Chapter 7: Exploding Potions and Potions masters

Notes:

Sorry for the slow update! It's a long one so enjoy!

Thank you for the kudos, comments, rates, reviews and follows!

The arm will be explained in this chapter, i promise ;)

To these wonderful people that left comments: IronBoom, Hello, scatteredintime, sighing_selkie, ALiveTodaytoWrite , Olafthebard, Serenitymoonlight, Aeeet. This is for you!

(chapter edited 2018)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Severus was in a towering temper. He had woken with his head throbbing, and had immediately downed some hangover remedy.

His headache had not dulled.

He had taken a number of pain relieving potions, and was now at a point where he dared not take any more for fear of overdosing. His headache was still as prominent as ever.

The whole morning, he had had to put up with accusatory glares, confused, or assessing stares, and whispers that would cease, only to continue when his back was turned, from staff and students alike.

Worse still - he had attempted to vanish the contents of Fred Weasley's cauldron, when the moronic child had managed to turn a sticking solution into a blackened, congealed mess - only to find that the spell would not work.

In fact, no spell that he had attempted to cast so far that day, had shown the slightest sign of working.

XXX

It was potions after lunch. Ron was still fuming about the block on Harry's magic by the time they got to Snape's class.

Harrys stomach was tying itself in knots. The prospect of going to potions seemed so much worse now that Snape had more control over her.

They were making the Strengthening Solution which, like every other potion, required lots of cutting and crushing. Harry struggled with her injured arm.

She braced it against her torso, to avoid jostling it, and had taken a potion for the pain. The potion was one of the last remaining from the supplies she had nicked from the infirmary at the end of last year.

She was good at hiding injuries. She had done it all her life. She had used accidental magic to disguise them long before she came to Hogwarts. Even now, her glamours were wandless and they seemed completely unaffected by the bond. She had checked after her talk with McGonagall in sudden terrified realisation that turned out to be unfounded.

This didn't make the arm any more usable and Skelegrow was harder to come by than pain relievers.

It didn't help much that her concentration was shot and her nerves frazzled from being around Snape.

For once, he didn't make snide remarks. He must be feeling the effects of the bond she thought smugly to herself.

He was watching her a whole lot more as if trying to fault her. The more he looked, the more mistakes she made and her incompetency infuriated her - and him if his expression was anything to go by.

She had just started adding the powdered Griffin claw when her potion began to bubble and froth before exploding with a loud BOOM!

Snape advanced on her and she tried her utmost not to cringe.

"Did you or did you not add the salamander blood before adding powdered Griffin Claw?"

Harry glanced over at her work bench in horror. The tiny vial of salamander blood sat, unopened on the table top.

"I forgot" she gathered her bravery and looked him directly in the eye.

"You forgot, SIR." Snape corrected.

The Slytherins were smirking.

"Detention Potter and 20 points from Gryffindor. Class dismissed." Snape snarled before turning on his heel in a swirl of robes.

Zabini was leaning against the wall outside the classroom by the time Harry, Ron and Hermione left.

"Potter!" Blaise called out.

Harry kept walking.

"Oi, Potter!" his dulcet tone mocked.

She ignored him again.

"That's very rude of you Potter." Blaise pouted and with lightning-fast reflexes, he had Harry pinned against a wall. His elbow dug painfully into her fractured ribs. A crowd was gathering around them.

"Disrespectful, aren't you? Perhaps your Bond-mate should give you another detention. I wonder, will you be serving your punishment on your knees?" Blaise pushed a thigh between her legs and ground himself against her; his breath came hot and heavy against her cheek. "Perhaps he'll let me join in."

Harry's stomach roiled and she turned her face away from him. Ron and Hermione had raised their wands and although neither had cast a spell, the pressure that was Blaise was no longer there.

She collapsed on the ground and heard Snape's most venomously silky voice. She turned to see Blaise held up against the wall by his throat.

"If you so much as touch my Bond-mate again, I will kill you. Am I understood?" Snape snarled.

Blaise tried to nod and Snape moved his grip to the collar of Blaise's robes.

"You will serve detention with Filch every night for the rest of term." Snape continued.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir." Zabini whimpered. Snape let go of his robes and he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

The Slytherins were in an absolute state of shock that was about to deepen.

"One hundred and fifty points from Slytherin."

The Gryffindor's and Slytherins gasped in unison. Snape hadn't taken points from Slytherin in living memory.

"A further fifty points from Slytherin and Gryffindor for those of you that stood around and did nothing." Snape said, his robes swishing about him as he turned.

"Let this serve as a warning to all of you, now GO!" he boomed.

Everyone scattered and Ron and Hermione rushed to help Harry.

Snape got there first.

He stooped and looked at Harry. "Are you alright Potter?"

She nodded and blinked back tears that she knew Snape saw, pushing herself into the wall in an attempt to look less conspicuous. Her ribs ached, and it was her remaining mental fortitude that kept her from clutching them.

She wasn't all to certain of the cause of the tears. She was in a state of shock from Zabini's actions but also from Snape's.

"I apologise for not coming sooner."

Harry nodded again and in an effort to keep her voice from breaking, she whispered "Thank you."

Ron and Hermione looked as astounded as she felt.

"Do you need me to take you to the infirmary?"

"NO! I mean no, sir. I'm fine" she said quickly. She couldn't let Pomfrey run a scan on her - which Harry was certain she would do – with her magic was behaving so erratically, she couldn't be certain that her glamours would hold.

"If you deem it necessary, you will escort her to infirmary." Snape addressed Hermione.

She looked lost for words but nodded. Snape turned once more and headed down the corridor in a billow of black robes.

"Blimey!" Ron wheezed. "That was out of character, wasn't it?"

Hermione and Harry both nodded.

"What a douchebag! Pinning you against the wall like that. What did he say?" Ron leaned in to offer a hand.

Harry shook her head. "We had better get to divination." She put in before Ron could push the topic.

She was utterly confused about the way Snape was acting.

She felt a strange twinge of light-heartedness at his actions but then the moment passed.

Snape had hurt her too and that had been only a few hours ago.

XXX

Snape's heart was pounding. He could not believe the actions of his Slytherins. Even the 'brave' Gryffindors had stood by and done nothing.

He had heard Zabini's voice calling Harry's name and had already moved towards the door when her name was called a second time.

Zabini had her pinned against the wall and he was grinding himself against her; whispering something in her ear.

Harry looked to be in pain but it was the terror in those eyes that drove him to action.

His thoughts were about his treatment of Lily when he first saw Harry pinned against the wall but then he had seen her terrified hazel eyes and his thoughts were turned to Harry alone.

For the first time Snape could remember, he entirely forgot to use magic.

He ripped Zabini off her and shoved him against the wall one handed.

It was a blessing in disguise he supposed, that he had fought in the muggle way considering that his magic had been restricted all morning. He had come to suspect that it was the Bond acting up.

The infernal Bond, he thought to himself, was going to be the death of him.

He had no idea where that sense of protective loyalty had come from. He would not tolerate abuse. Many of his Slytherins came from abusive homes and he always fought for them. He supposed it had stemmed from that.

He hated Potter but in that moment, she had been a scared girl who couldn't defend herself.

Befriending her was going to be another feat entirely and Snape did not think he could do it.

He'd have to try.

In his distraction, he failed to notice that the throbbing behind his temples had finally, if only slightly, abated.

XXX

Harry headed down towards the dungeons after dinner. She wasn't certain when her detention would be but she was terrified that she may get more than just the detention as punishment.

She reached Snape's porthole and the snake around Salazar's neck hissed in greeting.

"Good evening" she said in reply. "Is he in a bad mood?" she asked the pair.

"Why do you ask?" Salazar looked curious.

Harry shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot "I think I've made him angry." She immediately wanted to retract her words, for they sounded weedy and foolish.

"I do not know" Salazar tilted his head and looked critically at her.

She sighed "Thanks anyway."

She had to think for a while before she remembered the password. "Uhh, Helebore?"

The portrait swung forwards.

Snape appeared to be marking at his study desk.

"Good evening, sir."

Harry held her breath.

"Good evening." Snape replied without turning

Harry let out the breath. He wasn't angry.

"Did you go to the infirmary?" he was slashing viciously over someone's essay with his red ink quill.

"No sir."

He turned to face her and she took a step back.

"You don't have to call me sir in our chambers." He said softly.

"Yes si- I mean Professor." Harry spoke hurriedly.

"Severus, Potter."

"Oh" Harry said in shock. She shook her head quickly, like a dog trying to rid its hair of water, and then went on.

"Don't call me Potter then." She replied. "Please." She added quickly.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Alright then … Harriet, do you have homework left to do?"

"Harry" she interrupted, pulling a face "I hate being called Harriet." She explained, cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"You detest your given name?" Snape sounded genuinely curious.

Harry nodded.

"Very well. Do you have homework to do Harry?"

Her name sounded foreign coming out of his mouth and she bit back a smile.

"Divination." Her nose wrinkled in distain.

Seeing her expression, Snape put in: "Your mother loathed it too, as do I."

"You knew my mother?!" Harry gasped.

"Rather well, yes." Snape nodded, looking slightly uncomfortable until he restored his mask of impassivity.

"Have you completed your potions essay?" Snape changed the topic hurriedly.

"Yeah, in my free before lunch, my Transfiguration one too."

Snape nodded approvingly. "I can check through them before bed if you wish?"

"You would do that si- Severus?"

Snape looked like he wanted to make a snide remark but nodded curtly.

"I should probably get started on divination."

Snape nodded again and turned back towards his marking.

Harry sat cross legged at the low table in front of the fire.

What felt like moments later to Snape, Potter spoke behind him. The fire that had been roaring in the grate, was now diminished to embers.

"I'm finished, sir. I-I could help with the um - marking?" she finished uncertainly.

Snape snorted and Harry blushed.

"Go shower Pot- Harry, I'm nearly finished anyway."

Harry disappeared into the bathroom and a few moments later, Snape heard the shower start.

Why the girl thought it was necessary to clean up after him, or help him mark, was anyone's guess.

XXX

Snape and Harry sat on opposite couches in the main lounge. Snape was reading through Harry's Potions essay. He had already helped her with her transfiguration essay and she was astounded at how much he knew and how easy he made the concepts seem.

She would actually have called him a good teacher had she not spent years struggling through his potions class.

"It's good but you haven't spoken about the effect of adding doxy eggs on the potency of the solution. Perhaps you should add a bit more in this section here about the benefits of harvesting nightshade berries by moonlight."

Harry made small notes on her essay as he spoke.

Snape moved to his liquor cabinet once she had packed her parchment away and poured himself a glass of fire whiskey. "Would you like some?" he asked, holding out a glass he had just removed.

Harry looked apprehensive as if she thought the question was a trap. "Uh-"

Snape poured a glass and handed it to her.

"Thank you, sir" she looked to the ground.

"You are supposed to drink that you know?"

She laughed nervously before taking a sip. She spluttered and wheezed as the liquid seared its path down her throat.

Snape hid a smirk and glared at her.

They sat in a mostly awkward silence, alternately sipping their drinks and staring into the fire.

Snape thought Potter was more tolerable than he had expected and his obsidian eyes moved to study her.

She yawned deeply.

"Bed." He said brusquely.

"Yes sir."

She stood and moved to the bedroom.

He sighed. Normally he couldn't get her to call him sir and now she couldn't stop. It was like she was intentionally trying to annoy him.

A short while later, he stood too and made his way to bed.

She was already asleep and just as close to the edge as she had been last night. That suited him just fine, Severus thought as he got into bed.

He woke and cast tempus. It was 2:30am.

Severus groaned and wondered why he had woken at this infernal hour and then the bed shifted.

Potter was thrashing in her sleep and her mouth was moving as if she was screaming.

That's when he remembered her words; "I'll use a silencing charm, I'm sorry."

He had told her not to apologise but he had forgotten to address the first part of her statement.

"Sonorous" he whispered and her screams returned to a normal volume.

"Wake up, it's just a dream Potter." There was no reaction.

"Harry?" He reached for her shoulder again.

Once again, as his fingers made contact, she woke and fell off the bed in her frantic attempt to get away. This time there was no apology, she cowered on the floor, watching him through hooded eyes.

"Stop acting like a wounded animal." Snape snarled.

She didn't move.

"Come here Potter."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head feebly.

"Harry, I'm not angry that you woke me up; I'm angry that you used a silencing charm."

Snape said, gently this time, apparently realising that his anger wasn't helping matters. She looked disbelieving.

"You know Potter? There is one good thing about being bonded to a potions master." Severus spoke with forced calm, ludicrously picturing Hagrid trying to calm some skittish beast. Harry wouldn't meet his gaze, so Severus continued "An endless supply of potions." With deliberate slowness, he turned to the drawer.

She hadn't moved away this time. He placed the vial on the matrass, close to where she slept and lay down to feign sleep.

What felt like a long while later, the mattress dipped and he heard the soft 'pop' as the vial was unsealed.

XXX

The next morning, after breakfast, Harry sat editing her essays in the library before her first lesson started. She had just completed her transfiguration essay on physically personifying inanimate objects and was starting on the potions one.

She went to the shelves to find some books for her potions essay. She found an extract she needed and reworded it.

She was about to put the essay away when she saw her last note. The word that caught her eye was moonlight.

The moon.

New moon was still a long way off but she had completely forgotten about the curse in her anger at her current situation.

What was she going to do?

Snape would definitely notice her absence and he would be far from happy.

New moon was coming and she needed to come up with a plan.

Notes:

Snape is being nice to Harry but it's for his own, selfish reasons.

It seems he has accidentally realized that she may not be quite as terrible as he had hoped.

"She's still bloody annoying. that hasn't changed." Snape quickly adds.

Yes, yes Snape. We ALL know how much you hate Potter (but we also know how wrong you are..)