If you're wondering where on earth this is going you'll need to wait a bit. Things will become even more mysterious before they begin making sense. For instance, what on earth does Dumbledore have to do with all this. And why has poor old Snape conveniently stumbled upon a box of books? Please trust me and stick with it.
'This one's called Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,' announced Sirius.'
The younger people shivered. He pressed play and silence filled the room as the usual logos appeared, this time associated with sunset.
'Well?' said Snape peremptorily.
Hermione looked over at Sirius and mouthed 'Description track.'
'Damn. Of course,' he mouthed back.
'Who forgot the description track?' demanded Snape.
Sirius and Hermione looked at one another; everyone else stayed stock still as if afraid any sound from them would turn their old friend's sightless attention on them. Hermione quietly took the remote from Sirius, fiddled with it for a while and restarted the DVD. To everyone's relief, the Describer's voice sounded clearly over the opening theme.
Again, the viewers found themselves back at Privet Drive where the Dursleys were preparing for an important visit. A shadow crossed the faces of Harry, Hermione, Ron and Dean when Dobby made his first appearance.
'Goodness, but he was a brave little soul,' said Hermione, her eyes shining.
'He was also a troublesome little tyke,' added Harry. 'That year especially. First, he nearly got me expelled, then he nearly killed me.'
James shook his fist at the screen when Vernon placed bars on Harry's bedroom window, but Harry gave him a reassuring smile and mouthed 'Just wait.'
It didn't take long to see the blue and white Anglia appear over the roofs of Privet Drive, and the three redheads inside.
'Those infernal troublesome twins,' said Snape in a voice which reminisced more than scowled.
Sirius was the first to begin giggling as Ron hooked the car to the window bars and wrenched the entire window-frame free of the wall. James and Lily followed soon after; Remus hid his face in a cushion, ostensibly trying to keep quiet for Snape's sake. By the time the Describer announced that Vernon had toppled headfirst through the window and landed on his back in a bush, Snape had joined in — cackling madly. By the time Hermione hit the pause button, James and Lily were clinging to one another for support, Remus had abandoned the cushion and lay there with tears rolling down his cheeks, Snape was shaking so hard Harry had reached over to help ensure he didn't fall out of his chair, and Sirius was literally rolling on the floor.
'Oh, that's … that's classic,' spluttered James when he could get his breath. 'By Godric, I wish I'd known those two. Reminds me of us, eh Padfoot?'
But Sirius could not reply. Every time he tried to sit up, or tried to open his mouth, fresh volleys of laughter would overtake him, and he would collapse in a helpless heap.
'Perish the thought,' spluttered Snape, wiping his own eyes. 'I think, on the whole, we may be thankful your paths didn't cross.'
'Would it help if I said it didn't happen quite like that?' said Harry to Snape.
'I wish it had,' laughed Ron. 'The way the whole window frame gave way and — and your uncle …'
'Probably not,' answer the professor.
Several of the younger people had ministered to Sirius who, by this time was up in his chair, giggling softly.
Hermione looked around the room to check all was well before resuming the film.
There were smiles all round when the Burrow first came into view, and even more when Arthur came through the front door.
'Merlin rest him,' said Sirius. 'How he would have loved this setup.'
Ginny nodded and Harry squeezed her hand.
Everyone laughed when Harry made his first flue trip and ended up lost. This turned to concern almost immediately, however, when Harry piped up.
'Hey. They didn't show Draco and his dad. That turned out to be kind of important much later on.'
'Yes,' agreed Ginny ominously, 'it did.'
'What do you mean?' demanded Draco. He snatched the control from Hermione and pushed pause.
'When you and your dad were in Borgin and Burke's that time before second year,' replied Harry equably. 'I was there. I saw your dad sell stuff to Mr Borgin. I hid in that stupid cabinet you used later on. That was part of the reason I was so suspicious by then. I'd already been in that shop and seen that cabinet, though I had no idea what it was for.'
'I — I don't believe you,' breathed Draco.
That elicited a chorus of outraged expostulations from most of the gathering ranging from , 'Well, I never' to 'Are you questioning my son's character?'.
Draco looked defiant as the clamour rose.
'Shut up, all of you,' commanded Snape.
'But he said …' continued James.
'Be silent.' The soft voice now held a note of menace. When he was satisfied of no further outbursts, he said casually, 'I believe Harry.'
That resulted in gasps of surprise from most, and one of outrage from Draco.
Snape sighed and conjured a gavel, which he attempted, without success, to rap on his tray. Disgusted with his lack of strength, he muttered. 'It appears I shall need 'Sonorus". He cast the spell and shouted, 'Will you all shut up!'
The room fell instantly silent once more. 'It is becoming apparent that these — these script writers,' he used the words in the same tone he might use the word "cur" 'treat their er … (What do you call them?) audience as though they have the brains of goldfish. Perhaps they are correct to do so; I do not know. What I do know is that if you, Hermione, do not resume this disc we shall be here all night.'
Hermione, respectfully refraining from pointing out that it was he who had been instrumental in their watching a second movie instead of going to bed, pushed play.
'Godric, he was a good-looking sod,' said Ginny as Lockhart made his first appearance in Flourish and Blots.
'Yes, but he had the brain of a gnat,' retorted Snape.
Harry laughed. 'He's got you there, love.'
'Oh,' shivered Ginny when Lucius Malfoy came into view. 'Your dad always scared me, Draco. And this man plays him well.'
Draco smirked but said nothing.
Then came the scene at King's Cross. Everyone winced as Harry and Ron slammed into the brick wall which should have allowed them through to platform nine and three-quarters.
'What on earth,' cried James.
Everyone shushed him and watched with expressions ranging from knowing smugness (Snape) to amusement (James, Lily, Sirius and Remus) as Ron and Harry stole Arthur's car and flew off towards Hogwarts, to the obvious amazement of the muggles.
'Invisibility booster,' laughed Sirius. 'By Godric that man was a caution.'
'No! Not the Whomping Willow,' cried Remus as the out-of-control car hurtled groundward.
Harry watched Snape grip the arms of his chair with all his meagre strength as the Willow proceeded to attack the car with the boys inside it, and he heard his huff as it finally disgorged its passengers and luggage before driving off towards the forest. Everyone heard his cry of outrage as tv Snape began dressing down the boys.
'By Salazar, that Script writer is making an enemy of me!'
Hermione quietly hit pause.
'Did you hear what that — that actor said?' He held up his trembling hands to indicate quotation marks 'You were seen by no less than seven muggles. The word, for the goldfish-brained among you, is fewer. No … fewer … than … seven … muggles. Is everyone involved in this enterprise stupid? Quite apart from the fact that I do not recall using that sentence at all …'
'Okay, Prof,' reassured Harry, reaching out to take one of the flailing hands. He found it gripped with surprising strength as Snape turned his fury on him. 'And you,' he hissed. 'Did you leave your brain in Surrey? You could have been killed. You could have sent your owl or waited for Mr and Mrs Weasley to return. Anything.'
Harry looked sheepish.
'Sorry, sir,' said Ron. 'It was actually my fault.'
'Oh, I am aware of that now, Mr Weasley,' retorted Snape. 'Not that I noticed any resistance from this quarter.' He poked Harry with a skeletal finger.
'I suppose I deserved that,' sighed Harry, 'in lieu of a howler.'
'Oh, that's right,' cried Neville. 'I hope they didn't put that in, Harry.'
They had, though, right after Herbology class featuring the infant mandrakes.
'I did not faint,' cried an exasperated Neville. 'I'm sure I would have remembered.'
Everyone laughed.
They sat silently through the howler, content only to shoot sympathetic glances at Ron and Harry. Then came Lockhart's first lesson.
'Oh, I'll never forget those little buggers,' sighed Seamus as the pixies proceeded to wreak havoc.
'And here, you said they weren't dangerous,' laughed Dean.
'Well, someone was still in possession of their brain,' remarked Snape as the freezing spell marked the end of the class chaos.
Hermione smiled at him.
The smile remained but grew waxen as the fight between her husband and Draco, in which Draco called her a mudblood, played out on screen.
'If you had used that word in my hearing,' growled Snape to Draco, 'I'd have hexed you into next week and damned the consequences.'
Draco had the grace to hang his head.
'Why the hell do they have to put in all the embarrassing bits?' whinged Ron, averting his eyes from his childhood self vomiting up yet more slugs.
'They didn't,' reminded Neville. 'At least they left out the bit where your wand gave poor old Flitwick that boil.'
'Don't remind me,' groaned Ron.
The film omitted Halloween completely — much to the relief of Harry, Ron and Hermione — and slotted in the petrifaction of Mrs Norris immediately following the detention with Lockhart.
'Surely you didn't really think Harry could have done such a terrible thing, Severus,' chided Lily.
Snape merely huffed. 'They had been absent from the Halloween feast, as I recall. And they were evasive when questioned.'
'Well,' retorted Hermione scornfully, 'Harry wasn't going to advertise that he was hearing voices. Was he?'
'You should have gone to Dumbledore,' scolded Snape.
It was Harry's turned to huff.
They ate and drank through Professor McGonagall's rather more forthcoming lesson featuring the legend of the Chamber of Secrets and Hermione's plan to discover more by having Ron and Harry take Polyjuice potion.
'What!' cried Draco, pointing an accusing finger at Harry and Ron. 'That was you two at Christmas? Any wonder you were behaving so oddly that evening.'
'Ha,' cried Snape from the corner. 'So, it was you who purloined those ingredients, Hermione. I should have guessed.'
Yes, thought Harry. That was another thing you blamed on me.
The story shot straight to the quidditch match, the rogue bludger and a very dramatic scene involving a spectacular tussle between Harry and Draco.
'Tell me Harry,' drawled Draco. 'It's probably been, oh, more than a century now, but can you possibly recall that match being quite this dramatic?'
Sirius, Remus, James and Lily sat scowling at him.
Harry shook his head. 'I don't, actually,' he admitted. 'That bludger was hard to forget, though. It broke my arm, and pea-brained Lockhart de-boned it for me. That Skelegro bloody hurt.'
Everyone watched, mouths open, as Dobby the house elf admitted his involvement in Harry's travails.
'Merlin preserve us from helpful House Elves,' scoffed Snape as Colin's petrified form was brought into the hospital wing towards the scene's conclusion.
'Poor little Colin,' muttered Neville. 'That was a plucky kid.'
The younger ones nodded, and their solemn faces turned to smiles as the scene switched from the hospital wing to Hermione and the boys making the potion in the girls' bathroom.
'There she is,' cried Ron. 'The ghost herself. Dear old Myrtle.'
'Godric! I remember her,' cried Lily. 'She was in the bathroom when I was there. No one ever wanted to use that bathroom.'
'And I'd thought they'd miss her out, like old Binns,' put in Hermione.
'I seem to recall something has been omitted,' said Snape casually. 'Now let me see. It was during the lesson on Swelling Solution. Something — an incendiary device of some sort — landed in Goyle's cauldron, spraying the entire class and injuring several students.'
'Including me,' put in Draco. 'I got a faceful.'
'Sorry about that,' said Hermione. 'Collateral damage. We needed the diversion.'
'In order to enter my private store cupboard and steal boomslang skin and bicorn horn. I don't suppose anyone would care to tell me the nature of the incendiary?' continued Snape.
'Ah,' said Harry, looking sheepish. 'That would have been one of Fred's Filibuster fireworks.'
James and Sirius guffawed. 'Oh, those two,' sighed Sirius fondly. 'The world won't see their like again.'
Snape scowled.
'Lighten up, Prof,' said Dean. 'There was no serious harm done.'
Snape would have retorted, but his attention was diverted by the duelling club scene.
'Oh, that man's good,' commented Ginny as tv Snape cried "Expelliarmus", shooting tv Lockhart back several feet.
'Isn't he, though,' agreed Hermione.
This earned both women penetrating looks from their husbands.
'Why did you tell Draco to cast that spell?' blurted Harry, suddenly rounding on Snape.
'That doesn't show in here,' said James.
'No; it's why I asked,' replied Harry. 'I'd all but forgotten, but watching it on here has brought it all back. It doesn't show here, but I distinctly remember that you whispered something to Draco, and then he conjured that snake.' He lowered his voice and leaned towards the older man. 'I know — have known for decades — that you always protected me. For Merlin's sake, you saved my life enough times. So why, Prof? Why would you deliberately do something which might easily have killed me? What were you trying to achieve?'
Harry sounded so bewildered and hurt that Lily was tempted to rush over and hug him, but she was held back by James who watched the proceedings with gimlet eyes.
'You would not have been in mortal danger, Harry,' reassured Snape quietly. 'I would have banished it again, but even I did not count upon the depth of Lockhart's ineptitude. And it yielded an unexpected benefit.'
'Not for me,' said Harry sadly. 'I was treated like a leper for ages after that.'
'And it taught you something more about yourself that you had not known,' concluded Snape with a resigned sigh.
No one spoke or moved as they watched Harry discover the petrified forms of Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. The silence intensified as they watched Professor McGonagall escort Harry to the Headmaster's office.
'I must ask you, Harry, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me,' Dumbledore had said.
And a sigh of relief issued from most of the elders as Harry declined to tell the Headmaster anything.
'Good for you, kid,' affirmed James sleepily.
'Foolish,' muttered Snape. 'You should have told him everything.'
But he was again distracted by the description of Christmas approaching Hogwarts.
'Very different from the way I remember it,' he commented to Harry, who squeezed his hand in lieu of a nod.
'Yes. Everyone was pretty scared by then.'
'Not me,' crowed Draco.
'Bullshit,' retorted Ron. 'Malfoy, you are so full of it.'
'And you are still as windable as ever, Weasley,' laughed Draco. 'Now shush. I want to see this bit.'
He sat, straight-backed, open-eyed and silently attentive through the entire Polyjuice scenes, content with mouthing imprecations against his own stupidity.
'If you remember,' said Ron 'we weren't actually as bad as all that. Dramatic effect, again.'
Draco nodded. 'Is it just me, or is that child slurring his words? I don't do that, do I?'
'I think you may be correct — about the child,' agreed Snape, who immediately broke off and listened intently to the Describer make it clear why Hermione had not undertaken the mission with the boys. His laughter began as a low chuckle, but quickly rose in volume to an all-out cackle, as he gave himself over to the full mirth of the moment.
'Haha. Serves you right, girl,' he managed. 'That'll teach you. I'm sure you made a lovely c — c — cat!'
Hermione reddened as she gazed around at everyone who, though far more restrained, showed faces ranging from carefully and painfully blank to wide grins.
'Actually, Prof, she did look pretty cute,' snickered Ginny.
A scatter cushion sailed past Ginny's nose and landed in Snape's lap.
'Ah, I wish I could have seen it,' sighed Snape, wiping his eyes. 'From the staffroom chatter, we all knew something was afoot, but Poppy and Minerva were keeping very quiet about it. I even tried getting in there; but since there were no children from my house, old Poppy wouldn't let me past. She could be extremely intransigent.'
Ron put his arm around his wife, and Sirius flashed them a warm smile. 'It's all right, kid. We all love you — even him.' He motioned to the corner.
The mood turned first solemn, as Harry discovered the secrets of Tom Riddle's diary, then sombre as he was drawn into Tom's memory.
'That would have been no errand for the fainthearted,' commented Snape with some admiration.
'You ain't seen nothing yet,' countered Harry.
But first came child Neville, running towards the three as they headed away from Hagrid's and towards the castle.
Ginny turned to her husband as child Harry tried to tidy his ransacked dorm.
'Darling, did I ever apologise for that, specifically?' Her voice was light, but her brown eyes were solemn.
Harry held her. 'It's okay, sweet,' he reassured. 'None of it was your fault.'
The older people gasped as Harry and Ron were brought to visit their petrified friend.
'Er,' everyone turned towards Snape in surprise. He never ummed, so Hermione paused the DVD once more. 'I – I admit to being curious,' he began tentatively. He paused again, perhaps considering whether to continue at all. 'Hermione? Would you, perhaps, care to tell me what it was like?'
'What? Being petrified?'
He nodded.
'Well,' she began, surprise suffusing both face and voice, 'it was — it was pretty hideous, actually,' she blurted. 'It's as if you're encased in cement, but still breathing and aware.' She paused, thinking. 'None of your senses operate; you can't see, hear, touch, taste or smell anything. But you're awake and aware of your breathing, and that's all — literally — all.'
Everyone stopped to contemplate her words.
'It sounds like a really amplified body-bind,' said Harry.
Ron, James, Remus, Sirius and Lily winced. Ron and Harry had both been Aurors in their young days, and the elders had worked for the original Order of the Phoenix.
'Of course, it might have been different for others,' mused Hermione. 'We never, you know, compared notes. I never even asked whatshername, the girl who was with me when it happened. Can't think …'
'Penny Clearwater,' supplied Ginny. 'She was Percy's squeeze.'
Snape was very still; for a moment he almost looked as if he himself had been petrified. Then he simply nodded in Hermione's direction, and his expression grew contemplative as Hermione resumed the DVD.
'In all our lives, you never talked about that before?' observed Ron quietly to his wife.
'You never asked,' she returned softly.
'Poor bugger,' said Ron a few minutes later. 'He was easy meat.'
They had just seen Hagrid taken prisoner, and Dumbledore suspended from his post.
'That's because he was such a bloody loony about animals,' snapped Draco.
'He loved all living things,' countered Hermione softly. 'That's an attitude we could all cultivate.'
Hear, hear,' agreed Sirius. 'He was a damned good man.'
Ron looked away as the two boys followed the parade of spiders into the forest, met with their leader and barely escaped with their lives. 'I lived through it once,' he told his wife, 'I'm not doing it again.'
'Suitably dramatic,' commented Snape.
'I know,' Harry laughed. 'We were actually saved by the car, though. Good thing it was there to save us,' he added with a cheeky smile which his old professor had no trouble hearing in his voice.
He extended a skeletal finger in Harry's direction and waggled it. Harry got the message immediately. 'You'll keep.'
'What I don't understand,' said Snape as Harry pried the final piece of the puzzle from Hermione's stiff fingers, 'is why it took so long for anyone to find out it was a damned snake. Of course, if you'd told Dumbledore you were hearing a voice no one else could, people might have known sooner.'
'Give it a rest, Severus,' said Remus wearily. 'You've made your point.'
As the denouement played out, Harry and Ginny clung desperately to one another, as if afraid that to let go would be to lose each other forever.
'You know,' she commented as the DVD concluded, 'I think that's when I really knew.'
Harry smiled fondly at her. 'I'm afraid it took me a bit longer.'
'Yes, but that's because you're a man.' They both laughed.
'So, are we going to do this again tonight?' Sirius wanted to know. 'The next disc is …' He did not continue. He didn't need to.
'As long as our resident genius has enough potion,' said James.
'Naturally,' replied Snape with a smirk. 'Why do you think I've been cultivating the poor young idiot for weeks? I think he rather enjoys his nightly tea with the poor old blind professor.'
Everyone laughed.
'Right then.' Lily rose to her feet. 'Let's make sure no one finds out we've been here. I'll go with Seamus and Dean to sort out the kitchen.'
I'll supervise in here,' said Hermione. 'Later on, Harry and I are on research duty. I want a look at that computer.'
'Meanwhile,' said Harry turning to Snape, 'Ginny and I will help you to bed. Using all that magic all the time must be amazingly tiring.'
The younger Potters arose and moved around to help Snape exit the room, and Ginny felt a bulge in the pocket of the chair as she was guiding it towards their destination. She waited until she had helped levitate the frail professor into his bed, and then she pounced on the vacated chair.
'What's this?' She brought out a paperback book which had been tucked deep into a side pocket.
'Oh,' said Snape casually. 'I wondered where that had gone.'
'Prof, why do you have a printed book?' asked Harry?
'I — I found it,' said Snape, a little defensively. 'On the way to that common-room.'
'Right. So, it was just lying about, was it?' persisted Harry relentlessly.
'And where was it just lying about?' added Ginny, examining the cover.
'I — I can't remember,' replied Snape, even more defensively.
Harry laughed. 'Come on, Prof. You may be many things, but forgetful is not one of them.'
'Your complimentary assessment of my mental abilities is gratifying, Mr Potter. I — I was exploring.'
Silence greeted this statement.
Snape sighed. 'All right. I was lost. Are you satisfied?'
More silence.
Snape shifted slightly in his bed. "I was working my way towards the racket in that common-room, but the echoes must have tricked me. I misjudged the turn and found myself in a small room. It might have been a sitting-room or a library; I do not know. There were books on a table, just at the right height for my chair. They were in a box, as if they went together. I wanted to take them all, but I couldn't lift the box, so I took the one off the top. I was going to ask someone what it was, but the evening rapidly became … interesting.'
'Well, it's just become even more so,' said Ginny. 'This book is called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm willing to bet that it's part of a box set.'
A thoughtful silence ensued while each processed this new information.
'What is happening here?' That was Snape.
'What do you mean?' That was harry.
'The events of this evening feel somewhat surreal to me,' clarified Snape. 'I would be surprised if they felt otherwise to either of you.'
'They don't,' confirmed Ginny. 'It's quite disconcerting seeing other people pretending to be you.'
'Yes, but there's something more,' mused Snape as his body began to relax. 'Something I'm not seeing.'
Both Potters wished him a gentle goodnight, though by then he was sound asleep, and made their way back towards the common-room.
'Gin.' Harry came to a halt a short way from their destination. 'Something tells me we'd better hunt up those books. This is all starting to feel decidedly strange.'
Ginny nodded. They were outside a small library with low, comfortable chairs and books lining every wall and, near the door on a low table, a shiny cardboard box which did indeed look to be a set with one missing. Ginny, who still had possession of the book Snape had purloined, slipped it into its place — making the whole look somehow complete. She then picked up the entire box and proceeded to move out of the room.
'Shouldn't we leave that here?' asked Harry? The day staff might miss it.
'I don't think so,' replied Ginny thoughtfully. 'Don't ask me why.'
When they re-entered the common-room it had all but been cleared of their occupancy. The DVD player had been packed away, along with its assorted cables and discs. Wands were busy shifting furniture and cleaning tables, the tv was switched off and residents were gradually gravitating towards the exit.
'Excuse me, guys,' called Ginny. 'Hold up a minute. There's something I think you all should see.' She brandished the box set (that is clearly what it was) and they all gathered round to look.
'Couldn't this wait until tonight?' whined Draco.
'No,' said Ginny firmly. 'I don't know about you lot, or you Draco, but I feel a bit weirded out by all this.'
'I know what you mean,' agreed Neville. 'It seems … I don't know … a bit convenient.'
Everyone agreed, following Ginny's account of how Snape had come by the deathly Hallows book.
'Just what was it you were expecting to find when you dreamed up this escapade?' asked Hermione.
'We had no idea,' replied James. 'We just started planning it after Sniv —'
'I wish you'd stop calling him that,' chided Lily.
'All right, Severus,' continued James equably, 'after Severus went missing that time. Remember how we lost him for hours? And when he turned up, he said he'd accidentally wandered into this staff area and had to be rescued by Stevenson.'
The elders nodded. 'It was then that I got the idea for us to explore the place,' continued James. 'The youngster was being a pain in the tail, and I wanted to see this staffing area.'
'So, we planned this raid,' put in Sirius. 'Prongs and I studied the pup's movements, and Severus and Lily came up with that bloody amazing potion. Then it was a matter of Severus cultivating the git, and me working out how to get through their security. We learned about the movies through Severus' talks with the boy, but we had no idea …'
'And then these things turn up.' Harry motioned to the box of books. 'Seven books; seven years.'
'And it was the Prof who found them,' added Hermione. 'That can't be an accident.'
Everyone nodded.
'So, are we carrying on with this enterprise?' Draco wanted to know.
'Too right,' said Sirius. 'I want to see the bloke who plays me.'
'Then let's all get to bed before we are caught,' advised Hermione. 'Though,' she added privately, 'I suspect that sleep will be in short supply for many of us.'
Harry was at King's cross station with Dumbledore. Their meetings had been sporadic over the many years since the end of the second Wizarding War, as it had come to be called, but they had grown in frequency over the past months. For Harry, it was akin to meeting an old friend for a catch-up. They would share easy conversation about Harry's doings and the doings of the Wizarding World — of which Harry found, to his dismay, that he could speak less and les as time wore on.
'And how is the family?' enquired Dumbledore.
'Oh, they have their own lives,' replied Harry matter-of-factly. 'I suppose that's why they never visit. Places like ours can be hard on younger people.'
'Not that your children will be so young any longer,' observed Dumbledore. 'I would think they may be joining you soon enough.'
Harry laughed. 'Ginny would like that, especially. I think she's a bit hurt that she doesn't see more of them.'
'And your other family?'
'Oh, that lot,' laughed Harry. 'Crazy as ever; especially Dad and Uncle Sirius. Sometimes I even think they're regressing, the way they behave.'
'And Severus?'
'Funny you should ask after him,' mused Harry. 'He can be right irritating. He's hanging on by the skin of his teeth — and sometimes I think he's doing it out of spite — but he's been behaving differently towards me lately.'
'Oh?'
'Yes,' continued Harry. 'He's been more like a protective father — even more than my own dad.'
And he related to Dumbledore how they had spent their evening watching the first two muggle films about their story together.
'Fascinating,' was Dumbledore's only comment. But Harry clocked a peculiar look on the old wizard's face./