Chapter 9
Lady Balinor
Eventually, the need for air forced Severus and Harry apart. When they looked at the others in the room, both men began to snicker. Minerva was being helped to her feet by a rather surprised Headmaster. Minerva had fainted at the sight of seeing her prize pupil kissing her coworker. Of course, she had seen them in the same bed earlier that morning, but at seeing them acting so passionately in public, she had fainted in shock. Albus had tried to keep Minerva from falling, but he was knocked off balance in his attempts sending them both to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Meanwhile, Draco, Ron, and Hermione wore identical expressions of shock at seeing their normally reserved Potions Master making such an emotional display in the middle of the Infirmary.
Severus reigned in his mirth and turned back to Harry. "It seems we make a spectacle of ourselves no matter where we go," said Severus, brushing a piece of hair out of Harry's eyes, inadvertently revealing Harry's scar.
At that moment, a soft gasp was heard, followed by a thud as another body hit the floor. Harry and Severus turned to see Ron sprawled out across the floor in a dead faint and Draco in a similar position on the bed. Of the three students, only Hermione remained standing. Tentatively she spoke, "Harry, is that...you?"
"Yes, Hermione, it's me. Somewhat older than before, but still me." Harry replied trying not to laugh at the shocked expression Hermione wore.
"So Dobby switched the potions so you would get older and Professor Snape would get younger, instead of the other way around," Hermione stated, brow wrinkled in thought.
"Yes," Harry replied. He knew that Hermione would inevitably put all the pieces together and come to the right conclusions about what Dobby had said earlier, but that didn't mean he had to make it easy for her. Sure enough, Hermione's face lit up as she finally got all of the pieces to fit together perfectly.
Surprisingly, it was not Hermione who broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled upon the room. After Hermione had begun questioning Harry, the Headmaster had revived both Draco and Ron. It was Ron who now spoke, "Why would Dobby do a thing like that? I know he's always favored doing things in a rather different way, but this is just going too far!"
At this, Harry turned a bright shade of red for the second time since reaching the Infirmary. However, he still refused to elaborate on Dobby's words. Finally, Severus' curiosity became too much for him. He turned Harry to face him and asked, "Harry, why did that deranged little house-elf switch our drinks and why does he think it would make you happy? You are his master, I presume."
Harry sighed. He knew he could avoid the questions no longer and began his explanation, "Yes, I am Dobby's master, so to speak." At Severus' raised eyebrow, Harry elaborated, "Dobby's still free - he wears clothes and is paid - but I'm still his master. And Hermione, before you launch into that SPEW stuff, let me assure you that I didn't want to be his master. But you know Dobby; he's always been rather attached to me. At the end of last year, Dobby found me in the dorms right before I was leaving to get on the train and told me that he wanted to serve me. He looked so eager that I couldn't bear to say no, so I agreed to it on the condition that even if he did bind himself to me, he would still in essence be free."
"That still doesn't explain why he switched our drinks instead of removing the potions completely," Severus said, noting that Harry seemed to be rambling on about Dobby in favor of answering his earlier question.
"Oh, that," Harry said, laughing nervously, "Well, that wasn't my idea. I don't know what Dobby was thinking...crazy plan, really. Worse than his rogue bludger in my second year..." Harry trailed off. Severus gave him a glare that said clearly 'Stop rambling and get to the point! Harry averted his eyes, looking anywhere but at Severus, and began to speak in earnest, "I can never sleep well and I often come down to the kitchens in the middle of the night for a small snack. Dobby keeps me company while I eat and we talk about...well, about a variety of things, really. One night, I was really depressed and Dobby asked me what was wrong. I told him that it seemed like everyone I knew had someone to be with, but that I still remained alone. Well, of course Dobby thought that since I was the 'Great Harry Potter' I could be with whomever I wanted. I told him that there was no way the person I was interested in could ever return my feelings, and even if they did, the age gap would probably deter them."
"Who was the person you were talking about?" Severus asked, simultaneously hoping for and dreading the answer.
"You," Harry said simply, raising his eyes to look into the obsidian ones of Severus, "Always you."