human again / hp.

Chapter 98

There was something oddly comforting about the return to the castle after holidays, like slipping into a coat that still held your shape. The walls hadn't changed. The staircases still moved unpredictably. The air still carried that faint, chalky scent of parchment and magic. And yet, it felt different.

Maybe it was me.

I moved through the day quietly, letting the routine settle around me like a blanket. The Great Hall had shed its Christmas garlands, but some warmth still clung to the high ceilings — maybe it was from the fires, or maybe from the students slowly filling it again. I noticed absences where I used to feel presences. Ron and the others still hadn't returned by the time the train rolled into Hogsmeade the night before, but by breakfast today, they were back — a blur of red hair and quiet talk.

Harry had looked up once when I passed him. Our eyes met for half a second, but I didn't go over. I wasn't sure why. Maybe because the letter he'd sent on Christmas still lingered in my chest. Or because I hadn't decided how much of me I wanted to offer yet.

Classes returned like clockwork, ushering us back into essays, cauldrons, wandwork, and whispers. Daphne grumbled through nearly every period. Theo was noticeably quiet again, only giving me a curt nod in the corridor. I didn't mind.

After our last class, I lingered by the stone railing of the seventh-floor corridor, letting students pass around me like water. I liked this spot — quiet, high, and always slightly drafty. The snow outside was beginning to melt into slush, the sky cast in a dull grey.

I didn't hear him approach.

"You've got that look again," Harry said beside me.

I turned slightly, hiding my surprise behind a raised brow. "What look?"

"The 'I'm very busy thinking about seventeen different things and trying not to feel them' look."

I almost smiled. "You've been paying attention."

He gave a shrug, and then the silence settled between us like it always did — not uncomfortable, just... there.

"I wanted to tell you," he said after a moment, "my letter didn't have space to explain everything. But... Mr. Weasley is okay now. Fully healed."

I looked over at him properly then. There were circles under his eyes, but a small flicker of relief burned there too. "That's good. I'm really glad."

He nodded, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yeah. They said it was close. The snake — it was huge. Venomous. But he's stubborn."

"Sounds like someone else I know."

Harry huffed a small laugh, his fingers dropping to the edge of the stone. "There's something else. I didn't want to put it in writing."

That made me turn fully toward him. "What is it?"

He looked down at the floor before answering. "Dumbledore... well, he thinks Voldemort might be using some kind of connection through me. That the reason I saw what happened to Mr. Weasley — that it might be because I was sort of... inside the snake."

My stomach turned. "What do you mean, inside?"

"Like... seeing through its eyes. Feeling what it felt." He gave a helpless shrug. "I don't know. But it felt real. Too real. Dumbledore thinks I need to learn Occlumency. To stop him getting in my head."

My lips parted slightly. The word sat heavily in the air.

"Snape's going to teach me."

That pulled the breath right out of me.