"May I have my letter back?"
"No," Snape said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"It is his," Hermione pointed out, though Harry tried to shush her.
Snape's only reply was to toss three wands onto the Persian carpet underfoot before he stalked out.
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"What the hell was that, Harry?" Ron demanded the minute the door slammed shut.
Harry put a finger to his lips as he fetched his wand and performed the most thorough Silencio he could. He hoped it would be enough; he didn't know how to cast Imperforable. Gesturing to his friends to join him at the far side of the room, he sat with them on the cold granite floor. When Snape had slammed the door upon leaving, the harem scene had vanished, but that was all right; Harry didn't think it had been what he'd needed, anyway.
"Use quiet voices," he cautioned.
"All right," Ron whispered back. "What the hell was that? Answer me, this time."
"It's true that I can't tell you what I'd like to," Harry stressed.
"That's not what I'm asking and you know it," Ron shot back, his whisper furious, this time. "What was that with Snape? I'm sorry I dropped the letter, Professor!" he snidely mimicked. "What was that, Harry? He tortures you in Potions, makes fun of your scar and encourages the Slytherins to do the same, assigns you an extra test for no reason at all and gives you detention because you actually do it, then tries to hex Hermione right of of her mind, and all you can do is ask him to sit down, please. You practically offered him tea!"
"Don't be a prat," Harry growled. "I stopped him from hexing Hermione! All you could do about it was mumble about our stupid house points!"
"Stupid!" Ron objected.
"Yeah, stupid," Harry confirmed.
Ron looked to say more, but Hermione held up a hand to confirm, "Compared to what Harry's facing, Ron, they are." With that, she leaned in so close that her nose nearly bumped Harry's. "You said he wouldn't really do Obliviate. I guess you were right, but what made you so sure?"
Harry's answering smile was grim. "I know for a fact that he can do it without a wand, that's how," he explained, thinking of Snape spelling the reception nurse at Frimley Park. "He was putting on a big show of doing it, but if he'd really intended to do it, he'd have just gone ahead."
"Vicious bastard," Ron breathed. "Making Hermione think a thing like that. What did she ever do to him?"
Good question, Harry realised, but there was in fact an answer. "Well, third year all three of us did hex him," he remembered out loud. "And we never even got punished. For attacking a teacher! I'm thinking that little scene, taking our wands, was Snape's way of getting even."
Yeah, he's big on things being even . . .
"Anyway, it doesn't matter," Harry continued, still in a whisper so low that Silencio probably wasn't even necessary. "What matters is that you do keep your own counsel, both of you. I'll have to go away again --don't ask me for what, but I bet you can guess-- and while I'm gone, you just stick to whatever cover story I spread around the Tower, all right? It's important. Not just for me, but for the war."
"We'd never endanger you, Harry," Hermione swore. "Are you . . . I mean, can I ask, are you going to be gone for more than a weekend, this time?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But do what you can to keep me up in class, will you?" He paused, uncomfortable. "Are we all right, now? I can't tell you, and I'm sorry I can't tell you, but I will let you in on everything just as soon as it's all . . . settled."
"Well, we weren't going to stop being your friends, Harry," Hermione said in a startled tone. "We love you."
Harry hugged them, wishing he could tell them how scared he was. But he couldn't. All he could do was hang on.
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The stairways in Gryffindor Tower were misbehaving more than usual, Harry thought as he trudged upward in Ron and Hermione's wake, but all was explained when he saw the Potions Master lurking in the shadows, crooking one tapered finger to indicate that Harry should follow.
Harry hesitated, hating all the subterfuge, but with a sigh, acquiesced.
"Hey," he called up the staircase, "I'm going to go talk to Dobby for a bit, all right?"
"Bring us back some pudding," Ron said as he and Hermione turned a corner.
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Snape didn't speak until he had drawn Harry into an unused office halfway to the dungeons and cast wards across the door. It was pitch black inside, and Harry was tempted to get out his wand and utter Lumos, but he decided he'd just as soon not see the look on his teacher's face.
"I've discussed your letter with the headmaster," Snape announced, his deep voice eerie in the dark. "Be prepared to floo out of here early in the morning on the 22nd. We'll use his office as before."
"We?" After the scene in the Room of Requirement, Harry hadn't been sure.
"After a fashion." Snape curled a lip. "I'll look once more like that beast you call a friend."
Harry thought that over, surprised to find himself a little disappointed. He didn't like it, he realised, when the boundary between Snape and Remus blurred beyond recognition. He liked even less the feeling of not knowing where he stood. Things had been clear, before. Convoluted, but clear, if that made sense. Now, everything was in murk. "I suppose the disguise is necessary," Harry murmured. "Um, sir?"
He could almost feel Snape's glance as it speared him through the blackness. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry I had to yell at you."
"Is that supposed to be an apology, Potter?"
It took Harry a moment to figure out what his teacher meant, then he felt a little chagrined, though it was difficult to figure out why. "Yes, sir. It was supposed to be."
A low noise echoed off the granite walls. Harry was slow to recognise it as dark, grim laughter. "Sir?"
"I was just thinking of Mr Weasley's face when you uttered that foul word."
"Oh," replied Harry, not sure what to say to that. "Well then, good night, sir."
"A moment, Mr Potter."
Harry turned back, nervous despite Snape's apparent calm. But of course he couldn't see the man, so maybe that accounted for his feeling of unease.
"Why did you say the matter had to do with the Order?"
Harry shifted on his feet. "Doesn't it? I figured if it's Order business to stand guard duty on me all summer, then my wards would be, too, and by extension this whole . . . project. Why?"
"Mention of the Order was the one thing likely to gain your friends' agreement to our terms."
"Uh-huh," Harry returned, still feeling confused.
Robes rustled as Snape swept nearer. "I'd thought you'd said it to manoeuvre them."
Slytherin, Harry thought, and winced. "No. Just being honest. As much as I could."
Snape raised his voice a fraction. "Do you believe Miss Granger to be just as honest? If she scurries to the library to investigate, and Mr Malfoy makes it his business to follow her research track, the Death Eaters could well reason out what you are doing, and why."
Harry shook his head in the dark. "Malfoy's not so likely to follow Hermione around the library, Professor."
"I assure you, it is all too likely he will do precisely that," Snape snapped. "He'll suspect she knows something about your disappearance. He'll be looking for any clue he can pass to his father!" Another rustle, and the voice spoke right beside his ear. "Lucius Malfoy will not hesitate to kill your aunt and cousin, Mr Potter, to dismantle the wards. And you will be next."