A/N: This is part one of two; it takes place the night that Harry and Ron crash into the Whomping Willow; slash occurs in part two.
Boundaries and How to Cross Them (1/2)
by Elfhelm
He's angry. I have never seen him as angry as he is in this moment. It began with yet another argument of the young mister Potter and has escalated steadily over the past hour and a half. Now we're shouting, railing at one another. The crackling of power in the air is almost visible and any normal human being would have long ago fled – I'm still fighting with him.
He is standing behind his desk, leaning toward me with something in his eyes that doesn't seem to belong there – malice. I'm standing as well, and I'm spitting while I yell in his face. Childish though my argument may be, I have every right to make it because I'm right and it's not fair. It's not fair that Potter and his friends can all but murder a fellow student and get away with it while my Slytherins are punished for being… Slytherin! It's not fair that he devotes his time and attention to people like Lupin and Black while ignoring those that truly need his help! It's not fair that he ignored /me/ until he needed me for something.
"If it were any other child in this school, he'd be on his way home!"
My lips curl into a sneer as his brow furrows in fury. He knows. He knows that I'm right. He must. He leans further over the desk and he takes up my entire vision. His voice is deadly calm, so different from his shouts only a few minutes before.
"But he is not."
I stand back and spit on the floor. On his precious stone floor. On his castle and his so-called morals. His eyes narrow and my own voice becomes a snarl,
"If it were I, you would not be so forgiving."
He moves around the desk and I back up, pointing my wand at his chest. Pure instinct. He glances at it and the energy in the room goes cold.
"You," he says while laying a hand over my wand, "are different. I have forgiven you for offenses that I should not have. You do not deserve what I give him." My wand crumbles like so much ash under his touch.
Some part of me is stunned, I know enough to know that I've gone too far. Another part of me, however, is thrilled at his anger. I did this - I provoked the great Albus Dumbledore so much that he is now standing over me and backing me against the wall. I think I must be too stupid or crazy to be afraid. It must be one of the two, because I still don't shut up.
"Because I'm Slytherin and he's Gryffindor!" I whip my head to the side to push stubborn pieces of hair away from my eyes, "Because he's the son of your precious James, and I'm nothing! Nothing!"
"No!" He's shouting again and his voice sounds like thunder to my ears. "Because he's better than you, Severus! I am tired of your jealousy and your schoolboy grudges. You come here every week and complain that Harry gets better treatment than you ever did." He presses his face closer to mine as he quiets his rage, "Get out."
My eyes widen and I freeze as though I've been slapped, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Severus. Get out of my castle."
I try to back up but only hit the wall. I glare at him but dare not say anything more. When he moves to step toward me again, I stalk out of his office with as much dignity as I can muster. Without stopping at my rooms - what do I really own, anyway? - I make my way to the main entrance, knocking over suits of armor and anything else I encounter in pubescent retribution. I bang open the doors of the castle and don't spare it a second glance as I walk swiftly down to the gates. I can hear the students and faculty gathering in the entrance hall at the commotion my leaving caused, but I ignore their shouts and continue into the gathering dusk feeling slightly vindicated that at least he can't use me for information anymore.
TBC.
