Extremely long chapter ahead:D

Chapter 23: Changing His Ways

Snape was still in shock over what he had done back in the infirmary. He resolutely decided that he must be coming down with some new and extraordinary illness that made you want to care for your enemy; at least that's what he would tell anyone who should consider asking. Even though he knew the truth deep down inside of himself, he wasn't about to admit to caring for Harry Potter, to anyone.

As he passed the large entrance hall, his gaze lingered on the enchanted ceiling inside the Great Hall. The full moon dominated the central aspect of the illusion and the clear sky was softly scattered with sparkling stars. He would have to pluck hairs from Lupin in order to complete the potion for Potter, and to do that, he would have to enter a room with a fully-grown werewolf. No matter if he did still have his mind because of the Wolfsbane potion, it still didn't sit well with Snape that in a moment or two's time he would have to face the ominous beast.

His long black robes billowed around him as he strode along the second floor corridor, headed toward Lupin's office. Snape marvelled at the thought of how it was always him who had to place his neck on the line for someone else; even within the Order, it was him who had to spy on the most feared living wizard of all time, and blatantly lie to his face. Hoping against hope that he not be discovered, for some cruel and sickening torment await him should he fail to please. He shuddered at the thought of the inevitable. It wasn't a question of if, It was when. Or at least in Snape's opinion it was. Spies never lived very long. Not even the exceptional ones, he reminded himself as he approached the spelled office door.

Not bothering to knock, Snape confidently pushed the large wood-frame door open enough for to just squeeze through. Lupin was curled up in front of a roaring fire, eyeing the potions master with a snarl imprinted on his muzzle. Snape shut the door soundly behind him without leaving the wolf's now amber eyes.

'I don't like this anymore than you do Lupin,' Snape admitted as he strode forward with purpose. 'I suggest unless you want your precious Godson to have to suffer every time you are transformed that you allow me to get this over and done with as quickly as possible,' Snape sneered.

The werewolf's eyes never left Snape's glittering ebony ones, but never the less, allowed Snape to stealthily pluck a handful of hairs from one of his hind legs.

As Snape stored the loose hairs into a small test tube, he surveyed Lupin in his wolf form. He had never been in the wolf's presence before long enough to actually look without fearing for his life, and so took the opportunity to do so now. He was surprised that Lupin's werewolf form was so small, he was certain it never used to be that small, or at least it hadn't appeared so when he had come face-to-face with the beast in past times.
He frowned as he remembered reading in his Compendium of Dark Beasts, that the size of the werewolf in adulthood was suppose to reflect the strength of the man inside. That was why reputedly, wizard werewolves were much larger in size than unfortunate Muggle werewolves that had been turned, because of the magic that one harbours inside as a wizard.

Plugging the tube with the hairs in it before placing it inside his cloak pocket, Snape turned on his heel and walked toward the door and left.

Snape worked feverishly long into the small hours of the morning, sweltering over a bubbling cauldron full of potion. His greasy hair clung to the side of his pallid face as he added ingredient after ingredient, and time crept slowly on.

Hushed voices were what initially awoke Harry, he had been dreaming and longed to return to the dream now that he had realised where he was, the hospital wing. He had dreamt that he was riding on the back of Buckbeak. They were going to see Sirius, somehow he knew this, that they would find him, and as soon as they did everything would be fine. They would be a family again. But then the dream had changed, Remus had appeared, seemingly out of thin air and asked 'What about me?' to which Harry then found himself torn, couldn't he have both his Godfathers?
No, had been the unanimous answer and Harry found himself in a game of tug-of-war in his decision over whom to choose. He longed to go back to that dream, so he could know the answer; he had awoken just as he was about to decide when he had been rudely awoken by the chattering of the room's occupants, and now he would probably never know.
Sighing, Harry opened his eyes to find an overabundance of white stood next to his bed. Without his glasses, he could only assume that it was Professor Dumbledore.

'Good Morning, Harry,' Dumbledore smiled pleasantly as his eyes twinkled at his young student.
'Morning P'fesor,' Harry replied groggily. He wasn't out of the woods yet.
Dumbledore surveyed Harry over his half moon glasses as he asked, 'How do you feel, Harry?'
Harry's mind seemed to be working slower than usual, his thoughts still fogged by the disturbing dream he had had and sleep clung to the tendrils of his mind, delaying his response as he considered that Dumbledore sounded concerned.
'I'm fine,' he lied lamely, not knowing why he hadn't just said how he really felt.
Dumbledore wasn't convinced. 'Well, in any case, Professor Snape has brewed the potion he has been working on for quite some time now, and it is ready to be administered.
Harry's eyes brightened. 'You mean, I'll be cured?' he asked hopefully.
Dumbledore smiled at Harry's enthusiasm, 'Yes. That is to say, we will still have to keep an eye out for any signs that you have not been completely cured, but otherwise,' here Dumbledore smiled warmly at Harry, 'Yes, Harry.'
Harry couldn't help but let out a wide grin at the thought. He turned his head to the right as a black blur assembled itself into the form of Professor Severus Snape.
Harry was handed his glasses by Madam Pomfrey as she came to check on him, but Harry kept his gaze on Snape the whole time, trying to lip-read the conversation that he was having with Dumbledore at the far end of the room.

'Mr Potter, as soon as the potion has been administered and I have ascertained that you are in a fit state of health, you may leave and go to classes,' the medi-witch ordered sternly.
Harry nodded as Snape and Dumbledore stepped forward again. Snape, Harry noticed, looked extremely tired and was holding a smoking goblet that reminded him of Remus's Wolfsbane potion.

'Drink this, Mr Potter,' Snape ordered as he handed Harry the goblet. Harry looked inside and recoiled slightly as he peered into it and noticed that the potion was a bright green colour. He could feel Snape's piercing gaze on him though and decided that if he closed his eyes and held his breath whilst taking it in a quick succession of large gulps, then it wouldn't be as bad. However, Harry found himself pleasantly surprised to find that the potion tasted only of apple, and was actually quite tasty.

Handing back the empty goblet to Snape, who vanished it with his wand, Harry closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness over took him before passing almost immediately afterward.
'Well, Mr Potter? How do you feel?' Snape asked.
Harry took a moment longer before he reopened his eyes and replied that he felt fine, normal.
'Well, let us not go so far as that, shall we?' Snape smirked nastily.
'Severus,' Dumbledore warned quietly.
Snape immediately complied.

'Now, Harry,' Dumbledore began soberly, 'I wonder if you would mind explaining this,' Dumbledore asked as he pointed to Harry's left hand where the words, 'I must not tell lies' was engraved into the back of his hand.
Harry tried to move his hand under the covers, but when Dumbledore stopped him before he could do so, he looked away ashamedly instead.
'We know it was a blood-quill, Potter,' Snape began seriously. 'So, you might as well tell us who.'
Harry sighed as he ran his spare hand through his already tousled hair. 'Why do you want to know?' Harry asked quietly, his eyes averted. He didn't want to look into their eyes.

Surprisingly, it was Snape who replied. 'Of course we want to know, Potter. No one should be allowed to punish a child in such a way that it leaves irreparable damage, such as that!' Snape exclaimed, pointing at Harry's hand that was still held in the firm grip of the headmaster.
Harry thought it was ironic that such words should come from the school's most feared potion's professor, and found himself wondering what Ron would think if he were here. He fought a smirk at the thought of Ron staring bewildered at Snape as though he had been confunded.

'Well?' Snape asked impatiently. 'Who did this to you?'
Harry took a deep breath. 'Umbridge,' was all he said in reply.
'Harry, why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you come to me, or Professor McGonagall? Surely it hurt?' Dumbledore questioned.
Harry attempted to control his anger as he felt white-hot rage bubble inside him. 'How could I come to you when you wouldn't even look at me?' Harry replied through gritted teeth.
Dumbledore at least had the decency to look chastised. 'Besides,' Harry continued in a much more controlled voice, 'It was between her and me. It wasn't anyone else's business.' Harry answered, finally being allowed to pull his hand free from Dumbledore's grip on it.

Harry's short outburst had allowed a painful silence to hang in its wake, which began to make Harry feel uncomfortable, after a few minutes had passed of no one saying anything, Harry couldn't take it anymore.
'I'm sorry, Professor. I shouldn't of said that, I know you were only trying to protect me and everyone else from Voldemort possessing me,' Harry relented, much to the surprise of Snape. He found himself agreeing that he too would have found the headmaster's ignorance of the situation between Potter and Umbridge most irritating should it have been himself in Potter's place.

Dumbledore gave Harry a small smile. 'Thank you for your forgiveness, Harry. However, you are correct. I should not have made myself so inaccessible to you that you felt that you couldn't come to me, when you clearly needed to,' Dumbledore replied sadly.

'From what I have heard, Dolores Umbridge is still in St Mungo's hospital, apparently that little stint yourself and Miss Granger pulled off in June with the centaurs, left her with the requirement of being hospitalised until further tests to ascertain her mental awareness can be carried out,' Snape informed.
'I – We, didn't mean to-' Harry began, in fear of Umbridge's psychological 'problems' may be pinned on him, or worse, him and Hermione.
Snape's dark eyes were glittering though, and his tone was softer than Harry could ever remember Snape using to speak to him with. 'Which means Mr Potter, that she will undoubtedly be sectioned to Lockhart's ward for a long time,' Snape concluded.

Harry tried to take that information in, but before he could decide whether or not Snape was being malicious in some way, the doors to the wing opened and in strode Remus.

'Hello, Harry. You look much better than you did just last night,' Remus commented as he climbed into one of the hospital beds.
Harry sidled over to Remus's bed, leaving Snape and Dumbledore to talk amongst themselves.

'Yeah, I'm cured,' Harry smiled, but elaborated for Remus's benefit when he raised an eyebrow. 'Snape finished he potion,' Harry explained.
'Ah, yes. I remember when he came in last night,' Remus chuckled lightly, to which Harry raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

Dumbledore walked toward Harry and kindly reminded him that first period was almost over and that he should head toward his second class instead.
'Okay. I have to go, Remus,' Harry called as he began to leave the room, following Snape's swift footsteps, 'Bye!'
'Bye, Harry,' Remus called after him.

Struggling to catch his breath, Harry finally caught up with Snape, just before the staircase that led to the dungeons.
'Yes, Potter?' Snape asked distractedly.
Harry stalled for a moment so he could catch his breath from practically running to keep up with Snape. 'I, um… well the things is, I…' Harry began, suddenly nervous.
Snape rolled his eyes. 'Spit it out, Potter, I haven't got all day!' Snape spat.
'Thank you, sir,' Harry replied timidly.
Snape was taken aback, obviously expecting something else. It took him almost a whole minute to realise that he was staring at the boy with his piercing gaze, that he had begun to shuffle from one foot to the other.
'For what, Potter?' Snape asked in a barely audible voice that was so uncharacteristic of Snape, Harry snapped his eyes up to look at him.
'For the potion, sir. I just wanted to thank you. I mean, you didn't have to make it for me, but you did anyway, and for that I thank you,' Harry replied sincerely.
Snape was still staring at him with an unfathomable expression, so Harry decided that he would just leave.
As he was about to walk off, when Snape finally answered. 'You're welcome, Mr Potter. However, I did nothing that no other wizard would have done in my position, as potion's master for this school,' Snape stated.
Harry decided it best not to argue and so only nodded his head in understanding before turning away to head up to Transfiguration. Leaving Snape with yet another piece to the jigsaw that is the mystery of Harry Potter.

It was at lunch in the Great Hall when Ron and Hermione realised that their secret was out. Malfoy had exclaimed loud enough for all to hear that 'The Weasel and Mudblood Granger were dating', earning himself a weeks worth of detention with Professor McGonagall for insulting two members of her own house.
Ron and Hermione had sent glares Harry's way, but rightfully, Ginny had piped up to explain that it was really her doing. Which somehow made Ron and Hermione even angrier with Harry for having told Ginny in the first place. 'I can't win', Harry sighed to himself.

'What's wrong with Ron?' Harry asked Hermione as they moved toward Care of Magical Creatures class. Ron was walking around with his shoulders slumped forward and his face was paler than usual too, intensifying the ginger colour of his hair and the freckles on his nose.
'He's got his first training session with Firenze tonight. I think he's been having more visions and not telling us. I think it's getting worse for him,' Hermione whispered concernedly.
'Oh,' was all Harry could say.

Hagrid, Harry decided, had got a lot better at teaching since he first began as a proper Hogwarts' Professor, in Harry's third year. As always, Hermione's hand was the first in the air to answer any question that may be construed as thrown her way, and Hagrid awarded house points when praise was needed and encouraged them to take care of their pets as they would be doing a project soon that studied their pets to see if they possessed any unknown magical properties.
Before the end of the lesson, Harry decided that it was worth asking again where Hagrid had been over the summer. He had avoided the topic last time he had questioned him about it, and because he would have been late for Remus's lesson, he hadn't had time to argue, now however, he had all of lunchtime should he need it, to get an answer from Hagrid.

''Ello, Harry. Ron, Hermione,' Hagrid greeted as he packed away some of the strange creatures he had been showing the class.
'Hagrid, we were wondering, where were you during the summer?' Harry asked without preamble, 'I mean, I know you were on a mission for the order, but you did say you'd tell us later… and it's been a while,' Harry began cautiously.
Hagrid seemed to be trying to re-call the previous conversation, and when he did his eyes bulges as he realised that it was true. He had told them that he would explain later on, where he had been.

'Oh Yea, I did didn't I?' Hagrid asked rhetorically. Harry nodded.
'Well, obviously,' Hagrid began, 'I was on u' mission for the Order, an' I can' tell yous three abou' that, now can I?' Hagrid smiled.
'But Hagrid, where were you? You weren't trying to get the Giants to join the war again, were you?' Harry asked desperately.
'No. No, no, I weren't seeing those giants again, no,' Hagrid replied.
Harry sighed with relief. 'So what were you doing, Hagrid?' Hermione asked suspiciously.
'Well, if yuh mus' know, I was lookin' for someone,' Hagrid explained.
'Who?' the trio asked simultaneously.
'I can' tell yous tha'!' Hagrid exclaimed, 'Tha's top secret, tha' is!'
'Okay, Hagrid. We understand,' Harry abandoned that line of questioning.
'We'd better get to lunch,' Harry said to Ron and Hermione, who nodded in reply. 'See you later, Hagrid!' Harry called as they wound their way up at the steep slope to the castle.

That afternoon, was Harry's first lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts that would be taught by Professor Moody, or better known as Mad-Eye by some, who would be playing substitute whenever Remus was unable to teach because of the Full Moon.
'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' Moody yelled as a way of silencing the rumble of chatter that had begun, as he made his entrance into the classroom.
Moody's electric blue eye, that could see through all materials, spun wildly around it's eye socket as it scanned the room for anything suspicious, whilst his real eye came to rest on each and every student in turn, making one after the other squirm under Moody's intense gaze. Harry decided that if Moody was hoping for a memorable entrance than he had succeeded, the combination of Moody's gnarled face, wooden leg, 'mad-eye' and bowler hat as he stood before the gathered sixth year students, was a most intimidating appearance.

'I could have been anyone walking into this classroom; anything from a Deatheater to an impostor!' Moody growled at his silent audience. Most of the room seemed to appreciate the irony that was intended when Moody had been imprisoned in Harry's fourth year and an impostor had taken his identity to teach at Hogwarts. '…And none of you would have been any the wiser, what with all that chatter! From now on, I want you to always be on your guard! Wands at the ready, and prepared for anything to come through that door!' Moody continued in his usual low growl. Many of the Hufflepuff and some of the other students were now staring at the door expectantly, as though some fierce beast may walk through it any moment.

'Merlin, he's going to make us as paranoid as he is!' Ron thought to himself.

That evening, Ron departed early from dinner to get to the Divination classroom for his training session with Firenze. Both Harry and Hermione had attempted to reassure him that everything would be okay, that Firenze would help, but nothing to seemed to help Ron, and so they had allowed him to go by himself as he insisted that they not come.
Now that Ron approached the ground floor classroom, he wished that he had asked his friends to come, at least then he wouldn't be alone. With a deep, calming breath, Ron rapped soundly on the large double doors. Within moments, Firenze opened the doors. 'Good evening, Ron Weasley,' Firenze greeted politely, moving aside so Ron could squeeze into the room.

'Um, when I spoke to Professor Dumbledore, he wasn't very clear on what we'd actually be doing in these lessons,' Ron began.
'Ah yes. Well, I thought that first of all we should talk about what you are seeing in your visions. That will allow me to ascertain what the course of action shall be,' Firenze stated.
'Um, okay,' Ron nodded uncertainly.

'I hope Ron's okay, it's been awhile,' Hermione mused as she and Harry sat in the library revising.
'Me too,' Harry sighed, 'He doesn't deserve to be going through this,' Harry replied sullenly.
Hermione nodded as she returned her attention to the open book in front of her.
After a few more minutes, Harry had had enough. 'I'm going to go check on Remus,' he announced as he began packing his book bag, 'See you later?' he asked.
'Yeah, see you later, Harry,' Hermione replied.

'Remus?' Harry whispered next to Remus's ear. He looked asleep and was in turmoil over whether he should wake him or not. He frowned, as his Godfather didn't stir and was about to try and rouse him again but the hurried sound of Madam Pomfrey's footsteps stopped him. 'Mr Potter!' the medi-witch chastised in a whisper. 'Just what do you think you're doing, waking Professor Lupin when you know what he's had to go through!' she continued sternly.
'Sorry, I know, I was just…' Harry began; surprised at his own actions, 'Sorry, I'll just go…' he finished lamely, as he headed outside the ward, Madam Pomfrey on his tail.
'You can visit Professor Lupin in the morning, Potter, until then, let him sleep!' the medi-witch huffed.
'Goodnight,' Harry bid her.

Harry found himself meandering along the castle corridors without purpose. For once, he had finished all of his homework and found that he had nothing to do. The chimes of the clock tower told him that it was 9pm and still before curfew, just. A broom ride could be the answer to all his problems at the moment; he needed to feel the rush of air as he sped around the goalposts again. He hadn't been on his broom in such a log time that he feared he would forget how to fly should he not take to the air soon.

Harry picked up his pace as he made his way up to Gryffindor tower; bypassing the questioning glances and stares as he raced up to the boy's dormitory to grab his broom.
'It's almost curfew, you know!' Ginny called as Harry raced past her and out the portrait hole again, 'I know,' he called back, unsure of whether she heard him or not, but decided that he would talk to her properly tomorrow instead if she was mad, for now, he just needed to clear his head and fly.

Harry soared through the air on his Firebolt. Caressing the grass lightly with his knees as he pulled out of a particularly steep dive and twirling in half-circles as he gathered height again afterwards. He practiced the sloth-grip-roll manoeuvre with practiced ease and flew above the stadium at a height of 80 feet to get a view across the lake, past the castle with the mountains outlining the horizon. Harry took a few gulps of air after his exhilarating ride around the pitch, before slowly descending to the ground as he assumed that it was probably past curfew by now.
Harry walked stealthily through the stone corridors of the dungeons. He had decided that although not the most attractive way back to the seventh floor, it did house quite a few secret passages that he knew of, courtesy of the Marauder's Map, that would take him back to the seventh floor quicker than the main staircase would.

'Well, well, and what do we have here?' came a familiar drawl. Harry chastised himself at not remembering to bring his invisibility cloak, as he sharply turned to face Malfoy. With dread settling heavily in his stomach like a lead weight, Harry realised that Malfoy, was a prefect and so was allowed to be roaming the halls at night. Worse still, he had invited his friends along for the jaunt.
Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Pansy Parkinson flanked Malfoy, and they all had their wands drawn, pointing at Harry's chest.

Harry quickly had his wand in hand too, making sure to keep his eyes on the other's wands as he marked Malfoy with his own. 'What do you want Malfoy?' Harry asked coldly.
'Tut, Tut, Potter. You're out after curfew, and since I am a prefect, and you're not, I have the power to dock points!' Malfoy mocked.
'No you don't, only teachers can dock points, Malfoy. All you can do is report me,' Harry stated factually. Malfoy's smug grin didn't waver though making Harry realise that he probably wasn't going to get away without duelling Malfoy, maybe all of them.

'What do you want?' Harry asked vehemently.
Malfoy began to circle Harry, like a creature watching its prey; making it hard for Harry to not panic as he realised he couldn't watch all of them at the same time.
'What I want, Potter, is to teach you a lesson!' Malfoy sneered close to Harry's left ear. His cold, angry voice sending a shiver down Harry's spine.

'Expelliarmus!' Harry yelled at the group of Slytherins before spinning around to come face-to-face with Draco. He didn't wait for the wands to reach his hand before sending a jelly legs curse at Malfoy, only he dodged it at the last minute as he dived to the floor, sweeping his leg out and knocking Harry to the ground with him. Next thing, Harry's wand had been taken and his hands had been tied behind his back. His glasses had been knocked off when he had been thrown to the ground, so all he could see were the blurs of his attackers stood in front of him.

'Get it over with Malfoy, a teacher will be along in a minute, then you'll get what's coming to you,' Harry spat angrily as he realised the hopelessness in his situation.
Malfoy sneered as he punched Harry in the stomach, making him double over in pain. Someone was behind him and they kicked him in the back sending him toppling forward, and with no hands free to break his fall, he landed hard on his face. Blood dripped from a cut in his forehead into his eye, further blinding his view; as yet another punch was thrown at his abdomen.

'WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!' Snape yelled as his wand light illuminated the grotesque scene before him. Harry Potter, with his hands tied, face covered in blood, on the floor, with five of his own students surrounding him with their wands out.

'EXPLAIN MR MALFOY, WHAT ON EARTH YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!' Snape demanded as he stepped forward to help Harry into a sitting position; who was struggling because of his bound hands. Snape noticed, which only infuriated him more, 'The boy didn't stand a chance!' he thought vehemently.

Snape circled his wand above his head twice before calling, 'Fawkes!' Within moments, the phoenix had appeared in a flash of flame, took one look at the scene before him and returned to Dumbledore's office to retrieve the Headmaster.
'You five,' Snape began menacingly as he conjured some cloth to help clot the blood pouring from the cut on Harry's face, 'Will be dealt with by the Headmaster, I am ashamed to have you be in MY house! How dare you do this!' Snape yelled. The Slytherins seemed taken aback, as though they had been expecting Snape to congratulate them on a job well done, not turn them over to Dumbledore.
It was at that moment that Dumbledore appeared at the end of the corridor, moving as swift as a first year student as he approached the scene. 'Severus, what happened?' he asked angrily as he took in the damage that had been inflicted on Harry.

'They, are what happened, Headmaster,' Snape replied icily, not liking the accusation that fell behind the headmaster's words; that as head of Slytherin house he should not have let this happen, as though it were his fault because the imbecilic goons that had attacked Potter were in his house that this were somehow his fault!

'Take Harry to the hospital wing, Severus,' Dumbledore instructed, 'I will deal with these five,' Dumbledore answered angrily. He looked each one in the eye until they squirmed under his strong gaze before marching them back to his office.

When Dumbledore and the others had gone, Severus let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. He looked over Harry, noticing that the boy seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. 'Probably that cut over his eye,' Snape mused. He felt around in the dark for his wand to unbind the boy's hands from his back, before scooping him into his arms and grabbing his Firebolt too.

'Hospital wing, Potter…' Snape began.
'N-No, p-p'ease, not Hosp'al Wing…' Harry protested groggily.
Snape stopped mid-stride. 'Well, you can't very well go back to your dorm in this state, Potter. And I'm not carrying you up seven flights of stairs either!' Snape protested as he continued to head toward the stairs.
'N-No, p-p'ease…' Harry tried again.
'Fine Potter, have it your way,' Snape snapped as he stopped to turn back to the dungeons and walk towards his office.

Harry slipped into the comforting darkness as Snape laid him down on his sofa in his living quarters, before slipping into his supplies cupboard to look for healing potions that he would normally only keep for himself after meetings with the Dark lord, but reasoned that he owed it to Potter as it was his fault that Potter had been attacked, as it was his students, which he should keep better control of.

With those thoughts in mind, Severus used the aid of healing potions and spells to restore Harry to almost full health, before giving him a sleeping potion to make sure he slept through the night. With any luck, all that the boy would sustain in the morning was the damage done to his pride and a few cuts and bruises that Madam Pomfrey would have to look at later.
Making sure that Harry was entirely comfortable; Snape continued with the marking that he had been working on before the night's events had ensued.