A/N: Yay finally another update! Sorry folks!
Anyway, hopefully it'll make up for it in the length, I'm also trying to get the story to move along so that the end of school gets closer and Snape can finally meet the family (evil laughter), and Harry can do some rescuing. WOOOT!
And then we shall see where it goes with evil psychotic men, blonde boys, smart girls and the all around fun loving potions master. O.o
Chapter 6
Severus woke up, early morning light spilt under the curtains, steadily creeping closer to where he lay. His joints were stiff, his muscles protesting when he made to sit up and his head aching like he'd had a too wild night out at town. It seemed no matter how old or young the body, a night in the presence of the Dark Lord had the same effects.
Instead of a pleasantly alcohol hazed memory of the night before he was slapped in the face by the memory of the vision, the feel of the snake faced bastard worming its way into his mind, the screaming and the pain.
A small part of his mind reminded him of Harry's worry and the larger, calloused hand holding his own smaller, while another part registered what he had seen, and Lucius' punishment. His mind being practical and not one for flights of fancy latched onto something he could work over and would provide a suitable enough distraction from the thought of Harry.
Draco.
Severus had been working on the boy and his mother for years. He'd decided with Narissa that Draco would not join the Death Eaters, but they had never spoken on pledging the boy to the light side. Severus had made it clear to the boy that a master was still a master, no matter how sweet the candy he offered was, or how bright the twinkle in his eyes.
Lucius of course had agreed, but had kept out of the decision, knowing that if he was to confront his wife about it he'd be put back into line. The man sitting in the boy-who-lived's body smiled to himself, many people saw Lucius as the man in power and his wife a trophy wife. No one, except close friends, knew the true dynamics of the household. Former Ms Black, coming from an extremely powerful aristocratic family knew how to sway those around her, she had set her sights on Lucius since their early school days and ensnared him before they had left school.
He had always been good friends with her. In fact at school Narissa and Lily had almost been like sisters to him, and the two very different girls had formed a friendship which they had kept secret for fear of being ridiculed and broken apart. It had been an odd trio, but it had surprisingly worked.
He glanced at the boy who slept curled up. Severus could see the way the hands, potion stained hands were cupped as if to catch the slow deep breaths of sleep, an innocent gesture which he hadn't displayed since he was a boy. It was odd how the boy seemed to bring a feather light quality to his aged body, he could see himself almost glowing, the limited range of emotions which he controlled with deadly precision were lost as the boy moved swiftly from one emotion to the next, volatile, unpredictable.
Severus mused over the last few days. He had agreed to extra potion lessons not because he was a masochist and enjoyed torturing himself with addle brained students wasting his spare time. But because it annoyed and frustrated him that Potter, the supposed saviour of the wizarding world, was dismal in Potions, mediocre in most other subjects and only partially adequate in the Defence Against the Dark Arts. He didn't know what the headmasters plans were, if the vacant man even had any other plan then to throw the teenage boy into a situation and see how he handled it.
Harry Potter needed help, otherwise Severus would be caught in the grasp of two dictators walking a very thin line which he had almost stumbled off a few times. He was not going to allow his only chance at escaping the two maniacal men simply go off without a living chance in hell, because no one had seen it proper to inform the boy that his golden glow wouldn't help an ounce in defeating the most feared and powerful Dark Lord in history.
He had decided, after the ministry of magic incident almost leaving Black for dead and quiet a few injured, that it would be up to him to bring the boy off his pedestal. It would start with him agreeing to the extra potion lessons, during which he would be able to work on the boy and get him to show a little initiative for his own survival as well as the survival of Britains wizarding population.
The night he had final decided that the voices in the back of his mind had cheered. He would at least shove the boy in the right direction, keeping a few paces behind him in case the trouble that he seemed attracted crept up. He'd pay off James' debt and keep his promise to Lily. He smiled at the memory of the two joking, one afternoon when James had been on an Aruor mission and she had come over with the baby Harry. He had promised to take care of the small baby boy whose small fingers had curled around his thumb when the young one had fallen asleep on his lap.
"Sir?" His thoughts were interrupted and the small smile slipped off his lips as he turned to glare at the boy who inhabited his body. Nostalgia washed through him.
This would all be different if not for that night.
"What is it Potter?" The boy looked away under the glare.
"Nothing."
"Then why open your mouth?" A wave of exhaustion swept through Severus, and he swayed wear he sat.
"I think sir, that you should stay here for the day." Harry was playing with the blanket not looking at him. "I usually…" he paused not daring to look up, which gave Severus a sense of satisfaction. He may be stuck in the childs' body, a small voice protested to the description but he ignored it, yet he still had the touch to produce the fear in others. "You're probably exhausted after last night, especially having to fight him off with Occlumency."
Severus shook his head. The boy was daft.
"I fought no such mind mastering battle with the Dark Lord." Harry looked up at him, shock flashing in Severus' onyx eyes. The older man simply rolled the emerald in return. "The Dark Lord knows about his connection to you, which was how he knew to send the false vision to you which almost resulted in the death of you dogfather." The boy blanched, and Severus continued, what was he to care about the mutt and the boys relationship. "He also consequently knows I have been teaching you Occlumency." The boy blinked as if pieces were falling together.
"Oh… that night." Severus had no idea what the boy was talking about, but he kept the puzzlement for later, instead pulling up a sneer to cover his thoughts.
"Indeed." He was about to continue when the boy let slip a small smile.
"I mean the night about three weeks ago, you were… punished." He shook his head almost in distress. "I would have thought you would have been punished more severely."
Severus felt his eyebrow raise in questioning, but he fought against the body's ease of showing emotions and instead twisted it into a glare. "When one works for two masters spying on each you learn to think on your feet. The punishment was for not informing him about the arrangement, however it was only short due to the fact I wasn't teaching you anything." He'd had a headache by the end of each lesson due to the idiocy of the boy and his inability to grasp or even attempt to grasp the subject matter. "However that was not due to any failing on my part. He seemed pleased that I had 'volunteered' to teach you, as opposed to some other such as Dumbledore. This allowed him some level of control over your ability to control your mind." Harry stared at him blankly.
"Why are you telling me this?" Severus frowned, he could feel the remnants of the mornings headache building. He hated even thinking about Potter and Occlumency in the same instance, the brat was not only hopeless in the art but had the gall to look specifically into the memories he had taken out.
"To explain to you that I can not simply fight off the Dark Lord with Occlumency and win, especially with his knowledge that you possess none of the skill. Not only would that endanger myself but it could endanger you if you were called, leaving me stuck in this body."
"Oh."
"You're unbelievably articulate this morning Mr Potter." The boy ignored him.
"But couldn't you tell the truth. You stopped teaching me…" He paused and Severus was surprised to see a flash of guilt sweep across his features. "and then maybe add a small lie about the headmaster teaching me."
Severus was a little taken back by the guile the boy was presenting, and the quick wit he seemed to possess. The small voice in the back of his mind which sounded a lot like Lily when she got into one of those moods, pointed out that he should have figured out that the boy must be quick to have survived the ordeals he had been forced through, dumb luck and Gryffindor stupidity could only stretch so far.
"It would still not seem plausible if you suddenly gained the experience and strength of a master occlumencist in a matter of days, no matter how good the teacher is." He watched Harry squirm at the way he had twisted the boys words and the concealed threat that lay in it.
"I didn't say you were a bad teacher sir." The boy wouldn't look at him so he couldn't see the incredulous look Snape was giving him, but he did hear the snort, which brought a flush to his cheeks. The boy seemed to be working up to something. "I…" He glanced up, meeting Severus's eyes before looking down and rushing through his words. "I'm sorry I looked into your pensive, and I'm sorry for what Sirius did and I'm sorry for what you went through and I'm sorry no one stopped it, I'm sorry-"
"Potter." Severus was glad he could at least manipulate this voice so far as to give it a sharp snap. "You can not change what happened in the past before you were even born, nor were you at fault for your dogfathers actions or that of his class mates." Harry watched him cautiously, what more did the boy want? "I suppose you want me to forgive you for your curiosity and the need to stick your nose into others private affairs?"
There was deathly silence after the stinging drawl.
Harry wouldn't look at him.
A less harsh voice as Snape mulled over what he was about to say.
"I don't believe I am capable of forgiving you for that just yet." The boy looked up, a small sliver of hope in his eyes. Severus hadn't seen hope flicker through those onyx depths for years, he hadn't held it within his grasp for so long. It surprised him that the boy wanted his forgiveness, that he had even apologised and hadn't told anyone about it. This was just another facet of the many sided boy he was beginning to see. He felt the smugness presented from the voice in the back of his mind, a small 'told you so'. He dismissed it as immature.
"I understand." The boy nodded as if he hadn't revealed anything. Severus simply shook his head.
"Mr Potter!" There was a squawk from the doorway and Severus turned to glare at the nurse who had barged in. "Do you know what time it is? You were to be at the Great Hall by eight! Classes start in fifteen minutes, you have to get ready, have breakfast and get to the dungeons, remembering Severus is never tardy." She turned her glare on the amused Severus. "And you! You should have been up, meeting with Ron and Hermione half an hour ago. Why I-"
"Madame Pomfrey." The boy cut her off before Severus could have his ears boxed. That woman could be a fright.
"Yes?" Her tone was that of one not impressed.
"I… well Professor Snape had a vision last night and I don't think he's well enough to be getting up." Svereus had just finished thanking Potter for his quick thinking so he wouldn't have to face Poppy's wrath before she turned on him with a critical eye taking her wand out.
"Well why didn't you say anything before hand? I put my trust in you that if anything was to occur during the night that you were to call me, and what reward do I get for this trust?" Snape cursed Potter under his breath. He watched the boy get up and attempt to sneak out as Poppy advanced on his still prone form.
"I would have informed you had I been conscious at the time or not screaming my lungs out, believe me Poppy, I would rather have you expert skills than those of an adolescent boys." He drawled and she merely rolled her eyes.
"And where do you think you're going Mr Potter?" She called out just as the boy was about to leave the room. He looked caught between running and facing something horrible.
"er…" Severus watched in amusement as Poppy rounded on the boy. "I'm going to be late?"
"Stand still." The boy looked up, eyes wide, caught as the mediwitch chanted a lengthy spell. "You initials are covered, and I've placed a small charm on you that allows me to monitor your health for the day. If it spikes it will alert me. Come back at the end of the day and I'll run another check on you, if I believe your well enough to be trusted I may remove it." Her threat and her glare sent Harry packing from the room. Severus hid his small smile of amusement when the mediwitch turned back to him.
"Rough night?" The older woman rubbed her eyes tiredly and nodded. Not many knew but she took it upon herself to work at St Mungo's when the hospital wing at Hogwarts was quiet and the assistant mediwitch, Anthony could handle everything by himself. Besides, she was only a Flu call away she reasoned, while her expertise could be used to help others, even save lives in a critical situation.
"Now tell me about this episode. Harry the poor dear doesn't go into much detail, but he has told me about the after effects." She took out a small vile placing it on the desk and another round tub of ointment. "The vile is for the headache and the ointment for the muscles, the boy applies it himself. Says he knows where to apply it and how much pressure to use, however if you would like assistance…" She trailed off as Severus simply gave her a look, before downing the first vile and leaving the ointment where it was. "No I didn't think so, but I would like to do a full check on you. I haven't been able to catch Harry lately. Off with the shirt." Severus stared at her blankly.
"Pardon?"
"Shirt off." She waved her hand impatiently. "I want a full check on Mr Potter." A sudden thought of asking the boys permission flashed through his mind before it was brushed off, this was his body at the moment, he didn't need Potters permission to do anything to it. The small voice snickered, yes it was definitely Lily, only her sense of humour ever sunk that low as he was bombarded with disturbing mental images. It didn't help when he pulled the shirt off over his head, his fingers brushing against his own smooth, hairless torso.
Snatching his hands away, he let them fall limp at his sides as Madame Pomfrey asked him to stand. Pulling himself up, swaying as the woman walked around him tutting, her wand sweeping up and down his chest he tried to stop the black creeping at the edges of his vision.
"Dear me, the boy definitely is malnutritioned, low body weight for his age, hmm that hasn't healed properly." She tapped his chest with the end of her wand. "Now breath in deeply." Severus took in a large breath wondering about the comments that the mediwitch was mumbling under her breath. "Yes, it definitely hasn't healed well."
"May I enquire as to what you are talking about."
"A cracked rib." She mumbled a reply, looking concerned caught in her work. A tap to his wrist. "Straighten your arm." He did as he was told and the wand swept the length of his unblemished exposed arm. "That has been dislocated, not set in place properly." She swept his abdomen and Severus felt the tendrils of magic sweep across the golden skin and he tried not to squirm. "Pants off."
Severus grimaced. This definitely felt wrong, not only was he using Potters body, but he was going to expose it to somebody else. Shrugging he undid the draw string, Madam Pomfrey had probably seen the boy naked on many accounts with the amount of time he spent in the hospital ward.
The pants fell to his ankles and the wand swept up and down his limbs. Snape stared at the ceiling trying to ignore the guilty and slightly embarrassed feeling for himself and for Harry broiling in his stomach as the woman tutted and muttered under her breath.
"Clothes back on and into bed. I'll send a healthy lunch up, the boy doesn't eat enough, and after that we'll see to getting that wrist and those ribs fixed."
Severus pulled up the pants, faster than he should have, the darkness creeping across his vision when he straightened. Grabbing his shirt he collapsed on the bed, crawling under the covers, not bothering to question Poppy about the old injuries, letting the exhaustion pull him under. He spared only a seconds thought for Harry and how the boy would be handling the classes before he was swept away.
Harry crept out of the hospital wing cursing under his breath. Hopefully the mediwitch wouldn't exam him too closely, he knew he wouldn't come off in the best of health, he didn't eat enough and he was sure his wrist hadn't been set properly, but it was hard to reset your own dislocated wrist. He did have a few stories up his sleeve though, just in case she did a check on his body while he wasn't there. Harry frowned stalking down the corridor, he hoped there was no way magic could pick up traces of past injuries.
He glared at a passing gaggle of students who fell silent making way for him, looking to see if anyone was around he tickled the pear and slipped into the kitchen.
"Is Mister Harry Potter wanting anything? Breakfast? Tea?" The house elf had appeared at his feet as soon as he had stepped into the warm room. He looked around quickly to make sure no one else was in the room before he drew in a deep breath of thick air that smelled of freshly made bread.
"Just some toast thanks Dobby. And please, it'd be best for you to call me Professor Snape." Harry smiled down at the house elf who seemed a little stunned for a moment. There was a pause in which the house elf just stared at him.
"Dobby?" Harry called the creatures name and he seemed to snap out of the small trance he had been in. "Are you alright?" The creature shook itself.
"Dobby has never seen sir smile." With those words the creature had disappeared and Harry cursed himself, he shouldn't have been smiling, he should be more cautious. But the kitchen was a small safe haven, which Harry sometimes escaped to when he couldn't sleep or he couldn't face going to the Great Hall, when he just wanted to be Harry. The house elves still doted on him but they were no longer in total awe of his presence. They were amazing creatures, picking up on what he needed as soon as he walked in the door, they understood his need to escape and let him use their home as the place where he could take a break from the outside world.
Before his thoughts could go on a piece of toast on a plate was presented to him, neatly buttered and cut into halves.
"Thanks Dobby." The house elf squeaked bowing low. "I'll have it on the run." He waved good bye to Dobby and the other house elves before slipping out a door behind the ovens and the flour sacks. This was another handy thing about befriending the house elves, they had shown him a few secret tunnels and tracks that led to hidden rooms or made excellent shortcuts.
These tunnels weren't on the marauders map as they had been intentionally kept off the blue prints. They had been created after Hogwarts had been built and the founders had found a need to move around quickly, some doors when opened led to the opposite side of the school, a few even led to the Chamber of Secrets, those doors had small snakes guarding the handles and needed to be talked into letting Harry through. The smell of decaying Basilisk however had driven him straight back out, he hadn't told Hermione about those doors.
He had however spent countless evenings and nights with her exploring the tunnels and doors, she didn't use them as much as she tended to be on time and overly organised, while Harry, although he had become more studious still had trouble organising himself and found himself running late to quite a few classes.
Which is what he found himself doing now, striding down a long hidden corridor he knew let out right beside the dungeons. The long legs carried him faster than his shorter ones so he didn't need to jog, however the closer he got to his destination the slower he seemed to get, he could feel his stomach rolling, his legs shaking and he clenched his fists.
"I can do this." He muttered under his breath swallowing, licking his dry lips as he slipped out the door into an empty room and stalked into the corridor that led to the class room. Turning the corner and stalking into the dungeon, he glared at them, second year Ravenclaws and Slytherins all seated, segregated from one another.
Holy shit, kept repeating, circling around his mind, it definitely didn't help him. What was he doing! He should have spoken to Snape, maybe had a look at some lesson plans. But no, instead he had to be such a Gryffindor and rush in without thinking.
Sure the man had said just put the instructions up on the board and sit back, but which instructions? For what potion?
The twenty odd students stared at him waiting as he glared back.
"Well what are you waiting for? A personal invitation? Open your books to where we left off." Harry could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he gave the class a glare before moving to the desk. He opened a desk draw and fought to keep the grimace off his face at graded papers stained with red ink, he closed it a little too violently and a few students looked up, he merely glared at them until they averted their eyes.
The papers did however give him an idea that could get him through the whole day.
"Today you will have an open book Pop Quiz, in which you are to write a two foot essay on what you have been learnt during this last week." The students looked up from the books. "To be handed in by the end of the class." He received incredulous looks but no one dared to protest, or even let out a groan. Harry smirked, Snape certainly had them well trained.
"Well? Begin." The students scrabbled to get out parchment and ink. Harry spent the next fifteen minutes going through the desk draws looking for some clue as to what he should be teaching instead he found masses of marked and unmarked papers, a draw full of items, some of which were familiar and had been taken from students who had the nerve to bring them into Snapes class room. Dung beetle bombs, small scurrying insects which exploded when they hit their target, charmed quills, sweet ink, Harry dug a little deeper and fought down a blush when he almost pulled out porn magazine. Who on earth would bring that into Snapes class!
After he had exhausted his limited source of entertainment, he decided that perhaps he should stalk around the class a little, breathing down the necks of students. Getting up he slunk between the desks, stopping behind students, reading over their shoulder before moving on. He could feel them tense under his gaze, even the Slytherins, he wondered if it gave Snape a surge of power, almost an aphrodisiac, he could see how it could, but to Harry it just stung right through him, he was someone who was feared even hated, no one truly liked him.
Loneliness, that's what it enforced in him.
No longer able to handle the feeling, he strode back to his desk, sliding into the seat, only then noticing that it was probably one of the most comfortable uncomfortable looking chairs he had ever sat in. Glaring at the class he muttered a Tempus charm under his breath and the small glowing numbers told him that there was still half an hour to go. This was definitely a handy trick learnt from the house elves.
Most people didn't realise how incredibly powerful these creatures were. They were small power boxes of raw magic, Apparating within Hogwarts was said to be impossible, yet they did it many times a day, along with countless amounts of wandless magic.
He had asked them one day if they could teach him a few tricks. They hadn't spoken to him for a week after that, he wasn't sure if they had thought he had insulted them or what, but in the end they had agreed, however Dobby didn't participate in the activity, leaving him in the hands of others.
They had taught him just a few things, how raw energy, material and magic connected. How wands filtered the haphazard ebb and flow of raw magic, binding it into a certain constant strength that could be controlled.
After looking through a few books which discussed the topic and left Harry's head spinning with information that he wasn't sure he had understood, as well as weeks of after dinner or before breakfast theory he was allowed to try a simple Lumos without his wand.
Nothing happened.
He had tried, had focused himself, cleared his mind, ranted and raved, sat silent and still, pulled with in himself, prodded and poked trying to find this well of power that supposedly sat at the core of every being. Nothing had happened, so the house elves had given him a spoon and sent him on his way.
The small silver teaspoon had sat on his desk for a few days as he pondered its meaning, frustrated and annoyed at his inability to even create a spark. The third night he had a dream in which he had defeated Voldemort with the spoon, he had wielded it like a wand, afterwards he had eaten grape jelly and spoken to a giant frog, but what resulted from the dream was Harry waking to promise himself that he would never again eat hummus before bed, and the flashing realisation that he was to use the spoon to focus his magic and raw power. The spoon was a non-magical item that would be incredibly difficult to force magic through, but it would be easier to use as something to focus the raw magic on as opposed to going straight to wandless.
He had gone to ask the house elves the following morning if that was what the spoon was for, and they had simply sat him down with a large breakfast, one which contained all of his favourite foods. He had spent the following days trying to force his magic through the spoon, this caused the house elves however to seem disappointed but they wouldn't say what he was doing wrong.
They were the most frustrating teachers he had ever had, but he had to admit, their technique did make him work for the ability, made him go out and look up information on his own, helped him build his own initiative, only pushing him in the right direction every now and then.
It also made the victory sweeter.
He had taken off the day of spoon practicing to lounge around the Gryffindor common room. Seamus had brought in a DVD player which was one of the newest additions to the wizarding world. Some wizarding company, much to Arthur Weaslye's delight, had begun transferring muggle items into items that ran off magic globes, much like batteries except that they didn't have to be replaced and no wall socket was needed.
The DVD player was much like a projector, except it produced its own screen, depending on the distance and size that it was programmed to. Seamus had explained this all in a rushed excited manner as everyone had gathered around.
It wasn't too much longer before everyone had been seated and the lights were dimmed. Harry had decided at the beginning of the movie that the main character was incredibly hot, Neo. He also realised that if no knowledge of the muggle world or of computer technology was had the movie was a little odd to follow, but it was a good story none the less.
Until the small boy in the apartment held up the spoon.
Everything seemed to click, he had been concentrating so hard on the actual spoon itself, he should be letting the magic flow through it, not forcing it, not trying to make it into something it wasn't.
The rest of the movie was lost on Harry as he sat in the darkness concentrating on his own thoughts as they whirled around and fell into place.
He had run to the kitchen after the movie had finished, picked up the spoon and watched and waited as nothing happened. To say he was disappointed was an understatement, after months almost a year of working at it, when he had finally thought he had had the key to unlocking his wandless magic it had fallen down on him.
He had sat down hard, and stared unseeingly at the spoon and felt everything wash through him. Something snapped inside him and he felt his magic sing through every pore in his body trying to find a way out. A whispered Lumos lit up the whole kitchen and danced silver in the tears of frustration, happiness and relief that streamed down Harry's cheeks and on the grins of the house elves that had gathered, dancing and clapping in joy.
It had taken another few weeks to correct his technique, and refine his ability to call on the magic, then it had taken a month and a half to move from the spoon to complete wandless magic. It had been rather anti-climactic, he had gone through all this work to be able to cast a Lumos without a wand, and even then it was incredibly draining. But as he worked on it, it grew easier and he added a few very simple spells to his arsenal.
"Sir?" He was snapped out of his thoughts and he looked up to glare at a Ravenclaw who sat straight under his gaze.
"Yes?" He asked in a drawl.
"I'm finished sir." He blinked, what was he going to do now?
"Hand me the essay and start reading this weeks agenda." The dirty blonde haired boy looked a little uncomfortable coming up to the desk, escaping as soon as he could, before the parchment had even hit the desk.
Harry glanced at it, incredibly neat hand writing, neatly spaced, and a little longer than two feet. The boy could give Hermione a run for her money.
He drew out a red quill and started reading through the essay. It was good, better than he had ever done in his second year. A few red marks, spelling, at the end he made a few suggestions about small bits of information he didn't realise he had known. At the top he wrote an A.
Now that he had started he decided he'd read a few more unmarked essays that had been left in a large piles in the desk draws. He quite enjoyed reading through some of the parchments, but others were almost excruciating to read. No sentence structure, limited paragraph use, undetectable scrawl, words that looked made up, and this was now fourth year essays. Sentences taken directly out of text books, Harry had to smirk as he crossed out a large section and wrote the extent of the copyright fines the student, Geoffrey Hunt, had gathered under from his essay, it was a section of the same book he had copied out a year ago.
Harry wondered if sections of textbook were used more often then others and how many out of an odd thirty class would actually have that same copied section in their essay. No wonder Snape marked harshly, students didn't give him the credit so he most certainly didn't soften his harsh red scrawl.
Harry was quite enjoying himself writing biting sarcastic comments on his papers, as well as making a few suggestions or spelling corrections on the better essays. By the end of the class he had marked a few papers, and as the students filed out they handed him their papers, as he smirked at them. It was the same for every other class after that until lunch.
At lunch he almost ruined everything, walking towards the Gryffindor table and the empty seat beside Hermione. The cold looks he received from his friends stopped him in time, but as he was already making his way over to the table he couldn't abruptly stop and turn around.
"I see Mr Potter hasn't joined you for lunch. The boy better be in my class at the end of the day, I will have no sympathy for him, if he decides to draw out this farce any longer." With that he spun on his heel and stalked up to the teachers table sliding into the seat that Harry knew was Snapes. It was the seat where he could always feel the dark eyes watching him, boring holes into the back of his neck.
"How are you my dear boy?"
Harry turned to glare at the headmaster. "Much better had I not had to suffer the presence of Mr Potter for the past few days." The headmaster merely smiled and went back to eating his stuffed cabbage. Harry wondered what really went through that mans head sometimes.
After lunch he frightened a few more students, set longer Pop Quizzes and marked the ones he had set in the morning, towards the end of the day he was tempted to set fire to the remaining quizzes, he shouldn't have a allowed open book, as most essays were copied straight out of the texts. He was sure he would know the whole text book off the top of his head by the end of it.
As the second last class filed out Harry glowered at the desk top, he was starting to get a headache, and no matter how many times he stalked around the classroom every time he sat down pins and needles would creep up his left foot.
He had time just enough to let out a groan as he looked at his timetable before the first students started straggling in. Fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins.
"Get out your quills and parchment, I want a five foot essay by the end of the day on what you have learned this last week." His low drawl filled the whole class room as he avoided looking at Hermione and Draco. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the boy looked tired, he wondered if the vision Snape had had was actually true. Sometimes the dark lord when he was over emotional, angry, ecstatic, upset, couldn't hold the control on his mind and would unintentionally send visions, other times he would send extremely violent painful ones just in spite, or fake visions to confuse the hell out of Harry.
Hermiones hand was raised.
"Yes Ms Granger?"
"But we did this just the other day. You still haven't returned them." He glared at her cursing Snape, what was he supposed to do now, no way was he going to tell them to brew a potion that had the potential of leaving them all in the hospital ward and Snape even more enraged by his lab being blow to pieces.
"I haven't returned them because I haven't bothered to mark them. I'm a busy man and I don't waste my time on such dismal excuses of writing." Harry sneered. He heard Ron in the background muttering to Pavarti.
"Busy licking you-know-who's boots."
"Mr Weasley!" Harry snapped. He was furious, not many people knew Snape was a Death Eater in the first war, and no one ever spoke of it now. And for Ron, who knew Snape was a spy for the Order, to be saying such things and to Pavarti as well, someone who knew nothing of the potion masters sacrifices set Harry's teeth on edge. "25 points from Gryffindor and the rest of the weeks detention until summer vacation with Filch I'm sure he will enjoy the company cleaning out your brothers mess. I would also appreciate it if you kept you liaisons outside of my class, and preferably outside of my hearing, I do not need to know of the breading habits of Weasley's, there is evidence enough."
He glared at the fuming Gryffindor students and smirked at the snickering Slytherins. "Well get on with it." He snapped when no one seemed to be getting out their writing utensils. The rest of the class was spent with him pretending to mark essays, as he tried to concentrate on the words that kept blurring. All he could think of was Ron's comment, and with Draco sitting only a few desks away he was forced to deal with another problem, the validity of the vision and what it would mean if it had been true.
It was a long time later, when Harry thought the class couldn't possibly drag any longer that the bell rang and the day was officially over. Students filed out dumping their essays on the desk until only two remained, Draco who was obviously waiting for Hermione to leave and Hermione who didn't want to say anything in front of Draco.
Harry glanced up at them, halfway through crossing out their and putting in there over the mistake.
"Yes?" Hermione shifted glancing at Draco who shrugged, gave a meaningful look to Harry, one which Harry was obviously supposed to understand if he had in fact been Snape, but now left him totally confused and gave a nod in Hermione's direction before brushing past her and out the door. Harry glared at her and his headache double when she produced a 9 foot essay.
"I specifically requested a five foot essay Ms Granger." She ignored his glare.
"Sir, I'd really appreciate it if you at least read Harry's essay from the other day, he worked hard on it and as he wasn't here today to write another one could you at least consider it."
"Whether Mr Potter was here or not is his business, not mine." He went back to marking the essay, guilty over the fact he had gotten Hermione to help work through the said essay with him. He had in fact worked really hard on it, but now it wouldn't matter anyway.
"He's still in the hospital ward sir, and I was wondering if you were feeling alright?" Harry's head snapped up.
"And what business is it of yours?" Panic swelled through him, maybe he hadn't been putting up the Snape act well enough. But he'd snapped and sneered and glared and glowered, stalked and stormed through the hallways frightening students, taking points, what else was he suppose to do?
"You just looked like you were limping or something sir. I just thought maybe last night you were called… Sorry sir." She trailed off backing away a little, she immediately knew she had overstepped the boundary. Harry glared at her, feeling a little upset by the fact that people were afraid to offer Snape comfort. It reinforced the idea that the man had a lonely life, but then Harry had never seen him outside school, perhaps he had plenty of friends and family, however Harry highly doubted it.
"I would appreciate it if you left the room Ms Granger." She was out the door before he could add anything to the low growl.
Pulling himself up he stalked to the headmaster office, taking points, glaring at students and scaring a group of first years. His headache pounding at his temples, the lack of password and the grinning gargoyle fuelled the urge to kick the stone creature, however he knew that he'd be much worse off if he gave into the urge.
"Chuppa Chups." A voice that sound like his own, but laden with exhaustion spat the password out. Harry turned to look down on himself, messy hair, green eyes, glasses and the lightning bolt scar peeking out from behind the bangs. The boy brushed past him, ignoring the glare that Harry sent him and proceeded up the winding stairs.
The door swung open before either could knock and they entered to find the old man sitting unsticking lemon drops from one another and lining them up. He looked up and smiled.
"Melted in my pocket. Now Severus I heard you had a vision last night." The mans twinkling eyes took in both of their visages and Harry wondered what the crazy old man was thinking. Harry tuned out when Snape recounted the vision, going into depth about the torture and the feel of it, the pain lacing through your body as dirty fingers probed your mind.
Harry watched Fawkes, ignoring the look from the headmaster, quiet content in trying not to recall any of the worse tortures where magic wasn't the worst thing that happened. He tried to drown Snape out by humming under his breath, he didn't need to hear the detail, didn't want to hear what happened to him every other night. No one really knew how bad it could get, but now Snape had experienced it, well not one of the worse visions, but now he knew that what Harry told everyone was only the half truth, that the visions were a violation of self, of body, mind, magic.
That nothing could be worse, not even death.
But Harry had kept that to himself, he wasn't one for dramatics, he kept the pain to himself, he needed it to keep him going, needed it to be able to grow stronger, strong enough to defeat the snake faced bastard. Needed it for his guilt, he hadn't been able to stop the attacks, he should have defeated the bastard long ago, people didn't need to suffer, he was the saviour but he wasn't saving them, he was only watching them.
Falling apart.
Falling apart under magic, under pain, under the dark lords; his hands that were everywhere.
"Stop it." Just a whisper. He stared at Fawkes, concentrating on the way the dark red tips of feathers faded into orange, how they shimmered, like flickering flames. There was silence, his voice had stopped talking. It would have been so much easier to ignore if Snape hadn't had his voice, the voice of Harry Potter, only just broken, still a child's voice.
"Harry?" Harry tried to clear his mind like he had been taught, he couldn't look at the headmaster otherwise. Just a little longer, he watched Fawkes bury his head beneath a wing. Harry wish he could hide away as well.
"Yes?" He'd been taught that it was rude not to look at people you were talking to, but he needed to watch Fawkes, needed time, space, couldn't draw back from those memories without cleansing himself first, dislocating himself.
"Is there something you wish to tell me?" Harry turned to face the headmaster, a small smile on his face.
"No sir." The man frowned and Harry saw Snape frown from the corner of his eye, he wondered if he caught a look of concern, or if he was just trying to give himself some hope that maybe, just maybe Snape understood, could help him.
The rest of the meeting went by with Harry answering in monosyllables, he was going to share a place with Snape, because there was no way for them to get into Snapes rooms with Snape being in his body with no control over the extra magic that would be needed for unlocking and changing the numerous wards that even Dumbledore wouldn't want to try and shift.
Harry only truly came back to himself after they had left the headmasters office and he had been led down winding corridors and steep stairs that seemed to go further into an area of the school he had never been.
"Where are we going?" He walked easily beside Snape who had trouble with the shorter legs. The man gave him a quick glance.
"To our rooms , had you been listening you would have known that there is a room made especially for a inter house group or pair. It needs to be activated from here, however we won't be using this way to come and go." Harry frowned.
"What do you mean made especially for? Can't they just magically change the colour scheme?" He received a glare for that comment.
"It is a room, once activated that leads off to a number of separate bedrooms, two in our case, a kitchen, a study, thankfully a lab, and depending on who is opening the door and where they want to go they will either end up in a disused corridor in the dungeons near the Slytherin common room or near the Gryffindor tower."
"Oh." Harry nodded, so a little like the small tunnels and doors he had been exploring.
They came to a dead end, but Snape pulled out his wand and tapped a combination of bricks, the wall before them opened into a luscious living area, stepping in, the wall melted shut behind them. It was nice, deep brown leather armchairs in front of a roaring fire, a stained wooden table and chairs. Snape walked straight through without looking at anything into a room at the back. Harry stood where he had been left, wondering what he should do. He felt something shift in the air around him and heard low chanting. Two doors appeared on either side of the central door that Snape had disappeared into.
Stepping a little further into the room he jumped back in alarm as there was a pop and Dobby appeared in front of him.
"Dobby has come to fetch sirs for dinner or are sirs having dinner here?"
"Here will be excellent, thank you." Harry looked up to find Snape walking with quiet deliberation as if to stop himself from stumbling from exhaustion. He lowered himself gingerly into the chair. Dobby bowed and disappeared.
"Are you alright sir?" The man in the boys body glared at him.
"I'm fine. The rooms are safe to go in, yours is on the right. Do not under any circumstances go into the one on the left." Harry bounded into his room to find a nicely set up ensemble of stained wood, a deep red, his bed spread was less red or maroon then it was a deep wine colour with light gold trimmings, fancy and elegant not the gaudy bright Gryffindor colours that were in his dorm room. All of his belongings were in the draws and cupboards.
There was a bathroom that had another door leading off to it, but it was locked so Harry left it be for the moment. Stepping back into the common room he found Snape staring unseeingly into the fire. Harry had always found that fire had a hypnotic quality to it.
"Why didn't the headmaster magic the rooms?" Obviously the spell Snape had just done had exhausted the already limited magic reserve the man had.
"It has to be done by an occupant." The man didn't look away from the fire.
"Oh."
The rest of the evening was spent in silence apart from the quick appearance of Dobby and their dinner. Harry left the man sitting before the fire and crept back into his room, he decided on a quick shower before bed, tired from the first day of teaching.
He knew he should talk to Snape about this predicament, and the classes he would have to teach tomorrow, as well as Snapes first day as Harry Potter. He wanted to talk about the visions, warn him about them, but he didn't want to think about anything at the moment he was just trying to escape himself and what was happening for tonight. He'd deal with everything tomorrow.
He was halfway through his thoughts, already undressed too busy caught in his own mind when he stepped into the bathroom and saw Snape.
Naked.
The pale scared man in the mirror backed away as Harry backed away. It suddenly registered that the man was him and he almost laughed at his stupidity, but was caught by the light in the mans eyes. He hadn't really seen himself more than once and just before when he had been smiling, it took years off the man.
However his eyes didn't stay on the thin lips too long before trailing down the body, his fingers following the scars his eyes traced.
"Potter!" The voice called through the locked door which Harry had tried to open, he realised it must be joined to Snapes room before he jumped, caught. He felt a flush streak across his cheeks as he tried to keep his hands from touching the smooth pale skin. Letting them fall limply at his sides, he had just gotten to the scar that ran down the mans fat stomach and through the dark trail of hair that crept up from the mans crotch.
"er yes?"
"Hurry up."
"Sure." Harry stepped into the shower, turning on the water so it pelted down onto his back, warmth spearing through him. He quickly soaped up a maroon sponge, not touching the green one that was obviously for the other man. He stared at the soapy suds for a moment before swallowing and quickly and efficiently scrubbing himself clean. His whole body shape felt different and he couldn't help the hands that lingered in certain places, on the very top curve of the buttocks, the flat of his stomach, the three scars that ran parallel just below the mans left nipple, the jaw. Shaking himself, feeling like he was violating Snapes person he rinsed himself off before wet hair fell into his face.
He glanced at the shampoos that had been provided and picked out the least confusing looking one, apple scented. Quickly washing his hair, fingers working his scalp he wondered why Snape didn't wash his hair more often, it felt wonderful. A sudden absurd image flashed trough his mind of when they got their body's back, Harry asking to wash Snapes hair. He could just imagine the curses and hexes thrown his way.
Smiling he quickly got out of the shower, dried, followed through with toiletries and escaped to his room and his bed. He was tired, but couldn't seem to relax, his body tense. He tried shifting a few times, listening to Snape in the shower. The man took a lot longer than he had, and still by the end of it Harry couldn't sleep. Instead he stared at the ceiling in the darkness, trying not to think of anything.
It was morning and he wasn't sure if he'd slept or not.
Getting up in the early morning light coming through the magicked windows he dressed quickly, or as quickly as he could, battling with the many buttons of Severus's robe. He ducked into the bathroom, dragged a comb through his hair, watched how it shimmered in the light, it still looked greasy, but maybe the smoothness was mistaken for grease. He shrugged at himself in the mirror and went into the small kitchen for breakfast. He didn't want to risk the door just yet in case it needed to be magicked.
Grabbing a piece of toast he battled with his hair before find a small note from Snape explaining the use of the door. His hair fell into his eyes again and finally sick of the soft, smooth bangs it had become he rummaged through some of his things in his room searching for the black velvet ribbon Hermione had given him. He hadn't known why she gave it to him, but figured this was a good a purpose as any.
Tying his hair back he eyed himself off in the mirror. Snape certainly looked different with his hair back, a few strands falling over his eyes. Grinning he wondered what Snape would say and if this sudden change in hair style would be noticed by the student population.
He smirked to himself as he opened the door coming out near the Slytherin common rooms and stalked towards the Great Hall.
Of course it would.
A/N: he he hee, see you next update! (sorry it's in another two weeks) Please review, and feel free to ask any questions.