Harry made his way to the Potions classroom, and leaned back against the wall to wait for class to start. According to Farley, Snape liked to make everyone wait outside until he let them in, so it was expected for people to wait in the hallway.

As most people were still at breakfast, the hallway was empty, so Harry took the opportunity to down his Wit Sharpening Solution. The potions effects were strange: his memories became sharper and clearer, and he could now easily recall even minute information that he had read about years before. Beyond that, Harry didn't notice anything else.

A few minutes later, Moon arrived, carrying her book-bag and looking at Harry with a sharp expression. "Do you feel better now, Potter, exploding like that in front of the whole school? I would have thought you'd learned by now that Slytherins don't wear their hearts on their sleeves."

Harry frowned and gave her a cold stare. "What he said about Hagrid-"

"Oh, it was tactless, of course, anyone could see that," Moon shrugged. "But the way you responded to it was even worse."

"What was I supposed to do?" Harry asked defensively.

Moon eyed him carefully. "I remember what you said to Malfoy the night of the sorting. You have a sharp tongue, Potter, and everyone saw that. The next time someone does or says something you don't like, use that sharp tongue of yours to get your point across, instead of what you did. You'll gain a lot more respect that way."

Harry eyed her angrily. "Why do you care? It's not like we're actually friends or anything…"

"Yes, I think you've made it clear what your thoughts are on this alliance," Moon replied sharply. "But this alliance is why it matters to me: Now that we're allies, your actions reflect on me, so your little blow up in the Great Hall could do a lot of damage to my reputation in Slytherin, unless I take steps to correct it. That's what I'm doing here, helping you, so I suggest that you get a grip on those emotions of yours, or I may have to reconsider being Allies with you."

Harry glared at her thunderously: so she didn't actually care about him at all, all she cared about was her own image. Harry suddenly found himself wondering why he was tolerating this: the idea of merely having allies in his Housemates turned his stomach. He wanted friends, not allies… people whom he could rely upon, like a family…

"I think we may have to reconsider that alliance anyway," He said coldly. "I find I cannot stomach the idea of just having allies, not friends. To have people at my back that only support me because of what I can offer them, instead of because I could trust them, and that they could trust me, turns my stomach."

Moon frowned. "That would not be wise, Potter. Alienating your allies out of some misplaced idea of desiring friendship… you would make an enemy of me, and of Zabini, and you already have enough enemies."

"Then give me one good reason why I should trust you," Harry challenged. "One. Because otherwise, we're through."

A silence followed, and for a long period of time, Moon examined him critically.

"I placed myself at your feet," Moon replied eventually. "With the trust that one day, you would prove yourself. I have done everything that I can to live up to our agreement; advised you, guided you… all on the hope that one day, you would prove yourself great enough to challenge someone like Dumbledore. I have not asked for anything else, and I have lived up to everything that you have asked… Tell me, is that not worthy of trust?"

Harry frowned, and considered her words… it was true that she hadn't asked for anything beyond their initial bargain. She had agreed to help Harry with his goal, in exchange for joining the alliance between Harry and Zabini… and that was all she had asked for… an alliance with Harry, and she had made good on her word, giving Harry plenty of advice on how to reach his goals.

"It is," Harry replied grudgingly, but he didn't say anything else.

"I understand your desire for friendship," Moon admitted. "But that's not how things work in Slytherin, and you need to learn and adapt to that. Remember, you joined our house out of a desire for greatness, and you need to keep your eye on that goal. If that means changing your ways, you should do that."

"I'm not sure if I can," Harry admitted.

"Then I'll tell you something that my father once told me," Moon replied, before sighing. "My father once said, that when he is with people he doesn't know or trust, he wears a mask."

"Not a literal mask," Moon added at Harry's confused look. "A figurative mask. He masks' his emotions, and keeps them check. He holds his secrets close to his chest, and treats everyone with respect and deference. My father said that you can learn a lot about people with how you treat them, and how they treat you. He chooses to treat people respectfully and deferentially… but it's almost always a mask. The only place he lets his true self be known is at home, with my mother and me. That's what you need to do: In your mind, create a mask to conceal your true self behind, and only reveal it to people you trust."

Harry considered her words: he had never truthfully tried to conceal his emotions before, even at the Dursleys. He had always been brutally upfront and honest with how much he despised them, and they had responded in kind. Perhaps that was the reason why they went to such lengths to make his life miserable. Maybe if he had learned to conceal his true self, his life there would have been a lot easier…

"Ok… so… how would I do that?" Harry asked curiously.

"Think about what kind of persona you want to display to the world," Moon replied quickly. "I advise you do what my father did: treat everyone with deference and respect, and use your sharp tongue if people do or say things you don't like."

"But… wouldn't it seem like I'm kowtowing to everyone?" Harry asked with confusion.

"Of course not," Moon shook her head. "Just treat everyone with basic decency and manners, even your enemies."

She then smiled. "You have no idea how much treating them with respect can get under your enemy's skin, if you do it right."

"Alright, I'll think about it," Harry nodded.

"Good, think about it, then act on it," Moon smiled. "Now, if you want to prevent this alliance from falling apart, you're going to have to apologize to Blaise."

The very suggestion was enough to set Harry's teeth on edge, but he took a deep breath, and focused on calming down. "Why…"

"Because even though he was tactless, he didn't deserve you blowing up at him," Moon pointed out.

"I just…" Harry sighed. "The insinuation that I'd have to worm my way back into my friend's graces… it just rubbed me the wrong way."

"Like I said, tactless," Moon shrugged. "Your apology would have to be public so people understand that our alliance is still strong, so I suggest apologizing when he turns up for Potions class."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine… but he'd better apologize himself as well. Hagrid is my friend, and I'll never stop standing up for him."

"I don't expect you to," Moon shook her head. "I'll go talk to him."

With that, she turned left.

After she had disappeared around a curve, Harry sighed and released a bit of the tension that he had been holding in his shoulders: that conversation had been rough, but Harry felt better overall now that the air had been cleared.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Snape, who was making his way down the hall and towards the potions classroom.

"Mr. Potter, you're here early," Snape commented as he made his way towards the potions classroom door. "Class doesn't start for another 20 minutes."

"Yes, sir," Harry replied carefully, before pausing, uncertain of what else to say.

Snape gave him an unreadable expression, and the silence lingered for a solid half a minute.

"Well, come along then, Potter," Snape said eventually, before unlocking the door.

Surprised, Harry made to follow him into the classroom, and Snape locked the door behind him.

"Sit," Snape said, indicating a desk near the front on the right side of the room.

Harry hastily made to sit at the indicated desk, before opening his bag and getting out his cauldron and other potion making materials.

Snape walked through a door in the side of the room, and due to the silence Harry could hear him putting a key in a lock, before opening a door. Snape then returned to the classroom and got ready for the class himself, setting his staff notes on his desk at the front of the room, and sitting down at the chair.

Snape then proceeded to studiously ignore him, instead pulling out what looked like some essays, a quill, and an ink bottle, before proceeding to mark them down. With nothing better to do, Harry decided to get out his potions book and read up on what they would probably be brewing that day: a simple potion to cure boils.

"Professor, are we doing the boil cure potion today?" Harry eventually worked up the courage to ask.

"Yes, Potter, we are," Snape replied shortly. "You may begin gathering the ingredients if you wish, my store cupboard is open, but don't start brewing until I say so."

Smiling, Harry copied the list of the ingredients he would need on a bit of parchment, then stood up to gather them. A short while later, Harry had all of his ingredients neatly weighted, measured, and arranged in preparation for brewing.

He placed his cauldron on the cooker, and filled it with the water. It seemed that there was some kind of gas valve that was used to heat up the cauldron, but Harry didn't touch it for now.

He looked up to see Snape eyeing his desk. "Are you familiar with potion brewing, Potter?"

"Er, not really?" Harry shrugged. "But I cooked a lot for my relatives, and potion brewing is sort of like cooking, right?"

Snape looked at him for a long moment. "Yes, I suppose Potion brewing is like… 'cooking'… but potion crafting is a very different art…"

Snape trailed off, resuming his work on the papers.

"But what is Potion crafting, sir?" Harry asked with interest.

"If you do well in this class, I will tell you," Snape drawled with disinterest. "Be patient, Potter."

Harry nodded, and went back to reading his book…

It seemed that whatever animosity that Snape felt towards him had cooled somewhat… and to Harry's surprise, he found himself looking forward to this class.

Now all he had to do was not make a fool of himself, and he'd be fine…

Hopefully.

Review Replies:

Gryffindorforever4242: Love it!

Author: Thanks!

Wrixel: Thank you for interesting story.

Author: You're welcome!

james. : Thanks for the chapter. :) Would Spane notice the wit sharpening potion effects as a potions master?

Author: no, largely because the effects arn't obvious. Also, Snape has other things to occupy his attention, which you will see in future chapters.