Bonjour!
Another fast update... dang... this 'un's six pages. I'm not all that happy with it, I dunno.
Some notes about this chapter:
-Lol, not many of you were surprised at Hermione and Neville's characters, so
I guess I played them out well, keeping them in-character.
-This story now has over two-hundred reviews! ("They like me! They really
like me! *Falls off podium*") Thanks so much, guys. Winnie2 was
reviewer 200! *Gives cookies*
-I tried not to be stereotypical with Harry and Sevvie's fight... whoo fight...
but I think I failed.
The characters we know of are (body - person IN body):
Blaise Zabini - Harry Potter
Crabbe - Padma Patil
Goyle - Dumbledore
Neville - McGonagall
Ron Weasley - Blaise Zabini
Draco - Lavender
Padma - Ron
Harry - Draco
Pansy - Snape
McGonagall - Hermione
Snape - Neville
Thank you to my wonderful reviewers!....
Grace James - Yes, but you must remember that Draco's in Harry's
body... you think he would last long enough to get two words out if he apparated?
O.o Moldieshorts would shoot him down....
Elmindrea-al'Thor - Yes, Padma-in-Crabbe has used the map more than once,
it takes a few tries to know that you're looking at the right people and all.
Thanks for the review, I'm really glad that you think that Switched is getting
good. :)
Cliffe - I dunno, I think that they're false alarms for now, I seem to
be churning out chapters faster than I ever believed possible. *Makes face*
It might not be the best thing too, makes some stories seem "mass produced"
and written for the audience, not for the author. I'm writing this to see where
it goes, although the reviews are a nice plus. ;) Thanks for your compliments.
:D
Devona Wolfe - Wheeee, a Severus for my birthday would be quite lovely
indeed. I do bring up Harry's new bleached hair again here... I was going to
have Draco give him a mohawk, but decided blonde hair seemed more Dracoish.
If you have any ideas for any evil pranks Draco could be doing, that would be
lovely... I'm coming up with them slowly, but they really can add to the humour
in the story if they're around once in a while... though they will probably
disappear when things get tougher for Harry.
Kaaera - :D Thanks for the review!
LeeLeePotter - Thanks. :) Yes, some people (*coughMinervacough*) think
that it is cruel to send the children to Death Eater meetings... but wouldn't
it be even worse if that's the reason that Voldemort finds out about their current
condition? :S
penny - Pansy doesn't know who Blaise is... yet. She will find out soon,
I won't be making her as stupid as Harry. (Honestly, I can see Harry being as
thick as he has been... remember book four and the tasks? Heh.)
Ronda-Silverpaw - Thanks! :)
theox - I've been thinking about your review for a day or so, since whenever
I saw it in my e-mail. You said that the characters are too 'American', but
how would you really expect me to write truly 'Britishly' (heh heh... make words
up as you need 'em...) unless I lived there? So far, I've gone as far as to
make the measurements in centimeters, which is a lot more than you can say for
most fan fictions. I would spell more things the 'British way', because I already
do in normal internet speech, but my spell-checker is set to American English
because American teachers will not accept [British] English. *Smiles* If you
have specific points I can improve (since saying my writing is 'too American'
is pretty vague, you realize), then I certainly would appreciate the constructive
crisitism more than a generalization.
risi - Thanks for the review. :D
aquarium-glass - Aww, thanks. ^^
ESP - Lol HPSS slash is good slash! It is really neat that even though
you don't like this particular ship that you can still read it because it doesn't
play too big a role... neat, whee. Oh, and hmm... I suppose that is true. I'll
have to watch out for that in future chapters and cover up that mistake. ^^"
Winnie2 - Yesss Ron is. I think I probably should've made him act up
more, though. (Thanks for being reviewer 200 :) )
Necromant - Well, I'll have to stop when it ends, sadly, lol. I have
a neat idea for another slash fan fiction that I refuse to begin until this
one is done (all I'll say now is that it's RWSS... yes, I'd like to try an 'odd'
pairing for once), so maybe these chapters are getting out fast because I actually
want to start it... hmm... *ponders*
Doneril - I can't tell you if [s]he'll be ready once [s]he finds out
about Harry... dang pronouns, gah... that will be brought out in the chapter
that I wrote this story for... lol I'm pathetic....
c[R]ud[E]dly - *Nods* I honestly did that because I can't write Snape
as a spy. It just doesn't seem plausible to me. That's how my other HPSS story
ended up too, only I had complete writers' block from then on. (I should delete
it at some point, heh.) The reason? I feel that Snape can't possibly be a spy
still if he was revealed, by Dumbledore, to be a spy for the Order. *Shrugs*
Just a point that most Snapefics don't consider.
Ruth01 - Thanks for the review. :D
Aria-fic - Whoops, thanks, I'll remember that point. Thansk for reviewing.
:)
n snape - Thanks ^^
ataraxis - Glad you like it. :)
Ah yes, this is slash, male/male romance... between both Blaise-in-Ron/Draco-in-Harry and Harry-in-Blaise/Snape-in-Pansy (whew confusing)... just to enlighten the unenlightened. Potter belongs to JK Rowling. I'm not JK Rowling. I'm just a girl who lives in the United States who happens to enjoy terrorizing JKR's creations.
.~*~.
Chapter Twelve Alone in his dorm, Harry was left to do nothing but think.
This is happening way too much lately, he mused, looking out the window
at the sunset. He imagined that the house elves would be bringing dinner to
them today. It wouldn't do to have the still-loyal Death Eaters find out
about the meeting. It was probably too late anyway.
How can anyone stay loyal to Voldemort when he attempts to blow everyone
up regardless? Here he frowned. And Malfoy... but if he shows up at a
meeting, Voldemort will kill him. I guess that's good then. Unless he's
stupid enough to try it. Maybe Zabini can keep him out of trouble.
Zabini. He frowned, looking around at the dorm. Four beds. Three of the four
students who normally occupied those beds wore the Dark Mark. It was a terrible
thought to bear, how Voldemort could accept teenagers into his circle. He sighed.
Their lives were probably easier to throw away.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, he bounced up and down, hearing the mattress
squeak.
So I went and fell for Snape when his identity was secret. Ironic.
How would he be able to approach him... her... him?... the next time they came
to face? Harry fidgeted on the bed. This is Snape, though. He's so...
evil. He frowned. The door opened, and Crabbe and Malfoy entered, the latter
heading straight to the bathroom. Crabbe gave Harry a weak smile.
"I figured out who she is," Harry muttered.
"Took you long enough," he replied, falling backwards onto his bed.
The whole thing shook. "You are so lucky, being the one 6th year without
the Mark." He must've been too tired to meditate, but he did talk
to Harry more. "It's nice having distractions." He was almost
humming, giving himself a face of false happiness. Harry felt awkward and even
a little worried for him, even in his current state. He seemed to be in a twisted
sort of denial. Like everything was a bad dream.
He almost wished it was. No, he thought, turning to peer out the window.
If it were all a dream, things wouldn't be so screwed.
"You still going to go after Pansy now that you know she's Snape?"
Crabbe turned to watch Harry's response, twitching ever so slightly. He
wanted him to say no.
Harry kept staring out the window.
"Albus, how can you even consider sending them out to meetings?"
Neville looked mystified.
"If Voldemort finds out what's going on, Minerva, we're all
doomed. We certainly can't put up as much of a fight in these bodies.
We're sitting ducks."
She winced at the name, then frowned. "Sitting ducks?"
"Muggle expression." Goyle frowned and straightened his paper. "News
is pretty bleak this evening. Cannons were beat again... ah, our young Wood
has gone and is second-in-command of the Puddlemore United team. Nothing else
is worth mentioning."
"But how can those children be prepared to–"
"I have my complete faith in Severus' ability to train them and
train them well."
There was a knock and Pansy entered. "I sent them off to bed. They need
early apparation classes. I will need to teach them a lot in a short amount
of time."
"I was just telling Minerva that you have all my faith that you'll
do an acceptable job training them, Severus."
"Well?"
Harry looked over at Crabbe, and shrugged. "I know what you're trying
to do. I haven't decided yet. I seriously doubt Snape would be interested
in me once he finds out who I am...."
"Don't you think it disgusting that you were attracted to someone
who's forty?"
"Pansy's not forty, is she though?" Harry cocked an eyebrow
at his housemate. "I'll decide what I want to do when the time comes
along, Padma. After all, he knows that he was feeling attracted to a teenager...."
"Attracted?" Crabbe smirked, sitting up. "When did he ever
say he was attracted to you?"
"What're you trying to do, Padma? I like Snape, okay? I can live
with that...."
"There, you said it." He stretched. "Ugh."
Harry shrugged. "It doesn't bother you if we're together though,
does it?"
"I guess not. I just thought you'd be embarrassed if you found out
who she was."
"Well, next time, don't make decisions for me." Harry said,
leaving Crabbe to meditate shortly after.
Pansy was in the common room. Harry hesitated on the steps, then continued
downwards, arguing in his head whether to sneak to the kitchen or to talk to
her.
She made that decision for him.
"I suppose Padma's told you who I am then? To get back at me for
the Dark Marks?"
"She didn't, but I figured out on my own."
There was silence for a moment. "And you aren't affected? I think
you guessed wrong then...."
"No." Harry sat and faced her on the sofa. "I know. And...
I think... yes. I'm fine with it."
"No," she was shaking her head, starting to tilt away as Harry had
seated himself pretty close. "No... how can you be fine with it?"
Harry was quiet.
"I'm more than twenty years older than you!"
"So?"
"So? I'm mole–"
"Then you have my consent."
Pansy frowned. "To do what?"
"I don't know. Whatever." He cast his eyes over the back of
the sofa. He was avoiding her eyes again.
"Who are you?"
"I'm–er."
The common room's wall opened up a bit to allow Neville passage, but he
stopped, ears turning pink. "S–Pansy, I'm not disturbing anything,
am I?"
"No, what does Albus want?"
"Mmm. He wants to know if you'll need extra space to train–them."
"I think that a free dungeon will be fine, Minerva."
Neville's eyes flickered to Harry a few times. Gears spun in her head.
"Alright then, I guess that is all."
And she left. Harry swallowed some butterflies, and put an arm around Pansy.
Who knew that one day he'd be leaning close to Snape?
"I don't understand how you could possibly–"
"I accept the fact that you're–can I call you Severus?–I
don't mind. I told you, I don't care who you are. I mean, I know
who you are, don't I? Your name doesn't make you who you are."
"Who are you?" she asked again, quieter this time, leaning back,
into Harry, just a tiny bit.
"I'll tell you soon," Harry said, closing his eyes. There
would certainly be a bit of trouble when Snape found out. The tables had turned,
hadn't they?
"Why not now?"
He smirked. "You remember when you said that I'd care when I found
out who you are? That applies, backwards."
She furrowed her eyebrows but didn't say any more.
"Imbeciles! Quit talking and pay attention!"
The twelve Slytherins with Dark Marks looked up sheepishly from a conversation.
Pansy stood at the front of the room, while the Slytherins collectively sat
in the very back.
"Move up to the front seats," she told them, crossing her arms and
glaring. They grumbled and moved up a few rows. "Starting today, you will
be taking a crash course in being a Death Eater. You will learn apparation,
several curses and countercurses, and how to control your body and facial expressions,
as well as how to act in front of the Dark Lord. These skills will inevitably
be very valuable when you go back to your former body and fight for the side
of good. When you see how horrible he really is, you will certainly feel very
strongly against him.
"Starting today, every single day you will be meeting me here at seven
to learn these things. This will continue until further notice."
Someone groaned.
"And rest assured, if you do skip, when you are called to a meeting, you
will very much regret it," she ended, with an icy tone in her voice, looking
each Death Eater in the eyes. "First, I will be teaching you to apparate,
and some very simple Occlumency. Does anyone know what that is?"
No one moved.
"It is a skill involving the complete control of your own mind, possibly
reaching out to the control of others' minds. You will learn to use it
to block your own thoughts from the Dark Lord. I will not be teaching you to
control others' minds because that particular skill corrupts people."
"You've got it bad, mate," Padma said, chewing on her chicken.
"You've got it bad."
"Stop it, you're making me feel stupider."
"Is that even a word?"
Birds flew overheard, as the two friends were seated outside, against the castle,
waiting for McGonagall.
"Are you going to tell Hermione?"
"Er. Should I?"
He shrugged. "You never know what Hermione'll freak about and what
she'll be fine with."
"What do you mean?"
McGonagall sat down next to them, with a napkin full of toast. Harry gave
her a nervous grin. "Hey Hermione."
"What were you talking about?" Harry detected suspicion.
"Harry here has a crush on Snape."
"Ron!"
"Really?"
Harry put his head in his hands, groaning.
"Merlin, Harry, how desperate are you?"
"I'm not desperate. And he's... er... well, I liked
him before I knew he was Snape, so why shouldn't I now?"
Ron whistled. "Who would've ever guessed that Harry Potter would
turn out gay?"
"Potter's turned gay?" Harry glared at his own body, sporting
blonde hair.
"Who invited you, Malfoy?"
"I invited myself, Potter, I always do." He sat in the circle as
Harry wondered just how many visitors they'd be getting. "Now, who
is he?"
"Gods, Malfoy, you're acting like we're best friends gossiping
or something...."
He feigned a hurt look. "And we aren't?" He took one of McGonagall's
pieces of toast without even sparing her a glance and helped himself. "You
realize I'll never stop bugging you until you tell me?"
"Yeah, I know."
McGonagall and Padma had been watching this exchange with a deal of amusement.
"Yeah," Ron cut in. "Sod off."
"It's Snape, alright? I fancy Snape. Now let me have lunch in
peace."
Draco laughed. "No, come on Potter, seriously, who?"
"I just told you, Malfoy."
His eyes almost popped. "I thought he hated you."
"He does. He doesn't know who I am yet."
"Well, how're you going to tell him?"
"I'm going to avoid it as long as possible."
"You realize, Potter, that once he finds out, you're going to have
scarred him for life?"
"No, working like that you'll splinch yourselves in two minutes."
The students looked up at Pansy.
"Jones, put your wand away, you don't need it for apparation. Crabbe,
don't close your eyes, you'll land in the wrong place when you actually
apparate."
For the next hour, they practiced the technique, and by the end of their small
Sunday meeting, some of them had even apparated into the hallway.
Still, walking back to Slytherin with them, Pansy felt uneasy. They had to be
learning this quicker. She would still need to teach control, blocking, and
cursing, and at this rate, a Death Eater meeting even three weeks ahead would
completely ruin any hope they had.
She settled on her normal sofa, flipping a page before she felt arms around
her.
"Don't you ever sleep, Severus?"
"Zabini...."
Harry leaned his head on Pansy's shoulder from behind the sofa, looking
at the book. "Researching wards for Dumbledore, hmm?"
"Professor Dumbledore. I never said you could call me Severus."
"You never said I couldn't, either."
"Well then–"
"Would you prefer Snape then?"
Silence.
"I didn't think so."
"I'm your professor...."
"Are you really? I never knew that Pansy Parkinson taught...."
"Who are you?" Pansy looked up at him, and Harry gulped unnoticeably.
"That can wait."
"No, Zabini." She turned in the couch, sitting on her knees. "I
want to know now."
Harry's eyes again went away, looking at the fire past her. Inside his
head, Draco's words echoed, over and over again. ...You're going
to have scarred him for life.
"Look at me."
Harry's eyes went back to hers.
"Tell me who you are."
He felt prying at the edge of his head. He backed up stiffly. "You're
so desperate to know that you're going to use Occlumency to find out?"
"Well, if you're not going to tell me–"
"A relationship is based on trust, Severus."
"What relationship?" she snarled. "When I last checked,
I didn't want anything to do with you."
Harry's gaze hardened. "You just love pushing people away, don't
you? Do you really want to be lonely, especially when you have the chance to
try not to be?"
"Who are you to judge my love life, Zabini?"
"What love life?" he snarled back. "Last I checked, you felt
that this was nothing. So you are left with what?"
She was silent, trying to stare him down.
"Stop the self-pity. Does it even make any difference to you that I
still fell into love with you, even after I found out you were Snape?"
The minute the sentence was out of his mouth, his hands clapped over it, eyes
wide. "I... said that out loud, didn't I?"
Pansy was unchanged. "Teenagers don't understand love for what it
is."
Harry's butterflies had returned. You said that you loved Snape. You
said that you loved Snape to Snape.
"What, have you ever been in love?"
Pansy was motionless for a bit. "I thought I was." With Lily
Evans, he sighed. Before Potter got in the way.
"With who?"
"Nosy, aren't you?"
Harry shrugged. "Curious."
"You wouldn't know her."
"Oh." The word 'her' rung in Harry's mind. Snape
still didn't know that he was a male. That would probably bother him.
You realize that, once he finds out, you'll have scarred him for life?
"I'll let you go anonymous for a while," she told him shrugging.
"But then I want to know."
"Can you be open-minded once you find out?" Harry asked. "Or
will you judge me from previous prejudices?"
"I'll try," she said impatiently. "If you're someone
horrible...."
"But you don't really know your students, do you?" Harry asked
quickly, raising an eyebrow. "You don't know how they act when they're
alone or when they fancy someone. You don't really know them, just how
they act in class."
"I know enough."
"No," Harry said, feeling somewhat panicked but appearing calmer.
"If you take that attitude, you would send me away anyway. Don't
do that."
"Yes, but would you really want to continue a 'relationship'
with your Potions master, who is twenty years older than you?"
Harry stopped to think, keeping his eyes locked to Pansy. "I could."
"What do you mean, you could? Teenagers are run on hormones, Zabini. As
soon as you saw someone younger and fresher–"
"People don't understand me," he whispered, shaking his head.
"They don't want me for me. They want me for who they idealize me
as. This is the only chance I get to maybe see if I ever could be in something
that is driven on who I am, not who I'm supposed to be."
Her eyes narrowed. "Is this just something? Or an experiment?"
"If you don't cooperate, then I guess it's a little one-sided
on my own side. If you did, wouldn't you realize that it means something?"
"Go away."
"Severus–"
"I told you to go away," she whispered dangerously, punctuation
every word. "Now get out of my sight, Zabini."
Harry felt like he should be angry, but he was just disappointed. So Snape
has more than just the 'evil' and 'snarky' downsides.
"Why do I even try with you?"
"Because you love me," she mocked, rolling her eyes. "Go away."
He went up to his dorm and stayed there through dinner.
