Masquerade with Death Eaters

~*~


Malfoy Manor was huge. Elegantly dressed witches and wizards, in masks varying from little ones covering only the area of the eyes to ones obviously designed to hide the owner\'s identity entirely, were arriving constantly.

They had waited in front of the entrance for a while now and although Harry wondered what Snape was waiting for, he was also glad to have some time to collect himself. Harry wasn\'t a very good actor and tonight he would need all his abilities to make the Death Eaters believe that he was if not one of them, at least not their enemy.

Finally he felt Snape\'s hand on his shoulder and he let himself be guided - surprisingly gently - into the mansion. Harry glanced at his spy from the corner of his eye. If the Potions Master was nervous, he didn\'t show any sign of it. His body language spoke of the same boredom mixed with disdain kind of mood he usually conveyed. Harry knew him enough now to realize it was an act. Many times Harry had seen Snape furious, and often Harry himself was the cause. Oh yes, Snape was far from the calm man he portrayed in public.

They went down the hall to the ballroom. People conversing along the way paused and greeted Snape who murmured back something, although exactly what even Harry - who thought it better if he just nodded - couldn\'t hear.

The ballroom was crowded with people when they entered. Watching the talking, laughing, colourful crowd as they entered, Harry found it difficult to associate them as Death Eaters, Voldermort followers; they just looked human.

To hide his sudden confusion within himself he turned to Snape and asked in a low voice, \"Now what?\"

\"Now we go to a corner with some drinks as company and hope no one will bother us the entire evening.\"

\"Won\'t that be suspicious? I mean.We should mingle, shouldn\'t we?\"

\"No, Po…darling,” Snape quickly corrected himself, and ignored Harry who almost fell over his own feet hearing that title in reference to himself by Snape. \"It won\'t be suspicious, because that\'s what I\'m usually doing on occasions like this one.\"

\"Then why attend them at all?\" Harry was really curious.

\"Generally I don\'t, but Narcissa would have me punished should I miss her son\'s birthday party. She is not someone I\'d like to displease.\" Harry would have sworn he heard fondness in his voice.

It gave Harry quite a fright as they crossed the room because people were staring at him, some of them even whispering behind their hands. It was just after he caught a rather rude comment, he realized the talking was due not to him specifically, but his accompanying Snape. The Potions Master must have heard it too, because although he didn\'t say a word, from the tensing of his back and the clenching of his fists, Harry could see his anger. He wondered if others can see the sign of Snape’s bad mood too, or if he just got to read the other man’s body language so well over the years – watching Snape was something he had been doing since he was eleven after all.

\'So,\' thought the young leader of the Resistance, \'you aren\'t any more respected now by them than you were by us.\' The thought once would have filled him with satisfaction as he could never forgive Snape\'s role as the vengeful teacher and all the humiliation he put Harry through during his school days. But on the other hand, Harry had gotten to know Snape the spy better over the year since he had led the Order. Some of the information Snape brought couldn\'t be totally comprehended without Snape revealing some personal facts about himself. Harry started to realize his spy had led a lonely, sad and on occasion, painful life. That Snape was never accepted on either the \'Light\' or the \'Dark\' side now only filled him with sadness.

With drinks in hand, they had gone to stand in a corner, but despite Snape\'s wishes it didn\'t even take five minutes before a tall man in a quite frightening red and black mask approached them. Next to him, Harry heard Snape groan.

\"Ah, Snape.\" The man spoke in greeting. His voice, which Harry found familiar, was full of disdain. \"I see you now want to make a habit of parading your perversions in front of us, but I won\'t.\"

\"My perversions, Dolohov?\" interrupted Snape in a low, sneering tone, \"You mean coming to birthday parties?\"

\"I mean - as you well know - your little toy boy, Snape. What do you think you\'re doing? Think you can do anything...”

\"I\'ll ask you to refrain from calling my companion a toy boy. Also, I can\'t see how bringing him here counts as a perversion. After all, I\'m not fucking him right here in front of everyone.\"

Dolohov\'s disgusted snort seemed to provoke Snape further. He stepped very close to the Death Eater, put his hand on his shoulder, and said in an unmistakably suggestive voice, \"Or would you rather I was fucking you instead?\"

Dolohov pushed Snape back so violently that the spy fell back against a table, barely able to steady himself.

\"You bloody freak!\" Dolohov was all but foaming at his mouth.\"I\'ll show you what a real man…\"

\"Antonin!\" cut in a cold female vocie from behind. \"I\'ve warned you before not to harass other guests in this house. \"I won\'t tell you again, Antonin. I shall merely curse you. Now go
and leave us alone.\"

\"Ah, Narcissa, I\'m...\" to Harry\'s surprise Dolohov\'s voice sounded frightened while facing the Lady of the house.

\"Antonin. Go,\" she repeated, and Dolohov went.

\"Are you all right, Severus darling?\" she asked the Potions Master in a considerably warmer tone than she had used while talking to Dolohov. \"I\'m so sorry this happened. You know he\'s a complete arsehole.\"

\"Not a problem, Narcissa,\" Snape said, massaging his hip he hit against the table. \"No party
would be complete without someone calling me a freak.\" He ignored Mrs.Malfoy\'s frown at this and added, \"You are really beautiful tonight.\"

And she was. In the glowing lights of the ballroom she seemed ageless in her pale blue silk robes. She didn\'t wear her mask, just carried it in her hand. Probably as a host she wanted to be recognised by everyone,” Harry thought.

\"Thank you, Severus,\" she smiled before running a critical eye over Snape, especially over his mask. \"I would say the same goes for you, if you weren\'t wearing this horrid mask. Really, Severus, must you mock yourself?\"

Snape pulled his mouth into a not-quite smile and answered, \"Well, maybe it makes it easier if others do so,\" but she just waved this comment away.

\"Don\'t speak nonsense. And please, do take it off, while I\'m speaking to you. I can\'t stand it.\"

\"Take it off? But then everyone would recognise me.\"

\"Oh, please.\" She snorted, very un-lady like. \"They recognise youeither way: you are the only one who stands in a dim corner the whole evening.\"

Harry repressed a smile at that. Snape granted her request, which she rewarded with a smile. Then she turned to Harry.

\"So, finally after such a long time you brought someone with you. I ampleased to meet you, Mr…?\"

\"Nice to meet you to Mrs.Malfoy,\" Harry offered his hand to her, and though she shook it, he wondered if he should have kissed her hand instead. \"Do forgive me, but I won\'t tell you my name, I would like to enjoy the benefits of being anonymous for the time being.\"

The woman looked surprised for a moment but then turned to Snape with a mischievous smile, which turned into an outright grin after seeing his discomfort at her inquiry. \"So. Having a secret lover now, Severus? Aren\'t you a bit old for such an escapade?\"

\"Narcissa. For the thousandth time: I won\'t discuss my... love-life with you.\"

\"Darling, we hadn\'t discussed it, because you haven\'t had one since…I don\'t know, since we were still in our twenties?\"

\"That\'s not true!\" protested Snape half-heartedly \"For one thing it wasn\'t
THAT long ago.\"

Harry listened to their conversation with growing amusement. While Snape\'s good relationship with the Malfoys was well known, he assumed – especially after the Potions Master\'s confession regarding his sexuality – that it was more due to the late Lucius Malfoy\'s charm than to anything else. \'Why, Snape,\' he thought and had to hide his smile behind his hand, \'you do have friends. At least one, but even that\'s more than I would have given you credit for.\'

The words \". then I will ask Mr. Mysterious about it,\" spoken by Mrs.Malfoy, brought Harry back to the present.

\"Narcissa!\" Harry was astonished to see Snape holding back a smile, \"you are so starved for information pertaining to what others do in bed, I\'m starting to think you, yourself haven\'t had much adventure in that area lately.\"

\"Not every one of us can enjoy the benefits of being a bachelor, love. I am after all, a widow.\"

\"It\'s been three years, Narcissa.\" Their good mood seemed to disappear. \"Surely you could find someone to give you. a bit of comfort.\"

\"I\'m sure I could,\" she said with a sad smile, \"But…even if it sounds strange I don\'t really want anyone after Lucius. Not yet, anyway.\"

She shot a side glance at Harry and without trying to be subtle at all, she asked him to bring them something to drink. Harry didn\'t know what to do. While he could understand why she didn\'t want to speak of such personal things in front of a stranger, he also didn\'t want to wander in a room full of Death Eaters all alone. But Snape just nodded to him, so he went, hoping his spy wouldn\'t forget why they were here.

Harry quickly found one of the house elves who were constantly circling the place with drinks and food, but as glancing back proved that Snape and Mrs. Malfoy were still speaking huddled closely, he decided to simply stand and look around the room for awhile.

Couples were dancing, other people were gossiping in small groups and Harry really felt out of place. \'Just as like the Christmas ball in fifth year.\' He thought sarcastically. But not really, as he\'d had Ron to help him get through it then, and now he only had Snape and the stakes were much higher than simple boredom or embarrassment.

Finally he stopped at one of the tables, watching the dancers while keeping an eye on his companion until a familiar voice roused him from his brooding.

\"Are you the boy who came with Severus?\"

Harry turned to find a man standing in front of him. His face was hidden by his mask, but the silver hair and the arrogant, disdainful tone made him unmistakable; Draco Malfoy.

\"I came with him, but I\'m hardly a boy.\" He replied as calmly as he could, while his brain was screaming at him to pull out his wand, to hex, to hurt the bastard who had caused him so much pain over the years. This was the fiend who\'d captured Ron, and who was now just the same perfect little Death Eater his father once was.

\"Really?\" asked Malfoy mockingly. \"Doesn\'t matter. Come, let\'s separate him from mother. Why did you leave them alone, anyway?\"

\"They had things to discuss. Mrs. Malfoy asked for some privacy.\"

How dare he speak to him that way, Harry seethed. He was about to tell Malfoy to mind his own business, but the other man\'s visible flinch stopped him.

\"Oh, no.\" Malfoy all but moaned, \"They weren\'t speaking of father, were they? Again?!\"

\"They were.\" Harry admitted, surprised.

\"Come on you, idiot.\" To his indignation, Malfoy took him by the arm and tried to lead him back to where his mother was standing. Seeing Harry\'s reluctance he added as an explanation, \"They have the habit of getting drunk and disappearing together on nostalgic occasions. I\'d rather my mother was both present AND sober on my birthday.\"

\"Disappearing together?\" Harry asked dumbly.

\"Not like THAT.\" The blond said with a derisive sneer. \"Don\'t worry, Severus is completely queer. Even my dear mother couldn\'t pull his pants off, unless she grew a cock beforehand.\"

\"Don\'t speak of your mother like that.\" Harry said, because he couldn\'t really think of anything else as a reply. \"She\'s very nice.\"

\"Oh? Do you fancy mature women too, not just old blokes with big noses?\"

\"Why, you little…\"

But Malfoy just turned on his heel, and left him. Still thoroughly enraged, Harry followed.

\"Severus.\" Malfoy greeted as he approached the two. \"Thank you for coming. I know how much you dislike these gatherings. Also, thank you for the present, it was wonderful.\"

\"You are welcome, Draco. I\'m glad you liked it.\" Harry was afraid he might throw up if they continued with this tone. He couldn\'t tell if Snape honestly liked Malfoy or if he was just playing. \"And of course many happy returns of the day.\"

\"At least this one is happy enough.\" Malfoy smirked. \"I can\'t wait for the Dark Lord to return,\" he leaned in conspiratorially, \"and discover my present for him.\"

\"Indeed,\" said Snape, and without notice he grasped Harry\'s arm rather roughly, thus successfully preventing the young man from punching Malfoy. \"I heard you’d caught a prized catch.\"I\'m sure he will be most pleased with you.\"

\"Please, tonight is not about politics,\"interrupted Narcissa, to Harry\'s relief. \"Draco, I suppose you came to steal me from Severus.\"

After her son\'s affirmative nod, she turned to Snape. \"Sorry. I must go and entertain the foolish guests. But do visit me, Severus, sometimes and by that I mean in this year. Preferably next week. And if your friend,\" she smiled at Harry, \"finally decides to reveal his identity, he is also welcome.\"

As pleasant as she seemed to be, Harry hoped she would never know of his identity. But he smiled and promised anyway.

\"I can\'t understand,\" he said to Snape when they were left alone, \"how can you be so nice to Malfoy. He is …the enemy.\"

Snape shot him a warning glance and Harry realized he should not speak of such things at this place.

\"He is a spoiled brat, I give you that. But.he and Narcissa are kind of like a family for me.\"

Surprised, Harry looked at Snape, but the spy was already putting his mask back into place,
successfully preventing Harry from reading any emotion he might have been feeling from being revealed upon his face.


~*~


The rest of the ball passed rather uneventfully. Masked witches and wizards sometimes came over to exchange some words with Snape, but they were all polite and vague. Neither the open hostility expressed by Dolohov, nor the surprising friendliness of Mrs.Malfoy was repeated.

Harry felt as he was going crazy. This doing nothing, while anticipating the worst at every minute grated on his nerves. As the evening progressed, he felt more and more uneasy. He turned to Snape countless times, to get to know when they would finally ACT, but was always
answered with a murmured, \"Not yet.\"

Finally, around eleven o\' clock as the ball was at its height, he felt Snape embrace his shoulders and the big nose of the mask pressed into his ear as the spy whispered in his ear: \"It\'s time.\"

As they crossed through the crowd, Harry caught numerous people staring at them, and heard random comments, some mocking, some disgusted. They were thinking he and Snape were going to… oh. Only by sheer force of will did he not pull away from the older man. Not that he was queasy by his proximity, just simply. he wasn\'t used to people thinking he was going to be buggered within the near future.

Snape, being himself, took the time to slip his hands from Harry\'s back to his bum, when they were crossing by a particularly furiously gossiping group. The young man had the suspicion Snape enjoyed not just their indignation, but Harry\'s discomfort as well.

Finally they were out of the room. Snape led them into a corridor, putting a bit more space between them, but still not letting go of Harry. It was just when they came to a staircase leading downwards that he pulled the younger man aside. He removed his mask, though Harry\'s remained in place.

\"This is the way down to the dungeons.\" He said in low tones. \"Do you know the spell for turning invisible?\" After Harry\'s affirmative nod he continued, \"Good, we will need it. You will need to cast all the curses and spells, if possible, so they won\'t be able to identify my magic.\"

\"But can they identify mine?\" Harry frowned.

\"Of course,\" snorted Snape, \"But at least the legend of the Boy Who Could Do Everything, Even Break Into Malfoy Manor All Alone will grow even bigger.\"

\"Yes. Got through the wards all alone.Without invitation. Won\'t be suspicious at all.\"

\"This is really not the time to question...\"

The sound of footsteps broke into their low argument. Before Harry could even think of what to do, Snape pushed him back against the wall, and held him there.

\'Traitor. And you came with him to this obvious trap.\' Was his first thought before Snape leaned in, murmured murmured, \"Sorry,\" and kissed him.

Harry was vaguely aware of footsteps coming to a stop in front of them, he even heard someone comment about them, but mostly his mind was busy with what Snape was doing pressing him completely to the wall, enveloping Harry\'s body with his while kissing him.
It was quite a good kiss, if one could get out of his head that Snape was a man, which was a hard thing to do, considering the warm, hard, unmistakebly male body pressed against him.

Getting enough of the show, the owners of the footsteps had gone away, and Snape lifted his mouth from Harry\'s. Still inches away from his face, the older man got as far as \"I\'m…\" before Harry lifted his head and kissed him again.

Later, when he had the time to analyze this, Harry tried to find an explanation for why he had done something so bold. He didn\'t have to, there was no one there to deceive that time. But still…the first kiss was nice, so maybe he just wanted to.taste it, taste Snape again. Or maybe it was the comfort such an act could provide, comfort Harry needed badly. No matter the reason, he had done it and even later couldn\'t say he regretted his actions.

The first kiss might have been nice, but the second was much more than merely nice. It was Snape who was surprised now, not Harry, so he had to guide his head a bit at first, but the older man quickly caught on and responded eagerly.

Snape\'s hand slipped down to grasp Harry\'s hips and he then pushed himself even closer to Harry, who took hold of the spy\'s shoulders and deepened the kiss. Snape moaned when he pushed his tongue into his mouth. At the sound, Harry felt the starting tingles of his arousal. He didn\'t care it was a man he was kissing, didn\'t matter that it was Snape; it just felt right.

He gasped, protesting, when Snape pulled away, and took time until the older man\'s words \"We have to go,\" finally registered.

Snape\'s usually sallow cheeks were flushed, his thin lips reddened and glistening with moisture. To Harry\'s surprise he found him attractive, an adjective he never thought he would use to describe Snape. But here he was looking at the greasy old git, and wanting him.

He didn\'t have the time to deal with this now. Somewhat reluctantly they untangled themselves. In a few terse words, Snape quickly drew up their strategy, all the while NOT looking at Harry. They cast the inivisibility spells on themselves and went downstairs.

Snape took hold of Harry\'s hand so as not to lose each other while they were climbing down the stairs and later the moist corridor leading to the prison cells. The Potions Master moved quickly and without any noise; Harry had tostruggle to keep up with him in both areas. \'Of course,\' he thought somewhat fondly,\' he\'s had a lifetime of practice moving about in dungeons.\' He then forced every thought of Snape out his head for the time being.

The older man stopped them abruptly. Harry felt the magical wards before them, though he didn\'t actually see the barrier. Snape had warned him before not to try to take it down because that would alert Malfoy. He claimed to know a detour.

Harry felt Snape release his hand, and though he couldn\'t see what the spy was doing, he had done it correctly as suddenly a gap - barely wide enough for a man to get through - appeared on the wall. \"Come on,\" came the whispered order and Harry followed Snape through the gap and into a tunnel.

The young man knew that castles, old mansions and sometimes even ordinary wizard homes were full of hidden traps, tunnels, secret passages and with who knows what else, but one had to know the place very well, had to be aware of their precise placement to find them; he would have some questions later for Snape about his knowledge of Malfoy Manor.

The tunnel suddenly ended and Harry was surprised to find himself not only behind the wards, but behind the prison guards as well. He felt Snape\'s hand on his shoulder and he knew what to do. He took out his wand and cast two simple, but effective stunning spells on the guardians; they immediately collapsed, unconscious.

They found Ron in a small cell. His wrists and ankles were bound, his left eye, where he had obviously taken a blow, was swollen, and tremors indicated that Crucio had been cast on him, but he was conscious, and he was alive.

\"Don\'t touch the door,\" Snape whispered, \"It\'s warded too.\"

Soon the bars of the cell wall were smoking away under some acid Snape applied and Harry could finally go to his friend.

\"Ron? It\'s me, Harry,\" he said, starting to untie the bonds.

\"Harry?\" Ron\'s voice was surprised and a bit panicked, \"I can\'t see you. How…?\"

\"I\'m invisible, Ron. Shh, we\'ll take you out now.\"

\"We, Harry? Who…?\"

\"Don\'t speak now. I will tell you everything later, promise.\"

It turned out Ron\'s legs had gone numb after being bound and lying without movement so long. On Snape\'s idea, they had cast Wingardium Leviosa on Ron as well as made him invisible. Harry hadn\'t liked it much, as he suspected he would bump his friend on the way through the escape route, but didn\'t see any other choice.

They got out of the dungeons without much trouble, but the upper stairs of the mansion were another challenge. Guests were obviously starting to leave and the corridor was too crowded for easily levitating out Ron. Harry wondered if they should wait until everybody was gone, but he was afraid that they wouldn\'t be able to go out on the wards after that. He wished he
could see Snape to at least have some indication of what he was thinking.

He suddenly felt Snape\'s hand on him and it took him a minute to realize the older man was trying to determine exactly where Harry stood. Finally he was successful and he whispered in Harry\'s ear, \"We shouldn\'t wait much longer. It enhances the possibility of being discovered. The spell on the guards might wear off.\"

\"We can\'t get through all these people without notice.\"

\"We must try anyway.\"

While maintaining the levitation spell, Harry gathered his friend closer, so he was still weightless but was easier to manoeuvre.

\"I\'ve got Ron,\" he whispered to Snape, \"but you have to lead the way.\"

Those few minutes it took to get out of the manor were the longest of Harry\'s life. While every step brought them closer to escape, he felt they would be discovered now; everybody looking their way seemed to be looking at them. Even years of roaming Hogwarts\' corridors hadn\'t prepared Harry for this challenge.

But finally they were out of the building and away from the wards preventing apparation. Still it was only when they were back at the Headquarters where he could actually believe it: They’d made it!

Leaving Ron in Hermione\'s care and promising to explain everything later, he raced back to his rooms where he had left Snape waiting.

Entering, he saw the older man sitting in a chair, mask in hand, staring grimly ahead. Harry\'s first impulse to run to him and hug him - and kiss him - vanished. He sat down opposite Snape and waited for him to raise his eyes.

Potter,\" the spy said at last, still without looking up, \"what happened at the Malfoys...\" he paused as if to waiting for Harry to interrupt him, but as it didn\'t happen he continued after a deep breath.\"I hope you understand it was just part of the act.\"
\"At first.\" Harry nodded. \"But it wasn\'t the second time, was it?\"

\"It shouldn\'t have happened at all!\" the spy snapped and Harry had to agree with him. It certainly would have made things easier.

\"I know. We should just.Things were strange there. It was a mistake.\"

\"A mistake?!\" Snape all but shouted, \"That\'s all it is for you?\"

Harry looked at him stunned, and it obviously angered him even more.

\"I will let you know, Potter, that is was much more than that. It was a kiss like…like something I never felt and you just…\" realizing what he was saying, Snape jumped out of his chair and strode towards the fireplace to leave.

Harry\'s brain finally kicked back at that and he ran after the other man, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him around. Looking at Snape\'s reddened face - with embarrassment he realized - he tried to organize his thoughts.

\"Yes,\" he finally said \"it was much more than a mistake. I just…I don\'t have any experience with men, and frankly it confuses me quite a bit.\"

\"Potter,\" Snape now sounded sad, \"it doesn\'t really matter what it was as we can\'t afford to try to consider. We both play dangerous games; we don\'t need this to make life harder.\"

\"No, that\'s not true,\" Harry protested, the lifetime habit of disagreeing with Snape kicking in. \"I think we both would deserve something like that.\"

\"I don\'t understand you, Potter. You say one thing one moment and something completely different the next.\"

\"I\'m confused.\" Harry admitted. \"I\'ve got some thinking to do.\"

\"I will go now, Potter. We will both think and preferably arrive at a sensible conclusion.”

\"Right.\"

But neither of them moved. Harry wanted to say many things from \'Just forget this\' to \'Please stay the night.\' But he wisely didn\'t open his mouth. Snape\'s black eyes seemed to try to burn a hole into his head like some kind of wandless Occlumency, but Harry suspected he wasn\'t any more successful in reading his emotions than he was at Snape\'s.

Finally the Potions Master seemed to come to a decision and leaned in to kiss Harry. It was just a peck on the mouth this time, but the young man\'s heart still jumped in his chest.

Snape was gone after that, but Harry still stood there for a while, caressing his mouth.


~*~


Ron leaned back against his chair, thinking. Harry had just told him what had happened, with a bit of editing of course. He couldn\'t leave out the part Snape played - he even had to expose his previous espionage activities for Ron to understand - but at least he didn\'t reveal any personal information what wasn\'t necessary for Ron to understand; Harry also hadn\'t mentioned the kisses.

\"I don\'t understand, mate,\" Ron confessed at last. \"Why did you go to that party anyway? If Snape knew the place so well.\"

\"You can\'t just walk through the gates of Malfoy Manor, Ron. You have to be invited.\"

\"And Harry Potter was invited.?\"

\"No,\" smiled Harry, \"Snape and his companion were. And I was that companion.\"

Ron shuddered, but didn\'t add anything rude about Snape\'s sexuality. Harry was grateful for it, as he suspected he might have to confess sooner or later about that aspect.

\"Still, how could you have trusted him that much? Waltz into a Death Eater party, with only hopes the greasy git didn\'t lie?!\"

\"The greasy git helped to save your life.\"

\"Yeah, yeah, I know. I suppose,\" he sighed, \"he is too good as a spy. I never doubted he betrayed us.\"

\"He is a good man, Ron.\" It was somehow important for Harry that Ron understand that fact.

\"If you say so, mate.\" Ron shook his head. \"You are probably right. It\'s just hard to see him in that light so abruptly.\"

Harry smiled warmly at his friend. This was a good start.

\"I\'m off now.\" The redhead stood to his feet still a bit shaky. \"I know - not a word about this episode. Not even to Hermione.\" There was a bit of resentment in his voice.

\"At least for the time being,\" Harry sighed. \"I promise I will talk to her, soon.\"

\"And spend more time with us, in general. We are still your friends, you know.\"

\"Yes, Ron, I know,\" said Harry seriously. \"I know.\" He repeated to the empty room after he was gone.

Harry had some thinking to do, but he was tired as he had been up for two days now. Thinking could wait a bit longer. Or if he was lucky, he might find a solution in his sleep as some Seers said they had experienced while dreaming.

Harry smiled. That would be too easy, wouldn\'t it? Still he couldn\'t help but hope for it as he laid down. He was asleep in a minute.
He dreamed about Snape.

Fin