Disclaimer: All characters belong to the wonderful JK Rowling, who I am in
no way associated with.
A/N: This is an untitled work in progess. I decided to post it because I would love some feedback as to whether it's worth continuing.
CHAPTER ONE
Harry bit down on his lip and promised himself that he wouldn't lose his temper. Not this time. No matter what Snape said. He'd already landed himself four detentions in the past three weeks and didn't think he could stomach another evening washing out Snape's slimy, greasy, nausea-inducing potions bottles (without magic naturally).
He was sitting on the chair next to Snape's desk, in the Potion Master's office. It was a dreary, dark and eerie place, mirroring, Harry thought, the man himself. The only light in the room came from several candles, which were burning in iron brackets on the Dungeon walls. Harry's eyes glanced around the office, which was becoming a familiar place to him of late. Snape had always delighted in humiliating and punishing Harry, but recently he'd become even more unbearable, if such a thing was possible.
"Potter," Snape barked, the moment he opened the door and swept inside, his cloak billowing out behind him, closing the door with a harsh snap. "I tire of having to constantly entertain you in my office. You behaviour has always been unacceptable, but of late, I find..."
Snape's voice faded from Harry's ears, as Harry concentrated on keeping his cool.
'Don't let him get to you,' the voice of reason inside Harry's head was telling him. 'Don't rise to his bait. He's trying to get a rise out of you. Don't give him the satisfaction.'
Of course, Harry knew that he should listen to the voice, but it was so difficult. There was something about Snape's conceited, slimy, condescending, patronising tone of voice that just made Harry want to put his hands around Snape's neck and squeeze. Tightly.
"Are you listening to me, Potter?"
Snape's sudden shout brought Harry back to reality with a start. He looked up at Snape, who was glaring down at him with the upmost loathing in his dark eyes. Harry scowled and tried to keep his voice level and emotionless as he responded.
"Yes. Sir."
Snape laughed derisively, sitting down in the chair behind his desk, and he looked at Harry with an expression of infuriating superiority.
"Don't lie to me, Potter. You're absolutely useless at it."
"Well, unlike you, lying doesn't come as second nature to me," Harry spat back at him, narrowing his eyes.
He shouldn't have said that. It was exactly the opportunity Snape had been waiting for. His face twisted into a menacing smirk.
"Detention. And fifty points from Gryffindor, for your pathetic inability to hold your disobedient tongue."
Harry immediately rose to his feet, an indignant expression on his face.
"That's not fair, I..."
"Care to make it one hundred points?" Snape taunted, leaning back in his chair and straightening the collar of his robes. "And a months worth of detentions?"
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but then sank back down into his chair with a defeated sigh. The satisfied smirk remained firmly in place on Snape's face, as he put his fingertips together and looked at Harry through narrowed eyes.
"I thought as much. Now, how to make you realise that rules are there to be obeyed, particularly in my classroom. Your behaviour today was inexcusable."
Harry gritted his teeth and looked down at the floor, the anger rising in his veins. This was stupid. He'd done nothing wrong – as usual. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had been making snide comments and remarks all lesson from the table behind Harry and Ron. Snape had obviously been able to hear them, but hadn't said a word: but as soon as Harry turned and retaliated, threatening to shove the contents of his swelling solution down Malfoy's throat, Snape had pounced in a flash, grabbing Harry by the collar of his robes and instructing him to wait in his office until the end of the lesson.
Snape paused, waiting to see if Harry was going to protest. He looked slightly disappointed when Harry remained silent.
"Perhaps a month's suspension from the Quidditch team will...."
If there was one punishment that would have provoked a reaction from Harry, it was this. In an instant, Harry was on his feet again, leaning forwards with his hands on Snape's desk, his bright green eyes locked with Snape's soulless black ones.
"How on earth did you ever get to be a Professor!?" he shouted, the voice of reason in his head completely blocked out by the cloud of anger that had descended. "You're pathetic. Just because..."
But once again, Snape cut him off midsentence.
"How dare you?!" he bellowed, rising to his feet and mirroring Harry's stance, placing his hands on the desk in front of him and leaning in towards Harry. A malicious light had flared in the darkness of his eyes and his expression was one of undiluted anger. "You've disrespected me once too often, Potter. Like Father, like Son. Your...."
"Don't you say a word about my Dad!" Harry screamed at the top of his voice, slamming his hands down on the desktop with rage. "You're always criticising him. You're just jealous, because he was more talented and popular that you could ever dream of being! You deserved everything that he did to you. Everything!"
Harry could see the visions from the Pensieve in his mind, as though he were viewing them right now for the first time. His father, James Potter, taunting a teenage Snape, with Sirius and Remus looking on. At first, he'd thought his father's treatment of Snape had been unprovoked and overly harsh, but right now, he was wishing to Merlin that Sirius' infamous trick on Snape had succeeded.
"You're pathetic, you really are. He was fifty times the man you'll ever be. Sirius and Professor Lupin too. You hated them all because they were everything you would never be."
Snape had fallen dangerously silent. There was fatal mix of shock and loathing on his face. But Harry was too angry to stop now.
"I don't know why Professor Dumbledore ever took you on – you're..."
"THAT IS ENOUGH!!!!"
Snape's voice was almost unrecognisable. Quite unlike his usual purr, his voice was now a screaming roar. Harry immediately fell silent, stumbling backwards slightly from the shock of Snape's sudden outburst.
"I will NOT be spoken to in such a disrespectful manner! You will sit down and you will not say another word until I instruct you otherwise! Sit down."
Obeying, Harry sank down into his chair and closed his eyes. What had he done? He should never have let Snape get to him like that – he'd played right into Snape's hands. He was going to be suspended for sure; perhaps even expelled. Bracing himself for Snape's onslaught, Harry opened his eyes and looked up at the Potions master, trying to ignore the way his hands were trembling as they gripped the wooden arms of the chair.
Snape wasn't looking at Harry. His back was turned, so Harry could not read the expression on Snape's face. If Harry had been able to see, he would've seen a face contorted with barely suppressed rage and lurking, almost unnoticeable, just beneath the surface, an intense sadness. A few moments passed when neither teacher nor student spoke, and then Harry cleared his throat, as if to prompt Snape into speech.
"Two months suspension from the Quidditch team," Snape said coldly, still not turning to face Harry. "And fifty points from Gryffindor."
Harry didn't bother to protest. It would only make matters worse.
"Now get out of my office."
Silently pulling himself to his feet and walking towards the door, Harry thought about the reaction he was going to get in the Gryffindor common room when he announced that not only had he managed to lose 50 House Points, but had also earned himself a two month Quidditch ban. That would mean missing at least one of the year's most important matches – the match against Slytherin in three weeks time.
Just as Harry was about to open the door and let himself out, Snape spoke again.
"Oh, and Potter, rest assured I will be speaking to the Headmaster about your inexcusable behaviour and recommending that your future here at Hogwarts be put under serious re-evaluation."
"Yes, Sir," Harry muttered, his voice level and emotionless, as he closed the door behind him.
TBC....
A/N: This is an untitled work in progess. I decided to post it because I would love some feedback as to whether it's worth continuing.
CHAPTER ONE
Harry bit down on his lip and promised himself that he wouldn't lose his temper. Not this time. No matter what Snape said. He'd already landed himself four detentions in the past three weeks and didn't think he could stomach another evening washing out Snape's slimy, greasy, nausea-inducing potions bottles (without magic naturally).
He was sitting on the chair next to Snape's desk, in the Potion Master's office. It was a dreary, dark and eerie place, mirroring, Harry thought, the man himself. The only light in the room came from several candles, which were burning in iron brackets on the Dungeon walls. Harry's eyes glanced around the office, which was becoming a familiar place to him of late. Snape had always delighted in humiliating and punishing Harry, but recently he'd become even more unbearable, if such a thing was possible.
"Potter," Snape barked, the moment he opened the door and swept inside, his cloak billowing out behind him, closing the door with a harsh snap. "I tire of having to constantly entertain you in my office. You behaviour has always been unacceptable, but of late, I find..."
Snape's voice faded from Harry's ears, as Harry concentrated on keeping his cool.
'Don't let him get to you,' the voice of reason inside Harry's head was telling him. 'Don't rise to his bait. He's trying to get a rise out of you. Don't give him the satisfaction.'
Of course, Harry knew that he should listen to the voice, but it was so difficult. There was something about Snape's conceited, slimy, condescending, patronising tone of voice that just made Harry want to put his hands around Snape's neck and squeeze. Tightly.
"Are you listening to me, Potter?"
Snape's sudden shout brought Harry back to reality with a start. He looked up at Snape, who was glaring down at him with the upmost loathing in his dark eyes. Harry scowled and tried to keep his voice level and emotionless as he responded.
"Yes. Sir."
Snape laughed derisively, sitting down in the chair behind his desk, and he looked at Harry with an expression of infuriating superiority.
"Don't lie to me, Potter. You're absolutely useless at it."
"Well, unlike you, lying doesn't come as second nature to me," Harry spat back at him, narrowing his eyes.
He shouldn't have said that. It was exactly the opportunity Snape had been waiting for. His face twisted into a menacing smirk.
"Detention. And fifty points from Gryffindor, for your pathetic inability to hold your disobedient tongue."
Harry immediately rose to his feet, an indignant expression on his face.
"That's not fair, I..."
"Care to make it one hundred points?" Snape taunted, leaning back in his chair and straightening the collar of his robes. "And a months worth of detentions?"
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but then sank back down into his chair with a defeated sigh. The satisfied smirk remained firmly in place on Snape's face, as he put his fingertips together and looked at Harry through narrowed eyes.
"I thought as much. Now, how to make you realise that rules are there to be obeyed, particularly in my classroom. Your behaviour today was inexcusable."
Harry gritted his teeth and looked down at the floor, the anger rising in his veins. This was stupid. He'd done nothing wrong – as usual. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had been making snide comments and remarks all lesson from the table behind Harry and Ron. Snape had obviously been able to hear them, but hadn't said a word: but as soon as Harry turned and retaliated, threatening to shove the contents of his swelling solution down Malfoy's throat, Snape had pounced in a flash, grabbing Harry by the collar of his robes and instructing him to wait in his office until the end of the lesson.
Snape paused, waiting to see if Harry was going to protest. He looked slightly disappointed when Harry remained silent.
"Perhaps a month's suspension from the Quidditch team will...."
If there was one punishment that would have provoked a reaction from Harry, it was this. In an instant, Harry was on his feet again, leaning forwards with his hands on Snape's desk, his bright green eyes locked with Snape's soulless black ones.
"How on earth did you ever get to be a Professor!?" he shouted, the voice of reason in his head completely blocked out by the cloud of anger that had descended. "You're pathetic. Just because..."
But once again, Snape cut him off midsentence.
"How dare you?!" he bellowed, rising to his feet and mirroring Harry's stance, placing his hands on the desk in front of him and leaning in towards Harry. A malicious light had flared in the darkness of his eyes and his expression was one of undiluted anger. "You've disrespected me once too often, Potter. Like Father, like Son. Your...."
"Don't you say a word about my Dad!" Harry screamed at the top of his voice, slamming his hands down on the desktop with rage. "You're always criticising him. You're just jealous, because he was more talented and popular that you could ever dream of being! You deserved everything that he did to you. Everything!"
Harry could see the visions from the Pensieve in his mind, as though he were viewing them right now for the first time. His father, James Potter, taunting a teenage Snape, with Sirius and Remus looking on. At first, he'd thought his father's treatment of Snape had been unprovoked and overly harsh, but right now, he was wishing to Merlin that Sirius' infamous trick on Snape had succeeded.
"You're pathetic, you really are. He was fifty times the man you'll ever be. Sirius and Professor Lupin too. You hated them all because they were everything you would never be."
Snape had fallen dangerously silent. There was fatal mix of shock and loathing on his face. But Harry was too angry to stop now.
"I don't know why Professor Dumbledore ever took you on – you're..."
"THAT IS ENOUGH!!!!"
Snape's voice was almost unrecognisable. Quite unlike his usual purr, his voice was now a screaming roar. Harry immediately fell silent, stumbling backwards slightly from the shock of Snape's sudden outburst.
"I will NOT be spoken to in such a disrespectful manner! You will sit down and you will not say another word until I instruct you otherwise! Sit down."
Obeying, Harry sank down into his chair and closed his eyes. What had he done? He should never have let Snape get to him like that – he'd played right into Snape's hands. He was going to be suspended for sure; perhaps even expelled. Bracing himself for Snape's onslaught, Harry opened his eyes and looked up at the Potions master, trying to ignore the way his hands were trembling as they gripped the wooden arms of the chair.
Snape wasn't looking at Harry. His back was turned, so Harry could not read the expression on Snape's face. If Harry had been able to see, he would've seen a face contorted with barely suppressed rage and lurking, almost unnoticeable, just beneath the surface, an intense sadness. A few moments passed when neither teacher nor student spoke, and then Harry cleared his throat, as if to prompt Snape into speech.
"Two months suspension from the Quidditch team," Snape said coldly, still not turning to face Harry. "And fifty points from Gryffindor."
Harry didn't bother to protest. It would only make matters worse.
"Now get out of my office."
Silently pulling himself to his feet and walking towards the door, Harry thought about the reaction he was going to get in the Gryffindor common room when he announced that not only had he managed to lose 50 House Points, but had also earned himself a two month Quidditch ban. That would mean missing at least one of the year's most important matches – the match against Slytherin in three weeks time.
Just as Harry was about to open the door and let himself out, Snape spoke again.
"Oh, and Potter, rest assured I will be speaking to the Headmaster about your inexcusable behaviour and recommending that your future here at Hogwarts be put under serious re-evaluation."
"Yes, Sir," Harry muttered, his voice level and emotionless, as he closed the door behind him.
TBC....