Chapter 166 : Bloody Lavender and Unexpected Connections?

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"You were still obsessing over that plant, weren't you?" Harry asked, his attention back on the potions master.

"When am I not?" Severus asked, slumping back into an armchair, brows furrowed. "I was looking into a fifth century Norwegian chart and was fully planning to continue doing so after the lesson but no! It took me six hours to scrape that couldron from the floor and then there were papers that needed to be graded this morning!" The potions master ranted as Harry smiled.

"It was a mess wasn't it?"

"I don't even know what caused such a violent reaction!" Severus admitted. "Well, if you except the fact that Miss Brown was more interested into reading her astrological chart than watching what she was doing." And bang went the cauldron, Severus thought, remembering the quite interesting explosion of dark pink fume. And he was feeling very hopeful after finding that chart…

"That was some explosion." Harry stated chuckling. "One that you would expect from Seamus, I suppose, but not from Lavender." Severus swore that his heart skipped a beat. No. After all these years. It couldn't be.

"What did you say?" He asked softly, feeling his head spin.

"That one would expect that explosion from Seamus and not from Lavender." The potions master turned even paler. "Dad?" Harry asked, swiftly approaching Severus. "Are you alright?" But he didn't appear to be listening. Instead, he was mumbling to himself, his eyes wide.

"Of course… It thrives on rocky terrain. And it wouldn't have been imported that far north at that time… So he couldn't have known… just the description… purple stone herb… Even Muggles use it… It's antiseptic, analgesic… After searching for every single rare plant on the face of the earth… Goblins' gold!" Severus exclaimed. Harry looked at the potions master in shock; it seemed he had solved the mysterious plant problem that had plagued him for so long. But how?

"Dad? What happened?" If I had a knut for every time I've asked this question, Harry thought absentmindedly.

"Don't you see, Harry?" He grabbed him by the shoulders and the teenager found himself staring at an overjoyed Severus; his eyes were burning and he started laughing, standing up and tousling his own hair.

"See what?" The teen asked as Severus marched towards his lab.

"Lavender, Harry! It's bloody lavender!" The potions master shouted over his shoulder, his laughter echoing in the halls. Harry stared at his retreating back for a few seconds until his mind caught up.

"Bloody lavender." He muttered, before dissolving into laughter himself.

"Don't you see Harry?" He grabbed him by the shoulders and the teenager found himself staring at an overjoyed Severus; his eyes were burning and he started laughing, standing up and tousling his own hair.

"See what?" The teen asked as Severus marched towards his lab.

"Lavender, Harry! It's bloody lavender!" The potions master shouted over his shoulder, his laughter echoing in the halls. Harry stared at his retreating back for a few seconds until his mind caught up.

"Bloody lavender." He muttered, before breaking into laughter himself.

The months passed in relative peace after Christmas holidays. Adrian returned from his training tired and annoyed. From what he had gathered, a great part of the holidays was spent in teaching him more advanced defense spells, a decision Harry inwardly applauded. Harry had spent most of his holidays either helping an overexcited Severus or brushing up with his studies; he was more than surprised to realize he had covered most of the sixth year material and heading steadily towards the seventh year books; he couldn't help but feel some amount of pride for his accomplishment. If everything went according to plan, he would be through with school material by that time next year, maybe sooner.

The greatest surprise he got once he returned to school sprouted mostly from what Sirius let slip during a short visit to his office; apparently, while he was trying to convince Remus not to quit his teaching job until the end of the year -he was feeling immensely guilty he had forgotten to take his Wolfsbane- Professor McGonagall had stunned them all with handing in her resignation. If what Sirius said was true, the Headmaster had to spend a week convincing her otherwise; seeing how she was there when they returned for the first transfiguration class of the spring semester, he must have convinced her. She was however, generally much more easy to aggravate and tended to take points for the slightest mistake.

Then there was Ginny. Harry had been close to stunned when one afternoon, just a week after the holidays, when the younger girl came to talk to him. He had been sitting in his favorite armchair by the fire next to Neville, going through the notes he had kept on a blood magic ritual he had come upon while perusing the thousands of books Nicholas had left him, when he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He closed his notebook and raised his eyes to see Ginny, smiling softly at him. His stomach fluttered a little as her smile widened.

"Hello, Harry." She said. The boy wondered what she wanted to speak to him about.

"Hello, Ginny. How were your holidays?" The girl shrugged.

"Just the same family stuff; Charlie came home from Romania though. He actually got me to volunteer for a summer program in the dragon shelter he's working at. Well, I'm not complaining; free holidays in Romania!" She was talking quite animatedly, making Harry smile. Noticing how she had been carried away, she blushed a little and cleared her throat. "How were your holidays?" She asked.

"Fine. Nothing special." If you except witnessing the creation of the permanent Wolfsbane potion, he added mentally. "I spend Christmas with Se... ehm, with Professor Snape." Whether she had noticed his slip or not, Ginny didn't comment on it.

"You spend a lot of time with Professor Snape." She noted. She was still smiling though and Harry realized startled that she was just stating a fact and not trying to belittle him spending time with Severus in any way or form. "How's he like outside school?" She asked quite suddenly. Harry's eyes widened at the unexpected question. If only he could tell the truth in the open, people wouldn't wonder why he spent so much time with… "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Ginny assured him chuckling, interrupting his thoughts; she didn't seem intent on pressing him for an answer but Harry gave one anyway.

"He's different." He answered noncommittally. Ginny simply nodded. "So, you wanted to tell me something or…" Harry just trailed off, not knowing what to say. He felt completely unprepared for this type of conversation.

"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Yes, I did." She toyed with the hem of her shirt a little before she continued. "I know you were the one that told everyone Adrian was missing. Ron might have…" She stopped and raised her eyes to meet Harry's startled ones. "Ron might have died had help arrived any later. He might be a bit thick sometimes, but he's my brother and you probably saved his life." Harry just blinked a couple of times confused; he had always wanted to hear someone thanking him for what he did but, after waiting for so long, he had unconsciously given up on the notion. And now, there he was, with no idea as to what he should say.

"I really didn't…" He began softly.

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