~~~~HP~~~~

Tuesday morning Harry was generally in good spirits. The Occlumency, or clearing his mind, last night definitely helped him sleep the best he had in a long time.

As he got ready for his first actual day of classes, his mind kept wandering back to Snape and where this epiphany from last night left them. He recognized that their relationship - for lack of a better word - was changing by the day, but he had no idea what that really meant for either of them. After taking care of himself for so much of his life, and spending the majority of it being ignored, he was confused about both what he wanted and what he thought he could have. While his expectations of people - specifically the adults in his life - were low, he couldn't deny Snape had consistently gone far above and beyond what anyone else had ever done for him and Harry found himself wanting to work harder not to let the professor down.

Could this really be the start to finally having a parent?

Yes, Ron's parents were like his family, but they had always been Ron's parents. They would never feel like his own, possibly because they have their own kids. Was it wrong to want someone for himself? No, he settled on, it definitely was not wrong. He decided to table those thoughts for later.

Being that it was Tuesday and right in the middle between chemo rounds, he was finally feeling more like his old self - nausea was gone, pain was manageable with his daily medications, but his appetite still wasn't anywhere near normal; meaning now he had to eat because it was a necessity not because he was actually hungry. This was a side effect he'd discussed with Healer Smithe previously when he couldn't understand why he didn't want to eat when he wasn't nauseous after spending so much time sicking up his food. Again, he found himself hoping that the next phase - which should start next month - would be easier on his body before he started classes again.

Of course feeling like his old self also meant that - for better or worse - he had a clearer mind to handle the first tutoring sessions that happened to be with Malfoy. Why did it have to be Malfoy to start off his student-led tutoring? Surely he would have thought that after five years of pure animosity between the boys, Professor McGonagall would know having three hours worth of studying with Malfoy was a terrible idea.

How did she even get Snape to agree to it?

Not that it mattered much now. Today he was required to have an hour and half of Defense tutoring before lunch and another hour and half of Potions tutoring between the last class of the day and dinner. That was on top of a 2-hour Charms lesson after dinner with Professor Flitwick, which he was actually eager to start, even though it would be his first time seeing the professor since his diagnosis and he wouldn't be able to actually do any of the spells.

Last week, Snape had adjusted the wards to allow Malfoy to be allowed into the sitting room without the professor's physical presence; which he had to convince Harry would be fine because the door to Malfoy's temporary quarters was now gone. At least the blonde Slytherin would not be able to simply come and go whenever he pleased - he wasn't keyed into the wards which meant Harry still had to open the door for him - easing the Gryffindor's mind against the potential of getting kidnapped while sleeping and being taken straight to Voldemort.

Snape did not hide his opinion that he thought Harry was giving Malfoy too much credit because there was no way he'd be able to get Harry out of the castle without someone knowing about it and Harry would bet a lot of galleons Snape would be the first to know. However, while Snape probably knew more about Harry's escapades throughout the years than he wanted the man to, the Gryffindor doubted he knew all the details... After all, he had managed to get kidnapped from the Triwizard Tournament under the supervision of many grown adult wizards, so that didn't mean much in the long run. Still, even without Malfoy being able to up and kidnap him, it didn't make it any easier when a piece of parchment appeared in front of his face with Draco Malfoy written on it - right on time during Malfoy's free period before lunch.

"Malfoy," Harry greeted as he opened the door and his most hated peer was standing in his Slytherin robes in the hallway, school bag slung over his shoulder, and with an oddly neutral expression on his face. Harry had briefly considered dressing in his uniform that morning - he was technically in classes today - but instead opted for a red jumper and jeans deciding that if he was required to stay inside their quarters then he was exempt from the required uniform.

"Were you planning to let me in or are we having our lesson in the hallway today?" Draco called out pushing past Harry and in through the doorway.

"Do you always have to be so demanding?" Harry asked following Malfoy inside, closing the door with a hard slam, and immediately feeling defensive around the Slytherin. They were already bickering and they hadn't even opened a book yet.

"As a matter of fact I do," Malfoy exclaimed before his face contorted into that of disgust and amusement, "Should I feel honored that you actually got out of your pyjamas for me this time?"

Harry narrowed his eyes to match the scowl that was already in place on his face, holding in a growl. He was wrong, Professor McGonagall wasn't crazy for putting both of Malfoy's lessons on one day, she shouldn't have chosen him at all. Honestly, what was she thinking? Hermione could probably pass her NEWTs by now; she could have at least done the Potions lesson and he taught a defense class himself last year, so tutoring there wasn't really needed. Problem solved and it would have made this process infinitely easier.

"Go to hell Malfoy," Harry simply said walking into the sitting room behind the Slytherin and sitting ceremoniously onto the sofa.

The blonde dropped his bag next to the sitting room table and started removing his books, notes, parchment, and quills. Harry took notice how unbelievably organized Malfoy was compared to his own school bag that always seemed to have his books and parchment thrown in haphazardly and broken quills littering the bottom.

"Why the mood Potter? Not feeling up to my high standards of educational..." he trailed off, eyeing Harry's school supplies laid out on the table, "What's this?" He asked, picking up the muggle pen.

Harry couldn't help but laugh as Malfoy turned the pen over in his hands.

"It's a muggle pen," he said very slowly as if the other boy was hard of hearing, "it's like a quill that has the ink already inside of it.

"Also the reason why students raised by muggles have such a hard time writing with a quill for the first year," Harry still had a difficult time with quills, but he didn't want to say that to Malfoy. Along with magical transportation, it was one of his least favorite things about the magical world. Once he graduated and was on his own, he decided he would only be using self-inking quills; that was assuming he still had enough magic to live in the wizarding world to begin with.

Squinting his eyes as if in deep thought, Malfoy used the pen to make a line across the muggle paper, looking satisfied when the blue ink smoothly crossed the white paper. That time Harry couldn't contain his laugh at the blonde's expense.

"Interesting. And why do they have lines on their parchment?" There was a hint of curiosity in the other boy's voice as if muggles couldn't be completely useless if for nothing else then coming up with the concept of pens and paper.

Harry picked up his Defense book, Confronting the Faceless and started flipping through it, "So you can write in a straight line, why else would they have it? Are you done with all the questions?"

"Of course your highness. Did you do the assignment from yesterday?"

And just like that, they jumped into the lesson from Snape's class yesterday about non-verbal spells. They talked about the benefits of non-verbal spells and the theory of casting a spell nonverbally; it had a lot more parts to it than Harry thought there would be. He originally imagined that once he could use magic again, he would pick up the nonverbal spells pretty easily, but he was not so confident now. According to the textbook, it physically took more magic to do spells nonverbally - and more than that to do them wandlessly - and he wasn't even sure how much magic he would have by the end of all his treatments. Curiously though, living with Snape, he knew for a fact that he had seen the professor do both of those - nonverbal and wandless spells - simultaneously leading him to question how strong of a wizard Snape is. Could he win in a duel against Dumbledore? What about against Voldemort? He shivered at the thought of the latter, but secretly wished he could see it. Now that he thought more about it, the Order was lucky to have had Snape switch sides. Where would they be now if he had still been a full fledged Death Eater?

"You seem better today than you were over the summer," Malfoy commented casually when they were closing up their books, abruptly bringing Harry back into the present. It was almost lunchtime marking the end of their first session of the day and the year. "You look absolutely dreadful, but you don't act sick anymore."

Harry felt his heart rate increase instantly, as he was reminded of when Dudley would make casual conversations with him right after he started chemo. His heart was heavy with sorrow; missing his cousin and wondering how he was doing. The Gryffindor had no idea how to answer Malfoy, but he resisted the urge for a sarcastic remark only because for the first time in six years, Malfoy actually sounded sincere about something.

"Yeah," he went with, casually, "well, you caught me on a good day. You probably won't be here next Tuesday," Harry shuddered thinking about the 4 hour chemotherapy he'll be at this time next week. He'd found he really hated that set of medications the most.

"If you're feeling well, then why can't you go to classes? It seems like you know when you're going to be sick, so you could at least attend a few of them," Malfoy finished packing his bag, but didn't stand up as if to leave. Harry groaned inwardly not really wanting to have this conversation. Yes, he remembered Snape saying he should open up to people, but that absolutely did not mean Malfoy.

"For the most part it's pretty predictable," Harry conveniently didn't answer Malfoy's initial question. He didn't know what the Slytherin was fishing for, but he was not about to potentially hand over the fact that simply being near other people right now could kill him.

"So you can't even go to the Great Hall for meals? You're literally locked in here?" Malfoy asked, sounding appalled. Technically, he wasn't locked in, but he'd gone this far without any complications to his treatments and he really wanted to keep it that way.

"No, I definitely can't go to the Great Hall, but don't worry, the house elves do a good job keeping the prisoner well fed."

Malfoy actually laughed and Harry was sure the world was going to end immediately.

Instead, he was surprised even further when Malfoy asked, "Want some company for lunch?"

Harry literally almost choked; on what he didn't exactly know. Now he was sure the world was ending, but... if he were honest with himself, he was bored.

And I can use the company...

"...yeah, erm... that'd be great," he found himself replying almost automatically, as if his subconscious brain knew something his conscious brain did not.

I'm going to regret this, I know I will.

Both boys walked into the kitchen and Harry was paused when he saw two place settings at the table.

"That's scary," he commented as Malfoy took the far chair and place setting leaving Harry the one closest to the door.

"We live in a magical castle, what do you expect? Our food magically appears on the tables in the Great Hall. This is hardly complicated."

Yeah, but the food isn't listening to me.

Shaking his head from side to side, Harry sat down at the table. Lunch today was chicken salad sandwiches, probably one of the worst of Hogwarts lunches, but he was determined to eat while he could.

"So, who are you avoiding in the Great Hall? I doubt you wanted to stay for my charming company?" Harry asked, determined to take control of the conversation he was guaranteed to have at some point this afternoon; he wasn't lucky enough to get away with silence throughout the entire lunchtime.

"Who says I'm avoiding someone?" There was no malice in his statement which Harry took immediate notice to.

Harry squinted his eyes, "Is it a Slytherin requirement to answer a question with a question? Snape does that all the time and it's really annoying."

"Says the Gryffindor who just answered my question with a question," the blonde peered up at the ceiling dramatically contemplating what Harry had asked. "I never thought about that, but I guess it is a very common trait in our house; answer the question asked with the question you want answered instead. It's much easier to have a conversation that way."

"Says who? Then you never have anything to offer to the other person," the Gryffindor said thoughtfully, "eventually people will stop talking to you."

"Eh, I guess that depends on the person asking first," Malfoy half rolled his eyes, "And I'm not avoiding anyone. You looked bored imprisoned down here, and I can use some extra bonus points with the Order. What a better way to get them, than an endorsement from The Chosen One?"

Malfoy poured them both a glass of pumpkin juice, which Harry smelled skeptically before taking a tentative sip.

"I hate that title," Harry replied almost the instant his pumpkin juice cleared his throat, "so then this is just a means to an end? Not that I'm offended, I wouldn't expect anything less from the likes of you."

Placing his glass on the table, Malfoy smirked, "Now that's a Slytherin requirement; take care of yourself first because no one else is going to. I have a feeling you know more about that then you let on," Malfoy took a deep breath as if it was difficult for him to admit what he was about to say. "Alright, so maybe endorsement is too strong of a word, but if Boy-Who-Lived doesn't trust me and take me seriously, no one else will. So where does that leave me?"

Harry could feel himself getting defensive. He had the urge to hex Malfoy on the spot, but he found himself taking a deep breath instead; perfect practice for his Occlumency. He refused to let Malfoy get to him.

"Just because we have lunch together doesn't mean I trust you. It means I'm that so bored that talking to you is better than sitting here alone," Harry laid his head on the table, this was getting exhausting. "And for the record I hate that name too."

"You're just going around breaking all the cliches about you today," Malfoy paused watching Harry laying with head on the table, in a much more submissive position than he'd expect from his nemesis.

Harry lifted his head up to argue that he never claimed to like going by those names, but stopped at the sympathetic expression on Malfoy's face. The absolute last thing he needed was Malfoy pitying him.

"When do you get to go back to classes?" The Slytherin asked after they both finished their lunches, or Harry finished as much as he could force himself to, which Malfoy took note of.

The Gryffindor couldn't miss the genuine curiosity in the other boy's voice and he wondered if Malfoy had ever known someone with a serious illness before. He guessed not because wouldn't growing up in the wizarding world mean he had access to potions which could fix almost anything? Plus, as a pureblood he wouldn't know anything about muggle diseases.

"Whenever my healer says I can, but it probably won't be until around Halloween. There's certain... things that have to happen before it's ok to go back," Harry's voice cracked unwillingly at the thought of how long it still felt he had to go.

He could tell the Malfoy heir had other questions, but for whatever reason he didn't ask; an act Harry found himself grateful for. Instead, Malfoy nodded silently and walked into the sitting room to collect his things, told Harry he'd see him after classes that afternoon for their potions lesson and left. Harry was perplexed about the whole encounter. Yes, there was the normal banter between them, but overall it wasn't nearly as awful as he'd expected and Harry actually learned some things to help him on his assignment. He also found himself looking forward to their session that afternoon.

Harry had fallen asleep between lunch and his potion lesson with Malfoy and missed the first piece of parchment announcing his tutor's arrival. The second parchment landed right on top of his face, tickling his nose, which was by chance far the strangest way he'd ever been woken up.

"Morning sunshine," Malfoy said walking in through the doorway when Harry finally opened it to let the blonde in, "must be nice to sleep between classes."

"You're an arse, you know that?" The Gryffindor spat back. "How did you know I was asleep? Maybe I was studying?"

The blonde dropped his bag back onto the table in the sitting room and started pulling out his potions book and supplies. Obviously, Harry would only be studying theory with Malfoy, but the other boy had taken out a cauldron and several small phials.

Malfoy made a disgusted face at Harry and said, "You have lines smeared across your face."

Harry flushed and immediately reached up to cover his left cheek with his hand and scowled. Unfortunately, Malfoy was still setting up for their lesson and completely missed the effect.

"Let me go grab my things," Harry said as he was about to walk back to his bedroom to get his book, but just as he turned, the book came flying out from his bedroom, through the opened door, and into Harry's hands.

He always has to show off doesn't he?

He was going to say something to Malfoy about his "expertise in nonverbal magic" but the Slytherin was barely paying attention as he set up small scale models of what looked like common potions ingredients.

"What's that?" Malfoy asked after Harry sat down on the sofa, placing the old book onto the table. The Slytherin reached out for the book before Harry quickly snatched it away. "I always assumed your parents would have left you enough of the Potter fortune to actually get new books?"

"It's nothing," Harry said quickly; making the split second decision that he absolutely didn't want Malfoy to know about the contents of the book. He moved it to the other side of the table out of Malfoy's view, "Snape let me borrow it because Flourish and Blotts forgot to send one in my owl order."

"Seems a little old even for Professor Snape," The blonde commented, placing the last item from his bag onto the table.

"Are we actually going to be brewing today?" Harry asked, gesturing to the contents on the table in front of them.

"Merlin's no Potter," Malfoy exclaimed, "Do you really think Professor Snape would want you of all people brewing in his sitting room? Even I didn't think you were that stupid."

Gritting his teeth and trying, unsuccessfully, to use his Occlumency, the Gryffindor asked, "Then what is it?"

With a smug look to his face Malfoy said, "A practice potions kit. Almost all little wizards have one growing up, at least the intelligent ones do. Professor Snape arranged it for you to practice."

Harry hated to say he was intrigued by it, but the whole set up looked pretty cool to him. There was a cauldron in the center of the table with small scale versions of all the common ingredients - such as beetle eyes, dragon horns, and flobberworms - around the table in no particular order. Some of them looked as if they could be chopped, sliced, or skinned with the special tools that were also provided with the set.

"How does it work?" He tried to keep the amazement out his voice, but definitely did not succeed in it.

"Well," Malfoy said in a less condescending manner than Harry would have expected, "the cauldron is spelled to emit a special light based on the ingredients you place it at the specific intervals to mimic the brewing process.

"You select what heat level you want first, prepare your ingredients as you normally would, and then place them into the cauldron while stirring with the special stirring rod. The color of the light will change just as the color of your potion would if you were actually brewing it. The only thing you don't get is the consistency, but for this purpose, the color will show if you brewed it correctly."

Fine, that is brilliant. Maybe I can do all my potions this way?

~~~~SS~~~~

"Fudge flies," Severus said to the gargoyle protecting the Headmaster's office. The professor absolutely hated that Albus alway used sweets as his passwords because he felt like a fool saying the idiotic phrases in the hallway.

"Come in Severus," Albus called before the defense professor could even knock. He also hated when Albus knew he was there before he even knocked. His theory was that somehow the gargoyle alerted the Headmaster of the incoming visitors, but he had no proof of that yet.

"Lemon Drop?" The headmaster asked while sitting behind his desk filled to brim with parchment and open books.

Severus shook his head declining, as always, the offered sweet, wanting to get this done with. During his last class for the day he had received the note requesting an update and came up before heading to the Great Hall for dinner. It was the first day since Harry's diagnosis - besides the awful day of the Privet Drive attack - that he had been away this long yet and he had wanted to stop by his quarters before dinner. Unfortunately, that would not be happening now as he wouldn't have the time to get from the headmaster's office, down to the dungeons, and back.

"When questioned about the Dark Lord's well being," Severus jumped right in, "Draco did not mention anything about the Dark Lord being ill, on the contrary he was well enough to attend the raid where he took the two muggles as prisoners. This means either I'm incorrect about the transfer of Harry's Leukemia, he has someone brewing the necessary potions for him already, or it simply is progressing at a slower rate."

"You are very rarely wrong about these kinds of things Severus," Albus said standing up behind his desk. "As there is not much other choice in the matter, we shall have to wait to see which of those three options is correct. And was there a significance of the date?"

Severus didn't need any further explanation, "Yes, but Draco was not explicitly told the reason; only that it was not necessarily meant for maximum public display."

"So we likely have a leak amongst ourselves," Albus lifted his head suddenly. The implications of this were frightening and something Severus himself did not want to think too closely about.

"It appears so. More concerning is that with Draco at school, he won't be summoned as often to keep a good eye on the enemy and help identify this person. A big disadvantage to having a student in this type of position."

Severus was pacing; between Harry and Draco he was going to die an early death from the anxiety of it all. He didn't want Draco to be summoned, but right now he couldn't deny that it was in Harry's best interest for the blonde to not only be called, but to be called often. On second thought, Severus was brought back to his own Death Eater days and how even though he was one of the Dark Lord's inner circle, he was not privy to the fact that Peter Pettigrew had switched sides. Had he known, Lily would never have died; Albus would have moved the Potter's to a new location before the Fidelius could be compromised. Who's to say Draco would ever get close to this information?

"I would argue it's not so dissimilar to having a professor in that same position," Albus cautiously said watching his former spy come to that realization.

The professor in question was quiet while he considered this statement. He was not wrong, no matter how much Severus wanted him to be.

"At least when he does get summoned, it will likely be for a very good purpose," Severus explained hoping that he never had to find out what would be important enough to pull Draco from school for a summons.

The new Defense professor was being extremely careful about assigning detentions. Not only did he have a less detention-friendly classroom this year without the cauldrons to scrub, but he didn't want to add any extra unnecessary time away from Harry right now. He was sure there would be rumors about him losing his mind, but Severus didn't care one bit. Tonight however, he was already required to sit a detention that another professor assigned but could not - for some unknown reason that infuriated him - attend to, leaving him arriving back in his quarters at half past nine at night; a whole fourteen hours since he left that morning. It was days like these that he hated teaching.

When Severus first walked into his quarters, he stopped in his tracks and brandished his wand because the brightness of the lanterns throughout the room had been lowered. Years of being a paranoid spy had taught him to question every little change he encountered; for him that small change could be the difference in living or dying. Harry would have finished his lesson with Filius early enough to have needed the lanterns fully lit, so he doubted the Charms professor had done it magically before leaving.

"Homenum Revelio," Severus said and immediately put his wand away; Harry was the only other person here. He let out the breath he'd been holding, but his heart was still racing from the increased flow of adrenaline throughout his body.

Walking straight into his office, Severus dropped off the day's worth of summer assignments next to yesterday's lot. He had an extra free period tomorrow which he fully intended to use to get caught up on his marking; the second worst part of teaching, after dealing with whiny students. Still sorting through the lanterns debacle, he left the office and made his way to Harry's room feeling guilty for leaving the Gryffindor all alone on his first full day back to classes.

"Come in," he heard from the other side of the door when he knocked softly.

Harry was in his bed wearing a pair of green pyjamas, leaning up against the headboard with the notebook Severus had gotten for him for his birthday and appeared to be drawing. Harry lifted his head and met Severus's eyes and suddenly in front of the older wizard wasn't this version of Harry, but the one he'd left. It was as if for a split second, his Harry was back here, as if his Harry had chosen to do the chemotherapy instead of the potions and was now sketching in his bedroom waiting for his next round to start.

"You ok, Severus?" Harry asked, drawing the professor out of his memory.

"Yes," he replied, clearing his head. "I didn't realize you drew."

Harry clutched his notebook to his chest defensively, "I don't really... I mean, I used to do it a lot when I was in primary school, but not really since starting here. I just picked it up again recently; it helps pass the time." Harry was embarrassed to be admitting something that felt so personal to him even after everything they had been through together.

Severus walked into the room and - having picked up on Harry's feelings about his hobby - sat down at the end of Harry's bed, giving him privacy for his work.

"Your mother was an amazing artist," he wanted to talk about Lily; wanted to tell her son about the hobby they shared.

Harry's eyes lit up, "She was?!"

Severus couldn't hold back the smile; the fact that he could make the teen in front of him happy over such a simple statement. Unfortunately, it was quickly overshadowed by the fact that it was also a testament to the neglectful life he had lived. Harry literally knew nothing about his parents besides the small bits and pieces he'd managed to put together from the stories he heard from various sources. Severus wouldn't - or couldn't - give the Gryffindor anything about his dad, but he was probably the best person to talk to about his mum.

"Very much so," he closed his eyes falling back into the memories of sitting besides Lily while she sketched at the park in Cokeworth during the summer, out by the black lake in the fall, on a bench in Hogsmeade during the springtime, or simply in the Hogwarts courtyard in the dead of winter getting all covered in snow; her Gryffindor scarf wrapped tightly to keep her warm. She always had a sketch book and her art supplies in her bag just in case her inspiration struck at the oddest of times. Of course, all of that was before the incident in their fifth year, but he wasn't going to think about that now. Now was a time to help Harry connect with the mother he never got a chance to really know.

"Not only was she always sketching or painting," the professor continued, Harry hanging on his every word, "she could spend the entire Charms class drawing Professor Flitwick and whatever object he was using for that day's demonstration and then turn around and perform the spell perfectly. It could be quite annoying at times."

Harry looked down at the notebook, a far away expression on his face that Severus knew was him recognizing that he shared something tangible with his mother. Even though he could not remember her and even though she was not here with him, he now had something that tied himself to her outside of her sacrifice for him.

"You really liked my mum didn't you?"

Severus expected a lot of different questions from Harry, but that had not been one. He could feel himself getting defensive, but slowly breathed through the panic. This was ok, he was going to be ok.

"As I said before, Lily was my best friend for the longest time, of course I liked her," it might not have been the whole truth, but it was the truth nonetheless.

"Back at Privet Drive, you sent Dumbledore a patronus..." Harry paused as if he were composing himself then added, "it was a doe."

"Yes, my patronus is a doe," he confirmed, but he was not going to lead Harry to the conclusion he knew the Gryffindor had already gotten to himself.

"My mother's patronus was a doe as well?"

The professor automatically put up his Occlumency walls. Yes he talked about Lily all the time with Harry in his old life, but it's been a while since he's discussed their relationship for the first time.

Severus nodded, "I believe your mother's patronus was doe as well."

"That's curious, isn't it sir?"

"Not at all." He let the statement stand on its own and Harry could interpret that whichever way he wanted. The Gryffindor wasn't stupid, no matter what the Severus of this reality originally thought; Harry could tell what his feelings were.

"I apologize I'm so late today," the professor changed the subject, "it seemed that I was destined to be away as someone or something always came up."

"S'ok, " Harry shrugged, "That is your job first, so I get it. I was fine here."

Severus thought about what Harry had just said; his job was first.

No child, you will always be my first priority.

But he dare not say that to the small teenager in front of him. As much as he wanted to, the trust they've built was still so delicate and he would not risk losing it now.

"Have you practiced your Occlumency?"

Harry nodded and pride swelled up within the professor, this time Harry was taking things seriously which could be a turning point to their relationship. These lessons could be his chance to really alter how Harry perceived him. Maybe they could start to rewrite some of their past as they moved into their future.

"How were your lessons today? My quarters still stand, so you're already better than I anticipated."

Harry laughed, "They were fine. I'm pretty sure Professor Flitwick thought he would get hexed the moment he stepped foot in here though. He kept looking around skeptically before I was able to convince him to come in."

"I cannot imagine why he would think such a thing," he replied smugly, "And your lessons with Mr. Malfoy?"

Harry placed his notebook next to himself on the bed and wrung his hands nervously, "It was actually ok... or as much as it can be with Malfoy."

"I know it's going to be challenging," Severus explained, "but trust that Professor McGonagall selected the best options for your classes. If everything goes smoothly, you shouldn't have any issues rejoining classes by Halloween."

For the second time that night, Harry's face lit up.

"Get some rest," the professor finally said, "you need your strength for this weekend."

He paused at the door watching Harry - who was oblivious to the professor standing there - draw in his notebook and he imagined what it would be like to have both Lily and his Harry back. Of course, those two would never be able to coexist; he would never have had Harry if Lily had lived. Quietly, he closed Harry's door and proceeded down the hallway to his bedroom.

When Severus was finally in his bedroom, ready to put the long day behind him, he remembered the lanterns. Harry had likely done accidental magic to lower them, something that happened almost daily now. Thinking back over all the occurrences, it was different than the typical accidental magic from young wizards; summoning something from the other room when he needed it, filling his glass of water when it was empty, healing a bruise he didn't even know he had gotten. Harry may not be aware that it occurred, but it was always something that was relevant to Harry's situation, not necessarily during an emotional state, and almost as if it were done intentionally, but unknowingly.

That's it; he's unknowingly doing controlled magic.

It was yet another piece of the puzzle to discuss with Alton. If Harry's magical core was depleting - albeit, he admitted, at an unknown rate - how can he be doing nonverbal and wandless magic without even knowing it? And the big unknown was, how much faster will this deplete that magic?

~~~~HP~~~~

Wednesday came and went without much fanfare. Harry had double sessions with Hermione for Transfiguration and Charms and then Herbology with Professor Sprout. While Herbology technically doesn't have much magic to it, he was still limited to theory only, as Professor Sprout was not permitted to bring any plant materials with her due to the possibility of germ exposure. If Harry thought Herbology was difficult in the greenhouse with all the plants there in front of him, it was even more so strictly reading from his textbook or the small scale models she brought. He really hoped his tutoring with Neville would help bridge that gap.

Snape brought Ron by before dinner, since Hermione was already there for their Charms session, and he was beyond relieved to have company during the meal. Being well enough to get up and function made him completely stir crazy within the quarters and being alone during it was pure torture.

"Are you sure these Occlumency lessons are a good idea?" Ron asked tentatively after Harry explained how well the first season went on Monday. "If something happens this time, you'll be stuck down here with him. It'll be kind of hard to ignore each other at that point."

Harry had thought about what would happen should something like last year occur, but he didn't feel like it would be such a big deal anymore. Harry and Snape were comfortable around each other and the Gryffindor actually wanted to do well in it this time.

"I don't think we're going to have any issues like that," Harry reassured his friend. This was getting too close to the topic that caused their muggle fist fight and he wanted to steer away from that. "I'm telling you, you need to trust me on this one."

"I always trust you Harry," Ron said laughing with a mouthful of bread, "that's how we manage to get into so much trouble every year."

Hermione laughed as well as she said, "Between the two of you, I don't know how you both haven't been expelled yet."

"Being the Boy-Who-Lived has its advantages," Ron predictably replied and Harry cringed. He absolutely hated that title and he hated being reminded how much Ron actually was envious of him for it. What kind of person wanted to be known for not getting murdered?

"How are classes?" Harry asked, not only because he needed to change the subject, but he was genuinely curious how things were going.

"Great," Hermione said at the same time Ron said, "Awful."

Harry smiled at his two best friends and how different they were. Somehow they all managed to balance each other out and he was so grateful to have them there with him through everything.

Ignoring Hermione, Ron continued, "It's boring without you Mate. Seriously, Snape hasn't given a single detention and even Malfoy has been quiet in class... Potions was down-right peaceful without you or Neville around. "

"You do not mean that!" Hermione yelled hitting Ron across his upper arm for each word she yelled. "We miss you Harry, no matter how peaceful Ronald makes classes sound."

Harry knew it was all in fun and didn't take what Ron had said to heart. What he did take extra notice of was Malfoy's change in behavior. If the Gryffindor's are noticing something, that was a big deal. He thought back to their strange lunch yesterday, trying to sort through the details in his head. Harry was lost in his thoughts and didn't hear his friends until Hermione mentioned Bill Weasley.

"I saw Bill roaming the halls today," Hermione said, bringing his thoughts back to his two friends. "Has he figured out how to break the curse yet?"

Ron had a sad look on his face and Harry couldn't stop the guilt from crawling back into him and settling on his chest.

"I think so," Ron said seriously. "The last attempt didn't do anything, but he's really confident on this next one. I guess he needed one last piece of something or other and Snape, of all people, was able to get it for him."

"How did Snape help? " Harry asked almost too quickly to sound casual. Had Snape been going back to Death Eater meetings? Or was it actually Malfoy who got the information for Snape? That latter sounded more logical, but he hated Malfoy being involved in anything that had to do with helping Ginny.

"Not sure," Ron said curiously, "just that mum said he had the last piece they needed and hopefully the next try will work. I've learned to mind my own business when it comes to Snape."

"How is she?" Harry asked, choosing to ignore the last comment from Ron about Snape. He hadn't seen Ginny since the fight with Ron which was too long ago.

"I mean, besides still unconscious she seems ok," the redhead explained, "She's going to be pissed when she wakes up though; just knowing one of them took her down and for so long. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the hospital wing when she finds out."

Harry laughed again; that was Ginny. She reminded Harry of how Snape described his mum. She was feisty, never turned away from a challenge, and loyal to the end.

~~~~SS~~~~

Friday started out bad. As Harry liked to say, Severus wasn't one to sugar coat things, but even if he wanted to for this, he wouldn't be able to.

It was in the early morning hours of Friday when he awoke to an intense burning on his left forearm. It was instantly clear that this was not a normal summons as the burning was so ferociously intense it brought tears to the former Death Eater's eyes. Instead it was a way to torture the man second only to Harry on the Dark Lord's intent to kill list; a message that said even if he's not standing in front of his old Lord the man still had control over Severus. So it was on his last night to get a good night's sleep before Harry's next round of chemotherapy, that Severus found himself awake in his office continuously charming a bandage on his arm since; the newest version of burn paste having stopped working long ago.

The mark continued to burn through his first three classes - all of which were simply given review time to complete assignments - and most of the way through lunch. He gave an audible sigh of relief when it finally ended right as he gave up every attempt to eat. It had been, by far, his worst burn yet and suddenly working on a new pain and burn salve jumped to the top of his things to do list.

Unfortunately it would have to wait. Harry started his second month of consolidation chemotherapy tomorrow and tonight he had already made arrangements to have Draco over for dinner to go over his plan for disassembling the future Death Eater recruits from within their own house. He considered rescheduling the dinner with Draco to next Friday, but there was no guarantee this wouldn't happen again next week. For all he knew, the Dark Lord could torture him through his dark mark every day if he wanted to. That thought alone was absolutely terrifying and enough to want to kill the bastard immediately.

He walked into his quarters after, his open office hours, before suppertime to an empty sitting room. Harry should have been having his Charms tutoring with Hermoine, most of which had been done in the sitting room. Curiously, he walked over to Harry's bedroom, where the door was closed, but he couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door.

Taking a deep breath, unsure of what he would find, he knocked and waited for one of the occupants to say something. After waiting what he took as an appropriate amount of time, when no answer came, he opened the door.

Instead of finding Harry and Hermoine studying, he found Harry sprawled across the bed fast asleep and the rest of the room empty. The small teenager appeared so innocent while unexpectedly sleeping above the bedspread, in his jeans and blue long sleeved t-shirt and thick wool socks.

The professor hated having to wake him up, because his body needed all the rest he could get, but Harry had Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall after dinner and he needed to eat today before he started chemotherapy again tomorrow. He sat gently on the bed next to Harry torn with what he wanted to do and what he had to do.

"Harry?" Severus called out while gently shaking the Gryffindor's shoulder taking note of the skeletal feeling beneath his hand.

"...wha..." Harry slowly opened his eyes, rubbing them sharply and yawning. This time Harry woke up much calmer, which hopefully meant he was starting to feel more comfortable in his home.

"Good evening," the professor said, trying not to sound too smug about finding out Harry was sleeping instead of studying. "I hope Miss. Granger wasn't too boring. I'm sure we can find an alternate tutor for your Charms class, but I have a feeling the next best student would be Mr. Malfoy again."

"Oh, bug off," Harry smiled while sitting up and lightly punching Severus on the shoulder. "We finished early and I had some time before dinner. What are you doing here? I thought you would eat in the Great Hall tonight."

Noticing Harry squinting as he spoke, Severus reached over to grab Harry's glasses thinking about how much Harry looked like Lily without them. If Harry had not needed his glasses, would Severus have seen Harry for himself instead of James on that first day of class? Knowing where he was in his life back then he doubted it, but the question remained in his mind.

"I've arranged for dinner here tonight with you," he said, handing the pair of glasses to Harry. Suddenly a piece of parchment popped up in front of his face with Draco Malfoy written on it and Severus stood to go to the door. "I expect you at dinner in five minutes."

"Are we having company?" Harry sounded both intrigued and amused, which was good because he wasn't sure how to break the news to the Gryffindor especially first thing after waking up.

"Yes, now get ready for dinner," he simply called over his shoulder heading to the front door as if this were any other night instead of a strategic wartime meeting. Severus shook his head as he opened the door.

Why did I think this would be a good idea?

"Good evening Draco," he greeted his Slytherin, motioning for him to come inside. Draco had obviously stopped by the Slytherin common room before coming over as he no longer had his school robes or customary school bag with him.

"Evening professor," the blonde called walking into the room for the second time that day as he had potions tutoring with Harry that morning. Draco froze with what anyone else would interpret as a scowl, but Severus knew - after knowing the Slytherin his whole life - it was not genuine, "Hello Potter, are you joining us for dinner?"

Harry gave a hard, frustrated sigh, "Actually, seeing as you're in our quarters, I think you're joining us."

Severus closed his eyes, willing himself for patience tonight. Turning to the Gryffindor, he replied, "Both of you to the kitchen. All I ask is neither of you cause any problems tonight."

As it had been all week with term officially back in session, the table was preset with three place settings and dinner served family style just like in the Great Hall. Once the three occupants had their plates filled with food, Severus having to add extra to Harry's plate to encourage him to eat more, embarrassing the young Gryffindor at the same time, the professor started what he hoped would be a productive conversation.

"How was your first week back to classes?" He asked as if it were natural to have the two sworn enemies at his kitchen table discussing their first week of school.

"Quiet," Draco said at the same time Harry said "Fine." Both teens watched each other warily.

The awkward silence was deafening as neither boy wanted to elaborate and the tension was rising by the second. Would these two ever see just how alike they were even when though they are obviously so different at the same time? Both were confident, stubborn, and stood up for what he believed to be true. The rest of the world could learn from watching them; about how a single point of view could blind you from seeing the bigger picture. These two were so set on hating each other, neither could see the unique viewpoint the other could provide.

"How do either of you suggest we try to influence the potential Death Eater recruits within Hogwarts away from the Dark Lord?" He decided to just jump right in and was rewarded with the shocked stares from both boys at the table. As an afterthought he added, "Specifically the Slytherins."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, clearly confused.

"The Headmaster has agreed to let Draco," Severus ignored Harry's obvious glare at the blonde, "discuss the requirements and realistic aspects of being a Death Eater in an attempt to prevent future recruits from joining the Dark Lord."

Harry looked impressed and Severus didn't doubt that had Draco recommended it, the Gryffindor would have found some way to complain about it.

"You mean about living a life of servitude and slavery," Draco muttered sounding a bit disgusted with himself; another good sign overall, but Severus hated it had to come down to this to wake the blonde up.

"Precisely," the professor continued taking a bite of carrots and keeping watch over what Harry was actually eating, "I need to figure out the best course of action for this endeavor."

"Why are you asking me?" Harry said, frustratingly pushing his food across his plate.

Severus questioned to himself how much Harry had eaten while no one was here to watch him. If he wouldn't eat now, he would have to get creative during the next two weeks of chemotherapy. Standing up to make Harry a smoothie to help supplement his soon to be missed dinner, he noticed a Draco keeping a keen eye on both of them. He was proud to see the observational skill put to work. If he did this for something as seemingly innocent as dinner, then he'd be able to do it when he was summoned.

"Because I think you can provide a good perspective of-"

"That's bollocks," Draco interrupted, slamming his fist into the table. "You don't trust me!"

Not this again!

"If I didn't trust you," Severus growled trying to keep his voice even but failing miserably, "you wouldn't be here, you'd still be locked up with Moody. You're playing a long-term strategy game Draco, you have to stop thinking about what's right in front of you. You need to be thinking five steps ahead now and tomorrow you need to be ten steps ahead. I think it's high time you both realize that by working together you can actually do something to win this war, which is more than most other 16-year olds can say."

He was so focused on Draco, that he didn't see Harry right away, but when he turned to address the Gryffindor he saw that Harry had his left hand covering his scar with blood dripping around his fingers; his jaw clenched and his eyes closed tightly. Summoning a towel and soaking it with an Aguamenti he placed it over Harry's hand; the teen was not at all coherent to what was going on around him, only groaning every few seconds.

Severus knew that this had to be a vision. Having never actually seen Harry have a vision before, he wasn't sure what to do, but this was now something he was determined to stop from ever happening again. It looked fat worse than his dark mark burning, and if the Dark Lord wanted to, he could also terrorize Harry in the same manner - any time he wanted.

"What's going on?" Draco asked standing up besides Severus.

"Stand out of the way; get behind him," he pushed Draco, a little harder than he'd expected, but he wasn't sure if Voldemort could see through Harry or not during the visions and he didn't want to risk exposing Draco. "NOW!"

That got Draco moving and the blonde quickly ran to the other side of the room out of Harry's potential vision. He was wringing his hands - which had now become his sign of stress - and he appeared as if he wanted to help and run away at the same time.

"Harry," Severus shook Harry's chin from side to side, trying to get his attention, unsure if he would snap out of it by doing so. Harry kept trying to lay his head on the table, so Severus carefully lifted Harry off the chair - trying to ignore how light he now was - and laid him onto the floor where he twisted and turned in pain; scar still bleeding down his face.

"Harry, if you can hear me, you need to Occlude," the professor tried again, but he knew it was futile, they hadn't talked about how to use his canopy yet. Harry was smart enough to have figured it out on his own, however with a dark force like Voldemort in his head he doubted if it would work without prior practice.

After what felt like an agonizingly long time waiting in silence - only Harry's moaning and Draco's pacing echoing off the stone walls - Harry gasped and opened his eyes wide. Severus peered down into those emerald eyes he knew so well and saw fear within them followed instantly by anger.

"You knew... You... You knew!" Harry sat up swatting Severus's hand away from his face, the blood now leaking down the side of his eyes. Harry whipped around, eyes scanning the room until they landed on Draco and he lunged forward towards the blonde Slytherin.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Harry called out; his voice cracking. In his weakened state, he didn't stand a chance against Severus's strong hold as the professor wrapped his arms around the small teenager.

"What is he talking about?" Draco called towards Severus as the professor deposited Harry back down into the chair.

Both student and professor were panting; Harry had more fight in him than Severus would have expected.

"I saw it..." Harry called out and tried to get back up towards Draco, "I saw what you did! You practically killed him! You tried to kill him... Twice! Can you imagine how scared he had to be? Or maybe you thought he'd be relieved because dying had to be better than what you were doing to him!"

Charlie Weasley. Harry saw what had happened the night of Draco's initiation. Which means he also figured out...

"And you knew," Harry had exhausted himself from trying to escape Severus's grasp and now sounded defeated; he sounded betrayed. "You knew for what... A whole week! And you didn't tell me?"

The hurt in Harry's voice cut through Severus's chest. It had been long enough since the murder, he never saw this coming. Why would the Dark Lord show him all of that? It was obviously intended to distress Harry, which of course it had.

"Harry..." Severus called out, but it was too late. The Gryffindor was swiping away the tears and no one in that room would blame him for crying; they understood what he saw was horrifying. "Harry, please listen to me."

"No," Harry said defiantly and furious, "let go of me. Right now!"

The professor didn't have to be told twice; holding onto Harry would only cause him more damage in the long run both physically and emotionally. The second he let go of Harry, the young wizard took off to his bedroom and expectedly the door slammed behind him.

Draco appeared just as shaken up as Harry had been. Severus was sure he was reliving his initiation and what he'd done to Charlie Weasley. The professor walked over to the counter to try and get some control over himself, holding on tightly to the edge as if he'd fall to the ground if he dared to let go. Using as much of his Occlumency as he could, he took a cleansing breath, looking up to see the smoothie sitting there, mocking him about not only how normal this night started, but that Harry had not eaten tonight. He picked up the glass and threw it into the sink shattering it and causing Draco to jump at the sharp sound across the room.

"What the hell was that? How could he know what happened that night?" Draco's voice was shaky and panicked almost like if someone else in the castle knew what he had done that night, it would unravel him.

Making a calculated decision, Severus rubbed his forehead and said, "He has a mental connection with the Dark Lord... and on occasion gets visions from him. His scar will hurt, or sometimes bleed when it happens as it did tonight."

He expected the blonde Slytherin to rant and scream, he even would have expected him to laugh and mock Harry. What he didn't expect, but should have by now, was the look of horror on his face. The look of realization that the person he'd been bullying for the last five years was not at all who he'd thought he was. Severus was sure Draco was thinking back to all the times he had called Harry scarhead and that now it has a whole new meaning.

A piece of parchment landed in front of his face with Minerva McGonagall written neatly across the top. Harry would not be in any condition to study tonight.

"Go to my office," he told Draco, "I'll be right there and we'll discuss how to proceed with speaking to the other Slytherins about your new position."

For once, Draco didn't say a word; he simply nodded and walked out. Before answering the door to his colleague, he walked over to Harry's room and tried to knock. There was no sound from either inside the room or from his knocking. Rubbing the back of his neck, he tried turning the door knob to no avail. In a last effort, he pulled out his wand, but no matter what spells he tried, it wouldn't budge. Harry had silenced the door and warded it locked, most likely unintentionally.

Sighing, he decided to let Harry cool down for the night. He would simply have to tell Minerva they would need to find a time to make up the lesson. Then he could get Draco started with his internal mission to see if, and how many, students he could save from meeting the same fate as Draco had with Charlie Weasley. Tomorrow he would fix things with Harry and of course - to add insult to injury - it had to be his long chemotherapy day.