Chapter 3

Severus Snape was sitting in his study, staring at the fire. He was thinking about certain events that had happened recently.

Harry Potter entered the Great Hall and wearily looked at his house's table. Rapidly they all seemed to spread out so that there was no room left. He sighed softly and exited the room.

"What the hell could the Boy-who-lived have done to piss off his housemates that much?" Snape wondered to himself. He tried to remember any event that could give him a clue as to what exactly had happened. He remembered one day in Potions when that Weasley boy had made a cutting motion across his wrist and they had all laughed. Well, Potter hadn't. Maybe that was it. Could Potter be a cutter? It didn't seem right. Potter had the perfect life. He was adored everywhere he went, everyone loved him. Or at least they had. It was all very confusing.

Snape was broken out of his musings by a soft knock on his door. "This had better be good dammit." He mumbled to himself as he waved the door open.

Draco Malfoy enetered the room. "I'm sorry to disturb you so late, Professor, but I wanted to know if we could talk."

Snape waved him over to a chair by the fire. "You know I'm always here to talk to you Draco. What's up?"

Draco looked nervously at his hands. "Well, sir, it's about Potter."

Snape arched an eyebrow. "What did he do now?"

Draco settled back into his chair and sighed. "Well, sir, that's the thing of it. I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but Potter seems to be suddenly an outcast among the Gryfindors." Snape nodded. "I was out tonight, going to the kitchens," Snape smirked at him, "I know, I know, curfew, not my point. Anyway, as I was passing the Astronomy Tower, I heard somebody singing a song from the muggle rock band Nine Inch Nails, I don't know if you've heard of them or not." Snape shook his head. "Well, sir, they're pretty dark, and so I thought that it must be a Slytherin, because that's a pretty popular band in the dungeons lately. But when I got to the top, it was Potter. I asked him why he wasn't in the dorms, and he said nobody would tell him the password."

"Has he talked to his head of house?" Snape asked, curiously.

"He said McGonagall said that he shouldn't be a prat towards the other kids and they'd stop playing jokes on him. It's like she thinks that it's all a big joke, but he looks like he hasn't slept in a week, and they won't let him eat at their table, so he has to sneak food from the kitchen whenever he can. I'm kinda worried. He said that the Sorting Hat told him that he should have been in Slytherin, but he begged for Gryfindor because that's where his friends were. Not like they're good friends, they abandon him at a moment's notice because it turns out he's not their precious golden boy anymore."

"So what exactly do you want me to do about it?" Snape asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, sir, I was hoping that you could talk to McGonagall and see if she can make the other Gryfindors leave him alone. Or, if she won't, then see if Dumbledore will let Harry be resorted. Because I can tell you, he looks like he's about ready to explode, either at somebody or else at himself."

"I'll see what I can do Draco. Thank you for telling me about this. Goodnight." Draco got up and exited the room.

"So, Harry Potter isn't the Gryfindor Golden Child after all. How odd. And now I have to go save him. Again. Lovely." He sighed and shook his head. A meeting with his least favourite coworker was in order tomorrow, and he hadn't slept all night, and could feel a migraine coming on. "This had better be worth it."

A/N: So that's the third chapter. I hope everyone likes it, Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I'm thinking that the next chapter is going to have a big action scene (Harry vs. the Gryfindors I think). This is probably going to end up being slash, but I haven't figured out whether to make it HP/DM or HP/SS. Ideas? Suggestions? Please R/R!

Merkabah: Oh don't worry, everyone's favourite Slytherins all have their problems. That'll all come out in the next few chapters!

kamui5: It will definatly become slash. Unless something major changes and the muse takes me totally off course to what I'm thinking (which has been known to happen, but not often.).

shadow64: Thanks! Yeah, the plot should pick up pretty quickly. The next chapter should be up sometime tonight. Me being an insomniac and all. :)

Elektra107: Thanks! This should be updated pretty frequently. I'm in a writing mood.

nitwittie: Thanks! my sister likes Evenesance, but I never much cared for them. I dunno, they sounded a little too much like Linkin Park to me (don't hurt me!) I always liked the Slytherins more. They seem to get a bad rep, but they all stick together.

RayneWolf: NIN does rock! I adore Trent Reznor. The new album rocks!