A/N: Hey there! New chapter and the next one will come some time next week! Read and review!

Chapter 14

Harry woke up alone in the bed and first he thought Snape had had a nightmare and went up to work but then he remembered the fight. And then he remembered he had to get up for class. And then he realized that he'd missed his first class and was twenty minutes late to his second class.

He didn't have time for breakfast and didn't even stop to change his clothes. He'd fallen asleep in the clothes he'd worn the other day and they were wrinkly but looked okay. He cursed Snape as he ran to class. That idiot hadn't even woken him up! This couldn't be good for him, all this arguing and the stress and – Harry added as his stomach grumbled – the lack of food. No, it could not be good. And a small part of him blamed Snape, even though it might have been Harry himself who'd started the fight. And the things both of them had said. It hadn't been pretty, it really hadn't. Harry's guilt for what he'd said and the anger from what Snape had said clashed together in a mess that Harry was sure was going to result in a horrible headache.

When Harry ran up to the classroom his class was outside the door waiting for him.

"Sorry I'm late", Harry panted and unlocked the door to the classroom.

"We thought we were going to get an hour off", one of the kids said optimistically but Harry ignored him and muttered under his breath.

He spent whole morning snapping at the kids and even shouting at one of them for making a mistake and making him spill out all his ink all over his desk. He spent lunch avoiding Snape's eyes and slowly and painfully killing his mashed potatoes and sausages by stabbing them repeatedly with his fork. That was a little better than stabbing Snape repeatedly with something a lot sharper than a fork. And then, to make the day better, McGonagall wanted him to come up to her office in the afternoon.

"I do not accept tardiness among my teachers, Harry", she began and Harry grumbled under his breath again.

"I'm sorry, um, Minerva", he said. He'd almost said professor, but then he'd remembered that they were actually equals.

Then she smiled and Harry almost jumped off his seat.

"But it is only your second day and I think it's quite forgivable. The pupils are treating you well, right? There are no problems?" she said and Harry shook his head.

"They're all very nice. I just overslept."

Her smile turned from a happy one to one that Harry didn't recognize. It was maternal, he realized after a while.

"And is everything going well with the living arrangements?"

"Yeah. Yes, it is."

"Good", she said and smiled in a strange way.

Had she just called him up here to make smalltalk? That was kind of a waste of his time. He had lots of angry brooding he had to do after all.

Harry looked at her carefully. "Is there something else?"

"Yes. Severus visited me."

Harry stiffened. "Okay. What did he say?"

McGonagall looked down at her desk. "He requested a change of quarters. Only for you", she added as if that was unclear.

Had Harry really gone that far over the line? Snape couldn't be making him move out. They'd lived together for just a few weeks. He couldn't be leaving. No. That was ridiculous.

Harry couldn't start crying in McGonagall's office either, but he did that too. "Oh", he said as McGonagall leaned forward in an attempt to comfort him. "Well, give me some new quarters, then."

See if I care, he wanted to say, but it was pretty obvious that he cared. He tried to ignore the tears running down his face.

"Harry. If you want to talk, I'm..." she began, but Harry stood up, interrupting her.

"I need to get back", he said. He needed to pack his things apparently. But he said, "Lots of grading to do, you know."

And he left, hoping that Snape wouldn't be in their quarters.

...

Snape was there. He was slouched in the couch with his eyes closed and Harry knew just by one look that he was drunk. He picked a bottle up and smelled it. Wine. Nice. A perfect ending to a perfect fucking day.

Snape laughed as Harry leaned over him to see if he was awake.

"How much have you drunk?"

He smirked again and moved in that slow, clumsy way that he did when he was drunk. Not that Harry had seen him drunk a lot, he rarely did drink alcohol and when he did he certainly didn't drink enough to get this drunk. Harry thought it had something to do with his father and how often he'd gotten drunk and hit him and his mother. Harry couldn't believe he'd insulted Snape about that. That was heartless.

All that anger he'd been dealing with melted away as Snape grabbed his hand and said, "A lot." Harry noticed he had trouble focusing on his face and his head swayed slightly

Harry didn't say anything. He didn't apologize. He stood and looked at the drunken Snape, trying to figure out what to do with him. He could just leave him there. It wasn't his problem anymore, he thought bitterly.

Harry decided to help him to the bed. He couldn't just walk away.

When he got Snape up, he leaned against him limply. "You need to sleep this off. Tomorrow's Wednesday. You need to teach tomorrow."

"What time is it?" Snape asked and Harry could barely hear what he was saying. He hated him like this. He wasn't Snape when he was drunk, he was someone else. Someone that Harry didn't like at all. Someone sloppy that made Harry uncomfortable.

He looked at his watch. "It's 6 in the afternoon."

Snape slurred something unintelligible and Harry shuddered. No, he didn't like this Snape.

Harry didn't even bother answering Snape, he just dragged him off to the bedroom and when Snape hit the bed he moved around a bit but then settled on his stomach and fell asleep.

...

Harry packed up his things and left before it got dark. When he got up to the Great Hall he realized that he didn't know where to go. He'd walked out from McGonagall's office before she'd had time to say anything else.

He looked down at the floor and wondered how he'd gotten in this mess. He shouldn't have said those things. But Snape shouldn't have said the things he'd said either. It was just such a fricking mess.

"Professor Potter?" a quiet voice asked.

Harry turned around and faced Eric Gray, a quiet first year Gryffindor. "Yes?"

He looked like he didn't know where to look, like he was looking in to the sun. Oh god. Harry really couldn't take any more nervous children.

"I was wondering about the homework", he said quietly but astoundingly even.

"Could we..." Harry was about to say 'Could we do this later?' when Eric started to cry.

He was so shocked that it took several minutes – it seemed – to pull Eric into an empty classroom. It was surprising, atleast in that moment, that someone else than Harry and Snape could get unhappy. He couldn't think like that. It was selfish.

"Hey. Hey, what is it?" Harry asked and put a hand on Eric's arm. He sniffled and cried loudly, like children did. He wiped his tears with the sleeve of his robe.

"What's wrong? Are... Are the other kids mean? Or do you miss home?"

Most of the first years were homesick, atleast at first. Harry hadn't been, but he only had the Dursleys to miss, so who could blame him?

"Yes", Eric blubbered.

"Miss your mum and dad?" Harry asked. His legs were starting to ache from crouching down.

"No, I miss Nan. My grandma. I don't have a mum and dad", he got out between sobs.

Oh. His parents had probably been killed in the war. The deatheaters had killed hundreds of people that had been considered threats to Voldemort. They'd killed people just for fun too, but that had been mostly muggles. Eric had probably grown up with his grandmother. Teddy would too, Harry remembered. He should go and visit Teddy. He'd been there a few times, but it was a long time since last time. He must be getting so big. What was he now, three? Or maybe four? Harry was his godfather, he should know that.

"I felt homesick too when I first came here", Harry lied. "It gets better, I promise. If you just try not to think about it, then you just... Don't think about it after a while. Okay?"

Lousy advice, but it was the best Harry could give.

"Okay", Eric said and nodded.

"So don't cry", Harry said and tried to smile.

How could he get so snowed in on fighting with Snape? This kid had lost his parents in a war. It was different from Harry losing his parents. He couldn't remember them. Eric had to have met his parents and he had to remember them. That was terrible. Way worse than Harry fighting with Snape.

A/N: I wasn't sure if I should have kept the drunk Snape scene, but I decided to let it stay right where it is. I hope you didn't take it as a funny kind of drunk, because that certainly wasn't the point. Even though it made me slightly uncomfortable to write, I just wanted to show how hard Snape has taken this breakup.

And I know things are looking bleak but I promise SPOILER that they get back together in the end, even though it might not happen in the next few chapters. Hope you can bear with me and Harry and Severus meanwhile!