Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K. Rowling does.

A/N: Once again, I would like to say thanks to all my lovely readers. And like always there will be more chapters in the future.

A Minor Drawback

Harry's night was filled with uneasy sleep. The cold of the room was probably what ended up waking him up. At some point he had kicked the covers down to the foot of the bed. As he sat up to retrieve the blanket something caught his eye. A dark shadow in the corner of the room. It was moving. His spirit lifted as the shadow turned into the outline of a certain Severus Snape.

In barely more than a whisper, "You're alive?" "How keen of you to notice." Harry got up this time. He didn't care if he was still tired. He wrapped his arms around Snape not caring if he would protest. It was just so overwhelming to see him again after everything that happened. It nearly brought tears to his eyes. He would never admit this of course. But for now. Even if just for a moment, Harry was enjoying his moment of bliss.

Snape returned the favor and wrapped his arms around Harry. The coldness that had awoken Harry was long since gone. "It's all over now. He's gone Harry. He's really gone this time." I've never seen him so happy before. "I know. It would have never happened if you didn't help. I owe you so much. Everyone does." Snape held Harry a little closer. "You're not so bad yourself. Once you take the time to listen for a change. We make a pretty good team." Snape smirked, "Even if you insist on being a competitive little brat."

"They are looking for you, you know. What are you going to do? Where are you going to go? Are you going to go into hiding for the rest of your life?" Snape let go of Harry and sat on the edge of the bed. "I don't know the answer to that yet." How many people know that Snape killed Dumbledore? Probably everyone. Something like that would spread through the media like wildfire. Could Dumbledore have left something in favor of Snape? If he did, I don't think anyone has found it yet.

"You didn't want to kill Dumbledore. You really had no choice. You were forced into it. An Unbreakable Vow. You had to make it or they would have suspected you were on our side. If it wasn't for you, Voldemort would still be alive." Snape was listening. No doubt impressed that Harry had finally put it all together. "People believe anything in the media. Even if it's something totally bogus. What if somehow the media were led to believe that you were controlled directly by Voldemort?" Snape's mouth twisted into his usual smirk.

"Convince the press that I was merely a puppet of the dark lord? How interesting. If I can track down Draco it might just work. He does after all owe me. I know he has connections with the press, even if he is currently hidden. How very Slytherin of you." Which makes me think of something..."Professor that night when I saw all that stuff that could have happened. Why did you look happy that I was going to be in Slytherin?" Snape looked rather surprised by the question. "I wanted to have the famous Harry Potter in my group. And plus James would have hated you being in Slytherin." "You know, the sorting hat almost put me in Slytherin…but I told it not to." "That might have been for the better. Can you imagine the amount of points I would have to take away from Slytherin with you in it?"

"I still can't believe we won. What kind of spell was that?" Snape stood up. "Nothing too complex. Just something Voldemort failed to take into account. Dumbledore kept going on about how love could win the war...I never really believed him." "But it did win the war didn't it?" Snape took another step back. "Yes and no. It wasn't really about love like Dumbledore said after all. It was about the power you get when that love is combined. Power was really the answer. But it had to come from both of us at the same time. Two energies that could become one." With a twinge of a grin, "So simple really. Now with Voldemort out of power, the Dark Mark has vanished as well. I must go now, before they find me." "It's gone?"

Snape climbed out of the window and left stealth-fully into the night. Leaving Harry with a new found hope that everything could work out alright. At least I know that he is alright now. Maybe if the media says Snape is innocent the rest of the world will believe it. They seem to believe every other crazy thing that gets printed.

The Dark Mark is gone? That's great. It must have been like a constant reminder marked on his skin of working for Voldemort. He is free now. Metaphorically speaking. Hopefully in the future he will be though. He has done so much for me. He saved my life on several occasions even when I was led to believe that he hated me. And I used to hate him. I still have no idea how my feelings for him changed.

Harry laughed as he remembered a movie he once saw with the Dursleys. If it was up to them he wouldn't have seen it at all, but other parents were amongst the crowd at the time. Aunt Petunia would die if people thought she was a bad parent. Beauty and the Beast. The two learned to love each other against all odds. The beast turned out to be a prince in the end. Kind of ironic since Snape was already the so proclaimed Half-Blood Prince.

Harry began to pace the floor. It was nearing daylight now. Someone would come to see him at any moment. It was so hard for Harry to wait for the outcome of last nights conversation with Snape. When he thought about it, the whole idea seemed sort of farfetched. Even if Draco had connections, who is going to believe him? How is Snape going to get him to help? How can he find him anyway?

Okay. Okay it could work. But what are Ron and Hermione going to think about me being with Snape? I don't know if anyone will approve of it for that matter. I suppose they can get over it though. Hermione might be able to reason. Ron will probably hate me for a while...Oh look, here comes the nurse.