The Potions Master gave a sharp nod, but to Harry it looked awkward. He didn't really understand that until the man spoke again. "I do of course remember telling you to consider calling me Severus..." Snape looked away, his voice dropping to an undertone. "However, I now find I much prefer the other."
The other. Harry couldn't help but grin, though he schooled his expression into something a bit more controlled when his father glanced his way. "I like the other, too. People in Gryffindor are even getting used to it, I think. Oh, by the way, I don't suppose you could find a way to give Neville some points? If it wasn't for him I think I'd probably have slugged Seamus straight in the face by now."
To Harry's amusement, Snape looked slightly alarmed at that thought. Definitely, the man was every bit a dad. "What on earth was Mr. Finnegan doing to you that could merit an exchange of fisticuffs?"
"Oh, nothing really." Harry waved a hand. "You have to know that people think you being my dad is pretty... uh, strange. I mean, they can't help but remember the things I said about you for five straight years. Seamus was having some fun at my expense but--"
Snape's voice dropped to a menacing drawl. "Do you need me to speak to Mr. Finnegan?"
Harry could just imagine how that conversation would go. Poor Seamus would pee his pants before Snape was through with him. "No, really. Neville sort of... um, mediated and it's all fine now." Not liking the look on his father's face, Harry couldn't help but add, "Swear you won't, all right? I mean it."
"You're perfectly welcome to live here if the Gryffindors are being their typical unbearable selves."
"I'll keep it in mind," Harry said, deadpan. "Nice try changing the subject, but I still want you to swear you'll leave Seamus alone. Honestly, I think I traumatised him enough all by myself."
"I'll speak to anyone I wish on your behalf, if I feel it's indicated." Harry almost objected to that, but before he could, Snape added, "However you seem to have the Finnegan situation under control for the time being."
"Thanks to Neville."
The Potions Master ignored the hint. "I didn't mention your returning to live here merely to divert your attention. I've grown accustomed to your presence."
"You miss me," Harry accused with a laugh. It wasn't nearly as funny, though, when he saw that Snape looked as though he regarded that fact almost as a character flaw. "Hey, it's all right. I miss you, too. I got really homesick that first night back, which was a new thing for me. It was always such a relief before to make it to the Tower. But... look, it's not so long now until summer--"
Snape's lips curled with some sort of dark humour. "You think I need consoling, obviously. It is all right, Harry. I know where you belong; Hogwarts isn't merely about learning spells and potions."
Standing up then, the Potions Master crossed his arms. "Regarding your eye, then. As all the variants of the Elixir stung in equal degree I believe we may as well utilize the strongest one. Two drops in your left eye, twice a day. And yes, Mr. Weasley may put them in." Snape decanted a small amount of the potion into a flask, corked it, and gave it one last critical glance before handing the potion to Harry. "Just remember to have him check that the Elixir coats the entire ocular surface before you blink. In a few days' time we should know whether the treatment is sufficient to improve your vision."
Smiling his thanks, Harry pocketed the flask.
Snape didn't smile back. "I can supply you with a painkilling draught as well if you like."
"Nah. I can manage."
"If you're thinking of my problem with the Loosestrife I can assure you there'll be nothing habit-forming in the potion I provide--"
"Actually, I'm thinking about that habituation thing. If I get used to painkillers then won't they work less well when I get a serious injury?"
The Potions Master sighed as he acknowledged that with a nod. "I do wish you didn't have such good cause to speak that way. When... most young men your age would be saying if."
"Yeah," Harry acknowledged. "I'm actually surprised Voldemort hasn't made another attempt on my life this year. He's breaking his usual pattern, getting that out of the way in the fall instead of waiting until the spring term is nearly over."
"He doesn't know what to do," Snape murmured, looking as though he were lapsing deep into thought. "You've become something of an unknown quantity to him. He's aware you lost your magic and thanks to his contact with Vernon Dursley he may even have some inkling as to how. But he also knows that your powers are back now, at least in part. You threw him violently from your mind. You have kept him out ever since, yes?"
"I'd tell you the minute he came lurking around, so yes."
"Voldemort has always had a link to you, but you've managed to curtail it at last. I imagine that alarms him, but he's too wily to make any snap decisions about it. He's no doubt considering his options."
Harry nodded. "All this pretence that I can't cast a decent spell to save my life, though... We're making him think I'm weak. Isn't that like inviting him to attack?"
"No. It should throw him off balance as his personal experience of late has been that your powers are fearsome indeed."
"I hope so."
"You hope that it throws him off balance or that your powers are fearsome?"
The boy lifted his shoulders. "I can't help the powers thing, you know."
"Yes, I know." Snape's lips turned down. "You really aren't arrogant. I should have remembered that."
A bit puzzled, Harry thought back but still couldn't make sense of that. "When?"
"When you used your mirror to spell Draco's frame. I suppose what made my reaction so harsh was thinking that it was overconfidence which led you to take such a horrendous risk. But now I suspect you truly have no idea just how much peril you were in." Snape tapped his fingers together as he considered that. "I think the correct course of action is to require three feet on the dangers inherent in combining magical artefacts."
Harry thought about objecting to that, but he didn't want to annoy his father any more than he had already. And anyway, by Snape's standards it was a pretty reasonable punishment. "All right. When do you want it by?"
"It's not an assignment, Harry; I want it when you've learnt your lesson. Literally."
Harry nodded, though what he was really thinking was that taking risks was part of who he was. He couldn't imagine never taking one again, no matter what his father thought of the matter, but he was hardly going to say so.
Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face, however, for Snape quietly said, "Remember, you do better with more information rather than less, Harry."
But you said I had good instincts, Harry mentally countered. All he said out loud though, was, "I'll try to get it done by Saturday when I come for... oh, wait. This Saturday there's a trip to Hogsmeade. I left my permission slip in my dormitory but I can bring it to Potions on Tuesday--"
He stopped talking because Snape was shaking his head. "You'll have to miss this trip."
Harry wasn't sure if that was because he'd missed his Potions tutorial--though that was hardly his fault--or if Snape was thinking that after the frame thing, Harry didn't deserve a day out with his friends. He wasn't going to ask, though. His father hardly needed to have both his sons being rude and rebellious. "So you'll have the essay on Saturday," he answered, nodding.
Snape looked him over in that way he had, that way that made Harry feel like he was being studied. "There's no rush. In fact, I don't want it until you've had time enough to truly consider the matter."
"Well, I'll get right on it, anyway."
Whatever Snape might have replied was lost forever as the door was flung open by Draco, who was dressed in a travelling cloak.