"I might not be able to heal you properly," Severus murmured after a few minutes, "but the paste will help make the scars lighter and it should help stop my bleeding."

"Oh my gosh," Harry gasped and pulled himself out of Severus' grip suddenly. Harry leaped to his feet and almost dragged Severus with him in his enthusiasm. "I forgot." Harry gaped at the makeshift bandage, which had large, dark red stains spreading across it. "I'm sorry."

"Let's go get cleaned up," Severus deflected, cradling his arm as they walked to the stock room. Severus grabbed the jar of yellow paste and unscrewed the lid. He dipped his fingers in and held and expectant hand out to Harry.

"Well?" he asked. "Give me your arm."

"Heal yourself first!" Harry had been looking off into a corner, and was only brought back to the present by Severus' voice. Severus sighed, caught Harry's arm in his grasp, and rolled up the sleeve. He began to gently massage the yellow paste over the still fresh scabs. Harry made no vocal objection, but watched Severus' wounds carefully.

He hoped he had made an impression on the boy. Something needed to. It was certainly painful enough for him to do this route, and he had no desire to add any more scars to his plentiful collection, but it was the only thing he could think of to get through to Harry. Judging by his reaction, he thought that it had been a productive lesson.

Severus released Harry's arm, and made to remove the make-shift bandage. He hissed as he tore open half scabbed over wounds. Harry glanced at him nervously, and shifted his weight from side to side.

"Well, this rag isn't going to be good for anything anymore," Severus observed casually, as he flung it across the table. Then he rubbed some more paste onto his own arm, which seemed to slow the bleeding at least. Severus still didn't want to roll down his sleeve though.

"Did - did you want another rag?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes, please," Severus nodded. Though far from a sanitary option, Severus felt he could deal with any subsequent infection once he had magic at his disposal, and getting blood on his clothes while they still were looking at forty-eight hours without any outside contact was not a pleasant thought. Harry darted to a cabinet and found a suitable rag. Severus nodded his thanks and wrapped it around his arm tightly. Wordlessly, Harry helped him tie it in place, and Severus rolled his sleeve over the bandage.

Severus went over to a shelf and selected a cauldron. He heaved it onto the work table in the stock room with a loud thud.

"As long as we're down here," Severus began, "I might as well make us some nutrient potion. It will do next to nothing against hunger, but it will keep us from becoming deficient in some vitamins and minerals. It's not meant to be used in the place of calories, but rather in the absence of nutritious food."

"So like if you wanted to eat ice cream for a meal?" Harry asked, taking a cautious step closer to Severus.

"Exactly," Severus said, beginning to take out the necessary ingredients. "Or if someone is found to have a vitamin or mineral deficiency, it would be used while the person ate perfectly normal food." Severus began to chop the necessary roots and herbs.

"Sir," Harry interrupted, "I could do that if you prefer."

"We have limited resources," Severus began. "While I don't mean to - hurt your feelings, I think it's best if I make the potion."

"Oh," Harry said, the disappointment clear in his voice. "Okay."

"If you were any other student, short of a NEWT student, I can promise you I would have answered the same," Severus continued, still chopping and adding the necessary ingredients. "And even then, I probably would turn down an offer from a NEWT student. It's not like I have anything else pressing my time at the moment, and it's safer if I do it."

"Alright," Harry said, his voice firmer this time.

"Take a seat," Severus offered, glancing to a vacant chair on the other side of the room. "You can bring it over here and watch." Harry did so. He sat backwards on the chair, arms crossed over the back and chin resting on his arms. He seemed bored, which Severus was sure he was. Maybe he should have let Harry help him. After all, this was partially to cure his own boredom. Severus realized he had just forbidden Harry from his usual form of curing boredom.

"So what's this about you not having friends?" Severus asked suddenly when the silence got to be too much for him.

"I told you," Harry accused. "Ron and I had a fight, and then Hermione sided with Ron, and neither one are speaking to me."

"Is that typical of Weasley?" Severus asked.

"Ron's always been a bit more flighty than Hermione," Harry shrugged. "More likely to not speak to me over something. He's more likely to think I'm doing something on purpose."

"What do you mean?" Severus asked, now stirring the potion. He glanced over at Harry's thoughtful expression.

"I mean, do you remember last year?"

"Like it was last year," Severus replied.

"Ron thought I put my name in the Goblet too, even though I told him I didn't," Harry said.

"Most of the school thought you put your name in the Goblet," Severus pointed out.

"Yes, but Ron was my best mate!" Harry protested. "If I had done it, I would have told him! He didn't trust me. He thought I was lying to him. Heck, even you took my part in that one."

"Only because it was physically impossible for you to have done it," Severus said, trying to sound a bit distracted. He felt uncomfortable giving Harry all of his attention, if only because he was uncomfortable giving anyone his entire attention. It would have carried the implication that the person in question was important, and Severus didn't know how to deal with that. Somehow, he figured he would learn soon enough.

"No, it wasn't," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "I could have done it if I wanted to."

"Oh?" Severus asked, now curious enough to offer almost his full attention. "Do explain your theory. I will explain why it would fail."

"I could just have asked a seventeen year old to put my name in," Harry said. "It wouldn't have hurt them at all, they could cross the line, and no magic involved whatsoever." Severus nodded slowly.

"I know of no reason why that wouldn't have worked," he said eventually. Then he glanced at Harry suspiciously. "Did you put your name in the Goblet?"

"No!" Harry gasped, affronted. "Just because I figured out the puzzle doesn't mean that I wanted to risk my life over it! I already stand out more than I want to!"

"Alright, alright," Severus said in soothing tones. "The question bore asking." Harry sighed. "So Weasley thought you were lying to him."

"Yes, sir," Harry said. "It was hard. Without him, I mean. Hermione talked to me though, which made it okay."

"Have you ever had a disagreement with Granger?"

"Yes, sir," Harry nodded. "Last year, she started that whole S.P.E.W. thing, remember?"

"It seems to me I heard something about that," Severus shrugged. "I never sought out details."

"It was a house elf liberation group she was - is - trying to start," Harry explained. Severus snorted softly.

"Did she consult with the house elves before seeking their liberation?" Severus asked.

"No," Harry shook his head. "I don't think so, anyway. It's not that I disagreed with her so much, as I didn't want to be part of the group. It was all self-righteous and everything, and it wasn't going to do any good. I'd rather just be nice to the house elves at Hogwarts. Hermione tried leaving all kinds of clothes out for the house elves. It just meant that none of them would clean the Gryffindor common room except for Dobby."

"Typical," Severus sneered. "Rush into a situation half-cocked and then wonder why it's worse than before."

"Hermione meant well," Harry argued.

"Of course," Severus soothed. "I simply meant that she wasn't thinking it though."

"Yeah, and I suppose that's where we mainly disagreed. The house elves seemed happy enough as long as people treated them nicely."

"As well they are," Severus confirmed, checking the potion. "And how did Granger take your disagreement?"

"She kept doing S.P.E.W., and we tried not to talk about it," Harry shrugged.

"But you still talked."

"Yes, of course," Harry confirmed. "Hermione has always been a good friend. A better one than Ron."

"It puzzles me why she would suddenly stop speaking to you then," Severus observed. "Do you have any insights?"

"No, sir," Harry sighed.

"What did you and Weasley fight about?"

"That I told you something that I was hiding from him," Harry said softly.

"About the summer?" Severus asked, equally quietly.

"Yes, sir," Harry whispered.

"So basically this is simply another straw in a string of incidents of Weasley's jealousy?" Severus asked.

"I suppose so," Harry agreed.

"I see," Severus said. "It sounds like Weasley, while certainly a very pleasant friend if in a good mood, is very jealous of you, has been for a long time, and there is nothing you can do about it, try as you might. It's natural for you to wish to withhold information from someone who has previously thought you a liar. Your reasons made sense for telling me, though I would have fallen into an even worse category usually. Even if you had told him, he would have found another reason to be angry with you." Harry just nodded and continued to watch Severus make the potion.

"Do you have any other friends?" Severus asked after a few minutes.

"Not really," Harry shrugged. "Neville and Luna are nice, but they're not really my friends." They fell silent again, this time for longer. Severus estimated they had been silent for a full ten minutes before he spoke again.

"What sort of music do you listen to?" he finally asked. That was a good question, right? He could learn something about his son, have a proper conversation about something normal.

"I don't listen to music," Harry replied.

"Teenagers like music, don't they?" Severus asked, wondering if he had misunderstood the younger generation. "They did when I was one."

"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "I just don't listen to music. Never have."

"I should show you some sometime," Severus said. "I know a charm to make the music come equally loudly throughout a whole room."

"Okay," Harry agreed, but he didn't seem too enthused. Severus was confused about what to do with Harry.

"How are you feeling?" Severus asked.

"I'm fine," Harry replied immediately.

"How are you feeling?" Severus repeated, more pointedly this time.

"Hungry," Harry shrugged. "Thirsty. But there's nothing you can do about it."

"Well, the potion is almost finished," Severus said. "It won't do much for you, but perhaps it will do something."

Hermione sat across from Dumbledore in his office. She had unshed tears in her eyes and she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. McGonagall had gotten concerned when she hadn't shown up for breakfast or lunch, and she had refused to speak with McGongall about Ron. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her Head of House, but it wasn't McGonagall who had asked her to give Ron the time-turner.

"Why did he leave without saying good-bye?" Hermione asked softly, bringing her gaze up to meet Dumbledore's.

"Who said he left without saying good-bye?" Dumbledore asked, looking at her affectionately.

"What do you mean, sir?" Hermione questioned.

"He left a letter for you," Dumbledore replied, smiling a bit, his smile growing as Hermione's tears dried a bit.

"He did?" she gasped.

"Here it is," he said, handing her the letter.

"Thank you, sir!" Hermione rose and pressed the letter to her chest.

"And Hermione," Dumbledore called after her, "what Ron did, he did for the greater good." Hermione just looked at Dumbledore curiously, and left his office.