Here is the next chapter. For this chapter I wanted to give Severus a second chance but still say that he's on thin ice. He gets one more chance only and if he blows it he is on his own for sure. Please read and review it and we'll see where it goes. Love Moon xxx
Harry entered the office gasping at its layout. There was a huge semicircle which encompassed many shelves containing glass jars with many different potions ingredients and some spare cauldrons, books and quills etc. In front of those shelves was the desk where Severus was currently seated watching Harry in fascination whose eyes seemed to light up as he scanned the room.
"May I say sir that your office is gorgeous and really intelligently laid out? I love the layout! Wow just wow!" he said with an open mouth in awe as he slowly sat down remembering suddenly where he was as Severus looked mildly stunned indeed. James would never have been so kind about his office no less.
"Harry I am Severus Snape your Potions Professor and I have a few questions for our new celebrity. Tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" he asked seriously as Harry thought for a moment.
"Oh yeah I remember now. It's the draught of living death sir. Tell me do you pronounce the t at the end or not I've been struggling with that one lately?" he asked as Severus once more looked stunned. Clearly he knew more than he let on.
"You pronounce the t naturally. Where you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" he sneered slightly.
"Well that all depends on where you would want me to get it from doesn't it? I mean you could ask me to get it from my kit, your own kit or fresh from the stomach of a goat. I imagine the fresh one might be more potent though so I will say the stomach of a goat" he responded as Severus nodded curtly.
"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" he asked as Harry frowned.
"To be honest I'm not all that sure what you're trying to achieve with this question as we all know that not only is there no difference but they also go by the name of aconite. Oh right I see. Well thank you sir!" Harry said finally getting the coded message.
"I assume you knew my parents then?" he asked as Severus looked absolutely furious and scared him a bit.
"Yes indeed I was known to your mother and father!" he said the father part with extreme distain.
"There is no point saying it to me that way. I don't recall the man although according to my uncle he was a shit of the first water whatever that means. As they explained to me what he did I can see they were correct. I am an intelligent guy sir and so I have no time for bullies of any kind!" he said passionately as Severus looked too stunned in that moment to even speak. It was like he was forgetting not only who he was but which house he was head of. He suddenly burst into tears something Harry found most awkward. He even tried to speak but couldn't because he was crying too hard which in turn annoyed Harry no end as he hated not being able to understand someone.
"For the love of god use your words! Calm the hell down and tell me whatever it is you want to in a way I can actually understand!" he snapped as Severus looked too shocked to continue to cry.
"Mr P...Pot…Potter I am so sorry. I am one of the main reasons that Lord Voldemort found your parents. I didn't give up their location because I didn't know it but I am the reason he went after them at all. I heard a prophecy but not the whole thing which I told Voldemort as I had been ordered to. He however didn't even want to hear me when I told him I'd not heard it all because I'd been kicked out of the pub before I could. He targeted them! It was so awful I tried all I could to get him to change his mind carefully but he point blank refused to falter!" he said pausing to catch his breath tears still rolling down his cheeks before ploughing on with his tale.
"I went to Albus Dumbledore begging him to hide them all including you from Voldemort when I learned what he was going to do and Albus assured me he would help me only if I would become his spy which I did without a second thought. I feel so awful about it because he lied to me. He didn't insure they were safe and then had the audacity to tell me they simply put their faith in the wrong man. Lily was the most intelligent person I knew and she never would have done so. I just know it. As kids Lily and I were best friends but then when I fell in with the dark crowd we couldn't remain friends any longer you see. As for your father he tormented me all throughout my school years but I did deserve it now that I think of what happened to them after school. He was a jackass but I never wanted him dead although I did care more about Lily when I'd found out they'd died!" he said as Harry's face became so serious he thought he'd freak out.
Harry listened to everything he'd said with great interest. This needed further thought and investigation for sure in the future. So why had Dumbledore lied to Severus telling him he would help him only if he'd become his spy? I mean that's not real help at all is it? This whole I'll give to you but only if I can get something in return. It is this selfish unconscionable kind of conduct that ultimately aided in his parents death. Everyone here says Dumbledore is no fool so why then would he allow them to choose a bad or untrustworthy secret keeper? He'd learned all about secret keepers in a book he had on law when he'd learned at the bank that his parents had died because their secret keeper had given up their location. Instead of annoying those at the bank with questions on what a secret keeper was he merely went home and researched it himself. He knew all about the fidelius curse now realising he'd cast it himself once inside his head. He actually thought that had been the cleverest thing he'd done for sure in a long time.
"I see. Do you still work for Voldemort?" he asked using the imperius here as he knew he'd not get a straight answer in this moment. Severus was so unprepared however that he didn't even notice the imperius coming over him nor that it was compelling him to tell the absolute truth.
"No he thinks I work for him and Dumbledore thinks I work for him alas I work solely for myself now. When I lost Lily the love of my life because of what Voldemort elected to believe after what I had told him I made sure that I would never ever work for him ever again and I intend to stick to that. I loved your mother so much but I don't deserve anything good in return by rights I should be dead. If I'd not told him what that prophecy said he'd not have gone after them! And if Dumbledore had protected them properly like he swore he would they'd still be alive of that I'm sure. What a failure I am. I couldn't even secure proper help from the damn leader of the light side who only thought about what he could get and did abuse my exceptionally emotional state. He knew I'd have done anything at that point and did abuse it" he said in an emotionless voice. Harry stared at the man feeling highly conflicted indeed. Why hadn't he been smarter and made smarter choices the fool!?
"Tell me why you didn't go after her if you loved her like you said?" he asked as Severus looked slightly pained but continued in his monotone voice.
"In my fifth year James had once again attacked me and I was left scarred and hanging upside down on a tree with my pants down for all to see. When Lily tried to help me in my embarrassed rage I called her a mudblood which I never meant but my pride would not allow me to apologise for either until it was too late by which point she had moved on to your father. She told me he was different and had changed in order to gain her love. I didn't deserve her love after that!" he said as Harry looked confused.
"Ok then what is a mudblood please?" he asked as Severus explained the term in great detail.
"So even though you eventually did say sorry for saying that she still elected to choose my father? Well there is a phrase in the muggle world that some women just like a bad boy and I guess she was one of them. It would appear he only changed to gain her love and not because he actually wanted to either. Also I so happen to know he didn't change all that much either. This is disappointing for me. Was he a good student academically? I must find something somewhere redeemable about him!" he said as Severus seemed to be thinking.
"He was never that bad academically. I was always higher than him grades wise but he passed most of his classes barely but still did pass. Your mother however was the top student in her year and remained so for all seven years. Her dedication to her education was second to none quite literally" he deadpanned normally. Harry observed him seriously for a while allowing Severus to sweat uncomfortably something he actually got slight satisfaction from. It did satisfy him to see him looking so uncomfortable as he could imagine he loved seeing people this way and having the tables turned was great. He had told Voldemort the prophecy however he did say he'd not revealed where they'd been living so he was only partly to blame. He did mention he'd not known where they'd been living so there was that.
"What did Voldemort have you do when you were joined with him?" he asked carefully preparing mentally for an awful answer which could quite possibly turn his stomach.
"Mainly he had me brew highly illegal potions for his own use in whatever he needed them for. I helped to set up and conduct many dark blood rituals for him. I also kidnapped many people he asked me to and tortured them for information if only to not get tortured by him myself. I never killed anyone but I did seriously injure lots of people which I helped secretly when he was otherwise occupied unless they were someone I genuinely disliked as I let those fuckers stew in it. I didn't like doing it but did live because I did so!" he replied once more deadpan in tone. Harry thought about what he'd said seriously. The only silver lining here was that he'd not killed anyone at the very least.
"Are you sorry about your actions? Are you sorry you told him about the part of the prophecy you did hear?" he asked. I mean everyone deserved a second change and he had practically said earlier he bitterly regretted Lily's death even it was in a coded fashion. The fact that he cared little for James was not healthy but did stem from James' behaviour towards him and Harry could slightly understand that. Given that he could slightly understand that however he needed to move on lest it sour anymore of his life.
"Yes I am. I am so sorry about Lily my love. I will always love her until my dying day. I am not sorry about James and I am not sorry to say this either. He tormented many different people not just me all of whom have scars! Obviously as I said earlier I didn't wish him dead but I cannot feel sorry he died given what he did to others. At least I was on the dark side for a time and people knew what I was doing was dark. He was a supposedly light character but left many scars on many people which were worse than anything I ever left on peoples bodies. I always tried not to scar people when I tortured them. I'm just saying that with me as I used to be at least you did know what you were getting" he said revealing his arms carefully where there were obvious scars going up them from no doubt another 'prank' James had deemed funny.
Quite frankly Harry couldn't understand why his mother who had been that intelligent had chosen James. He would have hated it had she chose Severus and that went without saying but why in the hell could she not have chosen a nice guy. Someone who respected everyone instead of the child she had chosen. It sounded like he had never grown up. He had merely pretended to grow up in order to selfishly gain her love. That wasn't one bit normal and Severus was right in that with him you at least did know what you were getting. He was a vile person in his past and no one would ever wish to dispute that. Why was no one here ever intelligent? This was infuriating. He wasn't so intelligent himself to then waste it on a waster like his mum had. There was no dignity in that whichever way you spun it. What an absolute nightmare of a mess this was. It left him feeling every kind of way.
"Well Severus James is dead no doubt because he probably chose someone stupid to guard his whereabouts and Lily wasn't sensibly enough to think to tell him no. We can all see he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed if his conduct was anything to go by. May you wear those scars always as punishment for your actions! I am in no way sorry for you. You elected to join the dark side and don't get to complain now because I don't care and I don't want to hear about it. Let's just say you're lucky I don't have dictatorial tendencies. As far as I can see you both deserved what was coming to you. If James had focused less on always putting others down to make himself feel better more than likely compensating for something he didn't have he might be alive now who knows? I do however believe in second chances and you will get one chance only. Blow this and you are quite frankly on your own and I will never let you forget it either! You've been warned sir!" he snapped ending the imperius as Severus who had remembered everything looked freaked out beyond belief.
"I wanted to say to you that I saw what you did last night and it impressed me so much I had to add ten points to Ravenclaw for it right then. I will now have to add twenty points to Ravenclaw for your effortless wandless magic ability which is way better than I had ever thought it would be. As I don't wish any further wrath from you I Severus Tobias Snape do hereby swear on my own life and magic that I will never reveal that Harry James Potter can do wandless magic through torture or any other possible means so mote it be" he intoned seriously.
It appeared he was at least trying to right his wrongs. Harry had already adjusted to the discomfort he felt towards his own father but hearing he had bullied many people Severus included was a tough pill to swallow. Why did his mother choose someone like that? Why was James not inherently good? And more to the point why in the hell did he wish everyone to think he was? Severus was an evil bastard who deserved every bad thing which ever happened to him but at least he owned it. He admitted he was wrong and it was at least something. It showed that something somewhere within the man truly did regret his actions.
"Thank you for telling me that sir and for the vow. I would have asked for one anyway. I trust we can be cordial to each other in lessons and indeed outside of them. If you have a problem with me or indeed something I do you are to tell me directly and sensibly. None of this coded shit! You are getting one more chance from me sir do try to act intelligently and not blow it please!" he snapped in exacerbation as Severus realised how tired he was. Harry went back to the great hall making it just in time to grab a quick breakfast stunned further when Severus walked over to him and handed him a note stating he could be late to classes so that he could have a proper breakfast without needing to rush. Harry thanked him. When he got his schedule from Professor Flitwick he also saw that charms was his first lesson. He showed Professor Flitwick the letter who nodded.
"Thank you Mr Potter. You may take as long as you like. We'll be reading the first chapter today and continuing it for homework too so don't worry about it" he said leaving again. Terry wondered if he was ok relieved when Harry had said he was and tucked into his breakfast. What a morning.
