Changing Hearts,Changing Friends,Changing Houses

Chapter 6



It’s a long road to happiness





Or



Sometimes your best friends can be the greatest foes





It had been ten nights now that Harry had been sitting next to Snape\'s bed, just thinking.



He had taken to holding Snape\'s hand, in case there was any sign of life.



But this wish had not been granted ...yet.



He was pulled from his thoughts, when he heard a noise coming from the bed.



He looked up scared that it could be Mrs. Norris, but then he let his gaze travel to his Professor and saw the man on the bed was frowning and was murmuring something.



Suddenly, Severus’ eyelids began to flutter and he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze searching the room and coming to rest on Harry’s face.



He still seemed quite dazed when he choked out



“Ha...rry?"



Harry was so shocked and happy that he couldn\'t even react in the first moment, but when he realized, staying any longer would mean being discovered, he jumped to his feet and fled the room.



“...really ..this boy...",



Snape murmured as he slowly tried to push himself up into a sitting position, after having his thoughts in order again and his gaze could focus again.



Harry had made his way back to the common room as fast as possible, but arriving there an seeing what lay ahead of him, he wished he wouldn’t have done so.



Ron and Hermione were waiting for him, both with accusing looks on their faces.



“Harry we have to talk."

“I..."

“Now!"

“All right"



“Where have you been? And don\'t tell me you were taking a walk, because you couldn\'t sleep. Not for the last ten days, I won’t believe that!"



Hermione looked at him waiting for an answer, Ron sitting next to her, looking worried.



“You...you knew?"



Harry was terrified. Had they seen where he went?



“But we want to know where you\'ve been! So spill it, we are worried!"



Her eyes softened.



“There\'s no need for you to worry, really. I, yes I believe, we really need to talk."



He sighed deeply and sat face to face with his two friends.



“The thing is...I\'m in love."



He let the words linger in the air. Silence spread between them , until Hermione let out a relieved sigh.



“But Harry, you should have told us, that would have explained everything!"



Ron grinned at him.



“So you where with your little girlfriend every night, mate?"



Harry couldn\'t hold his gaze for long so he averted his eyes and looked at the floor.



“Yes, you could say that, but there\'s something else..."



“Oh come on now, tell us. It can\'t be that horrible."



“My little girlfriend, as you put it, is a boyfriend."



Silence



“WHAT?"



Ron had jumped to his feet and was now looking at Harry with disgust clearly showing on his face.



“Does that mean you are...gay?" AN : fast one, isn’t he?



Harry only nodded and let his eyes wander cautiously over to his friends.



“Harry that isn\'t true, is it? You\'re only kidding us!"



Now Hermione had also gotten over the initial shock and had said something..



“No Hermione, I\'m not kidding, I am gay and have been for quite some time now."



They looked at each other and a queasy feeling spread in Harry\'s stomach.



“You are sick! Stay the hell away from me, understand? I don\'t want to be associated with your kind!"



With these words, Ron turned on his heels and fled the room. Harry looked at Hermione..



“Even if I wouldn\'t put it that way, I have to admit that I\'m equally shocked, Harry. I think we should cut ties for now."



And with that she went to follow Ron and left him there... alone.



For a moment he just stood there and tried to figure out, what the hell just had happened.



His two best friends had told him that they never wanted to have to do anything with him ever again.



He could feel the first tears streak down his cheeks when that finally hit home.



This hadn’t been anywhere near the reaction he had expected.



Not in the least.



He couldn\'t stay there any longer. He turned and fled the tower.



He didn\'t care if he got caught, he just ran. Just far, far away!







In the meantime, Snape had snuck out of the infirmary and was on the way back to his rooms. He had wasted enough time there. He didn’t need Poppy to tell him he had to stay any longer. He stalked through the shadowy hallways of the castle, when he was startled by the sound of someone crying. A student at this hour? Well it was time to scare again, especially now that nearly everyone thought him almost dead! He went around the corner and was about to begin a lecture, when he saw who it was, that was sitting on the window sill, knees drawn up under his chin, weeping almost silently.



Harry...



The tears were running down his cheeks in an endless stream and his body was wrecked with his sobs.

What had happened now?



The boy knew that he, Snape, wasn\'t going to die anymore and was awake now, so this couldn\'t be the reason.

Not having noticed Snape, Harry let out a startled yelp.



“Si...Sir..what are you doing here? You should be in the infirmary."



He hastily tried to wipe the tears away and stood on shaky legs, his eyes searching Snape’s.



Even like this, these eyes are enchanting, Snape thought as he looked down into the tear-filled orbs.



“Yes, maybe I should, but who really knows that for sure ..."



Harry looked at him, doubt clearly written on his face.



“You snuck out, didn\'t you, sir? Poppy never would have let you go already."



Snape tried to pull an innocent face, which made Harry smile slightly.



“Maybe...but that\'s not to be discussed right now. What are you doing out here, at this time of the night? You know, that could get you into a lot of trouble?"



Harry thought about what made him leave and immediately the tears sprung back to his eyes. He tried to will them away but it didn\'t work. Choking on his sobs he tried to stammer an answer.



“I...I just wanted, I mean we had...I ran away."



Snape arched an eyebrow. Harry Potter was running away from his tower?



“You ran away from what, precisely?"



“I..."



Harry couldn\'t tell him why he’d had a fight with Ron and Hermione.



“Harry, you don\'t have to tell me. But you should go back into your dorm, before I catch you outside after curfew and..."



Snape intentionally paused after he had positioned himself behind the boy while talking. He pushed him against the wall and bent down to whisper the rest of his sentence right into Harry’s ear, waiting to see how the boy would react.



“...then I’d have to punish you..."



Harry felt the blush spreading from his face down to his neck.



Just like Snape had thought.



The voice indeed hadn\'t lied!



Harry suddenly was in a real hurry to get back to his dorm.



“Th..thank you, sir."





He was soon out of sight and Snape stayed a moment longer, grinning in the direction the boy went off to, then he made his way back to his dungeons. Oh yes this was going to be a lot of fun! Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. What was happening to him? He, Severus Snape, was thinking words like fun? And he hadn\'t even realized he had used the boy\'s given name. What was this boy doing to him? Shaking his head he went down to his rooms. First of all he needed sleep, a lot of sleep!











A/N: So here goes the new Chapter, please be gentle.

And I’d really appreciate the help of a beta so if anyone’s willing to help me out please sent me a PM. Thanks a lot for still sticking with the story. Those of you who already know it, might notice that I’ve made a few changes in the chapter, oh hell I nearly re-wrote it, I hope it’s more readable now.

Thanks a lot for reading and as always big hugs to all of you!



MD