The sound of raised, angry voices in what should have been an empty corridor prompted Severus to veer off his normal patrol course to investigate. It was late on Thursday evening and Severus had night patrol for the first time since the beginning of term nearly two weeks ago. The headmaster would have put off requiring Severus to return to his duties indefinitely because of Harry, but Harry had been sleeping better the last few nights with fewer nightmares and Dotty was there to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happened. The little monitoring ball in Severus's pocket was simply a backup precaution.

Severus rounded the corner, wand in his hand but held down at his side. It was on his lips to take points and give detentions for being out after curfew, but when he saw an angry looking Lizzy Johnson, with her hands on her hips, leaning forward to berate a rebellious Ron Weasley, he stopped and then backed up to stand around the corner partially out of sight, so that he could watch and listen.

"Why are you avoiding Evan and Draco? Have they done something to you?" she asked in a low, menacing voice.

Ron crossed his arms and looked angrily at the floor. "They don't have to have done anything. They're slimy little gits."

"What are you talking about?" she hissed. "They wanted to be your friend, they have tried to talk to you over and over and you've ignored them since the first day. Evan thinks it's his fault."

Ron scowled. "Well, it is his fault! He was Sorted into Slytherin, he's a snake. They're both snakes!" Ron nodded his head once sharply, as if he'd made a valid point, and the satisfied look on his face enraged both Lizzy and Severus.

"I don't believe you!" Lizzy spat out the words with such venom that it surprised Severus. "How can you be such a moron at eleven?"

"You're on their side," Ron sneered. "You're down there all the time."

"You well know that I'm tutoring Evan so that he can get caught up to his year mates." Lizzy put a finger up to Ron's face. "You will stop spreading lies about Evan and Draco around the Gryffindor common room immediately, or I will take you to Professor McGonagall."

"They're living together with that…that greasy bat!" Ron shouted, waving his arms. "Who knows what they're doing down there!"

Lizzy stepped back from Ron and crossed her arms over her chest, as if to stop herself from hitting him. "You are a stupid liar and a coward, not to mention a prejudiced idiot. If I were a prefect, I'd put you into detention for a week and take points."

At that point, Severus came back into the corridor. Ron turned to face him with a defiant look on his face, but when he saw who it was, the defiant look dropped, along with his eyes.

"You may not be able to take points, Miss Johnson," Severus said with a sneer. "But I certainly can. Twenty points from Gryffindor for prejudice and idiocy, Mr. Weasley and a week's detention with Mr. Filch."

Ron gaped at him, his mouth hanging open. "You can't…can't…" he sputtered.

Severus smirked at him. "Of course I can. I just did," he said with satisfaction, then he looked at Lizzy, ignoring Ron's stumbling objections. "Good evening, Miss Johnson," he said, inclining his head at her.

"It is turning out to be quite a nice night, Professor," she replied with a smile. "Tell Evan and Draco I said hello and that I'll see them tomorrow evening."

~HPSSHPSS~

Someone was in the infirmary with Madam Pomfrey, Harry could tell. His inner sense of the people he considered his family had become stronger over the last week and now he could tell where Draco, Uncle Sev or Madam Pomfrey were if they were in the room with him. He could sense them moving and, to some extent, what they were doing. He couldn't tell who was with Madam Pomfrey, he just knew that someone was.

Harry got up from his table and walked closer. He couldn't hear her voice, so he thought that she must have put up a silencing spell. He didn't like the silencing spells at all now that he was hearing better. He wanted to hear everything, all the sounds, every conversation, and became a little angry if he couldn't.

Anger was a new emotion for him and he wasn't sure how to handle it. Fear, pain, determination, loneliness; those were familiar and comfortable. Love, happiness, and now anger; those were new and with them came the fear, the emotion he had lived with for the majority of his life and was most familiar with. Fear of being rejected, fear of being sent back to the Dursleys, fear of being alone again. Anger was something that had come with his increased ability to hear. A couple of times in the last few days, the anger had almost threatened to overwhelm him when Uncle Sev had told Harry that he shouldn't be listening to other peoples' conversation. Why would someone talk out in the hallway and then be upset when he stopped to listen?

Slowly he walked closer and closer to Madam Pomfrey, not trying to hide, just holding his hand out to touch the footboard of each of the beds as he passed by.

When he was close enough, he could feel the tingle of magic that told him he'd reached the edge of the silencing spell. He didn't cross over into the space, even though he wanted to so much that he was drowning in the desire.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked.

The tingling sensation stopped, telling Harry that the silencing spell had been dropped. The anger dropped away with the silencing spell.

"What is it, Evan?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

He heard footsteps moving away from him. The person who was with Madam Pomfrey must be leaving.

Harry's mind scrambled for some reason why he would come to her. He rarely bothered her; usually he was content to sit at his table and work on his reading.

"How long before lunch?" It was a pathetic question, but hopefully she would just assume that he was hungry.

There was silence for a moment and then she said, "About thirty minutes."

"Okay, thanks." He started to turn away, then paused. "How far away from me are you?"

Madam Pomfrey laughed. "Still not used to that are you?" She was moving closer to him. "I was about eight feet away."

Harry grinned. "That is so…good!" he said.

"Quite the master of understatement, aren't you?" she asked lightly, taking his hand and walking with him back to his table.

"Now," she said once he was sitting again. "What was the real reason for coming to talk to me?" He heard her pull a chair up to the table and sit down.

Harry felt himself flush with embarrassment and ducked his head. "I don't want to tell you," he whispered.

"Why not?" she asked, putting a hand over his. "Evan, whatever it is, you can tell me."

The fear he lived with all the time spiked and his breath hitched. "You'll think I'm a freak." His fist clenched under her palm.

"Nonsense," she said. "There is absolutely nothing you can tell me that would make me think that."

He drew in a deep breath, trying to release the fear in his chest. "I…I…know there was someone in the room with you."

Harry could feel Madam Pomfrey's surprise. "How did you know that?" she asked.

He chewed on his bottom lip for a second. "I can sense you in the room," he said quietly.

Her hand stroked his fist. "Do you know how you can sense me?"

He shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it. It's like you have a…shadow…in my head. I can tell when you're in the room and where you are."

"And how did you know I was talking to someone? Could you sense them also?"

"No, I couldn't sense them, I could just tell by your…um…shadow. It was telling me that you were talking."

"Ah," she said as if she understood. "Am I the only one you can sense?"

"Uncle Sev and Draco, too." Harry said, feeling himself starting to hunch, his shoulders folding in on him in shame. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for, Evan?" she took his hand and pulled him to his feet, drawing Harry closer to her. "What you're sensing is a manifestation of your magic. I'll have to talk to Severus, but I think that your magic is trying to compensate for your blindness by reaching out to the magic of others."

Harry hung his head, a battle waging in his brain. He didn't know whether or not to tell her why he was sorry. "I got angry," he finally choked out. "I was angry at you."

"Why were you angry with me?" Her voice was gentle as she held his hand firmly.

"You put up a silencing spell," he said, feeling the anger again, just a little in the back of his throat. "I couldn't hear you. I wanted to hear you." He clenched his fists again. "I want to hear everything."

~HPSSHPSS~

Late Friday afternoon in the library was quiet; most of the students were putting off their homework until the end of the weekend, so Draco had the table to himself. He had come into the library at the tail end of a small group of Ravenclaws and then had found an empty table in the back. There was the soft buzz of voices a few rows over, and Draco thought it was probably the Ravenclaws he had followed in. They and Granger were the only ones who would find the library attractive at the beginning of the weekend. Draco didn't want to think about what that meant for him.

"Can we sit with you?" came a voice to his right.

Draco looked up from the Charms book he was taking notes from and gaped at the two girls standing next to the table. "Are you sure you are willing to?" he asked. "I'm not exactly acceptable company anymore."

Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bullstrode put their bags on the floor beneath the table. Daphne sat down in one of the chairs across from Draco while Millicent went to scour some of the library shelves for books.

"Millie and I have talked about it," Daphne said. "We've decided that Parkinson and the boys in your dorm were idiots. We want to be your friend." Daphne crossed her arms and leaned onto the table.

"Daphne," Draco said. "what about your father? And Millie's father? What are you going to tell them? I'm sure they won't like this."

Daphne shrugged. "We sent letters to them last week and they're okay with it. It's why we haven't talked to you before now, we were waiting to hear back from them."

She looked over at Millie, who was examining a book she had pulled from the shelves. "Millie's father has never liked yours and mine has always tried to stay neutral."

"So what are the conditions of this friendship?" Draco asked with a slight sneer.

Daphne looked down at the table, then back up at Draco. "Nothing of any note," she said lightly. "We had to get Professor Snape's approval and he told us some of the rules you have to follow. He also said not to end up in the Infirmary."

Draco laughed cynically. "Being my friend will almost guarantee a trip or two to the Infirmary."

"We'll take our chances," she said indifferently.

"What about Evan?" Draco asked, the name coming easily to his lips. Uncle Sev had insisted on the spell after Draco's near slip last Saturday, so now Draco could relax and not think about what he needed to call Harry in public. "Apparently everyone in Slytherin is convinced that he's a Mudblood."

"Is he?" Daphne asked.

"No," Draco said emphatically. "As I told Zabini, his parents were wizards. They died when he was little and he was raised by Muggles."

Millie came back to the table with her arms full of books. "We wouldn't be here if we weren't going to accept you both," she said as she settled the books on the table in a neat stack.

Draco nodded. "Good," he said. "He's my brother now."

"Really?" Daphne asked, a surprised look on her face. "Did Professor Snape adopt you?"

"No, but he has guardianship of both of us," Draco admitted.

"When can we meet Evan?" Millie asked, pulling one of the books over in front of her and then rummaging through her book bag for parchment and quill.

"He has tutoring tonight after dinner, so not tonight." Draco thought about it. "Come to Professor Snape's office tomorrow after lunch. I'll meet you there and then take you to our rooms."

"Okay," Daphne said, looking over Millie's shoulder at the book, then pointed to one of the chapters in the Table of Contents. "That's what we need to look at, Millie."

Draco turned back to his Charms book with a contented feeling. Things were going to be better.

~HPSSHPSS~

Lizzy had finished with Harry's tutoring for the evening and Harry sat in his usual place on the sofa, his hands twisted in his lap. Severus watched him silently, trying to work through the things that Poppy had told him. He was glad that Draco was still in the library, it would give Severus some private time with Harry.

"Harry," he started and Harry flinched. "We need to talk about this afternoon."

Harry gave a jerky nod. "I know," he said. "I was bad."

Severus sighed, picking up his teacup and wholeheartedly wishing it were something stronger. It was going to be one of those conversations.

"Harry, you were not bad."

"I was," Harry said with conviction. "I got angry. Being angry is bad."

"Who told you that?" Severus asked curiously, leaning back in his chair and looking over at Harry. He owed Filius quite the favor for that Charm of his.

"I just know," Harry shrugged. "I've always known that anger is bad."

Someday, Severus decided, he was going to teach the Dursleys a lesson. A really painful lesson. Right now, however, he needed to remain calm.

"Being angry does not mean that you were bad, Harry," Severus said. "It means that you were angry. Everyone gets angry sometimes."

Harry tilted his head as he thought about this. "Everyone?" he asked. "Even you?"

Severus chuckled. "Yes, even me. Some people would say especially me."

"You get angry a lot?" Harry looked confused. "That can't be right. You've never been angry with me."

"That's because you haven't done anything to make me angry." Yet went unsaid. Severus wondered if Harry would catch that.

"Yet," Harry said, confirming Severus's thought.

"Yet," Severus agreed. "At some point, you will do something that will make me angry with you. You are a growing boy and growing boys always do irresponsible things."

Harry nodded, but Severus could tell that he wasn't sure about that statement.

"That's a conversation for later," Severus said, dismissively. "What I want to know is why you were angry today."

"Didn't Madam Pomfrey tell you?" Harry asked, chewing his lip.

"Yes, she did," Severus replied. "I want to hear it from you."

"She put up a silencing charm. I didn't like it."

"Why?" Severus asked.

"I couldn't hear her." Harry nervously picked at the edge of his jumper. "I want to hear everything."

"You realise that you aren't meant to hear everything," Severus said seriously. "Some conversations are private."

Harry frowned. It was nearly a scowl and Severus was amazed to see that expression on Harry's face. "I can hear now," he said. "I want to hear everything."

Severus got out of his chair and knelt in front of Harry. "Harry, you can't expect to be allowed to listen to every conversation that you want to. I know it's a hard lesson to learn, but you have to allow people their privacy."

"But, I want…"

"Harry," Severus warned. "This is not negotiable. If you start breaking into people silencing spells, or listening in on conversations you're not meant to, then I will be angry with you and you will be punished."

Harry turned nearly white. "No…" he gasped. "I promise, I…I'll…behave. Don't…Don't beat me."

Now Severus was fuming at those revolting Muggles. He grasped Harry's chin, turning his face up. "I will never beat you, Harry," he growled. "I will punish you by taking away privileges, or sending you to bed early without letting Draco read to you from your book, but I will never hurt you or withhold food. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Harry whispered. "Thank you."

"For what, child?" Severus asked.

"For…for…" Harry struggled to figure out what he wanted to say. "Everything."

Severus pulled Harry into a brief hug, then set him back onto the couch. Once Harry was calm, Severus turned to the rest of the conversation he wanted to have.

"Now," he said. "What is this that Madam Pomfrey is telling me about you being able to sense the presence of her and me and Draco?"

Harry nodded, sniffing. Severus pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to him.

"I can sense your presence," Harry said once he had wiped his face and blown his nose. Severus cast a cleaning spell on the handkerchief as Harry carefully folded the handkerchief in quarters and then proceeded to twist it into a knot. Severus watched with interest as Harry fingered the knot, rubbing the fabric between his thumb and forefinger.

"Poppy said it was like a shadow in your head," Severus said, dragging his attention back to the conversation.

"Yes," Harry said. "It started out with just the sense that you were in the room, but now I can tell where you are and if you're moving or standing still."

"Do the shadows have a color?" Severus asked.

Harry considered this. "I…think so." He had a look on intense concentration on his face. "You are…blue. Dark blue."

"And Draco?" This was an interesting phenomenon. Severus would need to do some research on it.

"Umm…red, I think," Harry said and Severus nearly snorted with laughter imagining Draco's magic as Gryffindor red. "Madam Pomfrey is a dark green," Harry continued. "Does that mean anything?"

Severus stood. "I don't know, I'll have to look into it. For now, you can go wash and get ready for bed. Draco should be back momentarily."

Draco entered the sitting room just as the words left Severus's mouth. "Guess what?" he said with excitement, sitting next to Harry on the sofa. "I think we might have some new friends."