Kyla: All right, sorry this chapter's taken so long.. I've been pretty busy lately, lol. Anyway, it's 8 pages, so hopefully it's long enough to apolgize, lol. XP Enjoy! Prolly not the best, but ah well.. hopefully it's satisfactory.

"Hush, Potter"
Chapter Ten
by
Kyla

Harry Potter awoke early the next morning, just as Madam Pomfrey was checking him over once more. "I'm fine," he mumbled, face reddening into a blush at how the woman kept clucking her tongue and worrying over him. "Really, Madam Pomfrey," he said again, "I swear I'm fine... Thanks."

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Yes, Mr. Potter, it seems you're physically fit again. You can leave the Hospital Wing today, but no classes for the rest of the week at least. Just go to your Common Room and get your things. We will move you down to the small quarters off to the side of the Hospital Wing. You'll stay there indefinitely," she lectured while turning around and pulling the curtain shut around him to allow the boy the privacy to change into his school clothes.

"Why do I have to stay there?" Harry asked suspiciously. "You just said I was 'physically fit,' didn't you?" He frowned, not happy at all. If he was stuck in the quarters right next to the Hospital Wing, he would not be able to find any privacy at all, and what about his classes? He was going to miss so much work. He had all ready missed a lot of work. "Besides, what about making up my work in classes? I need my assignments," he said reluctantly, not wanting his homework but knowing he needed it.

"You are to stay close by so that I will be close at hand if anything is to go wrong," Madam Pomfrey said briskly, "and as for your school assignments, no need to worry. Word has been sent to all of your professors to send what assignments you have missed straight to your new quarters. Now, hurry. Meet me here as soon as you get your things and I will escort you to your rooms. Don't dawdle, I want you to hurry so that you can avoid meeting the mass of students as they change classes. Come now, hurry," she ushered with light scorn and pushed Harry towards the Infirmary doors.

"Why do I have to hurry though?" he asked, getting irritated. "So what if I get caught in between classes by everyone else?"

"Just do as she says, Potter," Severus Snape said as he swept into the Hospital Wing just as gracefully as ever, his robes billowing just perfectly as he stalked over and came to a stop in front of Harry. "You will do as Poppy says and meet her back here within an hour at most," he stated, and it came out as an order that Harry knew he did not want to refuse, but the Gryffindor decided to argue anyway.

"Why do I have to be suspended from classes though?" Harry snapped angrily. He did not like classes, per say, but they couldn't keep him out of classes indefinitely.. could they? And just what did they expect him to do in the meantime, other than catch up on his work?

"You are not being suspended from your classes, Potter," Severus replied smoothly as he crossed his arms over his chest, "you will still have lessons, but they will be taught at other times to you in your room or your respective teacher's office. You still must catch up on your homework. That is what today and tomorrow is for, to catch up on missed work."

Harry scowled at the Potions Master. "You can't keep me from classes, and you can't make me stay in separate quarters," he said stubbornly.

"I can and I will," Severus replied just as stubbornly. "The Headmaster thinks it is a good idea as well. You cannot weasel your way out of this, Potter. You might as well save yourself the trouble and do as you're told." He glowered at the boy, who continued to argue with him. "Enough, Potter," he snapped, "you will be moved to new private quarters, and you will not attend classes with your fellow students until further notice."

"But, why?!" Harry exclaimed in frustration. He wanted someone to explain it to him because at the moment, he had to say that he did not understand. Sure a lot had happened in the last few days, but he felt fine. So, why the fuss?

Severus eyed Harry carefully for a moment before sighing. He called for a house elf to go and gather Harry's things and to move them to his new quarters, then he turned to Harry and said, "Come with me, Potter." Without another word, the Potions Master spun on his heel and stalked out of the Hospital Wing, a disgruntled Harry following reluctantly behind. Severus walked about ten feet up the corridor before murmuring the password to Harry's new quarters just loud enough for Harry to hear, "Lily blossoms."

Severus then stepped aside and gestured for Harry to go in before him. He followed the Gryffindor into the quarters and closed the portrait behind them. "Have a seat," the Potions Master ordered softly, indicating to a sofa and a leather chair inside the room that was lit from the light flickering from the fire in the hearth. He took the leather chair for himself while Harry sat down on the very edge of the couch, ready to bolt if necessary.

"Potter," Severus began, effectively breaking the tense silence that had momentarily settled on the two wizards, "this is for your own good, I assure you." He cut Harry off when the Gryffindor went to throw a retort at Severus. "If you were to go back to classes now, do you really think you would be able to handle it?" the Potions Master asked.

"Yes," Harry snapped, "I do. I'm not weak," he added stubbornly and held his head high. "Nothing will happen to me in class.. the professors will be there." He seemed so convinced, but Severus tried his best to talk Harry out of it. It was no use so Severus sighed and stood up.

"Fine, Potter, time for Potions. Let's go," Severus said quietly, knowing this would not turn out well. Harry had to realize that he was not completely okay, and if he had to learn the hard way, there was nothing Severus could do except let the boy go to class. Luckily, Harry's next class was Potions with Severus himself, so the Potions Master could keep an eye on him.

Harry had a triumphant smile on his face as he got up and followed after his Potions professor. When the silent duo were closer to the Grand Staircase, there were many students milling about or heading for their first class of the day. It was then that Harry realized he had not had any breakfast. He eyed Severus warily, wondering if the man had had the chance to eat breakfast yet. If he had not eaten yet, he may be even more irritable than usual.

As more and more students flooded out of the Great Hall, Harry found himself surrounded by people. He frowned anxiously and sped up to walk as close to Severus has he dared without letting the man see his unease. Though he loathed to admit it, the Gryffindor was beginning to panic at the number of students around them.

Lightly, one random student swept past, accidentally bumping into Harry's shoulder. Harry flinched back and pressed a little bit closer to Severus, just trying to escape the touches. As they approached the dungeons, Harry eyed the group of gabbing students all flocked around the entrance rather inconveniently. He really did not want to pass through the throng of students, silently hoping that Severus would scare them all off from the entrance, but the Potions Master made no move to do so.

"Make way," Severus snapped, annoyed at the group of students huddled needlessly around the dungeons' entrance. He was also anxious because he realized that Harry was starting to get antsy, being around too many people. He had noted the way the boy had moved ever closer to him after a few students brushed against him on their way past. As he led the Gryffindor through the throng of students at the entrance to the dungeons, he felt Harry push even closer to him, shrinking back as much as he could to take up as little space as necessary.

Once inside the dungeons' corridors, Severus eyed Harry out of the corners of his eyes. "All right there, Potter?" he asked tersely, raising a brow slightly when Harry blushed lightly and hurried to take a few steps away from Severus.

"Of course," Harry mumbled, avoiding his professor's eyes that were boring into him. After a tense moment, the Gryffindor hurried down the corridor, heading for the Potions classroom without another word to Severus, who sighed heavily.

Harry paused right outside the classroom long enough to take a deep breath. Then, he clenched his fists and strode forward bravely into the room. Many looks were cast his way, some curious, some spiteful as he hurried to his seat next to Ron. By now, his heart was thumping wildly in his chest, and he kept his eyes trained on his Potions text as he pulled it out and prepared for class.

Severus swooped in moments later, robes billowing threateningly alone behind him. He walked up to the front of the room and turned to scowl at the students gathered in his Potions class. "Today, we will be brewing some basic healing potions that can be taken for headaches, toothaches, and other minor pains. The directions," he said and indicated to the board with his wand, then he pointed his wand at th cabinet in the back of the room, "and the ingredients. Now, get to work!"

Students began to scramble out of their seats in a hurry to get their ingredients, and Severus admonished harshly, "There is no need for such a high level of noise." He glared at the group of Gryffindor girls that were talking loudly about something at the ingredients' cabinet. The loud conversations immediately fell quiet, only the whisperings between partners now able to be heard.

Severus kept watching Harry as closely as he could without raising suspicion. He saw Harry and Ron swap words for a moment, and though Harry looked apprehensive, he said something and stood to his feet, waving Ron to sit back down when the redhead stood as well. Severus knew this could be trouble, especially when Harry's breathing seemed to shallow anxiously as the boy came to the point where he would have to elbow past some dawdling students to get his ingredients. Feeling sorry for the boy and not wanting him to panic, Severus snapped, "No stalling! If you have your ingredients, get back to your seats. Now."

That dispelled the group of students that were leisurely taking as much time as possible to finish and go back to their seats. Harry gave a small, unnoticeable, relieved sigh and gathered his ingredients in a hurry, returning to his work station as quick as he could.

"You okay, mate?" Ron asked in worry. He had noticed Harry's unease and had fully intended on going to get the ingredients, but Harry had offered to retrieve them. Ron had let Harry talk him into sitting back down while the Boy-Who-Lived headed for the back cabinets, but Ron was still concerned, especially the way Harry's face was sort of paled when he returned.

"Yeah, m'fine," Harry muttered distractedly to Ron, "don't worry about it." He diligently began reading the instructions on the bored and taking notes. He ignored Ron's attempts to get truthful answers from him, instead focusing on grinding the griffin feathers to a fine dust. He never even noticed when Ron swapped concerned looks with Hermione, who sat two work stations away.

"So, Potter," Pansy Parkinson said from the work station in front of Harry. Both Harry and Ron's group and Draco and Pansy's group were merely milling around like a lot of the other groups, the two groups being unluckily near each other. Their potions were in a sort of stewing stage, allowing the potion to stew for a few minutes, "decided to try and be on time for class? Surprised you're even here right now... If I were you, I would certainly not come back to classes so soon." She smirked when the color drained from Harry's face.

Furious whispers broke out around the four of them. People were wondering what was going on. They had noticed that Harry had missed a few days of classes, and all of them were curious. Would they find out right now?

Harry looked around uneasily, not liking the whispering and certainly not liking the way Pansy was looking at him. The Slytherin girl was smirking, taking pleasure in torturing Harry. "I don't know what you're talking about," Harry stated, putting on his bravest front. This, however, was definitely the wrong thing to say.

Albus Dumbledore had tried to keep Harry's rape as quiet as he could until after the Ministry had gotten everything under control. He still had no idea how to break it gently to everyone, but he had been hoping that Harry would have agreed to staying in his own private quarters, but alas, the boy was not happy with that. Albus had been informed by one of the house elves that had been cleaning Harry's new quarters that Harry wanted to attend classes, so Albus was waiting until Harry was convinced to avoid classes with the fellow students.

Severus had not been notified yet, but he could see that the students did not know about the rape, save for Draco, Harry, and Ron—at least to Severus's knowledge anyway. Since Draco knew something about it, however, it only figured that most of Slytherin House knew about it and were probably biding their time, waiting for the right moment to let it slip. That was apparently what Pansy was up to at the moment. She thought the perfect time was upon them, so here she was about to blab it out because Harry decided to try and play dumb, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Pansy would have found some way to get the news out to the other Houses.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about, Potter," Pansy smirked triumphantly and leaned back casually against his work station. "I'm talking about—," he began to say, but Severus abruptly cut him off.

"That's enough talk," Severus stated suddenly and slapped his wand violently against one of the desks in the front row. "No talking unless you are conversing with your partner about Potions, and Potions only," he demanded in a silky, deep voice that told the students they did not want to disobey.

Pansy scowled but did as her Head of House said. She turned back to her potion and began murmuring to Draco about something, pulling some spare parchment from her bag to scribble something down. Following the Slytherins' lead, the rest of the students let the subject drop and began to focus more on their potions again. Pansy, however, smirked at Draco and let him read what she had scribbled, her smirk falling to an angry scowl when Draco merely shook his head and tried to bunch the parchment up to throw it away.

Pansy managed to retrieve the parchment. Then, she seemed to have forgotten an ingredient, being only too happy to tell Severus, knowing she would be allowed out of her seat to go get it. When Severus gave her the okay, she smirked and rose to stand, not even noticing the cautious look on Severus's face. The Parkinson girl merely turned around and headed to the back of the room, slipping the wadded parchment onto the table in front of Harry. Then, he hurried to the cabinet and grabbed the supposed forgotten ingredients.

Harry, meanwhile, was staring at the crumpled parchment, feeling the redhead beside him staring at the thing as well. Then, the dark-haired teenager slowly reached out to grab the parchment. He began to open it.

Ron, however, did not seem to like that idea and tried to snatch it away, returning the scowl that Harry sent him. The redhead mumbled something with a frown, but Harry shook his head and opened the parchment anyway, his hands shaking anxiously. He did not know what Pansy was up to, but he tried his best to hide it from Severus's view, not knowing Severus had all ready seen Pansy drop the note there on Harry's work station.

When he uncrumpled the note, his green eyes swished over the parchment, his face paling at the words written there. He stifled the urge to gasp and slowly set the note down, looking at it as if it would explode at any given moment, but Ron snatched it up and read it. By the end, Ron's face was red with fury, looking about ready to murder Pansy.

It was then that Severus decided to jump in, before things got ugly. With a flick of his wand, the note was tearing itself from Ron's grip and flying into Severus's outstretched hand. "Passing notes in my class?" the Potions Master sneered, "and just why would you be writing a note to Mr. Potter, Ms. Parkinson?"

Pansy stumbled over some of her words, trying to find an answer that wouldn't get her in trouble but would not start rumors that she could possibly like Harry. She had just sent that note to taunt him, since she was unable to humiliate him in front of his most hated professor.

Severus sighed and ordered her to be silent. He then brought the note up to where he could read it, dark eyes scanning the parchment cautiously. With each word, he felt an anger starting to build inside of him. He had some trouble controlling his rage as he wadded the parchment up and set fire to it, burning the words that were written on the page,

"Saint Potty,

Theodore told us all about that night... You know, the one where he raped you? Personally, I think it's just a trick you're trying to pull to make us Slytherins look even worse. Perhaps you enjoyed it though... Yes, I bet you did because if you're as powerful as everyone says, you should have been able to fight him off with ease. Instead, you just let him rape you, probably just to get a Slytherin expelled, but the fact remains that all of Slytherin House knows about this, and trust me, we are not happy. You'd best expect some sort of payback...

Pansy Parkinson."

"Ms. Parkinson, Mr. Potter, stay after class," Severus said, his rage barely under control. He hated having to let Harry wait the class out, but he could not just dismiss the students at the moment. The class had only began a short time ago. Surely Harry would be okay until the end of class. At least, he hoped the boy would be okay until then.

Pansy was furious at being held after class. She complained quietly to Draco and threw glares at Harry over her shoulder constantly. She didn't even notice Ron, who was furiously thinking of suitable ways to murder the Slytherin, or the fact that Draco was slowly but surely getting very annoyed with her continuous whining.

Severus's eyes settled on Draco for a moment, reminding him that he still had to talk with Albus about Draco's situation. He had to ensure the blond that he could avoid being a Death Eater. The Potions Master would not wish the life as a Death Eater on anyone.

Harry was trying to shrink back into his desk as much as possible, his mind racing with thoughts. I didn't enjoy it... I couldn't have... it hurt too much... How could she say that? I didn't do anything to provoke the attack either, it was definitely NOT because he wanted to get a Slytherin expelled...! He could not stop his mind from running wild with crazy thoughts, and soon, he was doubting everything. He ignored Ron's attempts to get him to talk, instead focusing as much as he could on the potion at hand, following the directions carefully, and Ron gave up, helping Harry to silently finish the potion.

Soon, everyone was done and samples were bottled and brought up to be turned into Severus. Once that was done, everyone but Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Pansy had left, causing the Potions professor to raise a brow curiously at Ron and Hermione.

"He's our friend, sir," Ron muttered as he and Hermione stood on either of Harry's sides. Hermione did not know what the note had said, but she kept quiet, knowing that Ron or Harry one would tell her about it later.

"Very well," Severus sighed, "you three, go wait outside while I have a private word with Ms. Parkinson." The three Gryffindors did as told, and only once they were safely out of the room and the door was shut did Severus speak again. "Did you think that was funny, Parkinson?" he snapped, glaring down at the girl.

Pansy was startled that Severus was so angry. "I-it was just Potter, sir," she murmured meekly. "I was only..."

"Only?" Severus sneered, "Only, what, Parkinson? Only trying set Potter back in recovery? Only trying to scare the boy? Only, what?" he asked, eyes narrowed. He stood behind his desk, hands set on the desk to keep him from hexing the girl.

"I, I just thought," Pansy started but fell silent for a moment, clearly not knowing how to answer and what to say. "I wanted to get back at Potter! He's always making everything for us Slytherins miserable, so why not get a little payback? You remember, don't you, sir? He has had it out for us since he first got to Hogwarts!"

Severus merely let out a heavy sigh and said, "Detention every night for a week, Ms. Parkinson. I cannot condone this type of behavior. My Slytherins will not act in such a way. You're lucky it was me that was here when that happened. Any other professor would have handled things differently," he said, letting the girl think he was doing her some big favor so she could not go to the Dark Lord and blab that he was defecting from Lord Voldemort. "Dismissed," he stated idly and sat down at his desk, shuffling the parchments around to let the fussing girl know for sure that she was dismissed.

When the girl finally gave in and huffed, storming out angrily, Severus called out, "Mr. Potter, inside. Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, stay outside."

Harry looked to Ron and Hermione and mouthed, "I'm sorry." He was indeed sorry they could not come with him. They seemed so worried about him, and he knew that he would hate to stand out here without knowing what was going on inside the classroom, but Harry hurried back into the room nevertheless, not wanting to anger Severus by stalling. "Yes, professor?" he asked quietly as he came to stand in front of the desk.

Severus spelled the door shut so the other two could not overhear. "Are you all right?" he asked, meeting the boy's gaze and holding it steadily.

"Course I am," Harry mumbled uneasily and looked to the side, not wanting to look Severus in the eye.

"I read the note, Potter," Severus said sternly, "it's not your fault. Ms. Parkinson is big on gossip, and while she and the rest of Slytherin knew what happened, they have no right to make you feel like it was something you deserved, or something that you enjoyed."

Tears were gathering quickly in Harry's eyes, and he stammered uncomfortably, "W-well, she's right... If I'm as powerful as everyone thinks, then why couldn't I... why couldn't I fight him off?"

Severus stared at Harry for a moment before sweeping around his desk and coming to stop in front of Harry. "You couldn't fight him off, but it's not because you enjoyed it or wanted it. He merely had the upper hand, that's all," Severus murmured as gently as possible. He brought one hand up and caressed the boy's cheek absently, but once he realized what he was doing, he yanked his hand back and looked at it for a moment before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He saw the young man look at him funny, and he sighed, "Don't listen to Parkinson," he said softly, "now, go to class, Potter," he added, sounding more like the usual Severus Snape and less like the gentle Potions Master that Harry had seen lately.

Harry noticed that something seemed to be wrong with Severus. The man seemed to be looking at him now. He watched as Severus returned to the chair behind his desk to mark some papers. "Sir?" the Gryffindor asked uncertainly, wondering what was up with the Potions Master. When Severus sighed again and merely snapped at Harry to get out, Harry seemed to debate over something for a moment, then, he bit his lower lip but edged around the desk and gave the snarky man a small, quick hug.

Severus looked up, startled, and watched as Harry hurried out of the room with a small blush on his cheeks. A small smile found its way reluctantly onto his face, and when he realized it, he frowned. "Potter's really starting to grow on me," he chuckled slightly after a moment's pondering then sat back and waited for the students for his next class to show up by thinking about Harry, his mind replaying over that fast hug again and again. "How sappy have I become?" he smirked to himself then laughed and started back on his papers. He had to work hard to wipe the small smile off his face before the students began filing in.

Meanwhile, Harry had met up with Ron and Hermione outside the classroom. He hurried down the corridor, face still red. His friends looked at one another in confusion then rushed after Harry, calling after him to slow down so they could talk. Harry only obliged when it was too late for them to stop and talk. They made it just in time to slip into their next class before the teacher's lecture actually started. He whispered a quick promise before Professor Flitwick began his Charms class. "I promise I'll fill you in later," he murmured.

Things were actually going fairly well so far, but of course, things never stay that way forever. Trouble always finds a way to reek havoc, especially in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and especially when it had to do with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. So what was this trouble? Of course it's a mystery... for now...

Kyla: All right, well, hope it was all right... Please review! lol.