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#minewt-love:

You read it at work? I love you!

#Lycans-DollHouse:

Eek, thanks for you encouraging words :) I shall endeavour not to disappoint :)

#Onyx Thanatos Theodore Lerins:

Sorry :/ It does get better. Promise.

#gratsulover117:

You may be in line with my thinking ;) One backbone coming right up. Snarry will happen [Not a spoiler - this is afterall a Snarry story].

#MyTrueSelf92:

*Blushes* Thanks for the compliment, I shall try not to leave you hanging but I want to get this story right, so slowly as she goes ;)


I Love all your awesome feedback so thank you :D


By the weekend, Harry had had enough of the taunting and the name calling from the other boys. It seemed that over the course of the week it was getting worse and more than anything it was irritating him, it generally seemed to happen in the corridors and in the Grand Hall during breakfast but never in his dorm and for that he was grateful, he didn't want to have to sleep in his Animagus form.

A couple of days before, Harry had sent a letter back to Hermione outlining what was going on and he didn't leave out any details. He wanted to be honest with them because they deserved that especially considering he'd spent most of the year lying to them; it wasn't that Severus didn't deserve the truth but he wasn't going to make the man more concerned than he currently was given the tone of Hermione's letter. He was glad when he had found Hedwig up in the owlery rafters and vowed that he would come and see her more often because he felt like she missed Hogwarts as well. He never really liked going to the owlery though, it always seemed so eerie and usually there was no one up there so when Harry bumped into Goyle his heart had started hammering away in his chest at the prospect of being beaten. It didn't happen though; the boy didn't even give him the time of day, which he was glad because it meant that he wasn't a target to the ex-Slytherin.

Now however, Harry was sitting in the Grand Hall for breakfast when something that felt sharp hit him square in the chest and made him fall off the bench. There was a loud cackling from a large group from the other side of the hall and when he stood it was the same students that had kneed him earlier in the week. He groaned in frustration more than anything else and without having finished his breakfast, left the hall to find refuge in the library.

He had tried to keep up his studious behaviour once he had arrived at Durmstrang although it had been hard at first, however once he had made somewhat friends with the library lady he felt a little safer to study and excel. He was doing well in all classes, however the classes that he seemed to excel in were Potions, Charms and surprisingly enough the Dark Arts; of course Defense against the Dark Arts was offered, but because Hogwarts only taught the defense aspect he was miles ahead of the other students and had been allowed to examine out of the class once he passed their final papers early for his year level.

After spending the whole morning and most of the afternoon in the library, Harry made his way to the dorms so he could relax before dinner. When he arrived the same grey eyed boy was perched up on his bed but apart from that, no one else was present. The boy never said anything to Harry, well actually Harry didn't make the effort to talk to anyone in the school because he didn't trust them or they made fun of him. This teen seemed different though and as Harry sat down on the side of his bed the boy finally said something.

"You shouldn't let them get to you like that." He said softly but confidently.

Harry just looked up at him and didn't say anything, he didn't know what his game was so chose to ignore it however rude it seemed to be but the simple fact was he didn't trust him. Harry lay out on his bed and stared at the ceiling, every now and then he would look over at the boy but he seemed engrossed in whatever he was doing. Harry flinched in surprise when he felt his wrist tingle.

How are you, Harry?

A small smile reached Harry's face as he read the message and quickly looking over at the other boy again to see that he wasn't watching, he sent a reply to the man who was in another continent.

I'm bored, is how I am. How are you?

Just after he sent the message there was movement from the other side of the room and Harry sat up and watched as the other teen was rustling through his trunk and changing his clothes. Harry quickly looked away when he saw the boy stripping and his eyes went wide and found himself blushing at almost being caught snooping. A tingle on his wrist brought him back to the task at hand and left him feeling slightly guilty.

I have been too productive, am currently sitting in my living area sipping some whiskey. Something you are quite accustomed to.

This made Harry smile fully this time and he remembered the night he got completely smashed on Severus's supply of alcohol. His smile faded though when he realized he would never be able to do that again, or maybe he could. He suddenly remembered that Severus had written him a letter so he reached down into his bag and grabbed it out to reread it.

Severus wanted to know if he wanted to stay with him over the break. He knew that if he had the choice he would definitely go with Severus rather than with Ron just because he missed the man so much and he meant even more. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair, he thought about maybe writing to the Headmaster and asking because he was currently in charge of his affairs. It was worth a shot but for now he would have to think about it because the boy was coming over to him.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked tiredly, putting the note back.

"My name is, Christian. I felt maybe I should introduce myself seeing as we've been sharing a dorm for over a month." He said matter of factly and Harry nodded, moving so he was sitting on the bed with his feet touching the floor.

"I'm Harr – "

"Oh I know who you are, Potter. Look, what I said before, it's true. Fight back then they'll stop harassing you like that obnoxious Malfoy boy and his lackey Goyle."

He didn't wait for Harry to reply to him and once he had finished speaking, left the room. Hmm, so Malfoy had to deal with it too, it was a refreshing image seeing Malfoy degraded but he didn't have the fight in him to get back at the boys who were tormenting him. He was just trying to pass his examinations and then hopefully go back to Hogwarts for his final year, being of age, he hoped that he could finish off his education there. At this point he would have given anything to be back in Gryffindor tower, he would very much be able to deal without seeing Severus as long as he had his friends.


The next few weeks continued in a familiar fashion, Harry being used for target practice and a human dueling sack. What frustrated him most of all was when the Professor's did nothing to intervene; Harry had been bleeding from the cuts on his face and fractured nose when their Defense and Dark Arts teacher, Professor Viktor, had stalked past and hissed at Harry to 'grow a back bone', those were his exact words and Harry had just gaped at him before his jaw had been dislocated.

After a night in the hospital wing he had been released back into classes feeling rather foolish and let down but he thought that maybe his dorm mate had a point. Harry was pretty well versed in dueling and defense work but he still didn't have the courage to stand up to these bullies because he felt that if he lost then it would become worse. That, or he would end up being more injured because he didn't know how to properly defend himself against the dark curses that the older students were learning, as the combination of Transfiguration and shields would not save him. It almost felt like a no win.

On this day however, Harry was walking out of his Dark Arts class at the start of lunch when a couple of boys blocked his way and smashed his books out of his hands. They landed with a clatter and a thud on the ground making the boys laugh hysterically at his misfortune, however Harry tried to ignore it and bent down to pick his books up, which in hindsight was probably not the best thing to do.

"What's the matter cry baby. You soft Hoggy Warts chicken going to run off crying to your friends?" It was the main ringleader and he sneered down at Harry.

"Friends? What friends?" His friend was laughing and it caused the passing students to snigger as well.

"Leave me alone." Harry tried weakly and he then found his head being ripped upwards where he came face to face with his main attacker.

"Or what, Potter? You going to curse me? You're more pathetic than I thought," He pushed Harry's head and it made contact with the stone floor with an audible thump causing him to squeeze his eyes shut tightly to absorb the pain, "Malfoy was right when he said you had nothing to fight with." He finished and with a swift kick in the ribs they walked off leaving Harry to claw at the floor to get up.

When Harry did look up he noticed his Dart Arts Professor standing in the doorway of the classroom watching with an impassive face, but when he looked closely at the man's eyes, he swore he saw a flash of concern as brief as it seemed to be. He ignored the man, it seemed that if he could ignore the rough treatment of his students he could ignore the sympathetic look and put it down to his head hurting for him to be seeing things.

He had just straightened out his books and put his bag over his shoulder, standing with the intention of heading to the library or the dorm, just anywhere to get away from everyone when a hoarse voice stopped him. He turned around and saw Professor Viktor walking towards him and he swallowed, thinking that he was going to be in trouble by the look on his face; he was wrong however, and the man invited him to his office.

Harry had never been in his office before and he was sadly reminded of Severus's office with odd things floating in a variety of different sized jars. It was still just as creepy although his office was in the higher levels of the castle so there was more light let into the room. It was lighter to see the intricate detailing's of every creature where the light hit. When they turned a corner, Harry jumped when a creature within the metal bars of a cage screeched at him and tried to claw at the teen's robes but was able to step out of it's grasp in time for his Professor to pull him over to his desk.

"Have a seat, Potter."

Harry did and whilst he was there, filed the books he had been holding into his bag so he wouldn't forget them. He took a closer look at his Professor, the man genuinely did seem concerned, which was odd but it gave him a slither of hope that everything would be okay.

Their Dark Arts and Defense against the Dart Arts Professor reminded Harry of Severus, the man was tall, lean and looked much older than what his years probably were. He wore dark robes, not too dissimilar to Severus's but then again, a majority of the Professors were male and wore dark robes. The distinguished features of this man were that he had short dark hair with luminous hazel eyes, ones that you could get hypnotized with but Harry looked away before he had the chance for that to happen. He wasn't exactly the sort of Professor one would go to with their issues, or let issues be known like through his facial expressions, which according to Harry's friends and Severus, he was often prone to doing.

"What did you wish to discuss, sir?" Harry finally said, pulling himself together and looking dispassionately at the staunch man behind the desk.

"I stand by what I said the other day, Potter. I do not wish to see a student getting, for what of a better word, pummeled, because he cannot stand up to a bunch of school children." He then regarded Harry for a moment before standing and walking to one side of the room.

"It seems that you have made a target of yourself." He continued and picked a book from the shelf.

"A target, sir?" Harry knew he was playing dumb, he just didn't want to admit that the man was correct and wanted him to confront them; Viktor unfortunately saw right through his words and glared at him.

"Read this." He snapped, literally throwing a solid looking book at Harry.

Harry stared up at him in shock, the title of the book read 'Deadly Dueling Hexes' and he wondered why the man thought he should be doing this, did he want him to fight back with Dark curses? He jumped when the man barked at him to get out and he scrambled, dropping the book a couple of times before high tailing it out of the room and running straight into someone with a tell tale mop of blonde hair.

"Gah, watch it, Potter. Merlin knows why Kakaroff allowed you to attend here." The ex-Slytherin spat before brushing himself off and continuing on his path.

Malfoy didn't look his immaculate self these day, instead his hair looked dirty and the fringe fell over some of his face as it was getting too long. The brown uniforms did nothing for any of the students, which at first Harry thought to be a bonus but all the faces blurred into one and he found it hard recognizing people that he knew in a crowd.

He made it back to the dorms without any further incident and flopped down on his bed, clutching his ribs and rubbing his jaw that felt as though it was throbbing. Looking at the cover of the book he'd been given he flipped to the table of contents and ran through the list. He huffed at the detailed contents page and wondered how they were allowed to get away with teaching this kind of stuff to students, it was on the cusp of being illegal, although that didn't seem to matter here as he had been certain someone used a forgivable the day before. Didn't the Ministry care? Apparently not, as he came to a section that outlined ways of slicing opponents with a wand. Ouch, he cringed but flicked through to the page and started reading.

He hadn't realized he'd missed dinner until the other boys from his dorm were coming back and getting settled for bed. He groaned when his stomach rumbled softly but he knew there was nothing he could do about it unless he went out in his Animagus form and got his hands on a rat. Even the thought made him shudder, so he went to the bathroom to clean himself up.

When he came back there was a plate of food on his bed and he frowned, looking around the room. He caught the eye of one boy who rolled his eyes and motioned over to Christian's empty bed and Harry smiled a little at thought before slipping under the covers with the food on his lap and took a couple of tentative bites. He wanted to thank the teen but by the time Harry had finished and lights had gone out he hadn't seen the boy so he rolled over and with the soft light from the moon, tried to continue reading the book Professor Viktor had given him.


The following week, Harry was sitting at his normal spot in the Grand Hall with a piece of parchment and his quill poised to start writing to Severus. He decided that he had had enough time to formulate a response and seeing as communication was somewhat limited through the bracelet he thought now would be appropriate.

Severus,

I apologise for taking so long to reply, however I have sat here wondering what to write back to you.

You asked how I was; well in the current scheme of things, I am fine. Durmstrang is very different to Hogwarts and whilst I keep to myself I have been keeping up with my studies. Professor Viktor, who takes both Defense and the Dark Arts, consented for me to test out of Defense allowing me to look at further options.

You need to stop talking about my sacrifice towards you because I don't want you feeling that way about the situation. You cannot blame yourself for this because at the very least we both had a part to play in this – that reminds me though, how are you getting about with classes? I assume you are still able to teach freely?

I have thought about the holidays and considering what Professor Dumbledore has said to me, it will be up to him to make the final decision. I feel that his decision will have me staying in Bulgaria until the year ends, however I will write to him all the same.

Harry.

He sighed and read through the message realizing it didn't sound all that personal but it just didn't feel right after a sudden feeling of resentment coursed through his body. He shoved it into his bag before setting off for his classes that day, he had time to nip up to the owlery but he wanted to think on it for the afternoon before he sent it.

As predicted, his day went like all others and by the time he walked out of History that evening he was physically and mentally exhausted. Walking towards his dorm he decided that he was going to send Severus his letter but at the same time he had thought about sending Dumbledore a quick message as well to ask about the holidays. Of course he had a right to ask, he didn't know what was going to happen to him and some of the students had been talking about the fact that no one ever stayed for the holidays. He didn't feel like staying in the castle by himself and knew that the likelihood of something happening to him would be high, so with a quick note scribbled for the Headmaster of Hogwarts and the other for his lover, he made his way up the many stairs to the owlery.

"Hey girl." He whispered as he attached the letters to her legs.

She hooted at him happily and he stayed there with her a while, letting her nuzzle his chest and stroking her feathers before sending her off.

"No need to hurry back, okay? Stay there for a while if you like." He smiled at her lovingly before watching as she flew off into the darkening sky.

Once she was out of sight he started down the steps in the owlery only to come face to face with a couple of his tormentors who were smiling evilly. He tried to brush past them and whilst at first it didn't look like they were going to let him, he managed to escape but could have sworn that he heard them talking about Hedwig. It was concerning but he had just told her to stay at Hogwarts so hopefully she would be safe there.

By the next morning, Hedwig had arrived at Hogwarts and spent some time with Ron's family owl before it was time to deliver the two letters her owner had given her. She hooted cheerfully before setting off into the early morning sky, soaring towards the large hall that she always loved speeding into before diving to find her owner; except on this day she had to remember that it wasn't her owner she was seeing, it was the Headmaster. He seemed happy to see her and she stuck around, feeding off some breakfast leftovers that had been offered to her whilst she watched the old Wizard take both letters and hand one to the man sitting beside him. The thought that she had done her job pleased her immensely and she went off to find someone familiar that would stroke her.

"Severus, I believe this is for you." Dumbledore said as he passed over the other note that was addressed to their Potion's master.

Both men recognized the awful writing on the front of the letters and exchanged a looked before both opening them at the same time.

Severus heard the Headmaster sigh before the letter was placed on the table. He risked a glance at the old man and was worried about the contents, though he should have been worried about Harry's reply to the letter he had sent a couple of weeks beforehand. It seemed like such a standard response and he found it a little insulting that after he had poured his heart to the boy, he could disregard those words that took days to formulate on paper. He too sighed and taking a deep breath looked over to the Gryffindor table where he was met with two anxious glances from Harry's friends.

"If you have a spare moment after classes today, Severus, we need to have a word." Dumbledore said quietly and Severus nodded numbly before standing, wanting to get away from all the prying eyes so he could be alone to gather his thoughts before classes started.

On his travels down to the Dungeons, he thought about Harry's letter. If he looked between lines he could clearly read that Harry was not enjoying Durmstrang at all, in fact he believed that Harry was regretting his decision but the boy and Dumbledore seemed so keen on the idea of him being shifted when it had been offered. This made him angrier with himself and he swore under his breath as he slammed the door to his office open and shut it with equal vigor.

Is this what it has become? He wondered with a mixture of anger and sadness, he didn't want to lose Harry but he felt that perhaps he should give the teen some space. He had mentioned in his letter, well it sounded like he was telling him off, for mentioning the sacrifice made but it was something he felt needed to be addressed.

He groaned in frustration, the past month had been awful and he had felt like everyone was on his case. Whilst Dumbledore and the Board had agreed to have him teaching, they were very strict about him being alone with students and was unable to be assigned detentions or remedial lessons without someone else in the room with him. It had seemed innocent enough until he had heard rumors about him but they hadn't even come close to putting Harry and he in the same sentence so it was comforting to know the secret wasn't out. Yet, he thought before standing and making his way to class for the morning.


Harry was having a rough day; he felt as though his thoughts were scattered and he wasn't concentrating on anything, which proved to be dangerous when one considered he was in his Dark Arts class and they were having a practical lesson. He managed to dodge a hex at him, just, but felt the magic zip past him and this made him wake up and concentrate.

Ever since his Professor had given him the book, he had been on edge, looking about the corridors and classrooms to see if someone was going to jump out at him. He was scared, there was no doubt about it but he knew he had to get smart about it and stop worrying. He hadn't been in a battle of wands yet, the students had only struck him physically, that's it, he thought in a moment of clarity before he was stung on the hand and he stumbled backwards before being lifted up into the air by his feet. He was trapped.

The class stopped what they were doing and laughed, but Harry didn't find it very funny and neither did his Professor who cut the rope with a flick of his wrist and Harry landed with a thump on his head and shoulder.

"Enough. Get back to it." Viktor bellowed to the class and Harry dusted himself off, catching his Professor's eye before aiming his wand at the teen he was partnered with.

"Carnificare." Harry roared in a sudden flare of rage, the curse's rough translation being 'to decapitate', courtesy of his newly acquired Dart Arts book.

Back at Hogwarts, Severus was making his way up to the Headmasters office after his last class. He had no doubts that this was to do with Harry so he schooled his features and knocked on the door before it swung open and he was beckoned in.

"Thank you for your promptness, Severus. I believe you must know why you are here?" The greyed Wizard asked and Severus nodded before responding.

"I assume, Harry wrote to you regarding the holidays?" Severus realized it was risky to bring this up, technically he wasn't supposed to make any contact with Harry unless it was under supervised circumstances.

"It is." Dumbledore knew his Potion's Professor had written to their ex-Gryffindor but he turned a blind eye to it, not seeing the true harm it would do for now.

"And?" Severus asked, irritated but hopeful that he would be seeing his green eyed beauty these holidays.

"I have decided that he will stay at the Academy for the break – It is in both of your best interests for this to happen, please understand." Dumbledore had to interject his own response to that Severus wouldn't interrupt him.

"I understand," he said before adding quietly, "But I don't accept."

"You know the rules, Severus. The least you could do is to wait until he is of age, until then you must respect the consequences."

"Of course." Severus moped and went to stand.

The walk to his quarters was long and depressing. He longed for the day where he could come back into his living room and see that grey blob of fur spread out in front of his fire, or even Harry's lean body splayed across the couch. He shuddered involuntarily at the memory it brought up, the one that caused immense pain and sorrow for him; the day that they were caught. He growled at the memory, he should have been smarter.

"Get back to your dormitory's, ten points from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw." He roared at the two boys walking slowly down the corridor.

He had had to get his anger out somehow, what better way than deducting points? He tried to reason with himself as he heard their stutters of protest.