Co-written with Stormypup

Beta'd by Rakina

Chapter Fourteen

Harry woke up before dawn, disoriented with sticky sheets. He groaned and ran a hand down his face. There were no house elves here to fix this. He would have to wash these sheets himself before Snape noticed.

He stood up, bare feet hitting cold wooden paneling. It took little effort to tug the sheets off the bed and ball them up in his arms. He half contemplated spelling them clean, but then they'd be stiff at night. He sighed, trudging out of the room as stealthily as one could at 4:30 in the morning with a pile of bed sheets.

The bathroom light was too bright when he turned it on and it took him a moment to adjust to the bright glare. He tossed the sheets in the bathtub with a great sigh. If Snape had only allowed one house elf, or even brought a bloody washing machine. But no, of course not. He rolled up his sleeves as he turned on the tap and waited for the tub to fill.

Five minutes later, he was wringing the water from the sheets, getting most of it out before attempting a drying spell. Once they were dry, he returned to his room and remade the bed. He lay down and attempted to go back to sleep, but it was too late. He was wide awake and his mind was racing. He had to go back to the real world today, and he realized he wanted to do anything but.

It wasn't like he enjoyed spending all his time with Snape, but he had learned more about defense in the past two weeks than he had in all his time at Hogwarts. He still wasn't prepared to face Voldemort, but he didn't feel so helplessly terrified anymore. Just resigned.

"Potter," came a thick, tired-sounding voice from the doorway. Harry looked over and sighed. Snape was standing there, hair mussed up (if he had the energy he might have smiled at that) looking surlier than normal.

"I'm up," Harry grumbled, throwing off the sheets to reveal the fact that he was fully dressed.

Snape nodded and left the room, going to the kitchen and putting on tea. He hadn't slept well at all, there were too many worries on his mind. He was worried about Potter's safety going back into the wizarding world. And he was having his doubts about letting the boy go alone, but he couldn't go with him, that would just cause more problems.

He leaned against the counter with a closed expression. He was just going to have to trust that the boy would stay out of trouble. Snape had to snort at the thought. The boy was walking trouble.

Harry trudged down the hall and entered the kitchen with a sullen expression. He plunked down on a chair at the table and glared at the hardwood top. He barely glanced up when a piping hot cup of tea was placed in front of him. He muttered a brief thanks and took a sip of it.

"You must remember that even the Burrow is not entirely safe. You must stay alert at all times," Snape said by way of greeting. "I have no idea if it is being watched."

Harry nodded. "Right, watch my back." He sighed, clutching the mug. "What time am I to go?"

"The sooner the better. If anyone is watching the house, dawn is the best time to go. They're tired and less alert," Snape replied, sipping his tea. He was feeling on edge about the whole thing and not for the first time he considered using Polyjuice to accompany Harry, but he knew that wasn't wise.

Harry nodded again and took a deep sip of his tea. "So I suppose that was the nice way of saying 'Go now, you utter moron'?"

"I would have said 'idiot'," Snape said, keeping his voice even so as not to betray his own nervousness. "If there is trouble, return immediately. Do not play the hero," he reminded Harry firmly.

Harry cheered up considerably at that. Snape wasn't being mean to him, which meant he'd taken the joke well. A small part of him wished Snape would have snapped at him so he wouldn't have to leave feeling worried and nervous all at once.

"Do I Floo in or did you make me a Portkey?"

Pointing his wand at Harry, Snape cast a simple glamour on the boy, hiding his various bruises and the dark circles under his eyes. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small thimble and held it up. "Best have your wand out and a protection spell on your lips," Snape said.

Harry reached out his hand and Snape placed the thimble inside, wrapping Harry's fingers around it. "I'm afraid this will dump you in the middle of Molly's living room." He removed his hand from Harry's and the last thing Harry saw, before the Portkey kicked in, was Snape smirking.

Once Harry was away, the smirk left Snape's face. He got to his feet and began pacing the small kitchen, rubbing his brow with his fingers.

This had the potential to blow up in his face, but it was a risk he had to take. Snape loved control, and at the moment, he felt like he had none at all. So much lay with Potter and it drove Snape mad.

The boy wasn't as inept as Snape once believed, and that was encouraging. Harry was actually quite good at defense and had picked up the new spells Snape had taught him rather quickly. He still had a problem being silent when casting, but that was a minor detail.

The last few days had been particularly exhausting. Snape made Harry Apparate to various places around the room, getting him used to moving and using spells as he moved. Had anyone been paying attention to their little hideaway, they would have heard a series of cracks as the two of them Apparated and cursed one another.

Snape had actually found the training sessions exhilarating. What should have been a chore for him, had actually become almost...fun. Despite what people thought and said about him, he did enjoy teaching, he just didn't enjoy teaching idiots like Longbottom.

The better Potter did, the more relaxed around him Snape became. Harry had grudgingly earned Snape's respect, which was not an easy thing to do. Snape rolled his eyes when he realized Dumbledore would be pleased. He probably had it planned all along the manipulative old bastard.

Snape sighed and ran a hand through his stringy hair. Whatever happened with Potter and the Weasleys was out of his hands now and worrying himself sick about it would do neither of them any good.

Deciding to make use of his time, Snape planned on returning to his research. He'd yet to find a reason for Harry's surge in power when he was healing Snape's side, and it was nagging at him. If he still came up with nothing today, he was going to test Potter in other ways. Being able to harness that raw power could only be a benefit in Harry's upcoming battle with Voldemort.

He'd best get started before Draco awoke and began his daily tirade of how miserable his life was. Selfish prat.

Harry landed in an undignified heap on the living room floor.

"Greasy bastard," he mumbled with false annoyance. He glanced around the inviting room wondering what time the Weasleys were going to be up and awake when he heard loud talking coming from the kitchen. Harry pocketed the thimble and headed towards the kitchen. He stepped inside to see that all the Weasley children and Hermione were gathered around the table, except for Charlie, even Bill and Fleur were there.

"Harry!"

Harry froze. His eyes went wide with shock as eight faces peered at him with excitement and disbelief.

"Hullo everyone," he said, shaking off his surprise.

Mrs. Weasley was upon him in an instant, wrapping him a hug before looking him over critically, making the fussing noises he had grown accustomed to. Ron nearly knocked his chair over getting to his feet. "Where the hell ya been mate?" he asked, looking a bit goggled-eyed.

That started a torrent of questions from everyone, and Harry began to feel a bit panicky and overwhelmed. Thankfully, Mr. Weasley put an end to all the questioning with a loud shout for everyone to shut up.

Harry gave him a grateful smile.

"I'm sorry," he said, once everyone had sat back down. "Really, I just… I needed to do something on my own. I couldn't just stay at the Dursleys' anymore."

"You know you're always welcome here, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said, brushing a lock of hair off his forehead. "We were so worried."

"I didn't mean for you to worry, honestly, but I...I just had some things I needed to take care of," he said, lamely.

"Come on, Harry," Fred said, grinning.

"Have some food," George said, pulling back a chair.

"Ron doesn't need to eat," Fred added.

"He's getting a bit thick around the middle," George said.

"Don't ya think?" they both asked, grinning.

Harry laughed and sat down in the chair George pulled out and nudged him with his elbow. This was something he missed, but something was needling him in the back of his mind and one look at the Weasleys' clock told him what it was. Despite the fact that it wasn't telling time it did remind him of one very important thing.

"School starts today," Ginny said quietly and Harry's eyes met hers across the table.

"Oh, right," he said, grabbing a biscuit. He had not given school a second thought since Dumbledore's funeral.

"You're going back aren't you?" Ron asked, and Harry could tell by Ron's tone of voice that he wasn't particularly happy with Harry at the moment.

Harry swallowed his bite of food and stared around at the expectant faces.

"Ron, I-"

"Right," Ron said, his face darkening. "You're just going to go off on your own to save the bloody world while the rest of us sit in class, listening to lectures that won't mean a damn thing with You-Know-Who still alive!"

"Ronald Weasley!" Molly said, cuffing Ron's head.

"It's true!" Ron said, motioning toward Harry. "Look at him. You're not here to ask for help, are you, Harry?" Ron said, getting his answer from Harry's nervous shifting in his seat.

"No," Harry finally said so softly that even Fred and George almost missed it and they were right beside him. "Not from you. I already have someone helping me."

"Who?' Fred and George echoed.

Harry shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said, beginning to feel frustrated. "Look, Mr. Weasley, can I talk to you a moment," he said, looking at Arthur. "Alone," he added, his eyes darting around the table. This was turning into a disaster and he realized the sooner he found out what he needed to know, the sooner he could escape.

Arthur nodded hesitantly and gestured for Harry to follow him into the living room. When it looked like the rest of the Weasley clan was going to follow as well, Harry lost it.

"What part of alone don't you lot understand?" he snapped, feeling a tension headache that he usually only related to his dealings with Malfoy.

Ron began to argue, but Arthur cut him off. "That's enough. You lot go and finish your breakfast. We have to leave for Kings Cross soon. Molly," he said, motioning to the rest of them.

"Come on," Molly said, shooing the rest of them out despite their moans of protest.

Once the door had closed behind them, Arthur put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, are you really alright?"

Harry nodded, covering his face with his hand. "I really shouldn't have done that," he muttered with despair.

Mr. Weasley smiled faintly. "They'll get over it."

Harry nodded and forced a smile onto his face. "I'm fine Mr. Weasley, really." He hoped that sounded convincing anyway. It wasn't too hard to fool the Weasley patriarch, but really, how would he explain voluntarily allowing Snape to hex him on a daily basis? It was best to leave well enough alone. There was also the little thing of Snape's glamour on him – he had no idea how long it would last. This wouldn't matter normally, but it looked like it was going to be a very long morning.

Harry sat on the sofa and Arthur sat next to him. "Can you tell me what's going on?" Arthur asked. "The Order members have been beside themselves since you disappeared." Harry could hear the disappointment underlying Mr. Weasley's words.

Harry put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands for a moment before looking at Arthur again. "I'm sorry, I really am, but...Mr. Weasley I'm doing what Professor Dumbledore asked me to do before he died."

"The Horcruxes?" Arthur asked. "Ron told us --"

"Well he shouldn't have!" Harry snapped, cutting him off, then blushing. "Sorry. This is something I have to do, Mr. Weasley."

"You don't have to do it alone, Harry."

"I'm not; doing it alone that is."

"Harry, you must understand, that nobody in the Order knows where you are, or who is helping you," Arthur said, trying to reason with him.

"All you need to know is that I'm doing exactly what Dumbledore told me to do," Harry said firmly.

Arthur sighed. "You won't tell us who then?"

Harry shook his head and met Arthur's eyes determinedly. He knew Mr. Weasley would concede to him, because Mr. Weasley loved him to a certain degree and respected him as well. That was the one thing he had over all the other members of the Order. Love for Harry and a trust he put in him.

"I'm safe, if that makes you feel any less worried," he added with a helpless shrug.

Mr. Weasley smiled, though Harry could still see the sadness in his eyes. "Tell me what you need, Harry," he said, squeezing Harry's shoulder.

Harry let out a relieved sigh. "Mostly, we need information. We can't exactly go out in the wizarding world without drawing attention to ourselves and the Prophet is pretty much worthless for reliable information."

A small smirk bloomed on Mr. Weasley's face at that comment before it died.

"Are you certain you want to know, Harry?"

"Yes, please, Mr. Weasley you're the only one I could ask."

"Well," Arthur took a deep breath. "The last two weeks has been rather quiet, which has us all a little worried."

"I think that's probably my fault," Harry admitted, fighting a smile. "I found one Horcrux about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, he just about caught us, but we got it out of there."

Mr. Weasley looked at him worriedly. "Which ones Harry? Which ones have you destroyed?"

Harry stared at his hands, the prepared answer on his tongue. He was supposed to lie. But how could he? It went against everything he had grown up to know. But, the truth could be more harmful now than fiction. It gnawed at Harry's insides as he looked up at Mr. Weasley, knowing that he was about to lead him astray.

"All of them. Save Nagini."

It was surprisingly easier to say than he would have thought, and he sent a silent thank you to the sky that it had rolled off his tongue like it had. Mr. Weasley's eyebrows shot up on his forehead.

"Harry, that's wonderful!" Arthur cried. "This changes everything for our side, you realize?"

The guilt hit him at Mr. Weasley's response. Arthur was so happy and it was all just a lie.

"So, you see, I need to know where things stand for our side. Voldemort won't stay distracted for long," Harry told him, trying to change the subject away from the Horcruxes and his lies.

"We've been trying to obtain information from outside sources, but without Snape we have no real connection or knowledge of Death Eater movements."

Harry nodded, trying not to flinch at the harsh tone Arthur's voice took on when he said Snape's name. It just served to remind him how easily people believed their government. He knew Arthur meant no harm, but it still stung to hear Snape's name flung about so caustically.

Harry thought about something Snape had said to him. "Mr. Weasley, do you think there could be a spy. In the Order?"

Arthur frowned. "No, no I don't believe so. I mean, it's not impossible, but I think Moody would have ferreted them out by now if there were. Why, have you heard something?"

"Well, something strange happened, and I was just wondering if you trusted everyone in the Order."

Arthur furrowed his brow in thought, his expression becoming dark. "Harry, I don't know how you came to this conclusion, but the Order doesn't allow just anyone to join our ranks. Every person has to prove their loyalty in their own personal way."

Harry nodded, not sure what else to say. He had no proof and he couldn't explain to Arthur how the question came to mind.

There was a knocking on the door and Molly popped her head inside. "I'm sorry Harry," she apologized, smiling at Harry. "Arthur, we've got to leave soon or the kids will miss the train."

"Be right there, Molly," Arthur replied, before returning his attention to Harry. "I don't suppose I can convince you to stay?"

Harry smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, but I've got to see this through. For Dumbledore." He felt like a manipulator, using Dumbledore's name as though it was a free pass to whatever he wanted. But it worked, and Arthur nodded.

"I know I haven't really answered your question, but there's really not much to tell," Arthur said, getting to his feet. "I hate to say it, but the Order is in the dark itself right now since Snape, and well, information doesn't come so easily now," he finished, his voice tight.

Harry nodded and on impulse gave the red-haired man a tight hug.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley. I promise I'll owl you in a few days."

"Won't you say goodbye to everyone?" he asked, eyes hopeful.

Harry swallowed hard and shook his head. "Ron will still be angry, and Ginny will still be hurt no matter what I do, so I think it's best if I just go. Tell them...tell them I'm sorry." And he was. He didn't want to keep secrets and ignore his friends, but he had no choice right now.

Arthur seemed to understand, and he looked at Harry and nodded. "You be careful, Harry," he said, taking on a paternal tone. "Don't get in over your head."

"Little late for that," Harry joked, smiling. "Thanks again, Mr. Weasley."

"Anytime, Harry." Arthur ruffled Harry's hair with a warm smile before going back to the kitchen where some sort of war was being waged. Harry fought with himself before pulling his wand out of his jeans pocket and exited the house into the garden.

He needed to report back to Snape with his scary lack of information. This was bad. The Order was as informed as they were. It left a nasty taste in his mouth. Something big was going to happen and Harry wasn't sure if he was going to like the outcome.

With a loud pop, he Apparated right out of the Weasleys' garden.

Harry walked up the lane to the small house and pointed his wand at the front door, using the spell Snape had taught him to get past the wards.

Once inside, he was met by Snape's wand tip pointing between his eyes. "What is the name of your Aunt Marge's vile dog?"

"Ripper," Harry answered, rolling his eyes.

Snape nodded and lowered his wand. "Well?" he asked, walking back towards the kitchen and his tea.

"They know about as much as us, which is nothing," Harry said, figuring he would get the bad news out of the way right off.

"Potter," Snape threatened, his voice rumbling lower than thunder.

"Snape," Harry mocked, rolling his eyes and flung himself down in the chair he had vacated that morning.

"The Order doesn't have a clue what's going on now that you're not there to spy for them," Harry said, resting his forehead on the table for a moment, remembering Mr. Weasley's tone when he said Snape's name.

He finally looked up at Snape again. "Though, apparently about two weeks ago, things got very quiet. I kind of figured that was our doing, which is good because he's distracted now, right?"

Snape nodded, but said nothing, frowning into his tea.

"Sir?" Harry questioned after a long moment. When Snape finally looked up at him Harry found the table incredibly interesting. "I also brought up the possibility of a spy in the order's ranks."

Snape arched his brow in curiosity. "And I assume they denied the possibility, because everyone is so loyal and trustworthy."

Harry scowled and nodded. "It's hard to believe they're so trusting after everything that's happened."

Snape snorted, not finding hard to believe at all. He looked Harry over carefully then nodded. "Defense exercises, one hour. Unless you wish to read?" he said lightly, hiding his smirk in his tea.

"No, sir," Harry shook his head. "Unless this is your perverse way of telling me you wish to cancel today's lessons."

"Perverse?" Snape said, arching his brow and giving Harry a pointed look until the boy blushed. "One hour, Potter!" he stated, rising to his feet. When he reached the doorway he stopped. He didn't turn around but said, "You may call me Severus," and then left the room.

Snape had no real explanation for the changes in his behavior, though he had some ideas. Despite everything that was going on, and the daunting task ahead of him, Snape felt...free. He had no master save himself. Dumbledore had been every bit as demanding as the Dark Lord. And though he missed Dumbledore terribly, he also recognized what it meant for him.

Freedom.

Were he to choose, he could walk away from this whole Horcrux mess and everything that went along with it. He wouldn't, he would see it through, but just knowing the option was there added to the sense of freedom.

By all rights, he should make Potter continue calling him 'Sir', or 'Professor', but as he had no real authority over the brat there was no reason for it. And he found he didn't need to hear it from him. Harry had proven his worth and Snape grudgingly gave Harry his respect.

Of course, he'd never come right out and say it. Allowing Potter to use his given name should tell the brat all he needed know.