The New Me

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Warnings: Not so much...Dumbles being a prick...

A/N: Hi... I know, it's been two months. I had a bout of depression that would just not go away, but finally, like a week ago I finally found inspiration again, and I've been working like a fiend to get this finished. I hope you like it.
I love all your reviews, I can't believe we're up to 322 already!
Well, here it is then!

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Chapter 18

When Harry woke up the next morning, he stiffened at the feel of arms around him, thinking for a second that they belonged to his Uncle and that he was back at Privet Drive.

“Oh, Merlin am I tired! Are you awake, Harry? How are you feeling?” He quickly relaxed again at the sound of Hermione’s voice quietly asking him.

“’M fine. A bit sore, though, but I guess that’s to be expected after surviving a Curse like that.” He said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. Gently extricating himself from Hermione’s arms, he sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up on shaky legs.

“Maybe you should take it easy, Harry? You’ve been under the curse’s influence for almost four days, you know, and you’ve suffered quite a bit by it. I don’t want you overdoing yourself on your first day out of bed.” Hermione said sternly, as she herself stood up and headed towards Harry.

“Yes, Mother, I promise to take it easy, but I would also like a shower and a visit to the little boys’ room, if you don’t mind?” Hermione blushed a bit, but backed down, quietly enough.

“Fine, but be careful not to do too much – I’m sending someone in there if you’re not out in thirty minutes, you hear?” She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look.

“Fine, Mione. I’ll see you later.” With that, Harry disappeared through the door to the on suite bathroom and locked the door behind him, leaving Hermione alone.
She sat down on the bed again, resting her head in her hands, sighing over how positively impossible Harry was sometime.

She was startled out of her musings by a knock on the door.

“Come in!” She called, and was surprised to see Professor Snape come through the door, giving her a slight quirk of the lips that might just have been the beginnings of a smile. Nah, he wouldn’t.

“Good morning, Miss Granger.”

“Good morning, Professor Snape.”

“How is the patient this morning? More importantly – where is he?”

“He’s in the shower. I told him I would send someone in after him if he wasn’t out after half an hour, but it’s only been a couple of minutes by now.” She answered calmly.

“I see. Well, tell him that when he’s ready Lupin and I would like talk to him. And Draco is looking forward to seeing him as well, I believe. He’s been quite unbearable this morning, I can assure you.” Snape said with a smirk, shaking his head at his Godson’s behaviour. Hermione giggled, startling herself, as she never did anything of the sort normally – and definitely not at anything a Professor had said!

“Eh…I’ll tell him when he’s finished, Professor Snape. If you’ll excuse me, I should probably go change as well, I’ve been in these clothes for more than 24 hours by now.” Hermione could feel herself blushing, and she averted her eyes, staring at the floor.

What the Hell was wrong with her?

“Yes, of course. Draco, Miss Parkinson and Mr Zabini are gathered in the West Dining Room for lunch, if you feel up to joining them later on. Good bye, Miss Granger.”

“Good bye, Professor.” Snape left quickly, shutting the door behind him firmly but quietly, leaving Hermione to silently berate her behaviour in the presence of her Head of House.

Pacing in front of the bed, she muttered to herself, so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the door to the bathroom open.

“Dear Merlin, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was interested in him. Which of course is utterly ludicrous! For Gods sake – he is nearly twice my age.”

“Who’re you talking about, Mione? Anyone I know?” Hermione spun around at the sound of Harry’s teasing voice, giving him a half-hearted glare for scaring her.

“Never you mind, Harry. Professor Snape and Moony wanted to see you as soon as you were finished, so I suggest that you hurry. The others want to see you as well, they’re all in the West Dining Room, so why don’t you join us there when you’re finished? I’m going to go have a shower and change clothes as well. Bye Harry!” With that Hermione rushed out of the room, leaving Harry alone, silently chuckling about his sister’s behaviour.

‘It’s going to be fun watching her try and act normal about all this!’


~*~

When Harry joined his friends about two hours later, he was absolutely famished, due to not having eaten since before leaving Hogwarts four days earlier.

“Hi guys.” Draco, Hermione, Pansy and Blaise turned around at the sound of Harry’s voice, smiling widely at their friend.

“Hi, Harry, how are you feeling?” Draco asked as he motioned for Harry to sit down on the empty chair next to Hermione.

“I’m ok, really hungry, but ok. Remus and Professor Snape have been grilling me for about two hours now. I could kill for some waffles right about now.” Harry answered a bit tiredly. As soon as he finished his sentence, a house elf appeared with a large plate of waffles, placing them gently on the table in front of him.

“Thanks! How did you know I wanted some?” Harry asked the small house elf.

“Tibby be knowing, Mister Potter, from the monitoring spells on this room, sir.” The house elf said while bowing, before discreetly popping out without a sound.

Harry turned back to his plate, gently placing one of the waffles in front of him, spreading it with thin layers of raspberry jam and whipped cream before cutting it in four pieces.

“So, what have you guys been up to?” Harry asked as he lifted one of the pieces of waffle to his mouth and took a bite, almost moaning out loud at the taste, not noticing Draco’s look of pure lust as he chewed and swallowed.

“Um, well…” Draco said, his eyes riveted to Harry’s face, making it really quite difficult to form a sentence at all.

“What young Malfoy is trying to say, is that they’ve been quite worried about you, young Heir.” Harry turned towards the woman’s voice, and came face to face with a painting with four people in it. He immediately recognized them as the founders of Hogwarts and gave them a small bow.

“My Lords, My Ladies, it is a great honour to be in your presence, please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.” He said, completely oblivious to the somewhat stunned looks the others had at his very formal greeting.

“Thank you, dear. Our greetings to you as well. Now, we were wondering what you were planning to do about that devious Headmaster that runs our school? We want him out of there, but there isn’t anything we can do about it really. We need your help.” Rowena said firmly.

“I see.”

“I see he’s got your sunny disposition, Sal! Come on sonny, cheer up a bit!” Godric said, while elbowing Salazar in the ribs, earning himself a glare from the other man.

“Oh, grow up Godric!” Salazar sneered.

“Why should I have to, Sal? We’re eternally young!” Godric pouted at his old friend, making the students laugh at the silliness that was transpiring between two of the most powerful wizards to ever exist.

“That does not excuse the fact that we have been dead for almost a thousand years! And we are not here for fun and games, but to kick Dumbledore out of the office he has manipulated his way into!”

“That is enough, boys. Calm yourselves, and let’s discuss this calmly and rationally like the adults you actually are.” Rowena’s voice cut through Godric and Salazar’s argument, and the two founders looked like chastened boys as they both mumbled their apologies.

“How are you, Harry dear? It looked quite nasty, when you were under that curse. I trust that Mr Snape has given you adequate healing potions?” Helga asked as Rowena continued to glare at the two males, as they were now muttering insults under their breath at each other.

“I am much better, thank you, Lady Hufflepuff. The Professor and Remus almost shoved the vials of potions at me when I walked through the door to the study.” Harry answered, an amused smile on his lips.

“Yes, Sev has always been one for forcing potions on you when he actually likes you. I guess you’ve grown on him, Harry.” Draco said with an amused voice. Harry gave him a nod and then turned his attention back to the founders.

“What do you suggest we do, Lady Ravenclaw? What do you think would be the best way to dispose of Dumbledore? Because we can’t be the only ones who want rid of him, what with all the people he’s manipulated and hurt over the years.”

“Wouldn’t the best approach be to contact the Board of Governors and ask them to remove him from office?” Hermione said, gaining incredulous stares in return.

“What? Is that a bad idea?” She asked, a surprised note in her voice.

“Not really…Except that Dumbledore pretty much owns the Governors since Lucius died. They’re more scared of him than they ever were of my Father.” Draco said.

“How would you know that, young Malfoy?” Godric asked gruffly. Draco simply raised his eyebrow and said in a slow voice;

“Since I inherited my Father’s place on the Board, of course. I’ve been to three meetings already this year, and they’re absolutely terrified.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were on the Board of Governors, Draco?” Hermione asked.

“I thought you knew. It’s not like it’s a secret that the place is hereditary or anything.”

“Didn’t you read that in ‘Hogwarts – a history’, sis?” Harry teased. Hermione actually blushed and said;

“I might have. Had I actually read the whole thing through.” Harry was startled into laughter by this. The others seemed slightly clueless as to what was so funny.

“Oh, that’s just priceless, Mione! I can’t believe you haven’t read all of it, when you’ve nagged me plenty of times over the years to do it.”

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry. But it was bloody boring.” Hermione said, holding up her hands and giving him a small smile.

“Anyway…back to the situation at hand. What do we do about Dumbledore?” Pansy said seriously.

“I don’t know, we’ll have to think of something though. Soon.” Harry answered.

~*~

They had spent the better part of the days that were left before they had to return to school, the trip having been cut short because of what had happened to Harry, planning a way to get Dumbledore out of the picture. It was not going well.

They had returned late last night, having Christmas to look forward to. Harry and Hermione were looking forward to their first Christmas celebration in the Slytherin Common Room. Draco, Pansy and Blaise had promised it was going to be something extra.

“We usually have the best of times celebrating. None of us have really been able to go home for Christmas for the past couple of years, ‘cause…well, you know.”

“Yeah, so we have a mini celebration in the Common Room, light the Yule log and open presents and stuff like that.”

“Sounds like fun. Usually I’m alone for Christmas, since Mione goes home to her parents and Ron went home as well.” Harry’s face became slightly clouded at the mention of Ron, but seemed to snap himself out of it after a few moments.

“Well, I’m not going home this year; my parents are on their second honeymoon in the Maldives, so I would be alone if I went home.” Hermione said, putting on a cheery attitude to dispel the downer from talking about her ex.

“So…have you all finished your Christmas shopping?” Pansy asked.

“Yeah, I finished mine in October.” Hermione answered, gaining strange looks.

“Mine’s done too.” Blaise said, wrapping his arm around Pansy, thinking about the very special gift he was going to give his long-time girlfriend.

“Of course, though I didn’t finish quite as early as Mione.” Draco said, smiling at her. They all looked at Harry, who – strangely enough was looking very uncomfortable – and refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Actually, I haven’t started yet.” He said quietly.

“What? But it’s two days before Christmas, Harry! How on earth are you expecting to finish in time?” Hermione cried.

“I’m going today, in about 20 minutes or so. I’m stopping by Gringotts first and then I’ll hit Diagon Ally.”

“Do you want some company? I need to visit my financial manager today or tomorrow, and if you’re going today, I might as well join you.”

“But Draco, how can I buy your present if you’re coming with me?” Harry asked.

“I’ll just do some other shopping when you want to do that. Please?” Draco pleaded with Harry, desperately wanting to spend some time alone with him.

“Fine. Can you be ready in 15 minutes? Moony is opening a portal to the Leaky Cauldron, and I don’t want to bother him too much today – it’s only two days from the full moon, you know.” Draco stood up and hurriedly made his way to his room to get freshened up and to grab his coat, hat and gloves.

“I’ll be ready, promise! I’ll be right back.” The two girls shared an amused glance, knowing precisely why Draco wanted to go with Harry to London.
He surprised them all with returning just five minutes later, wearing his long black winter coat, a black knitted hat and forest green gloves.

“I’m ready to go. You done?” He smiled at Harry.

“Yup, got my coat and gloves right here. Let’s go, Moony’ll be waiting.”
Putting on his brown leather coat and brown gloves, Harry made his way to the door, closely followed by Draco.

They walked in comfortable silence up to the Entrance Hall, where Remus Lupin was waiting for them.

“Hello boys, are you both going to London?”

“Hi, Moony. Yeah, hope you don’t mind that Draco’s gonna tag along…Will it make it more difficult for you to do the portal?” Harry asked. Remus smiled a little.

“No, it will be fine. Are you ready? The Leaky Cauldron, right?”

“Yeah, thanks Moony.”

“Thank you, Professor Lupin.”

Remus waved his wand in a series of complex movements that caused a green light to appear in front of them. It grew in size until it was as large as a doorway, the back room of the Leaky Cauldron visible through the green shimmer.

“Let’s go, Draco. Thanks again, Moony.”

Harry led the way through the portal and Draco followed close behind, not wanting to get lost in limbo as the portal closed.

~*~

They arrived at Gringotts five minutes later, having stunned quite a few people who saw them walking together, talking and smiling.

“May I help you, sirs?” A goblin asked the two young men as they stepped up to a counter.

“Yes, I’d like to visit my vault, please.” Harry said politely to him.

“And I need to speak to Master Borac, my name is Draco Malfoy – I believe he is expecting me.”

“Right. If you’ll wait here, Lord Malfoy, Master Borac will be with you in a moment. Now, who usually takes you down to your vault, sir?” The goblin asked Harry.

“Well, it used to be Griphook, but I don’t know if that’s changed now since I had my vaults connected to each other.” Harry answered.

“Your vault number, please.” Harry looked a bit uncomfortable before muttering;

“Vault number 001.” Draco whipped his head around to stare at Harry, his jaw hanging open.

“M-my Lord Potter! I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you straight away. I’ll have Griphook come over at once and take you down to your vault.” The goblin scurried off, leaving two boys standing in awkward silence, Draco still staring at Harry.

“Will you please stop staring, Draco? It’s not very polite, you know.” Harry snapped, turning to face Draco.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, I didn’t expect…I mean…”

“I know, but it’s uncomfortable to have a friend look at you like you’re some kind of…freak.” The last word was whispered through gritted teeth, and Draco saw a flash of pain in Harry’s eyes before he managed to cover it up.

“Harry, I don’t think that, I swear. I was just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Okay. Isn’t that your financial manager? I think he’s waiting for you. I’ll meet you back here, okay?”

“Yes, it is. I’ll see you in a little while.” Draco walked over to Master Borac, leaving Harry alone just as Griphook appeared around a corner.

“Lord Potter, sorry to have kept you waiting. Shall we?”

Harry nodded and they made their way to the underground carts, Harry sitting lost in thought as they made their way further and further down.

“Your vault, Lord Potter.” Griphook said politely as he stopped the cart in front of the large dragon guarding vault 001. Getting no response, he turned around to look at his client. Harry’s eyes were unfocused and he was breathing shallowly in small gasps, a look of slight panic on his face.

“My Lord? Are you alright?” Griphook asked with concern in his voice.

“Hm? Oh, sorry. I’m fine, I just…have a lot on my mind at the moment. Thank you, Griphook, I’ll be right back.” Harry climbed out of the cart, walked up to the dragon and placed his right hand on the dragon’s forehead, gasping slightly as blood was drawn from his palm by one of the dragon’s head spikes.

Rumbling softly the dragon moved away from the now open vault door, satisfied that this was indeed the rightful owner of the vault.
Harry made his way inside, looking for a necklace that he had read about in the inventory of his possessions.

He planned to give Hermione the necklace for Christmas, since it was the female equivalent to his family ring. And she was his little sister, if not by blood, then certainly by choice and circumstance.
After finding it hidden underneath two black velvet pouches in the Potter part of the vault, he made his way back out to Griphook.

“Sorry you had to wait, Griphook.”

“That is quite alright, Lord Potter. Are you ready to return up?”

“Yes. Draco must be going mad with having to wait so long for me now.”

Setting the cart in motion as soon as Harry was seated inside it, Griphook wondered about why the young Lord was looking so sad; he knew it wasn’t his business – and he
would certainly never ask – but he quite liked and respected Harry Potter. He was always very polite and respectful when he came to do his business at Gringotts, unlike some people who merely saw goblins as greedy little magical creatures to be treated as one treated ones house-elf.

Arriving back at the entrance floor, Griphook once again had to wake Harry from his thoughts so he would get out of the cart. Saying a polite good-bye to the goblin, Harry made his way over to where he could see Draco waiting.

“Have you waited long, Draco?”

“No, only a minute or so. Are you ready to start shopping?” Draco answered as he fell into step with Harry as they made their way back into Diagon Ally.

“Yeah. What do you think Pansy and Blaise would like? I honestly have no idea what-so-ever what to get them.”

“Well…You could always get Pansy some type of beauty-product. Maybe a day at that new spa in Diamond Square? She’d love that, and I know for a fact that Blaise has been wanting a WiPod for ages.” Draco said as they went into Flourish and Blott’s to get a copy of ‘The unknown potions of Salazar Slytherin’ for Snape and ‘Humanoid creatures and their magical defences’ for Remus.

“I’ll get them that, then. Good, then I only have you left. What would you like for Christmas, Draco?”

‘You.’ Draco blushed at his own thoughts and said;

“I don’t know…Maybe a potions book, or…” Harry scrunched his nose at the idea.

“No, I don’t like giving books to my friends, it’s so boring! I don’t even give Mione books anymore.”

“Well, then I really don’t know, Harry. You could always just get me a gift certificate or something like that.”

“That’s a bit un-personal, don’t you think? We’re friends after all, and I think I should know you well enough by now to know what you’d like fore Christmas, but I’ve always been crap at stuff like that.” Harry said wistfully as they made their way back out on the high-street.

They walked in silence for a while, window shopping as they made their way to the store that sold the WiPod and things like that; things that were Muggle inventions, converted to work in the Wizarding World.

“Well…I’ve always wanted a pet, but I was never allowed anything other than an owl.” Draco said slowly. Harry smiled brightly at him, making Draco’s breath hitch.

“Really? That’s great! What kind of pet would you like? A snake? A puppy? A kitten?” Harry sounded eager to have found something that Draco would like. Draco chuckled softly before answering.

“I’ve always loved dogs, especially the bigger ones like German Shepherd or Doberman. Or something like that.”

“Okay Draco, how about we split up for a while and meet back here in…45 minutes? And then we’ll go to that spa and get Pansy’s gift before we go back to school.”

“Fine by me. I’ll see you in a little while then.” Draco said before turning and walking in the opposite direction from where Harry was headed.

~*~

Meanwhile back at Hogwarts, Remus was pacing the length of his sitting room over and over again.

‘What if I were able to open a portal into another dimension, instead of just this one? That could mean the possibility of going and getting my mate back.’ Remus shivered at the thought of holding Sirius again.

It had been a tough year and a half without him, and only the daily dosage of suppressant potions had kept him from going out of his mind with grief. Thank the Moon Mother that Severus had the skill necessary to brew the complicated potion.
He was roused from his thoughts by a sharp knock on the door. Only one person he knew knocked a door like that.

“Come in, Severus.” The potions Master swept into the room, scowling slightly. Somehow he always seemed irritated that Remus knew who he was when he knocked on the door.

“Lupin. I’ve brought you your potions.” He said curtly.

“Thank you, Severus. Are you staying here for Christmas, or are you returning to Snape Manor?”

“I will be remaining at Hogwarts this year. I would like to talk to Harry some more, before the term starts again.”

“Mm, he seems to have recovered quite well from the Nightmare Curse, but he could be covering it up. I still can’t believe that we never had a clue as to what was going on with him.”

“Quite. I must admit that I am impressed with how he managed to hide it all from me two years ago, when I was teaching him Occlumency. I never saw any of it until I used Legilimency on him when he had detention with me in the beginning of this year.”

“Yes…If I could just get my hands on Dursley…” Remus growled unconsciously at the thought. Snape paled a little, having never quite gotten over the scare he had had when he was younger and Remus had tried to eat him.

He cleared his throat nervously.

“Maybe you should take your potions now, Lupin?” Remus snapped out of his fantasy about mauling Vernon Dursley while he begged for mercy, noticing how pale and uncomfortable his reluctant friend looked and smelled. He immediately downed the two vials and handed them back to the Potions Professor.

“Thank you again, Severus. I will see you at lunch?” Snape gave another curt nod and turned to sweep out of the room, robes billowing as always.

~*~

When Harry met up with Draco again, he was smiling smugly. He had managed to find the perfect pet for Draco, and one for himself as well.
They would be delivered to Hogwarts on Christmas morning, so all he had to worry about was sneaking them passed Draco, down to his room. But it shouldn’t be a problem – after all, he was the most powerful wizard alive today.

And he was quite accomplished with glamour charms by now.

“What are you looking so smug about then, Harry?” Draco asked, smiling at him.

“Nuh uh, not gonna tell!” Harry answered in a sing song kind of voice. Draco raised an eyebrow at him before shaking his head at Harry’s antics.

“Come on you, let’s go get Pansy’s present and go back. I’m famished!” Draco led the way through the archway leading to Diamond Square, as Harry had never been there before.
Diamond Square was the magical equivalent to Muggle London’s Bond Street; all the more exclusive shops were located there.

The spa, ‘Reveal your inner Goddess!’, was very large and airy, almost completely decorated in white marble.

“May I help you?” The young witch behind the counter asked with a bored voice.

“Yes, I would like to book an entire day of your most exclusive package for my friend; Pansy Parkinson.”

“Of course, sir. When would you like the appointment for?” The girl had snapped back into a service-minded point of view when she realised just who the two young men standing in front of her were.

“How about 1st of January?”

“Certainly, sir. Will 9 o’clock be a suitable time?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“That will be 249 galleons, sir. Will you be paying by cash or card?”

“Card, naturally.” Harry said and handed over his platinum WizardingVisa to the girl, smirking as her face paled further.

“T-thank you, sir.” She quickly drew the card through the magical scanner, pressing the button that would draw the money from Harry’s account when the service wanted had registered.

Handing the card back to Harry, she also gave him an exclusive looking gift-certificate with the time, place and type of treatment stamped on it.

“There you go, sir. Have a pleasant day.” Nodding in farewell, both the boys turned around an walked out of there, Harry desperately trying to keep from laughing out loud. Draco on the other hand seemed quite annoyed, and as soon as they were out the door he voiced his opinions.

“I can not believe how rude she was! What was she thinking? It’s a wonder they have any clients at all, if that’s how they all act!” Now Harry did start laughing.

“Oh come on, Draco! It was just pathetic how she acted, not rude. You need to seriously lighten up more!”

“Hmpf.”

“Are you upset with me now?” Harry asked in a small voice, very unlike his normal one.

“No, I’m not upset with you. How are we getting back to school, then?”

“Apparating. Do you know how to apparate?”

“Yeah, I know how. Are you aiming for Hogsmeade or are you just going to apparate inside the wards of Hogwarts again? Because I can’t do that, you know.”

“We can go to Hogsmeade if you want…Meet you outside the Three Broomsticks?”

“Okay, see you in a bit.” With that, Draco Apparated away, Harry not far behind.
What they saw when they arrived in Hogsmeade was something neither of them could ever had imagined.

~*~

“Did Draco seem overly eager to you two? Or was that just my imagination?” Blaise asked the two girls a few minutes after Harry and Draco had left for London. The girls shared another glance and started to giggle. Blaise looked scared.

“Oh, relax honey, it’s really quite simple. Draco’s in love with Harry.”

“Beg pardon?”

“Your best friend is in love with my brother. That’s why he’s been acting so strange lately, and why he was so upset when we were at Snape Manor and Harry got cursed.” Hermione said.

“And…how does Harry feel? Does he even know?”

“No, and it’s probably best if he doesn’t right now. He has so much to work through from his life with the Dursleys, and he would not be able to even contemplate a relationship other than friendship with Draco until he’s done that.” Hermione answered sadly, wanting nothing more than to be able to help heal her brother.

“But…” Blaise was cut off by the sound of the magically enhanced voice of the Headmaster.

“All students and staff remaining in Hogwarts will immediately make their way to the Great Hall for an announcement about this afternoon. Thank you.”

“Guess we’ll have to go. Wonder what he’s on about this time.”

“Only one way to find out, guys. Come on.”

~*~

Severus Snape…scowling…which is not so unusual, but he was wearing, dear Merlin is that…a Santa-suit?

“What the fuck happened to you?!” Draco seemed to gather his composure faster than Harry, as said boy was still staring with his mouth hanging open. Snape’s scowl seemed to darken at his Godson’s question.

“Albus Dumbledore.” He bit out through clenched teeth.

“But why on earth would he pick YOU to be Santa?” Harry asked dazedly.

“Especially as we don’t celebrate Christmas like that in the Wizarding World. What is going through that old coot’s head?” Draco said.

“Apparently our ‘good’ Headmaster has gotten it into his mind that the citizens of Hogsmeade needed a…what was the word he used?...proper Christmas since it’s the first Christmas since the Dark Lord was defeated. Utter madness, if you ask me. And apparently I was ‘just perfect to portray the figure of Santa Claus for the children, Severus!’ Urgh, the day that man dies is a day I will celebrate so loud they can hear me in London.”

“Were the others coerced into this as well, Sev?”

“Unfortunately, no one left at the castle was left unscathed by the Headmaster’s inane ideas. They are all around here, somewhere. Spreading the…Christmas cheer.” Snape actually shuddered at the thought.

“Well, how long do you have to stay here?” Harry asked, looking around for his friends.

“Another hour. He said we’d be let back into the castle at sun-down, and he cast spells on us all to make it impossible to apparate or port-key out. And if we didn’t do what he wanted, we could look around for another job or apply to another magical school to finish our magical education. That man is truly devious.”

“What?” Harry looked thoroughly pissed at that revelation. Magic was swirling around him and he looked straight at the outline of Hogwarts in the distance. When he spoke again, his voice was so cold that the temperature actually dropped another couple of degrees.

“You go too far, old man. Too fucking far.”

~*~

‘I will win this game yet, Harry my boy. It’s all going according to plan.’

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A/N2: Well, there you have it! Please review and tell me what you think about it!
//LoveGD