you raise me up || harry potter

chapter 47

»»————-　song:　————-««

so will i

★ by ben platt ★

❝ the stars will keep on falling
for the ones who wish at night
the mountains won't start moving
and the rivers won't run dry 

the world will always be there
and so will i. ❞

♢ ♢ ♢

Harry poked his head into Snape's office. 

Never one to miss a single detail, Snape waved a hand over his shoulder without turning around. "Come in," he said. "Shouldn't you be in Slytherin? I hear it's quite the party."

Harry shrugged. "I'm not big on parties," he said. "Especially not this one. Too much attention."

"And to think I ever thought you were conceited," Snape said with a hint of a smile. "So? What brings you here? Michael Corner has been soundly dealt with, as I'm sure you heard."

"I'd say it was a bit... harsh," Harry said, "But yeah, he's a jerk. I guess he deserves it."

"You guess?" Snape shook his head.

Harry rubbed his neck. "I don't... I don't suppose you saw my Patronus?" he asked.

For a second, Snape looked like he had forgotten how to breathe. The moment passed, and he gave a snort. "Saw?" he said. "The whole school saw it. In fact, it was so pleased by the attention that it took a lap before disappearing."

Harry blinked. "Oh. Didn't see that bit." He hesitated. "You gave me a weird look afterward."

Snape seemed to ignore the statement. "So you've been learning how to conjure a Patronus," he said, sitting down behind his desk. "Because of what happened on the train?"

"You know about the train?"

"Of course I do," Snape said. "Remus Lupin saw fit to inform me and the headmaster. Either way, it was no secret, after all."

Harry felt a flush of embarrassment creep across his face. "I thought that me fainting... had something to do with weakness," he explained. "I thought that if I knew how to fend them off..."

Snape looked vaguely alarmed. "It has nothing at all to do with weakness, Harry," he said. "Your memories are more... traumatic, I'd say is the word, than most people can begin to comprehend."

Harry felt a bit miffed. "I'm not a nutcase," he said staunchly. "So stop trying to be my shrink."

"No, you're not," Snape agreed. "In fact, on the whole I believe you've handled your ordeals quite admirably."

Admirably. Harry felt a sudden warmth in his toes. He tried not to feel too good about it—what a weird thing to be happy about—but at least Snape didn't think he was some sort of whiny crybaby who couldn't suck things up and deal with it. Harry's dorm-mates probably already thought he was a nutcase, from the amount of times Harry woke up screaming from nightmares. He learned his lesson and cast Silencing Charms around his bed after that. 

He felt a bit guilty about not mentioning his nightmares to Snape, now that he thought about it, but he didn't want to reverse Snape's positive impression about his mental state by turning right around and invalidating everything he had said. So he moved on. 

"Professor Lupin told me basically the same thing," Harry said. "I don't think that way anymore, obviously. I just... didn't want to lose another Quidditch match if they showed up again."