1st September 1996

~~~~HP~~~~

Harry couldn't sleep last night, which wasn't all too surprising given everything that was going on in his mind. The rest of the students would be arriving this evening to start another year of school and Harry was nervous how it would impact his relationship with Snape. Between the chemo yesterday and his anxiety over term starting, he woke up around one in the morning and ended up in the lavatory sick. After their conversation last night, Harry was determined to ride out the vomiting on his own to allow Snape a good night's sleep before he started teaching again. It shouldn't have mattered in the long run, but for some reason it felt harder on him sitting up alone in the lavatory for most of the night.

Eventually, he made it back to his bed where he stayed up looking through Snape's potions book and sketching - last week he started working on a picture of himself and Dudley - until around four in the morning, then he fell asleep still clutching his notebook. He woke that morning from the sun shining through his window sometime around ten with his glasses removed and tucked nicely under his bedspread. After a quick shower and dressing in a pair of jeans with a navy blue jumper, now that he was feeling a bit more like himself, he ate the breakfast that Snape had left sitting out on the table for him. His medicine was nicely placed in a small cup besides the plate charmed to keep his eggs and toast warm, and a note in Snape's unique script that read:

Harry -

I went to finish a couple of last minute preparations in my classroom and the Slytherin dormitories. I will stop by before the welcoming feast this evening.

Take you medicine.

- S.S.

For the first time Harry wondered what his roommates would think when his bed was not in their dorm. Would Dumbledore be making some kind of announcement tonight or would everyone just think he'd died over the summer? Maybe that Voldemort finally got to him? That was ridiculous though, the Prophet would have definitely reported if the Boy-Who-Lived had been killed by Voldemort.

Moving to the sitting room, he sat on the sofa trying not to think about how stir crazy he was feeling within the walls of the dungeons. He'd been here since before his birthday and had only left those few times to see Ginny - which he hadn't been able to do since the row with Ron - and now he was almost ready to give up his Firebolt just to be able to leave.

Severus would kill me if I left his quarters, especially without telling him, but once the students get here it will be impossible to do it.

It was a bad idea, even Harry recognized that, but once it was in his mind it was like a plague he could not push out. Getting up from the sofa he started pacing between the sitting room and the door to the outside hallway; going as far as putting his hand on the door knob that would take him to freedom. Snape had specifically told him he was keyed into the wards, so he could easily get back in... Assuming he knew which empty stone wall held the door to begin with.

Suddenly the floo roared to life, saving him from making another stupid, rash decision in his life and Mrs. Weasley walked out. Harry had not seen the woman who was like his surrogate mother since before Charlie's death and the sight of her was enough to knock the wind right out of his chest. She looked tired, similar to how Snape did on any given day lately, but she still had her kind eyes that pulled at his heart. He swiped the start of tears from the corner of his eyes... He wasn't lying last night when he said he felt like he was a total mess lately.

"Mrs. Weasley," he called, walking over to her slowly unsure of how she would react to seeing him, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh Harry," she called with a large, sad smile and pulled him into a full body hug, firm enough to be solid but soft enough not to hurt his always aching body. She extended him back, still holding onto his arms, to get a good look at him as if she hadn't seen him in years. Small tears forming in her eyes when she called out to him in a serious voice, "I've been trying to see you for a while now, young man!"

This time, Harry couldn't stop the tears that welled in his eyes. Even after her son was murdered because of him and her daughter laid unconscious up in the hospital wing, she was still standing in front of him, lecturing him, and it felt good. It felt like what any mother would do to the son she loved.

"Shouldn't you be at the train station?" He may sometimes lose all track of time, but even he knew it was the 1st of September.

"Oh deary, it's left two hours ago. I was up visiting Ginny and ran into Severus who told me I could floo in," she gestured him towards the sofa where he sat down with her directly next to him. It was something so little but meant so much that she didn't sit away from him. "Now, tell me how you are really doing."

"I'm ok. Or as well as I can be I guess," he rubbed his hands together nervously knowing she would never believe it. "How're you, and Ginny? I'm so sorry Mrs. Weasley-"

"None of that now Harry," she patted his hand, "you had nothing to do with what had happened, understood? We talked about this already and not a thing has changed."

"That's what Remus said about Sirius, but I know he didn't mean it. How could he not blame me? How can you not blame me?" Harry mumbled feeling the guilt and crawled back and settled into his chest at the same time he was feeling ashamed and embarrassed for having admitted to that out loud.

"He absolutely meant it, as do I Harry. None of this is your fault. You happen to be caught in the middle of a complicated mess of things, but you are not the cause of any of it," she reprimanded, similar to what Snape told him, but somehow firmer and kinder at the same time. "Anyway, Bill is making great work on breaking the curse and we'll all move on. That's all we can do Harry, just keep moving forward."

"That's great to hear Mrs. Weasley," and Harry truly meant it, if Ginny could get better, maybe that would help him cope just a bit more with the situation.

They sat next to each other with an awkward silence between them. Mrs. Weasley softly rubbed soft circles on Harry's back.

"How's Ron?" he finally asked genuinely curious about his friend, even if he wasn't sure they were still friends.

"He misses you," Mrs. Weasley said sympathetically, "he's scared for you, but you know Ron won't say something so explicitly. He said it would be strange not having you on the trip into school, but a mother knows how to listen to the words her son is not saying."

"Or at the welcoming feast," Harry reminded her but as a matter of fact statement, not sad, "or classes."

"You'll get back there Harry," she said, patting him yet again. "If you don't mind my asking, what happened exactly between you two? Hermione filled me in on most of the details, but if there's some way I could help, I'd like to do what I can."

Is this what a mother would do when her children fought? Harry closed his eyes trying to think of what it would have been like if his mum were still alive; would she have gotten involved by now? Or what if his parents had another child - they were young enough when he was born to have had at least one more - and he had a younger brother or sister to fight with? What would Snape have done in the other reality? It was alarming how often he asked himself about what his life was like with Snape as his parent, not admitting to himself that he would be ok with that now.

"He was upset that I... called Professor Snape... Severus," remembering back to the conversation he had with Hermione, he was embarrassed to admit that to Mrs. Weasley. Would she be as insulted as Ron had been?

"Is that all? Ronald really needs to mind his own business now doesn't he?" Harry couldn't help but smile at that statement. He got the impression she already knew about what he called Snape, but knowing she didn't mind made him feel better about the whole situation.

"When do you start your classes? Do you have your books?" She asked in her motherly way.

"Tomorrow and yes, Professor Snape had my books owl ordered in," he thought about the professor's old potions book and warmness filled him inside again, "I guess I'm going to have evening classes with professors and daytime studying with students, but I don't have a timetable yet. Or at least an estimated one depending on how I'm feeling each day."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, "And I hear Hermione is going to be two of your student tutors?"

It was awkward talking to Mrs. Weasley about this kind of stuff as if nothing this summer had happened. Maybe she really didn't blame him for Ginny and Charlie. Maybe this was the conversation he needed to have with her all along, but he'd been avoiding it.

"Yeah, she is. I don't know who else will be though because Hermione's kind of the best student in everything."

While he didn't know for sure who else would be tutoring him, having Hermione as his Charms and Transfiguration tutor helped him narrow down his guesses for the others. Professor McGonagall had chosen students from his year instead of the seventh year, so it would most likely be Neville for Herbology and, unfortunately, Malfoy for Potions. He was stumped for DADA because honestly he probably would have been the likely first choice if it were any other student and he couldn't tutor himself. He was so lost in thought, he completely missed what Mrs. Weasley had said.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, what was that?" He asked sheepishly, hating to be called out on not listening to her.

"It's ok dear. I said I've arranged it with Professor Snape to be here with you while he and Professor McGonagall are both in classes next week. You have your long treatments starting up again correct?"

"Yes ma'am, it all starts again this Saturday. Healer Smithe said that hopefully I'll be back in classes before Halloween."

If he could just get through the next four weeks, Harry had high hopes that whatever the next phase was, it could not really get any worse than this one. He wanted to go back to classes, watch Quidditch - honestly, he wanted to play Quidditch, but even he knew that wasn't possible - eat meals in the Great Hall, even study in the library, just go back to his normal life... if there ever was such a thing for him.

~~~~SS~~~~

The students would be arriving in about two hours time and Severus still had a lot to complete before classes started back tomorrow. At first he thought teaching defense would be a good change this year for the extra flexibility - with Slughorn coming back to take his old post - but he forgot how much he depended on the familiar lesson plans and curriculum especially at the start of term. This was now like his first year teaching all over again and with Harry's treatments it would keep him extremely busy; at least for the first month or so.

Surprisingly he'd slept well last night, so he was at least more clear headed than he had been in days. Of course with his newly cleared mind, he couldn't help but question why he slept all night on a day that Harry had chemotherapy - even a relatively easy day of it - and he suspected Harry somehow had something to do with it either intentionally or unintentionally. He didn't get the chance to question Harry on it since he left before Harry had woken up that morning. On a normal day, he wouldn't allow such a lie in, but when he'd gone to wake Harry up this morning it was obvious the young wizard had been up late. So he removed Harry's glasses and tucked him under his bedspread before leaving him a note about where the professor would be during the day.

Instead of preparing for his classes - as he should have been doing with his newfound energy - he was determined to get through as much of his medical research as possible. He found himself sitting at his desk in his classroom office with several books open across the desk. The need to know how Harry managed to get the Leukemia had been quickly pushed aside when he came across a passage about how Leukemia was formed. He obviously had known it was a blood cancer stemming from the bone marrow since he'd heard two healers explain it - once in each reality - but he had not thought any further about it and now he was desperate to know if his hypothesis could be correct.

"Shit," he said as he finally started to connect the pieces to the puzzle no one even knew existed.

How could this have been overlooked? He raced to the floo in his office to contact Alton at home, throwing down the floo powder so forcefully it spat back into his face.

"Alton!" Severus called frantically through the floo hoping he'd be able to get in contact with the healer today. He'd not forgotten that he needed to discuss his lack of availability from yesterday, but this took higher priority than even that. He was relieved when his friend kneeled down into the floo. "Can you come through to my defense office for a minute? I need your assistance on something."

"Sure thing Severus," the healer replied, "I'll be right there."

Severus paced the floor in front of his desk. While he knew he could trust Alton, he still wasn't sure how much information he could safely give. He needed confirmation before approaching Albus as the elderly wizard wouldn't know anything about muggle cancers, but he had to keep his hand close to his chest.

"Is everything alright Severus?" Alton asked confused as to why he was called to Severus's office. This could not have to do with Harry if he wasn't in the man's quarters or the hospital wing.

"I hope so," the professor replied, picking up one of the medical books titled The Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology. "Tell me about Leukemia."

The healer narrowed his eyes bewildered, "Aren't we a little bit past this point Severus?"

Sighing, the professor explained, "I've been trying to figure out how Harry ended up with the Leukemia, but I keep coming back to the idea of a blood cancer and how they're formed."

"Well, the simple answer is that his bone marrow is making white blood cells that have damaged instructions, so to say, preventing them from working properly and they are being made at an exponential rate," Alton sat down tiredly at the desk watching his friend pour through the various medical books. "Is there something specific you're looking for?"

"What if a Leukemia patient donated their bone marrow?" It was the closest direct question Severus could ask without inducting Alton into the Order. The conditions of the Dark Lord's resurrection were not widely known and if his thought process was correct, that was to their benefit right now.

"Well," the healer sounded beyond confused as they had not discussed a bone marrow transplant for Harry, "no one would take donated marrow from someone who had Leukemia. They usually get the donated marrow, not the other way around."

The air was almost knocked completely out of Severus's lungs as he remembered the pepper ups, fever reducers, blood replenishers, and invigorating draughts he was asked to brew before the Pivot Drive attack. It seemed too easy to be true and yet the evidence had been sitting right in front of him this whole time.

"And Harry's cancer... It's... aggressive you called it?"

"Very much so," Alton explained gravely, "which is why we attack it so many different ways and for so many years. He'll also need to be tested regularly even after the maintenance phase is completed to watch for any relapses. Leaving just a single Leukemia cell can jump start the whole process over again."

How did he miss it? Sure he'd been distracted, but this could put a major change to their plan of attack.

"And if Harry decided he wanted to stop treatment? Or had he not wanted to treat it to begin with? How long would it have taken to..." He couldn't say it even though he wasn't thinking about Harry at all for this conversation.

"Now you're scaring me Severus. What's going on?" Alton had gone from confused to concerned in a second. These were questions a healer never wanted to hear from a patient or a caregiver, "I know he's had a rough month but as Harry's medical proxy I hope you don't consider letting him make a decision like that; at least not without some discussions with me first."

"Of course not," the professor reassured, "I'm simply trying to keep things in perspective."

Severus was relieved to see his explanation was acceptable as Alton started calculating in his head, "For an acute leukemia like ALL... based on when we first tested him... without treatment at all, not taking into account his magic trying to heal him which could slow it down a little... he likely wouldn't have made it much further than now... definitely not to Halloween."

Severus couldn't stop his legs from shaking as he sat down in the chair behind his desk. He had known the cancer was aggressive, but it was almost devastating to know that had they not caught it, Harry would probably be dead or close to it by now. Holding his head in his hands, he tried to compose himself as quickly as possible using his Occlumency.

"Thank you Alton; we'll see you Saturday," the professor said standing up and quickly exiting his office heading straight to see the Headmaster.

"Severus," Albus called from the other side of his desk when his new Defense Professor entered the office in a hurry, not even knocking beforehand, "Lemon drop?"

"The Dark Lord used Harry's blood, and by extension his bone marrow, as his own," Severus called out, ignoring the offer of the blasted sweet. A quick glance around the room and he was relieved to see the Headmaster was alone when he made this declaration. In hindsight, it was not his most graceful entrance.

"Yes Severus, we did already know that fact," Albus appeared not only perplexed, but also deeply concerned for his professor to be making such an obvious statement.

Severus gave a hard sigh and tried to explain this a different way, "Harry's cancer originated in the bone marrow itself... it is not a disease one catches, but is written within the structure of his bone marrow, which creates the components of the blood."

Albus's eyes lit up; he stood leaning across his desk almost pleading for his former spy to be corrected.

"Are you saying there is a chance Voldemort has the same cancer as Harry?"

"More than a chance, yes," he was talking almost frantically now putting the connections together in his head, "and the fact that I had been brewing him potions to combat the symptoms - fatigue, lower immune system, easier bleeding - indicates it's starting to infect him. The disease is aggressively fatal, it should be only a matter of time before he's gone."

"There's something missing Severus," the older wizard skeptically said, "we've had no reports that Voldemort has taken ill. Quite the opposite actually as the Death Eater activity is increasing by the day. Surely something like this would be noticeable by now."

That was true and something Severus could not overlook no matter how hard he wanted to. If Harry had been as ill as he was when the diagnosis came two months ago, there was no way the Dark Lord would still be functioning as he had been. Magic would help mask some of the symptoms, but not by that much. Harry was as strong of a wizard as the Dark Lord, even if neither of them would admit it, and he would have been close to death at this point.

"I don't know," Severus hated to admit defeat on that simple, but very important point. "As soon as the opportunity presents itself, I'll ask Mr. Malfoy for his assessment; obviously without giving him the information we've just uncovered."

Albus lifted his head towards the door while simultaneously holding a hand to pause Severus from speaking any further.

"Come in Minerva," the elderly wizard announced his Deputy Headmistress's arrival; obviously for Severus's benefit.

Minerva walked confidently into the room, hands full of parchment and books, her eyes lighting up at seeing both of the professors in front of her.

"Just the two men I needed to see," she placed all the parchment onto Albus's desk. "I have the final schedule for Harry's classes worked out, but I need both of your signatures before the final copy can go out to the Board of Governors."

"Of course," Albus said, picking up the top piece of parchment and handing the one below it to Severus.

Professor Schedule

1 per Evening x 5 Days

Day 1: Defense

Day 2: Charms

Day 3: Herbology

Day 4: Potions

Day 5: Transfiguration

Make-Up As needed:

Day 6: Potions / Herbology

Day 7: Charms / Transfiguration

Student Tutor Schedule

2 per day x 5 days

Day 1: Herbology / Transfiguration

Day 2: Potions / Defense

Day 3: Transfiguration / Charms

Day 4: Herbology / Defense

Day 5: Potions / Charms

Tutor Assignments

Herbology: Neville Longbottom

Charms / Transfiguration: Hermione Granger

Potions / Defense: Draco Malfoy

"Severus," Minerva said once it was obvious he had read through the parchment, "as Head of Slytherin, you need to sign off on Mr. Malfoy's tutoring assignment. I've already arranged it with him and his schedule."

"And if I disagree with this rotation?" He raised a single eyebrow to the Transfiguration Professor.

"Well, it's a bit late to do that. There were a lot of moving parts just to get this one to work," she said more than a bit insulted. "What is not to your liking here?"

He was not trying to be difficult, but practical, "It's the fact that Draco will be doing a double tutoring on Tuesdays. I wish to keep my quarters standing and both boys alive if that's not too much to ask."

"Surely the two of them can manage for this purpose," Minerva lectured. "If we see there is an issue, I'll address it as needed."

"Says the person who will not have them unsupervised in her quarters," the defense professor narrowed his eyes while simultaneously signing the parchment then handing it back to her.

"Albus," Minerva said, completely ignoring Severus's glare, "what shall we tell the students? Surely they'll notice Harry is missing from classes. At a bare minimum Messrs Finnegan, Thomas, and Longbottom certainly will notice him not in their dormitory."

"There will be a generic announcement at the end of the feast tonight," the Headmaster looked worn and tired making that statement. Severus could appreciate how difficult it must be to be in his position during times like this. "Nothing personal of course; simply stating that for the foreseeable future Harry will not be attending classes en mass and will be living outside of Gryffindor tower for his personal safety. None of which is technically incorrect nor does it violate Harry's right to privacy."

The Headmaster stood up, which Severus took as their dismissal. With the last three-quarters of an hour before the students arrived, he briskly walked back down to the dungeon where he knew Harry would be; most likely still with Mrs. Weasley. His wards warned him earlier this afternoon that Harry was attempting to leave their quarters, so he made sure to casually run into Mrs. Weasley - who hadn't left the hospital wing all week - and suggested she visit him before the students arrived. Since he had not heard from her nor his wards, he naturally assumed the distraction managed to keep the Gryffindor contained.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and was greeted by the aroma of freshly baked biscuits; something he was confident his quarters had never smelled like before. Peeking into the kitchen, he saw the final products sitting on a plate in the center of the table. Not being able to resist, he picked up one of the smallest and walked into the sitting room.

"Thank you for the biscuits," he said to Mrs. Weasley who was knitting on the sofa. He was surprised she had stayed this long; something must have happened to cause her to do so.

"Oh, it's nothing," she waved him off and he could not help but make a comparison to himself whenever Harry thanked him for something.

"He's in his room," she answered the question he didn't ask as she packed up her knitting work. "It was a rough afternoon and biscuits help make everything seem just a little brighter. I'll be on my way, I shouldn't be here when the students arrive."

"Thank you again, Molly."

Severus walked out of the sitting room pausing in front of Harry's bedroom to compose himself. Without chemotherapy today it was unlikely Harry's "rough day" was because of his physical health. He knocked lightly onto Harry's door and received a quiet, "come in" from the teen inside.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, walking to the desk and as always taking a seat in the chair.

Harry was laying across his bed reading through his defense textbook again. The professor's breath hitched at the déjà vu of seeing his son reading casually in bed.

"Yeah," Harry answered sullenly, barely looking up. "Why?"

"We seem to be on opposite schedules as of late," he answered noticing the teenager was obviously upset, "I feel as if I've barely seen you."

Harry gave an ironic laugh still not looking up from his notebook, "It's not like your my father here or anything, so it doesn't really matter does it?"

That statement hurt Severus more than he would ever show. No, he wasn't Harry's parent here, but he wished he were. The lack of that single piece of paper in this reality did not change his feelings towards the teenager sitting in front of him. He wanted things to go back to how they'd been and for the first time since waking up in this different world he wondered if it would have been easier staying where he was. Yes, Harry was dead there, but that was definitive; this was sometimes like an awful purgatory. Harry was here, but not only fighting for his life in more ways than one, sometimes Severus questioned if he was a true part of it all.

"No," he said quietly, lifting Harry chin to meet his eyes, "I'm not, but I hope at this point you've seen that I care about how you're doing and not just physically."

That seemed to get through whatever walls Harry had managed to build up around himself throughout the day.

"I'm sorry Severus, that wasn't fair to you," Harry said, pulling away from the professor, "I don't know what got into me. I feel so stir crazy... don't get me wrong, I like that I have more energy today, but at the same time because I feel so much more normal, I want to just leave."

"I'll remind you of this on Saturday. It was bound to be rough today and with classes restarting, things will likely change a little around here," Severus knew what was plaguing Harry's mind, "but you will be able to leave again, at some point, and I will make sure you are not left behind. I promise you that, understood."

"Yes sir."

"Harry," Severus cautiously said, not sure this was the right time to bring it up but he had to ask, "how were you feeling last night? I was honestly surprised you weren't up at all from the chemotherapy."

"Oh," if it was possible, Harry's face fell even further as a small flush crept up from his neck to his cheeks, "I was fine... must have just been a good night."

It could not have been more obvious that he had not been fine. In fact, Severus had learned after all this time living with Harry that his fine actually meant far from fine but I don't want to talk about it. Wondering what the Gryffindor could have done - most likely a silencing charm - he peered over at Harry and decided not to push the issue today.

"Oh, that's great to hear," the defense professor played along and held out the parchment with Harry's schedule watching carefully as the Gryffindor read through it, "your timetable and the list of student tutors. It's defense tomorrow, so I'll work with you after dinner and then the student-led instruction will start Tuesday."

"Seriously, Malfoy twice... In one day?!"

He saw this was coming from a Quidditch field away. Even if he didn't like it Severus knew this was the best option; Draco was the second best Potions and Defense student only after Hermione and Harry respectively.

"It's the best option we have. Miss. Granger can't do all the tutoring; when would she have time for her own assignments?"

The young wizard simply glared up at Severus and the professor made a mental note to add alarming spells to his quarters before Tuesday.

They had seven new Slytherins sorted into his house. While it was a surprisingly lower number than he'd expected, it worked in his favor this year because his prefects were more than capable of handling that number of lost, potentially whiney first years. Outside of his normal dour appearance at the feast, he was keeping a closer than normal watch on both the Gryffindor table as well as Draco. As expected, the new spy appeared more withdrawn than normal tonight.

"May I please have your attention," Albus called from the front podium once the pudding was completed and the students were starting to get antsy to leave. "I have a few housekeeping announcements to make; I will try to keep them short so you may be on your way to your dormitories to get a good night's rest before classes start tomorrow morning.

"Mr. Filch, our caretaker has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise.

"We are pleased to welcome a new member of the staff this year. Professor Slughorn is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions Master."

Severus could hear the not-so-subtle murmuring while Albus paused to let the news settle in. As anticipated, only the Slytherins appeared disappointed which didn't bother Severus one bit. No matter which reality he had been in, it was not a secret that he only marginally tolerated teaching, especially the first, second, and third years.

"Professor Snape meanwhile will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Again, the Headmaster paused as this caused an even louder uproar than Slughorn's announcement. It was almost worth all the stares just to see Longbottom almost pass out from shock. This would prove to be a challenging year for them all.

"Finally," Albus said, loudly drawing the attention back to himself, "as you may have noticed Ginerva Weasley and Harry Potter are not in attendance at the feast tonight. As many of you are already aware, over the summer hols there was an attack at the Weasley home where Miss Weasley was unfortunately injured. We will keep her and her family in our thoughts for quick healing as she continues in her recovery, hopefully returning in the very near future.

"It is also with my deepest regret to announce that Harry Potter will not be joining his fellow classmates in their classes nor will he be living in the Gryffindor tower-" The Great Hall became overrun with students talking over one another about this news. Speaking louder to command control again the Headmaster continued, "- These measures are being taken for his personal safety and will be in place until further notice. I ask that you all respect his privacy during this time and should you have anything pressing regarding these arrangements, please bring it to your Heads of House. Good night."

The moment Albus sat back down at the head table, the hall exploded in conversation and gossip. It seemed between Slughorn, Severus, and Harry, every student - besides most of the first years who admittingly looked both confused and concerned by their fellow students' reactions - had an opinion on something.

"That was quite the announcement Albus," Minerva, who was seated between Severus and Albus, said. "Very tactfully done. However, I better go and settle my house down; I expect there will be plenty of questions."

The Gryffindor table was by far the loudest with most students crowding around Hermione and Ron. Every so often, both of Harry's best friends would turn towards the head table making eye contact with their newest defense teacher.

"Before you go calm your lions down," Severus called towards Minerva, grabbing her arm as she stood, "will you allow me to accompany Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger for a quick visit with Harry. They appear a bit overwhelmed at the moment and Harry was having a rough day knowing all the students are returning. I'm sure your other four prefects can handle your first years."

"What a great idea Severus," she smiled in a way knowing it would irk him, "that's so very kind of you."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, instead settling on a scowl, he walked up to his seventh year prefects, "Please get the students to the common room. I'll be slightly later than usual for our house meeting, but go through the house rules with them; you've heard them enough not to miss anything. Do not let anyone leave the common room while I am gone. The password is Asphodel."

With a nod from both prefects he was confident, he at least would not come back to his Slytherins all over the place. He then made his way over to the Gryffindor table where Ron and Hermione were currently surrounded by their fellow housemates as well as a select few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.

"...heard you-know-who got him..."

"Is it true..."

"...fought off a hundred dementors all on his own!"

"...heard he's dying..."

"Shove it Matthews," Ron called out to one of the fifth year Ravenclaws who made the last statement. The redhead stood up both pulling out his wand and raising his arms at the same time as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to hex or hit the boy now standing directly in front of him.

"Haven't you done enough fighting lately Mr. Weasley," Severus said in a low, long voice. Satisfyingly, the sea of students parted allowing him access to the two Gryffindor's he was coming to collect.

"If you and Miss. Granger will follow with me, you've been relieved of your prefect duties for the night."

Without even waiting for a response, Severus turned and started to leave the Great Hall already knowing the two students would be following him. They made their way down into the dungeons in complete silence. Stopping before the empty stretch of stone where the door to his quarters was located he turned to the two prefects and narrowed his eyes.

"If either of you tell another student where this door is, you'll be in detention for the rest of the year. If you cannot maintain proper decorum tonight-" he took a long piercing stare at Ron who started to visibly pale, "- those detentions will be at dawn on Saturdays. Understood?"

"Yes Professor," they both said in unison and Severus placed his hand on the small depression to the right of where, a second later, the large wooden door appeared.

"Wicked," Ron said, amazed because the only other way they'd gotten into Snape's quarters before was through the floo.

"After you," Severus said, holding the door open silently hoping he did not make a mistake in doing this.

~~~~HP~~~~

By now, Harry knew the welcoming feast was likely over and everyone was hanging out in the common room or the dormitories; one of his favorite parts of the year. By now everyone had likely known he wasn't there. Harry wondered where everyone assumed he was; did Dumbledore end up making an announcement? Probably not, he wouldn't want to draw any unwanted attention to the fact he was missing. Harry didn't want him to draw any unwanted attention.

He was finishing the sketch of himself with Dudley, so it would be ready to go out with the letter he was planning to write tomorrow while Snape was teaching. The picture was of the two boys in his small Privet Drive bedroom, Harry drawn in his pyjamas on a chemo day connected to his port sitting up across the bed with Dudley in the armchair next to him. Between them was the Monopoly game set up on the edge of the bed. He really missed his cousin and regretted how long it took for him to really see that the other boy had changed. That hindsight thing Snape always spoke about was so true; if he could only go back and choose to spend more time with him knowing what was going to happen. With any luck, he'd be able to convince Snape to let him visit over the Christmas or summer holiday.

A soft knock on his door drew his attention up from his work. It seemed early for Snape to return since he had to go "set down the ground rules" for his new snakes after the welcoming feast. Harry wondered not for the first time, what he was like as a Head of House. In the Gryffindor house, as long as no one did anything stupid - which he's done plenty in his five years there - McGonagall usually let them be on their own. He had a pretty educated guess that Snape was much more strict with his own house.

"Hi Harry," he heard from the other side of the door.

Hearing Hermione's voice was such a welcome surprise he immediately perked up and seeing her friendly face immediately pushed back his small sour mood.

"Hermione!" He called out to his friend, "Aren't you supposed to be instructing a bunch of 11 year olds how to be good Gryffindors?"

Hermione laughed and opened the door wider to reveal Ron standing partially hidden behind her.

"No Mate," Ron said sheepishly, "that's usually my job. Could you imagine 12 more little Hermione's running around?"

Harry couldn't contain the smile at the sight of his first friend standing in his doorway. By just showing up, he somehow knew things with Ron would be alright.

"Good one Ron," Harry replied, beckoning his two friends into his room. "We have 12 new Gryffindors?"

Hermione nodded, "We're definitely going to be busy this year, but Professor McGonagall apparently gave us the night off. All we know is that Professor Snape came over to the Gryffindor table and told us to follow him down here."

"Then he threatened us with detention every Saturday at dawn if we told a single person where to find the door," Ron had a terrified look on his face and Harry doubted that the professor would actually follow through on the threat. While Snape was always an early riser, he doubted the man would commit to waking up before dawn on every Saturday. Either way though, the fact that Snape had gone out of his way to do something like this was not lost on Harry.

"Listen," Ron started rubbing the back of his neck, his face flushing slightly to match the color of his hair, "I'm really sorry for what I said last time and for... y'know, hitting you. I was being a total prat about it all, and trust me I don't think my mum will ever let me forget about what an awful friend I was. I dunno what I was thinking... it's not like you want all this stuff to happen around you... And I know it."

"Glad you can finally see that again," Harry retorted sharply.

"Whatever's going on with you and Snape," Ron started watching Hermione, more likely than not indicating that the Gryffindor witch scolded him to stay out of this one, "it's your business. I don't understand it, but between 'Mione and my mum, I've more than learned that it doesn't matter if I do. And even I know what I said wasn't fair to you."

Harry laughed; another full laugh that was so hard to come by lately. The image of Hermione and Mrs. Weasley badgering him incessantly was something of nightmares for his red-headed friend. Nodding his understanding and forgiveness, the three friends continued recounting their summer and discussing the upcoming school year as if nothing had happened between them.