The village of Great Harcourt were used to the rather odd woman that lived at the end of Fox Lane. Her pretty pink cottage was just a little too pretty for their tastes and her cats were a constant plague on every garden in the village. Even the village postmaster was none too keen on the woman and he liked everyone.

Fortunately the old bat wasn't around too much days. In fact for almost a whole year they had hardly seen her and the village had been very hopeful that she might have moved. Sadly that had not proved to be the case and she had been sighted just before the start of summer in her bright pink dressing gown, although reportedly in a rather nervous state.

The last few months she seemed to have fallen back into her normal patterns, leaving the house in a smart suit every morning and returning just after tea. With little to gossip about, the old bat in the pink house had long been the main topic of discussion in the village. She seemed to have an air of self importance about her that was quite at odds with the image of the pink cat lady.

Today, however the village suddenly had a lot more to gossip about and the post office was full of interested listeners.

'Screaming I tell you,' a short stocky woman was reporting. 'Screaming her head off she was! At three in the morning. Sounded like a banshee had been let loose. Bill was just about to go next door with a hammer in case of burglars when she ran out into the garden.'

Her excited audience leant in eagerly. 'What was she was screaming at.'

'Absolutely nothing!' Bill replied. 'She was running around the garden with a rolling pin, shouting 'You're not real, your not real!' as if something was chasing her.'

The postmaster snickered. 'I know it's mean to laugh but I've never liked that nosy old bat. Do you think they'll lock her up if we tell the doc?'

The stocky woman shrugged. 'I don't know but it would be nice to get new neighbours; with less cats.'

Bill nodded in agreement. 'Ones that didn't run around the garden in the middle of the night as if the hounds of hell were after them. Funny about that noise though wasn't it?' he asked his wife and seeing the villagers puzzled faces added. 'We could have sworn we heard the sound of hooves.'

His wife shrugged. 'Probably a horse loose on the bridleway.'

The postmaster turned back to his letters with a grin. 'Yep,' he thought. 'There's no doubt about it; Delores Umbridge had finally gone round the twist.'

Half a mile away a short plumb woman who looked remarkably like a toad was sat curled up in the kitchen of her hideously pink house. Sat on the floor with her hands over her ears she tried to block out the sound of a hundred kittens hissing and spitting at the apparition stood before her.

Pearly white and see through, the floating cloud continued to change it's image every few seconds.

A small school girl with pig tails pointed at her eerily, her squeaky voice echoing through the house. 'I must pay attention in class,' she droned.

A tall boy in Ravenclaw robes. 'I will obey my superiors.'

Harry Potter, his hand pouring blood. 'I must not tell lies.'

An enormous centaur reared before her, his face a mask of fury.

With a small squeak, Delores Umbridge fell sideways in a dead faint onto the cold stone floor. As if this was a signal, the white spectre lost it's form and with a small pop disappeared back to it's home to report in.

)O(

Severus Snape looked up from his morning paper as Peeves appeared with a pop before him. The poltergeist snapped to attention and gave the potions master a smart salute.

'Mission accomplished Peeves?' he asked and the ghost nodded enthusiastically.

Severus smirked happily, imagining the scene in Great Harcourt right now.

'Good work Peeves. A visit twice a week for the next few months should do it. Now would you like another mission?'

Peeves puffed his chest out importantly. None of the professors had ever sent him on missions before and he was feeling rather proud of himself. He bobbed his head again and grinned.

Severus's smiled widened. 'Excellent! Have you ever heard of Little Whinging?'

)O(

Madam Pomfrey was feeling rather down hearted. She had only been back in the school for a few hours when Severus had come to ask if she could set up a welfare meeting for the following day.

She and the head of Slytherin went through this ritual every year and it never got any easier. It always meant the same thing. He had discovered another one of his little snakes was being beaten bloody by their pathetic excuse for a family.

She sighed heavily. It was unusual to have this so far into the school year. Severus had gotten so good at spotting the poor dears that it was normally the first years she was seeing and usually within three weeks of them starting school. She could never understand why the rest of the staff were so negative towards Slytherin House when there were obviously so many vulnerable children there.

A part of her always worried a little about the potions master as well. Despite his rather grim exterior, he seemed to be able to connect to these troubled children rather well and they would open up to him in a way they wouldn't to the rest of the staff.

That worried her enormously, as she had a sneaky suspicion that if there had been a similar teacher in school when Severus was a child, that they might very well have had one of these meetings about him.

Poppy sincerely hoped that she was wrong about that but the more time she spent with the man, the less hope she had that that was the case.

She frowned and forcibly switched into professional mode to set up the monitoring charms in her office. It was a normal protocol in the school to record any welfare discussions or meetings held so that they could be added to legal records in the future if that was required. She had a special folder for each child that would record medical exams, statements and a visual record of the room and testimony of each present.

Whilst it was a little formal for her liking, it had it's advantages and meant that staff were more careful in their words and didn't indulge in speculation. It just felt a bit of a rotten way to be starting the new year. She hoped it would be a review of a student they were already supporting but her instinct told her probably not.

Severus had looked particularly grave when he had requested this meeting; even for him.

)O(

Harry laughed as he watch Dobby putting the finishing touches to the Gryffindor common rooms decorations. This was seriously getting out of hand he thought wryly.

It had started off so simple. He had invited the Hufflepuffs to spend New Years Eve in the tower to thank them for their hospitality, not realizing that most of the schools staff were coming back for the celebrations. Then Professor Snape had suggested he invite the staff and before he knew if, he was hosting a New Years Eve party.

Dobby had of course volunteered to help and now things seemed to be snowballing.

'Erm Dobby, I think if we put any more glitter up we are going to send everyone blind.'

The elf giggled shyly. 'OK Master Harry. Shall I go and check on the food?'

Harry winced. He dreaded to think how many tons of food the kitchens had prepared and he nodded, watching the elf pop away with a sigh.

This will be fun, he reminded himself. It's a party; absolutely nothing to worry about.

It was hard to forget that tomorrow he would be meeting with Madam Pomfrey and his head of house and having to talk about things that....Harry forced that thought away and headed up to his dorm room to change.

Eric, Emma and Morgan would be arriving soon to help with the final preparations so he needed to be changed and ready.

Harry put on the new jeans and red sweater he had ordered for himself from one of the muggle catalogues Hermoine had sent. He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of this sooner! Mail order clothes.

The only problem was they fitted a bit too well. Harry eyed himself critically in the mirror. He had managed to put on eight pounds over the holidays and that had helped a lot, but the slim line jeans were showing off far too clearly how thin his waist and hips were.

Harry considered putting the glamours back up but discounted it. He had promised Professor Snape he wouldn't and he really didn't want to go back to that constant feeling of exhaustion. He leant forward and examined the mark on his cheek. It was just a small red blotch now and might even be mistaken for a spot.

Anyway, he thought pragmatically. Come tomorrow, half the staff would know the truth, if not all of them. I can't keep hiding everything and maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

A girls voice pulled him away from the mirror as Emma shouted up the stairs.

'Harry! Are you up there.'

He bounded down with a grin to welcome the three friends, ignoring the sharp look Eric gave him. Harry's stomach clenched as he saw the look of concern on the head boys face and he looked away quickly.

'Hey guys, what do you think of the décor? There's been a crazy house elf on the loose!'

Morgan laughed as he looked at the glitter drenched ceiling and walls.

'It's certainly bright!'

'I really like your common room Harry. It's so cosy.' Emma added with a shy smile.

Harry gave them the tour of the tower and then offered them drinks which were starting to appear on the long food table Dobby had conjured at the back of the room.

'I've never hosted a party before,' Harry admitted and the head boy smiled sympathetically at him.

'I dare say you were expecting something more intimate when you first invited us, but we can help.'

Morgan gave him an encouraging pat on the back as the portrait hole opened and Professor McGonagall strode in, wearing a very fetching blue dress and cloak. Her white hair was loose and wavy and fell to her waist.

She smiled at the students.

'Happy New Year to you all, I hope you had a nice....' Her voice trailed off as she spotted Harry and he cringed as her smile fell, to be replaced by an expression of pure shock.

She crossed to his side in a second. 'Mr Potter! Are you ill?'

Her hand automatically flew to his forehead and he did his best to plaster a bright smile on his face.

'I had a nasty chest infection over the holidays Professor, but I'm much better now.'

She stared at him appraisingly for a few moments and then turned to the others with a weak smile.

'Well it's good to see all of you. The headmaster will be along in a moment. How has your Christmas?'

The three students launched into a tale of the holidays, including snowball fights, flying practice and the xmas eve party they had shared. In the middle of this the headmaster, Professor Flitwick, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape arrived and joined the discussion.

Harry smiled and nodded and tried not to notice the reactions of the staff to his appearance or the dark looks they were sharing with one another.

What he couldn't miss however was how many of those dark looks were directed at his potions professor. He watched as Professor Snape despatched himself from the group, helped himself to a large bottle of butterbeer and a glass and went to sit by the fire. Snape had his usual fierce scowl on but for once Harry could see past it.

Harry looked back at the rest of the teaching staff and had a horrible moment of realization. The adults saw Snape the same way the children did. They too were unable to see past the harsh, sarcastic exterior and worse still, they suspected the man was responsible for Harry's poor physical condition.

Scanning across the adults faces, it appeared only Madam Pomfrey was not scowling towards the lone figure; even the headmaster was giving sad, disappointed looks. What on earth did they think Snape could have done to him in under three weeks?

Harry huffed impatiently. There was no way he was going to let them all blame Snape for how thin he was after the man had been so kind to him.

Harry detached himself from the conversation he was having with Eric and picking up an empty glass walked over to the sofa Snape had exiled himself on. Harry sat down beside the professor and aware of all the adults eyes on him, wiggled his empty glass hopefully whilst giving Snape his best puppy dog look.

To the astonishment of everyone in the room, Snape snorted in amusement and reaching for the butter beer, proceeded to fill up the boys glass.

Harry sank back into the soft sofa and made a show of enjoying his drink whilst starting a random conversation about New Year Traditions.

'Thank you Harry,' Snape said so quietly that Harry might not have heard had he not been facing the older man when he spoke.

Harry bobbed his head in acknowledgement. 'I'm sorry sir; I should have worn six layers and the baggiest cloak I own. It never occurred to me that you would be held responsible for my weight loss.'

Severus looked at the boy beside him thoughtfully. Yet again Potter had shown a level of insight way beyond his peers and the man wondered how they could have been so at odds with one another all these years.

'Harry, someone once told me that we see what we expect to see, and I have played my part well over the years.'

Harry smiled weakly. 'Well they are all seeing something the didn't expect to see now.'

Severus glanced across the room at his colleagues who were attempting not to stare at Harry Potter and Severus Snape apparently enjoying a friendly chat by the fire and did something he hadn't done in years.

He laughed; loudly and heartily.

Beside him Harry grinned and suggested cheekily. 'Do you think we should throw a few hexes at each other in a minute, just to make sure we don't freak them out too much?'

'That might be a sensible idea Potter. Your head of house looks like she's about to have a stroke.'

Just to make the evening more surreal, the portrait hole opened and in clambered Mr Filch; Mrs Norris curled up in his arms. The caretaker had sleeked his hair down with something dark and sticky looking and was wearing a threadbare suit that clearly hadn't fitted him in many years. Mrs Norris was wearing a pink tutu and a tall spiral hat.

Whether it was the tension of the evening or nervousness about tomorrow, Harry wasn't sure, but the sight of the odd couple was the final straw for him.

He lost it; Spectacularly!

The short laugh turned into the longest fit of giggles Harry had had in years. Drawn by his laughter, the other students came to group around the fire.

Emma perched on the arm of the sofa, right beside the potions professor.

'What's so funny?'

'Yeah, sir. What's up with Harry?' Morgan asked, the giggles starting to catch him too.

'Brain damage,' Severus snorted into his butter beer to more laughter from the children.

'Ah, yes,' Eric said sagely. 'Too many bludgers to the head. I've always suspected it.'

Mrs Norris jumped down from Filch's arms and ran over to the group, jumping into Harry's lap where she curled up and started giving herself a bath. That started Harry off again and he laughed until tears were running down his face.

Beside him, the children giggled and Severus continued to snigger, adding in the odd humorous comment whenever it appeared that Harry was beginning to get control of himself.

'New best friend Potter?' he smirked as the cat stared up at her new human friend.

'Arr, Sir. That's just cruel. He had just dropped crying.' Morgan scolded.

'Got to get my entertainment somewhere, Shaklebolt.'

Across the room, Albus Dumbledore watched the scene with suspiciously moist eyes. The two boys he cared the most about were laughing in a way he had never seen before. Whatever had happened in this school over the Christmas break had clearly been momentous.

With the tension firmly dissipated, the New Year Party began in earnest and the adults let their hair down in style. Only Madam Pomfrey remained quiet as she watched the cosy group near the fire.

Harry's appearance had shocked her mightily but so had his new found rapport with Severus. The man did not bond easily she knew, but Severus had a practical lake of compassion for the most vulnerable students amongst them. It was his care of them that caused such fierce loyalty to the professor from the students in his house.

Now she was seeing something of that loyalty in Harry. It had not escaped her attention the way the boy had deliberately placed himself beside Severus whilst her colleagues were busy jumping to conclusions.

Poppy's thoughts turned to tomorrows welfare meeting and her sense of foreboding grew. She didn't think she could bear to find out they were going to discuss a boy who had been in her care for five and half years already.

)O(