It was odd to go through the empty halls. There were no other students laughing or chatting in the halls. Suddenly, Harry felt alone again. He quickened his pace and arrived at the Potions lab a little breathless.

Severus eyed him skeptically. "Did you run all the way down here?"

Harry blushed. "Ehm..." What could he say without embarrassing himself?

"I can hear your brain working to find a good lie, Potter," Severus said and raised an eyebrow.

Harry looked shyly at Severus. "I thought it is Harry now",

"Yes, it is. Old habits die hard, but you are trying to distract me. So why are you out of breath? Did Peeves trouble you?"

"I'm not a baby. I'm fifteen," Harry said annoyed.

"Oh really, so good of you to remind me. If not because Peeves, why then?"

"What's so bad about being breathless? I thought we wanted to brew." Harry felt anger rise within him.

Severus glared at Harry. "What's so wrong about being breathless? Oh, I'm sorry for being concerned about your breathlessness because you broke down almost choking not long ago. How stupid of me. It won't happen again." With that he turned abruptly and went over to one of the cauldrons he had set up.

Harry let his head hang. He didn't want to make Severus angry, and he hadn't thought that Severus could be worried because of his attack at breakfast. Why do I always have to say the wrong things?

"Will you stand there forever or will you eventually start preparing your ingredients?" Severus asked impatiently.

Harry's head snapped up. "You still want to teach me?"

Rolling his eyes, Severus said, "Of course. Your help could be useful. At least, I hope so. We have a lot to brew for Poppy. So we should brew as much as possible. Who knows how long I'm capa-" Severus stopped mid-sentence. "Just start working!" he ordered grumpily.

Still wondering why Severus had stopped so abruptly, Harry moved to the other cauldron. A parchment laid beside it, and Harry read it.

"It's a fever reducer. The potion is easy to brew. All the ingredients are on your table. Just follow the advice on the recipe. If you have questions, just ask me."

Harry prepared all the ingredients very carefully. He wanted to do everything perfectly. Maybe if he could make Severus proud of him, he could make up for angering him a few minutes ago.

Severus sighed inwardly. He had hoped Harry would be faster. The Dark Lord was angry and now that school is over, Severus feared he would be summoned soon and wouldn't be capable of brewing anything then. This wasn't classes and if Harry needs all this time then he should get it. Just some extra hours of brewing and Severus would be able to finish all the potions in a few days. Now were Poppy and Alastor were occupied by looking after Harry it should be easier to sneak out to brew during the night. Sometimes, he regretted living with them. Poppy hated it when he brewed over night, and she even comes down to the Potions lab to drag him back to the quarters by herself. Why do they never understand how important it is to use the nights when nobody knows when the Dark Lord will call for me and how damaged I will come back. One day I will never come back again, and I have the feeling it will be soon. Teaching Harry as much as possible as long as I'm capable could help Poppy for filling her Potions stock until they would find another Potions master. I should teach him Wolfsbane as soon as possible. In case Lupin comes back to teach.

Harry was almost finished with his potion. It looked exactly as the recipe said, and Harry smiled proudly. Looking at Severus he saw that the Potions Master was deep in thoughts and grimly looking. Thinking that it still was because of his words at the beginning of the brewing, he said, "It was just weird to go through the halls while they are so empty. I know it's stupid, but I fear I got a little scared." At least he could stop himself from blushing again.

Severus needed some time to realize about what Harry was speaking. "I also feel weird for the first days, but then I really enjoy the silence."

"I thought it was a little childish. Therefore I didn't want to tell you. I'm sorry for making you angry." He paused and then added, "Thanks for being worried. It's still something I have to get used to."

"Yes, it's hard at first," Severus said while staring in his cauldron. "And it hardly gets easier later," he mumbled so that Harry couldn't hear it.

"I'm finished, Severus," Harry said proudly.

"Really, are you now?" Severus asked mockingly.

Harry face fell a little. Damn, so I was too slow.

Severus came over and checked the potion. Seeing Harry's disappointed expression, he said, "You needed a lot of time but you managed to brew it flawlessly. I couldn't have done it better." But much faster, he added in his mind.

Harry face lit up by this compliment. "What's next?"

"Next you will fill the potion up and label the vials. The empty vials are over there and look at the vials on the cupboard to see what to write on the labels," Severus ordered while showing Harry the vials.

As Harry filled up the potion, Severus went over to the bookshelf and took out a big handwritten book. It was full of his own recipes and improvement notes. Opening the page for the Wolfsbane potion, he came back to Harry. "When you are finished cleaning up your workspace, I want you to read this sides very careful and ask whatever questions you have. This will be the next potion you will learn to brew."

Harry leaned over to see what potion it will be, but was stopped by Severus' scolding.

"First, finish one thing before you start another one, Harry!"

Harry groaned. "Yes, sir."

Severus went back to his cauldron, to not loosing more time.

"Wolfsbane?" Harry asked, confused. "But that is too difficult. Why do you want me to learn it now? Shouldn't I learn something easier?"

"If you don't like what I teach you, just go," Severus said angrily.

"No, I still want to learn, but Wolfsbane. It's so complex. It must be brewed over night and so many things have to be taken care of."

"That's why you should read the notes very carefully. You will learn them, and I will test you about them before you start brewing. So put your nose in the book, Harry."

"Yes, Severus," Harry said and did what he was told.

Both were engrossed in their work and therefore jumped when a voice was ringing through the dungeon. "Severus, we are waiting with the tea for over forty minutes now. I want to see both of you up here in five minutes." Poppy voice was echoing in the dungeon, and Harry was reminded of the Howler Ron had got in his second year.

"Damn, we lost track of time. So, do you want to take the book with you? I don't think Poppy will let you back here today, and so you could learn in your room."

"That would be great," Harry answered enthusiastically. He had read the notes of Severus with eagerness. They were so interesting. Severus had written down all of his thoughts while improving the potion. And so Harry got all the insights. With this book and Severus' help, he was learning as much as he possibly could.

"Give me the book!" Severus ordered. He spelled a bookmark into it and then spelled the book to be smaller. "Better that Poppy and Alastor don't see it."

"But I don't have my wand," Harry said as he took the book from Severus.

"Where is it?" Severus asked confused.

"I don't know. I first checked for it in the room I landed, but it was gone." Being reminded of his suicide attempt made Harry uncomfortable. He hated to speak about it or even remembering it.

"You ran around without your wand? Are you stupid?" Severus asked angrily.

"The castle is empty. And I didn't think-"

"Yes, that so often is your problem. You don't think. We have to work on that this summer." Severus shook his head in disbelief.

Harry groaned about the scolding, but was relieved that it didn't mean the end of his lessons or Severus help. "Maybe I should check the grounds for my wand."

"If you want Poppy to hunt you down and give you a very early bedtime for disobeying her again, go for it. But don't count on my help," Severus said and left the Potions lab.

Harry had to run to keep up with him. "But what if somebody finds it and steals it?"

"I don't think it is on the ground, Harry. The room was required to take it from you and send it to the Headmaster. I just thought he had already given it back to you."

"Oh," Harry said and followed Severus.

"About time you two came. Poppy is already on edge," Alastor said groaning when they entered the living room.

Poppy came in with a tray in her hand. "Severus what did I tell you about tea? Next time you won't sneak out of lunch this easily. It's obviously I can't trust you to hold your promises."

Severus said nothing. He knew Poppy in this state and knew better than to anger her by any reply. Nothing could make her calm down. If he ate a few more cookies than usual, she would be happier. Severus really had planned to hold his promise to come in time for tea and eat something, but as usual, the brewing had distracted him. Poppy should really know by now that it wasn't something personal, but she often freaked out about his eating habits. And now that the holidays were starting, she knew, like Severus, that it only was a question of hours or days that the Dark Lord would call for him. Poppy was very edgy about it. She often cried when she thought Severus couldn't hear or see her, but he had passed their bedroom often enough while Alastor tried to calm Poppy. She seems to believe by fattening me up, she can prevent me from dying. If his heart didn't ache for the woman he almost called a mother, he would have laughed about it.

The tea went quietly. Poppy had calmed down when she saw Severus forcing himself to eat a few more bites then he normally would do.

"Harry is wondering where his wand is," Severus said to Alastor.

"Oh, I forgot about that. Albus had given it to me after you left. I'm sorry we hadn't thought about this before," Alastor said and retrieved the wand. "Here you go, Harry."

"Am I allowed to use it? I mean it's the holidays now," Harry asked.

"Otherwise dueling would be a little complicated wouldn't it, Potter?" Severus said sarcastically.

"It's Harry," Harry said annoyed.

"Not if you keep on saying stupid things like that, Harry," Severus said and rolled his eyes.

Alastor tried to distract them both by asking how their first brewing had gone.

"It was great. I brewed a fever reducer for the hospital wing, and next Severus will teach me Wolfsbane."

"What?" Poppy was up like a rocket. She was staring at Severus in disbelief. "Why are you teaching him this, Severus?"

"Calm down, Poppy," Alastor said. He stood up and laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down. You know what he-"

"Poppy, remember we are not alone anymore. Why don't you clean up with Harry, and I'll go and have a talk with Severus," Alastor said calmly, but Harry could see that he was restraining himself.

"If he thinks he will... I will not let him go again. I..." Poppy stuttered.

The simple mention of Severus wanting to teach him this particular potion had put her off like this.

Harry was confused by the reaction of Poppy and Alastor. Remembering the words Severus had mumbled and linking them with what Poppy said or tried to stop herself from saying, he could imagine what this all was about. Severus was teaching him this potion because he thinks he won't come back from one of the next Death Eater meetings. He thinks he will die and wants me to brew the potion for Remus if necessary. Harry felt the world spin around him, and then there was only blackness.