"Look at that Hufflepuff!"
"The one next to the brunette!"
"The pale one, with the longish hair!"
While his brother had been crowded with the throngs of students who had wanted to see him, Harry himself was getting tired of the whispers that followed him, but disappeared the moment he turned around. It had seemed like everyone was somewhat awed, yet afraid of him.
He had been worried that he would fall behind in class, as he had been sent away to a muggle school most of his childhood, but it turned out he needn't have.
The classes started right from the basics, so Harry was able to catch up to his other peers, who were treating him with respect, though a handful of them were still afraid of him.
That would change after potions on Thursday.
"Aaargh! We have potions next," Justin groaned.
"What's wrong with potions?" Harry asked, confused. He was walking down to the dungeons with Zacharias and Justin, fiddling with the explosives in his pocket. It was the latest prank toy made by Fred and George*
"Really? Don't you know that Snape is teaching us?" Zacharias practically spat out the name Snape. But then again, he spat out everyone's names. That name sounds familiar...
"Wait, hold on? Snape? As in Severus Snape?" Harry felt a grin tug at his lips at the memory.
"You know him?" Justin asked incredulously.
"I may or may not have punched him in the face when I was eight,"
"Yes, Potter, and I haven't forgotten about that, trust me," Snape's silky voice startled the three hufflepuffs almost as much as Harry's declaration a moment ago. Almost.
"Get in, you two," Snape gestured towards his classroom, "I need a word with Potter."
Harry gazed up at Snape warily as Zacharias and Justin left. It'd been a while since the encounter with Snape, and Harry had never met the man again. Did he want revenge?
"Don't look at me like that, it's not like I'm going to hurt you," Snape snapped, making Harry relax, "The only reason I'm wasting my time with you is because your father made me. Apparently he wasn't able to contact you,"
"Why couldn't he contact me? Is Way okay?"
"Way? You mean James's owl? No she's fine," Snape pondered what it meant about their relationship that Harry cared more about James's owl than James himself. This could possibly hinder Dumbledore's plans...
"The headmaster has...a proposition," Snape chose his words carefully.
"Proposition?" Harry snorted, "Does he want me to sacrifice myself for the sake of 'the greater good' or something,"
Snape froze at Harry's casually tossed words. Harry's eyes widened, "Oh no. Don't tell me he actually wants me to sacrifice myself?"
"What he wants is irrelevant," Snape continued smoothly, regaining his composure. Harry didn't fail to notice that Snape never denied it, "What he needs is for you to keep your head down. Stop with the dramatic 'down with the point system' spout. You'll start to attract the attention of the wrong people, too soon," Snape said, his fingers unconsciously brushing his left forearm.
Harry felt his temper flare up at the last words. Too soon.
"Too soon? Too soon? Do you mean to say that it's inevitable? You're just trying to prolong it as long as you can? Well, I'm not joining the death eaters, if that's what you're implying by the 'wrong people'. I know that Voldemort is still out there-" Snape flinched at the name, but Harry continued, his anger turning as cold as the smirk on his face, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to blindly join them-"
Snape didn't fail to notice that Harry only said 'blindly join them' he didn't say he wouldn't join them at all. Touché, Snape thought, with a hint of admiration,
"-I'll bet that me being sorted into Hufflepuff messed up whatever plans for my future you've been keeping. I'm sure that Dumbledore isn't exactly happy with the turn of events, huh. But I'm not going to be another pawn in his scheme-"
"A bishop," Snape interrupted.
"What?"
"You would at least be a bishop, not a pawn," Snape took in a deep breath, his empty, serious eyes, the color of the night sky, pierced into Harry's killing curse green, "And you have no choice but to do what he tells you. And if you don't, then your father will suffer. His communication with you has already been cut off."
Harry's eyes flashed, "Are you threatening me?"
"No. I am merely relaying Dumbledore's message," Snape said, through gritted teeth.
Harry snapped. His fingers reached for the explosives in his pocket, but Snape, who noticed the motion, started to pull out his wand.
Just as he'd pulled the trigger, the blinding light of a stunning spell blocked his vision.
But Harry was faster, and chucked the explosives in the general direction of Snape. But of course, he missed. It exploded at the same moment the stunning spell hit Harry. He squeezed his eyes shut, and felt himself being roughly shoved away from the impact. Pushed onto the floor, he heard panicked yells from the inside of the classroom-Actually, there was no longer an inside of the classroom. The stone walls had collapsed, with the students pushed against the curtains...were they cheering?. Oh wait, they're cheering for me, Harry realized. They'd all heard the horrible rumors about Snape, and were happy to have a reason to skip class. They all seemed unharmed, must have been something in the explosives to make them non lethal.
But where was Snape? Oh, right. On top of him. Wait...did that mean...
"Why'd you save me?" Muttered Harry, as Snape stood up, unharmed, smoothening his robes as if nothing had happened. Then again, this had happened before, maybe he's used to it?
"I couldn't give you detention if you were dead, now could I,"
Harry couldn't tell if Snape was serious or not.
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, though I tried to make up for it by letting Harry burn down his potions class. Without using potions! Did you find the confrontation with Snape confusing? Was it boring? I personally found it fun to write, but let me know if it wasn't. Just for clarification, Fred and George are going to be older in this fic by three years.