Can it be Real?

Harry sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time since the trio had sat down to study before retiring for the evening. \'What is wrong with me?\' he asked himself at what also seemed to be the thousandth time. He put his head on the table and sighed again.

Hermione slammed her book shut and glared down at the messy head of Harry Potter. \"Harold James Potter! You sigh one more time...\" she let the threat hang between them. There was no need to voice them. They all knew what \'Mione was capable of.

Harry caught himself at mid-sigh. He gave her a sheepish glance before going back to his studies. \"Sorry, \'Mione,\" he mumbled into his book.

She glared one more time before she too went back to her studies, but closed it again when she heard him sigh again. \"Alright! No more studying until we know what your problem is. I can\'t study like this!\"

Harry flinched. He had no idea that he had sighed again. \"I\'m sorry, \'Mione!\" he said again. \"Maybe I should just go to bed... I seem to be tired.\" He said standing up and closing his book.

It was her turn to sigh as she let her gaze soften as she watched her friend wearily get up. \"I\'m sorry too. Please Harry, tell us what\'s wrong.\"

\"Yeah mate! Anything is better than studying,\" Ron spoke up lightly, trying to hide his worrying. Harry smiled at him and shook his head. \"I\'m just tired.\"

\"Harry? Please?\" \'Mione asked softly. He shook his head again. \"That\'s just it, Mione... I\'d tell you if I knew what was wrong. I really don\'t know.\"

\"Hey mate, don\'t worry about it! Go to bed, get some rest! We\'ll talk in the morning,\" Ron said intervening on Harry\'s behalf.

Hermione nodded and shot her friend a smile. \"Rest well, Harry.\"

Harry gave them a boyish grin before promptly yawning. \"Night night,\" he said dragging his things up the stairs to his private room.

This year is his last year as a student at Hogwarts and he has been named Head Boy.

He brushed his teeth in his private bathroom and got read for bed. \"I mean, its not like i\'m unhappy,\" he said out loud to his mirror. \"It\'s just that i\'m not happy. I don\'t know... maybe i am cracked like Rita said I was in the article. Why is it i\'m not happy? I mean... Riddle is gone, the last of the Deatheaters have been captured, and in a few months time, I will be graduating. Everything that we faught for, we have and i\'m still not satisfied!\" He looked into his mirror and saw a zit on the side of his forehead. He popped it and washed his hands when he got pus on them. \"That\'s it! I am cracked! I better go to bed before I find out just how I am!\"

Harry sat his chin in his right hand as he listened to Pro. McGonagall drone on how well we did on the mock exit exam. He was bored and wanted to fall asleep.

To keep himself from falling a sleep, in his head he played a little game with what he learned as a first year... Swish and Flick.

Swish and Fick... and McGonagall was a mermaid! He shuddered as he pictured her with a fin and long hair covering her aging body.

Swish and Flick... and she was Nevilles toad! and promptly covered his mouth to keep from laughing as he picture Neville cooing over her.

Swish and Flick... he put her in that horrible, Neville picture Snape in when dealing with the boggart. He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Swish and Flick... he pictured her with a long hooked nose and ratty hair. He was a little confused over that one. \'What\'s with that one?\'

Swish and Flick... and along with the hooked nose and ratty hair, he put her in men\'s robes that looked very much like Snapes.

Swish and Flick... and she was Snape!

Swish and Flick... and she was Snape advancing towards him in the dramatic way of his. Snape continued on advancing until Harry, in his head, began to back until he hit a the wall behind him. \"You have been the bane of my existence since you came to this dratted school... but no more, Mr. Potter! Tonight you are going to get exactly what you deserve...\" and dream Snape began to lower his headas Harry closed his eyes and tilt his head up.

\"Mr. Potter? Mr. Potter?...\"

\"...Mr. Potter!\" McGonagall\'s screech brought him crashing back down to reality.

\"I didn\'t do it!\" He gasped out. \"In the end, I didn\'t go for it! I mean... he was like...! And i was like...! And then we were like...!\"

\"Harry!\" Hermione hissed. \"Shutup!\"

The whole class was staring at The-Boy-Who-Lived as if he was The-Boy-Who-Lost-His-Mind! \'Maybe I have lost my mind,\' thought wearily as he turned bright pink.

Draco was the first to begin laughing... then it was Dean... soon it was the whole class.

Harry continued to turn colors before he too, cracked a smile... and then he was laughing with everyone else. It wasn\'t forced... it was genuine laughter that came from deep inside him. He laughed so hard his side began to ach and for the first time he was happy. Really, really, happy! He looked around at his glowing peers and thought to himself...

\'This is what being happy is all about. I\'m with my friends, peers, family. People who faught beside me...\'

He looked up at the ceiling... even that looked attractive to him. He now knew what has been bothering him and had a new purpose in life... one he hoped won\'t take as long as it did to kill Riddle.

Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived-Again, was going to make a certain Potions Master his.

\"Watch out, Severus Snape, here I come!\" he said softly.