CHAPTER 14

Spending time together with Snape was never a comfortable or particularly inspiring experience; but Harry was not used to the strange probing glances Snape was shooting him frequently, or to the fact that Snape actually offered him green tea and a few biscuits. Now, sitting in a jade-coloured armchair, the dim office and fierce red flames of the fire making everything eerie, Harry once again became aware of Snape's black eyes studying him.

"May I ask you why you are looking at me in such a sceptical manner?" Harry asked finally.

Snape leant back a little without shifting his gaze.

"You are rather young, Potter. Personally, I think you are too young for all this."

"You mean, to be a teacher? Are you of this opinion because you and I have a somewhat tense relationship, or because of what you would call my puerile behaviour?" Harry asked quietly, sipping his tea.

"Both," Snape answered bluntly, "and yet you are older in many ways than your peers."

"Because of the burden which was placed on me by Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"So you are in two minds about my age."

"I suppose you could put it that way."

Silence. Harry set down his teacup. His eyes met Snape's again, and he felt a slight warmth in his cheeks.

Why did the man have to have such an unsettling way of looking at people? he wondered.

"Are you sure you don't want to give the Duelling Club a name?" he asked quickly.

"No, Potter," Snape answered testily.

Another silence. Harry began to find it all somewhat unnerving.

"If I recall correctly, we were talking last time about how to fit the Duelling Club lessons into everyone's schedules," he reminded Snape.

Snape folded his hands elegantly.

"Let's see. After our debate concerning the Patronus charm, we said that the Club would be open for fourth-year students and above, while the students from the first three years could watch from a safe distance. Distance is crucial, as I am quite certain that many participants from your group will end up in St. Mungo's."

"Yeah, together with some of your students," Harry chipped in casually.

Snape silenced him with an ominous glare and slammed a piece of parchment down on the table.

"Sit here, Potter, that way I don't have to keep on turning the parchment in your direction."

Harry rose and sat down next to Snape. The sudden nearness of the enigmatic Slytherin made him uneasy.

"You are sitting on my robes, Potter," Snape remarked acidly. Harry obligingly got up and left a larger space between them.

Snape was becoming rather irritated.

"Closer, Potter! I don't feel like shifting the parchment from side to side just for your majestic convenience!" he barked.

Harry gingerly gathered a fold of Snape's robes and pushed it aside as he inched closer cautiously.

"Potter! Don't paw at my robes!"

Harry bit down an angry retort. Snape prodded the parchment sharply with his wand.

"Fine. Now…"

Harry subjected himself to listening to Snape's patronising tones for ten minutes. Afterwards, Snape conjured a copy of the parchment and thrust it at Harry. Then he rose to pour himself some more tea. Harry resisted the overwhelming temptation to make a very rude gesture with his middle finger behind Snape's back.

Truce, he reminded himself. He got up himself and returned to his previous seat.

Snape resumed his own chair.

"I suppose these arrangements will allow us to survive," he said.

Harry maintained his silence, watching the firelight play upon Snape's high arrogant cheekbones and imperious nose. The mouth, though thin, had well-shaped sloping contours. Harry thought that the eyes were Snape's strongest point. Together with his abrasive wit and tongue, they could freeze or roast anyone within a mere second.

Snape turned his head and caught Harry's eye.

"I think that it is my turn to ask you why you are staring at me, Potter."

Harry flushed a little. Snape would know immediately if he was searching for an excuse.

"Well…Why does a wizard like you, with such a lot of skill and power, have so many insecurities?"

For a moment, Snape's eyes blazed, and he leant forward as if to threaten Harry. Then, completely unexpectedly, he laughed and relaxed.

"If it weren't for your frankness, Potter, then you would be in the hospital wing. So. You think I am insecure. Kindly tell me why," he said.

Harry stirred his tea a little before saying softly but clearly:

"You are always so angry."

Snape scanned him penetratingly.

"And you, Potter, are you not angry, after all the Dark Lord did to you and those close to you?"

Harry looked at Snape, surprised.

"Yes. I am. But…I try not to let my anger take over me. Not to shut out the light, however stupid that sounds. And my friends help me. Hogwarts helps me. This is my home. I had no real home before I came here."

And, even more softly:

"Neither, I suppose, did you…"

Snape was silent before saying:

"Yes. This place is more than just a school."

Harry smiled and nodded.

"It is late, Potter," Snape announced, the curtness back in his voice, and Harry stood up. The moment of mutual understanding and agreement had gone.

"Thanks for the tea and biscuits. I'll see you later, then. Good night, Severus."

"Good night, Potter."

Harry managed not to gasp. Snape usually never said "Good night" back. Harry walked towards the door.

"Potter. Your copy."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot.".

Snape held the parchment out to him. Harry received it, and the long piano-trained fingers brushed his. Their eyes met for an instant, black and green, and then the wizards parted, Snape melting into the shadows and Harry thoughtfully walking out into the corridor.

He stayed awake in bed for an hour, thinking of Snape's mysteries and frequently choleric behaviour. Maybe Snape thought he was too young after the incident with the naughty object he had abandoned in The Three Broomsticks.

The next morning, he checked his ear eagerly in the mirror. It looked fine, and he followed the instructions in the pamphlet from Skin Deep. His mood soared. He became a bit anxious, however, when Dumbledore stood up and announced the opening of the (still nameless) Duelling Club. Leaflets were handed around, and interested students were told to sign up on the notice board.

Needless to say, long queues were standing outside, waiting impatiently to reach the enrolment lists. Harry was walking past when he heard two students laughing wildly about something.

"Ha! Snotter! Snotter Club! Excellent!"

"Wonder how Professor Potter ended up working with that foul-tempered idiot of a Potions Master."

"Yeah, he's such a son of a-"

Harry cleared his throat.

The two students – both Gryffindors– immediately stopped laughing.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for calling Professor Snape rude names in public," Harry said tersely. People swung around to stare at him. The animosity between him and Snape was a firmly established fact at Hogwarts. Why on earth would Professor Potter actually defend his archenemy?

"Professor Snape is one of those without whom Voldemort would still be around," Harry added and walked away from the scene. He didn't notice a tall dark figure staring after him, a strange look in its deep black eyes. The two Gryffindors scampered away, and people returned to chatting and putting down their names on the list. Snape walked swiftly and overtook Harry, hissing over his shoulder:

"I can fight my own battles, Potter."

Harry, startled, looked at him and remarked:

"You can't be everywhere to fight them, Severus."

Snape continued walking quickly.

The name "Snotter Club" unfortunately spread around the school and soon became the established name for the Duelling Club among the students. Peeves helped matters greatly by singing out the name in every corridor he could gain access to.

Snape caught a group of students from his own house talking rudely about the project – and its founders.

"That makes twenty points from Slytherin for insulting both me and Professor Potter in a public school corridor," Snape said suavely, "and detention for all of you."

The group nearly fainted. Snape punishing students from his own House was something practically unheard of.

By the end of the day, both Harry and Snape were thoroughly irritated and tired. It was the right kind of evening to visit Enchantments. Although it was a weekday, they both decided to take some time off – without realising that the other wizard had the same plan in mind.

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