CHAPTER 17
"Who is that?" Ron whispered as the students streamed into the Great Hall for dinner. The teachers were already seated.
"Where?" Ginny asked, prodding Ron aside with a sharp elbow to get a better view.
"Ohhh, he's really handsome!" someone whispered. Harry thought so, too. The stranger was sitting tranquilly between Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, grey eyes scanning the students. They met Harry's green ones. The wizard did not show that he recognised Harry Potter because of his scar; he did not look at Harry's forehead like so many other people did; instead, he gave Harry a small wink, and one corner of his mouth rose in a mischievous smile. Harry thought that it actually looked flirtatious and gave the wizard a somewhat stiff nod in return.
"Did he actually wink at you, mate?"
"Yeah, and he sort of grinned."
"Maybe he's trying to hit on you."
"Oh, haha. He must be a teacher or some kind of prominent person if he's sitting with the staff."
Hermione was looking interestedly at the stranger.
"Anyone you know?" Ron asked her.
She shook her head.
"No."
"What! There's something or someone you actually don't know?" Ron said with exaggerated shock.
Hermione glared at him. The two were behaving normally around each other after their discouraging date: they were back to bickering.
Soon, all the students were in the Great Hall and getting ready to eat. Dumbledore rose and spread out his arms.
"May I please have your attention?" he said. Everyone fell silent. The Potions Master was looking particularly sour, casting an ominous glance in his new colleague's direction. Harry decided that Severus Snape had a problem with each and every newcomer who ended up at the staff table.
"I would like to welcome a new staff member and a new subject. Professor Marius Rivers is in charge of Healing and will offer Healing courses during the remainder of this term for anyone who is interested. From the next term onwards, Healing will be one of the subjects you may choose in your third year. Fourth-years and above are naturally most welcome to follow separate Healing courses once this subject has been instated as part of the regular curriculum."
Dumbledore gestured at Marius, and the tall wizard rose, smiling modestly and dipping his head in a graceful little bow. Everyone – especially the girls – clapped enthusiastically.
"Like him, Harry? That's one cute stud for you," Ron said teasingly to Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"He is rather…sexy," he admitted.
"You've got to take the Healing courses, then."
Harry laughed.
"Not enough time, Ron. Too much to do already."
"Don't be silly, Ron, you don't sign up for courses just because you fancy the teacher," Hermione said bossily.
"I bet you'd have signed up if Lockhart-"
"Guys, give it a break," Dean Thomas grinned.
"What about the time you had a crush on Fleur?" Hermione said loudly, ignoring Dean's interjection.
Ron grabbed a spoon and began to help himself to mashed potatoes, slapping the food onto his plate with unnecessary violence. Harry threw Hermione a beseeching look. She blushed and avoided his stare. Harry turned his attention to his dinner.
After dinner, the students trailed back to their dormitories, discussing the newcomer.
"He is rather appealing," Hermione remarked.
"Good heavens – first it was Lockhart, then Krum and now it's Rivers. You really only fancy men who look like they've stepped out of a fashion or sports magazine," Ron said sourly.
"That is not true, Ron," Hermione said, looking hurt.
"I wouldn't mind dating him," Lavender Brown remarked.
"That, Miss Brown, is impossible. Firstly, Professor Rivers is a teacher. Secondly, he is an established homosexual," Severus's voice spoke up behind them. Lavender jumped and went scarlet; the rest of the students stared at him.
"So vindictive, Severus?" Marius appeared round the corner, grey eyes narrowed.
"Not at all, Rivers. I am simply making sure that the students don't waste their time dreaming about you when they should be studying."
"That sounds most convincing," Marius replied, gentle sarcasm accentuating his voice.
"Let's get out of here," Harry muttered, "this is none of our business."
The students followed his example and hastily resumed the route to their respective dormitories, leaving Marius and Severus locked in a glacial gaze.
"If you want to pick a quarrel with me, Severus, then I suggest that you refrain from doing so in public."
"Arrogant and conceited as ever, I see," Severus retorted. Marius flushed.
"Please let me explain-"
"I don't need an explanation. You are a cheating liar and I am frankly astounded and dismayed that Dumbledore is not only granting you a sanctuary at this school but also a long-term employment."
"I am just as amazed that the Headmaster can trust a Death Eater to teach malleable minds," Marius flashed back, grey eyes steely with anger.
"How many people did you fuck during your Healing studies to get where you are?" Severus asked softly.
Marius went white around the nostrils.
"How dare you," he whispered.
"How dare I? After what you did-"
"If you'd just let me explain-"
"You can shove your explanation up your rectum, Rivers," Severus hissed and marched off, robes billowing around his figure vindictively.
Marius shook his head and walked away as well.
---
In the meantime, up in Gryffindor Tower, Harry was finishing his Potions assignment. Hermione and Ron were sitting far apart from each other, heads turned in opposite directions. Harry set down his quill and went through the parchment again. He corrected a few errors and rolled up his homework. He got up and went towards the stairs leading to the dormitories. Ron took the opportunity to leave the common room and a frosty-tempered Hermione. Once they were in their dormitory, Harry swung round on Ron.
"For heaven's sake, Ron! When are you just going to tell her? It's getting downright excruciating to see you resort to your kind of flirting."
"Our kind of flirting?"
"Bickering."
Ron reddened.
"But-"
"Look, I know it's none of my business, but you're both my best friends and…" Harry laughed and shook his head. "Ron, can't you see that how much she likes you?"
"I…I…Well…"
"Ginny has been dropping quite a lot of hints for your benefit."
"Telling me that Hermione's in the library is supposed to be a hint?"
"She's always alone in the library…"
"She hates being disturbed when she's with her books!"
"Maybe she's just waiting to be disturbed one of these days," Harry said, grinning. He walked over to the sill and picked up the bird he had carved and polished, shifting it absent-mindedly from one hand to the other.
"D'you know that you can charm it to sing?" Ron asked.
"Really?" Harry gave him the bird, and Ron drew out his wand and tapped it, muttering a spell. The wooden bird immediately began to flex its head and twitter.
"Learnt that from Fred and George. Well, sort of. We had this wooden cat, and they made it bark."
Harry laughed.
"That means you could make this bird bark."
"Sure. Listen…"
Seamus, Dean and Neville walked inside and roared with laughter when they heard the bird baying like a hound. Harry's smile fled as soon as he was lying in bed and everything was still. The nightmares were waiting for him. He had them at least four times a week now, and they were always sickeningly vivid, with screams of pain echoing in his mind and ears. Sure enough, Harry woke up at three in the morning, infinitely grateful for the Silencing Charms he now automatically cast on the bed whenever he went to sleep. He sat up and rocked back and forth, longing so badly for a draught of Sleeping Potion that he began to sob and moan into his hands. His soul seemed to twist, crying out to someone unknown…
---
Severus could not sleep. Memories dredged up from the past haunted him and made him toss and turn. He recalled nights of pleasure, nights when Marius and he would make the bed squeak protestingly. The days they would seek a place for themselves during their free time and talk about various things. Cursing, Severus wrapped the sheets more firmly around him, then flung them back. He decided to retire to the hall, near the hearth, and read until he was sleepy. He glanced at the clock. It was only three. Severus slid his feet into his slippers and drew on a long silk housecoat of a rich dark-blue colour. His hair tumbled untidily over it, and Severus decided that he had to cut it by all means. He had simply let it grow. Severus settled on the sofa with a mug of cinnamon tea and opened a book on Divination. Like Minerva McGonagall, Severus detested Divination. He considered it one of the most boring subjects in the world. The point of reading the book was to make him so bored that he would feel like going to sleep very soon. He turned a page with a slender forefinger.
Dreams are a crucial source of Divination and offer many clues about the future. In fact, dreams are even regarded as visions…
Severus yawned after a few paragraphs. He raised his mug to his lips and was about to sip when it happened – a sudden image flashing clearly before his eyes. Harry Potter rocking back and forth on his bed, staring at him…or through him...
"Please help me, help me, help me, help…" the youth was whispering, clutching at his head.
The mug shattered and the image was gone. Severus could still see the scene, though, and hear that frenzied whispering. He shook his head and snapped the book closed. He cleared the mess of tea and porcelain fragments with a flick of his wand and went back to his bed, where he managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.
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