A/N – Thanks for the encouraging reviews, everybody! The chapters are taking me a little longer than I expected, but since all my friends are away on vacation I'll be spending a lot of time here. That should make up for it, right?

LeeLeePotter – I now know what a spoiler warning is! Woo-hoo!

Also, I'm sorry if I don't make Snape seem mean enough… I'm a nice person, so it's hard for me, lol. If you think Snape needs to be meaner, give me some suggestions. Thanks again!

Disclaimers – I own nada, I just have nothing better to do with my time than make up sick stories about teachers and students… * Did I say that out loud? *

Warnings – I'm copying and pasting the same one as last time because I'm a lazy ass.

This story is all about slash!!! If you're homophobic or under 17 I suggest you leave. (Unless you wont tattle to your parents, lol) In later chapters this story will reach its R rating, but for now it's just PG

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Chapter 2 = Hard Decisions

No matter how hard he tried, Harry could not keep his eyes open during his History of Magic class.

Professor Binns was droning on about an ancient Goblin civilization, completely oblivious to the fact that half his class was asleep and the other half was in the process of falling asleep. Even Hermione was staring off into space. Of course, she had already read the chapter so she was entitled.

Harry's drooping eyelids could also be blamed on his lack of sleep the night before. He had lain awake, thinking about his future. Because despite all the nasty things he'd heard about the trials of Aurors, Harry still wanted to become one. After all, he was quite good at finding out where trouble was.

More like trouble finds out where I am, Harry thought dryly. But that was not what had worried Harry into tossing and turning, rather than sleeping as he should've been.

What bothered him was that pursuing a career as an Auror meant that he'd have to dedicate himself to becoming a better student. This included dramatically raising his grade in Potions. And Harry knew that the only way this could be achieved was if he was tutored. Even as he shuddered to think it, Harry realized that the best person to ask was Snape.

Snape, with his icy black eyes and cruel sneer. God, how he loathed that man. And why shouldn't he, when the man seemed to have devoted his every waking moment to getting Harry expelled from Hogwarts.

But, Harry thought, Growing up means letting go of childish grudges. I have to do this. He kept repeating that sentence, hoping it would give him some peace of mind before it was time to go and 'face the music.'

"Class dismissed, " Professor Binns announced in the same monotonous tone as usual. The entire class collected their things and left the room, strangely resembling a mob of brainless zombies.

Ron groaned suddenly and Hermione looked at him curiously. "We have potions next… With the Slytherins, wonderful."

"Ron, we've been doing this for six years, you'd think you'd be used to it by now." Hermione sighed in exasperation. She had no special love for that class either, but at least she had the dignity not to whine about it. Ron was great, but sometimes he reminded her of a big baby.

Harry was busy ignoring them while thinking of what he should say to Snape after class, and also how to hold his temper in check when Snape inevitably insulted he and his friends. He couldn't afford to have Snape say no just because Harry had felt the need to defend himself. It was useless anyway, Snape would say and do as he pleased. He actually kind of admired Snape for not caring what anyone thought of him.

Whoa, where did that come from? Harry flinched, realizing he had just complimented Severus Snape. At least no one heard it…

The trio had just reached the entrance to the Potions dungeon and Harry was pulled out of his troubled reverie. He kept his eyes away from the front of the room and sat in a seat near the middle, hoping to blend in.

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"Everybody take their seats, " Snape said in his eerily quiet voice. He surveyed the room quickly and was rewarded with the sight of Neville Longbottom knocking over his cauldron in his haste to sit.

Snape sneered and called out, "Mr. Longbottom, I suggest you keep your incompetence to a minimum, that is, unless you would prefer to have a detention with me, boy." It wasn't his words that caused the room to become silent and tense, it was the hostility held within them. The class seemed to hold its breath, waiting to see what happened next.

Neville stared at his desk, letting out a small sigh of relief when Snape stopped glaring at him and turned to face the board. "Now, the potion you'll learn today is easy enough for even your small minds to comprehend," Snape said as words began forming on the board. "Potter!" Harry looked up from his notes. "What are the effects of these components when mixed?"

Harry studied the board carefully, as Malfoy and his goonies sniggered in the back. Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "It should turn lighter as the ingredients are added, and end up a light purple. It works like a Polyjuice potion, but is meant to change you into an animal, and lasts one hour." Malfoy was quiet.

Snape stared at Potter for a split second before saying, "Yes. Well, as I'm sure these notes are self-explanatory, I'll leave you to your work. Be forewarned, we will be testing them tomorrow."

Well this was certainly different. Potter never knew the answers to Snape's questions. He looked across the right to the boy who was now adding ground Wolfsbane to his cauldron.

How vexing he was, with his air of confidence and the way he thought he was being inconspicuous; pushing his hair back from his forehead to show his famous scar. Snape didn't understand how the boy could have so many friends when he was obviously so vain. Stupid, star-struck children. Snape knew better then to let Potter draw him in with false grins and compliments, not that he'd ever tried that on him. How could Dumbledore be so blind, Snape wondered.

Potter had bent and broken the rules countless of times, but he was still here, despite all Snape's efforts. He remembered when the ingredients for a Polyjuice potion had gone missing. So what if he hadn't any proof, Snape was sure it had been Potter and his tag-a-longs. Had anyone listened? No. That was probably how Potter had known what the potion did; most of the ingredients were the same.

That Potter is a thorn in my side.

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"You go on without me, ok guys? I have to ask Snape something." Class had ended and everyone was headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing just outside the dungeon.

Ron looked at him incredulously and asked, "Why?" Hermione's face showed the same sentiment.

Harry sighed and said, "I'll tell you at lunch." Hermione nodded and took Ron's arm, practically dragging him down the hall. He smiled nervously at the sight, then gathered his resolve and entered the room behind him.

Snape looked up from his papers at the sound of a throat clearing. "Yes, Potter? What do you want, I'm quite busy." He looked back down and proceeded to act like Harry had left.

"Well, Sir… I needed to ask you something." Harry hesitated for a moment.

"Get on with it then, boy."

Harry's feet scuffed at the stone floor and he said, "Do you think you could tutor me, Professor?" He kept his eyes trained on the window as his hope fell. He's never going to –

"Is there a reason or are you just hoping to steal from me again, Potter?" Snape smirked knowingly.

Harry reddened but managed to keep cool as he said, "No, Sir. I need the extra help because this is my worst class and I want to be an Auror."

Snape stood while murmuring, "Ah, so the famous Harry Potter wants to become an Auror and save the world… Or maybe you just want to be another Lockhart?" He was now studying his nails intently, thinking of how fun it would be to torture – (oops) - tutor Potter for a few weeks.

Harry gasped and blurted, "What? Lockhart was a coward and a liar, I am no-"

"Enough!" Snape looked down at him coldly and said, "You'll meet me here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7pm starting tonight. Good day, Potter." Snape whirled around and Harry was dismissed.

He hadn't even asked if that was ok with Harry. What was I expecting, it's Snape. I was lucky that he even agreed to it. In fact, it seemed a little too easy, but Harry let it go, remembering that his friends were waiting for him.

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A/N – I hope that was ok… I'm having a lot of fun writing this, but I really do feel like I'm not making Snape mean enough. Let me know what I can do! Chapter 3 is coming up soon!