Disclaimer – All canon characters, places, etc. . . are the property of J.K. Rowling not me I'm merely a poor student playing with them.
The strain of tired muscles twinged throughout his shoulders as the sting from a solitary bead of sweat fell into the slowly seeping wounds on the back of his hand. Gritting his teeth slightly at the unexpected sting, Harry steadfastly continued to write the assigned lines, unwilling to give his guard even the tiniest satisfaction that she was sure to find at even this smallest inconvenience for him.
If Harry was honest with himself, he thought sarcastically, the sweat still stung less than the hideous glare of pink his eyes had endured over the first eight weeks of the fall term. He knew he attracted trouble, but, Harry had the strangest feeling, at this rate, he would outpace the Marauders detention record and have far less fun than they must have had earning theirs.
The Marauders.
Harry felt a pang go through him at the thought of them. Sometimes, late at night, he allowed himself the painful pleasure of wondering what life would have been like if he had been able to have a real father figure in his life. Sirius was great to write but the whole escaped fugitive debacle kept him at a distance. Lupin was okay too but the man always stayed so far away, the closest he had ever been was when he was a professor and even then, he mostly kept to nostalgic looks in his direction. Harry wasn't even sure of the werewolf's current location.
Much as he wanted too he couldn't even go to his other professors for help with the growing battle that had emerged between himself and the newest attempt at a "defence professor".
Dumbledore hadn't come near him since the trial, a change that stabbed at his heart. After all, it wasn't like he had asked the dementors to attack Dudley and himself. He admittedly had wished his cousin ill at times but no one deserved to be kissed. Surely, Dumbledore understood that, right? Yet, Harry couldn't think of any other reason why the previously grandfatherly old man treated him like a bloody boggart.
Perhaps, Harry mused, if he outlasted Umbridge's medieval detentions, Dumbledore might consider him worth trusting again. Seriously, what had he done that he was so undeserving of some positive adult influence. Internally, he sighed at the unfairness of it all.
Of course, there was always his head of house. Though Professor McGonagall outwardly took no favourites, Harry knew that she had always looked on him fondly though at a distance. . .
Harry stopped that line of thought suddenly. It wouldn't work either. Umbridge had clearly shown her desire to make the Gryffindor professor's life as miserable as possible and, if his own experience was any indication, which might just be the only thing that Delores Umbridge was supremely qualified to do.
"Ahem," a sharp cough interrupted Harry's musing.
Harry schooled his features and looked up towards the woman's desk blandly. "Yes, Professor?" he replied, not wishing to add any more detentions to his already impressive tally due to (rightly) perceived disrespect.
"It appears it is already fifteen minutes until your curfew Mr. Potter. I believe we shall continue tomorrow evening. Please be here promptly at 7:00 or I shall have to add another night to our time together." Umbridge oozed sweetly, making Harry's stomach lurch uncomfortably.
Seeing his escape, Harry quickly and quietly swept his belongs into his satchel and headed towards the door.
"Ahem" Umbridge's cough echoed through the office once again.
Harry stopped in the doorway, allowing his face to temporarily cringe as it was hidden from the newest bane of his existence. Turning back towards the woman, he answered numbly "Yes Professor?"
"What do we say before leaving Mr. Potter?" Umbridge asked, a smile seeping into her tone at what had become an almost nightly ritual.
Swallowing imperceptibly, Harry was barely able to choke out the nightly ritual "Thank you for helping me Professor Umbridge."
Eyes narrowing in a predatory manner as she observed the young man before her, Umbridge nodded condescendingly "Of course Mr. Potter, It's my job as your professor to help shape you into a proper wizard for our society."
Nodding his head sharply, Harry walked out the door, turned out of Umbridge's line of vision, and took off towards the safety of Gryffindor tower.
Glancing briefly at his hand as he took off down the familiar halls, Harry let out a sigh as the thoughts he had been attempting to keep at bay began racing through his head.
The cuts on his hand were getting deeper as time went on and healing slower with each passing detention. It appeared as though the quill's effects were cumulative. Quickly doing the math regarding how many detentions he had left Harry groaned audibly.
Maybe, he should do that next essay on glamours? Hermione had mentioned a few good books on the subject earlier in the term, not that she knew he had been paying attention.
Harry frowned at the thought of his friend. He felt bad that he couldn't bring himself to get excited about her ramblings. He actually did pay attention and the bushy haired witch had taught him loads over the years. He just couldn't figure out how to let Hermione past the years of walls he had built over a lifetime with the Dursley's. As much as he trusted her, he had learned to trust his instincts more and his instincts still screamed it was safer to look uninterested.
That said, a little bit of intentional interest and he was sure that Hermione would help him out without asking too many questions about his sudden outward interest in academics. A small tremor of guilt passed through him at the thought before it, along with the rest of his person stopped without warning.
"Out for a late night stroll, Mister Potter?" drawled the large, black shadow that had materialized before him.
Harry felt his insides plummet.
Just his rotten luck, of all the people he could of encountered, he would run into Snape on his way back to the tower. "I just finished detention with Professor Umbridge and was heading back to the dormitory, sir" Harry ground out, frustration finally slipping out after the evening's events. "I'm sure the professor would be glad to confirm my story."
Snape observed the young man before him and felt the usual wave of disdain sweep over the slight nostalgia that always threatened to emerge when those eyes fell upon him. The child was hiding something, his posture screamed secrets. What sort of mischief was the young miscreant actually up too?
Harry froze under the potion masters scrutiny and felt himself go numb as he dropped his gaze to the floor. Numb was safe.
Severus noticed the change before him as warning bells sounded in the back of his mind. The behaviour Potter was displaying looked eerily familiar but he couldn't place the Gryffindor's actions within the familiar tendrils of thought.
Watching the professor's internal struggle, Harry began to fidget slightly as he felt the still seeping wound on his hand begin to give into the rules of gravity.
Seeing his old nemesis standing before him in his offspring, Snape tensed at the boy's seeming disrespect and glared "Get out of here Potter. Don't let me catch you in the halls after hours again."
Not wanting to argue the ten minutes left before curfew, Harry hoisted his bag on his shoulders and swiftly continued his journey back to the dormitory.
Taking a deep breath to steady the headache which always seemed to accompany interacting with Potter, Snape turned and continued his rounds through the school looking for other troublemakers attempting to skirt curfew. As he rounded the corner, a stray though flittered back to the front of his memory – had Potter's hand been bleeding?
Walking swiftly, Snape returned to the hallway outside of the defense classroom where he had left the boy moments earlier only to be met by the sole echoes of his own footsteps.
A.N. So, this is my first foray into HP Fanfic. As such, I don't have a beta and am will be getting my feet wet in the HP world. I also am working on a SGA Fanfic, going to school, dealing with health issues, and getting married so updates are sporadic, however, I don't abandon stories (the unknown between chapters is also why I don't have a beta). So read, enjoy, and give some constructive feedback if you can. Oh, and if anyone has a better title idea let me know :D