Harry stared down at the cauldron in front of him, trying to force himself to focus on the concoction he was brewing. Finding this difficult, he sighed softly and allowed himself to glance across the room, quickly finding the blond head of Draco Malfoy. Harry tried to control the feeling that was overwhelming him at the thought of those piercing blue eyes, full of passion, and the way his luscious lips would part ever so slightly in between words… Harry licked his own lips at the thought. Beautiful. He allowed his mind to wander, and he found himself wondering what it would feel like to be kissed, really kissed, by Draco Malfoy. Harry shuddered with pleasure at the thought, a smile playing at his lips. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not notice the heavy footsteps until they came to a stop behind him. Suddenly, he was aware of the eyes glaring at the back of his head. He turned quickly and found himself face to face with Severus Snape. He took a quick step backward in shock at the sight of the cold black eyes that stared back at him.

"Mr. Potter," Snape hissed, "I would prefer that you focus on the task at hand rather than occupying your mind with worthless daydreams. Ten points from Gryffindor for failing to pay attention in my class."

"Sorry Professor," Harry mumbled, looking down and hoping that his face was not turning red. Snape merely stared in contempt then spun on his heel and walked, with robes billowing, back to the front of the classroom. Harry cursed under his breath; it was so like the slimy bat of the dungeons to interrupt him when he was absorbed in thought, and enjoying it for once, when he was not plagued with memories of the war.

Harry lay on the ground, silently biding his time as he watched the flashes of light and heard the earth-shattering explosions that surrounded him. 'I should be fighting', he thought. All of those people were dying while he lay, alive, in the mud at Voldemort's feet. He was thought to be dead, and the ensuing battle was the fight for control of the wizarding world. Damn, if only he could kill the snake, he could end the war quickly with a final showdown between himself and Voldemort. He closed his eyes, hoping that it would be over soon. All of a sudden, he heard Ron's voice, "Ginny, catch." The world was turned upside down at that moment as Ginny rushed forward and stabbed Nagini, the sword of Gryffindor glinting in her grip. Voldemort's rage was unsurpassed as he turned his wand on the girl kneeling on the ground, still holding the sword.

"You will pay for this," he hissed evilly as he raised his wand, ready to udder the curse.

In an instant, Harry heard a voice from behind Voldemort utter the incantation almost reverently, "Avada Kedavra." A flash of green light erupted from the wand, and Voldemort fell to the ground, his snakelike eyes open wide with shock.

Harry's eyes snapped open, and he turned his head to catch a glimpse of the man who had saved Ginny. The man was bleeding profusely from the neck, supported by Hermione. This was the same man that Harry believed to be dead before he entered the forest that night, the man whose memories Harry had seen not too long ago. Severus Snape. All eyes were on Snape as they silently regarded the man who had worked as a double agent through the entire war; his true loyalties had finally been revealed. Harry took this as an opportunity to make it known that he was alive, as everyone was still silently regarding the man. He slowly sat up, and he heard more than one audible gasp from the crowd. Suddenly, he felt something hard fly into his chest. Before he got the chance to look closely to see who was now sobbing softly on his chest, he recognized the flaming red hair of Ginny Weasley.

"Ginny," he mumbled, pulling her closer. When he looked up, he caught a glimpse of Malfoy stalking away, obviously upset about something. By this time, the grounds had been purged of any remaining Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange lay dead, her hair spread wildly from her head, the life in her crazy eyes extinguished from her fight with Molly Weasley. Somehow, the Malfoys had been proven innocent with some evidence left for professor McGonagall by Dumbledore. As it turned out, like Snape, they had been secretly working with the order to bring down Voldemort.

Harry suddenly had the urge to follow Draco and thank him, he was the one who had pronounced to Voldemort that Harry was dead, knowing full well that he was alive. Harry pushed down this urge thinking that it would look strange if he left the embrace of his girlfriend to follow a Slytherin who, until a few minutes ago, was believed to be a Death Eater.

The bell dismissing class rang suddenly, jerking Harry once more from his thoughts. He hurried to collect his books, and then the voice of his professor rang out across the room.

"Potter, Granger, and Malfoy please stay behind; the rest of the class is dismissed." Harry silently waited while the other students shuffled out of the room, and he was left with Draco, Hermione, and Snape. "Miss Granger," Snape said slowly, "please wait outside the door while I speak to Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy. I need to speak to you separately." Hermione nodded and quickly left the room, shutting the door.

When the door had been shut, Harry looked quickly at Draco, then focused his eyes on Snape. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy," Snape began, "It has come to my attention that the both of you seem distracted in my class. I am not sure what is going on, but I am afraid that I cannot pretend not to notice any longer, or it might appear that I was losing my touch. I ask that you pay attention from now on, or I will not hesitate to deduct house points and give you both detentions." Harry looked over at Draco questioningly, to see that he was looking at Harry the same way. They stared; dumbfounded for a moment, then they looked back at Snape.

"Absolutely, Professor," Draco said without skipping a beat, pretending nothing had just happened. Harry could not find the words, so he nodded.

"Good," Snape replied curtly, "now out, both of you, it would be rude to keep Miss Granger waiting forever."

Harry and Draco turned and walked out the door. As they retreated from the room, Severus heard Draco comment softly to Harry, "I'm surprised he gave us a warning. What was that about? It's so unlike Snape to give chances before disciplining, maybe he really has lost his touch."