Everything seemed to be going well today since class was almost over and no one had managed to explode a cauldron, thank Merlin since Longbottom was in this class, and for once no house points were taken. A day for the history books indeed Snape thought as he sat at his desk and ran a cursory glance throughout the room.
I should know not to speak too soon he thought as he watched Longbottom add chopped flobberworms to his potion instead of whole ones. Time seemed to stand still as he waited for the inevitable explosion. He had to act fast.
He was out of his chair in a millisecond and running towards Longbottom's table, preparing to cast a shield around the cauldron to protect the other students.
"Clear the room. NOW!" he shouted and all the students hastened to obey. He was a fraction of a second too late and the cauldron exploded, blasting him back towards his desk and reeking havoc on the room.
Disoriented he took stock of his body, checking for injuries and a possible concussion. Feeling none the worse for wear, having suffered a few minor scrapes and bruises and having managed to avoid hitting his head on his desk when he was propelled backwards, he slowly climbed to his feet and looked around.
It was then that he heard a muffled groan from the vicinity of where Longbottom's cauldron exploded. He went over to investigate and found a student laying buried beneath some shelves that collapsed in the explosion.
He slowly and carefully levitated the debris away from the student and found none other than Harry Potter laying there.
Anger and frustration warred with apprehension at seeing the boy laying there. The boy couldn't seem to go a week without getting hurt and getting into trouble. He was angry and frustrated at finding the boy there and worried that he had been seriously injured.
"Potter?" he called, his usual sneer absent for the moment.
"Hmm?" was the faint reply.
"Don't move. Take stock of your injuries and let me know if you're badly hurt. Do you know where you are?" Snape queried.
"Potions class." was the whispered reply. Potter coughed and tried to sit up.
"I said don't move! Are you hurt?"
He watched the boy lay still, wondering for a moment if he had passed out before Potter opened his eyes and looked at him.
"I - I am having a hard time breathing and my head hurts something awful. Other than that, I think I only have a few minor bumps, scrapes and bruises.
Severus ran his wand over the boy and cast a simple diagnostic, finding no broken bones, thank Merlin's lucky stars, but severely bruised ribs, a golf ball sized bump on the back of the boy's head and minor cuts and scrapes as he had said.
Severus conjured a stretcher and carefully levitated the boy onto it.
"Continue laying still, don't need to make anything worse."
Potter did not reply, except to nod his head slightly, and closed his eyes to rest. Snape walked to the door of his classroom, and after clearing debris from in front of door went to open it. It was locked for some reason.
"Blast it all!" he cursed.
"Sir?" He turned to find Potter looking at him.
"The door has sealed itself for 24 hours to allow the toxic fumes time to evaporate and the castles magic to restore the room to its former clean state so no one suffers any illness by inhaling any lingering toxic fumes." He explained. He levitated Potter into his office and laid the cot on the floor before his desk. He went around to his desk and got out his emergency medical supply kit from the bottom drawer.
He returned to Harry and said, "I'm going to have to treat your injuries here since I cannot take you to the hospital wing"
"What about the floo?" Potter asked him.
Severus attempted to hide his utter disdain for the boy and his stupidity, but failed to do so and Harry visibly flinched away from the look directed at him from the less than pleased Potions professor.
First, it is unsafe to floo you with a head injury and second the floo has been closed as well. We are essentially in lock down.
"Oh." was all the boy replied and closed his eyes again.
Severus carefully removed Harry's outer robe and his undershirt as well, trying to not jostle the boy too much, for his ribs would be protesting every small movement.
"Ow" Potter whispered.
"Here. Drink this. It's a pain relief potion." he thrust a vial into the boy's hand and helped him to sit up slightly so he could drink it.
"Thank you" Potter said and lay back down.
Shocked, Severus said nothing.
"Are you cold?" he asked the boy.
"No." was the answer.
"I'm going to apply some bruise paste to your ribs, it should help a little.
Again, the boy did nothing but nod.
Severus deftly began to apply the bruise paste to the boy's torso area.
"Mmm… feels good." He thought he heard the boy mutter.
Once he'd finished applying the paste he transfigured one of his chair cushions into a pillow and grabbed the ice pack from his emergency first aid kit. "Lift your head" he instructed and the boy complied. He set the ice pack on the pillow under the area of the boy's head that had the bump and helped the boy lay back down.
"Ahhh! Cold! And it hurts!" the boy cried.
"Since I don't have access to what Poppy does and I don't want to risk further injury to your brain, I'm afraid we'll have to treat it the old fashioned way" was all Severus said.
"Potter, I'm going to have to remove your pants now so I can treat your cuts. Your undergarments can remain on however."
He saw the boy wince, then open his eyes to stare at him steadily, "do you have to, sir?" he asked.
"I'm afraid I do" he replied and with that he pulled the boys pants off and set them aside. He applied a cleansing paste to the various cuts along the boys body - there were so many small ones all along his legs from ankles to hips, as well as along his sides and all down his arms. Oddly enough, his face was blemish free except for the bump on the noggin.
The paste was the wizard equivalent to the muggle peroxide, minus the awful burning sting. Once all of the cuts were cleaned out he applied a healing paste that would seal up the cuts in a matter of hours. Sooner for the smaller, shallower cuts.
Once finished he magicked the boys clothes back on and cast another diagnostic. Finding nothing else wrong with the boy he breathed a sigh of relief.
He stood to go sit in his desk chair when the boy spoke.
"Sir?"
"What is it, Potter?" he couldn't keep the annoyance from his tone.
"Thank you" was all he said, green gaze meeting that of dark obsidian. Shocked again, but managing to hide it he simply nodded at him and moved around the side of his desk.
You'd think no one had cared for the boy with the way he was so grateful for his simple ministrations. This was a side of the boy he didn't know. That was a thought to be processed another time.
He heard a soft snore from the floor on the other side of his desk and panicked. The boy couldn't go to sleep. Without knowing how bad his head injury was it was essential to keep him awake for the next few hours, and monitor him closely after that.
"Potter!" he shouted.
"Huh? Wha-?" he muttered.
"As much as I'm sure you'd love to snooze your life away, I'm afraid I cannot allow it. Not with a head injury. You must stay awake for the next few hours, at least."
The boy muttered something under his breath that not even Severus's keen hearing could make out.
"What was that?" he enquired, only half the usual venom in his tone.
"Nothing, sir" the boy replied.
"Talk to me, if it will help you stay awake" he offered, as loathe as he was to listen to whatever the brat had to say, his health was of utmost importance at the moment, so for the time being he could set his grudges aside.
Once 24 hours was up Severus rose from his transfigured office chair and went to check the door to the classroom.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed upon finding the door still closed and locked.
"What's that?" said a soft voice from behind him.
Only his years of stealth training kept him from leaping a foot in the air in surprise, for the boy had somehow snuck up on him and startled him. But never in a million years would he let on.
"What is what?" he asked.
"That" the boy said simply, and preceded to point out an odd little diagram etched in the side of the door frame. Upon closer inspection it looked as if some sort of enchantment was woven around the door frame, sealing it shut. And the source of the enchantment appeared to be the odd diagram. It was a small circle and inside the circle were three lines, like tally marks.
"I haven't a clue" he replied irritably.
Over the next hour, the two of them tried everything imaginable to open the door from the unlocking charm Alohomora, to tugging the door and trying to blast through it, all to no avail.
The boy pressed his fingertips to the diagram and for a moment Severus wanted to yell at him to stop, for he had a bad feeling about this. But, it was too late, the boy touched it and a moment later returned his hand to his side, none the worse for wear.
Get ahold of yourself, Snape! He reprimanded himself sharply.
It was then he realized upon dropping his hand, the boy had gasped.
"What?" he asked sharply.
"Umm…" the boy started, uncertainly.
"Spit it out, Potter! We haven't got all day!"
"Well, apparently, Neville's ruined potion had another side effect besides the automatic safety precautions of sealing off the room for venting and the castles magical restoration." the boy stated.
"Oh? And dare I ask what that would be?"
The boy did not respond, much to Severus's utter annoyance.
"Am I talking to a brick wall?" his tone ice cold and dripping with sarcasm and irritation.
"Wehavetorevealthreesecretseachtooneanother…" the boy said, all in one breath.
Severus had to count to ten twice to restrain his rising temper. Was the boy really trying to test his patience? Didn't he know better?
"Dammit, Potter! Do you want me to hex you? Because I will, gladly."
"That's not allowed, sir" the boy mumbled, staring at his shoes.
"Right now, I don't give a damn." he snarled. Again, he watched the boy flinch as if struck. "Potter, what is this side effect? Slowly, this time."
"The magical seal around the door told me that in order for it to be dispersed, and the -only- way, mind you, is we each have to reveal three secrets to each other, things neither of us knows about the other. Only then will it unseal and let us out." The boy was still staring at the floor.
It was Severus's turn to snarl something unintelligible. Growing frustrated with these circumstances with which he found himself in - stuck in his own classroom and office with the boy of all people for company was too much for him. He stalked into his office and would have liked to have slammed the door, if not for the boy being right on his heels. Considering how weak the boy still was, he did not want to cause a relapse in his condition. Taking care of him the once, was one time too many. Not too mention slamming doors was for temper tantrum having children and adolescents who did not know how to control their emotions. He refused to be reduced to such in front of the boy.
He sat in his chair heavily, retransfigured from the mat he'd been forced to sleep on the night prior and rested his head in his hands.
After a long moment he looked up to find the boys piercing green gaze watching him with an odd, unreadable look on his face.
"You're certain that is the only way we will be released from our prison?" He asked.
"Yes, sir" the boy replied.
He sighed. "Very well then. Let's get this over with. You go first."
"Me? Why me?!" the boy cried, indignant.
He raised an eyebrow at the boy in response. "I am your professor, your senior, we are in my domain and what I say goes. Also, Potter, what the hell were you still doing in the classroom after I'd ordered everyone to evacuate? I know you believe yourself above everyone else, and you break rules at every turn, but surely you don't have a death wish?"
The boy was turning a very interesting shade of red.
"I made sure Neville got out of the way and I thought I could contain the cauldron, but I was wrong." the boy finally admitted, refusing to look at his professor.
"And why would you think that your job, hmm? Your savior complex was rearing its ugly head, wasn't it?" He sneered at the boy.
"No, sir" something about the way he said that seemed to imply he'd rather call him something else. "I was simply acting to protect my friend."
"Be that as it may, your bravery, as always, was foolish. You could have been killed! You never think before you act, always running towards danger instead of away from it. It's amazing you've lived to fifteen, it'll be a miracle if you make it to seventeen. For disobeying a direct order I would ordinarily give you detention, but seeing as you have been in my presence for the past twenty-seven or so hours, I will consider this punishment enough and simply take twenty-five points from Gryffindor. Silence!" he roared as the boy was about to interrupt, surely to complain about the unfairness of the taking of points.
"Now then, as I said before you go first" he steepled his fingers before him and awaited the boys pronouncement.
"Sir? Could we maybe… to make it fair… take turns?" the boy turned a different interesting shade of red this time, more out of embarrassment than anger.
"And why, pray tell, should anything about this be fair, Mr. Potter? We are not equals." Cold dark eyes met those of green and did not waver. Severus broke contact before he was accidentally pulled into the boys mind. For the few Occlumency lessons they had had thus far, he knew the boy was not at all skilled in keeping him out, and he wanted nothing at all to do with seeing anything in the boys mind. It was bad enough he was forced to help him in the first place.
"Please, sir?" was all the boy said after a moment.
"Yes, fine, very well. Anything to get this farce over with already." he ground out. "You are still going first" he stated, sitting back in his chair and waiting.
"Fine" the boy snapped looking like a moody five-year-old for the way he sulked and slumped in the chair.
Minutes ticked by, and still the boy said nothing.
"Well? I'm not getting any younger" he scowled at the boy.
"I'm thinking" the boy responded.
Severus scoffed. "Surely it cannot be that difficult. Just throw out the first thing that comes to mind that I don't know about you. That I guess you'd consider a secret." He crossed one arm over the other as he continued to wait.
"I'm a virgin" the boy mumbled.
Severus was grateful he'd understood, because as much as he detested the boy, not even he would dare make the boy repeat what had been said. That was a form of cruel and unusual punishment not even Severus would sink to. And he prided himself on being detested and unliked by the students in the school.
Since the boy had decided to start off with a statement of a sexual nature, he decided to reply in kind with something similar.
"What we learn of one another within these walls remains here, understood? If I find out you've gone blabbing what I've shared with you, under duress - mind, you will wish an expulsion was the least of your worries."
"Understood, sir" the boy replied and Severus was relieved to note that the boy meant it. He would take these secrets to his grave.
"I am bisexual" he stated in a no-nonsense tone. He noted with curiosity that the boy appeared to balk at that and stared at him openly for a good minute before remembering himself and looking away. He coughed and cleared his throat.
"My relatives abused and starved me growing up." he whispered looking at the floor.
Severus was grateful the boy wasn't looking at him for that confession shocked him tenfold and he lost composure of his facial features. It took him a moment to slip the indifferent mask back into place. That would definitely need exploring later. He'd have to inform Albus.
"My father would beat me for the smallest provocation with his belt" he whispered, but loud enough for the boy to hear. He had never told another living soul that, save Lily, but she had been his best friend. This was her son, a pain in his arse, whom he could scarcely tolerate. He would most definitely be watching Longbottom much closer for the rest of term. He did not want to find himself in this situation ever again.
He watched the boys face as he looked up and stared at him with horror.
Severus was disturbed to note that in the boy's eyes he noticed a sort of kinship - as if the boy knew his pain. Surely it couldn't be? Albus would not let his precious golden boy be abused at his relatives home?
"I don't hate you, sir"
That statement, said so simply, had Severus nearly falling out of his chair in surprise. As it was his mask slipped again and the boy saw the undisguised shock and distrust on his face.
"I'm not lying, sir" the boy stated with sincerity, gaze unwavering from his elder's. Again, Severus looked away before long, but not before discovering for himself that what the boy said was true. But for what reason was he not hated? For he had done nothing to deserve the trust he saw in those green orbs. Surely the boy could not know it was he who had been protecting and watching over him these last 5 years, could he?
"I… thank you, Potter" was all he could manage. He closed his eyes and buried all his whirling emotions back behind his shields and slipped his mask back into place before opening them again.
"I do not hate you either. But, appearances must be kept up around certain people. I have a role to play, if you will. I cannot trust certain Slytherin's to not relay my doings to their parents. I must be careful of what information gets back to the Dark Lord. For this reason you and I must keep up this act and we must appear to hate each other when around others. Do you understand, Mr. Potter?"
"Yes sir" he stated and Severus saw that the boy was processing what he'd just been told and it looked as if for the boy puzzle pieces were clicking into place. Something else to be pondered later.
"Now, let's go see if we've been released from this hell hole, shall we?" and with that he rose gracefully from his chair and strolled out of his office and towards the classroom door. He was grateful for the long robes and that the boy could not tell that he practically ran out of his office, for so great was his haste to be rid of the boy finally so he could grab a much needed shower and relax with a glass - or five - of firewhiskey in his rooms to try and forget that the past day had happened at all. The enchantment about the door and the strange diagram were both gone.
The door to the classroom finally opened and released them.
"Oh,thank heaven!" he heard the boy whisper.
He was pleased to note when he turned an upraised eyebrow upon the boy that he appeared to blush.
They exited the classroom and parted ways at the staircase.
"Go and see Madam Pomfrey for a clean bill of health… Harry" Severus instructed the boy.
"Yes sir" the boy acknowledged and ran up the stairs, two at a time. Little did Severus know that the boy was smiling like a kid on Christmas for hearing Severus use his first name stirred a warmth inside of him and pleased him greatly.
Things were definitely changing.