Chapter 4; The Closet Poet
Yo, I don't own Harry Potter...I am just borrowing them for my own entertainment for writing fan fictions. Seriously, who doesn't want to write a story with J.K Rowling's characters, they're really fun!
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Snape cautiously mounted himself onto its slick back as he placed his legs behind the joints of its grand, leathery wings. He turned to Drusa who was on his side, asking with a hint of doubt "Master, are you sure of taking Cippus and not Vaporo? You said so yourself that he was easier to ride on."
"Anything could have happened to the Potters, I need to get to them as soon as possible, and Cippus is the fastest flier in the flock. I need speed, not comfort."
She sighed with concern as he continued "While I'm gone, let the others out and let them take their daily morning flight."
Drusa nodded as she said "I wish you luck, master."
"I won't need luck, Drusa."
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Drusa kept her brown orbs to the open sky, waiting for her master. She clinged to her small ray of hope, hope that everything was fine and that no one died if there was in fact a crash. A small, shrouded figure moved among the swirling clouds. She squinted, attempting to decipher the moving shadow.
The animated figure gradually descended from the churning atmosphere, revealing to be her meager master, Snape, gliding on Cippus's slick back with the young Potter held steadily in his hold. While the older Potter seemed to be in a rather questionable position, for he was hanging from the winged creature's mouth hold. They scudded along the moist field, screeching to a stop as Drusa scampered towards them.
Snape turned his gaze to the elderly house elf "Drusa, I need you to take Harry to the manor, summon Pomfrey to check on him to make absolutely sure that he is fine…also, summon Dumbledore as well."
She nodded "Drusa understands for getting Pomfrey, but why Dumbledore?"
"I believe Potter wanted a chat with him since living here isn't within his expectations. Tch, spoiled prat indeed."
"Yes, master" as she held Harry from Snape's firm grip into her own and they both vanished in a small puff of smoke.
Snape unmounted himself as he made his way to the manor but stopped in his tracks when a distant scream roared its way across the small distance "SNIVELLY! GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!
Snape huffed with a vague expression "Cippus drop it."
Cippus started to pout but then complied as he dropped Potter onto the ground with a heavy thud.
"Ouch! Merlin, that hurts! Couldn't you tell this beast to let me down more gently?!"
Snape smirked "Cippus has mistaken you for the weasels that he eats. Not that I can blame him, there is a large similarity after all."
James started to growl "What did you just say to me, Snivelly?!"
He turned to the side, heading to the manor, ignoring Potter and his tempered presence. James snarled and clamped onto his shoulder, forcefully turning Snape to himself. He bellowed in a deep, bloodcurdling tone "How dare you ignore me, Snivellus. I deserved to be acknowledged after swinging me in the air 4000ft off the ground!"
Snape scowled as he smacked Potter's vulgar hand off his shoulder "That was 3280ft off the ground, Potter. And to answer your question, I don't talk to those whom lack manners such as yourself."
James growled with an expression, composed of raw animosity. While Potter was fighting from the urge to punch Snape and runaway again; Severus too was struggling. He suppressed his emotions as he always had but with Potter, it was different. His salted, preserved hate slowly surfaced its way up, through his lungs…
"GROW THE BLOODY HELL UP, YOU ARROGANT TOERAG!"
James paled, gaping from his sudden outburst. Snape's sombre gaze widened for he too was surprised, much like Potter. He clenched his fists and continued in a cold, repulsive tone…
"You still continue to address me with those stupid names; I honestly thought you matured, from seeing your limp body on the floor after attempting to stop the dark lord, trying to save both Lily and Harry. What you did there was very Gryffindor-like indeed. Even Lily said you grew to a responsible young man, but I don't see that. All I see is the uncouth prat from my dark school days."
As soon as he finished his sentence, one of the thestrals in the flock fell to her side and started to shrill as she thrashed her thin limbs into the air. Drusa popped in front of twosome "Umbra has fallen! It's coming, it's coming!"
"What?! It wasn't due till next month…take me to her."
"Whoa, hey. What are you guys yammering on about?!"
They didn't answer; Drusa scampered down to the stables with Snape trailing close behind her, leaving him behind. James huffed "You could've at least told me what's going on here."
He traversed cautiously to the flock of the shaded creatures as he eyed Snape, comforting to the distressed female as she continued to produce hoarse moans of agony. James then noticed a pair of…
"GREAT MERLIN! WHAT ON EARTH ARE THOSE THINGS STICKING OUT OF THAT BEAST'S ARSE?!" he screeched as he saw pair of hoofed legs sticking out from her behind.
Severus groaned "How am I supposed to concentrate if you're here? Drusa, has Pomfrey arrived yet?"
"Yes, Dumbledore arrived also."
"Take Potter to the house, Pomfrey should probably check to see if he has injuries to tend as well. I'll stay here and care for Umbra."
"Very well, master…what if Potter tries to escape again?"
"I give you full permission to do whatever you need in order to keep Potter in his place until he cooperates. Tie him to a chair if you have to."
Drusa coiled her fingers around Potter's arm as she replied in a stern tone "Yes, master." As she dragged him to the manor.
"Ouch! Let go of my good arm, you bite-sized wench!"
"No, master's orders are clear and I will not fail to comply to them ever again."
She released her bone-bruising grip as she dashed to the door, opening it and gesturing him to walk through "Drusa won't try to force you to cooperate; Drusa will ensure you will cooperate. Now come inside or Drusa will have to chain you to a chair, Drusa is trying to avoid those measures so please stop the protesting."
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James entered into the manor, making his way through the cluttered kitchen, to the doorway of the living room; adorned with lavish shades of silver and green…dark green, much like the colour of the Sytherin house. A bony finger tapped him on the shoulder as he turned to see Drusa, standing behind him with her shrivelled arms folded across her chest.
"Mr. Potter, if you try to knock Drusa out again…"
She grabbed a frying pan and posed in a fighting stance, much like a knight drawing out his sword. She continued in a voice as sharp as steel,
"Drusa will be ready for you, yes she will!"
She descended to the kitchen as she equipped the pan onto her back as she glared at James from afar, waiting for him to make his move.
A familiar voice chuckled from behind "A spirited little one isn't she?"
He gasped from behind as he saw Dumbledore sitting on an armchair with Pomfrey cradling Harry into her nursing arms near the cradle.
"James my boy, come take a seat. We have a lot to discuss."
Before they could continue, a loud slam from the kitchen doorway boomed its way throughout the manor. All eyes were on Snape, emerging into the room with a bundled figure in his arms. The blanket that clothed the small figure dropped, revealing its appearance. He held what appeared to be a naked, rosy-pink newborn as it squeaked and nibbled his hooked nose playfully.
James glared with much disgust "Ugh, another hideous monster. Just when I thought seeing one was enough but no; instead I saw a freakshow occur outside!"
He replied coldly "His name is Fuligo and that 'freak show' was Umbra, one of my thestrals, giving birth to him a while ago. It was a quick delivery indeed."
The young Thestral whimpered as he squirmed and wriggled, attempting to pry himself away from the hold of his new master.
Dumbledore chuckled "I think he wants to try to walk, Severus. Is he strong enough to do so? By the looks of it; he must've just been out of the womb."
He scowled "I knew I shouldn't have added the griffin claws in Umbra's fertility potions, they must have sped the birth process; making Fuligo come out a month earlier." As he finished his sentence, he gently placed the newborn, firmly on the carpet. The young thestral nuzzled against the soft material as he began to roll around in the new terrain.
James cocked an eyebrow "You give those things potions?"
Snape remained focused onto the thestral, remaining silent for a few moments. Then he sighed and answered briefly "Only whenever one gets ill, wounded, or pregnant, otherwise; no."
Pomfrey placed Harry gently into the cradle as she turned to Snape "Harry will be fine, he just has a small cut on his right forearm but nothing too serious."
He sighed with relief as he turned to the elder Potter "You are an extremely lucky bugger that you didn't kill him from you're ill-logical shenanigans, Potter. Back into the forest, you say that your didn't want your son here. Even though I had him in my arms while you ran away like a goblin with its head cut-off. Why run from your child, Potter?"
"How am I supposed to know?! I just ran...I couldn't think straight...I was just so angry, I don't know how angry I was..."
"Apparently angry enough to leave Harry with someone you hate...or you're just simply a blighter with a thick-skull?"
James shot the dark-robed figure an angry glare "Shut your trap, Snivelly! Who said you can talk like that towards me?!"
"My house, my rules, Potter…if you keep addressing me by those stupid names, then I'll start calling you names, Snotter!"
"Snotter?! That's extremely childish, Snivellus!"
"Oh? And your name-calling is any better?"
"I-" he stopped finishing his sentence or he knew that Snape made his point; this made him blush from his sudden embarrassment.
Snape scoffed "I rest my case."
Dumbledore cut between them "That's enough. Now, why was I brought here?"
James scowled "Because Snivelly told me that you placed both my son and I under his care. I know you wouldn't do that. This has to be a bold-faced lie!"
He stroked his milky-white beard "No…I am placing you and your son here, there is no lie there."
Potter's bronze orbs widened as Dumbledore continued "James, there is no one else for you to go to…Severus is the only one."
"No he isn't. Drop me off to the Weasleys!"
"Potter, are you stupid? The Weasleys are about to have their sixth child! It is far too unreasonable to expect them to house you when they have no rooms to spare. Plus, Mrs. Weasley said she will continue having children until she has a girl."
"What point are you trying to make, Snivelly?!"
Dumbledore interrupted "James, I think Severus is trying to say that some of the members of the group is trying to raise their own families and he's right; we can't expect them to care for you when they have enough problems of their own."
"Then drop us off to Sirius, Peter, Remus, anyone but him!"
"Pettigrew is dead along with a couple of muggles, Black is being held in court for carrying out this heinous crime. And Lupin can't take you in for his 'furry' problem."
"Wait…Black did what?"
"He killed Peter Pettigrew and a few other individuals."
"Sirius would never do that!"
Snape frowned "I'm not surprised, he is as bad as they come."
James shot him a bitter glare "How dare you! This is my best friend; he would never try to hurt anyone."
"Not even me, Potter?"
The color of James's face drained to bleached hues as he continued "You and I both know Black tried to kill me at our fourth year; he told me Lily was in danger at the shrieking shack when in actuality, Lupin was in there in his were-wolf form."
"That has nothing to do with this, Snivelly!"
"I for one think it does, Potter."
"We were kids back then!"
"That doesn't atone for what he did; he had full intentions for seeing me being hacked into pieces by taking advantage of Lupin's 'furry problem' whom I remember was also one of his closest friends. Black has always been a coward and would love to have others do the dirty work for him. He is guilty for this and you know it."
Dumbledore intervened between the quarrelsome duo "That's enough you two; there is also another reason why Harry must stay here…"
James turned his angered gaze to him "What is the other point-less excuse to stay in this dump?!"
"Harry and Severus formed a bond with Voldemort."
"Huh? A bond?!"
Snape jeered as he waved his hand, gesturing him to 'shoo' like an unwanted stray dog "If you're going to continue to act like a brat, then leave."
He snarled "Tsk, fine…I don't think I can even breathe the same air as you let alone being in the room with you." As he clambered up the steps with loud creaks.
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James reached the top of the stairs, listening to the faint voices of the two individuals from two floors below. "Tsk, that arsehole! Talking to me like that, I'll get him back for that!" He stomped down the tiled hallways, gazing at each of the oak doors as one of them had a plaque that said 'Potions Laboratory 1' in fact; all the doors had a brass plaque. He continued to trudge along, reading each sign when he stumbled upon one that didn't have anything on it, no labels. To his curiosity, he turned the knob as it opened.
He peered his spectacled gaze into the room. The room had large stained glass windows that caught his eyes. He walked closer as he stared at the painted porthole. The window had designs of centaurs, unicorns, dragons, and fairies dancing around in a forest. It brightened the small place with breath-taking hues like ox-blood, sky blue, and emerald green as it left him a sense of comfort.
He wandered around the colorfully illuminated room as he fixed his sight upon, surprisingly a piano, a violin, and a grand-sized harp placed on one of the corners. Seeing these instruments left James completely addled "Since when does Snivellus play music? Why does he have them?" He glanced to the opposite side to find a glass-cased shelf, stacked with books of all sizes, placed neatly along each row. He walked towards it.
He glided his slender fingers over the well-aged spines along the shelf and stumbled upon one particular book sticking slightly out from its place. He clasped the thick book out of its place and closely examined it. It had a thick green leather cover and the pages were yellowed, indicating that it was well-used and aged with writing on the inside of the front cover saying 'S.S' with 'The Half Blood Prince' below the initials. He began to ponder "It seems to be a journal…I know S and S are the initials to Snivellous' name…but what 'The Half Blood Prince' stand for anyway? Heh, who cares! " James smirked "Well, well, well…seems that I found Snivelly's diary!"
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Severus furrowed his eyebrows as soon as Potter was out of sight "Dumbledore can you continue? A bond, you'll have to be specific since 'bond' can mean anything."
"Indeed it can my boy, the truth is it is likely you not only absorbed the dark magic but also a part of Voldemort, making you a part of him and to Harry. You three are connected and I think it's safe to assume that I want you two to stay together to stay safe from him. Besides, you shouldn't simply separate just because you don't get along with James. It's a silly old grudge."
"Easy for you to say, you didn't have to put up with him and the other troublemakers back at Hogwarts. I see what everyone else doesn't see."
"I still think the child and his father will be safest with you, understand?"
"…yes sir."
"Excellent, then everything has been arranged; the Potters will stay here."
Snape harrumphed as he stood from his seat abruptly as treaded to the steps.
"Severus, where are you going?"
Snape sternly replied "I'm going to tell Potter the news; he'll have to know what he missed. Besides, if I leave him alone for too long, he might toy with my laboratory equipment." He soared up the stairs with ease like a crow taking flight.
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James began reading by flipping to the first page as it was in scripted with messy calligraphy, indicating that he was probably young when he started to write the book. He huffed and read to the verse…
I kiss the scars upon her face, to comfort the hurt…
Underneath lays a nurturing heart…
She's beautiful yet father doesn't see…
Only me…
Father is mean and blind…
But she is kind…
I love mother…
Yet she is still one to suffer…
He felt a jab of confusion pulsing throughout his body "Scars? Suffer? I don't understand…" He skipped to the back of the book the find a freshly printed verse written much more neatly as it read…
The memories of her are passing by…
Like clouds in the summer sky…
She has fallen, the silver doe…
Whom I will forever woe…
We may have taken different pathways…
But I will love her, always.
A wave of unsettlement seeped into his body as he began to lose himself into his own thoughts with questions fishing around in his mind "Silver doe? Is this about Lily? Does he still love her even after all of these years?"
"Care to explain why you're in my private room, Potter?"
James gasped as he saw a familiar shadowy figure with his arms folded across his chest with an evil eye, standing at the doorway.
"What on Merlin's great earth are you reading? If it was one of my personal books, I will wring your neck like a wet towel, Potter!"
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Sorry for the long update, school work interferes with anything fun :[ But its summer, so no school...for a while.
Yeah...the way things are going, Snape and James probably won't get along for another ten...maybe thirty chapters...probably never, from the way things are going! XD
Anyways, yeah, I made Snape a closet poet/ musician LOL XD BTW, Sorry if the poems are girly...but I am a girl and I don't know how write poems more 'manly' [my editor said that the poems should be more masculine]
Hope you guys enjoy! Peace ;]