Chapter 5

"Harry! Are you all right?"

Harry smiled. "I'm fine, don't worry." He placed a hand on Derek's head and ruffled his hair. He turned to Ron and Hermione and gave them a reassuring smile. "I feel much better now."

"Good, 'cause we've got History of Magic first lesson." Ron said, smiling.

"What?! You've got to be kidding me. Can I go back to the hospital wing and pretend that I'm sick?"

Ron and Hermione laughed. "I doubt so. Madam Pomfrey will never allow it."

"But History of Magic with Binns first thing in the morning? On the first day of school? What a way to start the school year. I don't think I can survive the rest of the day without falling asleep."

"Oh come on, look on the bright side. At least it isn't Divination."

"Thank Merlin we're not taking divination anymore."

"Yeah. Come on, mate, let's go get breakfast. You won't be able to survive through Binn's lesson on an empty stomach."

"Ron, that's your stomach talking."

"It is? Ah, whatever. Let's go eat!"

With that, the four of them headed to the Great Hall.

-----

Harry splashed water on himself in the toilet in an attempt to clear his mind. It had been fogged up since the first lesson, and he had practically fallen asleep during Charms, which had been second lesson. He went through Care of Magical Creatures without any problem, since they had it with the Hufflepuffs and there was no way that he could fall asleep during the lesson, and prepared himself for the next lesson - which was Potions. He gave a small smile at the thought. Ron was to sit with Hermione and Harry had no choice but to sit with Neville. He took out his book and quill and some parchment, when the doors suddenly banged open. Without turning, Harry knew at once that Severus had just came in. Of course, the banging of the door wasn't the only thing that implied so. The fact that the whole class had gone as quiet as a mouse in a millisecond was a dead giveaway.

Severus walked swiftly to the front of the room, and as he turned around to face the class, he swished his wand and the doors slammed back close. "Open your books to page 875. Today you'll be doing that potion as a practice. I expect all of you to be able to do this without killing anybody. If I see anyone not able to do such a simple potion properly..." he scanned the room, stopping only once to glare at Neville, and then smirked coldly. "I will do what I deem fit." The students shuddered as a whole, and he seemed to be happy at the reaction he got. He waved his wand again and the tables by the sides of the room were filled with the different ingredients. "All of you will work in pairs. The ingredients are by the side. Start now."

Half of the class started to collect the ingredients while the other half read the instructions on how to do the potion. In no time, Harry and Neville were working on their potion. "Neville, please do be careful with the slime," Harry said as Neville almost dropped a vial of the slime that they had to use.

"I... I'm sorry Harry... it's just... Snape's making me nervous..."

"Calm down Neville. I don't see why you cannot go through class without getting all worked up. After all, you did manage to get an 'O' for your O.W.L.s."

"That... that was pure luck, actually... Snape made me do that potion 5 times over during one of the private lessons... and it happened to come out as the practical exam. If it had been any other potion, my practical would have gotten a 'Troll' and the highest I would have been able to get would be 'Poor' or an 'Acceptable' at best."

Harry smiled. "Have more confidence, Neville. You managed to do it in the end anyway, and that's all that..."

"POTTER! LONGBOTTOM!" The duo froze, sharing a distressed look. They turned to the source and Neville gulped as Snape towered over him, glaring hard. "I see the both of you have decided that talking in my class is much more important than concentrating on your potions. You have just lost Gryffindor 5 points." Neville looked down. "Each." Harry didn't say anything, not daring to look up at Severus to see the old potions professor that he had known before the holidays. "Now get back to work before I decide to change my mind about being so lenient." He barked. The effect was immediate on Neville. Neville quickly grabbed the vial of slime and poured it into the cauldron and quickly stirred it the moment Severus turned his back on them.

"No! Neville!! Don't!!" Harry cried out. At that, Severus turned around sharply.

Severus paled. "Get away from the cauldron, NOW!"

The students around that area quickly stopped brewing their potions and ran away from them. Neville, however, seemed to be frozen in place, realising only then what it was that he had done wrongly. Harry, seeing that, quickly pushed him out of the way and fell on top of him just as the cauldron exploded. Goo splattered everywhere and some fell onto Harry's leg. Harry turned around and hissed as the pain made itself known. He was about to clutch his leg when his hands were caught behind him.

"Potter, don't touch it."

The goo seemed as though it was burning its way through his skin, and the area hurt a lot. He hissed again involuntarily and Severus quickly waved his wand, riding his leg of the goo. As soon as that was done, Severus took out a vial from his robes and uncorked it, spreading it over the exposed skin that was now red. After he was finally done, he stood and glared at Neville. "I should have known. The only two mistakes that would have been considered as dangerous were done at the same time. I should have known that you were incompetent of carrying out simple tasks. 50 points from Gryffindor." He waved his hand and the mess cleared itself. "The rest of you! Get back to doing your potions! And Longbottom, I suggest you observe a pair who knows how to do it and LEARN from them. Don't you even dare to attempt anything else." If looks could kill, Neville would have died 10 times over. He whimpered softly and then nodded. "I'm bringing Potter here to the hospital wing since he is incapable of walking by himself. All of you will finish your potions and put a vial of it on the table with your names on it. Longbottom, you are aware that you'll fail this." The moment he was done with his instructions, he turned back to Harry and carried him up and out of the classroom, his robes billowing behind him.

"Erm... Severus?" Harry said very softly.

"What is it, Potter?"

"Neville didn't mean to do that... he's just nervous around you and he can't think properly."

"Nervous?"

"All right, terrified. But that's not the point. I know he didn't do that on purpose."

Severus scowled. "The point is, there were only two possible mistakes that were dangerous, and he did both of them! He's a walking hazard! How on earth did he get an 'O' in Potions, I wonder."

"I'm sure he's capable of doing well."

"Well then, he sure isn't showing it." Harry said nothing. "Potter, do you know what he did wrongly?"

"Yeah. He added the slime all at once, when it was supposed to be added drop by drop, and he stirred the potion anti-clockwise when it was supposed to be clockwise."

Severus smirked. "I see you know your work then. And do you know what were the effects of each mistake?" He couldn't help but test.

"The mistake in the stirring would have given the potion the poisonous, corrosive nature... and well... it makes the potion dangerous. The excess of slime used made the whole thing explode."

"I'm impressed."

Harry smiled shyly. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and he breathed in the scent of Severus deeply, before allowing himself to fall unconscious.

-----

When Harry woke up, he found himself in the hospital wing. He looked around the room and tried to sit up. Pomfrey was immediately by his side. "Harry, how are you feeling now?"

"A little dizzy."

Pomfrey smiled. "No splitting headaches or anything other than dizziness?" Harry shook his head. "Good." She changed her tone to a business-like one. "I've neutralised the poison and cured the area. But you're not allowed to leave for at least another 2 hours so that I can make sure that you're fully cured." She softened her tone again. "Thank goodness the professor knew to put the cream on the area to soothe the skin and temporarily stop the spreading of the poison. Or else we'd have a really sticky situation on our hands now."

Harry nodded, then realised that he should thank her for taking care of him. "Err... thanks..."

"No problem. There's some food on the tray. Eat something. You should be pretty hungry now since dinner was over almost two hours ago."

"I've been knocked out for that long?"

"Four and a half hours. Anyway, your friends have been here to see you. They had to leave because it was approaching curfew." Harry nodded. "All right then, press that button if you feel there's anything wrong." She pointed to something that looked like a push button. "I'm going to rest now."

"Right. Thank you." Harry stared into space for several moments after Pomfrey left him and then finally ate the food that was offered on the floating tray. Halfway through his meal, someone came in. He looked up and smiled as he saw Severus at the door. "S... erm... Professor." He sat down next to the bed. "What's the matter?"

"I just spent two hours trying to get Longbottom to make the simple potion correctly, that's what. I swear that he's the only one in the entire class who can't make the potion on his own. And he's serving detention with Filch tomorrow."

"You look exhausted."

Severus glared at him. "You would be too after a full day of teaching children who do not have the brains to comprehend the simplest of instructions."

Harry chuckled. "Isn't that a bit exaggerated?"

"You're not the one teaching. What would you know? In fact, what I said was an understatement. I doubt any of them even have a brain to speak of."

Harry laughed, but quickly sobered when he saw Severus' look. However, the smile stayed on his face. "So..." He struggled to put what he wanted to say into words without sounding ungrateful. "Erm... I don't suppose you're here just to tell me about what happened to Neville?"

Severus glared. "Of course not. What makes you think that I have nothing better to do?" He took something out of his robes. At Harry's confused look, he explained, "A dreamless sleep potion. You need a proper rest tonight in order to recover well from the messed-up potion." He placed it onto the table next to Harry.

There was a short silence before Harry spoke. "Have you seen the others?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "You have to be more specific."

"Ron, Hermione and Derek."

Immediately, Severus' expression darkened. "The last time I saw them they were trying to barge in here. Other than that, no."

Severus scowled at Harry's smile. "How long ago was that?"

"How would I know?" Severus barked. "I just happened to pass by, and I had other things to do."

Harry seemed surprised at the sudden harshness of his tone, but quickly recovered, smirking inwardly. "I see..."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "It's about time you rested for the night."

Harry gave a small smile, and nodded. He took the potion and then held his breath, swallowing the insides. After he finished it, he placed the empty vial back onto the table. "Thank you for coming to visit me." Before Severus could even deny what Harry had claimed, he had fallen back onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. Severus looked at his sleeping face and sighed, before he reached out a hand to brush away a few stray bangs.

He leaned forward and placed a kiss on Harry's forehead before pulling away. "You're welcome, Harry."

-----

A week later, Harry entered the Potions classroom and sat down, taking out his textbook. "Theory..." he muttered, "how boring..."

Beside him, Neville gave him a nervous smile. "I personally prefer theory. That way I won't get Gryffindor into too much trouble."

Harry laughed. "And Snape won't pay you much attention, right?"

Neville turned red. "Harry! I don't understand, why you aren't afraid of him?"

Several reasons, Harry thought. I used to despise him, and then I admired him when we worked together to defeat Voldemort. And now? I've learnt to love him. Though I'd have to admit, he does scare me sometimes. "Neville, you overestimate me. It's impossible to not be afraid of Snape at least a little."

"So you mean you do feel afraid of him sometimes?"

"Of course. Some of the time."

"... oh. But..." He had no chance to finish his sentence as Severus entered the classroom and started the class.

As he half-listened to the lesson, his eyes wandered to the professor that was teaching the class. He thought about the last month and how they got to know each other better, and how his own feelings for the other had deepened in the process. He absently took down notes as he remembered how Severus always looked out for him and cared for him, no matter how subtle or how outright it was. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice a shadow over him.

"POTTER!" Harry jumped in his seat. "Daydreaming in my class? How brave of you. For that, Potter, 10 points from Gryffindor." Harry narrowed his eyes and stared defiantly at Severus. "And a detention." Harry frowned as Severus turned his back on him to continue his lesson. Fancy getting detention for daydreaming about him in his class, he thought, remind me never to do that again.

Neville shot him a sympathetic look. "It's okay, Harry. I get that all the time. I don't even have to really be daydreaming. It seems as though I naturally look like I am."

Harry almost laughed. "Don't worry too much about it, Neville, the teachers are just blind." Then realising that they would get into more trouble if they were caught, the both of them brought their attention back to the lesson. Finally, the class ended.

"Potter, stay behind. We need to talk about the terms for your detention." Harry frowned at that. After everyone left, Severus flicked his wand to lock the doors and cast a silencing spell. Almost immediately once that was done, his hard gaze softened. "Harry, what wrong?"

Harry looked confused. "What's wrong? Nothing. Nothing's wrong at all."

"Then would you care to explain why you were so out of it the whole lesson?" Was it that obvious? He thought, but he already knew the answer. Of course he had been obvious! Then suddenly, "Was it about Walton?"

Harry jerked his head up so fast that he almost sprained it. "What? What has this got to do with Derek?"

"Don't think I don't know anything about this sort of things, Potter. That look you had was one of someone who was in love. Who else could it be?" So now I'm Potter again, huh, Harry thought. He was surprised at the way Severus' tone changed so fast to one of coldness again. Then he realised, Severus' jealous! This brought a smile on his lips, but the moment Severus saw that, he narrowed his eyes. "And may I know what is so funny, Potter?"

Harry looked straight into Severus' eyes. "You, professor. You're jealous. But you just won't admit it."

"I am not jealous, Potter! Don't test my patience!!"

"Then why is it you always jump to the conclusion that I like Derek? And every time you talk about him, you turn so cold?"

"You've only known him for about a week, and he has joined your Golden Trio to make four people. And from what I've seen, you're so close to him that you're telling him everything. Don't you know how dangerous it is for you to do that?"

Harry shook his head. "Not everything. There are some things that I haven't told anyone. Something only the both of us shared and know." Saying so, he smiled. "That was what I was thinking about during class."

Severus' face muscles twitched, and Harry knew that he almost let an emotion show on the face. However, he hadn't been able to see what emotion that was. "What, are you implying that you were thinking about me then?" The icy voice hadn't changed.

Harry turned red. "Erm... something like that."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Really." It was more of a statement than a question.

Harry's face turned a brighter red, and he dared to look at Severus from the corner of his eye. To his surprise, he saw relief and something else on the other's face, which disappeared no longer than a second later. "Yes, I... I was thinking about you... but I'll make sure that I don't do that again." Severus narrowed his eyes, and Harry immediately realised how it had sounded like. "But you can't stop me if I do so outside of class time, as long as I don't do it during lessons, right?" He allowed himself to smile.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Severus took off the silencing spell and undid the locking spell. "As flattered as I am, Potter, this will not make me take back the detention. You'll have detention with me at 8 today." Then he said louder, "Come in." He looked at Harry with an almost possessive look in his eye. "And you'll be on time."

Harry nodded, his smile widening. Then he turned around, getting rid of his smile as he did so, putting an impassive look on instead. He brushed past the student at the door and then left, barely noticing that the person he walked past was Malfoy.

-----

"Harry, I can't believe you got a detention only after a week of school!"

Harry winced. "Hermione, it's just a detention. Don't worry too much about it."

"Worried?! Excuse me? You've only been back in school for a week and one day! You get into an accident on the first day and get detention on the first day of the second week. I don't even want to know what'll happen next week."

"But 'mione, it would be boring if nothing happened at all the whole year." Ron commented.

"Ron! You better not get a detention yourself! You're a prefect now and I expect more from you!"

Ron sighed. "I should have known better than to say anything."

Harry tuned them out as Derek tugged on his sleeve. "Harry, you got a detention?"

"Yeah, from Professor Snape."

"Why does everything happen during Professor Snape's lesson?"

Harry laughed. "because he's got the reputation of the worst teacher in the school."

"Is he really that bad?"

"I believe I answered that question during your first day here." Harry said, winking. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to find Severus there at this time, Harry didn't bother to look for Severus at the staff table as they entered the Great Hall for lunch. However, Derek's eyes had wandered to the staff table the moment they had entered the hall, searching for someone. When it seemed like he couldn't find who he was looking for, he turned back, and turned a bright red when he saw Harry looking at him. "Who were you looking for?" Harry asked.

"No one in particular..."

Harry raised an eyebrow, something that he had learnt during the time he had stayed with Severus. "Really..." He smiled as he saw Derek's face turn redder. "Forget it. Let's go eat."

That night, Harry left his three friends after dinner for detention. As Harry neared the dungeons, he realised that Severus hadn't specified a place for his detention. Confused, he decided to make his way to his quarters. He took the route that he was more than familiar with since the holidays and soon, he found himself standing in front of the room. "Erm... Blind worms?" He tried. To his surprise, the portrait swung open to let him in. He stepped in cautiously and looked around the room.

"Harry. I see you're smart enough to come here on your own. I was starting to wonder if you couldn't figure it out yourself." Harry turned his head to the direction of the voice and saw Severus seated in one of the two armchairs by the fireplace, gesturing for him to take a seat. He walked over and sat down in the other armchair, then looked at Severus questioningly. "So you're wondering why you're here." Harry nodded, and noticed as Severus seemed to undergo an inner conflict within himself. "Your nightmares... are they lifting?"

Harry smiled in relief. "Yes, they are."

"And... the books..."

"The quidditch books?"

"... Yeah, that lot."

"I'm still reading them. Don't worry. I haven't lost interest in them. I never will."

"... Ah..."

There was a short silence. "Severus? Are you worrying about me?"

"Whatever gave you that absurd idea?"

"I'm just guessing.... Are you?" There was only silence once more, but to Harry, it was enough of an answer. He hesitantly walked over and dared to ask what he had been wanting to for over a week. "Severus... I think it's time that we get to the talk that's a week overdue."

Harry was prepared to be more specific if Severus had forgotten about it, but from the slight pink tainting his cheeks, he knew he hadn't. "The talk?"

"Yes, you promised that we'd 'talk about it' the next day, remember? But we never did."

Severus froze. "We..." He frowned. "Can we talk about this another time? I promise we'll talk. But not now. I'm not ready yet."

Harry sighed. "All right... But..."

"Hm?" Severus looked up at Harry as he trailed off, and his eyes widened as he felt familiar soft lips on his own. This kiss was just like the last, and it left them looking forward to the next time they would be doing this again. "Harry..." Severus said softly after they parted. "Your 'detention' is over, you can go back now. If anyone asks you what you did for detention, you spent the time cleaning dirty cauldrons."

Harry smiled, before he reluctantly pulled further away from Severus so that there was a safe distance between the both of them. "Okay... Thanks Severus. I'll see you tomorrow."

Severus nodded, and resisted the urge to pull Harry in for another kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Harry left the room, not noticing that Severus hand had lifted to clutch on to his left forearm.

-----

"Guys, have you seen Derek?"

Ron and Hermione turned around. "He was just here just now!" Ron exclaimed.

"I think I remember him saying something about needing to see someone, and then he wasn't here anymore." Hermione said, remembering what Derek had said earlier.

Harry frowned. "You guys go ahead to the Great Hall first. I'll go look for Derek."

Ron and Hermione nodded. "Do find him, Harry. He's only been here for less than two weeks. He might get lost."

"Don't worry, 'mione, I will." Harry then turned and ran off in the direction in which he had seen his two friends walk from.

It was only almost a fifteen minutes later that he found Derek as he turned around a corner. He saw Derek's brown hair and he was about to call out to him when he realised that he was talking to someone. A professor. Severus. Harry froze, unable to move. He saw the both of them talking almost animatedly but he could not hear anything. He was willing to bet that they had a silencing charm cast around them so that no one could hear their conversation. Suddenly, Derek seemed to be shouting at Severus, but Severus kept his cool exterior. In fact, he did nothing as Derek kept shouting at him. Finally, after Derek was done, he muttered a few words and it seemed as though Derek only turned angrier. Realising that he had to step in now before things got worse, he took a deep breath and ran towards them.

"Derek! I finally found you! Ah, Professor Snape." Immediately, the silencing spell was dropped.

"Potter. I suggest you keep this... friend of yours in check." He glared at Derek, before he turned sharply and walked away.

"Derek? What happened there?"

Derek gritted his teeth. "Nothing."

Harry turned even more confused. He had never seen Derek like this before. In fact, he had never seen Derek lose his temper before, and this was quite a shock to him. Derek took a deep breath before he finally turned to look at Harry.

"Sorry, Harry, I got 20 points off Gryffindor... Everyone's going to hate me..."

Harry laughed. "Don't worry too much about it. I get points off Gryffindor in blocks of fifty. I just make it up with Quidditch. You can make it up with your schoolwork."

Derek nodded. Harry knew something was up with the other, but he wouldn't pry if he didn't want to talk about it. He decided to change the subject. "Derek, you got us worried, disappearing like that. Let's go back to the Great Hall for breakfast, 'kay?"

"Yeah, sure..."

When they got to the Great Hall, Harry noticed that Derek couldn't stop glaring at Severus at the staff table from the moment they entered the Hall. He looked up at Severus to see his reaction and found him coolly ignoring Derek. He then looked up and locked gazes with Harry. Harry saw his eyes soften and he gave a small sigh before concentrating on his food again. Harry noted all this with confusion. He had no idea what was happening, but one thing was for sure. He was somehow related to this. While they were eating breakfast, Harry saw Ron and Hermione deep in conversation, and he decided to use this chance. "Derek?" Derek looked up at him. "This thing with you and Professor Snape..." He saw Derek tense up, but he ignored it, "does it have anything to do with me?" Derek dropped his fork in shock and looked at Harry a little fearfully, though it could only be seen in his eyes.

"What makes you think so?" He asked in his usual voice.

"Gut feeling."

Derek shook his head. "Not really. This is between Professor Snape and I..."

Suddenly, Harry felt a sense of trepidation overcome him. This seemed to suggest... It looked as though... Harry mentally shook his head. It couldn't... but everything seemed to point towards that one possibility... The way Derek seemed so interested in Severus... the way Derek was shouting at Severus in the hallway and why there was a silencing shield put up... and the way Derek kept glaring at Severus just now... and now... This is between Derek and Severus? Harry pieced things together in his head and he paled a little. Derek had a crush on Severus, and it seemed as though he was angry at him for being so close to Harry.

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A/N: Okay, Chapter 5 up... what do you guys think? Please do review! Next chapter... There's news of Lucius!

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Sylvanus Snape: Thank you- here's the fifth chapter... I hope I don't make any changes to it... Heheh...

Quills 'N Ink : Thanks! And no, it wasn't harsh, don't worry. ) It's good to hear people's views.

Emerald Dragon Girl: It was confusing? Oh darn. I hope it wasn't too bad though--- Sorry! Thanks for reviewing-- )

Dracula5555: Here's the update-- )