Okay, I have some serious ideas for these next few chapters. Thank you for all of your lovely reviews, I really appreciate the feedback. If a review strikes me as interesting or I feel like I need to address something in the review, I always answer them, and I try to listen to any concrit you might have. To prove it, I am going to try and write longer chapters, but I am the Queen of Lazy and sometimes just feel like keeping my WC around 1500. I'm going for 2000 today!

ON WITH THE FIC!

"Um, Harry, you in there?" Harry heard Ron's voice on the other side of the tent.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"I saved you some oatmeal. 'Mione insisted on cooking it with this ridiculous gas stove. Parvati nearly burned her hair off leaning in. Muggles, right?"

"Yeah, Muggles," Harry answered, his voice still muffled by his sleeping bag.

"Can I come in?" Ron asked.

"Are you able to?"

"Snape took the charm off this morning. He said something along the lines of he'll be keeping us so busy, we won't have the chance to try to sneak into a tent," Ron answered, pulling the tent opening back, holding a bowl of oatmeal.

Harry sat up and took the bowl from Ron. "That sounds like a challenge."

Ron gave him a wicked grin. "That's what I thought."

Harry took a bite of the oatmeal. There was a just a hint of cream and brown sugar in it. He hadn't realized how hungry he was and began digging into his breakfast.

"Um, how was…last night?" Ron asked. "I can't believe that git made you sleep in the same tent as him," he added loyally.

"It was okay. Somehow, I ended up on his wand and he got rather annoyed at me this morning. So I guess it's right on par for our usual communication."

"His wand?" Ron smirked.

"Yes, his 12 inch, oak, dragon heartstring wand," Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

"You have his wand make memorized? Merlin, Harry, you really have it bad."

Harry looked at his best friend with a desperate stare. "Is it really that obvious?"

"No, mate. Only to anyone who already knows your secret."

"I don't know what to do," Harry moaned. "I just figured I'd survive the next few months, get a job playing Quidditch, and find a bloke who actually likes me. I wasn't counting on three nights in an enclosed tent with him."

"It can't be that bad, right? You are just sleeping in here."

"He saw me in my Snitch boxers and made fun of me," Harry moaned, covering his face with his hands.

Ron choked back a laugh. "Well, you only have two more nights in here. We can keep you distracted during the day, and we'll keep you by the campfire tonight, so he can go to sleep before you. How's that sound?"

Harry smiled at Ron. "Thanks. I know this can't be easy for you."

Ron shrugged. "Hey mate, you can't control who you want. Not that I was thrilled when I heard you having a one-off and muttering, 'Severus' to a piece of his robes."

Harry blushed, took one last bite of the oatmeal, and set it aside. "Was that any better than wanking yourself raw to Hermione's book catalogue?" he bit back.

Ron also blushed and shrugged. "We all want who we want, right?"

Ron had clearly done some growing up this year, while Harry had regressed. "Okay, I should get dressed."

"You have to look good for the Professor, don't you?" Ron asked teasingly.

"Don't you have something better to do than make fun of your best mate?" Harry asked, rummaging through his clothes.

Ron chuckled and walked out of the tent, zipping it up behind him as he left. "We're getting ready to go on our hike, so you should get ready soon. You might want to try combing your hair, it looks as if a doxie made a nest in it."

Harry winced as he pulled out a pair of jeans and a maroon t-shirt. He quickly put them on, and continued looking for his hairbrush. To further embellish upon his lack of luck on this trip, he was unable to find it.

He darted his eyes over to Snape's bag, which had a small brush hanging innocently on one of its side compartments. Surely, Snape wouldn't notice if he had a quick comb. He glanced around the tent, as if he anticipated Snape to come running at him, and made his decision. Harry grabbed the brush and hastily ran his hair through it. He put it back as if it had been on fire, and looked around again. Perhaps fate didn't hate him as much as he thought.

"As you should know, the Forbidden Forest is not a place to enjoy without any defenses. There are many creatures in the forest who would love to eat you. We have a large centaur herd here as well, who do not take kindly to children gallivanting through the forest. They will not hesitate to shoot you in the head with an arrow."

Mortified, the students looked at each other. Even Zabini and Malfoy looked uneasy.

"Did you really think this was some fun little trip to get drunk and fornicate with each other?" Snape asked nastily. "Yes, you will have free time to enjoy, but as we are leaving the safety boundaries of our camp, you need to understand the dangers that you may face. Now, I am going to put you in partner groups. You will be responsible for making sure your partner is with the group at all times and in good health."

Harry let out a brief moan, knowing what was going to happen before it actually did.

"I will allow you to make your selections this time," Snape said, his eyes sweeping across his pupils.

"Please, sir, can we have a group of three? There is an odd number, so we can't leave someone by themselves," Hermione asked politely.

Snape looked at her with an expression of almost intrigue, keeping eye contact. Hermione briefly shot her eyes towards Harry, then back at her professor.

"Miss Granger, I assume you are referring to Mr. Potter. I have decided that if he is placed with anyone besides you or Mr. Weasley, he will surely endanger them. If he is placed with you, making your wonderful Gryffindor Triumvirate, you three will clearly find some trouble to make and I, again will be forced to save your skins. It seems most logical that I stay with Mr. Potter, the source of any trouble made in the school or out of it."

The Slytherins snickered, but everyone else gave Harry a look of pity. Harry felt much pity for himself, but for a far different reason than everyone else. At some point, he would be alone with Snape in the forest, away from prying eyes. Dare he try to make a move?

He was foolish if he thought that would work. He recalled Romilda Vane's crush on Professor Rudy at the start of the year. She cornered him in his office and he ended up having to Full Body Bind her to escape her advances. Her mistake had been how strongly she had come onto him. Maybe if he insinuated something, used a bit of innuendo, it wouldn't be as bad.

That would never work, he decided. He didn't even know if Snape was gay. Harry had never noticed his professor interested in ANYONE, much less men.

He would just have to deal with this, as he had dealt with so many other things. Snape occasionally would try to bait him into a reaction, and he would just ignore it this time.

How could anything go wrong?

The first thing that went wrong was that Harry forgot swimming trunks and was stuck on a rock, watching his friends jump down a small waterfall.

The second thing that went wrong was that his potions professor also decided not to swim.

The hike itself wasn't terrible. Everyone stayed together, allowing Harry to walk with Ron and Hermione, joining in conversation about the area. Every once and a while, Snape would have them stop walking to collect some potions ingredients.

So there they were, both sitting on a rock, Snape reading through a Potions journal and occasionally making a note in the book, and Harry wishing he was anywhere but here. Searching through his pack, he found his book of Sudoku puzzles, opened it up, and began working on the latest puzzle.

"What is that?" Snape asked after nearly a ten minutes of silence.

"It's a Sudoku puzzle."

"No you, idiot, what is that?" Snape repeated, pointing at Harry's pen.

"It's a pen," Harry held it up.

"Yes, I know what a pen is. How did you erase the mark you made?"

"It's an erasable pen. I'm not sure how it works. It's a Muggle invention."

"May I see it?"

"Um…I guess," Harry answered and passed it over to Snape.

Snape admired the pen. "I don't usually enjoy Muggle novelties, but this is quite interesting. I've never seen anything like this before." He scribbled a bit on his magazine, then erased it. "How do they do it?"

"Magic?" Harry joked bravely.

"Oh shut up, Potter."

"You can keep it if you want, sir. I have another one in my bag."

"There are more of these?" Snape asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I have a whole pack."

Harry and Snape looked at each other, and something suddenly felt different, like a wall had fallen down. It was not intentional, but it had just happened. Harry hoped that the wall could stay down long enough for him to break more barriers between them.

Then the third thing that went wrong happened. Hannah screeched as she fell into the waterfall. Harry and Snape both turned their heads quickly to assess the situation. When she emerged from the water, coughing but perfectly fine, Snape rolled his eyes and continued to examine the erasable pen.

Cursing Hannah, Harry grabbed another pen out of his bag and continued his Sudoku, engrossed in a particularly hard one.

Several minutes of silence between them passed, and then, "There's an 8 there."

Harry dropped the book in surprise. In his intensity to finish the puzzle, he failed to notice that Snape was now sitting behind him, craning his neck to see the Sudoku Harry was working on. "What?"

"There's an 8 in that corner," Snape reached over Harry's shoulder and pointed in the top right corner.

"Oh. Thanks, I guess."

Snape faltered for a second. "Potter, don't cherish this moment. I can't stand it when someone fails to see answers to clear and obvious things."

Harry pursed his lips, decided not to retort, and filled in an 8 in the corner Snape had pointed at. Harry paused for a few moments, and then said, "Do you see anything else?"

"You want me to do your puzzle for you?" Snape asked, a sneer growing on his face.

"No, I thought you might want a break from your Potions Quarterly. I am no good at these. Maybe you could explain to me why the 8 goes in that corner too," Harry admitted.

This was perfect. Snape clearly was showing more of an interest in Harry than he ever had before. Why not exploit that and get to breathe in the deep, musky scent that was Severus Snape just a little bit longer than usual?

"Very well. Engorgio," Snape said, pointing at the puzzle.

Harry looked at him, slightly confused. "What, you think I want to put my delicate chin on your shoulder and peer over to find the answers to your little puzzle game?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, no," Harry responded quickly. "I just didn't expect that."

"You see, Potter, you can anticipate where a number might go by looking at what is possible in other squares. You can immediately rule out that they would go –"

Harry was comprehending none of Snape's words, focusing only on the velvety voice that was barely a meter away from him. It was this deep richness that he loved to imagine telling him words of longing, want, and lust. He dared to sneak a look at Snape's mouth, of which that amazing voice emerged from. Those lips should really be doing something more productive than just talking about a Muggle logic puzzle.

"Potter, are you even listening to me? Where should the four go?"

Harry stared at the enlarged Sudoku in front of him. "There," he pointed at a spot on the bottom row.

Snape looked at the puzzle as well, narrowing his eyes. Suddenly, he widened them, turned to Harry, and said, "Yes. Perhaps you're not the biggest dunderhead in the school after all."

Harry triumphantly wrote in a 4, which he decided was now his new lucky number.

Something had finally gone right today.

Awwww how sweet. But how long will Harry's happiness last this time? Any wagers?