Snape did return to Grimmauld Place the following day to examine Harry. Sirius roused him rather earlier than either of them would have preferred to get up, because the Potions master had said that he would be there by eight. This meant that if they all rose at seven, they had an hour to bathe, dress, and eat. It was likely more time than they needed, but Harry saw the wisdom of not keeping his teacher waiting.

"What do you think he's going to do?" Harry asked, over a breakfast of porridge.

"Likely as not, use his wand to perform various scans on you. Both to detect any residual dark magic from where the horcrux lay embedded within your skin, and to make sure you're truly in good health," Remus answered.

That made sense, or enough sense, anyway. The previous visit was a bit foggy in his memory, despite it only taking place a few days prior, but Harry's health had not been nearly as good as it was now.

Really, he felt completely back to normal.

Snape floo-called at the fireplace in the sitting room before entering Grimmauld Place. Sirius had mentioned that he had replaced Dumbledore as the Secret-Keeper for the location, but all members of the Order could still access it with his permission. This meant that they could come and go freely when he was not there, but when he was, they needed him to grant them access. Harry wasn't sure if this had to do with the nature of the Fidelious Charm or the protective barriers that had been placed on the Black fortress.

Once Snape received permission to enter, he emerged from the fireplace with far more grace than Harry thought he had while traveling via Floo-Powder, and almost thoughtlessly Vanished the soot from his robes.

Harry thought that Snape didn't look angry, exactly, or as stern as he appeared in class, but rather like Harry was a puzzle he was expected to solve.

"Black. Lupin. Potter," he greeted, without acidity but certainly without any friendliness.

"Hello, Severus," Remus responded, with a smile. "May I offer you some tea?"

"Don't trouble yourself. I am here only to examine Potter," Snape answered, rather briskly.

"Well, don't let us stop you," Sirius retorted, although without much acidity.

Snape made a sound that almost resembled a snort. He removed his wand from a pocket of his robes, and pointed to Harry.

"Stand directly in front of me, Potter," he commanded.

Harry would have liked to roll his eyes, but had to content himself with a "Yes, sir" as he stood directly in front of Snape. As his Defense teacher waved the wand in front of his body, a few beams of light came out, but without hitting him. Still, it was hard not to flinch.

"The horcrux removal is complete," Snape said, once he had finished. "I had been concerned, when I last saw you, that I would need to operate again. You will be pleased to know, then, that there is no more of the Dark Lord lurking beneath your skin."

"Thank Merlin," Sirius murmured, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's a relief, Professor," Harry agreed.

Especially since he hadn't known this to be a possibility before now.

"You look healthier than when I last saw you, and the results of my tests conclude that you are back to normal. Is this correct, Potter? Are there any lingering aches, or fatigue, or chills?" Snape continued, staring Harry in the eye.

Harry shook his head. "No, sir, I feel fine."

"Severus," Remus asked, also standing a bit closer to Harry, "did you need to remove the skin that held Harry's horcrux scar, or was the act of removing it from his forehead sufficient to destroy it?"

Snape really did snort, then. "The horcrux was embedded within his flesh, and needed to be removed. If you are asking in a roundabout manner how I accomplished this, I retrieved some venom from the now deceased basilisk and applied it liberally to the skin." Snape smiled grimly. "There is nothing of either that remains."

"Rather like a chemical reaction in muggle chemistry," Remus mused.

Snape inclined his head. "There are parallels to be drawn, yes, Lupin."

Well, Harry thought that this was great news. The horcrux was gone from him, and utterly destroyed. Of course, there was still the blasted snake to kill, and Voldemort himself, and Harry might well die in the attempt of either. All the same, at least he wouldn't need to die just to get rid of the horcrux in his scar.

"When did you destroy the horcrux, Snape?" Sirius asked, rather shrewdly.

"The day after I examined Potter," Snape answered. As though expecting an attack, he added, "Being one of three professors in charge of the care of nearly fifty students who chose to remain behind for the holidays, my duties to the school prevented me from going into the Chamber during daylight hours, as well as destroying it. I also had to supervise a few nighttime detentions..." Snape briefly closed his eyes. "It was unavoidable."

"Harry's side affects ceased when you destroyed the horcrux," Sirius practically spat. "Had you asked either of us for help, he might have gone without suffering afterwards!"

"It's okay, Sirius," Harry interjected, speaking quickly. "Really. I'm fine now, and Snape-Professor Snape-got rid of it as soon as he could."

It wasn't that he was defending Snape, really. He just knew that while his teacher hated him, he generally chose to inflict pain in the form of insults rather than physical harm. Even last year...well, he'd acted under Dumbledore's orders, which had been stupid...

Snape hadn't been trying to prolong his pain, and he was all right, now.

As far as Harry was concerned, that's what mattered.

Sirius peered at Harry, as did Remus, and perhaps gauging the look on his face, they decided to leave it be.

"All right. Well, it's done, anyway, and he's all right. I suppose, as Harry said, that's all that matters," Sirius answered, grudgingly.

Snape studied them. "Indeed."

"All that's left is to kill off Nagini. Any chance you can do that before he returns to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, only half kidding.

Snape barked a laugh. "Doing so would be a benefit to Potter as well as many, including Death Eaters. Unfortunately, I do not believe that monster will be as easy to eliminate as the other horcruxes."

Harry shuddered a bit. "Probably not."

"All in good time, pup," Sirius said, squeezing Harry's shoulder. "Well, Snape, is there anything else you need to do or tell us?"

"Simply a reminder to have Potter apply a glamour daily, preferably for sixteen hours at once, for the duration of his time at school. To fail to do so even once would have truly disastrous results which I shall not insult your intelligence by expanding upon," Snape warned. "I shall see you in a few days, Potter."

With a nod, Snape turned back to the fireplace, and after taking a bit of Floo Powder and stating his location, he was gone.

Sirius heaved a sigh of relief. "Anyone up for an indoor snowball fight?"