Jail Bird Choir

CHAPTER 15

“You look like shit.” Harry sat staring at Neville who sat opposite him at the kitchen table. Neville had brought Harry an aromatic ‘manjuili’ plant. During the day the plant did very little but at night let off a powerful scent that warded off nightmares.

“Thanks.” Harry grumped as he glanced over into the living room where Draco and Snape were sitting pouring over some texts that Neville had brought with him. The pair was thick as thieves, their heads together eagerly sharing what they read in their respective books. Neville noticed Harry’s irritation and drew the young wizards attention back to him by clicking his fingers. “You need to calm down Harry, you’re too possessive of him.”

“I don’t think it’s me.” Neville sighed at Harry’s comment as he sipped his tea, grimacing a little at the bitterness of the brew. Draco while being a skilled potion master certainly couldn’t make tea.

“You think this, is him.” Neville gestured randomly at Harry’ who rolled his eyes and nodded sullenly.

“It has to be. I was never this, obsessed over him before. Sure I….” Harry paused to make sure Draco and Snape were engrossed in their books before continuing. “…I loved him but it wasn’t like this, this is bordering on possessed.” Harry sighed heavily as he tipped his tea down the sink and went to raid the fridge for some juice. Silently Harry offered Neville another drink and the plump horticulturalist nodded enthusiastically. Draco’s tea was down right awful.

“Perhaps his master is trying to get to him.” Harry shuddered as he poured Neville some pumpkin juice before returning it to the fridge and sitting back down at the kitchen table.

”Don’t freak me out Longbottom, this is scaring the hell out of me as it is.” Neville held his hands up in understanding and obediently shut up about the topic. Harry looked awful worse than Snape and that was saying something considering not two days earlier he’d been in Azkaban. “So how did you find me?” Harry had apologized earlier for not turning up to Neville’s for work but the young wizard understood the reasons.

“Power of logic, something the Ministry has yet to comprehend. When I read the headlines in the paper about you doing a runner I knew you’d have to go somewhere with access to potions, ingredients, texts. The only place I knew with that kind of thing who’d even consider helping you was Malfoy.” Harry smiled at Neville who emptied his glass of pumpkin juice in one go. Neville had been one of Harry’s closest friends in school despite the boy’s reputation as the worst wizard to ever grace Hogwart’s halls. When no one else had stuck by him, Neville had always been there. The boy knew what it was to be considered ‘different’ and he certainly understood more than anyone else what it was to face death.

“Longbottom.” Harry looked away from Neville’s smiling eyes as Snape came wandering over from the living room carrying several of the books the boy had brought with him. “Have you got anymore of these?” Snape tapped the spine of the book by way of explanation and Neville nodded.

“Sure, heaps. My grandmother’s library was huge. She liked the more eccentric kind of things though, but I believe hidden amongst the crap there’s some juicy bits.” Snape nodded in thought as he thumbed back and forth between a few of the pages. “If it’s not enough I can get into Hogwart’s library too.” At this Snape’s head snapped up instantly his eyes swimming with delight as he sat down in the chair beside Neville.

“You can?” Snape put aside the book and looked seriously at Neville. Harry scowled into his cup of pumpkin juice as Draco came over and stood beside Snape, his hand casually coming up to rest on his father’s shoulder in an carefree touch that Harry hated.

“Of course, Professor Sprout was my supervisor for my herbology apprenticeship, I have a key for the restricted section too.” At this Snape’s grin widened his eyes flickering with undisguised happiness.

“My books, the ones that were left in my chambers do you know what they did with them?” Neville frowned for a moment as he thought about it before he smiled again and nodded.

“Oh yeah, I remember seeing them being taken up to the headmasters office. I assume they’re in the private library.” Dumbledore had had his own private library in his office. In Harry’s limited knowledge the place had been full of astrology books. There was no telling now with McGonagall in charge what was in the library shelves.

“If I give you a list of titles, can you try and get them for me?” Neville nodded slowly as Snape hastily got up from the table and scurried over to the living room to begin noting down the books he wanted. Neville and Draco stared at one another coolly before Draco followed Snape back to the living room leaving Harry and Neville alone again.

“Still bitter I see.” Neville muttered as he eyed Draco suspiciously before glancing back at Harry.

“He’s a fucking, little sour shit.” Harry gritted out angrily from between clenched teeth as he watched the blonde lean over Severus’ shoulder to see what the man was writing.

“You’re doing it again.” Neville whispered as he clicked his fingers in front of Harry’s face to draw his attention yet again. Harry snapped out of it and shook his head as he took a deep calming breath in.

“Are you going to stick around and help?” Harry inquired as he tried to ignore the pair in the living room.

“I can’t be away from the shop for too long but I’ll send them anything fresh they need for potions and the like.” Neville looked apologetically at Harry but the boy nodded in agreement knowing that Neville really didn’t need to be involved and was merely doing it as a favor for a close friend.

”He’s going to look for Lucius tomorrow.” Harry had already told Neville about Lucius Malfoy and while Neville had seemed surprised by the revelation he hadn’t been overly shocked. Neville was far to level headed to be shaken by such a secret.

“And I can see you’re ecstatic about that.” Neville raised a knowing eyebrow in Harry’s direction as he watched his friend chew his lip in mild anger.

“He won’t let me go with him, says it’s safer for him to go alone with me in this state.” Harry looked back over at Draco and Snape both of them having returned to their books. In a way Harry should have been grateful that the pair was doing this to help him, but as Neville had said no one does anything if there’s not something in it for them.

“Well he’s right Harry. You’re unstable and unpredictable he’s right to keep you out of harms way. Now I’ve got get going, I promised the Weasley twins I’d bring in their order today rather than tomorrow.” Neville stood up from the table and Harry did as well. The scrape of their chairs alerted Draco and Snape to Neville’s leaving. Snape hastily thrust a list of books into Neville’s hand as he headed for the front of the shop, Draco trailing him. It wasn’t safe for Harry or Snape to go into the shop and so both muttered their goodbyes in the back before listening as Draco let Neville out and into Hogsmeade’s main street.

“He’s right you do look like shit.” Harry stared at Snape pointedly as he flopped down into the couch as Snape began cleaning up the coffee table.

“Thanks for that oh one of great beauty.” Irritably Harry closed his eyes and snuggled into the cushions on the two seater couch. He was exhausted and he’d done nothing all day. His body was still trembling with the effects of Snape’s well-aimed Cruciatus Curse and to make matters worse he had a growing headache as he thought about Snape leaving tomorrow to go in search of Lucius.

“You should go to bed.” Snape muttered as he pulled two frozen meals from Draco’s cold cupboard and proceeded to heat them up with a warming charm.

“Great idea, so I can leave you two down here plotting my grisly demise.” Angrily Harry sat up from the couch and glared at Snape. Draco had just returned from closing up the shop and was tossing the key in his hand casually.

“Smells good.” Draco bent over Snape’s shoulder to get a smell of the meals. That was the end of Harry’s patience and with a flick of his wand he’d singed Draco’s hair and was storming upstairs leaving the door to slam behind him with a shuddering bang.

Perhaps in theory it had been a good idea to seek help in Severus Snape, but in hindsight it would have been better for Harry to just kill himself and save himself the heartache and suffering. Feeling sorry for himself Harry purposefully took up the entire single bed and pillow and having blown out the candle lay quietly fuming until sleep claimed him.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>