I thought about putting two parts out today, but I haven't put in a cliffhanger in a while, and I enjoy them too much not to put one in every once in a while. ^_^ Enjoy!

Harry Potter belongs to someone else, Xikum, who did such a wonderful job betaing for me doesn't belong to me either /boo hoo/

Mythic Alliance

by Jendra

The next week seemed to go quite well. Severus kept a close watch on Harry, noticing he was spending most of his time in the library. The boy wasn't even going out at night.

The only other one who realized there was something wrong was Hermione. She had gotten used to the idea that she was only rarely going to see her friend, but that didn't mean she had given up on watching over him. And being Hermione, one of the things she was watching, was something no one else seemed to have noticed. And she did not like what she saw.

It wasn't entirely true that no one else knew, she reflected. Several of the teachers had tried to talk to Harry about it, but she knew nothing had come of that. Even Dumbledore had taken the time to try to talk to Harry about it, but he'd refused to explain. She, herself, had tried talking to him about it, but he'd just brushed her off. She thought about talking to Ron, but knew his response would be much the same. Well, if no one else was going to do anything about it, then she *would*. Even if she had to brave the snake's pit to do it. Her friend was worth the extra risk. She wasn't Ron, scared of the slightest shadow in the dungeons. Oh, he would deny it if she ever said that, but she knew.

So, it was with her self-possession high, and her fast beating heart well hidden, that she walked into the Potions classroom in between classes.

"Ms. Granger," Snape greeted almost cordially. Well, at least there wasn't *too* much bite in his voice. "Was there something you wanted?"

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, sir," she said courageously. "I want you to stop your detentions with Harry."

"And why should I do that?" Snape asked, his attention upon her. She tried to convince herself that he was not a snake and she was no helpless little mouse, no matter what his gaze suggested.

"Because he's failing almost all of his classes," she told him strongly.

Snape slowly put down the book he'd been holding and the intensity of his stare turned up a notch. "Is he?"

"Potions is practically the only class he's still doing okay in. Harry's only passing Herbology because he's partnered with Neville, who's doing all the work. He's not transfigured anything in class in weeks. He's doing okay in the practical charms, but all of his essays are coming back marked 'Poor'. He's not even turning in essays for Defense, and I don't think he's even attended Divination in weeks! And yes, I know it's a useless class, but it's still going to be on his OWLs! I've tried talking to him when I can find him, but he's spending all of his time in the Restricted Section of the library, and refuses to tell me what he's researching."

"Why are you bringing this to me?"

"Because no one else is able to do anything," she answered. "Professor McGonagall has tried to talk to him, but he's not listening. Even Headmaster Dumbledore called him up to meet with him, but he wouldn't even talk to him. I've tried pushing him to study, but he just ignores me. I don't know what else to do! This year is too important for him to just fritter it away like this. No one else seems to care... except..."

"Except who?"

"Well, not really a who, so much as a when. He missed Quidditch practice. He tried to pass it off as not bothering to attend because you still hadn't given him his broom back, but I saw his face. He'd actually forgotten about it. That's not like him at all."

"Be assured, Miss Granger. It will be dealt with." Snape said in a silky smooth but dangerous tone of voice.

Hermione barely held in her shiver but nodded her agreement. "Thank you," she told him, turning to leave. She didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but for some reason she believed him when he said it would be dealt with.

Harry kicked away a balled up piece of paper that had dared to get in his way. It wasn't what he truly wanted to do, but kicking the Headmaster was liable to get him into trouble. Dumbledore had called him up to his office to have a 'chat'. Condescending old coot. For a moment, Harry felt guilty for thinking that of the Headmaster, but then he shook it off. So he hadn't been paying much attention to his studies, so what? Finding the spell to bind Voldemort's soul was much more important than trying to come up with new ways of offing himself for Divination or writing essays for DADA or Charms on things he'd learned ages ago. And what good would Herbology, even Transfiguration, do against Voldemort? Except for the animagus transformation, the rest of it seemed a bit silly.

He was glad he was heading to the dungeons. At least there he wouldn't have to worry about anything but whatever they were learning that evening, and he'd find out what Draco and Snape had managed to come up with. So far he'd come up blank both with his research and with Madam Pomfrey. He was pretty sure he'd managed to talk to the medi-witch without raising her suspicious, since Dumbledore hadn't said anything that referred to his discussion with Pomfrey while he was in his office. Harry would have been more pleased about that if he had actually learned something worthwhile.

He walked into the dungeon classroom, no sign of his annoyed mood showing. However, Snape quickly changed that.

"What are we doing today?" he asked.

"First, you will be showing me your homework," Severus responded.

"Huh?" Harry blinked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I have been receiving reports that you are not doing what is required for your other classes."

"It's all fine," Harry said dismissively. "I'm doing okay in Potions; what else matters to you?"

"I will not allow your extra-curricular activities to impact your grades."

"You won't allow? It's none of your business. Now, what are we actually doing today?"

"You are a student, therefore it is my business."

"Look, none of those classes have anything to do with Voldemort, so they don't really matter, now do they? Now, can we get on with this?"

Scowling at Harry's use of the name, Severus said evenly, "Life does not revolve around the Dark Lord."

"You can actually say that with a straight face?" Harry asked in surprise. He shook that off. "For other people that might be true, but I'm not other people, am I? Once he's dead, if I'm still alive, *then* I can focus on my studies. But I won't have a life until he's gone. Now that we've found a way that might actually work, I'm not going to waste my time on inconsequentials when I can be working on something that might actually have major impact."

"Your schoolwork is not unimportant. Especially considering you have OWLs this year."

"It's my decision to make. I don't see why we're even having this conversation."

"Because I am your teacher."

"My *Potions* Professor. And my Potions score is fine. You're not my Head of House, or anything else that makes this in any way your business or your responsibility."

"I am the one taking up your time. I am also the one who can, and will, get your access to the Restricted Section canceled."

"Don't you dare!" Harry surged forward angrily.

"I will not allow this research to interfere with your studies. End of discussion!" Snape snapped back.

"It is none of your business!" Harry yelled at him.

"I disagree."

"Disagree to your heart's content, but keep your beak out of it!"

Draco had been watching all of this with interest, but his eyes almost popped out of his head at that comment. He could not believe Harry had gone there.

Snape's black eyes narrowed and he stalked forward. Harry held his ground, looking up at him defiantly. "Do you truly want to go there?" Snape asked in a soft, deadly voice.

Harry gulped but refused to back down. "What I'm doing is *important*!"

"So are your studies. *He* will be around for a while longer, but you will only have one chance at your OWLs. I will not allow you to throw away your chance at your future options over this."

"It's not your choice! It's mine!"

"You're wrong. I'm the adult here, and you are under my guardianship. I accepted that when I started to teach you. Therefore, I have the right and responsibility to make sure you do what is necessary to succeed, not merely survive."

Harry laughed darkly. "You're acting like you're my father. Well, I've got news for you. You're not!"

"I am aware of that! If I were, you'd be over my knee in a moment," Severus answered before he thought. He was aware of his mistake as soon as he said it. He was actually going to apologize to the suddenly pasty-faced young man, but before he could get a word out, Harry had turned and fled out the door.

"That went well," Draco snarled. He turned off the fire under his cauldron and grabbed up his bag, storming out the door before any more could be said. Severus Snape was left behind in his classroom, having to deal with the fact that he had just ruined any progress he thought he'd been making with the young Gryffindor. The memory of Harry's stricken face felt like it was burned onto the back of his eyes.