A/N: Hey, so here's the next chapter. I've been asked when Harry and Severus get intimate. Well, let's go by steps. :P They are slowly starting to feel attraction now. They will acknowledge their attraction in May sometime (we are now at the end of March). They will get together in August, which is also when they'll share their first kiss. They will not become totally intimate (sex) until probably December. So, it's still a while before they get totally intimate, but it's coming. :P Be patient. Lol. Anyways, hope you like this chapter.
The snow slowly began melting as the remaining days of February passed and March began. The weather became less bitter. However, Harry Potter took no notice of the warming weather falling around Hogwarts for he was far too distracted by other thoughts. While the attack on the Romanian school had by no means been forgotten, it had been pushed to the back of the mind.
Except Harry, that is.
He couldn't forget it. Emmeline Vance had died in the attack and Harry had been told that his honorary brother, Kingsley Shacklebolt had been injured. He would not be able to let go of thoughts of the attack until Kingsley had returned home. He was meant to be home any day now, Emmeline's body with him.
Harry sighed and shook his head as he slowly, absently, wandered the corridors. His hands were in his pockets and his eyes were distant like his thoughts. He had no idea where he was going but he didn't care. All he cared about was Kingsley coming home alive.
"Harry!" he stopped walking at Draco's call.
"What?"
"Harry, you should go to the hospital wing," Draco said and Harry frowned.
"Why? I'm not injured or sick," Harry said.
"Not for you. Harry, Kingsley's back," Draco said and Harry took off for the hospital wing. Draco didn't register Harry's actions for a few moments but then he ran after the Gryffindor. He caught up just as Harry was throwing the infirmary doors open.
"Where is he?" Harry asked immediately. The hospital wing was filled with people, all crowding around one bed.
"Harry—" Dumbledore started to say but Harry cut him off.
"Where is he?" Harry repeated through clenched teeth.
"Let him through. He'll end up cursing everyone if you don't," a familiar deep voice said and Harry fought a smile. He walked forward as the crowd parted, revealing a smiling Kingsley on the bed. Harry acknowledged a figure in a distant bed covered by a white sheet but did not give it a glance.
"Kingsley," Harry whispered.
"Hey, kid," Kingsley said and Harry ran to the coloured man, wrapping his arms around Kingsley's neck.
"I was so worried. I thought you were dead and then I read about Emmeline and then I heard you were injured," Harry muttered into his brother's ear.
"I'm fine, Harry. I was hit with some Cutting Curses and Burning Hexes. I was also hit with a Bone-Breaking Curse, nearly shattered my leg," Kingsley told him. Harry pulled back and smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed. That was one reason he loved talking to Kingsley so much. Like Severus, the man never lied to him and didn't try to put bad things pleasantly. Sure, he kept things from Harry like Severus but only when he was unable to say anything or believed it not to be of much importance.
"Why did it take so long for you to get back?" Harry asked, aware that they were being watched by all the others.
"I had to help gather the dead and injured and clean the rubble. I helped call for the families of the dead and I had to find Emmeline. I wouldn't leave without her. I also assisted in sending the other students home," Kingsley explained and Harry nodded.
"The girl that Emmeline saved. Is she all right?" Harry wondered, casting a quick glance at the white sheet.
"A few cuts and bruises and she was shaken, but she is all right, more or less. Her parents came to pick her up mere hours after the attack," Kingsley said.
"That is all for now, you two. I must heal Mr. Shacklebolt," Madam Pomfrey interrupted, shooing Harry off the bed. He scowled but obeyed. It was then that he took full notice of the others in the wing.
Dumbledore, Flitwick, McGonagall, Moody, and Severus were present. To Harry's shock, Remus and Tonks were there as well, along with Bill, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley.
"Remus? Tonks? What are you doing here? Remus, you're supposed to be in Switzerland. Tonks, you were in Portugal," Harry frowned, walking over to them.
"Professor Dumbledore has called everyone back from their missions. We're having a meeting tomorrow night since Kingsley should be healed by then," Remus explained.
Harry looked around and then back at Remus and Tonks, this time noticing how closely they were standing next to each other. Harry grinned at Remus who looked wary at the look in the young man's eye.
"You two seem close," Harry said, raising an eyebrow and still grinning. "Something you want to tell me, Remus?"
Remus blushed though he tried to hide it. "There's nothing to tell, Harry."
"That is definitely not what I see." Harry crossed his arms, smirking.
"Harry," Remus hissed, still blushing a deep red.
"Mr. Potter, torturing Lupin, are you?" Severus said, walking up behind Harry.
"I'm just curious," Harry said, looking at Severus who rolled his eyes. Harry smiled and fought to ignore the close proximity of the Potions master and didn't dwell on his strange reactions to the man.
"You are never 'just curious', Potter. If you are, it never means anything good and I always have to save your bloody arse," Severus sneered and Harry chuckled.
"The only thing you'll have to save me from is an embarrassed werewolf," Harry said, looking back at the man he considered a father who was still blushing, but watching them interestedly. Severus snorted, rolled his eyes again, and walked away. His arm brushed Harry's lightly and Harry started at his reaction to the light touch.
"Seems we have some catching up to do, pup," Remus said with a raised eyebrow.
"You've been gone for seven months, Remus. You've missed a lot," Harry said, smiling.
For the next few hours, Harry and Remus sat with Kingsley in the hospital wing, exchanging their news from the past months that they had missed together. After much combined pestering from Harry and Kingsley, Remus finally admitted his attraction to a certain Metamorphmagus. In return, Remus and Kingsley convinced Harry to give up the details of his much changed relationship with Severus Snape.
It was nearing midnight when Madam Pomfrey chased Harry and Remus from the infirmary and gave Kingsley a Sleeping Potion. Remus walked with Harry to Gryffindor Tower where they embraced each other and bid good night.
As Remus had said, an Order meeting was held the next evening when Kingsley had been released. It was in this meeting that all the members were given new assignments.
After being dismissed, Remus and Kingsley pulled Harry from his dinner into an empty classroom.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, looking at their solemn expressions.
"I am going back to Romania. I will be back in August," Kingsley told him.
"What? No, you can't." Harry shook his head.
"I am joining a werewolf pack to try and convince them to join the Light before Voldemort or Greyback get to them," Remus said and Harry stared at him in horror.
"No," Harry said.
"I'm so sorry, kid," Kingsley said and took Harry in his arms.
"You just came back," Harry mumbled into his chest.
"I know, Harry, but we can't wait forever. We have to do everything we can to win this war," Kingsley said and Harry nodded.
"I'm going to miss you, pup," Remus said, hugging Harry tightly. The child was like his son and he loathed having to leave him.
"I'll miss you too," Harry said quietly. The three of them stood in silence, treasuring each other's presence.
"It is time for us to go," Kingsley said and Harry felt his breath catch. They both hugged Harry again and kissed his head.
"I love you, Harry. You're like my son," Remus said and Harry fought tears.
"I love you too," Harry said and hugged the werewolf again. "Goodbye, Remus."
"Goodbye, Harry."
"You're my little brother, Harry, and I'm going to miss you a hell of a lot. I'll be back in a few months though," Kingsley said, holding Harry to his chest.
"It's too long," Harry said and Kingsley chuckled. "Bye, Kingsley."
"Goodbye, Harry."
Kingsley and Remus finally left. As they headed outside, Harry rushed up to the Astronomy Tower. He ran to the edge and stared down at the grounds. He watched with teary eyes as Remus and Kingsley walked across the grounds, through the gate, and disappeared.
Harry was irritable the first couple days after Remus and Kingsley left but eventually he calmed down, thanks to Severus who had all but hexed him for the way he was acting.
March passed oddly fast. However, one weekend near the end of the month was a Hogsmeade weekend and all the students were quite excited. A Hogsmeade weekend made things seem normal again, not like they were in the middle of a raging war that was only getting worse and didn't seem to have an end in sight.
"Harry, come on," Hermione said finally losing her patience. She, Ron, and Draco had been waiting for Harry to join them for about fifteen minutes now so they could go to the village.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Harry said, descending the stairs from the boys' dorms.
"Finally," Ron said and Harry glared at him.
"I'm being dragged on this trip. You shouldn't expect me to be rushing to get ready," Harry said and they all rolled their eyes.
"Well, let's go," Ron said and they left Gryffindor Tower. Ron and Hermione walked together behind Harry and Draco as they made their way through the castle and down to the village. The snow crunched under their feet as they walked down the road to Hogsmeade. They waved and said quick hellos to the other students as they passed.
"Where first?" Hermione asked as they stood in the middle of the road.
"I need to go to the Quill Shop," Harry said. "I broke my last quill the other day."
"Of course you did," Draco said with a grin and Harry scowled at him, punching him in the arm. "Ow. Git."
"How about we all meet up at the Three Broomsticks in a couple hours?" Hermione suggested and they all nodded. They split up, Harry and Draco heading for Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.
"Harry!" a voice called and Harry turned to see Parvati Patil and Justin Finch-Fletchley running towards them.
"Hey, what's up, guys?" Harry asked.
"Have you seen Padma and Hannah?" Parvati asked. "We went to Zonko's and when we turned around, they were gone."
"No, I haven't seen them." Harry shook his head and looked at Draco.
"I've been with you the whole time, Harry. I haven't seen them either." Draco shrugged and Parvati frowned.
"What about Ernie?" Justin asked.
"Nope, haven't seen him either," Harry and Draco told them.
"Okay. Thanks for the help," Parvati said and Harry and Draco nodded. Parvati and Justin took off, probably to ask others about the whereabouts of Padma, Hannah, and Ernie.
"Well, that was kind of weird," Harry said as they walked into the Quill Shop.
"We've seen weirder." Draco shrugged, picking up a couple jars of ink, one black and one green.
"Of course we have but it's weird that they'd just disappear," Harry said, grabbing a handful of quills and looking over the different ink.
"They're probably just playing a joke on them. Trying to freak them out. Freaking someone out isn't hard to do these days," Draco said, picking up about five quills and a jar of blue ink.
"True but they don't seem the type. Padma would never do that to Parvati. They're really close. I can see Ernie doing something like it to Justin but not Padma or Hannah," Harry said, taking three jars of black ink.
"You know them better than I do, mate." Draco shrugged again and they walked up to the cash to pay. They each paid about twenty-five galleons and left the store.
"That's the thing though, I don't know them all that well, but I just think it's strange they'd disappear," Harry said, looking up and down the crowded street. "Look, it's Blaise, Flint, and Millicent," he added, pointing to the three Slytherins who had just left the post office.
"Now that's weird. They never hang out together. Flint is in his seventh, well, eighth year since he failed and couldn't graduate. Millicent hates Blaise. Blaise is usually with Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle now," Draco said, frowning at the Slytherins.
"Something odd is going on," Harry said, watching the Slytherins walk away, standing in a straight line. They didn't speak and didn't look around, they just stared straight ahead.
"You mean odder than usual?" Draco raised an eyebrow. Harry rolled his eyes. "Look, isn't that Ernie?" Draco asked, pointing over to the Three Broomsticks where Ernie Macmillian appeared to be waiting for something or someone.
"Yeah, it is. Hey, there's Hannah and Padma," Harry said and they watched as the two girls walked over to Ernie. They looked at each other and then began walking down the street in the same fashion as the Slytherins had. Harry and Draco looked at each other, frowning in confusion.
"Come on. Let's go to Honeydukes. I'm craving some sweets," Draco said and Harry laughed. They headed for the sweet shop where Draco proceeded to by a bunch of nearly everything in the store. Harry watched him with an amused expression as he bought a few chocolate frogs, sugar quills, fudge (as he had long ago finished the fudge from Mrs. Weasley), and a few cauldron cakes.
"Draco, I think you missed a few things on that shelf over there," Harry said teasingly when Draco dropped his purchases on the counter to pay.
"Ha ha, very funny, Gryffindor." Draco rolled his eyes and Harry chuckled.
"Come on, let's go. We can wait in the Three Broomsticks for Ron and Hermione," Harry said as they were handed their bags with their sweets. They entered the pub and sat at a table in a corner next to a window. They both ordered butterbeers and proceeded to wait for the others.
Ron and Hermione arrived an hour later while Harry and Draco were ordering another round of drinks. The four of them stayed in the pub and talked for some time, Harry and Draco telling the others about what they had seen with the Slytherins, Ernie, Hannah, and Padma. Both Ron and Hermione were just as confused about the actions of their schoolmates but none of them had any explanations as to what had happened.
After about forty-five minutes, they decided to head back to the school. None of them saw the Slytherins, Ernie, Padma, or Hannah again that day. None of them showed up to dinner. When they noticed this, they all looked at each other with confusion as well as a little trepidation.
They had a feeling something was going to happen.
Harry yawned as he turned the page in the book he had gotten from the library. After dinner, he had returned to Gryffindor Tower and pulled Salazar Slytherin's book from his bag. Ron and Hermione had sat with him for a few hours. They mostly talked to each other as he read and Hermione did homework. They both retired to bed at around eleven-thirty and Harry was alone in the common room by midnight.
He looked at his watch.
It was now one-thirty in the morning.
He didn't care what time it was. He had to find out how to destroy the Horcruxes. He was still waiting for Severus to decide when they would be going to the Gaunt house but he hoped it was soon. He wanted to be able to destroy the Horcruxes as quickly as possible.
Harry sighed tiredly as he turned another page and began reading before realizing it had nothing to do with Horcruxes. He flipped ahead a couple pages before he stopped when the word 'Basilisk' in large letters caught his eye. He realized it didn't exactly connect with the Horcruxes or destroying them but he didn't care. He wanted to read about the Basilisk and maybe find out something he didn't already know.
He was about halfway down the first page when he heard the sound of murmuring. He stopped reading and looked around the common room but didn't see anything or anyone. He was still alone. He shook his head and returned to the book. All was quiet for a time before Harry heard the unmistakable sound of the portrait door opening. His head snapped up and he pulled his wand from its holster on his wrist.
Harry didn't move after that but opted to stay still and quiet to listen for more sounds. He heard the door close and the sound of footsteps. He put the book on the coffee table and slowly got to his feet. He turned and found himself looking at Padma Patil.
He frowned. It was late and Padma was in Gryffindor Tower even though she was a Ravenclaw. What was going on? The girl looked at him and Harry frowned at her blank expression. His attention was grabbed by more footsteps and by the others stepping out of the shadows. He frowned deeply. In front of him were the six students who had been acting strange in Hogsmeade. This only confirmed that something was definitely going on.
Harry gripped his wand tightly when the Slytherins began walking towards the stairs that led to the dormitories. He was still waiting for an explanation or even an attack when Blaise and Hannah began walking up to the boys' dorms.
Harry gasped and ducked when Millicent Bulstrode sent a Stunning Spell at him. "What the hell?" he shouted spontaneously at the attack and ducked again when a jet of green light flew at him. He retaliated with his own Stunning Spell.
"Harry? What's going on?" He heard Hermione call just as he heard shouts from the boys' dorms. He was in the middle of fighting with Marcus Flint and Ernie Macmillian when a bunch of the Gryffindor girls ran down into the common room.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed and sent a curse of her own at Millicent who was trying to sneak up on Harry. Everyone except the intruders jumped when Dean appeared, falling down the stairs.
"Dean! Are you okay?" They heard Ron yell just before he and the rest of the sixth year boys appeared, some still fighting with Blaise and Hannah. Dean groaned but didn't get up and said no more as he appeared to lose consciousness.
The Gryffindors continued to fight, dodging spells and sending their own. Harry found himself fighting both Padma, who had decided to attack her sister, and Flint, who had gone after Hermione. He was keeping up a good pace but he was still tiring. As he fought, he couldn't help but wonder where the Slytherins had learned to duel so well. Padma, Hannah, and Ernie he could understand as they had been in the DA but he had no idea about the Slytherins.
He was pulled from his thoughts when a loud scream echoed through the Tower. He spun around and found Ginny lying on the floor convulsing. Clearly she had been put under the Cruciatus Curse and had fallen unconscious under it.
"Ginny!" Hermione cried and began to crawl over to her. She had been hit in the thigh with a strong Cutting Curse and had fallen to the floor. As she was crawling over and Harry was engaged with Blaise and Hannah, Flint sent a Blasting Curse at her. It hit the floor near her and caused her to fly across the room, hitting the wall.
The fight continued on. Harry managed to incapacitate Hannah, Millicent, and Padma. However, he only got to Padma after she had stunned Parvati. Seamus and Neville fought against Blaise while Harry tried to help as well as search for Ernie who had mysteriously disappeared.
"Seamus!" he heard Neville shout and he turned to find Seamus on the ground and bleeding profusely from a gash on his head and on his side. Neville was stunned while he was distracted and Harry just managed to bind Blaise.
Harry was spinning around trying to find Ernie when he fell to the ground, gasping for air through the pain. He knew immediately that he had been hit with the curse that Severus had created: Sectumsempra. He forced himself to roll over onto his back despite the pain. His vision was tunnelling in as he looked around. He thought he could see Flint and Ernie but wasn't sure. He was also dimly aware of heat beginning to permeate through the Tower and found it was getting strangely hotter. He lost consciousness just as a bright orange light came into his sight but he had no idea what it was.
A/N: Leave a review and let me know what you think. Thanks so much. :]
