Chapter Two

Gradually, Severus became aware of several things. First, whatever he was sleeping on was very wet and very hard. Second, there was a loud and insistent knock coming from the door to his classroom.

Grumbling, he wrenched himself up and opened his eyes. What he saw almost made him pass out again.

The room he was in was enormous! It must have been twenty or thirty times his size. Black eyes scanned his classroom. Desks that he had once leaned over while intimidating students now towered above him taller than any trees. The cracks in the stone floor were chasms.

Looking around, he found his wand in the puddle of botched potion. It was the size of a fallen tree! How on earth would he be able to pick it up?

The knocking on the door continued, ringing in Severs' ears. It was then followed by a too-loud, "Er – Professor?"

"Great. It's Potter," Snape muttered, making his way toward the door. The walk was the equivalent of a half-mile, and it took Severus a good seven-and-a-half minutes to get there.

Thankfully (or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it) Potter didn't give up in those seven or so minutes. He was Gryffindor, after all, and didn't give up easily on a challenge.

Instead of walking away, he forced open the door and stepped inside.

Severus saw the giant trainer coming toward him and turned and ran in the other direction. He dove toward one of the desks and grabbed hold of the leg, trying desperately to keep out of the way of Potter and his feet.

"Professor?" Potter called again.

Severus clamped his hands over his ears, The noise was just to much for his tiny person!

"POTTER!" He screamed as loudly as he was able.

Harry Potter stopped short and looked around. He'd heard Snape say his name, but very quietly. Was he in the room?

Quickly, Harry began searching. He looked under desks, crawling about on his hands and knees. At long last, he reached the desk Snape was hiding under.

As Potter's huge face came past, Severus decided his best chance of being found would be to run out where Potter could see him. And so he did.

Potter let out a yell and leapt to his feet, reaching for his wand.

"What the hell are you?" He screeched.

Snape covered his ears again. "POTTER, IT'S ME, YOU IMBECLIE!"

Harry knelt down again for a closer look. It did look like Snape. And it sounded like Snape. So – obviously – it was Snape. Only he was three inches tall.

"Professor?" Harry breathes, leaning down even closer so that his chin touched the cold, hard floor. "Professor, is it really you?"

"Yes, Potter. And I'll thank you to keep your voice down. My ears are sensitive."

"Sorry." Harry grinned. "So – what happened?"

"Longbottom's botched potion. Why are you here?"

"You missed dinner, and Dumbledore sent me to look for you. This is – wow. Can I pick you up?"

"I think you'd better. And take me to the headmaster's office."

Harry reached slowly out and pressed the tiny Snape between his thumb and forefinger. Snape winced, and Harry realized that he must be squeezing too hard. Quickly, he transferred Snape to the open palm of his other hand.

"I'll walk slowly, okay?" Harry murmured, and saw Snape incline his head slightly in approval.

Unfortunately, Headmaster Dumbledore could do nothing to immediately help the situation.

"I shall send out a sample of the potion to be analyzed, but that could take weeks. And in the meantime, Harry, I think you should look after our dear Professor.

"Why me?" Harry cried, just as the tiny Snape screamed, "Why Potter?"

"It safer if we don't tell anyone else. There are people who would take advantage of Professor Snape in this situation. No, Harry is the best option. He can look after you, Severus. I trust him.

Severus crossed his tiny arms and grumbled to himself, "You can trust him. You don't have to rely on him for everything."

Desperate to get out of caring for his snarky bastard of a potions teacher, Harry asked, "Isn't there some other way? I mean – the potions was only supposed to last for a couple of hours. Who's to say it won't wear off after a little while?"

Dumbledore smiled and twinkled his eyes. "I think not, Harry. I'm no expert, of course, but I think that this potion will permanent until an antidote is secured."

Harry and the tiny Snape looked at each other. So they were going to be stuck with each other for possibly weeks. Great. So far this was looking like Harry's worst school year yet.