~~~~Sev's POV~~~~
Severus Snape was sitting alone in his lounge, looking, as he always did, at the many pictures on the wall. In the past, he'd had eyes only for his sister, but now that Potter had unwittingly pointed it out for him, he could see other of Voldemort's many victims with her.
Sirius Black was there, naturally, now there had been a soul match if ever he saw one, and Black had certainly cared for Potter as a father, however reckless. Lily and James Potter, much as he hated to admit it, had made the right decision there. Severus had a grudging respect for the man - it wasn't everyone who could survive Azkaban sane and then sacrifice his newly reclaimed life to save six children. He himself still had nightmares about his own short stay in the wizard prison, and was fairly sure that he'd have gone mad within a year.
A good number of the photographs contained Lily Evans, hardly surprising really since she'd been Cassandra's best friend for so many years. She'd faced the Marauders down more than once on his account, but he'd never thanked her. He regretted that now, but she too was dead, sacrificing herself to save her son so that the rest of the world could be safe.
Severus noted with surprise that there was even a picture of the baby Harry up on the wall, probably taken around his first birthday. It certainly hadn't been him who had taken it, he wondered who had. He hadn't even seen the boy until he started at Hogwarts age eleven. What would he be doing now? Dumbledore's 'talks' were generally short and always seemed to contain something that you really didn't want to hear, the shorter, the more unpleasant. The boy was probably be doing some Quidditch training to give him something else to think about. Did the boy do anything else in his free time?
Suddenly he had a thought: did Potter know that Severus was going to be his babysitter during the holidays? Probably not, Dumbledore would no doubt have left Severus with the enjoyable task of breaking the news to Potter, who would probably be as dissatisfied with the arrangement as Severus himself. It was common knowledge in school how much they despised each other. He sighed, and decided he'd better go and find Potter sooner rather than later. Delaying the job would only make it worse when it came round at last.
As anticipated, the boy was zooming around the school Quidditch pitch. That was one thing that Severus really did envy him - his skill on a broom was unheard of at such a young age. What was more, Potter seemed totally unaware of how exceptional his skills were. Not even James Potter had been that good, and he had been counted the best Seeker in years. Draco Malfoy had told him once, very frustratedly during their fourth year, that the child prodigy, Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum had said that Potter might even be better than him. It was quite a compliment, since he was ranked as the sixth best flyer in the world, the youngest ever to compete in the World Cup. If only the brat was in Slytherin. . .
Potter executed a perfect Wronski feint, then saw his teacher watching him and shot over.
"Were you looking for me, Professor?" he asked with impeccable politeness.
"Yes Potter. The Headmaster, in his infinite wisdom," Snape sneered. "Has put me in charge of you for the duration of your stay here over the summer."
Was it just his imagination, or did he see Potter's face sink a bit before a cheerful mask slipped back into place.
"Its kind of you to take the time sir, I'm sure it must disrupt your work considerably. Do you have any instructions for me?"
"Have you thought at all what you plan to do with yourself this summer, Potter?"
"Well, Professor Dumbledore says that I have lessons every day after breakfast, and then I hoped to put in some solid Quidditch training. I was going to ask Fred and George if they could come up with some ideas to help Mark get away from Dudley, my cousin. I know he bullies the kid. Then I've got my summer assignments to do, I've done most of them, but there's a few to go."
Potions no doubt being one of them. As far as Severus could tell, that was all the perfect truth, even the bit about helping the Evans boy However, he didn't seem to be saying quite everything, not that you'd expect him to.
"When do you receive your OWL results?"
"Day after tomorrow sir, I think. I might be a bit out with my dates."
"We will await their arrival before deciding which subjects you will require coaching in, unless the Headmaster chooses to enlighten us with details of your training. Potions, for instance, will, I'm sure, be one of them."
"Quite likely sir," Potter replied candidly. Severus couldn't believe that he admitted his incompetence and had done absolutely nothing to improve. If it had been one of his Slytherins, falling behind in any subject, he would have immediately offered extra coaching. Why hadn't Minerva done that? "Uh sir, do you want to train with me for a bit? I'd welcome the company."
Severus stared at the boy, who was holding out his prized Firebolt towards him. What on earth had happened to Potter? He couldn't be that grateful just for leaving his aunt and uncle's house, could he? He felt his treacherous mouth curve upwards in the beginnings of a smile and reply,
"That would be pleasant, thank you Potter."
"Uh, you're welcome sir." Severus smirked inwardly, he obviously hadn't been expecting to be taken up. "You get warmed up, if you want, and I'll get another broom for myself."
Potter was trusting him, probably his least favourite teacher, with the Firebolt that Black had given him, and was going to fly one of the notoriously poor school brooms himself? Unbelievable. James Potter wouldn't even have let Black fly his broom, a Nimbus 1000 as he recalled. He paused, curious, as Potter pulled out his wand and shut his eyes to concentrate.
"Acci Broom!" he said clearly and a Cleansweep 5 appeared, hovering in front of him.
Severus couldn't believe his senses. Potter had just executed a Sorcerer level charm perfectly, and so casually! Harry Potter, a Sorcerer? He'd have to talk to Dumbledore about this, although no doubt the meddling old busybody already knew. The boy concentrated again and summoned a Snitch. He looked at Severus with a very faint trace of guilt showing on his face,
"The Headmaster told me to play, so I borrowed it from a school training set. I won't lost it, I promise, and I'll return it when we're done."
"I'm sure you will. Shall we begin?"
Potter opened his hand and the Snitch darted away. The boy counted slowly to ten and then they were off. Severus found that it was very different flying a new Firebolt to an elderly school broom, which probably hadn't been serviced properly for years. Even so, delighting in the speed of the broom, he was finding it incredibly difficult to stay ahead of Potter - the boy was too damned good!
It took them fifteen minutes before Harry caught the Snitch with a practiced hand. They landed lightly on the grass. Potter was grinning openly, the first time Severus had seen him do so since their return, his black hair so like his father's ruffled by the wind and a look of complete freedom on his face.
"Thank you sir, that was great, a real challenge. You're much better than the other Seekers on the school teams. Will you train with me again sometime?"
"Yes, thank you Potter," Severus replied, surprised at the obvious compliment the boy had given him. Then he decided something else was in order. "You have a fine broom there, that helps."
"Malfoy has a nice broom as well, too good for him actually, and it doesn't help him at all. He'd do much better on a Cleansweep model, if his pride would allow him, an 8 if possible, I think, because it doesn't require the same instincts as the Nimbus does."
Severus stared at him, shocked at hearing the kind of comment he would have expected from an international level coach, not a sixteen-year-old school boy.
"Who would you recommend as Slytherin Seeker then?" Severus asked, and was surprised when Potter was able to answer immediately.
"Malcolm Baddock. He's a lot younger, I know, but he's got a good feel for his broom."
"And a Keeper?"
"Graham Pritchard," Potter answered, again without hesitation. Then he paused.
"Don't worry Potter, I never help to select a house team, but I will give you a hypothetical assignment," he said, thinking back to the last staff meeting. "Draw up your recommended team lists for each of the four houses and one for the school as a whole, you can use players from any year."
"Yes sir," Potter replied, looking relieved at getting something that would probably only take him half an hour. "When would you like it for?"
"I'll give you a week, and remember that players such as Angelina Johnson have left now."
The last staff meeting had been a real eye opener for all of them. It had taken place a week before Potter had returned to school and had been when Dumbledore had first aired a new idea, very obviously one of his own crazy notions.
"I'm seeking at the moment to organize an inter-school Quidditch tournament," he had announced casually. "It would encourage international cooperation and provide a unique opportunity for some of our young players."
"I'm not seeing to it on my own," Madam Hooch said firmly, seeing exactly what he was getting at. "I won't be able to fly for another six months with my lung problems and I've been thinking of retiring anyway. Sorry Albus, but its just not going to work unless you think it through again."
"Would you be willing to stay on until the end of next year to train up a successor? He'd be an excellent player and you could turn a good deal of the active side of the coaching and refereeing over to him very quickly."
"We'll see. Well, so long as he takes responsibility for this whole affair. If he works out, I'll stay."
"Thank you. Now, my initial feeling was that there should now be a new school Quidditch captain as well as the traditional four house captains."
"And who would that be?" McGonagall had asked impatiently. "So many of the older players have just left, we have a slight shortage at the moment."
"Oh, there are players left, all right, and I have a number of ideas. I will accept your votes just as for Head Boy and Girl in the next few weeks."
Severus Snape was sitting alone in his lounge, looking, as he always did, at the many pictures on the wall. In the past, he'd had eyes only for his sister, but now that Potter had unwittingly pointed it out for him, he could see other of Voldemort's many victims with her.
Sirius Black was there, naturally, now there had been a soul match if ever he saw one, and Black had certainly cared for Potter as a father, however reckless. Lily and James Potter, much as he hated to admit it, had made the right decision there. Severus had a grudging respect for the man - it wasn't everyone who could survive Azkaban sane and then sacrifice his newly reclaimed life to save six children. He himself still had nightmares about his own short stay in the wizard prison, and was fairly sure that he'd have gone mad within a year.
A good number of the photographs contained Lily Evans, hardly surprising really since she'd been Cassandra's best friend for so many years. She'd faced the Marauders down more than once on his account, but he'd never thanked her. He regretted that now, but she too was dead, sacrificing herself to save her son so that the rest of the world could be safe.
Severus noted with surprise that there was even a picture of the baby Harry up on the wall, probably taken around his first birthday. It certainly hadn't been him who had taken it, he wondered who had. He hadn't even seen the boy until he started at Hogwarts age eleven. What would he be doing now? Dumbledore's 'talks' were generally short and always seemed to contain something that you really didn't want to hear, the shorter, the more unpleasant. The boy was probably be doing some Quidditch training to give him something else to think about. Did the boy do anything else in his free time?
Suddenly he had a thought: did Potter know that Severus was going to be his babysitter during the holidays? Probably not, Dumbledore would no doubt have left Severus with the enjoyable task of breaking the news to Potter, who would probably be as dissatisfied with the arrangement as Severus himself. It was common knowledge in school how much they despised each other. He sighed, and decided he'd better go and find Potter sooner rather than later. Delaying the job would only make it worse when it came round at last.
As anticipated, the boy was zooming around the school Quidditch pitch. That was one thing that Severus really did envy him - his skill on a broom was unheard of at such a young age. What was more, Potter seemed totally unaware of how exceptional his skills were. Not even James Potter had been that good, and he had been counted the best Seeker in years. Draco Malfoy had told him once, very frustratedly during their fourth year, that the child prodigy, Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum had said that Potter might even be better than him. It was quite a compliment, since he was ranked as the sixth best flyer in the world, the youngest ever to compete in the World Cup. If only the brat was in Slytherin. . .
Potter executed a perfect Wronski feint, then saw his teacher watching him and shot over.
"Were you looking for me, Professor?" he asked with impeccable politeness.
"Yes Potter. The Headmaster, in his infinite wisdom," Snape sneered. "Has put me in charge of you for the duration of your stay here over the summer."
Was it just his imagination, or did he see Potter's face sink a bit before a cheerful mask slipped back into place.
"Its kind of you to take the time sir, I'm sure it must disrupt your work considerably. Do you have any instructions for me?"
"Have you thought at all what you plan to do with yourself this summer, Potter?"
"Well, Professor Dumbledore says that I have lessons every day after breakfast, and then I hoped to put in some solid Quidditch training. I was going to ask Fred and George if they could come up with some ideas to help Mark get away from Dudley, my cousin. I know he bullies the kid. Then I've got my summer assignments to do, I've done most of them, but there's a few to go."
Potions no doubt being one of them. As far as Severus could tell, that was all the perfect truth, even the bit about helping the Evans boy However, he didn't seem to be saying quite everything, not that you'd expect him to.
"When do you receive your OWL results?"
"Day after tomorrow sir, I think. I might be a bit out with my dates."
"We will await their arrival before deciding which subjects you will require coaching in, unless the Headmaster chooses to enlighten us with details of your training. Potions, for instance, will, I'm sure, be one of them."
"Quite likely sir," Potter replied candidly. Severus couldn't believe that he admitted his incompetence and had done absolutely nothing to improve. If it had been one of his Slytherins, falling behind in any subject, he would have immediately offered extra coaching. Why hadn't Minerva done that? "Uh sir, do you want to train with me for a bit? I'd welcome the company."
Severus stared at the boy, who was holding out his prized Firebolt towards him. What on earth had happened to Potter? He couldn't be that grateful just for leaving his aunt and uncle's house, could he? He felt his treacherous mouth curve upwards in the beginnings of a smile and reply,
"That would be pleasant, thank you Potter."
"Uh, you're welcome sir." Severus smirked inwardly, he obviously hadn't been expecting to be taken up. "You get warmed up, if you want, and I'll get another broom for myself."
Potter was trusting him, probably his least favourite teacher, with the Firebolt that Black had given him, and was going to fly one of the notoriously poor school brooms himself? Unbelievable. James Potter wouldn't even have let Black fly his broom, a Nimbus 1000 as he recalled. He paused, curious, as Potter pulled out his wand and shut his eyes to concentrate.
"Acci Broom!" he said clearly and a Cleansweep 5 appeared, hovering in front of him.
Severus couldn't believe his senses. Potter had just executed a Sorcerer level charm perfectly, and so casually! Harry Potter, a Sorcerer? He'd have to talk to Dumbledore about this, although no doubt the meddling old busybody already knew. The boy concentrated again and summoned a Snitch. He looked at Severus with a very faint trace of guilt showing on his face,
"The Headmaster told me to play, so I borrowed it from a school training set. I won't lost it, I promise, and I'll return it when we're done."
"I'm sure you will. Shall we begin?"
Potter opened his hand and the Snitch darted away. The boy counted slowly to ten and then they were off. Severus found that it was very different flying a new Firebolt to an elderly school broom, which probably hadn't been serviced properly for years. Even so, delighting in the speed of the broom, he was finding it incredibly difficult to stay ahead of Potter - the boy was too damned good!
It took them fifteen minutes before Harry caught the Snitch with a practiced hand. They landed lightly on the grass. Potter was grinning openly, the first time Severus had seen him do so since their return, his black hair so like his father's ruffled by the wind and a look of complete freedom on his face.
"Thank you sir, that was great, a real challenge. You're much better than the other Seekers on the school teams. Will you train with me again sometime?"
"Yes, thank you Potter," Severus replied, surprised at the obvious compliment the boy had given him. Then he decided something else was in order. "You have a fine broom there, that helps."
"Malfoy has a nice broom as well, too good for him actually, and it doesn't help him at all. He'd do much better on a Cleansweep model, if his pride would allow him, an 8 if possible, I think, because it doesn't require the same instincts as the Nimbus does."
Severus stared at him, shocked at hearing the kind of comment he would have expected from an international level coach, not a sixteen-year-old school boy.
"Who would you recommend as Slytherin Seeker then?" Severus asked, and was surprised when Potter was able to answer immediately.
"Malcolm Baddock. He's a lot younger, I know, but he's got a good feel for his broom."
"And a Keeper?"
"Graham Pritchard," Potter answered, again without hesitation. Then he paused.
"Don't worry Potter, I never help to select a house team, but I will give you a hypothetical assignment," he said, thinking back to the last staff meeting. "Draw up your recommended team lists for each of the four houses and one for the school as a whole, you can use players from any year."
"Yes sir," Potter replied, looking relieved at getting something that would probably only take him half an hour. "When would you like it for?"
"I'll give you a week, and remember that players such as Angelina Johnson have left now."
The last staff meeting had been a real eye opener for all of them. It had taken place a week before Potter had returned to school and had been when Dumbledore had first aired a new idea, very obviously one of his own crazy notions.
"I'm seeking at the moment to organize an inter-school Quidditch tournament," he had announced casually. "It would encourage international cooperation and provide a unique opportunity for some of our young players."
"I'm not seeing to it on my own," Madam Hooch said firmly, seeing exactly what he was getting at. "I won't be able to fly for another six months with my lung problems and I've been thinking of retiring anyway. Sorry Albus, but its just not going to work unless you think it through again."
"Would you be willing to stay on until the end of next year to train up a successor? He'd be an excellent player and you could turn a good deal of the active side of the coaching and refereeing over to him very quickly."
"We'll see. Well, so long as he takes responsibility for this whole affair. If he works out, I'll stay."
"Thank you. Now, my initial feeling was that there should now be a new school Quidditch captain as well as the traditional four house captains."
"And who would that be?" McGonagall had asked impatiently. "So many of the older players have just left, we have a slight shortage at the moment."
"Oh, there are players left, all right, and I have a number of ideas. I will accept your votes just as for Head Boy and Girl in the next few weeks."