Snape Apparated them to the gates of Hogwarts.

"Do I go directly to Gryffindor Tower?" Harry started up the path towards the castle. The very idea of being alone up there gave him a bit of the creeps. Or perhaps it was just the thought of being away from Snape. 

After two steps, Snape stopped and looked at him. "I hadn't thought about that. You don't want to be alone there, do you?"

"Not really." What he wanted...was something that because they were back at school, he could not ask for. 

"I don't think it would be proper for you to stay with me, not in my rooms," Snape said his tone apologetic, and his eyes soft.

Did the bond make Snape telepathic? It would be just his bloody luck. "Why not? I mean..." Harry trailed off. "It's not like you're tempted." It came out sounding more like a question than he would have liked. 

"Do you fear that? Me?" Snape put both hands on his shoulders, and turned him to face him dead on. "You foolish boy. I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know that!" Harry put his hand over Snape's and interwove their fingers. "I know you. I know how you feel."

For a long moment, Snape allowed the touch, but then he untangled their fingers and dropped his arms to his sides. "Then why did you imply it? Did you wish to hurt me?"

Until that moment, that he could hurt Snape had honestly never occurred to him. "But..." Harry met his eyes. "I know what you're feeling is getting stronger."

Bowing his head, Snape's shoulders slumped. "Then, you do think that I am tempted to take what I want?"

Putting a hand on his cheek so that he would look up, Harry met his eyes. "I do know that you'd never act on it if you were tempted. I can feel your conviction that it's wrong." Harry smiled up at him. "I don't agree by the way."

"What?" Snape looked completely horrified. "What don't you agree with? Would you rather I ravaged you against your will?"

With a bravado he almost felt, Harry leered at him from under his lashes in what he hoped was a sexy manner. "If you were to try, I think it would be closer to seduction, myself." 

For some reason, Snape started to laugh. "When you are closer to meaning it, I think I shall be worried. Until then, I would never--"

"You don't have to tell me that." Harry's conviction never wavered. At this point in the proceedings, he'd come to know Snape well enough to believe it, even without the influence of the bond. "I know I feel safe with you."

"You shouldn't take anything for granted, foolish boy." Snape looked away again. 

He put a hand on Snape's arm. "I'm not sure about a lot of things. However, that you would not hurt me is one of the things I am sure of." 

Stepping back, Snape looked around as if suddenly realizing they were still on the lawn of Hogwarts, in full view of anyone who cared to look out. "We need to go inside and decide on what to do with you for the next week."

"Any ideas?" Harry's first choice had been denied. He hoped that he wasn't going to have to live in the dorm room by himself. 

"I think we should talk to the Headmaster." Snape held the door open for him to precede him.

*****

"Severus, Harry. What a pleasant surprise." Somehow Dumbledore's tone wasn't quite as cheerful as he usually was, but he smiled at them. "Come in. Come in."

He opened the door wider so that both he and Snape could pass into the hall. "Do sit down. Tell me how was your summer, Harry?"

"It was fine, sir." Harry tried to smile back, but thinking about having to talk about everything dimmed his mood. "I'm glad to be back."

"Perhaps it was not so fine as that?" Dumbledore sounded almost... troubled. "What has happened?"

Looking down, Harry chewed on his lip. There always seemed to be a fine line to walk when talking about this bond. "To be truthful, there were some complications."

"I imagine there were." Dumbledore picked up a glass dish of yellow sweets. "Would you like a lemon drop?"

"Yes, thank you, sir." Harry popped the sweet in his mouth and sucked on it. He loved all manner of confections and Dumbledore always seemed to have the best of them.

Dumbledore offered the dish to Snape, who shook his head, sneering, and looked as though he'd just been offered something foul. "Albus, we have a bit of a problem," Snape said. 

"I gathered as much." Dumbledore set the dish on the desk behind him. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

Taking a deep breath, Snape seemed to steel himself. "For one thing, we are unable to separate for more than a few hours without causing Mr. Potter considerable pain."

"Not you?" Dumbledore asked, glancing in Harry's direction and then back at Snape.

"I feel the strain of separation, but not to the degree that Mr. Potter does." Snape sat back in his chair, his fingers steepled in front of him, his expression blank. 

Harry wasn't sure what to make of that.

"I see." Dumbledore stroked his beard for a few minutes. "Please continue, Severus."

Snape went into a brief explanation of first Harry's stay with the Dursleys and then his stay with the Weasleys, and the intervening visits from him.

Sighing deeply, Dumbledore looked even more troubled. "I suspect you already know the answer, don't you Harry?"

He was afraid that he did. He looked over at Snape, who looked like he did too. "We strained the bond too far, didn't we, sir?"

"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore said, reaching for another lemon drop, chewing thoughtfully on it.

"Which is all well and good. What do we do about it?" Snape sounded impatient and at the same time reluctant to hear the answer to the question.

Glancing down at his hands, Dumbledore sighed softly. "I also suspect that you know the answer to that."

Snape growled inarticulately and stood. "Albus, school starts in a week. How can we... keep company."

"I am aware of when school starts." Dumbledore's voice was sharper than usual. "We will simply have to work out a schedule that will take the bond into account."

"I was planning to give Mr. Potter a good many detentions this year." The idea seemed to hold a lot of appeal to Snape.

However, Harry was none too pleased with it. "You can't keep me on detention the entire school year." Harry's voice rose with his annoyance. "That's not fair."

"Fair has nothing to do with it, Mr. Potter. It's for your own good." Snape smirked at him. "It will keep you out of trouble."

"No, it won't." Harry crossed his arms over his chest. He was not going to spend his last year at school on detention. "You're not going to do it to me, either."

Mimicking Harry's stance, Snape regarded him for a couple of minutes. "All right, then. What do you suggest?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, he was glad to know that Snape wasn't going to push him. "I can get into your rooms without anyone knowing." 

Nodding, Dumbledore's mood seemed to lighten. "Harry does have means of visiting you after hours."

Snape however, did not look pleased at all. His face turned white and then red. "Are you actually suggesting that he break curfew?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time." Harry snickered. Since the incident in fourth year with Filch and Moody, Harry was sure Snape knew about the invisibility cloak. 

The smile Snape turned on him was half-amused and half- exasperated. "I'm well aware of that and why as well. I don't think it's at all appropriate for a student to be visiting a professor in his quarters after hours."

"I think this might constitute a special case, Severus," Dumbledore said, a bit of the twinkle coming back into his eyes. "Especially with Harry's heath involved."

"There should be another way." It was clear that Snape could not think of one.

"It will work fine. It's not as though we'll actually be doing anything wrong." Harry watched two points of color form on Snape's cheeks and decided that might not have been the brightest thing he'd ever said.

"That is beside the point," Snape said, sounding like what little patience he'd had had been stretched far past his breaking point.

"No, actually, I think that is the point." Harry didn't want to argue this anymore. "I'll come by for a while every night. What about the next week? Where am I going to stay?"

Dumbledore was silent for a moment. "I think you can stay in some of the guest quarters on the main level. You can move into the tower when the rest of the students arrive."

Snape nodded.

"All right," Harry said with a sigh. That he wanted to stay with Snape didn't seem to matter to anyone but him.

*****

"You wanted to see me, Professor McGonagall?" Harry stuck his head through her open office door after knocking on the wooden frame. 

"Yes, Mr. Potter, come in." McGonagall waved him to a seat in front of her chair. "Close the door. I want to speak to you."

What had he done, he wondered frantically. It was only the third day of classes, he hadn't had time to do anything yet. Except of course, visit Snape. His heart sank. "Yes, ma'am."

She looked at him and even without saying a word, he could tell that she knew. "I've noticed that you've been out after curfew three nights out of three." Her tone became more stern. "What's more young man, I'm not the only one who has noticed you are not in your bed when you should be."

"Um...." Thinking quickly, Harry could come up with nothing but the truth, which was out of the question. 

"You should have come to me last year about this." She had that chiding tone in her voice that said she was annoyed, but was not going to be able to do anything about it.

Which left him to wonder, "How--"

"Did I find out?" McGonagall finished for him. She raised an eyebrow at him, giving him that exasperated look she had.

He couldn't meet it and he glanced away. "Yeah..."

"I went to the Headmaster about what I should do with you, and he told me about the bond." She shook her head disapprovingly. "You are very foolish."

That went without saying as far as Harry was concerned. Trying to look contrite, he bowed his head and nodded. "Yes, professor."

"Don't yes, professor me, young man," McGonagall snapped. "I am willing to concede you a certain amount of leeway since it appears your health is at issue, but this situation is completely inappropriate."

It made him angry that she would think such a thing. "He's not going to hurt me." Harry folded his arms over his chest. "Why do I keep having to fight this battle? There are more important things I'm going to need to do."

"Be that as it may. You are involved with a teacher." God, could she make it sound anymore sordid or cheap?

Blushing furiously, Harry looked down, away, anywhere, just not at McGonagall. "I'm not. Not like that, anyway."

"I understood--" she started to say, but then stopped, looking at him sideways. "What, then exactly?"

Not able to look at her, which he resented as much as anything else, Harry sighed quietly. "I need to be near him. I don't need to fu--"

McGonagall held up her hand and shook her head, sternly. "Don't you dare finish that sentence."

From somewhere inside himself, he found the courage to face her down. "Why not? Are you afraid to hear it? It's the truth. You know what the spell was supposed to do."

"Yes. Of course, I know." McGonagall expression changed from righteous to tired in the beat of a heart. "I also know what it can and likely will be."

Shaking his head at her implication, Harry sat up straighter. "Not until after school. He won't allow it."

"He? Not you?" McGonagall's surprise was so clear. Didn't she know Snape at all?

He was finding out that no one did, and whose fault was that? "I'm not ready for that. I don't feel that way yet."

She looked hard at him. "You don't? That's surprising."

"Why?" Harry couldn't imagine why he was supposed to feel one way or another. But it always seemed, especially with this bond, that he never felt what he was supposed to.

"Are you fighting it, the bond I mean?" McGonagall asked, her tone only mildly inquiring, but he already knew this line of questioning.

He shook his head, already tired of the whole conversation. "No. It won't let me fight it."

"Hmm." She was silent, clearly thinking. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"You mean, this whole discussion wasn't personal enough for you?" Harry had to fight the urge to laugh in her face, but that would not do at all. "Do I have to answer it?"

"Not if you feel it too intrusive." At least, she sounded serious about not forcing him to answer.

"Okay. What?"

"I'm just curious as to..." She trailed off, and her cheeks became flushed. Taking an audible breath, she seemed to gather her courage around her. "Have you ever been in love with anyone?"

That wasn't quite what he was expecting. "I had a crush on Cho fourth year and fifth year."

"But nothing since."

"I haven't had much time, have I?" Harry didn't know what she was getting at, couldn't begin to guess. "After mid-year last year, I had... well the bond. That took all of my time."

"All right." McGonagall nodded sagely. "Has no one asked if you even preferred men to women?"

"Well, Ron asked me that. I don't get what you mean by it." Harry glanced at her, shrugging. "Why would that matter, given everything, I mean."

"Only in that you may not fall in love with Professor Snape as you think you will, if you are not inclined towards men." She said it so matter-of-factly.

A horrible sick feeling came over him. Could she be right? "I thought I was destined to fall in love with him."

"Certainly not." She straightened up and looked at him directly. "If you're not attracted to men then one does not follow the other."

Harry shook his head, trying to work it through in his mind. He'd liked kissing Ron just fine, better than Cho, but then, Ron knew how to kiss. "I've never loved anyone like that."

"What about your attractions?"

Feeling a blush start, he looked away. He didn't want to talk about whom he was attracted to, not with McGonagall, anyway. As he considered it, he felt a little better. Although he'd never said a word to anyone about it, he'd felt a pull toward Oliver Wood, not enough to be a crush like Cho, but enough so that Oliver's smile did pleasant things to his insides.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Harry smiled at McGonagall. "I don't think it's going to be a problem."

She smiled in that indulgent way "I'm glad. You shouldn't worry about it."

"Did you want something else?" Harry was ready to leave. All of these well-meaning people were going to drive him completely mad.

"Yes, actually there are two things." She looked stern again, like she wasn't happy about whatever she was going to say. "Your dorm mates know when you are not in your bed at night."

With the invisibility cloak, he'd hoped that he'd been able to conceal his comings and goings. "What can I do about it?"

"I'm going to teach you a charm that will make them think you are in you bed where you should be." She sounded more than a bit reluctant to do it.

"Brilliant." Harry said, thinking how useful that particular charm would be.

She gave him an annoyed look. "I expect you to use it only for reason it was intended and I expect you not to teach it to anyone else. Promise me."

"I promise." He let out a long sigh. That would have been quite a useful charm.

"It will only be effective if no one checks on you." McGonagall pulled out her wand and said a few words. "Repeat them for me."

Harry did as he was told, repeating the charm. He mispronounced one of the words, and she made him repeat them a second time. 

She nodded when he got it right. "Very good."

"Wasn't there something else?" Harry asked.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "The official reason for this meeting was to discuss your career plans."

"Didn't we do that last year? Not to mention fifth year?" This was about the last thing Harry had time to think about.

"We do it every year. Do you still want to be an Auror?"

Harry shrugged. He'd literally had no time to consider it. "I don't know any more. I guess I should discuss it with--"

McGonagall seemed very disapproving. "You should decide what you want to do with your life apart from any outside influences."

"That's easier said than done, given what's going on in my life." Harry hadn't given it any thought, so he looked at her and forced a smile. "I promise to think about it, Professor."

"All right. Let me know what you decide. And if I may be of any help though, please don't hesitate to ask me." McGonagall said it as if she actually meant it. 

However, he wasn't planning on spending his whole life defending Snape to people who should know better. "Yes, ma'am."

*****

"What did McGonagall want to see you about?" Hermione asked as she fell into step with Harry later in the morning.

"What do you think?" Harry didn't even try to keep the annoyance out of his tone. "She knows about the bond, too."

"Is that such a bad thing, since you're out after curfew so often?" Hermione managed to sound as disproving as McGonagall.

Swallowing his annoyance, Harry didn't look at her. "It hasn't been often yet."

Hermione folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. "It will be. Do you want to get into trouble?"

"No, of course not." Harry conceded, at least to himself, that if McGonagall knew, it would lessen the impact if someone saw him with Snape. As they were walking toward the main hall, more people gathered around, moving in that direction. "Let's not talk about this now, okay."

"Okay." Hermione smiled at him. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else."

Harry was delighted that someone had a problem for him, not about him. "What? Do you want to take a walk?"

Looking around at the people milling, Hermione nodded. "Yes. Let's go out by the lake."

"What about lunch? I'm actually kind of hungry. Maybe we can fetch something from the kitchens." 

Hermione was one step ahead of him and held up a bag. "I got something from the House Elves before I found you."

They were silent until they reached the lake. Hermione sat on the grass, under a tree. The weather for September was unreasonably warm. There were other students out enjoying their break, but none were near them.

"Tell me what the problem is," Harry said, biting into this sandwich and chewing with relish.

"I wanted to make sure you..." Hermione looked away, digging in the bag. She pulled out two bottles of juice and handed one to him. She was looking a bit nervous.

Which did not give Harry a good feeling about the coming conversation. He did not want to go through it again. "I'm so sick of people worrying about Snape and me I could vomit from it. Why can't any one realize that he isn't going to hurt me--"

"That wasn't what I was going to say." Hermione's expression became quite cross. "You forget, I know the spell. I know what it did to you and to him. I know he won't hurt you. That he can't. Soon he's going to be in love with you and you with him."

Oh. Harry looked down, feeling stupid. When would he ever learn to think before he spoke? "Sorry. I mean, I've just heard it over and over. From everyone."

"Oh, Harry. I'm sorry. I know that must be hard." Hermione put her hand on his and smiled sympathetically.

He hated it when too much sympathy was focused on him. "So, what were you going to say before I so rudely interrupted you?"

She looked away. "Just about me and Ron. That you were okay with it."

Given the way she was not looking at him again, Harry felt his worry go up another notch. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Ron told me that you and he..." She trailed off. "I was wondering, you know, if you liked it?"

"Yeah. I liked it fine." Harry was wondering where this was going and had the sudden insight that maybe he didn't want to know. "Why do you care?"

"Well, Ron said he liked it too. But that he'd rather kiss me," she said. "So, I was wondering since he did, maybe..." Her face was red. "I wanted to see if you..."

It took a second, but he got it and then his cheeks heated. "Why? I mean... why?"

"Because I want to."

That made no sense whatsoever. Harry shook his head. "To compare? Have you ever snogged anyone before?"

"Yes. Several people, as a matter of fact. I'm seventeen, remember." God, she sounded an awful lot like someone else when she said that.

Harry wondered if he was as readably defensive as she was. "Age doesn't matter in my case," he admitted, trying hard not to blush again and failing. "You'll be the third."

"Really. Why so few?" Did she have to make it sound like he was more of a freak than he already felt?

It wasn't his fault that no one wanted to kiss him. Except Snape, and even he wouldn't be doing it any time soon. "It's not like I had that many offers. Why do you want to kiss me?"

"You're quite cute." She smiled as she said it and Harry knew she had to be lying.

"No, really. Why me?" He glared at her. "It's not like you want me. I'm..." He paused and looked down. What was he, actually? "I'm safe, right?"

Hermione eyed him curiously as if she were judging what he'd asked, though why he couldn't guess. "You're my friend. I care about you. But mostly it's because you're quite cute."

"Oi. What about Ron?" An unpleasant shiver ran through him at the idea that he might come between them. He'd always loved Hermione, but she was not someone he'd ever felt that way about.

"Oh, he's cute too. I like Ron a lot. But..." She shrugged and looked down at her hands twisting in the pleats of her skirt. "Do you want to?"

Surprisingly, he did. "Yeah." He knelt up and put a hand on her face, drawing her towards him until their lips brushed. Sweet and warm, he sighed into her mouth. Pulling back slightly, he then bent again for a second one. It was better.

Hermione's tongue moved to touch his lips and he parted them, letting her explore his mouth. After a moment, she retreated and he followed, tasting her. 

Shouldn't he be feeling more than he was, Harry wondered? No matter how deeply his tongue tasted, it wasn't anything more than nice. Drawing back, he ran a hand over Hermione's hair. "Nice," he said.

"Yes--"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for unseemly public displays." Snape loomed over them, his face like thunder, but his eyes... Oh, God, his eyes. 

"Sorry, sir," Hermione started to say, "It wasn't--"

"Ten more points for not being able to keep your mouth shut when you should." Snape's sneer was vicious.

"You can't do that!" Harry was caught between his mortification that Snape had caught him and that he'd hurt him badly. "It was my fault."

"Then, ten points from you as well." Snape ground the words out and then turned, his robes flaring out around him and stalked away.

"Oh, no." Harry buried his face in his hands, his heart sinking into his shoes. "What have I done?"

"It was my fault. I asked." Hermione sounded as bad as he felt. "Is he going to forgive you?"

"I don't know." Harry sat back. He could feel that Snape was angry. More than that, he knew how deep the hurt went and it hurt him too. "It not like we have that kind of --"

Hermione was shaking her head. "Yeah, but you will. It's nearly inevitable." 

"I'm not there yet." Harry breathed out slowly, hoping his stomach would settle soon. "I might not ever be there."

"Oh, of course you will. You just don't have much experience." Hermione started to pack up their sandwiches.

"How am I supposed to get any, if he doesn't let me?" He didn't actually want to do anything with anyone else, but he didn't want to be denied the option, either.

"I think you're going to have to get it with him." Hermione's tone said believed it was inevitable. "You saw him."

"I know." The look in Snape's eyes broke Harry's heart. "I need to talk to him."

"I think you should wait until tonight. Give him a bit to calm down." Hermione stood. "We should get back, lunch is almost over."

Nodding, Harry stood as well and brushed off his trousers. "I don't think that's going to help. He's angry with me."

"Let him think about what he did and why he did it," she said, starting on the path back to the castle.

"Aside from taking forty house points from us?" That annoyed the hell out of Harry. Even other Gryffindors wouldn't have gotten that many points for a single snog. 

To his surprise, Hermione didn't seem that worried. "Well, McGonagall will take that many from Slytherin and we'll all be even again."

"Aren't you upset?" Harry asked. "What happened to the girl who cried when she lost house points?"

"I grew up, thank you very much." She gave him a wry smile. "With everything that's going on, I simply can't worry about house rivalries. We'll win the house cup or we won't. Ultimately, it won't matter in the least."

"Very mature attitude," Harry said, returning her smile. He held the door open for her. "Let's go in."

"Very good idea."

*****

Harry's guts twisted into knots at the idea of seeing Snape that night. As he slipped out of the common room, he seriously considered walking around for a while before he went to see Snape. He knew he had to face Snape at some point soon, and a delay would not put it off long enough to matter.

He slowly started down the long hall towards Snape's quarters. Whispering the password into the rooms, Harry had wondered if it might be changed. However, the door opened under his hand, as it always did. 

Pulling off the cloak, he didn't see Snape. "Professor?" 

Snape came out of one of the other rooms, Harry presumed it was a bedroom, but he'd been asked not to go beyond the sitting room, and he hadn't.

"I wasn't sure you'd turn up." Snape's tone was blank, devoid of all emotions, as were his eyes. There was no emotion coming through their bond, either. He had no idea what Snape was feeling. 

That scared Harry. He looked at Snape, trying to suppress his emotions. It was surprisingly much harder than it should have been. "Where would I go?"

"You might stay with Miss Granger, perhaps." For the briefest moment, Snape's eyes flashed with hurt, but it was gone almost before Harry could register what it was. 

"Why don't I know what you're feeling right now?" Harry looked at him. "I could feel your anger and your... surprise, this afternoon. Why can't I feel you now?"

"Because I am consciously blocking you." Snape made it sound like a reasonable thing to do, not something that was hurting both of them.

"Why?" Harry had grown very used to knowing what Snape was feeling, to the undercurrent of Snape's affections for him. To be cut off from that was alarming.

"You have no right to that." The tone was more than just emotionless now, it was as cold as ice.

Harry shuddered with unhappiness. His crime was not so great that he deserved this punishment for it. "The hell I don't. I-- "

"Mr. Potter!" Snape's voice was harsh, ugly. "You have no right to anything, not freely given. Nor do I. Do try and remember that in the future."

To his utter mortification, Harry's eyes started to sting. "Do we even have a future?" he asked, his voice cracking a little under the strain of keeping it steady.

"I don't know." Snape glared at him, but after a moment, he took a breath and looked away. "I--"

Closing his eyes tightly, Harry concentrated on breathing in and out slowly, trying to find calm, and not letting his fear get away from him. "Do you want one? A future, I mean?"

"I think you know what I want. The question is, what do you want?" Snape didn't sound so cold or feel so blank now.

Harry could hear the hurt, even if he wasn't feeling if from the bond. "Of course I want it." Then he looked right at Snape. "It's not like we've got a choice here, either."

With a deep sigh, Snape nodded, but his expression didn't yield. "I expect you're right about that. However, that does not negate the question of what you were you doing with Ms Granger." The price of asking was easy to hear in Snape's strained voice.

On the one hand, Harry was desperately sorry to have hurt Snape, on the other hand, he had a right to his own life. He felt torn in two by it, but he couldn't give in because he knew if he did, Snape would walk all over him forever. "I thought it was obvious what I was doing."

"There was no subtlety. I'll grant you that. Everyone could see just what was going on." Snape's tone was as harsh as a slap in the face.

Harry looked away. He wanted this to be over. More than that he wanted Snape to understand, so he gave a little. "It was nice, you know, but it was missing something."

Looking up, Snape's eyes were riveted on him. The relief seemed almost visible. "You didn't like it?"

"No, I did. But it wasn't..." He shrugged. There were no words to describe the feelings he felt were missing. "It was nice."

Something in Snape's face softened and his eyes flashed with triumph for a split second before going dark again. "Tell me about it."

"No. I don't want to hurt you." Besides, Harry thought, it wasn't any of Snape's business anyway. He walked to the fire place and faced it, not wanting to look at Snape. "I know it does."

"You shouldn't be feeling my emotions." Snape took a deep breath. "I'm actively blocking you out."

"You're not doing a very good job of it," Harry said, adding a touch of humor. "I don't think you can keep me out for very long."

"Apparently not." Snape sounded almost amused by it. "Turn around, Mr. Potter."

Harry obeyed. 

"Tell me about it. What was it like for you to kiss Miss Granger?" The order was absent in Snape's voice now.

"There aren't that many people who've ever asked me. I like Hermione. It was nice." He wasn't going to say he didn't like it or that it meant more than it did.

"So, she asked you." There was definitely a pleased note in Snape's voice. 

That did not sit well with Harry. "It's none of your business who asked whom."

"You're quite right." Snape still seemed pleased, but he'd managed to pull it back some before Harry took offense. "Why did she ask you?"

"She said I was cute and she was curious." He laughed bitterly at that. God, he could barely say it with a straight face.

Raising an eyebrow, Snape didn't try to hide his amusement. "You don't believe that you are worthy of such attention."

Harry couldn't believe he would ask that question. "God, are you stupid?"

"Mind your manners, Mr. Potter." Snape's tone and expression were more chiding than reprimanding.

Breathing out a sigh of absolute relief, Harry glanced up at him. "I thought I didn't have any."

"Perhaps not, but I'm still your professor." He said it in that tone that meant he was trying to maintain appropriate distance between them. 

It was something Harry tried to respect. "Sorry, sir." He looked down, trying for contrite. "No. I'm not very cute."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Snape seemed to be holding back a smile. "You're actually quite passable."

Harry glanced back up at him, disbelievingly. "Given everything, you're not the best judge of that, are you?"

Clearly losing his internal battle, Snape smiled at him. "Shall we take a poll, then? I think you'll find that there are many who find you quite--"

Holding his hands up, Harry shook his head in denial. He could not believe that they were discussing this. "Don't say it, okay? I know exactly what I look like, so you don't have to rub it in."

Some of the amusement left Snape's face. "I'm not sure that you do know, or why you don't. However, I would not tease you about it."

"Thanks." Harry detested being made fun of, especially about his looks. He was glad Snape wouldn't go on about it.

Snape inclined his head, still looking like he was holding back a smile. "We shall have to disagree on this one point."

"Only one?" Harry grinned, happy to let the entire subject go completely. "I think we disagree on several points."

"Back to Miss Granger--"

"No," Harry pleaded. "I don't want to talk about it. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I still don't want to talk about it."

"All right. Will you be doing it again?" There was more than that question in his words. Snape's face was blank.

What he could feel from the bond told him that Snape trying to bury his unhappiness. It upset him more than he cared to admit. "What do you expect of me?" Harry asked.

"Nothing." Even as Snape said it, Harry knew he was lying.

Harry looked at him, but Snape wouldn't look back. "You were very angry this afternoon."

"I was more startled than angry. I hadn't realized you would be able to be with anyone else." Snape tried to keep the blank expression and the matter-of-fact tone, but Harry could see through it even without the bond.

"That wasn't being with someone else, that was a kiss." Harry closed his eyes and took a breath. Maybe it was better to come clean totally. "It's not the first one since we've--"

In the space of one second, Snape went from amicable to outraged. His voice was raw as he rasped out, "Who?"

Harry folded his arms over his chest and thought hard about whether or not he actually wanted to answer that question. So much for having his own life. 

This time it was Snape who looked down and he could feel his wrath pulled back forcibly. "You are correct. I have no right to ask."

"No. You don't." Harry tried not to feel the hurt that was coming from Snape. It was impossible. "It was Ron."

"So, both Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger felt the need to... kiss you." Again, there was a nearly audible relaxation from Snape.

"Well, yes." He looked at Snape. "Why doesn't it bother you?"

"Because unless I'm wrong, they are going to end up with each other, neither of them has real designs on you." Snape sounded very sure of himself. 

"What if they did?"

"I would not be pleased." Snape met his eyes seriously. "However, I'm not sure there is anything I could do about it."

"That's right. Just so you understand that." As hard as it was to do it, Harry continued to hold Snape's gaze. It would be worse to let him have his way all the time. "I don't belong to you."

"Yet." Snape pointed one long finger at him. "There will come a time..."

"You don't know that." Harry knew he was just mouthing the words, worse, he suspected that Snape knew it, too.

When pushed, Snape was not above rubbing his nose in it, though. "I would say that you are too young to realize that, but given your previous response to that, I suspect I would be wiser not to."

"Good thinking." Harry looked over at Snape. "Are we okay now?"

"There was never a problem." Snape's mild expression and words did not match what had happened.

Harry knew he was lying and it infuriated him. Who did Snape think he was kidding? "You know, it's not going to work that way. We're not going to brush our disagreements under the mat and ignore them.

Snape's expression changed to puzzled. "Mr. Potter. I'm doing nothing of the sort. If you feel the need--"

"No. Okay. We have to be honest with each other if we're going to do this."

Looking exasperated, Snape stood and stalked to the fireplace to stand beside him, looking down into his face. "There is no 'doing this'. There is no choice here. In case you've managed to forget, we are blood bonded. There is no room for anything else."

"Fine. It's late. I should go back to the dorm." He'd had enough of this roller-coaster. Harry picked up his cloak and put it around him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Mr. Potter," Snape said, his tone finally at neutral as if there was nothing left to say.

Putting a hand on the door, Harry felt reluctance to leave. He hesitated, unsure he should push beyond what was comfortable, but not wanting to stay, either.

"Is something wrong?" Snape asked, moving closer to him.

With his fingers flat on the wood, all he need do was push and the door would open. He couldn't quite bring himself to do it. "It's weird. I want to leave, but I can't quite do it."

"Do you think you can leave?" Snape's eyes showed his concern.

"I think so, but I'll have to force myself to do it." Harry turned back and stared at the door for a moment or two, then stepped away. "I think that we may have strained the bond again."

"Or I did, by trying to block you out." Snape closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, regarding Harry thoughtfully. "I'm curious about why it manifests itself in you rather than me?"

"Just lucky I guess." Harry was not amused by the situation. It seemed woefully unfair to him that he had to suffer this. He sighed. Yeah, life wasn't fair, and he shouldn't be surprised by it. "Should we talk to the Headmaster again?"

Snape shook his head. "I don't know how it could help. We recognize the problem. I'm not sure what we can do about it."

The idea of leaving now left him more... disturbed than even a few minutes ago. "What if I were to stay here until right before dawn? I could slip back into the tower with none the wiser."

"You're truly not stupid enough to believe that, are you?" No matter how hard Snape tried, he couldn't fling insults like he used to. 

"McGonagall--"

"That's Professor McGonagall," Snape said automatically with a note of censure in his tone."

Harry sighed at Snape's pointed look. "Professor McGonagall gave me a charm to cast on my bed to make it seem occupied."

"Did she?" Snape looked and sounded completely appalled by that. "Why?"

Fighting a blush, Harry nodded. "I think she thought I'd be sleeping with you and didn't want anyone else to know."

Twin spots of color appeared on Snape's cheeks. "Dear Merlin."

"I need to stay."

"Make yourself comfortable on the sofa. I have papers to grade." Snape started for his desk.

As he moved away, Harry felt strangely abandoned. "What if..." Harry trailed off. He didn't want to sound like a prat.

"What, if what?" Snape asked, waiting.

"What if you sat with me?" He held up a hand to forestall Snape's objections. "If we strain the bond by pulling apart, what if we try to ease it by being closer together."

For a moment, Snape was silent, considering. "It is certainly worth a try. We can't be in each other's company at all times. Come, sit down."

Sitting down, Harry rummaged through his bag and found his book. Snape gathered some papers from his desk before he sat down beside him, straight backed and stiff as a board. 

Not quite what Harry had in mind. He opened the book and turned sideways, leaning against Snape's shoulder and side.

"What are you doing?" Snape's voice sounded strained, uncomfortable.

With a sigh, Harry glared at him. Why did Snape have to be so bloody difficult? "Don't you think that it can tell you're uncomfortable? Relax. I'm not going to bite you."

"Shouldn't I be the one who is reassuring you?" There was a touch of amusement in Snape's tone.

Harry started to relax. "I think that might be the trouble. You're trying to keep your distance from me."

"What would you have me do?"

"Just relax for now." Harry nestled closer, contentment washing over him. It felt so good to be near enough to soak up Snape's presence.

With a windy sigh, Snape settled an arm across Harry's chest from the side. "All right?"

"Good." Harry settled back against him and started to study.