Acceptance
By: enb2004
Disclaimer: Don't own it, not making any money off of it, etc, etc. You know the drill.
It was the smell that woke him up. Eggs, cheese, and…chicken broth? I can't be in my cupboard. The smells from the kitchen don't get this far. I can't be in the infirmary; it isn't bright enough. What's that sound? Silverware against a plate? Someone's eating? What happened yesterday? Think, Potter, think! Snape! That's right; Snape came to Uncle Vernon's house. But why didn't he come and get me? Wait; hang on. Did he, last night? Was that what happened? Is that where I am? Hogwarts?
With that, he opened his eyes. I'm obviously not wearing my glasses. It's way too blurry for that.
"Morning Potter. Welcome to the land of the living," a sarcastic voice that sounded suspiciously like Snape said.
"Pro—Pro—Professor?" Harry managed to get out. He turned his head toward the sound of the voice, but all he could make out was the shape of a person who was very pale, had black hair, and wearing black. Talking turned out to be quite difficult due to the sore throat that seemed worse now than it did yesterday.
"Back to stuttering and incomplete sentences, are you Potter?" Yep, the person was definitely Snape.
"What?"
"Never mind." If Harry didn't know that the man was sitting next to him, he wouldn't have thought that was Snape, because the voice was completely lacking any of its usual sarcasm and loathing. Weird.
A hand that was holding something appeared near his head. "Your glasses, Potter," Snape said. His voice once again lacked sarcasm. The hand continued toward Harry's face, and his glasses were put on his face. His vision suddenly improved.
Seeing Snape's face was a shock for Harry. There was no trace of the usual scowl that graced his face. It almost looked…concerned. And he had bags under his eyes, almost as though he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before.
"How are you feeling, Potter," Snape asked. Geez, he even sounds concerned.
Harry almost said 'fine' as an automatic reaction, before realizing that he did, in fact, not feel, fine. "Sore, and stiff, sir," he croaked.
"Are you in any pain, Potter?"
"Not really, no, sir."
"Can you sit up, Potter?"
Harry tried to sit up, but failed miserably. "No, sir, not by my self," he said, looking away from the feared Potion Master's eyes for the first time.
Snape got up from the chair, sat on the bed next to Harry, and held out his hand. Harry took the hand, and Snape gently pulled him up into a sitting position.
Once Harry was sitting back on some pillows, Snape sat back on the chair, and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Harry just nodded. With a swish and flick of his wand, and a whispered wingardium levisoa, Snape levitated up a tray that was sitting next to the bed, and onto Harry's lap. On the tray was a bowl of chicken broth, and a glass of water.
"Just chicken broth, sir,"
Rather than answering, Snape asked, "When was the last time you ate, Potter? A real meal?"
"Breakfast before the Hogwarts Express,"
That's worse then I thought! Snape thought.
"Your body has to be… 'reintroduced' to food," Snape said simply. With that, he bent to the side of his chair and picked up a tray that was there. On that tray was a plate of scrambled eggs with cheese, and some toast.
They ate in silence for a while, when all of a sudden, there was a thump, as though someone had jumped on to the floor.
The next instant, Lucius Malfoy's voice came floating into the room: "Severus! Sev, where are you?"
Harry gasped in surprise, as the 'vision' from the night before came floating before his eyes, he fought down the urge to throw up yet again. Snape's hand instantly flew up to Harry's mouth. He shot Harry a look that clearly said, "Don't move a muscle." Harry nodded, eyes wide, and Snape removed his hand.
From outside in the living room, there came the sounds of a door opening, Malfoy saying "Sev," and the door being closed again. After the same procedure happened again, Malfoy said, "Come on, you overgrown bat, where are you? I know you're here: where on earth else would you be?" There was a pause during which Harry was trying very hard not to laugh, and Snape had his head in one hand, and was also trying very hard not to laugh. Malfoy's voice came again, "Alright, fine, I'll try the manor." At that, Snape's head popped up, his eyes wide. He gently set the tray down on the floor, stood up, and went to the door. After a rather long pause, they finally heard, "Snape Manor, living room," and a woosh.
Snape tore out of the room, grabbed a handful of Floo powder, and said "Snape Manor, master bedroom," and with a woosh, he too disappeared.
Snape arrived seconds later at the master bedroom of his ancestral house. He strode over to the oak desk, and began frantically rummaging through it, as though looking for something. He finally heard Malfoy's voice, "Severus, Severus!"
"I'm in here, Lucius," Snape said loudly.
The blond strode into the dark bedroom seconds later. "Ah, there you are Severus. I was wondering where you were,"
"What do you mean, Lucius," Snape asked innocently, and absentmindedly, as he was still looking for some unknown object, and hadn't bothered to look up at the other man.
"I was just at your quarters in Hogwarts, but you weren't there, so I decided to try you here."
"Oh. Ah, ha!" Snape said, holding up a piece of parchment with writing on it.
Malfoy wrinkled his nose, and asked, "What is that?"
"Fifth year lesson plans from last year. Don't know how they wound up here, though."
"Why were you looking for them?"
"I was working on my lesson plans for this year, and decided to base those off of last years."
"I see. Well, you missed a good time last night. I brought Draco, you know," Malfoy said in an off-handed tone.
Had the room been any brighter, Malfoy would have seen Snape's face pale. He saw that?! What else has the poor boy seen? Snape thought.
"Really. And, what did he think?"
"I think he enjoyed it. I know I did my first time," he said nostalgically.
"I'm sure. Well I must be going…"
"Really, Severus, you are turning in to quite the antisocial bat. Come to the Leaky Cauldron; let me buy you a drink."
"If you must know, I have a potion brewing that needs looking after. Good day Lucius," and with that he turned on his heal, and strode to the fireplace. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder, and just before he threw it into the fireplace, he turned around to a gapping Malfoy and said, "Oh and by the way, bats are very social animals," and with that, he threw the powder into the fireplace and said, "Hogwarts, Severus' living room," stepped in and disappeared.
A/N: I would like to thank my bff, my 'sis,' my 'sam,' my beta, Amy for everything she has done for this fic and me. And thanks to Mr. Murphy for his help as well.
A/N2: I have been, and will continue to, use UK spell check.
A/N3: Thoughts are in italics.
Hope you guys liked it. Review, or email me to tell me what you think. Also, I'd like to know which you like better, thoughts in italics or with * * and / /. That would be a really big help!
Thanks to witchfire37 and Potter Reader for their reviews.
Don't forget to review!
Elyse