It was exactly two weeks after the battle of Hogwarts when Harry finally moved into his new home. For the past two weeks, Harry had lived at the Burrow. Helping the Weasleys while they spend most of their time at St. Mungo's. Last week, Harry had gotten an owl from the goblins at Gringotts informing him that his inheritance had been released on his 17th birthday. When Harry had gone to visit the wizarding bank, they had taken him to a private room. For a moment, he had been afraid that they were going to arrest him for breaking into the bitch's vault. They didn't though. Instead the three goblins that joined him had informed him that, upon turning 17, Harry had become the sole holder of both the Potter and Black estate, which included several properties and a rather large sum of galleons and other valuables. However, the only way that Harry was going to get any of it –and that included the trust vault Harry had access to before– was if he agreed that the goblins had actually allowed him to break in and out of the bank. Harry had barely been able to keep from grinning at that. In a way, it made sense for the goblins to pretend they had been in on it. Trying to arrest Harry, Ron and Hermione for the break in would not be easy so soon after the end of the war. Much better to pretend it was all pre arranged. So, Harry had accepted and left, trying to hide his grin. He hadn't hung around Diagon Alley, to many people that stopped to gawk at him. Instead, he had gone out the front of the leaky cauldron and hailed the knight bus. When he asked if they knew how to get to Potter Park, the home his father had lived in as a child, the driver had grinned and nodded happily.

When Harry arrived at the house he had been so stunned he stood outside, slack faced, for almost ten minutes. It was the kind of house he'd only ever seen on the telly. Standing in front of a beautiful, wrought iron gate –which was the only way through this side of the six foot high wall that surrounded the property– he could see the house a little way of in the distance. The gate had opened slowly after Harry pressed his hand against it. When he was walking up the drive, he could only just see the wall in the distance on both sides. It made him want to get his broom and go for a spin around the grounds. Curious about the inside of the mansion, he had continued towards the entrance. Harry stood on the stairway that led to the front door, and looked up at the four story mansion that towered over him. The red bricks shimmered in the sun and he could see the slanted roofs of two turrets rising up from the back. Somewhere in the vicinity there was water bubbling softly, which made him a bit giddy at the possibility of owning such a grand house that it actually included a fountain.

Like the gate, the door had opened on its own when he put his hand the handle. The entrance hall was amazing. The floor was made from polished, black marble and the walls were snow white. Two large staircases curved around the room. The one on the left let to the first floor, the one on the right curved all the way up towards the second floor. Looking up, he saw two more staircases, spiralling from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth floor. Standing in the middle of the spiralling staircase, he could see all the way up towards a shimmering chandelier that appeared to be hovering between the third and fourth floors.

At first, Harry hadn't been sure if he wanted to live in the mansion. To him, it appeared awfully large for a single person. Truth be told, he still wasn't sure if he wanted to live there. But, with Fred well on the way to recovering and all the Weasley's congregating in The Burrow to get him back on his feet, The Burrow was getting overcrowded. Besides, with his own fireplace hooked into the flu-network, he could go and visit the Weasley's whenever he wanted. Plus, the large mansion was definitely less depressing than Grimmauld Place. Ron and Bill had helped him move the few possessions he had, and now Harry was alone in the enormous house. He'd already checked out all the rooms, most of which looked uninhabited but were kept in pristine condition. There wasn't a dust mote to be found in the place.

During his exploration of the mansion, he had found several interesting things. On the ground floor, he found a passage behind a bookcase in the study that led to an enormous library, one Hermione would definitely enjoy. There were three different sitting rooms, all with their own hearth, and a bar that actually had a pool table. The ground floor of the right tower was a large two story high ballroom, which had paintings that refused to wake up lined round the wall. While the whole of the ground floor was amazing, none if it held up to the lower floors of the left tower. Which had been turned into a magnificent, three story high greenhouse that had curved walls completely made out of glass.

On the first floor, he'd found his father's old bedroom, which held a treasure full of pictures and other things Harry had decided to go through another time. He'd also discovered the room next to it, which Harry was certain had belonged to Sirius even though the only things there were some clothes, magazines and other random objects. Harry had chosen the biggest bedroom for himself. He thought it may have been his grandparents room years ago, but there was no trace of anyone ever inhabiting the room. The walls were light blue, as was the rug, it had an enormous four-poster bed and it had an awesome bathroom attached to it. There were several bathrooms throughout the house, but all the others were smaller. Well, except for the one between his father's and Sirius's room, but he really didn't want to stay there.

On the third and fourth floors, there were more bedrooms, sitting rooms, and even a training room that held several out of date dummies. After roaming for a while, he'd come to realize there had to be someone, a house elf perhaps, that had taken care of the mansion all these years. There was just no other way for it to be this clean, but he hadn't seen or heard anyone yet. He was looking for some sign of a caretaker when he found the nursery, a beautiful room with pictures of himself and his parents and grandparents. Harry had always believed his grandparents had been dead before he was born, but from the pictures he gathered that they must have been alive for at least two months after his birth. It was just his rotten luck to lose his grandparents and parents within the first two years of his life. He shook the thought of and continued looking around, deciding to come back to the nursery soon. He would make it Teddy's room, it was close enough to his own and was across from one of the many guest rooms, which would give Andromeda Tonks a place to stay as well.

Harry had gone to see Teddy a few days ago, and strangely enough it hadn't been as hard as he had suspected. When he had arrived, Andromeda had been rather unhappy with him. But then, she had been afraid he was going to take Teddy away from her. Harry had been surprised at her initial welcome, he hadn't even thought about taking Teddy. The baby was safe and happy with his grandmother. She had raised an amazing daughter and Harry was certain that she would do the same with little Teddy. After Harry had made it clear that he was not and would not, take little Teddy away from her, they had talked. In the end, Andromeda was more than happy to let Harry look after Teddy for a few hours so she could take the nap she needed, and most definitely deserved.

Harry had spend the hours downstairs, looking after the tiny baby. Teddy had been asleep for the first few hours, but when he woke up, he did so with a vengeance. First, he'd wailed for food, than he'd wailed for his plushy, which was a rather smug looking wolf. After Harry had changed him, he'd finally gone quiet. Harry had talked to him about everything and nothing, and found it was rather nice to talk to someone who didn't care about what he said. He'd made dinner while Teddy was down for another nap, and the three of them had a nice dinner before Harry left. Andromeda had told him he could visit them at any time, and Harry had made sure she knew that there would be place for both of them at his home any time they wanted it. Harry hoped they would make use of the rooms. He was sure that Teddy would come stay with him at some point, he just wasn't sure Andromeda would feel right coming with him. He sighed, he would just have to make sure of it.

Harry continued on his trek through the house, found another sitting room and dropped down in a chair. Two weeks had gone by and he had yet to have a day of peace. The day after the battle, Harry had gone to Dumbledore's tomb to repair the man's resting place and say goodbye. Afterwards, he had spend the rest of the day surrounded by people. It seemed like every single person in the magical community had turned up and wanted to talk to him. He'd been invited to funerals, celebrations, job interviews and an assortment of other appointments.

The next day, there had been a memorial service near the lake. They'd asked him to speak and, while he really didn't want to, he had agreed. He hadn't given a long speech, he hadn't even said that much to anyone there. He'd simply taken the opportunity to thank everyone for what they had done to protect their world. Everyone who had fallen had done so in order to protect their love ones, to allow others to have a happy future. Harry owed them his gratitude, even if he couldn't do anything else for them. Later, after he found out about the estates that were now his, he would set up a fund to help everyone who needed help because of the cost of the war. He also decided to do something for all the orphans that lost their parents to Voldemort. He hadn't really had time to arrange anything but he was thinking of creating a orphanage for magical children –he didn't want any of them lost in the muggle world as he had been– and setting up a fund that would take care of all the muggle children and magical children who already had another good home. Harry had decided to speak to Molly about it as soon as Fred was out of the hospital, after raising Ron and his siblings, he was certain she could help. He was hoping she would volunteer to take on the task, but after seven children, he wouldn't blame her if she told him to find someone else.

After the memorial, he had helped clean up part of Hogwarts for the rest of the day. The following days were followed by funerals. There were so many that Harry was unable to go to every single one due to overlapping. For four days, Harry went to funeral after funeral. By the last one, which was held for Remus and Tonks, Harry was emotionally and physically exhausted and forced, by several Weasleys, to stay in bed until the next morning. The day after the funerals, Harry had gone to Gringotts and started his move into the Potter Park. He could have chosen one of the other properties he apparently owned, but even though the house was much too large for one person, it was his strongest link to his family. And after a year of camping, Harry really, really needed the space. Not to mention that living at Potter Park had the added advantage of being able to house the whole Weasley family, as well as a number of other guests, at ones. Hopefully someday, Harry would have his own family to fill some of the emptiness of the house.

That made him think of Ginny. After it was all over, he´d found Ginny alone in the common room. He´d kissed her for what were probably several of the best minutes of his life. Then he'd left her and went to sleep. Ever since, he'd seen Ginny only when they were surrounded by others. Harry had tried to get her alone on several occasions but hadn't been successful yet. It left him wondering if it was accidental or if Ginny was trying to avoid him. They both knew that they needed to talk, though Harry did not yet know what that talk would entail. He knew that he wanted Ginny back, but he wasn't certain she still wanted him. Letting out a deep breath he stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. In the morning he had to go to the ministry, he needed some sleep.

Harry used the disillusionment charm Hermione had shown him and took a deep breath before he stepped into the hearth. He threw down a handful of flu powder and said, rather reluctantly “Ministry of Magic”. The trip through the flu was as disorientating and annoying as ever. He stumbled out of the fireplace en brushed himself of. The hall was filled with people walking every which way and, for a moment, Harry held his breath. Lately, he hadn't been able to go anywhere in the wizarding world without people staring at him. It had been bad before, but now they practically mobbed him every time he went out. After a second, he remembered the charm and started walking towards the lift. He should really go to the reception counter and announce himself, but he was in no mood. Kingsley practically black mailed him to come, so the man better not whine about formalities. Harry pressed the button and the lift zoomed him away.

Stepping into the minister's office, he removed the disillusionment charm and walked toward the desk. As soon as the woman behind it saw him, her jaw dropped and she just stared. Harry sighed and walked forward “Harry Potter to see Minister Shacklebolt.” He tried to keep the annoyance at her staring out of his voice, making him sound bored. The woman nodded and almost ran towards the door behind her. He heard a mumbled conversation and a second later the woman waved him in. Closing the door behind him, Harry sat down on the chair and stared at the Minister.

Kingsley didn't waste time “Mr. Potter, we have things to discuss.”

Harry rolled his eyes, people had been doing that a lot lately, stating the obvious. “Such as?”

“Whatever you refused to tell us at Hogwarts.” Kingsley lifted an eyebrow, as if to say that Harry should be well aware of what he wanted.

“Could you be more specific, there was a lot I didn't tell you.” Harry answered in that same bored voice he was learning to perfect. It was best to seem completely neutral these days. A single grimace, frown or other emotional sign could be caught by the press, leaving harry to, once again, find his name in the paper along some ridiculous story.

“I want to know everything.”

Harry shook his head slowly, there was no way he would ever tell everything to anyone, not even the Minister of Magic. “There are things no-one needs to know. There are things I shouldn't even know.”

Kingsley nodded “Does this include Dumbledore's mission?”

Harry shrugged and shook his head again. “I can tell you, but you need to promise not to speak of it, to anyone.”

“Do you need a vow?” Kingsley looked dead serious, clearly prepared to make an unbreakable vow before he even knew what he needed to keep secret.

“I voted for you.”

“I read the article. Your backing made a difference, I won't forget that.”

Harry nodded slightly. He had given his statement on who should be the next minister to the daily prophet because he had hoped it would be good for the Ministry. He hadn't done it for any favours he might get from Kingsley, but after the year he'd had, he wasn't stupid enough to disregard such a favour. “I trust you are smart enough to keep this to yourself.” He waited for the Minister to agree before saying one word “Horcruxes.”

Kingsley looked at him for a while, then nodded slowly “You mentioned them during the duel. You said they were destroyed.”

“Yes, they were. We were looking for the last few this year. The last one was at Hogwarts, it's why we went there.”

“The snake? The boy seemed to think it had to be destroyed.”

Harry shook his head “Well, yes and no. The snake was technically the last.” He paused and looked around the room. Taking out his wand, he cast a quick Muffliato before he continued “I was also one..”

Kingsley opened his mouth and closed it again. He seemed to be at a loss for words. Harry understood that, he hadn't known what to do with that revelation either. So he smiled at the Minister “Yeah, that's about the same as my reaction. Anyway, it's why I went into the forest. I had no choice.”

Kingsley blinked a few times “You had a choice. You could have fled.”

“And let Riddle kill everyone I care about?”

“You are a better man than most, Harry. You may not care about my opinion, but I hope you will become an Auror. I would be proud to have you as part of the Ministry.”

Harry smiled slightly. He wasn't sure whether he still wanted to do that, so much had chanced now that Riddle was gone, but it didn't hurt having the ministers support. Even if it was thoroughly misplaced “I really didn't do much. There were a lot of people involved who deserve a lot more credit than me.”

Kingsley shook his head as if he didn't believe what he was hearing “Don't think I don't understand your meaning. You are right in saying that it wasn't all you. It wasn't, I'm well aware of that. But none of us had to bear what you did. You were our hope, I don't believe you had someone to put your hope in this past year.”

Harry shrugged “I had a mission, I had Dumbledore.”

“I take it you did not keep up with the latest gossip?”

“I read the book...” Harry sighed and looked at Kingsley before adding “It was hateful, but it was necessary.”

Kingsley frowned “How so?”

“It's a long story, one that is not important. Let's just say that it held information that I needed.”

Kingsley nodded, letting the matter go. “So, the Horcruxes were all destroyed. What about that wand?”

Harry frowned for a moment before he remembered that everyone had seen the end, they all saw him catch Tom's wand. “It was Dumbledore's, and before that it was Grindelwald's. It's been going around for centuries.”

“Why?”

Harry pursed his lips, thinking hard. “Because that wand is the Elder wand, Death stick, whatever you want to call it.” That was all anyone needed to know. No reason to tell them about the other Hallows, it would only create trouble.

“May I ask what you did with it?”

Harry shrugged, might as well “I stored it in a safe place. I had been thinking of putting it back with Dumbledore but considering... It thought it best if it was somewhere a little less obvious. It wouldn't do if someone decided to dig it up and come after me to become it's next master.”

Kingsley nodded at that “I won't ask. Now, about the official statement, I assume you read it?”

Harry nodded. He had been reading the prophet every day since the battle. The information in it seemed to be as unreliable as always but it didn't hurt to know what everyone else in the wizarding world were discussing over breakfast. “I thought it was quite impressive. A whole statement on the battle and the only pertinent fact in there was Snape's innocence.”

Kingsley smiled “Yes well, I heard what you said. He may have died but that is no reason to let everyone believe the man was something he wasn't. Though, I would like to know how you came to that conclusion.”

“He gave me some of his memories. I've seen a false memory before, these were real.”

“What was in them?”

Harry shook his head “I don't believe he is dead, I won't until we find body. I told Riddle about Snape's love for my mother because I believed him dead, and I needed Tom of kilter. Even if Snape is truly gone, I don't think he would appreciate it if I revealed more of his private life for no good reason at all.”

Kingsley frowned at Harry “If Snape is alive, I would assume he would want to be proven innocent above all else.”

Harry shrugged “Maybe, but that's his choice. Personally, I think he wouldn't care about others presumptions if it means losing his privacy. It's not as if he'll end up in Azkaban either way.”

“If he is found alive, he will get a trial but there is no guarantee he'll get off.”

“Yes there is. I will be there. Like I will be at Draco Malfoy's trial later today.” Harry folded his arms and stared at Kingsley. He had known from the start that he would have to meddle with some of the trials to ensure certain people would be given a chance. There was simply no way Harry was going to allow a repeat of the farce that got Sirius locked away.

The minister lifted an eyebrow “And you believe you can influence The Wizengamot?”

Harry shrugged “I'll do my best. Draco Malfoy may have been an idiot by accepting the mark, but he never killed or even tortured someone. In the end, he did is best to do the right thing. As for Snape, he has redeemed himself ten times over. I will be there to testify.”

Kingsley nodded and shuffled the papers on his desk around. “I understand, and you're quite right. However, besides testifying there is another option.”

“Which is?”

“You are the last Potter, that means you have a right to a seat on The Wizengamot.”

“I was unaware that The Wizengamot was run by bloodlines.”

“It isn't. But when there are empty seats, the old families without one are given a chance to run.”

“So, you want me to run for a seat on The Wizengamot? A 17 year old who hasn't finished school yet.” Harry folded his arms and frowned. That was the most ridiculous idea he'd heard in a while.

“At the moment there are several empty seats. We are in a time of change and we need young blood. If you ask for a seat, you will get one, no questions asked. You could help make this a better world.”

“The Wizengamot will have to preside over the death eater trials. I cannot be involved with that, not with my history.” Not to mention that less than 3 years ago, he had been on trial in front of The Wizengamot. He really didn't want to be the one judging others as they had judged him.

“You are planning to testify for Malfoy.”

“Yes, I am testifying. I am testifying about what I've seen and experienced, not sitting in judgement on people that have tried to kill me.”

Kingsley sat forwards and gave him a scrutinizing look “You know, most people would be foaming at the mouth with the influence you have. Why do you refuse to use it?”

“Because it's not what I want.”

“Then what do you want?”

He didn't even need to think about that, it's what he had wanted for as long as he could remember. “Finish my education, get a job, have a family and live a normal life.”

“You will never have a normal life.”

“Maybe not, but I can try.”

“You would ignore what our community needs to have what you want?”

Harry gnashed his teeth, reigning in his temper. “That's low Minister, but no I wouldn't. That's why I want to become an Auror. I'll help by keeping criminals of the streets.” That wasn't completely true since he was sure about being an Auror anymore but that wasn't important now.

“That's doesn't stop you from taking a seat on The Wizengamot.”

“Doesn't it? I will be bringing in criminals, I can't sit at their trials as well.”

“No, but you can have a seat and not judge in any of the trials.”

“You just want me on there so you can say you employ Harry bloody Potter. Why would I want a seat if I'm never going to use it.” He was getting frustrated. Harry had expected more from Kingsley. He hadn't thought him to be the kind that would use a 17 year old as a mascot.

“I want you on there because The Wizengamot can use someone like you. Especially if it's going to be part of the ruling government.”

That got Harry's attention. The Wizengamot was supposed be a court of sorts. It wasn't supposed to be part of the ruling body. Hell, Harry didn't think there actually was a ruling body. To him it always seemed like the minister held all the power. “Part of the ruling government?”

Kingsley smiled, as if he knew Harry was becoming interested in whatever his plan was.“The Wizengamot will be changing, I told you. We are trying to get it so that the new laws or chances to laws will have to be approved by a majority. I agree with you Mr. Potter, the ministry is corrupt. The first thing that needs to chance is the autonomy the minister has.”

Harry was amused, apparently he had been right about Kingsley after all. He would be good for the ministry. He would have to learn not to judge so quickly. It wasn't something he normally did but it seemed that minister officials still put him on edge. “You are trying to give away the power your function holds?”

“Partly, yes.”

“Huh, okay. Interesting...” Harry sat back and thought about that for a moment. “Maybe you are right, maybe I should get a seat on The Wizengamot. But that still doesn't get me anywhere when it comes to Snape and Malfoy. I want to help them, I believe it's the right thing to do. But I can't do it from a seat in The Wizengamot, that would dissolve the point of doing the right thing.”

“You have a strange set of morals Mr. Potter.”

“No, I don't. A jury is supposed to be neutral, they are supposed to judge on the evidence given. I'm the one with the evidence, I can't be neutral.”

Kingsley waved his hand “Fine, fine. Testify if you feel that is best, but don't come to me if the end result isn't the one you wanted.”

Harry sat up straight and stared at the man. He didn't like the way he'd said that. “Do you have a reason to believe it won't be?”

“Mr. Malfoy was a minor until recently, if you can prove that he has indeed changed his viewpoint, he may get a second chance. As for Severus Snape, he killed Dumbledore. There were students practising Crusiatus on lower class students while he was Headmaster. How are you going to condone that?”

Harry blinked, he had a point. Though, anyone who understood anything about the war would have to understand why Snape did what he did, wouldn't they? “I'm not. But fact is that Snape was given very little choice. He did what Professor Dumbledore asked him to do. That was the deal, Professor Dumbledore protected him so long as Snape agreed to spy for him. He did his job. He put his life on the line every single day. Hell, he might have died to ensure I could do what had to be done. Also, it has to be noted that, while Snape was unable to protect the students from the Carrows, he never tried to stop Neville and Ginny from helping. When they broke into his office, he send them to the forbidden forest with Hagrid as punishment, the same punishment which was given to me while Dumbledore was headmaster.”

Kingsley sighed and leaned back in his chair, grabbing some document that were laying on the filing cabinet behind him. Handing them over to Harry, he smiled and asked “Have you given notice that you want to testify for Malfoy?”

Harry looked up from the papers and shook his head “I was planning on just walking in there.”

Kingsley pursed his lips as if considering something important “How did you even know that the trial is today?”

Giving Kingsley an approximation of one of those mysterious smiled Dumbledore had been so well versed in, Harry answered “I have my sources” Truth was, he wouldn't have know had he not overheard someone talk about it on his way to Kingsley's office. He'd decided he wanted to testify for Malfoy several days earlier but hadn't known when the trial was. The ministry was rather closed mouthed when it came to the trials. Though, The Prophet had taken to sending out a supplementary each evening that chronicled the trials that had taken place that day. For a small fee off course.

Harry had planned to ask Kingsley for information but since he'd already known, no matter how much luck had been involved in getting the information, there was no need to let the minister know how little he knew of what was going on. He found it rather irksome that he was unable to go out and talk to people without changing his appearance. If only the mobs stopped cropping up, he could go out and get whatever he needed without having to beg. The only good thing about his fame was that most people instantly liked him and wanted to give him anything he desired. And yet, he couldn't use it for anything, no matter how important, because it came attached to the most dangerous adoration.

Kingsley pulled him out of his thoughts when he let out a soft huff of irritation. Pointing at the papers he'd handed Harry he said “Those contain the information about the trial you will need. Time and place are one the first page, as is a list with the charges against him. There is also a list of the evidence we have, the names of the people who will testify and some other pertinent papers. I was about to copy and bind them but since you are here. Is there anything you like to add?”

Harry looked down at the paper and looked over the first page.


Death Eater Trial - #56

Date: 19th of May 1998
Time: 10 AM
Accused: Draco Lucius Malfoy

Charged with:
Willingly allied with Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort.
Helped several death eaters invade Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry leading to the death of late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
Attacked Harry Potter and friends during The Battle of Hogwarts.


Harry looked as Kingsley, slightly confused. These were the crimes they were charging Draco with? It wasn't like they were inconsequential but all in all, it didn't seem such a big deal. They hadn't charged him for the other attempts he'd made on Dumbledore's life. Nor, it seemed, had they been able to discover any other specifics of what Malfoy had done during the past year. He was slightly curious as to why though. It seemed rather unlikely that they knew of his involvement with Albus's death, yet had not linked the cursed pendant or poisoned wine to him. Rather than asking any of that and risking more charges getting added, he asked “How do you know what happened during the battle? I don't think I ever mentioned an attack by Malfoy.”

“He was there with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, was he not?”

Harry pursed his lips and thought. “Well, yeah he was.. But have you ever seen those two? Malfoy may have been their leader for years but things changed rather a lot for him this past year.”

Kingsley sat forward, curiosity written all over his face. “Voldemort was living in his house, off course things changed. How does this relate to that attack?”

Harry shrugged “By the time the battle happened, Draco was scared of his own shadow. At least, that's how he seemed to me. He tried to keep them from killing us.”

“You're saying you think he was there to help you?”

Harry shook his head, that was not it at all. “I don't think he knew what he was doing. He got so deep into shit he had nowhere else to turn. What would you do when your view on the world, as well as the world itself, was being ripped apart piece by piece and you had no way to stop it.”

Kingsley pursed his lips “Try to find a way, or find someone else who might be able to help.”

“Yeah... But you're forgetting that we are essentially still children, we're still in school. And it's not as if we've been prepared to deal with anything like this. As for finding someone who can help.. He's a Malfoy, a rather arrogant and proud one at that. Even if he tried to approach someone on our side for help, nobody would have given it.”

“That does not excuse him from following bastard's orders.”

Harry chuckled at the curse, it was nice to know that being the minister of magic did not equal being perfectly proper all the time. “He didn't follow orders. He followed his friends, which were idiots true, but still.. They were his closest friends.. And he tried to stop them from killing us. Not to mention that he didn't even try to get back into Voldemort's good graces when he had the chance. Just because he wasn't on our side doesn't mean he was on his. At least, not after he understood what Voldemort's side was really like.”

“What could he have done to get back into their inner circle that he refused?”

“When they the snatchers brought us to Malfoy Manor... Hermione used a stinging hex to obscure my face so they didn't know who I was. They called Draco to verify if it was me but he told them he didn't know. It's the only reason we got out of there before Riddle turned up.”

“That doesn't prove anything, he might not have been able to tell it was you either.”

Harry scoffed and waved his hand in a dismissive manner “Malfoy and I have never gotten along, but I know him. He recognized me all right, I'm more than certain of that.”

“That may be so, but it isn't enough to dismiss any of the charges. Though, it might help if you're trying to prove that he has learned from his experience.”

“That was the idea.. It's rather hard to prove him innocent when we all know he wasn't.. I just think he has been punished enough. Especially since his father just got locked up for.. how many years was it?”

Kingsley sighed “Ten years. It's seems he still holds rather a lot of influence even after everything. The fact that all three Malfoy's left while everyone still believed Riddle the victor was also taken into account.”

Harry just nodded. Most everyone may have believed him death and the Battle lost, but Narcissa Malfoy had known he was still alive. But Harry didn't mention it, it didn't really matter. Lucius was paying for his idiocy. There was no reason to punish Draco or his mother when it was clear to Harry that they were just trying to survive. For a moment, he wondered if he was turning into Dumbledore.. Deciding the fate of other's simply because he believed it was the right thing to do. He shrugged it of though, he was just trying to help. It's what he always did. Looking down he riffled through the other papers. The list of evidence was small. As was the list of witnesses. He noticed most were either students of teachers at Hogwarts. “Which of these witnesses are on his side?”

“The students as well as the teachers are there for character witnesses. The headmistress chose them, they are there for their honest opinions. As for the other two, they are witnesses to certain events.”

Pursing his lips he looked over the names. The first two names he recognized as a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff from their year, though he knew neither of them very well. He assumed they had been chosen for their neutral observations of Malfoy, as it seemed unlikely that Malfoy was very familiar with either of them. Next was, to Harry's amazement, Neville Longbottom. Which made him wonder if maybe he had been wrong and the Hufflepuff girl and Ravenclaw boy had been enemies of Draco. Since Neville was about as neutral as Harry when it came to Draco. Then again, Neville had become quit the man this past year, he might have agreed to speak at the hearing for the same reason as Harry. Then there was the Slytherin Theodore Nott, which was an interesting choice to say the least. While neither of Draco's goons would be able to be there, since one was death and the other was awaiting his own trial, there was Blaise as well as several girls that had seemed to like Malfoy. Though Nott had never seemed adverse to Draco, he had always been the most silent an reserved of the Slytherins in their year.

Then there were the professors. Slughorn, Flitwick, Sinistra and McGonagall. Harry wasn't sure what to think of that. Slughorn hadn't wanted Malfoy in his little club but that was most likely just because he wanted to stay as far away from Riddle as possible, which would be rather hard to do when cozying up to someone living at Riddle's headquarters. As for Flitwick and Sinistra, Harry had no idea how well Draco did in their classes or if he got along with him. And McGonagall, well she was fair. She would answer The Wizengamot's questions with complete honesty and hope they would do whatever was right.

Well, Harry wasn't going to make it that easy for them to convict the little buggard. Turning over to the next page he saw a consent form for the use of Veritaserum, signed by Draco. He smiled and looked up at the Minister. “You are going to administer Veritaserum?” When Kingsley nodded Harry sat forward and asked “May I ask him some questions?”

Kingsley sighed deeply and shook his head “At the moment, the questions can only be asked by me or the defence advocate.”

“Who's defending Draco?” Harry asked, looking at his watch and wondering if he could find whomever it was in time.

“I'm not certain...” Harry was already rifling through the other pages when Kingsley added “But if there are specific questions I should ask, I would be willing.”

Glancing up, Harry grinned at the man “All right. First, you have to confirm this first Accusation you're making. Ask about the circumstances surrounding him receiving his mark.” Kingsley nodded in acknowledgement “Next, I need you to ask him why he didn't kill Albus as soon as he had him disarmed.”

“Why? He isn't accused of that, we all know it was Severus Snape.”

Harry shrugged “Yes, as for that... I think I need to share one or two memories with you but I'm not sure it's the right thing to do..”

Kingsley waved that away “Finish the questions first, we can talk about the memories after.”

Nodding Harry continued “You need to ask if he attacked me during the battle... He may have been there, and we may have had words, but he never attacked me or my friends. You should also ask why he didn't betray me at Malfoy Manor and if he ever intents to harm anyone again.”

“Those first two are fine but are you sure about that last one? If he says yes he will be locked away for the rest of his life, no matter what else happens..”

Harry sighed and leaned back “Make it more specific then. Something like, harm someone for no good reason or something.”

The minister frowned and shook his head “That won't work. Someone may believe something to be a good reason even though it truly isn't. You want me to ask a question that will show he has changed, correct?”

Harry nodded and Kingsley held out his hand for the forms. After reading a few lines on one of the papers he looked back at Harry with a slight smile. “We are usually prohibited from asking such questions under Veritaserum. As I said, questions of intent are often too vague. However, Mr. Malfoy seems to have had no problem singing an open form. We are allowed to ask whatever we wish, though the defence is allowed to ask follow up questions when he feels the answer was unsatisfactory.”

“That's all right then. I'm here to get him another chance, not get him kissed.” Harry grimaced slightly, him getting Draco kissed was wrong in any sense. Also, was it truly necessary to call such a gruesome way of murder after something as pleasant as a kiss... Shaking his head to get back on track he glanced at his watch again. Malfoy's trial would be held in 3 hours. It would be best if they got on with things. Especially since Harry had no idea if the minister had something else besides the Malfoy trial he wanted to discuss. “The memories I mentioned..”

“Since you feel the need to show me but are reluctant, I assume these are Snape's memories?”

Harry nodded, biting his lip in indecision. It wasn't like he was showing any of Snape's personal memories, the ones that were needed now were purely informational. Yet, he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. “I haven't shown them to anyone since I learned that his body was never found. I just can't imagine he would appreciate it if I shared them with all and sunder.”

“No, I don't imagine so. The Headmistress mentioned she had seen the memories as well, it was mentioned in one of the articles. Is that information correct?”

“Yes, I told her to watch them when I was on my way to the forest.”

“Then we have two rather believable witnesses and you could simply give us the relevant information during the trial. It may not be as strong as the actual memory but it may be good enough.. Depending on the information off course.”

Harry sighed and started explaining. “Well.. It's about Dumbledore's death.. I have a memory where Albus makes Snape swear that he will kill him when the time comes..”

Blinking a few times, Kingsley pursed his lips and sat back “What does that have to do with Malfoy?”

“Dumbledore told Snape that it was for the best. That Draco could still be saved, as long as he didn't kill, he could still be saved. Combine that with what I saw..”

“Well I can see how Albus knowing about the plot might make a difference.. But if you are going to testify on the murder of Albus during this trial, it will be included if Severus Snape is ever found.”

Harry shrugged, not really worried about that. Getting Snape of would be a breeze compared to Malfoy's trial. Assisted suicide was, after all, not a punishable crime in the wizarding world. At least, it wasn't as far as Harry knew. He'd have to look that up if Snape was ever found.

Sighing, Harry flicked his wand out of his newly acquired wrist holster, and conjured a small flask. Drawing out his memory of that night, he put it in the flask and handed it over to Kingsley. “That is my memory of what happened that night. When you watch it, remember that Draco knew that Snape made a vow to protect him but had no idea of Snape's allegiance. Albus had convinced him not to do it, he was putting away his wand and then...” Harry let the sentence drop. Even now, it was hard to talk about. Harry didn't think it would ever be easy.

Kingsley nodded and put the bottle to the side. “I will look at it and evaluate if it should be added to the evidence.”

Harry bit his lip in silent worry. None of the previous ministers had inspired trust or respect and for a brief moment, Harry worried whether it was a smart idea to ask Kingsley to help with Draco. He was after all the one charged with dealing with the aftermath of the war. Harry just couldn't decide if giving Draco Malfoy a second chance was very high on the minister's list of things to do. Harry wouldn't blame the man if it wasn't, Kingsley was no doubt knee high in political crap at the moment.

“That's fine, anything you can do. Was there anything else we needed to discuss?”

Nodding, Kingsley stood up and started to move some papers around. A minute later he let out a 'aha' and handed four folders to Harry. All four had a surname written on them, Potter, Black, Peverell and Snape. Harry looked at that last one for a long time before he looked up at the minister, still confused as hell. “What are these?”

Smiling, Kingsley sat back down and pointed at the folders. “Those are all the legal documents that we should have handed over to you once you turned 17.. Well, except for Snape's.. That was rather surprising to be honest.”

Opening the first folder, Harry saw that it had several documents inside pertaining to the Potters. At the end there was a note that the deeds to properties and several other assets belonging to the Potters could be found at Gringotts. The Black folder was much the same. It had Sirius's will, the deed to Grimmauld Place, and some forms Harry didn't recognize and would have to check out later.

The Peverell folder was a bit different. Inside were only two pieces of parchment. The first piece looked ancient and ready to crumble, embossed with the Peverell name in what looked like real gold. It listed the last three generations of Peverells, his own name, in an elaborate script, at the bottom. The second parchment was a statement from Gringotts that there was a small vault in the Peverell name that could be claimed by Lord Peverell if he can present the correct item. Harry didn't know what to make of that. It was likely that they would need to see one of the Hallow, seeing as it was the Peverell vault.. The question was, which one. The oldest brother died a few day later when someone decided to steal the wand. Harry didn't think the second brother had any children, seeing as he had loved a death woman, but then again... The Gaunts had the stone so it was possible... Harry dismissed the notion. Since the first parchment had his and his father's names on it, it was most likely that he needed to present the cloak.

Nodding to himself, he turned to the last one. Snape's.. Harry glared at the name for another moment before he opened the folder. Inside was a letter.

Mr. Potter,

As you have received this letter it is most likely that I am dead. I can only hope that I was able to complete my mission. However, if I was not able, it might be possible you'll read this in time.. Sadly, as you are not known for your deductive reasoning and I'm sure that this clue will go over your head, all I can tell you is this: You are the last one. You will die.

Since I am no longer alive, you might as well no the truth. When I was younger, I knew your mother. I loved her. Now, don't go believing that my hatred for your father was simple jealousy. It was not. I tell you this because I have no heirs. The only person I ever truly loved was your mother. Therefore, I have made you the recipient of my estate. As you have enough money, I left instructions for my savings. I have also made arrangements for my book collection to go to Hogwarts, since I am certain there are students who will appreciate them more than you. I have however, left you my childhood home. It is old and dilapidated, just the place you would imagine me to live in. But it is in the same neighbourhood your mother grew up in, and there are quite a few pictures of her that you might want to take a look at.

Good luck Mr. Potter.

S.S.

Harry grinned slightly, Snape might have hated him but he'd still thought of leaving the pictures of his mother to him. It was a nice gesture. “Where is this house supposed to be?”

“On Spinners End in Cokeworth. It's where we found the letter.”

Harry glanced at the minister “You went through his house?”

Kingsley sighed softly “Snape was a priority. When he wasn't found after the battle, the Aurors went to his him to search for clues as to where he might be hiding. By the time you told your story, it was already done.”

Harry didn't reply. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't agree with searching houses of innocent people. But he could understand why they had acted so quickly. The evidence against Snape was overwhelming, nobody could have guessed him innocent. Not after killing Albus. “I assume you didn't actually follow through with his will? I mean, he hasn't been declared death yet.”

“Oh no, we put everything in storage once you told your story. It may become evidence if he is found alive and goes to trial, but it won't be used unless he is found or declared death in absentia.”

“Then why give me the letter?”

Kingsley shrugged “Thought you might still need it. We weren't sure what that clue meant, we had actually assumed it was a death threat. Then you told us he was innocent and I figured it would be best for you to have the information. Now that you've told me the whole story, I understand what he meant. But still, you might as well have it.”

Harry nodded, not sure what to do with the letter. There was nothing new in it. Well, except for the house that Snape had wanted to leave him. Something which completely confounded Harry. “Would it be possible for me to check out his house? There might be a clue as to where he is.. Since you guys are all busy rounding up Riddle's followers...”

“Technically, it would be considered trespassing. So if the Professor were to turn up and found you on his property...”

Harry grimaced and nodded “Gotcha. Make sure I don't get caught.”

Chuckling softly the minister shook his head at his comment. “I will pretend I didn't hear that.”

“All right. So.. Not sure if I should bother you with this, seeing as you are the minister of magic and all but.. Could you explain what these documents in the Potter and Black folder are all about?”

“I could, but my explanation would be severely lacking. Most of those have to do with family legalities. There are certain contracts that are handed down from one Lord to the next. You'll likely have some information on Gringotts contacts, possibly a list of properties, things like that.” Kingsley paused and started riffling through one of the lower drawers. After a moment he let out a soft 'aha' and, after straightening his robe, handed Harry a small cart with and address written on it. “That's the contact information for a Miranda Smith. She used to work in our legal department and, though she was muggle-born herself, spend a great deal of her time working with those kind of family papers.”

Harry smiled slightly “A muggle-born handled most of the papers for The Noble Families? I would have loved to see Malfoy's face when he realized that.”

“Yes well, Luckily it is not their choice whom we employ. As for Miranda, she fled the country two years ago but I heard she returned. I'm certain she would be more than delighted to help you out. Though, it might be best if you can get another Head of the Family to help you with the finer details of the position.”

“Does it really matter? I mean, I'm head of a non-existent family..”

“Come now Mr. Potter, don't be so negative. I'm sure that you will have children one day. What's more, you are the head of three families.. Though, two of them have all but vanished, there are still several member of the Black lineage who would be happy for you to serve as Lord Black.”

Harry closed his eyes for a second. He didn't like that title. The last person who'd carried it was Sirius and he didn't like taking it away from him, even if Sirius was gone. “I would rather live my life without ever being referred to as a Lord, let alone Lord Black..”

“That's good, since you would technically be Lord Harry James Potter Black Peverell.”

Harry blinked a few times before he led out a long groan. That was even worse. “Why in that order?”

“Normally the oldest and most powerful goes last. In this case though, Peverell is clearly the oldest but it has also been considered extinct for many years..” Kingsley frowned for a moment for shook his head and continued. “I have to admit that we were all slightly surprised when we fold the Peverell files inside the Potter folder.”

“They weren't like this before?” Harry interrupted without thinking. Luckily, the minister didn't mind the rudeness.

“No they were not. When retrieving the papers that were to be given to you on your 17th birthday, I looked them over to ensure it was in order and noticed those two parchments. I did a quick search to see if there was anything else in our files on the family but came up empty. The papers for the Peverell lordship have not been files in many, many years. I must admit, I am rather curious to see if you are able to locate them.”

“Do I have to file any papers for the Potter or Black family?”

“For the Black family, yes. I noticed a few family contracts in there. When those are involved, the lineage papers are required. I don't know about the Potter family. It's possible that you need to file them in order to gain access to your vaults.”

Harry sat up with a frown “I already have access.”

Kingsleys eyebrows rose and he looked at Potter for a long moment “And you have spoken to your account manager?”

“Uuh..” Harry hedged. He hadn't really looked at any of it yet. Not that he hadn't wanted to, he'd been curious about his state of affairs on several occasions. He just hadn't found the time to go to Gringotts and take a look at the vaults.. Or more precisely, he hadn't found the will to go out in public for money he didn't need yet.

Kingsley didn't judge him though. He just smiled like he completely understood and said “Well, you might want to go and take a look. There may be papers and other items in those vaults.”

Harry just nodded glumly at the prospect. He really didn't like going to Diagon Alley. Since the battle, he'd gone twice. Once so early, the street had been eerily deserted Harry had shivered slightly, remembering the last time he'd seen it so empty. The other time during the afternoon, when it was rather busy and both Neville and Harry had been accosted by dozens of witches and wizards.

“Well, I think we have discussed all that needed to be discussed for now. Yes?” The minister waited for Harry to nod before he stood up and stretched out his hand.

Harry shook it with a smile. “I will think about the seat on The Wizengamot, it might be fun.”

“With you there to rile things up, I have no doubt. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to call on me. You have done us all a great favour Harry.”

Nodding in acceptance, Harry wished him a nice day and left the office with a smile. That had been a rather long conversation. He was so deep in thought, thinking about the fact that he had just been talking to The Minister of Magic as if he was an old friend -which may be partially true, in a way-, that he didn't realize he'd walked out into the hallway without casting the disillusionment charm.

Somehow, Harry managed to make it all the way down to the enormous lobby before anyone noticed him. Normally, he would have been glad for that. This time however, it was caused a distinct dent in his reasonably decent day. As soon as someone spotted him, they yelled his name and caused every head in the area to turn and stare. Harry had barely enough time to let out a groan before half of the ministry employee's were crowded around him.

They were pushing and pulling. Asking so many questions all at once, Harry had no hope of answering any of them. Looking around, he was starting to get rather panicked. There were too many people, and they were making too much noise. In a crowd like this, someone could draw a wand and fire before anyone even realized the danger. Harry didn't like it. He knew he was being paranoid but he couldn't help himself. To many death eaters were still running, and none of them would pass on a shot at killing him.

Trying to keep his breathing under control, Harry tried to get through the crowd. He wasn't sure where he was going, and he really didn't care, as long as he got away from them. However, no matter how hard he tried, it didn't work. The crowd just followed him, keeping up a stream of questions and statements and thanks and other random thing Harry really didn't care about. Getting slightly annoyed, Harry tried to tell them to back off but he couldn't be heard over their noise. He could feel himself getting more and more agitated the longer he tried. Before long, he felt the magic surge and a shock wave left his body.

Staggering slightly from the force, he was glad to notice that there was a circle of empty space were there had been people pressing against him a moment ago. Looking around, he noticed that those closest to him had all stumble backward. A few of them were still laying on the floor, looking up at him with a tinge of fear in their eyes. Everybody around them had fallen silent.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Looking around him slowly, he held out his hand for one of the women on the floor. She grasped it and stood up in one fluid moment. While the others were being helped upright as well Harry spoke as loudly as he could without screaming. “My apologies for that. I did not intend to do that... Lately, I have not been able to leave my house due to the amount of attention I receive. Don't get me wrong, I am not ungrateful. I appreciate your well wishes and would speak with each and every one of you, if we had the time. However, there are many things that need attending to and these kind of incidents are not very productive. Not only can I not answer any of you when I can barely distinguish a single voice. You are also endangering yourself and everyone around you when pressing towards me like this. So, for those who are here to thank me.. I'd like to say you're welcome but that would insinuate that I did anything that needed thanks. As I mentioned during the statement I made two weeks ago, I did what had to be done, nothing more, nothing less. Your thanks is highly appreciated but not necessary. I will always help those who need it, whether I will be thanked for it or not.” Around him, people started whispering and Harry waited a moment for it to pass. “Those that are here to wish me well, thank you and the same to you. We all deserve to have a happy and peaceful life. As for all the questions, keep an eye out for The Quibbler. I may be answering some of your questions in future editions.”

Around him, the whispers started again and all too soon, they resumed their bombardment of questions. This time though, a circle of space remained around him and Harry was able to move away. While many of them followed him, many more moved away and continued whatever they had been doing. Harry ignored the group of witches and wizards still trailing him and ducked into a nearby lavatory. Nobody followed him and Harry led out a deep sigh of relief.

A chuckle came from behind him, causing Harry to twirl around. There was a man standing at the sink, looking at him with obvious amusement. “It will calm down after a while. Before you know it, they'll barely remember you name.”

Harry scoffed and raked a hand through his already messy hair. “Somehow, I doubt that. They didn't forget me when I vanished into the muggle world.”

“True, but back then you where a mystery. This time, they'll come across you on a daily basis and soon enough, you're presence will be as normal as a Forbidden Forest that borders a school.”

Harry outright laughed at that “Yes, because it is completely normal for kids to have access to such a dangerous place. Not to mention the utter idiocy of calling it Forbidden..”

“Aah, you are a treasure aren't you?” The man was smiling, his eyes crinkling in much the same way as Dumbledore's used to do.

Harry just shrugged and washed his hands, trying to make it look as if he'd gone in there for some other reason than hiding from his overzealous admires. “May I ask who you are?”

“You may ask, I may not answer though.”

Harry gave the man an amused glance. “Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

“Well, my dear boy. My name is Angus, Angus the janitor. I keep this place clean.”

“This place as in, this bathroom?”

Chuckling, the man shook his head “Well yes, as well as the rest of the ministry.”

“You take care of all their crap, all by yourself?”

“Oh no, I have a few others working for me. But it's not so bad you know, being a janitor is much less taxing with access to magic.”

Nodding Harry turned to dry his hands. “Most things are.” Turning back he held out his hand towards the man. “It's nice to meet you Angus.”

The man took his hand and shook it jovially “Yes, it is nice to meet you as well Mr. Potter. Before you leave though, I have a question.”

Holding back a sigh, Harry nodded “All right, but only if you never speak of this again. I would like to be able to go to the loo without interruptions.”

Angus just smiled “Well, since you came in here for other purposes, I thought it would be acceptable. But, I will not tell anyone we spoke. As for the question, I would like to know if you are going to accept a seat on The Wizengamot.”

Taken aback, Harry just stared him. Not knowing what to say. Finally he asked “How... How do you know about that?”

“I'm a janitor, we know many things.”

Scoffing Harry shook his head “I haven't decided yet. It's not really my thing. Hermione would be way better for the position..” He paused and frowned in thought “Though, with the history that the ministry has.. I suppose even I could be of some use.”

“You doubt yourself. You shouldn't.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I saw you out there, you handled the situation well.”

“I lost control of my magic. I would not consider that handling the situation.”

“Yes, but that may not have been a bad thing. The world loves you Mr. Potter. If you allowed them to mob you like that, you would not fare well. You may have not intended to do it but what happened out there was a good thing.”

Harry shook his head. “No, it wasn't. It will be in the paper tomorrow and I'll have another year of Hogwarts students whispering behind my back.”

The old man's eyes lit up. “You are returning to Hogwarts?”

“Yes, I need my N.E.W.T.s.”

“Good, that's good. As for the whispering, let them. It will ensure that they remember to keep some distance. You didn't hurt anyone and you apologized immediately. And while that may have been forgotten in the wake of your small show of magic, you followed up with that bit about answers in the Quibbler. It will ensure they can't twist it into something it was not.”

Harry snorted at that. “You seem to have forgotten how the Hogwarts grapevine works.”

Angus smile slyly. “Oh no, I haven't. But you are a smart boy and you are currently at the top of the world.. Well, at the top of the wizarding world. You can do anything, go anywhere you want. You can play to the media, become a star. You can retreat, forget the world and live a nice and peaceful life somewhere. You can become an Auror, go into politics, teach at Hogwarts.. You can turn the world upside down if you wished.”

Harry rolled his eyes. The man was insane, he had to be. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because, my dear Mr. Potter. I saw you out there a moment ago. You have a knack with people. You may not know it, but people flock to you. And it's not just because of what you have done in the past. You are smart and hold a great deal of power, magically, socially as well as politically. But you are also kind, caring and loyal. On top of that, you have the ability to hold the attention of a hundred people without even trying. You can change our world Mr. Potter.”

Sighing deeply, Harry shook his head sadly. “I can't. I'm not the man you seem to think I am. I don't like the spotlight, I can't stand having so many people gawk at me”

“Oh, I know. But you cannot change that. While you can do whatever you want; witches and wizards will always, as you put it, gawk at you. What you do with the rest of your life won't change that. Why not try do use it for some good.”

“Because it will only cause more publicity. I don't want to read about myself in every morning paper for the rest of my life.”

Angus chuckled “Unless you plan on killing another Dark Lord, the publicity won't get any worse. You could add to your achievements but what could possibly overshadow your fight against that mad man?”

“I don't know. With my luck, we'll have an answer in a few years.” Harry answered, completely serious and positively convinced that a new prophecy had just been added to the Department of Mysteries.

Giving Harry a comforting pat on his arm, Angus said “Maybe, but that can wait. For now, just don't sell yourself short. You could do a lot of good in many different ways. You don't have to go into politics to make a difference. Just look at Albus Dumbledore, he was considered the most powerful and influential wizard for many years and he spend his life teaching children.”

Giving the man a weak smile, Harry nodded. He didn't like the comment. As if Harry could ever be like Albus Dumbledore, it was ridiculous. Though, not that long ago he had been thinking that he was acting rather like the old headmaster, meddling in Malfoy's trial like that. “I will think about it. First I would like to finish my education.”

The man nodded “Good. Now, good luck at the Malfoy trial.”

Harry blinked a few times, completely dumbfounded as to how the janitor seemed to know so much. Instead of commenting, he gave the man a smile and left the bathroom. The people he passed all stared, some of them nodded, while others tried to get in a quick word. Harry smiled and nodded to them in acknowledgement but refused to stop. He was absolutely certain that, as soon as he stopped, they would all converge and kill him with their tenacity.

Ducking into the lift that was just closing, he was pleasantly surprised to find Mr. Weasley.

“Harry my boy, how have you been? Did your first night alone in that mansion of yours go all right?”

Harry grinned at him and nodded “Perfectly fine, sir. I found several portraits that seem to be sentient but none of them have responded as of yet, they simply sleep. I'm hoping there will be a few that can tell me about my family. And I found a bunch of guest rooms, if ever the whole Weasley family is homeless, I have room enough.”

Mr. Weasley chuckled “Let's hope that won't be necessary. Tell me, what is it that drew you out into the world?”

“Well, I'm currently trying to avoid a stampede. I came to visit Minister Shacklebolt and now I'm waiting for Draco's trial to start.”

Mr. Weasley looked at him, curiosity written all over his face. While Harry had been learning to keep his own emotions of his face, others became more of an open book every day. “You are going to the trial for the Malfoy boy?”

Nodding, Harry looked away from him. Hoping that Mr. Weasley wasn't going to try to stop him. Lately, both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were becoming more and more overbearing. It wasn't that Harry had a problem with it, it was just that every time they tried to parent him, Harry remembered that none of his own family survived. Worse, that the only person who had really known either of his parents and might still be alive, was currently missing and would most likely still hate Harry ones he returned to the world. “Yeah..” Harry hesitated, trying to think of a good explanation. “I think I could help.. He was just a child when this all started, he changed, especially this past year.”

Mr. Weasley just smiled and patted Harry's arm “I know Harry. How about you come with me and wait in my office. I have my own office now, and it's a grand one to.”

Harry gave him a smile and nodded, happy to have somewhere private to wait for the trial.

When they entered Mr. Weasley's office, Harry looked around in appreciation. The office was about half the side of the Minister's office but it was still ten times larger than Mr. Weasley's previous space. Sitting down in one of the lounge chairs, Harry took a good look around. “So, how did you receive such a marvellous office?”

Mr. Weasley poured them both a cup of tea and handed one to Harry. “Minister Shacklebolt has appointed me the Head of the Department of Muggle Interests. They moved all the offices that had anything to do with muggles to the department. It's mostly the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes but a few other offices were moved as well. This morning I was consulting with the Muggle-Worthy Excuses Committee on some of the trouble You-Know-Who caused and tomorrow I'll have to get the Invisibility task force and the Obliviators to ensure the stories are put out there. I'm mostly playing intermediary between all the departments at the moment but I get to speak to a lot of muggles too. I even spoke with the muggle Prime Minister last week.”

Harry stopped himself from chuckling at that. It wasn't that he thought Mr. Weasley wrong for the job. He wasn't. In fact, Harry thought that there was no one better than Mr. Weasley. It was just that the office would put Mr. Weasley in more contact with muggles and Harry could only imagine their faces when the man accosted them with questions about completely ordinary things. “Is that why you've been so busy? Mrs. Weasley wouldn't tell us anything, said you wanted the whole family together to hear the good news?”

Mr. Weasley nodded “Yes, with Fred in the hospital we haven't been able to have a real family meeting. To many Weasley's to visit at once, you know..”

Harry nodded. He could understand that. After all those years slaving for the ministry, it was understandable that the man wanted to share amazing news like this with everyone at ones. “It sounds like it's a lot of work, this new job”

Mr. Weasley sighed, but smiled happily “It is, it definitely is. But it will get better ones the mess You-Know-Who created is cleared up. Once that is over, the minister has promised me that I will be representing the muggle community in the new government. That man has a lot of plans, it's all rather exciting.”

“Yeah, he asked me to take a seat on The Wizengamot this morning. Personally, I think he might be going insane or senile.”

Mr. Weasley shook his head at Harry, clearly disagreeing “I think he's right Harry. You're a good man and you have influence. The Wizengamot would be very lucky to have you.”

Harry took another sip of his tea. Thinking how strange it was that everybody kept saying that. Even some stranger in a toilet told him to take the seat, and had given a fairly impassioned argument for why he should do it to boot. Cocking his head, he looked at Mr. Weasley “Why would you say that? You know I'm no good with all the attention.”

“Except that's not true and you know it. You don't like all the attention and that is perfectly fine. But you are very good with public speaking and the like. In fact, you are a natural at it. I heard how you got all the students to ban together to form that club, Dumbledore's Army. And then they all followed you into the ministry.”

“Yeah, after I told them not to. See, I'm really not a good leader.”

“A true leader doesn't need obedient followers Harry, you know that. You inspire loyalty because of who you are. People listen to you because, when you speak, you make them listen. You don't spin tales or obfuscate the truth, you tell it the way you see it. You have a pure heart Harry, you'll help and defend anyone who needs it. You my boy, would be the perfect person to bang some sense into those old geezers on The Wizengamot.”

Giving another long suffering sigh, Harry shook his head “I don't want to be a politician Mr. Weasley, that's not my thing.”

“You don't need to be. Proxies are allowed for most of the meetings, I doubt that will change. You could let someone else take your seat when you have more pressing matters to attend to. That way, you can do what you want and still have some say when something important comes up.”

Sitting forward, Harry looked at Mr. Weasley intently “I can have someone else attend for me and still have a say when they are discussing something that interests me?”

“Well, a proxy is supposed to give them your opinion. So yes, you'll still have a say. You just have to ensure that you choose wisely. You don't want a proxy that abuses the power to push his or her own agenda. They will be representing you, so whatever your proxy does or says, will reflect on you.”

Harry bit his lower lip and thought for a moment. “Hermione would probably be happy to do it. She wants to work at the ministry anyway.” Chuckling a bit, he gave a sly glance at Mr. Weasley “Just imagine how much better the elves will have it with her in a position of power.”

Mr. Weasley nodded sagely “Yes, Hermione would be very happy if you made her your proxy. The whole ministry will have updated their laws on magical creatures in no time. Before we know it, elves, werewolves, vampire, trolls and goblins will all have their own house at Hogwarts.” He paused, smiling slightly. Then he gave Harry a long look over “I hope this isn't to intrusive but.. Have you had any letters from her this week?”

“No, why do you ask?”

Mr. Weasley sighed deeply. “Ron hasn't heard from her either and I heard him grumble that you'd probably been getting letters from her every day. My boy is a little insecure. What with his girlfriend leaving for the other side of the world only days after they started dating...”

Harry rolled his eyes “Yeah, that's Ron for you.. It will take some time before he realizes she loves him and stops being jealous of every guy she speaks to.” Harry was just glad Ron wasn't jealous over his fame any more. Now, it was just his friendship with Hermione, and Harry had a feeling that would get better soon enough. It was just bad at the moment because Hermione had gone to Australia to bring her parents back, and Ron had stayed behind to care for Fred with the rest of his family.

“I'm glad you don't hold it against him. Ron has always been overshadowed by his brothers and then he met you.. It took him some time to learn that he didn't have to be in the shadow of someone else, that he could step forward into his own spot of sunlight. I think he understand that now, that there is no reason to be jealous. That everyone can be a hero in their own way, if they try their best. He just hasn't figured out why Hermione would choose him over you. To him, you'll always be The Hero, even if you're his best friend and he knows all your flaws.”

Harry smiled lightly. While Ron's jealousy had sometimes aggravated Harry more than even Draco's bullying, he'd never blamed Ron for it. It wasn't his fault and the fact that he still wanted to be friends with Harry had always meant a lot. There were times when he wanted to wring his friend's neck because of it, but mostly he just shrugged it of. And lately, only Hermione seemed to make him jealous and Harry could deal with that. Knowing that that situation would resolve itself, Harry let the matter rest and changed the subject.

“Has Ron decided whether he wants to go back to school?”

“No, he probably won't decide for a while yet. Personally, I don't think he really wants to go back. You know he's been talking with Fred and George about working with them, right?”

“Yeah, he mentioned something like that.. But I thought it was more along the line of filling in for Fred until he's better.”

Mr. Weasley nodded “That was the plan at first, but now that Fred is awake and doing better every day, they have been discussing opening that second store in Hogsmead. Ron's offered to help them out.”

“It never ceases to amaze me how little regard those three have for Mrs. Weasley's wrath.. Though, I'd like to be a fly on the wall when she realizes that another of her sons doesn't want to go for his N.E.W.T.s”

“I have already told the boys not to tell her when I'm home. While being a fly on the wall, as you put it, seems like a good time, I would not like to be within range for that. No matter how much I love and adore my wife.”

Harry chuckled and put his now empty cup on the side table. Looking at his watch he stood up slowly “Well, I think it's time for me to go. The trial will be starting in a little while.”

Mr. Weasley stood up and waved his wand over Harry. “A small notice-me-not charm. If you don't dawdle in the hallway, it will hold until you reach the courtroom. Don't worry Harry, do whatever you can to help the boy and it will all work out.”

Harry thanked him and after another encouraging pat on his shoulder from Mr. Weasley, Harry left for Courtroom eight.

When Harry arrived, The Wizengamot was already in attendance and were sitting on the left side of the room. The witnesses were all sitting on the right side, where the press would have been had they been allowed inside. Draco hadn't been brought in yet. Harry walked in and sat next to the Headmistress. The charm had yet to wear off, and Harry took the extra time to look around. The other four students were sitting in front of him, none of them were talking. Behind him were the two witnesses Harry didn't know, whispering in a tone to low for Harry to overhear. The three professors were all sitting on the other side of McGonagall. Harry noticed Flitwick had brought several think books and stacked them on the bench so he could see over the students in front of him.

On the other side of the room, the members of The Wizengamot were talking amongst themselves. Harry tried to listen in but gave up when he couldn't separate the voices. Only moments later, he heard Minerva gasped. Looking to his side he saw her wide eyes and open mouth and chuckled.

“Mr. Potter. What are you doing here?” Her voice was crisp and Harry understood instantly that she was not happy with his appearance.

Harry smiled innocently. “I'm here to make my statement.”

The headmistress sighed. “Mr. Potter, this will affect Mr. Malfoy's whole life.”

“Professor, I'm here to help, not hinder.” Harry interrupted before she could start a lecture on why he should not have come.

She gave him a scrutinizing look, than gave him a soft smile. “I should have known. You would help your worst enemy if you believed it to be for the best.”

Scoffing, Harry shrugged “I suppose that's true.. I tried to save Snape while I still believed he was to blame for Dumbledore's death. Hell, I gave Riddle a chance to change his mind, even though I knew he would never feel even the slightest bit of remorse.”

The headmistress gave him a fond look “That's one of your best qualities Harry. Don't ever doubt your instinct when it comes to helping others.”

“Dumbledore believed that he was doing what was for the best. Yet, things would have gone very wrong had it all turned out as he had planned.” Harry could help but point that out.

“Professor Dumbledore, Harry. And you are not our late Headmaster. In some ways, you may be similar, but in many others, you are very different. Albus once told me that you have a heart more pure than any other he had ever seen, and I agree. You will do great things Harry. Just listen to your heart and do the best you can.”

“People have been telling me that a lot lately. Everyone seems to think I am on my way to become this great wizard when I don't even know if I still want to be an Auror.” Harry bit his lip. He hadn't wanted to say that. He wasn't sure how she would react to him changing his mind on the Auror thing after she had fought for him against that toad.

McGonagall put a hand on his arm and gave him an encouraging smile. “You will figure it out in due time. You have a few months of summer and a whole school year left to decide. And unlike your previous years, there will be no dark lords disturbing your studies.”

Harry's first thought was 'DON'T SAY THAT OUT LOUD!' but before he could say it, the door on the far side of the court opened and Draco walked in, flanked by two rather large Aurors. The boy looked rather dirty, his hair a complete mess, but he didn’t slouch in shame. He kept his eyes straight forward and sat in the chair without protest. He seemed much better than most prisoners after spending time in Azkaban. Which was probably due to the fact that Kingsley had removed the Dementors and the prisoners were now guarded by Aurors.

Everybody settled down while one of the Aurors spelled a thick chain around Malfoy. Harry found it laughable, as if Draco could do anything without a wand. When everyone was quiet, Kingsley started the trial.

Harry didn't listen to all the niceties. He didn't really care about the case number or the names of any of the people there. The only ones that really mattered at this point were Kingsley and Madam Bones. Instead, Harry watched Malfoy, who was still staring at a spot directly in front of him. He didn't seem nervous or afraid. It wasn't that he looked confident or defeated either. He seemed simply neutral, like a blank slate that could become anyone. It was a good look for the circumstances. It made Harry wonder if Malfoy had been coached. Any emotion could be construed either as a sign of innocence or guilt, and Harry was certain that right now, most would go for guilty. When Harry had considered Malfoy's case a few days ago, he'd realized right away that it would be impossible to prove him completely innocent. He'd figured the only way to keep him out of Azkaban, was to get him on parole or something. He'd intended to do more research but hadn't had the time. Now he was left wondering how Draco was planning for this to go. Was he planning on using his youth and emotional distress as mitigators as Harry had been thinking? Or did Malfoy figure out a better angle during the past weeks?

Harry was pulled out of his musings when Malfoy looked up and blinked a few times. Then he simply stated “Innocent” before looking back towards that undetermined spot in front of him. The minister nodded and said something about Veritaserum. Moments later, a young man came forward and put a few drops of the potion on Malfoy's tongue. Seconds ticked by in complete silence, then the questions started.

“Did you accept the Dark Mark?”

“Yes.”

“Did you do so willingly?”

“Yes.”

There was a pause, a few whispers. Then Kingsley asked “Why did you accept the mark?”

“Power. To safe my father. To keep my mother safe. To safe my own life. To show Potter that I'm better than him.”

Another pause, more whispers.

“Did you conspire to infiltrate Hogwarts and murder Albus Dumbledore?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To get my father out of prison. To keep my mother safe. To safe my own life. To show them all than I'm better, stronger than them.”

“Did you attack Harry Potter during the Battle of Hogwarts?”

“No.”

“Did you fight during the battle of Hogwarts?”

“No.”

“Did you lie when Harry Potter was at your house during Easter break?”

“Yes.”

“About what?”

“I told them I didn't know whether it was him or not.”

“Why?”

“I was afraid they would call him. I was afraid he would kill Potter.”

Another round of murmurs, this time louder. Kingsley held up his hand and they fell quiet.
“Why were you afraid of Harry being killed?”

“Potter was our hope. I could not lose hope.”

“You were hoping he would kill Voldemort?”

“No.”

“That what were you hoping for?”

“To be set free.”

“From?”

“The Dark Lord.”

“Why did you change your mind about following Voldemort?”

“I learned what real power was.”

“And when was this?”

“When I heard the story of his resurrection.”

“You think that returning from the death is real power?”

“No.”

“What was is about the story that changed your mind?”

“Potter refused to bow down.”

The Wizengamot started whispering again and the minister seemed to be unsure of where to go from there. What the next question should be.

Without thinking, Harry stood up and spoke “Riddle wanted a duel. Felt he needed to prove to everyone that he was the better wizard.” Harry paused and grimaced slightly, that might have been a bit to similar as to what Malfoy had said before. Shooting a quick look at Malfoy, he noticed that Draco's head was turned and he was staring at Harry with wide eyes. “He told me to bow, you know like we were in a proper duel. I refused. He used Imperius, I still refused.” Harry sat back down, leaving it at that.

Kingsley seemed to have gathered his thoughts and gave a small nod in Harry's direction. Turning back to Malfoy, he continued his questioning.

“You now believe that that was real power?”

“No.”

“Then explain what exactly you believe to be real power?”

“Not grovelling to someone because they happen to be stronger wizards. Having the guts to stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves. Not giving up in the face of likely defeat.”

Kingsley nodded and wrote something down on the parchment in front of him. Looking at Malfoy's attorney he asked if he had any questions. The man nodded and went to stand in front of Malfoy, turning his back to the wizengamot.

“Do you regret your actions?”

“Some of them.”

“Would you join You-Know-Who if you had to do it again?”

“Maybe.”

The attorney open his mouth, than closed it again. He seemed to have expected a different answer. “Under what circumstances would you not have joined him?”

“If my mother was safe. If I had known about Professor Snape. If I had someone I trusted to help me stay safe. If I had understood how wrong I was.”

“How wrong you were about what?”

“The worth of bloodlines. The power of money. What makes a good person. What makes someone strong. How to be truly happy. How to earn my father's respect. Whether I should even want my father's respect. How to keep my mother safe. Who to trust. Who to follow–”

Malfoy gave the impression that the list was much longer but Kingsley held up his hand “That's enough.” and Malfoy stopped talking instantly.

The attorney nodded at the minister in thanks and turned back to Draco once more. “Do you believe that pure-bloods are better wizards than muggle-born wizards?”

“Sometimes.”

“You don't think you are better than a muggle.”

“Yes.”

A pause and a few blinks from the lawyer “Do you think you are better than muggles?”

“At magic, yes.”

“In general?”

“Maybe. Depends on the muggle.”

The lawyer nodded and turned back to the wizengamot. “Those were all the questions I had.”

Kingsley nodded in acknowledgement and turned slightly to address the rest of the wizengamot. “Moments before this trial started, I was given a memory. In this memory, I witnessed the death of Albus Dumbledore and the moments that preceded it. Do you agree to allow this memory to be added to the evidence?” After many 'Aye's The minister turned his eyes back to Malfoy, who had been forced to answer the question. To Harry's surprise, Malfoy had agreed to add the memory to the evidence as well.

“Were you going to kill Professor Dumbledore?”

“At first, yes.”

“Did you still intent to kill him at the end.”

Draco shook his head “No.”

“Why did you change your mind.”

“Because Dumbledore was right, I am not a killer.”

“So, a single conversation with Albus Dumbledore stopped you from following through on the plan you had worked on for months?”

“Yes.”

“Did you speak of your plan with anyone else?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“To keep my mother safe. To show them that I was strong enough to do it myself.”

“You wanted to prove you could do it alone?”

“Yes.”

“Would you have accepted the mission if your mother was not in danger?”

“Maybe.”

Kingsley sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead. Harry could understand what the minister had meant before with questions under Veritaserum. The answers left quite a lot to be desired.

“Would you have accepted the mission if there had been no consequences had you refused?”

“No.”

Then again, Harry thought with a slight smile, Kingsley was very good at getting the answers he wanted. That was, if the minister was actually trying to help Draco. But Harry decided not to go there, for now Kingsley had not done anything to lose Harry's trust. Being the Minister of Magic was not enough reason to doubt him, not even after all the other knuckle headed ministers Harry had seen. If Harry had to remind himself of that every time he came into contact with the minister, then so be it.

“If we pronounce you innocent, what are your plans for the next 5 years”

“Finishing my education. Taking my father's place as the head of the family. Become an apprentice and getting a mastery”

“You wish to return to Hogwarts?”

“Yes.”

“And in what field do you want your mastery?”

“Potions or Defence Against the Dark Arts.”

Kingsley nodded and made another note. “We will now take a short recess in order to examine the last minute addition to the evidence. We will reconvene in thirty minutes.” He hit the gavel ones and everyone started to stir. The members of The Wizengamot left the room, presumably to go to a pensive somewhere. Harry stood up to stretch his legs but stayed near the benches. It was highly likely that the press was waiting outside, possibly trying to peek inside through the keyhole, and he wasn't in the mood to deal with them. So far, the trial seemed to be going well. Both the questions and the answers seemed to be going toward the guilty-but-reformed verdict. Leaving Harry to wonder why there hadn't been any questions in the line of 'did you commit any other crimes' or 'did you ever go on raids with the other death-eaters'. It seemed to Harry that such questions should have been asked were they actually trying to put Malfoy away.

“Hey Harry.” Neville's voice came from behind him.

Turning, Harry grinned at his friend “Hi Nev, how's it going?”

“Ooh, I'm great. Things are so different now, it's amazing.”

Harry appraised the boy standing in front of him and nodded slowly. Things were different now, especially for Neville. The confident man standing in front of Harry now was hardly recognizable as the scared little boy Harry had met on the train so many years ago. “So, what are you doing here?”

Neville shrugged “The headmistress asked me to come. She needed an honest and impartial Gryffindor. Beats me why she thought of me.”

Harry raised an eyebrow “Do you think Malfoy should go to Azkaban?”

“No.” Neville answered instantly “I mean, he's an ass and all that, but I saw him last year. Some of the Slytherins thought it was really cool you know, torturing the younger students. Malfoy just looked scared and he never 'practised' for the fun of it, only when the Carrows made him.”

Nodding, Harry concurred “Yeah, Malfoy changed... Though, I have to admit that I did not expect to hear him admit that some muggles are better than him.”

Neville gave a low chuckle “That was definitely interesting.”

They were quiet for a moment, both thinking of what they would say when they were called to testify. It was Neville who broke the silence “So, are you going back to Hogwarts?”

“Yeah, they offered to accept me into the Auror programme without N.E.W.T.s but I didn't think it such a great idea. I'd rather earn my place.”

“They talked to me about that too, but I was thinking of asking for an apprenticeship with Professor Sprout.”

They talked for awhile longer. Discussing anything from the past year to what their friends were up to and what idiotic things the papers were going to say about them next. Neville mentioned something about DA chocolate-frog cards and they had fun thinking of what it would be on the card of each member.

When the wizengamot returned, they took their places and Draco was brought back into the room. This time however, he took a seat on a chair slightly to the side. The trial resumed and the minister started to list the evidence. Kingsley gave a description of the memory Harry had given him, and read over several witness statements from Students and Order members. They all said somewhat the same thing. They'd seen Malfoy in some kind of compromising situation, such as the Battle of Hogwarts and the invasion of the astronomy tower, but only one person had seen him cast a spell, and that was a relatively harmless Petrificus Totalus. Soon enough they had come to the witness interrogation and the unknown wizard was called forward.

The man turned out to be a part time employee at Borgin and Burkes when Malfoy had been working on the Vanishing Cabinet. He had seen the boy in the store on several occasions, usually looking over the cabinet. When the minister asked if Malfoy had shown interest in any other object, Harry held his breath, afraid that he would mention the pendant. But the wizard shrugged and told them no. Then the unknown witch was called forward. The woman had apparently seen several meeting between Malfoy and Greyback. According to her, Malfoy had been an arrogant little boy who wanted to play with the big boys. Malfoy had seemed to become more scared the closer they got to the end of their sixth year. Her testimony was succinct and Harry thought she was being remarkably nice. Considering that she as talking about a meeting between a maniac werewolf and Malfoy junior.

Then came the student testimonies. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students gave a short description of their interaction with Malfoy over the years. They were asked if they believed Malfoy had changed. The Ravenclaw girl shrugged “None of us are the same as we were in first year. It's logical that we change, especially during our teens. But I think this particular generation has had a bit more going on than most. Not only did we have to grow up in an uncertain world, many of us had no choice but to choose a side and fight in a war before we even had our O.W.L.s. Malfoy made the wrong choice, and he saw the consequences of that choice first hand. He was in much more contact with the maniac than any of the other students, except maybe Harry Potter. I can't imagine it didn't have a profound effect on Malfoy, when being in the sidelines as had such an enormous influence on the rest of us.”

Harry thought that was a well thought out response, but it was all conjecture. Someone had to give an actual example of Malfoy doing something good. The testimony from the Hufflepuff student was similarly thought out. Never really saying that he believed Draco changed but explaining why it was unlikely that he hadn't.

When it was Neville's turn he gave an overview of all the horrible things Malfoy had done. It didn't sound good, not at all. But then he talked about their sixth year and how Malfoy had become increasingly withdrawn. And how Neville had not seen Malfoy acting cruel since then, unless he was trying to protect himself from the Carrows. He didn't have much more to say on the matter, just that he believed Malfoy had changed because he'd seen it happening. He couldn't really put a finger on it though, as he hadn't seen any actual evidence of the change.

Theodore Nott gave a quick overview of Malfoy's behaviour towards him over the years as well. It seemed to be generally decent. They had apparently studied together on occasion and Nott described Malfoy as one of the best students in their year. He was also able to give several stories of Malfoy helping younger students during the last year. Apparently, Malfoy had helped several of the Slytherin first and second years, who were have trouble dealing with the new reality of Hogwarts. Nott was very careful to mention that he had never heard Malfoy encourage or discourage the students from following the Carrows.

The testimonies from the teachers were all very.. dry. They spoke about Malfoy's behaviour during class, his grades, his homework and his overall behaviour. Like Nott, most of the teachers seemed to think him of above average intellect. When they were asked if they had ever caught Malfoy breaking the rules, only McGonagall had anything to say. Mentioning that she had 'caught Malfoy and Potter going at it more than ones'. Though she had never seen anything that had made her believe it was anything more that a bit of house rivalry.

Through all of this, Draco hadn't move ones. While he was listening very intensely, he didn't move a muscle. It was a trick he had learned long ago. After he had understood his father despised any show of emotion. Just breath and don't move, that was his motto whenever his father was railing at him for some perceived slight. That was, if they were in private. Before, Draco had never been able to stay neutral when others were there to see his humiliation. Now though, it wasn't hard at all. He'd been through hell and had survived, what did a little humiliation matter at this point.

Then Harry Bloody Potter was called to the stand and Draco twisted his head to look at him. He hadn't expected the golden Gryffindor to be there, he hadn't been on the list Draco had received the day before. Now Potter was sitting down to give his testimony and Draco didn't have a clue what he was going to say. He could only hope Potter wasn't going to ruin his chance at freedom.

Potter started by telling them how they had met and how he had refused Draco's offer of friendship. How they had gotten into many fights over the years. How in their second year, Potter had heard his father tell Draco that he should be ashamed that Potter was on the Quidditch team while he was not. And worse, that a 'Mud-Blood' had better grades than him. Then he went on how they had fought on the train several years later and how, in their sixth year, Potter had found him crying in the bathroom. Draco wanted to strangle him when he was telling that story. He couldn’t believe Potter would bring that up, not when he had almost died because of the Gryffindor. But then Draco thought about it and realized that the way Potter had portrayed the encounter, leaving out the duel that would have ended with a fatality had Professor Snape not interrupted, would be in his advantage. Potter was actually helping him out. And he was doing a very good job. Unlike all the earlier character witnesses, Potter was actually giving them several examples of Draco's change of heart. He had even told them all how Draco had tried to safe his two best friends from the fiendfyre without regard for his own life. It was an unexpected experience, hearing Potter speak in his favour. Though, when he thought about it more, Draco had to admit that it was even stranger that Neville Longbottom had not announced him to be evil incarnate during his testimony. Potter had always been known to do irrational things if it meant he could safe someone, whether that person deserved to be saved or not.

When they were finished with Potter and dismissed him, he stood up but did not walk away. Instead, he glanced at Draco before he addresses the minister. “I would like to add something, if I may?” Draco blinked at the sudden politeness but Shacklebolt nodded and Potter continued before Draco had a chance to think on it.

“Draco Malfoy was raised from birth to believe he was better than everyone else because he is a Malfoy. He grew up isolated from the muggle world and much of the wizarding world. I doubt he had ever even spoken to a muggle-born witch or wizard before he attended Hogwarts. Then he was sorted into Slytherin house, were these believes are the norm and with a head of house who had to pretend this was all right. Growing up, he believed, as most children do, that his father was the greatest wizard ever and his mother the best witch. Then he moved to Hogwarts were his favourite professor was pretending to be a death eater. Now, this may look like Draco should choose better role models and that may be true, but much of it was pure chance. It was not his choice to have a death eater as a father and it was not his choice that he was sorted into Slytherin. Which is not, and was never, an 'evil' house. Cunning is not an evil trait, ambition is not evil and Parsle-tongue is not an evil language. Truth be told, I would have been in Slytherin had I not met Draco before the sorting.” There was a lot of shocked whispering and Potter paused. As Draco studied him, he realized that the annoying Gryffindor had become a powerful man. He had grown, gained muscle and a bearing that was much more suitable for the head of a family than his usual slouch was. He stood straight, head tilted slightly upwards to look directly at the minister. During his speech he hadn't stuttered or stumbled over his words even ones. It pissed Draco off. He'd had years of training to gain his bearing and learn how to speak to people. And there Potter stood, completely capable and confident with not even a single lesson on wizarding politics and society.

Potter's gaze never wavered from the minister while he waited for everyone to quiet down again. When it did, he continued as if he had never been interrupted. “I choose not to go to Slytherin because of petty childishness, and because I heard the stories about the house. I don't know what would have happened had I not objected, but I do know that it wouldn’t have made me a bad person. A house cannot make a person good or bad. My parents were betrayed by a Gryffindor and my life was saved by a Slytherin, more than ones. Everybody had to make a choice, all we can do is help them make a well informed one. These past years, Slytherin had the unfortunate luck that their head of house had to play the role of death-eater, and therefore could not lead them anywhere. And let's be honest, with the amount of 'house rivalry' has Headmistress Minerva puts it, Malfoy didn't have much choice in friends either. So, unlike most outside of Slytherin house, Malfoy has been surrounded by adults who made the wrong choice or had to pretend they did so, and students who have been surrounded by much of the same. When we consider all of that, it's not strange that Malfoy followed his family and friends. There wasn't a single person in his life to lead him onto the right path. So, instead of looking at all the thing Malfoy did while he was simply following the path expected from him. We should look at what happened when he realized what that path meant. We should judge him by the beliefs he holds now, after he has gone out into the world and seen what believing in blood purity really means. Give him a chance to look beyond the world he grew up in, a chance to grow.”

Potter gave a slight bow and returned to his seat in the stands while Draco was gaping after him. In all the years he had known Potter, he had never heard him speak like that. To Draco, Potter had always seemed like he was just another average student who got by only because of his fame. Now though, Draco could almost imagine that Potter had an actual brain behind all that bravery.

The Wizengamot announced another short recess and Draco was taken out of the room ones more. They brought him to an empty room and told him to wait there. Draco leaned against the wall, unwilling to sit down and put him at an even larger disadvantage if anyone came him. He tried not to think. If he did, he would be going over every single word spoken during the trial. Trying to put meaning into everything and trying to deduce what the verdict would be. Luckily, the recess was short and the Aurors returned long before his mind started to throw all the, possibly horrible, outcomes in his face.

He was led into the room and told to sit in the centre chair once more. Braised for the chains to reappear, Draco was momentarily confused when they didn't. Then his heart lightened just a tat. Surely they would ensure he was chained if they were going to sentence him to life in Azkaban, wouldn't they?

“Draco Lucius Malfoy. You have been accused of willingly aligning with Voldemort, conspiring with death eaters in order to bring about the death of Albus Dumbledore and attacking Harry Potter during The Battle of Hogwarts. You have plead innocent on all accounts. Are you ready to receive and accept your sentence?”

Draco nodded mutely, certain he would not be able to form a coherent vocal response no matter how hard he tried. The head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, a woman who had been introduced as Amelia Bones at the start of the trial stood up. “After close consideration of all the evidence presented and thorough deliberation, The Wizengamot hereby declare Draco Malfoy to be: Innocent of allying himself with Lord Voldemort. Innocent of attacking Harry Potter during The Battle of Hogwarts. Guilty of conspiring to murder the late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.”

Draco let out a long breath. He'd been declared innocent on two accounts but guilty on one. He was fairly certain that meant a life sentence was of the table. And since he had been under age when that had happened and he hadn't actually killed the wizard, it was still possible for him to avoid Azkaban. Silently, Draco began to pray to whatever higher being would listen to him. Looking at the minister, he waited to hear what his punishment would be.

The minister moved a few of the papers in front of him before he look at Draco. “I have considered your case and have come to the conclusion that Mr. Potter was right about at least one thing. You should be given a chance to go your own way and prove that you have indeed changed. Therefore, you will be free to go but will be on probation for the following five years. At the end of your probation, we will reconsider your case.”

Draco nodded slowly. Probation, that didn't sound so bad. “What about my schooling? Will I be allowed to return to Hogwarts?” The question was out before he could stop himself. It wasn't that he really wanted to return to the school. If he did, it would probably be a terrible year, surrounded by so many students that would despise him even more than they had before. But he wanted to get his N.E.W.T.s and maybe convince Professor Snape to allow him to become his apprentice. Though, he didn't think there was still much of a chance at that. Not now that he knew that the professor had never really been on the same side as him. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if the professor he had always looked up to even liked him, or if it had all been pretend. He let the thought go, it didn't matter anyway. Draco was not the boy he had been, if the professor had secretly despised him, Draco would just have to show the man that he was a better person now.

“Headmistress McGonagall has already agreed that you are allowed to return to Hogwarts. However, you will be under the direct supervision of a professor of her choice. She asked us to inform you that if you wish go for your N.E.W.T.s, you may contact her and she will come by to discuss your options with you. Have a good life Mr. Malfoy, don't make us regret the chance we gave you today.”

With that, the minister stood up and the trial was over. Draco left the courtroom, a weight that had been there for so long he hadn't even noticed it, lifting of his shoulders. He was free, truly free for the first time in his life. No father who tried to control him, no dark-lord who wanted him to grovel and no lifetime in Azkaban. He smiled to himself and walked straight into a barricade made out of nosy journalist.

Harry left the courtroom directly behind Draco. Grimacing at the journalists that were waiting outside, Harry went to stand next to Malfoy. He didn't like the press, he never would, and he was not exactly a fan of the Slytherin. But right now, someone had to stand with Malfoy if he was ever going succeed in turning his life around. So, Harry braved the press with him. They were yelling questions at them, making it impossible to answer any of them. Flashes were going off so often that they barely had any time to adjust in between. It took several long minutes before the press calmed down and the journalist stopped trying to outdo each other and move onto actually getting answers.

Harry just stood there while Malfoy talked, carefully wording each answer. They tried to ask what Harry was doing there and what he was planning with his future but Harry ignored them and let Draco have his say. He stayed, not out of loyalty or any true feelings of friendship towards the boy, but because he needed to speak with him in private.

It didn't take that much longer for Malfoy to move away from the reporters and together they walked towards the lifts. Once inside, Malfoy looked at him and raised a single eyebrow. “Why are you here?”

Harry shrugged “Because I thought you could use the help.”

Malfoy sputtered for a bit “Because you... Because you thought I needed help? What, you thought you could hold this over my head later? So I would spend the rest of my life knowing I owed you?”

Sighing, Harry rolled his eyes “Not really, but if you're worrying about that.. You can answer some of my questions and be done with it.”

Malfoy shot him a considering glance “What is it you want to know?”

“What can you tell me about professor Snape?”

Malfoy opened and closed his mouth a few times without saying anything. Finally, he muttered “Only the lies he told me.”

Harry shook his head at Malfoy, questioning if he'd been mistaken when he'd believed Malfoy had some sort of brain. “Do you truly believe the man could have pulled that whole spying gig of if he was constantly lying?”

Malfoy considered that for a long time before he gave a nod in agreement. “Fine, follow me Potter.”

The lift doors opened and Malfoy let them down the unfamiliar corridor. Several twists and turns later, he unlocked an unmarked door and motioned for Harry to enter. When Harry hesitated, Malfoy sighed and rolled his eyes, entering the room without looking back. Harry followed and looked around. The room was small and seemed unoccupied. An empty desk was pushed against one wall and a large filing cabinet stood against the other. Figuring it as some abandoned office Harry closed the door behind him.

Malfoy was leaning against the desk, looking at Harry as if he didn't have a care in the world. “So, what exactly do you want to know about Snape?”

Harry thought quickly. He'd decided to talk to Malfoy because Harry had hoped the Slytherin might be able to tell him were Snape could be. But did Harry really want Malfoy to know that he was looking for their old Potions Master? “How well did you know him?”

“Obviously not that well.” Malfoy sneered.

“Did you ever see him outside of school?”

“I met him ones or twice during the summer these past years, if that's what you mean.”

Nodding, Harry asked, suddenly hopeful “Where did you meet him?”

“Aah, at Hogwarts. Father convinced him to give me a few private lessons. Thought Snape could help me surpass Granger. Or, if that turned out to be impossible, keep me alive long enough to procreate.”

“You're father thinks beating Hermione is more important than staying alive?”

“Who knows what that man thinks. Now tell me why you're so interested in Professor Snape?”

Harry bit his lip, considering his options. He could lie, tell Malfoy that he was just trying to make sense out of the memories Snape gave him. Pretend that he just wanted to know how he could have missed Snape's true allegiance. Or, he could tell the truth. Shrugging he answered “His body vanished. I'm trying to find him.”

“Father mentioned he owns some run down hovel. In a town called Cokeworth, I think.”

“Yeah, I heard about that place. Anything else you know that might help?”

Malfoy lifted one shoulder “The conversations between Professor Snape and myself usually concerned school matters.” he tapped his chin a few times “There were also a few instances where he was probably lecturing me about what The Dark Lord was really like. Though, I never caught on to what he was referring to. I suppose my own view of the world stopped me from understanding what he was saying.” Malfoy gave Harry a sly look “Like how he was always going on about your father.. Looking back on it now, it seems silly that I never noticed that he never mentioned your mother.”

Harry made a non committing noise “If you remember something that could help, can you let me know?”

Malfoy nodded and started towards the door “If you tell the professor that I would like to speak to him when he is doing better, than yes I will let you know if I remember something important.”

Harry nodded in agreement and followed Malfoy out of the room. Before the two went their own way, Draco said “And Potter, you would have done fine in Slytherin. You did well in there, nobody would have guessed that you were leaving out some extremely incriminating evidence.”

Harry snorted and shrugged. “I'll take that as a compliment. Don't make me regret the choice. I don't like lying unless it's for a good cause, so don't abuse your freedom.”

Malfoy gave him a short nod and went off somewhere while Harry turned toward the lobby. He was so deep in thought, thinking about what the next step in finding Snape was, that he didn't notice the people that stopped and stared at him. He got the lobby and waited in line, still considering his option. Once he got to the mansion, Harry made a beeline for the library and started looking for maps, or books with maps, of the United Kingdom. It didn't take him long to find a recent atlas and locate Cokeworth.

Grabbing his wand, Harry walked of his property and hailed the knightbus. He still wasn't a fan of the magical public transportation method but figured it would get him there faster than going the muggle way. Asking to be dropped of a few streets from his destination, Harry started walking. He didn't want anyone to know where he was going. To many death-eaters were still on the loose and most of them were either trying to get to him, or trying to get to Snape.

When Harry arrived at Spinners End, a shiver ran up his spine. Snape had been right, the place was old and dilapidated, the whole street was. Looking around, it took him some time to figure out which house belonged to Snape. Harry walked along the street slowly, looking around carefully, trying to find sometime that said Snape residence.. When he finally found it, it wasn't something Harry could put a finger on. He was just thinking of trying the other side of the street when he felt something from the house on the corner. He had no idea what it was but it didn't feel dangerous. In fact, it was more like a faint feeling of knowing that the house was a safe haven.

Harry drew closer and pushed the small gate open. Walking around the garden, the place felt abandoned. There were weeds everywhere and the windows were so grimy Harry could see nothing through them. He used an unlocking charm to open the door and went inside. It wasn't much better than the outside. The air was stale and the closing of the door caused what was probably a year worth of dust to swirl into the air. Causing a rather spooky effect, with the twirling dust only visible in the thin beams of light that had found a way inside the gloomy house.

Harry walked around the house slowly. Searched every single room for a sign of Snape, but found nothing. Though he was certain that it was his house, unless there was another potions master with a fascination for the dark arts in the village. Letting out a long breath he sat down on the couch. He'd really hoped to find something that would help. Coughing from the dust that had escaped from the couch he called Kreacher.

The elf appeared in front of him with a soft plop and bowed deeply “Master Harry Potter called?”

“Yes. I wanted to ask if you could clean the house while making sure everything stayed were it is now.” If Harry was going to keep an eye on the house in the hopes of the professor turning up, he might as well make it inhabitable. If Snape turned up, then he would be in a reasonably clean environment, which would be better for whatever wounds he had left at that point. If he turned out to be death.. Well, Snape had left the house to Harry so he could do whatever he wanted.

Kreacher gave a nod and another bow “Kreacher will get it done Master Harry Potter sir.”

During the past weeks, Kreacher had been popping up around Harry more and more often. Asking if there was anything he could do, anything he could help with. Every time Harry had thought of something, the little house elf had bowed deeply and complied without a word. Harry had noticed that, while Kreacher came to him for work almost every day, the elf preferred being left alone to complete the task. And more importantly that he hated recognition for anything he did. The one time Harry had thanked him for doing a task, the elf had restarted the muttering and hadn't returned for several days. After that, Harry had learned that a simple 'I appreciate it' was much more acceptable. Both to Harry, who felt that expecting to be obeyed without a 'please' and 'thank you' was ridiculous, and Kreacher, who believed that being thanked was degrading. So Harry smiled at Kreacher, wished him a productive day, and left the house.

Harry apparated to Potter Park and went straight to the library. Snape hadn't been at his home but that didn't mean he wouldn’t turn up there. Unless he wanted to return there every day to keep an eye on the place, Harry needed to come up with something else. Making a B-line for the section on wards, he started looking for something on monitoring wards. Finding several books, all of them thick tombs and written in Old English, Harry groaned. The tombs could hold the information Harry needed but there was no way that he could get through even one of them before the Hogwarts school year started again. He needed to find some kind of ward that was simple enough to learn in a few hours. Before the thought could form fully, a small booklet flew towards him from a nearby shelf.

Looking at it, Harry smiled. Tracking Toddlers and Checking Children. He turned to the index and saw that there were several simple monitoring charms. Flipping through to the pages, Harry glanced over the information. The first one was meant to be attached to a person, which was completely useless in finding Snape. The second one needed to be attached to several objects, surrounding the area one wanted to monitor. It was meant to warn parents if anyone within the ward used magic. Harry tagged the page and continued flipping through the book. There were many more spells that Harry would definitely need to remember if he ever had a child, but only one other ward that could be useful. It was a temporary, one use only, kind of ward. It was supposed to form a dome over a room, or property and would give a warning if someone crossed the boundary.
Harry took the book with him to one of the sitting rooms and dropped into the large armchair to read the instructions.

The following day, Harry stayed in the mansion. He set up the wards in several rooms of varying sizes and tested them out. It took him almost the whole day but in the end he figured out how to do it.

He'd attached the magic detecting ward to four large stones he found in his back yard and connected it to a shoelace that he turned into a bracelet. Moving the stones around he found that the ward worked rather well. Each time that he used magic within the border delineated by the stones, his shoelace would heat up. He was able to put the stones in such a way that they covered several rooms but could not make it work when he put the stones on the corners of his property. Figuring it had something to do with the monstrous size of the house, he put the stones to the side. Snape's home was a lot smaller and if it was still to large, Harry could find more stones and set separate wards for all the rooms. Now that he figured out how it worked, it took him less than five minutes to make another set of border stones.

The other ward was a lot more complicated, as it was not attached to anything. Instead, he was supposed to define the border by casting the spell in a certain pattern along the perimeter. It took him over a dozen attempts before he had the small sitting room warded. When he'd seen the description of the ward, he'd been thinking of using it as a simple perimeter ward. But after it had taken him almost four hours to ward such a small space, he started to wonder if anyone ever used that spell. It seemed a ridiculous amount of work for a one time ward. Especially since a child would probably trigger it at least ones a day.

The next day, Harry returned to Spinners End and set the ward stones. It took him a few tries to get them in the right position but after thirty minutes, the ward was in place and working. Looking around, Harry frowned, thinking about the other ward. Right now, nobody could use magic, or enter the house with magic, without notifying Harry. That still left the possibility of someone entering the property without the help of magic. Having already dismissed the option of warding the border of the whole property, he needed to find another option. Looking at the front door, he had an idea. Opening the front door, he took out his wand and set a ward over the threshold. When he was done, he linked it to the second bracelet and gave it a critical look. He couldn't exactly see the ward, but he had a feeling that he would have seen the lines he'd drawn in a vivid blue if he had the ability to see magic. Taking a breath he stepped over the line, and was instantly warned by a flash of warmth around his wrist.

Grinning happily, he walked through the house and proceeded to draw ward lines in front every window and door. The addition of the ward to a childcare book made more sense now that he knew how to use them. One could draw lines at the top of the stairs, in front of the stove or in doorways and be warned as soon as the ward was broken. If you got a warning, all you had to do was check which ward was gone and you would find the culprit. Harry linked all the wards the his bracelet, left the house and set the last ward on the front door. With the wards up, he could focus on searching for Snape in other places. If the man turned up at his childhood home, Harry would be warned.

For the next week, Harry searched for Snape. He spoke with teachers, students and order members. Anyone who might know something, but he couldn't find anything. While he had many interesting conversations, and heard even more amusing anecdotes, no-one really knew anything about the man.

After a week, he finally told Ron what had him so busy. Harry had been invited to dinner with the Weasley's. Since Fred had been released from St. Mungo's and the whole family had been invited to celebrate. Molly had cooked and Harry had finished three plates. Afterwards they had all crammed into the living room and talked for several hours. Harry considered asking Ginny to go outside for a walk but decided against it. It wasn't that she was ignoring him, not at all. In fact, they'd had a very intense discussion on Quidditch during dinner. It was just that she wasn't exactly trying to speak to him in private. He had a feeling that she wouldn't have been doing that if she wanted to get back together. No, the only reason she would be avoiding the conversation was if she thought it was going to be uncomfortable. And so, Harry kept his distance.

Around eleven Ron had pulled Harry to the side and started questioning him. Apparently, Harry's
absence had been noticed. When he'd finally admitted that he had been looking for Snape, Ron had freaked. To Ron, it didn't matter which side Snape had been on, he was The Evil Bat from Dungeons who took their points and appointed detention. While Ron was willing to admit that he had been wrong about the man's allegiance, it didn't change his opinion. Harry tried to convince him that Snape couldn't be all bad. After all, he'd saved Harry's live on several occasions, been friends with Harry's mother and put his life on the line many, many times. In the end, he just gave up and told Ron he was trying to make up for all the times he thought Snape to be the bad guy when he'd actually been trying to do right. Ron had accepted it, saying that Harry should really do something about his 'saving people problem'. Which made Harry roll his eyes and Ron laugh.

Harry had owled Malfoy to ask him to arrange a meeting with Draco's mother for Harry and got a response during the second week of his search. Malfoy's mother would be present at Malfoy Manor and willing to meet that afternoon. He'd just finished his lunch when the message arrived, and he had no idea how to get to the place. Cleaning up his plate and grabbing his stuff, he hailed the knight bus again and left for Malfoy Manor. The trip was a lot shorter than he had expected, leading Harry to think that the Malfoy's lived somewhere close the Potter Park. When he arrived, he was slightly taken aback. While he had been inside of the manor, they had arrived at night and he hadn't been able to see the house properly. After he'd moved into his own mansion, he had assumed that Malfoy Manor would be around the same size. He'd been wrong, very wrong. During the night, Malfoy Manor had looked creepy and ostentatious. During the day, it was still pretentious but it the creepy feeling wasn't there. The tiny towers to the side were beautiful, but also very... cute. While the house itself was larger and the maze like hedges in front of it more pompous than anything at Potter Park, it's seemed somehow less impressive. It seemed to be trying so hard to be regal and grandiose, that the whole effect was lost.

Harry went through the already open gates and walked up the driveway. When he was walking up the staircase that led to the overgrown front door, it was opened. Harry almost faltered, the Malfoys had an actual butler.. They didn't just have elves, they had other wizards waiting on their every wish. It was utterly ridiculous. Shaking his head inwardly, Harry smiled at the man and gave him a slight nod when he was waved inside.

The butler let him to a large room filled with plants. It reminded Harry of his own greenhouse room, though he didn't have nearly as many strange plants. Maybe he should talk with Neville, he would probably drool all over if Harry told him he could use the space.. Filing that away for later, he followed the pathway until he found Mrs. Malfoy sitting at garden table, waiting for the teapot to finish pouring her tea.

Harry walked toward her and bowed slightly. He'd spoken to one of his ancestors, who's painting had finally reacted after Harry had been trying to wake him for over an hour. The old wizard had told him to stand straight and be quiet unless he had something interesting to say. He'd then gone on to ask questions, to which Harry was only allowed to say yes or no, any more information and the wizard cut him of. When the man had the information he wanted, he gave Harry a two hour lecture on how a Potter should compose himself in the company of others. Harry hadn't minded the lesson, he'd spend all day searching for Snape and had been tiered, listening to the old geezer wasn't that much of a hardship. Or, it hadn't been after Harry had swayed on his feet after the first 20 minutes and he had been allowed to sit down. Now, all the information returned to him and he found that he was glad it was there. Narcissa Malfoy was a scary woman, who was most likely easily insulted. He had to tread carefully if he was hoping to get anything useful from her.

Mrs. Malfoy didn't stand up, she simply gestured for him to take a seat and told the teapot to 'poor the boy a cup'. Harry sat down and waited for the woman to say something. Which didn't take nearly as long as Harry would have thought. It seemed that Mrs. Malfoy was not good with uncomfortable silences.

“My son told me you wanted to speak with me.”

Harry nodded slowly and leaned back in the chair. “He did not tell you why?”

“No, he mentioned he had an idea of what you wanted but did not elaborate.”

“Yes, I imagine he does. I spoke with him about it after his trial.”

Mrs. Malfoy's eyes narrowed “Is that why you were there? Because you had questions for my son?”

“No, I was there to ensure he got another chance.”

“Why? What do you get out if it?”

Harry wanted to roll his eyes, sigh deeply, hit his head against the table.. Doing any of those things would be completely useless and so, he just started at her. The women appeared truly curious, almost anxious for the answer. It seemed to Harry as if she was afraid of what he would say, as if his answer had the power to destroy her, or more likely Draco.. Taking pity on her he said “Nothing. I don't need anything.”

“Then why?” There was a sliver of desperation is her voice. Harry couldn't help but wonder what she was so afraid of.

Instead of answering, he asked a question of his own “Why did you lie? I already gave you your answer, there was no reason to lie.”

If anything, his question made her more nervous. Her hands shook slightly, causing her cup to rattle softly as she sat it down. “You.. You survived his curse, again.. After what I heard from my baby when he returned for the summers, I stopped believing that you could actually kill that monster. You were obviously just another average boy, not worth the trust those fools had in you..” Mrs. Malfoy took a sip of her tea, her hands ones again steady. “I never wanted to follow him, that was my husband's thing. I just wanted what was best for my family. And since I didn't trust that anyone could ever defeat the maniac, joining seemed the safest route.”

Harry grinned “But then you realized I survived, again, and you thought that maybe I could be trusted to do my job.”

“In a sense. Considering the circumstances, it seemed worth the risk. My boy wouldn't have survived long as a servant to the Dark Lord.”

Harry sat forward and looked at her closely “That's it, isn't it? You're afraid I will hold Draco's freedom over his head. After all, I have enough information and influence to get him convicted. You're afraid I'll force him into another kind of servitude.”

When Mrs. Malfoy eyes widened in shock, Harry couldn't help the smile that crept over his face. It was nice to know that he had guessed right, even if he wasn't going to use the information. “Well, since you weren't exactly a follower of Riddle, maybe you won't mind answering the questions I had?”

She looked as though she wanted to return to the earlier subject but, after a long moment, she nodded in acquiescence.

Harry decided it would be best to get right to it. At the moment, Mrs. Malfoy was still considering the possibility of blackmail. All too soon, she would decide on some course of action and Harry doubted she would still be willing to answer questions when that happened. “I'm looking for Professor Snape. I need to know any information you may have on his location.”

Sipping at her tea slowly, Mrs. Malfoy considered the question for a long moment. “He has a house in Cokeworth, in a very old muggle neighbourhood.”

Harry nodded. The few that had known anything personal about Snape had all told him that. The house in Cokeworth. It seemed that no-one had ever heard of Snape going anywhere but his house and Hogwarts. “Anything else?”

“I knew Professor Snape only in passing. My husband might know more but...” she didn't need to end the sentence, Lucius was in Azkaban and the whole world knew it.

Harry considered the possibility of visiting the man. He didn't really want to; Azkaban was not a happy place, with or without dementors. “Were they friends? Lucius and Snape.”

Mrs. Malfoy pursed her lips, in much the same way as his aunt whenever Harry asked a question “My husband did not have, as you say, friends. Lucius respected the Professor, always spoke highly of him.”

“I suppose he's changed his mind.”

“Ooh no. Lucius has decided you are delusional. There is simply no way Snape could have deceived him.” She said it in a perfectly neutral voice but Harry had a feeling she was mocking her husband's believe.

“You disagree?”

A jerk of her head “My husband kept an eye on anyone he believed of interest. Snape, as a Hogwarts teacher, was only notable for his allegiance and his skills with potions. That, in and on itself, is suspicious.”

“How so?”

“Because he is too smart to be so unremarkable. What was he using that brain for?”

Harry grinned “Inventing new ways to insult Gryffindors?”

Mrs. Malfoy didn't laugh but Harry noticed her lip twitching, apparently the woman did have some sense of humour. “Well, it doesn't matter. Either way, I only know of his house in Cokeworth. If you want to know more you'll have to arrange a meeting with my husband.”

Biting his lip, Harry thought about it. “Have you been there?”

“I visit, yes. He is my husband.”

“Is it better now that the dementors are gone?”

Mrs. Malfoy gave him another one of those scrutinizing looks “They are locked into small cells and are rarely allowed to leave. But yes, it is better without those vile creatures.”

Harry nodded and stood up “Thank you for the tea and conversation. Don't worry about Draco. I went to his trial because I believe he deserves a chance. I have a feeling he will make the most of it.” He started to walk away but stopped and added “Make sure Lucius stops feeding him that bullcrap about pure blood superiority, the man has way to much sway over Draco and he doesn't need anyone poisoning him while he's trying to become a better person.” Harry didn't turn to see if she had gotten the message. He left the greenhouse and walked straight to the front door and out of the house.

The following day, Harry returned to Hogwarts and procrastinated under the guise of speaking with the teachers again. Most of the professors were still there, helping to rebuild and clean the school, as well as enlarging classrooms and dormitories for the extra load of students that would be coming next year. Very few of Harry's year-mates had given a definite yes or no on whether they were returning for their N.E.W.T.s the following year, as there were rumours of a chance to take them at the start of the year. But even if Harry was the only one returning to school, which was unlikely since Hermione would never miss the opportunity of more schooling no matter if she could take the tests regardless, there were the muggle-born students that had to redo the year and many other students who had been taken out of classes at some point during the past year.

Harry talked with the professors, helped with some of the work and generally wasted his time. None of them knew anything that could help him with his search for Snape, though most had something of interest to say of a wide range of other subject. By the end of the day, Harry had learned how to clear a classroom with one swish of his wand, stacking the tables nicely to the side of the wall, and how to find and fix weak spots in the simpler wards around Hogwarts. Sprout had promised him some interesting plants after he mentioned his greenhouse and Slughorn had tried six times to get a promise from Harry that he would show up to the next slug party.

The new headmistress had been busy sorting out the schedule for the next year but had taken Harry aside for a quick word. Apparently, she had heard of his search and wanted to know how it was going. When Harry told her, she was slightly disappointed with his lack of progress but wasn't all that surprised. Like Harry, she was well aware of Snape's private nature and hadn't expected much. She wasn't precisely happy with the idea of Harry visiting Azkaban but agreed that Lucius was perhaps the only person who would know something more. He was the kind of person that had files on every one of his rivals. And in Malfoy's eyes, Snape would definitely have counted as a rival, especially after Riddle returned.

Harry tried to convince himself that Malfoy wouldn't know anything useful for a while longer. After all, Snape was a spy and would never have given Malfoy any information that would actually have some use. But he couldn't really manage it. Snape might have had some kind of bolt hold that was known by the death-eaters. It only made sense. Had he really been a death-eater, he would have had a safe house and some of the death-eaters would have known about it. Snape never did anything half way so it would only make sense that he'd done the death-eater thing right. Which meant that Harry had to go to Azkaban and speak to Malfoy Senior.

Four days later, Harry apparated to the coast and flew out to Azkaban on his Firebolt. Had he not been on his way to the prison, he would have enjoyed the flight more than anything he'd done in a while. As it was, he was agitated and had to consistently force himself to continue. He had spend several days talking to a dozen bureaucrats before he'd decided to find the minister and ask for a favour. Kingsley had arranged a visit after he had explained his purposes but had refused when Harry had asked for complete privacy. It didn't really matter, in fact Harry was kind of glad the man had said no. He felt uncomfortable asking for favours from the Minister of Magic. It was better if he could see it as fast tracking. These days, it was possible for everyone to visit an inmate if you were family or had a good reason. It was just a little bit easier for Harry to get a semi-private meeting than it was for most, but that was as far as it went. It boded well for the future of the Minister of Magic.

When Harry arrived, a guard did some kind of revealing spell. He had to leave his cloak, wand and broom and was allowed to enter. Another guard waited to lead him through some kind of device that held some resemblance to airport security gates. The guard let him through a few corridors and into a cell-block. Several of the cells held prisoners, most of which were pressed against the bars, glaring daggers at them. A few were yelling vile slurs and one had pulled down his pants and was showing them his backside. To Harry's eternal gratitude, Malfoy was being held at the end of the first row. Keeping Harry from having to pass more of the inmates.

Malfoy was sitting on the ground near the bars, his back leaning against the left wall of his cell. His hair was matted, and filthy did not do justice to the state of his clothing. His eyes were closed but his face was drawn, as if he was in constant pain. Looking him over, he noticed that the man's foot was twisted strangely. Harry glanced at the guard. “How did he get injured?”

The guard didn't answer but Lucius' eyes flew open at the sound of his voice. Grabbing the bars, he tried to pull himself upright. Groaning, he gave up and dropped back to the floor. “What is it you want Potter?” Lucius rasped.

Harry looked down at the man. “I want to know how you got injured.”

“Each block has an hour out of the cell each week.”

Harry blinked. That was interesting.. He wasn't sure if he liked it. On one hand, Harry wanted them all to rot in their cells. On the other, it was rather inhuman to keep them in one place for years on end. Even monsters had to stretch their legs ones every so often. “So.. You were having to much fun during playtime and twisted your ankle?”

Malfoy shot Harry a useless glare. “There are death-eaters in this block. I walked away before the end.”

Harry nodded his head in understanding “Ah, got it.” and he did, he'd seen the things that went on in that camp.. Most of them were backstabbing power junkies who would take any excuse to attack one of their own. Particularly if it would get them in a better position. Without Riddle, some would be vying to prove themselves to the others and become their new leader. Harry briefly considered which death-eater was going to come after him for just that purpose when he was distracted by Malfoy.

“Are you going to get to the point any time soon? You're disturbing my afternoon beauty sleep.”

Harry rolled his eyes “I came to ask about Snape.”

Malfoy's eye's sharpened and a second later, he was on his feet and glaring at Harry “Why?”

“I'm trying to find him.”

Malfoy waved his hand in a dismissive movement “He's dead.”

“Is that why you're in denial over his role in all of this? Because you think he will never be able to disabuse you of the notion?”

“I knew him much better than you little boy.” He sneered.

“Then tell me, were would he have gone if he had been injured and needed a safe place?”

“I would assume his home, like a normal person.”

Sighing, Harry folded his arms. “His home was known both to death-eaters as well as phoenix members. He wouldn't be safe from either side.

Malfoy blinked a few times, than started pacing, or to be more precise limping, up and down the bars. “You're right.. I never considered that.. He was spying on Dumbledore.. He would have to have some place where he could get away from the senile old man.”

Harry scoffed “You really are delusional, aren't you?”

Lucius' eyes narrowed as he glanced at Harry “Severus killed Albus. He was on our side.”

“Dumbledore was already dying. He practically begged Snape to kill him.”

Lucius stepped closer to the bars and wrapped his hands around them. “Severus cut of the ear of your little friend.”

“His shot missed. He was going for the hand of one of your friends.”

“He was the one who gave The Dark Lord's prophecy, he got your parents killed.”

“Which was why he turned. Didn't appreciate the love of his life being killed.”

Lucius sneered “He turned to Albus on The Dark Lord's orders. Decided that filthy mudblood wasn't worth the trouble.”

Harry glared at the man, wishing he could throttle him, he clenched his hands. Malfoy's breath hitched and he stumbled back, a wild look in his eyes. Startled, Harry released his fists, anger draining away. After a moment, Malfoy seemed to be perfectly fine. Harry frowned and looked down at his hand. Had he just caused the man's airway to shut? Not wanting to consider the possibility, he shook his head to clear it and asked “How about you tell me something useful and when I find him, we can ask him.”

Malfoy gave him a look, one that Harry didn't recognize immediately. It reminded him of some of the looks he'd seen during Potions class, he didn't like it. “Severus had no family or friends. He spend his time at Hogwarts or his home in Cokeworth. The only other place I know he visited was the Hog's Head.”

Harry nodded and walked away. No need to spend any more time in that wretched place. When he was about halfway down the hall, one of the laces around his wrist heated up. He lengthened his strides and found his way out as fast as he could. Racing back to the shore in a mad dash, he was still laughing happily when he landed.

A second later, he was standing in an ally he had scouted out the first time he'd come to Spinner's End. Harry ran towards the house and dashed through the front door. Looking around, the house seemed empty. Until he heard a noise coming from the second floor. Drawing out his wand, Harry crept up the staircase. There was a low light coming from beneath one of the doors. When there was no answer after Harry's knock, he opened the door slowly.

Laying, completely still on the bed was Severus Snape.

Severus had woken up several times during the last few days, or weeks, or maybe even months, he couldn't tell. Each time had been an unpleasant experience. The first time, he'd been groggy and stiff. He had been laying on a small cot, unable to move anything. He'd panicked then, unsure of what was going on. He'd been able to see the wooden roof above him and guessed he was in some kind of shack, but he had been unable to tell anything else about his surroundings. He'd fallen back asleep before anyone had come to check on him. The second time he'd woken up, he'd heard someone shuffling around the room. He'd waited for whomever it was to come into view, as he was still unable to speak or even move, but had fallen asleep before his saviour had shown himself. The last time though, his saviour had been in the middle of applying some kind of salve to his wounds. She'd stepped back, out of his view, as soon as he'd opened his eyes. When he'd closed them again, the hands returned to spreading the soothing salve on the newly healed skin.

Now he woke up in a new environment, but a familiar one this time. Moving first his hands, then his feet, he tested the movement of his body. Whatever spell or potion that had kept him immobile had stopped working. Turning his head, he looked around his childhood bedroom. The air was stale and the furniture was ancient, but it was his home. He might have cursed the place under normal circumstances but for once, he was glad to be there. That was, until he turned the other way and was staring directly into a set of green eyes.

He led out a long breath. Potter was still alive. Somehow, the brat a survived once again. Snape looked at the boy, wondering how he had done it. Albus had seemed so certain that Potter would have to die in order to win. Was it possible that it wasn't over? Was that vile creature still running around?

Potter seemed to understand what he was thinking. Leaning toward him, the brat put a hand over his arm as if to comfort him. “He's gone, sir. We defeated him.”

Closing his eyes for a moment, he let that sink in. The Dark Lord was death and gone and he was still alive. It was something he had never expected to happen. For years, Severus had assumed that he would die trying to get rid of Riddle. Now, the creature was gone and he had no idea what to do. He was a spy, it was what he'd been for almost two decades. Even when his master had been no more that a shade, Snape had lived as though he was being watched every second of every day. He'd created his character and lived his life on the premise that one day, he would return to spying. He had never expected to be alive when it was all over. He'd never wanted to think of the possibility of surviving. It would have been too hard, having hope of a better life, while he was doing the bidding of that.. thing.

“Can I get you something? Water maybe?” Potter pulled him out of his thoughts.

Severus just nodded and waited for the brat to return with a glass of water. Sitting up slowly, he took a sip, and almost choked. Groaning at the burning feeling in his throat, he fell back on his bed and glared at Potter. “What..” His voice cracked “What do you want?”

Potter put the glass on the bedside table and sat back on the kitchen chair, which wasn't supposed to be in his room. “I came to make sure you were still breathing.”

Coughing a few times, he looked at the boy with a slight frown “Why?”

He sighed and shrugged “Someone had to make sure you survived.”

“You.. You saved me?” His voice croaked. It hurt to talk but he had little choice. He needed to know what was going on. What had happened while he was out cold.

“You don't know what happened?”

“I died.”

“I know.. I was there.” Potter mumbled and looked down at his shoes.

“The elf was not yours?”

Potter shook his head “No. I didn't think there was anything we could do. I left you there and went to your office.. When it was all over, you had disappeared.”

Groaning, Severus closed his eyes. Suddenly remembering what he had done.. He'd given the little brat his memories. And not just the ones the child had needed. No, he'd given him everything that might make Potter believe. The brat had seen, not only memories of his time at Hogwarts, but also some of his childhood. Not wanting to talk any more he glared at the boy and sneered “Get Out!”

Potter didn't protest. He simply nodded and left the room. Severus heard him decent the stairs and let out a relieved sigh when he heard the front door open and close. He needed time. Time to think about his future. Of what he was going to do and how he was going to deal with the Potter brat.

After that first visit, Potter returned to his house on a daily basis. Every time he asked Severus how he was doing and if he needed anything. Which Severus never answered. He was still healing and he had no need for the boy to intervene. He had his wand and was able to summon anything he needed all on his own. Severus knew he was being, what Poppy would call, a bad patient, but he didn't care. He didn't want to talk. Not to Potter, not to anyone. If he talked to Potter, the brat would want to know about his past and possibly Lily. If he talked to someone else, not that anyone else had come to look for him, they would ask questions Severus didn't want to deal with yet.

While Severus lay quietly in his bed, regaining his strength, Potter told him what was going on in the rest of the wizarding world. He spoke of the people they had lost, the changes in the ministry and the trials that had been taking place each day for over a month. The brat never seemed worried about Severus' refusal to speak. He just prattled on without a care in the world. Severus usually allowed him to stay for an hour before he told the brat to get out. While he had no intention of speaking to anyone any time soon, he didn't mind the distraction Potter provided with his daily visits.

That was, until the second week, when Potter arrived with two small bottles in his hands. The brat put the bottles on his side table and glared at him for a moment before he turned and left. Looking at the bottles, he noticed that one had his name on it while the other had the brat's.. Still completely unwilling to think of anything, Severus closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Waking up in the dark several hours later, Severus grabbed his hand and cast a Lumos. His eyes fell on the two bottles on his bedside table. Severus stared at the vial with the brat's memories. That imbecilic boy. What was he thinking, giving Severus his memories. But then, Potter was always doing things he shouldn't. It was, after all, what the boy was famous for. Doing moronic things and somehow turning them around to come out the victor and unabashed hero. He was sitting there, staring at that blasted vial.. But he couldn't decided what he was going to do with it. With a sigh he stood from his bed and left the room. Ignoring the fact that Potter had finally gotten him to leave the room.

Potter had mentioned that he'd come to his house as soon as Severus had returned, which made him suspect that the brat had put up some kind of monitoring wards but hadn't been able to find anything, yet. Now was as good a time as any to check what else the boy had done to his house.
Grabbing his wand, he left the room. After checking the master bedroom and bathroom, neither of which had been disturbed, he went downstairs. He stopped on the last step, his yaw dropping slightly. The room itself hadn't changed. His furniture and his books were still there, and it was still quite dark. Except, that it wasn't nearly as gloomy as it used to be. The room was clean, completely dust free, and every surface he could see was shining. On closer inspection, he noticed that even his books were now dust free and spotless. The upholstery on his couch looked as new, as if it had never been worn down by decades of use. His favourite chair, on the other hand, was cleaned but still had the worn down look a favourite chair was supposed to have. The little brat had cleaned his living room, and somehow known to leave the chair.

Stalking into his kitchen he looked around. This room to, had been cleaned. Everything was ones again spotless. One would think it was completely new, were it not for the style, which was decades out of date. He risked a look out his window. His garden looked as it always did, filled to the brim with herbs and other plants he used for his potions. The plants looked taken care of and he couldn't see any of the weeds that he had stopped caring about ages ago. He sighed, not sure whether he should be pissed or grateful that the brat had taken the time to clean out his garden.
One last thing to check. He strode back to the living room and took out his wand. Tapping on several of the books he stood back and waited for the bookcase to slide back and allow him entrance to his laboratory. He carefully went down the stairs. He wasn't stupid enough to fall down the old stone steps when he had yet to fully recover from his last near-death experience. Ones downstairs he lid the candles spread around the room with a simple flick of his wand and looked around. There was a layer of dust on everything in the room and everything seemed to be where he had last left it. Either the idiot hadn't found the laboratory or he'd been smart enough to keep out. He snorted at that, considering it was Potter, he'd probably not found it. The boy had never learned to keep his nose out of other people's business. He sighed and went back up the stairs. He needed to rest, and more importantly, he needed to think.

It had been two days since potter had left the memories and he hadn't returned since. Severus had spend those days relaxing on his couch with some magazines he hadn't had a chance to read yet. The pile of post laying on his desk was ridiculously high but Severus didn't look at anything but the magazines. He had no wish to read any of the dribble the daily prophet was reporting and he had no interest in listing to anything written in those blasted ministry letters that had been arriving every single day. He sighed, happy to finally have some peace, and turned a page in one of the newest Potions Digest. Then he just stared, open mouthed. There on the page was a picture of him with a line beneath that read 'Esteemed Potion Master and previous headmaster of Hogwarts Severus Snape not death' and beneath that in slightly smaller letters 'Harry Potter refuses to reveal location'
Severus scowled and started to read the article.

Yesterday, our hero, Harry Potter, revealed to the ministry that his old potion professor, Severus Snape, is still alive. Harry Potter, famous for surviving the killing curse when he was only one year old and more recently defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the Battle of Hogwarts, who has not spoken to any reporters since his statement shortly after his victory, gave another statement yesterday. During this public appearance he announced that Potions Master Severus Snape has been spotted alive. Harry Potter reports that his old professor is 'wounded but already back to his eloquent self.' Mister Potter has refused to divulge any information as to the location of the Potions Master, declaring that said information would endanger his old professor. It must be noted that, during the statement Mr. Potter made after the battle, he divulged that Severus Snape had been a spy, helping the war effort from behind enemy lines. At that point many believed that Professor Snape was deceased and Mr. Potters statement was accepted as truth. However, now that the old headmaster has returned to the world of the living, the ministry has decided that a trail will be held. In light of Professor Snape's current health status, the ministry has not yet set a date for the trail. However, Mr. Potter has already stated that he will be present and ready to testify on his professor's behalf.

In light of Mr. Potter's statement, we have spoken to several of the professor's colleagues and students. Amongst these was the new headmistress of Hogwarts, who stated that she too believed the professor to be innocent and wished him a speedy recovery. Most of the professors mentioned how much they regretted not believing in their colleague and wished him well.
The students we spoke to were a lot more colourful in their answers to our questions. When asked what he thought of Severus Snape's miraculous return, George Weasley declared 'Bats the world over are rejoicing. And so are we'. His brother Fred Weasley added 'He may not be the nicest person, but he is brilliant behind a cauldron. Weasley's Wizarding Weezes would not exists without his lessons.' Draco Malfoy, who was declared innocent only a week ago, confided that he was glad to hear his head of house was still breathing and hoped to see him during the next school year. Several other students from all four houses gave similar statements, though some were still sceptical about last year's headmaster.

Considering the circumstances of the previous year, we will not comment further on those events, as said events are mostly conjecture. We can only hope that we will receive more information on Severus Snape's role during the war once his trail starts. On the next 2 pages, we will give an overview of the potions master's achievements so you will have all the information available to make up your own mind.

Severus skimmed over the rest and scoffed to himself. An overview of his achievements, right. Most of his accomplishments were known only to himself and Albus. Had Severus died, over two dozen new potions would never be brought to the public, simply because he had never bothered to write them down. Severus sighed and put the magazine down. It was time for him to stop hiding. Soon enough, the new school year would start and he had no idea what he was going to do. Grabbing Potter's memories he went to his laboratory and put them in the pensive Albus had given him shortly after the tri-wizard tournament. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he put his head on the surface and felt himself fall.

He was standing in an empty room that seemed to have no way out. Potter was standing in front of a mirror, and raised an eyebrow at himself before he turned and looked directly at Severus. For a moment Severus wondered if the brat could actually see him, but shook the thought away. This was a memory, there was no way the little brat could know he was there. Then he started talking.

“Good day Professor.” He smiled at himself and nodded before continuing. “I gave you these memories because it has been almost two weeks since you returned to your home. During that time, I have not yet seen you leave that dreary bedroom and the only words you have spoken are..” His face turned into a scowl and the brat lowered his voice in a bad imitation of Severus. “'Get out', 'Leave me' and my personal favourite 'Fuck off.'” Potter grinned “I never knew you could curse like a regular person, professor. I must say, I have been kind of disappointed by the lack of you normal rather eloquent snide comments.” He sighed and turned back to the mirror.

Severus scoffed “You should really get some better glasses, maybe then you'll see well enough to know there is no real reason for you to continue admiring yourself.”

Potter didn't answer, he just smiled at his own reflection and continued speaking. “Anyway, where was I... Ah, right, the memories. In the shack, you gave me a set of your memories that cleared something up for me. Ones again, you saved my life. The Headmaster said a life debt is a powerful thing, something that should be honoured. Personally, I think it should have nothing to do with honour. You saved my life on several occasions. Without you, I would be dead by now and Voldemort would probably rule the world.”

Severus flinched at the name out of habit, the mark and with it the pain, had vanished while he'd been to dead to notice.

“I think that, even without a life debt, I, and the world at large, owe you more than could ever be repaid. Honestly, I have no idea where to start but I'm going to try. I have to at least try. After everything you've been through to make up for the mistakes you made almost two decades ago..You deserve to be free, more importantly you deserve to be happy.” Potter grimaced slightly at that “Not sure how exactly I can expect you to ever be happy. You're life hasn't been easy, and I suspect, it will never be as easy as it should have been. You'll always have your memories, they will never go away. Neither the good, nor the bad... And now, I'm going to give you some more of both. I'll admit, I'm not sure if I should even show you the first few. It's not like they matter.” Potter sighed and turned to look in Severus' direction “I'm showing you this because I want you to believe that I have not, nor will I ever, share anything personal I learned from the memories you gave me. Maybe if you've seen some of my secrets, you won't be so pissed that I've seen yours.”

Suddenly, the scene shifted and Severus was standing in the middle of a living room. Potter now standing next to him. A boy, so fat he looked more like an elephant than a human child, came running into the room, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Mommy, Mommy, the freak stole my cookie.”

There was clanging in what sounded like the kitchen and a moment later a skinny woman came into the room. She knelled down in front of the baby elephant and held his cheeks in her hand “What's wrong my precious baby. What has that freak done to you.” Petunia crooned to the child.
The child began crying and hiccupped “H..he.. s..s..s..stole m..my cookie.”
Petunia wrapped her child in her arm and lifted him up.

Severus raised an eyebrow but Potter commented before he could.
“I will never understand how she can lift him.” Potter shook his head and followed the two out of the room, not looking back at Severus. Severus followed them toward the hallway. Where Petunia had just opened the door to the cupboard under the staircase and pulled out a scrawny child by his unruly black hair.

She dragged him into the kitchen and started screaming at him. Never letting go of the boys hair. “You filthy little thief. How dare you. How dare you take even more from my little duddykins. You don't deserve cookies. You don't even deserve to be here. You should be happy you have roof above your head and 3 meals a day.” She screamed on an on, shaking to boys head from side to side by his hair. The boy didn't say anything. His eyes were huge and watery. He looked terrified but he didn't make a sound. Than Petunia lifted him up over the sink and wrenched open his mouth. She grabbed a wooden spoon and pushed in down the boys throat until he wretched. Just before Petunia opened the faucet Severus looked and saw that it was mostly water the boy had spit out. There was no sign that the boy had eaten anything all day, not even a cookie. Petunia grabbed him by his hair again and pulled him of the kitchen counter, dragging him back to the cupboard. She pushed him inside and locked the door before she spat “That will teach you not to steal Dudley’s food.”

The scene went foggy for a moment before the hallway came back into view. In the living room Severus heard more screaming but the door opened before he could go see what was going on. A fat man, presumably Vernon Dursley, pushed a now slightly older boy into the hallway. There was blood on the boy's face, seemingly caused by a busted lip, but the boy looked otherwise fine. There were no traces of the pain that wound must have caused. No tears in his eyes. Vernon opened the small door and literally threw the boy inside. Then he locked the door and smacked his fist against it.

The fog came back, announcing another switch in scenery. When it went, he was standing in the kitchen. Looking at the same boy, who could not be more than 9 years old, making breakfast. The child could barely see what he was doing but seemed to be managing to make a decent omelette. That was, until he took the pan of the fire and burned his hand. He let out a soft yelp and dropped the pan. Before the boy could rectify the situation, Petunia came in and grabbed the pan. Instead of helping the boy, she used the pan to smack him over the head and screamed for him to get out of her sight.

Another shift of scenery, to the living room this time. The boy was being yelled at by his uncle. Another shift and he was being beaten by his nephew. The shifts came faster and faster. Showing Severus glimpses of the abuse that the three wrought on the boy. All the times they called him a freak and told him he wasn't worth the oxygen he breathed. The times his nephew went after him. The times they locked him up in that tiny cupboard underneath the stairs and refused to feed him for days on end.

Then all of a sudden, he was back in the empty room with the mirror and staring at the 17 year old Harry Potter. For a moment neither of them said anything. Potter turned back to the mirror and looked at himself again, letting out a sigh. “As you might have noticed, these are memories of me watching my memories. Not that I particularly care whether I have these particular memories in my head, but I figured you'd see it as me pawning of my own bad memories onto you. Anyway, I hope that was enough for you to believe me when I say that I will not speak of your childhood to anyone, not even you.” He paused at that, pursing his lips “Well, not unless you bring it up. Personally, I think it would be good for both you and I to talk about our childhoods. However, since I have been able to avoid any and all conversations about it, I'm really not the right person to push you into talking. Even if I think it might remove some of that poison you carry with you”

Severus just stared at the boy. All these years and he had never suspected that. Sure, he had started to realise that the brat hadn't been as spoiled as he had assumed, but outright abused... While he hadn't seen any scenes that accused the adults of extreme violence, the way they handled him, the anger and hatred they showed towards him, it was disgusting. And letting that little whale do whatever he liked to the boy... He was so much larger that it wasn't even close to a fair fight between siblings. Severus simply couldn't imagine how Potter had done it. How was it possible that he had lived with those people and yet, display none of the normal signs such abuse left.. For a moment, he wondered if it was simply that he had been blinded by that much hatred, but dismissed the option instantly. While he was the only head of house who demanded yearly health inspections of his students, his colleagues weren't blind. Had the boy shown any signs of abuse, someone should have noticed, especially with the amount of attention of the brat-who-lived. Severus was shaken out of his thought when the boy's voice interrupted.

“Anyway. That was childhood. Now onto the teenage years. These are some memories from Hogwarts. They are somewhat mixed. Do me a favour and listen when I tell you to pay attention to something specific. I'm trying to make a point here.”

The fog rolled in again and a moment later they were standing in the great hall. Eleven year old Potter had just been called to be sorted and was now sitting with the sorting hat over his eyes. The hat was moving the boys head around and for the first time Severus noticed how much faster his own sorting hat taken. The boy's parents for that matter, had been sorted into Gryffindor as soon as the hat touched their hair.

Next to Severus, the 17 year old Potter commented dryly. “It was trying to convince me that Slytherin would be good for me.” Severus had heard rumours of that from some of the other professors but had never really believed it. Hearing it from the brats own lips was rather disconcerting. Severus looked at the boy, thinking what a difference it would have made. Would Potter have been able to turn Slytherin away from the dark lord, or would Slytherin have turned Potter to the dark side.

The hat placed the brat in Gryffindor and the scene shifted. Potter was sitting at the Gryffindor table. He was currently looking at the head table. More precisely at the Severus, who was glaring back at Potter. “My first opinion of you.. Mostly based on the fact that my scar hurt due to Quirrell.” Potter grinned for a second before adding “Well, that and that snarl on your face.”

The scene chanced again. They were in his potions classroom now. The first one with the brat. Next to him Potter said “Go look at what I'm writing down.” Severus shrugged and did as asked. No reason not to. Looking down at Potters paper he was momentarily surprised. The kid had been writing down what he had been saying. He had been paying attention. Potter, who had followed him to his old desk, commented “I also read the first few chapters of the book. I just couldn't remember. The whole magical world was new to me and there was so much to learn. I'm not Hermione, theory will never be my strong suit. My failure in potions was mostly caused by you, as was my triumph in the subject last year. I'm fairly certain you could be a good teacher, had you not spend most of our lessons trying to hurt me as my father hurt you.”

Severus wanted to snap at the brat for that but stopped himself. Potter couldn't hear him, so what was the point. The fog came back again and a new memory appeared. They were still in his classroom but, looking at the potion the little brats were brewing, this was a year later.

“Seeing as I just showed you a memory where you were wrong. I'll show you one I dearly regret. Not at that moment though, I thought I was doing the right thing.. Looking back at it now... I can't believe I did something this stupid.”

Severus was watching the younger Potter. He remembered what happened during this class. Someone had thrown a filibuster and exploded a swelling potion. Seeing it from this point of view, it was clear it was Potter. The brat was currently rummaging around his bag. Severus looked as the disaster unfolded in front of him. They'd all been lucky he was always prepared for exploding potions, especially with the pre-OWL students. This time he also noticed the Granger girl sneaking out of his personal ingredients storage. Potter sighed as they looked on as Severus started to dole out shrinking solution “Everybody believed I was the heir of Slytherin.. Well, almost all of the students did. I just wanted it all to stop and we were so sure Draco had something to do with it..”

The scene shifted and suddenly they were standing in an overcrowded book store as Potter was being forced to pose for a picture. Lockhart presented him with some books, which Potter abruptly gifted to Molly Weasley. The scene shifted again, Severus was standing in a courtyard while Potter was being harassed by a first year, begging him to sign a photo. Next to him the older Potter commented “When I first learned of the magical world, I didn't mind all the people who wanted to talk to me. I never had friends before. The people that didn't outright hated me, ignored me.” He let out a long sigh “For a moment, it was a nice change to be liked by most. But you remember when you told me that fame wasn't everything?” Potter paused and nodded to himself “Of course you remember, you remember everything. Anyway, in my personal opinion, fame isn't anything. People want to talk to me, be my friend, because my parents sacrificed themselves to save me. All I ever wanted was a normal life. To have friends, to be liked because of me, not because of the circumstances of my life. But that's what fame is professor. Lockhart was right about that at least, fame is fickle.” Another pause before he added “Though, I don't think I ever considered it a friend.”
The scene had moved on while Severus had been listening to Potter and the younger version was now being harassed by Draco. Who was commenting loudly about Potter giving away signed photo’s. Which, as far as Severus had seen, he hadn't actually been doing.
The scene shifted. They were now standing in Minerva's office. The golden trio was there, trying to convince her that Snape was going after the philosophers stone. The older Potter was standing next to him, grimacing. “We did sort of jump to conclusions about you, but still, we were right about someone stealing the stone..” Minerva told them that the Stone was quit safe and shooed them out of her office. While they left, the mist started swirling and the scene shifted again.

They were in the defence classroom and Potter and Weasley burst into the room, calling for Lockhart. Severus listened to the boys as they tried to convince the man to safe the Weasley girl. When Lockhart kept packing his things and threatened to remove their memories, the boys drew their wands and Severus smirked as they led the professor out of the room.

The mist rose and the classroom changed into the Gryffindor common room. Potter was sitting in front of the fire, talking with the mutt. The older Potter walked forwards and sat on the couch, watching his godfather with a sad smile. Moving forward, Severus listened as the boy explained what he had seen in Severus's pensive. As he listened to the boy's conversation with his godfather, Severus started to wonder how he could have been so wrong. In all his years as a spy, he had learned to ferret out the truth amongst a million and one misdirections. And yet, he had not been able to see through to the boy's real character. For years he had believed him to be nothing more than a carbon copy of his father. Even this past year, while he had listened with bathed breath to the rumours of the golden trio's exploits, he had been unwilling to admit that the boy was anything but an annoyance. Only now, that he knew of the boy's childhood and heard him talk about his disgust at his father's bullying, did he finally realized he could not have been more wrong.

Before Severus could think on it more, the scene shifted and they were standing in the girls bathroom. Malfoy had is head bowed over a sink as he stood crying. Potter entered the room and the two boys exchanged a few words. The small altercation turned into a duel before Snape had really registered that they were fighting. Moments later, half the bathroom was destroyed, Potter was landed on his back and Malfoy stood over him. Malfoy started to say Crucio but Potter countered before he could finish the word. Potter's spell slashed into Malfoy and Potter stood up and scrambled towards him. He was in the middle of panicking when the door opened and Severus himself came in. The look on his face was furious and made Severus a bit annoyed with himself. Now that he had seen the whole altercation, he understood what had happened. He still didn't condone the brats use of an unknown spell but he also understood that it hadn't been a conscious choice. He was just a child who had reacted with the first thing that came to mind. Had he had the chance to think a second longer, he would most likely have chosen a spell that he knew. A Petrificus Totalus would have done just as well, and would have been the better choice since Potter actually knew what that spell did. But the child didn't have a chance to think, not when Malfoy had been about to use the Crusiatus Curse, Potter should have been given some praise for his extremely well honed response. Even if that praise went hand in hand with detention for using an unknown spell.

The 17 year old Potter didn't say a word through all of this. He just stood of to the side and watched the scene with a grim face. It made Severus consider the possibility that the child had no idea what he really thought of this event. As the memory Severus was closing the wounds on Malfoy, the older Potter sighed and said “You'll have to tell me how to do that. I know the spell and I can't guarantee that I won't use it when I have to make a split second decision. I would very much like to know how to reverse the spell if something like this ever happens again.” The fog crept up around them once more. When it drew away, they were standing in the room with nothing but a mirror and the brat was talking again.

“I showed you those particular memories because I think we need to start over. You never gave me a chance to prove that I'm anything but my father's replica. After which, I admit, I did not really try to show you anything but my worst side. But, I am not an arrogant, attention seeking, idiot Gryffindor. Well, not completely at least. And after all you've done to keep me alive, don't you think we should at least try to not hate each other?” Potter sighed and walked back and forth in front of the mirror a few times. “I hope you can see that I never broke the rules just for the fun of it. I tried to get someone to help on several occasions but it never went well. With nobody trusting me enough to tell me the truth, I hope you can understand I sort of gave up on getting adults involved. I never had a decent track record with adults. Even Dumbledore, whom I always trusted, kept secret from me that could have saved many lives. And let's face it, the headmaster's goal was never to keep me from harm.” Potter sighed and raked a hand through his unruly hair. “That second to last one, well, I wanted you to know that I did not, in fact, enjoy seeing that memory. I would have apologized, had I ever believed that it would have made a difference to you. That doesn't chance that I should never have looked in your pensive. I can only say that I did not go in there looking for something private. I hoped to find something that could tell me what was going on in The Order, but that did not give me the right to snoop. For that, I am sorry. As I am sorry for what I did to Draco. He may have intended to curse me but that didn't give me the right to use that spell. I didn't know what it would do, it was just the first counter that came to my mind. It was stupid and reckless and I truly hope that I never get into a situation like that again.”

“Now, there are many more things I could show you. Not all of them flattering for me, or you. However, instead of rehashing everything I have done these past years and trying to justify it. I'm going to assume you have seen enough to at least ask me before you make any more assumptions about me. I sure as hell won't make the same mistake again. For now, I'm only go you to show one more memory. You'll like this one, I'm sure. If you have any more questions, about last year or anything that happened during my Hogwarts career, I hope you'll ask the next time I stop by.” Potter turned around and the fog rolled in.

A moment later, Snape was standing in the great hall, surrounded by duelling death-eaters, order members and students.

Chapter 6

After finding Snape, looking for all the world as if he had died, Harry had stayed for hours, waiting for the man to wake up. He'd sat there, staring at Snape's chest, counting his breaths. At first, he'd been considering all the things he had to tell the man. Most importantly, Harry needed to thank him. After that, he had to tell him how sorry he was for so many different things. By the time Snape woke up, all of that flew right out of the window. He had looked so weak and panicked, that the only thing Harry could think to do was reassure him that Riddle was gone. It had calmed the man but it hadn't changed is mood. He was grumpy as always and, for the most part, refused to speak to Harry.

After the first week of no response, Harry had contacted the headmistress and let her know he'd found him. He'd asked her to come with him on his next visit but she had refused. Claiming that Snape would deal better if they kept visitors to a minimum. She'd advised him not to tell anyone where Snape was, as he would most likely be overrun by questions as soon as his location was known. He'd agreed with her, except for the part where she refused to visit. Harry thought that, out of everyone, McGonagall was probably the most likely to get Snape to talk. And Harry was certain that Snape needed to talk to someone.

Harry had also owled Madam Pomfrey, hoping she would have the time to come and check on Snape. However, she would be out of the country for another two weeks. She'd instructed him to learn a simple diagnosing spell from Professor Sprout. Who turned out to have enough medical knowledge that she played nurse when Pomfrey and Snape were unavailable. When he'd read that part of Madam Pomfrey's letter, Harry had silently thanked the gods that Snape had never played nurse while he'd been in the infirmary. He had learned the spell and preformed it fairly easily. Harry thought the results were very positive but send the sheet of parchment with the diagnostic information from the spell to Pomfrey. Who had written him a prompt response. Snape needed decent food and lots of water but physically, he would be fine.

During the second week, Harry got a package from Professor McGonagall. Inside was a small bottle with memories and a letter asking him to come to the school to meet with her. It had given him an idea on how to get Snape to snap out of whatever funk he was in. So, Harry had started collecting some of his own memories and put them in another bottle. He'd gave both of the vials to Snape and left without much of an explanation. The professor would recognize what was inside and Harry could only hope that he would decide to view them.

So Harry had gone to Hogwarts and put Snape out of his mind for a while. The man would not be leaving his house any time soon, of that Harry was sure. A few days helping out at the school would do Harry good.

When he arrived at the school, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were waiting for him at the gate. He hugged the girls and gave Ron a friendly slap on the back. He'd seen the Weasley's a few days ago but hadn't seen Hermione since she'd left to find her parents. So, temporarily ignoring to the two, he turned to her. “So, how was your trip? Did you find your parents? Are they okay? Were they really mad about the spell?”

Hermione smiled at him “I imagine that's what I sounded in our first year..” Looking at Ron she said “I kind of understand why you found me annoying..”

Ron grinned sheepishly “Yeah, well. It's not that annoying when you only do it ones a week. In our first year, you never stopped.”

Hermione shrugged and turned back to Harry “To answer your questions. Fine, yes, yes and yes extremely. It's why I was gone for so long, I had a lot to make up for.” Hermione nodded toward the castle “Let's start walking, I'll tell you what happened on the way.”

Harry nodded and the foursome started towards the main entrance. “I can understand that. Not that I don't understand why you did it.. It was a bit of a lose, lose situation.”

“Yes, but after I explained they did understand. They even said they were proud of me for staying with you, for fighting. But they were really disappointed because I never told them. So, I asked them if they would have agreed to my plan and they said no. Which is really understandable. Everything they know of our world, I told them.. And I edited quite a bit. The truth would only have worried them, and it wasn't as if they could do anything about it. They had no idea what our world was really like, there was so much they didn't know. So, I figured it was time they learned. I convinced them to come with me and apparated them to this oasis I'd seen on my way there. We spend several nights there, with nothing but my wand and whatever I could transfigure. Though, I did go back to the town to get us some food. I told them everything, all the little details. I even showed them the Imperius curse on a beetle. When I told them about Cruciatus, it took half an hour for my mother to calm down. Dad lost it when I explained that there were quite a few wizards and witches who could use Avada Kedavra. He wasn't at all impressed by the lies I had told..”

Ron scoffed “It wasn't like there was anything they could do, you are a muggle-born witch, you were always a target. Telling them the truth would only have worried them.”

Hermione nodded “That was exactly what I told them. It made my mother feel guilty.. Said it was their fault that I was muggle-born. Which was ridiculous of course. There is nothing wrong with my blood status, in fact, blood status shouldn't even exists. Dad and I both told her that it wasn't any of our fault that evil morons like the death-eaters exist. Anyway, after I told them everything, two weeks had gone by. Eventually, we came to an agreement that they would take my advice to heart when it came to magic if I promised never to hide things from them again. Though, they did mention that, if they ever had to leave the country again, they would try to convince me to come with them with everything they had, but they would go if I told them it was necessary. Ooh, and my dad threatened to take me over his knee for a good old fashioned spanking if I ever erased myself from their memories again.”

Ron sputtered a few times and was about to say something when Hagrid came walking towards them. “Harry!” The gigantic man came lumbering up the hill towards them. His arms wide, as if he was planning on grabbing Harry in a bone crushing hug.

Harry grinned and went to him, trying and failing to return the hug. “Hello Hagrid.”

Hagrid let go and looked at him “I'm glad yer here. I'm afraid the new headmistress can use yer help.”

“Yeah, she send me an owl. I wasn't sure what it was about though.”

Hagrid nodded “Yeh better go then, she'll be waitin' for yah.”

After they promised to meet Hagrid later for tea, they waved goodbye and walked on to the Headmistress' office. Hermione broke their companionable silence “So, Harry, what have you been up to while I was gone?”

Ron groaned “He's been looking for Snape.”

Both Ginny and Hermione stared at him, which made Harry rather uncomfortable. “Uh, yeah I was.. Found him last week.”

Now Ron was staring to. “You found him and didn't tell me?”

Harry shrugged. “I figured you didn't really care either way..”

“I don't.. I just.. thought you would keep me informed you know?”

“Ah, I'm sorry. I just assumed you heard about it.. What with the article and all..”

Next to Harry, Ginny let out a soft chuckle “He only reads the articles that mention him.”

Harry give her a mischievous smile “So.. does that mean you read the article? Since I was in it and all..”

Ginny blushed “I would never get anything done if I had to read every article that mentioned you.”

Hermione grinned “Yes, they pay an inordinate amount of attention to Harry.”

Ron nodded “They even mentioned him in an article about the next season of the Chudley Cannons. Not that you aren't an amazing seeker Harry, it's just that they spend a whole paragraph on how much you could do for the team, and you haven't even finished school yet.”

“I've noticed. They did it in the article about Snape too, it's extremely annoying. Anyway, Snape turned up at his house last week. I've been visiting but he hasn't really said much.”

Hermione nodded “I suppose it's quite the change for him. Now that he's no longer spying I mean.”

“Hmm, I think so. Like I said, he hasn't spoken much.”

“But he's fine physically? There was no lasting damage from the wounds or poison?”

“I don't think so.”

Hermione hummed “I wonder who saved him.”

Harry pursed his lips “He mentioned something about an elf.”

“Maybe you should talk to the school elfs. They might know if an unfamiliar elf entered the grounds that.”

“The shrieking shack isn't on Hogwarts ground, Ron.”

“Yeah, but they could still know..”

“Why would they? You don't even notice if an unfamiliar witch or wizards enters the room.”

As Ron and Hermione started bickering they fell back, leaving Harry walking alone with Ginny. After an awkward silence, he asked “So.. What have you been doing?”

Ginny lifted a shoulder “Not much. Mostly helping the family. With Dad's new job and Mum busy with Fred, there's a lot to do around the house.”

Harry nodded “At least all the repair work is done. Your brothers should never be allowed to be near any kind of construction again. It was a good thing your father and Charlie were there or I would have been buried under a bunch of rubble.”

“Yeah, I heard about that.. In fact, I think everyone in St. Mungo's heard about that. Mum was not happy when she found out.”

“So..” Harry rubbed the back of his head nervously “How have you been doing?”

Ginny gave him a strange look “I'm fine, Harry. I'm not the one running away.”

Harry opened and closed his mouth, shook his head and stared at her. “You always change the subject to Quidditch...”

“Because I didn't want to have that conversation in public. You could have asked to talk to me in private at any given time.”

“You're always on the other side of the room!”

“Well yes, if I was on your side of the room I would be surrounded by people and we'd have no chance in hell of having a private conversation.

Harry groaned “Seriously Gin? You weren't trying to avoid me?”

“Not at first, no.. Lately, yes.” She looked down at her shoes and mumbled something Harry didn't catch.

Instead of asking what she said, Harry put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her to a stop. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her. It was heaven, as it always had been. Letting her go just as quickly as he´d grabbed her, he smiled down at her lovely face. “We'll talk after we've seen McGonagall.”

Smiling brightly, Ginny nodded and they continued through the castle. They got to the statue and waited for Ron and Hermione to catch up. Now that they had agreed to talk soon, the silence was not nearly as uncomfortable as it had been. By the time the two love birds arrived, holding hand and grinning like fools, both Harry and Ginny were leaning against the wall, smiling at their own thoughts.

When they were all there, the statue told them the headmistress was waiting for them and started moving. They stepped on the staircase and waited for it to rise. Getting to the top, Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the sight that greeted them. The new headmistress was sitting behind her desk, buried knee deep in parchment. She was looking between at least ten different scrolls, as if comparing them. Her hat was listing to the right and her glasses were standing crooked on her nose.

She looked up when Hermione cleared her throat. Righting her clothes quickly, the headmistress cleared her desk with a swish of her wand. “Oh good, you're here. Come in, have a seat.” She frowned at the chair on the other side of her desk and, with a few quick movements of her wand, she replicated three more.

All four of them sat down, glancing at each other, uncertain of what to think of McGonagall's current state of affairs. Eventually, Hermione asked “Is everything all right, ma’am?”

The headmistress sighed and nodded “There is a lot to be sorted out. Now that most of the big construction work is done, it's time for me to go through the possibilities for next year.”

“Aah.” Hermione nodded sagely “Is it hard to find new teachers? There are three open positions, right ma'am?”

“Indeed miss Granger. But that is well on it's way to be sorted out. It's the students that pose the problem.”

“How so?” Ginny asked, suddenly very interested.

“Because of last year, we will have twice as many muggle-borns coming this year, which means about three extra students in each house. That wouldn't have been such a big problem, were it not for the fact that a lot of students will have to redo one or more parts from last year. Some missed so much they will have to redo a whole year. Not to mention all the students that didn't get a chance to sit their N.E.W.T.s last year.”

“Well, there will be a lot less Slytherins.” Ron smiled slightly.

Before any of them could tell Ron that, that wasn't funny, the headmistress said “Actually, most of the Slytherin students will be returning.” Giving Ron a stern look she added “And I expect that you compose yourself in a respectful manner. I do not want any trouble.”

Ron sputtered, rather indignantly “But.. But.. But some of them fought on his side. They were there and they fought with him.”

“I am aware of that Mr. Weasley. However, most of them are still children. In a time of crisis, they went to their parents, it was to be expected. But those parents are locked away or on the run and most of those children are left quite alone. Think about it Mr. Weasley, now that their parents are no longer there to guide them, do you think they will choose a better path if we lock them out?”

Ron led out an annoyed sigh but nodded “I suppose you're right.. At least with Malfoy on probation, he won't be returning.”

“Uuh, Ron..” Harry hesitated, his friend was not going to like this “Getting his N.E.W.T.s was part of his deal. He has to come back.”

Ron groaned and waved his hands in front of him “Okay, that's it. I'm not coming back to Hogwarts.”

“Honestly Ron, you have to get your N.E.W.T.s. You're not really thinking of quitting because Malfoy is returning are you?”

Ron folded his arms over his chest and huffed irritably.

“Actually” The headmistress cut in before they really got to arguing. “I have been trying to arrange an extra sitting in December for those who should have graduated last year.”

Hermione's eyes grew as she stared at McGonagall “But that's in a few months...”

“Calm down miss Granger, it will be your choice whether you wish to take them in December or June.”

“Why December? Does that mean we still have to come to school for a semester?” Ron asked

The headmistress nodded “That too will be your choice. I believe that you are all old enough to decide if you need the classes. After all, you should have been looking for a job by now.”

Ron grinned “So, I can get my N.E.W.T.s without having to take classes? Wicked.”

Rolling her eyes Hermione said “And how many N.E.W.T.s do you think you'll get without classes?”

“That's why I have you, 'Mione. You'll teach me what I need to know, won't you?”

Hermione huffed and turned back to the headmistress “Will there be special classes for the students that want to take their N.E.W.T.s in December?”

“Most of the teachers have agreed to reserve an hour or two each week for those students that wish to go over the N.E.W.T. subjects. But you will be expected to study on your own.”

“Most?”

“We have a full schedule Miss Weasley. To many students and not enough time.”

“Why not ask some of the students to help out? I think we did fairly well last year.. With the cooperation of the teachers, we could help.” In her enthusiasm, Ginny leaned so far forward that she almost toppled to the floor.

“Yes, we could. We did it when that toad was teaching.” Hermione added, already excited at the prospect.

The headmistress smiled at Harry “That's why I asked you to meet me.”

Harry blinked “Me?”

She nodded “We have discussed the possibility of teaching assistants that can help out with the younger students. Not all professors feel the need for one, but there are a few that would more than welcome help. One of those professors asked for you.”

Curious now, Harry asked “Who?”

“Professor Slughorn.”

Harry snorted “I'm sorry but no, no way. Not only am I not that good at potions, I would never subject myself to first year potions classes.”

McGonagall chuckled “How about Defence Against the Dark Arts, would you be willing to help out there?”

Harry thought that over. He was good at the subject and it might by fun.. It would take up a lot of his time but it could also help him with his own studies. It would be a sort of revision, wouldn't it? And he'd already read most of the seventh year texts during all the, generally boring, time they'd had while camping out. “Who is the professor?”

“That's the other reason I asked you to come.”

Harry stared at her, for a long moment before he realized what she meant and he groaned. “Professor Snape..”

The headmistress nodded “Poppy showed me the results of the diagnostic spell you used on him, is he truly recovering so well?”

“I don't know. When I visited earlier today, he still hadn't left his bedroom but his wounds look completely healed. As far as I could see without pissing him off, there wasn't even a single scar left.”

“Do you think he will be completely healed before school resumes?

Harry shot an apologetic glance at his friends “I don't think the professor would appreciate it if I discussed his well being in front of others..”

“Hmm, you're right. You can come and talk to me after you've settled in. You're all staying for a few days, are you not?”

Harry, Ron and Ginny nodded but Hermione shook her head “My parents have just returned and didn't want me staying somewhere else for the night. I will return in the morning.”

“That's all right, you can use my flu if you wish.”

Hermione nodded gratefully, than she asked, her voice full of hope “Can I ask if I was asked to be a TA?”

McGonagall gave her a sympathizing look, one that quickly changed to optimism “Actually, I was wondering if you could set up another club, something similar to the DA, but for all the classes.”

Hermione frowned and glanced at Harry “Harry was our leader..”

“Yeah but Hermione, that's just because of who I am. I really don't need the hassle of setting up something like that..” He looked at McGonagall “You are talking about a school wide study group right? So that there will be someplace where students can go to get help and catch up on everything they've missed because of the war?”

When the headmistress nodded Harry grinned at Hermione “That would take a hell of a lot of work. You'd have to find students willing to help and figure out who can help with what.. And you'd have to get the word to all the students. Though, I suppose that would be a lot easier now that it isn't a secret.”

Hermione pursed her lips in thought “I'd have to set up some kind of sign-up sheet. Students could write down what they want to learn and older students, maybe even professors, could just check the list and make an appointment with the student. We'd have to find some award system for the teachers, I doubt many N.E.W.T. or O.W.L. students would give up the time for free.. And we'd have to find some safe place to practice. And what about potions, that would be too dangerous without a teacher..”

The headmistress smiled “You might be able to convince professor Slughorn to supervise that part. Take some time to consider all the options, we can discuss the details later.”

Hermione nodded, a faraway look on her face.

“Who are the other TA's, professor?”

“I can't tell you that, as we have not yet spoken to them. But the board of governors would only allow those that should have graduated last year to take the post. So I'm sorry to say that you won't be one of the Miss Weasley.”

Ginny just nodded but Ron said, outraged on his sisters account “But we've had just as much school as Ginny. Why shouldn't she be allowed to be a TA?”

McGonagall sighed “It is mostly because this way it can only be for one year. They can overlook adult students teaching the first few years in a time of need. It would be another case entirely if it became normal.”

“I understand, I don't really want to teach. It's not really for me. I was just wondering who would be chosen over Hermione..”

The headmistress smiled “For now, only professor Slughorn, professor Sprout and I will be working with a TA. While miss Granger is the brightest witch in the school, she is not the most gifted in any of those subjects.”

Hermione's head shot up, eyes wide “I'm not the best in Transfiguration?”

“You have the best grades. Both your theoretical tests and practical application are usually flawless. That however, does not make you a natural in the subject.”

Hermione was frowning but Harry nodded “She's right 'Mione. You're a natural with texts. I'm sure that you would have been chosen as TA for History of Magic or Ancient Runes. In a way, you're really lucky, you need texts for every subject. My awesomeness in Defence never helped me in any of the other subjects.”

Ron snorted “And yet, Slughorn asked you for Potions..”

Harry waved that away “And we both know why.”

The headmistress gave him a quizzical look but didn't inquire as to what that reason was. “I think it's about time for you youngsters to settle in.”

“But you haven't told us why you invited us to come!” Ron protested.

“Aah, yes. Almost forgot that part. I invited the four of you because we needed a few extra hands to help with the last bit of restorations. We have some help from town but there is quite a lot left to do.”

Hermione worried her lower lip between her teeth “Why ask us? Aren't there more qualified people to do the work?”

The headmistress shrugged “It was suggested by Albus. Who am I to argue with a painting. Now, of you go.” She waved her hands towards the door. “The passport for the tower is simply Gryffindor.”

After a look at the old headmaster's portrait, which was currently snoozing, Harry stood up and followed his friends. Before Harry could step in the rotating staircase, she added “And Mr. Potter, come join me for lunch in an hour.”

They arrived at the empty tower a few minutes later. Ron dragged Hermione up the stairs with some lame excuse while Harry dropped in an armchair with a sigh. Ginny sat on the couch and gave him a long look. “So, are we going to talk?”

Harry forced a smile, trying to hide how nervous he was “What do you want to talk about?”

She rolled her eyes and let out an aggravated sigh “About what's going on with us, obviously.”

“What is it you want to be going on?”

She groaned and slouched back on the couch “I want things to be like they were last year, before you broke up with me.”

He gave her a genuine smile “All right, done.”

Ginny gave him a disbelieving glare “You left me, Harry. You went of with your friends to go god knows where, to do god knows what, and left me behind. How can things ever be the same after that?”

“Gin, please.. You know why I had to go, it was the only way.”

“I know and I'm not mad about it. I'm just worried about what happens the next time. You want to be an Auror, you'll be out there every day. I can't be with you if you're just going to break up to me the next time some maniac is after you.”

“But I'm not even sure I still want to be an Auror.”

“Harry, you're born to be an Auror. You might not be certain right now but we both know you'll end up being an Auror.”

“I might decide to play professional Quidditch. You heard Ron, they're already talking about me in the magazines.”

She gave a short snort “I give it two years before you quit in favour of the Auror office.”

“You think I can't hack it on a professional team?”

“Oh, you'd do fine on the field. It's all the publicity that comes with it that would drive you of. But all of that is beside the point. Let's face the facts, Harry. What you did last month makes you number one on a whole lot of kill-lists, most notably all those death-eaters that are running free. One way or the other, someone will come after you again. It might not be this year or even the next, but at some point you will be in danger and you'll leave me, again.”

Harry worried his lower lip, afraid there was no way to convince her that he wouldn't do that again. Then a thought came to him “I've show you the Marauders Map before right?” When Ginny nodded he sat forward and took one of her hands. “Last summer, I was thinking of loaning it to you. We wouldn't have had any use for it, but it could have helped you keep an eye on the Carrows. You know why I didn't?” A shake of her head “Because I wanted to keep an eye on you. I could have given you something that would help you stay safe, but I didn't because then I wouldn't have anything that connected me to you. If you let me back into your life, I'm never letting you go again.”

Ginny gave him a sweet smile and stood up. She sat down on his lap and kissed his cheek “Alright Potter, let's give it another try. But don't think that everything is fine now. I may not be mad about last year but I'm not happy about it either.”

Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in the crook of her neck “Tell me how I can earn your forgiveness.”

She chuckled and shook her head “I'll let you know when I come up with something, okay?”

He nodded and hugged her closer. He had is girl back. It didn't matter that she was still peeved about the whole break up. It didn't matter that she thought he would eventually leave her again. He would show her that she was wrong, make it all right again, no matter how long it took. For now, Harry just wanted to hold her close and be happy.

They stayed wrapped together in the armchair until Ron and Hermione walked back into the common room half an hour later. Harry noticed their mussed hair but decided not to comment. There was no way he wanted the mental picture that the answer to his comment about their time in the dorm would create. Instead, he grinned at his two best friends, ignoring the way Ron zeroed in on his sister, who was still sitting on Harry's lap. Looking at his watch he said “So, I have to go see McGonagall in 20 minutes.. What are we going to do until then?”

“But lunch has already started.” Ron whined.

Hermione slapped the back of his head lightly “Don't be a prick, Ron. Lunch will still be there in half an hour.”

“Ow, that hurt..” Ron rubbed the back of his head “Why don't we play a game of chess then, if I can't eat.”

Harry didn't really want to, it meant he had to let Ginny go, but he agreed anyway. He hadn't played in a while. Ron got his chess set and they started playing.

Ten minutes later, Harry was staring at the board, ignoring the shouts coming from his pieces, when he remembered why he hadn't played in so long. Ron always beat him, no matter what he tried.. And Harry never got any better. Before he could tell Ron he gave up, his king threw his crown on the ground and walked away.

Ginny and Hermione chuckled but Ron was looking at the piece with some concern. “They aren't supposed to do that, a chess-piece can't just quit.. Only a player can decide that..”

Harry shrugged “There wasn't a single move I could have made that wouldn't lead to a stalemate. Unless you were planning on missing a move.. We've been playing with these pieces for years, they probably know by now that you would have won with your next move.”

“Can I play the next game? Against Ron..” Ginny asked, already moving to sit on Harry's lap.

Looking over her shoulder, Harry saw Ron nod, while he narrowed his eyes at Harry. Deciding to ignore his friend, Harry leaned his head in Ginny's shoulder and watched them set up the board. His pieces looked relieved when they noticed Harry wasn't the one playing.

Another ten minutes later and the board looked decidedly different. Ginny, it turned out, wasn't at all bad at the game. She was still being beaten by Ron, but she was putting up an amazing fight. Harry wanted to stay and watch but decided against it. Being late for a meeting with the Headmistress would not be a good idea. Giving Ginny a kiss on her cheek, he stood up with her in still his arms. Putting her back on her feet, he gave her another kiss before he said goodbye to his friends and left.

When he arrived at the statue that allowed entrance to the headmistress’s office, it started moving without a word. Stepping on the rising staircase, Harry waited.

The headmistress was still sitting behind her desk, bend over some parchment. Though this time, she didn't look nearly as frazzled as before and there was a platter of sandwiched on his side of the desk. Grabbing one of the sandwiches, he sat down and waited for the Headmistress to speak.

McGonagall finished whatever she was doing, took one of the sandwiches and sat back with a satisfied look on her face. “So, Mr Potter. Tell me about Severus, how is he really doing?”

Harry shrugged “He's recovering well, at least physically. All his wounds have closed, there was barely a scar left. Emotionally though, I'm not certain..”

The headmistress gave him an inquiring look. “What do you mean? Is he not himself?”

“Well, it's more that he doesn't talk. He has been laying in his bed for almost two weeks now. If he needs something to drink or eat, he summons it. I have a feeling he hasn't even noticed that Kreacher has been making preparing his meals.”

“How often do you visit?”

“I have been going every day. He usually lets me talk for an hour or so before he tells me to leave him alone.”

“Does he listen when you're talking?”

Harry took another bite of him sandwich before he answered “I think so but I can't be certain. As I said, he rarely says anything. If he hasn't left his room the next time I go to visit, I don't know what else I can do..”

“You gave him a reason to leave his bed?”

“I brought him some of my memories when I dropped of the flask with his..”

The headmistress stared at him for a long moment “Why would you do that?”

Harry shrugged one shoulder “I thought, maybe giving him some of my own memories would make him feel better.. You know, mutually assured destruction. He doesn't talk about my memories, I don't talk about his.”

“I saw Severus' memories, may I ask what you gave him?”

“Something very similar to his. I gave him some of my childhood memories, a bit of my time here and finished it off with the final battle.”

The headmistress sighed “Your childhood.. It wasn't much better than what I saw in Severus' memories, was it?”

“It was better, but not by much. I was never beating like that..” Harry gave the headmistress a small smile “I will tell you about it some other time if you wish.”

She nodded slowly “Right, so long as you tell me if there is anything I can do for you.”

“Don't worry professor. I'm perfectly safe and happy these days, I've moved into my own home and haven't seen my aunt and uncle since last year.”

“Which house did you choose? The Potters own several properties if I'm not mistaken.”

“I moved into Potter Park, where my father grew up.”

“You might want to visit the town-house in London, it's where they spend all but the summer holidays.”

Harry grinned “That's good to know.”

“I thought so. Now, about Professor Snape. As I mentioned, I spoke with Poppy about his health. She seemed to be convinced that he would not be strong enough to take on a full class schedule in time for the school year. In fact, she tried to convince me that Severus should not return for at least another year. I disagree but since I haven't seen him yet, I was wondering what you thought.”

Harry pursed his lips in thought. “On one hand, I agree with Madam Pomfrey. You saw him at the end, he looked completely exhausted and defeated. But on the other hand.. I don't think staying at his home is going to do him any good.”

“Would you be willing to teach the first three or four years if he returned?”

“If he's okay with it, yes.”

“Do you think you can convince him to agree?”

Shrugging again, Harry grabbed another sandwich “That depends on his reaction to the memories I gave him. But I'll do my best.”

McGonagall took that as a promise and, after telling him to inform her once Harry had spoken with Snape, they moved on to other subjects. They talked for a bit longer. The headmistress told him of all the work that was already done and still had to be done. They spoke a bit about the ministry and the trials. When they finished their lunch, the headmistress told him to speak with Professor Flitwick about what they could do to help out.

Harry was just about to leave the office when the painting of Professor Dumbledore woke up and stopped him with a soft “Harry.”

Harry stopped and turned to give the painting a quizzical look.

“Don't give up of Severus. Now that I can no longer help him, he needs someone else to push through that wall he keeps between himself and the rest of the world.”

Harry sighed but nodded “I understand, sir. I will do my best but I can't promise it will work.”

The portrait gave him a soft smile “Don't underestimate yourself, Harry. You have accomplished so much already, you can take on one more challenge, I'm sure of it.”

Harry scoffed “Getting Snape to listen isn't anywhere near as easy as defeating Riddle.. I'm no good with subtlety, we both know that.”

Dumbledore chuckled “Professor Snape has more than enough of that for the both of you. Just don't give up Harry, that's all that I'm asking. It may take a while, but the two of you would be good for each other.”

“How so?”

Albus let out an inaudible sigh “You are my boys, both of you. You are so similar and yet so different. You could learn a lot from him, as he could learn a lot from you.”

Harry nodded “I suppose I can understand that. Is that why you asked me to come here?”

He shook his head “No, no my boy. I told the headmistress to ask for you and your friends because I thought you could use some time away from the rest of the world. I heard you were keeping much too busy lately.”

Harry blinked a few times as he stared at the painting of the old headmaster. During his life, the man had always seemed to know much more than he should. Now that he was dead, his painting seemed to possess that same characteristic. It was creepy and comforting all at the same time. “I'm not certain how to respond to that..”

The portrait shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “No need to respond my boy. Just go find your friends and make sure to keep that pretty redhead of yours happy.”

Harry grinned and nodded. Leaving the Headmistress' office slightly perturbed. Had Albus' portrait actually asked for them to come just to ensure Harry had to spend some time with Ginny? That was simply weird in to many ways.

The rest of the day, all four of them were kept busy doing Flitwick's bidding. They cleaned around the castle, painted a few walls that had been damaged, and removed some stray pieces of stone and wood from the lawn. Most of the following few days involved much of the same. While all the big work was already done, there were so many little jobs left that all four worked from morning till evening.

Most of it was simple work that Harry enjoyed a lot after all the complicated tasks of the past year. The only damper on their time at Hogwarts was the first time Harry entered the Great hall. During his past visits, he had either avoided the space or had been too busy to really think about it. This time though, he was just about to sit down for dinner when it hit him. Almost a month earlier, he had killed someone only a few feet away. Technically he hadn't done the killing, since it had been Riddle's spell that had killed him, but that didn't make much of a difference. It wasn't the first person he had killed, that honour went to Quirrell, but it was the most reported on. Everyone in the wizarding world had heard of his victory, and they all hailed him a hero because of it. To Harry though, it was nothing but cold blooded murder and he hated it. He wasn't the kind of person who killed without remorse. Hell, he hadn't even smashed the spiders that used to crawl all over him in his cupboard. He hadn't eaten that evening, all his appetite gone with the realization of where he was and what had happened there.

His friends had talked to him for over an hour before they'd gone to bed. They had tried to help him, make him feel less guilty, but it hadn't worked. They couldn't understand what it was like. They had fought and done amazing things during the war, but none of them had ever had to kill anyone. He needed to talk to someone who understood but had no idea who that person might be. Harry had slept badly and the next morning, he still wasn't really hungry. It took several meals of sitting in silence, without eating, for Harry's appetite to return. He still wasn't over the bad feeling but he was learning to deal. Every day it became easier to enter the hall, though his eyes still moved to the spot that now showed no sign of the dead that had taken place there. He could only hope that, by the time that school resumed, he had dealt with all the residual mixed feelings he had left.

It had been a week since Harry had last gone to visit Snape. He'd planned to be back earlier but had ended up spending six days at Hogwarts. The others would stay for another day to help with the last bit of clean-up, but Harry had decided that he needed to go. He needed to visit Snape and find out how he was doing. More importantly, whether the memories Harry had left him had some kind of influence on the man's behaviour. If nothing else, he hoped it had made Snape see that Harry wasn't whom the man believed him to be.

When he apparated into the hallway of the house on Spinners End, he was accosted by the most horrific smelling smoke. Unable to see his own outstretched hand, he turned and opened the front door. While the smoke cleared slowly he walked toward the living room, opened the windows and waited until it was all clear, before he closed the front door again. Leaving the windows open, he walked around the house slowly, trying to find the source of the obnoxious fumes. He finally noticed the slivers of smoke escaping from the sides of one of the bookcases.

After nearly 10 minutes of searching found the right combination to open the hidden door, he walked down the stairs. He had wondered where Snape brewed his potions while he was in his home, but had decided it would be better not to search. Now it seemed, he had no choice but to descent into the potions master's laboratory. When he was at the bottom of the stairs, the first thing he noticed was the professor, standing behind his desk with his head bend downwards. Next was the potion that was bubbling over the sides of the cauldron, spewing the nasty smoke in big whiffs every few seconds. The professor didn't seem to notice. Harry waved his wand to douse the fire and vanished the ruined potion. Snape still hadn't moved. Taking several hesitant steps forward he looked down at the spot Snape seemed to be studying intensely, and gasped when he saw the picture that lay there. It was a picture of his mother and Snape. It seemed to be taken not long before their fight started. In it, Snape was standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her. While his mother waved at the camera, Snape planted a kiss on her cheek making her giggle like a school girl. Harry was about to ask a question when Snape's head snapped up. They looked at each other for a long moment, neither of them speaking.

That was, until Snape hissed and caused the picture to go up in flames with a wave of his wand. He then proceeded to clean up the table and pushed past Harry up the stairs. Letting out a heavy sigh, Harry followed and sat down on the couch opposite of Snape. They glared at each other for long moments before Snape finally broke the silence. “You were supposed to die.” There was no venom in the words, not even the slightest bit of hatred or annoyance. It was just a statement, devoid of any emotion at all.

Harry shrugged “So were you.”

“I did die. Some wretched elf brought me back.” This time, the disgust was clear on Snape's face. Making Harry wonder whether the man hated elfs or the fact that he had been brought back from death. He didn't ask though, Snape wouldn't answer anyway.

“I saw Dumbledore, he gave me a choice.” Harry said honestly. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was Snape. Even if the hatred between them would never go away, Harry couldn't lie to the man, not about the war.

Snape just nodded, as if he understood what Harry meant. Harry doubted he did, but didn't say any more on the subject. If Snape was satisfied with the answer that was fine with Harry.

“I want to see the rest of what happened that night.”

Harry grimaced, he didn't exactly want to recall any of it, but lifted his wand anyway. Snape however, stopped him before he could extract the memory. “Not now. I'm still enjoying the end, I'd rather not spoil it with whatever came before.”

Harry smirked and nodded “All right, you may ask any time.”

“You used Expelliarmus.” Snape's lips twitched as if he wanted to smile, causing Harry to role his eyes at the professor.

“Yes, once again your lessons saved the day.”

Snape actually laughed at that, shaking his head. “How in Merlin's name did you defeat him with a simple disarming charm?”

Harry thought about that for a moment. He wasn't sure if he should tell anyone about the Hallows. They were too dangerous. Then he shrugged, he'd promised himself to tell Snape the truth and so he would. Besides, he'd already mentioned the wand during the duel. “He tried to kill you to win the loyalty of that wand. He believed it was loyal to you because you killed Dumbledore.” Harry paused at that. Thinking it over, it may not have been the best thing to tell Snape the truth. Dumbledore had meant to go down undefeated. He had meant for Snape to kill him and let the wand's power end there. Had Draco not disarmed him first, it would have worked. Harry would have lost and Snape would still have been killed for no good reason. It wouldn't do any good for Snape to know the truth. But then, it would do no good to lie either. “Draco disarmed him before you arrived. I disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor..”

Snape nodded slowly “The wand was yours.. I suppose we are lucky that Albus' plan did not work as he had wished.”

Harry nodded. In the past year, Harry had come to realise that the revered professor had made more than a few mistakes. At first, it hadn't been easy for Harry to admit that. But now, after all he'd been through, Harry had decided that it didn't matter. Dumbledore had done the best he could and, in the end, it had all worked out, sort of. That however, did not mean he wanted to discuss the headmaster with Snape.

“Minerva wanted me to ask if you were planning on returning to Hogwarts.” So, maybe not the most subtle change of subject, but as long as it worked..

Snape raised an eyebrow “You are calling professors by their first name now?”

Harry rolled his eyes “Only the Headmistress and only outside of class or detention or whatever. Apparently, you're not supposed to refer to colleagues as professor.”

For a moment Snape just stared at him. Then he let out a long suffering sigh “You are a professor now?”

Harry shook his head “Teachers assistant. The new DADA teacher hasn't completely recovered so Minerva asked me to teach the first through third years for as long as necessary.”

Snape nodded “And which idiot would be stupid enough to take you as an assistant?”

Harry's lip twitched “Well, you of course.”

Snape opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and just stared. He shook his head and went to the kitchen. Harry decided to remain on the couch and wait for the professor to return. He looked around, scanning the books. Hermione would love to be allowed to peruse them, even Harry would be very happy to get his hands on some of the books. In fact, he would have read them while Snape was still attached to his bed, had he not been certain that the professor would notice if he so much as touched one of the spines.

Snape returned with a cup of tea and sat back down, his face blank. Drinking slowly, he glared at Harry. “What if I refuse?”

“Minerva said to tell you, and I quote, 'he can either come back part time or he cannot come back at all.'”

“And let you teach all of the Defence classes?” Snape sounded incredulous.

“No. Some of the Aurors have agreed to help out with the forth to seventh years, at least until Minerva can find someone else.”

“So, no matter what I do, you will be teaching the first through third years.”

Harry nodded “Until someone fit enough to teach all the classes comes a long.”

“And who decided that I was not?”

“Madam Pomfrey. After everything that happened, especially last year, she believes you need at least a year to relax.”

“And I suppose you agreed?”

Harry chuckled. “No. I think you should return regardless of your health. You are well enough to walk, you will be well enough to teach. But, Madam Pomfrey was quite clear, you may not return unless you take on a TA.”

“I should be happy that you offered to take the job, is that it?”

“No, I would be happy if you accepted.”

“Why is that?”

Harry lifted a shoulder “I need Defence if I want to become an Auror. It may be my best subject but I'm not stupid enough to think I can get my N.E.W.T without a decent teacher.”

“You got your O.W.L. without decent teachers in the subject.”

“Only because we had the DA and help from students ahead of us.”

“Ah, yes. Your little defence group. They were quite the nuisance last year.”

“They saved a lot of students from the Carrows.”

Snape nodded “Yes, but they could have done that without constantly aggravating them and me.”

Harry smiled “True, but they had to keep up the moral. They may not have been in the middle of the war, but they, like so many others, were being hunted and killed. There were eleven year old children being used as practise dummies.”

Snape hissed “I'm aware.”

Harry sighed “They understand, you know. Why you couldn't help them. I think Ginny and Neville realised something was up after you send them to the forest.”

“As if I care what they understand.” Snape sneered, and took another sip of his tea.

Harry grinned, he really didn't mind Snape's surliness any more. After everything that they had been through, he actually appreciated it. The constant happiness of everyone around him got annoying pretty fast. Now that Fred was doing better, even the Weasley's were getting back to their usually cheer. “I really don't care if you care. I'm telling you anyway. Most people I have spoken to agree, they may not like you, but they want you back as their professor”

“Why?”

“Because you're a hero now. They know what you did and they appreciate it. What's more, they want to see for themselves, whether you are really on their side.”

Snape scoffed “You should never have told them about my part.”

Harry shrugged “I thought you were dead. I needed something to annoy Riddle and I really didn't want everyone to believe you were evil. After everything, you deserve better.”

“Yes, but was it necessary to tell them about Lily?”

Harry let out a long breath. He hadn't thought the man would bring up his mother for a while yet. Harry hadn't decided whether he even wanted to speak about his mother with Snape. “I'm sorry about that. If it's any consolation, I didn't actually say that you loved her.”

Snape grumbled something Harry didn't catch, clearly still uncomfortable about anyone knowing his secrets. “What makes you think I want to go back to teaching. You must have noticed that it was never exactly my calling.”

“You have no choice. You were their headmaster while Riddle was running the school. Right now, everyone wants to believe me when I say you were a spy. But we both know how fast public opinion can change, especially since I don't have a reputation anywhere near as long standing as professor Dumbledore's. You need to return to Hogwarts and show them that you are not evil.”

“And who told you I'm not? Have you not been paying any attention during my classes? I'm not what one would call the epitome of goodness.”

“You spend the last three years spying on Voldemort. You could convince a bunch of students you crap gold if you wanted to.”

Snape snorted, the corners of his mouth twitching “With Voldemort I knew what I was getting. Students are unpredictable and annoying at their best, downright moronic and dangerous at their worst.”

“You don't have to like them, or get them to like you. You just have to teach them without scaring them to their graves and get their respect. It really isn't that hard.”

“You seem to have developed an extreme case of memory loss. I have worked on my image for over a decade, fear is my trademark. As for respect, name one student who actually knows what that means.”

“I have always respected those professors that were able to teach and treat everyone fairly.”

“As if the golden boy has ever been treated like everyone else.”

Letting out a long sigh, Harry leaned back. “I thought we were over this. You may be right when it comes to some people, but there were more than enough professors that treated me just like they did everyone else. And just to be clear, you were not one of them.” Pausing for a second, Harry bit his lip and added “Though your treatment was exactly the same as most of the adults in my life before Hogwarts.”

Snape's expression didn't change as he said “My apologies. You are right, we are over this. I may not be convinced that you are actually likeable but that does not mean I should make assumptions. I should not have done so in the first place.” He took another sip of his tea, than asked “How do you propose I go about changing the image I have cultivated for the past decade in a single year?”

“You're the Slytherin, aren't you guys supposed to be cunning?”

Snape gave Harry a smile that looked distinctly smug “You would have been in my house had you not been so stubborn. Show me why the hat would have done that.”

“Accept the offer and come see how I deal with firsties.”

Snape actually chuckled at that “That's an enticing bribe, a good laugh might be worth another year teaching defence.”

“You don't want to teach the subject?”

Snape lifted an eyebrow, as if to say 'are you serious', than decided to explain. “I am a potions master. If I must teach, I would rather be in a potions class than defence. He was the one that wanted me in that post.” Snape scoffed and shook his head “I kept asking for it after that night because Albus kept employing idiots while refusing me. It was annoying, and more than a little insulting.”

Harry could barely caught the chuckle, turning it into a slight cough he asked. “You want to teach Potions even though you have to deal with dunderhead first years that could blow up a cauldron before adding the first ingredient?”

“I don't want to teach at all. I applied to the be a spy, the teaching position came with it.”

“Than what do you want to do?”

For a second, Snape looked as if he wanted to tell Harry to mind his own business. Then answered “I would like to spend my time on research and development. I was always rather good at inventing and perfecting potions and spells.”

Harry smiled and nodded, remembering the side notes in his old potions book. “I learned more useful information from you than I did from any of my other professors. And that was when every single one of the other professors thought me ten times as much than you ever did. You're smart and you have a rather unique outlook on life.. If you put some energy into actually trying to teach instead of maintaining your legend as the Great Bat, you could help a lot of students.”

Snape blinked a few times than shook his head “I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult.. Either way, I already told you, I'd rather not spend energy on students at all.”

Harry sat forward and narrowed his eyes “Al right, you asked for it.. Years ago, you agreed to spy of Albus out of guilt. You wanted to make up for your mistakes. What better way to continue doing so than by spending part of your time teaching students. You can spend time in your lab while I'm teaching and you might just be able to get more people besides me backing you. I can't imagine you like the fact that my statement is the only thing keeping the ministry's harpies of your back.”

Snape actually snarled “Riddle is death, I deserve peace.”

Harry cocked his head and tried to do that one eyebrow thing Snape did. “See, I believe that.. I told you in those memories, you've done enough. But you, you don't actually believe that, you still feel guilty.”

“Why push me into going back to that castle if you think I've done enough.”

Smiling, Harry shrugged “I think it might be good for you to go back for a year. I wonder how you'll do without the constant strain of spying or worrying about exploding cauldrons. You need a bit of normalcy in your life right now. Besides, you might find that there are some students worth teaching.”

Snape waved that away with a snort “I highly doubt it.”

“Yeah well, it doesn't really matter either way, does it? You'll accept anyway.”

“Oh?” Snape raised an eyebrow at him.

“Like I said, you're smart. You know it's your best option at the moment. Besides, you can quit whenever you want. There is really no reason not to accept at this point.”

“I'd say that giving the Headmistress an extra month to find someone else is reason enough.”

“She's still looking. Said she would keep looking for a new professor for potions as well as defence.”

“I assume Slughorn is staying on as potions professor until she found someone?”

Harry nodded “He'll also stay Head of Slytherin. We didn't think it would be a good idea to put you back in that position at this point.”

Snape's face twisted into a sneer “We?”

“Yeah well.. Minerva mentioned it and I agreed. Half of Slytherin was on Riddle's side, and now they know you weren't.. There are too many Death Eaters still out there and most of their children are in Slytherin. You and I will be their prime targets and we both know it.”

Snape scoffed and took another sip of his tea. Harry rather thought that the man was using the time to think it all over. Which was a new experience for Harry, Snape had always seemed to be ready with some kind of response for any situation. But then, Harry had never before tried to blackmail or guilt Snape into doing something.

When Snape lowered the cup he sat back with an intent look on his face. “I will agree to return for at least one more year.” He stated in that slow, bored voice of his. Then added a lot more emphatic “But let me be clear. I'm not doing this for any of the twisted reasons you came up with. I'm doing this because I made a vow and intent to keep it.”

Harry blinked a few times. “May I ask what vow?”

Lifting an eyebrow Snape drawled “Since you already did, I suppose it won't matter if I allow you to ask or not. But as you already know of it, I was alluding to the vow to keep you safe.”

“Riddle is death, there is no reason to continue guarding me.”

The Slytherin scoffed “You were fated to kill The Dark Lord, you were not fated to fight Death Eaters. You need someone to keep an eye on you until the others are caught.”

Shrugging, Harry leaned back on the couch and relaxed a bit. The hard part was done. Snape had agreed to return, the reason why didn't really matter. More importantly, the man was out of his bedroom and having an actual conversation with Harry. Now the only thing that was left, was for Harry to find some kind of common ground between the two of them. “So.. you saw the memories..”

Snape nodded slowly, but didn't speak. Instead, he watched Harry closely.

Feeling uncomfortable, Harry fidgeted for a bit before he asked “Are we okay now?”

“For now, yes. I misjudged you Potter. I will try not to repeat the mistake in the future.”

Harry smiled at him and nodded “That's good I suppose. Any comments or questions?”

Snape put his cup of tea to the side and nodded slowly “Why did you never tell anyone?”

“Why didn't you?”

“Because there was nobody to tell. You are Harry bloody Potter, The Golden Boy. There must have been someone that could have helped you. The Weasley's for example.”

Harry sighed “Yeah, I could have done that. But they have enough children to take care of, they don't need my troubles.. I tried to tell Dumbledore ones, it didn't go well.”

“You told Albus what was going on?” Snape frowned, obviously disturbed at the thought.

“Well no, not in so many words. I asked if there was a way I could go somewhere else for the summer. He made it quite clear I had no choice but to return to the Dursleys.”

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes in aggravation “You never told anybody why you didn't want to return, did you?”

Shaking his head, Harry bit his lip. He really didn't want to talk about any of that. Not with anyone but most definitely not with Snape. The man's childhood had been much worse than Harry's. It wasn't as if his uncle had beaten him on a regular basis. Harry would feel like he was whining if he had to talk to Snape about his family.

Snape didn't push. Instead, he changed to another subject completely. “How hard did you study for your O.W.L. in Potions?”

“Uuh..” Harry really didn't want to answer that, but was unable to find some reason to change the subject again. “I could probably have done better. I memorized some of the most likely potions to come up but I was mostly lucky..”

“Any why was that?” Snape's voice was sharp, but for once, he didn't sneer.

Harry sighed “You won't like the answer, sir.”

“I want to hear it anyway.”

“I never had much of a chance to practise any of the potions. With Malfoy throwing in stray ingredients and you vanishing half of my potions for no good reason; I figured my only chance was learning a few simple potions as best as I could and hope I had to brew one of them.”

“And your theoretical test? You had a E did you not?”

“I reread the material..”

“How often?”

Harry frowned, why was he so interested in Harry's study habits? It wasn't as if the man was going to teach him Potions again. Even if Snape went back to his normal behaviour, Harry was the best in Defence. “Ones. Why do you want to know?”

“You read the material ones and you got an E? And that is not important, just answer the questions.”

Harry sighed “Fine, I'll answer. And no, I read the material several times over the years, I just reread the material ones before the exam.”

Snape sighed deeply “Do you still remember how to brew an Invigoration Draught?”

Harry's eyes narrowed “Of course, sir. Had you actually looked at my potion instead of smashing it, even you would have given me an E on that one.”

Snape nodded at stood. “Then follow me.”

Harry groaned but did as he was asked. Snape opened the hidden bookcase door and the two went down into the laboratory. Snape sat down at the chair that stood to the right, near a big desk, and waved towards the stocked shelves and the cauldron. “Go ahead, show me.”

Harry frowned at the man, was he serious? Why the hell were they doing this? “You want me to brew an Invigoration Draught? Right now?”

When Snape simply nodded, Harry steadied himself and walked towards the shelves. It only took him a few moments to gather all of the ingredients and set them on the worktable. He was reasonably certain he hadn't forgotten anything and lined them all up in the correct order. Looking up, he noticed Snape was watching him closely. Harry started preparing the ingredients, and was soon adding and stirring. Snape kept watching Harry but didn't hover around him, and didn't make a single comment until Harry was done.

It took him only thirty minutes to finish the potion, which hadn't been a challenge the first time and wasn't now. Snape stood up and looked over his work with narrowed eyes. Then he stared at Harry for a long time, before he said with obvious reluctance “Exceeds Expectations. You need to be more careful when cutting cubes, they need to be even on all sides.”

Harry did a decent imitation of a fish, opening and closing his mouth. Then he shook his head “Uh.. Thank you, sir?”

Snape snorted and pointed towards a cabinet. “Bottle that potion while I clean this up.”

They worked quickly and silently. A few minutes later, Harry had five bottles of Invigoration Draught and the work bench was clean. Snape took the bottles, put them away and sat back on the chair. Harry leaned against the bench and tried to be patient while he waited for Snape to explain why he'd wanted Harry to brew the potion.

“Why did you crush the Shrivelfig? I believe the text tells you to cut it into fine slices.”

Harry shrugged “The potion needed the juice from the fig. The rest of the fig actually works against the strength of the draught. Crushing it allowed me to remove some of the fleshy stuff without leaving out any of the juice.”

Snape nodded slowly “I heard you could make a decent Draught of Living Death. I wonder if you can do it without my instructions.”

Harry sighed deeply, now he understood. Snape wanted to know if he'd actually learned anything useful from his book, besides lethal spells. There was no way the man didn't know that Harry had used his book, he'd known that for a while. But was he really going to show him the proof? Shrugging inwardly, Harry set to work. This one was a lot harder and when he got to the end, Snape had to remind him to add one more clockwise stir. Since he hadn't done the final parts of the potions, Harry wasn't really worried about that. Two hours had gone by before he had finished and lowered the fire. The Potion had to simmer for another hour before it was completely done. After cleaning his work space, Harry turned to Snape with an expectant look.

Snape stood up and glanced at the cauldron before he stared at Harry. “Even knowing that you read my notes, that is an impressive brew. And you are apparently capable of applying the knowledge on other potions..” He raked a hand through his hair in aggravation. “Explain how you never managed to produce anything even close to this level before. The notes in my book could not have helped that much.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “You mean, besides your hovering and Slytherin's throwing stray ingredients in my cauldron?”

“Obviously.” Snape drawled.

“I grew up with muggles. Potions has some similarities to chemistry and cooking, but there are some key differences. I never understood why something was cut in a certain way. Nor did I really consider the fact that sometimes, we add parts of ingredients that have little to no influence, or worse a negative effect on the potion, because it is easier or allows for a larger margin of error elsewhere. For the first few years, all we did was follow a set of instructions. Nobody ever explained how potions worked, what the ingredients did or how they worked together.”

“You were supposed to learn that while writing your essays.”

“Yeah, but I never did those right, did I?”

“Your handwriting is atrocious.”

“Muggle-raised, remember. Don't get me wrong, I like the whole medieval thing we've got going, living in a castle is awesome, but quills..”

“Lily never had any trouble with them.”

Harry blinked, had Snape actually mentioned his mum in passing? As if they discussed her on a regular basis? “Did she learn on her own?” He asked the question without thought, he had to know. Any information on his parents was precious, no matter how inconsequential it seemed to others.

“Mostly, yes. She started practising not long after I convinced her she would be going to Hogwarts.”

Harry smiled, glad he'd actually gotten an honest answer. Unwilling to push it, he turned back to the original subject. “I didn't know I was a wizard until a few weeks before I came here. And I didn't have access to any of my supplies until September first.”

“Why not?”

Harry sighed and folded his arms in front of his chest. “You knew my aunt, you saw how they treated me. Did you truly believe they would allow me access to any of my stuff while I was in their house?”

“You had your wand during the summer a few years ago.”

“Yeah, I kept it hidden after Riddle returned. Figured the possible punishment was worth it, considering the risk of walking around without any protection.”

Snape nodded in approval. “That explains some things, but not everything. Your writing has not improved over the years and neither did your potions work. Not to mention your lack of progress with non-verbal spells.”

Harry bit his lower lip. It was probably not a good idea to lie, Snape would know, but telling the truth was not that smart either. Since Harry still hadn't mastered Occlumency, he decided he really had no choice. “Actually, I started writing your essays after I finished everything else. It wasn't like it really mattered how hard I tried. As for Potions, you just saw my improvement. And I've gotten a lot better with non-verbal spells.”

Snape huffed “And how, pre tell, did you improve those?”

“Like I said, your notes gave me a better idea of what to pay attention to. And, I was never that bad with non-verbal spells. I was just tense and didn't have enough practice to use them under pressure. But I have to admit that lately, magic has been a lot easier.”

Snape leaned forward slightly “How so?”

“I can't really explain it. It's like I have more magic or something. It's really strange.” Harry shrugged, he wasn't really sure why he had brought that up. It wasn't something he had wanted to think about. He didn't know why but he kept feeling the need to avoid the issue.

Snape looked at Harry with a penetrating gaze. “When did you first notice the difference?”

“Shortly after the battle, when I was repairing the Headmaster's tombstone.” Harry answered honestly, without really thinking about it.

Snape nodded slowly. “I need to do some research. We will discuss this, as well as your role as teacher's assistant, next Saturday. For now, I have a few more questions and then you may leave.”

Harry's eyebrows raised “Who's going to stop me from leaving now?”

Sighing, Snape stood up. Waving a hand towards the cauldron, Snape create a slightly glowing blue dome around it. “Stasis field, I will finish it later.” With that, he started back up the staircase. Harry followed him into the sitting room and took place on the couch once more. He watched as Snape looked over several books before he reach out for an old, black leather tomb with silver text on its spine. Snape held it up, allowing Harry to see the front. His eyes widened as he read the silver script on the front.

The Dark Arts
&
Defensive and Offensive Measures

Written by
Severus Snape

Harry's hand moved towards it without his consent but Snape moved it away before he got close. The man sat down in the armchair, holding the book in one hand. “I'll give you thirty minutes for every question you answer to my satisfaction.”

Folding his arms, Harry leaned back and tried his best to say no. He was not going to be bribed into doing what Snape wanted. It wasn't that he minded answering some questions, not when they came from the man who had saved his life on several occasions. It was the principle of doing it because Snape ordered it. It went against the grain. But that book.. He wanted to read it. The notes in his potions book had been more than just useful. Harry could only imagine the kind of information the book held. Since Snape rarely published any of his work, it was unlikely that there was another copy out there. “Fine, ask your questions.”

Snape smirked. “I will know if you lie, so don't even try it. Now, let's start with something simple. You already showed me how you stole the Boomslang skin, but how did you get the Gillyweed?”

Harry grimaced at the reminder of the brave elf who'd been his friend. “Dobby gave it to me. I didn't know where he got it until later.”

“You mean that free elf that has been running around the castle the past few years?”

“Yeah, he was my friend.”

“Was?”

“That bitch Bellatrix killed him.”

Snape tapped his fingers on cover of the book “I'm sorry.. It doesn't really matter whether it's an elf or a wizard, when a friend dies it's always hard.”

Slightly inclining his head in acknowledgement of the sentiment, Harry asked “Did you know Dobby?”

“No more than I know any of the other elfs that spend time around the dungeons.”

“Dobby spend time down there?” It was out of his mouth before he realized. Hearing that overenthusiastic Dobby had spend time in the dungeons had piqued his curiosity.

“Yes. But I was asking the questions, let's return to that.”

Harry sighed but agreed, promising himself he would find out what the elf had been doing down there on a later date. “All right, fine. What else do you want to know?”

“Lots of things. Let's start with your first year. How did you come to fight that troll? The truth this time.”

Harry sighed. This was going to take a long time if he wanted to know about every little thing that happened during the past seven years. “Ron said something mean about Hermione and she heard it. During dinner, one of the girls said that she'd been crying in the bathroom ever since. We were on our way to the tower when we realized she had no idea that there was a troll on the loose. There was no-one around to tell so we went to find her. Instead we found the troll going into the bathroom. We didn't realize it was the girls bathroom so we locked it in and were going to tell a professor we had trapped it. Then we realized Hermione was in there so we went in and tried to help her. It got a bit messy for a while. Ron levitated it's club right out of his hands and knocked it out, that's when you guys came in.”

“And Granger decided to cover for your idiocy.”

Harry shrugged a shoulder “Yeah, that was a surprise to us too. Anyway that's what happened.”

“All right, tell me about the stone. How did you find out and why did you decide to go after it?”

“We pieced it together bit by bit. It started out fairly innocent. I was with Hagrid when he got it from Gringotts, then we read someone had broken into the vault. We ended up on the third floor by accident and realized Fluffy was standing on a hatch. We talked to Hagrid about it, who mentioned Nicolas Flamel. I'd read about him on Dumbledore's chocolate frog card but didn't put it together until Hermione found him in some book.”

Snape snorted “That's how you learned about the stone?”

“Well, yeah..” Harry shrugged. He knew how it sounded, how most of his stories sounded. To easy and fraught with lucky breaks. Not to mention filled with danger coming from all directions and senseless deaths.

“Why did you go after it?”

“Several reasons.. Hagrid won this dragon egg in some pub. It hatched and Hagrid wanted to raise it. After a few incidents, we managed to convince him that Norbert would be better off will Charlie in Romania. We took the dragon up to the astronomy tower where some friends of Charlie picked her up. But we got caught and were given detention for 'lying about a dragon in the castle'.”

Snape groaned, interrupting Harry's explanation. “He was actually hiding a female dragon named Norbert living in his cottage?”

“Well, he didn't know it was a girl when he named her. Charlie told us later that it turned out to be Norberta. Anyway, we had to go into the forest to look for injured unicorns. Malfoy and I found one, as well as Quirell drinking the creatures blood. A centaur chased it away and got me out of there. In his own convoluted way, he explained that only someone like Riddle would go to those kind of lengths to stay alive. Ron, Hermione and I came to the conclusion that someone was trying to steal the stone for Voldemort. We decided that, since Dumbledore was the only one that ever scared Riddle, the stone was safe in the school. But then I realized how ridiculous it was that the one thing Hagrid always wanted just showed up. We talked to him again and found out that Hagrid had been a bit drunk that night and told someone how to put Fluffy to sleep. We got him to tell us who had made the other protections. Ron and Hermione saw you chanting when my broom was being cursed. You showed up late that night with the troll and I saw you leg. You were mean and suspicious so we decided it had to be you. I overheard the conversation between you and Quirell in the forest, after that Quidditch match you refereed. And later I heard Quirell talking to someone who clearly scared him. We concluded that you knew how to get through three out of the six protections already. Convinced you could be going after it any day now, we went to Professor McGonagall. You saw what happened in that meeting.”

Snape nodded “After which you, three first year students, decided that you were the only ones who could stop the stone from being stolen.”

Harry snorted “I'm fully aware how stupid that was. There was no way Quirell could have gotten his hands on the stone. Because of me, he almost got to it.”

“True, but he didn't. It may have been idiotic but you survived, he did not.”

“Yeah.. don't remind me..”

Snape gave Harry an odd look, one Harry had never seen on the sour man. Though, Harry had to admit, Snape had seemed rather amiable today. He wondered how long that would last. The look vanished from the man's face as he said “Second year. How did you end up near all the petrified students?”

“It was a Basilisk, remember. I speak Parsletongue, I heard it through the walls.”

“So you decided to follow it?”

“I was curious.”

“When did you find out what the monster was?”

“Hermione found out shortly before she was petrified. There was a page crumpled up in her hand. Ron and I found it when we went to visit her.”

“And still, you decided to go into the chamber with a professor you knew to be incompetent.”

“Ginny was in danger. We just wanted to tell Lockhart how to get in but he refused. We couldn't run the risk of being waved off by another professor, so we went on our own. I did instruct Myrtle to inform someone if we weren't back within a few hours.”

“How did you find the entrance?”

“The Horcrux. It showed me a piece of the past. About the last time that the chamber was opened and a girl died. Riddle framed Hagrid and Aragog because he didn't want the school to be closed. We figured out that the girl was Moaning Myrtle and talked to her. She told us all she remembered was hearing a boy, and when she went to tell him it was the girls bathroom, she stared into yellow eyes and died. I checked the sink where she'd seen the creature and found a small embossed snake.”

“What happened when you went down there?”

Harry frowned “Didn't Professor Dumbledore tell you this?”

“He did, but I want to hear it from you.”

Shrugging, Harry leaned back against the cushions, trying to relax as he recalled Ginny laying on the ground, looking for all the world as if you was dead. “Lockhart got his hands on Ron's wand and tried to Obliviate us. It went wrong, rebounded and caused a cave-in. I went on alone while Ron removed some of the stones, so that I would be able to get out with Ginny. Inside the room, I found a ghostly looking version of the teenage Riddle I'd seen during the diary memory. We had some words, he took my wand and explained who he was. He insulted Dumbledore and I got offended. He called the Basilisk and Fawks and the sorting hat appeared. Gryffindor's sword appeared when I put the hat on, and Fawks removed the Basilisk's eyes. Eventually, I was able to stick the sword right into the roof of its mouth. It died but one of its fangs pierced my arm. I used the fang to destroy the diary and Ginny gained consciousness. I didn't think I was going to make it but Fawks dropped a tear on my wound and carried us out.”

Snape shook his head “I can't decide if I should be impressed, appalled or annoyed. What about the incident with Black? Did you go looking for him?”

“Not really. I had decided to stay away from him. There wasn't any logic in going after a murderous killer who wanted me dead. When I heard that he was my godfather, I was pissed and really wanted him dead but figured that, since he was after me anyway, I should just wait. He would either find me or be found by a Dementor, either one was fine by me.”

“How did you do it?”

“Do what?” Harry tried to make it sound like he had no idea what Snape was talking about. There was no way telling the man the truth would do any good. Snape had been furious after Sirius had escaped, Harry really did not want to repeat the experience.

A corner of Snape's lip twitched “How did you get him out of that tower. Don't play dumb Potter, I know it was you.”

“Fine, it was a time-turner all right. Hermione had one so she could follow all her classes. We went back a few hours, saved Buckbeak, distracted Moony, scared of a bunch of Dementors, flew up to the tower and send Sirius away on the back of the Hippogriff.”

“Sounds like an interesting trip through time.”

Harry smiled “Yeah, it was. But it was worth it.”

“I suppose it was that.” Snape sounded completely honest, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice. It gave Harry hope. Maybe the man had really gotten over the intense hatred he harboured for Harry's father and godfather. There was no chance Snape would ever like them but maybe, just maybe, the dislike wouldn't spill over onto Harry so much. Harry's thoughts were interrupted when his stomach started growling load enough for Snape to notice.

Snape cast a quick Tempus Charm and stood up. “You should go home, it's late. You can come back tomorrow and read for an hour or two.”

“But I answered way more than four questions.” Harry said, slightly outraged at being cheated.

Snape rolled his eyes “Then let us hope tomorrow will not be your last day on this plane of existence.”

Harry let out a huff in aggravation but turned to leave. Before closing the front door behind him, he gave one last look at Snape. “Pictures of my mother are precious. If you don't want them, give them to me. Please, don't burn them. There are already too few of them left.”

After Severus came out of the pensive, he sat down heavily and stayed there for a long time. It was hard to comprehend what he had seen. He could barely stop himself from rolling on the floor with laughter at that last scene. Seeing that maniac go up in flames had been one of the sweetest moments of his life. From now on, he would have something to smile about that didn't involve the pain of remembering Lily.

The shock of Potter's past kept him from enjoying the memory as much as he should. He couldn't believe how wrong he had been when it came to the brat. Potter's childhood had been horrendous, a thousand miles from the cushioned life Severus had expected him to have. He could only be glad that he hadn't seen any of the explosive violence his own father had heaped upon him. But even without the regular thrashings, Potter's 'family' had been downright abusive.

The fact that the older Potter had been so calm while he'd watched his younger self being treated so unfairly, was more than a little bit disturbing. All those times the child ran head first into trouble, Severus had believed the boy was simply being the idiotic Gryffindor Severus had expected him to be. But after seeing those memories, he suspected the rash behaviour was the result of a severe lack of self worth, not an overinflated ego.

Severus considered the possibilities for several hours before he decided to let it go. There was nothing he could do about Potter's childhood, and he couldn't change the way he had treated the child. All he could do was move on, and try to do better in the future. One thing was certain, he had to speak with the boy. He needed to know exactly how wrong he had been. Were any of the things he believed about the child true? Or had he really been that blind to the truth?

When Potter finally returned, a week after he had visited the last time, Severus was deep in thought. Looking at an old picture, he had been considering the rest of his life. He didn't have any idea what he was going to do now. He'd lost the only person he had ever loved and now he didn't have a goal to live towards. He didn't have a job or anything else to take his mind away from the memories of the previous year. When he'd noticed Potter, he had startled and burned one of his most precious possessions. He'd almost scolded the boy for it, but he held back. After all, it wasn't the brat's fault Severus hadn't been paying attention. Nor was it Potters fault that he burned the picture as a reflex.

When Potter told him that the headmistress had asked him to return, Severus hadn't been certain of what to do. He had never liked teaching, and didn't really want to go back to it. But there was a part of him that was grateful for the opportunity. He had been thinking of what he was going to do now without much success. He wanted to focus on research, maybe even publish some of the potions he had invented over the years, but he hadn't been able to concentrate on it yet.

To many things had changed, too many questions were left unanswered. And it wasn't just questions about Potter. He hadn't spoken to anyone besides the brat and was still restricting himself to magazines only. For years, Severus had lived only as a spy for Dumbledore. Every one of his decisions had revolved around that one goal, even the way he had thought his students. Now that it was all over, he didn't know how to feel. He'd thought that letting go of his old life was the best solution. But now, with the offer of returning to Hogwarts on the table, he found himself looking for a reason to go. The fact that potter was still in danger was an excuse he was happy to use.

Of course, that meant he would be working with Potter for a whole year. Severus had thought up a plan as fast as he could. Before, he believed the child to be average, his O.W.L. grades nothing but a fluke. If the brat was going to teach part of his classes, Severus needed to figure out how good, or bad, he really was with magic.

Seeing him work on those potions had been an eye opener. Clearly the brat was capable behind a cauldron, not brilliant but much better than expected. It shouldn't have been a surprise really. After all the things the child had accomplished, Severus should have expected this. But he hadn't, and he didn't like it. Not only had he missed the signs that the child was being abused, he'd let his own bias towards Potter Senior influence his teaching. While he'd created part of his professor persona around his job as a spy, that had been his own choice, he didn't like knowing that a Potter of all people had influenced his behaviour that much.

So Severus had taken a risk. He'd taken out the book. It had been an impulsive decision. He wanted answers but he'd recognized that obstinate look. It was the one all teenager's got when faced with authority. That senseless defiance that had let to the downfall of so many students. So he'd gone for the first bribe he could think of. When he saw the look on Potters face, he had wanted to laugh. It was obvious the child would say anything to get his hands on the book, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

It was rather flattering, but it also worried him. The book was extensive and held as much dark magic as defensive magic. It hadn't been written for students, and Potter didn't have the best track record with handling dangerous information. But Severus wanted answers and this was the fastest way to get them. He would just have to keep an eye on Potter.

When Potter began his convoluted explanation of his first year at Hogwarts, Severus was slightly impressed by the boy's ingenuity. The child seemed to be able to make connections where most would only have seen random bits of information. Potter made it sound as if it had been pure luck that he'd gone to the third floor while Quirell was trying to steal the stone, but Snape expected differently. The child had known, maybe not consciously, but somehow he'd known. Potter wasn't a magnet for trouble, he was a trouble-detector. Or maybe a trouble-diviner was a better description, considering that the brat seemed to have no clue how he always found himself in those kind of situations.

It made Severus curious to see what the child could do if he had some training. And if Potter's assertion about his magic was true, and Severus' suspicion was correct, he was definitely going to need some real training.

After the boy left, Severus had gone to his office and started to make a list of defence subjects for each year. If Potter was going to help him teach those dunderheads, he would have to test the child on everything but the seventh year material. He had a feeling Potter would be proficient enough when it came to the practical work, it was the theory that worried him. Not to mention that the child had absolutely no experience teaching anything but a few spells to a group of his friends. If nothing else, it would be interesting to see how Potter dealt with a class full of Gryffindors and Slytherins.

The following day Severus wanted to go to the Hogwarts Library to look for a possible explanation for the increase in Potter's magic, but he suspected a visit to the school would take up most of his day. And he had promised Potter a few hours with his book. So, he had stayed home and continued to prepare for another year at Hogwarts. He could use most of the material that he had used the last time he had thought the classes, but he would have to make some adjustments. He would have to find a way to compensate for last year.

Potter had already been reading for two and a half hours, and Severus had still not figured out how to do it. He had no desire to talk to anyone about the previous year, but something had to be done. For a year students had been practising the Crusiatus Curse on other students, that couldn't be ignored. Sighing, he called Potter into his study.

The child came in and sat down without a word, still holding the book open in his hands. Taking a quick look, Severus was impressed with how far he'd gotten. He was currently holding the book open in the middle of chapter five. And none of those chapters were short, or easy to read. Momentarily forgetting why he'd called the boy into his office, Severus nodded towards the book asked “What do you think?”

The grin the child gave him was another surprise, as was his enthusiastic answer “Ooh, it's amazing sir. It's the most extensive and honest text I have ever read about the dark arts. The part on blood magic is really interesting and I like the way you classify magic. It's a lot better that the whole black and white thing.”

“It's not the magic, it's the intention of the caster that counts.”

“Yeah, that. Though, I don't completely agree with that. There are spells that are bad, no matter what the intention.”

Severus cocked his head an looked at the boy “Explain.”

Potter shrugged “Well, I was trying to think of light ways to use certain dark spells. I can see Sectumsempra being used to amputate someone, or Avada Kedavra when there is no other way to relieve someone of suffering. But unless you count the satisfied feeling a good Crucio can give the caster, I don't think there is anything good about that curse. And when I used Imperius, I had a really good reason but it still felt really bad.”

“When did you use those spells?” Severus asked, trying not to let the worry into his voice. He didn't like the fact that the brat had used unforgivables, he was too young.

Potter bit his lower lip and looked away before he answered “I tried to use Crucio on that Bellabitch after she killed Sirius, but I couldn't hold it for more than a second. A month ago I used it on Carrow because he spit McGonagall in the face.. He screamed, flew against the wall and passed out.”

Severus blinked a few times, trying to process that information. On one hand, he wanted to applause the brat for getting one over on Amycus. That piece of filth deserved much worse. On the other hand, he was more than a bit concerned about the state of the boy's magic and mind. That curse was supposed to cause pain, it was not suppose to throw someone across the room and knock them out. Filing that bit of information away to be discussed after he had done some research, he asked “And Imperius?”

Potter gave him a quick glance then shrugged “We needed to get into Gringotts but they already suspected that we were coming, so I used Imperius on two goblins.”

Severus raised an eyebrow “And you succeeded in one try?”

Again, the boy shrugged “Yeah well, I had to. Didn't I?”

“Indeed you did.” Severus looked over the parchment on his desk and handed Potter the information on the first three years, changing the subject. Now was not the time to discuss Potter's magic and the way he used it.

After looking at the parchment for a moment Potter gave him a curious look “This is the material for Defence classes?”

“Is something wrong with it, Mr. Potter?” Severus tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice but wasn't entirely successful.

The brat smirked at him and nodded. Ripping of a corner from a parchment to use as a bookmark, Potter closed the book and put in on the desk. Sitting back in the chair with, what Severus classified as a smug grin on his face, he said “Well, since you're asking. The material is fine in general. You have reasonable expectations for each age group. Though, I have a suspicion you are underestimating the older students, but we'll get to that later.” Potter held up the subject list for the first year. “This is mostly fine. I would like to move around some of the subjects, ensure a bit more variation during the semester, but most of the subjects I had in mind are there.”

“Most?” Severus' voice was bland, he wasn't sure what to think of Potter's audacity.

“We can't just ignore what happened last year, sir. A lot of the younger students were being used as practise dummy's and there are muggle-born students that were told they weren't good enough to be witches or wizards. That has to be addressed.”

“I am a professor, not a counsellor.”

“Yeah, and last year you were the headmaster who did nothing while students were being tortured.” Potter's eyes widened and he slapped a hand in front of his mouth.

Sucking in a breath between his teeth, Severus clenched his hands. Potter was right, but part of him still wanted to snap at the brat. Taking a few calming breaths, he narrowed his eyes at the child. “And how do you suggest I begin to fix that? Do you possess some magic cure all?”

“I think that is part of the reason why I'm supposed to teach the younger students. They were treated as victims, they are not going to appreciate being thought by you.”

Severus scoffed “And you believe the older students are likely to be happy with the arrangement?”

“They might not like it, but it will be good for them.”

“How so?”

Harry sighed and folded his arms in front of his chest “You're likely to be the only adult who can understand them. Whether they were forced to torture others, simply accepted it or maybe even liked it, you've been there. The circumstances may have been completely different, but you can understand both the allure of the dark arts as well as the disgust that comes from being forced to do things you don't want to do.”

“You seem to be under the misconception that you know how I feel about things.”

A shadow fell over Potter's face “I know how I felt. And we are not that different.”

“Now, I know you've gone insane.” Severus almost choked with repressed laughter. The child had gone completely mad. But oh, how he wished Potter's father and godfather could have heard that.

Potter grinned at him “Probable, but it's still true. Anyway, the headmistress arranged for a counsellor to be available for the next year, she told me everyone is required to have at least one session. So, they'll have someone to talk to if there are problems but I still think it's important to discuss it in Defence.”

“What exactly do you want to discuss?”

“Well.. I was planning on giving everyone the chance to ask questions during the first lesson–”

“I will not be answering questions from insolent children.”

Potter rolled his eyes “I didn't say you had to. I doubt anyone would even dare to ask you anything. But I doubt they'll have that problem with me and if I don't answer some questions, they'll never pay attention to the actual lessons.”

“Fine, if you want to waste your time, go ahead. Just make certain you cover all the material by the end of the year.”

“I'll do my best but I can't promise anything.”

“And why would you not be able to do as I told you?”

Potter shrugged a shoulder “Like I said, the first year material is fine, but how are you going to ensure that the older students are up to scratch? Defence hasn't exactly been the most stable subject you know?”

“That's what the revision test in the first week is for.”

“Yeah, that's one way to learn how much they know, but it's not really effective is it? They'll be fresh out of summer. Most of them won't know the answers even if they did learn it in previous years.”

“If they can't answer the questions, they don't know the material well enough. But what did you have in mind?”

“I was going to use one or two of the first lessons to go over the material with the students in each class. Give them the opportunity to tell me what they've studied and what they haven't.”

“So that they can lie and skip all the boring lessons?”

Potter scoffed “Would you have lied about that when you were in school sir?”

“Of course not.”

“Well, neither would I. Maybe for some of the other subjects, but this is Defence. There may be one or two students who would try to wiggle in a subject or two they haven't discussed but I doubt the rest of the class will be very happy with that. Not to mention, I can always give them a test to check their information.”

“It would be faster, and easier, to test them at the start of the year.”

“Maybe, but they'll get better answers if we give them a chance to study. I'm aware you don't care about their grades, but think of all the material you won't have to discuss if they have a chance to revise on their own.”

“Fine, you can have them review their previous years however you want. But I want to see a lesson plan before each class and I want to stay informed about the overall progress in each year. And I expect you to keep up with your own work, no matter how busy you get.”

Potter nodded slowly “Hermione promised to help with checking homework, I'll be fine.” Leaning forward, Potter took the other lists of the desk. After looking them over, the brat looked up and grinned “You'll have to adjust your material for the sixth and seventh years.”

“How so?”

“A lot of them already know how to conjure a corporeal Patronus, and I've seen some amazing blasting hexes. On the other hand, most of them have had only two years of decent defence education.”

“What are you suggesting I do? Question every one of them on what they know and what knowledge they lack?”

Potter shrugged “Maybe. I was thinking of having them team up and demonstrate the spells they know.”

“And what about the theory?”

“Homework. Have them write an essay on one creature each week for a semester or two.”

Severus snorted at that. It seemed the brat had actually thought things out. At least partially. “You wish to write an essay for defence each week?”

“Well, I don't think that would work for seventh year... There aren't enough weeks in the year to write an essay on all the creatures we've studied in the first six years. Also, the actual seventh year students missed almost everything that should have been discussed in their sixth year.”

“So you are suggesting I go over all the subjects at the start of the year and trust the students to be honest.”

“That's what I have been saying, isn't it?”

Severus counted to ten. If the brat was going to act this insolent for the rest of the year, some-one was going to get hurt. Deciding to knock the brat down a few pegs, Severus stood up and held his hand out for the parchments. Potter shot him a strange look and handed the scrolls back. Taking them, Severus walked out. “Follow me, Potter.”

He let the boy into his laboratory and through another concealed door into the second basement. It had once been used to store booze, but anything alcoholic had disappeared during the time his father was alive. Now, he used it as a training room. It was too small for duelling but the walls had been reinforced, in the muggle way as well as the magical, and the sound of spell blasts hitting them would be completely absorbed by the surrounding dirt. Since his neighbours could easily see into his back yard, this was the only place he could practise without destroying his house. He had to test the brat's spell capacity somewhere, and he had no desire to go to Hogwarts yet.

Potter entered the room and looked around with some confusion on his face. Repressing his desire to role his eyes at the child, Severus told him to close the door and strolled to the opposite side of the room. Waiting until the child turned back around, Severus scrutinizes his attire. The brat was wearing muggle clothes. Blue jeans that looked recently bought, and a grey t-shirt that Severus suspected used to belong to Potter's elephant cousin. “Why do you wear that? Don't know how to do the laundry?” he couldn't help but needle the brat, it was habit.

Potter didn't take the bait. Giving a long suffering sigh that got on Severus' nerves, he asked “What are we doing here.”

Instead of answering, Severus waved his hand toward Potter's attire. “Those jeans are too tight for fluent movement and not durable enough to resist even the weakest spell. While that shirt allows you to move more freely, it's large enough to get hooked behind something or worst, grabbed onto.”

Potter, now frowning, looked down at his clothes before shooting him a glare. “You run the same risk with that cape you like to billow around.”

This time he did role his eyes. “Are your clothes made to resist all but the Unforgivable Curses? Are they made to be removed with a single tug for safety?”

“Well, at least I would notice when someone set them on fire.” Once again, Potter's eyes widened and he slapped a hand in front of his mouth.

Severus gritted his teeth. It wasn't as if he hadn't suspected that the brat had something to do with that incident, he just hadn't expected to hear it out loud. “I suppose your little friends where trying to save you from my curse?”

Biting his lip, Potter nodded. “Yeah, it was supposed to be a distraction. It was a good thing 'Moine pushed Quirell of his seat by accident.”

Severus wanted to laugh at the luck the boy had, but kept himself from doing so in order not to give the child the wrong idea. He wasn't happy with the revelation, but he couldn't really blame them either. It seemed to be the theme when talking to Potter about the past. So, instead of holding on to past hatred, he took a calming breath and said “Aah, well.. Let's try to leave all that behind us for now, shall we?”

The brat was looking at his shoes when he shrugged and said “Yes, sir.”

Signing, Severus snapped at the boy “Potter, stop that whole obedient little mouse crap now.”

Potter glared at him with fire in those green eyes. Severus sucked in a breath. He'd seen that look on the boy before, usually when Severus was treating him unfairly. But it was the first time since Lily, that he had looked at those eyes without seeing bloody Potter. Before, he'd hated looking at the child's face because he hated seeing those eyes and feeling that never ending hatred for Potter at the same time. Now though, he could look at those eyes and remember Lily without any thought of Potter.

It wasn't that the resemblance was gone, it was simply no longer important. He didn't know Potter, he'd never really known either of the Potters. While James had been an arrogant little ass during their school years, Severus had never really spoken to him after they graduated. For some reason, it was starting to seem increasingly unlikely that Lily would have married Potter if he had never changed. He wondered if he could finally let the past go because of Potter Junior or because of the dream he had had before he'd woken up in that shack. Not willing to consider either of those options, he asked “Where is your wand?”

The brat reached up and inside something around his neck that Severus couldn't see. A moment later, his hand reappeared holding his wand.

“If you're attacked, you'll never get to your wand in time.”

Potter looked at him for a moment, the corners of his mouth twitching, and put his wand on the floor next the his foot. Still crouched on the floor, the brat looked him up and down ones before he stopped near his knees and flicked out a hand.

Severus blinked ones as he was staring at the ceiling a second later. The brat had knocked his legs from under him with a flick of his hand, without touching his wand or uttering a word. What the... Standing up in one fluent movement, he glared at the boy.

Potter was standing with his wand in his hand, looking extremely apprehensive.

Against both their expectations, Severus started laughing. He wasn't completely positive what was so funny. He'd hit the floor hard and his back was still screaming in protest, but he couldn't help himself. When he'd finally calmed down, he asked “Any other surprises?”

Potter shrugged nonchalantly “I was practising wandless summoning and I figured, might as well learn how to blow things away too. It's a handy skill, you know.”

“It is indeed.” Severus nodded with slightly more respect for the brat than he'd had before. “You might want to expand you're spell repertoire. If you can manage those two with that kind of precision, you might even be able to create a decent wandless shield.”

Potter pursed his lips before he nodded “Fire a stinging hex at me.”

Severus hesitated only a moment before he complied. The brat waved his hand in front of his chest and the spell shattered against a softly glowing, yellow screen. It shimmered a moment, as though it was a thin sheet of water, before it vanished. Severus couldn't help but stare at the empty air where the shield had been. He'd never seen a shield like that. It looked simple, just powerful enough to stop the simple hex, but it was wandless as well as non-verbal. “Was that intentionally weak?”

The Gryffindor shrugged one shoulder “I don't know. I created it accidentally. Didn't fancy endangering my future children with a stupid stinging hex.”

Severus snorted “Let me guess, Miss Weasley?”

“No, Ron. We were trying to keep ourselves occupied. But now that you mention it.. Ginny may have been the cause for his aim in that case.”

“Whatever the case, that shield is fine for a single stinging hex, but it will never hold up for anything stronger.”

“I know, it was only meant to block that one. I haven't tried to block anything stronger, but I think I can adjust it for different spells. ”

Severus cocked an eyebrow and fired a shaving hex at the brat's head. Half hoping the brat couldn't block it, he looked at the brat made once again waved towards the spell as if pushing it aside. The shield that appeared was orange but was otherwise similar to the yellow shield. Severus followed up with a non-verbal tongue tying curse, and was rewarded with the wide-eyes look on the brat's face when his latest shield was too weak to block the curse.

The brat frowned and pointed his wand at Severus, casting a very well aimed non-verbal Jelly-Legs Curse that put Severus flat on the ground once again. Groaning he got up and glared at the brat “For that, I'm not going to undo that curse for a while. Show me twenty-five perfectly executed non-verbal spells and I might change my mind. You can use the wall as your target.” When Potter didn't move he added “You can always learn a non-verbal Finite, but I doubt that would be faster.”

Potter grumbled something illegible but walked forward some steps and started firing of hexes. After the third blasting hex, Severus told him he would add one extra spell for each spell he used twice. Another few grumbles later, the brat started switching spells. He was at number eleven when he finally lowered his wand with a frown. Raising his wand towards Severus, he fired an Expelliarmus followed up by a summoning charm. Severus stared at the boy in consternation. This was the third time the brat had hit him with a spell. He definitely needed to start working out again. Before he became so slow any idiot student could disarm him.

Potter levitated the wand, and moved it back towards Severus who took it out of the air, before he lowered his wand with a slight shrug.

Severus raised an eyebrow “Don't know any others?” Taking pity on the brat when said brat almost choked trying to answer, Severus released him from the tongue-tying curse.

Potter sputtered a bit before he said, with another mutinous glare for Severus “I know other spells, I just can't do them silently yet. Not to mention that I have no idea how well I'm doing when I'm just throwing spells at a wall. Don't you have a dummy or something?”

“No, this is only a temporary home. I use this room for speed practise only.”

“Okay, so why are we here?”

Severus held up the scrolls he had brought. “You are going to show me all the spells on these lists. You will be completely proficient in every single one before the school year starts.”

Potter just shrugged and took the first year list. Glancing over it, he started casting the spells at the wall, never looking away from the page. In only a minutes he progresses through second and then third year. It took Potter a few times to cast a decent Aqua Eructo but he went through the rest of the fourth, fifth and sixth years without breaking a sweat. When he got to seventh year, he looked up at Severus “Any chance you'll allow me to study up on these before I have show them to you, or are do you just want to see me humiliate myself?”

Severus raised an eyebrow “You think I expect you to cast everything flawlessly on your first try?”

“Yeah, I do actually.”

“And yet, you showed up here without preparation..”

Severus was quite impressed with the scowl on the child's face when he said “It is summer, I just put an end to a war and I came here to enjoy some time reading, not to be tested on my knowledge of spells.”

Severus waved a hand, dismissing the child's excuses “Fine, we'll go over the rest next week. Take those scrolls with you and study up on the material. Come by Saturday, and bring your broom.”

Potter gave him a strange look, shrunk the scrolls and put them away. Before he left the room, Potter gave him one last look “You should really leave your house, you're starting the get a bit pale.”

After the brat had gone to Merlin only knew where, Severus went back into his laboratory and finished the potion Potter had started the day before. The potion turned out perfect. Which made Severus both proud and extremely annoyed. It was because of his book that Potter had finally learned to brew correctly, yet it stung that the brat had never managed it during his classes.

The following day, Severus took Potter's moronic advise and apparated to Hogwarts. As he was walking up towards the castle, he was stopped by Hagrid, who clapped him on the back, shook his hand and thanked him at least ten times. By the time that he got to his old office, he had been stopped by every single inhabitant of the castle, and that included the ghosts. Minerva was waiting at the bottom of the staircase and pulled him into a hug as soon as he was within reach.

Feeling extremely awkward, Severus let her pat his back a few times before he pulled away. Minerva was apologizing so profusely that Severus could barely get a word in. When he finally managed to tell her there was no need, she just waved him off.

He spend several long hours talking to the new headmistress, who had a never-ending list of questions. When he finally got down to the library and found the books he needed, it was late and he decided to stay at the school. Sitting down in his favourite chair, he was glad he had never given up his rooms in the dungeons.

He woke up several hours later, a book laying open on his lap and a crick in his neck. Groaning he got up, stretched and went to take a shower. It was time for him to deal with the real world and go visit the ministry. He could only hope they wouldn't lock him away until his trial started.

Harry left Snape's house slightly confused. The last two visits had been extremely strange. Twice now, the man had actually laughed. Most of their conversation had been polite and Snape hadn't commented on Harry's cheek ones. He knew the peace between them was most likely temporary, but Harry found himself hoping Snape wouldn't return to hating him. Not only did he want more time with that book, he found that talking to the man wasn't that bad.

The next two days, Harry stayed at the mansion to study the material Snape had handed him. He still had to go to Diagon Alley for his books but his Library turned out to hold many useful text. He read up on the creatures, practiced the spells and spend a few hours flying around and over his house.

For dinner he went to the Weasleys, after which he spend the evenings with Ginny, Ron and Hermione. His two best friends were virtually inseparable these days, making Harry extremely glad that he had made up with Ginny. Most of their time together they discussed news from the wizarding world. Hermione was obsessed with the restructuring of the Ministry and Ron couldn't get enough of the ridiculous rumour that were floating around.

Harry only kept up with the news out of necessity but listened with interest to their comments. Ron and Ginny had a knack for making fun of the rumours. And Harry couldn't help but laugh when Hermione started cursing and threatening Rita Skeeter for the article she'd written about her. The article had revolved around Hermione and her fabulous threesome with The Saviour and The Hero Weasley. Both Harry and Ginny had thought the article was hilarious. Ron on the other hand, was outraged until his new moniker was mentioned. Which Ron considered to be absolutely awesome. That was, until Ginny pointed out that it could easily be referring to any of the others. After all, they had all done heroic things this past year. This led to a discussion on who was the most heroic Weasley that was soon joined by Fred and George.

At that point, Harry tuned out the conversation. He had no desire to get into the middle of Ginny and Ron as that could never end well. He got to talking with Hermione and discovered that she was working on her plan for the DA with Ginny. Who as one of the de facto leaders during the last year, had helped many students and was in constant contact with many of them. Together they had contacted the students and had already started receiving lists of things they wanted to study next year.

After reading the first lists Hermione had decided that there would have to be rules on who was allowed to study which subjects. For the time being, she was going to limit the accepted subjects to those that the student in question should already know. Later, she would discuss options of extra tutoring to those that had O's in the subject they wished to study. They had also decided that they would have to get some older students to give group lessons for the more generally requested subjects.

Hermione tried to convince Harry to teach the Defence groups but he refused. He was already teaching six classes each week, and McGonagall had said they would all be two periods long. That was twelve hours, plus all the preparation and homework checking time, that he would loose from his own study time. He couldn't afford to give up more. Not if he wanted to get all the N.E.W.T.s he had signed up for. Seventh year was supposed to be gruelling, and Harry had convinced McGonagall to allow him to take Care of Magical Creatures instead of Divination. Allowing Harry to stay far away from any more prophesies. But adding to his workload, since he had to catch up with sixth year as well.

Thinking of all the work he would have to do next year was almost enough to resign his teaching post before he'd even started. If it wasn't for both Hermione and Ginny promising to help him check the homework he doled out, he would have fire called the headmistress right away. But both of the girls seemed perfectly happy to help with homework as well as lesson-plans and anything else that might be involved with being a TA.

All of a sudden one of the twins pulled Harry aside while the other one entertained Harry's friends. As soon as they had left the room Fred turned to Harry and asked “How is the professor doing? Will he be returning to Hogwarts?”

Harry frowned, confused as to why a Weasley of all people was asking after Snape. “He's doing better and yes, he decided it would be best to return for at least one more year. Why do you ask?”

Fred grinned and slapped Harry on the back “Snape is a git, but a genius git. We need him to hang around for a while longer.”

Harry gave him a considering look. The twins were op to something, he could practically smell the mischief in the air. “Snape is still recovering, I doubt he's up for a Weasley special.”

Fred made a tut tutting sound and wagged a finger at Harry “We would never do such a thing to our beloved Potions Master.”

“Then tell me what you're planning. If it's not bad, I might as well know.”

Fred sighed in defeat “All right, but don't you go telling our little brother about this.” Harry nodded in acceptance. Bending towards Harry's ear, Fred whispered rather loudly “We have a few potions in development that need some work. Now that our esteemed Potions Master isn't evil any more, we can use his help.”

Harry thought about that for a moment before he nodded “Snape could probably use a distraction, but you have to make it good. Do you have something non-joke related for him to work on?”

Fred looked affronted for a moment, then proceeded to tap a finger to his chin in thought. “There may be something that would interest the professor, but he may not appreciate it's brilliance and declare it cheating.”

“What is it?”

Shaking his head, Fred turned to open the door to Ron's bedroom again. Looking back he said “I have to talk to George about it. We'll talk later.”

Harry just shook his head in bemusement and went to sit next to Ginny again. He stayed at The Burrow until late in the evening almost every night now, enjoying the company of his friends after spending so many afternoons working alone.

When it was finally Saturday, Harry arrived at Spinner's End to find it empty. Looking around, he noticed that the house was clean and ordered. As if the owner was not expecting to return any time soon.

Taking the flu to Hogwarts, Harry found the Headmistress' office similarly empty. However, her desk was strewn with rolls of parchment. Deciding to wait for McGonagall to return, Harry walked around the room, looking over the bottles lined along the wall. He had a feeling most of the stuff around the room had been there since Snape held the office.

The headmistress entered not long after Harry had arrived. After a quick conversation –in which McGonagall told Harry that she had not seen the professor since the day before last, where he had apparently mentioned something about the library and the ministry– Harry rushed down to check his office and the Hogwarts library. He wasn't in either of those places.

Groaning, Harry returned to the headmistresses office. He couldn't believe Snape, who was usually smart and level-headed, had actually gone to the ministry alone. Had he really expected that they would let him leave without first holding a trial? Harry couldn't believe that, Snape simply wasn't that stupid or naïve. But if Snape had realized the consequences, that left Harry with a whole other set of problems. After all, he had mentioned going to the ministry voluntarily. A man that walked into a cell in Azkaban by choice, was a man that should be on the mental ward of St. Mungo's.

Harry flood directly to the ministry and strode quickly to reception. Much like all the other times Harry had spoken to strange witches or wizards, the two witches behind the desk came running as soon as they noticed him. Both tried to help him and were so insistent that Harry got nothing useful out of them. Instead of waiting for them to calm down, Harry rolled his eyes and turned to the lifts. He didn't even know why he had gone to the reception, he should have known they would be to busy fawning over him to be of any use.

Pressing the button for the Auror Department, Harry went in search for someone who might be able to help. When he arrived, several of the Aurors came up to him. They introduced themselves, shook his hand, clapped him on the back, and thanked him. Unlike the receptionists, these men and women weren't fawning over him. They were sincerely interested and amazed by what he had done, not just because of the stories people told about him. They wanted details about his search, asked about his experiences and one wizard even requested for help with his disarming spell.

It was quite the ego-boost, having so many Aurors interested in his skills. But Harry knew the truth. He didn't deserve all the attention, not yet. He was barely of age and hadn't even finished school. Sure, he'd stopped Riddle, but that was simple prophecy. No, Harry was quite certain he should be the one asking the questions. After all, he still had a lot to learn before he would be an Auror. That was, if he was even still going to be one. He still hadn't decided, and he probably wouldn't until it was time to apply for training.

After a short conversation with the group surrounding him, Harry excused himself and went towards the office of the head Auror. If anyone knew where a suspected murdered was being held, he would be it.

The new head of the Auror office, a wizard called Tiernan Savage, looked up from his papers with an irritated expression. As soon as he saw who entered the frown turned upside down, making Harry grin with the perfect corniness of the man's expression.

Not in the mood for small talk, Harry asked “Were is Snape?”

Savage eyebrows crept into his hairline “I was under the impression you declined our offer to become an Auror.”

“I did.”

“Then what gives you the right to storm into my office asking questions?”

Harry scoffed, was he serious? Seconds ago the man had been on the point of acting like a teenage fan-girl. “You would still be hiding if it wasn't for me. Right now, I have the right to ask anything I want.”

The corners of the man's mouth twitched. Waving towards the chair he said “Sit down, Mr. Potter.”

Harry shook his head “Just answer the question please.”

“Snape was taken into custody yesterday morning. He was brought to Azkaban to await his trial.”

“When is the trial?”

“At noon on Thursday.”

“You're planning to keep him locked away with Death Eaters for almost a week?” Harry started pacing furiously “Are you insane? He'll be death before he can get to his trial.” Shaking his head, Harry tried to think. He had to get Snape out of there before it was too late.

“There are guards to keep anything from happening. They can keep him away from the general population if there is a threat.”

“You can't do that to him. He's been through enough, he doesn't deserve to be locked away.”

“That is not up to you to decide.”

Harry glared at the new Head Auror. He really didn't like involving himself with the ministry, but he didn't have much choice. He just couldn't let Snape stay in that place, not after everything the man had done for him. “Do I have to go to the minister with this?”

Savage opened his mouth, but closed it without saying anything. Riffling around his desk for a moment, he handed Harry a form. “This is a custody form. We use them when we need to take a prisoner away from Azkaban. It puts the prisoner under your custody and makes you completely responsible. If he commits another crime or doesn't show up at his trial, you will be held at fault.”

Harry looked over the form, frowning slightly. He didn't mind being responsible for Snape, the man wasn't actually a criminal any more. What he was worried about was the part where he had to fill out a location for the prisoner. “If I fill this out, he's allowed to await the trial at his home?”

“Yes, but you will have to stay with him. Prisoners in custody of an Auror have to stay under the watch of said Auror at all times.”

“I'm not an Auror.”

Savage shrugged “The forms are usually limited to Aurors because they must be validated by me or the minister. We don't usually allow civilians to take custody for a suspected criminal, but there is no law that stated we can't.”

“And you are giving me this form because?”

The Auror scoffed “You're our saviour are you not? You will find a way to get what you want anyway.”

Harry did a great impression of a fish, completely dumbfounded. The man made it sound like Harry regularly used his fame. Yet, he didn't seem to care very much. The thirty something auror appeared completely blasé. Figuring it was in his best interest to keep the man in that state, he dropped the matter.

"Thank you for the forms. Can I just fill them in and take them to the prison?"

Savage waved towards the door "You can grab one of the desks that aren't in use and fill it out there. Come back when you're done so I can validate it."

Nodding in thanks, Harry turned and went to fill out the form. Most of it was simple but Harry wasn't sure what to fill out for destination. He could probably stay at Snape's house for a week, but the place was small and Harry doubted Snape wanted him in his house for that long. Potter Park on the other hand, was huge. Figuring that Snape would be pissed about either option, Harry went with Potter Park. At least there they could avoid each other.

Harry arrived at Azkaban little over an hour later. The Auror at the front desk had given him a curious look when he showed the papers but had not commented. He'd told him to wait and several minutes later, a bedraggled looking Severus Snape was brought out. Snape glared at him but didn't say anything while Harry signed some more papers.

When that was done, one of the Aurors unlocked the chains around Snape before rattling of the rules. Harry had already been informed that Snape was supposed to stay in his line of sight at all times but was slightly taken aback when the Auror handed him a set of cuffs that Snape was to wear if ever he needed to go out in public. Snape had sneered at them for only a moment, all emotion leaving his face when the Auror proceeded. Snape was not allowed to do any kind of magic until his trial, and that included making potions. His wand would not be returned unless and until he was pronounced innocent.

Before they left, they were warned about the consequences of breaking any of the rules and the Auror placed a tracking charm on the professor. During all of this, Snape just glared at them. He didn't speak until they had left the prison and Harry held out his arm. Snape sneered at him "What?"

Harry sighed at the tone, this was going to be a long week. They had gotten along better for a while, clearly that was over. "You have no wand and you cannot be seen flying out of here on your own. No potions means no flying either. You can grab a hold so we can apparate out of here, or you can jump on the back of my broom, your choice."

Snape glared at him for a bit longer before giving in with a sigh. "Do you even have your licence?"

Harry grinned and shook his head "Nope."

Brows drawing to getter, Snape let his hand fall just before he actually touched Harry. "Have you ever done this?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry nodded "Have you ever spend a year hiding in a tent?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It gets boring pretty quickly, we had a lot of time to practise."

"You were supposed to be on a mission, not hanging about doing nothing." Snape snapped, sounding more than just a little bit ticked off.

"Just grab my arm will you. We can talk about this later."

Snape did as asked and moments later, they were standing on the lawn of Potter Park. Harry's knees buckled and he sat down quickly. That had taken a lot more power than he had expected. He'd never had that much trouble with Hermione or Ron. But then, he'd never apparated that kind of distance with them. Feeling Snape's eyes on him, Harry took a deep breath and stood up.

As he was brushing his jeans clean, Snape snapped at him "Where are we?"

"Potter Park."

Snape practically exploded "Bloody idiot, have you no sense at all? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? You could have killed both of us with your foolishness."

Harry frowned, not sure why Snape was so pissed. What was so dangerous about apparating them here? He'd been doing so on a daily basis. "How so?"

Snape hissed softly but the glare lessened a bit. "This is your family mansion. Only Potters can apparate or disapparate on the property, that includes side along."

Harry blinked a few times. He hadn't considered there were anti apparition wards around the mansion. He hadn't thought about the wards around the house at all. Frowning at himself, he shook his head at his own stupidity. "I'm sorry, you're right. That was some kind of stupid.. I've been living here for weeks and I never even checked the wards." Harry groaned "I can't believe I was that stupid.."

Snape looked at him for a moment before he huffed and started towards the front door. Harry followed and opened the door quickly, not willing to look at the potions master's face. Leading the man inside, he took him directly to the rooms closest to his own. Opening the door he walked inside and turned to Snape "You can stay here for a while. I want you to stay out of the other bedrooms and the nursery. I haven't gone through all the stuff in those rooms and it's all I have left of my family. You're welcome to go anywhere else but please let me know if you find something interesting, I have a feeling that I still haven't found all the rooms." Snape nodded and Harry headed out of the room.

He was just out the door when Snape called "Potter." Looking back, Harry saw the man look at him with his jaws clenched tight. "Thank you for getting me out of there."

It was obvious how hard it was for the man to get the words out but Harry didn't comment. Giving Snape a curt nod in acknowledgement in turned and left to go check out the wards.

Severus couldn't quite believe Potter had actually came to get him out for that filthy prison. He wasn't sure how the brat had done it but didn't really care. It mattered little how. What mattered that he had. Severus wasn't used to people doing things like that for him. The only one who had ever tried to help was Albus, and he'd only done it after Snape had promised to spy for him. He'd never held that against the professor, especially not in the later years when it became clear that Albus did actually care. But it had always hurt, to know that Albus would not have helped him without getting something in return.

Severus had just decided that he needed a shower when there was a soft knock on the door. Assuming it was Potter, he opened the door only to be surprised by Kreacher standing there. Raising a brow at the oddities of an elf knocking on a door as well as the fact that Potter had allowed Kreacher in his house, he asked "Yes?"

The little elf bowed "Master Harry send me to ask if there was anything I could bring you from your home Master Snape, sir."

Severus cocked his head at the elf "You could bring me some clothes. I will be staying for five days so make sure you bring enough."

The elf bowed again "As you wish Master Snape, sir. Master Harry also asked me to inform you that he wished to speak to you in the library at noon, sir."

Severus nodded to the elf and it disappeared with a plop. Looking at his watch, he decided he had time for a shower and a quick rest. He hadn't been able to sleep in that wretched place and he was tiered. Showering quickly and pulling on the pyjama's that the elf had left him, he laid down and closed his eyes.

Some time later, Severus was shaken awake by a hand on his shoulder. Snapping upright, he glared at Potter, who was smirking down at him. How the heck had that brat gotten in here without him noticing. He never slept that deeply. "What do you want?"

Potter shrugged "You didn't show up in the library, I came to check on you."

Raking his hair away from his face he scowled at the brat "And you couldn't have let me sleep? Do you know how long it's been since I've had a decent rest?"

"You've already had a month's worth of rest. Besides, you weren't exactly sleeping peacefully."

Severus frowned, trying to remember what he'd been dreaming. He didn't think it had been a nightmare, he usually remembered those. Telling Potter to get out, Severus stood up and dressed quickly.

A few minutes later, he stepped outside and went in search for the library. When he finally found it, Potter was lounging in one of the chairs with a book in front of his face. About to sneer at the child for wasting his time with Quidditch book, he snapped his mouth when he saw the title. It wasn't just that he was ones again hit in the face by the fact that Potter wasn't the boy Severus had believed him to be, it was that he'd never thought to see that book again. Striding towards the brat, he grabbed the book and turned it to the first page. There on the first page were the words he himself had written so many years ago. I'm sorry.

Running a finger over the writing he asked "Where did you get this?"

From the corner of his eye he saw Potter shrug "It was in my dad's room."

Closing his eyes, Severus took a deep calming breath. She'd given the book to Potter.. Looking at Potter he quirked a brow "And why are you reading it?"

"I was looking through it out of curiosity and noticed that some of the idea's were the same as yours. I figured it might have some additional information."

Severus nodded slowly and handed the book back. "There are some commonalities but this is much darker. I wrote that book after I became a spy in an attempt to find something good in the dark arts. This one was written in order to convince people the dark arts aren't really dark."

"You've read the book?"

"I was the one to give it to Lily. I was trying to convince her that I wasn't going bad. That I was just trying to learn as much as I possibly could."

Potter blinked a few times and cocked his head "Did it work?"

Severus raked a hand through his hair. He hadn't meant to talk about this, he hadn't even meant to have a normal conversation with the brat. Yet here they were, being civil. It was rather unnerving how easy it was to speak to Potter when they weren't bating each other. Wanting to find out how long they could stay that way, he answered instead of telling the boy to mind his business. "No, I don't think it did. Though, I'm not certain whether my own book might have done the trick."

Potter pursed his lip and frowned as if deep in thought. Then he nodded decisively. "I didn't know my mum, I never got the chance. But I have a feeling that she might have been able to accept what you wrote. I just don't think she would have agreed."

Severus thought about that for a moment before nodding "You're mother was exceptionally smart, but also exceptionally good. To her, as to most people, dark means bad. That's just the way things are."

Potter put the book to the side and waved for Severus to sit down. As he did, Kreacher appeared with two cups of tea. Takings them and handing one to Severus, Potter thanked the elf and waited until he was gone. Then he turned to look at Severus, his eyes narrowed slightly. "What in Merlin's name were you thinking? Going to the ministry by yourself? Really Snape, you have got to be insane."

Severus stiffened. Putting the tea on the side table with a rather loud clang, he sneered at the brat. "You really should learn to hold your tongue Potter. We were getting along so nicely, I would not like to change that before I can finally leave this place."

Potter sighed "I'm sorry, sir. That was rude. Then again, so were you when I made an honest mistake."

"I did not nearly kill one or both of us."

"Actually, you did."

Severus stared at the brat, trying to figure out what he meant. Sure it had been rather reckless to just show up at the ministry. But there had been several articles about him and Potter had ensured everybody knew he believed the Potions Master to be innocent.

Potter answered his unspoken question before Severus has a chance to ask for clarification. "New policy in Azkaban. All prisoners are allowed into the yard for an hour a week. Tell me Professor, how many Death Eaters were there in your block?"

Severus' eyes widened before he could stop the impulse. He hadn't known that. The only knew policy he'd heard about was the removal of the dementors. Which was the main reason he had not worried overly much about the possibility of staying in the prison for a few nights. He'd just wanted to get it done. He couldn't stand living with the trial hanging over him. He sighed and inclined his head towards Potter "I see your point. I had not considered that they would actually allow prisoners to mingle."

Potter snorted "Believe it or not, but most prisoners aren't kept in tiny cells for years on end."

"My father was a muggle. I'm well aware of their prison system. It doesn't seem effective."

Now the child was actually smirking at him "That's because they let them go eventually. They haven't changed the laws that much. Just enough to keep families like the Malfoys from complaining about the deplorable treatment of their kin."

"I doubt Narcissa or Draco would even consider such a thing. They care little for Lucius."

The child give him an inquisitive look "Now that you are no longer spying, tell me what you really think of Malfoy."

"Lucius or Draco?"

"Both."

Severus thought for a moment. Malfoy Senior was easy. "Lucius is a manipulating, arrogant little prick whom I would dearly love to curse into oblivion. He is a power hungry idiot but he does care for his family, in his own way. It did not surprise me when I heard he had spirited them away before the end."

Potter nodded slowly "And Draco?"

"I cannot tell. I neither had the time nor the energy to waist to pay attention to him during the past year. Before that.." He shook his head "I will answer that question another time." Severus had come to realize that his role as a spy had been colouring his worldview more than he had thought. He needed some time to re-evaluate things.

Instead of pressing the matter as Severus had expected him to do, the boy shrugged and changed the subject. "I checked on the wards around the house. I didn't recognize all of them but you were right about the family ward. There are blood-wards surrounding the property that most likely kill anyone not related."

"Most likely?"

"Everything I know about wards I learned from books. And there isn't much information on blood-wards in my library."

"How did you get us through?"

"I don't know but it took a lot of magic."

"Have you let anyone in through the gates?"

"No, everybody uses the floo."

"Keep it that way until someone has checked out the wards. I can take a look at them after trial if you wish."

Potter smiled happily "I wish." Frowning a bit, the boy stared at Severus for a while before saying "You can do magic in the house, the ministry can't tell who did it and I don't care.."

He snorted at that and shook his head at the boy. "You will never learn to follow the rules will you?"

The brat grinned "Nope, not going to happen."

Rolling his eyes, Severus changed the subject. "Explain how you got me out of Azkaban."

Potter sighed and started explaining how Savage had given him the papers. Severus had never heard that Aurors could take prisoners out of jail but wasn't at all surprised Potter had used the option. He suspected that if there hadn't already been a way to get him out, Potter would have one. The child was just that annoyingly inventive.

He wasn't completely at ease with fact that Potter got him out. He didn't like being in dept to anyone. But he was thankful for what the brat had done. The fact that Potter had come to get him as soon as he heard of Severus' predicament was hard to wrap his head around. For some astonishing reason Severus didn't understand, Potter seemed to have taken an interest in his wellbeing. It was disconcerting to think about.

When Potter was finally done with his explanation, Severus asked him what he was planning for the trial but the brat refused answer. Not willing to get into a row when they had to spend several days together, Severus changed the subject and asked about Potter's fourth year.

Most of what the child had to say he'd already known. Unlike so many others, Severus had known the child hadn't put his name in. At the time, he'd simply refused to believe the brat was smart enough to circumvent the headmaster's precautions. Now though, he had a feeling the child might have found a way. He just didn't believe Potter had actually wanted to compete.

He was somewhat surprised to learn how much of Potter's troubles were caused by his lack of knowledge. Severus had a feeling a lot of things wouldn't have happened if they hadn't treated Potter like a child. The brat had been more involved in the war than everybody else, and that include himself, and yet everyone had tried to keep him away.

Severus had always been the first to complain about the special treatment the child got. It was annoying to learn that maybe he himself should have treated Potter differently. Not that he should have coddled the boy like the others, clearly that had been a mistake. But someone should have been there to help the child instead of shielding him. It was more than a little aggravating to realize that Potter had been the only one who had understood that being ignorant would be dangerous.

When the child was finally done with his story, Severus didn't say anything for a long time. To absorbed in his own thoughts, he didn't notice when the child stood up and left the room. He did notice when the house elf dropped a tray with some food on the table but decided to ignore it in favour of perusing the library.

The child returned about an hour later, hovering a pensive in front of him. Putting it down, he pulled two small flasks out of his robes and put them next to the pensive. Pointing at the vial on the left he said "That's the battle at the ministry, the other one is the cave. I've told you about my first four years at Hogwarts and I'll tell you about the rest but I can't deal with those two.."

Looking at the memories closely, Severus noticed the strands of memories were extremely entangled. "How long have they been in there?"

The brat shrugged "I put them in the flasks when I assembled the memories I gave you."

"And you didn't show me these before because..?"

"I didn't want you to see them."

Frowning, Severus picked up the ministry memory and poured it in the pensive. About to touch the surface, he hesitated. Potter had given him the memories because he didn't want to speak of the events. But if the brat didn't want him to know, Severus should respect that. No matter how curious he was. Glancing at Potter he asked "Why didn't you wish me to see these?"

"Because you won't like what you see and you've been through enough."

Sighing Severus nodded. He had expected that it wouldn't be pleasant to see, especially the brats memory of the cave. But he needed to know. The war was over but it hadn't sunk in yet. He had a feeling it wouldn't for a while yet, but maybe knowing more would help. With another glance at the child, he put his finger in the liquid and was pulled into the memory.

The memory started in Umbridge's office just as he entered the room. Looking at himself, he was slightly disconcerted at his bearing. This had only been two years ago and yet, he couldn't remember the last time he'd looked that healthy. At the time, he'd already been pale and his hair wouldn't stop being greasy unless he stopped making potions. But he'd had muscles, his ribs hadn't been protruding and his face didn't have the lines it carried these days.

He watched the memory play from the sidelines. More than a bit amused when Potter and Granger led the toad directly into a giant's territory. He listened to the children argue with Potter and was slightly impressed by the loyalty the brat inspired. He'd seen it through the years, the way not only his two best friends but most of the Gryffindors were completely loyal to the boy. He'd thought it to be nothing but false hero worship but now he was starting to reconsider. Without the hatred he'd felt for Potter senior, even he felt some loyalty towards the boy.

The scene changed from the children getting on the thestrals to their entry at the ministry. Severus looked around the rooms of the Department of Mysteries with interest. Very few got a chance to see what happened in the department. Even with the chaos going on around him, Severus couldn't help but be intrigued. When they got to the prophecy, Severus looked on as Potter picked it up and Lucius appeared. He couldn't help but sneer at the man. Once upon a time, Severus had called Malfoy a friend. He'd been one of the few that hadn't completely shunned him because of his friendship with Lily. Severus hadn't realized what kind of a monster Lucius was until after he had become a Death Eater and it was too late.

As the battle started he followed the brats, smiling every time one of them got of a well aimed spell. He would have to remember their performance for his classes next year. If they could perform this well under pressure, they should do even better during Defence classes. Once they arrived in the room with the veil, he wished he could tell them to get out of there. He might not have liked Black, but he would be more than happy if he could have stopped the rest of the memory from occurring. The man's death was partly Severus' fault, and he really didn't need any more deaths on his conscious.

Soon enough, Black and Potter started fighting Lucius together. They fought well. Of course, Severus had known Black was good at duelling. He just hadn't expected Potter to do so well. Everything Potter had told him of his first four years, had depended on the brat's continuous lucky streak. Well that and the boy's exceptional detective skills. This was the first time he saw the child in a real duel and he was doing an impressive job. If the child had some more training, he might even hold up against Severus. Though, when he thought about it, the child had already done that.

The brats high pitched scream pulled Severus out of his thoughts. He watched Potter as Black fell through the veil and couldn't help but feel bad. If only he'd been a bit more patient during their Occlumency lessons, if only somebody had told the brat why he needed the lessons, maybe Black would still be alive. Maybe they could have prevented the child from feeling that kind of loss at such an early age.

He followed Potter as he ran after Bellatrix. Potter fired a Cruciatus that made her stumble and fall. Potter stood over her, wand pointed directly at her heart. Severus watched the boy struggle to make a decision, saw it when he decided she wasn't worth it. When Riddle turned up, he sucked in a breath. He'd known Albus had fought Voldemort in the Ministry but he hadn't known Potter had been alone at first. Letting out a relieved sigh when one of the statues stepped in front of the killing curse, he followed Potter to the side of the room and watched the battle. As he looked on, he couldn't help but be in awe of the headmaster. The man hadn't just been powerful, he was well trained and extremely skilled. Even if Albus had less magic, he would have been a formidable opponent.

The battle ended and for a moment, Severus was relieved. Soon the minister of magic would barge in and the memory would end. Then he heard Potter scream and his relieve vanished. Running over to stand next to Albus, he watched as the boy screamed and screamed. Severus had seen and felt the Crucio more times than he cared to remember, yet he had never seen such agony. Minutes went by as the boy screamed, struggled and whimpered. As the child stilled, the memory ended.

Sitting back in one of the old-fashioned armchairs, Severus led out a long, steadying breath. Potter had been right, part of him wished he hadn't seen that. A week ago, he had still been under the impression that the brat was only just above average. He hadn't hated the child, not since he found out about the connection to the dark lord. He wouldn't have wished that on anybody. The fact that Potter had bore it without whining, had impressed him even then. But that had not changed his mind about the boy. After all, Potter wasn't the only one dealing with that mad man.

It hadn't been until he'd seen those memories that he understood how much the boy had to deal with. His life had been one problem after another. His childhood had been ruined, his school-years had been fraught with danger, and for the rest of his life he would have to live with fame he didn't want. Severus had ridiculed him for all of it. Taunted him about being the pampered golden boy. To learn that the boy had had such a hard time with his home life, his school life, and his fame, had made Severus feel like a jackass.

Seeing more of the hardship the child had endured, seeing him go through that kind of emotional and physical pain, was more than he'd bargained for. He sat and stared at the boy for a long time. Potter was reading a book, or at least pretending to. Sighing, Severus leaned over and took the book out of his hands. "You know none of that was your fault right?"

Potter nodded slowly "It was just as much my fault as it was yours and Dumbledore's. I don't blame you so I can't blame myself. In the end it was Sirius' decision to come after me. Bitchtrix killed him and she paid for it in the end."

Severus' eyebrow raised "What happened to her? I never heard."

Grinning madly, Potter told him of Molly's duel. When he finished, even Severus was smiling. Bellatrix had definitely gotten what she deserved, smashed into little pieces. Thinking of smashed into pieces, he remembered what had happened to the headmaster's office after that trip. Narrowing his eyes at Potter he asked a little harsher than intended "You were the one that smashed Albus' office, were you not?"

Potter's cheeks flushed as he mumbled "Yeah... I was a bit pissed."

Nodding in understanding, Severus waved towards the pensive "You should put that back in your head. Memories degrade if you leave them in those kind of bottle for too long."

The brat sighed but did as he was instructed. Putting the strand back, Potter closed his eyes and grimaced. With a shudder, he sat back while Severus put in the second memory. After one more glance at the boy, he touched the surface and was pulled into the memory.

He appeared inside a cave where Potter was arguing with the headmaster to led him drink the potion. Albus would have none of it though. Moments later, Potter was holding some of the potion in front of the headmasters mouth. Albus drank it, his face contorting in pain. While the headmaster cried out, Potter moved back to the basket to scoop up more poison. Albus screamed and begged while Potter cried softly. When the potion was finally gone, the headmaster asked for water and Severus was pulled out of the memory.

He sat back, closed his eyes and tried to forget. That had been part of Albus' last hour, and he had suffered greatly. Albus had told him that he would be doing him a favour, preventing the man from dying because of the agony of the curse. But all he did was give the man a reason to do something stupid. Had Albus not known that he would die that night, he would never have drunk that potion himself. Or Severus didn't think he would have, one could never be sure were the headmaster was concerned.

Potter was still sitting there, looking rather forlorn. Severus couldn't stop himself from asking "Even without that memory in your head, you can still feel it can't you?"

Potter head snapped up, his eyes wide. Then he seemed to realize something, sagged back and muttered something that sounded very much like a yes to Severus.

"It never helped me either. Some memories leave scars so deep you can never erase them, not even Oblivion will work."

Potter gave him a strange look. "You tried to Obliviate yourself?"

"I was young and stupid. Accepting the dark mark was not my only mistake."

Potter glanced down at his arm "Is it gone?"

In lieu of answering, Severus moved his sleeve and showed his now smooth skin. He was still surprised every time he saw it. Not willing to dwell on his own past, he turned back to Potter. "Do you think I should be punished for killing him?"

The boy looked surprised at the question "No." He paused, biting his lip "You did the right thing. You did what he wanted so it wasn't your fault." Potter frowned for a moment, then chuckled a bit. With an odd look at Severus he stood up and started out the room. Before he left the room, he turned his head and added "Thank you, Professor. I needed to hear that. Doesn't make it better, but it helps. Breakfast is at half past eight, don't be late. Kreacher hates it when you're late."