Title:
A few days more

Sequel to:
Twenty-one days

Author:
evil minded

Date:
November, 5th 2010

Timeframe:
Fourth year at Hogwarts

Summary:
"A few days more" is the sequel to "Twenty-one days" – read and review this first or you wouldn't understand all that happens in this story.
The fourth year Slytherins and Gryffindor have survived their imprisonment in the potions classroom situated in the dungeons. How will they go on in all-day life after their survival? How will they manage to reintegrate into the castle's routine and their classes? How will they be able to go back to life at all? Watch how those who survived fight for their lives and for their peace.

Disclaimer:
Did you see Severus alive at the end of 'The deathly hallows'? no?
Do you think I would have had him died if I had written those books? no?
Then you know that 'Harry Potter' does not belong to me … nor does Severus … regrettably …
But Hereweald Hrothgar does …

Rating:
M – Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16

Author's Notes:
Uhm … alright … I have to admit … English is not my language by birth … so … please do not kill me while reading … neither for the – perhaps – sad language, nor for the subject of my writing …
Also, this is a story written for NaNo, a story written within thirty days only and even though I go over the chapters before uploading them – I do apologize if it might not have the same quality at one point or another than those stories of mine you are used to by now … thank you …

Warning:
Story contains bad language and swearing.
Don't ever use such, it's neither good manners nor proper use of language and never mind how 'cool' it might sound, it surely isn't a sign of intelligence. It won't get you anywhere and people will think less of you if you are unable articulating properly.
Story contains references to child neglect.
Child neglect is a really, really serious thing, and there are a lot of children in our world that are neglected, children that lack food, clothing, often love, and perhaps even a roof over their head – and closing our eyes, and pretending it does not exist – is no solution …
Story contains references to child abuse.
Child abuse is one of the most evil things, and there are a lot of children in our world that really would need help but have to live without hope – and again, closing our eyes and pretending it does not exist – is no solution … instead show sympathy, and understanding … and handle people, children as well as adults, which are showing any signs – whichever – of once having been abused … with understanding and with help …
What does not mean I am not as evil as I pretend to be … ^.~ … believe me – I am …

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

Previously in A few days more
"My head hurts." The boy whispered while he wet the cloth again and then run it over his son's arms, his face grim.
"It shows that it is not as hard as we both thought." He growled, trying to make fun so that the boy would not notice his worry. Merlin, the boy was already weak enough and he was not out of the woods yet from their imprisonment for the past three weeks, and now he had to fight with new troubles that threatened his already so weak life.
What had he gotten himself into by adopting this particular child that seemed to knock on Death's door at every turn he took?
"Can you get ... can you get Fawkes, dad?" The boy asked, running his tongue over his dry lips and he placed the wet cloth at the child's chest before taking the glass and helping the boy to drink a few more sips of water.
"I could, but not now." He softly said. "Right now, I expect you to drink and then sleep."
"But ... the basilisk ..."
"Is not here at the moment." He soothed, placing his hand at the boy's feverish eyes, closing them. "We will talk after you have slept and without a basilisk interfering our conversation."

A few days more
Chapter five
Day five – twenty-seventh of September – Friday
Parent day

"Remember please, to take a deep breath the moment your parents enter the room, and to stay calm, never mind what idiot questions they might ask." He said while having them all gathered together in the back yard of the hospital wing for breakfast, even if they normally did take their meals inside. "They were not there, those twenty-one days, they do not know the routine we all have settled in, and there might be things they won't understand."

Well, in an hour they would go down to the room to await the parents Minerva and Albus would bring over, but before that chaos would break loose, he kept them outside for at least breakfast so that they could relax a bit and prepare themselves for the onslaught that awaited them soon.

"Yeah, like why we all would sleep mixed up on the mats." Neville groaned, knowing that his grandmother wouldn't like that.

Augusta Longbottom was an old and old-style witch, very straight and strict in her attitudes, and he already knew that – them sleeping on mats which were pushed together, Slytherins and Gryffindors mixed up as well as boys and girls mixed up, it was something Augusta Longbottom would not approve of, and neither would one or another of the other parents. But well, back then he'd had the survival of the children on his mind and surely not any inappropriate sleeping arrangement as they didn't have any sexual actions on their minds anyway, they had been busy with staying as warm as possible, and with worrying and trying to stay alive.

"Merlin!" Daphne gasped. "I fear my uncles will kill me. They won't be too happy about that either."

"I will handle your uncles, Daphne, do not worry about them." He said, knowing how to take the Greengrass brothers, Death Eaters in lower ranks, easy to get them intimidated, and easy to handle even if he had all three of them in front of him at once.

"I still hope that my father won't come." Draco whispered, and he looked over at the boy, understanding.

Lucius Malfoy had led the attack that had been the reason for their imprisonment, and of course Draco did not look forwards to seeing the man now.

"I do not know if he will, but Albus has invited him as he is your official guardian, so I suggest that you prepare for your father strolling into the room and like always disregarding anything Albus had asked of him before bringing him over." He said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I will be there, as will Filius, Minerva, Hereweald and Albus. Only Pomona will be absent to have an eye on the remainder of the student body. You won't be alone with him."

"If mom went to Mr. Goyle and Mr. Crabbe, then I don't see a reason as to why he should come in the first place." The boy whined and for once he could understand the child's whining without being annoyed. "He's never cared before either."

"Because he is still your father, Draco, he has sired you." He said, eliciting a frustrated sigh from the boy. "And you are still the Malfoy heir, bearing his name."

"Does that mean ... does that mean that my aunt and uncle will ..." Harry asked, startled, his face nearly white and his voice choked, unable to finish the sentence, and he quickly went over to the boy, to his son, sitting into the chair beside the boy and leaning towards his son.

"Your relatives will not be there." He clearly said, his dark eyes piercing the child. "They might be your aunt and your uncle still, and they always will be, never mind what, because Petunia Dursley is your mother's sister and Vernon Dursley has married Petunia Evans. No one can change that fact, they always will be your aunt and uncle, your relatives, but you are my son! They have no rights over you anymore since I have adopted you, and they have no right to see you if you do not wish to see them. Do you wish to see them?"

"Wha– ...? NO!" The boy gasped, green eyes wide, giving the pale and bony face with the sunken eyes an even more ghostlike appearance, and he nearly chuckled at the shocked expression. Well, he had at least taken the strain from them with his question as most of them started chuckling at the boy's startled outburst.

"Well, then it's a good thing that I have not invited them." He drawled in his best Snape-manner while he watched his son's small and scrawny form, somehow knowing that the boy would never be as tall as others were, never mind what he tried now, those years during which the child had been denied everything, including food, enough light and playing in fresh air, he would never be able to replace them, never mind how much he would try now.

And despite the miraculous survival as a result of the child's own magic – or the Lord's will – and he was sure that one of these two had been the only things that had kept Harry alive in the end … even though they had been unable of performing any magic down in the dungeons during their imprisonment, they all had still had their own magical core as they were wizards, and a magical core couldn't be turned off and on, it just was there, always – well, despite the child's miraculous survival he didn't like the glassy and dilated look of Harry's eyes, nor the shivers that every so often wracked the pitiful small and thin frame, despite the multiple warming charms he had cast on the air, their beds and on the blankets.

It only showed how weak and ill the child still was, and it only showed how long it would take to get the child back to health, mentally as well as physically, because the boy didn't even seem to notice it if he were cold, just taking the coldness as an unchangeable fact, accepting it the way it was, like he accepted so many other things, like he had accepted death.

"So, they won't be there?" Harry asked, as if he needed this bit of confirmation, a clear answer instead of a sarcastic one and he sighed.

"No, they won't be there, Harry." He answered. "And even if they were, then be assured that I would not allow them near you, that I, in fact, would remove them from the room before they were even able to utter any of the lies they had beaten into this stubborn head of yours."

"'k." The boy made, his pale face blushing, causing irregular red blotches to appear. "Thanks."

Leaning back in the chair and taking the last sip of his meanwhile cold coffee he grimaced, realizing that perhaps he should have cast a warming charm over his cup.

But well, he had to admit that he just wasn't used to having his meals together with a horde of children that asked annoying questions and therefore kept him from drinking his cup of coffee in nearly one go like he usually did at the head table in the great hall, the other teachers knowing very well to better leave him alone in the early morning hours before he was pouring a second cup of coffee which he drank slower, enjoying the bitter taste of the black brewage.

It was different here.

Here there was one child that needed him so he wouldn't eat too hastily and too much in one go, there was another child that needed him to watch out so that he ate enough at all, and there was another child again that needed him to explain why healthy food was important in the first place, while again another child needed him to talk to so his mind was off the eating matter at all, while they all needed him for the stomach soothing potions and to remind them of the small things that were so important, that were so normal for other children while they had become strange things for them.

And the closest eye he definitely had to have on Harry.

That child was actually driving him mad with his eating habits, and over the past few days he had slowly realized that his son suffered from a general eating disorder that had not only been caused by their imprisonment for twenty-one days, but by the starvation he'd had to endure at the hands of his relatives for not only the first eleven years of his life but for each summer holidays since he had come to Hogwarts, too.

"The needless worry over your relatives' presence should not keep you from finishing your breakfast as no one will leave this table before not all of you have eaten at least enough to my satisfaction in the first place, never mind whose parents are present and whose are not, and that goes for you too, Theodore and Parvati." He drawled, reminding all of them at the next rule they had installed two days ago.

It was a simple rule – they all needed a sense of togetherness still, they all needed to know that they were not alone with their problems and so they all had agreed upon staying at the table until all of them had eaten enough in Snape's opinion, knowing that it would be unfair if one of them had to stay at the table alone to fight with the food while the others were playing or doing whatever they wanted to do. They didn't have to finish their plates or bowls, in fact, he had stopped the house elves sending up filled plates or bowls for each of them at all, but had them sending up plates and pots so the children had to take the food themselves.

That made it more difficult for him, because he had to have a closer eye on them to make sure that all of them took enough, but it made it easier for the children and it helped Harry in learning to take food himself instead of just taking what was given to him, what was a huge problem for his son, he soon had realized.

Harry had indeed during their first meals only eaten what had been given to him instead of taking anything by himself and after the elves had sent up plates and pots the boy had been sitting there, staring at the table, scared and unsurely, but not daring to take anything at all and he'd actually had to sit beside him and to tell him that he should take any of the food, which the child only slowly and hesitantly had done, unsurely looking over at him as if he expected a punishment for taking the food. And considering the child's upbringing, he guessed to even know the punishment the child expected, realizing – again – that he would have to fight a few severe battles until the child could live an at least somewhat normal life.

And well, the situation would complicate even more soon enough, when they were in the great hall finally, where he wouldn't be able having an eye as close on them and their eating habits – or lack thereof – as he had here, where he was sitting at the head table instead of with them together, but he knew that somehow he would manage, he had always managed, each year when the students were back after the holidays, each year when there were new students in his house which were abused or neglected, and he would manage with them now, too.

After all, he had already made plans for them to sign their names after each meal they had partaken in so that not only they could see each other being still a group, even if sitting at two different house tables, but so that they could also see where they all stood at the moment – and for him to have at least a small clue about their health concerning meals.

He had also made a new timetable for the fourth year Slytherins and Gryffindors, had cancelled any unnecessary or even ridiculous subject like divination and history of magic for now, and had inserted PE once a day. He had also appointed them time for just sitting together and he had asked for Poppy's permission to use this very room they were staying in for five days now, as it was large enough for all of them, and as it was private, closed off the main room of the hospital wing. They could meet here in the evenings to talk about whatever it was they needed to talk about – or to just sitting together.

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

"How could you!" Augusta Longbottom screeched while entering the room and Severus inwardly sighed already. "Nearly a week, headmaster!"

"It's been five days already and you didn't think it necessary informing us, headmaster?" Narcissa's voice followed, calmer and more collected, and he furrowed his brows in anger. Had Albus not cleared those issues before he had brought the parents down here? In his office so that they could step in front of their children calmly? Had that not been the reason as to why they had waited so long in the first place before bringing the children and the parents together? So that those imbeciles of parents wouldn't startle and exhaust their children while they needed rest and calmness still?

"I swear to you, I'll have your head, Albus!" Was Molly's comment while entering the room and already he could see a pattern, the Slytherin parents being more subtle while the Gryffindor parents were like – a true Gryffindor – emotional and daring without showing common sense, patience, or manners.

A moment later hell broke loose when eleven women and six men stormed into the room, the Gryffindor ladies being the first ones that were storming towards their children – or grandchildren – and the Slytherin parents following with a bit more grace, but all of them clearly upset and he actually had to take a step towards them when he noticed some of the children taking a step back, clearly startled – and some even scared.

Had Albus no sense in his mind? They had agreed upon getting the parents one by one and not all at the same time, for Merlin's sake, of course the children were startled!

A moment later there was a shield keeping the parents from actually running the children over.

"A bit more quietness and a bit slower please, ladies." Filius' squeaky voice was heard, the small charms teacher having cast the shield, and he actually had to smirk inwardly. Small Filius Flitwick keeping a horde of worried mothers in line – that was a sight to behold.

"Filius!"

"Professor!"

"Headmaster!"

"Do something, Albus!"

Well, the outburst was very colorful and he sighed, taking another step forwards.

"I do understand your worries, and I do understand your need to see for yourself that your children are alive and as well as can be expected in the situation given, but these children have been alone for more than three weeks, they have been locked away and seemingly forgotten, they have missed food, warmth, human contact and other voices than their own, so – with all human sense used, do you not think that you startle them with your Gryffindor rush, ladies and gentlemen?" He asked, his eyebrow lifted. "I am sure that you are able smothering your children without killing them because of either a heart attack or choking them to death."

Well, another moment later he had a horde of guiltily looking women in front of him, giving away a nod towards Filius to lift the shield, to allow those parents to approach their children and to crush them finally with their embraces, and he watched them closely, ready to step in the moment he noticed one parent or another not understanding one thing or another and acting upon the misunderstanding while he noticed that Filius and Minerva did the same.

Albus was – dumb to emotional human needs as he was – calling for tea and cookies, asking parents and children alike if they wanted lemon drops and he actually took a proud – and relieved – breath of air when the children declined, knowing that the sweet would only upset their still too weak stomachs.

Poppy was having a close eye on the children themselves, on their reactions, and Pomona, when once looking in and the true Hufflepuff she was, was close to tears at the emotional display.

One thing however confused him first, before he actually got upset.

Harry had looked over the crowd of parents, one time, two times, three times even, the scared green eyes searching the present people , as if he had to make sure his relatives really were not there, and he had known that the child would, as much as he had promised the boy that they would not be there, that he would even throw them out of the room if they just showed up, not to mention that they had not been informed, but he had known that the child would look over the crowd of parents, that he would need this personal confirmation, that he would need to see for himself that they were not there.

But then the boy's eyes had gone disappointed for a moment, as if – and again he had stared to understand.

Despite all that they had done to the child, despite all of the abuse and starvation, despite their cruelly and despite their hate of the child, despite everything – Harry wanted them to love him, to accept him, to be a family to him, and that knowledge had him nearly seething. Not at Harry, but at them as it showed – despite everything, Harry had always tried to please them, to make things right and to do well, while never mind how good he had been, they had never seen it, they had never accepted it – and still the child had tried.

"Come here, child." He softly said, waving the boy closer and then watching his son taking a few unsure steps towards him, and he just reached over the moment the boy was close enough, pulling his son close until the boy rested with his forehead against his chest.

"A new addition to your family, Severus?"

Well, it was a voice that he would recognize everywhere and he turned towards Lucius Malfoy who had his hand on Draco's shoulder, the boy clearly being uncomfortable while Narcissa stood behind them, clearly looking scared.

"Indeed." He said, knowing that it could be dangerous, and he tightened the grip he had on Harry's shoulder while he overlooked the room. "He has proved to be a true Snape, tough, patient and persistent – more a Slytherin than some others are, and strange bonds have formed in a dire situation."

Well, Neville was sitting with his grandmother at one table and Hermione was sitting with her mother and together with Ronald and his mother at another table. Theodore was with his father, as his mother had not come, and Poppy was ushering them to a seat at this moment. Vincent and Gregory were with their fathers, Vence and Gordon looking over at Draco and Narcissa every now and then, apparently making sure that Lucius didn't do something foolish, and he knew that he could trust in them when it came to Draco's safety, as they had already taken in the boy's mother.

"I beg to differ, my dear Severus." Lucius Malfoy said, and he lifted his eyebrow at the politician. "If he were a true Slytherin, then he would care a bit more about his appearance. But a T-shirt too large, and trousers that could fit a whale? Not to mention even the mixed socks, I am surprised that those – clothes – are not stained, if one could call those rags clothes. You really should care more for your son's attire."

"Why do you not go and help Poppy with preparing the potions you all will need in the evening, Harry?" He asked, giving the boy a small push towards the matron while he waved Draco over at the same time, the boy very willingly leaving his father's side and going over to him. "You too, Draco, and I am sure that your mother has not choked you to death yet, too." He added while giving the blond boy the same small shove into the same direction.

He watched both boys walking over to the matron, and a moment later he turned back towards the Malfoy aristocrat.

"Do not try to play a game, Lucius." He softly hissed at the man. "You know as well as do I, that the information about me being a spy for Dumbledore is revealed since the – speeches on the dead a few days ago, and so I won't even deny it. I, however, warn you, Lucius, you better leave right now and not come back, because if you go on with intimidating my son, then I can promise you – I will give a few pieces of information to the ministry of magic. You are friends of one ministry worker or another, are you not? You do realize that you have a reputation to uphold, do you not? A reputation that could be destroyed easily. You leave alone my family, and I will leave alone you. Leave this room if we have a deal, stay – if we have none."

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

"Let your godfather handle the situation, Draco, Severus will manage." Narcissa said, leading both boys towards one of the sofas. "He has always handled your father and one or another ridiculous notion he's had in his head, the reason as to why I have made him your godfather. You better tell me how you are faring. You have become friends with Mr. Potter, I heard?"

"I am alright, mother." Draco said while the Potter boy was looking unsurely. "And yes, Harry and I have become friends. I think we all have become friends, one way or another but Harry and Neville have become close friends."

"The Longbottom family as well as the Potter family bear great names, Draco."

"I'm friends with Hermione, too." Draco said in a mixture of self-defense and testing the waters, and Narcissa nearly laughed, now that she finally was free from Lucius and had got back her son.

"Granger is the name, isn't it?" She asked, looking over at the girl with the bushy hair. She had heard a lot about that girl, the best in her year despite the fact that she was a muggle-born witch, muggle-raised too, and she always had wondered why that girl was not in Ravenclaw. "True friendship does not stop at a name uttered, Draco, and a wealthy family name does not promise close friendship automatically. Your father has given you the best of education when it came to manners, pure-blood standards and knowledge, but maybe it is time now to change a few believes and learn what friendship means."

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

"Have you been arguing, Ron?" Molly asked after she had personally made sure that Ron was alright, crying over the boy actually, and she was sure that Severus would call her an emotional fool, but Severus was busy with Malfoy. "Harry has not been with you since I'm here and you seem so lost somehow."

"They have not been arguing, Molly." She heard Severus' voice and quickly she turned towards the man, looking up into a much too pale face, realizing that the man didn't fare better than Ron or the other kids did. "But they have been through hell during the past three weeks and in such a time strange things can happen to us, friendships are forming and reforming, people change, and children find new places in their lives. They do what they have to do in order to fare as well as possible so that they might survive. Harry has found new friends and a family, as has Ronald, but that does not mean that their old friendship has stopped. It has just changed levels, and while Harry has found his family who will be there for him and love him, Ronald will need his right now."

Well, Lucius had left the room, clearly knowing that he better did not challenge him, Severus Snape – at least not now, knowing that right now Severus was viewed as a hero … a hero with too much information which he could give away – but he knew that he would have to be careful, because he knew that Lucius Malfoy would look for a way to safely destroy him – and with him Harry.

Harry had been sitting with Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, pale and clearly unsure, but he trusted Narcissa enough to make the right decision – or she would not have Harry sitting with her and Draco in the first place. It had been Molly who had looked over at Harry every now and then that worried him more right now.

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

"Have you brushed your teeth every morning and every evening, boy?" Augusta Longbottom asked, looking her grandson over. The boy looked too thin, really! But well, that had to be expected after three weeks without food and – despite everything she couldn't help feeling a small pull of something akin to pride. The boy had survived a Death Eater attack that had caused their three-week-long imprisonment. But well, she also knew that her Frank would have survived just as well.

"Yes, granny." The boy said and she scowled at him. He really should know by now that she didn't like being called 'granny', and he was too old for such a childish talk, too anyway.

"Have you taken a shower or at least washed your body too, boy?" She asked, still scowling.

"Of course, granny." The boy answered and she sighed.

"Have you been modest and decent, boy?" She asked, frowning at the blush that came over the pale face.

"Of course they have been, Augusta." She heard Severus' voice from behind, and smiling she turned towards the man.

Severus was a harsh man, not liked by many, but she should have known that if the children were with him, then they would, of course, be modest and decent, because the man was a modest and decent man and really, Mr. Potter could be very proud, having become the son of Severus Snape. Yes, she had heard about the Potions Master adopting the boy.

"I had them closer to each other than I liked because I needed seventeen children as close to a small fire as possible, but of course I have watched them closely and believe me, the more days had passed the more was their survival important, rather than any improper relation to which they didn't have any energy left anyway."

"Of course, Severus." She said, very satisfied with the situation. She knew – if Severus had watched them, then a hawk had watched them. "Nothing else had I expected of you, and I can only thank you for your keeping all those children alive, you don't know how happy I am about not having lost my grandson, too. I just hope that the boy has not given you any troubles during all those days, I know how clumsy and inept he can be at times."

"On the contrary Augusta." Severus said and she frowned at the man. She knew her grandson after all.

"Neville has proven much worth, strength, help, and understanding, and he has been very brave indeed, you should be proud of your grandson. He has helped easing the pain and the fear of his classmates despite his own pains and fears. He has earned my respect, and I for my part am very proud of your grandson."

Unable to give an answer she couldn't help pulling the boy close, the small pull of something akin to pride swelling to a storm of pride that threatened to wash over her, because if a man like Severus Snape stated that he was proud of someone, that someone has earned his respect, then that meant more than just a lot.

She knew Severus Snape for many, many years now, Severus and Frank having been – something akin to friends, and she knew how hard it was to please that particular man.

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

"You disgust me, Donald." He softly hissed at the youngest Greengrass, leaning close to the man. "Have you no sense of decency? You really imagine the children might have touched, because they have been sleeping in front of the only warm place available? They are children, you imbecile, and their only worries had been their survival!"

"Slytherins and Gryffindors together, Severus!" Henry growled at him, and he glared at the man. "Young men and young women mixed together!"

"They are fourteen-year-old children and surely not considered as young men or women, you idiot, or would you have your niece living together with her fiancé already?" He asked, hissing just as softly at the oldest of those idiot brothers. "I thought so." He growled at the man's headshaking. "Of course, you would not have them living together yet because they are too young for such. Not they are dirty but you, if your mind can think of nothing than carnal interaction whenever one human being meets another."

"You could not have watched them 24 hours during those three weeks, Severus, that's impossible!"

"Interesting that you are even able vocalizing such a word as impossible, Mr. Greengrass, and here I always thought that your vocabulary is limited to words with one or two syllables only." Augusta Longbottom's voice nearly caused him to chuckle, not knowing if it was a good thing having her entering the – 'discussion', because he already had her calmed about the children having been 'modest and decent' and with the Greengrass brother's worries they might infect her again.

"That's at least more than your son is able uttering, Longbottom." Donald Greengrass chuckled and in a flash he had the man gripped on the front of his shirt, had him pinned against the wall.

"Frank Longbottom has still more brain in his head than you ever had or will have, even after he has been tortured by you." He hissed. "And now I suggest that you leave this room before I have to turn violent and throw you out of here in front of the children's eyes."

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

"Sir?" Harry asked, carefully, looking up at him, unsurely, and it wasn't lost on him that Harry had gone back to calling him 'sir' or 'Professor' for at least an hour now. He had barely been called 'dad' or 'Severus' – and he'd lost it at every turn the child took when being unsure or scared.

"Yes, Harry?" He asked, taking in the pale face, paler than it had been lately, and the tired eyes.

"Don' feel so well." The child softly said, and he nodded.

It had been barely three hours since he had brought the children down here and then their parents had been allowed in, but for these children it had been a long day, and he could see the signs of exhaustion in most of their faces already.

Ronald actually had fallen asleep on the sofa, his head resting in his mother's lap, as had Blaise, leaning against his father – or rather step-father, and Tracy had excused herself half an hour ago, coming back after clearly having thrown up, while Parvati was running her hand over her face every so often, clearly having a headache starting – and Draco was sitting there with his hand laying over his stomach, loosely as it seemed so that he wouldn't startle his mother, but he knew that the boy's stomach had started cramping, as had Harry's.

"Alright." He said, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder and pulling him close before straightening and overlooking the room. "Tracy, Daphne, Emma, Draco, Theodore, Parvati, Adrian, and Harry, you come with me back to the hospital wing. Minerva, please bring Blaise and Ronald to the infirmary the moment they wake up, and please do not allow them to thwart you, it is necessary as they are clearly exhausted, what is the reason as to why I do not wish to wake them right now. Filius and Hereweald, please accompany the rest of the children to the infirmary the moment the parents have left but for dinner at the latest. I can trust that you will stay here with the rest of them to ensure their wellbeing while I am gone, Poppy?"

An immediate "of course, Severus" was heard by Minerva and Filius upon his suggestion and an annoyed "did you think I would have left them alone?" was heard from Poppy upon his question but he didn't care about her annoyance. He had the children's wellbeing in his mind, all their wellbeing and nothing else.

"Very well, then let us go back." He said, leading six children out of the room.

It was startling, that nearly half of the group barely managed three hours of being out of 'their room' and together with their parents.

It had been very chaotically and very stressful during the first few minutes, the parents storming towards their children, and even after Filius' shield nearly choking them to death with not only their embraces but with their questions and tears, too. But after that the situation had eased up considerably and he had been able to keep the strain off the children by halfway listening to all the conversations around him, and to then interfere whenever the conversations had become dangerous.

Well, he would bring them back, and he would have them to bed early, and as soon as they were back to classes next week, well, they wouldn't visit all classes at once anyway.

And now the children were tiredly sitting or laying on their beds. He had given Harry and Draco a stomach soothing potion, as well as Tracy, and Parvati he had provided with a headache potion. Daphne had fallen asleep as soon as they had come back to their room in the infirmary, clearly exhausted by the strain her uncles had bestowed upon her, and the others were sitting or laying on their beds, tiredly, some of them clearly looking guilty, like Draco and Harry, and like Theodore.

He was just about to get up and disabuse them of their notion about being at fault for anything when it was – again – Harry who started speaking to get them all off their minds, and with a question he actually couldn't find an answer to.

"What is big, blue, sits about twenty-five yards down the earth, and eats stones?" The boy asked.

The other children were sitting there, wracking their brains over what it could be – as did he, by the way, even if he didn't show it as plainly as did the children, but even if his life depended on it, he didn't know the answer.

Not that he thought it was important, it surely wasn't, because the children had always come up with one or another nonsense while they had been imprisoned, just to lift their spirits, but he was curious about the answer anyway.

After many headshaking from the others, many sighs after the headshaking had not worked, and then after their "alright, we don't know, just tell us" Harry seemed to have pity on them.

"Well, it's the big, blue stone eater of course." The boy said, not really satisfying him with his answer because – there was no big blue stone eater, but well, if the boy was happy with such ridiculous things, then be it, the big, blue stone eater it was, then.

Breåk· … ·~†~*~*~*~*~*~†~· … ·Łine

To be continued

Next time in A few days more
first time meetings

Added author's note
thank you for reading - and yes, I would be glad if you took the time to review this chapter, thank you
also, of course I have re-installed the house cup – with each review, please state your house, so that your house can get a point. There won't be loss of points, only gains … may the best house with the most reviews win …

House Cup:
At the present time it looks like this:

Slytherin 94
Gryffindor 53
Ravenclaw 27
Hufflepuff 14
Hogwarts 21
Durmstrang 04
Tennessee Institute of Magic & Technomancy 01