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Web of Lies: Revelations

Alec woke up late the next morning; checking his watch, he saw that it was past ten in the morning. Frowning, he quickly jumped out of bed and was about to rush out when a stern voice stopped him.

"Stop right there, young man."

Alec turned around sharply to face Madam Pomfrey. "But it's late! I need to get to class!"

The woman approached him and sternly motioned towards the bed. "The headmaster has excused you from classes this morning. You are to stay in here until I have made sure that you're alright. Then after you have had your breakfast, you will report to the Headmaster's office."

Sighing, he went back to the bed he had slept in. If his grandfather was expecting him, there was no way he would get out of this. The woman stepped closer to him and waved her wand over his head. After making sure he was alright, she summoned a tray with some breakfast in it and left for her office, reminding the boy that he would have to go to his grandfather before joining his peers in class.

Harry ate breakfast quickly; he was hungry after not eating anything the night before and he was able to finish everything in a few minutes. After his plate was clear, he went to the bathroom and got dressed in the robes someone had left him.

After thanking Madam Pomfrey for her care, which left the witch a bit startled, he left the room and quickly made his way up to Dumbledore's office. He wanted to join his friends as soon as possible; the rumours were going to go wild as it was.

Quickly walking up the stairs, Harry knocked on the door. Dumbledore's voice invited him to walk in.

"You wanted to see me?"

Every time he entered the office, he wasn't sure how he should call the man, so he usually refrained from doing so. If Dumbledore noticed, he didn't mention it. Instead, the old man swiftly stood up and went to him. After checking him over, he gave him a quick hug and made him sit down in one of the guest chairs, with the old wizard taking the one next to him.

"How are you feeling, Alec?"

The teen smiled slightly at the worried frown. "I'm fine, Granddad, I promise. Madam Pomfrey even said so."

A mischievous glint entered the man's eyes. "You mean you actually stayed around and waited for her to tell you that you could leave?"

Alec rolled his eyes and laughed slightly. "Didn't have much of a choice in the matter; she caught me just when I was reaching the door. I swear she has a sixth sense for students who want to escape her ward."

Dumbledore shook his head in amusement, clearly relieved to hear the teen joking with him. "I was surprised to hear that you had gone to the hospital wing on your own, care to explain?"

Harry stayed silent, what was he supposed to tell the man? That a portrait had practically ordered him to go? "I just wasn't feeling well and thought Madam Pomfrey would have something for the headache, but she wasn't there..."

The headmaster nodded, sensing there was more to the story but deciding not to press the matter. The old wizard was about to speak once again when he heard the gargoyle downstairs open almost violently. Raising an eyebrow, he exchanged a puzzled look with Alec and stood up. He had just regained his seat behind his desk when the door banged open and several people trudged in, covered in what seemed to be some kind of purple jelly. Alec blinked and watched as Severus Snape, feared Potions Master of Hogwarts, stomped towards Dumbledore's desk, hair dripping from the sticky substance. After him, with slightly fearful faces, walked his Gryffindor friends followed by Malfoy and Parkinson.

"Albus, I've had enough of this. Not one class goes by without those four getting into a fight; I have given them all detentions more times I care to remember. The other teachers have done the same, but nothing seems to work. I won't take it anymore, I won't accept any of them back into my class unless you can reassure me they will be able to behave themselves and not put all the other students in danger!"

Alec couldn't help but cringe slightly at the deathly whisper the man was using. He was clearly enraged and with good reason. He had heard how the feud between the Gryffindors and Slytherins had escalated that year, but he didn't think it would be enough to affect his uncle in such a manner. Looking towards the headmaster, he saw that he was also looking worried; part of it, Alec guessed, was because of what was happening between the houses, but part was also trained to Severus. The younger man was under a lot of pressure, and for him directly accusing Malfoy of something like this was not going to go over well to his Death Eater companions.

Once the professor was finished with his accusations, the four teens opened their mouths to argue with him, but the headmaster quickly shut them up with a stern look.

"Quiet, you will have your chance to explain yourselves in a minute. I have received many reports about you from the other teachers and while I don't usually interfere with this kind of thing, Professor Snape is right; this has gone too far." Turning to the flustered teacher, Dumbledore smiled gently at him. "Why don't you go to your rooms, Severus, I'm sure you could do with a shower and a warm lunch. You dismissed your class, didn't you?"

Snape nodded, slightly pacified at hearing that the headmaster was finally taking action. "You'll need to cancel all the classes for today; the Potion's Classroom has been completely destroyed, and the house-elves will need a few hours to get it ready again."

Dumbledore looked a bit worried. "Was anyone injured?"

Snape shook his head lightly. "Just a few bumps and bruises; I managed to draw up a shield before the cauldron exploded. I send those hurt to the hospital wing."

At hearing this, Alec looked the man over more carefully, searching for injury. His eyes landed on the man's right shoulder; between the purple goo, he was able to see a bit of blood seeping through the heavy robes. Frowning, he quickly looked to the headmaster, and with a small movement, motioned to the injured shoulder. Dumbledore seemed to catch on quickly for his frown deepened.

"Maybe you should have Madam Pomfrey look at that shoulder of yours, Severus, no need to get it infected." The younger man opened his mouth to protest but Dumbledore had turned to Alec. "Alec, why don't you go with Professor Snape and keep him company; there's no need to stress yourself after yesterday."

Fighting down the urge to point out he was fine, the teen stood up and turned to the other occupants of the room. It was clear that in their rush, they hadn't seen him sitting there. The teenagers looked at him curiously, momentarily forgetting the trouble they were in. Harry just looked at them once, before moving his gaze to Severus who was looking at him startled.

Dumbledore quickly ushered them outside and closed the door firmly after them before turning to the four teenagers.

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Severus silently followed Alec to the hospital wing. He hadn't seen the teen when he stormed in and it bothered him. On one side, he was used to noticing everything around him so missing Alec was startling to say the least, but Severus found that the thought that the teen had seen him speak in such a way bothered him even more than not noticing him. He had tried so hard to be nice to the teen, to make him feel comfortable in his presence. He had been the first one he had allowed so close, and he couldn't help but feel that he might have ruined it by being so harsh in there, even if it hadn't been directed to Alec.

Snape was startled out of his thoughts when a hand came to rest on his arm, stopping him. Blinking, he saw they were standing in front of the hospital wing and that he had been about to walk past.

"Uncle Severus? Are you alright?"

Snape looked down at the teen and couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw concern colouring the bright blue eyes instead of the wariness he had expected. Relaxing for the first time since he had entered his classroom that morning, he smiled a bit and shook his head. "I'm fine, Kid. Don't worry about it." Feeling the need to apologise, he quickly forced the words out. "I'm sorry about before, Alec, I wouldn't have spoken that way had I noticed you were there."

The teen cocked his head in wonder. While it was true that he hadn't heard the professor use that particular tone of voice in some time, he had heard much worse coming from him, so it hadn't really affected him. "Why are you apologising? For what I have seen, you had every right to be really angry. Besides, you weren't speaking to me."

Severus smiled a bit, relieved that the teen didn't seem disturbed by the incident. "It doesn't matter, Alec. Let's go inside."

Slightly puzzled, Harry followed the man into the wing.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.