For all those who beg so prettily for updates, two in quick succession.

Chapter Eleven - Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest

It was dark in the owlery, and Severus Snape was there alone, and feeling treacherous. Which, was given his position in the scheme of things faintly ironic. He had just slipped two owls out of the school to two people he personally loathed to help the bain of his teaching career; a slight smile crept onto his face define irony indeed.

He turned careful to keep his robes clear of the guano that littered the floor and walked back to the head of the staircase, the night was clear and cold and yet he hardly felt it. All he could feel was the niggling ache in his magic that was Harry Potter, which was another, less noble reason that he had sent for Granger and Weasley. He needed his solitude, relied upon it to make some of the terrible decisions he had to make, an emotionally damaged saviour of the wizarding world clinging to him, interfering with his concentration……

Well….

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One day later

Stirring was, Harry had discovered one of the most pleasant motions that you could be asked to make, it went round and around but eventually got somewhere, the potion he was working on now was for bruises and started a dark purplish black, went yellow and then faded to clear smelling faintly of mint and lemon zest.

Professor Snape had given him that slight smile and said that if he applied himself half as well in class then he would make an excellent NEWTS candidate, which was nice, it was nice to be valued as a normal student as someone with no expectations of them other than passing the next exam, the potion was starting to thin which meant that he needed to turn the heat down……

BANG

The so far unused front door of professor Snape's private quarters reverberated under a blow and Harry flinched knocking himself against the rim of the cauldron as he let out what he barely recognised as his own voices high pitched whine of fear.

BANG

Professor Snape came from the back room, his robes like ravens wings around him and approached the front door, Harry wanted to throw himself forward, stop him from approaching the danger that lurked outside the door, or hide behind him from it but he couldn't make his paralysed limbs move. He watched as if in slow motion as one long fingered hand went to the door handle and twisted a precise half turn clockwise.

The door swung inwards.

He felt his arm lift, wand hanging perfectly relaxed between thumb and forefingers. No one was going to hurt them, not this time. His lips began to form a curse even as rampant ginger hair forced its way through the door. "Where's Harry" Ron's voice was indignant and familiar, but Harry felt frozen stopped in time as Hermione almost fell through the now open door behind Ron. Seeking sanctuary He looked up and found his eyes locked with inky darkness.

Swirls of sparkles, purple and rich gold caught at his vision even as professor Snape crossed the room to him "its alright Harry" the voice was mellow richness, velvet brushing against his over sensitised skin "Its just your overly loud friends" a pause "You can put the wand down now" A hands gentle pressure on his and he lowered his wand before looking studiously at the floor. He could feel the other wizard like a line of heat against his body, reassuring warmth.

"Harry mate" Ron's voice was quieter but still felt out of place in the careful solitude he'd built here with Severus Snape. He looked up and caught the redheads eye forcing a small smile "Ron, what brings you here" Watching he saw the look exchanged between Ron and Hermione and she answered him "We heard you….weren't well, we came to see if we could help"

Weren't well. A nice polite, dentists way of putting things but the concern seemed real enough, hers and Ron's he unconsciously traced the lines of his invisible collar from point to point on his throat feeling warmth and reassurance from the action from the release from responsibility it brought with it.

Once again he looked to Severus Snape, this time out of curiosity, what would the man do? he had loathed them as a group for so long. There was a twist beside his mouth but nothing else, he intercepted Harrys look and the twist grew into a smile softer than anything Harry had ever seen in class, gentle and somehow precious. Then he looked back to his friends and tried to give them a smile "Thanks guys, I'm glad you're here.

But the thing was. Was he?