Hey all! First of all THANK YOU for all the reviews honestly it made me wanted to put out this chapter as early as I could.
Also I decided to put out this chapter as soon as I could so I can get the ball rolling! It's not a big chapter but I have the next one hopefully by tomorrow.
Thanks to your reviews I've decided to focus on this story for this month and maybe I'll start my second story next month. Also I've decided not to rewrite the story but continue the current one. I will however re read everything and fix any issues I see.
NOTE: A reviewer named Smutly Do-Wrong (also known as the guest reviewer PaC) made some interesting points. I already PM'd him about the issues but I think he brought up some good points. Therefore in the next chapter I will answer his reviews and hopefully if some of you guys had the same issues those doubts will be answered.
Disclaimer: Yea... sadly still don't own anything.
Severus Snape liked to think he was a cautious man. He regularly checked his food for any tampering, always had his wand, ready to be drawn at blinding speeds and the fact that he maintains a reputation within the pureblood circles of being supportive to the dark lord while secretly being Dumbledore's right hand (at least he liked to think he was the headmasters right hand) speaks in itself.
As he was finishing meal he let his eyes roam over the great hall. Watching these dunderheads go about their simple lives always amused him. 'They have no idea of the real world. Apart from a select few.' He mused as his eyes wandered to some of the upper years in Slytherin. Looking towards the Gryffindor table, he saw Potter leaving with Granger and Longbottom. Sneering he used occlumency to clear his mind.
'The blasted brat reminds me of James Potter every time I look at him.' He thought while standing up, ready to leave the Hall himself. Despite what anyone thought, Snape does realize that he's being childish with his hatred towards the Potter scion, but he honestly don't care enough to be mature about the matter. The torment he endured under those disgusting Marauders made him want to seek this petty revenge. It feels good, until the brat glares at him with his mother's eyes. Even to this day Lily's eyes haunted him reminding him of his lost love and his greatest mistakes.
Sensing a presence he turned around and saw Dumbledore following him casually. 'Wonder what he wants.' He thought curiously. Slowing down his pace he allowed Dumbledore to catch up to him.
"Afternoon Severus." Headmaster greeted happily. Fighting the sneer at the headmaster's cheery attitude he replied. "Afternoon headmaster. Did you want to speak to me?" He got right to the point. Headmaster tended to ramble and he despised small talk.
Dumbledore chose to smile merrily. Taking his time he nodded his head and replied. "Severus I've heard rumors. Disturbing ones I might add. I'm afraid the Tom's return is imminent." Dumbledore tone got serious. "I do not know who is assisting Tom but I'm positive that young Harry's name was selected due his machinations."
'Potter again. Why can't I go a week without having to deal with the brat? Maybe I should quit teaching at Hogwarts.'
"Forgive me Albus, Potter's wellbeing is not my concern. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" He quietly intoned his face showing no emotion. The old man sighed and looked at the potions master with disapproval. "I truly wish you end this feud against Harry, Severus. It's unbecoming of you. However the reason I wished to speak with you was not regarding young Harry." Dumbledore leaned in at this point, flicked his wand to have some privacy and stopped to a halt right before the stairs descending to the dungeons.
"I believe you still have the trust among Tom's inner circle if he does somehow return." Looking straight in to his eyes Dumbledore continued; "Can you keep an ear out for me Severus. I know the sheer danger of this request but please Severus, do this favor for me. You have shown regret for unintentionally causing Lily's death, now you can earn forgiveness in full."
Snape unintentionally gulped and tried to regain his composure. Dumbledore looked every bit the powerful wizard he is right now, and it is almost as intimidating as a furious Dark Lord. Occlumency managed to clear his mind and he straightened himself.
"You don't have to remind me of my mistakes headmaster. I know what I did. I am willing to spy for you like I did at the end of the previous war. Do not try to manipulate me by using guilt and intimidation." Snape said eerily calm his voice soft but firm.
Dumbledore's face shifted through a myriad of emotions before settling in to an apologetic yet understanding look. "It was never my intention to manipulate you and I will never force anyone to go against their will. I am guilty of slight manipulation for the greater good. For that I am sorry Severus."
Letting go of a heavy sigh, Dumbledore looked old as his age for a change. "I am an old man, and sometimes I see the forest and not the trees in it. I need to value the trees and not the forest." Shaking his head Dumbledore left giving Snape a pat on his shoulder.
Snape stood rooted on his spot for a few seconds longer. Letting out a frustrated sigh he cast a tempus charm. Seeing he had some time till his next class he slowly headed towards the potions classroom.
Harry walked into the dungeons with Neville and Hermione. He felt exceptionally happy as Hermione decided to stick with them even after meeting Ron on his way to the dungeon as well.
"Ugh I hate the dungeons." Neville piped in suddenly. You could almost see the poor lad shrinking into himself thinking of the double period with Snape. Giving him a weak smile Harry continued to walk while Hermione started to explain something ridiculous; like Snape being "alright".
Almost half of the class was there already. Standing behind Lavender he mentally checked Wednesday's assignment. It was regarding the Black fire potion. Remembering how Snape just vanished his potion made his blood boil, but manage to catch himself and steadied his breathing. The meditation suggested by 'The essence of magic' seem to help him calm down apart from helping him to get in tune with his magic.
"Harry, are you okay?" Asked Hermione slightly concerned.
'I need to control my emotions better. It's as if I'm an open book to read.' Shaking his head he replied; "I'm fine, just a bit tired I think I need to get an early sleep today."
As Hermione opened her mouth to respond the potions classroom door flew open and Snape appeared his cloak billowing as usual. As much as he hated Snape he had to admit the potions master had quite the presence and the billowing cloak added more flair to this effect. 'I want to learn that trick, although I would rather die than ask Snape for help.' He thought distastefully.
Filing into the classroom he saw everyone had a partner except for Hermione. Not wanting her to be alone for siding with him he told Neville and Hermione to pair up. Before she could argue he left looking for a new place to sit. As he was about to sit without a partner he saw Blaise Zabini on the Slytherin side facing the same predicament. Mentally shrugging he made an impulsive decision and went over to the Slytherin side.
"Is this seat taken?" He asked quietly not wanting to attract attention. Zabini slightly startled took a few seconds to respond.
"No. No, it's not taken actually." Zabini replied with his usual lazy drawl, although he could see that Zabini was eyeing him speculatively. Nodding his head he fell into the seat next to the Italian.
"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you hear?" He heard Zabini question his voice tinged with curiosity.
"Didn't want Hermione to work alone so I asked her to sit with Neville. Also Hermione is better at stopping Neville from making a mess of his potion." Harry replied taking out his homework and potions gear.
Zabini nodded slightly and they waited till Snape was ready to begin. Curious Harry slightly turned to the Italian and said; "You know I don't think I've ever talked with you, so let's fix that."
Slightly surprised Zabini turned to him as well giving him full attention.
"Hi, I'm Harry Potter. Nice to meet you." He said with a grin and offered his hand. Zabini paused only half a second before accepting his hand.
"Blaise Zabini. And the pleasure is mine." He replied with a smirk. Before anything else could be said Snape glided in to the center of the class. He gave the class a once over, his eyes resting on them for slightly longer.
"I hope you did your research and finished the homework I assigned, leave it at the end of the class. Anyone who fails to do so will have detention with me for a week." Snape warned his tone soft but everyone in the class felt the warning.
"Your incomplete potions are waiting for you on my desk. You may refer instruction from your books or from the board." He finished tapping the board.
'That trick is super impressive, I wonder if it as complicated as it looks, or do the teachers just make the handwriting invisible and end the charm when they tap the board.'
While everyone grabbed their respective potions Harry went to the supply cupboard to grab materials to start the potion from scratch. His eyes caught Snape's and begrudgingly bowed his head. Snape ignored him, which was a good thing. On his way back to his seat he got odd looks from Slytherin seeing as he was walking to their side. Sensing that Malfoy was about to do something undoubtedly stupid he brushed past the blonde ponce as quick as he could. He saw Daphne looking at him with slight curiosity before switching back to her usual look of apathy, though her eyes were warm for the few seconds they held his gaze.
Zabini was undoing the statis charm on his potion as he fell into his seat. "What happened to your potion?" he questioned. Letting out a sigh Harry responded; "Snape decided it was 'sub-par' and vanished it without a second thought. Wincing slightly Zabini had an apologetic look on his face. "He is quite brutal to you, I must admit. Whatever did you do to him, I don't think Professor Snape usually is that vindictive."
"Beats me. He hated me from the second I walked into this class in Year 1." He whispered back with a shrug. "I'm used to it at this point."
They continued to work in a companionable silence. As usual Snape hovered over everyone and was breathing down Gryffindors' necks. For a nice change of pace no one made any mistakes, even Neville with Hermione's help seem to be brewing something remotely similar to the intended potion. 'It still looks hideous and potentially quite dangerous though.' He thought with a grimace.
Suddenly Zabini grabbed his hand stopping him from adding a chunk of Exploding Ginger Eyelashes. "Potter stop you need to add it in thinly chopped parts. I would recommend cutting into thin parts and sprinkling it over the potion." Zabini whispered firmly.
Surprised and slightly grateful he did as instructed and saw the potion turning the exact shade. "Brilliant! Thank you Zab ... Blaise." He whispered genuinely thankful. The Italian nodded acknowledging him with a smirk.
"Most potions texts don't mention these small preparation methods as they are generally taught first before actual brewing. But Professor Snape assumes we know these tips when we come to year 1. Although if you did more research into brewing I reckon it would be the first thing that you would find." He explained while giving Harry a look which said, 'Learn how to brew!'
Having the decency to look sheepish they continued to work Blaise occasionally adding his 2 Knuts.
When Snape came around another time he paused near Harry and took a good look at his potion. A few seconds later he looked at him and then at Blaise, finally he nodded once clearly not happy to say anything remotely positive to him.
"This is acceptable work Potter clearly Mr. Zabini's help is showing." Snape drawled drawing the attention of the entire class. Most were surprised to see Harry Potter receive a compliment from Severus Snape. Ron gave him a dirty look no doubt for sitting with a Slytherin or something along those lines, Harry couldn't care less at this point.
"Thank you Professor. Blaise gave me some useful tips that helped me immensely. Snape nodded a bit surprised, but before anything could be said a brilliant phoenix Patronus soared in front of Snape and spoke in Dumbledore's voice.
"Severus, please ask young Harry to come to the 2nd floor 5th classroom please. His presence is required immediately." The class was buzzing with whisper for a few seconds before a firm, "Quiet!" from Snape made everything go silent.
"It appears our Celebrity has places to be. Now I want you to know this Potter, you may be exempt from classes but if you even think about skipping my class be prepared to face the consequences. That being said you are dismissed. Seal your potion. I want you here for detention on Sunday to finish this potion. DO NOT, even think of arguing with me. Now get out of my sight."
Harry wanted to talk back, oh he did. But somehow managed to hold it in. Grabbing his bag he gathered his stuff. After sealing his potion and leaving the assignment at Snape's desk, he grabbed his bag. Giving a small pat to Blaise's shoulder he started to leave the class. Neville's eyes met his and he gave a small smile to both him and Hermione.
He closed the door with an unintentional bang, and let out a deep breath that he was holding without even noticing. Putting his bag down, he ran his hands over his face tiredly and refocused.
'Damn Snape, why couldn't he just let me leave in peace. Amazing, now I have detention for no reason.' He thought bitterly. Remembering Dumbledore's patronus he wondered how to do it.
'I need to learn that. It's so cool and not to mention useful. Imagine not having to to the seventh floor to search for someone just to deliver a message!'
Starting to walk towards the 2nd floor he thought about the surprising interaction he had with Blaise Zabini. 'Just goes to prove my theory about not judging a book by the cover. Speaking of which, I really need to talk to more people.' He thought reflecting on his past interactions with the population of Hogwarts. Although he didn't shun anyone, due to the nature of his upbringing, he wasn't one to initiate social interactions.
Sighing in frustration he thought bitterly, 'None of these things are my fault but why am I suffering the consequences. If only I was ready to be the Boy-Who-Lived. Instead I was neglected by my relatives and was treated with contempt throughout childhood. I need to talk with the headmaster soon. Some serious questions are coming up and he seems to be the only one with the answers to them.'
"Might as well see what Professor Dumbledore wants. At least I'm not in potions anymore." He muttered to himself.
A/N: Hopefully it isn't too bad. I tried to do something different and add Snape's POV. I will re-read this again in a few hours and check for any typos and grammar errors. Let me know what you think Thank you for reading and as always please review. Constructive criticism is welcome flames will be ignored!
Fun Fact: Black fire potion is questionably legal and very volatile. I added it to the curriculum because I felt like it but in the regular series the same class was discussing antidotes.