Harry bent over to pick up the last cauldron, dipping his hand in the soapy water for the last time. That's when everything went wrong. His vision blurred and min blanked out. His tired shaking arms gave in and the cauldron fell from his hands. His other hand was still holding the wet sponge, emerging it in the bucket. It toppled over when he fell face forward on the cold stone floor of the potion's classroom. Water spilled everywhere, soaking the unconscious boy's clothes. The clatter of the bucket and cauldron and the sploshing of the water caused the door at the corner of the room to bang open.
Severus entered the small comfy room with something to look forward to. He knew it was wrong, but he loved to make life miserable for a certain Gryffindor in his class. And it did not help that the boy looked exactly like his childhood bully. Besides, he lived a royal life with his relatives. Severus thought of it as doing the boy a favor by showing him the hardships of the real world. Or so he thought.
He sunk down into the dark blue sofa and placed the paper gingerly on the table in front of him.
He flourished his quill and began reading through the essay. To his growing surprise and astonishment, the essay was excellent, something he would have written during his school days! Unable to comprehend his last thought, Severus read through the essay again.
Something was wrong, missing. Where were the mistakes and the barely comprehensible sentences and the T he was about to give the essay? And more importantly, if the brat was capable of doing work like this, why were all of his other assignments so pathetic?
Severus Snape was confused, and Severus Snape did not like to be confused.
That was when the clatter and racket outside caught his attention and he cursed under his breath. He got up, opening the door with a simple flick of his wand. "Stupid Potter! What has he done now? Can't he even clean cauldrons properly? Well, what is to be expected considering he had probably not even lifted his finger-" Severus stopped in his tracks and it took some time to process the sight in front of him.
In an instant he was beside the young boy's side.