"I honestly wonder what is best at this juncture. There are already enough parallels between Lucius and myself. I hardly wish to draw more. I want him to think of me as his father, but not as that father, if you see what I mean. And Lucius did say those words quite often, though with him it tended to be I love you but..." The Potions Master shook his head. "Narcissa would say it without provisos, but given that she publicly stood with Lucius against her own son, that can be little solace, her letter notwithstanding."
"Sounds like you've given this some thought," Harry said, pushing to his feet. "But I suppose you would have given that you were monitoring us last night. So... any plans to spy on me when I'm back in the Tower?"
"Students being so inquisitive," Snape said with a hard glance at Harry, "the castle blocks attempts to see what happens inside its own walls. There is a reason why Draco's picture frame shows only views of the outside. Frankly, it is a complete mystery to me how your father and his friends could have made that map function correctly. It should not be possible, and nothing in Lupin's summary sheds much light on the matter."
At least he'd said the man's name without the customary sneer, Harry thought. It wasn't exactly progress, but he'd take what he could get. Resisting an impulse to worry out loud about the danger Remus might be in, Harry casually asked, "So that came through already? Can I read it?"
"Certainly." Snape waved his wand to summon a parchment from his office, then set the glass disk down on the table between them. Harry knew it was wrong, but he couldn't resist sneaking a peek to see if Draco was still juggling.
The Slytherin boy was in the bedroom, laying on his side, apparently asleep.
Glancing up, Harry caught his father's gaze on him. "You see why I keep the spy-glass active," the Potions Master remarked. "First juggling and now a nap before lunch? Neither one is much like Draco."
He waited a moment, but when Harry gave no reply, not even a nod, the Potions Master passed him the parchment.
After he'd read everything Remus had written, Harry had to sigh. "Nothing about how they got around the castle's wards against this sort of thing. Nothing more about how anybody could have hidden themselves from the map. Looks like you were right, though; it was James who came up with mischief managed as an incantation."
Feeling the weight of Snape's stare, Harry looked up. "What?"
Snape shook his head as though to himself, and picked up the spy-glass. "Your bruising is gone. Find your glasses and we'll see what Madame Pomfrey can do about your vision. I'll go with you."
Harry somehow doubted that was what Snape had been thinking about, but by then he was so tired of his eyes being off-kilter that fixing his glasses sounded simply marvellous. "I can go alone," he thought to say, then bit his lip. "Actually, I suppose I can't. You wanted me to keep my friends close between classes and such..."
"I believe the phrase I used was Go nowhere alone. There is simply no sense in inviting a conflict with those who wish to see you dead." The Potions Master suddenly frowned. "I suggest we first see to this ring you mentioned earlier."
When his father glanced about as if searching for something he might transfigure, Harry lifted the chain around his neck and drew out his mother's wedding ring. "Can't we use this?"
Snape moved next to Harry and took it in his hand. "I thought you wanted to keep it the way she had it."
Harry looked down at it. "You know, I did. But that was before... it seemed like it was all I had, because I didn't believe I could believe... I mean, I knew you were going to do your best to look out for me but I thought there'd always be this distance. Um, teacher-student, something like that. But you really are my father now--"
The Potions Master placed the ring back into Harry's hand and closed the boy's fingers over it. "Keep it, Harry. Something else will serve. You needn't surrender the only thing you have of Lily's."
"It's not like that," Harry said, smiling a little as he met his father's dark gaze. "It's just... I used to feel like I didn't have anybody, that's all. And now that I do... Besides, I guess I think she'd like it if something of hers was still protecting me. All right?"
Snape studied him. "If you're certain."
His father's voice was serious enough that Harry gave it some thought. Then he drew the chain over his neck and dropped the ring, chain and all, back into Snape's hand. "Yes, use it."
The spy-glass went into his pocket while Snape held the ring between thumb and forefinger and examined it. "I can release the gems or conceal them in the interior of the snake."
"Inside," Harry decided, watching as the Potions Master went to work. A tap of his wand, and the ring split apart and unrolled to become a straight band studded with emeralds. Another tap, this one with a murmured Latin incantation, caused the band to fold in upon itself, wrapping the emeralds inside.
"Now for the tricky part," Snape murmured. "I am no artist, you understand, but a snake is a rather simplistic form."
It took a few minutes for him to shape it, prodding his wand this way and that, Snape muttering when an emerald poked through the soft metal. Soon enough, though, the end of the roll of gold was tapered to resemble a tail while the other end sported a snake's head complete with fangs. Snape had even etched the surface of the tiny snake to mimic scales, and had drawn forth two more emeralds, this time deliberately, to serve as eyes.
"You're no slouch as an artist," Harry had to say when the man had finally convinced the snake to loop itself back into a circle, it's head overlapping its tail. Taking it up, the boy slipped it onto his middle finger. The snake slithered a bit, moving to fit him.
"I thought I'd ward it to stay on no matter what," Harry murmured, pulling his own wand out of his pocket. "All right?"
Snape nodded, but his eyes were shadowed. Harry didn't know what that might be about.
He applied his strongest anti-summoning charms, feeling his dark powers flowing through his wand. Afterwards, when he wiggled his finger, it felt like the ring was a part of his hand; he couldn't pull it off no matter how he tugged. But it looked normal enough, so he thought that would do.
"I'll go get my glasses."
Another silent nod, which caused Harry to stop and look back. "What?" he asked again. "Something wrong?"
"It truly is nothing," Snape said, waving him away, but Harry stood his ground.
"Tell me. Please?"
Snape's lips twisted in a wry, bitter smile. A smile without happiness, without warmth. "My father said I had no talent for art." And then, almost as an afterthought, "He was an artist himself... among other things."
Harry nodded, this time listening to that inner voice that told him not to press for more. He looked down at his ring, seeing two things all at once. It wasn't just Lily's any longer; it was part and parcel of Severus, too. Two people, who would do anything they could to protect him. He felt loved, truly loved, and he wished more than ever that Draco could know what that was like.
"Go put on some clean clothes," Snape advised, changing the subject as if he regretted letting slip a little of his own childhood pain. "And Saturday or no, don your robes. You might as well look presentable."
"We're just going up to the hospital wing," Harry reminded him.
"There were reporters in the castle earlier."
Harry made a face. "Just what I need."
Sighing, he went to dig through his trunk for his glasses.
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The halls weren't exactly brimming with students, but neither were they empty. Harry lost track of the number of times he had to stop as an exclamation of "Harry!" was accompanied by running footsteps. Snape was remarkably tolerant about all of it. Once upon a time, he'd have made some scathing remark about famous Harry Potter and his fan club, but now, he just backed up to a castle wall and leaned against it with his arms folded as he watched Harry greet his friends.