The next morning saw a clear blue sky, the first since Halloween, over the blindingly white grounds. By noon, the students were packing into the carriages to be taken home for Christmas, and Harry stood atop the Astronomy Tower. He and Draco had wanted to put a little fear into the enemy, and had worked out a beautiful display of his new, mostly-controlled power, as a parting gift to his would-be adversaries.
When he caught the flash of Draco's wand letting off sparks, he dived from the Tower, only catching the wind in his wings mere feet from the ground. He soared close to the ground and gathered snow into the shallow basket he and Draco had found. When it was full, he soared over the heads of the students, all of whom were now watching him closely, some with glee and others with fear. When he thought he'd gone high enough, he threw the snow in the basket into the air over the heads of the largest concentration of students. He smirked, then cast the spell that would let him breathe a short burst of fire. As the snow began to fall, he puffed his single fiery breath over it, melting the ice crystals and soaking the crowd below.
"Potter!" A familiar voice bellowed.
Harry chuckled and dove towards the students, who had parted to make a wide berth around the soaked Potions Master. He came to a stop above the crowd, beating his wings to stay in place.
"Whoops, sorry, Professor, I didn't see you there," He said, chuckling. He reached down and high-fived Draco as the boy got into a carriage. Several of the students who'd been caught in the downpour were having trouble containing their laughter, even some who stood firmly behind Hermione's side of the silent war. The witch in question looked furious, having caught the brunt of his attack.
"Potter, you're going to give us all colds!" She shrieked, squeezing water from her sleeves.
Harry only laughed harder. "Nonsense, 'Mione, it was only a joke. Here, let me help." He cast a wide drying charm over the students he'd caught in his sudden rainstorm. It had the added benefit of making his ex-best friend's hair puff out hilariously. "There," He said, trying to hold in his laughter. "You're all dry now." After a moment, he could no longer hold in his raucous laughter at seeing Granger's hair frizz out similar to a poodle's, and he chortled cacophonously.
The girl huffed indignantly. "Potter! You spoil everything!" She screamed, trying to press her hair down. The students best thought of as her lieutenants hurried her into one of the waiting carriages.
Harry grinned. "It's just a joke, Granger!" He called. "Think of it as my fabulous farewell." Several students laughed with him, not all of them from his side, and he took off back to the Astronomy Tower. From there, he watched the students resume their departure from Hogwarts. After several minutes, the Potions Master joined him.
"It might have been nice to have some warning, Potter," Snape growled. He shooed Harry sideways and took up a seat on the same parapet. "I might have been able to enjoy the joke from the sidelines."
Harry chuckled even as his tail wrapped securely around the Potions Master's waist. It always worried him when the man sat so close to the edge, and he'd taken to doing this whenever the man did so. "I'm sorry, Professor, I really didn't mean to catch you in my little prank. If it helps at all, it was Draco's job to make sure you and the other professors were out of the line of fire."
Snape sniffed indignantly. "It does not help, Mister Potter. Next time, you should be more aware of who may get caught in your pranks."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay," He agreed. "But, it was worth it to see Granger looking like a drowned rat, even if you were caught in the middle."
The Potions Master tried and failed to hide a smirk. Harry nudged the man's shoulder lightly with his own, causing the smirk to come out full force. "It was rather funny," The man admitted finally. They sat in silence for several minutes as the carriages below began pulling out onto the path to Hogsmeade. "Have you finished packing for Grimmauld?" Snape asked finally. "I don't want you running your Elf ragged just because you forgot this, that, and t'other."
Harry looked at the man with a raised eyebrow. "T'other, seriously?" The Potions Master didn't respond, only sniffed indignantly, making Harry chuckle. "Yeah, I'm all packed up. Dobby took my things to Grimmauld already, so he could get settled. When are we leaving?"
"I have some last minute things to see to before we depart, so I am afraid you will have free reign of the castle for a few hours. However, I want you to meet me in the Entrance Hall at 3 'o' clock sharp, so that we may leave," Snape told him clearly. They sat for several more minutes, simply enjoying one another's company, before the older wizard finally left to tend to his last minute duties.
-Break-
Harry was walking back to the Slytherin dorms to make sure he really had packed all of his things when he was forced to dodge a spell shot from the dark recesses of an alcove behind him. The bolt of fire left a black scorch mark on the wall in front of him, and he paled, rolling further away as another spell came racing towards him. He regained his footing at the same time as he drew his wand, casting a series of minor hexes at the alcove the spells had come from. A small figure dove from the alcove, firing yet more spells at him, and he shouted, his wings reflexively carrying him out of the line of fire. He shot towards the standing figure and landed on the boy's chest, his claws retracting so as not to pierce the robes.
"Dennis?" He asked in surprise. "What are you doing?!"
The younger boy growled and shot a spell at him that Harry barely dodged, allowing the boy to stand up. The angry fifth year glared at Harry, his wand poised to attack further. "You tried to hurt Hermione!" Dennis shouted. He shot several more high-level curses, which Harry dodged or shielded against easily.
"You're the traitor?!" This news came as such a shock, that Harry barely dodged the next attack. The spell struck the wall where he had been standing, and created such a concussive blast that it threw Harry from his paws, throwing him backwards to bounce head first off the opposite wall of the corridor. He crumpled to a heap, one wing half-shielding his prone form.
Harry struggled to open his eyes, his ears ringing from the blast. He peeled his eyes open groggily in time for the world around him to be engulfed in red. His first thought was that Dennis had cast another of his fire spells, but when he didn't feel the lick of flames against his skin he realized the light must have been a stunner. Suddenly, hands were on him, rolling him over and brushing aside his limp, black wing. He stared up into the guarded face of his savior, his Head of House.
"Harry?!"
The deep voice was small and faraway beyond the continued ringing in Harry's ears. He tried to groan, but it ended in a painful, wracking cough. The groan came more easily now as the left side of his ribcage screamed in pain. He looked back to Snape as his vision began to dull, darkness creeping in at the edges.
A limp hand rose slowly to touch the sharp features above him, but before Harry's fingers could make contact with the sallow skin, unconsciousness closed its jaws around him, drawing him down into the dark. His last memory was of being lifted by the wiry strength of the Potions Master, cradled against a rapid heartbeat.
