Silver and Gold 6/? DH Spoilers
SPOILERS FOR DH


Title: Silver and Gold 6/?
Author: Eriador117
Rating: NC-17, Snape/Harry, other pairings.
Spoilers up to and including Deathly Hallows
Summary: Things are never quite what they seem. Epilogue, what epilogue? ;)
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Potterverse, I'm just playing in it.
Beta'd by Rakina, many thanks :)
Warnings: AU, Angst, Mpreg. There are some other things I am not warning for as it will give away the plot and I myself don't exactly know where the story is going yet.



Earlier Parts

Part Six

Snape had told Professor McGonagall about Harry's suicide attempt and she was adamant that Harry shouldn't be left alone at any time. So the dorms were no longer an option for when he left the hospital wing. She'd given Harry a choice, he was either to stay with Snape in the Defence quarters (Snape had accepted that teaching post again) or he was to stay with Hagrid. Harry knew he wouldn't have been able to handle Hagrid's gentle reproaches. Every time Hagrid looked at him these days, his eyes were so sad. Harry didn't want to be reminded that he was the one who had caused such a look in his friend's eyes.

Harry knew he ought to have expected it after what he'd tried to do, but for the next few weeks; Hagrid and Snape both watched him like hawks. The only time he was ever truly alone was when he went to the bathroom, but even then Snape would wait outside the door. If Harry seemed to be taking too long, Snape would give Harry a verbal warning before barging his way in. It was very difficult to try to go to the toilet knowing that the man might come in at any moment. Wanking in the shower was definitely out, although recently Harry hadn't really felt much like doing that anyway.

Sometimes Harry worried what his friends would think about him staying with Snape over the summer, but the truth was that Harry was glad that someone had noticed how depressed he was after everything that had happened. He couldn't confide in Ron how upset he was, for it was Ron who had lost a brother and he felt that Ron didn't need Harry harping on about how awful things were. Ron knew that already.

Hermione had gone to Australia to remove the memory charm from her parents and although she'd written to Harry a couple of times while she was there, Harry had yet to write back. He didn't know what to say that wouldn't reveal his state of mind. Hermione was excellent at reading between the lines. Harry wondered how much she knew of what had happened with the Dursleys. Even though Harry hadn't said anything outright to his two best friends, sometimes Harry had the impression that Hermione knew a lot more than what was found in books.

***

"You haven't eaten much breakfast," said Snape as he'd said every morning for the past three weeks.

"I'm not very hungry," said Harry, his answer always the same as well. It was true, he had very little appetite these days and he positively dreaded the Hogwarts start of term feast. He'd decided that he would continue at school, basically because he hadn't decided on anything else yet and it was the path of least resistance. He knew he no longer wanted to be an Auror, though; he'd had enough of chasing Dark wizards.

"You've got to eat."

"I'm not hungry!"

"Well, if you think I'm going to stand by and watch you starve yourself, you're wrong. Eat your toast."

Harry lifted up a slice of toast and took two bites out of it before setting it back down on the plate with a defiant glare in Snape's direction.

"Stop sulking, it doesn't suit you."

"So says the man who could sulk for England!" retorted Harry. They were getting on each other's nerves spending so much time together, but Snape refused to leave him alone even for a moment. Harry still wasn't trusted and he knew the professor was right not to trust him. Just this morning, Harry had stared at the bar of soap in the bathroom and wondered how easy it would be to Transfigure it into a knife.

Just as Snape opened his mouth to reply, there was knock on their door. As Snape got up to answer it; he waved his wand over the table to remove all the knives. Harry sighed and slumped down in his chair. How had Snape known that Harry had been thinking of trailing the butter knife across his skin?

"Ah, Severus. Is Harry here?" came Professor McGonagall's voice from the doorway. "He's got a visitor."

"Of course he's here, where else would he be?" asked Snape in an exasperated tone. "Who is it?"

"It's Arthur Weasley. Shall I tell him to come up?"

"I'll open the Floo," said Snape coming back into the room and lighting the fire. Harry pushed the plates around on the table. What did Mr. Weasley want? Had Ginny told him how Harry had avoided her at Fred's funeral? God, Harry didn't need any more people angry at him, but he couldn't think of any other reason why Mr. Weasley might want to visit him.

The fire flared green and Mr. Weasley stepped out into the living room. "Good morning, Arthur. Would you care for some breakfast or coffee? There's plenty left."

Mr. Weasley seemed surprised that Severus and Harry seemed to be sharing the same space, but he didn't comment on it. "Oh, not for me, thanks. I've just had breakfast at The Burrow."

"Very well." Snape sat down at the table and conjured another chair for Mr. Weasley.

"Hello, Harry. How are you?"

Harry shrugged. "Hi."

"Severus, I wondered if I might have a word with Harry alone? It's a rather delicate matter."

Oh, God. It was going to be about Ginny. Maybe Mr. Weasley would kill him and save Harry the bother.

"I will only be in the next room," Snape warned Harry with another glare and headed off to his bedroom.

"Harry, you may have seen in the papers that Dolores Umbridge is running for Minister of Magic."

"Yes, I did read that. Voldemort will have won if she gets to be Minister."

"Exactly, Harry. There are still some factions who think that You Know Who had the right idea about Muggles and half-bloods, so she will have some support. She can't get in. It's just unthinkable. That's why I'm here on behalf of the wizarding world, Harry. You'll be eighteen in a matter of days and will be legally allowed to run for office. We want you to run against Umbridge."

"What?" squawked Harry. "You want me to run for Minister?"

"That's the idea, yes."

"No, Mr. Weasley. I'm sorry. I'm not a politician, I can't do it."

"You see, that's why you'd be so good, because you aren't a politician. You could really make a difference, Harry."

"No, it's not for me. Why don't you do it? I'm sure there are lots of people who would vote for you," said Harry. "I would."

"Me? But I've never thought about anything like that."

"You know so much about the wizarding world, Mr. Weasley. You know what needs to be done; I'd be hopeless. You'd be a much better candidate against Umbridge."

"Do you really think I have a chance, Harry? There's a thousand galleon deposit to run for office, we can't afford to lose that sort of money."

"I could lend you the money," said Harry, thinking of his full vault.

"Oh, no, I couldn't let you do that. We have some savings put by, I'm sure there'd be enough. I'll run it by Molly and the rest of the family, see what they think. Can I mention in my campaign that you're supporting me?"

"Of course you can. I'd be proud to be associated with you, Mr. Weasley."

Mr. Weasley flushed. "Why, thank you, Harry. Very kind of you to say so."

"It's the truth."

"Well, thanks again. Oh, now where did I put it – ah, here we are." Arthur Weasley removed a crumpled letter from his pocket. "It's from Ron, he thought since I was coming, he'd save Pigwidgeon the bother."

Harry felt the guilt coiling in his chest. He hadn't written to Ron all holiday either; this must have been the fourth letter Ron had sent him already. "Um. Thanks."

"I'll be spending a bit of time with Professor McGonagall this morning; if you want me to I can take your reply to Ron this afternoon."

"Right. Okay," said Harry, wondering how he was going to write anything when some days he hardly felt like getting up never mind doing anything else. Harry saw Mr. Weasley out and then sat down on the sofa, ignoring the laden breakfast table. Almost as soon as he was settled, Snape came out of his bedroom and called the house-elves to remove the breakfast things when it was clear Harry wasn't going to eat anything else.

"Was that wise, Harry? Openly showing your support for Arthur Weasley?"

"You were listening?"

"Neither of you saw fit to cast a silencing charm, so it was rather hard to avoid your conversation."

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes I'm going to be supporting him."

"And what about Umbridge? She is still very influential at the Ministry; she could have both of you before the Muggle-Born Registration Committee."

"I don't care. And anyway, Mr. Weasley is a Pureblood.”

“She’ll be after blood-traitors next.”

“I won't let her get away with things like that again. If Mr. Weasley becomes Minister, I'm sure he can fire her. She's awful." Almost absently, Harry ran his left hand over the scars on his right.

"What's that on your hand? Did Dursley do that too?"

"No, that was Umbridge. She had a special quill for detentions."

"She used a Blood-Drawing quill in a school? Well, Harry, you may get your wish and more. Those quills are illegal. Fired from the Ministry? The woman will be lucky if she keeps out of Azkaban."

TBC