The Best Day of Snape's Life
After being shouted at by Remus for an hour, Snape stepped through the fireplace with Sirius in tow. Harry was then yelled at by Sirius for another hour whilst Snape, the smug loser, watched from the corner of the kitchen.
Help me! He mouthed to Snape, who just smirked at him and mimed taking a picture with a camera. Harry pouted.
Then Poppy came through and fussed over Harry, giving him potions and casting diagnostic spells.
"Cruciatus, again? Whatever did you get yourself into this time?"
"Oh trust me Madame Pomfrey, he asked for them." Sirius growled. "He's lucky I'm not adding a third one to the mix!"
"Fire away, bet yours would feel like being a tickled by a feather compared to Voldy's." Harry retorted, sticking his tongue out at his godfather. He would have made a rude gesture, but his hands were still shaking from the cruciatus. Snape snorted at the insult.
Once Poppy had been given the entire story she berated Harry and then hugged him tight before leaving, ordering him to come back to Hogwarts for further treatment once Molly was done with him. Harry gulped.
Molly. Was. Furious. She ignored him at first, storming in to the kitchen and coming back with fly swatter. Harry stood up and backed away. It was no use.
10 whacks on the arm later and an even worse verbal lashing, Molly pulled him into a hug and sobbed.
"Thank goodness you're alive!" She repeated over and over, then thanked him for sending Ron and Ginny home. From the smug look on Snape's face, Harry assumed he'd quite literally told the Order everything.
Moody clapped him on the shoulder and said "Well done, kid." To the annoyance of literally everyone else in the room. Tonks ruffled his hair and said he owed her for many nights of lost sleep for nothing. Amelia Bones showed up, wanting to hear the whole story, and to thank Harry for keeping Susan out of it.
The twins had apparently missed the entire fight due to Molly locking them in the attic and warding it, so when they finally emerged, disgruntled, they laughed as Harry continued to be told off by Remus and Sirius, who were apparently trying to make up for Moody and Tonks's praise.
Charlie didn't say a word, just stood next to Moody, grinning, whilst Bill ran a few more scans over Harry that most healers didn't know.
"Curse-breakers work with dark magic, we have to know more spells to combat threats others wouldn't think of." He explained, then gave Harry a high five and pretended he knew absolutely nothing about anything except what he'd heard at the ministry.
Harry thought he did quite a good job. Only Snape seemed suspicious but that was pretty standard for the dour man, who was looking at Bill with his lip curled slightly.
Dumbledore stepped through the fireplace, and the room fell silent.
He sat down opposite Harry, and looked him dead in the eye. Harry smiled.
"Explain." Was all Dumbledore said. So Harry did.
"After my ministry hearing, me and Susan went to the hall of prophecies." He said, unashamed. "Sorry for lying to you though, Mr Weasley."
"Why?" Dumbledore urged, frowning slightly. Harry shrugged.
"Because in one out of our many, many successful attempts to gate-crash your Order meetings, we got hold of a map of the ministry with the department of mysteries circled. Then we got hold of the rota. I took them out, duplicated them, then came back in the room for the second "attempt" to join you and returned them unnoticed. You were all so distracted with telling me to get out that you weren't paying attention to what I was doing. Rookie mistake, really. Not very constant vigilance of you." Harry looked briefly at Moody, who huffed but nodded in agreement.
"You understand how foolish and dangerous this was to do, especially with the connection you have to Voldemort? " Dumbledore asked, interlocking his fingers. "He could have seen critical information through you and gained a lead in the oncoming war."
"No more foolish and dangerous than letting myself be kept in the dark." Harry pointed out.
Dumbledore sighed. "Continue."
"So anyway, after my hearing I went and found Susan, we broke into the hall of prophecies - well, sort of, we kind of befriended an unspeakable who let us in, since she'd been fired the same day and was salty about being forced to finish her shift unpaid- and we found the one Voldy was looking for."
"Harry, you had no idea about the connection you had with Voldemort back then. He could have seen you, he could have attacked you-"
"No, I knew." Harry interrupted, shoving his irritation down. "I've known since summer before fourth year, when the dreams started. I just didn't realise I could manipulate the connection until later."
Dumbledore looked at Harry with disappointment and a flicker of sadness. "Why didn't you tell me?" The Headmaster asked softly.
".... do you really want me to answer that?" Harry asked, brow raised.
"Yes." Dumbledore said calmly.
Harry sighed. "Because you didn't ask."
Snape smirked and Remus pinched the bridge of his nose with exasperation.
"Anyway, once my name came out of the goblet and Draco decided he was no longer a bratty ferret, he taught me occlumency. Actually I take that back, he's definitely still a bratty ferret, just a less unnecessarily nasty one"
"Did he really teach you occlumency?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Sort of. I'd learnt to shut off thoughts and emotions already due to, you know, abuse, but he gave me some further reading material and we practiced occlumency as a group. Draco and Neville were taught it as children, due to being members of the Sacred 28, so they were skilled enough to use basic level Legilimency to help us practice." Harry explained, smirking when Dumbledore flinched at his sly mention of the Dursleys.
"How did you become so advanced?" Snape was the one to ask, which got him lots of surprised looks. "I am a master of the art, best in country, and even I could not enter your mind." Snape looked pained to admit it. Harry beamed.
"Oh, I just let Voldy in a few times and then practiced kicking him out. Sometimes I would drag him in and push him out again, like a yo-yo! He didn't like it much, and I never let him see anything he shouldn't, so he liked it even less." Harry grinned proudly, then winced at the furious look on Sirius' face. Whoops.
"You idiotic, reckless little-"
Dumbledore held up a hand, and Sirius fell silent.
"Wow, you really are cranky today." Harry commented. Sirius snarled at him. "Just so you know, I still don't regret keeping you from joining the fight, even if it made you grumpy."
"I'm angry because you could've been killed, Harry! You've been throwing yourself into danger at every given opportunity and letting Voldemort into your head! It's insane!" Sirius regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, snapping his jaw shut and clenching his fists tightly.
Harry stood up. "You lot sitting around and protecting some stupid prophecy when you could've just smashed it is what's insane! It's like you wanted to Voldemort to get it!" He glared fiercely at his godfather, who met his gaze and then dropped his head slightly. Harry was right, and everyone knew it. Except, apparently, for Dumbledore.
"Harry, your godfather is correct. That was incredibly foolish of you. Voldemort could have broken through your barriers, he could have given you visions, even possessed you-"
"Yes, but he didn't. And whilst you all had concerns about this, no one told me, or spoke to me, or offered to help, so I just took matters into my own hands." Harry said, arms crossed and a very Snape-like look on his face. Snape was almost, almost slightly proud.
"Did you listen to the prophecy?" Harry knew he was still in deep trouble, but he could also see the exhaustion on everyone's faces. Except for Snape, who was a blank slate.
Harry weighed up his options. Lying right now would be futile, but telling part of the truth? Yes, that could work.
"Yes." He said. "And before you ask, yes, the whole thing. Then we smashed it."
"Susan heard it too?" Dumbledore clarified.
"Yes."
"Does she-"
"Of course she knows occlumency, Albus, do not take me for a fool!" Hissed Amelia. Harry really hoped he hadn't gotten Susan in too much trouble.
"So, you know what will come to pass, then?" Dumbledore sounded old. Really old. Harry nodded.
"Neither can live while the other survives." He quipped, letting the cold, resignated anger settle at he glared at the headmaster. Nothing needed to be said. It was clear Harry was in the upper hand once again.
"You can be as angry as you like for what happened today." He said, to everyone in the room. "But I don't regret anything. Baiting Bellatrix allowed me to get the others back to Hogwarts. Keeping Sirius away from his cousin probably saved his life. Tricking Voldemort into appearing at the Ministry will force Fudge to admit the truth. I know the risk the Ministry could go dark if Fudge resigns, but it's worth it if people know the threat is real, before it is too late. Now Umbridge will stop terrorising students, Dumbledore can return to the school, and Hogwarts will be a safe place for children again." He sat back down again and let out a sigh.
"Harry." Harry looked up at Dumbledore. "You need to be more careful going forwards. Voldemort will be after you more now than ever before. You have made yourself a target." Harry rolled his eyes.
"I was already a target, Professor. I've been a target since I was a baby." Harry pointed at his scar.
"You do not know the full extent of what you up against, my boy-"
"I am not your BOY!" Harry yelled. "I know, okay? I've faced him five times now, I know exactly who I'm fighting. I know that either me or him will die, and that the whole fate of the world rests on that. I'm not an idiot, Headmaster!"
Dumbledore hesitated, as if he wanted to correct Harry, to tell him just how dangerous Voldemort truly was. Harry raised a brow. Dumbledore seemed to make up his mind and whatever he was planning on telling Harry remained unsaid. Harry masked his triumph. It appeared some secrets would be kept a little longer.
"Potter needs to go to the hospital wing." Snape said curtly, stepping forwards. He looked a bit disappointed that the second verbal dance war he had witnessed between Harry and the Headmaster was drawing to a close, but unfortunately the boy's health was important. To everyone except Potter himself and Dumbledore, apparently.
"Yes, we should probably head back to castle." Dumbledore said, although his mind was clearly elsewhere. "I've dealt with the Ministry for now. There will be a newspaper article announcing Voldemort's return by morning and there will be an Order meeting tomorrow at 11. Severus, if you could escort Harry back to Hogwarts I would be most grateful. I must go to St Mungos first and check on Minerva."
"Is Professor McGonagall going to be okay?" Harry asked worriedly. For the first time that day, Dumbledore looked sympathetic.
"Yes, Harry. It was unlikely for a while, but they have managed to get her stable."
Dumbledore turned to leave, but Harry called his name. He paused, waiting.
"It's the reason I did it tonight." Harry admitted. "What they did to her."
For the first time in two years, Harry and Dumbledore looked at each other without any sort of hatred or anger or disappointment, from either party.
"I know." Dumbledore said softly, and disapparated with a crack.
Snape took Harry back through the floo, and pulled him out of the fireplace in the Hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey shooed him into bed instantly, and Snape cast a few more diagnostics whilst the mediwitch handed Harry vials of potions.
"Dreamless sleep?" Harry stopped on the midnight blue potion. Snape smirked at him.
"The one you yourself brewed, Potter." There was no bite to his tone, and Harry grinned at him.
Fifth year had changed many things. Susan and Astoria had joined the group, Snape was much less snappy and surly, only in classes, public places or when Harry deserved it (which, to be fair, was most of the time). Harry knew Snape's role, his responsibility.
The truth was harsh, and unforgiving. He had gone from loving Dumbledore until fourth year, to hating his guts, to knowing far too much about Dumbledore's very dodgy past and his trauma.
He didn't trust the Headmaster. He never would. That's why some things were better kept to himself.
The next day, Harry got absolutely torn apart by his friends. The five that had accompanied him were furious he sent them away and offered himself as bait. The ones that stayed behind heard about him sending the others away and offering himself up as bait, and were furious. So they were all mad at him for sending them away and offering himself up as bait, basically.
Then they forgave him like always and he promised not to do it again, even though all of them knew he would.
The twins and Lee returned to school now that Umbridge was gone.
"We're going to sit our NEWTS and then return to the shop." Lee explained when they burst into the Great Hall, smiling sheepishly at the Headmaster.
And then they were gone.
NEWTS were sat, and the Gryffindors played their final match with the twins and Angelina. They didn't win the cup that year, but they cheered and cried and hugged anyway.
Harry had taken a liking to his Fly Squasher badge, and wore it everywhere.
"Everyone thinks we are in some weird relationship." Draco grumbled one morning. Harry grinned.
"Sorry Draco, but I like girls."
"So do- Don't look at me like that, Potter!" Harry laughed harder, and whacked Draco with his new favourite weapon: the fly swatter.
On the train ride back to King's cross, the poor fly swatter was chucked out of the window by a seething Daphne. Other than that, the group had fun playing card games, laughing, and taking hilarious photos on Colin's camera.
"We've barely seen you this year, mate, where've you been?" Ron asked the fourth year boy, ruffling his hair.
"Oh, you know, I've had places to be." Colin blushed, and they teased him for a solid ten minutes before Harry hit them all with a tickling charm. Colin fled.
When the train stopped, there were only a few goodbyes to be made. Neville, Susan and Luna were returning home for the first few weeks, and then they would come to Grimmauld place again for the rest of the summer. Ginny was going with Luna, as was Astoria, and Daphne and Draco were staying in Grimmauld place with the others.
Daphne's parents had left the country to avoid the war, so Daphne and Astoria had asked to remain at Hogwarts and stay with the Order in the holidays. Their parents had reluctantly agreed, but reserved the right to change their minds at any given moment.
Draco's mother had finally fled Malfoy Manner, and was in hiding at Grimmauld also. Harry couldn't wait to meet her. Draco definitely could wait for Harry to meet her. Like, really, really could.
Molly, Arthur, Remus and Sirius met them on the platform. They left swiftly, saying their hellos somewhere safer. Harry and the twins were delighted to see McGonagall waiting for them in the kitchen, still very pale but looking far less frail.
And, for the first time in a while, all was well.