A/N: My bad all. I noticed a small error in Interlude. The date read May 9th, 1997. It should be 1998. I've made the changes where I could and will be making the change when I get back to my own comp with my website files. Sorry about that. Replys to reviews will be next chapter.

Come the Maëlstrom

Chapter 21

The light hurt his eyes when he woke up. It was as if they still weren't used to seeing anything. His head swam a bit as well, like it had trouble simply remaining together. It was like this every time he woke up. Most of the times it went away; rarely it stayed and made him fall asleep to deal with it. Other days he felt weird, as if he wasn't completely himself. Like there was some part of him that didn't belong, that was out of sync with him.

He blinked a bit more, before reaching over and sliding his glasses on. It seemed that he was going to have a relatively easy day today. Closing his eyes, he gave a heavy sigh and simply lay there. He had been stuck in the infirmary for a little over two months now with nothing to do and it had become very tedious at times; it was only recently – meaning the last three weeks – that Madame Pomfrey allowed him to do any of the assignments; and that was only the very short ones that wouldn't disturb him too much. The large essays were out of the question. But he still wasn't allowed the read the newspaper and was strictly confined to the bed. And when he did see Snape, the man was either in a very bad mood – that didn't warrant any sort of questioning – or simply gave him the work and left, as if he was avoiding him. Ron and Hermione managed to visit him at least once a week and it did cheer him up but it also made him feel a touch more irritable since he had to sit there and watched as they left afterwards. He couldn't wait to get out here.

He opened his eyes once more and jumped. Draco's face was inches from his, his grey eyes intent. "Cripes!" he shoved Draco away. "Nice way to wake up someone."

It had been a long while since he's actually seen Draco. The pale boy looked a chalky sort of white, as if he'd lost a lot of blood. Harry looked down to see he still had some bone spikes protruding through his skin but they were much shorter now and had been rounded out so he wouldn't accidentally stab someone. Not that they could with such blunted tips.

"This is the first time I've seen you up, prat. I'm usually asleep when you're up and when I'm up, you're fast asleep, moaning and groaning about something."

"Didn't know you wanted some company that much, Malfoy." Harry smirked as he sat up.

Draco snorted. "Don't be ludicrous. I'm just glad that bastard didn't kill you. That leaves the spot wide open for me, since you snuffed him."

Harry chuckled as he rubbed at his temple. His head was getting little aches of pain today. But compared to the horrendous migraines he had before, this was absolutely nothing. "You wouldn't happen to have a newspaper, would you?"

"You know," Draco said conversationally. "I've been expressly forbidden from giving you any thing that contains news..."

"Which means you have a newspaper."

Harry watched as Draco pushed aside the curtain and reached under his pillow. "Here's the paper from this morning. Read it quickly. Pomfrey had to make a run to somewhere."

Harry gave him a grin and unfolded the paper. What greeted him was a picture of Lucius, who was clearly attempting to avoid having his picture taken. He kept slipping past the edge of the picture but was jostled back in by the crowd of limbs holding cameras at the fringes of the frame.

"Lucius Malfoy leaves St. Mungo's. Expected to attend trial tomorrow," Harry read off the cover, nothing the date was July 31st.

"There's a media gag on that trial so you won't find anything about it. Most of the other trials are finished; you can read about them inside."

Harry stared at Draco, amazed at his nonchalant tone. "He's..." Harry trailed off remembering who he was talking to. "He's your father! Aren't you even the least bit worried?"

Draco shrugged as he lay down on his bed. "Why would I be?"

"You don't care?"

"No, I just know exactly how it's going to end. So what's the point in worrying?"

"But still..." Harry trailed off, looking back at the cover to find a look of irritation flash across Lucius' face.

Harry felt himself a bit confused. Lucius was always in control. Since when had he allowed anything to show so blatantly on his face? It was so uncharacteristically Lucius.

"Potter! Give me back the newspaper!"

Harry looked up at Draco startled to find him holding out his hand. "What? No! I'm not done reading it."

"Hell, Pomfrey's coming back! Give it to me!"

"What does it matter? I'll hide it under my pillow!"

"She'll check under your pillow!" Draco hissed. "Give it back!"

"I said no! I want to read it!" Harry tightened his grip on the newspaper.

"Bloody hell!" Draco hurried over to Harry's bed and attempted to grab the newspaper. "Give it back!"

"No!" Harry exclaimed, moving it from Draco's reach.

Draco growled and clambered on the bed. "Just give me the damned paper!!"

"I told you no!" Harry retorted, attempting to squirm out from under the blankets and keep the newspaper.

Draco lunged for him and Harry kept his grip on the newspaper as Draco righted himself on the soft bed surface and attempted to wrest it from him. They were both snarling things at one another and were going at it tooth and nail when Madame Pomfrey snapped the curtains back.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Malfoy!" she ground out in a tight voice.

Both of them looked up immediately, red-faced and still grasping at bits of the newspaper.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded with a murderous expression on her face.

Both Harry and Draco sat up, pulling on the newspaper, and attempted to hide it behind their backs. What happened was that it ripped right in half and each of them had a half behind their backs. Their faces turned even redder. Madame Pomfrey sighed heavily.

"I can't deal with it... this is it! I try to keep a semblance of order and you two seem hellbent on undermining me! I never should have allowed you to have a newspaper Mr. Malfoy or allow you both to do schoolwork. Let Professor Snape deal with you both! I've had enough."

Harry and Draco glanced at one another. Sure they'd been arguing practically since Harry woke up, but they hadn't thought it was that bad. And it did distract them for what would have been mind-crushing numbness.

"Well, we're bored!" Harry said defensively. "You only let him read the newspaper and you don't even let me do much of anything beyond sitting here! Can't we at least do something?"

"No, you may not Harry! You severely depleted yourself magically and physically in the battle. You need time to heal up from that. I allowed school work because Professor Snape didn't wish for you, the both of you, to fall too far behind in your studies and I do agree with him on that point."

"I think a few weeks of doing nothing helped that," Harry mumbled sarcastically. "I'm behind enough as it is already. You won't let me do anything major, like those essays."

Madame Pomfrey gave a disgusted sigh. "Fine, ask Professor Snape for some more assignments when he comes to check up on you both! If you wear yourselves out, it's your own fault."

And with that Madame Pomfrey snapped the curtain back shut and her steps could be heard. Harry brought out his torn half of the newspaper and gave Draco a sheepish look.

"Sorry." He offered it.

Draco snatched it back. "You should be."

"I'm pretty sure I can fix it."

"With what wand?" Draco asked in a supremely peeved tone.

"With..." Harry trailed off realising Draco was right; all this time and he hadn't even once thought about his wand. Well, he was either worried about assignments or the throbbing pain in his head. And the throbbing pain made it difficult to think of much of anything else aside from any possible form of relief. "What happened to my wand?!"

"No one's told you?"

"Obviously not, or I wouldn't be asking!" Harry said in a slightly panicked voice as he started looking around his bed. "Where is it?" he patted through his blankets and looked under his pillow before sticking his hand inside the pillowcase and then looking in.

"Sheesh, calm down, and I'll tell you," Draco said hastily. "You look like you want to wet your pants."

"Funny," Harry said sarcastically.

"Well, what Blaise told me is that when they found us, they couldn't exactly find your wand."

"What do you mean they couldn't exactly find it?"

"They found a few pieces of it, just like they found pieces of the Dark Lord's wand. Apparently the cores were completely burnt out. All that remained was just the wood; well, what wasn't incinerated somehow."

"My... My wand is –"

"Done."

Harry didn't say anything as he contemplated this new information. He supposed it made sense in a way. Ollivander had told him that his wand and the Dark Lord's wand had cores from the same phoenix. Hell, Harry even knew that phoenix. And he knew of the theory of cancellation; when two wands with the same core from the same animal met, there was a negating sort of effect. But his wand had exploded? It seemed so incomprehensible that it had to be a lie and yet, at the same time, it felt like someone had just brutally amputated his arm off.

"Hey!" Draco leaned over and whapped him on the shoulder with the torn newspaper. "Snap out of it!"

"I have no wand." Harry said slowly in a soft voice.

"Which is why you go to Ollivanders and get a new one," Draco said with a roll of his eyes as he got back into his bed. "Honestly, do you ever use your brain? I realise it was your wand and all, but these things happen."

Harry opened his mouth to speak but a frustrated sigh came instead. His wand was gone. What was he supposed to do about his N.E.W.Ts now? It was probably going to be a long while before Madame Pomfrey would allow him from bed, much less to go wand shopping in Diagon Alley. He ran a hand through his hair before sinking back to rest his head on the pillow. The very concept that his wand no longer existed seemed so... alien that he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around it. He was so busy contemplating this that he never noticed when the curtains were drawn aside and Dumbledore stepped in.

"Harry?"

He started, seeing a long white beard. "Oh. Headmaster." He sat up shaking his head slightly to clear it. "Professor Snape." He said as he noticed the other man there was well. And, for once, he wasn't angry or looked like he wanted to bolt.

"I'll check up on you after I'm done with Mr. Malfoy."

Harry nodded and turned his attention back to Dumbledore. Dumbledore smiled and settled down in a chair, pulling out a bag of lemon sherbets, looking around momentarily.

"Would you care for some?" he asked as he proffered the bag.

"Sure," Harry reached in and took a few.

Dumbledore popped one in his mouth himself. "So, how have you been Harry?"

"Bored silly," Harry said before he sucked on a candy. "I can't read a newspaper, I've only got a minimal amount of homework to do and I'm stuck in bed all the time."

"Understandable," Dumbledore chuckled. "Madame Pomfrey is taking no chances with your health. Now, I understand you used to have headaches."

"Well, of course." Harry said after he swallowed the candy; he'd formulated his own theory about that awhile ago. Having a lot of free time to lie in bed gave one plenty of time to philosophise about things.

"It sounds as if you've thought about it already." Dumbledore said after a moment

"I have," Harry said with a shrug. "The way I see it, Voldemort was linked to my mind and vice versa. Occlumency didn't get rid of that link; it simply put a door on it. So when I killed Voldemort, I broke the connection; broke but didn't remove it completely. Destroying his soul destroyed whatever may have lingered about him and that connection. I suppose it's like ripping something away abruptly. It's bound to hurt for awhile until you get used to it."

"Like ripping off a Band-Aid?"

"That'll do." Harry said after a moment.

"That is about the same conclusion that I drew as well," Dumbledore didn't say anything for a moment. "The mind is a very curious thing. It reacts in certain ways under certain assumptions. That is what saved Valencia from Voldemort's Legilimancy."

Harry arched an eyebrow in question as he ate the last two lemon sherbets.

"Legilimancy has one key implicit flaw to it. The subject must be under the impression that they have no form of protection and cannot do anything to protect themselves."

"But Valencia didn't know of any way to protect herself; so how could she know that she, well, theoretically, couldn't do anything to protect herself?"

"True, she had no form of protection; but it was her sheer persistence in not wanting to yield any information to Voldemort that acted as protection in and of itself. It formed a powerful shield that not even he could break."

"So... she basically slammed the door in his face without even realising it."

"That's another way to put it." Dumbledore chuckled. "Another lemon sherbet?"

"Thanks," Harry said taking a few more.

"Now, I wanted to talk to you about your cla– "

"Headmaster."

They both looked up to find Madame Pomfrey looking extraordinarily peeved at him. Dumbledore attempted to hide the bag of candy but failed miserably.

"Alas, it seems someone else disapproves of my lemon sherbets." He said mournfully tucking the bag back into his pocket.

"Quite right," Madame Pomfrey sniffed. "The infirmary is no place for candy."

"That depends on your point of view," Harry mumbled. "Were you going to say something else Headmaster?"

"It can wait until Severus is done with Mr. Potter's physical examination." Madame Pomfrey said briskly. "Or even another day."

"I'll try to come and see you when I have a free moment again." Dumbledore said as he rose slowly from the chair. "Now really Poppy, what's so wrong about lemon sherbets?"

"Aside from the disgusting amount of sugar they have in them, everything else," Madame Pomfrey said as she held the curtain back for Dumbledore. "Given how frequently you eat those things, I'm surprised you still have teeth."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle as Madame Pomfrey let the curtain fall back; he could still hear her lecturing Dumbledore as to the many evils of lemony candy. He sucked slowly on the candy, trying to kill time. He knew he was going to have another conversation with Dumbledore and sooner was better rather than later. From the other side of the curtain, he could the sounds of someone doing something very physical before soft murmurs came. When Snape finally appeared, he had sucked the last lemon sherbet into a tiny, tiny ball.

"Out of bed, now." Snape said curtly.

Harry swallowed the bit of candy and slipped out of bed, standing beside it stretching slightly. "Are you going to be poking and prodding at me for long?"

"Hopefully not," Snape said as he scrutinised Harry. "Now, you will do exactly as I tell you, understood?"

"Yup."

"Good. Now, I want you to run on the spot for as long as you can."

Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise but he complied, running on one spot of cold floor in bare feet. He could see Snape glancing between him and his watch. The minutes seemed to drag on forever but he wasn't exactly tired.

"All right, you can stop." Snape said finally. "You've been doing that for the past fifteen minutes."

"That's nice to know," Harry managed in a barely winded voice.

"Yes, now stand up perfectly straight and stand with your feet shoulder width apart and arms out."

Harry did just that and was subjected to Snape poking and prodding at various muscles and crooks of his body. He didn't even know he was ticklish until Snape prodded at a spot just under his jaw at his neck.

"Hey!" Harry giggled as he drew away.

"Potter," Snape sighed in exasperation. "Get back here and assume the position."

Harry looked at Snape for a moment, before he burst out laughing even more. He could hear audible snickers coming from the other side of the curtain as well. It took him a good ten minutes before he stopped laughing and was able to stand back up in order for Snape to finish off examining him.

"Well," Snape said finally, indicating that Harry could sit back down. "You are disgustingly healthy, just as I thought you would be."

"Good; then you can tell Madame Pomfrey that I should be allowed to do something more in terms of assignments? And perhaps actually walking rather than being bound to bed like an invalid? Possibly have a few more visitors? And maybe take a trip to Diagon Alley to get a new wand?"

"New wand..." Snape looked at him. "How did you know?"

"Honestly Sir, don't you think it'd be odder if I hadn't known?"

"Touché," Snape admitted. "There's always some obnoxiously loud chatter mouth in the school."

Harry bit his tongue to stop himself from snickering at the slightly offended sound that came from the other side of the curtain.

"I'll see about bringing you some more assignments to work on. You may be prohibited from using magic, but there's no reason for you to allow the marginal amount of brains you've developed to rot away. As for the new wand, that will require a trip to Diagon Alley and, as such, will require the Headmaster's approval."

"All right Sir."

"Now if you will excuse me, I have other matters that require my attention." Snape said, turning to leave.

"Can't they wait?" Harry asked a moment later.

Snape didn't say anything for a long moment, turning back slowly to look at Harry. "And why should I take the time out of my disgustingly busy schedule to bother with you now?"

"I think you know why Sir..." Harry said. "Dumbledore obviously won't tell me certain things."

The seconds ticked on by before Snape drew his wand and cast a quick Silencing ward around Harry's bed. Snape sat down gingerly on the edge while Harry sat back down and crossed his legs before pulling the blanket up.

"Well?"

"What is Dumbledore really not telling me Sir?"

"Where would you like for me to start? I've had multiple conversations with that man and nothing good came of them."

Harry's eyes widened. "Just how much has he been keeping from me?"

"Plenty," Snape finally said after a moment. "Your initial suspicions were correct."

"He did know of a way..." Harry shook his head with a supremely disgusted tone. "I'll bet he thought there was still a risk of Voldemort poking around in my mind, didn't he?" he snorted when Snape nodded his head. "What a lame reason."

An affirming grunt came from Snape's throat. "Have you been able to obtain a newspaper?"

"Yeah, but I didn't' get to read much beyond the front cover." Harry said with a wistful expression. Snape shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Then I see that –"

"Severus!"

Both Harry and Snape looked over to find Madame Pomfrey with a displeased glower on her face. It was a peculiar expression that had him worried as well as Snape, judging from the peculiar expression on the sallow man's face. She had taken down the Silencing ward and was slowly advancing on them both.

"While, I am glad to see you have buried your animosity," she said in a low and controlled voice. "I am not pleased with the fact that you are keeping a patient from his rest and are obviously neglecting a class that you should be teaching at this very moment."

Harry could have sworn Snape paled a bit more and muttered something along the lines of, 'She's finally cracked... too much fucking pressure.' He coughed to cover up his sudden snicker, drawing Madame Pomfrey's attention to him.

"And you should be resting Mr. Potter. You certainly don't want to have a relapse do you?"

"No ma'am." Harry managed in a straight voice as Snape rose from his seat and dusted off his robes.

"We'll continue the discussion at some other point." Snape said brusquely.

"Of course Sir," Harry said.

He watched as Snape walked away, his robes swirling impressively. Madame Pomfrey tutted as she plumped his pillows once more. He leaned back against them while Madame Pomfrey gave him the admonition of not doing too much work or stretching himself too thin. Harry simply nodded his head in silent agreement. Of course, Snape didn't know it yet but some other point was going to be by the end of the week if Harry had anything to do about it.

The hallway was cool as his slippered feet stood on the stone floor. There was a brisk breeze that was moving through the hallway and Harry shivered slightly and wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. He was standing on the landing, looking at the flights of stairs. One lead downwards to Snape and what would inevitably be a long discussion. The other led upwards to Ernesto and Valencia and what would undoubtedly be a very relieved welcoming. He stood there for a few minutes before the breeze picked up again.

"Up I go..." he muttered as he started up the flight of stairs.

His steps were muffled as he moved up slowly and made his way to the portrait of Bucephalus; or rather where the portrait of Bucephalus had been. A torn frame greeted him, the interior hallway visible in the moonlight. His brow furrowed as he peered in, seeing slivers of faint moonlight.

"Harry?"

He looked over suddenly to see Bucephalus in the frame beside his previous one, mounted on his familiar black horse. "Oh, Bucephalus. What happened here?"

"Something called a swarm of Death Eaters and their allies," Bucephalus said dryly. "But not to worry; Ernesto and Valencia were moved somewhere else before the battle. The Death Eaters found nothing when they got in."

"Where are they now?" Harry asked, stepping closer.

"Don't know. Dumbledore is the only one who knows that," Bucephalus said with a shrug. "And he certainly didn't volunteer than information to me. Only one other person as far as I can gather."

"One other person?"

"Yes; the person who will be involved in their Fidelus charm."

Harry didn't say anything for a long moment. "I beg your pardon?"

"Doesn't anyone tell you anything?" Bucephalus snorted. "Even the portraits have heard the rumours."

"Considering how closeted I'm kept me in the infirmary, it's a miracle that I managed to sneak out."

"So you've heard nothing?"

"No. Madame Pomfrey even put a spell on Draco so he doesn't tell me anything disturbing or unsettling. It's somewhat annoying to hear him yip every time he almost lets something slip."

"Hm," Bucephalus frowned. "Rumour is that they will be sent back soon, right after the Fidelus charm has been performed. That way, no lingering Death Eaters can find them."

"How very convenient for Dumbledore..." Harry said in a tight voice. "Anything else?"

"That's pretty much it." Bucephalus said before pausing for a long moment. "You know Harry; I can try some more to find out just where there are, if you wish, that is?"

"It would be nice, since I owe them so much," Harry said evenly.

"A-All right." Bucephalus said, nudging his horse with his heels. "I'll see what I can dig up."

And with that Bucephalus stormed from the portrait. Harry watched it for a moment longer before walking down the stairs and making his way into the dungeons. He came to Snape's classroom door and pushed it open slightly. The office door was cracked open and there was firelight coming from it. He walked up and knocked on the door lightly. The scraping sound of a chair came and Snape opened the door, looking down at him in surprise.

"Do you have any idea of what time it is Potter?" he asked a moment later.

"So why aren't you asleep?" Harry said softly.

Snape sighed and motioned for him to come in. "You've chosen a most inopportune time. I'm marking a set of Hufflepuff essays."

"Some how, I doubt that it's inconvenient," Harry said, glancing over to see a pile of red marked papers. "Even you have to get tired of marking nonsense like that."

"Should I ask how long it is until Madame Pomfrey goes storming through the castle to find you?" Snape asked after a moment, sitting back down at his desk.

"Not for a good while, I hope," Harry didn't say anything for a moment sitting down in the chair by the desk. "You don't seem all that surprised to see me here."

"I'm not likely to forget your aptitude for rule breaking."

Harry snorted. "How long have you known Ernesto and Valencia were moved from the chambers on the third floor?"

Snape didn't say anything for a moment. "Since they were moved. Albus seems to think it prudent to make me their Secret keeper," He curled his lip. "I want no such part in that."

"Am I the only one," Harry began after a moment. "Who finds it a bit disturbing that the two people who have a clear objective view of Dumbledore's actions over the past few weeks have been hidden away by him in some place that even I don't know and probably every one on staff does?"

Nothing was said for a long moment, only the sound of the fire crackling in the heart. When Snape finally moved again it was to lay down his quill and regard Harry with a rather solemn gaze.

"I do believe you raise a very valid point," he finally said. "But you are wrong on one point. You assume that the staff knows their location."

"So only Dumbledore knows; wonderful. Is he going to deign to let me see them once more before he packs them off?" Harry asked in a bitter snarl. "Or is he just going to make yet another decision for me? What's one more anyways?"

A few things on Snape's shelves started rattling ominously with Harry's words and continued on for a few minutes.

"I suggest you calm down. I have 14 Galleon crystal bottles that are quite hard to replace."

Harry simply nodded, taking slow deep breaths. The rattling stopped but a beak or vial would give a weak twitch every so often. Snape rose from his seat, making his way over to a cabinet, pulling out a decanter and a small tumbler. Harry watched as he reached for a second glass.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Are you offering a student alcohol, Sir?" Harry asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm offering an idiotic wandering patient something medicinal to calm his nerves." Snape retorted. "Pick something."

"Beer." Harry replied immediately; it wasn't all that bad once you got over the slight bitterness.

"Figures a Potter would have such common taste," Snape grumbled. "I don't have beer."

"I've only had beer before, so I'll leave that decision up to you."

Snape looked at him before he regarded his shelves and turned back to his task at hand. Harry stared into the fire, loosening his blanket slightly. When a tumbler with a small amount of amber liquid was placed in front of him he wrapped his fingers loosely around it and lowered it to his nose to sniff delicately.

"That seems a bit strong." He said after a moment.

"You seem very high strung." Snape replied as he sat back down in his seat. "You're on your way to becoming a semi-decent wizard; you might as well refine you palate in the process."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Brandy."

"What do you have?"

"Whiskey; when one teaches idiots for so long, one requires something much stronger to calm their nerves."

A momentary chuckle came from Harry before he took a small sip. "Hm..."

Silence reigned for a moment as they both focused on the alcohol in their hands. After a few moments, Harry looked up at Snape.

"So just what has Dumbledore been doing regarding my well being?" he asked in a dry voice.

"Which questionable issue would you like for me to raise first?"

"The worst. At least everything else will look better in comparison and I'll know exactly what to do from that point."

"Such a Slytherin approach Potter..."

Harry simply slid Snape a semi-amused look before he contemplated the remaining amber liquid. "Well, what's the worst?"

"Compared to everything else..." Snape didn't say anything for a moment. "The fact that you will have to return the Dursleys once you've finished here at Hogwarts."

He had not been prepared for that and his hands tightened reflexively. The glass shattered in his grip immediately, sprinkling his lap with shards, brandy and small drops of blood. He hissed as the alcohol seeped its way into the many small cuts on his hand, swearing under his breath.

"You took that much better than I thought," Snape murmured as he placed his tumbler aside and vanished the spill with his wand. "I thought I would need to place an order for new bottles with Potare's."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Harry spat in a venomous voice. "I'm going to graduate, finally get to become my own legal guardian and Dumbledore wants to pull this bullshit?!"

The crystal bottles started dancing around one another and across the shelf, while the few small cabinets around the room it started shifting about weakly.

"Control, Potter!" Snape barked as he approached Harry. "I don't need my office trashed in a fit of your rage. True it is justified, but I am not about to sort through the mess once your outburst has spent itself."

"That man has some fucking nerve..." Harry ground out in between deep breaths as Snape walked forward and healed his hands.

"I wouldn't put it so crudely, but yes, he does," Snape said as he returned to his seat. "Obviously you have issues with your... guardians."

"Obviously," Harry said curling his lip. "What was your first bloody indication?"

Snape frowned at him as he walked back to the cabinet and fixed Harry another drink. Once it was placed in his hands, Harry simply rested it on the floor by his foot. He didn't want to inadvertently break another one of Snape's glasses.

"While I do not agree with his decision in this case, you certainly can't stay here once you've graduated. Albus is even considering transferring the students in the infirmary to St. Mungo's so repairs may begin sooner."

"Then I suppose I have something to look forward to; getting out of here... right?" he looked at Snape, seeing the stony gaze there. "Right?" he repeated again.

Snape shook his head. Harry gave a disgusted sigh and threw his hands up.

"He's not letting me go to St. Mungo's," he echoed in a tight voice. "I don't believe him. What's his reasoning behind that?"

"The few Death Eaters who are still at large, namely the Lestranges, Pettigrew, Notts and Narcissa Malfoy."

Harry swore under his breath. "Let me see if I get this straight... Dumbledore is willing to ship everyone else off to St. Mungo's but me because he thinks I might be attacked in some crazy Death Eater suicide mission?" Harry shook his head in disbelief. "He's willing to risk everyone else but treats me like I'm fucking breakable... unbelievable."

"Whatever happened to your brain, it certainly made it much more perceptive."

"This is what happens when you have two solid months when you can't talk and all you can do is listen and think..."

"You could hear?"

"Yes; everything uttered close to me," Harry ran a hand through his hair. "What else is there?"

Snape didn't say anything for a long moment. "Undoubtedly you know of Mr. Malfoy's trial has been proceeding since May."

"Since May?" Harry raised both his eyebrows.

Snape nodded his head. "While Albus has not forbidden us from testifying on Lucius' behalf," he paused as Harry made some snide disparaging comments. "He has made it clear that he frowns on such actions; if we do such, we will not have his support."

Harry blinked and stared at Snape for a moment before he shook his head, bending it forward, shoulders shaking. Snape leaned forward after a few moments.

"And just what is the matter now?"

"Oh, that's rich!" Harry crowed, lifting his head up and wiping away the tears of laughter. "He doesn't' want us to testify so he threatens by saying that he won't support us! Oh my God..." he broke down laughing once more.

"I'm failing to see the humour in this situation." Snape said dryly.

It took Harry a few minutes to calm down to be able to talk properly. "Come on Professor. If I decided to stroll into that courtroom and testify on Mr. Malfoy's behalf, there isn't a single thing that Dumbledore could do about it. His threat is nothing but empty."

Snape snorted after a moment. "The Boy-Who-Lived testifies on behalf of Death Eater... no one would exactly buy it."

"If anything, I carry much more clout than Dumbledore at the moment," Harry said as he picked up his tumbler and took a sip. "I killed Volde- er, the Dark Lord. I can vouch for anyone and it will certainly make people think twice."

"Is this your subtle manner of telling me you plan to sneak out of the school?" Snape snorted with slight derision. "For this express purpose?"

"Of course not," Harry said with a smirk. "I'm still recuperating after all. But I do need a new wand. That is crucial... and I'll bet the courtroom where the trial is will be close to Diagon Alley. People do get bored during shopping and wander off..."

"Whoever has to take you will be watching like a hawk."

"That doesn't matter," Harry said a bit dismissively. "Dumbledore will more than likely pick the person the same day; less risk that way. I don't know who and they don't know until they have to take me; no information can leak out so readily. And I'll bet Diagon Alley will be doing some brisk business, more so that usual. It'll be quite easy to lose track of someone in that crowd; especially after they've gotten a wand."

"You're playing with fire Potter," Snape said in a low tone. "Your magic is still in its volatile stage."

"But a new wand will fit my magic as it is now, so the risk would be considerably less," Harry didn't say anything for a moment. "Besides, we do owe Mr. Malfoy a debt of sorts; if he didn't find that potion, things may have turned out very differently. I'm not going to have him call it in some other way."

"Wiser words have never been spoken," Snape snorted.

Harry made a small noise of agreement and sipped at his brandy. "Anything else?"

"There is one other thing I wished to discuss but I do believe we've pushed out luck enough for tonight, don't you?" Snape murmured.

"True," Harry quickly gulped the rest of his brandy, wincing slightly at the way it burned as it went down. "I'll pop by for another talk sometime soon. It wouldn't exactly do to have you talking to a Gryffindor in the infirmary in such a manner, huh?"

Harry could have smirked at the expression on Snape's face as he rose and settled his blanket on his shoulders. He settled for a slight smile as he made his way to the office door.

"On a side note, Potter, just how much did you hear?"

Harry didn't say anything for a long moment. "I know what happened down here between you and Hermione before Mr. Nihilare showed up. I may have been comatose, but Hermione did come to talk to me when she could,"

There came a stifled curse from Snape.

"It's just a thought, but maybe you, for once in your life, should throw the rules aside. If you didn't feel anything for her, you certainly wouldn't have been snogging her on your desk that day,"

"Thank you for the illuminating advice Potter," Snape said a bit caustically.

"Who said I was done?" Harry asked in mock surprise. "You're a teacher; she's a student, blah, blah, blah. I say stick the two know-it-alls together and let them be happy. Merlin knows we've all suffered enough, especially you Sir. Besides, that little act she put on that day with the lawyer, she didn't mean it really. She was trying to see if she could rile you up,"

Snape remained silent this time. Harry took that as a cue to continue.

"Just make sure you whisk her off her feet properly once she graduates, all right? Oh, and if she asks, I would rather that this conversation never happened."

"Potter," Snape finally said after a long moment. "Only an idiot like yourself could get himself sorted into the wrong house."

That was as close to a direct compliment and a joke that he was ever going to get from Snape. Harry chuckled as he glanced back at the man. "Then maybe I should be glad that I didn't want someone who I thought was a greasy evil git as my head of house."

Harry was treated to the rarest sight of all at that statement. Snape, sitting at his desk, with complete shock written all over his face. He gave a smile, inclined his head slightly in farewell and closed the door.