I do not own Harry Potter. Harry Potter is owner by J.K. Rowling. You wouldn't believe me if I said otherwise, anyways.

Chapter 28: Hallways

Harry woke up on Tuesday morning in a terribly nasty mood. He had not slept well the last several nights, his troubles not stemming from dreams, he had had none, or at least none that he remembered, but from anger.

When he had left Mitexi's apartments on Wednesday night the experience had been too fresh for his mind to really register it. But by the time he had undressed and gotten beneath the blankets of his bed, the memories that had been tucked into the corner of his mind began leaking out into his consciousness.

He had been unable to meet her eye the next day, even as he was aware that she was watching him.

How did she dare it? She listened to his retelling of the dreams, then used that to provoke him into...he didn't know what it was. But he found it very difficult to rationalize it into the ends justifying the means.

In the end, he was only able to sleep by pouring his fury into the great dog of his mind's eye. But in the morning, when he awoke with Durry on his pillow, Cord was still absent, haunting the castle, Harry thought, he could be anywhere, his anger returned.

He only met Texi's eye once, on Friday morning when he left to get his broom and spend a few hours on the Quidditch field, and her look of remorse only made him feel worse.

Quidditch trials on Friday afternoon had been just that, a trial of epic proportions. Other than the bright spots of Ron performing excellently, and Ginny making a splendid showing and being happily accepted into a Chaser position, the two beaters that they had gained the previous year performed as though they had not touched a broom in the previous months. The only reason that they even kept their positions was that no one else who had shown up did any better.

The new chaser was slightly better, a third year named Thomas Morrigan. He had good skill with the broom, but trouble controlling the quaffle.

Katie was a little disappointed with the turnout, but fought to keep her optimism. "Well," She had said in an aside to Harry, as the two of them hovered on their brooms far above the field watching the practice below, "At least we have you back, Harry."

"And Ron and Ginny." Harry had pointed out, as Ginny threw the quaffle at the goalposts and it was narrowly saved by Ron, "And you of course. I'm sure you'll whip them into shape."

The red ball was barely retrieved by Thomas, who nearly dropped it as a poorly deflected bludger whizzed past his ear.

"I hope so." She had sighed, diving down to join the fray as Thomas started yelling at the beater who had sent the black ball careening at his head, the beater waving his bat threateningly as he approached.

Harry directed his Firebolt down to where Ginny and Ron were watching Katie mitigate, exchanging glances before Ginny said what they were all thinking.

"Bloody hell." She sighed.

So as Harry trudged through the weekend, enjoying only discussing his Defense essay with Ron and Hermione, struggling through his parchment on timed potions, joined by Neville and with Hermione assisting.

Neville again seemed on the verge of tears at this point of the day and Harry had asked him why he was still in Potions.

"Gran. She wants me to be an Auror." Neville had said despairingly, brandishing his quill and splattering ink on his essay, this sending him nearly into a breakdown. It took the both of them several minutes to calm him down, only succeeding when Hermione produced a small bottle of Vanisher and cleaned up the worst of the spots.

"Thanks, 'ermione," He had sniffled, accepting a handkerchief that Ginny, who was working nearby, passed him.

"What do you want to do, Neville?" Hermione asked him when he had gathered his nerves around him.

"Something with Herbology," Neville had replied, his eyes downcast, "Professor Sprout thinks I have a real talent for it." They assured him that it was true. He smiled, sighing at the same time.

"You don't have to become an Auror." Hermione said.

Neville looked up at her, his eyes pained, "My da was an Auror," Was all he said, and both Hermione and Harry understood. It seemed that Neville's grandmother would never tire of trying to turn her grandson into the son she had lost to the Cruciatus Curse.

Neither of them had any constructive advice to give him, though Hermione summed the problem up fairly well and gave the only suggestion that may help the accident prone boy, if he could get up the mettle to use it.

"Tell her." She told him, bending over her essay a moment later so that his incredulous look went over her head.

Harry groaned as he rubbed his eyes, sitting up and pushing back his bed curtains. His dorm-mates were also awakening, Seamus and Dean quickly moving out of his line of sight. They had been avoiding him, Harry thought with a grim smile. He had the feeling that a lot of people were avoiding him.

So far he had avoided venting his temper on his house members, but if he ran into Malfoy in the halls he could not hold himself responsible for his actions.

He ground his teeth, feeling the familiar rise of temper within him. Now he remembered why he was in a fouler mood this day than the last. Potions.

Briefly he wondered what biting comments Snape would make concerning his absence from his class, even knowing full well why Harry had not been able to go, let alone move.

Harry rumpled his hands through his hair, standing and belting on his robe. He would probably make some comment about him being irresponsible, like all the members of his family, all of whom happened to be dead.

Harry grabbed his curtains in a claw like hand, seeing red flash before his eyes. A moment later he looked up, startled, seeing the fabric tearing away from the rings that had held it up. He released the curtain, watching as the red material sagged onto the floor.

He went over to his nightstand and, after retrieving his wand, repaired it with a flick. The ease with which he accomplished this was also somewhat surprising. He hadn't thought much about it, but his skills were improving more rapidly this year than in any other.

He turned and saw Ron and Neville watching him, Neville with his robe half on and sagging off his shoulder, forgotten.

"A-are you all right, mate?" Ron stammered.

"Yeah," Harry said shortly, "I'm fine. Just...fine."

Charms passed quickly, too quickly for Harry's liking. He noticed that Flitwick kept a very close eye on Malfoy so he didn't have to worry too much. He tried to ignore the crawling feeling between his shoulder blades that occurred every time his back was to the blond boy.

But the class passed without incident and soon Harry found himself in the Great Hall, picking distractedly at his food without much appetite.

He glanced up at the staff table, once again avoiding Texi's eye, and noticed that Tainn was watching him closely. In Care of Magical Creatures the day before Tainn had tried to console Harry in his own manner, and also defended his sister in such a way that Harry had found his anger abating for a while.

It was also difficult to keep his mind on being furious while he was perched on the back of the ugly little Pegasus known as Tilt, clutching onto his long ragged mane and swallowing often as he took his turn riding him around in a large circle then clambering off to find safety on the ground. On the up side, Tilt was a much smoother ride than Buckbeak.

He wondered how Buckbeak was doing as he poked dispiritedly at a piece of pie, crumbling it.

When he looked up again, he saw Professor Lanya slipping into her seat at the head table. She seemed alright. As a matter of fact in Defense class the day before she had been no different than she had the last week, and Harry wondered how good an actress she was.

Lanya also seemed in good spirits, having a discussion with her seatmate, Snape again, who was at least not ignoring her, but seemed to be eyeing her askance as he answered her comments and questions. Harry did notice, however, that her smile seemed a bit forced at times. He also noticed Dumbledore noticing, and caught the old wizard's sober eye.

Lunch was just about over when an owl flew in, an unfamiliar Tawny. This was unusual as for the most part the mail was delivered during the breakfast meal. It winged its way to the head table and dropped down in front of Dumbledore, holding its leg out so that the headmaster could remove the letter tied to its leg.

Dumbledore did so and, after giving the owl a bit of the pastry he had been munching on, opened the thick sheet of folded parchment. He read it briefly, then lowered it with a sigh, tired lines appearing on his face. A few moments later he stood, and worked his way down the table, touching Lanya's shoulder as he passed her.

Harry saw her hands clench on the tablecloth before she stood and followed him out of the hall.

It wasn't much longer before Harry got up and left himself, curious about the contents of that letter, and with half a mind to see if he could find anything out. The thought of the Book of Karsis lingered in his mind like an itch begging to be scratched. He wanted to know if it were really possible, if he could really bring Sirius back to life.

He could feel Ron and Hermione's curious gazes on his back as he pushed his way through the doors and moved quietly down the hall.

He didn't go far when he heard the patter of small shoes behind him and he turned quickly, his hand on his wand, only to relax when he saw Ginny approaching him.

"Did Hermione send you?" He asked testily.

She gave him a sharp scowl. "No, I came after you because you look like you're going to bite off the heads of first year Slytherins...not that that would be a bad thing in some cases." She touched his arm and he jerked it away, "What happened to you, Harry? What happened to the nice guy I went to America with?"

"Reality asserted itself." He growled, walking away from her. "You wouldn't understand."

"Honestly, Harry!" She snapped, trotting after him and grabbing his arm. "Why do you always think I can't understand? How do you KNOW?"

"Because no one can know how I feel!" He yelled at her. "you can't know what it's like..." He turned away, walking quickly.

She caught up with him again, taking hold of his hand and clasping it tightly as she matched pace. He looked down in surprise. Why wouldn't she leave him alone? "What haven't you told me, Harry? It has something to do with what you said at Remus' house?"

"If I live..." He almost whispered, squeezing her hand. He swallowed heavily. "I don't think I can tell you, Ginny." He murmured, turning his head slightly to look into her warm brown eyes.

"Do you think I can't keep a secret?" She asked him, her eyes sparking for a moment.

"It's... not that, Tonic." He told her, stopping her and putting his hand on her shoulder, brushing away a strand of red hair that clung to the collar of her robes. "It could be dangerous for you to know."

She bit her lip, her eyes wide and questioning in her lightly freckled face. "I don't want you to get hurt." He continued. "But...I don't want to lose you either."

"So don't push us away, Harry. That would hurt more than you think." She told him quietly, her eyes still on his face.

"Not the kind of hurt I'm talking about." He said shortly, "You could be killed just for being near me. But I realized, that even if you...guys stopped caring for me, I would never stop caring for you...all. He would find that out, he would hurt you." He touched her cheek.

"Harry..." she said, looking down at their joined hands. It took her a moment before she could continue. "Whatever happens, don't make us lose you."

"I'll try not to," he murmured, leaning down as she turned her face up towards his.

Just as their lips were about to meet, there came the crash of a slamming door and the two of them jumped, spinning towards the noise. It was coming from the adjoining chamber, and Harry could hear the tapping of hurried footsteps on the stones.

He put his hand to his lips to signal Ginny to silence, and crept towards the door leading to the next hall. He eased it open and peered out, seeing, unexpectedly, Professor Lanya, her traveling cloak fastened crookedly, and her face horribly angry. He felt Ginny lean over beside him, and had to move so that she could see as well.

The two of them watched, and nearly fell over when another person entered the hall, sweeping quickly after her.

"Professor Lanya!" Snape nearly roared. "You cannot leave like this!"

She spun abruptly on her heel, facing the Potions master, whose robes floated around him as he approached, regarding her with a sneer curling his lips.

"You think you can just flout your responsibilities in order to pursue a vendetta?" He snarled at her.

"This shouldn't have happened," She snarled back, glaring at him, "She was well protected, I made sure of that!"

"Insufficient." Snape told her smoothly. "You shouldn't have thought your piddling protections would guard her from the Dark Lord. He is not one to be underestimated." He stepped closer to her, seeming to loom, even though she was only slightly shorter, topping him with her tall, pointed hat. "Your protections were obviously inadequate. One must wonder why you didn't invoke the Fidelus Charm."

She seemed to shrink within herself. "If it had been possible, you know I would've been doing it. But it was not possible, and my aunt trusted no one else as she did I." She sounded a bit uncertain as she said this, as though she may have been wrong.

"Indeed." He remarked ruminatively, "Then who, do you think..."

She cut him off with a sharp gesture, "It does no good to speculate. The thing is done, out of my control."

"Yes," He remarked, "So you think you should try and return some measure of control, neglecting and abandoning the duties you signed on for here." He stepped even closer to her, and Harry could see her hand hovering close to her wand.

"That's not the reason!" She protested. She quickly stepped back a few paces, bringing her wand up to point at him. "And you will not stop me."

"Drawing on an unarmed man?" He asked mildly. "Would she be proud of you, would this be what she wanted you to do?"

Lanya was silent her purple eyes wide and shining with tears, but she slowly dropped her arm, her wand sliding from her fingers to clatter on the floor. "No..." She said finally. "So what do I do, now?" she asked him brokenly. "Severus." She whispered, taking a few steps forward.

Harry was hard pressed to tell, later, who was more shocked at what happened next, he and Ginny, or professor Snape himself. Lanya took a final step and pressed her forehead against the professor's chest, her hands curling in his robes, her body shuddering with uncontrollable tears.

Snape's expression would have been comical if it were not compounded with so much grief. His eyes widened, his shoulders stiffened, he half raised his hand, as though to rest it on her back, then brought it slowly back down to his side.

"She was all I had. What do I do now?" She whispered again.

"First, you desist blubbering on the front on my robes." He said, even his voice stiff. "Then you go on as you must, and not let it consume you." This last was said with a touch of bitterness that did not go unnoticed.

Lanya lifted her face, looking at him piercingly. She stepped back, a little self-consciously, and unfastened her crooked robe, taking it carefully over her arm, her attention ostensibly completely focused on the action. Then she looked back up at him and smiled, though her eyes were very red and her face still wet.

She murmured something under her breath, rather ruefully, then raised her voice. "As I am staying, Severus. What do you say about starting a Dueling Club?" Then she led him away, as he looked almost approving.

When they had gone, Harry and Ginny straightened, having been too nervous about being discovered listening to a private conversation to risk moving much. They looked at each other, speechless.

Finally, as they were about to part ways, Ginny broke the silence. "I would've thought he wanted to get rid of her, then he could get the job himself."

Harry hesitated, "Sometimes, I think there's more to Snape then he lets on." He finally said. "Though he's still a slimy git at heart."

"Certainly," She laughed in agreement, turning away. "Oh, and, Harry?"

"Yes?" He asked, seeing her look at him over her shoulder.

"You really should forgive Texi for whatever happened." She told his seriously. "She loves you just as much as we all do."

Somehow, Ginny's words struck home where no one else's had. He nodded, and headed off to Potions, while Ginny headed in the other direction.

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