Severus Snape was by nature a somewhat cutting and sardonic person. Worse, he was by nature pessimistic. So he had looked on one Mister Harry Potter as James' Potter's misbegotten spawn, a hell-raiser in training (Helped out by his Good Friend Albus Dumbledore, and his Better Friends the Weasley Twins).
And so he hadn't thought twice about promising Mister Potter some time. He'd been virtually certain that it would be used, and within the first week at that.
More than two months gone, and not a peep from Mister Potter.
And it wasn't like the boy hadn't earned his fair share of detentions. Were the boy really James, he'd have been itching to gloat about escaping a detention with the Feared Potion Master Snape. Even fair Lily would have used a judicious portion of the time, by now.
No...
This reeked of purpose, and all of Snape's hardbitten professorial instincts rang with the knowledge that Potter was up to something. And yes, that was probably true, but what?
Severus Snape had even assigned some malevolent and practically unwarranted detentions, just as an experiment... Those too were ignored, though he could have sworn he saw Gryffindor outrage in those bottle green eyes.
This was most puzzling.
Severus Snape had always liked puzzles, though.
He'd given the Potter brat enough rope to hang himself (that being the expected outcome), and ... the impudent boy seemed intent on not doing the expected.
Severus Snape was, quite despite himself, cautiously optimistic. For something was going on, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
When you set the world afire
Wreath everything in blue and green
When even shadows scream
You'll still be all that I desire.
Firechild.
I, a shadow, wither and fade
Jump and shrink and hide
Sometime all debts must be paid,
Maybe before I stand by your side.
[a/n: What's Harry up to? Can you guess?
This is mostly an outtake from Snape's point of view, to break up more Malfoy worrying about Granger's worry.
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