The boy was more tired than he thought. Half an hour after his arrival the boy dozed off. The sun set with no changes to him which made relief course through Severus' body. It seemed like Potter was likely to have no side-effects.

He put down his book as he looked at the boy's chest rise and fall. He found himself doing it every so often. As if he needed to ensure the boy was still breathing. He sighed as he thought of telling him the truth. How would he frame it? How would he explain? And would Potter even want to come with him? The Weasleys would. But if he knew Potter well from this year, the other would not want to impose on the family of redheads. But did that mean he would accept Severus' proposal?

Severus tried not to think ahead. He tried not to think of the boy's disappointment if he came to Spiner's end. He himself hated that house. Would the boy hate it too?

He shook his head. He shouldn't even be thinking about this. One hurdle at a time, the first, telling the boy the truth.

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Harry jumped a little, feeling like he was falling. When he opened his eyes he was back in the hospital room. Moody was standing in the corner, arms crossed over his chest while two healers ran diagnostics over Harry.

"Ah, good morning mister Potter. Just regular check-ups. Nothing to worry about. We're almost finished." One of the medi-wizards said.

Harry turned to Moody. "Where's professor Snape?" He asked.

"Severus Snape has been called in for questioning, simply procedure, Albus Dumbledore has highlighted how he was a spy the whole time." Moody said in his gruff voice.

"Can I go soon? I feel fine." Harry said.

"We're trying to make sure that there are no side-effects to your ordeal mister Potter, please try to relax."

"Please, I want to go back to Hogwarts. There's only a week left, I want to be able to see my friends before I go… before the holidays." He said. The healers looked at each other.

"Very well mister Potter. We'll talk to Professor Dumbedore about the details." Harry nodded and sighed. He cursed at how tired he was last night. He had wanted to stay awake longer but his body simply refused to comply. He hoped the other wasn't in too much trouble. He couldn't be, no more than Harry was that's for sure. Harry performed a whole pile of dark spells, not to mention several unforgivables.

There was a knock on the door before it opened.

"Professor McGonagall." Harry sat up. "Healers say I can go back to Hogwarts soon."

"That is good Harry..." She gave Moody a look and the auror nodded, walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked.

"Harry… I want to talk to you about your relationship with professor Snape."

Harry felt his heart give a little jump in his chest. It surprised him for some reason. Was it the tone of voice she used?

"Ok… what do you want to know professor?" Harry asked slowly. How much was he supposed to say? Snape clearly wanted their exchanges secret… right? It felt wrong to have to feel ashamed about the help the man had provided him throughout the year. A help that kept him standing throughout the terrible year when all he wanted to do was fall completely apart.

"Harry… you and professor Snape have not seen eye to eye in the last five years." She said gently.

"I know… but he's helped me a lot this year. And don't get me wrong professor… we still really, really don't like each other."

"Harry… when you were pulled out of the potion… Severus spent an hour trying to re-animate you. He cried when he finally had to stop."

Harry stared at her. "Really? He was crying?" He mumbled. She nodded.

"Harry… is there any reason why you have grown closer to professor Snape?" She asked gently. "Can you tell me about it?"

Harry clocked onto the tone of voice. He understood what the other was asking him and felt sick.

"Dumbledore had him teach me Occlumency. I've learned to respect him, that's all." He said. She frowned, looking at him, as if seeing any evidence of a lie in his eyes.

"Harry… I want you to know that you can come to me about anything. I am your head of house." She said.

"I know that professor. But there's nothing I need help with."

"…I just want to make sure that professor Snape has not been using your father as a tool to manipulate you."

Harry frowned in confusion. What did that even mean? "How could my father be a tool for Snape to manipulate me with?" He asked. She sighed.

"Your father and Severus did not see eye to eye… in fact they were quite vile to each other." Harry looked down. That didn't surprise him. But it was hard to imagine James Potter in that light. Harry had built a perfect image of him with the few pieces of information Sirius, Remus, and other people that knew James, had told him. "He's not using that to make you-"

"Professor McGonagall. Please stop it." Harry said sternly, keeping eye contact with her. "Professor Snape saved my life. He listened when I needed to talk. He cared for wounds I needed healed. He taught me things that kept me alive and relatively safe in Voldemort's hands." The woman flinched still at the mention of the name. "Professor Snape is a hero. He's my… he's a hero…"

"Of course Harry. I apologise." She said gently.

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Harry sighed with relief the moment he stepped out onto Hogwarts grounds. He felt… free. Finally Voldemort was dead! Gone! He wanted to laugh, cry, and shout out to the Scottish countryside. Instead he reminded himself of Sirius. It wasn't right to feel happy when Sirius was gone.

Sirius had been his chance to get out of Privet Drive for good. Instead, he would have to go back there. He was sure of it. But it wasn't just that. He didn't want to say it but… Sirius… Sirius was like a father to him. With actual legal papers that tied him to Harry. He looked at Harry with pride. He was happy whenever Harry walked into the room. That was not something Harry was used to.

Now… he would never see him again.

Harry sat on a nearby boulder, taking a few deep breaths. He didn't know how long he was sitting there for. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone in Slytherin uniform sitting down beside him.

"Hey, Malfoy." Harry mumbled.

"Hey."

"How's your dad?" He asked.

"Professor Snape has spoken in his defence… also about my mission. The aurors were impressed. They want to talk to you. To confirm we actually were in a truce." He said.

"Don't worry, I have your back." Harry said.

"Why? Why do you have my back? I didn't do you any favours." Draco said looking up at him.

"No… you were protecting your father. But, for some reason, I want to help you. So we can just leave it at that." Harry said.

"…Thanks Potter. And I'm sorry, about Black. He was your godfather."

Harry looked down and nodded. "Yeah… thanks."

"I heard your exams got moved up a month. I could give you the questions if you want."

Harry smirked. "I'm not a cheater like you."

"It's not cheating, after the year you've had, why not a little heads up on the exam?" He said casually.

"I'm good, thanks…" What the hell did his O.W.L.s matter? No one cared whether he got good grades or not, and what was the point?

"Suit yourself. Come on, it's going to be dinner time soon." He said getting back up. Harry stood and followed him. "Oh, just… word of advice… some students may be a bit jittery around you." Draco warned him. Harry nodded.

"Wouldn't be the first year that happens." He said.

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Dinner wasn't too bad. People quieted down when he entered but he made his way so fast to Ron and Hermione that everyone quickly returned to what they were doing. Harry was sure people would ask him questions. After all, the stories published in the Daily Prophet were so outrageous that they were hard to believe. But thankfully people seemed fairly put out by him having been touched by Voldemort. He couldn't believe the bloody reporters had arrived just in time to capture him running into Voldemort's arms. He shuddered in disgust.

"You ok mate?" Ron asked, patting his back.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Harry smiled. He forgot how comforting Hogwarts dinners were.

"Hey Harry, pass us the pumpkin juice." Dean called over. Harry grabbed the jug and reached over, his sleeve slid down to his elbow, in pale white the scar of the remaining dark mark showed. Lavender Brown was sitting beside Dean. She shrieked moving back. Harry dropped the pumpkin juice jug in shock.

"The dark mark! The dark mark! He has it!" She shrieked bursting into tears from where she was sitting on the floor. Harry pulled his sleeve down.

"Lavender, calm down!" Hermione said.

Harry sighed. He heard the entire hall become quiet. He looked up to see the distrusting faces of his classmates, year mates, house mates. Of course this would happen. Even though the dark mark was barely identifiable, you can know it was there just by looking at the scar. At the end of the day Harry Potter was worth nothing more than the scars he carried.

He chuckled. He laughed softly. It sounded louder than it was now that everyone was quiet.

"Calm down Lavender. Voldemort is dead." He told her as he got up and grabbed his book bag.

"Harry…" Ron said reaching for him.

"Thanks Ron, but I'm not exactly hungry anymore." He said and turned to walk out of the hall. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. The silence was deafening. He paused before he walked out and glanced back at the teacher's table.

The teachers were looking at each other, unsure how to handle the situation. Snape was looking straight at him and motioned with his head before leaving through the teacher's door. He took that to mean that the other wanted to see him. The moment he was out of the great hall he ran in the direction of the other's rooms.