A/N: Hello everyone! I know I shouldn't be starting another fic when I have so many not finished…but….. oh well. Please read and review! I'd love to hear what you have to think! :)
Twilight was beginning to fall outside, the light turning to the dusty black that falls just before the darkness of night. Normally, this was Snape's favorite time of day, since he would be done teaching. He could go down to his room, make himself a cup of tea, get out a book, and relax by the fire. The smell of the smoke always calmed him, and the sound of the turning pages soothed his frayed nerves.
But now Snape's tranquility had been snatched from him by the boy sitting next to him. It always had to be something with Potter, didn't it? They were barely two weeks into term and he had already caused problems for Snape.
Potter's arms were crossed across his chest, his inky black hair as untidy as ever, his glasses slightly crooked. Really, couldn't he at least make himself presentable for the headmaster?
Harry was staring straight ahead, avoiding all contact with Snape. It was just like Snape to drag him to Dumbledore for something he hadn't even done. It had been all Draco's fault.
Two o'clock that day had found Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing outside the door to the Potions classroom. Potions would have been bad enough, but it was double Potions with the Slytherins. What a perfect way to end the day.
When the door had swung open, the three Gryffindors had been at the back of the crowd of students. Which meant that they had been left the seat behind Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
With a sigh, Harry sat down, Ron and Hermione on either side of him. It wasn't long before Malfoy noticed who was sitting behind him.
"Good summer, Potter? Anyone else you know dead yet?" said Malfoy, a smirk on his face.
Harry clenched his teeth, biting back his retort. Snape had just walked into the room, his black robes billowing out behind him, the classroom door swinging shut with a heavy bang. All traces of happy chatter had vanished as soon as Snape had entered.
"Today we shall be brewing a simple Calming Drought. The instructions are on the board," said Snape, flicking his wand.
"Once you are done, I shall be coming around to check your potions. You have until the end of class," continued Snape, his gaze sweeping across the classroom.
Harry retrieved his ingredients from the cupboard at the front of the classroom and made his way back to his seat. He felt oddly detached from his potion, his thoughts wandering to what Draco had said to him.
Draco's comment had made his temper rise yet again. This summer had been especially hard, having been left all alone after Cedric's death. Harry's stomach seemed to sink as he thought about Cedric. Nightmares had plagued him all summer, and he saw those lifeless eyes, the stiff body. Stop. Just stop. Harry told himself, turning his attention back to his potion.
It must have happened when Harry and Ron went back up to get some ingredients they needed more of. Hermione, engrossed in her own potion, wouldn't have seen. But as Harry returned to his seat, he saw that his previously yellow potion had turned bright blue.
How did this happen? Thought Harry frantically. Malfoy turned around to look at him, that horrible smirk back on his face, and held up a little bottle.
Harry, frozen to the spot with anger, didn't have time to do anything. Snape had already started making his way around the room, and was nearing Harry dangerously fast.
"Potter, I thought I told you to make a Calming Drought," said Snape, reaching Harry's table at last, his voice laced with venom. "It seems that you are incapable of following the simplest directions. A second year could have made this potion better."
Opening his mouth to reply, Harry was suddenly silenced by a loud noise coming from behind him. Turning around just in time to see it, Harry watched with horror as his caldron exploded, electric blue liquid spraying out everywhere.
It seemed to take forever to calm everyone down. Screaming students who had ran out of the classroom needed to be rounded up, and the mess had to be cleaned.
That was when Snape had dismissed the other students.
"Potter," Snape said. Harry was surprised he could say one word with so much malice.
Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks before heading out the door, glancing back at Harry.
Harry felt horribly trapped as the door closed behind him. Facing an angry Snape was definitely not on his to do list.
"The Great Harry Potter, too good for the mundane Potions lesson. He decides to make it more exciting," snarled Snape, his face white with anger.
"That's not what happened!" began Harry hotly.
"Your flimsy protests don't matter to me, Potter. Do you even realize you could have seriously injured one of your classmates?" Snape continued, clearly getting angrier.
"But-" began Harry, trying to explain. Why wouldn't Snape listen to him?
"I think the headmaster will be very interested to hear about this," said Snape, smiling.
"But I didn't do it!" shouted Harry, trying to make Snape understand.
"It is not very wise to yell at me, Potter," growled Snape.
Harry gulped as Snape roughly grabbed his arm and walked him out of the room, clearly taking him to Dumbledore's office.
Where in the world was Dumbledore? They had been waiting here for over twenty minutes, and Snape had a headache. A quick glance at Potter revealed he was still staring straight ahead.
Snape stood up and began impatiently pacing the room. Suddenly, everything began to blur. Snape wondered if this had something to do with his headache, but then the room began to spin and he felt as if he were falling.
Then, everything went black.