Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
Seeing that hospital bed stripped of its occupant had been unnerving. He'd expected it of course, hoped for the day even, but the actual sight of it made his stomach tighten in uncomfortable ways. Harry wasn't ready to never see Severus Snape again.
The man would be back at home by now, probably cursing everything from the safety of his own bedroom. It was a good thing, Harry had agreed with the Head Healer not ten minutes ago, but then, why did it make him feel so messed up inside?
It wasn't like he and Snape had talked. Or waved hello. Or even that the man knew Harry checked in on him every day. But it was a habit, when everything else had become so uncertain, and he supposed it was the end of that habit which made him uncomfortable.
Harry touched the doorknob one last time.
One of the younger Medi-witches who worked the floor approached him. When he didn't acknowledge her, she tapped him on the shoulder.
Harry tore his eyes away from the little window and frowned.
It was the one with the ribbon in her hair. He couldn't remember her name—they rarely spoke—but there was something about her Harry didn't like, despite her being perfectly decent.
She blinked.
Right.
He was meant to say something now, wasn't he? He didn't.
The nurse pursed her lips and sighed, then pushed a wad of black fabric against his chest. “Take this to the old bat, would you?”
Harry didn't need to look down to know what it was he held, and he didn't bother to hide suspicion from his face. Anyone could be a threat with Death Eaters and sympathizers still out there. Anyone.
“How did you get this?” he snapped, suddenly aware of the lack of places to take cover. “The ministry took everything he had the night we brought him in. What are you doing with it?”
“It was just an oversight, Sir,” she said in a placating tone. “There was a mix-up with the Property Logger due to all the incoming patients. No one came to collect it afterward. They probably assumed it was destroyed when we took it off him.”
The nurse grinned, bearing teeth, and glanced behind herself briefly.
Harry's palm itched for his wand, but all she did was giggle.
“I was told to take it to the incinerator with the rest of the unusables, but I thought it might be of use to you, seeing as you no longer have a reason to hide behind that door.”
Harry's cheeks colored.
“I wasn't hiding,” he mumbled, and the girls eyebrows nearly touched her hairline. He really, really didn't like her.
“It's none of your business anyway, is it,” he said, glaring at the pitted tiles on the floor.
“Too right,” she laughed, “but you haven't given it back to me, have you?”
Harry bit his bottom lip to keep from saying something nasty. The girl's grin grew impossibly wider.
“Have a nice day, Mr. Potter,” she sang, turning on her heal.
Harry gripped the cloak even tighter and swore under his breath. He took the long way round to avoid passing her station.