Chapter Three
Deceptions and Detentions
By Raven Dancer
rating: PG
disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling except for the Drs. Barnes. I receive no monetary compensation for these works.
Summary: Deceptions And Detention
Dobby didn't find Harry until late Wednesday just after dinner. He had hidden on Harry's bed and when the boy came for his firebolt; a short practice as the spring days lengthened, the elf nearly knocked him over.
"He is back, Professor Snape, he is back, Harry Potter.
He is back and he is very sick," he squeaked out in agitation.
"Can you tell me any more?" Harry pushed in his need to know.
"The Headmaster brought him to the hospital wing. Dobby
does not like the Madame Nurse," here the elf actually grimaced, or Harry supposed that was what the constipated expression meant. He did not pursue that line of thought, slipping the information into the back of his mind for later.
"He is sick and the Headmaster is very tired. You cannot go
there now, Madame Nurse is looking over him," he shook it's head sadly.
"No, I couldn't go now, but I can after practice and bed time. Late."
"Harry Potter must be careful," the elf began. Harry smiled and pulled out the corner of his invisibility cloak, showing the silvery folds. The elf beamed in understanding.
"I will wait for you Harry Potter," and with a snap he was gone.
It was just 11:30 when Harry was able to sneak out of the tower and through the portrait hole. He had waited until all four of his roommates were snoring softly. Once up he simply slipped on the cloak and went down.
The door into the hospital wing was open slightly; he silently thanked Dobby as he slipped inside. Dumbledore and Pomfrey were in the small isolation room across the main office. He carefully crept inside and sat against the wall watching them as they stood over a sleeping Snape.
"Finally," Dumbledore said quietly. "You're sure you've found
all the curses?"
"I am certain Albus," a concerned witch responded.
"And the healing solution has made headway on the cuts and
scrapes." Dumbledore adjusted the covers gently, then ran his hand across the sleeping man's brow. He leaned close and whispered something that even Pomfrey couldn't hear.
"He'll sleep tonight and he'll feel much better in the morning," she soothed.
"Let me know when he wakes," the Headmaster sighed and turned towards the door. Pomfrey followed him and Harry heard the hospital door close with a loud click. Then the Nurse walked back into the isolation room.
She immediately pulled out her wand and waved it sharply
"Duermis totalis" she snapped. "Sleep all night, Severus. No waking!"
"Impedius Suenos" she spat out. "Sweet dreams indeed, hah!" She pulled the covers back to look down at the thin body scarcely covered in the dressing gown.
"Night mares, Severus. Nightmares for the death eater."
She stood over his shivering body waiting, waiting until he began to twitch slightly and whimper.
"That's right, suffer as we have suffered from your kind.
Dumbledore is too trusting." She turned to the door once more.
"A silence charm on the door and I will certainly sleep well this night."
The only thing that kept Harry from jumping up and yelling at the healer was total shock. Why was she doing this to Snape? Did a death eater harm her or her family or did she just hate Snape like so many people did?
The door clicked closed and he saw her shadowy form as it put the silence charm on the door. The light in the office went out and only the small taper by the bedside lit the room. He forced himself to count to 50 before he moved.
Snape was now trembling violently, and soft "no's" and "don'ts" were falling from his lips. He was struggling to escape his dreams. Harry quickly moved to the figure and wanded out the finitum curse, stopping the nightmare then followed with a waking charm he had learned from Lupin. Snape's fear filled eyes jerked opened as Harry pulled him up.
"You're ok, Severus. I'm here." The wild motions took a moment to calm, a moment for Snape to realize who was with him and where he was once more.
"Harry! You shouldn't be here," Snape managed to stammer out. He was shaking, trying to cover his face with his hands. Harry gently put his arms around him and held him loosely.
Snape finally dropped his hands and pushed his head against Harry's shoulder, covering his face in his robes, lungs panting in and out as he struggled to let go of the images. Harry sat on the bed and pulled him closer.
His dreams were usually not violent, and when they became horrific he always was able to wake himself up. Lingering nightmares did not trouble him, something he was grateful for given his memories.
Of course, those memories gave him insomnia most nights.
Adding to that was the fact Dumbledore had whispered a sleeping charm over him before he left. Dumbledore's charm always gave him quite unremarkable dreams and soothing sleep. Not tonight. The nightmare began soon after the Headmaster left and ripped him in half.
Snape felt Harry's arms circle him fully, then warmth began to permeate his chilled body as he felt the energy feed begin. He was too weak to protest, too exhausted to even care what anyone thought anymore.
Snape cried.
Harry felt the hot tears on his shoulder, the thin body shake from the release. He thought he should feel surprised, but set it aside. If Snape had been near Voldemort then he was sure to be upset. Plus that little wand sweep from Pomfrey didn't help at all. He himself had horrid nightmares at times; he was sure Snape could match and outdo them.
He fed Snape energy for nearly 20 minutes, then continued to quietly rock them both until he felt the shaking stop and the Potions Master slip into sleep. He pulled him closer as he settled himself against the headboard comfortably and dozed off into a light sleep.
He hadn't been there long, he was sure of it, when he became aware of something near them. He carefully arranged his grip on Snape and opened his eyes.
Into Dobby's. The house elf was inspecting Snape's sleeping face as well as his own with a look of incredulity.
"Harry Potter help Professor Snape," he whispered as his finger traced the older man's cheek.
"Harry Potter is very kind, but he must leave now."
Stretching, he looked at the elf.
"Pomfrey locked the doors," he began, then opened his eyes more fully. "How did you get in here?"
Dobby raised a long forefinger.
"Humans forget about us. We can get in and out. Doors
cursed or not cursed cannot stop us," he smiled a big, toothy smile.
Harry moved off the bed lowering Snape onto his pillows and pulled the covers back up over the stilled body.
"Dobby will watch his dreams. Dobby will call you if anyone hurts him."
"I don't understand, can't you reverse any of the curses
Madame Pomfrey put on Professor Snape?"
"No, Dobby can not. Magic does no harm to Dobby and
Dobby can not stop magic curses on humans. Doors, on the
other hand," and the elf pointed at the door, a mischievous sparkle in his eye,
"not human." Harry watched as the door silently opened wide enough for his body to slip through. Dobby positioned himself between Snape and the wall on the upper corner of the bed and smiled like a Cheshire cat.
With that information, and that smile, to ponder, Harry left the room. He slunk down the halls under his cloak and heard off in the distance something chime twice. A clock in Hogwarts? Muggle stuff couldn't work here. Something else to think about; time and the marking of it's passage at the school.
He was tired. It had been a long day and tomorrow loomed in the near future. At least he could sleep in a bit. He'd miss breakfast but didn't have a class to report to until 10:00 am.
As he mentally recalled his hoard of candies and sweets from Hogsmeade, he failed to notice the strange shadow against the wall near the portrait hole as he slipped inside.
"And where have you been I wonder," mused Lupin as he watched the portrait shut quietly.
Thursday's potion class was, by everyone's opinion, an unqualified disaster. Snape was exhausted and barely controlling what temper he had. Harry challenged him at every point possible until Ron swore steam was pouring from the professor's ears. Even Malfoy kept his mouth securely shut. If Potter wanted to commit suicide, so be it. He wasn't going to join him.
It was like a muggle tennis match, though Harry was making magnificent volleys, there was no doubt the soft angry aces would win the match in the end.
Finally, Harry managed to drop a full beaker of accelerant by the flames of his cauldron which ignited and shot skyward, splattering the ceiling with the rats' brains free based in it. All Snape did was sit down on his tall stool, wrap a trembling hand across his face and point with the other to his office. Harry smirked in victory, grabbed his stack of books and bag and saunter out. Snape waved his extended hand downward and the door slammed sharply.
Ron and Hermione realized just how much trouble Harry would be in when Snape gave Malfoy detention for joking aloud about Harry blowing out his brains. He didn't yell, he didn't even raise his voice. In fact, the hissing whisper rang out more loudly than any sound in that dungeon ever had.
"Detention, Malfoy. There is nothing remotely humorous
about this. Report to Mr. Filch tonight after dinner to
schedule your time."
The class was dead silent after that, even the cauldrons boiled softly. Neville managed to complete the animal tonic without Hermione's help. Trevor was positively vibrant after a small dose was dropped into it's mouth.
One good thing, most students agreed, Snape was so angry he did not assign any homework. He glared at them all as they packed up for their next class.
"Mr. Weasley," Snape said in an exceptionally soft and oily voice,
"inform Professor McGonagal that Mr. Potter will be late." Under that uncomfortable gaze he and Hermione hastily shoved their things into their bags and left. They could hear doors open and slamming shut with the distinctive click of locks behind them.
Snape stormed into the office, slamming and sealing the doors as he went. Harry was sitting in a chair reading a text as if he was simply having a study break. His leg was thrown over the chair's arm.
"That was dramatic" he commented as he closed his book.
"Oh, I don't know, Potter, the rats' brains exploding and
covering the ceiling was quite a good touch," he sneered.
"Did you really give Malfoy detention?" Harry asked with raised eyebrow.
Unable to hold the sneer, Snape snorted, dropping lips into a frown of disgust. He sat down at the work table pillowing his head on his arms completely spent.
"Oh yes. Scared the crap out of him. I'll have to go down to
dinner to tell Filch about it."
Harry set his book aside, stood and stretched. He went behind the Potions master and began to feed him energy once more.
"I am so tired. I hardly remember this morning let alone last
night. You were there, weren't you?"
"For awhile, yes, Severus," he neglected to mention anything else and Snape did not ask, only sighed as the warmth sunk deeper into him.
"Just rest. You can sleep through your prep period."
"You have my schedule memorized now, Potter?" His laugh was somewhat desolate.
"If I weren't so tired I think I'd feel guilty taking energy from
you," he added in a whisper.
"Hey, I'm not the one being cursed. Sleep," Harry briefly wondered at the commanding tone he had in his voice.
"Dobby will wake you for dinner. We'll do detention
tomorrow night after 8:30."
"'K," he breathed. "Write it down."
Harry chuckled as he sent Snape deeper into sleep. He easily levitated the sleeping man onto the couch and tucked the blanket around him. He ran the energy feed across his face and over his shoulder, finally stopping so he could get to his next class. Before he left he noted his detention on Snape's plan book, called Dobby and explained what was happening. He then went to transfigurations.
McGonagal gave him a sharp look when he arrived and waved him to an empty desk that Ron had saved. He realized he had drained himself a little too much and wondered exactly how bad he looked. He managed to get through class. Getting to dinner was interesting, with so many people trying to find out exactly what Snape had in mind as detention for Harry. He just shrugged and ate quietly, noting Dumbledore was once more missing and Snape didn't look that much better. At least he was eating some dinner. He managed to get up to his bed before anyone else attempted to 'help' him with his teacher 'problem'.
Ron and Hermione trailed after Harry, stopping at the foot of the stairs. Harry had mumbled an apology and stumbled up to bed.
"I'd give a galleon to know what's wrong with Harry," Hermione said.
"Heck, I'd give a galleon just to know what happened with
Snape after class," Ron added. "He looked horrible, like all
the life was drained out of him."
"Well, Snape looks no better; he's positively cadaverous," Hermione noted.
"We've got to do something to stop their feuding. It's going
to get a lot worse if we don't," Ron replied.
They sat quietly in the common room near the fire, heads together. They began thinking about various charms that could possibly make Harry less antagonistic. Then moved on to somehow physically restraining him in class.
"Muzzling him might be nice," Ron mused. Hermione snorted out a laugh.
"A roll of duct tape wouldn't help the way he's been acting," she pointed out.
"Break his jaw? Wire it shut?" Ron glanced at her through calculating eyes.
She quickly nixed any ideas that landed Harry in the hospital wing with Madame Pomfrey. Ron wasn't too keen on charming Harry.
Both of them were against attempting to subdue Snape in any way. Why tempt death?
Finally their only viable solution was to talk with Professor Lupin again. At least he could go into Snape's dungeons without raising suspicion or getting into trouble. They carefully sketched out their concerns before going to bed.
It was easy to get to Lupin's class ahead of Harry; he never showed up to breakfast or to study. Lupin was not surprised to see them, nor was he surprised about the latest transgression in potions class. He didn't know why Harry was provoking Snape as much as he was, but the fact remained Harry was acting extremely aggressive and Snape was in the passive roll. Until he was pushed too far and then he'd explode.
No, explode wasn't quite right. Both Ron and Hermione emphasized that the professor became more and more deadly quiet the angrier he became. Very unSnapish. Couple that with the exhaustion so apparent for both student and professor it made a perplexing riddle.
Lupin carefully questioned them until other students filtered in, trying to glean any minute information they may have. There was an element of secrecy and Harry at times seemed overly elated by his successes of 'getting Snape' as he called it. Something was going on that was not quite right.
Lupin agreed to check up on the detention that evening. Privately he decided stealth would be best and mentally planned to hide himself near the dungeons prior to 8:30.
Snape did not come to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Harry managed a large lunch and struggled to stay awake through Charms. Eschewing Divinations he went back to his room and took a nap. It was his least favorite class. He didn't even try to explain his actions to Ron when pressed. He slept most of the afternoon and felt much better for it at dinner.
He made matters worse for himself at quidditch practice by not staying focused. He continually missed the snitch, which was not trying very hard at all to elude him, and managed to send several of his teammates careening sharply off to the left or right when he barreled through them. The Weasley twins were ready to dump him in the lake when Angela called an end to practice.
As Harry trudged up toward the castle, actually dragging his broom, the team wondered what was wrong. They suspected Snape was the end result, although most couldn't fault the man for handing out the detentions he had. But exactly what started it was not known. Something happened in that locked room with Lupin, something not discussed with anyone but perhaps Dumbledore.
The headmaster had been pretty scarce for that matter, too.
Harry didn't even discuss this latest detention; he had boasted openly about the previous. Fred expected Snape was going to harvest body fluids.
"You ever seen his bottle of bile?" he dead panned.
"Ewwwww, Fred!" the girls exclaimed. George raised his eyebrows.
"There are other fluids, you know," he added conversationally. The rest of the team moved toward the castle, the twins trailing behind alluding to a variety of bodily liquids.
Harry wandered out into the common room just before 8:30.
"Don't wait up for me kids!" he said cheerfully as he exited through the portrait hole.
"It's gonna be a long evening," Ron groaned. He and Hermione had to content themselves with the knowledge Lupin would be checking up on the detention in progress.