Harry slowed outside of the closed door of Dumbledore's office when he heard voices inside. It sounded like an argument, and as he neared, he recognized Snape's snide tone clashing with an vaguely familiar female voice. He didn't hear the Headmaster at all, but could imagine the older wizard sitting back in his chair with an amused smile.

He hesitated, raised fist hovering a hair's-breadth from the door.

"...thrilling oversight, no doubt?"

"He is still convicted of a crime!"

"I hope you are not challenging Ministry word, Delores. Might be a poor career move."

"The pardon only exists because of his reckless and irresponsible behaviour in the first place. What of his influence on the other students?"

"Opposed to your indoctrination regarding defensive theory?"

"I teach!"

"You waste daylight!"

"Severus," Dumbledore chided, good humour clear even through the door.

"You allow such disrespect from your staff?" The woman hissed, voice rising in octave. Harry winced sympathetically.

"I'm afraid we'll have to continue this discussion another time. I am expecting a visitor."

Rapid footsteps. The door snapped open, and the pink woman Harry had seen at the feast and his trial glared up at him. He hadn't realised he was taller than her until now. The growth spurt in the village gave him an advantage he wasn't normally used to having over his enemies, and it was a novel experience.

Harry looked at her steadily. The colour rose in her face, blotchy and furious. She stomped past him. He turned his head to watch her go, wondering what that argument had been about.

"Harry, my boy! Please step inside," Dumbledore said.

Snape paced in front of the fireplace, cloak snapping the way it always did when he was worked up about something. Harry waited to sit down until he caught the man's eye, sinking deliberately into a seat. Snape huffed and strode over to another armchair. He threw himself down into it petulantly. Harry hid his grin in a question.

"What did she want?"

"She had a few concerns about your presence here," Dumbledore remarked.

"The h–" at a stern look, Snape corrected, "she wanted to put you in detention in her office every evening to keep an eye on you."

"That's… not gonna happen, right?"

"Absolutely not," Snape vowed, at the same time as Dumbledore said,

"No, Harry." He shifted in his seat, placing his elbows on his desk and looking at him over his half-moon spectacles. "We have a much more important task for you in the evenings."

A thrill of excitement chased a spike of curiosity through his chest in tight circles that left him giddy. Something for the war effort? Had he decided Harry was ready to take a more active part in the fight against Voldemort?

"Really? Anything. What is it?"

"Lessons."

That was a let-down.

Snape snorted and his slump lessened. "Don't look so excited."

"I am, of course, referring to your Occlumency lessons. Now that you have returned to the castle, Professor Snape can test your shields with Legilimency."

Harry's brow furrowed, and he glanced at Snape. "Shields?" They hadn't really discussed anything of the sort in his lessons, and hoped he wasn't about to make a fool of himself during this conversation.

Dumbledore raised one eyebrow slightly and turned to Snape expectantly as well.

Snape's expression didn't change, but his gaze drifted to the window when he spoke. "I chose to instruct Potter in the mind maze method."

After blinking in surprise, Dumbledore's eyes begin to crinkle at the corners and twinkle madly. Snape looked… well, not embarrassed, because he never looked embarrassed, but like he wanted to be anywhere else.

"What is it?" Harry asked, feeling like he had missed something.

Dumbeldore turned to face Harry fully, but not before giving Snape a proud smile that left the other man momentarily stunned. "When properly constructed, a mind maze is far more powerful than a wall; shield; or other, more common forms of Occlumency. It is much harder to achieve, but those few who manage it are at a distinct advantage during any mental confrontation. You see, Harry, most Occlumens form a barrier between themselves and an intrusion. When attacked by a Legillimens, they enforce this barrier and block the Legillimens from entering their mind, hopefully keeping the intruder at the very edges of their psyche. An Occlumens utilising a mind maze, however, moves that confrontation from the edges of their mind to inside their mind, where they have the control. Instead of fighting off the Legillimens, they lead their opponent to wherever the Occlumens wants them to be.

"In this way, they are able to conceal their skill if they so wish, or even set up traps within their own thoughts and memories to attack the Legillimens." He looked again at Snape, a contemplative look on his face. "While more powerful, it is far more difficult to achieve, and many have tried without success."

"I had a good teacher," Harry flushed, although neither man was paying him any attention at the moment.

"I wonder that you should have even attempted to teach that discipline, Severus."

Snape crossed his arms, face blank. "He is not incompetent."

Harry looked at Snape curiously. He hadn't known that the man had chosen a more difficult route in teaching him. Once, he would have thought it was done to make him fail. Now, however, he felt a warm glow, knowing that Snape had thought he was worth the effort to work with him to learn a more difficult technique because it was more effective.

"Just so," Dumbledore said, giving Snape a nod, and Harry wondered what kind of layers he was missing in the conversation.

"So when are they gonna be?" he asked, deciding it didn't really matter. Snape gave him a chastising look. Harry grinned back.

"Whenever the two of you decide," Dumbledore said.

"We have Quidditch practice," Harry was quick to say before Snape scheduled any sweeping plans that got in the way of his having a life.

Snape scowled. "One would think that protecting your mind from intrusion is more important than flying around on a stick of wood."

"Don't say that about my Firebolt," Harry gasped in mock offence.

"Would it like a letter of apology?" Snape scoffed, then looked to the side. "There is no need to smile like that, Headmaster."

"Angelina said we have the pitch on Saturday mornings, Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and Thursday evenings," Harry pressed, uncharacteristically able to stay focused on the task at hand when Quidditch was involved.

"Then I will see you on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at six."

"Only four days a week?" Harry said, surprised.

"You still have to catch up on your schoolwork," Snape reminded him.

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore smiled. "I have spoken with your teachers, Harry, and they have agreed to give you assessments to gauge where you are in the fifth year curriculum."

"You mean I don't just have to redo everything I missed?" Harry sat up, envisioning Hermione's study schedule curling into black ash in the fireplace.

"Perhaps not, if you do well in their assessments."

"When are they?"

"That will be up to the teachers in question."

"Mine is tomorrow," Snape said mildly.

"What?" Harry squawked.

"Better study," Snape said, somehow both malicious and not.

Dumbledore stood and clasped his hands together. "Now that everything has been settled, I will see you later, Harry. Professor Snape and I have some things to discuss."

Harry resisted the urge to ask what about, standing as well. "Okay. Goodbye, Professors. See you tomorrow," he added to Snape, who nodded without looking at him. He was staring at Dumbledore with a small crease between his brows, the corners of his mouth turned down more than usual.

Snape looked so much older. With his strict teaching clothes and a guarded expression that Harry hadn't noticed fading away at the village until it came back all at once, Snape seemed to age prematurely. The outside matched up with all the dark secrets within.

He wondered if that was why Snape wore the old-fashioned robes that he did. It was like armour, covering as much skin as possible. He looked unapproachable and hardened.

That image suited the jaded spy, but it hid the younger, kinder man Harry had gotten to know in the village. As he softly shut the door behind him, an unexpected twist of grief made him sigh.

"Severus–"

"I know."

Harry quickly left, not entirely sure he wanted to hear what they were going to talk about after all.

The walk back to the Gryffindor common room was a quiet one. Most students were busy settling into their dorms, and he didn't encounter anyone for most of it. Once, he passed two girls who stared at him with wide eyes before whispering furiously when they thought he was out of earshot. He set his jaw and kept going.

Where the hallway split towards the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor towers, he found a small boy in red robes looking around with a pinched look of confusion. Harry didn't recognize him at all and figured he must be first year.

"Hey, there. D'jou need help?"

The boy jumped wildly and whirled around to face him, growing even more frightened when he saw who Harry was. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but nothing came out.

Starting to feel a little annoyed, but trying not to show it, Harry waited.

"I– well– er, I don't– that is–"

"Are you lost?" he asked, wincing when it sounded more belligerent than he'd intended.

The first year shook his head frantically and took a step back.

"Hello, Gavin," a dreamy voice floated over, and a willowy blond girl stepped out of the shadows draping the hallway to Ravenclaw tower. The boy squeaked in relief and practically ran to her. She set a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think tonight's a good night to go chasing after sprites. There are… things about."

Harry was offended when that creepy statement scared the boy—Gavin—less than Harry's mere presence did. He scampered off in the way that kids do, there and then gone.

"You seem distracted," the girl noted.

Harry blinked at her owlishly, still trying to understand what had just happened.

"I've never scared anyone like that before," he said, then thought of second year. "I mean, I have, but I haven't actually done anything this time." Once he'd said it, he wondered what had made him admit that to a stranger.

She was stranger than any other stranger he'd ever met, however, and considering how his introduction to the wizarding word had gone, that was saying something. She wore no shoes, and her socks were wildly mismatched. She had standard Ravenclaw robes on, but a few colourful pins dotted her tie. Bright strands of some type of chord had been braided into her hair, and her earrings were some sort of vegetable. Large blue eyes looked up at him, and although disconcerting, he was relieved to see no fear in them.

"Haven't you?" She smiled faintly. "I'm Luna."

"Harry," he replied automatically, as if she didn't clearly already know that.

"I know. Ginny told me about you."

Ginny was not usually the first thing people mentioned when it came to recognising Harry. He didn't mind hearing it now. "Ginny's cool."

They stood there in the hallway for an awkward moment, although Luna didn't seem bothered by the silence.

"Well, I'd better get going," Harry cleared his throat before escaping to Gryffindor tower.

As always, there were still several people lingering downstairs. The steady thrum of sound instantly died down, but Harry ignored it in favour of heading straight for his dorm.

Neville, Ron, Seamus, and Dean had finished packing and were talking when he stepped into the room. Another shocked silence, which he was getting really sick of hearing (or not hearing, he supposed,) by now.

"Glad to see they haven't dismantled my bed," he joked without humour.

"I'm not," Seamus said darkly.

Harry stared at him for a heartbeat, then decided he was too tired to unpack that right then.

"Well, if you decide to let me live through the night, I'll see you in the morning," he said sarcastically. Without waiting for an answer, he climbed onto his bed and yanked the curtains closed.

Sitting there, in his dark little haven, Harry allowed the proud set of his shoulders to collapse for the first time in several hours.

When's the school year over, again?