Chapter 4: The Wrath of Professor Snape

Chapter 4

The Wrath of Professor Snape

The Potions master glared into those pleading blue eyes with fury just bubbling up inside of him.

What is wrong with him Professor Snape thought He knows I would not tolerate such impropriety and disrespect. He knows the consequences for such actions. The anger flew through his hand as he held onto Sage's color with his hand balled up around the fabric and his knuckles white. He's going to wish I had cursed him.

He pushed the boy back and then finally let go of his collar with a huff. Sage grabbed his neck and took a deeper breath, rubbing his hipbone where it had smashed into the table.

Professor Snape crossed his arms over his chest looking so imposing that Sage fought back the desire to run out of there as quickly as possible, out of the castle, past the apparation line, and apparate to somewhere. Anywhere but in front of Professor Snape.

Sage was not easily intimidated, but Professor Snape had always intimidated him.

Professor Snape took a decisive step towards him and gave him a backhanded slap to the face, quite thankful this was not just another student. Taken aback, Sage just stood there. Finally, Sage put his hand up to his lip and then looked at his fingers. Blood. His lip was cut.

When Professor Snape finally spoke his voice was laced with venom and cut through the air like a knife. "The next time you direct something like that to me, you'll be getting something more than a slap back yourself. I'll not hesitate to curse you back if it happens again. You know my expectations. You know the rules. You know you have to learn to control it, especially here."

Sage shifted, "It just happened, sir. I didn't direct it at you. I wouldn't. I swear. I didn't mean it, what I said. And the shoulder thing, whatever it was, I didn't-."

"Well, one more accident of that kind and you'll likely find yourself out of here. If you cannot control your… impulses, then you are dangerous, and there is nothing I can do to change that or to help you once it does."

"I'm not dangerous. I didn't magic that on purpose. I didn't want to hit you, sir."

"Yet you did! How many times do I have to tell you, FOCUS! Don't betray your emotions. Keep control of them and of yourself and this won't happen!" Professor Snape spat.

Sage looked down. If he hadn't gotten angry about Professor Snape's unfairness, it probably would not have happened. He berated himself for letting his temper flair, and that it flaired at the Professor of all people.

"And, Sage, if you ever talk to me like that again," he grabbed the black-haired boy by the shoulder and gave him a good shake, "Ever again. I'll not just be packing you off home. You owe me better than that. You had better not forget it."

"Yes, sir. I-."

Just then the doors flung open again and Dumbledore strode in with McGonagall in tow. Professor Snape looked up.

"Not to worry, Albus, Minerva, despite what countless students have probably tried to tell you from your dual look of alarm, I am neither killing him, nor cursing him. And nor has he hurt me."

Both the other professors looked from Severus to Sage and back again. Professor Snape's veins were pushed out on his forehead in anger. Apparently, they had missed most of the fireworks, because there surely had been some.

McGonagall's eyes immediately rested on the small speck of blood still present on the corner of Sage's mouth.

Professor Snape looked to the boy, "We'll discuss the punishment for your cheek later. Now, get out of my sight."

Sage grabbed his bag silently and beat a hasty retreat off the battlefield, nodding politely to the other two professors on his way.

Once Sage had left, the headmaster looked at the Potion's master, "Now, Severus, what happened that countless students came flying out of the dungeons, up my stairs, and started screaming outside of my gargoyle as if Voldemort had sprung to life straight out of one of your cauldrons."

Snape smiled inwardly at the hysteria he had caused. Hastily he told both the headmaster and the head of Gryffindor what had happened before he angrily strode out.

Sage grumbled the password to the Fat Lady and stalked into the Gryffindor common room ignoring all the staring eyes. He made straight for the stairs, took them two at a time, entered the privacy of his room, and slammed the door behind him.

"What do you think Snape did?" Ron asked directed toward no one in particular.

Everyone looked at each other.

"I dunno, did you see the look Snape gave him!" came from Seamus.

"Neville did, he almost passed out," Ron answered.

Everyone giggled but Neville.

"Wish I coulda seen it," Fred said smiling, "I'll never get another chance to see someone bash Snape like that to his face!"

"Me too, Snape deserves it," George put in. "The greasy git."

"Yeah, but detention for two weeks with Snape. Gods, I'd rather wander around the forest by myself," Harry said.

Hermione was strangely quiet.

"Whaddayou think, 'Mione?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't think he should have talked to Professor Snape like that."

"Ohh give over, didn't it just feel kinda, well, good to see Snape get some of his own. Especially since it was backing you up?"

"For your information, Ron, I am glad someone said something to defend me, but I don't think that it was done the right way."

"Hey," interrupted Harry, "you know what I just realized?"

"What mate."

"Nobody's even mentioned that we lost fifty points because of that."

Ron smiled, "Yeah, that's because it was well worth the the points to see Snape so angry. We'll get it back on the Quidditch pitch anyway. Against Slytherin."

"That's what I was thinking," Harry said, "Wish I had the guts to say something like that though. I could make up the points on the pitch."

"You wouldn't have to worry about Voldemort, mate," Fred said, a strange smile on his face.

"Yeah," said George, "Likely we would never find your body after you leave for that detention!"

"Snape'd do you in."

Nobody saw Sage for the rest of the night. He hadn't come to dinner, and he'd been gone before all the Gryffindor's got back. His tutoring session with Snape had been particular hell. Snape had decided to make him try the potion he had been instructed to make, which did something akin to making his skin feel like it was on fire. He was still rubbing his arms strangely, even after Snape graced him with the antidote. He took quite another tongue lashing for being so disrespectful to the Professor. Snape wouldn't forget what he had said to him anytime soon, and yes he did feel particularly horrible.

Sage only said that about giving Neville the book because for that brief moment, Professor Snape did not seem like Professor Snape to him. In fact, the professor had never acted like that around him at all. Professor Snape here was just so unfair.

That was what had got his anger up. Now that he had time to reflect, he felt like he had committed some grave betrayal. Nobody had really ever paid as much attention to him as Professor Snape did. Nobody had ever tried to help him. After all, Professor Snape had tried to make him a potion that would take away the pain of his attacks. Sage never really had the heart to tell him that it didn't really do anything other than stop his limbs from flailing around and help him to stay as calm as he could get in such pain.

Nothing had ever numbed the pain of the attacks for him and they were getting steadily worse and he felt powerless to act against them.

Bloody Floors! thought as he scrubbed. If I wasn't such an ungrateful idiot, I wouldn't be down here at 10:30 at night. He dunked the brush in the bucket again. Why did I feel the need to stick up for that Granger girl anyway? I don't even know her.

He furiously brushed hard on this stubborn bit of something that just wouldn't go away. Sage looked up around him, he was almost done. His arm hurt like a trunk had fallen on it, but he was almost done. He knew one thing… If Neville spilt anything on the potions classroom's floor after this, he would kill him. An hour and a half of his jolly arm work would not be immediately ruined. With his luck, he would have to do it again tomorrow night if anyone messed it up.

Professor Snape looked through the open door and locked eyes with him. "Not done yet?" he said with insidious mock surprise. "Hurry up, boy. I don't want to spend my whole night babysitting you." Before Sage could answer, he left again.

Babysit. Wouldn't have to babysit if you didn't insist that my detention had to be with you every night. I could be filing papers, or polishing trophies, or roaming the forest with Hagrid. No, that wouldn't do, not quite bad enough for me, has to be exceptionally awful. Has to be scrubbing, with no magic mind you, the Potion's floor. As if it would ever stay clean of disgusting muck. Now that Sage thought about it and was that close to it… it didn't look as if it had been cleaned in a long, long time.

By the time Sage had finished the whole floor, his fingers were rubbed raw from where he had been holding the brush. The knees of his trousers were soaked as were the cuffs of his sleeves. He had begun to loathe the fact that he always had to wear long sleeves. He was so unbearably hot. Once he managed to get up off the floor, his body was protesting, he dumped out the bucket and threw the brush back into it. He scratched his arm, stretched, and went to go find the Potion's master.

The door to Professor Snape's office was open and he could hear the scratching of a quill coming from inside. He knocked on the open door. Snape didn't move. He moved just inside the door anyway.

"Umm, sir, I'm done," he volunteered. The silence was uncomfortable.

"Indeed," Snape answered him scratching away at the paper. Sage stood there in the open doorway expecting Snape to continue. But, he didn't.

"Uhhh, sir, it's after eleven, may I go now?"

"No, I do not believe it is for you to decide when you are done. Sit." He pointed at the chair.

Sage closed his eyes, but then took a seat as he was asked. Professor Snape looked up.

"Is there something that you want to tell me," Snape asked Sage.

Sage's eyes went from left to right, completely at a loss for words. What does he want? Sage asked himself. "No, sir."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"Yes," Snape corrected, his lip curling slightly with distaste at the use of 'yeah'.

"Yes, sir, I'm sure," Sage amended.

Snape looked back down at his papers. Sage thought he read disappointment there, or maybe an aggravation, he wasn't sure. "Fine, Sage. I expected more of you and better of you."

What does that mean, Sage thought.

Professor Snape continued, "I will not allow you to act the way that those children do. Clearly a disappointment. Go."

Sage obligingly got up and turned to go.

"Sage…"

The boy turned back around. "Yes, sir?"

"Next time, consult your brain before opening your mouth. If you would have thought about what you were about to say in the classroom, as I am sure you are doing presently, you would not have done what you did."

When Sage returned the Gryffindor common room was empty except for Hermione, Harry, and the red-headed Weasley boy whose first name he didn't know.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked with genuine concern.

Sage looked up at her, "Yeah, grand."

"Hey, uhh, that was great what you said," Ron piped in.

Sage looked at him, "Glad you think so."

"I mean Snape deserves it for how much he favors the Slytherins and picks on us."

Sage started walking toward the stairs again, "Not from me he doesn't."

"Wait, Ron's an idiot, don't go," Hermione pleaded. Ron threw her a dirty look. Harry giggled.

"I can see that," Sage answered, making Ron turn red. "Look, I just spent the last 2 hours of my night scrubbing the Potions classroom floor, before that 2 hours of tutoring, before that 2 hours of Potions class. A grand total of 6 hours in a day with an angry Professor Snape. So, I'm quite done." Sage started walking again and finally made it up the stairs. Just as he was about to enter his room a tentative hand touched his back.

"I'm sorry, you know," the girl said.

Didn't this Hermione girl ever quit. "Don't be." He wanted to keep walking.

"Ummm, thanks, though, for standing up to him for me. It wasn't really the right thing to do, but I appreciate it anyways."

Sage looked back at her, his blue eyes were cold and unconcerned. "You're right, it was not the right thing to do, for you or for anyone else." He walked into the room and closed the door behind him.