Chapter 2
The bright morning sun greeted Harry as he opened those vibrant green eyes of his, after a night of well deserved sleep. Staring at the ceiling, he decided to do that little mind exercise he had read about. Breathe in, breathe out and try to remember all he read yesterday. His thoughts went from yesterday morning to the transfiguration class before hearing Seamus fall out of his bed… again. This was becoming a habit every morning, hearing Ron snore once, twice, then as if on cue, Seamus would fall out of bed, Neville would be startled out of his sleep before pulling up the covers, Seamus's bed creaking from him trying to climb back in and failing, Dean laughing his ass off and …
"SHUT UP!" roared Ronald.
Just a second before his alarm clock went off. It was a muggle one, gift from Hermione who thought that their morning routine was not enough to wake the redhead.
"Bloody hell, I'm going to smash that thing!" said Ron, banging on the innocent device, vainly trying to turn it off.
"Yeah, do that and watch Mione "Malfoy" your face in!" laughed Harry, getting up and taking his bath stuff before heading for the washroom.
When they all finally came down to the Common Room, Ginny, Hermione and a couple of other girls were waiting for their friends so they could all head down to the Great Hall. Harry walked up to Ginny and gave her a kiss on her cheek. They had started to go out about a month ago and although Harry was still kind of clueless as to how to please his girlfriend - Merlin knew much of a disaster that blessedly brief episode with Cho was, he still cringed at the thought - Ginny seemed to be walking on pink clouds, so he must be doing something right… right?
On the way to breakfast, Harry suddenly remembered the letter he wrote to Remus but never had the chance to send. He took a shortcut to the Owlery, promising to meet the rest of the group in a couple minutes. After sending Hedgwig off with Remus' letter, he went to the Great Hall, put down his bag on the seat Ginny had reserved for him right next to her and walked up to the Head table to speak to the Headmaster.
"Ah Harry, my boy! How are you on this fine morning?" said Dumbledore once he reached him.
"Very well Professor, how about you?" responded Harry politely. There was something else that he had learned the day before from the Pureblood Traditions book. If one was forced into conversation with people one disliked, one should kill them with kindness. Basically, smile and laugh with them, but curse them as many times as you want in your mind. That was another reason to learn Occlumency besides keeping the Dark Lord out.
"Very well, Harry. Thank you for asking. Was there something you needed?" asked the old man, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Well, Professor, I wanted to know if it was possible for me to change my timetable. You see, I wanted to replace my Care of Magical Creatures and Divination courses with Arithmacy and Ancient Runes," said Harry, doing his best to look a bit sheepish.
"Yes, it is possible to replace some courses with others. However, I require an acceptable reason because it is a bit late into the school year, as I am certain you realize,"replied the Headmaster while adopting a serious and interested expression.
It had already been two months since the beginning of the term. Harry was hoping to use his role in the war as both the reason and excuse for switching. He said so to the Headmaster who ran his bony hand down that long beard of his thoughtfully before nodding his head decisively.
"Alright then Harry, Professor McGonagall will hand you your new timetable at supper tonight."
"Thank you so much, Professor!" Harry said, wanting to sound grateful although thoughts of how instead of putting him in such rubbish courses, the Headmaster should have had him take more useful ones were running through his head. Admittedly, the course Hagrid taught had its merits, but six years of it was already too much. Harry headed back to the table and sat down. While loading his plate with some of those delicious little donuts Muggles called Boston Cream, he listened to Hermione and Ron bicker like an old couple. He looked at Ginny who, in turn, looked at him with laughter in her eyes. She leaned over to him.
"They should really just go out," she whispered in his ear.
"Yes, they should. That would spare us the torture of hearing them argue like they've been married for fifty-seven years," snickered Harry while taking another bite of his donut.
Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione had heard his comment and turned around to give him a piece of her mind. He sighed and watched as Ron slowly moved away from Hermione's turned back. 'I'm in for it,' was his thought, since dear Hermione had the terrible habit of ranting and lecturing for hours on end.
Soon, they left the Hall to get to their first class for the day, Potions. Harry wondered how he was going to approach the snarky Head of House. Hermione was still talking by the time they reached the door, scowling Snape standing next to it.
"Miss Granger, I do hope that you will leave this incessant yapping at the door. I have no wish for you to torture my ears with your nonsense," snapped the Professor.
Hermione's mouth closed with an audible click and a couple of the Slytherins that were about to enter the classroom snickered. If Harry were honest with himself, he would have admitted that a part of him wanted to laugh too. However, he wanted to be on his friend's good side and spare himself a headache for the day. Therefore, he scowled at the Slytherins, taking great care not to include Snape in his range of vision. If he was to request the man's help, he would have to begin showing some respect.
Class begun much the same way it always did. Snape gave a short lecture embellished with well places barbs and insults, dripping with sarcasm and full of sneers and jeers. Then came the instructions on the board that made no sense to those like the Gryffindor Golden Boy who have suffered under Snape's teaching. Finally, came the moment when one half of the classroom headed towards the ingredients while the other half prepared the cauldron and the tools. Harry, this time was partnered with Blaise Zabini who set out to ignore his presence and prepared the potion as if he wasn't there. Not that Harry minded, since being ignored by Slytherins meant that there would be no trouble. Snape, of course, did not let the opportunity to whip him with his very sharp tongue pass. Apparently, he was a lazy good for nothing Gryffindor who thought he could get away with anything.
After a while, Harry was tempted to abandon his plan to ask Snape for help, his failure in Occlumency be damned. Then his eyes fell on the scar on the back of his hand, and his resolve strengthened. He would be damned if he allowed Snape's hatred to scare him. He had too much on his shoulders, too many lives on the balance, and he was more than ready to be rid of the Dark Lord so that he could begin living instead of surviving. Therefore, he let Snape's comments flow over him like water and sat down to write down notes. He watched what his partner did, and wrote down how he stirred, for how long, noted the color of the potion, recorded what Zabini added, when, and what the reaction of the potion was. Basically, he put his previously nonexistent observational skills to use, so that the next time he had to make this particular potion, he would not be fumbling in the dark.
Zabini noted what Potter was doing and smirked inwardly. Apparently, the Gryffindor wonder boy was not as stupid as he seemed and may have matured a bit since the year prior. He cut a look to Draco, who had not missed the sudden change in his nemesis' behavior, and raised an eyebrow. The blond shrugged slightly, indicating that they would continue to observe Potter and see if there was anything they could use to their advantage.
Blaise finished his potion and carefully poured some of it into a phial that he then handed to the Potions Master for inspection. Of course, the concoction was perfect, and a slight nod from the professor assured the Slytherin of his upcoming good grade. As he returned to his table, he smirked at Potter. Unfortunately, Potter was not even looking at him, but still writing on his parchment. Blaise frowned. Distracted by his wayward thoughts, he did not pay any attention to the sharp blade he had used the mince his gillyweed, and laid his hand over it while he leaned on the table. His hand had started bleeding, but he still did not notice and continued to put his weight on the blade. Harry who was about to put away his quill saw the blood leaking from the side of the table and followed to trail to Zabini's hand that he promptly lifted off the dangerous object.
"Merlin! Zabini, your hand..." he exclaimed cradling the other boy's larger hand between his.
Blaise tried to pull away his hand and was surprised when Harry did not relinquish his hold on him. Instead, the Gryffindor pulled out his wand and muttered an incantation that quickly wiped away all the blood and another to heal the gash on Blaise's palm. The Slytherin stared at him with wide eyes before his brain caught up with him. He pulled his hand back to his side and sneered at Harry.
"If you think I'm going to thank you, Potter, you'd better think again. I did not need your help," he said and watched closely how his words would affect Harry. To his surprise, the Gryffindor just shrugged and started to put away his school material.
Harry himself was a bit confused as to why he helped Zabini. After all he knew perfectly well that the other boy would not have helped him were he in a similar situation. Or if he had, he would use it for blackmail somehow. However, after the pensieve episode with Snape last year, Harry had begun to doubt his previous opinion of Slytherins in general. True the Dark Lord and the majority of his followers came from that house. But that did not mean that they were all evil to the core. Neither was it true that only Slytherins bowed to Voldemort. Just look at Wormtail. That vermin probably licks Voldie's shoes clean on a daily basis, if he does wear them that is…
When the bell ran, Harry waited until the most of the students had left while thinking about how to approach his - oh, he hated to admit it - intimidating Potions Professor. The git would probably throw him out the door with his request. Why didn't he know anyone else with Snape's skills? Because whether or not he disliked the man, he had to admit that Snape was skilled in many subjects and not just potions. He went to his friends telling them that he would catch up later and they understood that he had chosen this moment to speak to Snape. He waited for them to leave before going over to the Potions Master.
"Excuse me, Professor, could I have a word with you, please."
Snape didn't even bother answering him. He just raised that eyebrow and sneered down at him. Harry felt his palm starting to sweat and his ever present ire towards the insufferable man spike.
"Well, Potter, are you going to waste my time more than you already have or do you actually have a reason for it this time?"
Harry gathered his famous Gryffindor courage and spoke.
"Look, I know that you and I don't get along. I also know that you want Voldemort dead as much as I do and I thought that-"
"Thought? How did you manage that with the useless brown matter that you dare call a brain?" snarked the git.
Harry's anger was building, but he took a deep breath and reminded himself of the bigger picture. This was one of the rare occasions where he agreed with Dumbledore:" think of the greater good".
"Well, Professor, what I am trying to say is that I need your help. I was wondering if you would be willing spare some of your time to teach me all you can." He then waited for Snape to speak but, the professor seemed to be speechless at the moment, so he continued. "I realize that there are many things I don't know, and I disagree with Headmaster Dumbledore's idea that my ability to love and forgive and all that rot is going to kill Voldem-"
"Do NOT speak his name!" Hissed Snape.
Again, Harry had to hang onto his temper.
"I'm sorry, sir. I just don't want to pit the lives of people who are counting on me on sheer luck. I'm only sixteen, I have no training, and my knowledge of the wizarding world is ridiculously limited… I need help." Harry finished, raising pleading eyes to Snape and praying to any god that might be listening that the man would not let his hatred cloud his judgment.
Snape leaned on his desk and rubbed the tip of his finger on his bottom lip pensively. It was then that Harry noticed that, although they were thin, Snape's lips were quite beautiful, pale pink, the upper lip thinner than the bottom. They looked made for kissing, and nibbling, and… His mind screeched out a halt… 'What the hell was that? Snape and beautiful do not belong in the same sentence! And what business do I have looking at a bloke's mouth?'
"Very well, Potter. I will endeavor to impart in you all that I can. But I warn you, should I decide that you are not dedicated enough, I will cease all instruction and cooperation from my part. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," responded Harry, mechanically. 'Oh hell. Snape said yes.' Of course, Harry was relieved and he had already started to breathe easier and his heart had slowed its mad race. However, he had expected Snape to at least make him beg for it, ask for something in return, make him wait… something else then this rather quick consent to helping him.
"You will report to this classroom on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights at 8 o'clock. I expect punctuality and dexterity from you. You may not be absent from any session unless you offer an explanation that I deem reasonable. You may not include your classmates in those sessions, nor will you go blabbing to them about what will occur in those afore mentioned sessions…" he was about to continue, but Harry cut him off.
"One exception, sir, Ron and Hermione. They will be targeted just because they are my best friends and if I cannot be with them when this happens, I'd would be able to concentrate more on my task if I know that they can take defend themselves."
Snape sneered at him before he spat out, "Very well. Now please vacate the room. Unlike you Mister Potter, I have other matters to attend to."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry before he spun on his heel and hurried out of the room. He had news to break to his friends and a nice pile of books to finish reading.
