A/N: You guys are amazing! I really appreciate all of the support for this story, and I love all of your kind reviews. Enjoy Chapter 17!
Harry leaned heavily against the wall outside the potion professor's office, still far too angry with Malfoy to even think about what Snape was likely going to do to him when he finally decided to show up.
Draco Malfoy was a liar. That was all there was to it. He was a liar, and a coward, and what he had done was completely unforgivable in Harry's eyes.
With a small growl of frustration, Harry shoved his hands into his pockets, and leaned his head back against the stone wall.
He sighed then, closing his eyes, as his hand brushed against the picture that was always there in his robes now.
And a moment later, he pulled the photograph out, feeling somewhat subdued as he once again stared down at his mother's smiling face.
"There isn't much time before your next class, Mr. Potter," a sharp, silky voice suddenly sounded from the shadows, causing Harry to jump nearly a foot in the air.
Looking up, Harry saw the potions master striding towards him, a furious scowl set firmly across his face.
"I will therefore attempt to keep this brief," the man continued speaking, as he flung his office door open. "Inside, Mr. Potter. Now."
Harry hastened to obey, pushing his picture back into his pocket. The professor noticed the movement, and met Harry's eyes for a brief second as the boy hurried past him into the office. But the man didn't comment, opting instead to simply glare angrily at the back of Harry's head as he followed the boy inside, and yanked the door closed behind them.
"Sit," the man said simply, and suddenly, Harry was scared. Because the amount of pure venom in that one single word was far more than he had been anticipating.
The man sounded like he was going to kill him.
"P-please, sir. My owl—" Harry stuttered out bravely, though careful not to meet the man's eyes again.
"Your owl is doing as well as can be expected after having ingested a particularly nasty poison, Mr. Potter," Snape stated in a brusque manner. "She is currently resting quietly at another location."
Harry just nodded, knowing that it would probably be best for him to keep silent from this point forward, unless asked a direct question from Snape.
"Tell me, Mr. Potter," Snape began a moment later, his voice low and dangerous. "Do you believe yourself to be above the rules?"
Harry opened his mouth to give a response, but it was a moment before he was able to force the answer out around the tight lump in his throat.
"No, sir."
"Perhaps you feel that they simply don't apply to you? That the rules are mere guidelines for you to follow or reject as you please?"
"N-no, sir," Harry repeated in a near-whisper.
"And yet, Mr. Potter, you have just broken one of the most important rules that we have here at Hogwarts, haven't you?"
Harry swallowed hard. "S-sir?"
"Under no circumstances," the man's voice began to rise in volume, "are you to ever raise your wand against another student!"
Harry flinched at the professor's tone of voice, suddenly reminded of Uncle Vernon when he got into one of his moods. The boy ducked his head and gripped the sides of his chair unconsciously as he waited for Snape to continue.
"You will receive a full week's worth of detentions for this transgression, Mr. Potter. And you will of course be apologizing to Mr. Malfoy—"
"No!" Harry shouted, suddenly jumping to his feet. "He hurt Hedwig! He tried to kill her! I won't apologize to him!"
"Mr. Potter—"
"You can do whatever you want to me. I won't do it!"
"You will apologize, Mr. Potter," Snape hissed, leaning closer to Harry across the desk. "Pointing a wand, a weapon, at another student is a serious offense, and not one that is taken lightly."
"But he poisoned—"
"Do you have any evidence, any proof, that Mr. Malfoy is the one who poisoned your owl?"
"He hates me! He said he was going to get revenge, and I saw him in the owlery yesterday!"
"I see," Snape said softly, nearly whispering now. "So because you happened to come across Mr. Malfoy in the owlery yesterday afternoon—"
"It was him! I know it was him!"
"I do not appreciate being interrupted, Mr. Potter," Snape suddenly growled dangerously. "You will show me respect while in my presence. I don't care how upset you are about your bird."
Feeling slightly deflated, Harry sat back down, and glared sullenly at the floor.
"You don't have any proof that Mr. Malfoy harmed your owl, Potter. And even if you did, you should know better than to take matters into your own hands. You are a child. When you have a problem, you seek help from an adult."
Harry frowned at the stone floor. In his experience, adults really couldn't be trusted all that much. Or at all. He was used to taking care of himself. He didn't need anybody else.
But you asked for help with Hedwig, the annoying little voice in the back of his head put in. You needed someone then.
Harry immediately gave his head a little shake, effectively silencing that voice.
"I am going to ask you another question, Mr. Potter," Snape eventually continued, after pausing for a moment to allow his last statement the chance to sink in, "and I would strongly advise against lying to me."
Harry looked up then, dreading whatever it was that Snape was going to ask.
The potions master leveled Harry with a warning look, before finally deciding to speak.
"Did you attend class this morning, Mr. Potter? Or did you find yourself...wandering astray?"
Harry's eyes grew wide at the professor's words. How did he know?
"Well, Mr. Potter?" Snape prompted impatiently.
Not wishing to anger the man any further, Harry slowly began shaking his head.
"I require verbal responses, Mr. Potter."
"N-no, sir," Harry whispered.
"No, what?"
"No, I didn't go to class today," Harry clarified, wringing his hands together nervously in his lap.
"I suspected as much," Snape said with a scoff. "You really are quite predictable, Mr. Potter. Just like your father.
"I was worried about Hedwig," Harry defended himself quietly.
"Oh? Did you notify a professor that you would be unable to make it to class?"
"No." The word was nearly inaudible.
"This castle is not a playground Potter!" Snape suddenly brought his fist down on the desk, causing Harry to jump. "You cannot just wander around wherever and whenever you please!"
"But I—"
"Silence!"
Harry snapped his mouth shut and swallowed hard.
"Your complete and total disregard for the rules ends here, Potter. I will be adding another week onto your detention, and you will be grateful that it isn't more."
Harry didn't know what to say. The entire thing was completely unfair, of course. But he didn't think the professor would appreciate him saying so.
"You may go now, Potter," Snape dismissed at last. "But I will expect you back here this evening, at our usual detention time."
Harry just nodded as he got to his feet, avoiding the man's eyes at all costs.
Snape swept past him and flicked his wand at the door. It swung open a second later, and Harry wasted no time in making his way towards the exit.
Of course, he could still feel the potion master's gaze on the back of his head, following him all the way down the dungeon corridor.
"Where have you been?" Hermione hissed, when Harry slid into a seat next to her in the Transfiguration classroom. "You missed Professor Binns' entire lecture on the Goblin Rebellion of 1466!"
"Was it much different from the Goblin Rebellion of 1465?" Harry asked sarcastically, thinking about their last lecture with Professor Binns as he pulled out quill and parchment, and his new Transfiguration book. On his other side, Ron smirked in amusement, but Hermione did not appear to be the least bit impressed.
"What happened?" she insisted. "Was Hedwig—?"
"I'll tell you the whole story later," Harry interrupted. "But she was sick. Very sick."
"What?" Ron and Hermione said in unison.
"Where is she now?" Ron asked. "What's wrong with her?"
"She's with Snape," Harry answered, just as Professor McGonagall walked into the classroom, and called for everyone's attention.
His friends could only stare at him dumbfounded then. And Ron looked especially horrified.
But Harry hardly paid them any attention at all. He was doing his best to focus on what McGonagall was saying at the front of the room, and copying down anything that sounded remotely important.
After all, there was every possibility that Snape might demand to see Harry's class notes to prove that he had actually been to class.
And Harry was determined not to give the man any more opportunities to get him into trouble.
Snape glared out at the group of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fourth years from his position at the front of the room. The dunderheads were all currently taking a very long, very complicated, written test, and it was one of those rare occasions when Severus was able to simply sit behind his desk during the class period and think, without having to worry about the possibility of cauldrons melting or exploding, or toxic fumes filling the air from a poorly made potion.
But of course, he was unable to really think about and concentrate on the more important things just then, like grading essays and making lesson plans for his upcoming classes. No, his mind was once again currently being plagued with thoughts about Potter, the Gryffindor Golden Boy. The child who always seemed to be in some sort of trouble.
What was I thinking? Snape tapped a long finger against the wood of the desk as his conversation with Potter ran through his head once more.
He should have passed the brat off to Minerva when he had the chance. The child was more her responsibility after all. She should be the one dealing with Potter's rule-breaking tendencies. Not him.
Of course, that had actually been his plan all along. To go straight to the child's head of house. But then he had somehow found himself looking into those accursed green eyes for just the very briefest of moments, and then he was suddenly lecturing the boy and giving him two weeks of detention, instead.
Almost as if he cared. Which he most certainly did not.
He hadn't even done the sensible thing and assigned the detentions to be carried out with someone else. Like Filch.
In the next moment then, Snape was smirking. Because that didn't mean he still couldn't. He could simply deal with Potter tonight, and then arrange for the remainder of the boy's punishment to take place with the old caretaker and his annoying mangy feline.
Yes, Snape decided just a minute later, relieved that he had thought of a suitable solution. That's exactly what I am going to do.
A/N: So another detention with Snape is coming up. Sounds like fun! Thanks for reading!
-Ailee17 :)