-II-

Jessica smiled from one ear to the other. "That's fantastic, Severus. See you!" She waved good bye and went over to her house table.

Frederick whistled when Severus sat down but got another cuff from his girlfriend for it. "What? Am I not allowed to congratulate Severus on his choice of date?"

Severus spat his apple juice over the table. "Date?" he exclaimed, shocked, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Don't listen to him, Severus," Amy said and waved her wand to vanish the mess Severus had made.

"It's no date!" Severus protested.

"Whatever you say," Frederick said, grinning at his buddies.

Oliver just looked puzzled at him, not understanding what could be so interesting about the girl for Severus to have talked with her for so long.

-II-

Harry nervously went over to the Ravenclaw table. The different houses normally stayed separated in the Great Hall, and Harry feared that the Ravenclaws would be hostile. His fear was, of course, ungrounded. Tobias Phelps, who sat on Severus' left side, made room for Harry to sit down. "He needs to finish before he can leave," the seventh year said when he stood up.

Harry nodded, gnawing his bottom lip. "Hey," he greeted shyly when he sat down.

"Hi, Harry, how are you?" Alicia asked cheerfully. "I'm Alicia."

"Severus told me about you," Harry stated while offering his hand to her.

"Really?" Alicia beamed at Severus.

As a 'thank you,' Severus glared at Harry and then at the grinning seventh years around Frederik.

Harry looked puzzled at Severus, not knowing what was wrong. He didn't know that they were teasing Severus about Jessica and Alicia.

"I'm Oliver," Severus' other friend said from the opposite side of the table.

"I know," Harry said again and shook Oliver's hand.

"Do you think we will go into the forest again today? I missed the last class," Harry said.

"I don't know. The Gnome colony had moved when we looked for them yesterday. I doubt Professor Hagrid found a new location of Gnomes yet," Alicia said.

"So I haven't missed much?" Harry asked, even though he knew the answer. He was happy to have a topic about which he could speak with the Ravenclaws.

Severus ate as quickly as possible so he could leave with Harry. His stomach protested, and he grabbed for it.

"Are you all right, Severus?" Harry asked, worried.

"Sure," Severus said between gritted teeth.

"It doesn't look like it," Harry said, frustrated.

"I would be fine if they weren't forcing me to eat so much," Severus said angrily. He looked surprised when the food in front of him vanished. A pop behind him announced the house-elf he had met yesterday. In its hand was a glass of apple juice.

"Master Severus shall drink this, and then he can leave," the house-elf instructed.

Severus glared at the creature and did not even think about taking the offered glass.

"Thank you, ehm, what's your name?" Harry asked politely.

The house-elf beamed at Harry. Its ear to ear smile revealed several sharp teeth that made Severus rethink his decision not to take the glass. "Me is Todly!"

"Todly, that's a nice name. Why don't you give me the glass, and I will make sure that Severus drinks it?" Harry offered.

The house-elf looked uncertain. A final look at the High Table, and she nodded. "Okay, Master Harry."

Harry glared at Severus and held the glass under his nose. "You got away with half of your food, so you could at least drink your juice without protesting."

"You are younger and cannot boss me around," Severus protested.

Harry did not waver. "Drink!"

Severus groaned after almost a minute of glaring. He took the glass and accidently spilled some of the juice. Grinning evilly, he celebrated it as a victory that he had at least spilled some of the offending liquid they were trying to fill him up with.

Harry just rolled his eyes. When Severus had drained the apple juice in one go, Harry stood up. "Come on, let's go!"

After another stop at the lavatory, Severus headed outside with his Ravenclaw friends and Harry.

Harry liked Oliver and Alicia. They were much more mature than his own second year housemates.

"So, you are friends with the American girl? What's her name?" Harry asked, interested.

"Jessica," Severus stated shortly.

"You're so talkative," Harry said, annoyed.

"Hmpf," Severus just said.

"Do you like Magical Creatures?" Oliver asked. He liked Harry, not because he was a hero but because he was so natural with Severus.

"Yes, Hagrid is a good friend of Severus and mine," Harry explained happily.

"He is a Professor, not our friend," Severus stated.

Harry stuck his tongue out behind Severus' back. Oliver giggled and patted Harry's shoulder.

Magical Creatures was uneventful. They gathered worms for the compost moles for one hour. The rest of the class was spent watching the creatures pulling the worms into their dens through the glass walls of the compost container. Severus was bored. "Do you know that you can brew a potion with their teeth and claws that allows you to see in the dark?"

"Really?" Oliver asked, excited.

Alicia was shocked. "How can you think about something like that? They are so cute!"

"Cute?" all three boys asked, shocked. The compost moles were naked, ugly creatures with big black eyes and two inch long teeth.

"Sure, look how cutely they look at us," Alicia said dreamily.

"I would say they look angry and want to say, 'Let us out here, you idiots!'" Severus said in a high pitched voice.

"You are all stupid," Alicia said to the innocent-looking Severus and the giggling Harry and Oliver.

"The class is over, kids. I want you to write an essay about compost moles. Two feet long!" Hagrid said cheerfully.

"Two feet?" many students protested. Severus and Harry were among them.

"Or better, three?" Hagrid wondered loudly. Suddenly, many students started to race to the castle, shouting sentences like, "Two feet, Professor Hagrid; see you next week!" over their shoulders.

"Hey, Harry, Severus!" Hagrid waved them over. "Will you come and visit me this afternoon?"

"Sure," Harry said immediately.

Severus bit his bottom lip nervously. He did not want to decline Hagrid's invitation. "I have a meeting with the Slytherins at four, and I have to finish an essay for Transfiguration for tomorrow."

"Oh, yes," Harry said sadly. "I also haven't done the essay yet." He shortly thought about it and then looked up happily. "We will just start the essay now until you have to leave for your meeting with the Slytherins. Then I will go and meet Hagrid. When you are done, you just come down here and we'll go home and finish the essay. What do you think, Severus?"

"Sounds good," Severus said. "We should tell Alastor that we will be in the library."

"Yes, lets go!" Harry said, excited. "See ye later, Hagrid!"

Hagrid chuckled at seeing the two brothers together. It seemed that they were slowly getting used to their new situation.

/

"He isn't here. Maybe he still has a class. Oh!" Harry hit himself on the forehead. "The Gryffindor sixth years have Defense now."

"Then let's go tell Poppy," Severus said, already heading for the door.

"How was your day?" Poppy asked them when they entered her office. The hospital wing was quiet, and so she had time to work on her papers.

"Good!" Harry exclaimed happily. "I met Severus' friends and they like me."

Severus rolled his eyes when Harry threw himself at Poppy and told her about his meeting with Oliver and Alicia as if it was something special.

Poppy looked amused while she hugged Harry tightly. "That's really nice, Harry. I'm glad you found new friends. Could you do me a favor, my boy?"

"Sure!" Harry beamed at her.

"I forgot my brown hair clip. Could you get it for me? It should be in the bathroom."

"I'll be back soon," Harry said and ran back to the quarters.

"So, do I get a hug from you as well?" Poppy asked, smiling at her older charge. Severus rolled his eyes again, but stepped closer to hug Poppy.

"Ah, that's good. So how was your day?" Poppy said.

"Maybe you should just ask me what you really want to because Harry will be back soon," Severus said.

"Always looking straight through me, Severus? I just wanted to thank you for letting Harry be friends with your friends. It was very hard for him to go into second year classes."

"Oh, and it was just so easy and wonderful for me," Severus said sarcastically.

Poppy sighed. "That wasn't what I implied, Severus." She cupped his cheeks. "I was very happy when I saw that you found new friends so easily, Severus. Of course the whole situation isn't easy for you. It's even more difficult for you than it is for Harry, but you must agree that you were more lucky at finding friends."

"Maybe," Severus mumbled. It was a bit awkward to speak while Poppy held his cheeks.

"All I wanted to say is that I'm proud of you for letting Harry be part of your friends. He needs you very much, Severus."

"I know. I'll be there for him. He likes my friends; that makes it easy." He proudly pressed his chest out. It felt good to be treated like the big brother he was.

"I'm so proud of you!" Poppy kissed his forehead and let his cheeks go the moment Harry came back into the office, panting.

"Here it is!" Harry said happily and gave Poppy the clip. He gasped for air. Maybe I shouldn't have run. Lately it seems I have no stamina anymore. Harry pushed his worry about it away. He hoped it was just a short after effect of the potion.

"Oh, thank you, Harry," Poppy said and pinned her hair up with the clip. She looked worried at Harry, who had a lot of trouble breathing. She waved her wand over him and was relieved that it was just exhaustion. Maybe the de-aging potion is still affecting his condition. I need to keep an eye on him.

"Yeah, it's always good to have an overeager owl in the family," Severus teased.

Harry pulled a face and stuck his tongue out.

"Stop teasing your brother, Severus. And you, Harry, no tongue-sticking."

Both boys groaned. Suddenly they were on the same side again, and Poppy grinned knowingly.

"We just wanted to tell you that we will be in the library writing our essay for tomorrow," Severus said.

"Severus will meet with the Sytherins at four, and I will go to Hagrid's. We will meet up there when Severus is finished," Harry explained.

"Be back by five-thirty at the latest. Maria will come over to check on you two and practice some exercises with you Severus," Poppy said.

Severus groaned. He had forgotten about that painful exercises, and he was not looking forward to them.

"Severus, those exercises are necessary. They will become less painful the more you work together with Maria," Poppy said emphatically.

"I know," Severus mumbled grumpily.

"Then off you go so you have enough time to finish your essay," Poppy said and ruffled Harry's hair.

/

"Where are the boys?" Alastor asked when he came into the hospital wing after his last class.

"Severus is with the Slytherins, and Harry is with Hagrid," Poppy answered.

After he kissed his wife, Alastor said, "Shouldn't they be studying? They have much to catch up on."

"I know, Alastor, but friends are important for them as well. They will only be able to catch up and enjoy school if they have friends. They studied for an hour in the library. Harry was so happy because he had become friends with Severus' friends. We can be a little lenient sometimes. I want them to be happy."

Alastor growled. "Poppy, they need to concentrate on their school work. I had a talk with Filius and Minerva. Severus has a lot of difficulties in their classes. Harry even attempt to not be able to perform in class just for Severus. This can't happen. Filius talked with Harry and ask us not to intervene right now, but we should inform Maria and James about Severus' difficulties. What do you say?"

Poppy sighed. "Yes, we should tell them, but I think it is normal. Severus will need time, and he is pressuring himself too much in front of his classmates. I think you should offer to teach him privately in the evenings and on weekends. Maybe Charlie, Tonks, and Kingsley will have time as well."

"That's a good idea. Don't let your head hang, love." He lifted her chin with one of his hands and kissed her softly.

"I know, I just want them to be happy," Poppy whispered against his lips.

"You are such a lovely mother," Alastor said, grinning. He kissed his wife again. The soft kiss became more heated, and Alastor pulled his wife closer before shutting and locking the office door.