Chapter 51

Death Eater's Mysterious Influence Over Our Beloved Hero

Seen pictured here at the Victory Ball, no one could deny the close relationship between the Boy-Who-Saved and the former Death Eater, supposedly turned spy, Severus Snape. As this paper reported yesterday, Harry Potter confirmed his utmost respect for the Hogwarts professor himself in his First Order of Merlin acceptance speech on Saturday evening. Sources from inside Hogwarts reveal a close bond between the spy and the saviour, but after pictures showing the pair emerged from the Victory Ball, many are now asking whether Snape, with such a suspicious background, has a more sinister influence over our young hero Mr Potter.

Severus threw the paper down on his desk in disgust. He turned deliberately away from the photo they had somehow managed to take as he had put his hand comfortingly on Harry's shoulder after his speech. They were suggesting he was tricking or manipulating Harry in some way in order to curry the boy's favour. It wasn't an absurd suggestion, since Severus frequently saw people trying to do so with Harry, but they so often seriously underestimated him. Potter could not be bought or influenced. Any implication that Severus had somehow managed to trick Harry into helping him was insulting to them both.

Not that it particularly bothered Severus what the papers wrote about him, nor what anybody said about it. He'd had years of practise as the professor most hated by pupils, had endured decades of suspicion, from both sides, about where his loyalties truly lay, and quite frankly, Severus couldn't care less what other people thought. He was anxious about Harry's reaction, however. The pair seemed to be closer than ever these days, Harry stopping by his office on a regular basis to get advice or just chat. Severus had been touched by Harry's comments in his acceptance speech and he was honoured that Harry allowed him to take such a place in his life. Something like this though had the power to shake an already fragile Harry, of course he would doubt Severus' intentions.

The professor held a futile hope that Harry wouldn't see the Prophet. He knew Harry didn't get the paper delivered himself, but no doubt someone would make him aware of an article relating to himself. The boy – young man now, Severus corrected himself, would no doubt stop by his office later, as had become their custom, so he could at least speak with him about it then.

Harry had, inevitably, seen the article, but he hadn't thought much of it. At this point he was used to the rubbish they liked to print about him and while he didn't like that they were accusing Severus of some nefarious actions, compared to previous lies the Prophet had told about him over the years, this was pretty tame. He also really just didn't have the time to worry about it. Exams were only two weeks away and all the 7th and 8th Years were knuckling down to their studies. Even Ron was taking Hermione's revision schedule seriously, only complaining a few times, and only ever when Hermione was out of ear-shot. The extra studying also gave Harry a credible excuse to put a bit of space between himself and Snape. He hadn't been to the professor's office all week, a vast change from his previous two or three visits a week. Harry felt good about it, despite missing his conversations with Severus terribly, but he could also tell the man was starting to become a bit concerned from the subtle frown on his face when he saw him in class.

Harry decided a short visit couldn't hurt and set his mind on making time on Friday evening. He could tell Severus was surprised and pleased when he turned up at the office that evening. Harry ignored the twinge of guilt and reminded himself that this was for the best.

"How are you?" Severus asked him once their usual mint tea had been poured. "How's your week been?"

"Good." Harry sipped the hot tea. "Busy, you know? Exams start next week, so we've pretty much been revising every minute of the day."

Severus hummed a slow nod of acknowledgement. "I'm glad you took time out to drop by this evening. We should talk about the article."

"Article?"

Severus fished his copy out of the top drawer of his desk and laid it before Harry. "I know you will have seen it."

"Oh, that one. I thought you were saying something new had come out."

"It's natural that you might have conflicting feelings. None of it is true, obviously, you know that, but I can understand where you wouldn't want to be associated. Your feelings are completely valid."

"My…" Harry frowned in blatant confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that I understand if you wanted to keep your distance from me. Obviously, I don't want you to, but you, unlike me, still have a reputation to protect."

"Reputation?" Harry repeated incredulously. "I couldn't care less about my reputation, and I don't give a shit what the Prophet writes." He said bluntly.

Severus gave him a considered look. "While I agree with your sentiments on the daily rag, we can't ignore that it has an influence on public opinion and, as I said, I won't blame you for wanting to protect yourself."

Harry's confused frown deepened. "I really don't know what you're talking about. The Prophet is a pile of rubbish and everyone who I respect knows it. They've printed far worse about me for years. I'm not going to let them dictate how I behave or who I spend time with."

"Aren't you?" Severus eyed him challengingly. "You've been avoiding me all week."

Harry's mouth dropped open. "I –" He paused. "I've been studying! I told you, we've been revising all the time."

"You've worked in here before now."

"I know, but you know what Hermione's like, she's got us on this group study schedule."

"I see." Severus said and Harry knew the man wasn't buying his excuse.

Feeling uncomfortable with his lie about the real reason for his distance from Snape, Harry decided to leave sooner than planned. He drained the last of his tea in one large gulp.

"I should get going. Leave you in peace, Sir."

Severus' frown deepened. "Already?"

Harry shrugged with forced casualness. "Yeah, well, like I said, revision and all that."

"Harry." Severus stopped him before he left. "You know you can talk to me."

Harry gave him a smile which Severus assumed was supposed to be reassuring but just came off as pained. "Of course, Sir. See you soon."

Despite his claims, Harry continued to avoid Severus throughout the next week. On Tuesday evening, with no return visit to his office, Severus decided to instigate contact himself and headed to the 8th Year dorms, since it wouldn't hurt to check in on all the students when they were this close to their most important schooling exams. The 8th Year accommodation was tucked away in a quieter wing of the castle, so Severus wasn't surprised that he didn't meet anyone his way to the tapestry of the girl sitting in daisies.

"Summum auxilium." He said clearly to the girl in the tapestry and the door on which it hung creaked open.

Severus entered cautiously giving the residents inside enough warning of his presence, but upon entry he found the main room to be completely empty. A few books had been left on the large oak table and a half-played game of chess had been left out on ethe coffee table between two armchairs. Otherwise the room was tidy but completely devoid of students.

Though it had seemed highly unlikely that none of the 8th Year students would be in their common room at this time after dinner, Severus concluded that with such a small number it was entirely possible that they were all simply out in other areas of the castle. They were allowed in their own house common rooms, for example, where some might prefer to socialize, and it was likely some would be making use of the library. He checked a few of their rooms which were also empty, although he couldn't be sure about the golden trio's rooms since they were, as he had been told, heavily warded.

With a few quick spells around the room to be sure nothing sinister had occurred, Severus was satisfied that the 8th Years had all taken themselves off somewhere else. He headed to the library to see if he could catch up with any of them there.

The library was pretty busy, with most tables occupied with conscientious students in the lead up to exams, but still, wandering between the aisles, Severus could not see a single one of the 8th Year students. Not even Draco was here, which Severus had assumed he would be since the reformed young man tended to stay out of the Slytherin common room.

Still, they were old enough to make their own decisions and, hopefully, keep themselves out of too much trouble, so he left the search there. When he casually enquired about Draco's activities the day afterwards, however, Severus did not miss the young wizard's evasiveness.

"Studying?" He questioned with a light tone of voice. "Spent the evening in the library, did you?"

Draco's pause was minute, but Severus noticed it. "Were you looking for me?"

Perhaps Severus should have tried questioning one of the Hufflepuffs. A Slytherin as experienced as Draco wasn't going to get caught in a lie.

Severus hummed noncommittally, "I stopped by the 8th Year dorms, it was very quiet."

Draco nodded slowly, "It's that time of year, I suppose."

"Hmm, and did you see Potter at all? While you were studying?"

"I'm sure I saw him at some point last night." Draco admitted with intentional vagueness. "Why? You're not arguing again, are you?"

"Not that I'm aware. Harry seems to be avoiding me, although he claims that he is just busy."

Draco shrugged. "Maybe he's telling the truth."

"Hm, maybe."

The following week was a blur of exams. Classes were suspended for the duration and the 7th and 8th Years had time for only food, sleep and more revision between the practical and written examinations. Snape popped by the 8th Year common room a few times during the week to check on the students and offer his support, but Harry didn't see him personally. A few times they passed in the corridors and greeted each other with a nod or polite hello, Severus eyeing him critically each time. It was only on Thursday afternoon as Harry waited in the corridor before his practical DADA examination that Severus said a bit more to him.

"Feeling confident?" Harry's knee was bouncing rapidly with nerves so he just gave a one shouldered shrug. "'M okay."

The door opened and Draco came out giving Harry the nod to enter for his own turn. Harry spared Snape a small smile and rose to stand, turning towards the door.

"Harry," Severus' quiet voice made him pause and turn back. "Now would be the moment to show off."

Harry took the words to heart recalling his OWL DADAs exam when he had impressed the examiner with his corporeal patronus. For NEWTS the patronus charm was on the curriculum but the wizard testing him certainly hadn't expected to see a NEWT level student use the nuntius charm to have his patronus carry a message, nor for Harry to be able to keep his ethereal stag glowing in the background for the duration of the exam, even when they moved on to other spells. Harry was confident now that he had done well. He performed each spell perfectly, always showing the most complex and effective version of each. The wizard missed his eyebrows a few times, but it probably wasn't that surprising that the 'Saviour of all Wizardkind' was skillful at defensive spells. The man observed stoically until Harry had completed the final spell and then removed his glasses slowly.

"Thank you, Mr Potter, your examination is complete. And," he paused. "Thank you for all you have done. It has been an honour to meet you and to see your skills for myself."

Harry gave the man a small smile in return. "Thank you, Sir. Shall I send in the next student?"

"Please do."

Harry nodded. "Have a nice day."

"And you, Mr Potter."

His other exams went as well as they could. His time spent with Severus over the last year certainly helped his potions competency and he'd always been okay at Charms. Transfiguration, which seemed to be the one skill he hadn't inherited from his father, had always been his worst subject, but he thought he would have done enough in the written paper to scrape a decent grade.

Finally, though, exams were over and Harry could look forward to the best event of the year: Quidditch finals.

As if the opportunity to win the cup for the last time wasn't enough, they were competing against Slytherin. While Harry no longer conceded to the 'all Slytherins are evil' trope, he couldn't deny the rivalry between them and Gryffindor and he was looking forward to a good grudge match.

He felt alive and excited that morning but tried to contain his glee next to his terribly anxious girlfriend.

"Relax, Gin." Ron said while shoveling eggs into his mouth. "It's not like Slytherin are going to be much competition against the mighty lions."

"I swear to Merlin, if you don't shut up, Ron, I'm going to perform an everlasting sticking charm on your mouth!" Ginny growled back at her brother.

Harry knew better than to say anything, reassuring or otherwise, so he simply used the arm around her waist to pull Ginny in close to him on the bench and kissed the top of her head chastely. He was satisfied by the subtle relaxing of her shoulders indicating he'd done the right thing.

"How many scouts are coming?" Hermione asked Ron quietly, trying not to trigger Ginny.

Ron gave his sister a cautious side eye before whispering back, "Two at least; one from the Holyhead Harpies and another from Wimbourne Wasps."

"Will they watch anyone else?"

"I haven't heard of anyone else in the running for a team, but they'll be watching every player. If they see someone they like they might make an offer."

Despite her nerves, Ginny held herself together to give a rousing pre-match team talk. Only as the other team members were leaving the locker room did Harry hold Ginny's hand to keep her back.

"You didn't tell me what you want me to do."

Ginny smiled with a raised eyebrow. "Thought that was kinda obvious, you know, catch the snitch."

"Well yeah, but do you want me to catch it as soon as I can to ensure the win, or do you want me to hold off so you can show off a bit?"

"Harry Potter, don't you dare let us lose this match for me. I don't care if there's twenty talent scouts out there, quidditch is quidditch and we are going to win."

Harry grinned. "Fair enough. Let's go show those Slytherins who's boss then."

Harry and the rest of the team took to the skies as Ginny went to do the coin toss with Slytherin's captain. Harry flew in lazy circles around the pitch with Ron as they waited for the balls to be released.

"Bloody hell!"

"What?" Harry questioned Ron's exclamation beside him.

"I guess it's not just the Harpies and the Wasps interested in Ginny." He nodded to where McGonagall was talking with three people Harry didn't recognise but Ron clearly did. A tall woman with straight black hair that exaggerated her angular features where it cut sharply across her jaw stood between McGonagall and Snape. On the other side of McGonagall were two men. One was a butch looking fellow with a large stomach that one could see protruding from his lightweight summer robes. The other wore a long, dark coat, despite the warm weather and held a serious expression as he scanned each player in the skies. "That one in the dragon-skin coat is an assistant coach for the Chudley Cannons."

Harry didn't doubt Ron; the boy had always known his quidditch and Harry was sure he had read more books on the Cannons over his school years than he had read any of his school subject books combined.

"Let's hope Ginny doesn't notice him."

Ron shrugged. "She probably won't, she's in game mode now so she's got tunnel vision for the quaffle."

A moment later the balls were being released and Ron flew off to guard the hoops. Harry rose higher so he would have a better view of the pitch in order to spot the Snitch.

He need not have worried about Ginny having a chance to show off as he didn't see even a glimpse of the little golden ball until at least twenty minutes in. The Slytherin defense was strong but Gryffindor had a well-practised chaser trio with Ginny in the lead. Years of playing quidditch with her older brothers had made her a fierce competitor and Gryffindor were soon up 60 to 20 points.

Harry knew Slytherin had won their other two matches from an early snitch catch by their seeker so he wasn't complacent about the skills of the opposing team. His Slytherin counterpart was a 5th Year named Phillips; small and slight, perfect for the agility required to catch the snitch, but as far as Harry knew this was her first year on the team so she didn't have a huge amount of experience.

Two more goals for Gryffindor and one more for Slytherin later, Harry heard the tell-tale fluttering of wings to the left of him. He swept a wide arch to turn around so he could catch sight of the snitch without indicating to anyone else what he had sensed. It was good weather for Quidditch, clear skies, a light breeze and sunshine. Harry caught the glistening gold of the snitch in the sunlight and casually drifted his broom towards it.

A moment later the Slytherin seeker, Phillips, brought her head down to increase her speed and headed quickly in the direction of the snitch. With the chase one, the snitch sped up, already darting to and fro to avoid capture.

Phillips, with a slightly shorter distance from the snitch, got in front of Harry. She followed the snitch well with Harry close on her broom twigs, even as the golden ball swerved left and right.

The snitch led them high and then between the Slytherin goal posts before whizzing off towards the stands. Harry swore it only pulled this crap when he was playing.

The charmed ball began weaving through the open structure of the stands, ducking and diving over and under the wooden beams. To begin with, Phillips' small size helped her manoeuvre through the small spaces, but soon her inexperience began to show. Harry witnessed a few close calls where the Slytherin missed smacking her head against a hard surface by only a millimetre. She was shifting her weight too much, allowing the broom to direct her instead of the other way around.

They were coming to the end of the stand when Phillips' inexperience cost her. Over leaning as she swerved, she caught her shoulder on a wooden post and it knocked her from her broom. The crowd gasped as the Slytherin seeker was left hanging from the stand by just one hand above the 80ft drop. Harry witnessed it all in a split second, but at the speed he was going he shot past her and into open space.

The snitch flew on, but Harry circled back, dropping lower to where Phillips was barely hanging on. He assumed one of the staff would prevent her fall, but she didn't look very happy just dangling there.

"Hey, climb on." He told the opposition seeker.

Phillips opened her eyes from where they were scrunched tightly shut to look at him in disbelief.

"Seriously?"

"Sure, I can't just leave you hanging there."

"Oh, thank god." Her relief was so evident as she dropped onto the back of his broom that Harry had to laugh.

"You're not going to tell me that you're scared of heights, are you?"

"Having a fear of heights would be irrational." The Slytherin told him primly. "But I may have an entirely rational fear of falling."

Harry chuckled as he headed to the staff stand to drop her off. "I wouldn't have guessed from how you were flying."

He felt her shrug behind him. "Flying's different."

"Well done, Mr Potter, very good." McGonagall said approvingly as he hovered by the stand where Phillips could dismount.

"Do you require medical assistance, Miss Phillips?" Snape was asking her, his eyes already assessing for injuries.

"Well, Mr Potter, I believe you still have a snitch to catch." McGonagall said pointedly.

Harry realised then that the game had continued without them. "Oh, but Slytherin don't have a seeker anymore? That wouldn't really be fair."

"The snitch has to be caught." McGonagall said.

Harry's reservations must have shown on his face as Severus paused his attentions to the Slytherin to roll his eyes at him. "Please, Potter," he drawled. "The longer you hover here, the more points Miss Weasley is racking up for Gryffindor. I'm sure my whole house would be most grateful if you could end this game sooner rather than later."

Harry smirked. "Fair enough. I'll try to make it interesting for the crowds at least."

He heard Severus' snapped "Potter!" as he flew away laughing.

The snitch hadn't gone far so Harry found it again easily enough. It became clear that the ball wouldn't make itself too difficult to catch so Harry kept his word and threw in as many tricks and stunts as he could before he wrapped his fingers around the cold metal.

"Oh look, Harry's caught the snitch." He heard Luna's melodic voice announce dreamily. The Gryffindor stand erupted in cheers and the players around the pitch punched the air in celebration.

Harry took some time to glide around the pitch, appreciating the care-free feeling of weightlessness. By the time he had descended, the rest of the Gryffindor team had gathered on the ground, Ginny lifted high on their shoulders as they chanted, "Weasley is our Queen!"

AN: Thanks for reading. Sorry this chapter is a it shorter than others but it felt like a good place to stop. One chapter and an epilogue to go!