A/N: It's that time of the month again… No, that's NOT what I meant. It's time for my next chapter you sillies! And I know that you all want to see what is in store! Of course, I shall not make you wait much longer for the next installment. Nevertheless, I find it imperative to thank the reviewers who made this happen! REVIEWING makes me UPDATE! And you get a personal update straight from me once I receive your review! It's a new feature from fanfiction and I shall use it to its fullest extent. Okay, no more babbling on about this, it's pointless.

Chapter 21: An Unwelcome Meeting

"That's right, Mr. Potter. Things aren't quite what they seem. But like I said, I doubt you have the-- intellect to comprehend the situation at hand," Severus said, with a slight smirk on his face. All this did was to infuriate Harry.

"I don't need you to tell me how stupid I am, because I know I was an idiot for trusting you, you… you coward," countered Harry angrily.

Snape held himself together, despite the bitter assault.

"Name-calling now, are we? Like father like son, I presume. But really, calling me a coward? I assure you, you're the coward. And your blind trust is nowhere near the sole component of your stupidity, I assure you. I can recall many instances of your… idiocy," Snape taunted, as stridently as possible.

Draco glanced at Snape, trying to figure out what exactly he was doing with Harry. Even with his experience with Severus, he was not able to tell what he was doing or why for that matter. Harry was concerned with other matters.

He was angry. His eyes burned like green hell fire. His nose curled up in disgust and anger. His arms were at his side, his right hand grasping his wand and his left forming a fist. Harry stood erect, ready to attack Snape at any moment.

"How can you call me an idiot? I'm more of a wizard than you'll ever be, you coward. And the nerve! You ran away from a battle; you have no right to call me a coward. You didn't even stay and fight, while I was willing!" bellowed Harry, his voice filling the room. Mrs. Weasley was a little shaken.

"Maybe you could be a little less…" Mrs. Weasley pleaded, but she was interrupted by Hermione.

"Grating." Hermione said.

"Yes, that," confirmed Mrs. Weasley. "Harry has been through a lot and I don't think we want him to have a breakdown."

Draco looked at Snape to see if he had shown any intention of complying, and saw Snape's eyes staring back at him. Apparently, Snape could care less about formalities and being polite to his hostess.

"So now you think that I'm emotionally unstable as well as an idiot?" questioned Harry, his antagonism flushing his face.

"Harry, I never said such a thing," replied Mrs. Weasley, a little maddened

" No, she did not say anything like that, Mr. Potter. This is just another one of an abundant number of cases where you demonstrate your utter lack of intelligence. I cannot even begin to understand what Dumbledore saw in you…" Draco glared at Snape for being so cruel to Harry.

"Don't you dare talk about him like that!" screamed Harry.

"What, about Dumbledore?" questioned Snape, slightly amused at Harry's discontent.

" How can you even smirk at this, you killed him and now you try to act like you were his friend," said Harry angrily.

Snape's eyes instantly lit up, his face displaying marked interest.

"Well, I figured you wouldn't understand, although I practically expected you to," commented Snape, deep in thought.

"What!" said Harry furiously.

Draco too was getting quite cross with Snape, but he understood Snape was working towards a goal, even if that involved never-ending sarcasm along the way.

Snape rolled his eyes at Harry. "Harry, he was my friend. A dear friend," said Snape solemnly. His cool eyes leveled with Harry's, who despite Snape's easy manner became yet more enraged.

"You're kidding! You killed him, and ran away, you coward!" replied Harry fiercely. Yet, despite a twitch on Snape's lip, Snape's face remained calm.

"He was a dear friend of mine, perhaps my closest friend," repeated Snape calmly, looking Harry in the eye.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry looked at each other, trying to fathom this friendship. He killed Dumbledore. What kind of person kills the one closest to his heart? But there was truth in Snape's voice. Harry thought that it may be faked, since Snape was so skilled at hiding his emotions. Hermione, on the other hand, thought differently.

She piped up, trying to steer the conversation away from Snape angering Harry further.

"Truthfully, Professor Snape? You're not lying, are you?" inquired Hermione, cutting off Harry before he started screaming again. Snape seemed pleased. Draco was glad to see that Snape was reducing his taunting.

"Yes, it was with regret that I killed him," Snape answered, "but he agreed that his time had come. It was unfortunate that Harry here has nary the intellect to comprehend this matter," answered Snape. Draco had thought the taunting was over too soon, but when he looked at Snape, Severus simply nodded slightly.

"But sir, why would he want to be killed?" inquired Hermione, asking the question all the others in the room were thinking but couldn't bring themselves to say.

"He knew that Harry needed to do this job on his own--that is, collecting the Horcurxes and finishing off Voldemort, and he knew that death was just the beginning. Why hinder when you can start anew?"

"You know about the Horcruxes?" asked Harry with a gasp. His face had quickly changed shades from red with anger to white with surprise.

"Yes, and your idiocy and impropriety never cease to amaze me Mr. Potter," quipped Snape, annoyed at Harry's interruption. "Now, as I was saying, Harry needed to learn to be on his own. Furthermore, we needed to secure my position within the Death Eaters. Already, the Dark Lord was questioning my loyalty, and we needed to keep my place within his followers to give vital information to the Order. Information that could save lives. Killing Dumbledore would ensure all of this," Snape paused for a moment, annoyance spreading across his face. "Now, Mr. Potter, you may voice your wonderfully insightful opinions," said Snape dryly.

"He died for information, and so that I could continue alone. That doesn't make any sense," commented Harry, mystified at the sudden turn the conversation had taken.

"I didn't think you would understand the matter at hand. I had hoped your inferior intellect would at least be able to gain a basic comprehension. So much for optimism," remarked Snape "Information is of the utmost importance. It could be the difference between your life and death. Dumbledore felt he was of less importance…And if you died, why, what would the wizarding world do without their wonder boy?"

"Still, it's not enough reason for him to die, there must've been another way," said Harry stubbornly.

"Harry," said Hermione, placing her hand on Harry's shoulder. She squeezed it gently, trying to comfort him. "His argument is logically sound. Information that could protect you, or even others, is extremely precious. It's protecting the last ray of hope for wizardkind. Dumbledore's death secured Snape's information and helps you become a stronger person, dealing without him. Strong enough to take on him."

"No, it's not sound. Why would he die?" remarked Harry, shaking his head.

"As I said, he didn't see death as a tragedy, it was simply the doorway to something new. And it was through death only that my place could be completely secure," said Snape.

"I doubt there's any information that could be of any use to us…"

"Really, show some intellect. Have you no idea how closely the Dark Lord has been tracking you? He knows that you're after the Horcruxes. He knows where you have been. And he knows you're here. Who do you think sent Beatrix and Lucius to the cave? They did not come to that remote location out of their own volition," commented Snape quite informatively. "Without me, you will soon face certain death."

"I…don't know," said Harry, even more muddled.

"Dumbledore always wanted to assure your safety. Although I never understood why, I did what I could to ensure that you were kept safe, or at least alive. This information will you alive." said Snape.

"Harry, I can't find a large fallacy in his argument. It makes sense, however farfetched it may seem to us. However, he hasn't really explained to us how not having Dumbledore would help you," commented Hermione.

"As I touched upon, Harry has been dependent on Dumbledore, and increasingly so within the past few years. Even with Dumbledore away for the majority of the time, he has remained quite attached to Dumbledore. Dumbledore may have enjoyed spending time with this…miscreant, but he knew that it was necessary for Harry to operate on his own. He knew Harry had to face Voldemort. And he knew one of he few ways to do this was by cutting himself off from this world through death," revealed Snape. Finally, as things began to process through Harry's mind, Snape's argument began to make some sense.

"Wow," remarked Harry.

"Albus tried to get away from you, he even tried to use me to get between you two, but nothing seemed to work. I hope that satisfies your suddenly profound insatiable thirst for information," commented Snape. Hermione had noticed that Snape had called Dumbledore by his first name.

"I think it's a start," said Hermione. "I always knew you shouldn't judge a potion by its smell!"

"Oh come off it!" remarked Ron, giving Hermione a push on the shoulder. "You always thought Snape was evil. Even first year, when it was really Quirrel." Hermione couldn't help but blush and ended up pushing Ron back.

"Fine, but I always knew that there was the remote possibility that Snape was in fact nice," said Hermione, trying her best to limit her embarrassing moment.

"You guys could do with being a little nicer too, you know," commented Draco, trying to stick up for Snape.

"Oh really?" questioned Harry. Just then, with impeccable timing, Mrs. Weasley walked into the room.

" Oh yes, our dinner is getting cold! Everyone, off to the dining room. And remember to wash before eating!" commanded Mrs. Weasley, watching her troops march into the dining room.

During a delicious dinner, where the group finished off the remaining colorful butterglys (actually, none had been remaining. Mrs. Weasley knew that Draco liked them so much that she had spent quite a while around the house trying to catch the elusive bean-like creatures. Draco was most pleased, much to Mrs. Weasley's delight), the group discussed how their day had gone.

New on the menu was the exotic minimosta, a distant relative to the mimbus mimbletonia. The plant was a delicious tropical flower from the deepest reaches of the Amazon, whose petals you eat. The stem itself was nothing special, but the colorful petals were to die for, especially culinarily speaking. There pink tint was captivating, to say the least.

Its soft pink petals held within them a powerful magic that kept all non-magical creatures at bay. The magic created a truly horrid stench that could send any creature without magic running for their lives. For magic folk, it made the plant a delicacy; truly, magic made the plant a most amazing treat for witches and wizards alike. And best of all, these plants weren't quite as elusive as many other modern magical food.

As for a description of its taste, that itself may be elusive because it is so hard to describe. Not many people could put the description into words because nothing tasted anything remotely like it. For Draco, the moment he perched a petal on his tongue, all of his taste buds were filled with decadence of which he had only dreamed.

"UMMMMM!" he rang out, surprising everyone at the table, and making Harry laugh. "What are you laughing at?" he quipped. "It's not every bloody day you taste these…" and after his defense, Harry thought he saw Draco slightly turn pink, but he knew that a Malfoy couldn't be that embarrassed. Could they? While Harry pondered this, Mrs. Weasley grinned broadly.

"Good thing I took up gardening some magical creatures. I feel as though I haven't been doing too much lately, trying to start a hobby might help," remarked Mrs. Weasley. "Just stay clear of the basement. I wouldn't want any of you to meet an untimely demise."

"What?" exclaimed Ron, quite surprised.

"Oh really, we all know she was kidding, for the most part. Come on Ron," remarked Draco with a slight chuckle. Despite the change in food, and apparently the mood, the company had changed.

Harry had noticed the change, but knew wasn't Snape. He didn't change much of the situation because he barely conversed with anyone at the table besides Draco. Quite the sleuth, it only took Harry five minutes to figure out what had changed.

Ginny was nowhere to be seen.

Immediately, he tried to find out what had happened to her. Following his detective instinct, he asked Fred about Ginny. After all, with his extendable ears, there wasn't ever a piece of information that Fred didn't know.

"Oi, that girl has got the wizard flu, she does. She's been vomiting all day; it's right nasty. Although it's kind of fun to watch her wallow in her misery." answered Fred.

"If you consider having Mum blame you for it actual fun. She thinks it was one of the things from our shop, U-No-Poo," piped up George. Just then, Mrs. Weasley shot a questionative glare at Fred and George. They continued in conversation as though it didn't affect them in the slightest.

" Yes, it's an alarming coincidence," Fred said. "Wizard flu does have many symptoms that are almost identical to U-No-Poo's side effects, even constipation. It makes one wonder." As Mrs. Weasley stood up and walked out of the room to fetch more food, both Fred and George winked at Harry. After a quick investigation, Harry deduced a most logical conclusion. And it was not Wizard Flu.

When Harry made a slight remark to Draco, Draco instantly smiled, filled to the brim with delight.

He had been waiting for something like this to happen to that wench every since that day when she laid her lips on Harry's mouth. In his mind, she had had it coming since before then, going around like am insufferable slut. She was bound to be brought back down to earth both by some stray joke and little bit of pain along the way. With a smile and satisfied taste buds, Draco continued to eat, with images of Ginny's torture running through his mind. Only Harry and Snape noticed how unusually perky Draco was acting.

Once everyone was thoroughly stuffed, and had then had more to eat at the command (and to the delight) of Mrs. Weasley, they migrated to the living room for an after dinner discussion. As everyone sat down, Harry and Draco next to Hermione and Ron on the couch, with Snape in the loveseat and the twins in another chair, Snape curled his lip.

"Harry, how many of the Horcruxes have you found?" he questioned, apparently emerging from deep thought.

"Well, we destroyed Riddle's diary, Dumbledore obliterated the ring, and we know about Nagini and Voldemort himself, and now we have Ravenclaw's bracelet."

"It would seem as though once more I have overestimated you Potter. I daresay I thought you would have found it. You have missed the most obvious Horcrux of all," said Snape with a smile.

A/N: OOO! I bet you can guess what will happen next? Or maybe not. Things aren't always what they seem! This chapter was a lot of dialogue which needs some addition. Jeez. You know better than that., but we had to get Snape into the story with some character and punish Ginny for the rotten girl that she is my eyebrows raise once more. I expect rejoice after this event! Remember to review, and I will remember to respond to you via email (if you have your review signed). Thanks for reading another chapter, and until next time everyone! Hopefully soon! And this is what my Beta said to Harry, making me laugh : GOD'S NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TRUSTING HIM! STAY AWAY FROM HIM HARRY! We will see what happens next.