A/N: I'm back, sorry for the delay folks - Holidays and Group Projects take a lot of my free time. How is everyone enjoying the story so far? Anything annoy you? Make you laugh? Make you angry? Let me know in a review and I'll take it all under consideration.

Haven't said it in a while, but Harry Potter . belong to J.K. Rowling - I have no aspirations of taking that from her.

Enjoy!

-PP

By mid-afternoon on Sunday all of Harry's homework was done and he was in his office making plans for the week ahead. This was a lighter load for him this week, as he only had to teach first through fourth years. Fifth years and above were being handled by Elena who was teaching Occlumency, he was looking forward to her class. He wanted to see how she handled other students, as his only experience was her unorthodox method for teaching him. It was a few hours until dinner still and he was done with his notes so he grabbed his latest Arithmancy and Runes project from his backpack and set it upon the desk. On his left was a simple button about half an inch across and on the right was a piece of wax that he had formed using a cast of his inner ear. Despite his ability to Tap those that he wanted to speak with, he didn't want to teach everyone the secrets of Psionics so he was looking for a magical alternative. This way he could be in contact with many different people at once in a tactical situation.

He got the idea from the Agents that had arrived for crowd control and disaster recovery that first day of his summer break. If he could ever get the spells to stick to the button and ear bud he could effectively re-create their radio system in a heavily magical environment. The problem he was having was syncing multiple ear buds and buttons into a single network, as well as incorporating an activation command. He was about to make a breakthrough with the command word when his door was opened abruptly and Snape stood sneering in the doorway. Harry was sure he didn't intend to sneer, but as it was his habit in public to sneer at everyone he couldn't help himself. Without flourish Harry slowly slid open his top drawer, pushed his button and ear bud on top of the stack of papers within, and pushed the drawer closed again. Then he folded his hands on his blotter and said cheerily, "Professor Snape, how can I help you today?"

Snape skulked in and closed the door behind him, sealing it swiftly with a privacy spell. "I have just been called to a meeting with the Dark Lord. I was hoping for a crash course in your method of Legillimency evasion. Since you were gone all summer long I expect to have to report on what I've learned this week and I don't know how long I can take his hammering before my shields shatter, there is just too much new information to conceal. I figure your way requires much less energy and can be sustained for an extended period of time. Can you help?" Snape didn't look concerned or sound worried. He said it all with his normal canter and at the end simply raised his eyebrow. Harry sat back for a minute before responding, he was sure that if he said 'no' Snape would go anyway and nearly get himself killed in the process.

"How soon are you expected? If we have an hour or two, I'm sure you could keep up. If you need to go right now I would probably do more harm than good." He met Snape's eyes and raised his own eyebrow. It was an effective gesture because the Potions professor finally realized he was doing it and quickly lowered his own.

"I am due soon after the start of the evening meal so that I will be missed for the smallest amount of time, nobody expects me at Sunday meals anymore so my absence won't be questioned by students or nosy professors." Harry nodded and got comfortable in his chair and motioned for Snape to do the same. If he wasn't scanning the professor's shields he wouldn't have noticed the change in posture but Snape had relaxed slightly and met Harry's eyes, inviting him to start.

Harry spoke as he pushed into Snape's mental plane, "You want to think of it like chess, you want to be at least five or ten moves ahead of your opponent. If you can see where they are trying to go, you can have appropriate memories or false memories to slide into place before they get there, it will allow you to show them what they want to see without showing them your secrets. You should also be aware of what you can give up, you know this but letting them in on smaller secrets will make them doubt the false memories less." Snape was silently agreeing with what he was saying and was starting to do the dance that was involved. Memories were gathered up and as Harry delved looking for a secret, how the Professor made his cloak billow like it did, he was shown long hours slaving over a sewing machine and practice with small wind spells. He didn't learn any of the details but he couldn't tell if this was what actually happened or if he was being led on.

Harry went after a few other memories, slowly going after more and more sensitive information. To test his pupil's temper he went after memories from his time at Hogwarts, looking for interactions with James and Sirius. Snape stumbled for a second but Harry watched as he recovered and focused on memories where Lily was involved, tempering the atmosphere between the Marauders and Snape. Taking that lead he followed the path of his mother and because he knew what he was looking for he could tell that Snape wasn't ashamed of his attitude toward Lily or the feelings he had developed. He almost hoped that Harry would react poorly to that affection, but Harry knew that it was in the past, and nothing could come of it so he left Snape in a memory of him and his mother studying for Arithmancy and joking around. It was a different side of Snape and he felt better allying himself with the man knowing that there was a human side of him, despite the fact that it was kept very close to the vest.

A few seconds later Snape rejoined him in the physical world and they stared at each other for a minute before breaking eye contact. Teaching Occlumency at that level was very intimate and required trust, Harry was glad that Snape could at the very least fake it long enough to learn what he needed. Harry glanced at his watch and saw that Snape had about ten minutes before he had to be at the Dark Lord's beck and call. "Dobby." Harry called, bringing the elf into existence in the doorway, where he knocked politely.

"You called Harry Potter sir?" Dobby looked warily at Professor Snape but Harry beckoned him closer and the elf complied.

"Can you please pack Professor Snape a couple of your granola bars? He needs to get going and he will be missing dinner, and we can't have that can we?" Dobby's eyes grew wide at the thought of someone missing a meal and he shook his head emphatically and popped out of the room. Snape raised his eyebrow but said nothing as Dobby popped back and handed him two parchment-paper wrapped granola bars stuffed with nuts and a little bits of chocolate. "Thank you Dobby, I'll be at dinner so you can prepare my meal as normal." Dobby bowed and left, presumably to finish Harry's meal. Harry turned his attention to Professor Snape, "They're quite good actually, if you think that you'll be Crucio'd I would suggest waiting until after your meeting so that you don't have to discover what they taste like coming back up as well."

Snape nodded and stood to leave, when he got to the door however he paused and turned, "Does Dobby cater all of your meals? I was under the assumption that we all got the same mass produced slop." Harry grinned at sat back in his chair, throwing his feet up on his desk.

"He has decided that I should not ever be 'house-elf sized' again and has taken it upon himself to ensure that it never happens." Snape almost grinned at the thought of a house-elf sized Harry Potter but stifled the impulse. Instead he raised his eyebrow suspiciously at Harry and waved the food at him as he walked out of sight. Harry sat back in his chair to reevaluate their interaction and make sure that he hadn't revealed anything he wished to remain a secret. It was that pose, musing and vacant, that Dobby found Harry in when he returned after the start of the evening meal and banged him on the knee with a wooden spoon.

"Harry Potter will not be missing dinner!" Harry rubbed his knee and stood, placating the angry elf with a hand gesture and waved his wand around the room. Drawers snapped shut and cabinet doors closed, a shimmer of his magical aura flowing from his feet around the room and across every surface. He nodded to himself and walked out of his office and locked it behind him, Dobby popping out when he was sure that Harry was heading to dinner. Harry whistled to himself as he made his way down to the Great Hall.

Sunday meals for Harry, since Dobby started taking over his dietary needs, had become traditional home-cooked fare. Harry strode towards the Gryffindor table, stopping to greet his friends from other houses as well as his students, smiling cheerfully at them. When he finally sat down between Ginny and Hermione a large dinner plate covered with roast beef, mashed potatoes, lima beans, and a large glass filled with something green appeared in front of him. "Oooh roast beef, Dobby does it just so and it melts in your mouth, he must have started roasting it this morning." Harry grinned and forked some into his mouth and let out a small groan of pleasure. Ron, while Harry was overcome by the rapture of his meal, frowned at his normal Hogwarts fare, and reached across the table with his fork aiming at Harry's roast beef.

Dobby popped in, standing on the table, and swung his spoon onto Ron's wrist, causing him to drop his fork on the center of the table. "Harry Potter will not be missing any of his dinner Weezy!" Ron pulled his hand back and rubbed his wrist, looking fondly at Harry as his friend continued to eat his meal, grinning all the while. Neville joined them at the table, laughing at Ron's predicament with the territorial elf. Dobby squinted his eyes at Ron before loosening his stern stance, "Does Weezy want Dobby's food for dinner?" Ron nodded enthusiastically and Dobby turned and looked at Neville, Ginny, and Hermione.

"Dobby," began Hermione, evenly, "if it wouldn't be too much trouble, and only on Sundays unless you feel like gracing us with your excellent cooking." Ron frowned at being limited to only Sundays but he changed his tune when Hermione kicked him under the table. Dobby nodded happily, his ears flapping slightly, and popped away again. Soon their plates were replaced with ones similar to Harry, Ron's and Neville's containing a slightly larger portion of roast beef, and the girls containing slightly less. Hermione noticed and asked Harry "Why the change in proportions? Not that I'm complaining, I have no idea how Ron puts that much food away." While she waited for Harry to chew his food their drinks were also replaced with the mysterious green sludge Harry had in front of him.

Harry shrugged and took a pull at his drink before speaking, "I asked him that once when Neville and I had lunch in the Room of Requirement, apparently House Elves, if entirely in control of their, err, employer's diet can control it in a way that they get the most out of their food based on their daily activity levels. On workout days I don't know how I finish my meals sometimes. The drink is a vegetable fruit smoothie, tastes different every day but you can't ever taste the veggies." Hermione smiled and dug into her food, happy that someone was taking care of Harry even when he didn't want it. The five discussed the week ahead of them, Hermione trying to wheedle information about their upcoming Defense class out of Harry. Harry danced around the issue until he heard footsteps behind him.

"Professor, if it is all the same to you I would like to start my detention sooner rather than later." Harry turned in his seat and saw Draco standing behind them, arms crossed, looking like he had better things to do. Harry suppressed a grin at this and stood and gestured for Draco to lead the way, taking his vegetable fruit smoothie with him.

The trip to the DADA classroom passed in silence and when they arrived Harry again gestured at Draco who took a seat in the front row and waited while Harry disappeared into his office. When he returned he was hefting a textbook, which he placed in front of Draco before leaning on his own desk at the front of the room. "What is this then Pot…Professor? A muggle text? What is Biology?" Draco looked like he couldn't decide on being confused or disgusted.

"Biology is the muggle study of life. It studies how plants grow, how humans and animals reproduce, the effects of the sun on plants and people, things like that. Your assignment is to read the four chapters that cover genealogy, genetics, and DNA. You need to give me one chapter review a week, at least twelve inches, and then at the end of each chapter is a quiz to test your understanding of the subject matter, I'd like that as well. If you do it all this week, you're done. If you spread it out, that is fine too. You can turn them in to me in class if you don't want to waste time on Sunday evening." Harry watched Draco as he opened the book and flipped through until he found the first chapter that he was assigned.

"What is the point here Professor? You're just giving me more homework, did Professor Snape approve of this detention?" Draco looked more confused than angry, he didn't want to do the work but he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere by arguing. Harry nodded and wrote out the chapters that he wanted Draco to cover on a scrap of parchment from his desk before handing it to him.

"Yes, both your Head of House and the Headmaster have approved this detention. All I am doing is adding to your knowledge, and hopefully teaching you a lesson about defying me in class. That is the point of detention anyway, behavior modification. Personally I think that you already learned that lesson in class this week by dueling me, but I couldn't let you get by without detention or your friends would also begin to act up. So like I said, you can complete the assignment as quickly as you want as long as I have at least one chapter a week. Do you have any questions?" Draco looked at the book and the slip of parchment Harry had handed him and then shook his head. "Then you are dismissed. If you want to discuss anything that you've read my door is always open. If I'm not here I'd be happy to make an appointment to talk." Draco nodded this time and grabbed the book on his way out of the room. Harry renewed the charms protecting his office and soon followed Draco out of the classroom, leaving the door open for anyone that might want to sneak in and snog with their beloved.

Harry started walking through the castle without a destination in mind, letting his mind wander as he feet carried him along the stone corridors. He tapped Elena and after pleasantries dove right in to what was bothering him. "I think that I'm absorbing stray thoughts. I don't mean to, but my opinions on certain subjects don't seem to be what I expect and I have to suspect some sort of interference."

Elena chuckled along the link before replying, "What makes you think that Harry? Starting to notice girls are you?" Harry blustered back at here and then sent her the burst of information about his changing ideas about Draco. "I see what you mean. You have no reason to think anything but the worst of him. Perhaps this is just you growing up and being more mature about things. Maybe your subconscious is reevaluating your memories of certain people and giving you different information when you call upon it consciously." Harry thought about this for a while, thanking Elena for her input and dropping the connection. Eventually his feet took him to the Astronomy tower and he spent some time staring out over the grounds. He could see light in Hagrid's cabin and if he listened hard enough he could hear Fang's excited barks carry across the open lake.

"Oh…hi Harry, I didn't expect you up here." Harry turned to Luna's voice, finding the small blonde girl standing at the top of the stairs. He motioned her over and she leaned on the parapet next to him, watching the firelight flicker in Hagrid's windows.

"How are the shields holding up Luna? You having any trouble keeping them active?" She shook her head and turned her gaze to the stars, waiting patiently for clouds to move out of the way so she could see her favorite constellations. That was one of the things Harry liked most about being out here away from everything, there wasn't a lot of light to wash out the stars above. "You haven't been chased out of your tower again have you? I could say something, I'm a professor you know." Luna grinned at him and shook her head.

"No, I always take walks like this on nice evenings. Usually my housemates took advantage of my absence to play pranks, but since your lessons last year I've learned to defend myself and ward my trunk. Now you've taught me how to focus my attention so I'm enjoying my classes much more than I used to. When I told my roommates about how I was having trouble because I couldn't stop reading everyone's minds they got a bit scared of what I might know and have been treating me nicely since then." Harry let out a chuckle and turned to face her.

"Yeah, Professor Flitwick brought up your sudden attention span at the staff meeting on Friday. I took the blame for it and everyone seemed to be impressed. Flitwick is nothing but pleased that one of his 'Claws is even brighter now. I'm glad your roommates have left you alone, but you'll tell us if something happens right? Ginny, Neville, 'Mione, Ron, we're all here for you." She nodded and he turned to look back out over the lake. He glanced at his watch and realized that it was just about curfew, and while he didn't have to worry about it, Luna would. "It's about time to go back, why don't I walk you to the dorms so that Filch doesn't stop you. My privileges extend to an immunity to the curfew so I might as well make sure you don't get in trouble either." Luna nodded and they descended the stairs back to the main part of the castle.

The Ravenclaw tower was across the castle from the Astronomy tower, but they made it there without running into Filch or Mrs. Norris. Harry stood at a respectful distance while she conversed with their dorm guardian and only turned to leave once she was safely inside. He looked around, and mentally checked the outside of the 7th floor corridor where the Gryffindor common room was hidden and when he found both hallways empty he pushed himself to just outside of his common room. He waved to his friends as he wandered past, wishing them a good night, before he made his way to his room and promptly fell asleep.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please don't forget to leave a review and favorite/follow the story if you're enjoying yourself! -PP