I do not own anything. I'm just translating. The characters belong to the great J.K. Rowling. The story belongs to the amazing Brigi. Her e-mail: tbwtpbe et hotmail .com
Please review! Thanks.
THE BOY WITH THE PIERCING BLUE EYES
Chapter 22 – Excitements and difficulties
"Don't just swing that sword around Harry!" Remus said in the Great Hall during Fencing on a Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm…trying…" Harry murmured while wiping his sweaty brow furiously.
His feet felt like two stone pillars and the muscles in his inner tights strained from the training. When he raised his arm to thrust the sword he felt pain and had to stop. With his left hand rubbing the aching right arm, he began from the starting position.
"Step…step…" He whispered. "Step, swish, jab… step back… forward again…."
"No, no!" Remus approached him.
The boy's hand shook with the sword.
"If it's that bad then why don't you show me how to do it?" He muttered to himself. And how he waited to start these lessons first… It's been one and a half hours since he tried to follow the instructions to his best abilities, but according to his teacher he didn't do anything right. He was so mad he wished the class ended already and he could practice Professor Flitwick's NEWT level charms instead…
Severus entered the building and made his way towards his room when he noticed the Fencing practice in the Great Hall. He stopped at the door curiously and looked at the students.
Malfoy seemed bored but still had to follow Remus' instructions. But when the professor wasn't around he started dueling with Nott who was just as good as him. The Patil-twins were especially skillful; Remus praised them a lot and often asked them to demonstrate the new moves he intended to teach them. Hermione also improved after she began practicing with Ron. Lavender Brown was avoiding Harry after what happened during Potions and was practicing with the Hufflepuff Hannah. Seamus…
"Hello, Severus." A cheeky female voice said behind him.
The man turned back and saw the approaching Rowena. With her red miniskirt, black high-heeled boots and strapped top she looked like a real diva.
Severus looked at her and smiled.
"You look pretty." The woman said before him.
"I was about to say something like that too…" He said with a smile and raised eyebrows.
The woman kissed his cheek happily.
"You went out? You don't look like a Hogwarts professor in these clothes… or did I miss the latest fashion?"
"Ah, this." Snape looked at himself. Under his mantle he wore sea-blue trousers and a black coat. He shrugged with a smile. "Harry ruined my last clean robes so I had to wear these…"
"You look very young…" The woman winked. "And I've heard about the incident. Do you have a new wand yet?"
"Don't say a word." Severus looked at her with feigned rigor then looked up. "To think I had the old one for ten years…"
Rowena smiled quietly then grabbed his arm and dragged him into the Great Hall.
"Let's see how they are practicing"
"Harry's not really good at this…"
"Remus has been complaining about him a lot lately… It seems he doesn't have the talent to do this…"
"The fact that the sword of Gryffindor appeared before him doesn't necessarily mean that he can use it…"
"Everyone believes in him and that makes him uncomfortable when he makes mistakes."
They both looked at Remus when he cried out critically.
"That's not how you should stand!" Remus folded his arms.
"Everything… hurts…" The boy tried to sound polite. "It's no wonder… I can't pay attention to how I'm standing…"
"Your muscles hurt because you're not in the right position. Like this…" He stepped behind the boy and pulled his shoulders back.
Harry, however, cried out loudly because of the rough movement. He stepped away angrily.
"It's not going to work this way." Lupin shook his head in disappointment.
"Why?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why is it so important to learn these stupid moves?"
"I don't think I understand you." Remus blinked.
"You're not using these steps while dueling anyway. 'Oh…'" He began theatrically. "'dear opponent, could we use this and that move while dueling?' You just swing the sword around… it's unnecessary to learn these! It's like the movies!" He growled angrily making a few students chuckle.
"First, Harry…" Lupin began quietly in a reproaching manner. "I ask you not to make fun of my lesson. Five points from Gryffindor. Second, whether you believe it or not… these are not pointless movements. If you don't know the basics you won't stand a chance in a real duel. You won't be able to know from the tiniest movements your opponent make what he is about to do… where to dodge… how to use the situation to your advantage. Third, if you really think that I will teach you that senseless thing you see in pirate movies you are gravely mistaken and should not waste my time…"
Harry paled, threw the sword away and stormed out of the room.
Remus, however, stayed serious and encouraged the others to practice.
Harry, being ready with showering before the others, was sulking in the club room. How he wanted to smoke now. If only Remus hadn't destroyed them… He was swinging his legs angrily and drumming with his fingers frantically on the chair.
"Harry?" Ginny leaned to him from his side. "Is everything all right? I thought you still had Fencing…"
"I left earlier… Remus practically chased me away."
"How so?"
"I don't… want to talk about this right now." Harry hissed.
"As you wish…"
"Lavender wouldn't even look at me since Monday even though she knows we didn't set her on fire intentionally. And Dean is behaving strangely lately…"
"That… might be because of me…"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you remember? Last year on the train… I told you that Dean and I might go out."
"Oh, yeah…" Harry remembered and was happy to change the topic.
"And I was serious about that… I was waiting for him to make a move during the holiday… even wrote him a letter… But he didn't answer. Not even that he was not interested in me anymore… Nothing. I didn't understand, but it hurt me… Then Graham came and I quickly forgot about the whole thing… Now that we came back I found him looking at me strangely but he never came to me to talk about it. But I think it irritates him that we spend so much time together… I think that's why he acts like that towards you…"
"Then I think I should talk to him before he misunderstands…"
"I can do that… if you want me to…"
"No, no, I'll handle it…"
"You look really tired…" The girl stroked his hair.
"I am. This week is terrible. If I fail at the Potions exam on Friday… I don't know what I'll do…"
The others made their way back to the common room. Harry sighed angrily and Ginny patted his arm comfortingly.
"Harry!" Hermione hurried to them. "Why did you run off? You could have stayed… Remus just pointed out your mistakes…"
"Yeah, just so he could show the whole class how stupid I am?"
"Come on, Harry, he said that just to help you. Anyway…" The girl shook her head. "He asked me to give you this. He wasn't in a good mood."
She passed a hastily-written parchment to the boy.
Dear Harry!
After your insolent behavior I decided that a little detention will give you enough time to think about how you should have behaved. Clean the corridor on the fifth floor from H. Hugo's statue.
Remus
Harry's hands began to tremble. This detention was unfair.
"What is it?" His friend asked curiously.
"Nothing! I got detention!"
"Well…" Hermione said quietly. "You deserve it a little… you shouldn't have thrown your sword away like that…"
"Really? I deserve it? You really think that?" Harry shouted making all the students look at him.
"You weren't following the instructions at all… he had to help you all the time. If you'd pay more attention…"
"What?" Harry laughed sarcastically.
"She is right, Harry!" Ron added.
"So everything I'm doing is wrong!" Harry laughed and shrugged. "You're joking! I work with twice as much effort as you two and Lupin can only see my mistakes! And he never scolds you in front of the whole school when you're just playing around waiting for the lesson to end!"
"This is not true, Harry!" Hermione snapped.
"Like hell not! I always hear you laughing! It must be good laughing at the one scolded by the teacher!"
"We didn't laugh at you, Harry!" Ron got angry. "So just shut up!"
"Or what? What will the dear prefect do then? You can take me to Filch to see me yelled at again!"
"Stop it!" Hermione screamed.
"I've had enough of you!" Harry said then ran up to his room and changed into his worn Muggle clothes but he didn't care about how he looked. These are better than dirtying his clean robes. The boy ran back down where half of the students were still silent after what just happened.
"Harry, you're not wearing robes!" Hermione said sternly.
"Fuck the robes!" The boy shouted and left.
His legs were practically begging for some rest but Harry just ran and ran… He was so angry… the cleaning might give him some release. But when he saw how long the corridor was, he paled. He crumpled Remus' letter and threw it over the railing. Harry swore and the stone walls echoed for a long time.
He was sitting on the floor leaning on the wall and enjoying its coolness. He eyed the cupboard that held the cleaning supplies but he couldn't make himself to get the mop and the bucket.
"I want to go home…" He whispered.
When Peeves glided along the corridor not paying any attention to him he sighed and stood up. With the bucket in hand he made his way towards the bathroom to fill it with water but when he lifted it the pain caused him the drop it making half of the water end on the floor. After trying to ease the pain he lifted the bucket again. It was easier now because half of the water was gone, but near the end of the corridor he only had strength to pull it on the floor. Wiping his forehead he began scrubbing the floor. The dirty water and the rubbing made his hands red and he could barely hold the brush. Even after changing the water the blisters on his hands ached. He threw the brush away and sat on the ground feeling like Cinderella.
Then he remembered a movie he saw at the Dursleys. The maids tied the brushes to their feet and dance on the floor while making it clean. It sounded like fun… He put the brushes into the water then tied them to his shoes and moved like he was skating. He pushed himself from the wall and skidded through the corridor realizing how funny this was. He tried different things while shouting.
"Who's there?" Mr. Filch yelled. "Peeves… is that you again? Potter!"
"Leave him, Mr. Filch. He's on detention!" Remus spoke gently from the other end of the corridor.
"Professor… well… Okay, but Potter, stop yelling!" The caretaker said angrily then left.
Harry watched the teacher silently while he made his way toward the boy.
"I see it was not the best detention to give you…"
Harry didn't say anything just turned his head away when Lupin reached him.
"You seem to enjoy this more than Fencing…"
"People don't like doing things when their effort isn't appreciated."
"I didn't see you putting much effort into practicing. Seeing you like this now…"
"Muggles are clever; they know how to make work fun and easier." Harry said while wiping his forehead.
"But you're not a Muggle."
"But I am. I live like a Muggle, I act like a Muggle, I feel like a Muggle when I'm not here… I'd rather be with them now."
"With your girlfriend?"
"With my girlfriend."
"Look, Harry. Your place is here. You have duties and responsibilities."
"You don't have to constantly repeat it. I know. I won't tolerate you treating me like that in front of everyone when I don't deserve it. You ignore all my effort. You yell at me about being stupid while everyone sits down when you're not looking. Malfoy starts dueling with Nott, Ron and Hermione plays around and the Patil twins start chatting with the girls from Hufflepuff every time you turn away.
"I see you had time to observe everyone instead of practicing."
"It's not hard to see…"
"It's not typical of you to betray your friends like that."
"So I should just wait for the lovely prefects, Ron and Hermione, to go down to tell McGonagall that I talked back to them? Poor babies." Harry said without any pity.
"They already did that."
"See." The boy smiled sarcastically. "In the end I'll turn out to be a Seer… I should take Divination more seriously."
"That's enough, Harry!" Remus grabbed his arm.
"Let go of me!" The boy stepped back massaging his arm. It hurt where Lupin touched him.
"Potter!" McGonagall's voice could be heard from the other end of the corridor. "There you are." The professor's face clearly shown that she wasn't in a good mood.
"I heard you misbehaved during class and with your fellow students."
Harry did not answer just looked at the woman.
"Well? Do you have any excuse?"
"No."
"Well then, I have to take twenty points from Gryffindor for your insolence."
The boy stayed silent making the woman a little embarrassed.
"Take learning seriously Potter, and I don't want to hear anything like this again. And… wear robes. This is a school."
"Did you need this?" Remus asked quietly.
"I'll get the points back on the next Quidditch match, don't worry."
"You won't if I banned you from playing."
"No…" Harry whispered with anger in his eyes. "You can't do that…!"
Remus turned away.
"Take Fencing seriously, Harry. It's important that you learn it…"
"Why… You never used this. No one would know you can do this had the sword not appear before me this summer. And I could protect myself while I had the sword of Gryffindor even without your oh so difficult moves."
"Maybe because you have the talent just can't follow my instructions. Professor Dumbledore also wants you to learn it."
"Sorry, but I can't do any better. Either you accept this or I fail the subject. And now… forgive me, but I still have to clean the corridor."
Remus was gone by the time he finished.
"Wow, you're really dirty, Harry!" Neville looked at him.
"Yeah. I was on detention." Harry began to take off his clothes.
Throwing them on a chair he stood in the shower and let the water flow on him. The warm water soothed his skin like Marie's touch always did…
Weird noises made him slip out of his calm state. All the boys who had been changing, drying or showering ran to the bath in the middle of the bathroom and jumped into the water.
"Hey, Neville, what's hap…" Harry asked but realized that his friend was no longer in the cabin next to his.
"Harry, Harry!" The boys pointed to the ceiling. "Watch out! A girl ghost!"
Harry looked up and saw Moaning Myrtle giggling there.
"That's just Myrtle, guys! She does that a lot so keep your eyes open."
And he went back to showering in a much better mood. He watched the others as they reluctantly came out of the bath and tried to cover their bodies while dressing up. Many of them ran into the cabins, but Myrtle laughed because she could see through those too. That made most of them leave.
Harry dried himself and dressed then waved to the girl, making the other boys startled, and left.
Somehow he had a feeling that everyone's going to talk about him so he didn't want to go back to the common room but curfew was approaching so he had to. Luckily neither Ron, nor Hermione was there… they are probably patrolling on the corridors. On his way up he gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek and went to sleep.
His friends avoided his gaze and didn't even talk to him unless necessary.
Harry was still exhausted so he tried resting a lot while reading his Potions books. He wanted to pass that test; a new teacher would just make his life harder.
"Harry, can you pass me the ketchup?" Dennis Creevey asked during lunch.
"Huh? Sure!" Harry pushed the bowl closer.
"Put that book down! It's not polite to read while eating!" Vicky complained.
Harry sighed and put the book back into his bag then began eating with both his hands. His two former friends were sitting across from him but couldn't see them before because of the book. They became aware of their cover disappearing and began eating quickly with their heads bowed. Harry was a little offended because he didn't like being ignore but his pride wouldn't let him say anything. After finishing eating he took a photo out of his pocket and looked at it sadly. He wanted to talk to Marie so much or send a letter. But he couldn't use an owl. That would be weird.
His lethargic mood stayed with him thorough the morning and he could only hope that it will improve during the Quidditch training. He moved his limbs a little before sitting on his broom. After some warming-up they agreed to play a match, this time with the Snitch out too. When the golden ball flew up he immediately followed after. It was somewhat harder to follow the little ball, and staying on the broom proved to be a difficult task too. He heard buzzing in his ear and though it was the wind first, but later his head began to hurt making his vision blurry. The world started to move around him so he slowed down a little then cold sweat appeared on his face, his muscled ached again. He lost his balance and fell off of his Firebolt.
The girls sitting down there watching them screamed, the Slythering students laughed at him while Rowena and Remus paled upon seeing the falling body.
Harry didn't seem to do anything to slow down his fall so Ginny threw the Quaffle away and flew towards the boy.
"Harry!" She screamed with the other members. "Harry, what's wrong? Answer me!"
He was very close to the ground. She grabbed the back of his robes but the boy was falling so fast he dragged the girl with him.
Ginny tried to drag them toward the sand and they fell while rolling to reduce some of the pain.
The spectators ran towards them. Harry moved a little and tried to stand on all fours but threw up immediately. He sprawled helplessly on the ground and the voices around him becoming more and more subdued then faded all together…
He opened his eyes and could only see blurry spots then recognized Madame Pomfrey's voice.
"Why was Potter even on the Quidditch field?" She snapped. "It's a miracle he could stay on the broom for this long!"
"What's wrong with him, Poppy?" Rowena asked anxiously.
"Can't you see it? He's exhausted and he groans painfully every time someone touches him. I haven't seen a muscle stain like this in years! His whole system is weak…. that's why he fainted!" She said while cleaning the bruises on Ginny's forehead. "Has anything like this ever happen?" She turned to the other members of the team but they just shook their heads. "Has anything happened recently that caused him to undergo such great physical effort? Are all your trainings this tiring?" She looked at them. They were still in shock.
Remus paled.
"Yesterday… during Fencing… he said that everything hurt…"
"He should decide which to do, because if things go like this… he will ruin his health." The woman said indignantly.
Severus burst into the hospital wing.
"Again…?" He asked but didn't want to alert the other students. Rowena shook her head but looked at him pointedly.
Snape looked at the pale boy on the bed.
"But… Harry's really strong…" Ron tried. "He said that he worked during summer… And we already had trainings. He's not weak."
"We know that, Ron." The woman put her hand on his shoulder. "But Harry was very sick and had high fever for a long time. It may have weakened his body."
"But…" Hermione squealed but Madame Pomfrey raised her hand.
"Out! The patient needs rest. It'd be best to let him stay here for a week. That way he could slee…"
"I can't…" Harry said weakly. "Tomorrow… there's an exam…"
"You'll take that later." The woman frowned. "Your health is more important."
"But this is an important exam." Harry whined, making everyone pity him.
However, Severus just smiled.
"I'll get better… right?"
"But, Harry, you won't be able to prepare…"
"I've already done that, Ron… If I sleep tonight… from now until the exam… I'll be better, right?"
They all looked at the medi-witch.
"I promise to sleep now if you wake me up in time tomorrow… so I can take that exam… please…"
"Professor! This is outrageous! Potter isn't here to do the test again. He has more time to prepare!" Pansy Parkinson snapped on the day of the exam.
"First, Miss. Parkinson, I don't remember Potter getting out of an exam before. And I hate to tell you that your anger isn't appropriate, because Potter… is right here." He looked towards the door where Harry was standing. He was still very pale.
The Slytherins looked at him with the usual disgust but his other classmates were awed and happy. Ron and Hermione looked a little worried. Harry couldn't figure out if they were happy to see him or still angry at him, but that didn't matter at the moment.
He felt really confident that day, and during the long sleep he had beautiful dreams. One was about him as a baby and his parents. They were playing with him, laughing, hugging, kissing him. Then he dreamt about Marie, kissing and making love with her. He was disappointed that it was over but the next one was great too. The dream took place in the Burrow with the Weasley family. All of them were there. Even Percy. They were dancing and singing…
Harry looked at Neville who was waiting for him with a huge smile. He motioned with his eyes to the table in front of them. It was empty. Parvati and Lavender found a new place to work, so the boys were right in front of Snape. The professor looked at them, watching Harry for a moment, then smiled slightly. He stepped to his desk and took a bunch of parchments.
"This is your task for today. You can't use any tool and the ingredients are on the shelves."
Some of them paled when they saw what was on the parchment, but Hermione smiled. It was obvious that she knew the recipe by heart.
"Those who got a perfect OWL and are already in my group can look at this as a little practice. We will learn potions as difficult as this one. You can start now!"
"Well, Ron?" Hermione asked. "How did it go?"
"It was a disaster… How come even Neville is better than me?" The boy grumbled.
"It must be because he is sitting next to Harry." Lavender snapped when she passed by them with her friends.
Ron and Hermione smiled. Lavender was still angry at the two boys…
Harry threw his bag over his shoulder slowly while he was leaving the room with Seamus and the others.
"I'm sure I won't pass." The blond boy said. "But it's okay…"
"What about you?" Neville asked.
"I think I did well." Harry smiled a little and hoped that Neville will also be in Snape's class. He was so good lately…
"Very good." The boy nodded then whispered. "I saw that the mist coming out of Malfoy's cauldron was not yellow but green, so I think he won't make it…"
"That'd be good… At least we could get rid of him…"
They reached the two prefects. Harry turned his head away sadly and made his way towards the Great Hall.
"Where are you going, Harry?" Hermione asked quickly.
"To eat…" He said slowly, not turning back. "I'm very hungry…"
"Are you sure you don't need us to…"
But Harry was too far to hear her.
The Great Hall was full of students. Many of them came here to study when the common rooms were too noisy and others were having a little snack or tea. Harry plopped down at the Gryffindor table and reached for the fruits feebly. While he was wiping his apple with a clean cloth he glanced towards the teacher's table and saw Lupin watching him with guilt written all over his face. Harry turned away and bit into his fruit.
His parents and Sirius were sitting next to him. Lily was stroking his messy hair while the men watched him.
"Hi Harry!" A girl greeted him.
"Hi Cho!" He smiled weakly.
"I heard that… you got sick during training."
"I was very tired…"
"Oh… Yeah… But… we'll chase that owl together on Monday, right?"
"Of course!"
"I can't wait!" The girl shouted while running out of the Great Hall.
Severus was sitting in the staff room, working. A lot of vials with potions stood before him. They were separated into two groups. One with a label 'practice', the other with 'exam' on them. The man took a sample from the last vial and dropped some on a rose pedal. It became black then turned into a fine white powder. He was shocked but wrote the grade on the parchment and lazily stretched out on the table.
"You look depressed." Rowena said while putting a cup of tea in front of him. "This'll make you feel better."
"I am depressed." Severus responded feebly. "I quit! Longbottom got an 'O'…"
His colleagues smiled at the complaint, but Severus only held his long hair while sighing.
"I've had enough…" He began. "I'm fed up with owls, drawings, the harassment… Students sabotaging my lessons… Potter setting his classmate on fire… and the third year Gryffindors throwing up after tasting the potions… Then Longbotton wrote an Outstanding and even my wand broke…"
Most of them smiled at his unusual monologue then sipped at their tea, but McGonagall came up behind him.
"Don't worry, Severus. It'll get better. The young colleagues often experience such crises. I felt like this while I was teaching you." She looked at Remus who smiled in embarrassment.
Snape looked up, encouraged by the comforting words. Rowena was standing next to him smiling.
"I'm everything just not a young colleague…" The man sighed sadly.
"Compared to me…" Professor Flitwick said. "You're all painfully young. You have your whole life ahead of you, Severus. So many opportunities! Travel!" He looked up. Rowena and Snape smiled. "Make a family!" That caused their smiles to fall. Severus paled and the light left his eyes. His expression hardened. Rowena looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder while whispering. "It's okay… don't worry about it… He doesn't know…"
"Yeah, I remember my holy Milly, what a love that was! All our kids are grownups!"
Even McGonagall looked nervous glancing between the tiny professor and the saddening Snape. The situation was so weird. Remus however thought that this is the perfect opportunity to figure out something about Snape's past. While he was listening to Flitwick's speech, he watched the man's painful reactions. Can what Sirius said be true? Severus really has or had a family…?
Harry, as promised to Madame Pomfrey, spent the weekend in bed. He was sitting in the Gryffindor tower with a blanket, several books and parchments. When Seamus left the room he shivered and told Harry that it was terrible to see him studying indoors when the weather was so nice. However, Harry wanted to finish his homework and the essay he had to write as a punishment for Snape. But he often fell asleep due to being tired and weak. Ron and Hermione still weren't speaking with him but he could tell by their faces that they wanted to change that. So he decided not to give up, because he didn't feel responsible for the conflict that emerged between them.
The two prefects quietly came to the room once but found him sleeping. Guilt and pity appeared on Hermione's face when she saw how much the boy had to learn. She felt it unfair that she reprimanded him for not studying. Now she saw how much time he spends with his studies. When she saw the book Harry was holding in his sleep she felt all anger leave her. It was the 'Fencing for beginners' book.
Monday morning came again. The first day of the week never seemed to bring anything enjoyable, but the students brightened when the four Seekers appeared in their Quidditch robes. Few of them smiled while the others became excited, but not many of them knew the reason why they came dressed like that. The four of them sat down, and while Draco's arrogant face attracted the attention of all Slytherins, Harry just smiled mysteriously.
"Owls!" Someone yelled from the Ravenclaw table and all eyes looked up.
Harry grabbed his Firebolt and put on of his legs on the bench to push himself up if needed. Stebbins was ready to fly up and Cho was looking at the birds flying near Professor Snape. Draco sent a provocative look toward Harry.
"As you wish, Malfoy!" He decided.
A barn owl descended steeply towards Snape.
"Harry!" Cho shouted.
"Now!"
The four Seekers flew up attracting the attention of all the students. They all went toward the poor bird that just dropped a package in front of Snape. The man stood up and caught the letter while searching for any kind of characteristic on the owl. He found a big white patch on its belly with a brown spot in it and tried to memories it while watching the four flying students.
Cho, taking advantage of her slim and small body, maneuvered between the owls while Stebbins hit a lot of them. Draco tried to attack from above while Harry cut off the escape route from below. Cho reached out and touched the bird's feathers when it realized the danger and wanted to change direction, hitting the girl on her stomach. Cho grabbed it and tried to get out of the owls, but Draco pushed her broom like he was fighting for the Snitch. With his left hand he reached out and took the bird from the girl's hand. Cho screamed and hit one of the flags and fell off. Fortunately she didn't fall from high because she hit Stebbins and they landed together… on the Hufflepuff table.
"Malfoy!" Harry shouted angrily.
The boy laughed triumphantly and held up the bird, but it cut him with its sharp claws on his face, neck and hand. Draco screamed, loosened his grip and the bird flew away. Harry followed it without a second thought and cut the escape route before the owl could fly out of the window. The boy took his robes off and caught the bird with it. The poor animal struggled some more, then surrendered.
The four Seekers and Snape was again standing in the headmaster's office. But now they all had scratches with feathers in their hair. Professor Snape looked at them with a small smile. The bird was trembling on the desk.
"I have to admit you successfully completed the task." The headmaster begun. "I will reward all the houses with five points…"
"Just five?" Draco snapped. "We risked ourselves to…"
"When I see more cooperation between the houses… I might give more points, Draco. And now… you may go."
Malfoy stormed out, while Cho followed the ashamed Stebbins. Harry looked at them but didn't leave.
"Considering that…" He sighed with a small smile. "…I know the situation… and was the primary suspect… May I stay… please?"
"You can stay, Harry… If Professor Snape doesn't mind it."
"I don't mind."
"Can I ask… what arrived in the envelope?"
"I didn't open it." The professor mumbled, still holding the package in his hands.
He anxiously opened the seal, but no parchments were in it. Instead, a long black lock of hair with a red ribbon fell on the table…
That's it for today.
The reviews I got made me so happy that I started working immediately and was done with half of it in no time. It is true that reviews make the writers work faster… It feels so good when someone appreciates your work. So thank you.
The answers to those reviews are in the chapter called 'SURPRISE NEW'. I changed it to help.
See you next Sunday… or earlier if I get some nice reviews.
Bye
Hermina
P.S.: Next chapter… the mystery about the person harassing Snape revealed…