cursing the day Sybil Trelawney had breathed her first.
At the end, when both of them were sane again, and lost in their own thoughts, Albus said, 'I believe I will refrain from pressuring Severus into making Harry more visible, until he thinks the boy is ready for it . . .'
Minerva nodded, her heart heavy with the knowledge that there were some things that magic just could not fix. 'I believe that would be wise.'
TBC . . .
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A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews, everyone! They're my bread and butter, my Mona Lisa, my soft summer rain. Next chapter will be out by the weekend.
*Chapter 34*: Chapter 34
Walk the Shadows – Chapter 34
By jharad17
Disclaimer: Not mine. I imagine I'll get over it.
Warning: Profanity.
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Aug. 24
It's been a shitty couple of days. I almost killed the Headmaster, and myself, and did knock both of us unconscious for like two days straight, Snape spent the first five minutes of him being my guardian screaming at me – at least I think so; it's hard to remember for sure – and I've had a headache that no potions have been able to get rid of yet. I'm also black and blue and sore all over from being hexed a bajillion times.
Oh, and have I mentioned the complete fucked-upedness of nearly killing Professor Dumbledore? Well, if not, I guess Snape has brought it up enough for the both of us. He's been, um . . . in a mood. Not sure what kind, actually. One minute he looks like he wants to filet my brains and serve them for tea, and the next he's telling me I'll be okay, that everything will be just fine, and if I ever scare him like that again, he'll filet my brains and serve them for tea.
So, um . . . yeah.
He also said he's going to teach me more positive – or at least less homi- and suicidal – ways to manage my anger. In furtherance of that, we now spend two hours every day dueling, right after breakfast. We started this new routine yesterday, as it was the first day I was on my feet more than I was in bed. We used the Room of Requirement, like I did with the DA, so the space was perfect. And hey, I've even learnt some new hexes!
Mostly, though, I've learnt that being a Death eater and a spy for almost twenty years enables one to learn far more curses than even a better than average student of Defense can possibly counter. Hence the black and blueness of me. And I've been learning that when I get really angry, I put a lot more power into my hexes, but I have a far harder time with shields.
But today Snape said I did good. . . . well, what he actually said was, 'Adequate wand work, Mr. Potter. (And I swear, I'll get him to quit calling me that if I have to dose his tea with a Narro Proprie Potion.) Though, if you do not desire to spend the rest of your foreshortened life as a lesson to others of the folly of letting your guard down, then you will erect the Tutela Gravis shield in its entirety, not just to the front of you. Like so . . .'
But it almost felt like a compliment. From Snape!
I'm still not sure what to call him, if anything different from usual, now that he's my guardian. He doesn't actany different than he did last week, really, so maybe it's all just the same between us. Still, he's the first person who's had the care of me since I was a baby that's actually gone through channels and asked to take care of me. Almost like he actually wants me. So, that's a good thing, right?
And mostly he doesn't threaten
