehead. It felt rather nice to have someone care for him. However, Harry guessed that Snape did in a way also. It just was more subdued than Mrs. Weasley's approach.

"Well, I don't feel a fever, dear, but you are a bit peaky this morning." Mrs. Weasley then glanced towards Snape. "We're lucky to have Severus here." Another snort came from behind the propped up paper. "Severus, I mean it. I'm almost certain that last night…well…you know." She then bustled herself off towards the living room.

Harry took a few bites of his eggs. He was right. They were delicious. He then glanced towards Sirius who was having a quiet conversation with Remus. Both wizards caught his eye and smiled towards him before carrying on. He then looked around the kitchen. He didn't see any of the Weasley children nor Hermione. His eyes narrowed slightly before he glanced towards the propped up paper. It was also unusual that Snape would join them for breakfast. The wizard hardly ever remained.

"Sir, is something going on?" Harry asked quietly. He watched Snape fold the paper down before giving Harry a hard look. The paper then propped back up. He sighed. He should have known Snape wouldn't give him anything.

"Mrs. Weasley gave them chores to do while you were sleeping in," Snape replied, a few seconds later, from behind the paper. "Though, I don't recommend you joining them." The paper then came back down before Snape stared at Harry again. "I take it that by your casual 'all right' earlier that you suffered another nightmare last night?"

"No, sir," Harry replied quietly. As per their tentative agreement reached the last night, Harry had told Snape about his nightmares. The man said very few words then, but gave him a bottle of Dreamless Sleep with orders to take it as soon as he reached his bed. "I didn't dream anything."

"Ah," Snape said before pushing the paper towards Harry. "The Prophet has some rather kind words about you in it today." He then pointed towards the headline.

"What! But I'm not lying!" Harry yelled as he read it.

"There's no need to convince any of us, Potter."

"I know, but…well, how can they do this?"

"They are the Ministry. By definition, they are imbeciles."

"They're going to get all of us killed," Harry muttered.

"Perhaps, but it is not them we need to worry about, Potter." Snape then sighed before glancing up. "Ah, good morning, Bella," he said with a smirk as a frizzy dark-haired witch in long blue robes walked into the kitchen. Within seconds, he watched the witch flick her silver wand at him. He waved the spell away effortlessly. "Now, now, Bella, there's no need for that."

"I am not Bellatrix, Severus, so quit calling me that or you're going to be without a certain part of your anatomy," the witch snarled. She then sat down at the far end of the table and winced as she grabbed the milk for her cereal.

"Ah, my apologies then, Aurora. However, one cannot blame me when you have that same crazed look and rat's nest for hair as Bella." A red jet of light immediately flew out of the witch's wand before being waved away by Snape again. The rest of breakfast was a rather quiet event.