Chapter 21

)O(

Severus remained at the Weasleys' for the rest of the evening; staying beside Harry until the boy nodded off on his shoulder. He chatted quietly with Arthur about developments at the ministry and the order whilst Molly knitted.

Later he would ponder how yet again, he had found himself enjoying a social situation because of Harry. It was gone eleven when he took the floo to The Three Broomsticks and walked out in the chilly Scottish weather.

The walk back up to Hogwarts was interrupted when his mark unexpectedly flared to life. He hissed and grabbed his left arm whilst mentally preparing himself for what was to come. This was the first time he had been summoned since agreeing with Albus to give up his spying role. He was no longer an active death eater.

The trouble was Voldemort didn't know that yet.

He reached into his robe and took the thick black potion he had been developing exactly for this moment. The long lasting nerve block would help him to get through the next twenty four hours. After that he could only hope the steps he had planned would be enough.

Severus leant against a wall until the pain had dropped to a dull throb and then sent his patronus on ahead to warn Poppy; telling her it had begun and he would be there shortly.

)O(

Harry had been curled up asleep in his bed when his scar burst to life and woke him with a jolt. His thoughts immediately flew to Professor Snape. He had never asked him what would happen now. The man would be in danger once Voldemort realised that his potions master had left his side.

Harry was convinced that he wouldn't sleep again that night and was surprised when he awoke in the morning feeling rested and refreshed. He wondered if all of the adults encouragement to leave the 'bigger' things to them was finally sinking in?

He was surprised to find a letter for him on the breakfast table in Snape's handwriting. The short note warmed him in a way that he couldn't remember ever feeling before. He sat at the table smiling softly and unaware of the answering smiles on the grown Weasley's faces.

Harry,

I know you would have felt the call last night night and I didn't want you to worry.

I am safe at Hogwarts but may be in the infirmary for a few days whilst Madam Pomfrey and I take the necessary steps to block the Dark Lords call.

Your wolf friend is also here and fully recovered from his time of the month;

he has already signed his section of the paperwork we discussed.

Rest well Harry. I would like you to keep to normal school hours for the remainder of your stay at the Burrow and limit any daytime naps to 1 hour.

Professor Snape

Harry snorted in amusement, 'time of the month!' Remus would just love that. He folded the small piece of parchment away and tucked it in his jean pocket, accepting the enormous plate of bacon and eggs that Molly placed in front of him. A glance at the family clock showed him that it was just gone eight which meant he was almost back on normal time again.

Arthur folded his section of the paper away and tucked into his own breakfast, pleased to see Harry was eating his with enthusiasm.

'Did Molly tell you that the twins are home this evening Harry?'

Harry shook his head and swallowed the large mouthful of scrambled eggs before giving the man a smile.

'No Sir, have they opened the shop yet?'

'I believe the grand opening is next Monday. There are some renovations being made to the upstairs flat so they are coming home for the rest of the week, although I expect they will be flooing back and forth a great deal. They are looking forward to seeing you.'

Harry glanced back down at his plate nervously. He knew that the twins had been at the order meeting where they had discussed his medical report, which meant they had seen those horrid pictures of his back. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm. He was not going to get all upset about that again.

'It's not the same in school without them; far to quiet.'

Molly huffed as she took the seat opposite him and buttered her toast with a little more force than strictly necessary.

'I don't know what they think they are doing. They should be taking their NEWTS; not messing around with exploding products.'

Harry and Arthur exchanged a sneaky grin before Arthur nodded gravely at his wife.

'It's very worrying; very worrying indeed.'

Harry tried not to choke on his breakfast as he studiously avoided eye contact with either adult. He hoped the twins didn't let it spill who their secret financial backer was; at least not whilst he was staying here.

Harry worked diligently all day on his school work and tried to avoid the pull to go back to his bed. He was recognising now that his tiredness was not purely physical. The thought of the Dursleys' or the coming apprenticeship had him wanting to curl back under the covers in the dark.

Instead, he went for a walk around the burrows grounds, running his hands along the properties wards and watching how they shimmered and flexed to his touch. If he concentrated he could see the multiple lines that knitted together in a large domed shape.

He thought he might be able to identify the thread of the headmasters magic if he spent enough time there. It had a distinct edge that he recognised from the wards at Hogwarts. Harry wondered if being able to cast and hold wards was one of the qualifying factors for being holding the head job. It would explain why all the headmasters and headmistresses had been such powerful wizards and witches.

Having shaken off his sleepiness in the brisk air, he returned back to the burrow's kitchen table and his Arithmancy homework. He hadn't actually elected to take that class this year but had chosen it for his private study.

Weirdly, he hadn't ever met the Professor who taught this, as his head of house had been supervising his study. His project on the magical energies of natural formations in nature had proved harder than he thought it would but he was getting decent marks.

Harry was delighted when Professor Lupin stepped out of the floo and joined them for dinner. He never knew which Professor would appear each evening and he was a little embarrassed at having caused so much extra work for them all.

Remus looked at little tired, but otherwise none the worse for wear following the full moon. He gave Harry a beaming smile and sat beside the boy at the table.

'You look busy. Do you want to go over your work before or after dinner?'

Harry grinned. 'Before if you don't mind. Are you ok?'

Remus smiled softly. 'I had a very quiet night actually. Moony went to sleep under my desk. Severus has found an adjustment that has a slight sedative in it. This is the first time I can remember not having any injuries in the morning. Where shall we start then?'

Harry sighed in relief that he wasn't going to get an inquisition on his health and reached for the pile of parchments he had been scrawling on all day. He continued working on his project whilst Remus read through his work, making small corrections as he went.

The professors smile as he tidied the pile an hour later gave Harry's mood a lift.

'These are all fine Harry. I've made a note of a few areas you need to read up on some more, but you have E's in all of these and an O in your defence essay. I will pass these on to the other Professors.' He ruffled Harry's hair. 'Do you have any practical work you need to practice?'

Harry grinned. 'Nope! It was all pretty straight forward today. Professor Snape said you signed the papers,' he added shyly and Remus smiled softly.

'I did Harry and the headmaster has also signed. As soon as you are back at school then we can activate the magical contract. Albus asked how you felt about doing this on Sunday evening?'

Harry swallowed nervously and nodded.

'It's normal to be nervous about something this big Harry. Are you having second thoughts?'

'No, it's just,' Harry unconsciously rubbed his wrist. 'I really hate the idea of being branded.'

Remus sighed and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. 'Yeah, I know what you mean. I didn't like that bit either.'

Harry looked up in surprise. 'Did you have to do this too?'

Remus smiled. 'How else did you think I gained my Mastery? I had a defence apprenticeship with a Mage in France. I was really touchy about the brand. It didn't help that there were werewolf laws in the UK that insisted we were all numbered and the number tattooed on our wrist. I left England to avoid being tattooed and ended up with a different mark instead.'

'What did it look like?'

Remus pulled up his sleeve and showed Harry the now faded line that sat on the inside of his wrist.

'It was originally a red staff with a stone on the top that looked a lot like my Masters staff. There was also a thick black band around my wrist but that immediately disappeared when I was released from my apprenticeship.'

'Was yours for three years or seven?'

Remus chuckled. 'Worried we are going to keep you around for seven years just to make the tea?'

Harry blushed and nodded. 'A little bit. It's scary that I don't get a choice in the time line.'

Remus gave the boys shoulders a reassuring squeeze. 'The intention is to keep it a three years unless all three of us agree that it would benefit you to stay in the bond for longer. I imagine a lot of it will depend on your career choice at the end of it all. I knew after a few months that I wanted to be as good as my Master was at defence. I stayed in the bond for six years but my Master gave me the choice to go each year.'

Harry started tidying his books away whilst he thought about all Remus had said.

'Were you in France for the whole six years?'

'Longer actually,' Remus's voice sounded curiously flat. 'I left after...after your parents died and Sirius was...after I lost them all. The Ministry were passing through all of this anti werewolf legislation and there didn't seem to be anything worth staying here for. When I met Master Francois, well...it seemed an excellent opportunity to learn how to defend myself properly. I always wondered if I had known more, if I would have been more use to my friends.'

Remus pondering was interrupted as Harry's arm latched around his waist and the boy hugged him fiercely.

'It wasn't your fault Remus,' a muffled voice stated angrily and Remus let his arms settle around the boys shoulders.

'I know Harry, but it's hard not to think 'what if' sometimes.'

'Yeah, I know. I do that too sometimes.'

Remus's arms tightened in sympathy and he sighed sadly.

'I know you are still struggling with Sirius's death and maybe Cedric too.'

He pulled the boy over to the table again and sat him down, aware that Molly and Arthur had come into the kitchen and were beginning the meal preparations.

'I was already at the Ministry the night Sirius was killed. When the message came through from Severus that you had gone and might be headed to the department of mysteries, my first thought was to floo to Grimmald Place and stick Sirius in a body bind so he didn't do anything stupid. I wish every day I had followed that instinct.'

Harry dropped his head and wiped his face furiously at the thought that his godfather might have been saved so easily.

'...but then I think about the alternatives.'

Harry's head came up as the Professor continued. 'That would have delayed me by five minutes or so and it was I who saw which door Lucius ran through. If I hadn't seen that then it would have taken the rest of the order precious minutes to find you. Any one of you might have been killed.'

Harry sniffed and blew his nose loudly.

'If you had died that night, Sirius would never have forgiven himself. I think you were the only thing keeping him going; The thought that one day you might have a chance to be a family; and despite what happened, he was bloody useful that night. He always was the best dueller in the order and his presence likely tipped the balance in our favour.'

Harry swallowed as another piece of the lump in his chest broke free and floated away. It felt like just maybe the day was coming when he could talk about Sirius and not break down.

A discreet cough broke the sombre mood as Molly appeared at their side with a pot of tea and two chipped mugs. Harry was starting to notice just how run down the burrow was. He had always known that the Weasley family were not wealthy but now he was staying here, he was realising just how bad things were for the family. He had not seen a single piece of crockery without a crack or chip and most of the furniture was literally held together by magic.

He accepted the mug of tea with a smile for Molly, his thoughts shifting to the Dursleys' and just how different the two families were. He had recently found out that the Dursleys' had received a weekly allowance from the Potter vaults to pay for his keep; and that far from being a drain on them; he had probably been paying their mortgage all those years.

He wondered if there was a way to reimburse Molly and Arthur for the money they had paid out whilst he was staying. The fact that his professors were eating here too must be having an impact.

Harry made a mental note to ask Professor Snape about that when he went back to school.

The arrival of the twins soon put paid to any further serious discussion. The two tall men; and they were definitely men now, swept Harry up off the kitchen bench in a hug and had him roaring in laughter before they would put him back down.

'Merlin Harry; you're skinnier than Snape...'

'no wonder they sent you here..'

'to our esteemed mother...

'for a bit of fattening up.'

'...and speaking of fattening up!'

Fred pulled a small package out of his pocket and then enlarged it with a swish of his wand. Settled on the table was an enormous food hamper, full of every type of luxury food and drink Harry had ever seen in the wizarding world.

'One of our fellow shopkeeper gifted us this as a welcome present...'

'...and we thought you might make use of it Mum?'

Molly ooed and arghed as she pulled out each jar and packet from the hamper and tidied them away in the kitchen. She slapped both Remus's and Arthurs's hand away as they both spotted a tin of double chocolate cookies and reached for them.

'Dinner will only be ten minutes or so, honestly. You are worse than the boys!'

Both men grinned and sat back at the table as the twins laid out the cutlery and caught their parents up on all their news. The shop sounded like it was going to be great although everyone at the table winced when they described the bright orange front they had decided on. Harry wondered how that was going down with the deeply traditional shops in the alley. He smiled softly at the thought of the tri-wizard money being used to paint half of the alley orange. He hoped Cedric would approve.

The dinner was relaxed and happy and full of noise. It had much more of the character of a Weasley family dinner that the last few days had and Harry sighed happily. To his delight Fred and George stayed over and after sitting up late around the fire talking about joke charms with Remus, they marched Harry up to bed and insisted on tucking him in.

Once they had wrapped him so tightly in his sheets that he doubted he could ever get out again, Fred sat on the edge of his bed and gave him the closest thing to a serious look that Harry had ever seen on one of the twins faces.

'Harry, I know that you know that we know about what happened to you last summer.'

George sniggered at his twins clumsy wording.

'What my esteemed brother is trying to say is that...'

'...we are here for you...'

'...if you need us...'

'...and you are never to go through something like that again...'

'...without telling us...'

'...and we are really sorry..'

'...if our prank on your cousin...'

'...made any of it worse.'

Harry smiled softly.

'Thanks guys, I appreciate it and I'm ok now...really!' he added at their less than convinced expressions.

'No you're not,' Fred said quietly.

'...but you will be.' George added, whilst gently ruffling Harry's hair.

'See you at breakfast little brother.'

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath as the twins quietly (for them) closed the door and headed to their own room.

He was so lucky, he thought with a smile. He had some great friends. After battling his sheets into something more comfortable and less likely to strangle him, he drifted to sleep with thoughts of orange shops, luxury food hampers and joke charms.

)O(

Harry spent the remainder of his week at the burrow on a similar schedule to his christmas holidays and he found himself not only keeping up with his studies but getting even further ahead with his reading. He had a feeling he would need to be if he was going to cope with the extra work his apprenticeship would likely involve.

He spent an hour every evening watching the wards and learning as much as he could from their patterns. Remus had left him with a book about the wards of Hogwarts and he was looking forward to observing them properly when he got back to school.

Arthur had sat with him one evening and explained that the land that the burrow was built on drained away the magic of the wards and the house and meant that they had to be recast and strengthened quite often. It was one of the reasons that some areas had so many stone circles, he explained. Some places just eat the magic up so you need stone to act as an anchor for the magic.

His book had some amazing diagrams of the corners stones placed around some of the old manor houses to get around this problem. Linked to the stones, rather than the ground, the wards could potentially last for ever. However, it took an exceptionally powerful wizard to cast wards that strong and the stones themselves were expensive to acquire and move into position.

Harry started to develop a half formed idea of gifting the family some ward stones. It could be a great way to repay their kindness and they may accept it if it meant that he could visit more often. Arthur had explained that the wards the headmaster and Snape had cast would start to degrade after a week or so and would likely fall completely within a month.

By the time Sunday came and he was ready to return to school, Harry had used his book and his notes on the land to draw a rough plan of where the stones should sit. It would need eleven stones to cover the whole of the burrows grounds or eight to surround the house and immediate garden. He would ask Remus's advice on how to go about making his plans a reality.

Harry packed away his things with a pang, realising how much he would miss the peace and quiet of the burrow. Not a description he had ever thought to apply to this particular family home.

Harry pulled his trunk down the stairs and smiled shyly when he saw Professor Snape waiting beside the floo connection for him. The professor had his left arm in a sling and tied tightly to his side and looked a little pale. He gave a small nod to Harry and turned to shake Arthur's hand.

'Thank you for this week Arthur. I'm sure it has done Harry the world of good.'

Harry nodded and allowed Molly to pull him in to a hug.'

'It's been lovely to have you dear and you do look a little more rested. You two take care of each other won't you?'

Harry smiled and glanced at his professor, knowing that Molly had deliberately alluded to Snape's rather pale appearance.

'Do you still plan to complete the magical contract this evening?' Arthur asked with interest and Severus nodded, his eyes still on the boy.

'Yes, so long as Harry is up to it. There is no rush but Albus did not want to file the paperwork with the ministry until the ritual was completed. There is less chance of them interfering that way.'

Harry felt his stomach shift nervously but with growing excitement as he realised the apprenticeship was really going to happen. He shook hands with Arthur, who also pulled him into a brief hug and allowed Snape to take his cloak off him before reaching into the floo pot.

'Say 'McGonagall's office,' Harry. I will follow you shortly.'

With one last smile, Harry flooed away, his eyes still on his soon to be Master.

)O(