Title: Something in the Air
Author: Dark Phoenix
Summary: Valentine's Day is approaching, and many of the students have been bitten by the love bug. Snape suffers.
Pairings: Harry/Draco
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and am making no money from this.
Notes: I wrote this back in November and have been waiting for February to post it. Probably the only time I've actually looked forward to the V-Day season. Such is the magic of Drarry.
~ Something in the Air ~
Love was in the air. All over Hogwarts, students were walking around with their heads in the clouds, casting longing looks in one other's directions and sighing dreamily. And it was no surprise — Valentine's Day was coming up soon.
Severus Snape sniffed derisively. Revolting, he thought. Valentine's Day was just another excuse for them to put off their studies and indulge their raging teenage hormones. Which often ended up in bigger messes in Potions class than usual due to their inattention. Messes Severus would have to clean up later. He sniffed again. This really was his least favorite time of year.
He looked around the room. It was exactly as he'd expected. Everywhere, students were making googly eyes at one another and making careless mistakes with their potions, and then looking surprised at how badly they were turning out.
At the back of the room, he saw Weasley and Granger arguing spiritedly over their respective cauldrons. Granger was no doubt nagging Weasley about his carelessness. As Severus watched, Granger just stopped herself from adding the wrong ingredient to her potion, and he stifled a laugh. She looked horrified for a moment about what she'd nearly done, then she and Weasley started to laugh together, and their ridiculous pretense faded into a longing gaze that turned Severus's stomach.
He quickly turned away to see the third member of their group haphazardly chopping snails while gazing across the room at the object of his desire, and Severus's stomach gave another lurch. Potter continued to stare, a dreamy smile playing on his lips, until one of the others said something and he jerked his head away guiltily, blushing.
Severus's eyes continued to roam about the classroom, almost against his will. There was Lavender Brown carelessly pouring large amounts of a clear liquid into her potion as she stared at Dean Thomas, then shrieking when her cauldron started to smoke. Beside her, her friend Parvati Patil kept shooting furtive glances in the direction of the Slytherins, which was surprising. Seamus Finnegan was mooning over one of the two girls, although Severus was unsure of which one.
Across the room, the Slytherins were no better. Pansy Parkinson was drooling over Draco Malfoy, which was no surprise. Most of the Slytherin girls seemed to be infatuated with him or Blaise Zabini, and now they were even more starry-eyed than usual. Zabini seemed to be making eyes at half the girls in the room, and even Gregory Goyle could be seen gazing longingly at Millicent Bulstrode, his forgotten potion a hopeless, smoldering mess in front of him.
In fact, the only one who seemed to be able to focus on his work was Draco, Severus thought with pride as he made his way around the room, checking people's work. His godson was neatly chopping his snake tongues, carefully checking the book, and stirring his potion just the right number of times until it started to turn a lovely shimmering purple exactly the way the book described.
A commotion at the back of the room caught Draco's attention, and he turned around, along with everone else in the room, to see Longbottom's potion angrily emitting sparks as Longbottom himself hid behind his desk. Severus sighed and wearily made his way over to the hopeless boy, but as he did, he couldn't help noticing the way Draco's eyes shifted off to the side and that soppy, lovestruck look claimed him as well.
Not him too, Severus thought, disappointed. He followed Draco's gaze across the room with mounting horror. No, it can't be. But then Draco caught himself and quickly turned back around, a light blush coloring his pale cheeks.
Merlin, they're all hopeless, Severus thought in despair. Every last one of them.
What had he done wrong in a past life, Severus wondered, to merit having to spend day after day surrounded by horny teenagers? He looked around the Great Hall dismally, taking note of the coy smiles and fleeting glances all around him. And the worst part of it, he thought, was that they all honestly believed they were being subtle. He bit back a sardonic laugh with difficulty.
As he observed the students, he noticed that there were two people who weren't gazing dreamily at someone across the Great Hall. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were currently glaring at one another across the room, as usual. Severus refrained from rolling his eyes. Someone doth protest too much, methinks.
He returned his attention to his dinner, busying himself with buttering a dinner roll. Two more days until Valentine's Day, he thought. Then all this nonsense will be over.
When he looked up again, Draco and Potter had stopped glaring at each other. Potter was chatting with his friends as he ate, but Draco was once more staring longingly across the room at his crush.
Severus let out a deep sigh, earning an odd look from Flitwick. He'd really thought Draco had better self-control than that. As if he'd heard Severus's thoughts, Draco quickly looked down at his dinner, glancing around as if to make sure no one had noticed. Then he rested his chin on his hand and picked at his food, looking distinctly unhappy.
Merlin, he's got it bad, Severus thought, not without compassion. He helped himself to some more pumpkin juice as Flitwick said something next to him.
"Sorry, what did you say?" said Severus, mentally kicking himself.
"I said everyone is really getting in the holiday spirit, aren't they?" Flitwick repeated, a twinkle in his eye as he gestured around the room.
Severus scoffed. "Yes, they certainly are," he said briskly. "I'll be happy when all this nonsense is behind us."
Flitwick laughed. "Such a romantic, Severus."
Severus simply shook his head disdainfully. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Draco pining again. This was getting ridiculous. He'd never known Draco to wear his heart on his sleeve like that. The boy had always been so cool and controlled. It must be pretty serious, he decided. Severus followed Draco's gaze across the room once again and suppressed a shudder. I never would have expected him to have such poor taste, though, he thought.
Once again, Draco seemed to catch himself, and once again, he stared down at his plate, looking completely dejected. Severus felt a pang of sympathy. However questionable Draco's taste was, it was obvious that this was eating at him. The boy was in love, and he clearly believed the object of his affection would never love him back. The longer Severus watched, the stronger the pang grew until he couldn't bear it anymore.
Damn it to hell, he thought in resignation as he made up his mind. When did I become such a sap?
Severus watched as the students made their ways into his classroom. It was Valentine's Day, and he was now counting down the hours until it was over. Once they were all seated and he had their attention, he went over to the blackboard.
"As you all know, today is Valentine's Day," he said, not even trying to keep the sneer out of his voice. "Since so many of you seem to be unusually affected by this particular holiday, I've taken the liberty of assigning seating, just for today, to help you maintain your . . . focus."
He tapped his wand against the blackboard and a list of names appeared. "Please find your partners quickly, so that we can begin."
All around the room, there were stifled groans as everyone realized they were paired up with someone they didn't like. Severus smirked to himself. It really hadn't been necessary to torture the entire class, but it amused him. He relished the expressions on Draco's and Potter's faces as they realized they would be partners for the day.
Who knows, I just might enjoy Valentine's Day after all, he thought.
Severus meandered around the room, feeling pleased with himself. The seating chart had been a stroke of genius. All around the room, students were quietly grumbling and shooting each other dirty looks. It was a great improvement over their careless daydreaming.
"The toadstools need to be chopped better than that, Potter," he heard Draco say as he walked past them.
"Who put you in charge?" Potter grumbled back, but he continued chopping.
"I'm just telling you what the book says," Draco retorted. "Maybe you should try paying attention."
Severus hid a smile as he moved out of earshot. They were arguing already, just as he'd expected. He briefly considered giving them detention, then thought better of it. Their argument would almost certainly escalate by the end of class. He could be patient.
He made his way back to his desk and sat down, pretending to go through some papers as he watched his students. Potter and Draco were still squabbling over their potion, both gesturing angrily as their work grew increasingly sloppy. Severus tried to keep a straight face. They were entirely too predictable. He looked around the room, but everyone else seemed to be going about their work as usual. Not very interesting compared to the mini-drama playing out between Draco and Potter.
He heard a shout and turned to see Draco furiously waving his arm at the cauldron.
"I told you not to add that yet!" he cried. "Now it's ruined!"
Severus tensed. Wait for it.
"It's not that bad," Potter snapped at him. "You overdramatize everything. What difference does it make whether I add the toadstools or the snail eyes first?"
Severus's eyes widened as Potter dumped something into the cauldron before Draco could stop him. This was even better than he'd imagined. Draco grabbed Potter's arm, but the potion had already started to bubble alarmingly. As Severus watched, Draco yanked Potter behind the desk just as the mess inside the cauldron exploded with an impressive boom, sending the contents raining down over all those nearest to it.
"You idiot—" Draco started to say as Severus jumped to his feet.
"That's it!" he shouted, hoping the triumph he felt didn't show. "You two — detention! Tonight!"
They didn't even bother to argue with him. Severus tried not to smile at the picture they made, huddled behind the desk and covered with goo, identical expressions of consternation on their faces. He glared down at them with an intensity he didn't feel, but inside he was laughing with delight. This couldn't have gone any better if he'd planned it.
Severus was in his office, grading papers when Draco and Potter walked in. He stood and ushered them into the Potions classroom.
"I'm sure this isn't how any of us planned on spending the evening on Valentine's Day," he said with his customary sneer after going over the details of their detention. "So I hope you'll keep this in mind next time you feel like making fools of yourselves in my class."
Draco looked up at him suspiciously, but Potter kept his head bowed, so that Severus couldn't see the expression on his face. No matter. He was confident everything would go as planned.
"Now, if there are no questions, I'll just leave you to your work," he said, and swept back into his office, closing the door behind him.
Severus returned to his work, but found it hard to concentrate. He wished he had some way of hearing what was going on in the other room. Draco and Potter had been instructed to clean out cauldrons without using magic for the next few hours. Potter, he was sure, would cooperate, but he knew his godson would try to find some way around his punishment. It would be interesting to see how this would play out.
For a while, everything was quiet, but eventually, Severus was able to hear the sound of voices coming from the other room. As they grew louder, he was able to hear snatches of conversation.
" . . . your fault . . . been paying attention . . . " he heard Draco say angrily.
" . . . can't blame me . . . think you know everything . . . " Potter shot back.
The argument was beginning to heat up. They grew louder and louder, and there were occasional banging sounds as though they'd begun scrubbing the cauldrons more vigorously in their anger.
"Oh, really? I've never messed up any of my potions before. So how else would you explain it?" Draco was shouting.
"Well, neither have I! You really think you can do no wrong, don't you? Perfect Draco Malfoy, never made a mistake in his life!"
"Everyone knows you're completely mediocre at Potions, Potter; why don't you just admit it? You obviously—"
"God, you are such an insufferable prat! Why can't you just admit you're just as much to blame—"
There was a sudden crash, and then, silence. Severus raised an eyebrow, but the silence continued. Curious, he stood and walked quietly over to the door. He opened it slowly, to avoid making any noise and for a moment simply stared at the scene in front of him.
Draco had shoved Potter up against one of the tables and the two of them were kissing passionately.
Severus stood frozen for several seconds, mouth agape, watching them. Their arms were wrapped tightly around one another, Draco caressing Potter's back while Potter raked his hands through Draco's hair. From where he stood, he could hear the soft moans and sighs they were making as they ravished each other, completely unaware of his presence.
Rational thought was beginning to return to his brain, and he quickly closed the door and went back to his desk so as not to disturb them. He sat at his desk with a smile. Yes, everything had turned out just as he'd planned.
Some time later, there was a soft knock at his office door, and they entered, both looking rather subdued. They'd at least had the sense to straighten their hair and clothing first, he noticed, but they were both very pink in the face and their lips looked swollen. He tried not to smirk.
"We're done with the cauldrons, Professor," Draco said almost meekly.
Severus stood without a word and went into the classroom to check their work. He nodded in satisfaction over the clean cauldrons, certain Draco had simply finished the job using magic.
"All right boys, you may go now," he said. "And happy Valentine's Day."
They both blushed guiltily, avoiding one another's eyes, and quickly turned to go. Severus started to head back into his office, but a sudden impulse made him open the classroom door and peek into the hall. He stifled a laugh. They were kissing again. Shaking his head, he went back inside his office and resumed his work. For the first time all day, he was in a good mood. He supposed it had something to do with seeing Draco so happy; he always did have a soft spot for his godson. He chuckled to himself as he skimmed over the next paper on the pile.
Happy Valentine's Day, Severus, he said to himself.
~ fin ~
Notes: I would've liked Draco's crush to be more of a mystery, but I like to let people know who the pairings are beforehand because I know some people (myself included) are particular about pairings. Homophobes do not enter into this decision at all. I also refuse to give this a higher rating simply because of two boys kissing. Anyway, thanks for reading and/or reviewing, and happy Valentine's Day!