Chapter Six

Harry paused outside the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room and tugged on his sweater nervously. He hadn't seen the others for four days and knew the change in his appearance was bound to be startling. It just depended on how observant they were.

He uttered the password and stepped through into the cosy room. There were three large sofas arranged in a circle and a large table in the middle that seemed to be creaking under the weight of the food piled on it.

'Harry!' Emma saw him first and jumped up to run over and give him a quick hug.

'How are you? You look awful.'

Harry laughed. 'Thanks Emma, that's good to know.'

Eric snickered and clambered up off one of the sofas to pat Harry on the arm.

'Tactful as ever Emma.' He frowned at Harry. 'That must have been some cold. Are you feeling better?'

Harry smiled nervously. 'Much better thanks. Is it all right if I join you?'

'Of course you can!' Eric pulled Harry over to one of the sofas which Harry sunk into gratefully.

'We thought we would start Christmas early with a party tonight and Professor Snape had given us permission to have our meal in here tomorrow as well. Is that OK with you?'

Harry nodded. 'Yeah, that's fine. It would have been weird in the Great Hall with so few of us. Is Snape joining us for dinner tomorrow?'

Morgan snorted out a mouthful of hot chocolate. 'I bloody hope not! I don't fancy sitting around the fire with that overgrown bat.'

Harry shifted uncomfortably whilst Eric gave his house mate a playful swat around the ear. 'Don't be so disrespectful Eric, Professor Snape is not all bad.'

'Yeah,' Harry added awkwardly. 'He's actually been pretty decent to me this week. He sat with me all night when I was ill.'

Eric eyes widened at that as he poured Harry a glass of juice and handed him a plate.

'That sounds like it was more than a cold?'

Harry shrugged.' Yeah, it went to my chest. It was pretty hard to breath for a while and I was sort of out of it for that night. Some rest and a few potions sorted it out though.'

Eric watched the younger boy thoughtfully as Harry loaded his plate with roast chicken and potatoes. He really did look pretty awful and Eric wasn't surprised when Emma disappeared for a few moments, only to return with a blanket and some pillows which she insisted on tucking around Harry.

They all stuffed themselves silly with food and dessert before starting a rousing game of wizard war games. Each of them had a small army to command over a large world map and Harry was doing rather well until Morgan pulled a sly trick and surrounded his troops.

When Severus popped his head in the door at nine thirty he found all four students roaring in laughter as they watched Harry and Emma's entire battalions being wiped out by Morgans. Eric had sensibly retreated to see the outcome before making his next move.

The head boy smiled at the professor as he came to perch on the arm of the chair.

Severus arched an eyebrow as he looked at the board before them.

'Tactical error Potter?' he asked drily and Harry laughed.

'Yes sir; I seriously underestimated the sneakiness of one particular Hufflepuff.'

Morgan chuckled. 'Don't feel bad Harry, I always win.'

'The battle's not over yet Morgan,' Eric reminded his friend quietly.

Severus looked around the room with satisfaction. The students had kept the place reasonably tidy and had decorated the whole room in holly and mistletoe.

He noticed the blanket wrapped around Harry and the mass of pillows at his back. It was good to know they were looking out for each other, it certainly made his job easier. He placed the wooden crate he had brought with him onto the floor and waved his wand to open it and reveal 12 bottles of butter beer.

'A present from the headmaster,' he said simply. 'He asked me to give these to you tomorrow but seeing as you are starting the celebrations early, I thought you may appreciate these this evening?'

'Thanks sir.' Eric pulled out a few bottles and started passing them around and Severus took the opportunity to give Harry a long searching look. Sensing his gaze, the boy looked up and gave a small nod, indicating everything was fine.

Satisfied that Potter had calmed from the earlier events of the day the professor stood and moved to leave. 'Your main meal tomorrow will be delivered here at 2pm. Have a good evening.'

'Professor, would you not like to join us for a butter beer?' Eric asked seriously.

'That's very kind Baxter, but you seem to be coping without me.'

Harry looked up from the board with a small frown. 'You could help Emma and I salvage this game sir, if you aren't too busy.'

The professor paused for a moment and then nodded, sitting next to Harry on the sofa and accepting the bottle Eric passed him. He looked back at the board and frowned heavily.

'I'm not sure it's possible to salvage this Potter.'

Severus found himself relaxing back into the sofa as he listened to the students chattering and laughter. He watched idly as Morgan led the slaughter on the board. Erics troops had joined the battle now and it was chaos.

Potter had withdrawn his few surviving models who were now prowling around the edge of the battlefield, picking off stragglers here and there. One lone model crept around the foothills and Severus suddenly sat forward as he realised the direction Potter was guiding it.

With one swift move, the model launched into the battle and slew both Morgan and Emma's Generals. Both students yelled their outrage as Harry sat back with a satisfied sigh and watched Eric's troops swiftly overrun the board and finish the game.

Morgan chucked a pillow at Harry who laughed. 'That was a sneaky move Harry.'

'Kill the General and let set someone else deal with the others. That's pretty much my role in life,' Harry said quietly. The students laughed, not catching the reference but Severus gave the boy a sharp look.

Surely the boy had not been listening to the rubbish The Daily Prophet had been spouting this year? Why would he think the Dark Lord was his responsibility? Unless Albus had told Potter about the prophecy?

Severus felt his good mood evaporating. It would be just like the headmaster to tell a sixteen years old boy that he would be responsible for the fall of the most powerful dark wizard this land had ever known.

With what must have been the worlds most ironic timing, Severus felt his mark burst into flame and clamped a hand across his forearm with a wince. Beside him Potters hand flew to his forehead.

Severus stood up promptly, placing his almost empty bottle on the table.

'I must take my leave; I have a potion I must check on. Enjoy the rest of your evening.'

He exchanged a look with Harry, both of them aware of what had happened and Severus felt a strange pang as he recognised concern in the teenagers expression.

Concern for him? Severus paused in the main corridor long enough to fire call Filch and tell him he was leaving the castle and Accio his cloak.

He strode out towards the school gates feeling strangely disconnected from what was happening. It had been several months since he had been called and he realized with a pang that he had never felt that he was leaving something before.

Severus waited until he was outside of the school boundaries and took a deep breath before apparating away.

)O(

Harry wandered back to his common room feeling like someone had kicked him in the head. The immediate headache he had had when Snape had been called had lasted for several hours. He then found himself pacing his room wondering if his professor was back safely and if it would be way out of line to go and check.

At midnight a large group of owls swooped in through the open window, each carrying a parcel. Harry untied each gift and placed them under the tree, pleased to see Hermoine had managed to do the bit of shopping he had requested.

He unpacked the large box that had taken two owls to carry and found five leather notebooks; each in a different colour and a packet of multicoloured post-its. There was also a large box of Honey-dukes chocolate and Harry was pleased to see from Hermoine's receipts that he had sent her enough muggle and wizard money to cover the purchases.

Harry wrapped the notebooks individually with a large bar of chocolate and labelled one each for Eric, Morgan and Emma. He had saved the largest notebook for Professor Snape as it was a deep Slytherin green and added the post-its. He slipped in a catalogue for the muggle stationary store Hermione had found them in with a smile. Well the man had asked!

He wrapped the last present with a wry smile. I must be completely crazy, Harry thought with a sigh as he wrapped the large bar of chocolate together with a packet of cat treats and a catnip mouse. I can't believe I am wrapping a Christmas present for Filch.

It was about 3 am before he finally ran out of excuses for going to bed and collapsed against the pillows.

For all I know, Snape is back and snoring his head off and I'm lying here getting in a tiss about nothing, Harry thought before slowly dozing off.

Morning seemed to come far too early and Harry wandered back down to the common room, unsure as to what to do. He glanced at the breakfast tray with a sigh. He wasn't sure he could eat right now. Not until he knew if the professor was all right.

Making a split second decision, he grabbed the presents for Snape and Filch and pulled his jumper on before heading for the main corridor. At least this way he had an excuse for visiting.

)O(

Severus sat slumped in the armchair near the fire, his eyes closed as he let the potions working through his system do their work. Last night had not been fun and he didn't think he was ready to sleep yet.

The dark lord had been seriously displeased and had made a point of expressing that displeasure on every one of his inner circle. Severus had lost count of how many minutes he had been under the crucio curse but it had been enough to make every nerve sing in pain.

He knew from experience that the aching would last for several days. Thank heavens there were no classes to take. He would need some time to settle himself.

Severus thought back to what he had leant last night. It was sure to be a blow to the headmaster when he heard about Slughorn. He knew Dumbledore had been trying to recruit the old potions professor for the last year but the man had proved rather illusive.

At least the old bastard went down fighting, Severus thought with a snarl. When Lucius had finally tracked Slughorn down, there had been a spectacular duel and two death eaters had been killed.

Unfortunately, Horace Slughorn had also been killed in the crossfire and it was interesting that Voldermort had been more upset at that than the loss of two of his most faithful. Severus winced as he remembered the man's rage and the cold way he had turned on Malfoy and struck him down.

Lucius Malfoy was dead and Severus couldn't work out how he felt about that. His one time friend and mentor was certainly no loss to the world but somehow he couldn't bring himself to be glad.

A quiet knock interrupted his musing and he cursed. Please don't let there be any dramas, he thought with a snarl.

'Come in!' he barked; expecting Baxter with a list of inane questions about today's schedule. The door tentatively opened and to his surprise it was Potter who peeked around.

Severus remembered the boy grabbing for his scar last night and his eyes narrowed sharply.

'Are you unwell?'

Potter shook his head and inched further into the room.

'No sir, I just wanted to bring you your present.'

Severus stared blankly at the brightly coloured gift the boy held in his hand.

'You got me a gift?' and at the boys nod. 'Why?'

Harry shrugged. 'It's Christmas sir and I wanted to thank you for looking after me when I was ill.'

There was a moments silence and then realising he was still staring vacantly, Severus visibly pulled himself together and stood, reaching the present.

'Thank you Potter, that was thoughtful of you. I'm afraid I didn't return the favour. Exchanging gifts is not normally a tradition I follow.'

Harry watched his professor in concern. The man was as pale as he had ever seen him and Harry had not missed the way he had steadied himself against the arm of the chair as he stood.

'Are you all right sir?' he asked quietly

Severus bit back the sharp retort that sprung to his lips, stalled by the genuine worry in the teenagers expression.

'I've been better,' he said simply. 'But I'll live.'

'Can I do anything?' Harry took a step closer, seeing the line of cold sweat on Snape's forehead.

'No Potter,' I just need to rest. 'Thank you again for the gift.'

Sensing his dismissal, Harry nodded and turned away. He paused at the door and looked back.

'Will you be joining us for Christmas dinner sir?'

Severus looked up in surprise. Filch was dining with a friend in Hogsmead today and he had planned to dine alone and leave the teenagers to their celebrations.

'Would you like me to?' he asked, immediately embarrassed that the question had slipped past his lips.

'I would sir.' Harry said quietly and Severus nodded.

'Then I will see you at 2 'O' clock.'

He listened as the boys footsteps faded and then sunk back down, turning the gift over in his hands. Other than Albus, who always gave him brandy; he had not received a gift in years.

He opened the wrapping carefully, pulling out the smart green journal and packet of post-its with a wry smile. He fingered the parchment style paper curiously; it was much smoother and neater than anything he had seen in Diagon Alley and Severus realized the journal must also be muggle bought. The prefect size for a potions journal and just in time for the new year.

Feeling surprisingly touched, he placed the gift on his desk along with the catalogue and limped through to his bed chamber. If he slept for a few hours, he should be well enough to sit through dinner although he wondered wryly if the Hufflepuffs would be as keen to dine with him as Potter had been.

)O(

Harry knocked on the small wooden door that led to Filch's office with his heart in his mouth. Knowing his luck, the old bastard would give him detention for disturbing him on Christmas day.

The door flew open and Filch stood there glowering at him. Harry could see Mrs Norris sat on the desk watching him suspiciously.

'What is it?' Filch asked, his eyes narrowing on the skinning boy before him.

Harry held out the wrapped gift to him, with what he hoped was a winning smile.

'Happy Christmas, Mr Filch.'

The man took the gift and scowled at him. 'I suppose it's hexed then, as normal. Those blasted Weasley's put you up to this?'

Harry sighed. This had definitely been a bad idea.

'No sir, I just wanted to wish you a merry christmas. There is something for Mrs Norris in there as well.'

Harry turned and walked away before the man really did give him detention and he ended up spending the day scrubbing the great hall with a toothbrush.

Filch looked down at the present in his hand and then at the retreating back of the young man; a strange expression on his face.

He placed the gift on his desk and lay a crystal on the top. The large stone gave a pulse of magic and turned green and Filches dark eyes widened in surprise. The parcel was clean of magic.

He tore it open and found a large stash of chocolates, and some treats for Mrs Norris. She pounced on the desk and grabbed the catnip mouse before he could even look at it; retreating to her basket with a contented purr.

Any student told what happened next would surely have thought they were being wound up, as the stern faced caretaker burst into tears and buried his face in a dirty hanky.

'I always liked that Potter,' he told his cat as he blew his nose noisily. Mrs Norris paused from licking the mouse to gaze at him seriously.

As if reminded how untrue that particular statement was, Filch blushed and buried his face again.

Harry walked slowly up to his common room, his mood having taken a bit of dip. He was worried about Snape; annoyed with Filch and completely unaware he had just made a new friend.

)O(

A/N- I hope you enjoyed this latest instalment.

Reviews and thoughts gratefully received.