They stared at each other for over a minute. Snape was trying to wear him down, but Harry looked him square in the eyes and focused. The whole class was watching by now. Not one of them knew what was going on, except that Snape and Harry hated each other. They sat on the edge of their seats, too, wondering if violence was going to erupt. 
                              
However, Harry did not think about them. He thought about nothing, he tried to empty his mind of emotion. He felt some pressure in the back of his mind, as if someone was tunneling in, but he did not let him. Snape looked ready to kill, but then stopped the mental battle and glanced around at the class, who quickly pretended like they were not watching. He gave a last menacing look at Harry and swept away, without a word.
                              
"What was that all about?" asked Ron, after Snape released them.
                              
"Private battle," said Harry, simply.
                              
"Private battle? What do you mean? You just were staring him down," Ron said.
                              
"Yeah, and I think I won," Harry said, with a smile, but he remembered his Occulmency training and tried to contain his enthusiasm. 
                              
"What are you talking about Harry?" Hermione asked.
                              
"He was using Legilimency to read my mind and I wasn't letting him," he said.
                              
"He was trying to read your mind?" Ron asked, slightly horrified.
                              
"Yeah, he was trying," Harry said, cracking into a smile, despite his efforts not to.
                              
The rest of the day moved at a slug-like pace. While Ron and Hermione did make some conversation, it usually involved him, too. By now, even he was getting nervous. Ron had said he was going to ask today, and it appeared he was not even trying to make an effort. Hermione just seemed distant, as though waiting for something to happen. 
                              
By nightfall, the tension was beyond restraint. He sat with them all night in the common room in front of the fire. That night, it seemed the Easter Ball revelry had drained everyone earlier than usual today. Most of the other Gryffindors had already gone up to sleep. 
                              
Neville, who had been jittery all day, was the first to concede, and Dean and Seamus followed soon after. Hermione had insisted that they finish their Charms homework before they went to bed. Harry was almost done when he noticed that Ron and Hermione were not even close to being finished, and it was not because they did not know what they were writing about.
                              
Harry decided to take a break and looked at the fire. It had a soothing effect on him. He was relaxed, but he kept his mind on his Occulmency. He thought about Snape trying to read his emotions. 
                              
Did I really hold him off? he thought. Snape stopped himself. Could he hold Snape off, or Voldemort for that matter, if they actually used their wands? He was not sure. Keeping Snape from scanning his emotions and truths was one thing, but holding up to the spell was another. Then another thought hit him, what if Snape read his thoughts when he was thinking about the prophecy? No, he thought. Snape would have probably needed to use the spell for that, but he still had to worry. He did not know if he could trust Snape, especially after he learned how his own father had treated him.
                              
Movement out of the corner of his eye jolted him back to reality. A few second and third years were moving rather sleepily upstairs. He glanced at them and was about to return to the fire, when something else caught his eye. 
                              
Ginny was sitting at one of the study tables with Colin and the other fifth years, studying for their O.W.L.'s. She was facing him. His back tensed up and he could not swallow. They had just finished and were packing up, and Ginny looked up and saw him. He meant to look away, but he could not. She blushed and waved over to him. He smiled and managed to move his hand enough to return a half-wave. She crossed the room, and at the steps of the girls' dorm, she turned and gave him one last fleeting look, before she swept up the stairs.