Chapter fourteen

Minerva had opened the tunnel to the shrieking shake. She only allowed Severus and Harry to use it so whoever was watching for Harry would not see two strange men leave the school and suspect polyjuice potion was used. By the time Harry and Severus snuck through the tunnel, Severus could see how scared Harry was even though neither of them looked like themselves.

'Relax, there is no way anyone would know it's you. You look to be about thirty, dirty long blond hair, no lightning shaped scar and no glasses. You are even taller.'

'Keep reminding me because I feel like me even if I don't look like me.'

'I will remind you. So are you ready?'

'Not really but I know I have to do this and if I can get through this without being attacked it will help.'

'Yes it will, but I will still take you by side along apparition. You are not focused enough right now.'

'I don't mind because it means I get to hold you.'

'You cheeky brat.'

Harry chuckled then slipped his arms around Severus' waist, 'You can't deny you like this, not after that kiss?'

'I don't and if you behave while we are out then you might get what you've been dreaming about. But then again, it's still too soon for sex.'

'You're a tease Sev,' Harry smirked.

'Your mother always called me Sev, never Severus unless I was in trouble.'

'Yeah, I saw that in your memory. Okay, let's do this so we can get back to snogging.'

Severus chuckled, 'I think I have found the perfect way to get you out of hiding and I am going to use it as often as I can.'

'I don't mind since I want to snog you and shag you.'

'That is not behaving,' Severus shook his head then tightened his hold on Harry before turning on the spot, 'You're okay, and no one will see Harry Potter.'

'Okay,' Harry took a couple of deep breaths then let Severus go, 'I'm ready. Where are we heading?'

'Into Diagon Alley, I could do with some ingredients, you might like to look at something while we're here, maybe a new broom.'

'I have thought about another broom. Do you fly Sev?'

'Before we go any further, call me William.'

'Oh right, well, I couldn't use James, someone might pick up on that. What about John as that was Remus' middle name?'

'John it is, now as to your question, yes I fly I just never saw the fascination with the game of quidditch.'

'Maybe we could have a fly together. You know…William, maybe you could incorporate duelling but on brooms, having the high ground advantage would be good.'

'I have never thought of that before but it is something that we might have to consider. You know John, I think being around me is rubbing off on you. You are finally starting to use your brains.'

'I'd rather use something else on you right now.'

Severus shook his head, 'No, not yet, now come on,' Severus and Harry walked towards the door to the Leaky Cauldron. Even though Severus could see Harry was nervous, he held his head up and just stepped into the old pub. Severus followed but both men never stopped just walked through the pub until they came to the brick wall. Severus nodded to Harry so he took his wand out and tapped the bricks, 'You did well.'

'I wasn't sure how I would go, but it was easy and apart from a quick glance, no one took any notice of us.'

'No, so this will get you over your phobia which will help your mind remind you that you have always been a fighter. You might not want to fight anymore but right now you have no choice.'

'I know, but our last session helped, I felt a bit of my confidence coming back.'

'Good and even though I would do anything to help with that, I did not hold back at all. You needed me to go at you as if I was a real attacker, as that is the only way you can learn. Now let's go get my ingredients and remember, William?'

'I do…Bill,' Harry smirked making Severus chuckle, 'It works and it's a name I can remember easily enough.'

'Fine, Bill or William.'

Severus and Harry walked casually up the cobbled road until they came to the apothecary. It was crowded like always and Severus noticed Harry kept standing as close to him as he could, occasionally bumping into him.

'Relax,' Severus whispered, 'Help me with my ingredients, here,' Severus showed Harry the list, 'You can get those four at the bottom which is right where I need to be to get the rest.'

'Sorry, it's just so crowded in here, I wasn't expecting that.'

'It is a good test, you don't look frightened just a little nervous.'

Harry nodded then gathered Severus' ingredients. He did keep looking around but no one was taking any notice of him which made him relax even if it was just slightly. Severus paid then they left and headed to quality quidditch supplies. Harry looked at the Firebolt which reminded him of Sirius then he saw the latest broom, the Firestreak. He ran his hand over the sleek wood then closed his eyes.

'What are you doing?'

'Sensing, I did this with my old Firebolt that…Padfoot got me. It sort of felt like that broom was meant to be mine.'

'Are you sensing the same thing with this broom?'

Harry opened his eyes and smiled, 'Yes, I am,' Harry stepped over to the counter, 'Could I have two of the Firestreaks please?'

'Two, I do not get many people that want two because of the expense, unless it's a team.'

'No, nothing like that, just two people that want to have a fly together.'

'John, that is not necessary.'

'How are you going to fly with me if you don't have a broom? If I use this and you use those old things you'd never catch me. Besides, I want to get this for you, you've helped so much, it's my way of saying thank you.'

'You do not need to buy me anything for helping.'

'I know…Bill, but I want to,' Harry turned back, 'Two,' Harry put a heap of gold on the counter. The sales assistant handed Harry two brooms then his change.

'I hope you enjoy them.'

'I know I will, thanks.'

'Let's go, we have one more stop to make,' Severus shook his head then opened the door for Harry.

'Where else are we going?'

'To have some lunch while we are here. Remember though, take another sip of potion the moment we sit down.'

'Can you tell it's going to wear off or you're just good at keeping time?'

'Both as I have used this quite often, you get used to it.'

Harry and Severus stepped into the small pub. It was not the Leaky Cauldron, a smaller pub that Harry had never seen before. It wasn't like the Leaky Cauldron, this one didn't have rooms to rent. Harry sat, taking a sip of his potion. Severus bought two drinks then sat down taking a sip of his potion before both of them sipped their firewhiskey. Severus spotted Hermione and Ron even though they were disguised, he waved them over.

'Um, who are they?' Harry asked quietly as the woman and man sat down.

'John, these are friends.' Severus raised his eyebrows.

'Bilius, remember,' Ron smirked.

'Jean,' Hermione smiled.

'You never told me…Bill.'

'No, I wanted to surprise you. So we're going to sit together and have lunch. No one knows who we are, so let's just enjoy being out.'

'Are you okay?' Hermione asked.

'Yeah, bit nervous in the apothecary mainly because it was so crowded.'

'He's training is coming along very well. Last time he hit me over twenty times yet I never got him once. Care to explain what you did…John?'

'Um, Bill had me read this book about duelling so I thought I'd try it the next time we trained,' Harry smiled, 'Two handed duelling, two wands, one in each hand, it was fabulous, I couldn't believe how well it worked.'

'I've never read anything about duelling with two wands,' Hermione said looking disgruntled.

'I have an extensive library with books that students aren't always assigned. This was never considered worth trying, yet I have used it quite effectively, just not against John here. Let's order some lunch and John can go through how he defeated me,' Severus got the attention of the waitress, they ordered then went back to their discussion on two handed duelling. Even though Severus contributed to the conversation, he mainly watched Harry. While he was telling his two friends about using two wands, Harry was relaxed and Severus couldn't see any nervousness or fear in Harry. While he was talking, he was concentrating on what he was saying and just being with his two best friends. Severus hoped if they kept going out, disguised, then Harry will be back to his old self, where he would fight and not give up even if he thought the situation was hopeless.