1 Please note that this will be updated under the penname of Magenta the Muppet from this point onwards. I encourage you to review the reincarnation of this story, (in other words, intensive editing) under that penname as well. The files in this story will eventually become placeholders for the 290 gorgeous reviews I have. I do hope you'll all get my total at my new penname up to that. But in the meantime, enjoy the story. Sorry if it's sloppy, didn't send to betas.

2 Part 12

Neville shook him awake the next morning. "Harry, wake up!"

He gasped as Neville touched his very tender arm, which was still aching after last night's bout of dreams.

Neville gasped at the same time, as his fingers came away slick with blood. "What's this?"

"Blood," he said simply.

"Why-"

"It's not important." He curtly pushed Neville away and proceeded to dress hastily.

"But you're covered all over! What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Something had to have happened."

"Yeah, something did happen," he said dismissively.

"What sort of something?"

"That's none of your business."

"Harry-"

"Drop it, Neville."

"Quidditch trials tonight."

"That so?"

"First time since we've been here."

"Yeah."

"You going?"

"Too much schoolwork."

"It never stopped you before."

"Quidditch isn't that important." He tried to sound offhand, but his disappointment at not being able to continue came through.

"I thought you loved it."

"I did."

"So why are you stopping?"

"Because I don't anymore."

"Why?"

"I've lost interest."

"Liar. You've never watched yourself fly, have you?"

"No."

"When you're in the air, you look incredibly complete. It's like some people do when they're together. Like lovers."

"I am NOT in love with my broom."

"I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did."

"Did not."

"Did too…oh, never mind. So, what do you know about lovers, Neville?"

Neville blushed. Why did I have to say anything? "Um, Ginny…yeah… Ginny…" No, he can't have read Percy's letters! I thought I hid them well enough…well, I do forget everything else…but WHY something this important?!?

Harry smiled to himself. All his roommates had been following him rather closely. He suspected a teacher having told them to look out for him…perhaps he would listen more closely to their thoughts, and see if his theory was correct. And if he worded his sentences carefully, then they'd wonder what they were letting slip about their secrets, and leave him the hell alone. "I thought you and Ginny broke up after the Yule Ball…but you seem to get a lot of owls, Neville. That barn owl seems to be here at least once a week. You're really lucky to have such a nice grandmother…"

"Gran? Oh no…you must have it confused with someone else's…Gran has a screech owl…" Oops. Neville often made slip-ups of this sort, much to his dismay.

"No, I don't believe I do. I mean, it obviously comes to you…that's about when you blush and drop it into your porridge." He smiled angelically. He knew this was atypical behavior coming from him, and he supposed it was some devious, conniving bastard talking through him. But Neville's reaction was just what he'd anticipated-bright red, from ears to collar. "So, who is she?"

"No…no-one," he stuttered.

"Neville, you know you can tell me."

"Yes-but…" He looked into Harry's eyes and faltered. His brow furrowed, and he looked on the verge of tears. "He's not a girl."

"You're gay?"

"Bi, actually."

"What makes you think I'd have a problem with that?" he asked, not bothering to hide his confusion.

"Well, I mean, you're Harry Potter…the one with all the morals and stuff."

He laughed in spite of himself at the absurdity of this statement. "I dunno if I'm gay or bi or anything like that. I've never had feelings for anyone. I mean, Cho, obviously-"

"Um, not so obvious."

"But that was purely because she has a gorgeous body," he finished. "Otherwise…I mean, I suppose if I did love someone like that, it wouldn't really matter who or what they were on the outside, right?"

"Yeah, I mean, that's how I feel about Percy…"

"Percy?"

Oops. Neville cringed visibly.

"You're with Percy?" Harry made himself sound surprise, even though the shock had come a few moments before and had already subsided.

"Yes, I am."

"So I look at my Firebolt the way you look at him?"

"Yeah, but I like his broomstick more-"

Harry laughed. He couldn't recall ever having such an entertaining conversation with Neville. After a moment, Neville grinned too. "So you don't have a problem with my being bi?"

"Not at all. It's entirely your business who you fuck."

"Glad you feel that way."

"What, you thought I was a homophobe?"

"You always struck me as a very straight person."

"Oh? Is there a way to tell?"

"Nah."

"Okay then. But we've probably missed breakfast."

"Probably. So what class've you got?"

"I don't know." He rooted around in a drawer of his nightstand for his schedule. He had a free period, which meant…"Lupin."

"I thought it was a planning period."

"He doesn't have those anymore."

"Really?"

"No…um, I have to go."

"Well, I'm free – we've all gotten invites to sit in on seventh year classes, to, you know, see what sort of thing to study for, so I'll just come along." Neville reached for a notebook.

"Who told you to follow me around? Someone did – you didn't all spontaneously decide to memorize my schedule…was it McGonagall again? I'll kill her-"

"I don't have your schedule memorized," said Neville hastily, "and neither does anyone else."

"Then why are you consistently popping up outside my lessons?! It's really bloody annoying!"

"Coincidence? We'd better get going, or you'll be late."

"We're not going anywhere. I am going to Professor Lupin's office, and you are going to sit tight with Dean and Seamus!" he said cheerily, thrusting his wand deeper in his pocket and turning towards the door.

"No, Harry," said Neville in a very un-Neville like voice, which caused him to turn around. "You're going to let us all in on just where you've been going every night."

"That's right, Harry," said Dean and Seamus in unison, who pushed him into the center of the room.

"Look, can we do this later? I really need to get to Lupin's office- "

Dean held out a time-turner. "Ever seen one of these, Harry? We'll just…send you back when the time comes…and no-one need ever know of this."

"Finite Incantatem!" he bellowed in the general direction of his roommates.

"Wh-Harry? Where – who – the – we need to get to class!"

"Planning period," he said, quite pleasantly. "If you'll excuse me, I have some work to make up."

"All right," said Seamus agreeably. "Mind you're not late for Snape, though, stupid bugger'll punish us all for it."

He ran.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Professor?"

"Harry…let's get started," he said, glancing up from the haphazard heap of papers in front of him. He raised his wand and waved them aside.

"Professor – Neville, Seamus, Dean – Imperius Curse."

"For how long?"

"I don't know."

"Did you take it off?"

"I think so."

"Go to Albus' office. Tell him I'm waiting for him and that I have the map."

He nodded.

"And Harry? Stay there."

"But-"

"Stay," he repeated. Harry scowled, but sprinted to the Headmaster's office.

"I remain of the opinion that it is not wise to have selected Black for this particular mission..."

It was Snape. With much trepidation, he knocked.

"Come in, Professor."

"Er…"

"Harry, we're in the middle of a meeting. Kindly…" He stopped upon seeing the urgent look on his face.

"Professor Lupin needs you in his office."

Dumbledore nodded. "Stay. You too, Severus. Tell Minerva that we will reschedule this if need be."

Feeling incredibly helpless, Harry sank into the chair farthest from Snape's. They avoided looking at or talking to each other. Finally, Snape broke the silence. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

Snape, apologizing? To him? "I told Sirius…"

"That's good," he said, trying in vain to feign disinterest.

"I…" Snape was looking at him with intense interest, almost…concern? "I feel better."

"Black cares for you very much…pity he won't be coming back. Yes, that's right, Potter…the Dark Lord has no intention of letting your precious godfather go once he's captured him," he sneered, the malicious grin on his face proof that his determination to torment Harry hadn't changed at all. "You have no idea what sort of torture his prisoners endure…it is a fate far worse than Dementor's Kiss, much less Azkaban."

His breath hitched. He really didn't need to hear about this. He was about to say as much, but Snape had already started talking again.

"He flings every insult he can at you…while beating you…after a while, you can't help wondering if it's true. Pain is an art, at his hands. He enjoys making you squirm, and beg for mercy. If you're lucky enough, he'll even humiliate you by turning you into a sex toy…you'll be his whore until he kills you…he can't wait to have a go with you, Potter."

"Stop," he said softly. "Please, stop."

"You'll hate it. You'll want out. You'll scream, and you'll beg, just like the rest…he'll make you cry…"

"Professor, please."

"Am I upsetting you?"

"Professor…"

"You deserve to be upset, Harry…you should never have gotten any stability…"

"Why are you doing this?" he asked desperately.

The pain and desperation in the boy's gaze touched something in him that hadn't been touched in a very long time.

"I'm sorry," he stammered. He reached out and placed a cold hand on Harry's cheek, turning the boy's head to face him. They looked at each other for a moment, Snape studying every detail of his face from the pronounced cheekbones to the slightly ski-jumped nose to the defiant chin. (AN: Heh, ripping off Mizery here. Shh…) He allowed his fingers to trail down his cheek and brush over his lips. Replacing his hand in its initial position, he allowed himself to lean down and capture the younger man's mouth in a light, undemanding kiss. To his surprise, Harry had not moved in the least, but squeezed his eyes shut, as if it was a bad dream that would pass.

Oh, fuck. I'm KISSING him. Christ, I'm KISSING him. I'm kissing James Potter's son. KISSING him! This is impossible. Fuck! I can't be kissing him…Albus will kill me…and Potter…fuck. As he realized what he was doing, he drew back as suddenly as he had moved in. "I shouldn't have done that," he muttered.

"No…no, I don't think so either…"

"What was I thinking? He's…he's fifteen, and I'm…well, it doesn't matter how old I am, the point is…I'm a professor…and he's my student…my God, I have no fucking control!" He was shouting.

"Why?"

"I…I don't know. I'm sorry." His eyes were wider than Harry's now. "I think I should probably go…"

Harry nodded slowly. "That might be best."

"I don't have feelings for you," he said coldly, a sharp contrast to the Snape of a less than a minute before.

Mutely, Harry nodded again. Why should this be any different? His uncle didn't have feelings for him, or he wouldn't have hit him…Snape…Snape couldn't have feelings for him, he couldn't…no one did…no one loved him, cared about him…he was a Messiah to Dumbledore, a weapon to Voldemort, and…Sirius? Sirius had never bothered to tell him if he loved him or not. And he didn't expect he did…no one did, no one ever had, or would…

He sat, for how long, he didn't know. And no one came. No one ever did.

***

Ahhh…I couldn't resist! So, did you like it, hate it? Tell me in a review, or drop me an email (magentamuppet@yahoo.com.) I'd love to hear from you! Please note that this story was originally posted & uploaded under a different penname. Due to some…er…inappropriate themes, undertones, and the fact that my parents and friends knew my penname, I think it's quite self-explanatory why I have chosen to associate with this one for this fanfiction and the rest of my (upcoming and somewhat dark) Harry Potter stories. Please don't flame me telling me how I ripped off someone else's story…chances are it was my own. My original poetry, however, can still be found at my old alias, if you know it, and if you're really interested, email me about that as well. Or anything…I do love to talk. One more thing. There are 2 stories archived on ff.n, one by a person with the penname Holli, and one called Devils Snare, both of which have elements similar to my fic or elements similar to those that I intend to feature…I'm not borrowing from any of those either; in fact, I had the ideas long before I read those pieces, although they are recommended if you've run out of fanfic, but do read Devils Snare…it could use some polishing, but the ideas are there…

(Skip text below here, if you like, just general shoutouts, nonsense, thank- yous, and logohorreic redundancy…nothing of interest, I just felt like writing it.)



And, I must remember to thank my betas, because I always seem to forget, although in this case I don't think I've sent it to either, although I did send the IM to Pleiades. If anyone finds errors, email me…This is just a teaser, really, and to let you all know that I'm moving.

Pleiades is my darling doll wild lesbian monkey and I love her to pieces! She's a better writer than I can ever hope to be, so GO READ HER STORIES, DAMMIT!!! And we have matching Walkmen, so that means she's triply cool!

And Rufus is my darling doll Britty football buddy! She looks lovely in blue dresses. =) Her stories are recommended, too! Dunno about giving you my addy, though, my parents might not approve! I'm not to be on Net this weekend (like they're going to stop me, they're off in Pennsylvania!), so I'll have to come in on Tuesday or something and mention to my dad that my buddy in Bradford (he's always asking about you…'how's your friend in Bradford doing?' etc. etc., lol) wants to be penpals, as in actual letters as opposed to email…I'll see what he thinks about that, eh?

And just a general shoutout to Rilar Cray if she's out there reading because she wrote me the nicest review I've ever gotten…'you sure put a smile on my face!' as says the Proud Family's Sugar Momma. (I love that show!)

And extra schnoogles to Rachel and Chris and Anne/Ella because I love you too. Remember, sweets, I'll be in Connecticut soon! (Yeah, right…) Rachel, if you could send me back that letter I sent you about Christmas, as I think Rufus and Pleiades didn't get it, that would be really cool, too.

And just so everyone knows, I saw LOTR last night. Fucking fantastic, wow. Parents were out of town, they'd said I couldn't see it for another two weeks ('excessively dark, need to see your consistent good behaviour' *pouts*) so I got my uncle to take me. Am totally enthralled, going to be a good little girl so I can go see it again, and be good actress so they'll think I haven't seen it. Ooh, I can't wait to see Spiderman! That looks like soooooo much fun. I love the cartoon *blushes* and I want the boxers that Cameron Diaz had in Charlie's Angels, but I can't seem to find them. Yes, I could fit into them, if I had them…come on, I'm 5'2", people…we could fit into children's underwear…(And can anyone tell me how Alliyah's in Queen of the Damned if she died in the plane crash? It was Alliyah that died in a plane crash, right? I don't particularly care for her music, but I think it's always a tragedy when someone so young dies…*sigh* And look how well she was doing, too. Oh well. If anyone can clarify that, t'would be great.)

And if anyone cares, Christmas was great. No alcohol or condoms at New Years party, though…damn! =)