Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

It Was A Rough Day To Begin With

By Ancient Midnight

Chapter Four

2011/08/24

Harry curled up on his bed trying to read. the seventh years were all down in the common room talking about their exams that weren't for months yet. They had been arguing for the last few hours whether or not it was too early to start studying for them.

Harry blamed Hermione for this, she had brought up the dreaded Newts and the common room had gone wild. Their head of House would probably be here any minute to quiet them down. People were yelling that they could wait until at least Christmas to start studying, while others wondered why they had wasted six years of schooling without studying for this exam.

Of course, the other years could not be supportive to either side. Fred and George were the loudest saying that they had began studying their first year for such exams and then turning around to exclaim that NEWTS were unimportant and you could even make up for them taking an easy test during the summer.

Snape was in a bright mood all morning. Even having had no sleep, there was a bounce in his stride as he gleefully took points from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff both for a couple kissing in the hall and in the same breath managed to take points from Gryffindor for no reason at all. After all, they must have done something, so why not let them think he already knew about it?

He took the long way, walking all the way up the students' table to get to his seat. This ensured that the other houses lost a good twenty points each with him passing, and the Slytherins that needed him for a quick word were able to do so.

After a quick conference with Flint about the proper practice time with the Hufflepuff beaters in the hospitalwing and he was finally able to sit in his seat.

"30 points Severus? before breakfast?" Minerva poked at her eggs in frustration.

"Is something the matter? Has the rules of this institution changed since I fell asleep late last night?"

Minerva glared at him, but took a bite instead of playing the game today. Severus reached for the bowl that usually held his eggs. It was empty.

Harry was playing chess with Ron in the common room. Having finished his homework first (A big thing in and of itself but this was a special event) and just finished studying, Harry was really looking forward to the break.

A short practice was just two hours away. Oliver had not been able to get the field from Hufflepuff for longer than the hour before dinner. He decided that he was going to push his team to the limit this year and they were all feeling the stress.

Heck, Harry did his homework and studied just so he wouldn't have to talk statistics with Oliver again. That turn he had been looking at was going to be mastered by Halloween, Oliver promised.

Quidditch was great on it's own, but that didn't mean that Harry wanted to talk through the moves fifty times without actually going out on his broom.

"Move your knight to E3 and it's checkmate, mate!" the king turned around to tell Harry.

"Really?" Harry leaned forwards to check. Sure enough, right behind Ron's defense, it was perfect!

"Nooo," Ron groaned hiding his face in his hands.

"Potter, I got the field!" Wood yelled across the room, running over.

"Alright, just let me-" Harry watched as his game was lost when Wood knocked into the pieces.

"Oh thank God!" Ron muttered at the same time Harry said, "Hey."

"We'll that's a tie, Harry. Go on to practice!" Ron hurriedly packed his set away.

Dragging his heels, Harry got up and followed Oliver to drag the twins downstairs.

Changed and ready a record breaking two minutes later, the Gryffindor team chattered their way down to the field, chattering about pin-point turns and underhand passes. Harry was arguing the fine point of turning at incredibly fast paces with Katie by the time they entered the field.

Harry frowned, this was going to suck, he didn't want to be sitting on the wet grass on a perfect flying day like this. And then watching his team practice without him, while he was sitting there alone and bored. It's not like it's a game, Harry thought to himself.

Seeing Harry's expression, Oliver clapped him on the back, taking the moment to have a private word with him. "It's not all bad, watching practice is almost as much fun as watching a game. And you can help me from the ground. I usually have to ask Lee or few other Gryffindors to come watch, but you can help me instead," Oliver whispered to him.

"Well, come on team, up!" Oliver ordered loudly, blowing his whistle. Watching them together, he and Harry took a few moments to ensure the team was warmed up and riding right. Harry used his fine eyes to see the tiny details, and Oliver used his fine personality to get them in order.

"Alright Harry, stay down here, and tell me if anyone starts to slip again. Oh, and see if you can think of a way that Angela will be able to play in that strategy I was telling you about. The one with Katie's strong flying skills."

"The one where she flies up?" Harry asked as Wood mounted the broom.

"That's the one." Oliver threw a grin over his shoulder and kicked off.

He wasn't twenty feet in the air before there was a shout from across the field.

"Flint's here!" One of the girls shouted. they were too close together for Harry to tell which one it was.

The group of Slytherins looked ready to practice as far as Harry could see. They had their robes on, and even took off the ground to meet the team.

Harry watched as the two captains spoke. He already knew what this was about, Snape had taken their practice again. The team landed angrily, stomping their way up to the castle.

"Practicing too much? That's the reason Professor Snape said we couldn't practice!' Oliver told his team. he had the letter in his hand, and kept glancing at it.

Angela nudged him painfully nodding at the castle steps.

"Mr. Potter come with me. The rest of you go on," Snape sneered at their group.

Seeing them hesitate, Snape snapped, "Ten points for not being prepared Potter, and a Detention you will be serving now." He reached forward and grabbed Harry's arm, dragging him up the steps and away from the stunned quidditch team.

A head of dark red hair pulled herself from the cauldron. She couldn't believe she had missed it. The explosion had taken out half of her office. She didn't have the money to start over, even with help from the headmaster or her friends. And to be honest, she didn't have the time. Going back to ten years would be just too much to take.

Shaking her head, Lily could only cry at the ruined potion still in the cauldron. There was no way to bring her husband and child to her, she would have to be the one to leave. Decision made, Lily rushed to clear her eyes enough to see and start gathering the ingredients that she needed.

She still had a few hours to make the necessary changes.

Snape dragged the boy all the way to the dungeons, snarling and glaring the entire way. For the first moment Harry was too shocked to do anything but try to stumble to keep up. When he came to his senses though, he tried to pry his arm out of Snape's grip, and yelled at him to let go.

"Quiet Potter," Snape said dropping the boy finally. Harry was sure he was going to have bruises later on.

"Come along," Snape stopped when he noticed Harry wasn't coming. "What are you waiting for?"

"You have hurt my arm, and you don't seem to be in control of yourself, I'm going to Professor McGonagal. She can handle this," Harry threw his hands in the air and turned to go back.

"Really? Then I'll walk you, it should be surprising. For you," Snape added with a sneer.

Of the 18 people who have this story in their faves and the 40 people who have it in their alerts, thank you to those who reviewed. this is the longest chapter so far, does this mean I get more reviews? seems fair to me, to you? tell me in a review! lol

This is not going to have too much of the Lily/Harry hurt comfort, unfortunately, you'll soon see why. It is a Severus and Harry thing. Lily is just there to add a different element that I have not read before.