“Fair,” Salazar caustically commented on Harry’s now silent walk.

“Fair?” Harry rose an eyebrow. “I’m doing it just like you!”

Salazar frowned. “Yes, but you’ve been working on it for an hour, and I’ve been doing it for centuries. Fair is good for an amateur. We should probably go find the others now anyway; they’ve been panicking about you for the last three hours.”

Harry snickered. “Doesn’t sound like Sev.”

“Oh,” Salazar said. “He wasn’t concerned. He knew where we were the whole time…he has certain — bonds — that allow him to detect us, even though I concealed our magical signatures. It was Jerome and the centaurs that were frantic.”

“Bonds?” Harry said. “I don’t have any bonds with Severus.”

“I am bonded to him through the portrait,” Salazar said curtly. “However he knew, he knew we were here.”

Harry knew he’d better drop the subject. “Why’d you conceal our signatures, anyway?”

“I didn’t want to be bothered,” Salazar said grumpily.

Harry smirked. “You’re such a loner.”

“Blame the other Founders. They never tried to get along with me; never attempted to understand my customs and my way of life.”

Harry looked at him slyly. “Oh yeah, have a pity party. Did you ever try to understand their lifestyle?” He asked accusingly, knowing what the answer was.

Salazar scowled at the teenager. “Are you sure you’re not a Slytherin?”

Harry grinned. “The sorting hat tried to put me in Gryffindor, but I said no, so I became a lion instead. Nice try on avoiding the question, by the way.”

Slytherin glared at his “apprentice.” “You’re too talkative for your own good. Now shut up because they’re right up ahead and I want to give them a good scare. Blabbering idiots. They’re adults, and a sixteen-year-old can give them the slip.” Salazar silenced and motioned for Harry to get behind a tree.

Sure enough, after a second, a frantic Jerome, two worried centaurs, and a smirking Severus appeared. Salazar stepped out in front of them with his wand raised. Severus quickly reacted, jerking up his wand and throwing a curse that Salazar and Harry both dodged.

Salazar gave Severus a rare grin. “Good one. You’re the only one of these idiots that’s alive.”

Jerome, Ajaria, and Chryseis scowled at Salazar and Harry. “Where the hell were you?” Jerome grumbled. “Severus has been sitting here threatening us with poison and curses if we didn’t calm down for the past two and a half hours!”

“Two and a half?” Harry asked. “We’ve been gone for three. And Salazar thought I needed work.”

“You do,” Snape said. “Stand up straight.”

Harry stuck out his tongue at his potions teacher but straightened his back. “Prude,” he hissed, just loud enough for Severus to hear.

Severus ignored it, as well as Salazar and Jerome’s knowing looks. Jerome rolled his eyes one last time at the pair before shrugging his defeat.

“Whatever,” he conceded. “The three of you won,” he said, pointing at Severus, Harry, and Salazar in turn.

Harry mock-bowed. “Why thank you.”

“I brought the unicorns,” Salazar said as they appeared between the trees. “I thought Chryseis and Ajaria could talk to them while we retired to lunch. I need to critique Harry’s table manners anyway.”

Severus hid a smile with his hand. “So I’ve been doing, Salazar. But I agree. He does need improvement if we intend to allow him to be in front of polite and civilized society. You have to impress them, Harry; show them a mature adult who can handle his problems. Besides, it’ll scare Fudge out of his wits, don’t you think?”

Jerome smirked. “I can hardly wait.”

“Sit up,” Salazar hissed at Harry.

Harry glared. “It’s Sev and Jerome, Sal. They don’t care.”

Salazar glared at him for the shortening of his name but Harry just glared back.

“I care,” Severus smirked. “You need proper manners, Harry.”

Salazar smirked at Harry. “See?”

“I hate you,” Harry muttered, straightening his back.

“Thanks,” Salazar replied flippantly. “Don’t play with your food. It’s nourishment, not a toy.”

Harry scowled and pushed his almost-empty plate away. “You’ve ruined my appetite. It’s not like the Dark Lord’s going to care how I act anyway. And isn’t that what matters to everyone here? Getting rid of the fucking Dark Lord?” The frustrated teenager stood up and stormed from the room.

Severus rolled his eyes as he stood. “Gods I hate mood swings. This is why I hate those little brats at Hogwarts.” Then he swept from the room. Salazar rose a brow at Jerome.

“Finally,” he murmured, easing back into his chair to wait.

Severus pursued Harry outside and into the front gardens. “Harry,” he called, “Wait!”

The teenager didn’t stop, instead slipping into one of the manor’s old greenhouses. Severus groaned; he didn’t know how wild the plants had grown in that particular house. Pulling out his wand just in case, he entered the greenhouse.

“Harry?” he said softly, looking into the dank plants. “Lumos!” Why was it so dark in here? The sun was supposed to lighten the whole building. The potions master glanced up at the ceiling. It was filthy. In a few minutes Snape found Harry, sitting with his back to the wall and staring angrily at a mass of an unknown plant.

“What do you want?” the teenager spat.

“To talk to you,” Severus said in a kinder voice than usual. The frustrated man rubbed his forehead with a sigh before lowering himself to sit in front of Harry. “Do you care to explain what the hell that was all about?” Harry just glared at his teacher. Severus rolled his eyes. “Okay, obviously not. Well, I’ll just talk then. You obviously seem to think we’re just like Dumbledore, always thinking of how you can beat the Dark Lord, regardless of how it affects you. That’s wrong. Jerome and I, and even Salazar, care about you, believe it or not. We want to help you; we’re not another Hogwarts Headmaster hounding on you. I don’t know how we can show you that, but I hope you accept it, because I’m getting sick of this nonsense and I’ve just been pretty damn nice to come out here and all.” Severus stood up and offered Harry a hand.

After a moment, Harry grinned and took it. “Thanks Sev.”

Severus scowled, but his eyes said something different. “Come on kid,” he said, ”let’s get back to the others.”

Harry nodded. “So, how long has it been since you’ve been in this greenhouse?” he asked in his usual curious tone.

Severus groaned. “Great, the questions are back.”