A couple of weeks had gone by since anyone had seen or heard from George Weasley, but life went on without him.

Harry had finally healed enough to attend classes, thankfully being privately taught by the professors so that he would be saved the embarrassment of being so much older than the other students. There were many things he had to catch up on, not just from his seventh year he had missed, but also from many of the years before that. He had been quite busy almost his entire school career simply trying to stay alive, and hadn't had the time to focus on learning. Hermione disagreed with him, of course, stating that she did just fine herself, but Harry chose to ignore that bit of truth. On his down time, he focused his efforts on finding his friend, but the trail had long since grown cold.

The Weasley clan searched for the young man night and day, including the second oldest, Charlie Weasley. He had returned from Romania to aid in the search, even going so far as to bring a young dragon of his. It was apparently known for its amazing sense of smell, but so far, it had come up empty as well. Nevertheless, Charlie and his family refused to give up. The last thing they wanted to do was lose another Weasley.

Snape had even joined in the efforts. In between his classes and tutoring Harry, he had begun reaching out to old colleagues and students, calling in old favours and even going so far as to play the, 'I saved your arse, now you save mine.' card. Of course, his arse wasn't particularly on the line, but George had a lot of promise as an inventor, and he had a bright future ahead of him that it would be a shame to waste. Also, he felt a little guilty about the whole ear thing. If Severus was completely honest with himself, however, he might also admit that he wanted to find George himself, so that Harry would find favour in him again. For some reason, the young man had since been quite distant, regardless of Snape's efforts to get closer to him. No matter, finding George would fix all of their problems. Well, most of them, anyway.

The Potions Master was about to settle in for the night when he heard a soft knock at his door. He didn't spare a moment's thought on who it might be, as only one person in the entire school had enough bravery to knock on the infamous Severus Snape's door in the middle of the night.

Sure enough, he opened the door to find a somewhat bedraggled Harry Potter staring down at his feet.

Schooling his face to his usual look of boredom, he stared at the young man for a moment, allowing the silence to settle on his shoulders before greeting him. "Mister Potter." He had reverted back to the Gryffindor's sir name, too frazzled by the recent change in attitude to continue using anything more familiar. "What do you want?" He held back a wince in consternation. He hadn't meant to sound so snippy.

Harry stood silently in the doorway, his eyes downcast to the point where Severus couldn't see much more than the man's unruly mop of hair, and then his shoulders started to shake. At first, Severus thought Potter was silently laughing, until he noticed small drops of wetness hitting the floor of his entryway.

All thoughts of decorum were thrown aside as Snape pulled the young man into his arms, shutting the door for their privacy behind him. "Harry, what's wrong?" He asked softly, rubbing Potter's back in an attempt at calming him down.

"I...I c-can't..."

Severus pulled Harry over to his couch, lighting the fire with a flick of his wand, and sat the younger man down. "Take your time, Harry, it's alright. You may speak when you're ready." Severus crouched down in front of him and ran his hands up the man's legs in what he hoped was a comforting fashion.

After a long moment of silence, Harry's silent cries calmed down to small hitches, and then finally nothing. He raised his piercing green eyes to meet the dark, depths of Snape's and shame filled him from head to toe.

"I can't believe I broke down in front of you like that...I'm so sorry." He looked away, his Gryffindor pride vanishing.

Snape shook his head, but said nothing. It wouldn't matter what he said anyway, the man before him was head strong and stubborn as the day was long. He wouldn't respond to placating and molly-coddling, so Snape did the only thing he knew how to do. "Mister Potter, you've broken down more times than your friend's wand. I would think myself quite used to it by now."

Surprisingly, the scathing remark brought a small smile to Potter's face. "You're right. Sorry."

The older man watched as Harry ran his fingers through his messy hair, causing it to look more like he had either been in a row with a Hippogrif, or..best not to think of sex at the moment. Though, he always imagined Harry would be quite the partner to- No! Focus, Severus!

Harry stared at Severus, wondering what the man was thinking, but certainly not brave enough to ask. "I'm sorry to bother you so late, Se—er...Professor."

"You may call me as you wish."

"Severus." He said with a nod. "I had been studying- you don't have to look so skeptical, you know! - when suddenly I felt this wave of depression...and the only person I could think of to come to...was you."

Severus met those beautiful green eyes again, and was faced with emotions he couldn't even begin to understand, but he was determined to try. "Is that so?"

Harry nodded and tentatively reached for his Professor's fingers that still lay upon his thighs, but before they made contact, Snape pushed himself up to his feet once again.

"Mister Potter,"

"Harry."

"Harry," He nodded. "If you need company, I will gladly supply you with my own, and you may of course stay the night...if you wish." He could almost feel the other man's blush as he watched it spread across his pale features. "I assume you are able to transfigure your own bed by now?"

Grimacing, Harry took his own wand out of his jeans and transfigured the couch into a bed. "I'm not a child, Severus."

Snape nearly lost his composure, but refused to let his smile see the light of day, even if it was night time. "Very well. Do you wish me to stay with you, or would you rather retire for the night?"

After a moment of thought, Harry stood and wrapped his arms around the older man's waist, pulling him into a gentle hug, completely throwing Snape off guard. "I think I'll be alright now." He spoke softly against the man's many, many buttons.

Their bodies linked together perfectly, in a way that neither man had been prepared for. They had each considered the connection between them to be something akin to a familiar, comforting friendship, but could it be possible there was more to it than that? They had entertained the idea privately and separately that they had some sort of attraction for one another, but neither of them seemed to make anything of it, until now. Was it possible that they really were falling for one another? Should they even risk entertaining the idea?

Severus could feel Harry breathing him in as if he was trying to capture his very essence. He allowed it, for as strange as it was, he quite enjoyed it. Perhaps he truly was falling for the young man, but a part of him just didn't want to believe it. There was too much past between them, far too much hostility. Could it ever really be more? Could he even hope for more? Finally, Severus wrapped his own arms around Harry, keeping his touches light. "Good night, Harry." He spoke into the man's hair, smelling the familiar scent of the Hogwarts shampoo mixed in with Harry's own natural smell of broomsticks and Pumpkin Pasties. He would have to really spend some time with the young man to decide how he truly felt. Until then, what they had between them now was good enough.

"Good night, Severus."

With that, the two released one another and headed to their separate beds, both dreaming of a day when they may share a bed and become something more than just friends.