Sanctuary
Disclaimer: Just borrow J.K.Rowling's characters for fun in writing a fanfiction that I gain no profit from.
Rating: G or K
Genre: Slight angst, slight suspense
Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, spoilers, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), around 1700 words, one shot.
This is my first HP fanfic and I hope I didn't ruin Severus or Harry's image that much. Haha. This fanfiction is based on the doujinshi (fan comic) I am currently working on.
I like Severus Snape a lot and I think life's really hard for him. That's why I turned him into a bearable Snape with a complex stuff going in his mind. Oh, by the way, I haven't read 'Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince' so if I somehow turn this story into AU, please do inform me.
And please inform me if I make mistakes (like spelling mistakes). Thank you! This story doesn't go through beta reader so please don't leave a comment saying my English is poor. I put a nice warning twice.
: Ready… Go :
Harry Potter was seen to walk along the corridors without his best friends, Ron Weasley the pureblood and Hermione Granger the muggleborn. He was on his way to serve a detention when he overheard two girls talking to each other. Well, it was more like they were complaining about a certain grumpy professor in Hogwarts. A girl with long silky hair was frowning and telling her friend that how bias their Potions master was.
"He doesn't have to be so mean and bias!" The girl said in an annoyed voice, close enough to be clarified as a shout.
'Every Gryffindor dislikes him. The Potions master in Hogwarts named Severus Snape… They say he's cold-hearted, mean and most importantly, very bias towards the students.'
Vividly, the young wizard remembered how Snape favored his own house and showing no hesitation in displaying the unfairness towards the other houses. His professor's deep voice rang through his ears as if he was walking next to him. "Correct. Ten points to Slytherin."
Without his knowledge, Harry seemed to have halted right in front of a window and he was staring at the sky.
'I must agree with them. After all, he's not the Head of Slytherin for nothing. But who would have thought... All it takes was a moment to change my opinion of Snape. I am almost certain that no one had seen this side of his before…'
Behind a tree, Harry, who was in his casual t-shirt and jeans, was peeking. That day was the day he was supposed to visit Hagrid in his hut near the Forbidden Forest. Ron and Hermione had gone ahead of him, since Dumbledore requested a brief meeting with him. So, he was on his way to join his best friends before he overlooked someone familiar.
'Snape? What is he doing with the… small creature? And what is it anyway?' Harry thought as he blinked several times. Originally, he thought the poor thing must have done something to annoy the grumpy man. It must be bad, because his professor was staring at the fluffy creature, which was sitting on his palms, with his usual expression. Thinking quickly for a reasonable excuse to save the adorable creature from Snape's wrath, Harry was going to show himself from his hiding place.
But when Snape's head jerked towards the tree Harry was hiding behind, the boy-who-lived was swift to have gone back to hide himself again. For a moment, he thought Snape spotted him for certain. However, after a few seconds of silence and no half-expected insults coming from his professor, Harry gathered his courage yet again to peek behind the tree.
'Phew… It was close,' the boy thought silently. As he continued to observe the view in front of him, Harry realized Snape was treating the animal gently. It was unexpected, since nobody thought Snape was capable to deal with animals like that. As if he cared. As if he understood.
On the other side, Snape turned back his attention to the small creature he was holding after he saw no spy. "You're fully healed finally," he said in a low voice, looking at the curios magical animal. Its happy expression did not waver; instead its joyful aura was becoming stronger. Seeing this, the Potions master put it down while he too settled one of his knees on the ground. "Now go along to where you belong," he added.
'He's so different from the git we all know...' Harry still could not believe his eyes. How could someone like Snape have such gentleness? He was a Death Eater, albeit the young boy knew he was actually a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. But still, this was the heartless professor they had to deal with everyday in Hogwarts! He was nothing but a git with a permanent frown on his face and not to mention, his intolerance with imbeciles such as Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter.
"No! You must leave," a sudden exclaim startled Harry. Snape demanded the animal to leave, but apparently, it was fond of him and was heart broken when it was asked to return to its home. Upon seeing such a sad expression on the small creature's face, Snape's facial expression seemed to have softened a bit. "… Go now. Leave if you want to be unharmed," he ordered in a tone he hoped the animal would obey.
Hesitantly, it did walk away slowly. Every now and then, it would turn back to see if Snape would call it back. To its dismay, the spy did not. Defeated, the creature finally disappeared from view and into the darkness of the forest.
'For a brief moment, I saw Snape's uncertainty. And at that moment, I couldn't help but to feel pity.' The last Potter's eyes saddened. Yes, Snape was not one to be paired with the word 'civil' in a sentence. He was accusing when it came to Harry, the son of his rival. He was intimidating when dealing with other houses, especially Gryffindor. If Harry was not so certain that he was definitely conscious, he would have thought this was nothing but a mixed up dream.
'Pity that not a single soul knew he still possess this humane side…'
If Snape had lost his humanity to the years of serving the Dark Lord, he would not have cared about the animal. He would never show his soft side to it either. To young Harry, after he had witnessed the exchange between the most hated professor and the magical creature, he could not see Snape as the mean git they had grown to know. He fully accepted why Snape despised his existence. He could see why Snape had to be hostile towards the other students. He could feel how hard life was to Snape, being a double agent for both sides. He understood why Snape must throw away his emotions for his position.
And for once, Harry felt he had been immature for the past few years. How irony life was. It took only that moment to make Harry realize.
'Oh shit! I am late!' Suddenly, Harry remembered his promise to his friends and was going to walk away without Snape's knowledge before a smooth voice called out.
"Detention tomorrow at eight, Mr. Potter, for acting like a spy but failing miserably due to the serious lack of skills and appropriate behavior for being one," Snape drawled with mild animosity. All the other expressions vanished from his face, only showing his usual frown.
'So much for hoping I am not discovered…'
But Harry did not regret spying on his teacher. Of course, it was a coincidence that he happened to come across Snape. The boy-who-lived knew Snape gave a detention on purpose, but strangely enough, he did not argue. Instead, he just nodded and ran off when Snape turned to walk away without saying anything else but not without giving him a glare first.
"The incompetence of being punctual must have found its way into the Potters' heritage. Now, enter and do what I have written on the board!" Snape barked, glaring all the way at his rival's son. Apparently, Harry was too deep in thoughts to notice his legs had automatically brought him to Snape's office.
A blond passed by and smirked at his misfortune. Draco Malfoy greeted his Head of House like a Malfoy should have and remarked something insulting while passing by Harry. Too bad Snape was there, if not, the brunette might hex the ferret until he could not speak for a week or two. Mildly annoyed, he entered the office to walk towards the cauldron and began his detention of boiling a potion Snape required.
He did not know why Snape had not Oblivate him for what he had seen. He could not comprehend why Snape did not ask Harry to come out immediately from his hiding place. Obviously, the man knew someone was spying on him due to his sharp senses as a trained spy. Then why? Why Snape was making things so difficult for Harry to understand?
"Hmph. Trust a Potter to ruin a simple potion as this. You will have detention with me until you can brew this correctly for once!" Snape barked again, this time clearly showing distaste in his crystal clear voice.
On a second thought, why had Snape not Oblivate him when he saw his memories in the pensieve? Surely it could be easily done for someone like Snape, was it not?
"If you will stop acting like an imbecile and look at things straight forwardly for once, Mr. Potter." There was an underlying tone behind his voice, Harry mused. Snape implied something else along that line. Harry's emerald eyes stared into Snape's onyx ones. "Children will never see an adult's reasoning," his teacher said.
The Potions master was saying them as if he could read his mind! Was his mind intruded without his knowledge? But… Wait, whoever said children will never see an adult's reasoning?
"I'm afraid you are wrong, Professor," as much as Harry wanted to show respect to his teacher, he found it hard when Snape was back to his usual self.
"Five points from Gryffindor for the cheek. I highly doubt your brain can comprehend what I have said and written on the board," was the reply. Double meaning again, Harry noted.
'I will show you, Snape,' Harry thought heatedly. He would not lose to his professor. He was going to show Snape he knew something the spy did not. Or rather, he would show Snape he was not a child any longer. "We shall see, Professor."
Later that day when Harry was released from his detention to go back to his common room, Snape smirked at the sight of the young boy's mixed expression. No doubt the last Potter was pissed off. But Snape was not one to let others see through him easily without corrupting them first. 'Hah, foolish child.' If one was to look at Severus Snape closely, they might have seen the amused glint in his eyes.
"How very alike he is to you, James Potter. And yet, he's so unlike you."
: The End :