"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron exclaimed as he examined the tome laid out on the table in front of him. Harry ducked away from the glares and shushing that others in the Gryffindor common room shot them. Ron continued a little more quietly, practically unperturbed by the harshness of their peers. "This book is bloody fantastic, Harry. Where did you get it?"

Hermione looked up curiously from her homework, suddenly interested in the conversation.

Harry smirked under the scrutiny of his friends. "It's on loan from the Library of Snarky Potions Masters." He told them confidently.

Ron gasped as if he'd been burned and sidled away from the book cautiously, as if prepared to leap from his seat should the book decide to bite him. Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and looked at Harry.

"I assume it was borrowed with permission?" She asked sternly, narrowing her eyes.

It was Harry's turn to roll his eyes, at both of his friends. "No, 'Mione, I carried it out of Snape's office without the hawk-eyed man noticing that I happened to have one of his few defense texts in hand; of course I got permission." He looked at the red head who seemed torn between wanting to study the book further and not wanting to get too close. "Ron, the book isn't going to hurt you. There's no spells or potions on it, I promise."

The youngest Weasley male looked at him doubtfully for a moment before moving in to examine the book again. "But this is incredible, Harry!" He said at length. "There are spells in here, even basic ones, that we never learn at Hogwarts." He pointed to a particular passage. "Ooh, let's try this one first!"

"No." Harry slammed the book shut, snapping his friend's fingers between the heavy pages. Ron gave a surprised yelp, glaring murderously at the offending book as if it had done it on its own. "We aren't practicing anything in this book without supervision by a professor; I promised Snape."

Ron looked at Harry pleadingly. "But it's just a basic spell, Harry, and it's not like Snape would even know," He cajoled.

"I said 'no', Ron," Harry answered curtly. His friend descended into a deep pout. "There were only two conditions for me borrowing this book, Ron, and I plan to stick to them both."

"I think that's very mature of you, Harry. Just because Snape's a bully doesn't mean you should disrespect his possessions, or his wishes concerning them," Hermione said, returning to her essay.

Harry frowned. "Except, he's not…" He started. "I can't explain it, but he's been acting different."

Hermione looked up at him again. "Different how, Harry?"

"Yeah," Ron scoffed. "Except his sudden and unexplainable interest in your career choices, I haven't noticed anything odd. He's still the sour old bat he's always been."

"Yeah, but, he's…" Harry scowled in frustration. Much as he'd done when trying to confront Snape, he found he had no words to describe the difference between the man they all knew and the one Harry had begun to glimpse. What did he tell them, that the man had almost smiled at him? That he had briefly heard the rare and oddly hypnotic sound of the man's laughter? His friend's would think he'd gone off his rocker. The Gryffindor sighed. "Never mind; like I said, I can't explain it. As for the book, we can go to Rogers on Monday and ask if he'll help us practice some of the techniques. If he doesn't have time, we'll ask Flitwick."

Ron frowned. "Why Flitwick?"

Hermione smacked the red head. "Don't you ever pay attention in class, Ronald?" She demanded in exasperation.

The boy grinned at her. "'Course not," He told her. "S'what I have you for."

The bushy-haired witch rolled her eyes. "Flitwick is a dueling champion, Ron. He'd probably love a chance to get to try some of the spells and techniques in that book. He may even know some stuff that's not in there when it comes to using Charms for defense."

"Exactly," Harry said, sliding the book off the table and placing it in his school bag. He pulled out his homework as his friends resorted to old habits and started arguing over study habits. It would take half the night, but Harry hoped to finish all of his assignments before the next morning, so that he could spend what was left of his weekend just being a typical 17 year old.

SSHP

The three of them remained behind after DADA had ended on Monday afternoon. They had Charms next, but none of them were willing to wait until the end of the teaching day to question the Defense Master. After the rest of the class had left, the trio moved to the desk where the older wizard was organizing his things. He looked up at their approach.

"Don't you three have a class?" He asked severely.

Ron and Hermione pushed Harry forward and he rolled his eyes. With the professor looking on, curious, and appearing somewhat agitated by their lack of response, the Boy Who Lived reached into his messenger bag and withdrew the borrowed Defense text. He held it out, but the professor only looked on with mild interest.

"I borrowed this book from another professor, sir. It's advanced defense techniques, and I made the promise that we would not pursue any of the information on our own." Harry explained. "We, Ron, Hermione, and I, were wondering if we could borrow some of your time to help us further our knowledge in your subject."

Rogers gave a scoff of a laugh. "In other words, you want me to watch and guide you as you study advanced Defense?"

Harry nodded firmly. "Yeah, basically." The Defense Master took the book still being held out to him and started to look through it. "I realize you've already agreed to give up some of your time to helping me pursue your class in general, and we could ask another professor, but we thought that, since it's your subject, we should ask you first."

Rogers looked up from the book. "This text is very advanced," He said. "Who did you say you borrowed this from?"

Harry shrugged. "I didn't, actually. But, to answer the underlying question, it belongs to Professor Snape."

Rogers handed the book back. "Well, I suppose that means you're serious about this, and it's not a passing fancy. How long have you wanted to pursue Defense like this, Mister Potter?"

Harry snorted as Ron and Hermione snickered behind him. "I think probably since I started at Hogwarts, in spite of the teachers I've had. It's sort of my thing, actually. You can ask pretty much anyone, sir, I learn Defense intuitively. Probably because I needed to, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the fluidity of it, how it seeps into other branches of magic without prejudice."

The Defense Master handed the book back. "Alright, Mister Potter. If you and your friends are serious, then I will help you. It is, after all, what I'm here for. Your tutoring is Saturdays at 10, correct?"

Harry nodded.

Rogers returned to organizing the papers on his desk. "I do my grading during lunch on Saturdays. You and your friends can come in the afternoon, at around 2, and I'll help you pursue the techniques in the book."

The three Gryffindors grinned. "Thank you, sir."

The man looked up at them. "Keep in mind, this will mean extra homework."

Ron started to groan and was abruptly elbowed by his girlfriend. Again, it was Harry who answered.

"We understand, Professor, and we are completely willing to do whatever you ask of us, given that you're giving up your limited free time," The scarred hero said, still grinning. "Thank you, again. We should head to our next class."

"Have a nice day," The man said distractedly, his attention already turned to the work on his desk.