Harry stood rooted to the spot in Snape's office, as the potions master paced behind his desk with a worrying agitation. Pushing his clammy hands into his robes, he once again cursed his stupidity.
How could he have been such a moron?
His feet shuffled of their own accord as Snape turned to look at him, opened his mouth, and then jammed it tightly shut once more.
It wasn't meant to go off.
It definitely wasn't meant to explode.
But that wasn't the main thing that was making his heart pound, and a cold sweat break out in the midst of his wild fringe.
Oh no.
It was the blaring, neon Zonko's joke shop packaging that lay in all its glory on his teachers desk. Harry was generally a quick thinker, but every lie he was tempted to tell died a death in his throat as Snape's pacing became even more and more erratic.
But then…it stopped.
And Snape began to speak.
And Harry began to miss the silent pacing.
"Potter…" he murmured in his velvety tones, "I am going to ask you a question now…and for you're the sake of your life you are going to tell me the truth. Is that clear?"
The wild mop of hair became more wild as the kid nodded his head reluctantly with a murmured "yes sir."
Returning the nod slowly, Severus willed every muscle in his body to stop twitching.
He forced himself to calm down.
"Did you go to Hogsmeade last weekend?"
There it was.
The question.
Harry's whirred and creaked under the protesting pressure of the answer he knew he would be forced to give. Whilst Dumbledore always seemed to know what he was thinking before even he knew, Snape wasn't far of the level of his headmaster's omniscience.
If he lied, he would know.
…and that would be…unfortunate.
Gulping, the young seeker resolved to tell the truth.
"Yes sir" he all but whispered, wondering briefly if it was possible to die by murderous stare.
Because if it was…he was in danger of his young life.
Snape's nostrils flailed and expanded with the predictable answer. Thoughts of Sirius Black invaded his mind, the danger the young man in front of him had placed himself in…the sacrifice he had carelessly juggled.
"I see" he eventually answered, "and…how, may I ask, did you manage this feat? I know very well Potter, that you are not permitted to breathe the oxygen that serves Hogsmeade. Am I right?"
The almost pleasant tones of his least favourite teacher made Harry want to bolt from the room, bolt from the universe.
Instead, he found himself offering a miserable "yes professor."
The curtain of black hair swung with the jerky nodding of its owner, as Snape strove once more to remain in control of himself.
"Explain" he spat furiously, leaning over his desk to better glare at the young man in front of him.
Harry's shuffling skyrocketed as he once again bore witness to the awful conundrum of knowing that the truth was inevitable, but also knowing that the truth was a death sentence.
Oh well.
He'd had…thirteen long years on the planet.
Time to say goodbye.
"Secret tunnel sir…" he croaked out slowly, "you know…the one eye-d witch passage…it, uhh…well it leads to Honeydukes…"
Silence once again reigned supreme, as Snape's pale complexion went through an alarming rigour of changing colours.
"You…you snuck out of this castle through a secret passage into a sweet shop? Is that what you're telling me?" he eventually growled the hairs on the back of his neck standing with a rage he worked hard to keep under wraps.
The squirming of his young student surged once more.
"…yes sir" he mumbled, a blush creeping on his face.
Snape's breathing took on a ragged quality.
"I was under the…impression Potter, that the situation with Sirius Black had been explained to you? Am I wrong in that impression?"
The horrified look dawning over…her son's face had an alarming impact on his heartstrings.
What heartstrings?
He blinked.
He was supposed to be enraged…not…not sympathetic.
This situation was really getting out of hand.
Before he could open his mouth to bark for an answer, he was getting one.
A babbling one.
A one he didn't like.
The more the kid rambled on, the angrier and angrier he got.
But…not at him.
He stared without seeing, through a red mist, as Harry continued to stutter and stammer out an apology infused with explanations, and pleadings not to be sent to Dumbledore.
When his voice tapered off, and his gaze dropped to his shoes, Snape's mind seemed to rise out of the foggy mist.
"What did you say?" he eventually whispered in a deathly dangerous tone, "what did you just say Potter?"
The alarmed look on the boy's face was lost to him in that moment, as the sickening rage continued to spread throughout his entire being.
"…that….that I'm sorry sir and it'll never happen again?" Harry repeated weakly, cursing once more being caught by Snape of all people.
At least with McGonagall if she killed him, he would at least have a decent burial.
With Snape…no one would ever even find his body.
He gulped once more as his teacher shook his head slowly.
"No Potter…not that part, the part where you said you know you shouldn't have done it…because Professor Lupin had already warned you never to do it again?"
The silence that tore through the room was like some sort of bizarre, quiet tornado as student and teacher stared at each other wordlessly, with the student part of the equation fighting the urge to rip his own tongue from his mouth and stomp on it.
"Uhh…erm, no" he gabbled "what I meant…what I meant was…"
He couldn't tell Snape about the map.
Ever.
He'd already said too much.
A million times over.
He didn't even consciously tell Snape that Lupin had caught him before. He'd just gotten so tongue tied in his explanations…that it had just slipped out.
He closed his bright eyes in dismay.
"Potter…" Snape snarled, "did Professor Lupin know about you using that secret passage? A yes or no answer, right this second, or we go to the Headmaster."
The eyes clenched tighter still.
"Sir…it wasn't like that…it just…it just."
A hand was held up.
"Yes or no Potter?"
Gulping and casting around futilely for some middle ground to that question, Harry faltered.
There was no way out.
It was either now, or be dragged up to Dumbledore's office which would get Lupin in a lot of trouble.
Raw guilt spread throughout the young man as he choked on his own words.
"Yes" he gritted out through clenched teeth, "but it was my fault. You can't blame him."
Snape shook his head in disbelief.
Lupin had known…and had made no effort to seal of that passage? Had made no effort to speak to Dumbledore? Had let the kid off free and merry to risk his life?"
His heavy cloak practically vibrated with rage.
Closing his eyes briefly, he regained composure of himself born with the familiarity of an extensive experience in emotion control.
"You have just bought yourself detention, with me, for two weeks Potter. You are also completely confined to the castle, with no grounds for a month. Also, no quidditch and no activities of any kind for a month. Is that clear?"
The horrified gaping only increased as the next words were uttered.
"…and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor. I will speak to you later to arrange your detentions, now, get out of my sight and get to class."
The quiet tornado was back.
Harry shook his head furiously.
"Sir…no, please…you can't-"
The hand was held up once more.
"You are not, nor will you ever be, in a position to tell me what I can and cannot do Potter. You can count yourself lucky you're not being suspended, which you will be, if you do not go to class now."
He waited silently with a patience he never knew he possessed as the kid stood mutinously for a moment, before grabbing his bag and storming from his office.
"Unbelievable" Snape muttered under his breath, as he too, without a second's hesitation, stormed from the room.
Making his way with a gate that would put athletes to shame along the corridors, his mind spun with the recent revelations.
Students scattered in the halls as he swept passed with a look of utter fury on his face. With the speed he was taking, it wasn't long before he was careering into the comfortable staff room.
Barging in with a force that was quite alarming, he side stepped the door as it rebounded off the wall with a snap.
Seeing the subject of his ire perched serenely in his usual spot, he let out a snarl. He crossed the otherwise empty room in two strides, and within another nanosecond, Remus Lupin was pinned against the wall by the pin of his collar.
The gurgling sounds of indignation mixed with shock were drowned out by the roaring words that fell from Snape's mouth.
"You knew" he all but screeched into his colleagues face, "…you knew what he was doing…and you…did nothing?"
He paused to suck in another deep breath, to continue his shouting match.
…but he never got the chance.
The two men, foe and foe, were suddenly and forcibly jerked apart.
Remus was dragged by his naval in one direction, and Snape in the other.
Gasping for breath and fighting the pangs of shock, both men scrambled to their feet, heads swivelling for the unexpected interruption.
When they saw the cause, their hearts dropped.
Standing in the doorway, Albus Dumbledore arched a silver brow, raised wand in hand.
"…gentlemen? My office, if you please, now."
…
TBC
…
A/N: This fic has been rattling around my head for a while, so I've decided to go with it.
In answer to the guest reviewer, I have no intention of writing spanking scenes with Harry/Kids in it. I never have, and I never will. I don't condone it, so fret not! (I totally understand your reservations btw, and I share them) The only people who will be written into those kind of scenes will be…well I'll let you all guess!
Thanks for reading guys!