"You're what!" Ron shouted causing a few of the others in the corridor to turn to him in alarm not that he noticed seeing as Harry had told him something that was more impossible than getting a good DADA teacher. Seriously first, stuttering-Dark Lord-hiding Quarrel, then Lockheart. The guy had only lasted three days before someone who was in St. Mungo's after being obliviated recovered enough to say that he had been oblivated by Lockheart. Upon further investigation it was found that there were quite a few wizards under the forgetting charm that oddly enough were studding the research topics the wizard had published his books on. Well at least that was one less class, until they found a new professor.
"I'm not going to say it again." Harry said. But he was smiling because he had known that Ron's reaction to the news would be explosive. Poor Hermione though, seemed to be in shock because she hadn't said a thing since he had told them, with a wave of the hand, that Snape was now his legal guardian.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"I was missed the train because my relatives refused to take me and Snape came to fetch me, most likely for being stupid enough to miss the train."
"That still doesn't explain why the snake is your guardian now." Ron protested.
"Things got bad at the Dursley's, really bad, and I was hurt, which is why I missed the first few days of term, but I would rather not think about that okay."
Hermione gasped. She had always suspected that Harry's home life was bad but she had never acted on it and now she felt as though she had failed her friend horribly.
Harry saw this immediately and rushed to reassure her that there was nothing that she could have done for him.
Suddenly Harry felt a strange sensation pass over him then he heard something strange almost a hiss. For a moment he was tempted to ignore it and follow his friends into Transfiguration but then he remembered that Snape had said that he was to go to him immediately if he felt something that was not normal. He definitely thought that this qualified. Harry found that he rather not disobey the first order that his new guardian had given him. One reason is that it meant that something might be wrong and the second reason was that he was still a little skeptical, despite reassurances to the contrary, that Snape wouldn't send him back since, to him at least, it still felt as though the situation was far too good to be true.
"Guys I'll catch up I need to go down and see Snape really quick."
Ron and Hermione looked questioningly at him but they didn't have time to interrogate him because if they lingered much longer they would be late for class and if there was one thing that was learned last year it was that you did not want to be tardy to McGonagall's class especially if you were a Gryffindor.
Harry quickly made his way down to the dungeons. As luck would have it Snape was finished teaching and actually had a free period at the moment.
"Potter what are you doing down here you have Transfiguration this period do you not?"
"Yes sir." Harry said startled that Snape knew his schedule when he yet to memorize it himself. "Last night you told me to come down and see you if I felt anything weird. When I was walking to class I felt a shock-like sensation pass over me and it was odd so I thought that I should come down."
Snape almost smiled. The reckless Gryffindor had actually listened to him. Getting up Snape withdrew his wand and cast a diagnostic charm on Harry. After he got the readings from it he walked over to a shelf and pulled a potion off of it. The potion was light blue and it looked like more of a gas than a liquid. Snape gave it to him and he drunk it down without hesitance. Luckily enough it was flavorless. Harry had more than once been on the receiving end of foul tasting potions due to the fact that he seemed to have a tendency to be injured in quidditch matches and practices for that matter. So it was a relief that that would not be the case this time.
"That should clear up the imbalance." Then Snape picked up a quill to write him a pass. Harry moved to leave when Snape said, "Two points to Gryffindor for using your head and not just ignoring what happened."
"What would have happened if I didn't come down?" Harry asked choosing not to comment on the fact that Snape had given points because coming from Snape two points to Gryffindor was equal to a million points given from anyone else.
"Weakness in some or all of your limbs and or fainting."
"Glad I came down then. Thanks Professor!" Harry said as he grabbed the note.
"Wait here," Snape said suddenly remembering something.
Harry stood uncertainly wondering what he had gone to get.
When Snape returned he had a bag which he handed over.
Harry peeked inside and saw that it was all of his second year supplies which wasn't much now that he didn't have to by the books by Lockheart. That fiasco was known all over the school.
Harry looked up preparing to thank Snape for going to the alley and by the stuff.
"Don't bother the man said sitting back down I used your funds so that you wouldn't have an excuse to fool around in Diagon alley." Snape had of course used his own money but he didn't intend to tell the boy that he had a limit and he had some bit of pride left too thank you very much!
Harry just smiled seeing right through him and his attempt to be an evil old bat and just waved and then he rushed off to Transfiguration.
That night Harry went to the common room and of course his friends grilled him intensively about his current situation. By the time they were satisfied that 'no Snape wasn't plotting to kill him' and that he was not coerced in anyway shape or form into this arrangement by powers unknown, it was time for bed.
The next morning he decided to go simple again in his 'Make Snape Laugh' campaign. He had not told Ron or Hermione about the campaign though it would have been helpful for idea generation but that was because it just seemed private and he found that he did not wish to share that right now and he wasn't sure that he would ever share that with anyone because it felt so private to him.
Snape awoke much the same as he had the morning previous except this time he had slept in his own bed instead of on the sofa. He got dressed and once more he found a note lying on the table.
What do you get when you cross a Gryffindor with a Hufflepuff.
Answer: a cowardly lion
*yes I know that's mean to the puffs but you found it funny didn't you?
Snape couldn't deny it was just a little bit funny. Quickly he deposited the note in his robes just as he had with the one before and then later in the day he would put it with the other one which was tucked in a private drawer in his bedroom. Somehow he hoped that this trend would continue because he found that it was quite enjoyable though he would never admit it. Once again he made it into the Hall just as the morning post was delivered.
Like yesterday Hedwig dropped a letter for Harry.
2/2
"What's that?" Ron asked as he peered over to see what was on the paper.
"Nothing," Harry responded pocketing the note before Ron could get a good look at it.
Ron wanted to force it out of him but then he thought about how it was with his siblings. There was just some stuff that you wanted to keep to yourself and he could respect that. Not to say it would be easy but he would try because Harry was his best friend.
Then Hermione arrived and sat down so he had something else to concentrate on.
"Where have you been?" Ron asked.
"In the library," Hermione said filling her plate with fruit. Then she went on a long explanatory monologue of the fascinating books she had been looking at and both boys looked at each other with identical tortured expressions.
Up at the head table Snape was enduring torment as well. All the talk seemed to concern why he was later to breakfast that usual, how he and Potter were getting on, as well as why he had been given out fewer detentions than normal.
Snape glared ineffectually at all the questions and moodily poked at his eggs and the one lone waffle on his plate. Why was everyone so interested him now? Sure he had technically adopted the boy-who-lived and he might be acting a bit less evil than usual and… well he could see why they were interested but they were teachers they should have better control of themselves and be able to curb their curiosity.
This habit of theirs persisted into lunch hour and it was so draining that he was happy when it was time for the last section of potions for the day. The last period happened to be the section, which contained Potter. This year that did not put him off much to his own surprise. Yesterday the boy had been utterly silent but he attributed that to the potion that he had consumed. That particular one was known to make you tired.
But then it was like that now again today. The boy seemed to be pretending that he didn't even know him. For some reason this really irritated Snape, which it shouldn't. I am the mean and moody bat of the dungeons for crying out loud and it definitely took more than a snub from this child to hurt me he thought to himself. That was what he tried to think but by the end of class period he found himself unbearably angry with the boy and unable to deny even to himself that the way that he was being treated by the boy hurt him in a way that he never thought that he could be hurt.
"Potter," he called when the boy turned to leave.
Harry stopped wondering what he had done wrong.
"What is the matter with you?"
Harry was confused what had he done he wondered. He searched the professor's face hoping to make some sense of the anger that was directed at him.
Snape saw the instant that Harry began to despair. The way the boy's face crumbled showed exactly what he was thinking. The idiot boy thought that he had changed his mind about him and was preparing to send him away.
That was confirmed when Harry refused to meet his eyes and mumbled something along the lines of understanding why Severus wouldn't want a useless no good freak like him.
That of course set Snape to feeling like a right git for that and emotions started warring within him, most of them just overflow from other situations, and as a result he finally just broke.
"SHUT UP! STOP BEING SO STUPID! I'M NOT SENDING YOU ANYWHERE YOU FOOLISH CHILD!" He yelled. Then he got up to pace unable to look the boy in the eyes. He stilled and pinched the bridge of his nose to calm himself and continued "I was being stupid okay? You've been ignoring me in class and it made me angry and…" What more could he add to that. It sounded so trivial when voiced.
He was startled when Potter let out a giggle. "I never thought I would see the day that I would hear you call yourself stupid." He said.
"Brat, I said I was being stupid not that I am stupid."
"It was for you."
"What?" Snape asked confused by the unexpected direction that the conversation had taken.
"I was ignoring you for you and for me. The insults would hurt more now that I know the private you and I don't think I can take what it was like before without it hurting twice as much." He mumbled looking down at his shoes.
"I wouldn't… I mean I would but I … "
"I mean it will be the same right? The guardianship thing is just so I won't have to go back to my relatives and will be legally allowed to stay with you in the summers right? I'm sure if you gave another Professor, or even the Weasly's, permission they would take me for the summers. I don't want to be any trouble for you."
"I … it isn't…"
Harry looked up unable to fathom why Snape was choking on the words. He almost did a double take when he saw Snape's face. There was a look on it that he had never expected to see. Snape looked anguished and his black eyes were glittering with unshed tears that he was clearly keeping from spilling over with sheer force of will.
Harry was both shocked and ashamed. He had done something bad enough to break Snape. Before he knew what he was doing he had rushed up to the Professor and locked him in a tight hug apologizing for whatever he did. Like he had said before he did not hate him, and he might dare say he was beginning to like the old bat, and no matter wither he liked the man or not he had always wished that someone would hug him when he cried so he would not begrudge Snape that even if he still harbored the same feelings as he had last year.
To Harry's surprise Snape lifted him up and held him close so that his head ended up on Snape's shoulder. Adjusting himself a bit Harry threw his arms around the man's neck to continue the hug.
Eventually Snape put him down. Stepped away and took a calming breathe. "I apologize I haven't lost control like that in a very long time."
"How long?" Harry asked.
"Ten years or so." The older wizard replied as though that were normal.
If he could have reached then Harry would have thumped him on the head Professor or not. It was unhealthy not to express those kinds of heavy emotions for that long. He knew that from experience since when he did the first few years of his life it usually ended in a crying fit so loud he'd be beaten. Eventually he had learned to manage but Snape was in a class of his own with the ten years thing. Maybe all that repression was why he came off as such a sour individual. That and the man probably didn't know how to have fun. Seriously the man relaxed by reading Potions Monthly how much could he know about fun. Suddenly Harry had an idea.
Grabbing Snape's hand the twelve year old wizard dragged the man that was more than three time his age out of the dungeons, past bewildered students from each House, past a twinkly-eyed Headmaster, past a tabby cat with stunningly intellegent eyes, and out onto the castle grounds. It was a very nice day. Unseasonably warm even this late in the day and Harry dragged him to a soft patch of grass where he pushed him down and took a seat next to him.
"We are going to relax and watch some clouds." Harry announced lying on his back.
For a moment Snape thought about it and then he lay back too seeing as he had let the boy drag him all the way here.
"That one looks like a turtle." Harry said pointing at a blob shaped cloud.
"It doesn't." Snape said.
"Yes it does," Harry argued. "There's the head and that part is the shell see?" he asked pointing out the parts.
"Maybe a Picasso redition of a turtle."
Harry huffed a bit. "Well what do you see up there?"
"Well that one over there looks like a mammoth." Snape pointed.
"You think that looks like a mammoth but you can't see how mine looked like a turtle?"
"You can't see the mammoth?"
"Nope. To me it resembles an exploded potion more than anything."
"You'd definitely know what that looks like wouldn't Potter?"
"Hey I'm not that bad at potions!" Harry protested. Seriously he was no Hermione but he was better than quite a few in his year thank you very much.
They stayed out for about a half an hour before it was time to go to dinner. Niether of them agreed on any cloud shape not because they didn't see them but because it was simply more fun to disagree.
When they reached the castle doors Snape did a cleansing charm on both their robes and then they headed off to the Great Hall for dinner. Once everyone had finished filing in Dumbledore stood.
"Due to the recent circumstances the Ministry has appointed one of their own to the DADA teaching position. This is Delores Umbridge and she will be teaching the position from tommorow onward."
The lady that he had indicted stood inclined her head and sat back down studing the students with an intense glare. When her eyes fell on Harry he felt a shiver pass through him though that was hidden by his robes.
Soon though, the new DADA teacher was put to the back of his mind because he began talking to his friends. Ron had just said something about a prank that Fred and George had pulled on Percy one year before going off to Hogwarts when things got really weird.
It was like someone had filled his ears with cotton. Nothing was penitrating the cotton either so he thought he was just suddely deaf. Wouldn't be the weirdiest thing that had ever happeneded to him at Hogwarts. That was until he heard the sound he had earlier. The hissing. For a moment though it seemed as though it was speaking to him. It was getting louder and louder until he covered his ears. But that didn't help because the sound was in his head! It was so loud! Suddenly it stopped and the world went black.
A/N Okay this was a long time a coming and I meant to update way sooner that's why this is over 3000 words even without the author's note. This chap is OOC for Harry and Snape (good thing I don't own them right?) and I know that and you know that but dispite it all the stuff refused to cooperate and change itself into less OOC ness. -_- *presents creative licence as an excuse* anyways I tried and it's leading up to some good stuff. The Umbrige quill scene and some stuff with the Basilisk plus punishment for the Dursley's (havent forgot that) and so much more. So yeah I got plans for it so stick with me even though this installment is kinda sucky. Till next time! Don't forget to review specially on this chapter because I need the opinions. Oh and feel free to suggest stuff it really helps the writing process.