AN: Thank you for all your reviews on the last chapter. That last scene was actually one of the first bits of this story that I wrote -jotted down in a mini notepad while on a train one day - and is one of my favourite parts of this story. Here's your next installment...

Chapter 40

Severus was not inclined to let Harry out of his embrace and so they stayed that way, with one hand cradling the back of Harry's head and the other rubbing across his back in a gesture he hoped was simultaneously comforting and grounding for the boy.

Harry wasn't sure how long he stood there, face hidden in Snape's robes as he cried. At some point the tears must have stopped and Harry was left, still and numb, like he wasn't quite sure how he ended up there. He would have happily stayed in those warm protective arms feeling nothing but tired emptiness, but as he calmed and returned to himself, the embarrassment of having cried on his professor flooded him.

Severus felt the difference in Harry as his muscles tensed and his back stiffened. He held the boy tighter in response, rubbing his back more firmly so Harry would know it was okay to stay within is arms.

"Sorry." Severus heard Harry mumble against his chest.

Harry's head shifted as though he would move it away from Severus' torso, but the professor held him still against him. "Hush, you have nothing to apologise for."

"I didn't mean that."

"It's ok." Severus tried to soothe but Harry was now pushing away determinedly, rubbing at his face with the back of his arm as he stepped away.

Harry felt awkward now, ashamed of his outburst and guilty for the things he had said. He looked at Snape tiredly as he worried inwardly about where they would stand with each other now.

Severus looked back, holding Harry's gaze. He sat back on the desk, unwilling to return to his chair and have the distance of the desk between them.

"It was the worst thing I ever did." Severus said quietly.

"You really don't need to – "

"I do." Snape insisted. "Please, let me say it."

Harry nodded, lips pursed.

"I have no excuse for it. Circumstances and stupidity had led me to take the Mark, but by the time of the prophecy I knew enough. I knew the consequence of taking the prophecy to the Dark Lord but not for whom it would occur. I cared not for the violence of the Death Eaters, nor their politics, but I was flattered by the Dark Lord's praise; his appreciation of my potions skills, and my past had led me to seek power where I saw the opportunity." Severus' own watery eyes locked in with Harry's. "I have never regretted any decision more and I will continue to regret it for the rest of my life."

Harry sniffed and scrubbed at his face, but no more tears fell. His emotional exhaustion left him open, honest but vulnerable.

"I know that." Harry said. "I know, but sometimes I think you wouldn't have cared if it wasn't for Lily. If Voldemort had saved her like you asked him to, if I had died but she had lived, would you even have cared at all that I was dead?"

"I don't know." Severus admitted. "I can't answer 'what ifs', Harry. I'd like to think that I would have done. I know that I am ashamed now of all the things I have done which have caused pain and suffering over the years, but I can't tell you what might have been, I can only tell you how I feel now. I am so deeply sorry for the pain I have caused you, Harry."

Harry nodded. "I know you are. I really didn't mean everything that I said. Sometimes I just feel so angry about everything I have lost and everything I had to sacrifice."

"This is why I want you to keep talking about those feelings with me. When you allow those feelings to build up it creates a wall between us. I want to be a person that you feel you can trust with these emotions." Severus held Harry's gaze earnestly. "I do care for you, Harry. Very much."

Harry's eyes stayed wide and vulnerable as he admitted quietly. "That terrifies me."

Severus gave him a wry smile in return. "Me too."

"Draco! Wait up a sec." Harry called to the blonde after Transfiguration.

It was the last week of term before the spring holiday and Harry was looking forward to the small break from classes. Things with Snape were better in some ways but harder in others. They had taken a step forward in speaking honestly with each other but it made Harry feel so vulnerable to admit he wanted a closer connection to Severus that he wanted to run in the opposite direction. This had resulted in their subsequent meetings being friendly but awkward as they both navigated how to move forward.

In the meantime, Harry had another Slytherin to worry about.

"What do you want, Potter?" Draco stopped and faced him with an air of annoyance.

Malfoy had been stroppy with him for a week now. Harry didn't know if it was something he had done, or just Malfoy's usual acerbic moods, but for the sake of their long-term harmony he was choosing to ignore it.

"Wanna do something fun tonight?"

Draco's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you, you've just got to come and see for yourself."

"Will it get me killed, arrested or expelled?"

"Um, no, no and…it's unlikely." Harry shrugged with a smile.

"Will I be breaking school rules?"

"None that I'm aware of. Do you care?" Draco shrugged. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm not one of your Gryffindor groupies, Potter, you can't dare me into it."

Harry's own eyes rolled upwards, though more in frustration than disdain like Draco. "Do you want to come or not?"

Draco sighed as if it was a great hardship for him to agree. "Fine. Where are we going?"

"Just meet me on the 7th floor corridor at 8 tonight." Harry grinned. "See you later!"

Potter was gone before Draco had a chance to ask what exactly this all had to do with the Come-and-Go room.

Draco would have loved to stand Potter up and send the message that he was far too aloof to chase after him. Unfortunately, Draco was much too curious about what Potter was up to, to not meet him on the 7th floor. He waited impatiently, leaning against the stone wall with false nonchalance.

After no more than a few minutes, though Draco would later claim it was at least ten, the door to the Come-and-Go Room appeared before his eyes and out poked the head of Harry Potter.

"Hey." Harry greeted friendly.

"What are we doing here, Potter? This room doesn't exactly hold a lot of warm memories for me."

Harry grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that. Maybe after tonight it will." He opened the door wider to permit Draco's entry. "Come on in."

Draco stepped over the threshold and was surprised to see the room full of people. "What is this?"

"Welcome to the DA."

Draco scanned the room, taking in the rest of the 8th Years and a few younger students paired up dueling or else practicing spells.

"And what exactly is the DA?"

"We call it Dumbledore's Army." Potter's girlfriend appeared at his shoulder.

"That's what you call it." Potter said and Draco caught the slightly uncomfortable expression on his face. "It's the Defense Association."

"Right. That doesn't really answer my question."

"It's sort of a study group," Potter explained, bringing him further into the room. "This is the group we set up in 5th Year when Umbridge wouldn't teach us anything. We ran until your little Inquisatorial Squad caught us that year." Harry gave him a side smile to show there were no hard feelings over this. "Last year Neville reformed the group as a sort of Hogwarts resistance when the Carrows were hurting the students." Harry gestured to where Longbottom was helping a 5th Year with a complex blocking charm. "And now we're back to being a study group."

"By invitation only." Granger popped up.

"That's right." Harry said. "We're still kind of a secret group, so don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Who would I even tell?" Draco drawled.

"Good point." Harry quipped.

"Have you been doing this since the beginning of the year?"

"No." The Weasley girl said, elbowing Potter affectionately. "We only arm-twisted Harry into doing it last week."

Draco heard the reference to Potter as their club's leader, even if Potter never referred to himself as such.

"This is where you lot all were last Tuesday." Draco realised.

"Oh, er, yeah, we were." Harry frowned. "How'd you know?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "For Merlin's sake, Potter, did you really think I wouldn't notice that my entire year group had gone AWOL?"

"Er-" Harry shrugged. "I didn't really think about it? Sorry."

Draco shook his head and smiled at Potter's obliviousness. He looked around the room again, seeing Ron dueling with Finnegan. Draco had never really watched Weasley duel before and he had to admit to being a little bit impressed. Perhaps this was what came from spending your formative years around Harry Potter?

"Weren't there more of you back then?" Draco asked, noting the fallen numbers.

Potter nodded, "Most of our members were in our year group or the years above so they've left Hogwarts now. We're reaching out to some prospective new members, hence our invitation to you. So, you in?"

"Well," Draco made a show of picking some invisible flint from his robes. "I suppose I don't have anything better to do."

Potter grinned, impervious as he always was to Draco's feigned superiority. "Great."

"So how exactly does this work?" Draco gestured vaguely around the room.

"First of all you need this." Granger handed him a galleon.

"Thanks?"

"It's not a welcome gift." She quipped back. "It's a method of communication. The coin will warm up when a message is sent through and it will say what time we are meeting."

"You can use it to communicate to any other coin holder too." Harry said showing him how on his own galleon and causing Draco's coin to warm in his hand as Granger had said it would.

"Harry, can you help us with this spell?" Hannah Abbott called to him from where she and Susan Bones were practicing. "We can't get it."

"Sure." Harry called back. He looked at Draco. "You happy to hang out and see what we do here?"

"I think I'll manage." Draco drawled.

Harry nodded and went over to help the Hufflepuffs, Ginny wandering over with him.

"Harry used to do all the teaching," Granger explained. "But now anyone can teach something that they are good at. It was the only way we could convince Harry to restart the DA."

"Did you need his permission?"

Granger shrugged. "It was never Harry's idea in the first place so, I guess not, but it's still Harry's club. He never wanted to be a leader." She observed. "But he just is. It comes naturally to him. And even if he isn't the best at every type of magic, he is definitely the best teacher out of any of us. Harry gets how magic works – even without having read any of the theory!" Granger said with clear indication of how much this exasperated her. "He is more patient than I am and explains things better than Ron can. He reads people well."

"Why am I here?" Draco asked her.

She looked at him square in the eye. "Because Harry said you should be."

"How is it that simple? I mean, I realise you are low on numbers but its scraping the cauldron a bit to invite a Death Eater, surely?"

"Harry believes in repairing relationships. He wants more Slytherins to join us. He doesn't want anyone to feel so marginalized or outcast that they find solace in a group like the Death Eaters. He said we had to invite you so we can begin to move on."

"And what Potter says goes, does it?"

Granger shrugged. "It does when he's right."

The Spring term had at last conceded and given way to a week's holiday. To Harry the pause in classes felt like breathing in fresh air. The various turmoils of the term, particularly those of the last few weeks, had left him drained. The workload too, was increasingly intense as they stepped ever closer to their final exams. A week off was exactly what Harry needed at this point.

Much of the student population had gone home but many of the older years, particularly those who had upcoming exams, elected to stay at Hogwarts over the break so they could continue to study, making use of the castle's extensive library. For those who remained, a Hogsmeade weekend was given as reward for their dedication.

All of the 8th Years had chosen to remain at Hogwarts for the holiday and there was a collective decision amongst them that they would make the most of this last Hogsmeade visit before cracking down to study for the rest of the week. Though the excitement and novelty of a trip to Hogsmeade had worn off some years ago, they were willing to embrace the nostalgia of this last trip before their NEWTS.

Despite this, Harry was alone as he walked towards Hogsmeade on Saturday morning. Ron and Hermione had gone early to have breakfast together in the village and Ginny was spending the day with some of the other Gryffindor 7th Years. Harry had agreed to meet with Ron and Hermione before lunch so they could spend the rest of their day as a trio and was perfectly content with their plan. He took a dose of dreamless sleep; something he rarely did since it seemed to knock him out for 8 or more hours and was highly addictive. Seeing as he had nothing to get up for though and he could do with a decent night's sleep for a change, Harry had taken a sip of the midnight blue potion on Friday night and awoken mid-morning feeling suitably refreshed.

With time to spare before he was supposed to meet Ron and Hermione, Harry wandered through the village. As visitors, the students generally stuck to the centre of Hogsmeade where the shops, pubs and cafes kept their attention, but for the first time, Harry went further, beyond the bustle of the high street to the residential houses beyond. He looked at the houses with detached interest, trying to imagine himself living in one of them. It was strange for Harry to think about the future. All those years he spent working towards the end of Voldemort felt like he had been walking a path towards a brick wall and now the wall was gone leaving vast open nothingness beyond.

He wondered what it was like for other people. Did the rest of the 8th Years feel as lost as he did or did their stable background and loving families anchor them while they set out to explore the world?

Ron was planning to move in with George for a year in the flat above the joke shop and Hermione had found a flat to rent in London on the assumption that she would be accepted onto the Ministry graduate training programme. Should Harry rent a place in London too? Should he stay at Grimmauld Place or buy a new house? And what would he do with Grimmauld Place if he did?

Harry thought about asking Snape for advice. He wasn't sure if asking for advice fell under their new relationship status. The Professor had said he cared about Harry, so perhaps that meant he cared about Harry's future too.

He took a left and then another left, taking himself back towards the centre of Hogsmeade, looking at the cottages which lined the narrow lane. He could imagine himself as an Auror in the future, but he couldn't picture where he would live. He was comfortable enough at Grimmauld Place and he enjoyed staying at the Burrow, but neither felt as much like home as Hogwarts did.

Harry wondered how one went about buying a house. Was there an instruction manual for this? He supposed this was the kind of thing that parents helped with. Once again Harry felt the pang of loss. Not for James and Lily Potter, but for the general absence of any figure to mentor and guide him. Harry brushed the feeling aside; it was a familiar feeling to him but not a productive one.

As he walked closer to the heart of the village, more people were walking past. A thin-haired man with hooded eyes looked at Harry and then quickly looked away, carrying on the other path, which made a refreshing change since most people tended to stare at him in public. Harry supposed people were more familiar with him here in Hogsmeade than they were at Diagon Alley.

He had another 30 minutes or so until he was meeting Ron and Hermione at the Hog's Head for lunch. Now they knew Aberforth, the Hog's Head wasn't nearly so intimidating and gloomy as it used to be and was far preferable to the overcrowding at the Three Broomsticks. Harry ducked into Gladrags, holding the door open for a wizard coming out. He went straight to the formal robes section, looking for something he could wear for his Auror interview. Kingsley seemed sure that Harry was definitely in, but Harry wouldn't chance it by half-arsing the interview.

He found what he was looking for easily, and gratefully since he was not one to enjoy browsing racks of clothes. Living for years in Dudley's oversized cast offs had given Harry little care for what he looked like beyond being in good quality, well-fitting clothes. He chose a formal, black robe with emerald trim, distinguished without the flamboyance that some wizards favoured, and took it up to the cashier.

The witch on the till blushed as he approached but remained blessedly professional, not commenting on Harry's appearance in her shop as she ran her wand over each price label. While she bagged up his purchases, Harry looked idly out of the window at the cobbled Hogsmeade street. He noticed the man again who he had passed on the residential street. Harry looked closer to confirm it was the same man since he had been going in the opposite direction earlier, but it was definitely him.

"That's all done for you, Mr Potter." The witch on the till brought his attention back as she held out his bag of robes.

"Thank you." He smiled at her kindly, trying to express his gratitude that he was able to shop without any fuss being caused.

He left the shop and paused for a moment outside as he shrunk his bag to fit it into his robe pocket. As he tucked it away, a strange sensation fluttered through him. He took a moment to sense the air around him, examining the different magical waves that lingered around him. It was subtle, but there was definitely something there. It was familiar to him somehow, though Harry couldn't place where he had felt it before, and it wasn't pleasant.

He scoured Hogsmeade Square in search of the source of the feeling. He spotted the man who came out of Gladrags as Harry had entered. He was stood on the edge of the square and something about the way he stood caught Harry's attention. Harry saw the man making eye contact with another wizard across the street, silently communicating something.

Ensuring that neither man was observing him, Harry ducked into a side alley where he could observe the strange wizards from the shadows. He fished a galleon out of his pocket.

'Where are you?' He sent to Ron and Hermione through the DA coin.

It took a minute for his coin to buzz back with a message, during which time Harry watched as the Gladrags man walked away.

He looked down at Ron's message, 'Hog's Head. What's up?'

Harry was relieved that they were already at the pub. For one thing it would keep them out of harm's way and they would be able to summon help easily with Aberforth there.

'I think something might be happening…' Harry replied on the coin. 'Send for help.'

He tucked the coin away in his pocket, not waiting for a reply. Harry hoped that they would stay in the safety of the Hog's Head, but knowing Ron and Hermione, they wouldn't leave him to face any danger alone.

Looking back into the square, Harry noticed the second wizard leaving the square on a different road to his apparent accomplice and decided to follow him. He didn't have his invisibility cloak with him, but he knew now how to cast a decent enough notice-me-not spell upon himself. He would still be visible, but he would go unnoticed unless anyone was specifically looking for him.

He followed the suspicious wizard on the road towards the Three Broomsticks, keeping a reasonable distance back from him. He made a mental note of the man's appearance; his height, broad shoulders and lanky, sandy-coloured hair. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the man's robes and Harry suspected they had been chosen for their ability to blend in.

He followed for a few minutes and soon realised that they were double-backing on themselves, now headed in the opposite direction to the one they started on. They circled round in what Harry theorized was an attempt to lose or identify anyone who might be following him.

Harry, however, kept a close watch and tailed the wizard as he took the path out of the village towards the Shrieking Shack. Pausing behind a tree, Harry dug out his coin once more to let Ron and Hermione know where he was headed.

'Be careful.' He received straight back. 'Help is coming.'

He sighed in relief, pleased that he would not be forced to face a potential danger alone once again. And even if he was wrong and it turned out just to be some old wizards and a bad feeling, it was nice to know that there were people ready to back him if he needed it.

Harry got back onto the path and quickened his pace to catch up with the wizard who had momentarily disappeared from view. The path diverged. One route, he knew, led to the shack and the other, Harry had never been down before. He heard footsteps on the unknown track and headed quickly down the winding trail.

He turned a sharp corner and came suddenly upon a dead end. A rock wall blocked the path ahead and dense trees surrounded him on all sides. Harry looked around him in confusion. He turned and was confronted with the sudden appearance of a third wizard. It wasn't either of the two wizards he had observed in the square but he was somewhat familiar. He narrowed his eyes and it suddenly clicked that it was the same wizard who had passed him on the streets of Hogsmeade earlier and who he had seen again from the window of Gladrags. The man had not seemed at all threatening but now his features twisted into a sneer and his wand was pointed ominously at Harry.

He drew his own wand from its holster but a second later the wizard he had been tracking and the one from Gladrags both emerged from the trees on either side of him. Harry looked at them warily. He couldn't sense a huge amount of power from any of them and he was fairly sure he could take the three of them on, but given he was out-numbered and they were clearly well-organised, Harry was being appropriately cautious.

"I don't know who you are," he spoke when no one else did. "But attacking me would be a mistake."

The balding man in front of him laughed mockingly. "So arrogant."

"Don't worry, Potter," the broad guy he had followed sneered at him. "We won't be doing anything to you."

"Of course not!" The third man laughed at him obnoxiously. "We wouldn't dream of attacking the 'Chosen One.'"

With no warning Harry felt the familiar, lurching sensation of a portkey being activated. The yanking at his navel sent a sickening feeling through him as the three wizards before him disappeared and he was suddenly transported, against his will, to another place entirely.