Once again, I have no ownership over any of J. K. Rowling's lovely
characters. Only over Iris!
(just a note. 'blah blah' means thoughts) it just got a little repetitive
say "he thought"
Chapter Two
Snape allowed his attention to wonder. It had been useless to think he was capable of teaching today. The steady hum of the student's suppressed whispers became merely a backdrop to his own thoughts as he drifted farther into the recesses of his own memory.....................
"Do you mind?" a voice chirped with laughter in the boys ear. He looked up to see a young Gryffendor girl he knew to be in her second year. Her long locks of unruly red hair were dangling hopelessly in her eyes, and she was holding the largest stack of books Severus had ever seen.
"Is it all right if I sit here?" she grinned, "Sorry. I don't want to bother you, but everywhere else is full."
He merely looked up at her in silence which she interpreted as an invitation.
"Oh, thanks!" she breathed a sigh of relief as she plopped the books onto the table causing the stack to fall over and avalanche right into young man's lap.
"OH GOD! I'm sorry. I do tend to just let things fall from my hands like that. I mean, well. They don't usually end up crushing some person I just met......butterfingers!" She stated in an uncomfortable pause.
The girls red curls bobbed up and down as she quickly retrieved her books and placed them carefully back at the table.
With her task finally completed she faced Severus and extended her hand laughing, "My name is Iris, I will be attacking you this evening and making you feel very uncomfortable. I didn't catch you name?"
"Severus Snape, and I know who you are," the boy stared at her with mild irritation but obvious curiosity.
"Oh." She seemed surprised and a little awkward. "Well, I'm pleased to finally meet you."
Iris looked at Severus as if expecting him to say something in return. After a few moments of utter silence she smiled and turned back to her book , "I'll just let you get back to your work then. Thanks for catching my books."
A few minutes later Iris turned to Snape once more. "Look I'm really sorry. I know I probably should not be asking you this since you well, appear to like your solitude and all, but do you happen to be any good at potions? I'm utterly desperate!"
Snape was about to say that he did not feel like spending his free time giving tips to a Gryffindor when he looked up and saw the expression on her face. She smiled innocently at him and did in fact look a little desperate, as well as a little breathtaking. It was the first time he had noticed her eyes. They were deep pools of gray blue with tiny speckles of green around the edges. 'They don't look like normal eyes,' Severus thought to himself, 'it's like they look right through me.'
"It's all right if you can't help. I understand. It's just I have had detention three nights this week already, and if I don't get this potion right by tomorrow I'm looking at a full weeks worth. I mean, I have tried. It's not like I haven't spent hundreds of hours devoted to this bloody potion as it is. I'm just stuck.
"I'll probably fail. Then I'll be sent away and shunned by all wizard kind. I think Professor Hartche is a horribly wicked human being, I really do. She must have had all her feeling just sucked out of her. " The last half of this rather longwinded speech was stated more to herself than Severus, and it was said with such a strange comical sincerity that Severus could not help it when a chuckle escaped audibly from his usually solemn lips.
She suddenly looked back at Severus laughing to her left as if she had completely forgotten he was there. A smile burst from her lips that seemed to erupt in laughter. "I do have a flair for the dramatic don't I?"
Severus could not believe what he began blurting out, " What are we working on ?"
Relief filled Iris's face as she jumped out of her seat "Really? OH THANK YOU!" The whole library turned and faced their direction. Iris audibly cleared her throat and sunk back into her seat wincing slightly One or two Gryffindors chortled and the room fell silent again. Iris smiled apologetically at Severus and he felt sure he was going to regret this..................
Just then a large crash forced Severus' mind back to the present. The present where that dimwitted oaf of a boy Neville knocked his cauldron off the counter spilling its contents over several onlookers.
"Oh for goodness sake, Mr. Longbottom. Do you think you can spend one day without raising havoc with you clumsiness?" Snape towered over the boy awaiting a response. " No, I suppose you can't. Clean up this mess immediately!"
Turning around and observing the quiet rage of the rest of the Gryffindor clan Severus' eyes fell on Harry Potter's cauldron.
"What exactly is that gray goo congealing in you cauldron Mr. Potter." Snape's words froze the air as they inched from his lips. "It certainly is not the completed assignment."
Harry looked up into the professor's eyes displaying no fear.
"Since you obviously show very little concern as to the correct completion of the potions I assign you; let us see how you feel about partaking in the damaged results." Severus did not know what made him say it. A potion could greatly harm someone if made incorrectly, but looking down at that defiant young boy made him terse with fury. "Go on Potter get on with it. We haven't got all day."
************************ Harry felt his lunch rising in his throat. Snape was being even more cruel today. He had not even thought that was possible. Hermione shot him a sympathetic look as Snape once more urged the Harry to drink the gruesome mixture.
'All right,' he thought 'you're on. It is you who will be punished if I get sick. With that Harry gulped down the poorly made potion............Nothing.
After throwing a victorious look in Professor Snape's direction Harry watched as all the faces of his classmates grew pale and began to blur, one into the other, and finally the room turned black.
****
When Harry awoke he saw the wide eyes of Madam Pomfrey directly over his head.
"Oh good your awake dear." She smiled and shoved a piece of chocolate into Harry's hand. "Eat this it will help you feel more yourself. That was a nasty little fainting spell I hear you took. Whatever was Professor Snape thinking making you drink that potion? You're quite lucky all it did was knock you out. I have examined you toughlrally you are free to go in the morning. We will just keep you here tonight just to be safe."
Harry's stomach churned at the idea of spending another night in the infirmary. He felt as though half his life had been spent in the sickbed with one injury or another. He silently munched on his chocolate relishing the warm feeling it sent through his whole body.
'Well,' he thought 'at least Snape is the one being blamed for this. One night of boredom is well worth Snape being reprimanded.' Harry allowed a sly smile to grow on his face as he looked around the familiar infirmary setting. 'Same as always. Me and several first years recovering from Fred and George.' It was then that he noticed the curtain drawn round one of the larger beds in the back of the room. 'Oh, I wonder who is hurt enough to need the privacy screen.'
Harry's curiosity was only perked when he later heard Madam Pomfrey talking with someone behind the curtain of the mystery bed with the aide of the blessed extendable ears. "Well, She's got the Gryffindor spirit to pull her through. That counts for something Minerva."
"Yes Pompey, I suppose it does. I only hope that will be enough." It was Professor McGonagall's voice. A Gryffindor was sick! 'Who could it possibly be?' The two women emerged from behind the privacy curtain. Harry quickly shoved the extendable ears under his pillow, and pretended to be asleep. The trouble with this plan was that the women spent so long talking outside of the curtain that Harry felt himself really drifting off.
It was very late when Harry once again woke from his slumber. This time he immediately searched for any sign of Madam Pomfrey while he slid quietly out of bed. He tiptoed along the isle leading to the back of the room. For some strange unexplainable reason he was filled with both excitement and fear. Being very carefull he pulled the curtains apart and slid into the private chamber.
There laying on a bed was a girl he had never seen at the school before. A girl who looked almost exactly like his mother.
'Who is she?' Harry held his breathe backing out of the small chamber right into a body standing behind him.
*A very special THANK YOU to SciFi129, my very first reviewer! You are right my grammar is awful! :) I hope this version is a little better. I know it probably isn't. Anyway, thank you for the review. You rock my world!
Chapter Two
Snape allowed his attention to wonder. It had been useless to think he was capable of teaching today. The steady hum of the student's suppressed whispers became merely a backdrop to his own thoughts as he drifted farther into the recesses of his own memory.....................
"Do you mind?" a voice chirped with laughter in the boys ear. He looked up to see a young Gryffendor girl he knew to be in her second year. Her long locks of unruly red hair were dangling hopelessly in her eyes, and she was holding the largest stack of books Severus had ever seen.
"Is it all right if I sit here?" she grinned, "Sorry. I don't want to bother you, but everywhere else is full."
He merely looked up at her in silence which she interpreted as an invitation.
"Oh, thanks!" she breathed a sigh of relief as she plopped the books onto the table causing the stack to fall over and avalanche right into young man's lap.
"OH GOD! I'm sorry. I do tend to just let things fall from my hands like that. I mean, well. They don't usually end up crushing some person I just met......butterfingers!" She stated in an uncomfortable pause.
The girls red curls bobbed up and down as she quickly retrieved her books and placed them carefully back at the table.
With her task finally completed she faced Severus and extended her hand laughing, "My name is Iris, I will be attacking you this evening and making you feel very uncomfortable. I didn't catch you name?"
"Severus Snape, and I know who you are," the boy stared at her with mild irritation but obvious curiosity.
"Oh." She seemed surprised and a little awkward. "Well, I'm pleased to finally meet you."
Iris looked at Severus as if expecting him to say something in return. After a few moments of utter silence she smiled and turned back to her book , "I'll just let you get back to your work then. Thanks for catching my books."
A few minutes later Iris turned to Snape once more. "Look I'm really sorry. I know I probably should not be asking you this since you well, appear to like your solitude and all, but do you happen to be any good at potions? I'm utterly desperate!"
Snape was about to say that he did not feel like spending his free time giving tips to a Gryffindor when he looked up and saw the expression on her face. She smiled innocently at him and did in fact look a little desperate, as well as a little breathtaking. It was the first time he had noticed her eyes. They were deep pools of gray blue with tiny speckles of green around the edges. 'They don't look like normal eyes,' Severus thought to himself, 'it's like they look right through me.'
"It's all right if you can't help. I understand. It's just I have had detention three nights this week already, and if I don't get this potion right by tomorrow I'm looking at a full weeks worth. I mean, I have tried. It's not like I haven't spent hundreds of hours devoted to this bloody potion as it is. I'm just stuck.
"I'll probably fail. Then I'll be sent away and shunned by all wizard kind. I think Professor Hartche is a horribly wicked human being, I really do. She must have had all her feeling just sucked out of her. " The last half of this rather longwinded speech was stated more to herself than Severus, and it was said with such a strange comical sincerity that Severus could not help it when a chuckle escaped audibly from his usually solemn lips.
She suddenly looked back at Severus laughing to her left as if she had completely forgotten he was there. A smile burst from her lips that seemed to erupt in laughter. "I do have a flair for the dramatic don't I?"
Severus could not believe what he began blurting out, " What are we working on ?"
Relief filled Iris's face as she jumped out of her seat "Really? OH THANK YOU!" The whole library turned and faced their direction. Iris audibly cleared her throat and sunk back into her seat wincing slightly One or two Gryffindors chortled and the room fell silent again. Iris smiled apologetically at Severus and he felt sure he was going to regret this..................
Just then a large crash forced Severus' mind back to the present. The present where that dimwitted oaf of a boy Neville knocked his cauldron off the counter spilling its contents over several onlookers.
"Oh for goodness sake, Mr. Longbottom. Do you think you can spend one day without raising havoc with you clumsiness?" Snape towered over the boy awaiting a response. " No, I suppose you can't. Clean up this mess immediately!"
Turning around and observing the quiet rage of the rest of the Gryffindor clan Severus' eyes fell on Harry Potter's cauldron.
"What exactly is that gray goo congealing in you cauldron Mr. Potter." Snape's words froze the air as they inched from his lips. "It certainly is not the completed assignment."
Harry looked up into the professor's eyes displaying no fear.
"Since you obviously show very little concern as to the correct completion of the potions I assign you; let us see how you feel about partaking in the damaged results." Severus did not know what made him say it. A potion could greatly harm someone if made incorrectly, but looking down at that defiant young boy made him terse with fury. "Go on Potter get on with it. We haven't got all day."
************************ Harry felt his lunch rising in his throat. Snape was being even more cruel today. He had not even thought that was possible. Hermione shot him a sympathetic look as Snape once more urged the Harry to drink the gruesome mixture.
'All right,' he thought 'you're on. It is you who will be punished if I get sick. With that Harry gulped down the poorly made potion............Nothing.
After throwing a victorious look in Professor Snape's direction Harry watched as all the faces of his classmates grew pale and began to blur, one into the other, and finally the room turned black.
****
When Harry awoke he saw the wide eyes of Madam Pomfrey directly over his head.
"Oh good your awake dear." She smiled and shoved a piece of chocolate into Harry's hand. "Eat this it will help you feel more yourself. That was a nasty little fainting spell I hear you took. Whatever was Professor Snape thinking making you drink that potion? You're quite lucky all it did was knock you out. I have examined you toughlrally you are free to go in the morning. We will just keep you here tonight just to be safe."
Harry's stomach churned at the idea of spending another night in the infirmary. He felt as though half his life had been spent in the sickbed with one injury or another. He silently munched on his chocolate relishing the warm feeling it sent through his whole body.
'Well,' he thought 'at least Snape is the one being blamed for this. One night of boredom is well worth Snape being reprimanded.' Harry allowed a sly smile to grow on his face as he looked around the familiar infirmary setting. 'Same as always. Me and several first years recovering from Fred and George.' It was then that he noticed the curtain drawn round one of the larger beds in the back of the room. 'Oh, I wonder who is hurt enough to need the privacy screen.'
Harry's curiosity was only perked when he later heard Madam Pomfrey talking with someone behind the curtain of the mystery bed with the aide of the blessed extendable ears. "Well, She's got the Gryffindor spirit to pull her through. That counts for something Minerva."
"Yes Pompey, I suppose it does. I only hope that will be enough." It was Professor McGonagall's voice. A Gryffindor was sick! 'Who could it possibly be?' The two women emerged from behind the privacy curtain. Harry quickly shoved the extendable ears under his pillow, and pretended to be asleep. The trouble with this plan was that the women spent so long talking outside of the curtain that Harry felt himself really drifting off.
It was very late when Harry once again woke from his slumber. This time he immediately searched for any sign of Madam Pomfrey while he slid quietly out of bed. He tiptoed along the isle leading to the back of the room. For some strange unexplainable reason he was filled with both excitement and fear. Being very carefull he pulled the curtains apart and slid into the private chamber.
There laying on a bed was a girl he had never seen at the school before. A girl who looked almost exactly like his mother.
'Who is she?' Harry held his breathe backing out of the small chamber right into a body standing behind him.
*A very special THANK YOU to SciFi129, my very first reviewer! You are right my grammar is awful! :) I hope this version is a little better. I know it probably isn't. Anyway, thank you for the review. You rock my world!