Chapter 2- Snape's World Becomes Fuzzy
Harry woke up, lying on his stomach, in the Hogwarts infirmary, "home away from home" as he called it. He remembered asking Madame Pomfrey if she would name his favorite bed after him and she assured him that she would decide after his second year, especially if it was anything like his first year.
Poppy was sniffling, and at the same time, applying a salve to his back, bum and legs. It was working as it took away the pain and he didn't want her to stop, even though he was so embarrassed of his nakedness. To compensate he kept his eyes closed as if he were still asleep until she finished and he was so relieved when she covered him with a sheet.
His ankle did not have shooting pains like before and he was able to take deep breaths without hurting. His jaw seemed to work again but his head was hurting so he knew he was going to have to speak to her soon.
He finally moved and she came back over to him to ask how he was feeling. She provided a potion for his headache and told him he could not move from his position until tomorrow because his skin had been damaged very deep in many places and it would take a day or so to heal since they did not use the Muggle stitches. Then reading his thoughts, she informed him that she had given him a potion to take care of his "necessary bodily functions" for twenty four hours.
Harry was going to ask more questions but he noticed Professor Snape coming through the doors. The nasty Git hated him for some reason unknown to Harry. Professor Snape had worked overtime the previous year trying to make Harry's life miserable during potion classes and anywhere else the two might meet up.
He knew that it had something to do with Harry's father as Snape kept saying that Harry was just like him, and being just like him was not a good thing it would appear.
Harry didn't know why Snape was in the infirmary but Harry was sure that he didn't want to talk with him so he pretended to be asleep as a way out of a potentially uncomfortable situation.
Professor Snape was delivering potions to Madame Promfrey but kept looking over at Harry's bed. He noticed that Harry had spotted him and was pretending to be asleep which was fine with Snape as Severus didn't want to talk to the boy yet.
There was a clash of emotions going on inside Severus. He had a bad feeling that he had made some assumptions that were incorrect and if there was anything that Severus hated it was being wrong. He prided himself in evaluating situations and people and coming to correct assumptions and conclusions.
Potter was just like his father, arrogant, rude and a bully who felt he was God's gift to all women. James didn't care who he hurt as long as he was the center of attention.
Severus remembered being hexed to hang upside-down with his underwear showing, just because James was bored with life and wanted something to do. It if had not been for Lily, beautiful Lily, James would have removed his shorts so everyone could see him naked.
No, there must have been a good reason for Vernon Dursley to lose control and beat the brat and Severus was going to find out before he talked to Harry again.
Severus did not like the idea he was spending his time creating potions for the Potter brat but he did not resent helping Poppy as she had always been there for him during his student years.
He remembered showing up in this infirmary in just about the same shape as Potter because of what his father had done to him. Poppy was always there to heal him and hold him and help him to keep his secrets so the other kids would not embarrass him. No, he would always be there for Poppy, even if he had to create potions for the Potter brat.
Meanwhile Severus had to hurry back to his office as he had a 'parent – teacher' conference to attend.
They didn't happen very often as most parents seemed to care less about having a line of communication with their childs' teacher, and dealt mostly with the Head Master. Severus felt that they relied on the teachers too much, expecting them to virtually raise their children for them.
Severus was not adverse to correcting them or handling the discipline when needed, in fact, his young Snakes knew the sting of his hand on their bum if they acted out. What he objected to was the parents not supporting that growth the child obtained during the school year, allowing them to fall back into their lazy, sloppy, and disrespectful ways.
There were a few Purebloods out there that still held firm to manners, discipline, and proper etiquette, but not many. Malfoy and Goyle, both purebloods, were so different. Malfoy could conduct himself above reproach in any social setting yet Goyle would trip over his own shoe strings and literally drool over the mention of food.
He was a bit uncomfortable about today's meeting though. He was to meet with Alice Longbottom, mother of Neville Longbottom the terror of the potion lab. Alice and her husband had been Aurors for the Ministry until Frank was killed. Neville was their son and while he was a wonder with plants he seemed to be a total fumble fingers in potions.
Severus would probably make sure the conversation was short and sweet as he really had no time to put up with Neville blowing up his lab at least three times a week.
Yes, short and sweet, asking the mother to take her son out of potions and secure him a tutor, that would be the ticket.
But this was not just any Mother, this was Lily's, beautiful Lily's, best friend Alice. During their school years the two of them were never separate and Alice had also been very nice to Severus during those embarrassing years.
Yes, he would give Alice all the time she desired and would try to help her in any way he could. There were few people that could count on the compassion and respect of Severus Snape; Alice, Minerva, Poppy and Dumbledore being four and Dumbledore was riding on thin ice right now.
Severus met Alice at his office, as she still knew where it was, and invited her to be seated. "Would you like tea?" He asked.
"Yes, that would be wonderful" she responded.
Bibbi, Severus' house elf, appeared with tea and cookies. Bibbi could always be counted on to know what was needed before it was requested. Severus once watched a TV show while waiting on a muggle-born "firsty" that he was to take to Diagon Alley to shop for his school things. His house elf reminded him of a character on that show named Radar who always seemed to know what was going to be said before it was uttered. Severus enjoyed Bibbi and was always amused when his guests would comment on his efficiency.
As they enjoyed their tea they discussed the ministry and to Severus' surprise, the new findings in the field of potions listed in the last potions magazine.
It would appear that Alice was very good in potions during school and specialized in potions during her time as an Auror. They talked so long they almost forgot why they were meeting in the first place.
"Well, Severus, as much as I am enjoying talking with you we really need to discuss my son Neville."
"He is holding his own in most of his classes, at least those I feel are worth while, but seems to be having a very hard time with potions. This has caused me concern since I love the subject so much and I know of your competence in this area."
"When I talked with him all he would say is that he was very frightened of you and just can't seem to get it right. I figured that it was just an excuse for being lazy or not applying himself and punished him for the first few bad grades he brought home."
"Then when it didn't seem to help change his grades I took him to my lab and began to work with him testing him on first year potions. He surprised me by doing very well with most of them and answering almost all my questions."
"So I have to ask you if perhaps he has antagonized you in any manner giving you cause to be gruff with him? Perhaps he has disrupted the class causing you to discipline him. Is he sitting with people who are more interested in playing around than learning? I am at my wits end and was hoping that you might be able to help me out?"
Severus was in shock!
Not only was this woman attractive, she was well spoken, very intelligent, and had just insulted his teaching methods without one accusation.
She had listed every reason in the book for Neville to do poorly without blaming him for the problem yet between the lines, if you listened, she did actually blame him for the problem.
As she listed each reason he knew in his heart that non of them were valid, he knew that the only reason Neville was doing badly in class was that he was afraid of Snape because Snape picked on him constantly instead of guiding and teaching him.
The truth of the matter was, Snape needed to pick on a few Gryffindores if he were to keep up his bad boy image for the Slytherins, and Voldmort followers.
Longbottom and Potter along with Granger and Weasley were just so easy to pick on, especially Potter.
Severus felt caught between a rock and a hard place.
He usually had a glib tongue and a sarcastic answer to everything but in this case he was speechless and very uncomfortable.
"Would you like some more tea Alice?" he asked.
Alice, almost as if she could read his mind, knew he needed time to think about his answers.
Finally she said "yes, please I would love some more tea".
As he poured the tea he came to the conclusion that perhaps the truth was the best way to approach this, at least a half truth.
"I can imagine Neville being a bit intimidated by me as I am rather hard on the students in my class. You know how easily an accident can happen and someone can get hurt. I am forever having nightmares about a student playing around and blowing up the lab along with everyone in it."
"Perhaps we can try another approach with Neville. I will provide you with my lesson plan in advance and you can work with him and that could perhaps give him the confidence he needs to get over his fear."
"If that doesn't work I can assign study detention and work one on one with him for awhile and perhaps that might help."
Alice smiled in her tea and said "I think that is a wonderful idea and you are so gracious to provide the effort and time to help him out like this." "Perhaps we could have lunch once in a while and compare notes to see how it is working out?"
Severus agreed that this plan had merit and they could give it a try for a few months.
Having agreed to a plan of action he gave Alice a copy of his lesson plans for the following year and Alice took her leave.
Severus poured himself two fingers of whiskey and chugged it down, he had just come out of a confrontation on the losing end and that was a rare thing indeed.
Severus' mind was smoking.
What in the world was wrong with him? He didn't have time to be molly-coddling students who had no aptitude for the subject. He didn't have much free time as it was and what he did have he needed for his research. Now he was going to be spending 'bonding' time with a sniveling second year.
He was beginning to feel like he had lost his mind. But... there was also that little voice that said that Alice just might be worth getting to know better. She did initiate the idea of getting together for lunch when she could have just suggested they correspond by owl.
He finally shook his head, told himself he was going crazy because of the years of fumes he had inhaled and walked off to grab some lunch and think about other things.
Manerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore were having their late afternoon tea and discussing the Harry situation.
They had been married for many years, although most of the wizard community had no inkling of this fact. They felt it was better to keep their union low key as there seemed to be one bad wizard after another trying to kill Albus.
There was no good reason to give them more ammunition and the couple certainly did not need their status to be out there in people's faces.
They had no children of their own but little known to many they had adopted a son some twenty years ago. After healing Severus for the fourth time Albus had taken Tobias, Severus' father, to task and took over guardianship of the boy.
It had been very difficult as Severus was so damaged emotionally. It was over a year before Severus could comfortably receive a hug without trembling but that did not stop Minerva, she just kept hugging, Severus just kept trembling, until one day he broke down and cried in her arms. After that day Severus was never overly affectionate but comfortably so, at least with his parents.
With others he still had his shell to hide behind and it served him well. He was able to cope with the world and also the unique responsibilities that he had taken on for the Order, or resistance against the Dark Lord.
The choice to join the Dark Lord was the most difficult thing he has ever done in his life. His adoptive father, Albus, needed inside information and there seemed no other way to get it than to seem to join the enemy.
Minerva was totally against this idea and she had many a war with Albus over it even going as far as destroying part of one of the towers during one of their arguments.
Minerva might seem to be only reserve and stern but she was a very strong witch in her own right and not someone to be trifled with. Albus was also a very strong wizard who took a perspective on things a bit differently than Minerva.
Albus tended to lean toward the "Greater Good" losing touch with the individuals who were spending their lives trying to make the greater good a reality. This perspective had caused him problems before and Minerva was usually the only one who could bring him back to reality.
But this time she was outnumbered and in the end Severus took the mark and with his proficiency in potions he quickly became an essential supporter to the Dark Lord. There he served as spy until the night when Potter somehow killed Voldmort.
He was then able to take the position of Professor of Potions at Hogwarts and enjoy his quiet time. Albus and Severus both had the feeling they had not seen the last of the Dark Lord but over the years they found all they had to deal with were the Death Eaters and their spawn.
"What are we going to do about Harry, Albus?" asked Minerva.
Albus folded his hands and frowned a moment then replied, "Well it is obvious he cannot go back to his Aunt and Uncle. They are not only unfit guardians, although with a few spells we could fix that until he graduates, but we cannot create Lilies wards without some love flowing between them and Harry.
What I failed to realize before was that the only love holding up the wards was from Harry and that finally died the night Vernon almost killed him.
We will have to find him new guardians and I am at my wits end trying to figure out who might fit the bill."
"There is always the Weasleys," answered Minerva.
"Yes, but they have so many children already he would become lost in the crowd and it would also put that family and greater risk than they already are."
"But we need not answer that question just yes as Poppy says he will not be leaving the infirmary for a few days yet." Said Albus. "More tea, dear?"