They were in Charms class, working on a new spell that would make something that had been transfigured stick to something that hadn't. They all knew how to do basic sticking charms, but mixing Transfiguration with Charms was a bit more complicated and some students were doing more damage to what they were trying to Charm than anything else. They were supposed to stick cushions to wooden stools that had once been twigs, but most people had piles of twigs now and nothing to show for their work.

Harry so far had only managed to make the surface between his stool and cushion tacky like someone had spilled honey between them, but at least he hadn't unraveled the transfiguration that was holding everything together. But Flitwick called him up to the front of the classroom, a piece of paper in one hand that was folded the way teachers did when they sent messages between the classrooms. Flitwick smiled at him in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring way. "The Headmaster would like to see you. You're excused from class for the day." And Harry didn't think he was imagining the hint of curiosity in the man's tone. Students didn't normally get pulled out of class for no reason.

Harry stared for a moment, his mind already racing through what could have happened. Ron and Hermione were in class with him, so nothing about them or the Weasleys most likely. So hopefully it couldn't be too bad. Harry hadn't done anything to get in trouble recently. Nothing he knew about, at any rate.

"I'll…just grab my bag I guess," Harry replied.

Professor Flitwick waved that off. "I'm sure one of the others can take care of that for you. The Headmaster's excused you for the rest of the day. Best get up there now and find out what this is about."

"Right," Harry sighed. He made his way across the room to the door focused on what the Headmaster could want and not the rest of his class until Sasuke's firm grip on his wrist brought him up short. Harry jolted in surprise and stared at him in befuddlement. Last Harry had checked, the other boy had been in the back row. It had been weeks of the silent treatment from him. Harry was having a hard time remembering what it had been like to be able to talk to his cousin easily. Even in class, he barely saw the other boy. He always sat on the far side from Harry. Silently watching. Like an angry stubborn shadow that didn't like him but also wasn't willing to let him out of sight.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke demanded but kept his voice quiet enough that Harry would be the only one to hear.

It was the first time Sasuke had spoken to him directly and that was all he had to say? Harry scowled back at him, suddenly angry and tired and not at all as heartsick about this the way he sometimes was.

"I've been excused from class. If you want to talk to me, you'll just have to do it later, won't you?" he replied curtly.

Sasuke scowled like English had stopped making sense. Team 7 had been in country for months now and their English had gotten very good since then. Even Naruto's. So Harry knew he damn well understood him.

"Not alone," Sasuke declared.

Harry rolled his eyes at him and shook his arm irritably. He couldn't force Sasuke to let go (not without drawing his wand on him) but he could make him look stupid clinging onto Harry's arm like that. It probably wasn't the best way to avoid gossip but Harry didn't care anymore. If Sasuke was going to act like a snot head about this, then Harry was going to give back as good as he got. "You have class," Harry pointed out. "I have an excused absence. So see you later, Sasuke-kun."

Their classmates were starting to stare. The ones closest trying to pretend they weren't but the back rows were starting to crane their necks and Professor Flitwick was starting to move in their direction. They were just shy of starting a row in front of everyone and Sasuke seemed to realize it at that point. He scowled something fierce, and under other circumstances maybe Harry would have felt bad for that, but now he just felt a sort of swooping sick victory at putting Sasuke in an untenable position. The other boy had no choice, he let go of Harry with a jerk.

"Mr. Uchiha!" Professor Flitwick called. "Back to your practices now." A sticking charm was one of the few things that chakra mimicked easily and Sasuke had gotten it on the first try but the Professor had set him to undoing the 'charm' and repeating it over and over again.

Sasuke didn't even glance in the Professor's direction. "Professor Kakashi summoned me," he replied in a perfectly calm tone of voice that didn't match the look in his eyes that he was directing at Harry.

Professor Flitwick frowned at him, kind enough not to outright call the boy a liar but smart enough of a teacher to know bullshit when he heard it and unwilling to let it slide. But Sasuke yanked a piece of parchment out of his pocket. Harry only caught a glimpse at it. That certainly looked like Kakashi-sensei's scraggly form of written English. It even had one of his doodles on it. And while Harry wouldn't put it beyond Sasuke to be able to perfectly mimic it, he also strongly suspected all of Team 7 had excuse slips like that tucked away on their person at all times.

Must be nice to have an adult on the staff that would whole-heartedly and without exception excuse anything you did.

"Liar," Harry hissed out under his breath.

Sasuke didn't smile. He didn't scowl. He just stared back like he was the mountain that would not be moved and the rest of the world had better fall into line.

"Whatever," Harry announced before turning away. He had more important things to think about than his cousin being a jerk about something that wasn't Harry's fault. Ron and Hermione weren't happy he couldn't talk about Order business with them, but they certainly weren't being jerks about it. Why couldn't Sasuke manage that?

Hermione caught his eye across the room, half way out of her seat and looking ready to take on dragons for him. He managed a wan smile for her and waved her off. He could handle his cousin's prissy attitude until he got to the Headmaster's office. Sasuke hadn't tried to start another fight since that night and Harry doubted the other boy would try one in the middle of the hallway. And even if he did, maybe this time Harry really would hex him good for it. "See you at dinner," he called, purposefully friendly and pointedly ignoring Sasuke at his back.

It was harder once they were out in the hallway. They'd lost their audience and once upon a time this would have been when they could have talked freely. Harry shared classes with all of Team 7 and they were getting better at faking magic, but they were still stuck using chakra. It would have been interesting to ask him questions about how he was managing that latest bit of sleight of hand. But they weren't talking these days. And now Sasuke was trying to tell him when he could and could not leave class. And everything between them was now some kind of argument or competition on who could be the angriest and it didn't exactly lend itself well to making small talk.

Harry was a bit ashamed at how much he was looking forward to reaching the Headmaster's office. Sasuke had stayed about three steps behind him this whole time, like some dark cloud Harry couldn't shake. Not talking to him – no, of course not that. Sasuke was above such things. But he didn't know Hogwarts the way Harry did. Not really. Not instinctively. So when they got to the gargoyle, Harry didn't bother to hide his smug grin when it opened for him on the first try. Though waving cheekily as the gargoyle let him pass but not Sasuke was maybe pushing it a bit. The whole thing was smooth and fast enough that Sasuke barely had a chance to realize Harry was going where he couldn't follow before the door started to close.

"Harry!" Sasuke called out behind him – and now he wanted to talk. There was the screech of metal on stone but the stairway was already taking Harry up and away. It probably wouldn't have worked if Sasuke had been expecting it, but good old Hogwarts still had a few tricks left in her and she would always favor her children. The loud boom from below wiped some of the grin off of Harry's face though. God only knew what Sasuke was up to down there trying to break in. Harry had faith in the Headmaster's wards – but he also knew firsthand how much damage an angry nin could do.

When Harry finally entered the office he found the Headmaster still seated placidly behind his desk. There was only a raised eyebrow to indicate that he had any awareness of what was going on below. "Harry, dear boy. So good to see you again. I take it you had no trouble getting from class?"

"None at all, sir."

"Excellent," the Headmaster agreed. "I was hoping you might indulge an old man by reviewing some memories with me."

"Right," Harry agreed, trying to pretend like he had any idea as to how that was going to help. But Harry had put too much emphasis on this special meeting with the Headmaster by that point that he couldn't very well start complaining.

Something must have shown in his face, however, because the Headmaster smiled slightly as if he knew exactly what was going through Harry's head. "Memories about one student in particular, actually. A young man by the name of Tom."

Now that had Harry's attention.