A week later saw Halloween come to Hogwarts with an abrupt change in weather. Despite the late summer warmth they'd enjoyed only a week previous, there now sat a thin film of snow on the ground, with more falling every second. Harry Potter woke to a deep sense that something was going to go wrong. In Potions, he recalled Snape's words about relying on others, and decided to approach the man about the foreboding feeling.

The elite Seventh Year Potions class filed out, most of them talking amiably amongst themselves. The few in the class who resented Harry glared at him on their way out, but no one dared speak to him as he waited for the Potions Master. When the last of his peers had gone and closed the door, the seventeen year old carefully approached the front desk where Snape was grading their potions.

"Sir," He said softly, still unsure of what exactly he was doing. He waited until Snape put down the phial in his hand and looked at him before continuing. "I-I'm not sure it's anything important, but…Ever since I got up this morning, I've been feeling as if something bad was going to happen, something really terrible."

The Potions Master nodded, his black eyes flashing in the torchlight. "I have had a similar feeling, Potter. Unfortunately, I am unsure whether it is related to the change in weather, or because something is really coming. The only advice I can give you is to remain on guard, and to trust your instincts. They have served you well in the past, and will continue to do so."

Harry frowned, having hoped that perhaps Snape would allay his fears, or give them a name, but understood that not even the Potions Master could know everything. "Thank you, sir, for being honest with me. I'll see you at dinner." He turned to leave, but Snape stopped him.

"Potter," Harry turned back slightly to look at the man over his shoulder. "I'm glad that you came to me, instead of dismissing the feeling. If your instincts tell you that something is wrong, I hope you will speak to me, or give me some sign, and not chase after this suspicion alone." The former Gryffindor nodded and left the classroom, grateful that Snape hadn't dismissed him outright.

-Break-

The rest of the day progressed without incident, and as the Halloween Feast neared its end, Harry felt more and more uneasy. None of the other students seemed to understand why he was so on edge, but he had shared looks with several of his professors and was dully comforted that they seemed to sense the growing tension as well. It was as the majority of the students got up to return to their dorms after the feast that Harry heard it, a light whispering that he would have otherwise mistaken for a draft on any other day.

Harry looked up to the Head Table, catching Snape's eye sharply, before standing and running for the doors of the Great Hall. He leapt over the large group of students just as the doors burst open to reveal a mass of writhing snakes, at least a thousand strong. He realized with a start that each and every one of them were poisonous, and caught himself with his wings before he landed in the midst of the wriggling river. Screams of terror echoed in the Hall as the snakes moved forward, snapping at the students' ankles with fangs that were dripping with venom.

Several students fell as the group that had been moving towards the door tried to back away from the wriggling mass, and Harry hovered above them, watching in horror. Suddenly, the snakes seemed to hit an invisible barrier, allowing the students who had fallen to crawl backwards, out of reach. Harry looked over to see Snape beyond the mass of students, his wand trained on the doors. The Potions Master caught his eye and nodded in acknowledgement, even as the other professors hurried over to help.

Seeing that his fellow students were safe, Harry cast a wandless 'sonorus' on himself, and stared at the mass of snakes that extended back into the Entrance Hall, more coming even now to pile against the barrier Snape had erected. After a second's thought, he said the one thing that would get the hungry snakes' attentions.

"Food, food for all," He hissed loudly. Most of the snakes turned to face him. He repeated himself, and sighed with relief when he saw he'd gotten all of their attention. "Come," He cooed in parseltongue. He turned in the air and glided out of the Great Hall, blasting open the Entrance Hall doors. He began to lead the snakes to the Forbidden Forest before he recalled the many species that lived there, such as the Unicorns and Centaurs. Realizing there was nowhere for the snakes to go, he cast a spell, another barrier. Wave after wave of snakes rolled into the barrier until they were all writhing against it.

The former Gryffindor looked sadly at the innocent creatures, but glanced at the still open doors of Hogwarts to see more than half of the school looking on in fear. Turning away so he wouldn't have to watch the carnage, he set his barrier ablaze and listened to the sickening screams of betrayal as the poisonous creatures began to burn. He flew back towards the school, gliding low as he tried not to think of the lives he'd just taken. He made it halfway before a horrified scream tore through the air.

When he reached the amassed students on the front lawn, bathed in the light from the Entrance Hall, he saw what had caused the scream. A young Third Year lay deathly still on the stone steps leading up to the castle. Madame Pomfrey pushed her way through the students and knelt by the young girl. After casting several spells, she looked up at the Headmaster and shook her head sadly, her tears lit in the dancing light from the Entrance Hall. A gasp moved like a wave across the students as they realized the girl was dead, and several looked up at him.

"Potter killed her!" A voice cried out in the crowd. "He led them out, only he could have led them in!"

Harry drew back in shock, his wings beating against the frigid night air as the crowd began shouting accusations at him. He caught a flash of dark eyes, lost in the sea of monstrous faces, and took off into the black sky to escape the accusations. As he flew further from the mob of distraught students, spells began firing from the mass, and he was forced to dodge them until he had disappeared in the moonless sky. Despair racked his body as he sought a safe haven away from the baseless accusations of his peers.

-Break-

"I thought I might find you here," Snape said softly, closing the door to the Astronomy Tower.

Harry shivered as a sharp gust of wind blew across the top of the tower, blinding him with falling snow for a moment. "I'd like to be alone," He murmured, wrapping his wings around his shoulders like a blanket. He was perched on a plinth in the center of the tower that he imagined had once held one of Hogwarts' many winged boar statues, his knees hugged tight to his chest.

The man seemed to ignore his reply, and continued across the tower to come and stand beside him. "It's not your fault, Potter."

This made Harry unfathomably angry, and he jumped to his feet on the plinth, glaring at the man. "Yes it is!" He shouted, his voice carrying over the still night air. "If I hadn't tried to lead the snakes away from the castle then you or someone else would have noticed that she'd been bit!"

Snape glared back. "And if I had been faster to cast a barrier she would never have been bitten in the first place!" His voice was thunderous in the silence. "You made a decision, Potter, that doesn't make you any more complicit than I am! The only one at fault here is whoever did bring the snakes into the castle."

Harry stood defiantly for a few seconds, glaring at the man, before finally accepting that he wouldn't win the argument. He slumped and flopped back down onto the stone block. "It doesn't matter what you say, Snape. I had to kill the snakes in the end anyway, I made the wrong choice, and because of that a girl is dead."

Snape stepped in front of him. "Stop it, Potter," The man admonished firmly. Harry stared up at him through his fringe, a part of him hoping the man would allay his guilt. "You made a decision, and it was the wrong one, but it didn't cause that girl to die. People make decisions every day, life-altering decisions, and sometimes they are wrong, but that's called being human." Harry flinched as the man pushed up his left sleeve and thrust his wrist into view, exposing the tattoo that would forever stand as a reminder of his own mistakes. "I made a wrong choice once, and I paid the price with lives. I developed potions on orders, and they were used to harm innocents! Does that make me complicit in every death the Dark Lord caused?!"

Harry looked away from the evil mark, drawing his knees up to his chest again. "That's not the same thing." He muttered.

"Isn't it?!" Snape demanded furiously, thrusting his wrist back into Harry's line of sight. "I never actively hurt anyone, but I developed potions that the Death Eaters used against people. You didn't actively harm that girl, but you made a decision that delayed her receiving care that might have saved her. Am I to blame for any death my potions may have caused? Are you really to blame for hers?!"

Harry sighed and didn't respond. A long, heavy silence stood between them, Snape refusing to lower his arm, forcing Harry to look. Finally, the Wizarding savior looked up at the former Death Eater, tears coursing over his cheeks. He knew the man was right.

"It's just not fair," He whispered, giving a choked sob. "There's been so much pain, so much death already. When will the war finally end?"

The Potions Master re-buttoned his sleeve over his wrist and stepped forward so that they were eye-to-eye in the flickering torchlight. "I don't know, Potter." He admitted softly, wrapping his arms around the younger wizard's shoulders. "But if we blame ourselves for every death, or hide away from our responsibilities, then we will never find out. We can't let the casualties of war be the thing that stops us from continuing the fight."

"She was thirteen," Harry sobbed, holding onto the man with a deathly tight grip. "She should never have been a casualty."

"I know," Snape soothed him. "But the war has come to Hogwarts, and whether the students want you to or not, you have been called to the fight again." He pulled away and put his hands on either side of Harry's face, forcing him to look into the fathomless black eyes. "Do you understand, Potter? The war has come home and you have to fight; you have to fight, and you have to win, for all our sakes. Without you, Hogwarts is lost."

Harry sobbed again, staring blearily at his new Head of House. "Why me?" He whispered softly.

Snape sighed and pulled him back into the relative comfort of his arms, Harry's wings wrapping protectively around them both. "Because no one else can, Harry." Neither could have said how long they stayed like that, but when they finally parted, Harry was ready once more to be the hero Hogwarts needed.