Harry spent all evening and the entire day following the instructions Snape had given him for bolstering up the potion. He had the base all ready, he just needed enough. Unfortunately he kept running into misbehaving students and felt the need to punish them. Why was it that people only got in your way when you didn’t want them to? Whenever he actually wanted a distraction, things were unbelievably dull. This day he had given out two detentions. He had also taken a great number of points away from students in all four houses. The slytherins had been livid.
After such a hectic day all he really wanted to do was go to sleep, but unfortunately, when he got to his quarters, there was Minerva McGonagall ready for another game of Magi-Scrabble.
“You’re not going to get tipsy again are you?” she asked with a teasing smile. Harry was not in the mood for teasing. He swept an annoying lock of hair out of his eyes. The one bad thing about messing with Snape’s hairstyle had been this bit of hair which refused to stay with the rest. It was almost worse than the lank heavy feeling the previous style had possessed. It was much easier to wash this hair, however, he had to commend himself on that.
“I wasn’t tipsy last week, I think I may have been poisoned by one of my students,” he returned.
“If you say so, Severus, either way, I brought a non-alcoholic beverage this time,” McGonagall said with a wide smirk. She came into the room again, not feeling the need to ask. Harry was glad he’d had the sense of mind to tidy up in the morning. Fidens came up to McGonagall. She bent down and gave him a stroke, Fidens begged for more and purred appreciatively.
“Which names would you like to use this time?” Harry asked, conjuring up their chairs as McGonagall set up the chicken sandwiches and dip in the kitchenette.
“Why not just Minerva and Severus?” she asked.
“Severus and Minerva it is.”
The game was much more fast paced than the last, and knowing more about how it worked, Harry was better at coming up with words. He had also devised a strategy. When they finished he had only lost by 50 points. He was extremely proud of himself for having got this far, but was sure McGonagall would be suspicious at another loss from Snape. On the contrary, l didn’t seem at all perturbed. Instead she chuckled and suggested they put a wager on the next game.
“How about we make this even more interesting? If I win again next week, you have to wear the Gryffindor scarf during the next Quidditch match. If you win, I’ll wear Slytherin’s colours. Agreed?”
Of course, Harry thought it was a brilliant idea. He could proudly support his team whilst having the excuse of a bet with Minerva. He grinned and agreed.
“You really should smile more often,” the head of Gryffindor said in an almost motherly tone.
“No thankyou. I dread to think the attention I’d receive from the myriads of teenage girls, especially now that I’m sporting this new hairstyle.”
Professor Minerva McGongall left Severus Snape’s quarters laughing loudly. Harry took a look around the corridor, but didn’t see Dumbledore. For some reason he had expected to see him, had wanted to see him. There was a very strong element in his character which wanted to say to Dumbledore that he was surviving this. That he was strong, and capable, and beating him at his own game. That at any moment he and Snape were going to prove to Dumbledore that they were smarter than he thought they were.
Instead he went back in and gave Fidens some milk. Sitting in the chair, Harry put on some soft jazz and wrote a checklist for the next day. He was sure he had everything he needed to do written down. He’d really mastered the art of having a shower and performing his ablutions in a way which would save both him and Snape embarrassment, and did so before crawling into the four poster bed.
Strangely he had dreams of soaring through the air whilst giant letters chased him, which ended when he smashed into a giant phial of green liquid.
****************
If there was one thing Harry had never seen Severus do, not even in the memories garnered from the Accluma, this would have to be it. Harry was standing under the rays of the dawning sun in a light flowing shirt and boxer shorts. The reason for this was very simple. Fidens had disappeared. He had fallen into a deep sleep but when he awoke shortly before dawn, he was struck with a thought much like a lightning bolt “ Fidens had not settled to sleep with him. Harry had searched his quarters thoroughly but still the feline was not to be found. He tried to recall when he had last seen Fidens. There had only been one time when Fidens could have escaped and that was shortly after Harry had given him his milk. Harry had popped his head out the door as per Severus Snape’s instructions to check that all was well.
Harry cursed. Why had he rushed out of the castle without putting something more on? There had been the nightrobe, hung up on the cupboard door. Why hadn’t he grabbed it? And why hadn’t he remembered to put shoes or slippers on either? His feet were freezing. Harry could only imagine how bad his skulking around the castle in this flimsy night apparel would look to an uninformed spectator. He couldn’t worry about that now, though. He had to continue searching. He’d already been there twenty minutes.
A rustle sounded in a nearby bush and Harry leapt for it. However, it was not Fidens. It was, instead, a certain house-elf that Harry was well acquainted with.
“Hello Dobby! What are you doing out here?”
“Sir Snape knows my name?” Dobby asked in curious wonderment.
“Sir Snape? What’re you… Oh… yes, yes of course I know your name Dobby. I know many of the house-elves names. There’s Winky, and you, and uh… uhmm… er… Donner… and Blitzen…”
“Donner and Blitzen are right this moment cleaning your windows, Sir!”
Harry did his best not to smile, “Good, good. Now, are you going to answer my question?”
“Oh! I am pruning this bush. Headmaster Dumbledore himself asked me to! He thinks I am very gifted in horry… horty… horid… gardening.” Harry could now see that Dobby was brandishing a small pair of secateurs which he waved about wildly as he spoke. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing out here, Professor Snape? You should be sleeping.”
“Actually, I am looking for my cat. I don’t suppose you have seen it?”
“Grey and black? Quite small? Sparkling green eyes?”
“Yes that’s it!”
“Dobby has not seen it this morning, Professor, Dobby is sorry. Do you require assistance?”
“No, that is all for now, thank you Dobby. I shall resume my search.”
Harry walked away muttering quietly. He knew that Dobby could possibly get the house-elves to look in more places than he could, but he also knew that they would then likely tell Dumbledore, and he did not want that.
He was just about ready to go back inside. However, he felt terrible at losing Fidens, and he knew Hogwarts to be dangerous. He didn’t want Fidens to get eaten by one of Hagrid’s “pets” and he certainly didn’t want the cat to become prey to horrible first year Slytherins, who had been known to test their dark magic on unsuspecting animals. No, Harry thought of an idea which would make this much quicker. He rushed to the nearby shed and got the fastest one he could. Luckily he still remembered the password for the locks. Immediately he launched into the air.
Harry skirted around the castle deftly weaving between plants and columns. It was still far too early for students to be up and about, but he wished he’d disillusioned himself. He flew slightly quicker than walking speed, but still slow enough in order to see something as small as a feline ear or tip of a tail. It felt great to be flying again, even if this was an emergency. The breeze ruffled through his black hair, and the shirt he was wearing billowed around him.
Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw something. He stopped, stared about intently and determined that there had been something, but he wasn’t positive it was what he was after. He rounded the corner slowly, after all, he didn’t want Fidens to see him and then run away.
Harry came crashing into something which was definitely not Fidens. In fact, it felt human in substance and appearance, and when he saw who it was he swore extraordinarily loudly.