Unexpected Encounter : Chapter Five
Disclaimer : as you know I don't own any of the character's or concepts that are in the Harry Potter books. They all belong to J. K. Rowling. No money is being made here. Just me here, writing a story.
Author's notes : Aah. finally a nice clear win for Harry/Sev. thank you to all the voters. hehe.. if you want to know what I would have had planned for the story if it had ended differently don't hesitate to e-mail me. I was a bit surprised to get a few votes for Sev/Sirius, to be honest I never even considered that. I'm glad that the pairing for this fic is now certain. I suspect that you as the readers are too, since I've left that part of the fic hanging for four chapters already. I do hope you will still read it even if the pairing is not to your liking, but I can't stop you at all. What I can do though is recommend you go look at my favorite stories list. I finally got around to doing that. I think there are about fifteen fics of different ships there that I absolutely loved reading, so if you don't like mine I can always redirect you to something that suits you more. Now? oh yes. on to the story.
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Dumbledore felt that it would be best if they waited until morning to sort everything out. It was quite late and they were all starting to feel the need for sleep. After a round of goodnights Dumbledore's head disappeared from the Weasley's fire place and everyone shuffled up the stairs to bed.
The Headmaster chuckled to himself as he walked back towards Severus' rooms. He had said goodnight to everyone before Sirius had time to question him further. Dumbledore felt that Sirius was definitely capable of teaching Severus' classes if need be, but he dearly hoped that they would have their potions master up and teaching again at the beginning of this year.
Dumbledore took out his wand as he neared Severus' chambers. He was going to set up a barrier around his bed. They had no idea how Severus would react and he really did think a rampaging vampire in the school would pose to be a problem. That reminded him he would need to have a staff meeting to make sure everyone knew about Severus' condition.
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The next morning Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sirius got ready to go to leave the Burrow. Before going to Hogwarts, they were going to floo into Diagon Alley and buy their school supplies for the upcoming year. From there they would floo over to Hogsmeade where a Hogwarts' carriage would take them up to the school at a quarter to noon.
Later that day, the four of them sat around a table at The Three Broomsticks drinking butterbeers. Sirius had shrunk their trunks which were lined up next to one another atop of a pile of napkins. Madame Rosmerta came up to their table to inform them when the Hogwarts' carriage had arrived.
The ride to Hogwarts was short and uneventful. Hermione and Harry had found the black carriage to be quite interesting though since the elegant black carriage had no coachman nor any horses.
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Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were awaiting their arrival. Harry smiled up at the stone castle. He loved the feeling that he got each year he returned to Hogwarts. This is what it feels like to come home.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts." said Dumbledore as he directed them all into the school. "We can send some of the house-elves to take your belongings down to your rooms." Sirius took the four minuscule trunks from his pocket and enlarging them to their normal size. A few house-elves popped next to the trunks and disappeared with them.
"Siri!" called Remus as the came up the dungeon steps giving everyone a hug. "Remus, have you eaten lunch?" asked McGonagall. "I believe that's where we are all headed for right now. Are the rest of you hungry?" she asked turning to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Sirius who was just released from another hug. "I'm definitely ready for lunch." spoke up Sirius. "Me too." added Ron. Hermione smiled slightly. 'Wonder what is more important to him; me or his stomach.' she thought before Ron grabbed her hand and dragged her into the Great Hall.
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The Great Hall doors swung open as they approached. They usually stayed open during the school year since there were always students streaming in and out. The four were surprised to see Draco sitting at the head table eating next to Professor Vector.
Siruis openly gapped. "Malfoy? Haven't you been missing for the last few weeks. How long have you been here? I've been looking for you for weeks and you're sitting here at Hogwarts eating lunch?" During Sirius' rambling the trio had made it over to the head table. Harry plopped himself down next to Draco. Currently Hermione and Ron were farther down the table talking to Hagrid.
"So you were the son of the missing ministry personnel. Sirius is pissed since he got stuck in a quicksand pit somewhere on your Manor. So have you been caught up in all of this?" Draco smiled back slightly "Yeah I do seem to be caught up in all this as you put it. I'd ask you the same thing, but of course you're the great Harry Potter and everything of importance in the wizarding world must be linked to you."
"Now Mr. Malfoy, I know that you two can be on friendlier terms than that. Let's keep to lighter topics for now though. How about we leave the more serious matters until after we are all finished eating." said Dumbledore as he turned to assure Sirius that he had already told the ministry that morning about Draco Malfoy's recovery who was now whining about how long it had taken him to clean off all that sand.
Hermione and Ron can over. The trio tried to pry some information out of Draco, but being the Slytherin that he was, they wouldn't have been able to get anything out of him. When pressured further, he replied that they would find out soon enough and if they didn't stop pestering him the would never find out. With that he turned to the Headmaster and asked to be pardoned from the table.
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Dumbledore stood up when they had all finished. The four got up and followed the Headmaster down into the dungeons. Harry was rather lost. 'Why are we headed for the dungeons? The person had been severely hurt. Shouldn't they Madame Pompfrey be looking after them? I know if I had been hurt that badly she wouldn't let me out for weeks. Wonder how they got away from her? Oh my, what if they're dead. Would Dumbledore take us down to see a corpse? It is colder down here, maybe the body will keep better.'
Harry's mind started to list through all the professors that he had seen. Dumbledore was alive of course. Professor McGonagall was fine. Who else? He had seen Professors Vector, Sprout, Flitwick, Sinistra Hagrid and Remus at lunch. He'd have to get used to calling him Professor Lupin again. Who could it have been? They hadn't seem Trewlanly, Snape or Binns, but then again Professor Binns was already dead, and that still didn't explain why they were in the dungeons. '
Harry broke off from his trail of thought and looked over at his two friends. Ron looked rather grim but seemed to be just blindly following the Headmaster's footsteps. Hermione who was in deep thought, probably pondering the same questions as Harry. She would have walked into a wall if Ron wasn't holding on to her hand.
As they walked deeper into the dungeons, Harry noticed that these hallways seemed familiar. They were the ones that led to the Slytherin common rooms. When they got to the common room entrance though, Dumbledore veered off to a narrower hallway on his left. Then it finally hit him, and seemly Hermione had reached the same conclusion since she let out a gasp and looked over at Harry. "Professor Snape." Voldemort must have finally caught on.
Dumbledore knew that they were worried about Professor Snape's condition. Even Sirius was worried, although he would never confess to it even under Veritaserum. "Do not worry. Professor Snape is all right. We were just talking to him this morning." They looked more relieved, but he could still see that Harry was still tense. 'What did you see last night my boy?' he wondered.
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The Headmaster was worried about the relationship between Severus and the trio. After they had found out about him being a spy they had gotten to know their Potions professor much better. He knew that Hermione sometimes went to Professor Snape for advice once in a while when Harry slipped into one of his depressed moods that they couldn't snap him out of. Ron coming from a old wizarding family did have its prejudices. Even though the Weasleys were not anti-Muggle, when Ron had found out that Remus was a werewolf he had avoided him like the plague. Even though they were on friendly terms now, Ron still was edgy around him when a full moon was approaching. Harry had spent even more time talking with the potions professor and had the both of them had finally found someone that they could relate to. Dumbledore was quite grateful that Harry did not feel as pressured by his responsibilities as he was before he started talking to Severus. Their chats were really good for both of them.
Ron and Hermione had always been there for him, but they had had such relatively stable lives. They didn't live trying to constantly repress their fear of tomorrow and act 'normally' just so that everyone else around them could feel assured that all was right in the world.
Harry hadn't been as good as Severus at 'playing the game.' He couldn't hide all his emotions. He soon realized that people were extremely judgmental of appearances. The wizarding world needed him to keep up a optimistic facade. If he let his worries slip he could instantly spark chaos. The wizarding world saw him as a hero, but what they really needed him for was the hope that he represented.
Professor Snape was different though. He didn't see Harry as some shining beacon of hope. Actually the idea of Harry Potter being their savior did not bring him much hope at all. Working as a spy for Voldemort had left him playing a complicated role in life. He had seen what Voldemort was capable of doing. The Dark Lord wasn't very strong at the moment, but was certainly growing increasing stronger. He needed to teach Potter how to be stronger than Voldemort without raising suspicion in the school. With spies and young Death Eaters in the making this was a very difficult task.
After Potter's fourth year, he had tried harder to prepare him. The incident at the tournament was proof that Voldemort could get to Harry. Potter had made it out alive, but they could all see that he only got out because he was lucky. Next time, and they all knew there would be a next time, and he might not be as lucky.
In Harry's fifth year he had slipped into a state of depression. It was very subtle and no one really noticed. Most just figured that it was a sign of him growing up. Harry was more serious now. He was quieter, calmer and spent more time studying. He talked less to his friends.
His friends were so happy that he didn't want to bring them down with his long list of worries. He knew that they kept up their constant cheerful mood in hopes of cheering him up, but it wasn't working. On the contrary it was starting to grate on his nerves. Part of him felt resentful of their happiness, and such thought just made him feel worse about himself. Couldn't he find it in his heart to be happy for his friends. Wasn't their being happy mean enough to him for him to be happy as well.
They seemed so young and innocent, while he felt so tainted. They seemed so childish that it was annoying. Could they not see that the wizarding world was on the verge of war? Perhaps he had been forced to grow up too quickly, but he no longer thought they way then did. He had encountered the darkness face to face. It had red eyes and it wanted him to suffer.
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Harry had never had a decent childhood. When he had lived with his parents he had been so young. The Dursleys had always been so preoccupied with Dudley to even acknowledge that Harry was a human being. For him, his first year at Hogwarts was the closest thing to a childhood. Well at least until Voldemort tried to kill him through Quirrell. Regardless of why though, he just could not bring himself to talk to his friends about all his worries.
He still need his friends though. He didn't know what he would do without them, probably end up like Snape. Upon seeing this he began to realize how much they were linked. It had been a slow friendship that they had managed to build over Harry's fifth year, but it had done wonders for Harry. He had needed someone to listen to him and give him advice. Snape had already seen so many terrible things during his life that Harry did not need to fear that he would scare him by telling him about his thoughts, fears and visions, some of which he would have had a very difficult time talking to Ron and Hermione about.
Harry could have always gone to see Dumbledore, but the Headmaster always seemed more concerned with giving Harry a normal school life as possible. As much as Harry appreciated this, he felt he needed to address some of his concerns. Dumbledore's advice was always too cryptic and was usually followed by an abrupt change of topics. Professor Snape on the other hand was willing to listen and to give Harry enough advice for him to figure out the rest himself.
It was also easier for Harry to talk to his Potions professor since there wasn't such a large age gap. Dumbledore was ancient, but Professor Snape was actually even younger than Sirius and Remus. His parents had been very powerful wizards, and were teachers as well. After he had completed a round of tests and interviews by a number of different Headmasters, he had been allowed to start his magical education the early age of eight. His parents had decided that he would attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He may have been younger but his magical abilities were up to par with some of the most dedicated students in his year. Professors and students alike soon learned not to underestimate the young Snape. He didn't made an effort to make friends and kept mostly to himself. He knew that being sorted into Slytherin he "could achieve greatness" which was exactly what he wanted.
Severus had been raised by his Nanny. She was an old witch that spent too much time talking to her beloved cats to spare him any attention. Severus thought that she smelled odd, rather like cabbage. He felt that if he achieved greatness that finally someone other than her would notice that he was actually there but everyone seemed to be too busy. All his life he had grown up surrounded by servants but was always alone. Since he was the 'young master' there appeared to be an unwritten rule that they were only there to serve. It was nice to have someone that would seek out his company just to talk once in awhile.
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It had been difficult but at the time Professor Snape was the person most likely to tell Harry what was really going on. Dumbledore was too cryptic, McGonagall was too strict for Harry to approach her, and the rest of the staff plainly didn't know as much. Hagrid had even asked Dumbledore to only tell him the bare minimum when it came to information since the trio always managed to find out what he knew.
Professor Snape was someone that Harry had truly begun to respect and depend upon, not just as a source of information but someone that had made an impact on his life. This realization dawned on him as they stopped in front of a portrait of a beautiful girl with pale skin and blue ribbons laced into her long black hair.
She gracefully stood up from the cozy armchair that she had been reading in and curtsied, fanning out a blue dress that matched her eyes. "Good afternoon Professor Dumbledore. I see you have brought more guests." the Headmaster smiled at the painting of one of his former students. "Yes, we are here once again to see Professor Snape. How is he?" "The last time I checked up on him, he had just woken up. He and young Master Draco are currently in the sitting room." she paused and stepped into another frame, appearing again momentarily "Please come in." the portrait swung open.
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katz_nipp written : September 22, 2002 edited : January 11. 2004
Disclaimer : as you know I don't own any of the character's or concepts that are in the Harry Potter books. They all belong to J. K. Rowling. No money is being made here. Just me here, writing a story.
Author's notes : Aah. finally a nice clear win for Harry/Sev. thank you to all the voters. hehe.. if you want to know what I would have had planned for the story if it had ended differently don't hesitate to e-mail me. I was a bit surprised to get a few votes for Sev/Sirius, to be honest I never even considered that. I'm glad that the pairing for this fic is now certain. I suspect that you as the readers are too, since I've left that part of the fic hanging for four chapters already. I do hope you will still read it even if the pairing is not to your liking, but I can't stop you at all. What I can do though is recommend you go look at my favorite stories list. I finally got around to doing that. I think there are about fifteen fics of different ships there that I absolutely loved reading, so if you don't like mine I can always redirect you to something that suits you more. Now? oh yes. on to the story.
_______________________________________________
Dumbledore felt that it would be best if they waited until morning to sort everything out. It was quite late and they were all starting to feel the need for sleep. After a round of goodnights Dumbledore's head disappeared from the Weasley's fire place and everyone shuffled up the stairs to bed.
The Headmaster chuckled to himself as he walked back towards Severus' rooms. He had said goodnight to everyone before Sirius had time to question him further. Dumbledore felt that Sirius was definitely capable of teaching Severus' classes if need be, but he dearly hoped that they would have their potions master up and teaching again at the beginning of this year.
Dumbledore took out his wand as he neared Severus' chambers. He was going to set up a barrier around his bed. They had no idea how Severus would react and he really did think a rampaging vampire in the school would pose to be a problem. That reminded him he would need to have a staff meeting to make sure everyone knew about Severus' condition.
_______________________
The next morning Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sirius got ready to go to leave the Burrow. Before going to Hogwarts, they were going to floo into Diagon Alley and buy their school supplies for the upcoming year. From there they would floo over to Hogsmeade where a Hogwarts' carriage would take them up to the school at a quarter to noon.
Later that day, the four of them sat around a table at The Three Broomsticks drinking butterbeers. Sirius had shrunk their trunks which were lined up next to one another atop of a pile of napkins. Madame Rosmerta came up to their table to inform them when the Hogwarts' carriage had arrived.
The ride to Hogwarts was short and uneventful. Hermione and Harry had found the black carriage to be quite interesting though since the elegant black carriage had no coachman nor any horses.
_______________________
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were awaiting their arrival. Harry smiled up at the stone castle. He loved the feeling that he got each year he returned to Hogwarts. This is what it feels like to come home.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts." said Dumbledore as he directed them all into the school. "We can send some of the house-elves to take your belongings down to your rooms." Sirius took the four minuscule trunks from his pocket and enlarging them to their normal size. A few house-elves popped next to the trunks and disappeared with them.
"Siri!" called Remus as the came up the dungeon steps giving everyone a hug. "Remus, have you eaten lunch?" asked McGonagall. "I believe that's where we are all headed for right now. Are the rest of you hungry?" she asked turning to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Sirius who was just released from another hug. "I'm definitely ready for lunch." spoke up Sirius. "Me too." added Ron. Hermione smiled slightly. 'Wonder what is more important to him; me or his stomach.' she thought before Ron grabbed her hand and dragged her into the Great Hall.
_______________________
The Great Hall doors swung open as they approached. They usually stayed open during the school year since there were always students streaming in and out. The four were surprised to see Draco sitting at the head table eating next to Professor Vector.
Siruis openly gapped. "Malfoy? Haven't you been missing for the last few weeks. How long have you been here? I've been looking for you for weeks and you're sitting here at Hogwarts eating lunch?" During Sirius' rambling the trio had made it over to the head table. Harry plopped himself down next to Draco. Currently Hermione and Ron were farther down the table talking to Hagrid.
"So you were the son of the missing ministry personnel. Sirius is pissed since he got stuck in a quicksand pit somewhere on your Manor. So have you been caught up in all of this?" Draco smiled back slightly "Yeah I do seem to be caught up in all this as you put it. I'd ask you the same thing, but of course you're the great Harry Potter and everything of importance in the wizarding world must be linked to you."
"Now Mr. Malfoy, I know that you two can be on friendlier terms than that. Let's keep to lighter topics for now though. How about we leave the more serious matters until after we are all finished eating." said Dumbledore as he turned to assure Sirius that he had already told the ministry that morning about Draco Malfoy's recovery who was now whining about how long it had taken him to clean off all that sand.
Hermione and Ron can over. The trio tried to pry some information out of Draco, but being the Slytherin that he was, they wouldn't have been able to get anything out of him. When pressured further, he replied that they would find out soon enough and if they didn't stop pestering him the would never find out. With that he turned to the Headmaster and asked to be pardoned from the table.
_______________________
Dumbledore stood up when they had all finished. The four got up and followed the Headmaster down into the dungeons. Harry was rather lost. 'Why are we headed for the dungeons? The person had been severely hurt. Shouldn't they Madame Pompfrey be looking after them? I know if I had been hurt that badly she wouldn't let me out for weeks. Wonder how they got away from her? Oh my, what if they're dead. Would Dumbledore take us down to see a corpse? It is colder down here, maybe the body will keep better.'
Harry's mind started to list through all the professors that he had seen. Dumbledore was alive of course. Professor McGonagall was fine. Who else? He had seen Professors Vector, Sprout, Flitwick, Sinistra Hagrid and Remus at lunch. He'd have to get used to calling him Professor Lupin again. Who could it have been? They hadn't seem Trewlanly, Snape or Binns, but then again Professor Binns was already dead, and that still didn't explain why they were in the dungeons. '
Harry broke off from his trail of thought and looked over at his two friends. Ron looked rather grim but seemed to be just blindly following the Headmaster's footsteps. Hermione who was in deep thought, probably pondering the same questions as Harry. She would have walked into a wall if Ron wasn't holding on to her hand.
As they walked deeper into the dungeons, Harry noticed that these hallways seemed familiar. They were the ones that led to the Slytherin common rooms. When they got to the common room entrance though, Dumbledore veered off to a narrower hallway on his left. Then it finally hit him, and seemly Hermione had reached the same conclusion since she let out a gasp and looked over at Harry. "Professor Snape." Voldemort must have finally caught on.
Dumbledore knew that they were worried about Professor Snape's condition. Even Sirius was worried, although he would never confess to it even under Veritaserum. "Do not worry. Professor Snape is all right. We were just talking to him this morning." They looked more relieved, but he could still see that Harry was still tense. 'What did you see last night my boy?' he wondered.
_______________________
The Headmaster was worried about the relationship between Severus and the trio. After they had found out about him being a spy they had gotten to know their Potions professor much better. He knew that Hermione sometimes went to Professor Snape for advice once in a while when Harry slipped into one of his depressed moods that they couldn't snap him out of. Ron coming from a old wizarding family did have its prejudices. Even though the Weasleys were not anti-Muggle, when Ron had found out that Remus was a werewolf he had avoided him like the plague. Even though they were on friendly terms now, Ron still was edgy around him when a full moon was approaching. Harry had spent even more time talking with the potions professor and had the both of them had finally found someone that they could relate to. Dumbledore was quite grateful that Harry did not feel as pressured by his responsibilities as he was before he started talking to Severus. Their chats were really good for both of them.
Ron and Hermione had always been there for him, but they had had such relatively stable lives. They didn't live trying to constantly repress their fear of tomorrow and act 'normally' just so that everyone else around them could feel assured that all was right in the world.
Harry hadn't been as good as Severus at 'playing the game.' He couldn't hide all his emotions. He soon realized that people were extremely judgmental of appearances. The wizarding world needed him to keep up a optimistic facade. If he let his worries slip he could instantly spark chaos. The wizarding world saw him as a hero, but what they really needed him for was the hope that he represented.
Professor Snape was different though. He didn't see Harry as some shining beacon of hope. Actually the idea of Harry Potter being their savior did not bring him much hope at all. Working as a spy for Voldemort had left him playing a complicated role in life. He had seen what Voldemort was capable of doing. The Dark Lord wasn't very strong at the moment, but was certainly growing increasing stronger. He needed to teach Potter how to be stronger than Voldemort without raising suspicion in the school. With spies and young Death Eaters in the making this was a very difficult task.
After Potter's fourth year, he had tried harder to prepare him. The incident at the tournament was proof that Voldemort could get to Harry. Potter had made it out alive, but they could all see that he only got out because he was lucky. Next time, and they all knew there would be a next time, and he might not be as lucky.
In Harry's fifth year he had slipped into a state of depression. It was very subtle and no one really noticed. Most just figured that it was a sign of him growing up. Harry was more serious now. He was quieter, calmer and spent more time studying. He talked less to his friends.
His friends were so happy that he didn't want to bring them down with his long list of worries. He knew that they kept up their constant cheerful mood in hopes of cheering him up, but it wasn't working. On the contrary it was starting to grate on his nerves. Part of him felt resentful of their happiness, and such thought just made him feel worse about himself. Couldn't he find it in his heart to be happy for his friends. Wasn't their being happy mean enough to him for him to be happy as well.
They seemed so young and innocent, while he felt so tainted. They seemed so childish that it was annoying. Could they not see that the wizarding world was on the verge of war? Perhaps he had been forced to grow up too quickly, but he no longer thought they way then did. He had encountered the darkness face to face. It had red eyes and it wanted him to suffer.
_______________________
Harry had never had a decent childhood. When he had lived with his parents he had been so young. The Dursleys had always been so preoccupied with Dudley to even acknowledge that Harry was a human being. For him, his first year at Hogwarts was the closest thing to a childhood. Well at least until Voldemort tried to kill him through Quirrell. Regardless of why though, he just could not bring himself to talk to his friends about all his worries.
He still need his friends though. He didn't know what he would do without them, probably end up like Snape. Upon seeing this he began to realize how much they were linked. It had been a slow friendship that they had managed to build over Harry's fifth year, but it had done wonders for Harry. He had needed someone to listen to him and give him advice. Snape had already seen so many terrible things during his life that Harry did not need to fear that he would scare him by telling him about his thoughts, fears and visions, some of which he would have had a very difficult time talking to Ron and Hermione about.
Harry could have always gone to see Dumbledore, but the Headmaster always seemed more concerned with giving Harry a normal school life as possible. As much as Harry appreciated this, he felt he needed to address some of his concerns. Dumbledore's advice was always too cryptic and was usually followed by an abrupt change of topics. Professor Snape on the other hand was willing to listen and to give Harry enough advice for him to figure out the rest himself.
It was also easier for Harry to talk to his Potions professor since there wasn't such a large age gap. Dumbledore was ancient, but Professor Snape was actually even younger than Sirius and Remus. His parents had been very powerful wizards, and were teachers as well. After he had completed a round of tests and interviews by a number of different Headmasters, he had been allowed to start his magical education the early age of eight. His parents had decided that he would attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He may have been younger but his magical abilities were up to par with some of the most dedicated students in his year. Professors and students alike soon learned not to underestimate the young Snape. He didn't made an effort to make friends and kept mostly to himself. He knew that being sorted into Slytherin he "could achieve greatness" which was exactly what he wanted.
Severus had been raised by his Nanny. She was an old witch that spent too much time talking to her beloved cats to spare him any attention. Severus thought that she smelled odd, rather like cabbage. He felt that if he achieved greatness that finally someone other than her would notice that he was actually there but everyone seemed to be too busy. All his life he had grown up surrounded by servants but was always alone. Since he was the 'young master' there appeared to be an unwritten rule that they were only there to serve. It was nice to have someone that would seek out his company just to talk once in awhile.
_______________________
It had been difficult but at the time Professor Snape was the person most likely to tell Harry what was really going on. Dumbledore was too cryptic, McGonagall was too strict for Harry to approach her, and the rest of the staff plainly didn't know as much. Hagrid had even asked Dumbledore to only tell him the bare minimum when it came to information since the trio always managed to find out what he knew.
Professor Snape was someone that Harry had truly begun to respect and depend upon, not just as a source of information but someone that had made an impact on his life. This realization dawned on him as they stopped in front of a portrait of a beautiful girl with pale skin and blue ribbons laced into her long black hair.
She gracefully stood up from the cozy armchair that she had been reading in and curtsied, fanning out a blue dress that matched her eyes. "Good afternoon Professor Dumbledore. I see you have brought more guests." the Headmaster smiled at the painting of one of his former students. "Yes, we are here once again to see Professor Snape. How is he?" "The last time I checked up on him, he had just woken up. He and young Master Draco are currently in the sitting room." she paused and stepped into another frame, appearing again momentarily "Please come in." the portrait swung open.
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katz_nipp written : September 22, 2002 edited : January 11. 2004