Thanks to the story's initial popularity, I have decided to continue it past its original one-shot design. Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I will never own Harry Potter.
Time of Completion (writing/editing/mindless obsessing/etc.): 22 hours, 6 minutes (yes, I need to get a life...)
Snape couldn't remember a time when he had felt more relieved than when he left Potter in Diagon Alley earlier that day. It had been a hectic past few days: from Lucius' futile discussion at Malfoy Manor, to finding out about Potter and later rescuing Potter, Snape had had enough excitement for a while. It was bad enough he didn't get the chance to work on brewing more Polyjuice Potion for his upcoming sixth years, but he had also wasted one of his precious few days left of summer for Harry Potter's sake. He couldn't think of anything he would have reviled more than dealing with Lily's snobbish sister and James Potter's son on the same day. It was the worst of both worlds.
Still, at least he had managed to Apparate into Hogsmeade by mid-afternoon, and later returned to the comforts of the castle before nightfall. There were no students here yet, except for the Head Boy and Head Girl, who were always required at Hogwarts a week before the start of the year in order to receive their special training. Excluding Hagrid, all of the professors were back at Hogwarts, busily preparing themselves for the year ahead.
Snape scowled as he hustled along the abandoned corridors, wanting to organize his stores cabinet before dinnertime. None of the others were even remotely aware of the troubles he had gone through to get Potter…a student that wasn't even in his own house…he was just another second year, so why did it matter so much to Dumbledore whether the boy came or not?
Snape's frown deepened. It probably had something to do with that stupid prophecy that Dumbledore was always obsessing over…
No, Snape told himself firmly as he aimed a kick at an old gray rat that had so foolishly fallen asleep in his path to the dungeons. Dumbledore is just fond of the boy…he wouldn't want him at Hogwarts only to train him up to eventually face the Dark Lord…
"Severus?" he heard the incredulous voice of a woman come from behind him, breaking through his innermost thoughts as she spoke. Recognizing the person at once, he had to wonder what she was doing all the way down here.
"Oh, good evening Minerva," Snape reluctantly paused to greet her. He had hoped there would be no distractions on his way down here, but of course, things never seemed to work out the way he wanted them to…
She stared at him for quite some time, making Snape wonder what in the world she was going to say next. Finally, after wasting yet two more minutes of his time, she inquired, "Where's Potter?"
"Potter?" he repeated at once, unsure of why she wanted to know where the insufferable boy was. "I did fetch him from his relatives, if that is what you mean. He is safe now."
"Where is he, though, Severus? Is he…"
"…he's where he's supposed to be!" he snapped impatiently, hating the fact that just because Minerva was older than him, she seemed to think that she possessed some sort of seniority over him. He also knew that she never fully trusted him after he had left Hogwarts as a teenager…she had undoubtedly heard about those years in between his departure as a student and return as a teacher…she had been the leader in the teachers' protest against his appointment as Potions master…
Luckily for him, Dumbledore trusted him completely, thanks to his little secret; of which nobody would ever learn about, of course. Especially Potter.
Still, he knew that even with Dumbledore's full confidence in him, Minerva didn't hesitate in questioning his actions and motives; particularly when he took action against her house. Seeing that she doted on Potter almost as much as Dumbledore did, she was very rude to Snape whenever she learned of his latest actions against the boy. It was apparent that today would be no different.
"Isn't he supposed to be with you?" she shot back with equal irritation, looking more and more infuriated the longer the two stared at each other. Snape noticed her ink-splattered hands were clenched tightly; judging by her overall appearance, she looked as though she hadn't gotten a minute's rest in months. There must be a lot of Muggleborn admissions this year to have her working this hard…
"With me? I believe you are quite mistaken, Minerva. See, Dumbledore had instructed…" Snape trailed off; wait…what did Dumbledore instruct him to do with the boy? Suddenly, the truth hit him harder than an irate Bludger: Harry wasn't supposed to be at the Leaky Cauldron by himself. After all of the stress from getting the boy away from Privet Drive, Snape had somehow confused his information with another conversation he had had the day before that…
"Just as I was saying, Severus, Draco will have to be escorted to King's Cross by someone from the Ministry I believe. Until they have finalized the search through our home, Narcissa is not permitted to leave the premises, and I am only allowed off because of my ties with the Minister. I am allowed to take Draco to Diagon Alley, of course, but they're searching the home on Tuesday, and I must be around for that so Draco will stay at that morbid place, the Leaky Cauldron, overnight and wait for his escort in the morning…Narcissa doesn't want him to, but Draco's old enough don't you think? And it's not like we have a choice. Honestly, it must have been Weasley…damn blood traitors are always on the look out…trying to blame the purer families for still having strong ties to the Dark Lord, even after all these years…where will our society go next? Allowing Muggles to observe students at Hogwarts? Mudbloods—"
Snape subconsciously cringed at this word…
"—in the school are bad enough, but they simply must set a limit, don't you think? As much as I've been awaiting his return, do you honestly believe Potter's claims that the Dark Lord is…back? The story sounded quite fictitious to me…surely there is no such thing as a Sorcerer's Stone…? Ah well, at least the Ministry won't be finding anything of importance next week…"
Draco was to be escorted by a Ministry official to King's Cross. Not Harry. Snape had been too busy breaking into Draco's mind to pay much attention to Lucius, and now he was paying the price of hearing, but not comprehending.
Somehow, his mind had misinterpreted the information and confused Lucius' words with Dumbledore's orders for Potter. Dumbledore, Snape suddenly recalled with a look of horror dawning on his face, had told him to check in with a Ministry official upon arriving at the Leaky Cauldron. This would have saved him from having to appear at a Ministry hearing in the future for participating in Side-Along Apparition with an underage wizard. After that, he vaguely recalled Dumbledore mentioning something about staying with the boy, but he had been so fatigued from playing Dumbledore's servant the past couple of days that he had forgotten this vital information.
Only now did the severely sleep-deprived Potions professor realize what a grave error he had made. Not only had he performed illegal magic by transporting the second-year boy by Apparating to Diagon Alley without prior authorization, but he had left Dumbledore's golden student all by himself at the Leaky Cauldron.
What in the world made him think that a boy, who wasn't allowed to perform magic for another week, could possibly survive on his own?
Then again…while the boy's maturity level was about the same as his father's before him, he had managed to defeat Quirrell all by himself the previous year. Of course Snape had every right to think the boy could fend for himself after that!
But still…Harry had been abandoned by the person whom had been assigned to stay with him. McGonagall seemed to process the truth faster than Snape, and began stomping towards him, with a murderous expression written all over her face.
"Where is Potter?!"
Snape stared back at her with an outward appearance of calmness, while on the inside, he was panicking. "The Leaky Cauldron," was all he could say, still not quite believing that someone as sharp as him could have messed things up so badly. It was Dumbledore's fault, really…he hadn't wanted to go get the boy, but the old manipulator had pulled the Lily-excuse on him, to where he couldn't possibly refuse the request. Now look where that got them!
"BY HIMSELF?!" McGonagall roared, waking all of the portraits in the corridor around them at once. Snape had never seen her look so mad: her eyes flashed dangerously and now, much to Snape's shock, she was pulling out her wand. He instinctively whipped out his own, and he cast a shield just a mere second before her anger-fueled jinx nearly hit him. No more magic came after she realized he had a shield around him, but she still glowered at him with a look of cold and violent fury.
"YOU LEFT POTTER ALONE IN DIAGON ALLEY?!" she yelled again, completely losing her temper, something Snape rarely, if ever, saw from McGonagall.
"That'll do, Minerva," a quiet voice interrupted from the shadows behind the two colleagues. "Why, good evening Severus, I hadn't expected you back so soon."
"Albus!" McGonagall cried breathlessly as she spun around to face the lilac-robed headmaster. "Oh…oh my word! Where to even begin…?!"
"I heard quite enough, thank you, Minerva," Dumbledore held up a hand, quieting the frazzled Transfiguration teacher at once. He then directed his attention to Snape, who froze under the old man's icy blue glare. "Is it true then, Severus?"
"I…" Snape trailed off as Dumbledore raised his hand again in a plea for silence. He knew he would pay the price for this mistake…Dumbledore had entrusted Harry in his care, and now he had completely ruined his promise to the headmaster…not only to him, but to Lily…
Dumbledore's unusual calmness and McGonagall's silent rage were almost too much for Snape to handle, but he waited quietly in place for a verdict. The rat that he had kicked earlier was now chewing revengefully on the end of his shoes, not that he cared at this point. There was a low shuffling noise coming from the corridor perpendicular to them; house elves carrying plates filled with delicious food, no doubt. It took every ounce of patience for Snape not to fidget in place like some cheeky first year.
He briefly remembered a confrontation like this between the three of them years ago…but that was when Snape was a fourth year. He was much more vulnerable to the professors' quests for power over their pupils back then; though it appeared now that he hadn't so much as gained a backbone against them years later when he finally met them on equal ground.
Dumbledore turned to McGonagall, smiling peacefully as though nothing was wrong at all. To anyone else, this would have been comforting, but to Snape, any time the headmaster smiled in that manner, he knew nothing but bad things were in store for him. "Minerva, I know you are concerned for Harry's safety as much as I, but Severus was merely here to retrieve his belongings…"
He now turned back to Snape. He immediately realized that the headmaster was saying, and he didn't like this idea one bit.
"Severus, I apologize for not sending everything in advance."
Snape stared at him blankly. So…Dumbledore was taking the blame for him? But it was his mistake! Not Dumbledore's! Noticing the freshly enraged expression on his colleague's face, Snape had a feeling that Minerva knew this was simply not the case.
"You may quickly salvage your possessions and I expect you to return to watch over Harry within an hour."
"Watch over…you mean I have to stay with him?!" Snape asked, praying that his ears were deceiving him. He had expected Dumbledore change the plan and instead ask him to bring Potter back to Hogwarts with him. But to stay in Diagon Alley with the boy…? Surely this could not be true…Dumbledore knew he wouldn't last a full day with the boy…
"Yes, Severus," Dumbledore answered seriously. "You know it is strictly prohibited for a student to arrive at Hogwarts before the start of the year unless they're a Head Boy or Girl. Since the boy has no guardians at the moment, I'm afraid I overestimated your use of common sense in expecting you to stay with him the first time around."
Snape was speechless. Not only had Dumbledore just verbally abused him into giving up the rest of his summer for Harry Potter, but he had deeply insulted his basic common sense as well.
"Now wait a minute, Albus…" McGonagall broke through the tense silence with a slight edge in her voice. "Severus has obviously shown that he cannot responsibly care for the boy…I'd be willing to…"
"No," Dumbledore interrupted her. "I want Severus to remain the boy's guardian. He did a fine job retrieving him from his relatives, and I believe he will not make the same mistake of leaving him behind again, yes?"
He looked curiously back at Snape, who had no choice left but to scowl and nod stiffly in agreement. As much as he would have preferred that Minerva took over, he knew there was no use fighting the headmaster about it. If he was truly that determined for Snape to remain in charge of Harry's safety, then so be it. Snape wasn't happy in the least, of course, but he figured he was lucky that the punishment wasn't worse, such as losing his job as the resident Potions master. As much as he hated the job, it would be nearly impossible for him to find a position of similar standing and pay elsewhere, considering his questionable history and ex-Death Eater status…
Still, he had to wonder why Dumbledore was so nonchalant about the fact that Harry was currently by himself. Was it because he had more faith in the boy's maturity than Snape did, or was it something else?
While most of the boy's professors found him to be a delightful young student, he knew that Potter could be just as unruly and irresponsible at the same time…just like his arrogant toerag of a father had been.
McGonagall seemed to have given up the debate by now; she had forever questioned Dumbledore's reasons for trusting Snape so much, so their irksome argument earlier hadn't exactly come as a huge surprise to him.
Still, before turning on her heels and heading for the Great Hall for supper, she gave Snape a long, scathing glare, that clearly read: If I see that Potter's hurt in any way, shape, or form when school starts, you'll have ME to answer to.
Smiling pleasantly, completely oblivious to Snape's newfound irritation at being volunteered to watch over Harry for the next week, Dumbledore waved him off. "Goodnight Severus, I think you'll be surprised… Harry might actually be happy to see you."
xXxXxXxXx
It was nearly nine o'clock, and after two hours of tireless searching for Potter, Snape was ready to give up. He hadn't eaten in hours, and he felt rather annoyed knowing he had missed out on the house elf-prepared feast that the rest of his untroubled colleagues had undoubtedly enjoyed two hours ago.
His annoyance instantly vanished, however, when he was promptly reminded of how McGonagall would ensure that his life became a living hell if Potter never safely returned to Hogwarts. At this point, Snape figured he'd be lucky if he could find Potter at all!
Most of the shops on the streets of Diagon Alley were closed by now, making it highly unlikely that the wanderer was still gathering supplies for school. Still, it worried Snape to think where he might be. He wasn't in his room at the Leaky Cauldron, and Tom, the barman, informed him that Potter hadn't been there in several hours.
Oh my god, Lily, what if I lost your son? He thought feverishly as he hurried along the lamp lit streets, desperate for any sign of the wearisome child. For once, he thought with a twinge of amusement, he wasn't searching for Potter to get the boy into trouble. He was searching for him so that he personally could stay out of trouble.
The boy had been so sneaky his first year at Hogwarts; what if he decided to leave Diagon Alley for a while and explore the Muggle world outside of the boundaries? Breaking the rules was never much of a concern to Potter anyways, nor had it been to his father. So like James, he was…strutting everywhere as though he were the greatest person put onto the earth…rules were for the little people, but certainly not the high-and-mighty Potters…
A loud cackle from the alleyway down to Snape's left caught his attention and broke into his Potter-insulting-session. Glancing down the dark alley, he realized with a jolt that it was Knockturn Alley. A very familiar place to him, indeed…he hadn't been down there in years…though he had grown quite fond of the place in his years as a Death Eater…
He certainly hoped Potter hadn't been reckless enough to wander down there. It was no place for a young second-year Gryffindor; especially for a boy as famous as Harry Potter. Just in case, however, he turned down and strolled into the gloomy street, still on the lookout for a small boy with round glasses.
Much to Snape's relief, it seemed as though the boy hadn't come down here after all. Most of the shops were closed by now, anyways, but in the few that were open, Snape found no sign of Potter anywhere. He wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or panicked by this. For one, Potter wasn't down the street infamous for selling Dark Magic items and artifacts; however, this meant that Potter was absolutely nowhere to be found. He had checked everywhere…and still no Potter.
Perhaps he went back to the Muggle world and couldn't get back into Diagon Alley? No, that couldn't be it; he would have at least been able to get back into the Leaky Cauldron. Then again, if he was lost or…
A growing sensation of horror bubbled up within him: what if someone had kidnapped him? Harry was definitely famous enough for someone to be able to ask a huge ransom for his safe return. Or, Snape had seen Potter's vault at Gringotts. It was literally overflowing with Galleons. What if they forced the boy to empty it in order for him to return unharmed? Losing money was no big deal, but what if…
Stop it, Snape ordered himself as he shook away these thoughts at once, willing himself to believe that Harry was back in his room from who-knows-where by now. Still, he couldn't help but feel pangs of pessimism the longer he was out here. Oh, how Dumbledore would kill him if Harry was gone for good…
All he cares about is his stupid prophecy, Snape thought angrily as he shoved a bumbling drunkard out of his way. Deep down, he wondered if this wild goose chase was Dumbledore's punishment to him for overhearing the prophecy all those years ago. In a sense, it was essentially his fault that Harry lost his mother (oh yeah, and his father), and gotten the lightning bolt scar. Had Voldemort never received the damned prophecy, it could have been James frantically searching for the boy right now…not Snape. He sneered at the very thought of negligent, immature, James Potter…losing his mind because he couldn't find his pathetic excuse for a son…it would have been sweet revenge indeed…
Instead, fate just didn't work that way, and even in death, James was still tormenting him. James might be gone, but that didn't mean that his legacy wouldn't live on with his son. Snape losing his mind over this fruitless search for Harry must be James' revenge…
Snape was now squandering even more time shoving his way through crowds of drunks and senile witches who were unsuccessfully trying to harass him into buying terribly-overpriced poison antidotes.
Borgin and Burkes was just down the street; Snape had been a…well, casual acquaintance of the owner for years, and he could possibly help him.
However, as Snape approached the entrance to the shop, he noticed a huge crowd of people standing outside. The people were muttering and whispering things to each other in excited voices, but Snape presumed them as intoxicated to the point beyond logical speech, and therefore he ignored them and jostled his way to the door.
"How 'bout a nice love potion for dee leetle boy with da pocket full of Galleons?" a scrawny witch's high screech came from the middle of the crowd. Snape continued weaving his way through the masses of people until he reached a break in the middle of the group. Although it was quite dark here, he didn't need to see the person who answered, since he immediately recognized the voice…
"No, leave me alone!"
There on the ground sat none other than Harry Potter. Snape had absolutely no idea what he was doing here, but a feeling of tremendous irritation consumed him at once.
"Potter!"
The boy, who was currently being harassed by the mousey witch with a goblet of simmering silver liquid in one of her bony hands, looked up in shock. For once in his life, seeing Snape there was like some kind of miracle. The group, once focused on mocking the terrified boy, turned their attention to Snape.
"Could that really be Severus Snape?" a tough-sounding man grunted from behind them. "It's been a while…"
"Heard yer working for Dumbly now…oh where did you go wrong…?" another witch taunted him.
Snape ignored them pushed his way over to Potter; many of them were former acquaintances of his, and cleared a path for him, wondering what use the kid was to him. He irritably jostled the witch with the silver potion aside and harshly hoisted Potter off of the ground by his arm. He looked exhausted, Snape noted as he looked at his face, wondering what to say to the incommodious boy.
"Wait!" a small, black-haired wizard with yellowish eyes cried out at once. "Did he say Potter? Harry Potter?!"
Snape froze. He had to get Harry out of there as soon as possible, before they attracted too much attention, however, it seemed a little too late for that. It was obvious that the seedy street vendors had originally thought him to be just a gullible little kid who had run off with his parent's money; now, however, they looked at him with newfound greed…
"Follow me, Potter," Snape snapped as he jerked on his arm hurriedly. Harry attempted to follow, but several people had grabbed onto him by now, anxious for a peek at the boy with the scar that had enigmatically defeated their once-great leader. The crowd of agitated onlookers was closing in on them, but Snape knew better than to try and take on dozens of Dark wizards singlehandedly. Just as he suspected, the mere act of pulling out his wand caused all hell to break lose.
Everyone began pulling out their own wands, screaming "He's mine! He's mine!"
Hexes and curses flew every which way, and Harry and Snape suddenly found themselves in the middle of a full-blown riot; with everyone fighting for a chance to vanquish the boy that had shattered their lives once the Ministry uncovered their families' ties to Voldemort all those years ago…
Fortunately for Harry, Snape focused on his main priority of getting him out of there safely, instead of panicking like everyone else. He deflected curses of all sorts; when one drunken young wizard tried cursing Harry, Snape responded with a terrible attack of his own. Harry had never seen something quite like it: the man, hit in the face by Snape's curse, suddenly fell to the ground, with blood spurting from every part of his body. It was really gruesome for Harry to watch, and he found himself wondering if Snape would ever try that on Harry if he misbehaved…
In the middle of the brawl, Snape lost his firm grip on Harry's arm, separating the two at once.
"Potter!" he heard Snape yell for him over the deafening roar of angry witches and wizards around them. Nobody in the group was even going after Harry now, but rather just attacking random people around them. Harry ducked several times to avoid flashes of gold and red; one particularly strong spell struck the ground in front of him, blasting apart the cobblestone pavement with the sheer force of a giant.
A colossal chunk of the ground from the explosion struck Harry on his left knee; he crumpled to the ground in agony as he felt as though his entire leg had been blasted to smithereens. Shiny crimson blood gushed all around his leg like a turbulent river during the rainy season; nobody seemed to hear his screams of pain, nor did they care if they stepped on him, since there were so many bodies on the ground at this point— dead or otherwise, Harry couldn't tell— that one more was hardly worth noticing.
Urgently trying to ignore the insufferable stabbing sensation in his knee and the corresponding pool of blood around him, Harry shakily plunged his hand into his cloak, and pulled out his own wand, not caring about the Ministry's stupid restriction on underage wizards at the moment. He figured self-defense would be a good excuse if the Ministry later questioned him.
"Expelliarmus!" he yelled repeatedly at random people around him; he couldn't identify any of them, but then again, they were all wearing cloaks similar to Snape's, so he could have already Disarmed his own professor for all he knew…
Suddenly, there was a flash of green in the midst of the battle. It was the same flash from his nightmares...the ones where his parents were screaming for the other to protect him...the same green flash that left his mother motionless on the floor every time before he woke up...
If people were blindly murdering now, then he knew it was undoubtedly unwise to remain in the center of the skirmish like this. Pushing his way past countless pairs of jostling legs, Harry slowly crawled his way to the outer part of the riotous group. One witch's cloak lashed him in the face on his way; it took every ounce of self-control for him not to yell out in pain as his cheek stung from the impact.
When he reached the outermost boundary of the scuffle, he tried standing up, but his left leg quivered violently, unable to independently support him at all. Off to the left, there was a loud explosion and suddenly, two shops were totally engulfed in ominous emerald flames, giving them the appearance of a giant Floo fireplace. Fearing he would remain trapped here for some time, Harry feebly called out for Snape. His insides burned from inhaling the smoke and ashes that were raining down everywhere, and he found it nearly impossible to shout any louder, lest he bust a lung. He couldn't even hear himself think; the screaming and detonations around him were deafening. Ignoring the searing pain in his lungs, he desperately yelled for Snape again, but instead of hearing a response, he was very nearly hit by several flashes of red light.
To his right, he saw another jet of green light strike one of the tallest wizards of the group directly in the face. He froze in place for what seemed like an eternity— the brutish expression never left his face— before crumpling to the ground with a resounding thud! He lay motionless for quite some time until Harry realized that the man had just been hit with the Killing Curse. Feeling extremely repulsed by this revelation, Harry crawled over to the edge of the shop and hid behind a barrel, frantically Disarming as many people as he could manage and calling out for Snape once more.
Almost instantaneously, he was jerked to his feet by the collar of his cloak; whoever it was, they had just narrowly saved him from another green flash that was undoubtedly the Avada Kedavra…
Thinking that it was Snape, Harry hopped around on his good leg to face his savior, but saw with growing dread that it was the crazy witch that had tried scamming him into buying that goblet full of silver potion earlier.
"Have this potion, Mr. Potter, free of charge!" she shrieked hysterically as she forcefully thrust the potion into his mouth and down his throat before Harry even knew what was happening. At once, Harry realized that this was not a love potion. He may indeed have no talent in Potions, but he was smart enough to realize that the liquid he had just swallowed was an unfriendly drink…
The witch laughed maniacally as Harry's vision grew extremely blurry, to the point where even his glasses didn't function properly. The outermost layer of his skin burned excruciatingly as though he had either been thrown into an open fire or he had just taken a bath in a vat of toxic waste. He dizzily managed a fleeting look at his skin as violent blotches of scarlet and purple appeared, but he didn't stare too long. He swayed dangerously on his right leg; he would be unable to bear the excruciating pain from his knee and the fire-like agony that had spread to every inch of his body much longer. Everything became hazy in front of him; it was like he was in a dream, merely observing the fight from the outside.
The experience strangely reminded him of Quirrell from the previous year, instead it was him feeling the intolerable pain now, not Quirrell. With just a few seconds' of consciousness left, he briefly saw his panic-stricken professor sprinting towards him out of the corner of his eyes.
Just as Harry was ready to fall into total unconsciousness, he was grabbed by the arm and the riotous scene disappeared as he felt a sensation of suffocation overwhelm him…
xXxXxXxXx
"Potter!"
Harry groaned, unwilling to wake up. He was having the most horrible nightmare, but his mind didn't want to come out of it for some reason…
"Go away Dudley."
The hands shook him more powerfully this time, and something told him that they weren't Dudley's hands…they were much too skinny to belong to Diddykins…
Harry blinked his eyes open; shutting them immediately upon the sight of light pouring in through the window. It was morning.
After several seconds, he looked over at the person in the chair next to his bed and howled in shock: it was Snape! What was Snape doing here?! He bolted up so quickly that he fell off the bed, landing roughly on the stone-laden ground below. Unable to hide his panicked bewilderment, he leaped to his feet once more and took in his surroundings. This wasn't his room…and this wasn't Hogwarts either…
"Where am I?" he wondered aloud, forgetting that Snape was in the room.
"Leaky Cauldron, Potter, now sit down," he ordered the boy, who complied at once, much to the professor's surprise.
As his vision cleared, Harry realized with a start that it hadn't been a nightmare at all: accidentally wandering into Knockturn Alley…getting cornered by the group of Dark witches and wizards…the uncontrollable riot…the throbbing pain and river of blood from his leg…and that horrendous burning feeling that had engulfed his entire body…
He looked down at his arms. They were back to normal, not the blistering blood-red color he had vaguely noticed in the darkness of the previous night. He looked further down his body and saw his left leg bandaged tightly, but there was no blood in sight.
"How…how did you…what happened?" he asked lamely, unsure of which questions to ask first.
"Your kneecap was shattered in nine places, but as long as you continue resting, the potion I gave you will have you fully mended within an hour. You were also poisoned, Potter, but you are cured now," Snape finished explaining as much as he could, not wanting to give Potter any room for further questions.
"How'd you cure me? How…how did we escape? How did you…"
Snape held up a small, stone-like object, silencing Harry instantly. "If you had paid any attention in my class at all last year, Potter, you would have known that all I needed was a bezoar."
Harry blinked, not exactly willing to admit to his cranky professor that he had completely forgotten all about bezoars and their uses against poisons.
"As for getting away, we Disapparated. Now no more questions," he added impatiently.
"But…"
"Did you hear me, Potter?"
"Yes sir," Harry gulped nervously, diverting his attention to his wand. He fingered the smooth holly wand with a sense of fondness; until he remembered that he had performed magic illegally with it the night before. The thought of how much trouble he would be in later made him cast the wand aside as though it was a cursed object.
"Now I'll let you change," said Snape stiffly as he glanced over Harry's ragged appearance. "You need to buy your school supplies today, since I assume you were too busy exploring Knockturn Alley yesterday to do so, yes?"
"Yes sir," Harry repeated. "But sir…if I could just ask one more question…why are you here?"
Snape scowled in frustration. "Because Potter…the headmaster has instructed me to watch over you for the rest of your summer, and ensure your safe return to Hogwarts come September first. After that, I can assure you that I will only have to see you in Potions class…and detention, of course," he added with a nasty smirk plastered to his face.
Not wanting to further aggravate Snape, Harry nodded quickly and carefully limped away to change into fresher clothes, since there were dried stains of blood splattered onto his robes from the brawl the night before.
An hour later, Harry was walking— no limp in his step whatsoever— down the sunny street of Diagon Alley, feeling rather uncomfortable as his most-hated teacher followed closely behind. Snape wasn't overly thrilled about the circumstances either, but he was too busy distressing over what had happened the night before to care.
What if he hadn't shown up and Harry had eventually been poisoned? In all his years in studying the art of potion-making, he had never seen a potion create that sort of reaction before. The fact that Potter wouldn't have remembered about the bezoar troubled him greatly.
Also, two people had been found dead early this morning after the riot was ended by the Ministry's team of Aurors. What if Potter had been hit by the Killing Curse? There was no doubt in Snape's mind that Dumbledore would have killed him if he had allowed the boy to die under his protection.
He considered himself fortunate that the Ministry was trying to hush it all up; he had personally used the Cruciatus Curse on two people that had tried to attack Harry before he managed to Disapparate with the injured boy. Also, the man who had been hit with Snape's Sectumsempra curse was currently being treated at St. Mungo's. At least the skirmish had been so chaotic that nobody knew who had cursed who, and it looked like most of the brawlers would get off without any punishment at all.
His mind still dazed from all of the madness, Snape absentmindedly followed Harry into the apothecary. The boy roamed the shelves with his Hogwarts checklist for some time, and then he finally paused at the books section. He picked up the book he needed for the year, but then, in a subtle effort to impress his professor, he picked up a copy of Advanced Potion Making and shuffled through it.
"Potter, considering that you have the potion-making skills of a Squib, I find it highly unnecessary for you to try and get ahead," Snape grabbed the book out of Harry's hands and smacked it behind the boy's head before returning it to its place on the shelf. Harry glared at the man; he was just trying to prove to Snape that he held some interest in Potions. He had no idea what a Squib was, of course, but he knew that Snape's comment couldn't possibly have been a compliment…
"Severus?" a cold, silvery voice came from behind Harry and Snape as they waited to pay for Harry's supplies at the front counter. Both of them turned around to see who it was, and while Snape looked mildly surprised by the new visitors, Harry was downright infuriated. It was Draco Malfoy and his father.
"Hello Lucius…Draco," Snape acknowledged the boy with a quick nod.
"Potter?" Draco said incredulously, looking from Harry to Snape with a shocked expression on his face. What was he doing here, shopping for school supplies? Did the stupid elf actually lie to his master?
"Malfoy," Harry replied icily, not wanting to start a fight now…not when his guardian was Malfoy's favorite teacher…
"So…this is the great Harry Potter, hmm?" Lucius whispered as he crept closer. He looked up at Snape, waiting expectantly for an answer. Snape nodded bitterly, and Lucius walked closer still.
"Forgive me, but…" he held up his serpent-headed cane and pushed the untidy black hair back on Harry's forehead without his consent. Harry glared at the man, and without thinking, he smacked the cane away from his head.
Lucius didn't look angered by this, but rather amused. "The boy has an attitude, doesn't he?" he chuckled joylessly and brought his attention back up to Snape. "Why Severus, you never told me you would be escorting Harry Potter…"
"The boy's relatives were being, ah…difficult. The headmaster thought he would be well-suited under my care until he returns to school."
"Is that so?" Lucius' left eyebrow rose in curiosity. "Very well, Severus, enjoy the rest of your summer…come Draco!"
Draco completely ignored Harry as though he didn't exist and looked up at Snape, bowing his head respectfully. "Good day, professor."
Without another word, the two Malfoys hurriedly departed the shop without purchasing anything, leaving Harry fuming on the spot.
xXxXxXxXx
By the end of the day, all that Harry had left to purchase was a new set of quills. Every last ounce of Snape's patience had vanished hours ago, and he was now cursing Dumbledore vehemently under his breath.
As they rounded the corner, Harry's attention was immediately seized by a shining new broomstick that was so carefully protected behind the closest shop front's window. He ran over and stared greedily at the broom: it was a Nimbus Two Thousand and One. Groaning inwardly at Potter's obsession with all things Quidditch, Snape begrudgingly followed the boy over to the window.
"Perhaps your glasses aren't working properly, Potter, but your checklist says 'quills.' I do not see any quills in this shop."
"But I just…"
"Potter can you possibly hide this arrogance of yours for once in your life?!" Snape snapped at him, impatient to get back to the Leaky Cauldron so he could be alone without constantly worrying about Potter's safety.
Harry blinked. He wondered why Snape was talking as though he had known him his entire life. The professor had only known him for a year, after all…
But as Harry looked back at the gleaming reflection of the drool-worthy broom, he felt a wave of horror come over him. His broom…his Nimbus Two Thousand…it wasn't at the Leaky Cauldron…he had cleaned out his entire trunk last night…how did he not notice?! His broom was still at the Dursleys!
"My broom!" he yelled as he pounded on the front window without realizing what he was doing; this startled Snape, who was previously standing calmly next to him.
"What now, Potter?" he asked exasperatedly.
Harry flurried around to face him with fearful apprehension washing over him like a cold shower. "My broom! It's still at my aunt and uncle's house…they took it away and we forget to get it with the rest of my stuff!"
Snape sighed. So this was Potter's next great crisis. What a drama queen. His broom was gone. So what? He didn't need his precious broom anyways. "Potter we are not returning to that house…"
"BUT I NEED MY BROOM!" Harry roared, causing several passersby to look up in alarm.
"Potter! This is not the time for arguing…"
"But sir! I'm Gryffindor's seeker! I need my broom! Please!" he pleaded, but this only angered his guardian more.
"POTTER!" Snape bellowed, his black eyes flashing threateningly as Harry's wild green eyes glared up defiantly at him.
"I can't go back to Hogwarts without my broom!"
Harry nearly went as far as to shout about how Snape was the most prejudiced person he had ever met— since he probably didn't give a damn about Gryffindor's chances in winning the Quidditch cup— but luckily, he managed to hold his tongue.
"POTTER! I SAID…" Snape reluctantly trailed off as a pack of perhaps one hundred people suddenly rounded the corner, muttering animatedly amongst themselves. Both of Snape and Harry stopped their arguing at once, not wanting to create a scene.
"So back to what I was saying about my latest book…why, Severus? Could that possibly be you out here broad daylight?"
Perhaps Harry was imagining it, but Snape's mouth seemed to twitch crossly at the sight of this pompous-looking blonde wizard. He was wearing extremely tight gray leggings and a vibrant cerulean-blue cloak; all of the surrounding women squealed with delight when he smiled charmingly towards Harry and Snape.
"Gilderoy," Snape acknowledged his new colleague through tightly clenched teeth.
"Who is your friend, Severus?" Gilderoy Lockhart waved his many admirers back and sauntered forward to get a better look at Harry. His eyes automatically traveled up to Harry's scar, and he nearly jumped backwards in astonishment.
"Why…could it really be? Harry Potter?"
Harry felt the heat rise to his cheeks as the people in Gilderoy fellow's entourage let out collective gasps of excitement. Seeing that Potter had somehow found himself in the limelight again, Snape scowled, but remained stonily silent.
"Yes sir," Harry replied shyly, not quite sure if he liked all this newfound attention.
"Oh, excellent!" Gilderoy yanked Harry away from Snape's side and spun him around to face the crowd of people behind him. "Everyone, I know you can't believe your eyes, but you are looking at my good friend, Harry Potter! Also known as The-Boy-Who-Lived, as I'm sure you all know! Smile, Harry—" he hissed so quietly so only Harry could hear as several photographers came rushing onto the scene. "—and Harry, my dear boy, I know how anxious you must be to find a place where my new book, 'Magical Me' isn't sold out…"
Harry, feeling completely disorientated by this strange man, looked back at Snape for support. He found none, however, and Gilderoy soon wrenched him back to face the crowd.
"…so here's a complete collection of my works…free of charge!"
Everyone clapped enthusiastically at the man's wit and kindness, but Harry really found himself squirming by now, and tried unsuccessfully to get away.
"Of course, you'll be needing that one," Gilderoy eagerly pointed at one of the books that had been piled into Harry's arms. "Seeing that I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year! Eh? Isn't that magnificent, Harry? I'm sure we'll have a splendid time…"
Suddenly, Gilderoy looked back at Snape as though he was checking to see if he was still present. Indeed, Snape was there: staring at them with a murderous expression.
"Oh Severus, no need to look so glum! I mean, I know you've wanted the post forever—" Harry was startled to see the already-frightening expression on Snape's face grow even more menacing than he believed was possible, "—but there's always next year! I always do grow bored of redundancy…perhaps I'll need to get back to the old 'saving-the-world' job once I grow bored with teaching anyways!"
Harry was surprised Snape didn't take out his wand and use a killing curse on Gilderoy right then and there. However, judging by the look on his face, he was definitely considering it, and it was taking all of his patience not to do so…
Not wishing to continue gawking at his possibly-homicidal Potions teacher and wanting to get away from this crazy Gilderoy Lockhart fellow, Harry awkwardly settled his attention on the shiny new Nimbus in the window to his left.
Lockhart followed his gaze and beamed once he found that Harry looking at the broom. "Ah, so you like Quidditch, do you now?"
Harry nodded numbly, thinking of his broom still at the Dursleys…
"You know, I was once captain of a team that won the World Quidditch Cup four years in a row! I was their prized Keeper…never let a single Quaffle get by me in all my years of playing…"
Harry nearly snorted at this blatant lie, but managed to muffle it with a well-disguised cough.
"So, are you thinking of buying that broom, Harry? A fine choice, I must say…"
"Actually, Potter already owns a broom," an icy voice cut in from behind the two.
Harry looked back at Snape, whose expression hadn't changed much, but he at least felt comforted by the fact that his loathing was directed at Lockhart, instead of him for once…
"And we were just leaving to get it," Snape added acrimoniously, not quite believing what he was saying. Desperation forced him to do it; he wouldn't last another second of his new colleague's mockery of his continual failure to gain the Defense post after eleven years of teaching without first killing the man out of aggravation…
Harry stared blankly at Snape, not sure if he had heard him correctly. Did he really just agree to go back to the Dursleys to get his old broom?
Noticing the baffled look on Potter's face, Snape nodded his reluctant consent. Harry grinned ecstatically at this confirmation; he quickly jerked his way out of Lockhart's grasp and joined Snape, who was now looking extremely smug. Gilderoy Lockhart, supposedly the most charming wizard in the world, was just snubbed by Harry Potter. Somehow, the boy's fame had worked in Snape's favor for once.
"I'll…I'll see you at Hogwarts, then…right Harry?" Gilderoy frantically tried regaining his composure after this, but Harry ignored him; he was too busy relishing his good fortune that Snape had agreed to go and get his beloved broom back…
Thank you to all of my reviewers. I'm extremely pleased with the response from chapter one. I wouldn't mind another review, of course ;)