It had been quiet for much too long in what Harry assumed was the Hogwarts' infirmary. No one had come to visit him, and Madam Pomfrey hadn't come to check on him in quite some time. It must be the middle of the night, then.

Harry grinned inwardly as he once again moved his left pinky. Surely he'd be ready for the wedding at this rate! He began experimenting with his other fingers when he heard the distinct sound of the infirmary door clicking shut. Someone was here to see him?

He listened carefully as heavy footsteps made their way toward his bed. Whoever it was, they seemed almost hesitant to approach him. Finally, they made it to his bed side. He heard his mysterious guest scoot one of the visitor's chairs over near the left side of his head, then settle themselves down into it. For the longest time, he heard nothing else. Who the hell is this? It's starting to creep me out!

"Mister Potter..."

Harry's heart froze at the sound of his old Potions Professor's voice. There's no way! I...I saw him die! I watched him die in my arms after Nagini…

"I was certain you would surely have been awake by now, but you Gryffindors always were slower than the rest of your classmates."

There's no mistaking it. This person was Severus Snape.

Another long moment of silence passed between the miraculously alive man and the somewhat living body of his student. "I find myself at a loss, Potter." This was weird. Why was Snape talking to him like this? It was almost...intimate. "You have sacrificed yourself in order to save the entirety of the wizarding world. You died so that we all may live...after you saw my memories I had thought you would find a way to destroy the Dark Lord without…well. No matter."

Try as he might, Harry could not figure out what was going on here, so he settled himself down to listen. Who knows, maybe Snape will tell him more about what's going on. Harry really wanted to know what happened after he 'died,' but he must have missed those reviews with his friends, because no one seemed to want to talk about it.

Harry was caressed out of his inner musings as he felt a soft, warm touch to his forehead where his scar was, or used to be. As Snape's fingers traveled over his skin, he didn't feel the dip of the scar that should have been there. It must have disappeared after what happened. Did that mean Voldemort really was gone?

Wait. Is Snape touching me?!

"It seems he truly is gone, Lily." Lily? Was Snape talking to his mother? "You finally received justice. You can rest in peace now, my friend. Mister Potter...Harry...will be fine now. I will make sure of it. You have my word..."

Harry lay in his bed in stunned silence, not that he could have moved anyway. He knew how Snape had felt about his mother after seeing his memories, but he never truly witnessed those emotions until now. As a matter of fact, Harry would have never known that Snape had such emotions. He felt Snape's fingers trail down his arm slowly, sending tingles through the young man's veins. What in the world was going on? Why was Snape touching him like this? As he felt his old professor's fingers brush against his hand, he decided to try his new found movement. Why he chose to do so with Snape rather than a friend, he wasn't sure, but it felt right.

Harry heard the other man's soft intake of breath as he managed to wrap two of his fingers around Snape's.

"Potter?...Harry?" He whispered that last.

Again, Harry wrapped his fingers as tightly as he could – which wasn't much at all – around the professor's hand. He felt a distinct loss as the man pulled away. He thought perhaps it was because Snape didn't want his touch until he heard the footsteps quickly make their way to the back of the infirmary, only to return again with a second person in tow.

"Are you certain, Severus?"

"Absolutely."

Harry felt Madam Pomfrey's magic wash over his body as she checked his vitals. "Well, everything is the same as before, nothing has changed...What did you do to make him move? Perhaps it was simply a reflex?"

"I'm positive it was not. I simply touched his hand, and his fingers wrapped around mine!"

"Here, let me try." There was some shuffling around before Harry felt her hand gently touch his. He tried to repeat his performance, but found that he couldn't. Maybe he'd tired himself out? Who knows how long his muscles had gone unused, after all…"Nothing, Severus. Are you sure you didn't imagine it? You haven't been sleeping well in such a long time, and-"

"No, he did! Allow me to demonstrate, perhaps you're simply not touching hard enough for him to feel." Once again, Harry felt his professor press down into his hand, so he gathered the rest of his energy, and managed to get three of his fingers around the man's hand this time.

He heard Madam Pomfrey gasp. "Severus! He moved!"

"Well of course he bloody moved, I told you so, did I not?!"

Harry smiled inwardly. Now that was the professor he knew and loved. Loved? Where did that come from?

"We must inform the headmistress!" Madam Pomfrey's footsteps shuffled quickly away, presumably to contact profes- Headmistress McGonagall, but Snape kept his hand in Harry's.

"It's about time you showed signs of life, Mister Potter." He heard the man whisper. Was that a smile he heard? "What would the world do without its Golden Boy?"

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By the time Headmistress McGonagall entered the infirmary at what sounded like a full out run, Harry's strength had given out, and he was no longer able to move his fingers.

"He must be exhausted. There's no telling how much energy that must have cost him to do." Madam Pomfrey suggested.

He heard a sniffle, and a slight sob before the Headmistress finally responded. "I'm just glad that he's alright. It's been so long..."

He imagined the two women hugging as Snape stood by, rolling his eyes at the blatant show of emotions, and Harry felt his lips twitch in what would have been a smile had he had the strength.

"If you two are quite finished, we must decide on a course of action. The boy is presumably awake, but he hasn't the strength to do much more than twitch a few muscles."

"Right you are, Severus. We must figure out what to do."

"Shouldn't we at least let the Weasleys know, Headmistress?"

"Absolutely not!" Harry's heart jumped at the adamant command coming from the Potions Master. "If you do that, they'll come in droves, constantly pestering the boy, wanting him to grab their fingers. He'd have no strength left to put towards moving his other limbs! No. We must keep this between us for now."

There was a short moment of silence, before McGonagall chimed in. "I'm afraid Severus is right, Poppy. Harry needs to spend his time working on getting his strength back without the pressures of visitors. We will keep it between us."

He heard someone step toward him and grab his hand softly. It must have been the Headmistress. Boy, he'll never get used to calling her that!

"Mister Potter...Harry...I'm so glad you're alive. I want you to take your time and try to move your muscles one at a time. Do you understand?" He managed a small twitch in his fingers in response. He heard her twitter a small sound of joy, which made him even more glad he could spare that much for his old Head of House.

"Perhaps, Mister Potter, you should attempt to open your eyes, next? It would be much easier to help you if we knew you weren't dozing during our visits, though you seemed to have quite an aptitude for nap time during my classes..."

"Oh Severus!" He felt McGonagall release his hand, probably to smack the Potions Master for his comment. It reminded him a lot of his friends Ron and Hermione...could McGonagall and Snape be…? No way!...No way, no chance. Right…? The very thought made him feel sick to his stomach.

Snape did have a point, though. Instead of moving his fingers, he should have been trying to open his eyes. The man always did have a way of making him feel inferior. Well, there was no way he'd be able to do it now. He'd have to work on it tomorrow.

"Perhaps we should let Mister Potter rest for now." Madam Pomfrey suggested as she fluffed his pillow. "I'll go get him something to help him sleep just in case he feels any pain."

His professors spoke quietly amongst themselves as a potion was administered to Harry, but he couldn't seem to focus on what anyone was saying anymore. He must have been more tired than he thought. Well, it's for the best. Harry thought. He really did need to rest to regain his strength. Maybe tomorrow, he would finally be able to see again.