Hi guys, as requested from Nanettez I have been a bit quicker in updating this time, sorry about how long its been taking in between the updates, school has been pretty busy!
Please let me know if Harry's response wasn't great in this chapter, I'm really trying to make it as realistic as possible.
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Chapter 8.
"Hedwig!" Harry called out to his owl with jubilation, as Hedwig made a grand entrance from the kitchen window. He hadn't seen her for what seemed like years. Hedwig cooed at him and landed on his arm. Hedwig didn't generally show affection other than by ways of nipping him, or occasionally, when she was feeling really fond of him, ruffling her feathers. Today, howerever, Hedwig showed Harry, quite possibly the most affection she had ever shown anyone, by grooming his hair.
"You must have been worried about me then?" Harry asked her. Hedwig responded with an affirmative hoot. Harry grinned at her.
"Thanks for getting me away from the Dursleys." He decided to show his thanks by feeding her some of the bacon from off of his plate. From across him, Harry heard a sigh of annoyance.
"Yes, Potter, thank you for that heartwarming display of affection. However, I must insist that your blasted bird stay out of your share of the food. We are trying to make you gain weight, and it most certainly will not work with you feeding the bird all of it. While we are at it, keep the bird out of the dining room." Snape said acidly. Harry felt himself sink into his chair, while Hedwig hooted angrily at Snape, flew off of Harry's arm and swept from the room in as dramatic a manner, an owl could possibly make. Harry felt himself grinning despite himself.
"Sorry, Professor, Er, is the mail problem solved then?" Harry asked, wincing slightly as he remembered how angry Snape had been when Harry had told him about it.
"Yes, Potter, the 'mail problem' as you so eloquently put it, has been solved." Harry nodded. Harry had been getting slowly acclimated to Snape's acerbic nature, so much so that he could almost translate all of it to normal english.
"Great, er, do you think that I could visit Ron?" At Snape's surprise, Harry continued quickly. "I know that Hermione can wait and won't worry so long as I write to her about it, but Ron, well Ron can get a bit impulsive, and seeing as he hasn't heard from me all summer long, well, I wouldn't be surprised if he enlisted Fred and George's help to arrange an escape attempt. Not to mention that Ron can be surprisingly perceptive." Snape stared at him for a moment, then nodded.
"Potter, you may go to visit the Weasleys" Harry felt his heart lift. He loved the Weasleys, well, all the ones he had met, other than Percy, and even then, Percy could be quite nice. "If you talk about your time with your relatives with me." All of Harry's hopes plummeted like a lead brick.
"But-" Harry hated how his voice came out as a whine.
"Potter, we have discussed that you are unwilling to speak about your time with your relatives with a stranger, however, I am not a stranger." Harry stared, feeling a bit angry. Harry, wouldn't say that Snape hated him now, but the bloke still strongly disliked him, why the bloody hell would the man want to listen to him.
"You want to listen to me prattle and whine about my life?" Harry asked a bit disbelievingly. Snape rolled his eyes.
"No, Potter, I want you to get better, and unfortunately, it will not happen unless you talk about what happened." Harry felt a bit lightheaded.
"But, you promise that I can go visit the Weasley's if I do?" Snape pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yes Potter, as I've already said." Harry nodded. All Harry would have to do would be say a few things about how the Dursleys had been like, and Snape would probably call it good. Harry couldn't imagine Snape cared enough about him to actually want Harry to get everything off of his back.
"Er, could I visit the Weasleys before I talk about it?" Snape sighed once again.
"Potter, if we are going to do this, I will make you talk about your relatives at least three times, surely you do not think me so deluded as to believe that you would have that little to complain about?" Harry felt a rush of anger rising up in him, but Snape continued. "You may visit the Weasleys after our first session." The anger that had been building in Harry rushed out in a breath of relief. Snape would keep his promise then. That was good.
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