Thank you to the beta of this chapter- Born-of-Elven-Blood
Chapter Eight - Bonding
Hermione took a deep breath as she looked at the crowd gathered in front of her. She flipped through Harry's notes one last time before she spoke to the assembled DA.
"We will be practicing the Patronus Charm again today. Those who have yet to produce one should continue to work on visualizing a happy memory and those who have succeeded will work on holding it for as long as you can. When fighting against Dementors, it's important to keep the charm on stand by." Hermione read aloud. "Does anyone have any questions before we begin?"
Every hand shot up immediately.
"…We will not be answering any questions about Harry." Slowly all of the hands lowered. "All you need to know is that he is unable to join us at this time, so Ron and I will be taking over for him for the time being," Hermione said, trying to sound as stern as possible. "Now split off into the two groups and start practicing. We will be around to see how everyone is doing shortly."
"Good job," Ron whispered to Hermione, giving her a small smile as everyone moved into their groups. "But you can hardly blame them for being curious."
"I just wish we knew what was going on with Harry," she replied. "I can't stand not knowing. So many things are going through my head and none of them are good."
"I know," Ron agreed. "But you know Harry; if we press him he will only pull away more. If he needs time to sort something out then we should give him the time he needs."
Hermione gave a small nod of understanding before she gestured to Ron to start making the rounds to see how everyone was doing.
Meanwhile Harry was finding it hard to focus and it didn't help with the elf, Cinsy, kept popping in every fifteen minutes. He couldn't help but wonder why the elf didn't talk. None of the elves he'd met could seem to keep quiet. Harry wondered if Snape had ordered her to be silent as he got out of bed and made his way out to the living room.
A small whine drew his attention back to the small elf standing behind him, shifting side to side and gripping her ears.
"I'm not going anywhere," Harry assured her, realizing that Snape must have told the elf to keep an eye on him while he was away.
Harry sat down in the armchair and picked up the book the professor had been reading earlier. He flipped to the first page and started to read. Cinsy stood in the corner, watching him.
Harry did find the concept of the book's theory interesting but it was also complicated; if not done just right, you could end up killing the person. That was a heavy burden of responsibility.
Harry was pulled from his thoughts by the professor's return. Without a word, he made his way over to one of the bookshelves and pulled out one of the books. As Harry watched, the bookshelf opened up to reveal the entrance to a potion lab. Colourful bottles of ingredients lined the walls and a cauldron sat in the middle of the room.
"The hospital wing is in need of more Burn Paste… I thought you could help me make some," Snape offered. If he had to get to know the boy as Poppy suggested, he may as well kill two birds with one stone..
Harry was surprised. Not knowing what to say, he got up and followed his professor into the lab. The bookshelf closed behind them as Snape began to pull ingredients from the shelves.
"Ummm… Cinsy..."
"She's a free elf," Snape cut Harry off, guessing what the boy must be thinking. "She is free to go any time she wants, but she chooses to stay."
"…Why doesn't she talk? I've met three house elves and all of them have been really…talkative," Harry asked tactfully.
"... Her old master cut her tongue out," Snape admitted. "The lizard's eyes need to be finely chopped," he instructed, handing Harry a knife.
"Who did she belong to before?…I mean…how did…how did you come to have her?" Harry asked. When he received no answer, he let out a small sigh and started to chop up the eyes. Several minutes passed in silence.
"My father," Snape said suddenly. If he was going to bond with the child, he knew he had to start somewhere. "My father was not a nice man. When he died, Cinsy came to me and I set her free… and she chose to stay."
"…oh…" Harry said, unsure how to respond. Fortunately the awkward silence didn't last long, as his professor cleared his throat.
"So… how is Quidditch going?"
"It's fine, I guess" Harry muttered ambivalently. "How many eyes do we need?"
"A cup of finely chopped lizard eyes… I thought you liked Quidditch?"
"How did you…?"
"I don't need to read your mind," Snape cut Harry off with an amused smirk. "It is quite clear without entering your mind."
"…I don't know…I was just thrown into the game," Harry mused, not even sure why he was admitting this to Snape in the first place. "I wasn't even asked if I wanted to play. Professor McGonagall saw my flying and strongarmed me onto the team. I thought it would be rude to say no."
"Then you don't like Quidditch? Snape asked, confused.
"…I'm good at it," Harry mumbled.
"That's not the same thing," Snape persisted. When Harry didn't answer, he turned back to the cauldron in consternation. "Next you'll tell me you no longer want to be an auror."
Harry gently shook his head. "I never said anything to anyone about wanting to become an auror. If anything, I have been thinking about becoming a healer."
And in the moment Snape understood the boy more than he had in the past five years combined.
