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Harry Potter and the Black Unicorn (part 4)- Harry's walk
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Harry turned down the corridor leading away from the Gryffindor tower and was mildly surprised to find Malfoy (with Crabbe and Goyle) stalking round there. He managed to hide his surprise however and spoke up.
"What are you doing down here Malfoy, shouldn't you be with the other slimy gits in the Slytherin common room?"
"Ah, Potter," said Malfoy coldly " shouldn't you be with the other muggle lovers in the Gryffindor common room?"
Well, he was obviously hoping to see me thought Harry; he wouldn't be here for any other reason.
"You always seem to want to be near me Malfoy, your friends will start thinking you fancy me or something. Either that or daddy wants his boy to impress Voldemort and spy on me."
Harry couldn't help but continue,
"You dads scum Malfoy and so are you. Not only is he a murderer, he's a coward, wearing a hood when he strikes. You'd do well to join him, a little git like you, ha, Voldemort would love you. You'd be his favourite little bastard wouldn't you...although probably one of his most useless. You know what I think you hate about Hermione, Malfoy?.."
"Filthy mudblood" he cut in, looking a little taken back by Harry's malicious tone.
"Nah Malfoy, what really gets you is she's better than you at everything. She knows more and can do more. Daddy must be ashamed; I could see it in his face that day at Flourish and Blotts two years ago when we first met him. He thinks you're as useless as I do"
Harry was surprised at what he'd said but stood his ground and glared at the three of them. Malfoy looked taken a back, very taken a back in fact.
"Well, Potter. Let's see if you sound so confident when my father gets hold of you...you and your..."
"The next time I see you father Malfoy I'll be face to face with him with my wand. The next time I see your father you'll never see him again."
Draco Malfoy looked really taken a back then, he just stood there, almost frozen. Crabbe and Goyle were as still as him. Suddenly a voice came from behind Harry, it was Professor Hidellbank.
"What are you still standing there for Malfoy" she said sharply "do you want his autograph or something, or do you want to swap sides and join Gryffindor?"
"Never" spat Malfoy ferociously, Grabbe and Goyle nodded like puppets behind him.
"Then remember Draco, that your father killed mine, and if i catch him wearing a death eater cloak Mr Potter here wont have a chance to kill him. He'll already be dead."
Harry watched Malfoy back away slowly with his followers until he got to the end of the corridor; he then turned and disappeared pretty fast. Harry guessed he must be running and couldn't help but smirk. His thought's turned to Hedellbank, she must have been standing there all the while. His thought's were cut short when she spoke up again.
"Disgusting family that, there's never been a decent one in years. You'd be amazed to know that young Mr Malfoy junior there is the nicest in over 3 centuries in most people's opinion." Said the Defence against the Dark arts teacher.
"Only 'cos he's so pathetic" muttered Harry, turning towards her.
"Maybe, but don't give up hope on him Harry, were all still hopeful that boy may turn against his father"
"Him?" said Harry, an amused look flashed across his face "Draco Malfoy..."
"...Is a young boy, his ideas have been set by his father but it doesn't mean he totally believes them. Fear is a powerful weapon Harry"
Harry looked at her blankly, trying to fathom what she was talking about. His mind was blank however and instead he found himself just staring at her.
She smiled at him again, a gentle and kind smile.
"Where are you going Harry, taking a walk?"
"Trying to clear my mind, put things in perspective" he answered tentively, rubbing his brow with his fist.
Professor Hidellbank nodded and again smiled at him,
"I'm just walking round getting used to the place again and making sure everythings okay to be honest" she said, glancing around at the walls.
"Not much has changed really, not much at all. Oh, except the general levels of fear and panic amongst everyone. Even the teachers are feeling it" she said, looking thoughtful.
"Snape" said Harry suddenly "what about Snape?"
Hidellbank laughed slightly, "Oh yes he's feeling it, hides it well mind. Why do you ask?"
"I don't understand him" Harry said slowly "he's like some sort of puzzle that doesn't fit together well at all"
Hidellbank laughed again. "A very accurate description Harry, excellent. I doubt anyone truly understands him, even Dumbledore. He's done a lot, seen a lot, helped a lot and been a miserable bastard since the day he was born apparently. A nice bastard though" She saw Harry raise his eyebrows at her, "Well, in his own special way that is" she corrected.
Harry couldn't help but laugh and found himself walking down the corridor with Hidellbank for a while. She turned of towards Dumbledore's office after a short time though, leaving Harry alone again.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry had been walking for over 20 minutes when he realised where he was. He was by the steps down to the dungeons. He guessed something inside himself had brought him here. Part of him wanted to speak to Snape, to try and understand him and to see if he'd tell him any more information. He doubted Snape would appreciate his company though. A pang of anger shot through him for a couple of seconds. He despised the way Snape hated him because of his father, he'd never even given him a chance.
Before he realised what he was doing he was walking down the dungeon stairs. When he reached the bottom he looked down the corridor where Snape's office and potions class lay. He stood there for a few seconds, contemplating his next action. Part of him was telling him to leave it and go to bed, the other part was telling him to risk it.
He didn't get a chance to decide however as Snape came out the potions room and headed towards his office. The Potions master turned towards him, sensing someone was there.
"Spying on me Potter?" he asked coolly.
"No" said Harry calmly "If I was spying on you I'd be less obvious. Well...I hope I would be anyway"
Snape leant against the wall by his office door. He was carrying a small bottle with a blue potion inside. He seemed to realise that Harry was looking at it curiously.
"For the nerves Potter" he said, a vague smile crossing his lips "I'm stocking up on it before everyone wants me to make it for them"
"It'll be on the dinner table next," said Harry, trying to keep the conversation light.
"They can show the bloody house elves how to make it when that happens" Snape replied quietly.
Harry could see that Snape was confused by his presence and lack of fear, maybe even relieved by it. Harry supposed that even Snape probably needed some sort of reassurance that he was at least vaguely trusted.
"Why are you snooping down here anyway Potter?" said Snape suddenly, although not as coldly as he spoke.
"Went for a walk sir, couple of things got me thinking about things and i ended up here. I guess I want to, well, part of me wants to try and talk to you about things" Harry said quickly, stuttering over some of the words.
Snape looked half surprised and half confused and reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb. He then opened his office door and using his free hand gestured Harry inside.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry had been in Snape's office before, usually to be told of though or as part of a detention.
The room was fairly cold and contained a desk with two seats and a lot of potions equipment. Snape had walked over to his desk and put down the potion bottle on it. He scrunched up his face as if in pain and took a swig from the bottle, followed by a swig from a similar bottle filled with a purple mixture.
Harry watched silently from the corner of the room as Snape again looked pained.
"Are you going to sit Potter" he muttered, moving some of the instruments of his desk onto a table near-bye.
Harry nodded politely and took a seat opposite Snape's. The potion master however, remained standing facing slightly away from Harry. He rubbed his wrist through his robes and Harry guessed his Dark mark must have been bothering him.
Snape glanced at Harry and realised the boy had a look of concern on his face.
"I'm alright Potter" he stated, turning towards him. He sat down, pulled up his sleeve and showed Harry his wrist. "Its burning, can you see? That's a sign that he's calling his supporters to him again. I told them I couldn't always come when that happened because it would look suspicious. I'm not sure if they believe me."
Harry looked at the mark glowing against Snape's pale skin. He swallowed, took a deep breath and began to speak.
"I saw Malfoy in the corridor by Gryffindor before. Hidellbank made him leave, but she said something strange, something about everyone's hope that Draco Malfoy would come good...I...well I'm totally lost sir and I need answers. Hidellbank said that Lucius Malfoy had killed her father and Ron's talking about Hogwarts probably being the last point of defence and, and, and I hate just sitting here doing nothing."
Harry didn't know what had got into him; first he came to talk to Snape, now he was just blurting stuff out at him.
Snape stood up again and faced away from Harry.
"Calm down Potter" he said firmly, his back still turned.
"Lets start with the Malfoy's shall we? As Sirene said, were all hoping Draco Malfoy may not turn out like his dad. You see, Lucius finds Draco pathetic and weak and regularly proves to Draco that he is weak"
"He beats him" cut in Harry calmly.
"Yes" answered Snape, "Draco is scared of him. Insult his father and he takes it, insult his mother and…"
"He goes mad" cut in Harry, I did it once. Snape nodded,
"He's not all bad Potter, I can see that, not saying he's all good though. That is clear to see."
Harry nodded at Snape, and from the silence he realised Snape had finished on that subject. Harry stood up and moved to stand next to the potions master who was staring up out the window, which was high enough to be above ground and provide some light to the dreary room.
"And Professor Hidellbank sir?" Harry asked quietly, staring up at the window too.
"Is an ex student, very gifted at everything, a bit like Granger except less irritating. She's been in Romania for a while, working with the dragons with Weasley's brother and terrorising vampires and such like in the wild there."
Harry was surprised to hear a slight softening in Snape's voice.
"I'm glad she's here" Snape said calmly, "She's very relaxed, wont panic or anything. We need that."
"Her father?" asked Harry dubiously "was he an auror or something?"
"He was" said Snape "Lucius killed him because he had a muggle wife, she witnessed the killing so Sirene knew who'd done it. Couldn't pin him for it though because the wife only heard his voice, didn't see him"
Harry was going to speak but then stayed silent. The pair of them stood in silence for nearly a minute Harry reckoned before Snape spoke again.
"Harry, about what Ron said. I know it sounds bad, it is bad i suppose, but Dumbledore will figure out what to do."
Harry nodded at Snape but couldn't hide the look of surprise on his face. This made Snape laugh.
"I know your first name HARRY Potter, i just chose not to use it" Snape looked amused again thought Harry, watching a smirk cross the potion masters face.
"Now Potter" said Snape "its late, you better get going"
Harry nodded and turned to leave. He'd only gone a couple of places before he turned back to face Snape.
"Thank you" he said simply, but before he could turn away Snape spoke again.
"Oh, Potter, do you like butterbeer?" He asked, Harry nodded and found a massive bottle of the stuff floating towards him. He caught it and looked back at Snape confused.
"So do I" muttered Snape "reacts badly with the special pain killer for this bloody dark mark, made me turn a nice shade of lilac yesterday"
Harry stifled a laugh at the idea of a lilac Snape looking seriously pissed of with the world.
"Thank you sir" Harry said, forcing back a smile.
"Yes well go away will you" Snape said in what was nearly embarrassed tone "and if I here you laugh when you get outside this office I'll take 10 points from Gryffindor"
Harry managed not to, just about and was strangely relieved that Snape was still pretty damn miserable when he wanted to be. Perhaps it was comforting to have at least some things remaining constant.
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Please review...you know deep down inside you want to!
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Harry Potter and the Black Unicorn (part 4)- Harry's walk
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Harry turned down the corridor leading away from the Gryffindor tower and was mildly surprised to find Malfoy (with Crabbe and Goyle) stalking round there. He managed to hide his surprise however and spoke up.
"What are you doing down here Malfoy, shouldn't you be with the other slimy gits in the Slytherin common room?"
"Ah, Potter," said Malfoy coldly " shouldn't you be with the other muggle lovers in the Gryffindor common room?"
Well, he was obviously hoping to see me thought Harry; he wouldn't be here for any other reason.
"You always seem to want to be near me Malfoy, your friends will start thinking you fancy me or something. Either that or daddy wants his boy to impress Voldemort and spy on me."
Harry couldn't help but continue,
"You dads scum Malfoy and so are you. Not only is he a murderer, he's a coward, wearing a hood when he strikes. You'd do well to join him, a little git like you, ha, Voldemort would love you. You'd be his favourite little bastard wouldn't you...although probably one of his most useless. You know what I think you hate about Hermione, Malfoy?.."
"Filthy mudblood" he cut in, looking a little taken back by Harry's malicious tone.
"Nah Malfoy, what really gets you is she's better than you at everything. She knows more and can do more. Daddy must be ashamed; I could see it in his face that day at Flourish and Blotts two years ago when we first met him. He thinks you're as useless as I do"
Harry was surprised at what he'd said but stood his ground and glared at the three of them. Malfoy looked taken a back, very taken a back in fact.
"Well, Potter. Let's see if you sound so confident when my father gets hold of you...you and your..."
"The next time I see you father Malfoy I'll be face to face with him with my wand. The next time I see your father you'll never see him again."
Draco Malfoy looked really taken a back then, he just stood there, almost frozen. Crabbe and Goyle were as still as him. Suddenly a voice came from behind Harry, it was Professor Hidellbank.
"What are you still standing there for Malfoy" she said sharply "do you want his autograph or something, or do you want to swap sides and join Gryffindor?"
"Never" spat Malfoy ferociously, Grabbe and Goyle nodded like puppets behind him.
"Then remember Draco, that your father killed mine, and if i catch him wearing a death eater cloak Mr Potter here wont have a chance to kill him. He'll already be dead."
Harry watched Malfoy back away slowly with his followers until he got to the end of the corridor; he then turned and disappeared pretty fast. Harry guessed he must be running and couldn't help but smirk. His thought's turned to Hedellbank, she must have been standing there all the while. His thought's were cut short when she spoke up again.
"Disgusting family that, there's never been a decent one in years. You'd be amazed to know that young Mr Malfoy junior there is the nicest in over 3 centuries in most people's opinion." Said the Defence against the Dark arts teacher.
"Only 'cos he's so pathetic" muttered Harry, turning towards her.
"Maybe, but don't give up hope on him Harry, were all still hopeful that boy may turn against his father"
"Him?" said Harry, an amused look flashed across his face "Draco Malfoy..."
"...Is a young boy, his ideas have been set by his father but it doesn't mean he totally believes them. Fear is a powerful weapon Harry"
Harry looked at her blankly, trying to fathom what she was talking about. His mind was blank however and instead he found himself just staring at her.
She smiled at him again, a gentle and kind smile.
"Where are you going Harry, taking a walk?"
"Trying to clear my mind, put things in perspective" he answered tentively, rubbing his brow with his fist.
Professor Hidellbank nodded and again smiled at him,
"I'm just walking round getting used to the place again and making sure everythings okay to be honest" she said, glancing around at the walls.
"Not much has changed really, not much at all. Oh, except the general levels of fear and panic amongst everyone. Even the teachers are feeling it" she said, looking thoughtful.
"Snape" said Harry suddenly "what about Snape?"
Hidellbank laughed slightly, "Oh yes he's feeling it, hides it well mind. Why do you ask?"
"I don't understand him" Harry said slowly "he's like some sort of puzzle that doesn't fit together well at all"
Hidellbank laughed again. "A very accurate description Harry, excellent. I doubt anyone truly understands him, even Dumbledore. He's done a lot, seen a lot, helped a lot and been a miserable bastard since the day he was born apparently. A nice bastard though" She saw Harry raise his eyebrows at her, "Well, in his own special way that is" she corrected.
Harry couldn't help but laugh and found himself walking down the corridor with Hidellbank for a while. She turned of towards Dumbledore's office after a short time though, leaving Harry alone again.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry had been walking for over 20 minutes when he realised where he was. He was by the steps down to the dungeons. He guessed something inside himself had brought him here. Part of him wanted to speak to Snape, to try and understand him and to see if he'd tell him any more information. He doubted Snape would appreciate his company though. A pang of anger shot through him for a couple of seconds. He despised the way Snape hated him because of his father, he'd never even given him a chance.
Before he realised what he was doing he was walking down the dungeon stairs. When he reached the bottom he looked down the corridor where Snape's office and potions class lay. He stood there for a few seconds, contemplating his next action. Part of him was telling him to leave it and go to bed, the other part was telling him to risk it.
He didn't get a chance to decide however as Snape came out the potions room and headed towards his office. The Potions master turned towards him, sensing someone was there.
"Spying on me Potter?" he asked coolly.
"No" said Harry calmly "If I was spying on you I'd be less obvious. Well...I hope I would be anyway"
Snape leant against the wall by his office door. He was carrying a small bottle with a blue potion inside. He seemed to realise that Harry was looking at it curiously.
"For the nerves Potter" he said, a vague smile crossing his lips "I'm stocking up on it before everyone wants me to make it for them"
"It'll be on the dinner table next," said Harry, trying to keep the conversation light.
"They can show the bloody house elves how to make it when that happens" Snape replied quietly.
Harry could see that Snape was confused by his presence and lack of fear, maybe even relieved by it. Harry supposed that even Snape probably needed some sort of reassurance that he was at least vaguely trusted.
"Why are you snooping down here anyway Potter?" said Snape suddenly, although not as coldly as he spoke.
"Went for a walk sir, couple of things got me thinking about things and i ended up here. I guess I want to, well, part of me wants to try and talk to you about things" Harry said quickly, stuttering over some of the words.
Snape looked half surprised and half confused and reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb. He then opened his office door and using his free hand gestured Harry inside.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry had been in Snape's office before, usually to be told of though or as part of a detention.
The room was fairly cold and contained a desk with two seats and a lot of potions equipment. Snape had walked over to his desk and put down the potion bottle on it. He scrunched up his face as if in pain and took a swig from the bottle, followed by a swig from a similar bottle filled with a purple mixture.
Harry watched silently from the corner of the room as Snape again looked pained.
"Are you going to sit Potter" he muttered, moving some of the instruments of his desk onto a table near-bye.
Harry nodded politely and took a seat opposite Snape's. The potion master however, remained standing facing slightly away from Harry. He rubbed his wrist through his robes and Harry guessed his Dark mark must have been bothering him.
Snape glanced at Harry and realised the boy had a look of concern on his face.
"I'm alright Potter" he stated, turning towards him. He sat down, pulled up his sleeve and showed Harry his wrist. "Its burning, can you see? That's a sign that he's calling his supporters to him again. I told them I couldn't always come when that happened because it would look suspicious. I'm not sure if they believe me."
Harry looked at the mark glowing against Snape's pale skin. He swallowed, took a deep breath and began to speak.
"I saw Malfoy in the corridor by Gryffindor before. Hidellbank made him leave, but she said something strange, something about everyone's hope that Draco Malfoy would come good...I...well I'm totally lost sir and I need answers. Hidellbank said that Lucius Malfoy had killed her father and Ron's talking about Hogwarts probably being the last point of defence and, and, and I hate just sitting here doing nothing."
Harry didn't know what had got into him; first he came to talk to Snape, now he was just blurting stuff out at him.
Snape stood up again and faced away from Harry.
"Calm down Potter" he said firmly, his back still turned.
"Lets start with the Malfoy's shall we? As Sirene said, were all hoping Draco Malfoy may not turn out like his dad. You see, Lucius finds Draco pathetic and weak and regularly proves to Draco that he is weak"
"He beats him" cut in Harry calmly.
"Yes" answered Snape, "Draco is scared of him. Insult his father and he takes it, insult his mother and…"
"He goes mad" cut in Harry, I did it once. Snape nodded,
"He's not all bad Potter, I can see that, not saying he's all good though. That is clear to see."
Harry nodded at Snape, and from the silence he realised Snape had finished on that subject. Harry stood up and moved to stand next to the potions master who was staring up out the window, which was high enough to be above ground and provide some light to the dreary room.
"And Professor Hidellbank sir?" Harry asked quietly, staring up at the window too.
"Is an ex student, very gifted at everything, a bit like Granger except less irritating. She's been in Romania for a while, working with the dragons with Weasley's brother and terrorising vampires and such like in the wild there."
Harry was surprised to hear a slight softening in Snape's voice.
"I'm glad she's here" Snape said calmly, "She's very relaxed, wont panic or anything. We need that."
"Her father?" asked Harry dubiously "was he an auror or something?"
"He was" said Snape "Lucius killed him because he had a muggle wife, she witnessed the killing so Sirene knew who'd done it. Couldn't pin him for it though because the wife only heard his voice, didn't see him"
Harry was going to speak but then stayed silent. The pair of them stood in silence for nearly a minute Harry reckoned before Snape spoke again.
"Harry, about what Ron said. I know it sounds bad, it is bad i suppose, but Dumbledore will figure out what to do."
Harry nodded at Snape but couldn't hide the look of surprise on his face. This made Snape laugh.
"I know your first name HARRY Potter, i just chose not to use it" Snape looked amused again thought Harry, watching a smirk cross the potion masters face.
"Now Potter" said Snape "its late, you better get going"
Harry nodded and turned to leave. He'd only gone a couple of places before he turned back to face Snape.
"Thank you" he said simply, but before he could turn away Snape spoke again.
"Oh, Potter, do you like butterbeer?" He asked, Harry nodded and found a massive bottle of the stuff floating towards him. He caught it and looked back at Snape confused.
"So do I" muttered Snape "reacts badly with the special pain killer for this bloody dark mark, made me turn a nice shade of lilac yesterday"
Harry stifled a laugh at the idea of a lilac Snape looking seriously pissed of with the world.
"Thank you sir" Harry said, forcing back a smile.
"Yes well go away will you" Snape said in what was nearly embarrassed tone "and if I here you laugh when you get outside this office I'll take 10 points from Gryffindor"
Harry managed not to, just about and was strangely relieved that Snape was still pretty damn miserable when he wanted to be. Perhaps it was comforting to have at least some things remaining constant.
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Please review...you know deep down inside you want to!
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