Hermione grinned. "I have a jar you could use for him."
"Save that one for Skeeter if she comes around bothering Harry again," said Ron.
Snape held the beetle inside his closed fist. "Apparating all of you at once will be somewhat of a strain," he said. "It may not be the smoothest possible transition, Miss Granger."
"Ha. Side-along is awful. A lot worse than going to Devon by Portkey," Harry said. When he saw how Hermione stepped closer to Ron as though in need of reassurance, he felt like a right heel. "Sorry. I just meant... um, it takes some getting used to."
"It'll be all right," Ron said in a bolstering tone. "I'll take care of you."
"Ah, you two have reconciled," Snape said in a rather biting tone. "Oh, well. I suppose points from Gryffindor over all that squabbling in class was getting a bit trite."
Harry didn't think it was too cunning of his father to remind him of all the points he'd taken in recent weeks. "You ought to take points from Slytherin for Nott attacking me, you know."
He expected his father to say off school grounds or conflict of interest or... well, pretty much anything that would provide an excuse.
"Done," Snape said, though he declined to announce just how many points. "There are a few things to see too before we depart," he added, waving his wand to cancel his wards. After that he stepped outside for a few seconds. Harry didn't ask, but he figured his father was fetching the Portkey. He wondered if he'd used a handkerchief, as Nott had, to keep from touching it.
Once he was back inside, Snape wasted no time. "Well? Come here, all of you."
Harry stepped without hesitation against his father, welcoming the arm that came around his shoulders. When Ron and Hermione were sort of scrunched together under Snape's other arm, Harry thought he'd better mention, "It's a lot better if you hang on tight."
While Ron looked at him as if he were mad, Hermione bunched her fist in Snape's robes, though she was clearly ill at ease doing so. "Sorry, sir--"
Snape never replied. In the next instant they were all Apparating. Harry grit his teeth as it felt like the whole world melted into his bones and got stuck there. The Apparition took longer than usual, probably because Snape was transporting so many people at once. By the time they all reached the Shrieking Shack, Harry was panting.
Not so Hermione.
"That was brilliant!" she enthused, actually twirling away from Snape the minute her feet hit the floor. "Can we do it again? Oh--"
"Yes, not exactly the optimal time," drawled Snape as he hurried them down into the tunnel. When they emerged onto the grounds, he told Ron and Hermione to go down to his quarters and tell Draco that Harry was out of danger. "And wait there, please. Harry and I will be along shortly. He needs to stop in at the hospital wing. Then we'll deal with all the rest."
Harry waited until he was alone with his father to quietly ask, "Are you sure we shouldn't deal with... er, the dung beetle first?"
"He'll be dealt with soon enough. When I'm ready."
Harry wondered what that meant. "About Draco, though. Are you sure he can even open the door to let Ron and Hermione in? I mean, it does take a spell..."
Snape cast Harry a sidelong look. "I do actually know what I'm doing, you realise. Draco has the means to admit your friends."
That little tidbit certainly got Harry over his annoyance. "Oh, you mean these days you're letting him have the..." He thought better than to mention the wand. Technically, an expelled student was supposed to have one. Not even a borrowed one.
"Not knowing the full situation, I was hardly going to leave him down there defenceless." Snape's expression grew grim. "For all I knew, the... beetle's... activity could have been part of a larger scheme."
"I'm surprised you left him alone in that case."
"He was safest behind my wards. Until I understood the situation, at least."
Harry had to stop then, and lean against a wall. He wished he could stop panting.
"There's no shame in Mobilicorpus, you realise," Snape said after a moment of watching him.
Harry glanced up into his father's dark eyes. "Maybe not, but... um, you didn't much like it that time, did you?"
"I wondered if you'd have the nerve to bring that up."
Harry shrugged, then wished he hadn't, since Snape's painkilling spell was wearing thin by then. He'd jarred his hand. "We're past it though, right? It doesn't matter now."
"No," Snape said, his voice thoughtful. "I could carry you, you know. I did after Samhain."
"You just need to do something fatherly, don't you?" Harry did his best to smile. "I can make it the rest of the way."
"As you wish," said Snape, but he didn't move until Harry began walking again.
Madame Pomfrey did the usual amount of clucking and fussing, her comments interspersed with liberal amounts of commentary about the mischief this boy always gets up to. She did make his hand feel a lot better, though. Three different spells and one horrible-tasting potion and it looked red instead of black. Red and blistered. Still, that was a huge improvement. His fingers were no longer curled into claws.
When Harry tried a swish-and-flick with his wand, though, he was shocked at how much the movement hurt.
"What do you expect?" demanded Pomfrey in her sing-song voice. "It'll take a few treatments, you know. I'm a medi-witch, not a miracle worker! Now, into bed with you. Into bed at once, you'll be needing to rest in between treatments--"
"He'll rest at home," Snape insisted.
"Well, don't let him improvise any more flame-throwing spells," sniffed Pomfrey, clearly put out. That was all right, though. At least she'd believed their explanation for the terrible burns. "If you won't stay here then I absolutely insist you be fitted with a sling to minimize unnecessary movement."
Yeah, Harry knew all about her and her slings. When she drew her wand and made quick work of one, though, he thought it was the strangest sling he'd ever seen. Blue fabric dotted with crescent moons woven in gold thread? And edged with tiny tassels?
Pomfrey stared at it in exasperation. "After your lengthy stay here earlier this year, the hospital wing evidently believes in making you comfortable."
"I'm not staying!"
"Yes, Mr. Potter, your father made that clear. Now, you also mentioned your vision, I believe. I personally think it's highly doubtful you're ready to leave off the glasses, but we'll see--"
"I'll leave you to it, then," said Snape, brushing off his robes as though preparing to leave. "I've some things to do, Harry. I'll come back for you once you've had your vision examination."
Harry took that to mean, I have to brief Albus and arrange for Order Aurors to get here.
It seemed to Harry that the medi-witch put him through about four different eye exams. It was like she didn't want to admit the obvious. Harry didn't think that was because she wanted him to have bad vision. More likely, it was professional jealousy. She knew she couldn't have cured Harry's eyes after Samhain, not without Snape to help. She hadn't got over her resentment yet.
She was, however, an honest person once she was finally convinced. "Well, I suppose that's it. I can't find a single reason why you should have to wear glasses any longer. Both your eyes have perfect vision."
A whooping noise from the doorway had Harry turning around; there stood Ron, Hermione, and Draco. It was Ron who had cheered at the news. Harry couldn't help but notice that his best friend was standing rather deliberately between Draco and Hermione. Harry almost sighed, but other matters took precedence. "What are you doing here? I thought my father told you to wait for us in his quarters."
"This git insisted on coming to see you," said Ron, jerking his head in Draco's direction. "I thought he wasn't allowed out."