AN: slightly longer chapter today, it wanted to be even longer though, so I'll be posting the next tommorow. Enjoy!
Chapter Six: The Bath Room.
Unlike the en-suits, the Bath Room did, in fact, contain baths. A large copper tub stood near the fire place and the laundry cupboard which Ronald and Potter were approaching with Doxycide, while the centre of the room contained a sunken tub, much like the Prefect's bath at Hogwarts. The room was foul; Severus didn't know whether the Blacks had deliberately muddied the place in an attempt to keep the Kappa happy or if the creature had managed it all on its own, but either way the tile floor was black and green with slime. The larger of the baths was so thick with growth that the water was opaque and the Kappa's hair disguised it perfectly. Severus only spotted it because it was following the red bauble one of the twins was waving with large bile-green eyes.
He was able to watch, undetected for some minutes, while the teenagers? Young men? Worked at getting the place de-toothed. The Weasley's all looked healthy, particularly Ronald, when stood next to Potter and the contrast was sharper than it had ever been. Potter's skin was porcelain white, showing no hint of the Quidditch tan he had had when Umbridge had banned him and there were still dark rings under his eyes, despite being given Dreamless Sleep. His magical reserves were depleted by his accidental magic, after all, despite the pear-drop flavoured Strengthener he had been fed before the battle, and that would cause lingering tiredness. Hopefully the underage magic ban would allow his reserves to repair and refill before term began.
Though Potter had always been small, he remained within the lower bounds of normal height but he showed no evidence of the growth spurt that his co-conspirator was beginning. Severus watched as the pair easily split the task in two; Ronald taking the top shelves and Potter the bottom. They didn't say anything, but the automatic adjustment for Harry stature was obvious.
But... not only was he short, he was delicate; his limbs narrow and elegant under the light coating of flying muscles. Perhaps Severus should work on the Skele-Grow modification he'd been attempting, Potter looked infinitely breakable. Which brought him back to the realisation midway through the previous year that not all was right at Number Four...
Shaking the thoughts and regrets out of his mind for now, he stepped into the large Bath Room, aiming a strong cleaning charm at the floor to prevent anyone from slipping on the foulness and requiring their skulls fixing. Why the twins had not done so already was apparent when the Kappa hissed and spluttered angrily, disappearing into the bath. He raised a single eyebrow at the twins, chiding them for attempting to placate the creature.
"Attempting to negotiate with a Kappa, without a cucumber in sight? Were you still in education, I would be forced to take points." There was some snarling from the younger Weasley, which he judiciously ignored. The twins turned in unison, breaking out into mischievous grins; he knew he should not have allowed them use of the lab last year; they were truly insufferable... though, Umbridge's unfortunate experiences had been rather satisfying.
"Professor Snape!"
"How nice to see you,"
"We heard you were,"
"Positively Weasleish yesterday!"
The two had rather foolishly turned their back on the bath and the Kappa was looking at them hungrily. Severus doubted that they had not noticed it's attentions but he touched the handle of his wand as a precaution. Potter also appeared to have noticed, though Ronald looked as oblivious as ever.
"I am a Slytherin, such tactics are my purview." He smirked, "It would not go amiss for you to learn the Shapiro Delay charm, or the Newton's Cradle jinx, should you wish to recreate the effect."
Their grins widened, if that was possible, and Severus could see the possibilities whizzing through their heads, even without Legilimency.
"That, however, is not the reason for my presence. I am running low on Doxy venom," He gave a significant, but brief, glance at the bath to indicate that he wanted some Kappa parts too, while trying not to alert the beast in question. He was apparently unsuccessful as it chose that moment to leap out of the water at the twins. Even before it left the water completely, four wands were pointed at its scaly body. Severus' Impedimentia slowed it in mid-air while the twins' sucking hex and conjured jar combination took the water from the depression on top of its head and sealed it away. Rendered powerless; the creature screamed and thrashed in the bounds of the spell, trying to reach the twins. Given the chance, it would drink the balance of their blood after choking the life out of them. Severus ended that particularly unfortunate possibility using the Kind Killer curse. Only effective on non-sentient creatures, it was the curse used for euthanizing injured animals and slaughtering cattle. Fortunately, it was not the sickening green of its Unforgivable cousin.
He noted that Potter had waited for a second longer than the twins or himself and had not cast a spell, as he had seen their wands rise. His consideration for the underage magic laws was commendable, as he'd balanced the lives of his friends more highly than legality, while ensuring that had he cast a spell, it would have been completely necessary. Severus lowered the dead Kappa to the floor, onto a conjured tarpaulin, while the twins approached with an appropriate amount of caution.
"Bloody hell!" Ronald exclaimed, "I don't even have my wand on me..." Severus saw Potter pat his friends shoulder and mumbled something before breaking out into a loud voice;
"Constant Vigilance!" his exclamation made Ronald jump and stirred up the Doxies so the two turned back and started zapping them with Doxycide before they got bitten.
"Kappa hair."
"Toenails."
"Head water?" "Brain juice?" "Maybe Kappa hat?"
"It is known as Kappa Cranial fluid, do cease you inane prattle..." Severus intoned as he took the jar of fluid and held it at eye level for inspection.
"Right you are, sir. Shutting up."
"Thanks, by the way,"
"For helping us not die."
"Indeed. You may help me in the lab as repayment, once your cleaning is complete." He joined the pair crouched next to the tarp and fished his dragon hide gloves out of his robes. Pulling them on, he lifted the Kappa's foot to inspect the, afore mentioned, toenails, which were a core ingredient in Liquid Luck. The twins were having a silent conversation yet again, to his relief; they were far less annoying when quiet. Harvesting the Kappa's useful parts would be a foul job and he would be happy to leave it to them, though he would, no doubt, be required to give instruction.
He half caught a snippet of Harry, Potter's conversation with his side-kick when his name was mentioned,
"... nape pulled his wand like that! Jumped right out of my skin..." He never paused in his application of Doxycide, however; catching one headed towards Potter in its evil little face.
"Seriously, Ron? You were watching Snape when a Kappa tried to kill your brothers?" Potter looked incredulous, from what Snape could see of his face. "Priorities mate, honestly."
"Come on, don't tell me he isn't a threat, I mean, he was a Death Eater." Snape stiffened a little, curious as to what Potter's reaction to that would be. The twins seemed to be listening too, with little smirks on their faces. Severus was certain that they had worked out who the Order's source in the Death Eater ranks was and it had not changed their behaviour towards him. If anything, he had earned a bit of respect from them for that, in addition to his provision of lab space.
"Look, they proved it in court, didn't they? He was a spy for Dumbledore, if not for the whole time, then at least by the end." Potter snapped. Snape relaxed again, imperceptibly, and began gathering up the tarp into a water proof bundle with the twins help. Potter looked almost irritated by his friends' mistrust and squirted a Doxy vigorously.
"We'll be done by,"
"around lunchtime."
"Now that this bugger,"
"Language, Weasley," he warned with a faint glare. The twin swallowed and handed him the final corner of tarp, which he secured with a sticking charm.
"Sorry sir, the Kappa,"
"is dealt with; we can use magic,"
"the rest shouldn't take long."
Severus nodded in acknowledgment as he stood; levitating the bundle, "Bring the Doxies down with you," He said, with a glance at the bucket of deceased pests, "All of them. You may have a share of the venom, after it has been properly collected."
"Right you are, sir!" They chorused as he turned and left, the Kappa floating behind him.
He would start with something interesting... Wolfsbane, perhaps? Before settling into the routine brewing for the infirmary, he thought was he made his way to the lab.
XX*XX*XX*XX
Harry watched with amusement as the twins competed with area-effect cleaning charms; producing ever increasing circles of sparkling tile and fittings. A buzz to his left made him whip his head 'round, duck and squirt in quick succession. The Doxy squealed and spiralled down to the floor, to join the others yet to be thrown in the bucket.
"Don't know how you do that, Harry... I'd've got me ears bitten off by now." Ron was standing further back from the cupboard, unwittingly holding his atomiser bottle like an arcade gun and 'shooting' down the little pests.
"Me neither, good for Seeking though." He commented, turning back to the cupboard; the twins didn't need his encouragement to continue their game. By waiting for the perfect moment, he managed to get two Doxies with one shot but almost stood on one of the fallen pests in the process. "Just a sec Ron, let me clear some of these up."
"Right o." While Ron took over keeping the dwindling numbers of Doxies at bay, Harry started slinging the dead ones into the bucket. Their fairy-like appearance put them firmly in the Uncanny-Valley category and Harry shuddered as he picked one up by a miniscule foot.
"Hey, Ron?" He said quietly once he rejoined his friend.
"Yeah mate?" Ron replied absently,
"Sorry for snapping at you, it was out of line." There was a pause in the squirting and Harry looked over to see Ron's face twisted up,
"No, I get that you trust him. Dumbledore does too, I just don't know why, which makes it hard to believe." He shrugged and zapped another Doxy before kicking the base of the cupboard to get the last few to come out.
"Right... I guess you have to see it for yourself..." Harry commented before changing the subject to potential Fred and George replacements for the Quidditch team; Ron was instantly distracted.
They finished with the Doxies not long after Snape left and moved on to cleaning up ancient potion sludge that may once have been hair product. Needless to say, exposure to Doxy droppings had not made it any less volatile; the twins tried to Scrougify it but it merely turned purple and began to bubble.
"Sorry lads,"
"You're on your own."
They returned to polishing the fifteen or so taps along the edge of the sunken tub, practicing their aim in the process. Ron and Harry cracked on with Salima's non-magical Spill Solvent, which smelled like bleach to Harry, and scrubbing brushes.
"Hey, Harry?" Ron asked as he sat back on his heels to give his hand a break.
"Yeah mate?" Harry kept on scrubbing,
"You reckon you'll keep on with the DA?" He joined Ron in sitting on his heels and stretched out his stiff fingers.
"I... hadn't thought about it yet." He looked down at his gloved fingers as he locked them together the stretched them out in front of him. "I could, if there's still interest. Dumbledore wouldn't mind, I reckon."
"Nah, he'd just make,"
"You let the Slytherins in!" Chimed in the twins from their cautious inspection of the smaller tub.
"That... might not be such a bad idea..." Harry said quietly, thinking hard. If they could integrate the Slytherins, the neutral ones, then they could 'save' some of them from the discrimination Harry knew they received, perhaps postponing or preventing their falling down on the wrong side of the line.
He only had a moment to think about it before Ron exploded;
"WHAT? You can't be serious mate, that's bonkers!" He threw his scrubbing brush down, where it bounced across the now almost clean tile. "They're Death Eaters in training! They don't need any help from us!" Harry may have lost his rag, a little bit, at that, and stood up with a fierce look on his face.
"Do you seriously believe that every single one of those children is a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer, Ron? Do you look at them and see the killing curse? Or is it just cruciatus? They're just KIDS!" He wasn't quite yelling, but the force with which he spat the words made Ron lean back. He soon got a grip though and stood up. Harry frowned at this use of unfair advantage as Ron towered a good four inches taller than him.
"That's not the point! They won't be kids forever! They've the potential, they proved it the moment the Sorting Hat decided they would do best in a House founded on lying, cheating and Blood Purity!"
Harry was too furious to notice the twins watching with trepidation, like any in feud within the family, they wouldn't take sides, but they had decided to step in if it came to blows; Harry just looked too fragile.
"You want to talk about potential, Ron? Then you should probably know that the Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin! I've got the potential to cast the cruciatus curse, I cast it at Bellatrix! That does not mean that I'm ever going to become a Death Eater, or give up on making the world a better place by ridding it of that bastard Voldemort!" Harry was panting and his head swimming with exertion and emotion. He'd seen more bullying done by and to Slytherins than between any other house, he'd seen what his own father had done to the current Head of Slytherin and he would stick to his convictions, but the fear that Ron would drop him like a hot potato was intense. He felt a warm hand land on his shoulder and give it a quick squeeze, he looked up at a Fred-Or-George, who was smiling grimly but supportively. The other twin was looking very disappointedly at Ron.
"Bloody hell, Harry... I didn't mean you..." he said squeakily, talking a half step backwards.
Suddenly tired, Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose and leant slightly into the hand on the shoulder. He felt the twin step closer, just in case. "Look Ron, that's not the point. Not all of Slytherin equate to Lucius Malfoy, half of them aren't even pure bloods. There are even muggle-born in there." Ron didn't say anything; the look of shame on his face was enough. Harry was just glad he hadn't run off yet.
"I'm not saying we should trust them but then, I'm not saying we trust anyone new. If I do keep up the DA, with the current climate, it's going to be massively popular with everyone. The children of Death Eaters will probably be told to spy on us, but we won't fix that just by freezing out the Slytherins. Remember Peter Pettigrew and who-knows how many other non-Slytherin Death Eaters, Marietta Edgecomb last year," He paused and took a deep breath, he was still feeling a little light headed, "We can't draw the lines of Battle on the basis of House, it was fine for school rivalry but we'll just give Him the advantage if we do that now."
He let out the rest of his air in a sigh, his shoulders slumping. The twin behind him squeezed his shoulder gently and started rubbing circles next to his spine with a thumb. Ron looked completely stunned,
"Look, if you're so good at chess, you must have a pretty strong hold on strategy, right?" He nodded silently, "Then look at it this way, the more we erode that idea of 'Slytherin is evil', the fewer impressionable kids Voldemort can seduce. If we're careful, we might even be able to convert some of those who would fight for that side just because they're in Slytherin, even if they don't believe in the ideals." Ron's face was getting twisted up again, like it did when he wanted to say something, Harry stayed quiet to give him the chance.
"But what about Malfoy? You can't just ignore everything he said, he's just a bully!" Ron looked indignant, which Harry could understand.
"Then you agree, right, that that kind of behaviour is outrageous, unacceptable?" He asked tiredly, not really wanting to break this to Ron.
"Yeah, of course. After everything he's said to Hermione..."
"Ok, and if it was anyone, not just the son of a man your family has a beef with?" Fred (or maybe George) tightened his grip on Harry minutely; he knew were this was going, Harry was sure.
"Yeah, it's harsh no matter who it comes from." Ron was nodding and looking a little more himself now that he was on familiar turf.
"This might sound random but how many times do you think I've split up Slytherins bullying another House?" This would be the match point, Harry was pretty sure, and the twins would back him up on it after having had the Marauders map for who-knew how long.
"Uhh, you've mentioned it a few times, a couple, I guess?" Ron looked like he was willing to see where this was going, though he was pretty sceptical.
"Three times between kids in the same year and twice with older kids picking on little ones."
Ron's face took on that look of righteous anger that Harry was so familiar with and he opened his mouth to speak; Harry got in there with his next point before he could start.
"How many Slytherins getting bullied do you think I've seen?" That stopped him in his tracks and Ron looked down and the freshly scrubbed floor, shuffling his feet slightly.
"I dunno," Harry pinched the bridge of his nose again as Ron began shuffling his feet like a child.
"Seventeen times, I've broken up a ring of kids around some crying little snip who just wanted to hide for a week. Seventeen. And every damn time it was some older kids picking on Slytherins half their size. Not other Slytherins, either; Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors!" Ron finally looked up, his eyes troubled.
"But,"
"If you dare imply that those kids were asking for it, I will get Fred and George to test everything they have ever invented on YOUR SORRY HIDE!" Ron actually flinched at that and Harry reflected that his tone must have been harsh; it had hurt his throat on its way out.
"I wasn't going to! Honest! It's just, why haven't I seen anything like this? I trust your word, honest, it's just, I don't get it!" Ron stepped forwards and Harry was glad to see that he didn't look pissed anymore, just very, very confused. That made him calm down a little,
"It's hard, Ron, to see something you don't want to. You've grown up hearing about 'you-know-who' and Slytherin and Lucius Malfoy, all in conjunction with evil, pain and grief, it's not surprising that you'd find it hard to see anyone wearing a green badge as innocent. But they are Ron, and believing they're not, on the basis of their House is as bad as believing that one person is better than the next because their parents are magical."
That had been... very hard to say, Harry thought, but it had probably been even harder to hear. Harry felt pressure on his shoulder again and was gently drawn back into Fred's chest,
"Let's give him time to think about that, shall we? Bit harsh when you work that one out, takes a lot of growing up." Harry relaxed against his old teammate and nodded, letting him guide him out of the room and towards the stairs. He saw, as they were leaving, Ron being comforted by his brother and looking shell shocked.
Harry and Fred (he thought, for no particular reason,) made their way, tiredly in one case and solicitously in the other, to the kitchen. Mrs Weasley and Ginny were well on the way to having lunch on the table and Dobby had reappeared from his tasks in the Alley. Harry's money pouch would no doubt be back on his bed, alongside his new clothes; laid out to be inspected.
The little elf was directing the table-laying with a finger, looking like a conductor, while Ginny grated cheese over a tray of croutons. Mrs Weasley was wiping her hands on a tea-towel when they arrived and immediately bustled over to him, extracting him from Fred's arms for a hug.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry, was all that cleaning too much? I know yesterday was hard..." The concern and the hug both were welcome and Harry closed his eyes as he rested his forehead on her collarbone.
"No... Well, I am pretty tired, but it's not that bad. Ron and I had an argument." He said, muffled by her blouse and apron.
He could feel her and Fred exchanging significant glances over his head but didn't have the energy to work out what they might mean. Mrs Weasley patted him on the back and released him, after a final squeeze;
"Well then, let's get you fed then. Ronald too; Fred, ring the bell for your brothers, please." Once Harry was safely ensconced at the head of the table again, Fred picked up the hand bell off the counter and rang it out the kitchen door. Harry watched slightly dazedly as Ginny toasted the cheesy croutons under the grill.
Would Ron work it out, like Fred had implied? It was pretty difficult to tell, he could be unpredictable sometimes, like during fourth year. Harry sighed and dropped his head onto his folded arms. He felt pretty bad about what he'd said; for all that he couldn't have got through to him any other way, it was still painful to hurt his best mate like that. He hoped it wouldn't make things awkward, either, but he hoped it wouldn't, given how subdued Ron had looked as they left.
Mrs Weasley reappeared from the direction of the potions lab, Harry hadn't twigged where she'd disappeared to but now he assumed that it was to summon Snape. The man followed her into the room after a moment and Harry was half surprised, half amused to see his hair was tied back instead of slathered in grease. It made him look much younger and Harry could see why he kept it down in class; it added to his presence.
The man sat down to Harry's left, raising an eyebrow at the slumped figure.
"'m alright. Tired." Harry stated in response to the unspoken query.
"Hmph. I would send you to bed, if I thought you would listen. Poppy would have my head if she knew you were out of bed after the events of yesterday." Harry listened to the tone of the man's voice, as deep and comforting now as his magic had been the day before. Harry wondered if that was because of Snape's attitude, his surprising lack of vitriol, or simply because Harry knew he could be trusted now.
"Might listen, you never know. Might go to bed even if you don't." Harry mumbled with his cheek squashed against his arm. He looked blearily, partially because his glasses were askew, up at the Potions Master, and saw the man smirk.
"Very well then; as your current healer, I advise an afternoon nap, followed by no more that book work or other such sitting-down centred activities." Snape raised an eyebrow at him as if to say 'well?' and Harry chuckled as he levered his head off his arms.
"Sounds like a good idea sir, I might just do that." He leaned back against the high chair-back and half grinned at the Professor, who just shook his head wryly. It would strike Harry later that they had just had their first voluntarily civil exchange, but in the moment it felt natural, so the incident passed without comment and Harry tucked into his soup and croutons. The food perked him up a bit, as did the arrival of a quiet but not-angry Ron, bearing Doxies that got quickly sent to the lab. Mrs Weasley had sat to his right, with Ginny next to her, so Ron sat next to Ginny. Unfortunately for Snape, that left him sitting next to the twins; Harry was quite content to eat quietly and listen to the resulting sniping. He did wonder when the three had developed a non-violent relationship, but it could have been at any time since before they had left school. A lot of their products did rely on potions after all.
Harry was full before he really noticed; he assumed that it was Mrs Weasley who kept causing more food and tit-bits to appear on his plate, she was determined, it seemed, to feed him up. Eventually he made his way up stairs, escorted by a quiet and smug looking Dobby, leaving the hum of conversation behind.
The elf insisted he change into the black cotton pyjama's that were laid out on the bed before availing himself of it, but he didn't mind since they were wonderfully comfortable. He took a lazy look at the additions to his wardrobe, fingering the warm, comfortable fabrics and enjoying the full colours, so different from the faded ones of his cousins cast offs and the plain red, gray and black of his school uniform. There was a thick dressing gown, too, which felt like it would be nice and warm. He thanked the elf for thinking of everything and being so thorough, which just made him blush and tear up over how good a wizard Master Harry Potter was, embarrassing them both. Dobby took himself away quietly after that; giving Harry one of his patented waist-high hugs before popping out.
Spotting the package from Remus on the desk, he picked it up and put in on the bedside table before curling up under the bedcovers. Once he was settled and warm he reached out and pulled the brown-paper covered object on to the bed with him. He didn't think he was quite ready to deal with some of the possibilities contained within that package, not when he was so tired, so he let his eyes close, one hand resting lightly on the paper. It was easier than ever to slip in under the snow; the storm was barely even blowing, and he went to sleep peaceful and protected.
XX*XX*XX*XX*
Severus Snape was intrigued by the radical change in his interactions with Potter. He did not feel like he had changed something momentous about himself, there was nothing fundamentally different; all he had done was refrain from mentioning the young man's father. Perhaps within that was the answer; where Potter had been wrongly treated like a child, he had treated him as an adult. In truth, he was neither, Severus oscillated between thinking of him as 'the boy' and as a man, albeit a young one; as he would a graduate student, but there was something compelling about Harry Potter, now. An old, glittering knowledge in the way he looked at the world.
The remembered sensation of absolute trust was something profound that Severus kept returning to. As he had guided and protected that fragile part of Harry's mind, enfolding it in his magic and will, he had felt Harry's 'grip' on him falter then strengthen, bringing with it that trust. It had felt like holding something very precious and warm enfolded in his cloak, near his chest. Perhaps that explained some of the ease with which their two subsequent meetings had passed. Severus certainly had no desire to betray that memory.
He huffed quietly enough that the twins did not hear it, expressing his aggravation; it was new and a little uncomfortable to receive Harry's trust. He felt the werewolf, or even the Headmaster would have been a more prudent choice than his own, twisted self. But even as he thought it, he knew that was impossible; Potter would never be able to fully trust either of them. They had had responsibilities to him and they had failed in that capacity. Both had left him with the neglectful and occasionally outright abusive Dursleys, had in one case told him nothing of his parents and in the other, failed to tell him that he even knew his parents until the end of a year of teaching and friendship.
These were betrayals on a powerful, emotional level, which were then heavily compounded by failures in later years, notably, the poor handling of information in the last year, which could be laid at Albus' curly-toed-slippers in its entirety. Severus had not been pleased to learn that the Headmaster had shared the prophecy with Harry immediately after the death of his Godfather, either. They had been extremely lucky that he had not destroyed the Headmasters Tower, let alone the rest of his office. Lupin's poor behaviour had extended only to neglect which, though bad enough in itself, it was understandable, given Lupin's role in healing Black's mind during Harry's fourth year.
And then had come the Package. The catalyst for the loss of the most powerful Blood wards seen in Britain in over a century, and Wizardom's best kept secret. Careless, careless Lupin, too wrapped up in his own grief to handle more than the simple minded desire to finish something Black had started. No matter that Harry had been far from ready to face the memory of his Godfather, no matter Remus hadn't so much as sent him a letter.
Severus counted them lucky, again, that Harry had come out of the maelstrom slightly more in control, when he could have broken and fled, right into the arms of Death Eaters.
A thick belch from the potion Severus was stirring (one clockwise, every third second, one figure of eight every seventh) indicated it was time to add the next ingredient and he did so with his free hand, protected by his dragon skin gloves from the caustic sap of the herb. Stepping back from his own thoughts for a moment, he wondered at how well he knew Harry Potter's mind, already. With another irritated shake of his head, he bent back over the cauldron and stirred vigorously anti-clockwise for exactly seventeen seconds.
And what a mess that mind was...
He realised that while he had reasoned out why Harry did not trust Lupin or Albus, it remained to be explained why he, Severus Snape, was trusted. It was no doubt true, but the certainty of Harry's conviction rivalled Albus', it was... excessive for that to be granted to a man who had made Harry's life miserable, when they came into contact. Severus could not claim full blame for that, circumstances had dictated his initial behaviour, but acting the part had bled into his personal feelings once the arrogant, Potter attitude had responded to his sneers. He continued to berate himself for that, had he not been so blind he could have aided Harry while he was still a boy, shielded him from the long term effects of his family's neglect. But no, Harry would always be small and delicate now; it would do no good for Snape to harbour guilt over things not done.
His mind once again returned to that recollection of Harry cleaving to his mind, trusting him with his sanity...
Perhaps... he was not the only one effected by the closeness of that manner of rescue... if he recalled correctly, the wind, that fission of mistrust had disappeared after Severus had promised to protect Harry, not 'with my life' or 'to the best of my ability', simply the promise in the absence of any qualifiers. He knew that it was not possible to lie directly to another mind, but did Harry? Had he felt the ring of truth in that statement? Had that allowed him to bestow his trust upon the snarky, vicious bat of the dungeons?
A sharp tap on the side of the cauldron sent a shockwave through the potion, turning it the correct shade of light blue and setting it to smoke correctly. He sat back on his stool and drew his wand, casting the necessary stasis charm on the potion to preserve it until Lupin arrived to take it the following day.
He was aware that the twins were nearly finished with their dissection and harvesting of the unfortunate Kappa, slathering, murderous beast that it was, and moved to their bench to observe and note down the quantities he now had of each rare ingredient.
He mentally cursed Potter for being so incredibly distracting.