Yo. It's always an anon bitch named Martha. Every time. I wonder if this is the same Martha who's gone to half of my fics and complained about the pairing over the past couple of years. As if it's even close to being the worst thing on this site. Bet she doesn't say anything about those, huh? Wonder if she goes to every fic with a pairing she doesn't approve of to complain. ...Wow, she must be REALLY busy then, huh? People are offended over the most minute things these days. It's actually really fucking annoying, isn't it? Side note: I always picture Marthas as old white ladies. *shrug*

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...

Snape and Malfoy made it to breakfast the next morning, was the first thing Harry noticed when he and Remus walked into the Great Hall. He didn't know where they had been the previous night, or what they had been doing, but they were here now, looking as they always did, if maybe a little more relaxed. That probably meant they hadn't been summoned. They likely wouldn't have been so at ease if they had.

Breakfast itself was a rather quiet and awkward affair, no one in the room speaking at all. Harry sort of just picked at his food while the others ate around him, not really feeling all that hungry. He'd eaten more than usual for dinner the previous night, too busy talking to Remus to have noticed how much he was eating. But because of the Dursleys' habits when it came to feeding him over the years, Harry didn't have the biggest appetite, and honestly wasn't hungry yet.

Not looking up from his plate, he didn't notice the three men taking turns in glancing at him in confusion or concern, though even still, none of them said anything, not to him and not to one another...

Breakfast came to an uneventful end, and they split up, Snape and Malfoy heading off in the direction of the library, and Harry and Remus returning outside where they wandered and chatted, just like yesterday.

Unfortunately, noon arrived a bit too soon for Harry's liking. Before he even knew it, Remus was leaving the castle, and Harry was once again left alone with Snape and Malfoy. Dammit.

Summer homework done, Harry spent a while debating on what he could do now to pass the time. He still had nearly a month until classes started up again, and this was the most free time he had ever had before in his entire life. Even if Snape and Malfoy were around, they left him alone so long as he followed the few rules that had been set, none of which he had any real problems with.

No, maybe the first thing he needed to do was write a few letters to his friends. He could have Hedwig deliver letters to Hermione, Neville, and Luna, but maybe he would have Dobby deliver a letter to Fred and George. Just in case.

Besides, he was curious to see what else they knew about what Dumbledore and the Order was doing. Lucius Malfoy was only going to give him so much information, after all, and even that likely wasn't going to be for long.

He still hadn't brought it up. Severus sighed and dragged his finger through his hair. He had meant to bring up Occlumency lessons with Potter during lunch, after Lupin had left, but... He hadn't been able to.

Potter had been quiet during lunch, appearing lost in thought-serious thoughts, at that. Severus didn't know what had been on the teen's mind, but it didn't seem like it was anything particularly good. Hopefully he wasn't planning on breaking any rules. Severus really wasn't in the mood to deal with that sort of thing right now.

Honestly, he wasn't sure what he was in the mood for. Things seemed quiet, but that was only at first glance. Under the silence, there was a surprising amount going on, little of it good. Although he supposed that depended on what side of the war one was on.

The Light and Dark came across as being on even footing at the present moment, but Severus, privy to information from both sides due to his position, knew that this wasn't true at all.

The Light was in the lead. The Light had gained new recruits, their message was going out, and they had at least one new spy. But the Light had problems too. Problems they were desperately trying to keep quiet.

Severus had noticed the glances certain Order members exchanged when Dumbledore spoke. He had noticed the whispers when Dumbledore asked or ordered for certain things to be said or done. He had noticed the secret little meetings they held once the usual Order meetings came to an end.

Severus had noticed all of these things, though he hadn't been included in any of them. But he didn't mind. Truth be told, he was actually somewhat pleased. Pleased that these Order members had finally decided to open their eyes-pleased that they were finally beginning to see the truth. They were bound to come to a decision soon, and when they did, Severus wondered if Dumbledore was going to realize what exactly he had lost.

But then there was Potter. If these Order members did what Severus thought (or perhaps hoped) they would do, where was that going to leave Potter, who was a main focus of both sides in the war?

Severus wasn't the only one thinking about Harry Potter. The teen was occupying Lucius' mind too. Having Lupin at the castle for the day had been a good move. Potter had been happy to have him around-happier than Lucius had seen him this entire time. But at lunch, after Lupin had left, Potter had been gone back to the solemn silence from before Lupin had arrived. It was almost as if Lupin had never been in the castle in the first place.

Lucius wasn't exactly surprised by that, but he was just a little disappointed. He had been hoping Potter would remain as he'd been with Lupin around, or perhaps even revert to his usual brash behaviour. But that didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon.

But maybe that was because of a different reason than he and Severus were thinking. Maybe it had less to do with Black's death than they thought. Maybe this was just Potter. Maybe this was how he always was, and had simply been concealing it up until now. Maybe now with Black gone, he just didn't care about pleasing people anymore.

Lucius didn't know how he felt about that, if that was indeed the truth.

He wanted to learn more about Potter, he realized abruptly. Not the rumours he heard from Draco or others, not the vague hints he heard from the Order of the Phoenix, not the half hearted insults he heard from Severus or the Dark Lord. No, he wanted to learn more about Potter from Potter himself.

He wanted to know small things-his likes and dislikes and favourite colour and food, and he wanted to know bigger, more important things-his true thoughts on Dumbledore and the Dark Lord and the war. He wanted to know everything.

If the Potter he had seen up until now wasn't really Potter at all, then who was the true Harry Potter? How many people even knew this true Potter? What would it take to get the teen to trust him enough to speak to him openly like he did with his friends?

Short chapter, I know. Whatever. Better than nothing. I blame the sickening heat. The temperatures have been in the high twenties, going into the thirties and forties (celcius) pretty much every day for the past like, three weeks or something, and as someone extremely sensitive to the heat (I have gotten heat strokes at seventeen degrees before) and very prone to migraines, it's been brutal. Sitting at home with the AC on barely helps, let alone attempting to even go outside. And the heat's been giving me horrendous migraines every day, so writing has kind of just not been a priority recently. The heat and pain just sucks out what little energy I have. I can't wait for it to cool down a little. Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!