‘You’re less like your father than I thought’‘Come on, you can do better than that.’

‘It’s too late, Harry.’

‘Did you love him, little baby Potter?’

‘He can’t come back, Harry.’

‘Crucio!’

‘You need to mean them, Potter!’

‘He will not come back.’

‘Sirius.’

‘Sirius Black!’

‘Sirius!’********

‘Harry, are you okay?’ Ginny asked.

‘I’m fine.’

‘You don’t look fine.’ This comment caused the rest of the Gryffindors to look around. Harry was even more dishevelled than usual, with dark smudges under the green eyes.

‘I’m just tired.’

‘Really? I hadn’t noticed.’ Ginny glared at him before turning back to her friends.

‘I miss the days when she wouldn’t speak in front of me.’

‘She’s right, Harry,’ Hermione replied.

‘I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep well.’

‘I thought Occulmency stopped your nightmares,’ Ron pointed out.

‘It stops Voldemort sending me visions. I can still have bad dreams.’

‘Interesting,’ he had suspected that would distract Hermione, ‘so it blocks your mind from outside invasion, but not from conjuring up its own things?’

‘Yeah.’

‘So what was it conjuring up?’ Well that was that plan foiled.

‘It doesn’t matter.’ Hermione looked ready to press the matter but evidently decided it could wait. Snape wouldn’t appreciate if they were late to Potions.

**************

‘Ms Granger. And Mr Potter of course. How nice of you to join us.’

‘Sorry Professor,’ they muttered.

‘Sit down.’ They crept to their desks under Snape’s accusing gaze. ‘Now that everyone’s here we can begin. You have attempted, some more successfully than others, the various transformative potions on the course. Today you are going to make one that aids in a transformation already taken. It is, in the crudest possible phrasing, a binding potion. This holds a transfiguration taken by the drinker. Mr Potter?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Name me the key ingredient in a potion of this kind.’

‘I’m sorry sir, which kind?’

‘Mr Potter, is it possible that you are not paying attention?’

‘No sir, I just didn’t hear you.’

‘You failed to hear anything I have said since you arrived, late, to my class?’

‘Professor I…’

‘Perhaps we should be concentrating our efforts on curing Mr Potter’s deafness rather than camouflage.’ There was a slight laugh from the Pansy Parkinson and Malfoy. Snape simply turned to the board. ‘Boomslang skin was the answer by the way.’

‘I thought you and him were getting on better,’ Hermione said.

‘We are.’

‘You think he was just keeping his cover?’

‘He really doesn’t like people being late to his class.’

‘I bet he wouldn’t have done that to Malfoy,’ she muttered venomously.

‘Probably not.’

‘I mean he can see that you’re … Harry, what did you do?’

‘What?’

‘Your eyes.’

‘Nothing. Shouldn’t we be working?’

‘You cast a spell on yourself.’

‘To stop me looking tired? I just had a good breakfast.’

‘No you didn’t. Harry, why did you fix your eyes?’

‘That’s enough.’ Snape appeared beside them. ‘Mr Potter and Ms Parkinson can change places.’

‘Professor…’

‘I don’t want excuses, Ms Granger. Mr Potter, move now.’

‘But Professor…’

‘Now.’ Harry mutely shifted his things across the room.

‘Tut tut tut, Potter. Falling asleep in Potions?’

‘Are you done?’ Harry addressed the blond with resignation.

‘Probably not. But right now we’re working. Cut that.’

‘Fine’

***********

‘Pour a sample of the potion into a vial, label it, and put it on my desk as you leave.’

‘Here.’ Malfoy handed Harry the neatly marked vial. Harry stumbled as he got up, but just managed to right himself. Malfoy smirked.

‘I’ll take this now, Mr Potter. I would hate for all your hard work to be wasted.’ Snape took the potion and gave Harry a searching look before walking back to his desk.

‘Harry,’ Hermione came up beside him, ‘what did you do to your hand?’

‘It’s just a cut.’ Harry brushed her off and started to pack up his things. She grabbed his hand and muttered a spell.

‘There.’ The room was emptying and nobody else seemed to have noticed the incident.

‘I just caught my finger with the knife.’ Malfoy seemed to turn his head towards them slightly. ‘It was the boomslang skin. It’s nothing.’

‘It’s never anything with you,’ she complained, dragging him out.

**************

‘Whose turn is it?’ Harry asked, entering Snape’s rooms.

‘Mr Potter, Draco and I have just spent at least five minutes debating which of us you were going to scowl at first.’

‘For what?’ Snape sighed eloquently.

‘Very well, feign ignorance. It’s Draco’s turn to attempt Legilimency.’

‘Okay.’ Harry stood wearily in front of Malfoy with his wand out.

‘Legilimens.’ Draco felt Harry’s shields break and stepped backwards at the onslaught of images. He figured out how to control their flow and explored for a few minutes until Harry threw him out.

‘When I broke into your head I came straight out.’

‘I don’t normally get the chance.’

‘You just wanted the ammunition.’

‘Partly. Slytherin remember? Why didn’t you throw me out sooner?’

‘I wanted you to trust me. You obviously feel better having something against me.’

‘Why?’

‘Gryffindor, remember?’ Harry parroted.

‘On that note, you cast Crucio.’

‘And?’

‘Forgive me for finding the “boy-who-lived” casting the torture curse a little out of character.’

‘Just goes to show.’

‘And another thing, why did you cast the spell on your eyes and then lie to Granger?’

‘Draco, leave now, please,’ Snape ordered.

‘Sir?’

‘I’ll speak to you later.’

‘Okay. Goodnight sir. Later, Potter.’

‘Finite Incantatum.’ Harry’s eyes returned to their normal state.

‘What are you doing? Magic is not to be used to keep your hordes of groupies happy.’

‘Because…’

‘And why do you look like you haven’t slept anyway? Have you been neglecting your exercises?’

‘There we go,’ Harry sighed.

‘What?’ he snapped.

‘I didn’t sleep well. I knew what you would think. So I used a concealing charm. It’s no different to what “my groupies” do every day.’

‘They don’t need to conserve magic.’

‘I used a binding potion. Not unlike the one we made in class today.’

‘On that note, was that why you weren’t paying attention?’

‘I was paying attention.’

‘Don’t delude yourself, Mr Potter. You didn’t listen to my explanation, you nearly dropped the potion, and you slit your finger open.’

‘And what exactly would you have done if I hadn’t cast it? Not snapped at me for arriving late to your class and then drifting off?’

‘No. You should be on time and awake. But I would have known why. And you wouldn’t be expending magic wastefully. Oh for the love of…sit down.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Harry, sit down before you fall down.’ Snape threw floo powder into his fire and stuck his head in. ‘Hogwarts kitchens. Yes…black coffee please. Wait one moment.’ He leant into the room. ‘Cream or sugar?’

‘Both please.’

‘How did I know you would poison it?’ He leant back. ‘One with cream and sugar…yes I know.’ He doused the green flames and the two waited silently for a few minutes. There was a loud crack.

‘Professor Snape sir. Your coffees.’

‘Thank you. The desk please.’

‘Of course sir. Is that being all?’

‘That’s all thank you.’

‘Good night, Professor. If you is wanting anything else...’

‘Yes, yes, that’s fine.’ The house-elf nodded and there was another crack as he disapparated.

‘Do I look that bad?’ Harry asked.

‘You look like you’ve been dragged around a field by a rampaging Hippogriff,’ Snape answered matter-of-factly.

‘Oh. Good.’

‘Take the coffee.’ Harry obliged. ‘Now, this was definitely not a vision-related problem?’

‘No. Just the regular nightmare-related one.’

‘This is the first time you’ve had one this year?’

‘No, just the first one this bad.’

‘As it was bad enough to allow Draco to break into your mind, I would have to agree.’

‘It won’t happen again.’

‘May I ask why it happened at all?’ Wordlessly, Harry passed him a letter from his robes.

Harry,

Enclosed are some legal documents

relating to Sirius’s will. I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get these to you, but we had a little trouble sorting out the paperwork. Eventually, Professor Dumbledore stepped in and sorted it out. I know you probably don’t want to go through all that paper, so to summarise, he’s left you almost everything. There are a few trinkets here and there that have gone to close friends, naturally. But you have the house, as well as the contents of his vault, and most of his possessions. It’s all in my trust until you leave school but if you want

anything don’t hesitate to ask. As well as that, if you want to talk to anyone, you know where to find me. I know I’m not your Godfather or your parent, but I care about you a great deal, Harry,

Remus

‘Do you know Sirius just trusted me to let them go on using the house for the Order? He didn’t put it in the will. Or give any money to Remus. Doesn’t that seem strange to you? He told me that Umbridge had written legislation that stopped Remus getting a job, and then left me all the money. I don’t need it. And I can’t give it to Remus without it looking like charity.’

‘I’m sure someone will ensure that he survives. Now what happened after you got the letter?’

‘I just had a nightmare. Nothing dangerous.’

‘What if he had tried something last night?’

‘There’s a difference between him sending me visions and my own head conjuring them up. Hermione’s fascinated.’

‘Well yes, she would be. Some of us have other concerns.’

‘It won’t happen again.’

‘When did you cast the Cruciatus curse?’

‘I was wondering when you’d get to that. In the Department of Mysteries.’

‘At Bellatrix?’

‘Yes. It didn’t work if that helps.’

‘The problem is not whether or not it worked Harry, the problem is that you cast it in the first place.’

‘I reacted badly.’

‘Indeed. Harry, if anybody knew that you cast that curse on another human you could be sent to Azkaban.’

‘Then I suppose it’s lucky nobody knows.’

‘Harry.’ Severus sighed in exasperation at the stubbornness of the boy in front of him.

‘What?’

‘Nothing. I can think of nothing to say to you right now.’

‘The reason it didn’t work, according to her anyway, was that I didn’t want to cause pain. I don’t believe that’s true but you can tell Dumbledore that if it’ll make the two of you feel better.’ Severus studied Harry for insolence in that comment but found only resignation.

‘She was right. It doesn’t happen often with lunatics like her, but she was right. You were just angry.’

‘I did want to hurt her.’

‘Of course you did. But not enough for the curse to work. Which is the difference between you and me, and the reason you’re the “saviour of the Wizarding World” and not the spy.’

‘That’s the only difference?’

‘Brat.’ There was no malice in the swipe.

‘I’m not sure if you’re right. One day I could mean it.’

‘Probably. But I intend that we win before that day comes. Now go to bed.’

‘Yes sir. Goodnight.’

‘Goodnight Harry.’

Harry walked out of the room and nearly knocked Malfoy over. ‘Hear anything interesting?’

‘No,’ the blond scowled, ‘the statues glared at me when I had my ear against the door.’

‘You need an extendable ear.’ At Malfoy’s look he elaborated, ‘It’s a way to eavesdrop from a distance, a Weasley invention. But Snape probably has an Imperturbable Charm on the door anyway.’

‘Of course. You can’t be too careful.’

‘You people don’t trust anyone do you?’

‘If by “you people” you mean Slytherins, no.’

‘Really I just meant you and him. The rest of the house seems fine.’ Harry grinned.

‘Extravagant claims from the Gryffindor who’s lost to this Slytherin twice already. Are we going out tonight?’

‘No, you haven’t beaten me twice and yes, we are going out.’

‘When will you accept that I’m just better than you, Potter?’

‘When you join the Muggle Appreciation Society. Now are you coming or not?’

‘Winner takes all?’

‘Always.’