I am an idiot. I should have agreed with him. Now he's there, unleashed, free to do all the foolishness his reckless mind can conceive.

And he's with the werewolf. Now he has intimate conversations with the werewolf, who is so understanding, so sweet, so charming, so close...

No. I am an idiot for getting myself so involved with him. My mistake was made back then, when I accepted him in my bed, not now.

Crossing the sitting room in his private quarters in the dungeons, Snape opened the cupboard and produced a bottle of Firewhisky.

I could warn Albus. He would call the bloody twins and put them back on track. It seems to be the only logical alternative. Harry will hate me even more, but at least he will be alive to hate me.

~* ~* ~

A week passed and Snape couldn't make a decision about what to do. The first day of the term had arrived and Snape, standing at the castle's entrance, felt a deep sense of relief in seeing Harry stepping out of the carriage along with Granger and the two younger Weasleys. Harry was at Hogwarts again, where Snape would be able to watch and protect him.

He tried to convince himself that it didn't matter that Harry was angry and didn't want to talk to him any more.

But now and then he looked at his finger to see if the ring was still there.

~* ~* ~

He spent the first week of classes trying to ignore Harry, but watching him from a distance. On Friday, he looked at the Time-Turner with eyes full of longing. Should he go to the cottage, should he leave the Time-Turner in the right place in hopes that Harry would grab it?

Nonsense. Harry wouldn't even remember the Time-Turner, the cottage, his old greasy lover.

At night, in his bedroom in the dungeons, regretting not having tried to contact Harry, Snape slipped under the blankets and tried the only way he could find to relieve the tension. Visualising every detail of Harry - his slim body, smooth skin, unruly hair, emerald eyes, innocent smile - he came into his own hand, whispering Harry's name. It was nice. It didn't fill the void in his soul, but it helped him to fall asleep.