Potions NEWT
Hogwarts lay in nearly complete darkness when he returned, the mighty towers almost invisible against the black sky. Barely any student had ever seen their school like this because during the term the torches in the main corridors and in the halls usually always remained burning, even at night. But now, with only a few staff members, ghosts and house elves present and most of the school empty, that wasn't necessary.
But although one couldn't yet see it from down here, Severus knew that there were still two torches illuminating the side entrance below the small tower; the castle knew its inhabitants, it knew when they left and when to expect them back and it always left a light on for him.
Harry couldn't sleep. He had been sitting in his room, waiting to hear the front door being closed and then he had looked out of his window to watch Snape walking away from the house and vanishing in the shadows down the street. Just so he could be sure that he was really gone. After staring down onto the empty quiet street for at least half an hour he finally felt sure enough that he wouldn't return and went back to sitting on his bed. Harry was angry. Once again neither Dumbledore nor anyone else seemed to think it was necessary to inform him about things actually concerning no one but him and they rather continued patronizing him just as if he was too stupid to understand anyway. And he was worried; if Snape could just show up standing in his room, who else could? And after all, how important were those spells if Dumbledore thought it was worth sending him here in the middle of the night? He wanted some answers but he knew that nobody would be too willing to provide them. Sirius would have. He would have understood how he felt and he would have told him what he deserved to know.
Harry jumped to his feet and slowly walked over to the white owl sitting in a cage next to the window. He opened the cage, reached inside and gently ruffled the feathers on the bird's chest.
What do you think, Hedwig? He whispered.
Outside it started raining. Harry gathered his quill and a piece of parchment from the floor, jumped onto his bed and began writing to Lupin and the others. They would be expecting to hear from him soon anyway and Lupin was also the first person to write to he could think of, aside from Sirius.
By the next morning the weak rain of the night before had turned into a fullgrown summer thunderstorm and during the morning hours it remained dark and cold in the castle's halls and corridors while the roaring thunder seemed to make the school's ancient walls shake.
Severus had been sleeping way too late for his own taste and had wasted another hour by trying to persuade himself to leave his rooms and get some work done before he finally set off to the staff room.
When he opened the door he found McGonagall and Madam Hooch sitting at the table, both reading and barely looking up when he entered the room. He wondered only briefly what Madam Hooch was doing here at all before he spotted the folder he had handed to the house elf the night before lying on the table and took a seat there. The second he flipped open the folder, pulled out a sheet of paper and started studying it, Madam Hooch rolled up her magazine, nodded at both her colleagues and left the staff room.
He didn't pay any attention to McGonagall watching him over the rim of her book, not even when she looked up and gave him a questioning look after seeing him shaking his head over the paper he had been reading.
Do we have the OWL results yet? Severus asked.
They sent them this morning. McGonagall replied, gesturing at the shelf behind her. Are you already doing your NEWT applications?
Yes, I thought whenever I have some time I should use it. He muttered, stood up and walked over to the shelf at the opposite wall to search the pile of paper for the examination reports on the only subject he was supposed to be interested in - although he would have very much liked to take a quick look at what Umbridge had managed to teach her students during the last year. He pulled the blue folder from the pile, checked the label to make sure they hadn't suddenly decided to change the colours and went back to his place where he began searching the folder for the exam results of one very special student. He found the paper, quickly scanned it and immediately a very typical smirk crept onto his face. McGonagall watched him as he took his quill, crossed out the whole NEWT application form, attached it to the exam result paper and put both aside.
What was that now? She asked.
That was me not accepting an application for my NEWT class; you should have seen it before. Severus replied softly, studying another paper with exam results and not even looking up.
Accio paper! McGonagall muttered and now Snape did look up, slammed his hand onto the table to keep the papers from moving away and missed them only by an inch.
Excuse me? He hissed, wearing an expression which should have reminded her that he couldn't stand it when others started meddling with what he regarded as his sphere of responsibility.
McGonagall didn't react, she simply read the results paper and then looked up at him again. Potter needs a NEWT in Potions. She said dryly. He even received an 'Outstanding' in his theoretical test; you can't be serious about not accepting him.
Potter got an A in his practical exam which gets him an average of 'Exceeds Expectations'. Close but not a hit, I'm afraid. Severus replied with a complacent smile. McGonagall had told him about Potter's dream job, still he had been surprised to see him not wanting to drop Potions - Potter should know by now that he wasn't good enough. And also that his teacher really never wanted to see him in his classroom again. That might be the one and only reason for him not to drop it. Just to annoy me.
An E should definitely be regarded as sufficient for any NEWT class... McGonagall said in a low voice.
I have my principles.
Couldn't you give it a second thought?
He frowned at the idea. A second thought? On Potter? Why on earth should I? Even if I wanted to, I have to stick to my principles; had it been an E in the practical exam, I could have.
McGonagall sighed inaudibly and as Severus went back to his application forms she continued reading her book.
So if Potter achieved an E in his practical test, you would accept him? She asked after only a few minutes of silence.
No. But what's said is said and since he didn't anyway... Yes, I might. Severus replied. He was nearly done with the applications, he never received many and he usually accepted even less.
Very well. McGonagall muttered more to herself.
May I ask why you put so much effort into making sure that Potter gets a NEWT in Potions?
Because I promised to do everything within my powers to make it possible for him to become an Auror.
How lovely. It's not quite within your powers though; after all you would still need my signature if you should be thinking about a reexamination request.
Now I'm sure you wouldn't refuse giving me your signature.
Severus took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair and gave her a scrutinizing look. Even if you should be able to make up a reason good enough for the examination board to accept it, Potter would already be lucky to achieve an A again, let alone anything above that.
Will you sign it? McGonagall asked impatiently.
Yes, I'll sign it. Just to prove that I'm right, just to see Potter try and fail once more.
He turned his head when he heard the door opening behind him. Ah, Severus, here you are. Dumbledore greeted him cheerfully. Did everything work out well?
Severus grimaced slightly. He then replied. I replaced the spell, didn't I?
Did anyone notice you?
The whole house noticed me. He growled.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. So Harry knows you were there? As well as his aunt and uncle?
And his cousin, yes. Snape sneered. Potter managed to actually shout everyone awake.
No problems?
No. They were pretty cooperative and I was just about to leave anyway. I suppose you will have to expect some inquiries from Potter though.
Yes, yes... probably. Dumbledore muttered, already lost in thought and on his way out again.
When Harry had woken up that morning he had been pretty surprised that the door to his room hadn't been locked - he had expected some sort of punishment for having invited one of his freaky friends, as his uncle would probably put it. He had been even more surprised when he had gone down to the kitchen for breakfast and nobody even mentioned the incident; obviously Snape's sudden appearance in the house had reminded the Dursleys of what Mr. Weasley, Moody and the others had said to them at the train station. So Harry thought for the first time it might actually have been a good thing to see Snape.
He spent the whole day waiting for a reply to that letter he had sent to Lupin last night. He hadn't written much, just that he was doing fine and that he'd really like to know why Snape had showed up in his room in the middle of the night. He knew he couldn't use Snape's name because nobody could know for sure who might read those letters, so after thinking about it for half an hour he had settled for calling him 'the greasy git', hoping dearly that it wasn't too obvious and especially that Snape himself would never ever read it.
AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter is nearly finished so I'll probably upload it within one or two days.
Ice Lupus: Thank you! I hope you'll continue to like it.
sparkle-2oo3: Thank you :) I'm glad you think that I've written the characters well, hope you liked this one.
sam: Thank you! I hope you also liked this one.
shadowycat: Thank you :) I think you're probably right about Voldemort talking about Snape, but well, I've already written about that so I thought I'd go for something new ;)
Melissa Jooty: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it, I hope you also liked this chapter.
Anna Mette: Thank you :) I really hope you'll like this.
