BLOOD OF THE MOTHER by BertaS Nov 2005
Chapter 29
Description: Tea with Minerva and a staff meeting. Sev may also get a surprise or two.
Disclaimer: They belong to JKR. I'm just playing with them.
Punishment
Minerva was a little surprised when Harry and Severus arrived for tea.
Severus was ranting about his new lesson plans with guest speakers and field trips to harvest ingredients. Harry watched them with a smile as Sev's enthusiasm was beginning to infect the new Headmistress. They finally began to calm down and she asked what else the two of them had been doing, since she really had not gotten a chance to ask their plans at the reading of the will.
Harry shrugged, "Studying and lesson plans and playing."
"Playing?" She looked between Harry and Severus, "Playing what, Severus?"
Sev turned pink and let his hair fall in front of his face, "Games, muggle ones, mostly."
"It was a lot of fun." Harry noticed Sev's apparent embarrassment, "Wasn't it Sev?" Harry grinned, trying to see through the obscuring hair.
Severus shrugged, "Yes, Master, I guess so. It is just… It's… I am sorry, Master." His face was bright red and Harry received a flash of the GI Joes with their transfigured wands and robes and a feeling of embarrassment, and made an "Oh" sound since this was one of the few times that he had picked up such a flash from Sev. They had been working on his Legimency but Sev's shields almost never leaked.
"Mr. Potter, I do hope that you do not plan to make Severus call you that in front of the other students." The new Headmistress said sternly. She couldn't help wondering what on earth the two of them had been up to cause such a reaction from the stoic Potions Master.
Sev look at Harry in confusion, he was unsure why Minerva was so concerned. Harry finally said, "I have asked that Sev, call me Harry, but…" He shrugged, "I don't know what to do. I guess I've just been ignoring it." It suddenly dawned on Severus just how often he had been calling Harry 'Master' in the last couple of days.
Minerva snorted rather inelegantly, "Well, I suggest you figure something out. While that may technically be a proper form of address for a liegeman to use, it is not at all proper for a Professor to address his student as such." She gave each of them a glare and sent them to Severus' rooms with instructions to discuss the matter.
When Harry and Sev got to the dungeon Sev was very subdued. Thinking that Harry would have no choice but to punish him, Sev immediately went to the center of the room and knelt, knees spread, back straight, hands in his lap and head bowed.
Harry looked at him and asked quietly, "Sev, what are you doing?" he couldn't stop the hand that reached out and tucked some of Sev's hair behind his ear. He hated trying to talk to some one through a curtain of hair.
"Waiting, Mast… H… Harry. For my punishment." Sev glanced at Harry, took a deep breath and looked back down, "I should not have given her a reason to criticize. I apologize, although I know that will not change anything or mitigate my punishment." His hair was again obscuring his face.
Harry held out his hand and said, "Accio Sev's hairbrush." When the brush flew from the bedroom it made a loud smacking noise hitting Harry's hand. Sev was shaking as Harry moved behind him. Harry had to catch Sev's shoulder as the man started to lean forward.
Sev was shocked that Harry stopped him but held still, he was totally astounded when instead of hitting him as he had expected, he felt Harry start gently brushing his hair and pulling all the hair in front of and above his ears into a club at the crown his head, summoning an elastic band he tied it off, leaving the back hanging loose.
As he was doing this he spoke in a conversational tone, "When I was little, and said a word that my aunt did not like, she would wash my mouth out with soap. I am sure there are potions that taste worse but it was definitely nasty." He leaned near Sev's ear as he finished Sev's hair, "I would not like to have to do that to you."
Harry straightened and moved around to look at his handy work, "Well I don't think I could be a hairdresser but at least I can see your face. No more hiding. Okay?" he smiled as Sev nodded and raised his hand to feel what Harry had done.
They moved to the chairs, Sev insisting that Harry take the "good chair" of course Harry didn't think either of them should be called "good" but didn't say so. They discussed other things primarily the upcoming school year.
Just before lunch Professor McGonagall flooed that there would be a meeting in the staff room directly after lunch, the only teacher not on the premises was the DADA teacher.
Rolanda Hooch walked in to the Staff Room just behind Poppy Pomphery, they both stopped to ogle the tall dark haired man in dark blue shirt and sleeveless greenish black leather robes, listening attentively to an obviously excited Pomona Sprout.
Madam Hooch blurted out, "Damn, who's the stud?"
Sev smirked as he turned, "Nice to see you too, Rolanda." His eyebrow lifted at the gob-smacked look on her face.
"Oh, bugger me. I didn't recognize you Snape." She looked him up and down rather like a predator with wide yellow eyes, "Damn, I gotta say, I like the new look." Several other female teachers were grinning and nodding their agreement.
Sev brushed away some non-existent lint, bowing slightly, "Why thank you, Madam." He leaned closer with a bit of a sneer and whispered, "You know you really should watch what you say, someone's going to take you literally. Either that or they are going to wash your mouth out." He grinned as he went back to talking to Pomona about a combined Herbology and Potions project.
Hooch's mouth had briefly dropped open then snapped shut, after which she took her seat and didn't say anything for the rest of the meeting, Snape never made idol threats.
Pomona congratulated Severus on finally shutting Hooch up as they took their seats. And Minerva who had missed the exchange, seemed relieved that the flying instructor was unusually quiet. She informed them that she would be teaching at least for the first term while she was looking for a new Transfiguration teacher, and that Remus Lupin had agreed to come back to teach DADA provided that Severus could be talked into making him the Wolfsbane potion.
There were several that gave Severus sidelong looks expecting a rather violent reaction. They were disappointed when he merely gave a curt nod and smiled.
"What's this, Snape?" asked Professor Vector, "No objections?"
Sev grinned, "Lupin is at least competent to teach his subject. And I certainly wouldn't trust anyone else to teach potions; we'd end up with dead students.
While Severus was at the meeting Harry looked around the rest of the Sev's suite of rooms discovering that the second door off the front room was a huge potions lab. From the lab was a door that went into the bedroom and a third door to a library that would make Hermione drool.
Harry called Dobby and asked if there was any spare furniture that could be moved into the Potions Master's front room. Dobby immediately nodded and started snapping his fingers. Things started appearing there were a few that Harry dismissed immediately knowing that Sev would hate them, most he was sure that his friend would like.
Three overstuffed leather arm chairs, two a dark green and one a burgundy. An extra long black velvet couch and assorted pillows and lamps, and cherry wood occasional tables, on an oriental area rug with many tones of green, red and beige were grouped near the fire place. There was also with a chess table and two straight chairs, a curio case and small bookcase in the corner opposite the door to Sev's bedroom.
A dining table with four chairs, a buffet, and china cabinet, again all the wood was a bright cherry, appeared at the other end of the room on another large area rug. There was also a roll-top desk with matching office style chair directly in the center of the wall between the doors to the bedroom and the lab. A couple of tapestries finished it off, softening the look of the stone walls.
Dobby had suggested a portrait or two but Harry thought they gossip too much to have them in a private area. Tapestries were unavailable to the painted occupants of the castle.
Harry couldn't wait to see Sev's face when he got back. He loved doing things for other people, especially things he knew that they would never do for themselves. He wished that the Weasleys and Moony would let him do for them but would keep trying even when they objected.
A/N Sorry this is a bit late but that's life. I will not be posting this Friday. I will most likely not have anything ready with the holiday, you know, gobble, gobble.
Saw the new movie on Saturday there were a lot of things missing but on the whole I thought it was very well done.