Chapter 2

Old Habits Die Hard

Osiris was certain to wake up with plenty of time to get ready for his trip to Diagon Alley. He had no desire to anger Professor Snape. He pulled on his black trousers and black boots, then buttoned his grey collared shirt up, tucked it into his trousers and fastened his belt. He left his cuffs undone and rolled the sleeves up to the middle of his forearm before tying back his hair. He stared at himself in the mirror, satisfied that he looked presentable enough.

As Headmaster Dumbledore had somewhat deduced, he came from a family where respect and manners mattered, and that included not looking a wreck around your betters.

Feeling a little bit of dread, Osiris knocked on the door that the Professor had told him to be at.

A short, "Come in," answered him.

He opened the door slowly and quietly. Professor Snape was wearing the same things he was wearing the day before and he was sitting at his desk writing.

The dark man didn't even bother looking up when he said, "You are five minutes early, Mr. Silver."

"I suppose so, sir," he said as amiably as he could.

The Professor looked up and fixed a black glare on him harshly, before looking back down, "You will wait then."

"Yes, sir," he answered, making a move to sit down in the chair opposite the man's desk.

"Did I tell you to sit, Mr. Silver?"

Osiris stopped and straightened up quickly, "No, sir."

"Then do not presume to sit down." The boy had not startled at the rebuke, so it seemed he had already realized his faux pas.

At exactly 8 o'clock the Professor stood up.

"Let's make this quick, Mr. Silver. I have potions to brew and you have ingredients to prepare and a store room to organize."

By the time they were ready to head back Osiris was beginning to be worn thin by Snape's grating remarks and his stomach was rumbling heavily.

Snape had three large bags from the Apothecary and Osiris had shrunken his bag and was putting them into his pocket. The Professor glanced at him scornfully before saying insidiously, "Carry these, Mr. Silver."

"Sir?"

The Professor stopped dead in his tracks and put the bags down, "I asked you to carry the bags, Mr. Silver, or are you daft?"

"All three of them, Professor?"

Snarling at the boy, his own patience wearing thin, "I was only going to have you carry two, but now you can carry all three for your cheek. When I ask you to do something, Mr. Silver, that does not invite a conversation."

"But sir-."

"One more word and I will have you carrying ingredients from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts all year long!"

Osiris closed his mouth mid-sentence and picked up the bags. After apparating they walked the rest of the way up to the school in silence. Once in the dungeons the Professor commanded him to unload the bags and after that start preparing ingredients for a regenerative potion.

The Professor watched Osiris out of the corner of his eye, noting that he was not mumbling or complaining or hesitating. Severus could tell from the first moment that the boy was strong-willed and could cause problems if not kept under a heavy hand. However, he had to admit that the boy had tough skin; he had not reacted poorly to Severus' harshness. He simply took it, not even any mumbled disrespect, no matter how irrationally explosive the boy's behavior had been at his previous school, getting him expelled.

Dumbledore didn't know that he knew that, but Severus had his own connections. As soon as Dumbledore had told him about the transfer student who excelled in Potions, he had put those connections to use.

If Severus was sure of one thing, he was sure that he could keep control of the boy with discipline. Afterall, he was known as being mean and strict to all of the students, but what they didn't realize was that he could be much tougher on them. Most of them, however, could not handle that. It was clear to him that this was what Osiris Silver needed...clear boundaries and the expectation of unwaivering respect.

After about two hours of hearing nothing out of the boy other than the sound of slicing, Osiris' voice finally cut through the near silence of the cauldron.

"Professor?" he tested carefully.

"What is it, Mr. Silver," he said loudly.

"Well, sir, I'm sorry if this is-."

"Out with it or do not waste my time on your mumbling."

Osiris shifted his weight around and cleared his throat, "I didn't know where to go to get breakfast this morning, sir, so I haven't eaten all day and it's nearly 3 o'clock."

Severus stared at him for a moment.

"Come here, Mr. Silver," he said, waving him over impatiently.

Osiris put his knife down carefully, pursed his lips and walked over to the Professor, half expecting to get yelled at for interrupting him.

"Do you know what potion this is Mr. Silver?" the man asked instead.

Quickly, Osiris looked at the ingredients by the cauldron and the looked back up at the Professor, "Dreamless Sleep, sir."

"All of the ingredients are added. Finish this, bottle it, clean this up, and I will see to it that the house elves have something waiting for you in your room. Come by my office in two hours, and I will have those holiday assignments for you for at least some of your classes."

Osiris nodded, a few of his long black hair sticking to the sweat on his face. The fire under Dreamless Sleep had to be very hot and the room was reflecting that.

Severus looked intently with his black eyes into the boy's hazel eyes and said, "I trust you can do that, Mr. Silver."

The Professor knew that he had to give at least a small reward for the boy doing menial work all afternoon without any protest.

"Yes, sir, no problem."

When the Professor walked out of the room Osiris heaved a large sigh and rubbed his temple with his right hand as he stirred the potion slowly with his left. His head was pounding, his stomach trying to eat itself, and he felt like he was about ready to pass out.

Osiris spent his mornings reading his books and working on his homework. His afternoons and evenings Osiris spent preparing ingredients or cleaning and organizing the store room. He had not known that he was to do that for two weeks as payment for the man spending one morning with him getting his things in Diagon Alley, but the man kept expecting it of him and he was not about to disagree. The Professor was not treating him like an annoyance anymore, but he was a far cry away from being liked. It was more as if he were being tolerated, but he was satisfied with that.

If he was to eventually plead with the man to apprentice him, he wanted to stay on his tolerable side. Osiris wasn't sure if the man even had a good side.

The Welcoming Feast had gone fairly well. His house appraised him with curiousity but no one spoke to him, but this didn't upset him. After his previous school, he was happy with just being left alone.

Once announcements were over, he began heading back to Slytherin with the other students. One, in particular, was glaring at him, but he simply ignored it or appeared to.

When he came out of his room later that night, carrying a potion's book he had ordered, the blonde boy that had been staring at him started walking up to him.

"Is there something in particular you are staring at," he asked the boy, snidely, curling his lip.

"What sort of a name is Silver, anyway? Are you some sort of a Mudblood?"

Osiris stiffened in response, memories of past experiences causing him to tense.

"No, I'm no Mudblood," he hissed.

"Well, only one explanation left then. If your family lost the family name, you must be a blood traitor."

Osiris walked up to the boy and looked down at him viciously, although the other boy did not back down.

"I'm no blood traitor either, so mind your own fucking business," he snarled.

Draco smirked evilly, "A bastard then," he said evenly, "Your mother must have been a shame and a whore."

Osiris couldn't fight it any longer, he turned around to walk away.

"Nothing to say blood bastard?"

He wheeled back around and punched the blonde in the face hard. A resounding crack went through the room as Draco fell backwards, his nose spewing blood.

Goyle was the first to jump up and respond, grazing his fist across Osiris' cheek as he barely jumped away. Osiris tripped him and then jumped over him as he went down. Crabbe grabbed the lean boy out of mid-air as he lunged for Draco again, who was pinching his nose, blood soiling his shirt, his other hand going for his wand.

Osiris brought his elbow around and jabbed it backwards, luckily hitting the other boy in the eye, who released him only for Goyle to hit him full in the side of his face this time, splitting his lip and cutting it clear through.

Suddenly his arms were arrested from behind, although he lunged furiously to be released so that he could get to Draco, or the other two, again.

"Mr. Silver! If you hit me or I have to stun you, you will wish you never came to this school!"

Osiris' body went almost immediately slack when he realized whose body belonged to that voice. He had thought it was another student who was going to hold him so that the other three could beat and curse the dickens out of him. Instead, he was wheeled around by the strong death grip on his upper arm. The arms that held him belonging to the owner of the deep, threatening voice.

"Profe-."

"Silence!" The Professor bellowed.

Osiris looked down.

The Potion's Master took in the scene carefully. Not even the first day of classes and the boy had managed to break Draco's nose nearly off his face, give Crabbe a very swollen black eye, and Goyle a black eye and bloody nose. The blood trailing down Silver's face and neck, soaking into his white collar, from his split lip seemed minuscule in comparison.

"What happened here, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco took one bloody hand away from his nose and pointed at Osiris, "He bloody attacked me for looking at him!"

"Fucking liar!" Osiris exclaimed, lunging forward again, despite the Professor's grip on him.

"I said SILENCE! Mr. Silver! Now shut your mouth unless you want to make things worse for yourself," he yelled tightening his grip on Osiris' arm. "Now control yourself or you will find yourself expelled from this school as well."

Crabbe and Goyle snickered stupidly.

"You two take Mr. Malfoy to the hospital wing," he said to Crabbe and Goyle, "You are coming with me," he said to Osiris, pushing him forward by the arm, thin fingers also pushing his back, marching him toward his office.

He released the boy's arm when they. His breaths were hot and fast, coming out of his nose. He tried to calm himself somewhat, not trusting himself not to lose his temper in the worst way.

"Sir, I-."

"Mr. Silver! Did I ask you a question?"

Osiris looked down at his shoes, "No, sir."

"Then assume that you do not have permission to talk! Or do I need to yell silence once again?"

The boy shook his head 'no', his jaw set and contrary, his eyes pleading with remorse.

"Perhaps I did not make myself clear when I first met you, Mr. Silver, but I clearly thought that I said that I do not tolerate such behavior from the members of my house. Or are you so daft that you don't think that fighting is against the rules here at Hogwarts even though it is against the rules at your former school."

"No, sir," he answered slowly.

"No, sir, I'm not so daft to think that fighting is acceptable behavior or no, sir, you didn't make yourself clear? And don't you look down like you are going to avoid me!"

His amber eyes were surrounded by large whites as he looked up, "No, sir, I'm no so daft that I think fighting is acceptable."

"It is not even the first day of classes Mr. Silver! You will explain yourself!"

Osiris looked at him, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

Quickly, Professor Snape closed the distance between them and his hand flew out to point straight in Osiris' face.

Osiris flinched heavily and almost stepped back. It nearly gave Severus pause. He knew what that meant.

"Answer me, or by Merlin I'll have you on the train straight home tonight."

Severus noticed pain shadow the boy's face quickly and Osiris said, "He was in my face, sir, asking if I was a Mudblood, saying that if I wasn't I must be a blood traitor. I said I wasn't and he said that I must be bastard then with a whore for a mother. I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and just kept at it. I'm sorry, sir, please don't expel me."

Severus went straight for home when Osiris said that, thinking that if the boy flinched that badly when he pointed into his face that someone, most likely his father, hit him or beat him on a regular basis.

"Perhaps I should just floo your father and let him take care of you."

The Professor wasn't prepared for the boy to look down, instead thinking that he would plead with him to not floo his father, but Osiris did look down and for a moment Severus thought that the boy might just start to cry.

"I don't have a father, sir," he answered looking back up in his eyes, "He was killed when I was three. He had joined the Dark Lord…"

For a few seconds Severus was taken aback. That was surely not the response he was expecting.

He recovered quickly, "Show me your arm."

The boy was seventeen, it was possible that he had already been marked. He was just the sort the Dark Lord would like, intelligent and vengeful.

"Sir?" Osiris asked, confused.

Professor Snape took it as opposition, grabbed the boy by the collar and pushed him back into the wall before letting him go and grabbing his wrist tightly and painfully. He pulled up Osiris' sleeve and almost let out a sigh of relief, but he could not because of his position.

He dropped the boy's wrist like a dead weight.

"Mr. Silver, if I have to keep reminding you not to look away from me when I am talking to you..."

Osiris looked back up, his hair sticking to his face again and blood still trailing down his chin from his split lip.

"You are on restriction for this entire term, Mr. Silver, which means all of your privileges are revoked. There will be no quidditch, no Hogsmeade weekends, and no socializing. That's just for starters."

"Yes, sir." The reply was not as dejected as it might have been.

"Now, who has hit you?" he asked, as if it were the logical question to follow.

"What?"

"You will address me as professor or sir. Now, I asked you a question, you do not answer it with a question."

Osiris bit his upper lip, since the lower one was mangled.

"No one, Professor."

"No one," Severus asked incredulously. "Don't you lie to me, Mr. Silver."

Osiris' face implored, "I'm not lying to you, Professor Snape."

"You aren't?" He pulled his hand up, reared it back, and took a step forward.

As if it were on command, Osiris flinched heavily again.

"Do you take me for an idiot, Osiris?" He asked, using the boy's first name for the first time.

"No, sir," he said penitently, without offering any other information

"Then answer me, boy."

Osiris stared at him, knowing that he couldn't answer the Professor's question for his own safety, even though he wanted to. He also had the feeling that he could not blatantly lie. He was not that good at occluding, and he felt the Professor sifting on the outskirts of his mind already.

"Shall I give you one week of detention for your disobedience and cheek, Mr. Silver?"

Osiris crossed his arms and fiddled with his lip again.

"Two weeks..."

Osiris frowned, "A teacher, alright sir, a teacher I used to have."

"You are occluding, Mr. Silver, very impressive. However, that itself tells me that you aren't telling me the whole truth but only part of it."

Severus closed the ground between them.

Osiris stepped back protectively.

"Mr. Silver, I may be strict and I may demand your respect, but I will not strike you. You are not my son and Professors at Hogwarts are not allowed to beat students anymore, however much they think they might like to."

"Yes, sir."

"We'll make it an even month of detention for giving me part of the truth, Mr. Silver, perhaps you will tell me the entire truth at a later date."

"But, sir!"

"Watch your cheek, Mr. Silver, so far as I am concerned I am letting you off easy."

"Yes, Professor," he answered dejectedly.

"Seven o'clock, every night, and seven in the morning on the weekends as well," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Seven every night? Including the weekends? And seven in the morning on the weekends, sir?"

"Yes, Mr. Silver, and don't sound so impertinent. I still feel I am letting you off easy and would gladly tack on some more if necessary to curtail this unacceptable behavior pattern of yours."

Osiris raised an eyebrow as well, "Pattern, Professor?"

"I know your school record, boy, so don't think I am gullible enough to see any of this as a first time occurrence. If you would like to spend the time writing lines, continue, by all means."

Osiris knew better than to protest again. He knew he was no longer on the man's tolerable list, but now back on his annoyance list. So much for any chances he had tried to develop before term started.

"May I go back to my room now, Professor Snape?" he asked, quietly.

Quirking an eyebrow with slight frustration, "No, and I do not ever advise you to ask a stupid question like that again. When I am done with you I will tell you to get out of my sight."

"Yes, Professor. Sorry, sir."

He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a jar, "Come over here."

Osiris walked over to him with a dubious look on his face. The Professor handed him a cloth and said, "Wipe the blood off your face."

After Osiris complied, Severus took the cloth back from him and dipped a corner into the goo.

"Tilt your head up," he said before spreading the goo all over Osiris' bottom lip. "I will speak to Mr. Malfoy about his mouth and educate him about certain facts about your former school and that pureblood must be established. If he says anything else at all to you, do not take care of it yourself. Do you understand?"

There was a moment where Osiris' brow quirked, as if he found it hard to believe or understand that there would be any intercession for him. It was a look worn when someone was not sure if they heard or interpreted correctly.

"Yes, sir...and thank you, Professor Snape." He pointed to his lip and the jar he now held in his hand.

"That is my job as your Head of House, Mr. Silver; which I am as much so for you as any other Slytherin."

"Thank you, anyway, sir," the boy said, with a shrug.

"Don't make me regret this, Mr. Silver," he said, to regain a measure of his intimidation. He handed him a small phial of a pain potion and waved him out. "Now I'm done with you, you may go."

"Good afternoon, sir." Osiris nodded at him and left.

As Severus watched him go through the door, he reflected on exactly what is was that made him not give the boy detention for everyday the entire year. He knew precisely what it was. He, himself, knew what it felt like to be teased and ridiculed, and he hadn't dealt with it any better than Silver did. Not to mention the flinch the boy had...