Disclaimer - Guess what: They're all JKR's! I didn't invent anyone! I don't own anyone (except Susan and if you want her take her it's OK)!
Disclaimer 2 - Draco drawing dragons belongs to PikaCheeka. Sorry I forgot to mention that in the first chapter. I sort of adopted the idea subconsciously.
Disclaimer 3 - Severus' raven belongs to J. L. Matthews. I just borrowed him because he's such a perfect pet for Sevi and promise to return him unharmed.
A/N - I'm really sorry this is so late, but I had a very busy week at work.
Chapter 8: Searching Trunks
Draco returned to his dorm after breakfast on Monday morning to find Vincent and Gregory kneeling on the floor hastily flinging stuff out of Vincent's trunk. Clothes, books and all sorts of other things were already strewn all over the room.
Severus quickly ducked to avoid being hit by a single sock that Gregory had just thrown over his shoulder and walked out grinning happily.
Draco stopped for a moment to look after him That was that very same grin he usually wore after successfully setting up one of his pranks. What was going on? Was another firecracker about to go off? Or was he about to walk into another mousetrap? If so why had Severus left the room? He usually stayed around to watch the results of his little traps.
Draco decided that the dorm was most likely safe and returned his attention to Vincent and Gregory who were still flinging various items of clothing around.
"What are you looking for?" he asked as he slipped past them to his bed, where he had left his book bag.
"My transfiguration essay." sighed Vincent. "McGonagall had me rewrite most of it and now I can't find it. I'm sure I put it right on top in my trunk and now it's gone."
Draco cast a look over the chaos in the room.
"Are you sure you didn't throw it out with all the rest of the stuff?" he asked doubtfully.
"Well ... maybe." admitted Vincent sheepishly after following Draco's look.
Draco lifted Vincent's dress robe and another single sock (Or did it belong with the first one?) off of his bag and threw them back into the trunk where they landed on Gregory's head.
Bump!
"Ow!"
Gregory must have hit his head on the wall of the trunk. He pulled his robe covered head out of the trunk and felt around with his hands like a blind man.
'Wonder what he's searching for.' thought Draco.
"I suggest that you put all your stuff back in more slowly and if you still don't find it start looking under the beds." he advised Vincent.
Vincent pulled his dress robe off of Gregory and started folding it up.
"Thanks!" muttered Gregory as the light returned to him as quickly as it had vanished. He gingerly felt the lump developing on his head where it had met with Vincent's trunk.
Draco felt slightly guilty for a moment, but then decided that there wasn't much damage that could be done to Gregory's head.
'Nothing in there anyway.' he thought.
"You might want to continue your search after history of magic, Vince." he smirked already at the door. "Or else you'll be late."
Both Draco and Severus spent history of magic drawing, of course. By now Draco knew better than to continue drawing during charms.
Severus however didn't seem to have learned anything from the last week's disaster and professor Flittwick ended up confiscating his portrait of Greenie sitting on his charms book and taking another ten points off Slytherin.
Draco didn't think about the morning's incident again until their transfigurations lesson when Vincent had to explain why he had no homework to professor McGonagall. McGonagall took five points off Slytherin and threatened Vincent with detention if he didn't turn it in by Wednesday.
At that moment Severus walked in and calmly handed her a piece of parchment.
Suddenly Draco remembered Severus throwing another piece of parchment into the fire and saying that it wasn't his. And Vincent couldn't find his homework? But it had been in his trunk. Another memory flashed up: Severus handing Susan a firecracker and saying that he stole it from Blaise's trunk. 'What, you went through our trunks!' shrieked Crabbe outraged. 'No, only Blaise's! Didn't have enough time to search the rest of you ... yet!' And Severus saying that he was 'working on it' when they left to play quiddich and when they returned he had been nearly done with his homework ...
"Well, I see you finally decided to do your homework." McGonagall told Severus sarcastically. "But next time could you probably try to arrive on time?"
"I had to take Greenie away." protested Severus. "Let me bring Greenie to class and I'll have no problem being here on time."
McGonagall expected him to pout and steeled herself to resist him, but he did not.
"Turn it into an ashtray and it is very welcome in my class." she said firmly. "Otherwise it has no busyness being here. Ten points off Slytherin for being late!"
Then she handed each of her pupils two stones and told them to turn them into a pair of slippers.
Draco didn't do too well that lesson. He couldn't concentrate on his stones. His mind kept wandering to Severus, homework, trunks and firecrackers. In the end his slippers were still gray and rather hard and uncomfortable.
Severus meanwhile had an unusually successful transfiguration lesson.
With an apologetic grin he handed his products in to McGonagall at the end of the lesson.
"Green boots, Severus?" Minerva asked incredulously. "One very large and one small? And they aren't a pair either. They're both left ones."
"But they are footwear and I did change the material." argued Severus. "You have to admit that I'm improving."
"Normally I'd still give you an F, but since I know that you tried and you did do your homework ..." she wrote a big E into her notebook.
Severus grinned proudly and walked down to the great hall feeling almost perfectly happy. His triumph didn't last long however.
His classmates glared at him angrily as he sat down for lunch.
"What's wrong?" he asked playing innocent.
"Did you really burn my homework?" asked Vincent barely able to contain his anger.
"Yes." stated Severus matter-of-factly.
"You broke into my trunk and stole my homework! And then you just threw it into the fire." shrieked Vincent.
"No, I copied it first." stated Severus. Then he suddenly switched to his cold persona. "Wanna make something off it?"
Vincent threw his glass of pumpkin juice into his face. Severus retaliated with a bowl of still very hot soup. Vincent screamed and Gregory reached for his plate ... and another food fight was raging at the Slytherin table.
Professor McGonagall hadn't yet arrived in the great hall. So the task of breaking up the fight fell to Dumbledore.
The headmaster was in a very bad mood. He had woken up with an even worse cold than last time and Madam Pomfrey hadn't been able to cure it completely. His nose was no longer running after the treatment, but he was still coughing and had a splitting headache and of course his ears were smoking from the potion. ... And he still didn't know how to handle the Slytherins.
He tried shouting at them, but it didn't do his sore throat any good and he soon was coughing more than screaming and the noise of the fighting Slytherins drowned his shouting almost completely.
The pupils from the other houses started sniggering or even laughing right out at the sight of their headmaster red faced with anger, shouting at the top of his lungs (when he wasn't coughing) with smoke rising from his ears.
The other teachers had to step in to help him and when McGonagall finally arrived, she and Hagrid managed to drag the Slytherins apart.
"What ... cough, cough ... is going on here?" croaked Dumbledore when Hagrid had finally managed to get an arm around both Gregory and Vincent and McGonagall had gotten a hold of Severus.
"That little thief broke into my trunk!" screeched Vincent still beside himself with rage.
Dumbledore didn't need to ask who the 'little thief' was. He sighed deeply. 'Not again!'
"Fifty ... cough ... points off Slytherin for ... cough ... fighting and wasting ... cough, cough ... food!" he announced. "Severus, ... cough ... please accompany ... cough, cough ... me to my ... cough ... office."
Severus followed him without protest. He knew Dumbledore was really angry this time. He had every right to be too.
Albus gestured for Severus to sit down in front of his desk and went to sit behind it. He conjured a cup of hot herbal tea to calm down his cough and they sat in silence until he had drunk it. Severus was staring down at his hands repeatedly clenching and unclenching them in his lap, refusing to look at the headmaster.
"So you broke into Mr. Crabbe's trunk." stated Dumbledore as soon as he trusted himself to speak again.
"Draco's too." admitted Severus so softly that Albus could barely hear him.
"Didn't you promise me not to steal anymore?"
"Only if you let me go to Hogsmeade and it wasn't really stealing. It was just a prank." Severus was still talking to his hands.
"Stealing is not a prank, Severus." said Dumbledore as gently as he could manage with his sore throat. "And you really shouldn't pull such bad pranks on your friends."
"I have no friends!" hissed Severus.
That hurt. Searching for a way to get Severus to relax and to get more control over his voice the headmaster conjured two more cups of tea, but Severus ignored his and continued staring at his hands.
"Severus, you're going too far with your pranks. I can accept and have even come to expect the occasional firecracker or biting teacup, but you can't just leave people tied up over night and you can't disturb people's private property."
"They did let you go, didn't they?" asked Severus. "I mean I expected them to. I wouldn't have left you all alone, you know, but they were all there. They wouldn't leave you."
"And what about stealing? I told you to come to me, if you needed anything."
"It was a prank." Severus repeated. "I didn't need anything."
Dumbledore sighed. He continued to try and talk some sense into Severus all through lunch break, but Severus just kept staring down and hardly said anything. Albus just couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Finally he let him go, because the next lessons were about to start. Severus didn't remind him that his next class would have been flying, which he didn't have to take.
"I didn't get any lunch." he mumbled instead.
"Well, you shouldn't have thrown it at your friends." stated Dumbledore. "Consider it your punishment."
"They're not my friends!" protested Severus.
Severus wanted to run back to his common room and cry on his bed, but he found Draco there and he definitely would not cry in front of him. So he just grabbed his bag and decided to go through with his original plan for the afternoon.
He walked into the library and straight towards the librarians desk. As he had hoped Dobby was alone.
"Dobby I need some books from the forbidden section." he announced as if he had every right to get them.
The house elf looked up from the sock he was knitting.
"Dobby can not give Sir books from the forbidden section, Sir." he said shaking his head sadly.
"Oh come on Dobby, I am a teacher. I don't need a pass. I could write one myself."
"Dobby can not give Sir books from the forbidden section, Sir." the house elf repeated. "Dobby can not give anyone books from the forbidden section. Not with pass. Not even teacher. Dobby is not allowed. If Sir needs books from the forbidden section, Sir has to come back later and ask Madam Pince. Dobby is not allowed, Sir. Dobby really wants to, but can't do it. No."
Severus left the library grumbling and returned to the common room where he found Draco sitting by the fire writing. (He was actually writing another song for his dragon bard, but Severus couldn't know that. Draco would never have let him see it.)
Severus sat down at the opposite end of the room and took out his pencils and parchment to draw. He spent most of the time left before DADA staring angrily at nothing however.
Draco looked up surprised. What was wrong with Severus? He had never looked this unapproachable when they were alone together before.
Defence against the dark arts was the same as it had been last week. Remus Lupin ignored both Severus and the Hufflepuffs while he was explaining the differences between werewolves and the catar who were often mistakenly called 'werecats'.
Severus got angrier and angrier. Professor Lupin might be the undoubted expert on werewolves, but Severus could have added lots to what he said about catar. They were one of his favourite topics.
He waved his hand in the air almost constantly, but Remus pretended not to see him.
Even Greenie the hedgehog looked a little sulky when the Slytherins walked out after the lesson.
Severus decided to teach Lupin a lesson. Let Dumbledore say whatever he liked. The werewolf deserved to be reminded of Severus' existence by extreme measures.
Draco decided to eat some of his every flavour beans before going to bed. He opened his trunk and ... Where were his sweets?
Draco was used to finding his sweets box empty. Gregory and Vincent often couldn't resist temptation and stole some of the sweets, but he couldn't remember them ever taking so many at once or taking the box itself as well. And they had never touched his pocket money before.
"Alright! Vincent! Gregory! Which one of you went over my trunk?" he demanded. They could have the sweets, but they had to give back his money.
"What? Your trunk?" asked Vincent confused. "Why would I?"
"To sneak out some of my sweets like you always do?" asked Draco back sarcastically. "Well, did you?"
"Oh yes, sometimes I do." Vincent admitted. "But not this time, honest."
Draco turned towards Gregory.
"So it was you."
"I only took two chocolate frogs." said Gregory. "I'm really sorry. I didn't think you'd miss them."
"You only took two chocolate frogs? And Vincent, you didn't take anything at all?" asked Draco confused.
They both nodded agreement.
"Then why is the whole box gone and where is my pocket money?"
Gregory and Vincent exchanged a look.
"We didn't take it." Vincent answered for them both.
"But if you didn't then who?"
They both shrugged.
"Well," said Blaise grinning maliciously. "let's be logical about it. Who in this dorm is a known thief?"
Four pairs of eyes turned accusing stares to where Severus was curled up on his bed reading. Severus sat up.
"What?" he demanded.
"Did you search my trunk, you little rat?" screamed Draco.
"Of course I did. Didn't you expect me to?" Severus said calmly. "I believe I even told you I'd do it sometime."
"Alright, where are my sweets?" Draco asked through clenched teeth.
Severus licked his lips demonstratively.
"Eaten."
"I want them back!" shouted Draco.
Severus threw him an empty chocolate frog wrapper.
"Oh come on, you'll get another boxful next weekend. What's the big deal? You wouldn't share with me so I took them all. Now we're even."
"And what about my money? There were fifty galleons in my trunk."
"Too late, I already spent it."
"Spent it? On what? Mousetraps?"
"Maybe." grinned Severus.
"You spent fifty galleons on mousetraps?" Draco sneered. "I don't believe you. You've still got that money and I want it back!"
"You can't have it." announced Severus coldly.
Five minutes later Vincent, Gregory and Blaise were once again on their way to the hospital wing. Draco had retreated into the bathroom hoping that cold water would be enough to stop his nose bleeding.
Serverus limped in after a while and went to the back of the room where he'd put Greenie's cage. Draco watched as he opened the cage, took out the hedgehog and left without a word.
Once his nose finally stopped bleeding Draco returned to the dorm. Severus was in bed cuddling Greenie as best he could without hurting himself.
Draco climbed into bed and lay there for a while waiting. Nothing happened. The silence in the room seemed oppressing.
"Where are the others?" he finally asked into the room. He was definitely not going to look at Severus.
"Staying in the hospital wing overnight, I bet. The way they limped out Poppy won't let them come back until tomorrow morning." stated Severus matter-of-factly.
"You were limping too." mumbled Draco.
"But I didn't go and show the nurse."
Draco wondered if Severus was grinning. He wasn't going to look though.
Slowly careful not to hurt any of the many sore spots on his body he got up and opened his trunk. He dug down to it's very bottom. Severus had most likely seen everything that was in there anyway. Draco pulled out his old teddy and returned to bed snuggling the little bear close to his body. That felt better.
"Oh Greenie, if only you were a little less spiky." he heard Severus mumble just before he fell asleep.
sphinx - Well, I really don't want to tell what happens in the end yet. Sorry. He gets along with Hermione just fine, but I'm keeping him friendless for a reason (and I suspect you can guess what I'm planning there even though you've never said anything of the sort). Neville I fear is not quite up to confronting the master of intimidation yet, but maybe he has lost a little of his fear. As for crisis: I'm not intending this to be an action story so don't expect Voldemort to drop in. We are nearing the big turning point in the story however. (Not telling what it is though, but expect the big cliff hanger at the end of chapter 9 or 10 if everything goes according to my current plan.) I too was worried about his pouts. That's why I stuck with puppy eyes during chapter 7. It might be that he won't use his main weapon all that much anymore now that he is no longer sure of Dumbledore's support. The teachers are on to him anyway.
Ludi - Rest assured that I never even thought of doing that to any of my teachers either, but I am not Severus and being a teacher himself he doesn't respect teachers all that much. He was going to let Albus go, but then Albus reminded him of their friendship, which meant very much to Severus and which he thinks is now lost. That's why he left him there. (He did expect the others to let him go though.)
Lunamew - Madam Hooch won't let him near her brooms. Neville has already damaged several beyond repair this year and Severus is sure to do the same and brooms aren't cheap. But maybe he will get a chance to ride a broom later. Severus: 'No, Idon't want to! Silverfox, I refuse to do that!' Umm ... well, you heard him. Maybe I'll try asking again in a few weeks.
the great bumblebee - Draco's homework? Oh no, he'd never do that. He likes Draco. I did not say that Severus had a lot of girlfriends. Draco thought that he must have had a lot, because of his real age. That's Draco's opinion and not mine. But he has been in love before and he did have two or three girlfriends. He has only one mousetrap left, so he can't put one on every seat. ... Well, he does have some money now, so I guess he could buy some ... if he could leave the school grounds and go into a shop. Hmm ... I admit I've been avoiding 'The Secret Keeper'. It sounds like a Peter or Sirius fic and I'm not really that interested in those two. But since you say it's so good I promise to give it a chance. Hope you found socks. 'One can never have enough socks, you know.' (I don't know if that's exactly how he said it, because I read the German version.)
gueneviere s. - I don't know what's gonna happen with Ginny and Draco. I have a plan, but Ginny won't cooperate. Honest some characters have a mind of their own.
Zedd - I don't think he'd try to transfigure Albus. Not because he doesn't want to turn him green, but because he is so bad at transfigurations. He would be afraid that by some miracle it would actually work and then how would he turn him back? He still likes Albus very much (sees him as a kind of father figure). He only pretended not to care to hide how hurt he is feeling from loosing Albus' friendship. (Albus hasn't realised that he thinks he has lost it though.)
Kim - Ah, another Greenie fan. I love that hedgehog, too. That's the only reason he's still in there. I was originally gonna let Severus hand him in to McGonagall at the end of the lesson, but then he was just so cute ...
bluemeanies - Well, Dobby didn't levitate those books, did he? I don't think he will actually destroy the library. A few books might not survive the experience and the pupils might get out of hand, but the library most likely will still stand in the end. Shy little Susan was afraid of detention and one really shouldn't leave one's headmaster tied up all wet on the floor overnight, you know.
crystal drake - Well, I don't think he needs a book of pranks right now and he definitely wouldn't find it in the forbidden section. He is looking for potions books, after all. And, believe me, he knows where to find them. (If only Dumbledore would let him at them.)
Nymphomaniac - Hey, it took me only one day longer than usual and you wouldn't have liked the first draft, trust me. I can't write this story when I'm depressed, you know. Check out my songfic if you want to know what happens when I'm not in a funny mood when I write. And I wasn't actually depressed when I wrote that one either (though my mother thought I must have been after she read it). Sorry I can't post faster than I write. I'm gonna try to hurry though.
Mike M 'Madman' Magic - Wow, that's a lot of Ms! Give my house 500 points? Hey, that would put us back into the positives! But I'm the author, so I guess I can't do that. The other houses don't want anything to do with any Slytherins. They're prejudiced, you know. (Not that they don't have reason to avoid Severus.) What's a shroom? I don't think I've heard that one before. Actually I never do think German when writing English. I sometimes even think English when I'm not even going to write the story I'm thinking up. A lot of this couldn't even be translated into German without changing it's meaning. There are things you can express in English that you never could in German and translating from German to English is way more difficult than thinking in English (among other things because I would use words in German that I don't know in English. Thinking in English I usually make due with the words I know.) No brake for Severus yet, but I promise that he will find a friend later on. (Now that was one of the secrets I wasn't going to spill just yet.)
Yosis - Ginny actually is nice. She's just scared of Draco. Wouldn't you be if you were a Weasley? She kind of doesn't work the way I want her to (maybe my inexperience with romance has something to do with that) so I can't really predict what's going to happen there.
Badtz-Maru - I'm actually a rather sad person, too and the sad side of the story is intentional. I'm glad that you see that, because the funny part is really just decoration. You can ignore the Ginny subplot if you want to. It's meant for decoration too and a bit of experimenting and practising on my part. The main story is still about Severus.
Prongs - Albus took 100 points off Slytherin. That was not an empty threat.
Tatiana - Am I really keeping them in character? I'm a bit worried about Draco there, you know. Hey you got Poppy asking for a staff meeting in the first chapter and you got McGonagall going to Dumbledore because of Severus. How much more evidence do you need that they're worried? More of the sort might come anyway. Lupin and the mousetrap? That might work. Severus does have plans for Lupin, you know. I'm still considering that one. As for return to normal, change, return to adulthood, stay a boy ... I really don't want to tell. It'd spoil the surprise. So anything I say about that comes with a big MAYBE. Severus and Hermione as friends is an interesting suggestion, but my plot goes a different way. I'm not all that interested in Hermione at the moment, but maybe someday in another fic ... I'd need another excuse to turn Snape into a boy however ... Hm ...
Kim - Well, too much stress makes people do funny things and I needed that friendship between Severus and Dumbledore suspended. Well, you did see Dumbledore's cold. As for points: They did loose 100 for that one stunt alone so well over 100 is a safe bet. The exact number however ... only Severus and the hourglasses can tell. Oh and he's busy taking revenge all the time.
Tatra - An illusion on the trap? Hmm ... Well, by now we all know that it was Vincent's homework.
Altra - Severus sure is the best at potions. There's no doubting that. But right now he is definitely not mature enough to teach. He'd create mayhem in class, just for fun.
Lana Mavi - Why, of course they want to be friends. They just don't think that's possible. Dumbledore didn't even realise how badly he hurt Severus. That trap gave him a hint though. As for G/D: I really don't know which way Ginny is taking that, but we're still trying to convince her. 'Come on Sevi, help us!'
caius julius - Well, Albus normally isn't the type to flip out over a little prank and he originally thought it was only a joke. He did get a little scared when Severus walked out however. But if you show a bunch of kids (especially Slytherins, but really even the nicest kids in the world) that you're scared of them you're as good as dead and any teacher knows that.
Himitsu Natsume - That broom ride might happen, though definitely not before chapter 11 (That's how far I have this planned at the moment.) but don't hold your breath waiting. Actually he has the mind of a boy with all the memories of his adult life. There is no prove that he really is 15 BTW! That's just an assumption Dumbledore made. Personally I suspect that he is younger. I guess it's not insanely funny, because I never intended it as a humour fic in the first place. There are jokes in there, but they are not my main objective. I don't write stories just to be funny. Sirius might be interesting indeed, but I don't care for him all that much and therefore don't think I could write him well. I could have him visit Harry or Dumbledore for some reason, but I'm not gonna do it because it would lead me even further away from my actual plot. Maybe you could write that story though. Tell me if you do. I promise to review.
Tia'RaHu - Hey, even as a kid Severus wants nothing more to do with the dark arts and Dumbledore still is a kind of father figure to him. He does care even though he said that he didn't. He's just very hurt and trying to hurt Albus back. I don't think Greenie lacks attention. Severus carries him around everywhere (even when sneaking around at night) and hedgehogs aren't very cuddly animals. They're loners by nature.
Breezie - Well, actually he is about as bad as all four Marauders together. He had to compete with them after all and he didn't have any friends to help him.
Dreamer - Didn't you notice that Severus' prank publicly humiliated Dumbledore too? The water was just to annoy him even more. Lucius hates Snape. He's probably happy about the situation though he doesn't expect it to last very long. I've heard about international schools, but I don't really know what they are. It seems very different from the normal Austrian schools. (as it has a lunch room and a break of over 40 minutes) I guess that punishment is legal because you are not kept after school and it isn't additional homework. Hm ... Could I use that as another detention? ... Ah, but we've seen them clean two rooms already. ... Still cleaning the great hall must be especially hard because of its size. I don't think liking Greenie is weird. Else I'd be weird too! ... Well, a lot of people think I am.
Also thanks to:
Great Milenko, Melissa Ivory, Rushumble
A/N - Was I right in giving Severus an E or do English pupils get 1es, 2s, ... 6es like Germans or 1es, 2es ... 5es like Austrians? Or totally different grades? please R/R
Still to come: The last mousetrap (in chapter 9, I promise), some more adventures at night, Severus promises to make a friend, but ends up fighting again, Neville makes another mistake in potions class and Blaise and Vincent try to get revenge on Severus
Disclaimer 2 - Draco drawing dragons belongs to PikaCheeka. Sorry I forgot to mention that in the first chapter. I sort of adopted the idea subconsciously.
Disclaimer 3 - Severus' raven belongs to J. L. Matthews. I just borrowed him because he's such a perfect pet for Sevi and promise to return him unharmed.
A/N - I'm really sorry this is so late, but I had a very busy week at work.
Chapter 8: Searching Trunks
Draco returned to his dorm after breakfast on Monday morning to find Vincent and Gregory kneeling on the floor hastily flinging stuff out of Vincent's trunk. Clothes, books and all sorts of other things were already strewn all over the room.
Severus quickly ducked to avoid being hit by a single sock that Gregory had just thrown over his shoulder and walked out grinning happily.
Draco stopped for a moment to look after him That was that very same grin he usually wore after successfully setting up one of his pranks. What was going on? Was another firecracker about to go off? Or was he about to walk into another mousetrap? If so why had Severus left the room? He usually stayed around to watch the results of his little traps.
Draco decided that the dorm was most likely safe and returned his attention to Vincent and Gregory who were still flinging various items of clothing around.
"What are you looking for?" he asked as he slipped past them to his bed, where he had left his book bag.
"My transfiguration essay." sighed Vincent. "McGonagall had me rewrite most of it and now I can't find it. I'm sure I put it right on top in my trunk and now it's gone."
Draco cast a look over the chaos in the room.
"Are you sure you didn't throw it out with all the rest of the stuff?" he asked doubtfully.
"Well ... maybe." admitted Vincent sheepishly after following Draco's look.
Draco lifted Vincent's dress robe and another single sock (Or did it belong with the first one?) off of his bag and threw them back into the trunk where they landed on Gregory's head.
Bump!
"Ow!"
Gregory must have hit his head on the wall of the trunk. He pulled his robe covered head out of the trunk and felt around with his hands like a blind man.
'Wonder what he's searching for.' thought Draco.
"I suggest that you put all your stuff back in more slowly and if you still don't find it start looking under the beds." he advised Vincent.
Vincent pulled his dress robe off of Gregory and started folding it up.
"Thanks!" muttered Gregory as the light returned to him as quickly as it had vanished. He gingerly felt the lump developing on his head where it had met with Vincent's trunk.
Draco felt slightly guilty for a moment, but then decided that there wasn't much damage that could be done to Gregory's head.
'Nothing in there anyway.' he thought.
"You might want to continue your search after history of magic, Vince." he smirked already at the door. "Or else you'll be late."
Both Draco and Severus spent history of magic drawing, of course. By now Draco knew better than to continue drawing during charms.
Severus however didn't seem to have learned anything from the last week's disaster and professor Flittwick ended up confiscating his portrait of Greenie sitting on his charms book and taking another ten points off Slytherin.
Draco didn't think about the morning's incident again until their transfigurations lesson when Vincent had to explain why he had no homework to professor McGonagall. McGonagall took five points off Slytherin and threatened Vincent with detention if he didn't turn it in by Wednesday.
At that moment Severus walked in and calmly handed her a piece of parchment.
Suddenly Draco remembered Severus throwing another piece of parchment into the fire and saying that it wasn't his. And Vincent couldn't find his homework? But it had been in his trunk. Another memory flashed up: Severus handing Susan a firecracker and saying that he stole it from Blaise's trunk. 'What, you went through our trunks!' shrieked Crabbe outraged. 'No, only Blaise's! Didn't have enough time to search the rest of you ... yet!' And Severus saying that he was 'working on it' when they left to play quiddich and when they returned he had been nearly done with his homework ...
"Well, I see you finally decided to do your homework." McGonagall told Severus sarcastically. "But next time could you probably try to arrive on time?"
"I had to take Greenie away." protested Severus. "Let me bring Greenie to class and I'll have no problem being here on time."
McGonagall expected him to pout and steeled herself to resist him, but he did not.
"Turn it into an ashtray and it is very welcome in my class." she said firmly. "Otherwise it has no busyness being here. Ten points off Slytherin for being late!"
Then she handed each of her pupils two stones and told them to turn them into a pair of slippers.
Draco didn't do too well that lesson. He couldn't concentrate on his stones. His mind kept wandering to Severus, homework, trunks and firecrackers. In the end his slippers were still gray and rather hard and uncomfortable.
Severus meanwhile had an unusually successful transfiguration lesson.
With an apologetic grin he handed his products in to McGonagall at the end of the lesson.
"Green boots, Severus?" Minerva asked incredulously. "One very large and one small? And they aren't a pair either. They're both left ones."
"But they are footwear and I did change the material." argued Severus. "You have to admit that I'm improving."
"Normally I'd still give you an F, but since I know that you tried and you did do your homework ..." she wrote a big E into her notebook.
Severus grinned proudly and walked down to the great hall feeling almost perfectly happy. His triumph didn't last long however.
His classmates glared at him angrily as he sat down for lunch.
"What's wrong?" he asked playing innocent.
"Did you really burn my homework?" asked Vincent barely able to contain his anger.
"Yes." stated Severus matter-of-factly.
"You broke into my trunk and stole my homework! And then you just threw it into the fire." shrieked Vincent.
"No, I copied it first." stated Severus. Then he suddenly switched to his cold persona. "Wanna make something off it?"
Vincent threw his glass of pumpkin juice into his face. Severus retaliated with a bowl of still very hot soup. Vincent screamed and Gregory reached for his plate ... and another food fight was raging at the Slytherin table.
Professor McGonagall hadn't yet arrived in the great hall. So the task of breaking up the fight fell to Dumbledore.
The headmaster was in a very bad mood. He had woken up with an even worse cold than last time and Madam Pomfrey hadn't been able to cure it completely. His nose was no longer running after the treatment, but he was still coughing and had a splitting headache and of course his ears were smoking from the potion. ... And he still didn't know how to handle the Slytherins.
He tried shouting at them, but it didn't do his sore throat any good and he soon was coughing more than screaming and the noise of the fighting Slytherins drowned his shouting almost completely.
The pupils from the other houses started sniggering or even laughing right out at the sight of their headmaster red faced with anger, shouting at the top of his lungs (when he wasn't coughing) with smoke rising from his ears.
The other teachers had to step in to help him and when McGonagall finally arrived, she and Hagrid managed to drag the Slytherins apart.
"What ... cough, cough ... is going on here?" croaked Dumbledore when Hagrid had finally managed to get an arm around both Gregory and Vincent and McGonagall had gotten a hold of Severus.
"That little thief broke into my trunk!" screeched Vincent still beside himself with rage.
Dumbledore didn't need to ask who the 'little thief' was. He sighed deeply. 'Not again!'
"Fifty ... cough ... points off Slytherin for ... cough ... fighting and wasting ... cough, cough ... food!" he announced. "Severus, ... cough ... please accompany ... cough, cough ... me to my ... cough ... office."
Severus followed him without protest. He knew Dumbledore was really angry this time. He had every right to be too.
Albus gestured for Severus to sit down in front of his desk and went to sit behind it. He conjured a cup of hot herbal tea to calm down his cough and they sat in silence until he had drunk it. Severus was staring down at his hands repeatedly clenching and unclenching them in his lap, refusing to look at the headmaster.
"So you broke into Mr. Crabbe's trunk." stated Dumbledore as soon as he trusted himself to speak again.
"Draco's too." admitted Severus so softly that Albus could barely hear him.
"Didn't you promise me not to steal anymore?"
"Only if you let me go to Hogsmeade and it wasn't really stealing. It was just a prank." Severus was still talking to his hands.
"Stealing is not a prank, Severus." said Dumbledore as gently as he could manage with his sore throat. "And you really shouldn't pull such bad pranks on your friends."
"I have no friends!" hissed Severus.
That hurt. Searching for a way to get Severus to relax and to get more control over his voice the headmaster conjured two more cups of tea, but Severus ignored his and continued staring at his hands.
"Severus, you're going too far with your pranks. I can accept and have even come to expect the occasional firecracker or biting teacup, but you can't just leave people tied up over night and you can't disturb people's private property."
"They did let you go, didn't they?" asked Severus. "I mean I expected them to. I wouldn't have left you all alone, you know, but they were all there. They wouldn't leave you."
"And what about stealing? I told you to come to me, if you needed anything."
"It was a prank." Severus repeated. "I didn't need anything."
Dumbledore sighed. He continued to try and talk some sense into Severus all through lunch break, but Severus just kept staring down and hardly said anything. Albus just couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Finally he let him go, because the next lessons were about to start. Severus didn't remind him that his next class would have been flying, which he didn't have to take.
"I didn't get any lunch." he mumbled instead.
"Well, you shouldn't have thrown it at your friends." stated Dumbledore. "Consider it your punishment."
"They're not my friends!" protested Severus.
Severus wanted to run back to his common room and cry on his bed, but he found Draco there and he definitely would not cry in front of him. So he just grabbed his bag and decided to go through with his original plan for the afternoon.
He walked into the library and straight towards the librarians desk. As he had hoped Dobby was alone.
"Dobby I need some books from the forbidden section." he announced as if he had every right to get them.
The house elf looked up from the sock he was knitting.
"Dobby can not give Sir books from the forbidden section, Sir." he said shaking his head sadly.
"Oh come on Dobby, I am a teacher. I don't need a pass. I could write one myself."
"Dobby can not give Sir books from the forbidden section, Sir." the house elf repeated. "Dobby can not give anyone books from the forbidden section. Not with pass. Not even teacher. Dobby is not allowed. If Sir needs books from the forbidden section, Sir has to come back later and ask Madam Pince. Dobby is not allowed, Sir. Dobby really wants to, but can't do it. No."
Severus left the library grumbling and returned to the common room where he found Draco sitting by the fire writing. (He was actually writing another song for his dragon bard, but Severus couldn't know that. Draco would never have let him see it.)
Severus sat down at the opposite end of the room and took out his pencils and parchment to draw. He spent most of the time left before DADA staring angrily at nothing however.
Draco looked up surprised. What was wrong with Severus? He had never looked this unapproachable when they were alone together before.
Defence against the dark arts was the same as it had been last week. Remus Lupin ignored both Severus and the Hufflepuffs while he was explaining the differences between werewolves and the catar who were often mistakenly called 'werecats'.
Severus got angrier and angrier. Professor Lupin might be the undoubted expert on werewolves, but Severus could have added lots to what he said about catar. They were one of his favourite topics.
He waved his hand in the air almost constantly, but Remus pretended not to see him.
Even Greenie the hedgehog looked a little sulky when the Slytherins walked out after the lesson.
Severus decided to teach Lupin a lesson. Let Dumbledore say whatever he liked. The werewolf deserved to be reminded of Severus' existence by extreme measures.
Draco decided to eat some of his every flavour beans before going to bed. He opened his trunk and ... Where were his sweets?
Draco was used to finding his sweets box empty. Gregory and Vincent often couldn't resist temptation and stole some of the sweets, but he couldn't remember them ever taking so many at once or taking the box itself as well. And they had never touched his pocket money before.
"Alright! Vincent! Gregory! Which one of you went over my trunk?" he demanded. They could have the sweets, but they had to give back his money.
"What? Your trunk?" asked Vincent confused. "Why would I?"
"To sneak out some of my sweets like you always do?" asked Draco back sarcastically. "Well, did you?"
"Oh yes, sometimes I do." Vincent admitted. "But not this time, honest."
Draco turned towards Gregory.
"So it was you."
"I only took two chocolate frogs." said Gregory. "I'm really sorry. I didn't think you'd miss them."
"You only took two chocolate frogs? And Vincent, you didn't take anything at all?" asked Draco confused.
They both nodded agreement.
"Then why is the whole box gone and where is my pocket money?"
Gregory and Vincent exchanged a look.
"We didn't take it." Vincent answered for them both.
"But if you didn't then who?"
They both shrugged.
"Well," said Blaise grinning maliciously. "let's be logical about it. Who in this dorm is a known thief?"
Four pairs of eyes turned accusing stares to where Severus was curled up on his bed reading. Severus sat up.
"What?" he demanded.
"Did you search my trunk, you little rat?" screamed Draco.
"Of course I did. Didn't you expect me to?" Severus said calmly. "I believe I even told you I'd do it sometime."
"Alright, where are my sweets?" Draco asked through clenched teeth.
Severus licked his lips demonstratively.
"Eaten."
"I want them back!" shouted Draco.
Severus threw him an empty chocolate frog wrapper.
"Oh come on, you'll get another boxful next weekend. What's the big deal? You wouldn't share with me so I took them all. Now we're even."
"And what about my money? There were fifty galleons in my trunk."
"Too late, I already spent it."
"Spent it? On what? Mousetraps?"
"Maybe." grinned Severus.
"You spent fifty galleons on mousetraps?" Draco sneered. "I don't believe you. You've still got that money and I want it back!"
"You can't have it." announced Severus coldly.
Five minutes later Vincent, Gregory and Blaise were once again on their way to the hospital wing. Draco had retreated into the bathroom hoping that cold water would be enough to stop his nose bleeding.
Serverus limped in after a while and went to the back of the room where he'd put Greenie's cage. Draco watched as he opened the cage, took out the hedgehog and left without a word.
Once his nose finally stopped bleeding Draco returned to the dorm. Severus was in bed cuddling Greenie as best he could without hurting himself.
Draco climbed into bed and lay there for a while waiting. Nothing happened. The silence in the room seemed oppressing.
"Where are the others?" he finally asked into the room. He was definitely not going to look at Severus.
"Staying in the hospital wing overnight, I bet. The way they limped out Poppy won't let them come back until tomorrow morning." stated Severus matter-of-factly.
"You were limping too." mumbled Draco.
"But I didn't go and show the nurse."
Draco wondered if Severus was grinning. He wasn't going to look though.
Slowly careful not to hurt any of the many sore spots on his body he got up and opened his trunk. He dug down to it's very bottom. Severus had most likely seen everything that was in there anyway. Draco pulled out his old teddy and returned to bed snuggling the little bear close to his body. That felt better.
"Oh Greenie, if only you were a little less spiky." he heard Severus mumble just before he fell asleep.
sphinx - Well, I really don't want to tell what happens in the end yet. Sorry. He gets along with Hermione just fine, but I'm keeping him friendless for a reason (and I suspect you can guess what I'm planning there even though you've never said anything of the sort). Neville I fear is not quite up to confronting the master of intimidation yet, but maybe he has lost a little of his fear. As for crisis: I'm not intending this to be an action story so don't expect Voldemort to drop in. We are nearing the big turning point in the story however. (Not telling what it is though, but expect the big cliff hanger at the end of chapter 9 or 10 if everything goes according to my current plan.) I too was worried about his pouts. That's why I stuck with puppy eyes during chapter 7. It might be that he won't use his main weapon all that much anymore now that he is no longer sure of Dumbledore's support. The teachers are on to him anyway.
Ludi - Rest assured that I never even thought of doing that to any of my teachers either, but I am not Severus and being a teacher himself he doesn't respect teachers all that much. He was going to let Albus go, but then Albus reminded him of their friendship, which meant very much to Severus and which he thinks is now lost. That's why he left him there. (He did expect the others to let him go though.)
Lunamew - Madam Hooch won't let him near her brooms. Neville has already damaged several beyond repair this year and Severus is sure to do the same and brooms aren't cheap. But maybe he will get a chance to ride a broom later. Severus: 'No, Idon't want to! Silverfox, I refuse to do that!' Umm ... well, you heard him. Maybe I'll try asking again in a few weeks.
the great bumblebee - Draco's homework? Oh no, he'd never do that. He likes Draco. I did not say that Severus had a lot of girlfriends. Draco thought that he must have had a lot, because of his real age. That's Draco's opinion and not mine. But he has been in love before and he did have two or three girlfriends. He has only one mousetrap left, so he can't put one on every seat. ... Well, he does have some money now, so I guess he could buy some ... if he could leave the school grounds and go into a shop. Hmm ... I admit I've been avoiding 'The Secret Keeper'. It sounds like a Peter or Sirius fic and I'm not really that interested in those two. But since you say it's so good I promise to give it a chance. Hope you found socks. 'One can never have enough socks, you know.' (I don't know if that's exactly how he said it, because I read the German version.)
gueneviere s. - I don't know what's gonna happen with Ginny and Draco. I have a plan, but Ginny won't cooperate. Honest some characters have a mind of their own.
Zedd - I don't think he'd try to transfigure Albus. Not because he doesn't want to turn him green, but because he is so bad at transfigurations. He would be afraid that by some miracle it would actually work and then how would he turn him back? He still likes Albus very much (sees him as a kind of father figure). He only pretended not to care to hide how hurt he is feeling from loosing Albus' friendship. (Albus hasn't realised that he thinks he has lost it though.)
Kim - Ah, another Greenie fan. I love that hedgehog, too. That's the only reason he's still in there. I was originally gonna let Severus hand him in to McGonagall at the end of the lesson, but then he was just so cute ...
bluemeanies - Well, Dobby didn't levitate those books, did he? I don't think he will actually destroy the library. A few books might not survive the experience and the pupils might get out of hand, but the library most likely will still stand in the end. Shy little Susan was afraid of detention and one really shouldn't leave one's headmaster tied up all wet on the floor overnight, you know.
crystal drake - Well, I don't think he needs a book of pranks right now and he definitely wouldn't find it in the forbidden section. He is looking for potions books, after all. And, believe me, he knows where to find them. (If only Dumbledore would let him at them.)
Nymphomaniac - Hey, it took me only one day longer than usual and you wouldn't have liked the first draft, trust me. I can't write this story when I'm depressed, you know. Check out my songfic if you want to know what happens when I'm not in a funny mood when I write. And I wasn't actually depressed when I wrote that one either (though my mother thought I must have been after she read it). Sorry I can't post faster than I write. I'm gonna try to hurry though.
Mike M 'Madman' Magic - Wow, that's a lot of Ms! Give my house 500 points? Hey, that would put us back into the positives! But I'm the author, so I guess I can't do that. The other houses don't want anything to do with any Slytherins. They're prejudiced, you know. (Not that they don't have reason to avoid Severus.) What's a shroom? I don't think I've heard that one before. Actually I never do think German when writing English. I sometimes even think English when I'm not even going to write the story I'm thinking up. A lot of this couldn't even be translated into German without changing it's meaning. There are things you can express in English that you never could in German and translating from German to English is way more difficult than thinking in English (among other things because I would use words in German that I don't know in English. Thinking in English I usually make due with the words I know.) No brake for Severus yet, but I promise that he will find a friend later on. (Now that was one of the secrets I wasn't going to spill just yet.)
Yosis - Ginny actually is nice. She's just scared of Draco. Wouldn't you be if you were a Weasley? She kind of doesn't work the way I want her to (maybe my inexperience with romance has something to do with that) so I can't really predict what's going to happen there.
Badtz-Maru - I'm actually a rather sad person, too and the sad side of the story is intentional. I'm glad that you see that, because the funny part is really just decoration. You can ignore the Ginny subplot if you want to. It's meant for decoration too and a bit of experimenting and practising on my part. The main story is still about Severus.
Prongs - Albus took 100 points off Slytherin. That was not an empty threat.
Tatiana - Am I really keeping them in character? I'm a bit worried about Draco there, you know. Hey you got Poppy asking for a staff meeting in the first chapter and you got McGonagall going to Dumbledore because of Severus. How much more evidence do you need that they're worried? More of the sort might come anyway. Lupin and the mousetrap? That might work. Severus does have plans for Lupin, you know. I'm still considering that one. As for return to normal, change, return to adulthood, stay a boy ... I really don't want to tell. It'd spoil the surprise. So anything I say about that comes with a big MAYBE. Severus and Hermione as friends is an interesting suggestion, but my plot goes a different way. I'm not all that interested in Hermione at the moment, but maybe someday in another fic ... I'd need another excuse to turn Snape into a boy however ... Hm ...
Kim - Well, too much stress makes people do funny things and I needed that friendship between Severus and Dumbledore suspended. Well, you did see Dumbledore's cold. As for points: They did loose 100 for that one stunt alone so well over 100 is a safe bet. The exact number however ... only Severus and the hourglasses can tell. Oh and he's busy taking revenge all the time.
Tatra - An illusion on the trap? Hmm ... Well, by now we all know that it was Vincent's homework.
Altra - Severus sure is the best at potions. There's no doubting that. But right now he is definitely not mature enough to teach. He'd create mayhem in class, just for fun.
Lana Mavi - Why, of course they want to be friends. They just don't think that's possible. Dumbledore didn't even realise how badly he hurt Severus. That trap gave him a hint though. As for G/D: I really don't know which way Ginny is taking that, but we're still trying to convince her. 'Come on Sevi, help us!'
caius julius - Well, Albus normally isn't the type to flip out over a little prank and he originally thought it was only a joke. He did get a little scared when Severus walked out however. But if you show a bunch of kids (especially Slytherins, but really even the nicest kids in the world) that you're scared of them you're as good as dead and any teacher knows that.
Himitsu Natsume - That broom ride might happen, though definitely not before chapter 11 (That's how far I have this planned at the moment.) but don't hold your breath waiting. Actually he has the mind of a boy with all the memories of his adult life. There is no prove that he really is 15 BTW! That's just an assumption Dumbledore made. Personally I suspect that he is younger. I guess it's not insanely funny, because I never intended it as a humour fic in the first place. There are jokes in there, but they are not my main objective. I don't write stories just to be funny. Sirius might be interesting indeed, but I don't care for him all that much and therefore don't think I could write him well. I could have him visit Harry or Dumbledore for some reason, but I'm not gonna do it because it would lead me even further away from my actual plot. Maybe you could write that story though. Tell me if you do. I promise to review.
Tia'RaHu - Hey, even as a kid Severus wants nothing more to do with the dark arts and Dumbledore still is a kind of father figure to him. He does care even though he said that he didn't. He's just very hurt and trying to hurt Albus back. I don't think Greenie lacks attention. Severus carries him around everywhere (even when sneaking around at night) and hedgehogs aren't very cuddly animals. They're loners by nature.
Breezie - Well, actually he is about as bad as all four Marauders together. He had to compete with them after all and he didn't have any friends to help him.
Dreamer - Didn't you notice that Severus' prank publicly humiliated Dumbledore too? The water was just to annoy him even more. Lucius hates Snape. He's probably happy about the situation though he doesn't expect it to last very long. I've heard about international schools, but I don't really know what they are. It seems very different from the normal Austrian schools. (as it has a lunch room and a break of over 40 minutes) I guess that punishment is legal because you are not kept after school and it isn't additional homework. Hm ... Could I use that as another detention? ... Ah, but we've seen them clean two rooms already. ... Still cleaning the great hall must be especially hard because of its size. I don't think liking Greenie is weird. Else I'd be weird too! ... Well, a lot of people think I am.
Also thanks to:
Great Milenko, Melissa Ivory, Rushumble
A/N - Was I right in giving Severus an E or do English pupils get 1es, 2s, ... 6es like Germans or 1es, 2es ... 5es like Austrians? Or totally different grades? please R/R
Still to come: The last mousetrap (in chapter 9, I promise), some more adventures at night, Severus promises to make a friend, but ends up fighting again, Neville makes another mistake in potions class and Blaise and Vincent try to get revenge on Severus