Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used in this story, all recognizable locations and characters are property of the wonderful JK Rowling, who was lovely enough to bless us with the Harry Potter books to become obsessed with as I have.

Summary: My take on what happened in Dumbledore's office after he explained to Harry about the prophecy and why he didn't make him prefect. One-shot. Rated K+ because I'm paranoid.

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Thank You, Professor

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"'I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry,' said Dumbledore hesitantly. 'You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as a prefect? I must confess … that I rather thought … you had enough responsibility to be going on with.'

"Harry looked up at him and saw a tear trickling down Dumbledore's face into him long silver beard."

"Professor…" Harry reached out and hesitantly placed his hand over Dumbledore's. "It's okay, sir, I understand. I'm in no way mad at you for any of this."

Dumbledore looked up from his lap. The twinkle that usually accompanied his piercing stare was completely gone, and his eyes were still swimming with tears. A few more tumbled out and made their way down his face as he looked up.

"I understand why you didn't tell me about the prophecy, you wanted me to have at least a few years here at Hogwarts without that burden on my shoulders, and I thank you for that.

"My last five years here may not have turned out as care-free as you had hoped, but I'm still glad you didn't tell me about the prophecy, even if knowing about it could have stopped me from taking off to the Ministry and getting Sirius killed…" Harry had to pause here to put his free hand up to stop Dumbledore from telling him that he was not, in any way, at fault for Sirius's death.

Once Harry composed himself and effectively stopped Dumbledore from commenting, he pushed on.

"Also, I don't think I would have really wanted the responsibility of being prefect, plus I've been in trouble far too often to be able to be anyway. I'm really not mad at you, sir." Harry squeezed Dumbledore's hand, then let go and leaned back in his chair.

"You really do mean a lot to me, Professor, and I'm not about to let this year or anything else stop me from caring about you." Harry finished.

Dumbledore's eyes leaked some more tears. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Dumbledore whispered so quietly Harry had to strain his ears to hear what he said.

"You care about me?"

"There's no way I couldn't, Professor. You've always been here for me. First year you came racing down into the stone's hiding place when you found out I went down there in order to save me, third year you stopped me from falling to my death when the dementors came onto the Quidditch Pitch, and I heard you got really mad at the dementors and banished them from the grounds because of it…" Dumbledore smiled at this, and the ghost of his eye twinkle appeared amidst his tears, "Fourth year you saved me from Barty Crouch Jr when he tried to kill me in his office, and this year you defended me at my trial, even though I could have attacked you because of my connection with Voldemort, and you showed up and saved me at the Ministry, even though you could have been arrested if seen by a Ministry official that isn't in the order. Tell me, how could I not come to care for you amidst the abundance of respect I carry for you?"

Now tears were cascading down Dumbledore's face and into his beard.

"Hogwarts is my home, and it would never be the same without you, Professor Dumbledore." Harry finished.

"Oh, Harry…" Dumbledore started, but he choked on his tears and sat in silence, staring at his lap, which was being soaked by the tears still falling down his lined face.

Harry stood and walked over to Fawkes's perch, idly stroking him while looking out the window, in order to give Dumbledore some space to compose himself. After a few minutes, Harry heard Dumbledore stand up and move over to stand next to him. He felt a hand fall onto his shoulder.

"Harry, you have no idea how much it meant to me to hear that, thank you."

Harry turned and looked Dumbledore in the face, which still have track marks from his tears on it.

"I meant every word of it Professor." Harry leaned forward and hugged Dumbledore, wrapping his arms around the taller man's waist and leaning his head on his shoulder. He felt Dumbledore return the hug, and they stood there in silence for a few moments before Harry whispered three words that made Dumbledore's tears reappear in his eyes,

"Thank you, Professor."