Harry Potter and the Portents of Doom 24/?

Rated: M for violence and possible non-con

Pairings: Harry/Severus, Ron/Hermione

A/N: I haven't had a computer for quite a while, and in fact still don't. This is all penned from by cell phone. Hopefully the formatting isn't too wacky, but it is the best I can do. While it has been taking me a long time to update my fics in recent years, they will never be abandoned. I hope people are still interested. Cheers.

Coming Clean

Harry entered the Great Hall with a spring in his step for the first time in a long while. He refused to attribute this to the conversation he had wih Snape, but the less antagonistic interaction did factor in. He happened to look over at the Slytherin table as he passed and Malfoy nodded slighty to him in greating.

"Malfoy has had a mental breakdown." Harry exclaimed dramatically when he sat down next to his friends.

"What are you talking about, mate?"

"He's still a right git, but he's not being an evil git." Harry did his best to explain. "He nodded at me just now and there was no sneer or insult in sight. Weird is what it was."

"Who knows what the ferret is thinking, but be careful of him because it's probably nothing good." Ron shrugged slightly, but vowed to keep a closer eye on the blond. Harry was a bit obssessed with the git, and if he noticed him acting strange then he was. "Likely he's just waiting for the right time to get even for throwing his father in prison."

"I reckon so."

Classes passed quickly for the next few days, and what time the trio had left was spent keeping an eye on Snape and their various research projects. Harry and Hermione were having their eyes opened with regards to many ins and outs of the Wizarding World that they had been ignorant of. Ron was strutting around the halls a bit, proud that for once he could share knowledge with them both, rather then Hermione explaining things to him.

It was quite a conundrum to Harry since it seemed to him that somethings were backwards and other traditions were ahead of their muggle counterparts. The medical/healing field for instance was extremely advanced, and new potions and spells were being discovered all the time.

The government however was hopelessly out of touch with the majority of wizards, and seemed to be comprised of mostly the old families. Many of the seats have been dormant for years due to Grindelwald and Voldemort, and there have been few new heirs in recent decades. As a result the government and lawmakers have been in a holding pattern with little of real worth being done.

Socially there were many pros as well as cons. It seems that quite a bit of modern romantic relationships were alliances and general companionship. While every witch and wizard believed in the importance of their own magic, entering in to any of the bonds that Snape mentions had fallen out of favor with the younger generation. In this way many of the bond-based branches of magic promised to become lost over time.

Harry could understand that for most people binding yourself and magic to someone forever was a daunting prospect, especially considering the length of time most wizards tended to live. The commitment alone was huge, and he was surprised that the soul bonds were in the minority. He could only see himself binding his magic with someone he was deeply in love with, since it was such an intimate thing. Most witches and wizards never let anyone touch their wand either, in fact to even ask would be a great insult.

The lessons with Ron gave him a lot to think about and consider. He didn't realise how ignorant he truly was until recently. Harry had come into the habit of ambushing Snape with questions as they entered his mind. This served to keep him around Snape in case the unknown student attacked in the evenings. The first few times Professor Snape seemed annoyed by the intrusion, but as Harry would listen quietly and ask thoughful questions, Snape gradually realized that his student was interested in learning what he had to teach. This was novel for Snape, since he had only seen the snide and angry side of Potter before then. It would almost be a shame to disrupt the status quo, but needs must...

"Just how long were you planning on dropping by to 'protect' me, Mister Potter?" Snape asked quietly as he noticed him check the corridor they were walking down for the fifth time.

"What?" Harry asked in shock. He knew it was odd going to his least favorite professor with life questions, but he had thought Snape had decided to just ignore the circumstances and go with it like he had been for the last few days. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Really Mister Potter, as much as it hurts me to acknowledge it, you are inteligent when you choose to utilize your brain. Do me the courtesy of a valid answer for your increased presence and vigilance about my person."

Harry was silent for a long moment as he considered playing stupid, but one look at Snape's face discouraged that course of action. So far he was being civil, but Snape was not known for his even temper.

"I doubt you will believe me, but I have been having visions since school resumed. I knew about the attack before it happened, although I didn't connect the two until later. A bit later I had another one where you were confronting a student out after curfew and they killed you. Since-"

"Since then you have taken it upon yourselves to be my bodyguards." Snape interupted. He gazed at his student as he fiddled with his robes uncertainly. Snape noticed that the younger man still had a firm grip on his wand however. No matter the foolishness of their actions it seemed like the Gryffindor Trio had indeed taken him under their dubious protection. "This explains Granger and Weasley's rather uncharacteristic behavior of tearing each others clothes off during their prefect duties right where I happen to be patrolling. How disappointing. I thought they had simply discovered a previously unknown exhibitionist kink."

It was all Snape could do not to cackle when Potter scrunched his nose in disgust at the mental image. For a sixteen year old he was still delightfully innocent.

"With me Potter." Snape ordered as he swept away.

"Where are we going?"

"To gather the other two erstwhile members of your group for a discussion on proper stalking procedures." Snape answered sarcastically. "May I assume then that Mister Zabini is safe from your inept seduction techniques?"

"Er... Yeah." Harry answered sheepishly. "It was the first thing we could think of."

"Teenagers and their hormones."

"Hey!" Harry took offense. "It was Ron's idea."

"Just so, Potter. It seems Mister Weasley at least does in fact have sex on the brain."

Snape did his best to ignore the nose scrunch this time, but the corner of his lip kicked up in amusement just the same.