Title: Verisimilitude

Author: GrapeSmshr

Rated: R

Coupling: HP/SS slashy goodness

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were so, these charas don't belong to me.

Thanks to: Crazy Mary-J... You're my lifesaver with this, you know.

A/N: I really like the events of this chapter. This is for all of you who've ever had crazy teachers/professors out there. Read on and enjoy!

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Chapter 6: Ready, Set, Go!

Monday morning came none too soon for Harry. He always enjoyed starting off the day with teaching, and today would be no exception. In fact, today would be even more of an interesting day than usual.

Exiting the kitchens, Harry happily nibbled on the bagel that one of the house elves had eagerly given him. He had decided to head down to class early. It wasn't that he wanted to review the lessons so much as he wanted to sit down behind his desk--his--before Snape arrived and tried to claim it back.

Greeting a duo of Slytherins as he reached his classroom, he pushed the door open and descended the steps, dropping his bagel in surprise.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had the idea of arriving early. Snape had made himself comfortable behind the desk, a satisfied smirk on his face at Harry's expression. "Is it a common occurrence with you to not be able to keep your hold on bread products?"

Recovering swiftly, Harry waved the bagel into the trash bin and said conversationally, "I see you have reclaimed your desk." He suppressed the urge to reach for his wand as Snape gave him a smug look of triumph. "Well, I suppose I'll need a desk as well, then." A devilish glint entered his eyes as he took a spare quill and transfigured it carefully into a desk right next to Snape's. He paused only long enough to mentally gloat at the other man's outraged scowl before he stepped back to admire his handiwork.

The desk was large--probably larger than it needed to be to serve its function--but matched the size of the adjacent desk. The deep cherry finish shone like the polished brass edging. On the top center was an embossed logo of Gryffindor House. Harry knew there was some form of bias for his former House in doing this, but he really couldn't resist adding a bit more irritation to Snape. And if the potions master's expression was anything to judge by, Harry would venture that his plan had been a success.

Quickly transfiguring a matching chair, Harry sat down and began pulling items out of his satchel. He paid scant attention to the man whose irritation grew at Harry's mere presence.

Smiling genuinely, Harry held out a parchment for Snape. "This is the review the students will be covering today--"

"I know what material is covered," Snape interrupted rudely. "I do have a copy of the itinerary, or are you too daft to remember that which you gave to me?"

Oh, he'd like to give the man something else, Harry thought darkly. Perhaps a split lip. Trying his best not to bark out an insult, he held out the parchment again. "Yes, but today--"

"I know perfectly well what today is, and I most certainly do not need you to point it out for me."

Harry shrugged, giving up. "Fine. Suit yourself."

Severus smirked, clearly pleased with one-upping Potter yet again. Obviously the Gryffindor-for-life thought him stupid. Or maybe he had the memory span of a dimwitted troll. Either way, Severus wasn't about to let some little twit try to get the best of him.

But when Potter started acting peculiar fifteen minutes later, he didn't quite know what to make of it.

Opening his satchel, Harry pulled out a shrunken container, which he promptly returned to its original size with a mere wave of his hand. Then he grabbed a stack of blank cards and made his way around the room, placing one on each work station. Checking to make sure the back table was well stocked with ingredients, he sat back down and began scribbling away furiously in what looked to be a Muggle notebook.

Severus was about to ask what was going on, but two Gryffindors took that moment to enter the classroom.

They paused to give Snape morning greetings, but when he shot them a glare before they even opened their mouths, they reconsidered and kept moving until they were in from of Harry's desk.

"Nice desk, professor," one of the teens said with a wide grin.

"Thanks, Ezra. I think so, too." Harry chuckled as they found their seats.

Immediately following them were several more students. The Gryffindors all shuddered involuntarily at the sight of Snape, as they remembered all too well the wrath the man had brought down upon them in their earliest two schooling years. The Slytherins, though, enthusiastically greeted him and wanted to know if he would be returning to his Head of House position.

"That will be discussed with Professor Malfoy, but we shall see," Severus had answered noncommittally, receiving a healthy round of grumbling.

When the last student had arrived, Harry rose from his seat and began, "Good morning, everyone. As I told you last week, your Potions classes for the remainder of the year will be headed by both Professor Snape and myself. We have different teaching styles, as I'm sure you have already noticed, but we will try our best to make the classes run smoothly." He stepped back, gesturing for Snape to add anything.

Standing up as well, Severus said in his stern teaching tone, "I have reviewed all of your work over the span of my.. absence, and was most surprised that you had completed several advanced level potions successfully. All of you." With this last pointed remark, he left no room for confusion just whose House members he was referring to. "However, there are still two months left of term and much more difficult potions to brew, so there will be no premature slipping of responsibilities. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor Snape," the class murmured in unison.

"Well, now that we have that out of the way..." Harry once again took over the class. "Today is the Monday before an exam. You all know what that means, don't you?" He raised his wand, the class eyeing him in anticipation. He murmured a spell, and a misty stream of black trailed out of his wand and settled on each of the blank cards. When writing began to form, the students read the words eagerly. "Ready... set..." Harry raised his wand higher. "Go!" he cried as blue sparks shot out.

The students flew out of their seats and ran toward the back of the room, grabbing the ingredients they needed and then hurrying back to their work stations to begin brewing their potions.

"You only have one hour, so make sure you brew it right the first time!" Harry called out, watching in amusement as the students moved faster.

He returned to his seat, consulting his notebook once again, completely oblivious to the other professor, who had settled back into his seat. It wasn't until a pale, strong hand gripped his wrist that he finally looked up.

"What is going on, Potter?" Severus asked in a low tone. What kind of madness had he instilled upon the students to make them rush to finish a potion?

"Why, the students are reviewing, of course," Harry answered innocently, being daring enough to bait the man with a smile.

"Reviewing? What kind of review is this?" As far as Severus knew, the standard review required questions and answers and copious amounts of reading. Reviews did not include running around and speed-brewing potions. Did Potter have no respect for the art of potion-making?

Sighing in resolution, Harry murmured, "All right, I'll explain." Then he glanced down. "But do you think you could let go of my wrist? You're cutting off my circulation."

Flushing, Severus quickly released his hold with lightning speed.

Quite amused and curious at the other man's reaction, Harry opted not to comment but instead finish his explanation. "The students had a bit of trouble on the first couple of exams. They weren't grasping the material as well as they should, which was a danger not only to their grades but to their selves as well. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to get injured. So I instated this game I came up with based around a similar Muggle version. Basically, each student has a different potion to brew within the span of one hour. And yes, before you ask, all of them can be finished within that time, granted they make their mistakes at the very beginning or not at all."

He broke off at this point to observe the class. Two students, one from each House, were bringing more ingredients to their table, meaning they had to start over. The rest of the class were working diligently.

Turning back to Snape, Harry continued, "After all of the potions are finished, each students gives a five-minute presentation on the properties and uses and such of their potion. Since they don't know which potion they will be brewing, they have to know all of them."

"But why bother? Other than the humiliation of not knowing about a particular potion, what is their incentive for learning everything?"

Reaching for the large container sitting on his desk, Harry tipped it slightly so that its contents could be seen. It was practically filled to the brim with candy of all varieties. "The faster they're done, the better choice of candy they get. Usually the last person is left with Slug Jellies or something equally atrocious."

Severus couldn't help but be impressed. This method of review obviously worked, as he had seen the test scores. And he didn't need to be told how much of a motivation confectionaries could be. He had confiscated enough sweets in his classes over the years to supply Honeydukes for a decade. This was smart, very smart. But would be admit that to Potter and help stroke his ego any more?

He didn't think so.

"So in place of rotting their brains, you are rotting their teeth instead?" he sneered.

Harry only chuckled and said thoughtfully, "I never thought of it that way, but I do suppose it's the better alternative of the two."

Severus shook his head, but his mind was reeling. Who was this man that he was talking to? Surely it wasn't Harry Potter, simpleton extraordinaire. Why was he not throwing a fit in anger or doing something pointless, such as reading professional Quidditch statistics?

It appeared that Potter had grown up in the past few years. He never would have thought that the reckless boy would turn into a hardworking man. It made him wonder what else about the younger man had changed.

He must have pondered this for quite some time because he was startled when Harry called out, "Time's up!"

At that point in the class, Harry already had a vial of the majority of the potions. The remaining few hurriedly poured their potions into a vial and handed them in. Then they started the presentations.

Severus listened to the students with fascination. It appeared that they really knew what they were talking about. Even the Gryffindors were explaining knowledgeably. He had expected far less from them, and the faintest trace of respect manifested itself in the back of his mind, where it could easily be ignored.

After all of the presentations were over and class came to an end, each student received his or her choice of candy, starting with the fastest potion brewer. At the end, a Slytherin female reached her hand into the container and stared at the candy with disdain. "Slug Jellies," she sniffed. "Last review I got Fizzing Whizbees."

"Well, Rina, do you know what you did wrong?" Harry asked the girl.

"I pet the saurbeetle antennae in at the wrong time," she answered immediately, obviously embarrassed.

"And what did I teach you guys about the Darkness potion?"

"ABC. Antennae before claws. Sense it, then pinch it." She looked upset for not remembering that earlier.

"Hey, no worries. This was only the review. Now you'll remember it for the exam on Wednesday."

"Thanks, professor." She began to walk away.

"Oh, and Rina?" When she turned around, Harry said, "Two points to Slytherin for a correct recall of information." He tossed her a chocolate frog.

She smiled faintly before gathering her bag and joining her friends that were waiting in the doorway.

When they left, Harry turned to Snape. "So, what did you think of my review?"

This was a many-layered answer for Severus. For one thing, he was still irked that the students speed-brewed potions. Plus he didn't know what sort of information was retained when each student only worked on one potion and relied on the knowledge of others for the other potions. Their previous test scores were impressive, yes, but the same grades could have been achieved by late night cramming.

Still, the idea itself was interesting. The students obviously enjoyed these reviews. And since it didn't seem that they knew in advance what potion they would be individually brewing, he surmised that they did have to know all of them by default. Clever, clever Potter. Apparently he wasn't as daft as Severus repeatedly accused him of being.

Of course, he wasn't about to admit that aloud.

Instead he answered, "Quite unorthodox. But I wouldn't expect any less from you, Mr. Potter."

Harry laughed, obviously taking the words as a compliment. "And this was just the first class. Wait until you see what's in store for the rest of the day!"

There was a little too much enthusiasm there for Severus's liking, but he couldn't help but be intrigued. What other surprises were in store?

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What other surprises, indeed. ::smirks:: My, my, they're actually getting along! Of course, anyone who knows my writing knows that I can't resist throwing obstacles in the way to create more havoc... Of course, I'm still working on that part... Oh well.

Please review! I do so love reviews like I love my new HP book cover. I value your input, and it means the world to me. I'm writing this fic for... well, me, actually, but I always was good at sharing.

Unfortunately, the new semester just started back up for me this week, so I may not be able to post every week like I wanted to. I haven't been able to write as much lately, so I'm falling a bit behind. I'll try my best, though! Obviously I'd much rather write this fic than read my Psychology of Aging book, anyway. Bleh. Anyway, just thought I'd let you know. Perhaps a little encouragement could do wonders?

Btw, if you're wondering where those student names came from... Ezra is what I'm going to name my firstborn son, and Rina is a spin on Rinoa from FFVIII, which I'm currently trying to beat.

Until next chapter, then!