A/N: Here is number three in my 'inspired by random sayings or titles on things' one shots for our dearly loved Harry and Severus and their relationship as it grows over these annoying things that won't move outta my way so I can work on my Harry/Charlie story. So far, I think there are gonna be six of these total. I hope. Anyways, enjoy the story as much as you're able! I love you guys half ta pieces! ^_^
Disclaimers: I do not own Harry Potter or any of his world, nor do I own the song and album title snitched from the cover of an Andy Griggs cd. If I owned either, I would have absolutely no reason to babysit for money right now.
Warnings: A mini battle of wills... an audience to a fuss fight of sorts... er... hmm... fluffy stuff and random junk that somehow makes a story? If there's any naughty language, I've forgotten it's there or I completely skipped out on curse words with this one. No tellin' either way dears, but enjoy my random oddball, making Sev and Harry OOC ways.
This I Gotta See-Andy Griggs Album-
Silence filled the Great Hall as student and teacher alike watched the two quarreling professors with rapt fascination. Had it been a year earlier, this sight would not have been a rare one, nor would it have been half as fascinating as it was now. The quarreling men in question were Severus Snape and Harry Potter, and it seemed that the lively discussion the two were reported to be seen having in the hallways had somehow become a full-blown war of wills by the time they'd reached the Great Hall for the lunch hour. Minerva could only watch in silent bemusement. Hadn't the two just been late for breakfast because of their cuddling just this morn? What had happened between then and now to cause this ruckus?
Severus was, for once, obviously ticked off by Harry's bull-headed insistence that his teaching methods were archaic and crude and fell below his own personal standards as they taught his students nothing more than fear of their seemingly bat-like professor. Harry, on the other hand, was more than mildly annoyed that Severus refused to see the harm of his scare tactics in reference to teaching students in the classroom. He believed that if Severus were to teach as he'd written in his old textbook, the students would be more receptive to learning Potions and he would have no reason to complain about the children disrespecting the art form he loved so dearly. It had started out as a reasonable suggestion and had snowballed to hell from the moment Severus demanded to know his reasons behind suggesting such a thing. The fact that Harry himself had learned more from what a younger Severus had written in a school book than from the older version of the same person as his professor didn't seem to sway the stubborn man as it had still, technically, been Severus who taught Harry.
Severus, noting that they had made everyone in the Great Hall they'd reached without realizing it into their own personal audience, decides to concede just enough to compromise with his beloved before he found himself kicked out of his own bedroom. Harry was sadistic enough to magic the furniture in the rest of Severus' chambers into resistance to the man's magical signature just so he'd not have the comfort of transfiguring the couch into a suitable bed for the night, Severus knew he was. With a sigh, he speaks with a wary note in his smooth voice.
"A wager then, Harry. I will look over the writings in my old textbook, and use those as my guide to teach tomorrow. Should the dunderheads show improvement by the end of the day, then I shall continue to teach in that way, as well as admit that you were right, here, in front of everyone. Should they fail to prove you right, then we will switch classes for as long as it takes you to understand why I teach them the way I do. Do we have a wager?"
Harry's eyes narrow and he glances at the children watching them so intently before turning back to Severus and smirking slyly. "We have a wager Severus. We'll see who wins Dinner time tomorrow. Don't be surprised if you come to love your job once you loosen up a bit and teach like the great man you really are. Just remember during your experiment, dear heart, that a little respect shown goes a long way in having respect given in return."
Severus blinks, then smirks at his lover. "I will do my best, beloved, but don't blame me if they refuse to listen."
Harry laughs softly. "Only a fool would find it easy to ignore a voice like yours when it's not sneering at you. Help the ignorant to find the reasons why, and they will understand. No question is stupid when they truly do not understand what it is they should do. It is only because of their fear of you that they refuse to call to you when they don't understand something completely and end up blowing things up. We are professors, love, eradicating ignorance is in our job description. I will agree that stupidity cannot be helped, but ignorance is something we can fix if we remember that these children don't know what we already know and some come from muggle homes where the basics are not taught. I am sure that you will see a difference in these children if you treat them as they are; children who have absolutely no way of knowing or understanding the art you adore without your guidance. Your enthusiasm and passion and patience will help them, so use those things. You'll be great, if you do."
Severus, about to say something sarcastic, is interrupted by the voice of a brave little first year. "I was excited to learn potions because it seemed like a fun subject, but then you were so mean Professor, and unapproachable that I didn't want to ask you anything. The books can be... confusing."
Harry smiles at the child and ruffles the dark hair of the Gryffindor who'd been right beside them. "I felt much the same way when I was his student, Kylen. I even hung on his every word, going so far as to copy them down as he spoke them, but his cruel way of singling me out kept me from enjoying something I could have been truly brilliant at. It's my reason for having suggested a new way of teaching to him in the first place."
The child grins at his favorite professor as Severus gapes lightly at him. "But how could you know something like that?"
Harry's gaze is direct. "By the age of six, Severus, I was a gourmet cook. Potions should have been a breeze for me despite the magical aspect of it. Had I any idea about the properties of the ingredients, how they reacted with other ingredients, and how cutting them in a precise way would aide them in blending with or blowing up a potion, I would have excelled in your class. Ignorance, love, can be a very dangerous thing. Especially when the one teaching you can't see beyond the past to see that it isn't disrespect, or insolence but is, in fact, ignorance that holds that child back. There is nothing you can do now that will change past mistakes both of us made in the face of our stubbornness and pride, but there is something you can do to make up for that. Learn from those mistakes and make yourself into the teacher inside of you who just wants to break free of his chains to teach these precious brats what's what in the world of potions."
Severus, not willing to open up any further in an audience as large as this one, nods stiffly. "We will see what happens."
Harry smiles tenderly, steps closer, and leans in close to murmur softly next to his ear. "You were still my inspiration for going behind everyone's backs and finding tutors to become the best in every subject I could stand to master. Back then, it was your opinion that mattered and I'd have done anything to make you proud to know me. I loved you then, and I love you even more now, so no regrets on a past that only made me stronger... made me who I am... and aided me, through that secretly gained mastery, in keeping you from death's door. The only thing I regret, is not letting you know how very much I loved and respected you before I left, but I knew that if I'd done that, I never would've left because you are the only one who could've kept me from leaving with just a word."
Severus, stunned for a few moments, blinks before growling softly and capturing Harry's lips in a hot and sexy kiss that makes nearly half the students and all of the staff catcall. Both men calmly part and walk, hand-in-hand, to the dais where they sit in their customary seats. Their relationship might have been fairly new, but both were secure in the fact that the love between them was the stuff of stories that hopeless romantics so loved to read. Harry imagined that they'd be the clueless couple who took, what seemed to be forever to the little romantics, too long to realize their love for one another. They'd be the kind of characters you'd wish to smack just one good time over the back of the head before you told them what seemed obvious to you about their feelings and what they should be doing about them. In the end, you'd decide to forgive them their cluelessness and denial in favor of cooing over them as a couple because they'd FINALLY gotten together. Okay, so maybe he'd read one of the romance novels in Luna's secret stash, but he'd been curious! And honestly, it was only that one book... from her stash anyway.
/secrets hidden in the dark, from the broken pieces of my heart, never fade, never change, and seem to forever keep tearing my world apart... -random poem thingy, ignore it. I needed a page break; A.O.C.-/
The next day was just your normal, average, oddball day at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That alone was why Minerva couldn't fathom the reason behind over half of the population of students sprinting down the halls, in a rush to make it to the Great Hall on time for Dinner. Adverse to being confused, the Headmistress ever so kindly pulls the nearly running Ginny Weasley to the side and questions the girl quietly.
"Excuse me Miss Weasley, but why is it that everyone seems to wish to be in the Great Hall as swiftly as possible this evening?"
Ginny blinks, then grins widely. "Are you kidding Headmistress? Professor Snape taught so well that there were no blow up or melted cauldrons and nearly every potion came out perfectly. No one came close to failing his pop quizzes over what we covered today. Professor Snape admitting to Professor Potter that he was right about changing his teaching methods in front of everybody in the Great Hall is something everyone wants to see."
Minerva's eyes light up, remembering now about the wager the men had struck the day before in front of their captive audience, and she smiles wickedly. "Severus actually has to admit he's wrong and apologize to Harry for doubting him with people watching? This I've gotta see. Let's hurry Miss Weasley, before we miss the show!"
Both teen witch and headmistress are seen sprinting towards the Great Hall for the one advent no one was likely to forget for some time...
/And we have the end of my oddball randomness that you hopefully enjoyed.../
A/N: Welp, that's a wrap for this episode of Harry and Severus; victims of my fanfiction writing whims of doom! I hope y'all enjoyed it!