Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I updated this fic. I've been in China for three weeks (as those of you who read After the Defeat already know) and I had a great time. Unfortunately, when I got back I had to spend a few days in hospital with a bout of pneumonia, so this chapter got delayed even further. So, once again, sorry about that!
On Ginny's name: On her official website J.K. Rowling herself states that Ginny's full name is 'Ginevra, not Virginia.' It's a great site with a lot of interesting information, so if you haven't paid it a visit yet you really should.
Chapter 16
Old Enemies
The remainder of his stay at Grimmauld Place was rather awkward for Harry. He felt that the Weasleys were walking on eggshells around him, afraid that they would upset him again. Perhaps they had been warned by Mrs Weasley that she would tell them a thing or two if their behaviour around Harry wasn't impeccable. Whatever the reason was, Ginny, Ron and the twins seemed to be trying to avoid him as much as possible, whereas Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie adopted an overly cheerful attitude whenever Harry was in the room.
Ron sulked for a few days after the scene in the kitchen, refusing to apologise to Harry no matter how much Hermione nagged him to do it. When he finally did apologise Harry felt that it was too little too late, completely forgetting that Ron's reaction wasn't so different from what his own had been upon initially finding out that Snape was his father. He accepted the apology, however, but things still weren't as usual between the two of them. The only person Harry felt he could really talk to was Hermione.
Therefore it was a relief to him when the term began and they returned to Hogwarts. Now that most of the people who were important to him knew that Snape was his father it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Harry did better than ever before in his lessons, determined not to let his problems during the previous term affect his chances to achieve good NEWT results next year. He also noticed that the fact that he didn't spend as much time with Ron as usual had a good influence on his schoolwork.
Harry didn't see much of Snape these days. He never saw him in the corridors between or after lessons, and he noticed that he was often absent from the high table at meals. He had never yet missed one of their classes however, even though he spent them correcting essays rather than sweeping about the room, criticising the students.
Sometimes Harry felt that perhaps he should talk to Snape. He had, after all, given him the chess set even though Harry had said he wanted nothing to do with him. But as the term went on there was never an opportunity for him to do so during class, and for some reason he felt he would need an excuse to go and look up Snape in his office.
Their first Hogsmeade outing that term was on a cold and snowy day in early February. Harry, Neville, Luna and Hermione went to the Three Broomsticks for a hot butterbeer. Ron was nowhere to be seen, and he hadn't conveyed his plans for the day to them; Harry suspected that he was still working on his History of Magic-project. Ginny had decided to stay in Gryffindor Tower to catch up on some homework. As this was their OWL year, Ginny and Luna were very busy most of the time, but Harry had noticed that Ginny was more reluctant than Luna to spend time with him, Hermione and Neville these days. She seemed to have just as hard a time as Ron to come to terms with the fact that Harry was Snape's son.
Harry was very tired that night as they got home, and went to bed early. Ron hadn't showed up yet, and Harry wondered whether this was because they still weren't on the best of terms. He decided that he didn't really care all that much.
He lay down and closed his eyes. Suddenly, Harry realised that he was angry – very angry. But why? He'd had a great day in Hogsmeade, and there wasn't anything else disturbing him, was there? He tried to think. Yes, there was something. It was that fool Pettigrew – he could never get anything right. With a gasp, Harry sat up, and realised that he was no longer in his dormitory. He was in a cold, dark room, sitting on a narrow bed. He couldn't see anything at first, but slowly his eyes grew accustomed to the dark. The walls of the room were completely bare, except for a huge mirror which was hanging opposite the bed. Harry didn't want to look in it. He knew that, for some reason, it would be dangerous to do so. But his body seemed to be acting on its own, getting up from the bed and walking over to the mirror. Even before he stepped in front of it, Harry knew that he wouldn't be seeing his own face in the mirror. He wouldn't be seeing Snape's either, like he had in his other dreams. He'd be seeing Voldemort's. And as soon as Harry looked into Voldemort's red, snakelike eyes reflected in the mirror, he knew that Voldemort realised that he was there ...
'Harry! Harry!'
Someone slapped his face very hard, and Harry was back in the dormitory again. His scar was throbbing with pain. He opened his eyes and looked up at Ron, who was leaning over him, his eyes wide with fear.
'What happened?' Ron whispered.
Harry sat up and saw that Neville, Dean and Seamus were standing behind Ron, looking anxiously at him.
'Voldemort,' Harry said simply, ignoring the shudder that went through the other four at the mention of the name. He told them exactly what had happened.
'But ...' Ron looked nervous. 'But you haven't had any dreams about You Know Who since last summer, have you?'
'No,' said Harry. 'So why do you think it's happening now?' 'I have no idea,' Harry said shortly, trying to ignore the fact that that was exactly what he was asking himself. 'I really think you should talk to Dumbledore about this, Harry,' Ron said slowly, looking as if he expected Harry to blow up over this. 'Yeah ... I guess I'd better.' Harry looked up at Ron's concerned face, and tried to smile reassuringly. Ron smiled back somewhat hesitantly. For the time being, at least, they were friends again, almost like they had used to be.
Harry woke up late the next morning. When he got down to the Great Hall he immediately realised that Ron had already told Hermione about his dream. He could see it from the looks they gave him as he approached the Gryffindor table.
'Harry, this is really serious!' Hermione exclaimed as soon as he sat down. 'You have to talk to Dumbledore as soon as possible.'
'Yeah, you really should, mate,' said Ron.
Harry sighed. 'I will, I will.'
'Do you promise?' Hermione said, eyeing him anxiously.
'We'll see,' Harry muttered.
'Harry!' Hermione said imploringly.
'Well, I might talk to McGonagall instead!' Harry said irritably. 'You can't possibly mind that, can you?'
'Oh, all right!' Hermione sighed. 'Now hurry up and eat, or we'll be late for Potions.'
Harry concentrated particularly hard on his potion that lesson. He had been more shaken up by the dream than he cared to admit, and he was determined not to let it affect his work. Snape was as busy as always these days, and he barely looked up from the essays he was correcting. When they had all handed in their samples he dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
'Come on, Harry,' Hermione said bossily. 'You can talk to Dumbledore or McGonagall now.'
But Harry had just had an idea. 'Er ... No, you go ahead, Hermione,' he said. 'I want to discuss something with Professor Snape.'
Hermione looked as though she was about to argue her point, but then thought better of it, looking from Harry to Snape, and then back again.
'Oh ...' she said slowly. 'I'll see you later, then.' She smiled approvingly at Harry and then left the classroom, closing the heavy door behind her.
Harry took a deep breath, and then approached Snape's desk.
'Professor Snape?' he said tentatively.
Snape looked up from his papers, seemingly annoyed that someone had the nerve to disturb him. When he saw that he and Harry were alone in the room, however, he quickly composed himself, and said: 'Yes, Potter ... er ... I mean, what can I do for you?'
'I just wanted to ask you something,' Harry said.
'I see.' Snape paused. 'Is this about Potions or ... something else?'
'Something else,' Harry said nervously.
'In that case, why don't we step into my office?' Snape got up and led the way into the adjoining room. Harry swallowed. He had not been here since Snape had thrown him out after he had violated his Pensieve. The place still looked exactly as it had done then.
'Sit down,' Snape said in an unusually polite tone of voice.
Harry sat down opposite Snape.
'Now, what did you want to talk to me about? '
Harry decided to get straight to the point.
'It's about V– ... I mean, You Know Who,' he said hurriedly, and then told Snape everything about the dream.
When he was finished there was a pause, as Snape sat eyeing him thoughtfully.
'Maybe it was just a dream,' Harry suggested hopefully.
'I don't think so,' said Snape.
'It's just ... I haven't had any dreams or visions about him since last summer ...'
'I know.' Snape was looking slightly absent-minded. 'Professor Dumbledore has taken certain precautions to keep the Dark Lord from penetrating your mind again. There is a ... kind of shield around Hogwarts, which is guarded at all times by a member of the Order. Unless I'm much mistaken, Mundungus Fletcher was on duty last night.' Snape snorted contemptuously. 'Not the first time he has left his post. I shall speak to Dumbledore about this. There's nothing for you to worry about, Harry.'
Harry stared at him. Snape had never called him by his first name before, except on the card accompanying his Christmas gift. Snape also seemed to realise this, because he cleared his throat awkwardly, and said:
'Do you mind if I call you Harry when we're alone?' He looked as indifferent as ever, but something made Harry suspect that he was anxious to hear his answer.
'No, of course not ... er, Professor,' Harry said quickly.
'Oh, you needn't call me Professor when we're alone either,' Snape said.
'What should I call you then?'
They both looked at each other awkwardly.
'Well ...' Snape said. 'I suppose you may call me Severus if you want to ... or if you'd prefer something else ... it's entirely up to you, Harry.'
'Er ... I'll think about it,' Harry said, not wanting to decide in a rush.
There was a pause again, and Harry considered what he should say next. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to thank Snape for the chess set after all? Snape leaned forward and seemed to be about to say something, when suddenly the door burst open and Draco Malfoy strode into the room.
On Ginny's name: On her official website J.K. Rowling herself states that Ginny's full name is 'Ginevra, not Virginia.' It's a great site with a lot of interesting information, so if you haven't paid it a visit yet you really should.
Chapter 16
Old Enemies
The remainder of his stay at Grimmauld Place was rather awkward for Harry. He felt that the Weasleys were walking on eggshells around him, afraid that they would upset him again. Perhaps they had been warned by Mrs Weasley that she would tell them a thing or two if their behaviour around Harry wasn't impeccable. Whatever the reason was, Ginny, Ron and the twins seemed to be trying to avoid him as much as possible, whereas Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie adopted an overly cheerful attitude whenever Harry was in the room.
Ron sulked for a few days after the scene in the kitchen, refusing to apologise to Harry no matter how much Hermione nagged him to do it. When he finally did apologise Harry felt that it was too little too late, completely forgetting that Ron's reaction wasn't so different from what his own had been upon initially finding out that Snape was his father. He accepted the apology, however, but things still weren't as usual between the two of them. The only person Harry felt he could really talk to was Hermione.
Therefore it was a relief to him when the term began and they returned to Hogwarts. Now that most of the people who were important to him knew that Snape was his father it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Harry did better than ever before in his lessons, determined not to let his problems during the previous term affect his chances to achieve good NEWT results next year. He also noticed that the fact that he didn't spend as much time with Ron as usual had a good influence on his schoolwork.
Harry didn't see much of Snape these days. He never saw him in the corridors between or after lessons, and he noticed that he was often absent from the high table at meals. He had never yet missed one of their classes however, even though he spent them correcting essays rather than sweeping about the room, criticising the students.
Sometimes Harry felt that perhaps he should talk to Snape. He had, after all, given him the chess set even though Harry had said he wanted nothing to do with him. But as the term went on there was never an opportunity for him to do so during class, and for some reason he felt he would need an excuse to go and look up Snape in his office.
Their first Hogsmeade outing that term was on a cold and snowy day in early February. Harry, Neville, Luna and Hermione went to the Three Broomsticks for a hot butterbeer. Ron was nowhere to be seen, and he hadn't conveyed his plans for the day to them; Harry suspected that he was still working on his History of Magic-project. Ginny had decided to stay in Gryffindor Tower to catch up on some homework. As this was their OWL year, Ginny and Luna were very busy most of the time, but Harry had noticed that Ginny was more reluctant than Luna to spend time with him, Hermione and Neville these days. She seemed to have just as hard a time as Ron to come to terms with the fact that Harry was Snape's son.
Harry was very tired that night as they got home, and went to bed early. Ron hadn't showed up yet, and Harry wondered whether this was because they still weren't on the best of terms. He decided that he didn't really care all that much.
He lay down and closed his eyes. Suddenly, Harry realised that he was angry – very angry. But why? He'd had a great day in Hogsmeade, and there wasn't anything else disturbing him, was there? He tried to think. Yes, there was something. It was that fool Pettigrew – he could never get anything right. With a gasp, Harry sat up, and realised that he was no longer in his dormitory. He was in a cold, dark room, sitting on a narrow bed. He couldn't see anything at first, but slowly his eyes grew accustomed to the dark. The walls of the room were completely bare, except for a huge mirror which was hanging opposite the bed. Harry didn't want to look in it. He knew that, for some reason, it would be dangerous to do so. But his body seemed to be acting on its own, getting up from the bed and walking over to the mirror. Even before he stepped in front of it, Harry knew that he wouldn't be seeing his own face in the mirror. He wouldn't be seeing Snape's either, like he had in his other dreams. He'd be seeing Voldemort's. And as soon as Harry looked into Voldemort's red, snakelike eyes reflected in the mirror, he knew that Voldemort realised that he was there ...
'Harry! Harry!'
Someone slapped his face very hard, and Harry was back in the dormitory again. His scar was throbbing with pain. He opened his eyes and looked up at Ron, who was leaning over him, his eyes wide with fear.
'What happened?' Ron whispered.
Harry sat up and saw that Neville, Dean and Seamus were standing behind Ron, looking anxiously at him.
'Voldemort,' Harry said simply, ignoring the shudder that went through the other four at the mention of the name. He told them exactly what had happened.
'But ...' Ron looked nervous. 'But you haven't had any dreams about You Know Who since last summer, have you?'
'No,' said Harry. 'So why do you think it's happening now?' 'I have no idea,' Harry said shortly, trying to ignore the fact that that was exactly what he was asking himself. 'I really think you should talk to Dumbledore about this, Harry,' Ron said slowly, looking as if he expected Harry to blow up over this. 'Yeah ... I guess I'd better.' Harry looked up at Ron's concerned face, and tried to smile reassuringly. Ron smiled back somewhat hesitantly. For the time being, at least, they were friends again, almost like they had used to be.
Harry woke up late the next morning. When he got down to the Great Hall he immediately realised that Ron had already told Hermione about his dream. He could see it from the looks they gave him as he approached the Gryffindor table.
'Harry, this is really serious!' Hermione exclaimed as soon as he sat down. 'You have to talk to Dumbledore as soon as possible.'
'Yeah, you really should, mate,' said Ron.
Harry sighed. 'I will, I will.'
'Do you promise?' Hermione said, eyeing him anxiously.
'We'll see,' Harry muttered.
'Harry!' Hermione said imploringly.
'Well, I might talk to McGonagall instead!' Harry said irritably. 'You can't possibly mind that, can you?'
'Oh, all right!' Hermione sighed. 'Now hurry up and eat, or we'll be late for Potions.'
Harry concentrated particularly hard on his potion that lesson. He had been more shaken up by the dream than he cared to admit, and he was determined not to let it affect his work. Snape was as busy as always these days, and he barely looked up from the essays he was correcting. When they had all handed in their samples he dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
'Come on, Harry,' Hermione said bossily. 'You can talk to Dumbledore or McGonagall now.'
But Harry had just had an idea. 'Er ... No, you go ahead, Hermione,' he said. 'I want to discuss something with Professor Snape.'
Hermione looked as though she was about to argue her point, but then thought better of it, looking from Harry to Snape, and then back again.
'Oh ...' she said slowly. 'I'll see you later, then.' She smiled approvingly at Harry and then left the classroom, closing the heavy door behind her.
Harry took a deep breath, and then approached Snape's desk.
'Professor Snape?' he said tentatively.
Snape looked up from his papers, seemingly annoyed that someone had the nerve to disturb him. When he saw that he and Harry were alone in the room, however, he quickly composed himself, and said: 'Yes, Potter ... er ... I mean, what can I do for you?'
'I just wanted to ask you something,' Harry said.
'I see.' Snape paused. 'Is this about Potions or ... something else?'
'Something else,' Harry said nervously.
'In that case, why don't we step into my office?' Snape got up and led the way into the adjoining room. Harry swallowed. He had not been here since Snape had thrown him out after he had violated his Pensieve. The place still looked exactly as it had done then.
'Sit down,' Snape said in an unusually polite tone of voice.
Harry sat down opposite Snape.
'Now, what did you want to talk to me about? '
Harry decided to get straight to the point.
'It's about V– ... I mean, You Know Who,' he said hurriedly, and then told Snape everything about the dream.
When he was finished there was a pause, as Snape sat eyeing him thoughtfully.
'Maybe it was just a dream,' Harry suggested hopefully.
'I don't think so,' said Snape.
'It's just ... I haven't had any dreams or visions about him since last summer ...'
'I know.' Snape was looking slightly absent-minded. 'Professor Dumbledore has taken certain precautions to keep the Dark Lord from penetrating your mind again. There is a ... kind of shield around Hogwarts, which is guarded at all times by a member of the Order. Unless I'm much mistaken, Mundungus Fletcher was on duty last night.' Snape snorted contemptuously. 'Not the first time he has left his post. I shall speak to Dumbledore about this. There's nothing for you to worry about, Harry.'
Harry stared at him. Snape had never called him by his first name before, except on the card accompanying his Christmas gift. Snape also seemed to realise this, because he cleared his throat awkwardly, and said:
'Do you mind if I call you Harry when we're alone?' He looked as indifferent as ever, but something made Harry suspect that he was anxious to hear his answer.
'No, of course not ... er, Professor,' Harry said quickly.
'Oh, you needn't call me Professor when we're alone either,' Snape said.
'What should I call you then?'
They both looked at each other awkwardly.
'Well ...' Snape said. 'I suppose you may call me Severus if you want to ... or if you'd prefer something else ... it's entirely up to you, Harry.'
'Er ... I'll think about it,' Harry said, not wanting to decide in a rush.
There was a pause again, and Harry considered what he should say next. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to thank Snape for the chess set after all? Snape leaned forward and seemed to be about to say something, when suddenly the door burst open and Draco Malfoy strode into the room.