A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I hope it's worth it... Enjoy!
Chapter 8:
Harrison woke with a groan and sat up slowly.
'Are you okay Harrison?' Draco asked, looking concerned from his position in front of the mirror
'Fine, just a headache'
Draco frowned slightly 'Maybe you should go and see Madam Pomfrey? You don't look very well'
'No, I'll be okay in a minute'
'Okay, well hurry up then, you're going to be late' he said, looking at the time
'I won't be long, I'll meet you in the Great Hall' Harrison said, pushing himself off the bed. Draco nodded and left the room.
Harrison sighed, now that he was alone, he could see what the damage was. He could feel his arm throbbing beneath the makeshift bandage. Taking a deep breath, he removed the bandage to reveal his arm – it looked no better than it had the night before, the only difference was that it was no longer bleeding and you could now clearly see the teeth marks in the flesh.
Well that's no good, he thought before tearing up his pillow case to make a fresh bandage and getting dressed for the day. He didn't have time for breakfast, he didn't feel like eating anyway, and so he made his way to Potions, hoping he would be able to keep from Snape finding out.
'You missed breakfast Harrison' Draco said as he caught up with him in the corridor, Harrison rolled his eyes slightly at the concern.
'I'm aware of that Draco, it's fine.'
'Your detention ran a long-time last night' he said, dropping the subject 'what did she have you do?'
'Lines' he muttered 'there's something I need to tell you later' Draco frowned
'What is it?'
'Later' he hissed, gesturing to the people around them. He wasn't in the best of moods, and the pain he was in didn't help.
'Silence' Professor Snape called from the front of the classroom, the room instantly fell quiet.
'Turn to chapter five, the instructions are also on the board. You have two hours' and with that he sat down to mark some papers.
'Do you want to get the ingredients if I set up?' Draco asked hesitantly, clearly not wanting to annoy him further. Harrison nodded slightly and stood up quickly, instantly regretting it as he went light headed. He gripped onto the table to stop himself falling.
'Are you sure you're okay?'
'I'm fine' quickly recovering he moved to the back of the room.
'Ah' he yelled, dropping the beetle eyes on the floor as he was shoved from behind and his arm bumped against the table next to him.
'Better watch where you're going Potter' Weasley said, smirking
Harrison snapped.
He leapt at Weasley and punched him on the nose before he could even think about what he was doing. The pain from the movement took his breath away, allowing Weasley to shove him to the floor and raise his own fist-
'MR WEASLEY' Snape shouted from the front of the room, causing him to freeze in place.
Snape was still talking, but Harrison couldn't hear anything. All he could focus on was the pain he felt.
'Are you okay?' Granger said quietly, bending down next to him and causing the voices around the room to stop.
Professor Snape looked down at him, and upon seeing the blood puddling on the floor next to him, gently pulled him to his feet and guided him to the office, turning only to bark one last order to the class.
'Class dismissed, Weasley you have detention tonight at 7.'
And with that they entered the office and Harrison was led over to a small sofa.
The Professor walked over to a small cabinet in the corner of the room and pulled out a small vial before walking back over to Harrison.
'Drink this' he said, pressing the bottle to his lips. Harrison obliged, gagging at the taste. Ugh, why did potions have to taste so bad.
The pain immediately started to ease off, his previously foggy vision clearing up. He glanced up to his Professor, who stood with an unamused look on his face.
'Show me your arm' he stated simply. Harrison shook his head.
'It's nothing sir, just a small cut' Professor Snape raised an eyebrow
'Then you won't mind if I take a look' before Harrison could respond, Snape gripped his wrist gently but firmly, pulling his arm straight before removing the sleeve of his shirt and the make shift bandage with a flick of his wand.
After a moment of silence, Snape started muttering what Harrison assumed to be healing charms, waving his wand, the wound began to knit back together. Harrison watched in fascination. Once he had finished, Snape released his arm and walked back over to the cabinet, returning with yet another potion.
'Blood replenisher' he explained to Harrison's look of confusion.
'Explain' he snapped, crossing his arms and looking every bit the bat of the dungeons, he was known to be.
'Um, I fell?'
'You. Fell.' he raised his eyebrows 'Is that really the best you can come up with?'
Harrison sighed, he didn't do well on a lack of sleep. He opened his mouth, about to say he fell onto his potions knife or something equally ridiculous, but Snape cut him off.
'Before you try and fail to convince me with another lie. Let me tell you that I know exactly where you would have received a wound like this one. So how about we move onto question number two. What were you doing in the third-floor corridor?'
'I wasn't' he said without thinking
'Really? So where else in the castle is a three-headed dog being kept? Would you rather I call the Headmaster down here and you can tell him of your little adventure instead?'
He was in deep trouble.
'No sir' he stammered.
Snape sighed, clearly irritated.
'My patience is wearing thin, Harrison.'
He gulped before speaking. He couldn't possibly get in more trouble, could he?
'I was coming back from a detention, and I just sort of started walking, and before I knew it, I was on the third-floor. I honestly didn't mean to end up there' he pleaded at his professor's skeptical look
'I was thinking about the Headmaster's warning earlier in the day, so it must have been in the back of my mind or something.'
'So why didn't you, upon your realisation of where you had ended up, turn around?' he demanded.
'I don't know, Sir. I just thought that it would be okay'
'You thought that it would be okay' he repeated in disbelief.
'What part of the Headmaster's warning did you not understand? He specifically told you not to go there. Do you have a death wish? Or are you simply following your arrogant Father's footsteps and you thought you could handle whatever danger you would face?'
His Father wasn't that arrogant, but Harrison didn't think that would be the right time to mention it. Snape took a deep breath before continuing in a slightly calmer voice.
'You knew you would get in trouble though, yes? That is why you didn't seek help for your injury. So, do you not have an ounce of self-preservation?' he shouted 'Perhaps you were sorted in the wrong house after all. You are exactly like your brother.'
That did it, Harrison stood up, the effect lost slightly seeing as he only reached the Professors chest.
'I am nothing like him!' he shouted 'I'm telling you the truth and you still don't believe me. Perhaps my Father is right about you after all, Snivellus' he sneered, instantly regretting his outburst.
'Calm yourself' Snape said through gritted teeth. Harrison wasn't sure which one of them he was talking to, but attempted to take a few deep breathes anyway, he could see the man doing the same thing.
After a few moments of silence, Snape sighed before going and sitting behind his desk. He sat there, staring at Harrison, he felt uncomfortable under the gaze, and wasn't sure if he was supposed to say something.
Snape beat him to it however.
'You have detention.' he said simply, Harrison nodded, expecting as much.
'For a month' he added, Harrison's eyebrows shot up, outrage clear on his face.
'Before you even think about protesting, I can make it two months?'
'One month then Sir' he muttered, not wishing to push the man any further. Snape was still staring at him.
'You will also write me an essay, I want two feet on the usefulness of self-preservation, and what you could and should have done differently.'
Harrison nodded slightly and waited in silence, hoping he wouldn't add anything else.
'You may go' he dismissed 'be here at 7 sharp, if you are late, you will regret it. If you need any more pain relief do not hesitate to come and ask.' And with that, Harrison turned and quickly fled the room, wanting to put as much distance between himself and his Professor as possible.
He went straight to the common room, where he found Draco and the others waiting for him.
'What happened?' Draco asked, seeing him walk in
'Are you okay?' Daphne asked, full of concern
Harrison sighed and sat down next to Blaise and told them everything, once he'd finished, he looked up at them, they appeared to be in shock. Daphne recovered first.
'You complete prat' she yelled, smacking him on the shoulder with her book. He winced slightly, causing her to look a little guilty.
'You could have died.' She said firmly, he nodded
'Yeah, I know it was stupid, I just didn't think.' Blaise smirked
'And all along we thought you were a Ravenclaw in disguise' he teased, making Draco snort.
'Look, next time, at least take one of us with you' Draco suggested, Harrison shook his head
'There won't be a next time, Draco. It was stupid, I should have never listened to my brother. But listen, the dog is guarding something, I don't know what, but I can assure you that Nick will try and find out.'
'Then he's even more of an idiot than you are' Daphne said, dismissively.
'I could have told you that before' Harrison muttered, still thinking of his brother as the others began a game of gobstones.
Later that evening, he entered the potions classroom to serve his detention. He really needed to stop getting himself into these situations, he thought to himself, walking in. He looked over to see Professor Snape stood at the desk, brewing a potion, and Weasley was already in a corner, scrubbing cauldrons. Snape looked up as he entered.
'You can join Mr. Weasley' was all he said, gesturing towards the boy. Harrison sighed softly before heading over to begin scrubbing.
'What are you doing here?' Weasley asked, clearly confused
'I have detention, same as you, unless that is, you enjoy scrubbing cauldrons in your spare time?' he said sarcastically, Weasley's frown deepened.
'But Snape doesn't punish Slytherin's' he said, certain of the fact. Harrison snorted.
'Clearly, he does, or I wouldn't be here, would I?'
'But-'
'I don't hear scrubbing' Snape's voice echoed across the room.
They set back to work in silence for the next two hours before all the cauldrons were clean, they stood awkwardly in front of Snape's desk for a few moments before he glanced up at them, and then over to the stack of cauldrons.
'Mr. Weasley, you may leave. If you dare start a fight in my lessons again, I assure you the punishment will be much worse than this.'
'Yes Sir' he nodded before hurrying out of the room.
'I will see you tomorrow night at the same time, Harrison' he dismissed, Harrison nodded before making his own way out of the room.
The first couple of months had gone by in a bit of a blur, Harrison thought he'd settled into the rhythm of Hogwarts quite well: He'd made several good friends in Slytherin and was doing very well in his classes. He made his way into the Great Hall for the feast. The room had been decorated for the feast and looked very good in Harrison's opinion. The ceiling had jack-o-lanterns floating around, and the walls were covered in cobwebs, skeletons, and bats suspended in flight. It looked amazing.
He walked over to join his house at the table.
'Looks pretty good, eh Harrison?' Blaise asked, Harrison nodded in response
'Not too bad' he sat down amongst them, allowing their conversation of the usual Samhain celebrations to wash over him.
'Happy Halloween everyone!' Dumbledore called from the front of the Hall
'Why must we celebrate muggle festivals again?' Draco asked
'I believe it's to let the muggleborns feel more at home, plus most of the rituals have been classed as dark magic now' Blaise whispered back.
Harrison had always celebrated Halloween at home, along with Christmas instead of Yule. He had asked his father once about the traditional festivals but he was shut down and told they were too old fashioned and relied on a lot of dark magic. He didn't believe that himself. Just because a ritual used blood it doesn't make it dark.
He was brought out of his musings when the food arrived. It seemed to mostly consist of sweets but it still looked good, so they all dug in hungrily.
Harrison was just adding a third helping of mashed potato to his plate when Professor Quirrell came racing into the hall, terror on his face. Everyone stared as he made his way to the top table, slumping against it.
'Troll. In the dungeons. Thought you ought to know.' he gasped before promptly sinking to the floor.
There was a second's silence before uproar. It took several sparks and explosions from the end of Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
'Prefects.' He began 'lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!'
Students began filing out of the room quickly.
'He does know the Slytherin dorms are in the dungeons, right?' Harrison heard a third-year mutter.
'Right everyone. Stick together and keep your wands out' The prefect shouted over the confusion.
As they left the hall, Harrison noticed his brother and the red head separating from the other Gryffindor's, hanging back in the shadows. Merlin, Nick was going to get him killed one day, he thought as he allowed himself to be swept along with the Hufflepuff's and out onto the corridor he'd seen them hide in.
He followed a little way behind them, keeping his wand out just in case.
They eventually reached a girl's bathroom. He saw them run back around the corner in a panic, practically bumping into him.
'What are you doing here?' Nick all but shouted, Harrison raised an eyebrow in response.
'I could ask you the same thing' He noticed Weasley looking rather guilty
'Hermione is in the bathroom, she doesn't know about the troll' Nick explained
'And why are you going to find her? You could have told a prefect or a teacher or something'
'Well' Nick started, also looking guilty 'I didn't really think about that, but it's kind of our fault she's in there anyway. But it's okay, we locked the troll in a classroom or something' gesturing back around the corner.
He was about to ask what they'd done when a petrified, high pitched scream came from that very corner.
Nick and Weasley looked at each other in horror.
'I'm guessing that wasn't a classroom then' Harrison said, deadpanned.
'Hermione' they both shrieked before turning and running back to the room.
'What are you doing now?' he yelled at them before swearing under his breath and chasing after the pair.
He followed them into the room. Granger was pressed against the opposite wall, her eyes screwed shut. The troll was advancing on her, knocking sinks off the wall as it went.
'Do something' Nick yelled, throwing bits of metal at the troll, Weasley quickly following his lead.
Harrison sighed in exasperation, that won't work, he thought to himself, a troll won't even feel it through its thick skin.
The troll did however, hear Nick's shout, and turned towards him instead, his club raised.
'Oy, pea-brain' Weasley yelled from the other side of the room, sending a large chunk of wood at the things head. It then turned towards him, allowing Nick to run around it towards Granger.
'Come-on, run' he urged her, but she wasn't moving, she was frozen against the wall, mouth wide open.
'She's in shock' Harrison called out 'Hit her or something' Nick looked at him in outrage before noticing the troll starting towards Weasley.
'Don't be an idiot Nick' Harrison yelled, seeing his brother stand up. He was ignored of course and Nick took a running jump, grabbing onto the troll's neck, his wand ending up stuck up its nose.
Screaming in pain, the troll swung around wildly. Nick was hanging on for dear life, Granger had sunk to the floor and Weasley was frozen, panic written all over his face.
Merlin, how they would survive without him, Harrison would never know. He pulled out his wand and muttered the first spell that came to mind. A blood-boiling curse. Possibly not the smartest decision but the spell was only borderline dark, and so he wouldn't get in too much trouble for using it.
The troll let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to its knees with a crunch. Nick took the opportunity to scramble off the things back and pressed himself flat against the wall near Hermione as the troll writhed in agony in the centre of the room. A few moments later, the troll was still, and there was silence. It was dead.
Nick went and pulled his wand out, a long string of snot followed, which Nick merely wiped on his robes with a disgusted look.
'Is it dead?' Granger asked in a small voice, standing up.
Harrison nodded slightly and they all stared at him.
'You killed a troll' Weasley muttered
'Yes. You're welcome.' he said stiffly.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up. Professor McGonagall came bursting into the room, followed by Snape and Quirrell, who upon seeing the troll, let out a whimper before slumping on a toilet seat. Harrison rolled his eyes.
Snape bent over the troll, and McGonagall was staring intently at them, he'd never seen her look so angry before.
'What on Earth were you thinking?' she yelled in fury
'You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitories?'
'Harrison glanced at Nick, who was looking rather helplessly at Weasley'
'Well-' Nick began
'Please Professor, it was my fault' Granger whispered from the corner. All eyes shot to her.
'Miss Granger?' she questioned, shock clear in her voice.
'I'd read about trolls, and I thought I could handle it, so I followed it here. If the boys hadn't found me, then I'm sure I'd be dead' she finished quietly.
'Is this true?' She looked sharply at Nick, Weasley, and Harrison, they all nodded awkwardly, not sure why Granger was lying for them.
'Well then. I will be removing 10 points from Gryffindor for your sheer stupidity.' Granger hung her head 'And as for you three' she paused '5 points, will be awarded to each of you. For dumb luck.' Nick and Weasley shared a grin.
'Now all of you, back to your common rooms. The feast is continuing there.' She said dismissively.
Harrison could feel eyes on him and looked up to see Snape sending him a piercing glare. He gulped.
'Accompany to my office Harrison.' He said before turning around and walking out the room, clearly expecting him to follow.
Nick and Weasley were watching him closely as he left to catch up with his professor.
A/N: Thank you once again for reading, please review etc... it really does mean a lot when you do.