Harry Potter and the Long Summer by Mirriam Q Webster
Summary: At the end of Harry's fifth year everything changed. And when Snape answers a call for help during the summer afterward, everything changes again.
Categories: Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Dumbledore, Remus, Voldemort
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Drama
Media Type: None
Tags: None
Takes Place: 6th summer
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: Harry Potter and the Long Summer Series
Chapters: 15 Completed: Yes Word count: 50780 Read: 106348 Published: 06 Feb 2005 Updated: 25 Nov 2005
Chapter 12 by Mirriam Q Webster
Author's Notes:

A/N: Revised chapter

The warm summer day passed quickly and though the pair ate lunch outside Severus insisted that dinner be taken indoors and at a proper table. Harry would have stayed out longer, but he was very hungry and decided that he probably didn’t want to antagonize Snape now that they seemed to be actually getting along.

He might have argued a little with any other teacher; but he doubted Snape would yield on dinner, especially since they had gotten to eat lunch out of doors. Harry found that he didn’t mind his professor’s company nearly as much when he wasn’t making comments about his fame or how spoiled he was, and, having arrived at whatever truce or agreement they had reached, Harry was reluctant to endanger their new rapport.

The conversation at dinner began when Harry hesitantly asked Snape whether the book he had received that morning had been useful to Snape when he was learning Occlumency.

In the downstairs library the fire flared emerald green and a tall wizard stepped through. He looked around the room swiftly and made his way silently towards the dining room. He slowed when he heard voices.

“Well, if you were imagining your defenses that way, it’s no wonder I was able to break into your mind,” an exasperated sounding man exclaimed.

“Of course it’s no wonder,” a younger voice replied hotly, “you’re the professor after all, and it’s not like I knew what I was doing!”

“I believe I have now taken steps to address that issue,” the older man said firmly.

“Fat lot of good that is, you’ve already gone rummaging through my brain!”

“I was under the impression that we were endeavoring to keep the Dark Lord out of your mind, not myself. Besides, you’re one to talk about watching other’s memories,” the voice cooled rapidly and became acidic.

“I am sorry about that, but it’s not like I did it maliciously or anything! Besides, that was one memory, I didn’t watch you whole life.”

“Now you’re just exaggerating, I didn’t watch you whole life, Potter. Why would I even want to?”

“Oh dear, arguing already, are you?” the tall wizard remarked as he stepped into the doorway. Harry had twisted in his chair and Severus stood between the child and door. Both of them held their wands out in front of them. “Though I will admit that both of you make very good points.”

“Merlin, Albus! Don’t you know better than to sneak up on people like that? You might have been hexed!” Snape said as he retreated towards his chair and tucked his wand back into its holder.

“Hello, Headmaster,” Harry said lowering his own wand and slipping it into his back pocket.

“Hello, Harry,” Albus Dumbledore replied amiably. “I daresay, Severus, that being hexed would be just the excuse I need for a bit of a holiday. I don’t suppose you could arrange to wait a little longer though, could you? I’m rather busy with start-of-term preparations just now,” he smiled as Severus muttered something about “Barmy old men.”

“Will you sit down, Albus, we were just having dinner?” Severus inquired politely.

“I won’t say no to a cup of tea. You wouldn’t happen to have any lemon drops, would you?”

“No,” Snape said curling his lip as a steaming cup of tea appeared before the old man along with a creamer and a small sugar bowl.

“I do hope you two are serious about getting to know one another and not just saying that to humor an old man,” he examined them shrewdly as both shook their heads. “Good, good,” he nodded. “Harry, if you are done I would like to speak with you.”

“Yes, Professor,” Harry replied, pushing his chair back from the table.

“If you don’t mind, Severus, I think we’ll use the sitting room.” Snape nodded his acquiescence. The elder wizard rose, tea in hand, and led Harry down the hall to a door he had passed many times but never opened. Behind the door lay a modest and tasteful parlor. Dumbledore ushered Harry in and seated himself on an upholstered chair. Harry sat in a similar chair just across from him.

“Professor,” Harry said almost immediately, brow wrinkling.

“Yes, Harry?”

“How did you sneak up on us like that? Shouldn’t Professor Snape have known you were in the house?”

“I was able to sneak up on you because the wards on Severus’s house are set to recognize me. Severus and I set it up that way so I could enter and leave as necessary without drawing too much attention.”

“Oh,” Harry nodded his understanding.

“What were you and Professor Snape arguing about?”

“Going through other people’s memories.”

“People often feel that their memories are very private.”

“Which is why I am so angry that Snape went rifling through mine!” Harry exclaimed.

“And perhaps why Professor Snape was so furious when you looked in his pensieve last year.”

“I thought the Order was keeping things from me last year,” Harry explained softly. “I just wanted to know what was going on.”

“Perhaps Professor Snape had a similar reason. In any event that is not a good reason to violate someone’s privacy and trust.” Harry’s shoulders were slumped. “Have you apologized to him?”

“Only just now,” Harry answered.

“Perhaps you should.”

“I will,” the young man promised.

“Good. How are you handling the other events of last term?”

“I’ve been having dreams.”

“You are not to blame for his death, Harry,” Dumbledore said gently.

“That’s what everyone keeps saying. Even Professor Snape said that.”

“I should think that’s ample proof that you are not guilty?”

“Yeah, well, there’s a tiny little corner of my brain that knows it wasn’t my fault, but I feel so guilty. I keep thinking about all the stupid things I did...” he trailed off and his eyes had a faraway look.

“Harry, it is not your fault,” Dumbledore repeated.

Harry came back to himself with a jerk and said, “Snape suggested I might talk to someone about all this, but I can’t really see myself doing that.”

“Professor Snape is a very intelligent man. I know that I or any of the other Order members will always be glad to speak with you, Harry. However, if you do not feel comfortable with that you could try writing it down.”

“Like a journal?”

“Yes, exactly like that.” Harry’s nose wrinkled with uncertainty. “You needn’t preserve any pieces of yourself in it, just your memories. Keeping a journal may also help you improve in Occlumency.”

“Hmmm,” Harry said, “maybe then. Professor Snape gave me a book on different techniques I could try.”

“Good. Occlumency is a highly personalized form of magic, Harry. What works and what does not work depends greatly on the individual. It may help, however, to order your mind. The journal can help with that.”

“Okay,” Harry conceded. “I’ll give the journal a try.”

“Excellent!” Professor Dumbledore said, clapping his hands on his knees. “Now, is there anything you’d like to tell me, Harry?”

Harry was slightly taken aback by this question, things seemed pretty quiet and he couldn’t think of any big secrets he had. Certainly nothing like the voice he was hearing the last time he had heard that question. “No, I don’t think so, sir,” Harry answered with a slight frown.

“Nothing at all?” Dumbledore pressed him.

“No,” Harry said decisively. “But I would like to ask you a question.”

“Yes, Harry?”

“How are Aunt Petunia’s flowers doing?”

“Quite well, I believe. Molly Weasley cast a few watering and weeding charms not long after you left.”

“There’s magic in Aunt Petunia’s garden?” Harry asked with an incredulous grin.

“Yes,” Professor Dumbledore said with an answering smile. The thought was too much for Harry and he burst into laughter imagining what his aunt would say if she knew an abnormality was keeping her flowers alive.

“Was there anything else, Harry?” Professor Dumbledore asked when at last Harry had subsided into breathlessness.

“No, sir,” Harry gasped.

“Would you mind telling Severus I’d like to speak with him?”

“Sure, Professor,” Harry said as he slid out of his seat.

Harry found Snape sitting in the library. “Professor?” he called from the doorway.

“Yes, Harry?” Snape looked up from the book he was reading.

“Professor Dumbledore would like to see you, sir.”

“Thank you,” Snape said as he rose from his chair. “Why don’t you go get started on that book?” he suggested.

“Alright,” Harry nodded and strode off toward his bedroom.

Severus seated himself in the chair Harry had vacated moments before. “You wished to speak with me, Headmaster?” he queried the older man.

“Yes, Severus. I’m afraid I have another favor to ask of you.”

“Another favor?” Severus said looking nonplussed. “What is it?” he asked carefully.

“I’m afraid there was a slight mishap with Remus’s Wolfsbane potion.”

“What sort of mishap?” Snape sat up straighter.

“This morning, when Nymphadora was pouring some out for Remus, she accidentally knocked over the jar. Most of the potion was spilled.”

“Most? Not all?” Snape asked sharply.

“No, not all. I believe there are two days worth left. Could you make more?”

“I can, but it won’t be aged the same as the rest of the potion he’s been taking. It may not be as effective,” Snape frowned thoughtfully. “Lupin has been staying at Headquarters?”

“Yes,” the Headmaster confirmed.

“I’ll need a little time to properly brew the Wolfsbane,” Severus mused. “Better have Lupin come here on Thursday. I’ll fix a room up for him.”

“Are you certain, Severus?” Albus asked with arched eyebrows.

“Well we can’t have him killing anyone, now can we?” Snape asked snidely. “Besides,” he continued as his employer frowned, “it’s what you wanted anyway, and I really don’t have time to brew more than one batch of the potion a month.”

“You know Remus is very careful, Severus,” Albus admonished.

“I know that,” Snape responded seriously. “Do you think I’d invite him to stay here if he wasn’t?”

“Thank you, Severus,” Dumbledore said inclining his head Snape merely nodded in return. “You may want to consider apologizing to Harry at some point.”

“I do not apologize, Headmaster. That would imply that I was in the wrong.”

“But were you not in this instance, Severus?”

“It seems that I was,” he admitted hesitantly. “But Slytherins simply do not walk about announcing their failings like that.”

“I know, Severus. Still you might consider it.”

“I will consider it,” Snape promised after a long moment.

“Good. I must be getting back. Keep me appraised of Harry’s Occlumency training, won’t you?”

“Certainly, Headmaster,” Severus assured him, rising to show him to the library fireplace.

As Severus walked up to his bedroom he glanced in Potter’s door. Harry, he told himself firmly. Harry was stretched out on the bed and had the Occlumency book propped on his chest. It was clear, however, from the way the book was slanted backward that the boy was asleep.

Quietly Severus tiptoed into the room. He took the book from Harry’s hands and the glasses from his nose and folded them carefully before placing them on the night stand. Then he removed the worn trainers from the boy’s feet and pulled a quilt up over his shoulders. He briefly considered waking the child up and making him occlude his mind, but he decided against it. It wouldn’t do any good if he really hadn’t figured out how. Besides the boy had tired himself out on his broomstick and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Nodding once to himself, Severus turned and left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Wednesday morning promised to be the beginning of a beautiful day. Harry woke early and studied the book Snape had given him before it was time to head down for breakfast. He had been a little confused when he awoke to find his book and glasses on the bedside table and himself neatly tucked beneath a blanket. He could have sworn that he had fallen asleep reading; he dismissed the thought with a shrug. He had been pretty tired; it was possible he had forgotten. The only other possibility was that Snape had tucked him in, which was an absurd thought.

When Harry arrived in the Occlumency room he was pleased to see that Snape was seated and holding a cup of tea rather than his wand. “Good morning, professor,” Harry said.

Snape nodded in acknowledgement and gestured towards a chair. “Sit,” he commanded though not gruffly. Harry obeyed Snape as he continued, “How far did you get in that book last night? Not far, I expect, since you were out playing quidditch all day.”

“Not far,” Harry admitted. “I fell asleep last night rather sooner than I meant to,” probing.

“Understandable,” Snape nodded, revealing nothing. “Why don’t you tell me what you were doing again, and then we’ll discuss where to go from there.”

“Alright, ummm,” Harry began. “I pictured a wall. I sort of bricked myself in with stones and mesh.”

“No wonder it didn’t work,” Snape said with a twist of his mouth, "You’ve never done well with captivity. You’ve got to work with your subconscious, Harry, not against it. Also, your construct was far too rigid. Your mind is not just there to fill the space between your ears, though there are those who behave as though it is. Your mind is a living, expanding, changing being; you can’t just wall it up.”

“I thought I wanted to keep you out,” Harry said with a frown.

“You do, but it won’t do you any good to be able to keep me out if you can’t keep yourself in.”

“Oh,” Harry said sitting back in his chair. “I suppose that makes sense,” he continued after a moment, “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Obviously,” Snape commented without malice.

“So, how should I picture it?” Harry asked.

“That depends very greatly on the individual. There are a variety of well known methods; most people pick one and adapt it to their use. Some people picture a forest with a lot of underbrush growing round them. Others picture themselves in a ring of fire. It depends on what you are comfortable with.”

“What do you picture?” Harry asked. Severus hesitated a long time. “You don’t have to say, if you don’t want to,” Harry said quickly.

“Perhaps someday you’ll be able to figure that out for yourself,” Snape said at last. Harry nodded. “Why don’t we cut this lesson short?” Snape suggested, “That way you can read a bit more and think before we do any practical work.”

“Okay,” Harry said rising. He paused in the doorway and turned back to his professor. “Professor Snape,” he said, "Do you think we might go outside again this afternoon?”

“No,” the older wizard replied briefly.

“Oh, alright,” Harry said as he turned to leave. The slight note of disappointment in his voice made Severus look up. He saw the boy’s face, which had been remarkably open moments ago, begin to close off.

“Harry,” he said catching the youth’s attention.

“Yes?” Harry asked flatly.

“Why I am explaining myself to you, I can’t imagine, but I can’t go out today because I need to brew some Wolfsbane potion. Lupin is coming tomorrow evening and he needs it.”

“Oh,” Harry exclaimed face brightening. “Professor Lupin is coming?”

“Yes. He’ll be staying for the full moon.”

“You’re letting him stay?” Harry asked with arched eyebrows.

“Yes, I’m letting him stay,” Snape replied a bit sourly. Harry nodded and left quickly. A moment later Severus heard loud whoops of joy echoing down the halls. Snape smiled slightly then turned back to the papers he was gathering before striding quickly down to his laboratory.

The End.


This story archived at http://www.potionsandsnitches.org/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=436