Confessions of A Different Sort Chapter 3: Questions, a harry potter fanfic

Ron! NO!

Harry threw up a protective barrier around the cauldron as the other students watched the contents explode but stay contained within the shield. Harry kept his wand pointed at the aura surrounding the cauldron as he looked at Ron with anger, eyes only softening when he saw his friend stare at the floor embarrassed. He looked around the room and saw that everyone was safe and dropped his wand as his shield dissipated. He sighed in relief as Professor Snape yelled to the class

"Mr. Weasley, stay behind! Mr. Potter, I will talk to you in your detention tonight. Class dismissed.

Harry knocked on the door of Snape's, classroom pushing the door open after hearing a bellow permitting him entry.

"Mr. Potter, I see that you managed to be on time. Have a seat." Snape said gesturing towards the chair in front of his desk.

"Thank you" Harry spoke clearly through his nervousness; he knew how Snape hated when people mumbled. Harry sat and tried his hardest to look relaxed, after all this wasn't really a detention.

"Would you care to explain what happened in class today, Mr. Potter?" Snape leaned back in his chair.

"Well, sir, Ron added crushed ginger to the mixture instead of the cloved garlic that the potion called for. An easy mistake, I suppose, since the ingredients are next to each other in the ingredients cabinet. The ginger reacted poorly with the unstable potion and resulted in a violent explosion." Harry answered hoping that his explanation proved satisfactory.

"That is not what I meant, Mr. Potter." Harry inwardly cringed, apparently his answer did not sound as he wished it to. "The Shield Charm. Did you really believe that I would not notice?"

"I don't understand, sir." Harry said, trying to hide the brow that ruffled in confusion, despite his attempt to keep it at bay.

Snape sat foreword in his chair, resting his hands on the desk while touching the tips of his fingers together. "Did you know, Mr. Potter, that Shield Charms are not brought into your school curriculum until later this year?"

"Yes, Sir, I've already read the entire text book." Harry replied

"So then, you are aware how difficult it is to produce a Shield Charm?" Snape inquired

"Yes, Sir." Harry didn't find it particularly difficult, but he didn't want to upset the potions master by saying such.

"Did you know that it is almost impossible for a protection spell to be used if the spell caster is not inside of the spell's area?"

"I didn't, Sir." Harry didn't have to hide his worry or surprise at this point, it came so naturally.

"There are only three spells known to the Wizarding World that can protect something without requiring the caster to be in the spell field. The spell you used was not any one of those three. Where did you find the spell you used Mr. Potter?" Snape leaned closer waiting for the answer that seemed slow in coming. Surely Harry realized the danger in using such a unique spell.

"I made it, Sir." Harry looked at his feet

"Do you expect me to believe that, Mr. Potter?" Severus asked with his best sneer evident on his face.

"No, but it's the truth, Sir."

Snape was ready to snap back with a retort and possibly deduct points, but though better of it. Clearly Mr. Potter was not the same man he was last year, the usually unforgiving professor was compelled to give the young man in front of him a second chance. Had he ever really given him a first? Snape was so sure that Harry was just like his arrogant bully of a father, he had judged him before he even set foot in the castle. He stopped the thought process before it could go any further, and looked to the nervous young man in front of him.

"I believe you, Potter" Snape replied folding his arms in front of his chest.

"You believe me? Just like that?" Harry's surprise was clearly evident in his voice and the professor in front of him was stifling a laugh.

"Several things have been brought to my attention as of late that may have slightly altered my views about you. But you must realize that you are in a class of Slytherins, where The Dark Lord has eyes. You must be more careful about such things from now on. I will have to inform Albus of what has occurred today, though he has most likely already heard." Severus Said making to stand when he was interrupted by a voice

"May I ask you a question, Sir?" Harry mustered up all the Gryffindor courage h could manage and dove feet first into uncharted territory.

"You may." Severus replied raising an eyebrow

"Why have you been following me?" Harry all but blurted out, readying to be yelled at and thrown out.

"Very astute of you to notice, Mr. Potter, most students would not have. It was actually concerning your summer essay." Snape leaned over and pulled a long parchment from the corner of his desk.

"My essay, Professor? I don't understand. I felt that I had done a rather excellent job." Harry said baffled

"And that was the problem. Mr. Potter, last year your essays were abysmal at best. This essay, however, puts even Ms. Granger's to shame. With such a sudden change, well, it would only be normal to have suspicions about the originality of your work."

"By suspicions you mean-" Harry began stumbling over the sentence.

"Cheating, mostly of the plagiarism variety. The suspicions, however, have all but been extinguished." Severus began to stand. "Let's continue to talk over potions. I'm going to ask you to make the Wolfsbane that you failed to complete in class. Does that sound fair?"

"Yes, Sir." Harry nodded, simply happy that he had been given another chance.

"Very well. Gather the ingredients from the cupboard in the second door on the left and begin. Don't mess it up, you are using my private stock. I heard from the Headmaster that you have been brewing the potion for that flea bitten wolf of yours. As much as it pains me to admit, I would rather you use the higher quality ingredients so that the potion is more effective. I have to pay a visit to the old fool upstairs; I will be back in a bit. I expect a catastrophe free room upon my return. Oh, and I want your glamour removed by the time I have returned as well." Snape said as he grabbed a handful of floo powder and sent himself to the Headmaster's office.

Harry was, to say the least, flabbergasted. Snape had given him a second chance, he was helping Remus with his transformation process, and he was helping him with potions. Harry began to wonder if he hadn't fallen on his head during class, and that this was all just a dream. He pulled the ingredients from the private storage room as the cauldron heated. He took in only a few seconds to marvel at the expansive and impressive collection that his professor possessed. His mind wandering to the fact that, upon Snape's return, he would have to ask the man about what he had seen last night. He couldn't risk not knowing what about his secrecy had been exposed, though he had a good guess. As he carried the potion ingredients to the table he would keep calm the best way he knew how. Harry flicked his wand as instrumental music began to play in the room. Harry began adding potions and stirring as he sang.

"Seems like our love is on a road to nowhere fast
All my life I thought a love like this would last
But every road can hide a corner we can`t see
I had a vision that I woke up by your side
I felt you breathing and our souls were intertwined
But who controls love`s destiny? Not me.

We had it all right in our hands,
We had the space to fly and still a place to land"

Harry followed the rhythm with his every movement and corked a potion setting it on the table near him. He shed his outer cloak off and flung it into the air and sharply flicked his wand as the cloak flew across the room and hung itself on the coat hook hanging from the wall. He continued singing, moving his hands with the music, emphasizing his words. He never noticed or heard the fireplace signal with the arrival of the Potions Master.

So I`m calling out, I`m calling out to the only one
Who can save us from what we`ve done
Don`t leave me hanging on
I`m reaching out and praying you`ll come back again
It`s just darkness I`m living in
And you`re the only place my heart has ever been.

Severus thanked Merlin for small miracles. Harry hadn't noticed him return, which he was thankful for since he could do nothing but stand in awe at the man in front of him. His voice penetrated the air like a knife, demanding to be noticed, but seemed to caress every surface it touched, like velvet. His voice was singing deeper than it had been last night, he could fill it bursting with emotion. He looked on in silence noticing the man's waist-length, silky, black hair move through the air as he moved to the music, his shoulders wide with the confidence that his voice seemed to give him. He was taller, nearly as tall as the potions master himself, he was thin, but he knew that years of toned muscles from playing Quidditch, lay hidden beneath the surface. Harry stirred the pot a few times before removing the sweater vest that the uniforms required; Severus noticed his breath hitch when a sliver of the man's lower back could be seen, peeking out just above the waist on his trousers. Harry straitened the white dress shirt beneath his hands as he rolled up the sleeves revealing a tattoo of a snake wrapping around his wrist, seeming to slither against that smooth tan skin. Severus noted that the man's hands seemed longer, more adult and much less clumsy looking than they had been before. Severus wondered if it was perhaps the elegant gold and emerald ring he was wearing, but he didn't believe it was. He noticed the strong jaw line as the man before him sang. His throat moving beautifully against the still air in the room, moving up and down, forming around the exquisite words the man bellowed. He noticed how he seemed stronger, more powerful, both magnificent and deadly at the same time. Snape saw Harry's face as he hid from the man, he had grown out of the awkward proportions he once had, nothing from his face stood out as awkward. Severus was reminded of a grand tapestry, the strings woven together to create, something on a whole, absolutely flawless and beautiful. That's all that he could think of this new man in front of him as, flawless and beautiful.

Maybe I`m young and in the ways of love naive
Maybe I`m desperate for a reason to believe
There wasn`t any way I thought that we would fall.
I`ve seen perfection in a rainbow in the sky
I`ve seen a child make the coldest grown man cry
But loving you I thought was greater than them all.

We had it all, just you and me
Now there`s a doorway to my heart without a key

Wherever you are right now
Come back and show me how you feel
Because I`m lost without you here

Calling out, I`m calling out to the only one
Who can save us from what we`ve done
Don`t leave me hanging on
And I`m reaching out and praying you`ll come back again
It`s just darkness I`m living in
Cause you`re the only place my heart has ever been.

Harry finished singing and stood stirring his potion as the sound of clapping from behind made him jump. Looking at his professor, he noticed that the clapping was genuine, not mocking as it had once been.

"You've clearly been trained in the art of singing, Mr. Potter." Snape stood foreword approaching Harry's cauldron as he noticed just how sharp the man's facial features had become. But out of all that has changed; his slim neck, his tamed raven locks and even his height, it was his shining emerald eyes that stayed the same, for which Snape was grateful. Snape had trouble remembering when the simple act of looking at someone could take his breath away. He found himself strangely drawn to the man in front of him, drawn to study his every feature, drawn to know who he really was, and drawn to touch every inch.

"I may have taken a few lessons." Harry replied blush rushing to his cheeks as Severus bent down to study the progress of the potion. "How long were you there?" Harry dared to ask.

"Not overly long, I assure you. This potion is coming along remarkably well." Severus looked at the man in front of him sensing nervousness for a reason that Snape could not find.

"Yes, well, I have had a lot of practice, and it is much easier with the higher quality ingredients you allowed me to use." Harry added a few drops of a purple liquid and stirred a few times. "May I ask how much you watched me, or rather, how much you witnessed of last night?"

Severus was taken aback at how direct the question had been, but supposed it was better than skirting around the issue.

"Indeed. I watched you during Quidditch and hoped to catch you on your way back to the castle. I was hoping I could get you to confess to cheating, however, when I didn't see you I headed to the Captain's Office. I saw that the lights were off and I was about to head back towards the castle when I saw and heard someone in the showers whom I did not recognize as a student. I only saw his back so I could not be sure, but I waited outside behind a tree to question the stranger until I saw the text books and robes. I had to keep an eye on the person to make sure that they were not simply a Death Eater in disguise. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that it was you."

Harry was silent as he proceeded to chop a root for the potion. Severus could almost feel the uneasiness coming from the man in front of him.

"I suppose you already know the question I'm going to ask?" Snape saw the man tense and witnessed his back straighten in defiance.

"I can think of several though I can't say I'm thrilled to answer them."

"I will make a deal with you. For every question that is answered to my satisfaction, I will instruct a potion of your choice to brew. You will have my office, my ingredients, and my assistance."

Harry was dumbfounded. Snape was giving him private lessons for simply answering his questions? He would be able to master Varitaserum before the class approached!

"Agreed." Harry said as he handed Snape the ladle to continue stirring as he grabbed a potion from behind him.

I'm SOOO sorry for not having posted in so long. Life has been crazy lately. I made the chapter twice as long as the last one as my way of appologizing, and I'm nearly done with chapter 4, so you wont have to wait long for that. I've also been working on a few other stories that should be up in a bit, so keep an eye out for those. Thank you for reading! Reviews are ALWAYS welcome. Thanks again.

Oh, and the song is not my own of course- It is Josh Groban's "You're The Only Place". I'm on a Josh Groban kick right now. heehee