Author's Note: There always seem to be stories these days of people going out on their 21st birthday, only to get into trouble and never make it to their 22nd due to an overabundance of alcohol from well meaning friends due to their "coming of age." We know from hints within the latter books of Mrs Rowling that Severus had issues with a father who drank too much. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that Severus would be less than happy with anyone who drank themselves into insensibility. All new "drinkers" have a problem until they have time to understand the effects of alcohol based on amount vs time vs tolerance. We also know that emotions and events can have an effect on judgment when it relates to drinking alcohol. This particular chapter is dedicated to a very close friend of mine who lost his life a few years ago, through no fault of his own, due to a 21 year old drunk driver who made the decision to get behind the wheel after getting blitzed on his 21st birthday. Two lives were lost that night. My friend's forever, and the 21 year old that has to live with the fact that he took the life of another human, regardless of the prison term that he is now serving. His remorse was and is genuine, but, never will he be able to forget. I also hold responsible those that were with him who were too drunk themselves to take away the keys; they failed their friend on a night when their "friendship" was most needed. For those readers reaching that all important age, please take to heart what can happen when you are consuming alcohol. Your life, and the life of others, could well depend on your good judgment. Taking a human life is forever; there is no turning back time to rectify that action.
In memory of you, Collin Michael James McLaren. You are sorely missed.
Chapter 6: Poor Choices
Disclaimer: While I am borrowing many of the characters created by J.K. Rowling, all rights to those characters remain solely with her. I am neither receiving nor soliciting any monetary recompense for this story.
Harry was in Heaven. While it was still cold, the air temperature had risen with the lessening wind and for the first time in almost a week, Harry could fly. He had managed to make a good dent in his homework and Severus, in a rare moment of insanity, had given Harry an extra half hour on his morning break so he could do some flying and maybe get rid of the increasing restlessness he had been feeling ever since Christmas Day. The cool air was doing a good job at clearing Harry's mind and he let his thoughts wander as he flew. Unfortunately, his thoughts wandered a little too much and he gasped when he looked down at his watch, realizing he was a good twenty minutes over schedule; Snape was going to kill him. Quickly turning and making his way back to the castle, he was dismayed when he reached Snape's quarters, a full 40 minutes late. Hoping that Snape was at a meeting or anywhere else other than his quarters, Harry crossed his fingers and opened the door quietly, then swore under his breath. His luck was apparently holding; Snape was sitting at his desk in his quarters and he looked pointedly at the clock as Harry walked in. Harry tried to do some damage control when Snape just looked at him.
"er, sorry Professor; lost track of time," Harry said sheepishly, as he closed the door quietly and made his way into the room.
Leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, Severus calmly replied:
"No problem Mr Potter. You can make up the 40 minutes you are late during your normal afternoon break, since you won't be having one. I suggest you get changed and get started on today's assignments."
"y S'r" Harry mumbled, mentally calling Severus every name in the book. The good feeling Harry had gotten while flying had disappeared the moment Snape had issued his decree. Why the man was so damned unbending was beyond Harry, but, sighing, Harry hadn't really expected less. One thing about Snape was his consistency. Screw up and Snape knew it and dealt with it immediately. Nope, no waiting involved when dealing with Snape.
Severus watched as Harry walked out of sight down the short hallway. Harry had done well over the weekend, completing all but two of the potions he was required to brew and all but one potions essay. Looking at the list of the remaining assignments, Harry would have no problem finishing the rest prior to the end of the break and maybe even have a free day at the end to relax and get ready for the next term. In truth, this was one of the reasons Severus had given Harry the extra half hour of break time this morning. The fact that Harry had taken advantage of that reward and came back late irritated Severus but only to the point of revoking Harry's free period that afternoon. He had seen the restlessness growing and had decided a little extra flying time wouldn't go amiss and would hopefully allow Harry to make the final push through the rest of the assignments.
While Severus was mulling things over in the other room, Harry, meanwhile, had gooten changed and chose to take out his frustration by kicking the bedframe. 'Honestly,' he thought, 'all that work this weekend, ahead of schedule by HIS schedule and he gets all pissy about 40 lousy minutes. He expects me to work straight through the afternoon without a break even though if I wanted, I could skip another full day and still get done in time.' Harry continued to lambaste Snape in his thoughts as he grabbed his Charms and Transfiguration books, deliberately ignoring the Potions book, and making his way back to the main room where he knew Snape was waiting. Attitude growing, Harry dropped his books on the table and dropped heavily into the chair, grumbling a bit as he glanced at the assignment list and yanked his Transfiguration book towards him, opening it and flipping the pages with force until he found the correct page and started reading, completely ignoring Snape's presence.
Suddenly, Harry felt Snape's presence behind him and startled a bit as Severus leaned down close to his ear. Harry held his breath as Severus spoke.
"Unless you want another conversation with my ruler," Severus said silkily, "I would advise you to change. your. attitude."
Flushing, Harry remained perfectly still, not taking a breath until Severus stood up and walked away.
Later that evening
Harry took off his glasses, dropping them angrily on the table. Running a hand through his hair then down his face, he picked his glasses back up, putting them on and turning his attention back to the books in front of him. Dinner had finished almost an hour ago and Harry was ready to climb the walls. True to his dictate, Severus had refused Harry his afternoon break which just proved to further light the fuse to Harry's temper. Additionally, when Harry had approached Severus about possibly taking a quick trip into Hogsmeade in the next day or so, Severus had flatly refused to give his permission. "You have yet to complete all the assignments. Once those are fully completed, only then may you take a trip into Hogsmeade," he had said. "You agreed to the schedule and to follow the rules I set out. You are allowed one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon to take a break which will not give you enough time to go into Hogsmeade." Harry had tried to get him to understand that he needed to get away completely for a few hours but Snape hadn't budged.
Now, stuck in Snape's quarters, Harry was ready to spit nails. Even Snape wasn't around, having been called to a staff meeting. When Snape had left, he indicated he probably wouldn't be back before curfew and for Harry to continue working and be mindful of the hour. Snape fully expected for Harry to be in bed on time.
Another hour passed and Harry threw his quill down in frustration. He had written the same paragraph three times and still couldn't get it to come out right. 'Screw this," he thought. 'I'll pick it up in the morning.' Gathering up his books, he took them down to the room he was occupying and set everything down at the desk. Going over to the dresser, he took out his pajamas, intent on getting ready for bed and maybe just reading until lights out, when he spotted a sweatshirt in the drawer. Glancing at the clock and worrying his lip a little, he made up his mind. The Three Broomsticks was open until midnight. If he left now, he could easily get into Hogsmeade, have a butterbeer and make it back before Severus even realized he was gone.
Quickly changing, Harry arranged a few pillows under the blankets to make it look like he was in bed. He made his way up to his dorm in the Gryffindor tower and retrieved his invisibility cloak out of his trunk along with the Marauders map. Putting on the cloak and tucking the map inside the pocket of his jacket, Harry made his way to the front doors of the castle. Opening the doors, he stepped out into the cool night air. The skies were still clear, lighting Harry's way as he made his way quickly into the village. he reached the Broomsticks in record time, ever mindful that he only had a couple of hours before Snape would probably return to his quarters. Harry wasn't stupid. He knew full well Snape would all but kill him if he got caught.
Removing his cloak and putting it inside his jacket, Harry walked into the Broomsticks. he realized as he crossed the threshold that this was the first time he was inside the place after becoming a wizarding adult. Harry took in his surroundings, seeing a couple of aurors seated in one corner, and a witch and wizard sitting together and holding a low conversation at another table; otherwise, the place was deserted. Feeling even more adventurous, Harry went to the bar. Madam Rosmerta seemed to be taking the night off as Harry didn't recognize the man at the bar, but he went up anyway and ordered a glass of fire-whiskey. Ready to prove his age, the man at the bar didn't even question Harry, setting a small glass of the amber liquid in front of him and grunting when Harry tossed down the required cost, adding in a couple of sickles for a tip. Taking the glass, Harry made his way over to the table closest to the fire, not realizing he had been noticed by the two aurors. Sitting down, he took a large sip of the whiskey, nearly choking at the first strong taste. Once he finished coughing, he was careful to take smaller sips, beginning to enjoy the warmth as it slid into his belly.
All too soon, his first glass was finished and deciding he still had time, he ordered another glass. 'Last one and then I need to get back,' he thought.
Unfortunately, as drinks go, Harry was feeling very pleasant by the end of the second glass. His temper had cooled and he was feeling as though nothing could go wrong. 'No wonder adults like this stuff,' Harry thought a little fuzzily. Looking at the clock again, Harry was trying to remember why the time of 9 pm was so important. It seemed too early for someone who was 17 years old. Standing up intent on getting another glass of this fine whiskey, Harry staggered a little as a wave of dizziness hit him. Holding onto the table for a moment, Harry made his way up to the bar, ordering a third glass of the whiskey. Harry met the eyes of the man serving the bar, who, apparently satisfied with Harry's condition, poured the required amount but saying "this is your last glass kid. You ain't a use to drinkin' this stuff you could end up doing somethin' ya' shouldn'.
Rolling his eyes, Harry made his way back to the table he had been occupying. He caught the aurors in his peripheral vision and for some reason, felt, angry. Scrunching his forehead in thought, Harry tried to figure out why he felt angry towards two people he had never met. Aurors, aurors, what was it about aurors? Mad-eye had been an auror but neither of those two were Mad-eye, of course they weren't, Mad-eye was dead. His mom and dad had been aurors and Harry was pretty sure neither of those two were his mother or father, here Harry giggled a little. If one of those were his mother, she needed to grow her hair out again. No, he didn't think either of them were his parents. 'Wait," Harry thought, 'could these be the ones that killed his parents? No, someone else had killed Harry's parents but shouldn't the surors have protected them? Wasn't that what aurors were supposed to do? Protect wizards and witches form harm? Keep the bad people away from the good people? Why hadn't they protected everyone that night when Voldermort was finally defeated by a bunch of people who weren't aurors and many of which were still students? Stupid aurors,' Harry thought as he continued to sip his drink, his mind going even more bleary. 'Dumb aurors couldn't protect a mouse let alone anyone else. What the hell are they sitting here for anyway?'
The longer Harry sat, sipping the third glass of whiskey and the longer the disjointed thoughts ran through Harry's whiskey diminished brain, the more Harry got mad. 'Damned aurors should have saved everyone. Gonna' find out why they didn't.'
Finishing the last swallow of his whiskey, Harry lurched to his feet, nearly falling to the floor. Taking out his wand, he managed to weave his way over to the table where the two aurors were seated. Before Harry could remember how to formulate actual words, the younger of the two aurors looked up, smiled, and tapped his older companion on the arm to gain his attention.
"Mr Potter," the older auror greeted. "Can we help you?"
"Yea," Harry said, absently brandishing his wand "you can tell me why?"
"Why what Mr Potter," the older auror answered sharply "and put your wand away."
"Na-not til you te-tell me why," Harry said, his words slurring.
Both aurors drew their wands, not bothering to hide the fact. Harry tried to figure out why that might be important.
"Te-Tell m-me!" Harry demanded, raising his wand again.
"Mr Potter you are obviously inebriated but if you do not put your wand down immediately, we will arrest you," the older auror said sternly. Silently, the younger auror moved behind Harry.
Harry swayed on his feet but caught himself. "Ya-you can-can't tell me why ca-kin you, dumb or-aurors," Harry, unable to completely manage his wand, managed to attack the older auror muggle style. While his movements were slowed, being attacked in such a crude manner surprised the older auror who was caught off balance and stumbled slightly before quickly regaining his balance. The younger auror moved in behind Harry to restrain him, but Harry, having fought off Dudley for so many years, turned and pushed with both hands on the auror's chest, his strength enough that he succeeded in pushing the auror away. The younger auror tripped over a chair leg and fell, hitting his head on the edge of another table with a sickening crack. Suddenly, a red light overcame Harry and he felt himself sink to the floor, the older auror catching him with a stupefy. Harry's last conscious view, before he sank into the welcoming dark, was of a very ticked off auror.
From reviews and thanks soooooooooo much for those reviews. :)
HPBookworm asked about the two week limitation on making up the assignments and as Harry had effectively saved the entire wizarding world, he should be allowed more time. :) I actually took that into consideration. Harry and company were allowed to return for their NEWT year despite the fact they were technically already considered adults by age. In order to return, however, they were required to sign consent forms that effectively made them official students, under the authority of the staff at Hogwarts, requiring them to follow the same rules and regulations set out for any student. As was indicated in Chapter 4 (Thursday), Harry's failing grades at the end of the term would have meant automatic dismissal from those particular classes, classes he needed to continue with his dreams of becoming an auror. Severus was able to gain Harry those two weeks of time to complete those missing assignments only because of Harry's actions on behalf of the wizarding world.