Disclaimer: As usual, I own pretty much nothing, except for a needy cat ... who insists on laying on my papers.

Chapter 114

Severus stalked around the potions classroom as the 5th year Slytherins and Gryffindors took the written part of their exam. He eyed Potter. The boy had missed dinner for the past two days and he had missed breakfast that morning as well.

Today, he had every intention on finding out why.

After 45 minutes, students began to bring the written portion of their exam up to his desk before beginning on the brewing aspect. There was a charm component to the potion they were preparing today. He hoped Harry had managed to reign in his power some.

He had heard how Flitwick made Harry do the practical portion of his exam the other day, despite the Headmaster's note. Evidently when he had went to enlarge a glass of water, he had caused the room to suddenly flood with about three feet of standing water.

Minerva had then told him yesterday that during her transfiguration lesson, Harry had inadvertently incinerated a table. She had no idea how he had done it, either.

A knock at the door had him glancing up. A seventh year Gryffindor warily handed him a note before fleeing. He groaned as he read it. It was from Lupin.

"Potter! Your presence is requested. Gather your things. You will brew the potion this evening after dinner."

He saw relief flash through the boys eyes. He narrowed his own in thought. Had he constructed a way to get out of the exam?

As Potter left, he resumed walking around the classroom, making sure no one cheated, or in the case of Longbottom, caused something to explode.

Harry entered Lupin's office - where he had been instructed to go. He saw his honorary godfather grading papers.

"Thank you, sir. I would have never asked you to do that, but I have a feeling Snape would not appreciate me blowing up the dungeons."

Remus smiled at him. "Are you having any more luck controlling your magic?"

"I'm getting a little bit better but I'm no where near where I need to be, yet. If that potion hadn't required a charm half way through, I'd have been fine to brew it."

"What have your friends been saying about your magic being out of whack?"

"None of them know the full extent of just how out of whack it is," he said as he fidgeted on the chair. "Hermione has suddenly desired to learn what she can about wand lore and is getting upset that she can't find anything on the subject. When Ron had explained that Ollivander did use things other than dragon heartstrings, unicorn hairs, and phoenix tail feathers, I think she thought he was lying. I'm still not entirely sure she believed me when I told her what my wand core was and why no one other than me could touch it."

"Wand-makers keep their knowledge held tightly to themselves."

"I know. She just really hates being denied information. She'll move onto something else eventually." At least, Harry hoped she would. His ears still rung occasionally as he remembered her shrill voice as she had demanded more information than he had been willing to part with.

Remus put down his quill. "Harry ... have you told your friends how powerful you truly are?"

He fidgeted again. "I'm not that powerful."

"You are, Harry, and you need to realize that. Your friends need to know as well."

"Why?" he asked hotly. "Why should I tell them? Only Dumbledore can help me. Why should I burden them with the knowledge of something they can't do anything about? Why give them the knowledge of how big a freak I truly am?"

Remus swiftly got up and circled his desk. He then knelt in front of Harry. "First of all, you are not a freak. We've had this discussion before," he said angrily. "Now, what's wrong? What's going through your head that won't let you share something this simple with your friends?"

Harry contained a sigh that threatened to escape. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm afraid I'll never get my power controlled and end up seriously harming someone." He then stood up. "I'm going to head up to the Room of Requirement to practice now."

Remus growled slightly. He had realized Harry never answered his question. He did have another one for him though. "And when are you and Ms. Bones going to stop pretending that you are not dating?"

Harry froze mid-step and turned around. "What ... what are you talking about?"

Remus stood back up and sat on the front edge of his desk. "Harry, everyone knows you're dating. By not saying so makes it seem like you're ashamed to be seen with her."

"But ... but she's safer if no one knows!"

"Oh, cub. Do you honestly believe that if you get attacked tomorrow, she still won't stand at your side? You're not giving her enough credit." He paused briefly before plowing on with his next question. "You are aware that Tonks and I have been seeing each other, right?"

"Yeah. It's one of the reasons I knew I had to save her this past weekend. I knew it would hurt you if something happened to her."

He groaned again. He was beginning to understand what Severus meant when he complained about Harry's hero complex. "Well, I didn't want to have anything to do with her because of my ... furry little problem. Do you think that's wrong?"

"You wanted to protect her?" guessed Harry.

"I did. Do you know what she said to me when she found out my reasoning? She told me that I was doing her a disservice by discounting her feelings. I gave it some thought and realized she was right."

"So ... you think I'm not being fair to Susan?"

"What do you think?"

Harry closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Remus was right. He couldn't protect her from everything. "I just want her to be safe. Being close to me paints a target on her back."

Remus circled back behind his desk and sat down. "And what did she say to that reason?"

Harry grimaced, clearly remembering her reaction. "All right. I'll talk to her. I'm going to the Room of Requirement now." That said, he headed up to the seventh floor before he could be ambushed with any more questions he didn't want to answer.

Severus eyed the Gryffindor table in frustration. Once again, Harry was not eating. There was no excuse for this.

"Severus, I can feel your anger from here. What's wrong?" asked Albus.

"Potter's missing from dinner, again."

"He's most likely in the Room of Requirement," Lupin said on his other side. "At least, that's where he said he was going."

"Any particular reason you called him out of my class earlier?"

"He didn't want to blow up the dungeons. He's still having power fluxuation issues. I'm surprised he hasn't told you."

"Since Wednesday, other than class today, I've not seen him," admitted Severus with a frown.

"I thought you were going to begin teaching him a few things this evening?" questioned Albus.

"I am. Are you still going to be coming to the classroom after dinner?"

"Yes, Severus. You should have told me the coil needed replacing as soon as the pain started coming through."

He happened to glance up then and saw Harry enter the Great Hall ... hand in hand with Susan Bones.

"I'm glad to see he took my advice," commented Lupin as the two separated and headed to their own tables.

"Advice?" questioned Severus.

Lupin, no doubt, heard the frown in his voice. So he explained the conversation him and Harry had earlier.

Severus tamped down on the wave of jealousy that coursed through his blood. Harry should be coming to him for advice, not the wolf.

"I thought you and Susan were calling it quits," muttered Ron through a mouthful of stew.

"Ugh, Ron. Chew. I told you before that we were trying to keep anyone from finding out so she wouldn't be a target. However, Remus told me earlier that everyone already knew, so there isn't any need to keep it a secret."

"What did Professor Lupin want?" asked Hermione with a frown.

"He needed to talk to me about something. After dinner, I have to head down to the dungeons to take the final portion of this afternoon's exam."

"Will you be coming back to the dorm afterwards?"

"Probably. We're supposed to go against Hufflepuff in Quidditch tomorrow."

"Do you think they'll still have the game? I mean, Madam Hooch was always the referee, with the exception of that one time Professor Snape refereed," said Hermione.

"It's Quidditch! Surely they wouldn't cancel it over something like that," the redhead muttered.

Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust at Ron.

After Harry finished eating, he told his friends he'd see them later and headed to where Susan was sitting.

She smiled up at him.

"I have to go to the dungeons. I have no idea how long I'll be, either."

After taking another drink of her water, she said, "I'll walk down with you."

As they were walking down the first set of stairs, she asked, "How's the whole dad thing going with Professor Snape?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm still getting used to the fact that he is my dad."

"Did you tell him about us?"

Harry shrugged again. "Professor Lupin told me earlier that everyone already knows."

Susan stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. "Harry, you still need to tell him. It's proper. Even though we were keeping our relationship quiet, I still wrote and told my aunt."

"You did?" Harry asked, his voice squeaking horribly.

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

Susan smirked. "As long as I was happy, then so was she."

They arrived at the potions' classroom a couple minutes later and Harry released her hand. "I have no idea how long I'll be down here. I imagine Snape's gonna yell at me because of how many meals I've missed, too."

"I'll be in my common room. If you get finished before curfew, come see me, otherwise I'll see you in the morning." She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

A throat clearing had them jumping apart a split second later.

When Harry saw who it was, he felt himself flush. "H-Headmaster!"

"Evening Mr. Potter, Ms. Bones."

They heard him laughing as he headed into the potions classroom after they had both stammered their greetings.

"Will he ... you know ... tell Professor Snape?" asked Susan.

Harry noticed that she was red as well. "I don't think so. I'll see you in the morning. Something tells me I'll be lucky to make it back to the tower before curfew, now."

After watching her walk away, he turned and headed into the classroom. To his surprise, only Dumbledore was present.

"Uh, where's Professor Snape?"

"He'll be here shortly. We need to re-apply the coil over his Dark Mark. Do you remember the spell or do you need a refresher?"

He thought for a second. "I remember it, but uh, until I can control my power, I don't think I should. I might hurt him."

"I have the utmost faith in you, Harry, as does your father."

Harry sat down in a nearby chair. "That makes two of you then," he muttered.

Dumbledore sat down next to him. "Harry you need to have faith in yourself. You are old enough and should know enough about magic by now to realize that you need to believe in your own abilities."

"I believe in my own abilities well enough. It's my power I have an issue with."

Dumbledore sighed. "Have you been meditating any more?"

"Not lately. I've not had time. Between classes and spending every waking minute in the Room of Requirement, I stay exhausted."

"I think you'll find if you spend at least thirty minutes meditating each evening, you'll gain better control over your power."

"I'll be sure to start tonight then."

"I also think your father was going to begin some type of training with you this evening, after you finish the practical portion of your exam."

"He's what?" Harry then paused. "Crap. Sorry, sir. I need to start preparing my ingredients. If he walks in and I've not started, I'll get in trouble."

Snape strode into the room a split second later. "It's all right, Potter. You need to re-ward my arm. Afterwards, you may brew the potion."

Harry bit the inside of his cheek. He honestly hoped he wouldn't hurt Snape.

Fifteen minutes later found him looking at Snape somewhat hesitantly. "Is it ... is it okay?"

The man raised an eyebrow at him and said with some amusement, "Of course it is. Get started on the potion. Your time starts now."

Harry's eyes widened briefly before he started scurrying around the room to get everything he needed.

Severus watched Harry out of the corner of his eye as he graded papers. When it came time for the charm to be applied, he watched as the boy took a deep breath and murmured quietly while he waved his wand over the cauldron.

Thankfully, nothing exploded right away. That was always a good thing.

Thirty minutes later had him looking up as Harry put a crimson red potion on his desk. He internally frowned. The potion was supposed to be pale red - almost pink.

"I know it's the wrong color," Harry said in defeat before he started to clean up his work area. Afterwards he said, "Professor Dumbledore said you were going to start teaching me some things this evening."

Severus nodded. "Head to our quarters. I'll be there shortly."

He watched as Harry left. He then quickly graded the potion (the charm had been cast fine - it was the wrong color because he hadn't put enough vipersblade in it). He then grabbed his stack of papers and headed to his quarters. He found Harry sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Is that the one that was on the table?"

Harry looked up and nodded.

"Read the first two chapters then we will begin with some basics."

"Yes, sir," he said quietly.

Severus sat down in a side chair to finish his grading. He then planned on spending a couple hours on wandless magic with the boy before he went back to the dorms.

A/N: First of all, I want to thank everyone who replied with condolences via review and PM with regards to my papaw. It's still hard, but day by day, I'm trying. I've started to write again and I'm finding some comfortable solace in it. Hopefully that will continue.

As for this chapter, I realize it's not big and nothing major is happening, but I figured after that battle everyone was due for a few days of nothing exploding or anyone attacking. It won't last. I can promise that. Now that Lord Moldy-shorts has revealed himself, he's just getting started.

I've had a few people ask what Harry's wand core and wood means - his new one. Why I chose what I did and all that other fun stuff. I dug out the notes that I took on wand lore (there were quite a few notes) so hopefully I can answer everyone satisfactorily.

Harry's second wand: smooth, supple, 11 1/4th inches, Ivy, 7 ground chimera scales

Smooth means calm and collected and while I agree that Harry is anything but in most situations, when it comes to fighting for his life, he carries a bit of calmness with him that has seen him through all of his previous battles.

Supple is good for a protector and defensive magic. Normally those that wield supple wands try to use kind magic and exhibit protectiveness. That explains both my Harry and JKR's Harry as well, at least I think it does.

The length doesn't really mean much, but it was about the same length as his previous wand.

Ivy. This is actually the type of wand that Hermione has - as it corresponds with her celtic birth month. (Holly also corresponds to Harry's celtic birth month.) As I looked at the different types of woods, I saw that Ivy also meant they were a survivor. They overcome all odds, have sharp intellect, compassion and loyalty to others. They have a giving nature, their life can be difficult at times, have a soulful grace, soft spoken, and have a keen wit. While some of these describe Hermione, I found that most of all of them suited Harry. Ivy wands are supposed to be good for transfiguration and defensive magic. While Harry sucks at Transfig, Hermione is a natural at it. And well, if anyone embodies defensive magic, it's Harry. LOL

As for the 7 ground Chimera scales. Seven is a magical number in most variations of wicca. As for the Chimera, unfortunately, this is where my notes fail me and what everyone tells me they want to know the most. I'll keep looking for them. Hopefully when I get the next chapter up (which I actually already have typed :p) I'll have found them and tell you why I chose that as his wand core, lol.

*hides from people who want to flog me*