Disclaimer: I am a starving college student - I own nothing.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed.
To those worried that the girl in the hospital wing will be a Marry Sue (and who were kind enough to explain to me what a Mary Sue is, I had previously thought a 'Mary Sue' was just a boring female character): She will be no such thing, do not fear. In fact, she will not be an important character in her own right, and will not remain in the story for long. I hope that allays any qualms that anyone might have. (And no, the girl does not resemble me, nor will she have any strange powers - I'd say more, but I don't want to give anything away). Honestly, though, give me some credit: judge after you read.
To whoever said that these chapters are getting shorter: Chapter lengths fluctuate, depending on how it makes sense to break the chapters up. If you have a problem with the length, wait until two or three chapters have been posted and read them all at once.
Chapter 33: On the Ironies of Interference
Harry paced back and forth in front of Snape's door. Why couldn't he summon those elves back? They had gotten under the door, so there couldn't have been an imperturbable charm on it, and he had retrieved the ones in his own room without a problem. Really, telling the elves to annoy 'Snape' had not been one of Harry's more brilliant ideas. Harry was pulling on his untamed mop in utter frustration.
"What, may I ask, are you doing?" said a silky voice from behind him.
Luckily, Harry was pacing in front of his own room now, and so looked less suspicious than he might have done.
"Er... nothing, sir. Just... clearing my mind," said Harry.
"As if there's anything to clear it of," sneered Snape.
"I'm preparing for Occlumency," said Harry, grinding his teeth: he had become a much better liar, hanging around Snape and Malfoy the past few days.
"Indeed," said Snape. "Come then, we will have a lesson now."
Snape opened the door to his chamber, allowing Harry to enter before him.
This would be his chance, Harry realized. If he was going to get those elves off of Snape's tail, he'd have to distract the man somehow. That, of course, could prove rather dangerous.
"Is this safe, sir?" asked Harry.
"Of course it's safe, I just rewarded my room this morning," said Snape. Snape then got a steely glint in his eye. Uh oh. That was bad. Did Snape suspect him in that little prank? Most assuredly he would. Harry knew he was in for it now. Harry squirmed and wriggled in his mind, but he fought to maintain his composure, outwardly at least.
Harry looked down at his feet, which at some point he had begun shuffling. Harry took a deep breath: this scene would not be pretty, but he couldn't put his father's life in danger because he was too much of a wimp to take responsibility for his own actions.
Gathering his Gryffindor courage, Harry said: "I lent Malfoy my Invisibility Cloak," before flinching backward, prepared to be struck.
"You WHAT?" yelled Snape, advancing on Harry. "What on earth possessed you to do such a foolish thing?"
Harry said nothing, only continued to look down at his feet, his arms wrapped around his torso.
"Quit cowering, boy, and answer me!" yelled Snape.
At the word 'cowering,' Harry's head shot up defiantly. He would not be called a coward.
Steeling himself once again, Harry spoke. "He, er, blackmailed me," said Harry hastily, casting his eyes down once again. Damn it, why did his courage have to fail him now?
"He blackmailed you?" Snape's voice was suddenly concerned. "What, pray tell, blackmail-worthy information might Malfoy have on you?"
For all that he was worth, Harry tried to get the words out, but all that came out was a squeak. Gods, he sounded like Neville.
Snape did not seem impressed.
"Revelo," said Snape. Satisfied that there was no one in the room, Snape sighed.
"Well, get on with it, I don't have all day," said a testy Snape.
"I... I, er..." why did he seem to lose his ability to speak properly whenever he entered Snape's rooms?
"Yes, Potter?" prompted Snape.
"I was trying to summon back the Embezzling Elves I released in your rooms as payback for the blue hair, and Malfoy caught me," said Harry in a single breath.
Snape sighed in relief. That was all the boy had done, nothing that the Dark Lord could use against him: a simple prank.
"Embezzling Elves? An invention of the Twins Weasley, I presume?" asked Snape.
Harry nodded.
"I must speak to the Headmaster at once. We will discuss this later. Remain here for now, it is safest, and if you enter into any mischief while I am gone, you will pay dearly for it. Do I make myself clear?" said Snape, his annoyance at having to leave Harry unattended in his rooms oozing off of him in waves.
"Yes, sir," said Harry.
"Good." With that, Snape left the room in a swoosh of robes.
Melodramatic Bat, thought Harry scathingly.
* * * * *
Harry sat in Snape's quarters, willing himself not to touch anything. It was a hard job, but he succeeded rather well, with the exception of making a pot of tea. Snape couldn't be mad about that, could he be?
Harry heard a jiggling at the door, as if someone was trying to turn the knob, but then it ceased. Harry shrugged it off: no witch or wizard would try to enter a locked room like that.
Oh, but how angry Snape would be at Harry when he came back. He hadn't even thought of all the possible things Malfoy could overhear between his father and Dumbledore with that cloak. He would pay dearly for this, he knew, he just hoped he hadn't caused an irreparable damage. What if Malfoy had found out about Snape being a spy. Harry groaned and hit his head repeatedly with a pillow.
"Mr. Potter, what, pray tell, are you doing to my pillow?" asked Snape as he shut the door behind him, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Harry looked up. Damn. Why did Snape always have to have such horrible timing.
"Nothing, sir," said Harry.
Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Er... Just fluffing it for you," said Harry with a lopsided grin.
"Indeed," said Snape.
Harry just smiled innocently. Well, it wasn't as if he had attacked the pillow with his forehead. He hadn't caused any damage to it at all.
"You will get this," Snape held up Harry's cloak, "back at the start of term, much to my annoyance. The Headmaster insists..."
"But you can't do that!" interjected Harry, "That's my fa-" Harry cut himself off.
Snape merely raised an eyebrow.
"You will be glad to know, I am sure, that as far as the Headmaster and I can tell, no sensitive information has been compromised." Harry sighed in relief.
"Other information which we would have preferred not to have revealed at this time almost certainly has been, however." Harry's heart sank. He looked down at his hands.
"I'm sorry, sir," said Harry, and he was. "I acted irresponsibly, I know that."
Harry waited for the tirade to begin. Irresponsibly? You acted like an outright fool! I wouldn't even have expected such ridiculous behavior from Longbottom. What on earth you might have been thinking is beyond me, assuming, of course, that you were thinking at all, which is indeed a stretch of the imagination...
Instead of hearing Snape berate him, Harry felt a weight settle down beside him.
"You must think through the consequences of your actions, Harry. Lives depend on it. Stunts like the one you pulled today could quite easily get someone killed," said Snape, the soft seriousness of his voice was more painful to Harry's ears than a full-scale rant ever could have been. What was Harry supposed to say 'I'm sorry I almost got you killed?' That would hardly do.
"Were you truly so frightened of coming and telling me the truth that you chose instead to consort with someone whose loyalties are quite likely with the Dark Lord?"
"No!" said Harry. "Yes," amended Harry more quietly. "I mean, I wasn't so much afraid of you, but, well... I didn't want to disappoint you."
"And why is that?" asked Snape.
Harry looked up at Snape, then back down at his hands.
"You said you were proud of me yesterday. It meant a lot to me. I never thought I'd earn your approval, or deserve it for that matter," said Harry sheepishly. "I didn't want to disappoint you by having you find out about my little prank so soon after."
Snape then did the oddest thing. He laughed. Not a sneering laugh, or a mirthless laugh. Snape laughed a true, honest-to-Merlin laugh.
Harry was quite confused, and not a bit discomfited, to be honest.
Once Snape's laughter had subsided, the older man spoke. "I knew about your little prank prior to that, Harry."
"You did?" asked Harry. "How? And you didn't hang me by my toes for it?"
"No, though that's not to say that I hadn't considered it," said Snape wryly.
Harry was quite nonplussed by this revelation.
"So all that with Malfoy was for nothing?" said Harry.
"So it would seem, Harry. So it would seem."