Unspoken
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
"Lily!"
While the two professors replied simultaneously, their reactions were completely different. Snape's eyes widened in apparent delight, but Dumbledore's expression displayed pure horror.
'Serves him right,' Harry thought, 'for what he did to Sirius and me.'
"Professor Gryffindor, thank you for sharing your portrait with me for a moment. I appreciate it very much."
"Ah, young lady, you're very welcome. I remember you as the head girl of my school from just a few years ago."
Lily nodded, smiling, before her expression sobered, and she turned to the current headmaster.
"Headmaster, how dare you ignore our will and send Harry to my horrible sister? Sirius was his rightful guardian, not you, and as it was you who cast the Fidelius charm with Peter as the Secret Keeper, you knew exactly that Sirius was innocent. Still, you allowed him to be sent to Azkaban, made yourself Harry's guardian and sent him to the Dursleys? I can't believe that James and I were stupid enough to trust you."
"I am sorry, Lily, but it was all for the Greater Good."
Lily let out a scoff. "Rubbish."
Dumbledore sighed, deeply. "Lily, you do not understand. While you saved his life, Harry was cursed by Voldemort. The scar, which he received that night, is not a normal scar."
"Then I suppose that you've taken him to St. Mungo's as well as to the Unspeakables to have them check it out?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No. That would have been much too dangerous."
"Nonsense. At neither place, he would have been abused and neglected like he was at the Dursleys'. Anyway, Dumbledore, you're walking on thin ice. Harry is attending Hogwarts by his own, free will, although there are other schools he could attend, but I won't watch Severus continue making life at Hogwarts another hellhole for him for much longer, especially as Potions is his favourite subject."
"Ah but Lily, as I am Harry's magical guardian…"
"You're not."
"Ah, but I am sure…"
"You're wrong. Neither James nor I are that stupid to allow you to remain his guardian after all you did to him."
Snape had remained quiet during the conversation; however, he suddenly spoke up. "So, it was you who taught him in Potions."
Lily smirked. "I am dead in case you haven't noticed. I am only a portrait. However, who taught him is not my secret to share, but Harry's. Perhaps, one day you'll be able to gain his trust and he might tell you, but that is solely up to my son."
Snape nodded in apparent understanding, while the headmaster contradicted. "Ah, but Lily, you should know that we only have Harry's best interest at mind."
Harry let out a scoff, which he quickly turned into a cough.
"Thanks again, Professor Gryffindor. I hope I won't need to intrude anytime soon again." With that, Lily vanished as quickly as she had appeared.
'Thanks, Dove. You were absolutely brilliant,' Harry thought to her.
"Well, Severus, as you know, Lily Potter is scary. Please try to get along with Harry, especially as you now know that he has already been taught to a certain degree."
Snape shook his head. "Only if he changes his attitude."
"Headmaster, Snape…"
"It's Professor Snape, Harry."
Harry inwardly groaned. "Professor Snape ordered me to clean a pile of cauldrons the muggle way. At the same time, three of my classmates were told to brew a potion, of which they knew nothing but the recipe. I believe that it made sense to clean the cauldrons using magic and then guide them through the process of preparing ingredients and brewing them, considering that Professor Snape was not even in the room to help them."
"That was well done, my boy. Ten points to Ravenclaw and Slytherin."
"Thank you, Headmaster." Harry observed in amusement how Snape rolled his eyes at the old wizard in apparent annoyance.
"Harry, you may leave now. Please try to behave towards Professor Snape."
"Yes, sir. Good night." With that, Harry left the room and, after passing the gargoyle, popped right into his suitcase to tell his friends about his evening.
HP
During the following weeks, Harry and Professor Snape both tried to behave civically towards each other. One day, when the first-years had brewed Pepperup potion, he professor even leaned over Harry's cauldron, sniffed at the liquid that was simmering in it and took a small sip from a spoon, before he nodded, seemingly contented. "Potter, do you know how to magically bottle a potion?"
"Yes sir."
"Then bottle the potion into twenty small phials. I'll take them to Madam Pomfrey for use in the hospital wing later on."
'Has hell frozen over?' Harry wondered, as he used his wand to bottle his potion, knowing that the professor was watching. 'No one is supposed to know that I can simply cast most spells wandlessly.'
HP
"Uh, I hope I'll never have to stay in the hospital wing," Ron said to the two boys, who had become his side-kicks, on their way from the Potions classroom to the greenhouses, "if they use first-years' potions on their patients."
"That's really gross," Vincent agreed, while Gregory made sounds of pure disgust.
'He's probably recalling the brown mass in his own cauldron,' Harry thought, grimly.
"Only Harry's," Neville reassured their classmates. "Because he's very good at brewing."
"That means that he accepts that your brewing is excellent," Connie replied, when he informed her, while they waited for Hermione to begin their afternoon study session. "Well done, Harry."
"Thanks," Harry replied, smiling, just when Hermione arrived, grinning broadly.
"Harry, did you know? Madam Pomfrey gave you twenty points for both your houses for the batch of Pepperup potion."
"Cool." Harry grinned, feeling very happy.
However, he instinctively knew that the peace and quiet between him and Snape was not going to last forever.
tbc...?
Thank you so much for the kind reviews for the last chapter. Are you still interested in this story?