Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish I owned the Harry Potter universe…or at least Snape!
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Where Do I Go From Here?
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Chap. 12 Back to Class
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Harry woke up the following Thursday morning feeling more refreshed than he had all summer, despite the nightmare. Remembering the events that had followed his night-time awakening, he sat for several minutes pondering his professor's uncharacteristic behavior. The man had brought him cocoa for Merlin's sake. Shaking his head in disbelief and wondering if he had just imagined it all, Harry threw his covers off and started to make his way to his door. Just as he was reaching for the door knob, he heard voices filtering through from the other side, and he stilled his movements to listen in.
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"…of course not, Sev, but I heard from Mother yesterday, and she wants me to attend one of the meetings."
"Keep your voice down," Snape cautioned, quickly casting a privacy ward around them.
The young Slytherin looked calculatingly back at him and asked, "Why?" But then Draco noticed Snape eyeing the door to the spare bedroom and he grimaced knowingly.
"Oh, another one of those, huh?" he asked, swiping his pointer finger across his forearm in a warped representation of a knife.
"That's enough, Draco," Snape reprimanded, standing from his chair by the fire and tossing the Potion's Journal he had been reading onto the seat as he walked towards the table in the corner.
Draco was quick to hold his hands up in a placating gesture, "Alright, alright." But instead of joining Snape at the table, he headed towards the door as if to open it. "So, who's in there this time?"
Draco stopped before actually reaching the door and awaited an answer, but Snape was resolutely silent. The teen gave Snape a knowing look and voiced his thoughts out loud.
"I know it isn't one of us Slytherins…no one was missing from the common room last night…unless it was a Firstie; I don't know all of the new ones yet."
Snape, at this point, was purposely ignoring him, hoping to discourage Draco from further snooping, but instead, the teen resorted to that particular tone of voice that Snape so often heard when the boy was trying to convince his mother of buying him something particularly expensive.
"Come on, Sev. Can't you give me a hint? You know I won't tell. If there's one thing us Slytherins are good at, it's keeping a secret."
Growing tired of that particular line of questioning, Snape said the only thing he could think of that might put an end to the conversation.
"Be that as it may, Draco, you wouldn't have liked it if I had informed anyone of your stay two years ago."
Draco balked, but as he made his way to join Snape at the table, he noticed the man's mixed look of anger and alarm. Turning to see what had gotten his professor's attention, Draco was surprised to see Harry Potter standing in the open doorway of the bedroom with an unreadable expression on his face. Several tense seconds passed as they stared at each other, and then Harry bolted back into his room, slamming the door behind him.
"Potter?!" Draco turned from Harry's door and Snape could see a look of total incredulity on his face. "It's Potter?" he asked again. Then the blond Slytherin smiled wickedly. "Oh, this is fantastic! Just wait until I tell-"
"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you," Snape warned. Draco opened his mouth to argue the point but Snape stood from his seat and bit out, "Not another word, Draco!"
Draco froze in shock, unused to having Snape's full wrath directed at him. Snape stalked towards him until he was scowling down into Draco's disbelieving face. "You'll not breathe a word to your friends, nor anyone else, about Potter's placement here."
"But-" Draco pleaded, but Snape interrupted once again, "No, Draco. Not. A. Word."
Properly cowed, Draco grudgingly muttered, "Yes, Sir."
Snape then pointed to the closest chair and harshly ordered, "Sit."
Draco made his way to the table as Snape approached Harry's room. Finding the door locked, he pulled his wand from within his sleeve and remedied the problem quickly, making his way quietly into the room.
Snape stopped only two paces in when he caught sight of the boy. Harry was sitting on his bed with his arms wrapped about himself, rocking back and forth in a self-soothing motion. When the sound of the door shutting alerted him to Snape's presence, Harry stilled and turned his face away, peering out the window at the grey, overcast sky.
Refusing to allow the boy to wallow in pity, Snape briskly said, "Remember rule number three, Potter; no moping about. Your first class starts in half an hour and I expect you to eat before you leave."
Snape then reached into his pocket and withdrew two vials of potion. Harry silently took them from his Professor as the man explained.
"The milky, green one is another dose of the same stomach soothing potion you took the night before, and should last for about twelve hours; the other is a nutrient potion. You'll be taking another dose of it with your evening meals as well."
Harry quaffed the first potion easily, but grimaced at the nutrient potion. He remembered how thick and bitter it was the last time he was forced to take a dose and he was not looking forward to trying to swallow it down.
"Now, Mr. Potter, or I'll be forced to pour it down your throat."
Harry turned wary eyes up to his professor, no doubt remembering how he had been forced to take the last dose of nutrient potion, and he certainly didn't want to repeat that experience. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed it down as quickly as he could, gagging slightly as he did so. He handed the empty vials back to Snape, but as he began to leave the room with them, Harry blurted out, "What's Malfoy doing here?"
"That is none of your concern, I assure you."
Ignoring Snape's statement, Harry then asked, "And why was he calling you 'Sev'?"
Snape rolled his eyes and explained, "Potter, he is my godson, and it is perfectly acceptable for him to refer to me in such familiar terms."
"Oh."
Snape waited a few moments longer to be sure nothing else was forthcoming from the teen, and he made his way back out of the room.
As Snape neared the table, he could see that Draco was still sitting where he had been told and was patiently waiting for Snape's return. Time passed in silence, both of them waiting for Harry's appearance so that breakfast could be served, but when he still had not shown up after several minutes, Snape rose from his chair with a growl of irritation, and went to check on the boy.
Snape found him sitting on his bed, still in his pajamas, and staring out the window yet again.
"I thought I told you to get ready."
Harry turned just enough to see Snape from the corner of his eye before directing his gaze back to the cloudy sky. "I don't really feel up to classes today."
Snape raised an eyebrow at that remark, and a few moments later, Harry turned back to him and pleaded, "Can't I just stay here for today?"
"And leave you alone and unsupervised in my quarters for the day?" Snape questioned, a hint of amusement evident in his voice despite his trying to hide it. "I think not. Get up and get dressed; you are keeping us waiting and breakfast is getting cold."
Confused, Harry asked, "Us?"
"Yes," Snape answered, "Draco, and myself."
With a groan, Harry asked, "Why is he still here?"
"Why does it bother you so much that he is?" Snape inquired.
Harry could not help the sound of his anger that made itself known as he answered, "He's going to tell everybody; by tomorrow, the entire school will know where I am and why!"
"So sure of that are you?" Snape smirked as if the very implication of Draco doing that was absurd and then swept from the room, shutting the door behind him. Harry stared at the door, taken aback at the humor in his professor's tone and wondering if there were some deeper meaning behind what the man had just said, but then he could hear him call out from just beyond the door, "Fifteen minutes left, Potter."
With a frustrated sigh, Harry pulled himself from the bed to rummage through the contents of his trunk for some clothes, pulling his wrinkled school robe out next. He dressed, and after a half-hearted attempt to smooth out the wrinkles, he grabbed his book bag from where it had been previously thrown during his search for clothes and hurried out his door.
It wasn't until he had come several steps from his door that he realized Malfoy was staring at him. In his haste, he had momentarily forgotten that the Slytherin would be joining them for breakfast that morning, and he halted in his tracks yet again, until a pointed stare from his professor made him continue his previous path, shuffling his feet in reluctance. All thoughts of eating quickly fled from his mind as Draco continued to unabashedly stare at him.
Harry settled himself into the seat opposite Draco's and cast an annoyed look at the blond, resenting the other teen's presence in its entirety. Draco, however, merely raised a slender brow, showing no other sign of being affected by Harry's contempt in any other way.
Harry then glanced in Snape's direction as well, and was unsurprised to see the man sharing a similar look of disgust across his face. Self conscience now, Harry looked down at himself and at the sorry state his clothes were in. He nervously tried to smooth the wrinkles out of his robe yet again, but he did nothing more than succeed at drying his sweaty palms against the fabric.
Snape's demanding voice broke the awkward silence, "Do tell me you are not seriously considering going to your classes looking like that."
Harry breathed heavily as he fumed in his seat and refused to answer, clutching his fists at his sides while Draco made a poor attempt at biting back several sniggers of amusement at the comment. His face reddening in both embarrassment and anger, Harry stood so swiftly that his chair toppled over backwards and he gripped the edges of the table so hard his fingers hurt.
"Fine!" he bit out, and he angrily yanked the mess of a robe back over his head and threw it onto the floor at his feet. "Now it's not a problem!"
Harry then ran back to his room and slammed the door shut, only to lean against it once it was closed. Sliding down to the floor, he wrapped his arms around his knees and took deep breaths in an effort to calm himself. As the seconds passed, Harry's anger quickly turned to dread. Oh, shit! Harry's thought's raced, I just yelled at Snape, I just yelled at Snape!
Bowing his head until his forehead rested on his knees, Harry strained his ears for any sound that might herald his coming doom.
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Meanwhile, at the table, Snape angrily turned to Draco, "You know, you've only made the situation worse by amusing yourself at his expense."
"But why shouldn't I?" Draco reasoned, "You had practically done the same thing."
"I did not. It was simply a matter of an adult informing his charge that he was dressed inappropriately. Now that Potter is under my care, I am the one to be held responsible if he goes to classes looking like he slept in his clothes, so don't proceed to think in any way that I was ridiculing him."
Draco was silent for several seconds then quietly said, "Sorry."
Snape gave a small shake of his head as if to dismiss the entire thing and impatiently ordered Draco to proceed with breakfast by himself, and he rose from his chair. Taking two steps, he stooped to pick up the discarded garment and paced over to Harry's door. Pausing with his hand hovering over the knob, Snape then leaned closer to the door. Hearing nothing, not a sob or even a shout of anger, he turned the knob and started to push the door open, only to find his way impeded by something blocking the door. A second later, there was a sound of shuffling clothes and feet, and the door swung freely open in the professor's grip.
Walking in, Snape could see Harry standing by his trunk, his back to him.
"Mr. Potter."
Harry neither turned nor acknowledged his professor in any other way for almost a full minute, and just when Snape was about to address the boy again, Harry shakily said, "I-I'm looking for a different robe, Sir." Then, he broke into action, quickly stooping down to open his trunk, but before he could do more than reach towards its contents, a length of black fabric was held out in his direction and he slowly raised his eyes to see Professor Snape dangling the previously discarded robes from his outstretched hand.
Harry cautiously took them from his grasp, sure that at any second, he would be on the receiving end of one of the man's famous tirades, but when nothing at all was said, Harry decided to take a chance and perhaps quell his professor's anger before the lecture could start.
"I'm sorry, Sir."
Snape was silent for the few moments following that. Honestly, he was surprised that the boy had apologized; it was certainly the first time he had ever heard the boy do so. Grasping the open lid of the trunk, Snape slowly lowered it as Harry retreated to sit on his bed. Snape then sat on the end of the closed trunk and withdrew his wand for the second time that morning and pointed it at the robe that Harry now had piled into his lap.
Harry didn't know what to expect from Professor Snape after the apology, but he surely hadn't expected the man to draw his wand on him. Wondering if he had truly gotten the man so angry that he would hex one of his students, Harry leapt up from the bed, nervously looking at the door and trying to determine if he would be able to escape before the man could utter whatever curse he was thinking of.
Snape took in Harry's frightened look with alarm, and he quickly lowered his wand and explained, "I was merely going to cast a de-wrinkling charm on your robe, Potter."
Harry eased himself back down to the bed, his face reddening yet again, and he mumbled out another, "Sorry."
"There is no need to apologize," Snape said, "I believe I would also assume the worse if someone pointed their wand at me. But still, …Harry," And upon hearing the man use his first name, Harry looked earnestly at Snape as he finished his thoughts aloud, "You ought to know that I would never cause you harm."
Harry cast a disbelieving look that almost made Snape snort with amusement, and he was sure the boy could hear the humor in his voice as he went on to say, "Yes, I might make you take potions against your will; and yes, I might restrain you to keep you from harming yourself; but those things were only done with your best interest in mind. I would never intentionally harm you. You need never fear me."
Harry gave an almost unperceivable nod of his head, but felt unable to do much more than that. Truthfully, the entire admission had made him feel uncomfortable, as if he had been told some secret thing. Certainly, if the Professor felt this way, then he wouldn't be so mean to Harry all the time. Unable to reconcile the differences between Snape's statements and his previous actions, Harry decided he would need proof before he believed a word that man said to him.
Snape was able to read Harry's expressions as easily as one might read a book. He could tell the child was having a hard time believing it; after all, it's not as if the child had had a great many adults in his life that he could trust. However, now was not the time to ponder such things.
Casting Tempus, Snape informed Harry that, "There's only a few minutes left before class. I still expect you to eat something before you go, so be quick about it."
Snape cast the charm over the wrinkled robe and headed out the door, followed only a moment later by Harry, who was busy pulling his robe over his head as he walked.
By the time the pair reached the table, Draco was just finishing up and was gathering his things to leave. As the Slytherin turned on his way to the door, Snape's purposeful cough stopped him in his tracks.
"I believe you have something to say to Mr. Potter."
Draco spun around with a gob-smacked look upon his face. "You can't be serious!"
"Indeed, I am." Snape raised a single brow at the blond teen, and the boy's features melted into a look of loathing. Still, when Draco continued to stand there, completely silent, Snape added, "Perhaps a loss of house points would convince you as to the serious nature of my request."
Draco took a deep breath and then calmly stated, "No, Sir; that won't be necessary."
He then turned slightly to face an equally shocked Harry and begrudgingly said, "I apologize, Potter."
He then looked back over his shoulder to see if that was enough to satisfy his Head-of-house, and Snape gave a nod, allowing Draco to finally escape the room, knowing he would never be able to make the young, proud, Slytherin give a truly sincere apology, especially not to Harry Potter of all people.
When they were once again alone, Snape proceeded to serve himself some of the eggs and toast that the house elves had brought earlier. He had already scooped up the first bite, but had yet to bring it to his mouth when he noticed that Harry had only taken a single slice of toast and was merely nibbling on its edge.
"You need to eat more than that. You can't survive on bread and water, Potter."
Harry lowered his toast back to the plate and explained, "I really don't feel all that hungry, Sir." Actually, it wasn't that he wasn't hungry; he was just feeling exceedingly nauseous. His emotions that morning had been all over the place thanks to Malfoy and Snape, and he wasn't sure he could stomach anything at the moment, despite the stomach soothing potion he had taken earlier. However, it appeared Snape knew he wasn't telling the truth, because a moment later, the man scooped a serving of scrambled eggs onto the plate.
Five minutes later, Snape was finishing up the last of his meal and saw that Harry still hadn't eaten more than a bite of toast. Hoping that gentle guidance would work where his stern commands had not, Snape set his silverware down and scooted his chair slightly so that he could address the boy face to face.
"Harry, if you don't start eating normal meals and putting weight back on, I will be forced to take you to Madam Pomfrey. There's more than one way of getting nourishment into your body, but it's not a pleasant experience. You need to eat more than that."
Harry's nervously stared down at his plate. There's no way I can eat all of that! He looked back up and saw that Snape was still staring at him, and he took a forkful of eggs into his mouth, closing his eyes as he chewed in an effort to keep his nausea at bay.
Harry had choked down half of it by the time Snape finally declared that he had eaten enough, and he rushed to get his bag. Before he could make it out the door, however, Snape stopped him and put his hand on his shoulder.
"I expect you to attend all your classes and if I hear from a single teacher that you are skipping again, I will start escorting you to each of your classes myself; is that understood?"
Harry gave a rapid nod, but still Snape had more to say. "And you had better be at lunch, because I'll be watching."
Another rapid head shake later, and Harry was finally able to make his escape, racing away from Snape's rooms as if hounds were at his heels, and making it to History of Magic just before Professor Binns closed the massive oak doors to the classroom.
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His first two classes had gone as smoothly as Harry could have expected, all things considered. Professor Binns acted as he always did and lectured on and on while the occasional student would crane around in their desk to stare at Harry and whisper things to those sitting next to them. Then came Charms and the pitying looks from Professor Flitwick.
He had seen Ron and Hermione first thing that morning, but had been unable to find an empty seat near them in History of Magic due to his late arrival. Then, in Charms, Flitwick had pulled him aside as the rest of the students were finding a place to sit, only to express his sorrow at hearing about Harry's 'situation'.
By the time Harry got away, most of the seats had filled up, but Ron had luckily saved him a seat at the table next to his and Hermione's. Ron had proceeded to try to talk to him at every chance he got, but after the third reprimand from Flitwick, the little professor moved Ron to a table on the other side of the room, and Harry was stuck with Dean Thomas as his partner at the end of class. Although Dean had tried to be amiable, Harry just wasn't in the mood, and only put forth a half-hearted effort into learning the charm they were assigned. As a result, they got a poor grade at the end of class and Dean wasn't so happy with him after that.
After Charms was lunch, and Harry trailed behind Ron and Hermione as they made their way to the Great Hall. Settling down in their usual spot, Harry chanced a look towards the Staff table and was unsettled to see Professor Stroper staring at him yet again. Refocusing his eyes to the other end of the Staff table, he saw that Snape was keeping an eye on him just as he said he would.
Unnerved somewhat by the stares, Harry hastily piled some food onto his plate, not really paying attention to what he was doing until Hermione stretched out her hand and stopped his arm as he was reaching for the bowl of lima beans to his left.
"Harry," Hermione started worriedly, "you don't even like lima beans, do you?"
Harry saw her staring at the mess of a plate he had created and he dropped the serving ladle clutched in his hand.
"Oh. Sorry. I guess my mind is on something else." He knew it was lame, but he could think of nothing more to say. Harry picked up his fork and started to poke at his food, looking back up at his friends just in time to see them share a worried look between them. Whatever was left of Harry's appetite fled at that sight, and he spent the following half hour poking his food and moving it about from one side of his plate to the other.
"Harry," It was Ron this time. "You really should try the ham. It's good." Ron smiled in-between bites of food, and Harry knew his friend was just trying to encourage him to eat. Looking back towards the Staff table, Harry saw Snape give him a pointed stare and he did the best he could after that to eat as much as he was able, but by the time the plates started disappearing at the end of lunch, he realized he hadn't eaten more than a dozen bites. Worried that Snape would know, Harry headed off to his next class, Potions, with a heavy heart, and even heavier feet.
Practically dragging his feet the whole way, he got to class just before Snape closed the doors, and as he was about to take the seat next to Hermione, Snape grabbed him by the shoulder of his robe and led him to the front of the classroom to sit at the front table. And as if that wasn't bad enough, no sooner had he sat down, he realized that Malfoy was sitting at the only other seat at the table.
"But, Professor Snape," Draco immediately protested, "I don't need a partner. Especially not some half-witted Gryff-"
A single look from Snape had stopped Draco's complaints before he could finish his insult, and he silently fumed in his seat as Snape went about explaining their Potion assignment for the day. Draco knew full well why Snape had done it. The potion they were supposed to be working on today would involve a lot of chopping of ingredients and Snape expected Draco to do that part while Harry added the items into the cauldron. This was a tactic commonly used by his godfather during similar situations, even if it was usually a Slytherin that he had to be paired with.
Surprisingly enough to both Harry and Draco, the class went relatively smoothly. Neither was in a mood to talk much, and as a result, they worked quietly, albeit grudgingly together. The Potion for the day was a relatively simple task with it still being the first week of school, and the class was finished early.
Snape had just released the class for the day, and Harry was cleaning up his workstation when he started wondering what Snape was up too. That man never let class out early. Harry's ponderings were answered soon enough, for as he made his way up the aisle, Snape called him back into the room, and he had to wave Ron and Hermione off, telling them he would catch up with them in Defense class.
"You wanted me, Sir?"
"Mr. Potter," Snape started without even looking up at Harry, the man's hands busy collecting up the many small vials of potion samples the class had turned in. "Was there a particular reason you hardly touched your lunch?" Snape suddenly looked up at him, and Harry knew that he had been found out for sure. "Or was there something you didn't understand about my directive this morning."
"Umm…" Harry honestly had no reply for the man, and so he fidgeted under the Professor's hard stare.
Snape ordered him, "Sit." Then a couple waves of his wand later, Snape had spelled shut the classroom doors and called forth a house elf. Within seconds, a plate of food was set onto the table right in front of Harry.
"I expect you to eat most of that," Snape lectured, "Or you'll be taking a trip to see Poppy before your next class, which is in thirty minutes, so I suggest you hurry."
Harry stared in dread at the plate. It contained a slice of baked ham, some veggies, and a roll. No, it wasn't a lot, but he still wasn't sure if he could eat it. He poked at the ham with his fork and watched as its juices flowed from the four holes Harry had just made. Feeling slightly repulsed, he turned his plate so that the ham was furthest away from him and he started eating the veggies.
Harry watched his professor as he ate; and when Professor Snape informed him he had only five minutes left, he stuffed as much of the ham as he could into his mouth, desperate to avoid getting sent to Pomfrey. Snape happened to look back up just then and curled his lip at Harry's total lack of table manners and silently resolved that it would be yet another issue they would have to resolve during Harry's stay in his quarters.
Harry swallowed down his mouthful of meat just as Snape informed him he was out of time. He let Snape inspect his plate, and he hoped the man would be pleased that he ate almost two-thirds of it. Snape merely raised an eyebrow, clearly disappointed, but regardless, said, "I guess that's good enough for now, but I expect you to eat just as much at dinner tonight."
"Yes, Sir." Harry then hurried out the door, his anxiety already building at the thought of having to do it again at dinner. He was one floor away from the classroom, when Harry felt his stomach lurch. Finding his way to the nearest bathroom, Harry threw his bag down and hurried to the closest stall, barely getting there in time before emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet.
Coughing a little on the sour spittle taste left in his mouth, Harry rinsed his mouth out at one of the sinks and hurried off to class, praying he wasn't late. The last thing he needed was for Professor Stroper to be on his case as well.
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A/N: I am SO sorry it took this long to post this chapter. Between long hours at my job, and all my kids, it's hard to find the time I need to write. I know this chapter isn't as long as the last one I posted, but I'm fixing to get to the part of the story that has a lot of interactions with Stroper in it and this would be the best point in which to break it up. I hope this chapter is up to my usual standard, because I almost feel as if it were missing something…maybe it's just because it has been so long since I wrote a chapter.
I hope the long delay between chapters has not discouraged any of you readers out there. I promise I will NEVER abandon a fic, though I do find it hard to forgive myself for making you all wait so long for an update. Shame on me!
Well, let me know what you think and if you are all still out there reading this. I greatly appreciate every review I get, and it does a lot to encourage me when I sit down to write. Thanks to all my precious readers out there; I hope you enjoy it!!!
PLEASE REVIEW!
