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Lost and Damned	By : danniperson Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 24087 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the characters or the world or anything, and I make absolutely no profit from this.

Chapter List
- 73
- 74
- 75
LOST AND DAMNED

If You Hear Me Let Me Know

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Severus Snape.

Harry watched the name as it moved down one corridor on the Marauder's Map. He hadn't known he had brought the Map…It had somehow ended up tucked into Severus's Potions textbook and it had fallen out when Hermione was pulling out books a few days ago. Harry found himself obsessed with watching the Map every chance he got. He watched nervously while classmates were found alone with either of the Carrows or any of his friends were alone with the more dangerous Slytherins and grinned whenever he saw Neville, Ginny, Luna, or any of his other friends or D.A. members together. Sometimes he liked to imagine what it was they were doing…He would see Neville and Ginny's names together in the Gryffindor common room and daydream of the two of them restarting the D.A. and thinking of ways to undermine the rule of the Carrows (and Severus, he supposed, since they'd think of him as the villain)…at the same time, they weren't always great dreams. Every time he saw Luna alone with Amycus Carrow he worried, thinking that Amycus was performing unspeakable tortures on her.

"But you must realize that the Carrows are just as fanatic and loyal servants to the Dark Lord as the Lestranges are. They are just as sadistic. Students will be hurt even if I did everything in my power to stop them." Severus had said.

It was early October…School had been back in for a little over a month now. Harry wished he had found the Map in early September so he could have kept track of the entire term…as it was, he was just glad to have some sort of connection to Hogwarts. He kept it with him at all times now in the moleskin purse Hagrid had given him for his birthday along with the Snitch Dumbledore had left him, the two way mirror Sirius had left him, and a few other smaller objects of importance. He pulled it out for a glance now and then and studied it when he had more time to himself when Hermione wasn't breathing down his neck, demanding he take their search more seriously.

She was worse when she was wearing the locket, and since she was the one who had it now, Harry had to be cautious of when he looked at the Map. As Hermione was taking a shower, though, Harry figured he could take a break to watch Hogwarts. It was dinnertime at Hogwarts, almost all of the names on the map being gathered in the Great Hall. He ran his finger over Severus's name, imagining him sitting in the chair that Dumbledore normally sat at at the Head Table, scowling at students, probably insulting someone's intelligence right about now.

With everyone in the Great Hall, there was little point in searching the rest of the areas on the Map, but he made a quick look to the empty Room of Requirement and to the infirmary. He frowned when he saw the names Hannah Abbot, Terry Boot, Romilda Vane, Michael Corner, Seamus Finnigan, and Demelza Robins all there. There were even a few names he didn't recognize…Dasha Agron, Darryl Wyatt, Tarson Shay, Rachel Hooper, and Klaine Dover. A grand total of eleven students in the infirmary, and this wasn't even the worst Harry had seen it. There had been fifteen the first day Harry looked at the Map. Harry didn't even want to think about why they were all there, only watching as Poppy Pomfrey's name moved around the room, fluttering from one bed to another, more than likely, feeding students potions they probably would much rather dump down a toilet than down their throats.

Looking at the infirmary just made him feel guilty and he eyed the books and parchment, inkpots and quills that littered the table…Notes and readings that didn't seem to be getting them much of anywhere. Sighing heavily, Harry was ready to close the parchment when he caught sight of three names moving down a corridor…Neville, Ginny, and Luna were all together! Harry was curious to see where they were going, but he heard movement on the stairs and quickly folded up the Map and put it back into the moleskin bag around his neck and grabbed the nearest stack of parchment and books and pulled them towards him. Hermione had been fussing at him enough these days and Harry did not want to hear any more of it.

He glanced down at the notes he had taken position of and grabbed a quill and threw it down when he realized it was broken and reached for another one. The parchment said the same things, nothing new…In fact, as he flipped through the different sheets of parchment in his stack, most of them just repeated the same things over and over again. Hermione seemed to feel that it was helpful if she was writing something, even if they hadn't come up with anything new in so long.

Horcruxes

Diary (destroyed by basilisk fang)

Ring (destroyed by Dumbledore?)

Locket (Slytherin) (found)

Cups (Huffelpuff)

Snake

Something of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Most likely Ravenclaw.

Places

Godric's Hollow?

Hogwarts?

Orphanage

Borgin and Burkes

Albania?

Ministry of Magic?

Gringotts?

There was also a list of "Destruction Attempts" that had every item but basilisk fangs (diary, success) crossed out as a failure. No spell or magical object they had tried thus far had worked on the locket.

"Did you manage to think of anything?" Hermione asked as she entered the room.

"No," Harry replied, biting his tongue as Hermione sighed heavily. He wanted to snap at her, as she hadn't come up with anything new in weeks, either. Most of the ideas they did have had various question marks beside them, as Hermione always found reasons to doubt everything they came up with.

"We really should start looking soon," Hermione said irritably, sitting down beside him and snatching the parchment out from in front of him to bring them back to herself. She drew a large X over the top sheet and placed a fresh piece of parchment on top, dipping the tip of her quill into an inkpot. "It's not doing us any good just sitting around here staring at each other."

"Yes, but we have to come up with a plan," Harry said, trying not to snap. It was the same excuse Hermione gave every time he suggested they just go out and look. It was too risky and stupid to go out with no forethought and no real idea of what to do or where, exactly to look.

"Well, then, let's come up with one," Hermione said sharply. "Where do you think we should start?"

"We could always try Borgin and Burkes," Harry said with a sigh, already anticipating the same old arguments to show up.

"Yes, well…I don't know that Borgin and Burkes should really be on the list," Hermione said with a frown. "It is in Knockturn Alley, you know…It could too easily be sold or stolen or something there."

"Right," Harry said. "Unless there was a place in the shop he was able to hide it. I doubt he'd leave anything just lying on a shelf, Hermione."

"True," Hermione said, pursing her lips. "It's still a bit dangerous…Loads of Death Eaters are sure to be around there and I'd rather not do anything too risky right off the bat."

"The orphanage, then?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Sensing his frustrations, Hermione glared up at him. "Might as well, I suppose," she said with a heavy sigh that assured him that she didn't really want to. She rewrote Places at the top of the blank parchment and listed out the sources of where the diary had come from, where the ring had come from, and where the locket had come from, crossing them all out neatly as she did so before writing orphanage just under them, and nothing else. Apparently she was still having serious doubts about all of their other ideas. "We should still go disguised, but as it's not exactly a Wizarding area, I think we'll be safe with some light glamours," Hermione said, setting that sheet aside and beginning a new list of all of the Horcrux ideas, crossing out all of the ones that had been found and marking an X by those that had already been destroyed. "I'm not sure if we should really bring the locket with us, though."

"I already said…I don't think it would be safe to just leave it lying around somewhere," Harry reminded her.

"Yes, but if You Know Who just so happens to be there or a Death Eater…What if they recognize it? Or…Maybe they'll be able to sense it as a Dark object or something," Hermione said.

"I doubt V…Riddle will be walking around near his old orphanage-" Harry began.

"But if a Horcrux is th-" Hermione started.

"I doubt they'd notice it," Harry interrupted. "Whoever's wearing it can just put it in their shirt or something where it can't be seen, but other than that, I doubt it will be much of a problem."

"Hmm….Alright," Hermione said, pursing her lips. "Well, it's late, so we should probably leave in the morning…We'll have to spend some time making plans, you know. We will not leave this house until we have a very clear idea of what to expect and what we should be prepared for in case anything should happen."

"I know, I know," Harry sighed, grabbing the nearest book and eying its title. It was a Dark Arts book so maybe it could be useful…In case they ran into Death Eaters or Dark objects or something like that.

"There is no need to have such an attitude about things," Hermione snapped. "This is very important!"

"I know it's important!" Harry growled. "You're the one-Never mind. Never mind, let's just read some more…some more of these books we've looked through a thousand times already. I'm surprised you don't have them all memorized by now."

Hermione flushed angrily. "Well excuse me, Harry James Potter! I sincerely apologizing for wanting to be as thorough as possible! I am also terribly sorry that my capacity to recall information is not as proficient as you would prefer! I will take these to the living room," Hermione declared, standing up and gathering a large pile of books into her arms. "You know where to find me if you manage to think of anything."

Harry glared at her as she marched off to the living room, slamming his Dark Arts book hard onto the table in frustration.

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Why students thought they could so easily break into the headmaster's office was beyond Severus. It was midway through dinner when his pocket watch began to tingle, tickling his leg in an unpleasant manner. He set up the wards to connect to one particular object (he had chosen his watch…something that had practical use other than alerting him to the state of the wards around the headmaster's office, that he would carry at all times) that would let him know through various signals various things happening within the office. It tingled when the office was broken into, it squealed when someone was requesting entrance, burning when someone was in the Floo, cooling whenever Dark magic or objects were near, and several other things.

He had at least eaten a good deal and was no longer very interested in food the time it happened. "I have matters to attend to…You two keep an eye on things," Severus instructed the Carrows, who always seemed to be on either side of him. Severus wasn't all too worried about leaving them in charge…He had said it loudly enough so that the other professors would be aware and probably wouldn't leave before the Carrows, to make sure they were around if any of the students needed them.

Severus moved swiftly from the Great Hall to his office, growling the password and started up the moving staircase. The door of his office opened the time he reached it and he sneered at the sight of Longbottom, Weasley, and Lovegood all facing him with equal looks of shock. Longbottom was carrying the Sword of Gryffindor. Severus quirked an eyebrow and stepped closer until they were forced to back away.

"You were so eager to break into my office, I do not see why you are rushing to leave it just yet," Severus said. "Sit."

Their eyes were ablaze with anger and defiance and Severus wanted to throttle them. They were foolish, all of them…They had easily been punished the most out of anyone in Hogwarts this past month. Longbottom had only gotten out of the infirmary for a Dark Arts "accident" a few days ago! They were just asking for more…They needed to take a few notes from his Slytherins in the arts of self preservation and subtlety. "Now!" Severus barked when none of them moved.

Reluctantly, the three moved back into the office and sat in the chairs around his desk. Severus moved easily to his desk, pausing long enough to rip the sword from Longbottom's arms.

"Careful, you could have hurt him!" Weasley snapped.

"Not nearly the correct amount of harm that should befall a thief," Severus assured her. "Well, Longbottom, are you bleeding?"

"No," Longbottom snarled, though he didn't even bother looking at himself.

"Is there any reason the three of you thought you might get away with breaking into this office?" Severus demanded.

"We assumed the Ayviels would slow you down, but I find it is often difficult to get invisible creatures to do what you want," Loony Lovegood remarked simply.

Longbottom gaped at her in disbelief and Severus could only raise an eyebrow before turning to the two more reasonable students.

"We figured getting the sword was worth whatever punishment you or any other Death Eater can come up with," Weasley said confidently.

Idiotically.

"The Sword is not yours to take," Severus told them.

"And it isn't yours to keep," Longbottom said. He was far more confident these days than Severus could ever remember seeing of the once chubby, shy, unskilled brat.

"I…beg…to differ," Severus said firmly. "The Sword, like many other objects in this room, belong in this room in the care of the current Hogwarts headmaster. Being as I am the school's headmaster, I assure you it is more rightfully mine than you care to realize."

"It's the Sword of Gryffindor…It belongs to Gryffindors," Longbottom argued.

"You three," Severus said, choosing to ignore Longbottom's comments…He had more important things to do than argue with these foolish students, "will serve detention this Saturday at nightfall in the Forbidden Forest with Professor Hagrid."

The three did a rather good job of schooling their expressions, but Severus caught every flash of surprise and mischief and pleasure in their eyes. Detention with Hagrid was no problem…Harry and Draco and he believed a few of Harry's other friends had all served detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest as first years. Hagrid would certainly protect the students and it wasn't as though they had never been in the Forbidden Forest before. What would undoubtedly be a horrifying idea of detention to most, to these three (and perhaps these days it looked better to everyone than the alternative with the Carrows) it would be a piece of cake. Severus smirked as though he had just given them the most deliciously evil punishment he could muster and was relieved he had managed to find a couple of different options regarding detentions that he could give students to save them from the Carrows whenever he could.

"I will also take ten points from each of you," Severus said. "Now, go to your common rooms and try not to be as idiotically foolish as you normally are."

They glared at him as they stood up to leave and Severus watched them as they moved…Catching every backwards glance, every sneer, every muttered word spoken between friends. Severus relaxed in his chair the moment the door closed and he groaned as he rubbed his temples.

Things were bad enough as it was without rebels like those three.

"Completely insolent whelps," Phineas Nigellus muttered.

"To be fair, they do not understand where Severus's true loyalties lie," Armando Dippet pointed out.

"Nonsense," Phineas said. "There is no excuse for such blatant disrespect."

"Ah, Phineas. We are at war," Albus pointed out. "If there was ever such a time to forget niceties, it would be now. They are merely standing up for themselves."

"They did no such thing!" Phineas argued. "They broke into the headmaster's office to steal an artifact that belongs to this school!"

"Someone would do well to point out," added Dexter Fortescue, "that under the reign of Dolores Umbridge, the office would not let her in. Surely the fact that Severus is able to reside here says something to them."

"They are Gryffindors, Dexter," Severus replied dryly. "They do not think, they merely do."

There was a roar of disagreement from Gryffindor headmasters of Hogwarts' past and only Albus of them chuckled fondly. "Come now, Severus, not all of us Gryffindors are exactly alike."

"Many refer to Albus as the greatest wizard of all time," pointed out Dilys Derwent. "A very wise man, you were, Albus."

"Why thank you, Dilys," Albus said, nodding his head to her portrait. "Let's not forget, my dear Severus, that both of the people you have loved in your life have been from the Gryffindor house."

"We are veering far from the topic at hand," Severus grumbled, ignoring the snickers of some and the displeased mutters of others.

"You did well sending them to Hagrid," Albus commended.

Severus nodded. "Do we ever intend to give Harry the real sword?"

"Of course, my dear boy," Albus said. "All in due time."

"Forgive me, Albus, but I must ask why we are waiting," Severus said. "He and Granger have had the real locket for over a month now and I daresay they are no closer to finding another means of destroying it than they ever were."

"Gryffindors," sniffed Phineas.

"There is a time for everything, Severus," Albus said with a smile that infuriated Severus to no end. "You should take that sword to Voldemort the first opportunity you have."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Give him the fake sword? Why?"

Albus shrugged. "If he assumes he has the Sword of Gryffindor, he won't have to worry about Harry and Hermione getting it, will he?"

"It will also give these students another reason not to act so senselessly," Severus muttered, picking up the fake sword and putting it back in its place.

"Nonsense," Albus said with an amused smile. "They are a very passionate youth…They will give you hell until the end."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

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Harry spent a good hour and a half agonizing over the books Hermione had left him. He first looked all through the Half Blood Prince's book, cover to cover, searching for everything he could that might be of use in its margins or even in the text's actual content, once he thought about it. Most of the spells he found, though, were vague…Sectumsempra wasn't the only one labeled for enemies…but he figured he wouldn't be so guilt ridden as he was over Nott last year if he had to use it against a Death Eater at the orphanage, though Harry was seriously doubting there would be anyone there. At least it was a good list to have when they did venture to more risky areas.

When he could no longer focus on books, he focused on repeating Hermione's routine of jotting down lists, though he cared little for neatness and more for jotting down everything that came to mind. Hermione was sure to shoot down all of his ideas, but it didn't hurt to try, did it? He wrote out good defenses as to why going to Godric's Hollow and Hogwarts were good ideas, even if they did have to save them for last…He even defended the choice of Albania, though Hermione had pointed out Voldemort had only fled there after he failed to kill Harry…Harry figured, though, that he might have gone there once before…There was no saying it was the first and only time Voldemort had been there, right? Who was to say he hadn't managed to bring a Horcrux with him or hadn't been able to create a new Horcrux? Albeit unlikely, but it was a possibility and it didn't do well to ignore it…Especially since they were so desperate for answers.

Hermione was still moping in the living room and Harry was glad to be away from her…He hated this, though…He wanted to make the most of his time away from the Horcrux, and he only had another two hours before he was due to wear it again. Rubbing his temples, hoping to ward off the headache he could feel coming on, he pushed away the books and notes and instead dumped out the contents of his moleskin bag and pulled the Marauder's Map to him. Dennis Creevey had joined the other names in the infirmary and Harry sighed. Severus, at least, was in his office.

It was so weird thinking of Severus as headmaster. It didn't seem quite right, him sitting at Dumbledore's chair at the Head Table or behind Dumbledore's desk…He especially found it odd to daydream about Severus bending him over that desk (though in all honesty, he had dreamed about it last night). Curiously he pulled his necklace out of his shirt and looked down at the words written there, surprised to see that instead of a Latin word or phrase as usual, it said stag. He grinned slowly and ran his thumb over the imprint…He wondered if this was the actual password to Severus's new office and how the charm on the necklace could do that, with a room change…But who else would use stag as a password? He couldn't even fully understand why Severus would…If he did, though…Well, it was a nice thought.

Pushing his thoughts away from Severus (or at least trying to), Harry put his necklace back into his shirt and grabbed the bag to put the Map back into it along with the other things he had dropped out of it. He really needed to focus on this…Even if Hermione was bitchy when she was wearing the necklace, this was serious work…and just because they hadn't discovered much yet didn't mean they still couldn't…

He dropped the Snitch back into the moleskin bag, as well as the letter from his mother to Sirius that he had found one of his first days here…He paused at the two pictures he had of Severus and himself…One of him and Severus in Severus's old rooms, lounging on the couch while the other was an animated picture of Severus and him kissing in the hall when Severus had come here. His heart felt heavy and his throat felt suddenly dry…It had been over a month since he had last seen Severus. It wasn't the longest they had gone without seeing or contacting each other, but it was getting harder. He hadn't had much time to really miss Severus, so when he did think about him, it always felt like this…hard to fully appreciate when it was so painful, but too good to give up.

After a few minutes he reluctantly put the pictures away and picked up the mirror Sirius had given him the Christmas of his fifth year. The two way mirror. Sirius had given it to him because of his lessons with Severus, offering to have Harry contact him with it if Severus gave him too much trouble. Harry had never used it before and had never even thought about it until now! He wasn't sure why. He had only packed it because it was a gift from his godfather and small enough to fit in the pouch. This was perfect, though…He didn't think communication through a two-way mirror could be detected!

Harry set the mirror down on the table and looked into it. "Erm…Sirius?" Harry said awkwardly, feeling a bit strange talking to a mirror and a bit wary with Hermione not too far away. The last thing he wanted was for her to barge in here complaining about him worrying more about Sirius than planning their journey tomorrow. Harry tapped on the glass and licked his lips. "Sirius!"

Nothing.

Harry frowned.

Maybe Sirius wasn't around. He wasn't hurt, was he? Maybe he was just on a mission…But what if he had the mirror on him? And lost it…what if it was confiscated by Death Eaters? Frowning more deeply now, Harry continued trying…No one would be able to locate him because of the dining room surroundings, he thought, just in case it was an enemy…And if Sirius didn't answer after a few minutes, Harry would return to his work.

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"Harry and Granger are apparently going to an orphanage tomorrow," Severus commented, holding the charmed Galleon in the palm of his hand. It must have been changed earlier without Severus noticing it heat up. It now read Going to try the orphanage tomorrow. Still no luck with the locket. - H&H. Severus quirked his eyebrow, not entirely sure why Harry and Granger were going to search an orphanage, of all places, for a Horcrux. Or why they'd be at one at all.

"The orphanage Tom Riddle grew up in, I presume?" asked Albus.

"I suppose so," replied Severus.

Ever since Harry explained the mission he and Granger were set on, Severus had made it his goal to try to be as helpful as possible. He had gone to the other headmasters for guidance which, of course, meant he had to let Albus knew that he knew. His now dead friend had not been very pleased by the news at first. Severus could still remember the silence, the grim look upon his face, and how annoyingly Albus had captured his attention so much by doing nothing, even when the other portraits went wild with the news, offering all sorts of ridiculous suggestions.

"You must do your very best to be sure that Lord Voldemort never knows what we know," Albus had said.

"Revealing that information would mean to reveal more information than I feel safe giving him," Severus had replied, unable to stop himself from feeling offended by the insinuation. He was a master Occlumens and had been dealing with the Dark Lord for years now. He could handle keeping this knowledge hidden. "As long as I wish to live, your secret will be safe with me, Albus."

Albus had frowned a bit after that and fell into thoughtful silence once more. "I suppose that you have earned more trust than I have shown you, Severus, but you must understand…Things are very dangerous now."

"I am well aware of the dangers, Albus," Severus had snapped. "I know better than most."

For a good week, Albus seemed uncomfortable and uncertain with every mention of the mission, but now he was as involved as everyone else, just as eager to see Harry and Granger succeed, and sadly not much more helpful than the other headmasters. Even now, they were all at a loss. Harry and Granger weren't faring much better. All Severus and the headmasters had managed was a very short and vague list of items that could be Horcruxes…Possibly nice, expensive items…Nothing too breakable…things of value…more than likely belonging to a Hogwarts Founder.

"The Mudblood is in an awful mood," Phineas Nigellus griped as he walked back into his portrait.

"Please refrain from referring to Miss Granger in such a form," Albus said politely.

"Do not use that word!" Severus snapped. He recalled only too well the last time he had ever used that word…Against his best friend, his first love…Lily Evans…

"They've told you countless times, Phineas," Dexter pointed out.

"She must be wearing that damnable locket again," Phineas continued, ignoring everyone. "You really should give them the sword now, Albus. I dislike such rotten behavior from young ones…In my day she would have got a caning for that! They would do well to reinstate such policies. Young people these days…I do not know how anyone can stand them!"

"How are their plans coming along?" Albus asked politely.

"Not very well, apparently," Phineas said sarcastically. "She was griping about the Potter boy. 'I have to do all the work', etcetera, etcetera…Though from what I gather, staring at books hasn't gotten them very far now. You really should have thought this through better, Albus! Sending children out on such an important mission!"

"I have every faith in Harry and Hermione," Albus said patiently.

"You'd be the only one," Phineas scoffed. "Chosen One or not, they are absolutely hopeless."

Severus sighed heavily and pocketed the coin, checking his desk for anything he wished to bring to his room with him. The constant bickering was getting to him and he doubted they would get back onto any sort of useful subject…or that anything good would come from it. He made to stand up when Albus stopped him. "Quiet…I think I hear something."

Phineas huffed. "Now, Albus-"

"Shhhhhhhhh!" hissed many portraits around Phineas, causing him to grumble and eventually fall into silence.

Severus scrunched his eyebrows together…He thought he heard something…But he couldn't be sure what it was or where it was coming from.

"Ahhh," said Albus with a knowing tone. "Second drawer to your left, Severus."

"What is it, Albus?" Severus asked warily.

"Oh, just a little surprise…I didn't even think about it…Very glad I never gave it back…Open it up, Severus!" encouraged Albus.

Severus turned to glare at Albus who was grinning broadly, blue eyes twinkling even in portrait form. Severus sighed and sat back down in his chair, scooting closer to the drawer and sliding it open. "Yes, yes…check in the box," Albus said. Severus pulled out the navy blue, gold-trimmed box that was there and set it on the desk. Figuring that Albus wouldn't set him up to anything truly risky without fair warning, he opened the box, surprised to hear a familiar voice drifting out of it.

"-th a try, I guess. Better get back to work," Harry Potter's voice was muttering.

"What the bloody hell-Albus?" Severus demanded, staring in shock at the box.

"Pick it up," said Albus.

"Sirius?" asked Harry.

Severus scoffed and reached into the box, slowly pulling out a mirror…Only he was staring into two very wide green eyes instead of his own black eyes. "Confuse me for your dogfather again and I will curse your bollocks off."

"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Harry. "Severus?"

"Obviously," he drawled.

"But…I…How…?"

"Minerva found it in the infirmary shortly after my death," Albus explained. "Brought it in here to ask if it was anything important. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but I encouraged her to keep it in the desk, just in case. It came to me not long after that it was the two way mirror Sirius and James used as boys. Very lucky I forgot to mention who it belonged to…Forgot all about it. At least you now have a better means of communication…Though I would encourage you both to keep the mirrors in safekeeping…It would not bode well to let these get into the wrong hands."

"Of course," Severus muttered, not entirely sure what to think just yet.

"Is that Dumbledore?" Harry asked, the eye getting closer in the mirror and looking all around.

"Keep that up and I will put you back into this box," Severus warned, snickering as his lover tried to look at Albus. "And it's Professor Dumbledore."

"Nonsense, I'm dead. He can call me whatever he likes," Albus said with a smile.

"You just want to be difficult," Severus muttered.

"You can't put me in the box…Just the mirror," Harry pointed out, though he pulled enough away for Severus to see the top half of his face. He looked weary.

"Very well, I will end our communications at once if you continue to annoy me," Severus said, though he clutched the mirror like a lifeline. His heart beat excitedly in his chest…Harry! It wasn't as good as having the boy here, but it was better than they had had in so long.

"I miss you, too," Harry muttered sarcastically.

"I almost forgot he was bent," muttered Dilys.

"Keep this immoral, homosexual behavior out of the headmaster's office!" shrieked Phyllida Spore.

"They haven't even done anything gay yet!" Armando exclaimed.

"He's been with women, too, he's not all bad," Phineas assured them. He was always the one to Severus's defense, though Severus didn't care much for him. Phineas was proud to have a Slytherin as Headmaster for the first time since himself…He hadpestered Severus a great deal about his sexuality, and seemed content that Severus had been with women before…Though Phineas took it to mean he liked mostly women and men now and then instead of the truth, that he was mainly attracted to menwhile females caught his attention now and then. Whatever he needed to believe, Severus honestly couldn't care less.

"They're just a bit old-fashioned," Albus said with a frown.

"Yes, well, lucky for them I have no intentions of sticking around," Severus muttered. It was bad enough he had to deal with this chaos on a daily basis, it was not going to ruin his newfound time with Harry. He stood as dignified as possible and didn't dare let himself rush to his private quarters. He walked up to the tallest bookshelf and plucked out a book entitled Teaching New Hippogriffs Old Tricks, written by one of the old headmasters, Newton Scamander. He whispered the password to his private rooms and stepped back, watching as the shelves of the bookcases on either side moved around to allow the shelves of the bookcase in front of him to slide over into them until the frame of the bookcase became a doorframe and the old faded door pushed forward. It was more complicated and took a bit longer to get into than his old quarters and it frustrated him to no end, especially since he was eager to get some alone time with Harry. He opened the door and stepped inside, quickly closing it and walking over to his desk, sitting down with the mirror cradled in his hands.

"Hello?" Harry was saying, finger prodding the glass.

"Stop that, Potter, and learn patience for once in your life," Severus scolded.

"Oh, hi!" Harry said, his grin appearing in the mirror. Severus smiled despite himself. "Heard all of the arguing. Thought you might have yelled at someone."

"No point to it," Severus said. "Most people will react in that manner…Especially in such a chaotic environment as being surrounded by those old coots."

"How have things been?" Harry asked.

Severus sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. "Exhausting. I am doing my best, but it doesn't seem to be enough. There is not much I can actually do myself without being obvious…I can only rely on the other professors stepping in and doing their part."

Harry frowned and nodded. "I notice there are a lot of people in the infirmary."

Unable to help from feeling alarmed, Severus sat up straight and stared down at him. Harry grinned. "I have the Map. Just found it a few days ago. Been watching the castle when Mione isn't jumping down my throat."

"Ah, of course," Severus replied. The Marauder's Map. "The Carrows are very enthusiastic about their job…I would have thought the excitement would have died down by now, but they are just as cruel as ever."

"No one's died?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"No," Severus said, tempted to add not yet. Oddly enough, he never really thought of the Carrows killing anyone…Though it was a very real possibility.

"Serious injuries?" Harry asked.

"Nothing that isn't able to be healed," Severus assured him.

"Oh good," Harry said, smiling a bit more. "Wish I could be there."

Severus snorted. "Even if you were not Undesirable Number One, you would somehow end up in more trouble than Longbottom or Weasley could ever hope to."

Harry grinned broadly. "Thanks," he laughed, but slowly the amusement left his face. "What have they been up to?"

"Open rebellion," Severus sighed, rolling his eyes. "You Gryffindors can do nothing quietly, can you?" Severus sighed. "They stand up to the Carrows more bluntly than I would hope. Longbottom, Weasel, and Loony Lovegood tried to steal the Sword of Gryffindor from my office today."

"Wow," Harry said, surprise filling his face. Before he could say more, he apparently heard something and was moving. Severus's eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Shite! Hermione's coming back…She'll bite my head off if I'm not reading," he muttered.

"You should be focusing on your task, Harry," Severus told him, though his heart sank at the idea of Harry having to leave so soon. He would give Granger a piece of his mind, if he could.

"Shut up," Harry grumbled. "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"If we can manage it," Severus nodded.

"Right," Harry said. "I love you, Severus."

He felt ridiculous for doing so, but he couldn't help but grin at the boy's breathless words, a certain warmth filling his chest. "I love you, too, Harry."

He watched the mirror through the movements and the muffled voice of Granger as Harry quickly shoved his own mirror into a hiding spot. Severus set the mirror flat onto the desk and traced the edges of it, frowning deeply. He felt suddenly very lonely, very empty…wishing he could call Harry back to him. It was foolish, though…It did neither of them well to have these mirrors. They both had very important tasks to focus on, after all.

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Lost and Damned