Title: One Stupid Person
Author: quixotic-hope (harrysev)
Beta: Amanda Saitou
Pairing: Harry/Severus
Rating: R
Genres: Romance, Angst, Fluff, First time
Warnings: slight-AU (ignoring HBP)
Spoilers: 1-5
Summary: Having lost his value as a spy for the light, Severus must now take a Death Eater-aging potion and befriend the dratted Boy-Who-Lived. But what happens when he starts falling in love?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. belong to the wonderfully talented JK Rowling. I mean no harm by using her characters in this story. I am making no money whatsoever; I merely hope to entertain people.
Chapter 6: Hogsmeade
Never in his wild imagination did Severus Snape expect to find himself accompanying Harry Potter into a bookstore. And yet, here he was, watching as the boy looked through countless shelves of books.
"Don't you want to look at anything?" Harry asked when he noticed that Alan wasn't doing anything.
"In a moment," said Severus, staring at the boy with suspicion. "For now I'm trying to figure out who you are and what you have done with the Boy Who Lived."
Harry, who normally hated being referred to in such a manner, found himself laughing in spite of himself.
"What, don't think I'm capable of reading?" he asked. At Alan's raised eyebrow, Harry continued. "I actually do enjoy reading, you know. I just don't like reading books for school."
"Of course you don't," sneered Severus, though he was surprised to find he did not feel any actual hatred directed toward the boy. "You wouldn't want to be accused of trying to learn something, would you?"
Harry rolled his eyes. laughed, and continued looking at books.
Shaking his head, Severus wandered away. He wanted to observe Potter, but he had a feeling that Potter would feel more comfortable without someone breathing down his back. Normally Severus would look over at the Potions section, but he found watching Potter to be much more amusing.
To his great surprise, Severus found that he was following Potter toward the part of the store dealing with sexuality. Now, Severus knew that teenage boys were interested in sex, but he did not think that Potter would be in this section. The boy wasn't looking at the smut-filled trash that most teens read. Instead, he was looking toward the gay section of the store.
Curious, Severus watched as Potter looked around, as though he was trying to make sure that no one would see him in such a section. Then Potter reached over and picked up a book that Severs saw was entitled "Sexuality and You: Understanding Your Feelings."
The boy was gay? That was something he never would have suspected. Potter's paranoia was obvious, as every few minutes he would glance up and make sure that no one was looking at him. The one time a person, the only other person in the store besides Harry, Severus, and the owner, started walking down the same aisle that Potter was in, the boy quickly stepped and started looking at the shelf next to the sexuality section. Severus snorted. He didn't think anyone would believe that Potter was looking at the women's studies section.
(a/n: sorry, but I spend a lot of time at book stores, and gay&lesbian books are always next to women's studies. And I am very good at making it look like I am not looking at the gay section. grins)
After the stranger passed, not looking at Potter at all, Potter placed the sexuality book back on the shelf and began to look at the gay fiction section. Severus was tempted to go over and start looking at the books himself, but he decided to give Potter his privacy. Instead, Severus turned and walked over to the Potions section.
What was Potter doing in that section of the bookstore? Severus wondered. Surely the boy wonder wasn't gay. Then again, figured Severus, that would explain why Potter looked so depressed lately. Severus knew first-hand that being gay wasn't always accepted, especially if you were the savior of the wizarding world. However, being the savior might make Harry's "coming out" time easier. After all, he was the Boy Who Lived. If anyone would get away with being gay, it was him.
Severus looked at books for another fifteen minutes before Harry walked up to him. Severus wasn't surprised to see the boy's hands were empty. He doubted Harry would ever feel comfortable enough to buy any of those books. Severus briefly entertained the thought that he could buy one of those books for Harry and surprise him, but then he remembered that he didn't care.
And when the hell had he started referring to Potter as "Harry"?
"I'm ready to go when you are," said Harry.
"We can leave now," said Severus, still confused about the sudden name switch.
The two wandered out of the store and down the street. Harry didn't really feel like going into the joke shop, as it would be betraying the twins. He entertained the thought of going into Honeydukes, but the look on Alan's face when Harry suggested it, aside from making Harry laugh, told Harry that the other boy had no desire to search for sweets.
The two walked for a little while more before it began to rain.
"Great," muttered Harry as the first drop hit him square between the eyes. Blinking, he looked around for the nearest shop: Madame Puddifoot's.
"Do you want to get a coffee or something while we wait for the rain to stop?" asked Harry.
Hating the rain and not wanting to walk back in it, Severus nodded in agreement.
The two walked into the shop. Harry was vaguely reminded of the last time he had been in here with Cho. That date hadn't turned out very well. Harry hoped this one would turn out better.
Did I just think of this as a date? wondered Harry. Dear Gods, what's wrong with me? I wonder what Alan would think if he heard me say that.
The shop was much emptier than the last time Harry was in there. This time, there were no couples around holding hands or snogging to make Harry feel uncomfortable. The tacky Umbridge-reminiscent decorations were still up, but Harry figured he could deal with those.
Harry and Alan sat down at an empty table and waited for the waitress to wander over to them.
"What can get you two today?" she asked in a tired voice.
"Just a regular coffee for me, thanks," said Harry.
"I'll have the same," answered Alan.
The waitress nodded and walked away, leaving Harry and Alan in silence.
"These are terrible decorations," commented Severus, deciding that sitting there in silence was not the best way to spend an afternoon.
"I agree," said Harry. "They remind me of Umbridge's office."
Severus was about to agree when he remembered that he was a new student and, therefore, wouldn't know who Umbridge was.
"Who?"
"Oh, I forgot that you didn't have her," said Harry. "She was DADA teacher a couple years ago, if you can even call her that. I mean, we didn't learn a thing from her. All she wanted us to do was learn theories. And she told everyone that I was a crazy, attention-seeking lunatic," said Harry.
I've told everyone that you were a lot worse, thought Severus.
"Why did she only let you learn theories?" asked Severus, even though he already knew the answer.
"She was afraid that Dumbledore was trying to get us to fight the Ministry," scoffed Harry. "Like the man doesn't have enough to worry about without the Ministry added on top of it."
You add to it, too, thought Severus, but he wisely said nothing.
Just then the waitress arrived with their coffees.
"Thank you," said Harry. Severus merely nodded.
Harry reached for the sugar bowl and added a little bit to his coffee. Then he added a bit of cream and stirred them. Severus watched with a slight curl of his lip.
"You would be one to put all that abysmal confection into your otherwise perfect drink, wouldn't you?"
Harry looked up from his cup, a look of mock indignation on his face.
"I'll have you know that I don't put half as much sugar and cream in as most of my friends do! And besides," he added, taking a sip of his coffee and looking at Alan's with mild disdain, "it's disgusting with nothing in it."
"Well, then it's a good thing no one's asking you to drink it, then isn't it?"
"You started it!" cried Harry.
"You are so immature," said Severus, sipping his coffee and trying to deny to himself that he was enjoying this conversation.
Harry laughed and drank some more of his coffee. He was about to say something when two people walked up to him.
"Hey, Harry," said Dean, completely ignoring Alan. "We thought you might like to come to Honeyduke's with us."
"Thanks for the offer," said Harry coolly, frowning at Dean and Seamus, "but as you can see, I'm with someone."
"Oh, he doesn't count!" argued Seamus. "He never says anything, and when he does he's being mean."
"I am sitting right here," pointed out Severus, not really caring what the other two thought of him but interested in hearing what Harry had to say.
"That's funny," snapped Harry, "but before the two of you showed up, we were having a rather amusing conversation."
"Fine," retorted Seamus. "Have fun with this asshole all by yourself. We were just trying to be nice."
"I'd hate to see what you looked like trying to be mean, then," glared Harry.
Seamus and Dean walked off. Dean alone looked apologetic.
"Ignore them," Harry told Alan. "They don't matter anyway."
"Do you really believe that their opinion of me matters much?" asked Severus, surprised and slightly pleased to hear Harry defending him in such a way.
"I guess not," answered Harry.
The two of them finished their coffee in silence.
"It's stopped raining," said Harry, swallowing the last bit of his drink. "Do you want to head back toward the castle, or was there something else that you wanted to look at while we're here?"
"We can head back," answered Severus, reaching into his pocket. "Just let me pay for the coffee, and we'll be ready."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Harry, pushing Alan's hand away and reaching for his own moneybag. "I'll get them."
"I wasn't going to buy yours," said Severus. "When I said 'let me pay for the coffee,' I meant mine."
"I know," grinned Harry, pulling out a galleon and leaving it on the table, "but this way's easier."
Severus was about to argue, but Harry was already turning and walking out of the room. Shrugging, Severus turned and followed Harry out of the shop. They were about halfway back to the castle when they heard a voice behind them.
"Well, well, well," drawled Malfoy. "Where's your entourage, Potty?"
"Bugger off, Malfoy," mumbled Harry, walking forward. Malfoy stepped in front of him, blocking his way. Severus watched in silence, waiting to see what would happen.
"I'm continually surprised to hear that the famous Boy-Who-Lived can manage to go anywhere without the Weasel and Mudblood accompanying him," continued Malfoy.
"And I'm continually surprised to hear Slytherins praised for their cutting remarks and intelligence when they've been relying on the same insult for over a thousand years," retorted Harry. Smiling brightly in Malfoy's livid face, Harry turned and walked back to the castle.
Malfoy was furious. Drawing out his wand and aiming it toward Harry, Malfoy cried, "Petrifucus Totalus!"
Before Severus could even blink, Harry had whipped around and screamed, "Protego!"
Harry's spell was so strong that Malfoy's bounced off of it, effectively knocking Malfoy to the ground.
Harry lowered his wand and walked toward Malfoy, who was on the ground, unable to move.
"You know," said Harry, "for someone whose dad is a Death Eater, that was really pathetic."
With that, Harry tuned and walked back to the castle.
Severus was mildly impressed. Harry had not only come up with a decent insult, but also only used his wand to defend himself. Plus, Harry had had the perfect opportunity to curse Malfoy while the blonde was on the ground, but hadn't. All of his previous understandings of Potter were being torn down, and the new image of Harry was taking its place.
As Severus followed Harry up to the castle, he knew once and for all that Harry Potter was not his father, nor had he ever been. In fact, Harry Potter was somewhat…pleasant, likable, even.
And that thought, more than anything else, scared the shit out of Severus.