Morning

Harry awoke and rubbed his eyes. He looked next to him, and Snape was further away than when he first fell asleep last night. He really hoped it wasn't Snape who moved away…

Snape's breathing indicated that he was still asleep, so Harry lay back down and did the same. There wasn't any hurry to get started, was there?


Afternoon

The rest of the morning had gone by rather uneventfully, littered with their same futile efforts.

Harry and Snape leaned against a tree with the sun in their eyes, eating some berries that they picked. There wasn't really anything else to find, because it's a forest….

Nevertheless they ate contentedly, glad to finally have something to fill their stomachs. After the only thing they've really had to eat since they got lost in the forest, they continued on their so far fruitless [no pun intended] journey.

But they barely started walking when suddenly a deep, intimidating voice struck their ears:

"And just what do you think you're doing intruding upon this forest?"

They spun around immediately. They came to look at a pure-white centaur, one of the magical beings known to live here.

"W-we're lost in here, I assure you we're trying to get out…" stammered Snape.

"But who's idea was it to come here in the first place?" he directed to neither of them in particular. "Tell me the truth, or I'll be forced to kill you both!"

"It was him!" said Harry, pointing to Snape. "He's the one who dragged me here!" The centaur rounded on the older man, and Harry took a frightened step back. Snape held his wand at the ready.

"Look, whose idea it was doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that we regret doing it, and assure you we are working to get our way out. Please….please spare us…"

The centaur seemed to consider this. He took a step back and some of his anger seemed to melt away.

"Okay. Just get out of here- get out of here as soon as possible if you know what's good for you."

And he galloped away.


Evening

Snape acted coldly towards Harry for the rest of the day. Harry felt horrible about what happened and what he did to Snape, but he'd be damned if he was going to admit it to him.

Harry kicked at the ground as they went along, picking up rocks and throwing them at trees, venting out his feelings in any way he could.

"Would you stop that?" said Harry's companion irritably.

Harry didn't say anything, but dropped the rock he was about to throw to the ground.


Night

Harry had trouble sleeping that night, lying upon the cold ground of their chosen sleeping spot, his pet frog beside him.

Thoughts of the centaur ambush kept coming back to him, haunting his mind- he could barely remember anything else that happened that day. He opened his eyes and turned to Snape, who was facing away from him.

"I was such a jerk. I'm so sorry I sold you out like that… Even though we're not on the best of terms, I wouldn't want you to die- especially not for me. I've had enough people do that."

Snape didn't reply, which made Harry think he might be asleep. But he didn't care; unable to contain his emotions, he rambled on and questioned him frantically before he could stop it.

"I know you hate me. Especially now, you have every reason to. But you wouldn't want me to die either, would you? Would you protect me if I was going to get killed?"

Snape shifted slightly. Harry's heart fell to his stomach at the lack of response- at that moment, all he wanted was assurance of his forgiveness. He turned onto his other side away from Snape, discouraged. But then a single word pierced the night, the answer whispered soft and wistfully, as though in his sleep.

"Always."


I had to put that last word in because I could not physically restrain myself.

Also, someone asked how old Harry and Snape are. Because I wove the OWL into the prologue, it's in Harry's sixth year. Just wanted to clarify that :)