kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Her words, heretical in Hogwarts' hallowed halls, caused a moment of stunned silence.

"Well," Ron finally spoke up, a bit tentatively, "if we're thinkin' of doing stuff outside the Houses, then why don't we have some Quidditch games for people like Draco an' me who aren't on the teams? Yet!" he added hastily.

"You mean like a Quidditch club?" Harry asked around a mouthful of porridge. "I always wondered why Hogwarts doesn't have stuff like that the way they do in Muggle schools. I mean, there must be plenty of people who like to play but who didn't make their House team."

"That's not a bad idea, Weasel," Draco's shining eyes belied his casual tone. "I wouldn't mind forming a team with you. We could ask Zabini too тАУ he plays pretty well."

"An' so do Thomas and Macmillan," Ron added eagerly.

"Since it's our idea, we'll be the first to form a team and we'll be able to get the best players from every House. We'll be sure to win all the games," Draco said smugly.

Flint and Katie exchanged a humorous look at the First Years' plotting. "Maybe then Madame Hooch can use class time to help the people who need tutoring, rather than having to chase after people who already fly very well," Hermione added tartly. She and Neville had, on more than one occasion, shared their frustration with a flying class that was little more than informal Quidditch matches.

"Don't worry, 'Mione. If we put a club together, I'm sure there'd be people who'd be willing to give lessons," Harry offered comfortingly.

She brightened. "Maybe that should be part of the club's activities! We could have a charter andтАж"

"Harry." As the others got caught up in their plans for a Quidditch club, Neville lowered his voice and leaned close to Harry. "Are you really okay? I mean, Professor Snape didn'tтАж Well, he didn't leave bruises, did he?"

Harry looked at Neville's broad, worried face and felt incredibly lucky to have such good friends. "Nah," he reassured the blond boy. "I mean, he whacked me an' all, but it's not that bad. He was really mad though, an' I don't know when he'll let me back in the dorm. I'm on r'striction again and I've got lines an' essays too."

"Well," Neville struggled to find something positive to say, "at least we'll see you when we're helping prepare potion ingredients, right? Once you're off restriction, I mean."

Harry sighed. He hadn't thought of that, but being on restriction meant that he wouldn't be allowed to participate in the cozy ingredient preparation sessions that took place in his guardian's classroom several times a week.

His room in Snape's quarters was brilliant, so leaving the dorm wasn't so bad. And Harry had yet to explore all of his shelves' contents, let alone read all the books, so he didn't really mind not being allowed to hang out in the Common Rooms, but he was going to miss getting together in the dungeons with the others and squishing and peeling and mincing and hearing stories about famous Potion Masters and listening to Snape talk about the different ingredientsтАж "Yeah," he sighed. "I just hope it won't be too long."

Neville patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. He's kind of like my gran. She can get real angry an' scary too, but she doesn't usually stay that way for very long."

--##--

The day passed with surprising ease. Snape was both surprised and amused to see how well-behaved his classes were; obviously his fearsome reputation had been fully restored by the past 24 hours. If it hadn't been for the house elves' cold shoulder, he would have been quite pleased with the state of affairs. Still, by lunchtime, Minerva had thought to pass a cup of coffee to him, and that circumvented the elves' plot quite nicely. As annoyed as they were with him, they weren't about to risk irritating the Deputy Headmistress.

When his last class of the day finished, Snape went to see the Headmaster. "Severus, my boy, it is very good to see you. How are you?" Albus asked, sending a dish of lemon drops floating over to meet him.

Snape dropped into a chair, batting the candies out of his way. "Headmaster, I have decided to have a prize-giving for my NEWTS and OWLS students at the end of this term. Such an event will hopefully motivate the little dunderheads to keep up with their studies over the winter holidays, so that we do not lose valuable class time revising upon their return."

Dumbledore blinked in surprise. Snape had never before embraced positive reinforcement as a teaching method. "That's very thoughtful of you, Severus. It sounds to be an excellent idea."

"I have also decided that it is time for the school and the Ministry to acknowledge the importance of Potions in the curriculum. It is, after all, a prerequisite for a number of careers, including Healers and Aurors."

"Yes, that is so," Albus agreed cautiously, unsure where his Potion Master was going with this.

"Yet despite the integral importance of Potions in their fields, these professions have never once during my time here acknowledged the debt they owe to Hogwarts and to me in transforming ignorant children into accomplished brewers!" Snape leaned forward angrily. "This complete lack of respect must cease! I will expect both professions to send representatives to the prize giving, as a show of appreciation of my efforts and encouragement to the students."

Dumbledore blinked. Where was this coming from? Severus had never before seemed so annoyed about toiling in relative obscurity. Then he caught the man's gaze on his copy of the Daily Prophet's latest edition. Of course! The front page had a large picture of Sirius Black in yet another press conference.

"Sirius does seem to be quite popular," Albus commented gently, nudging the paper towards Severus.

Snape flushed and looked away. "It is of no interest to me if the wizarding world sees fit to fawn upon that degenerate while ignoring others' long years of important service," he declared unconvincingly. "This has nothing to do with Black. Skeeter and her ilk may have seen fit to elevate him to celebrity status but that has everything to do with his wealth and outrageous behavior and nothing to do with his actual value to society."

"Of course not," Dumbledore said soothingly. "Your work here with the children тАУ to say nothing of your courageous service during the war тАУ demonstrates how valuable you are to Hogwarts and the Ministry alike."

"Precisely!" Snape snapped, straightening up. "And that is why I expect you to get St Mungo's and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to send their leaders to Hogwarts for the prize giving in my classes."

"Now, Severus, you know it will be difficult for such people to find the time to come, especially on such short noticeтАж"

"Fine. Then we will hold two prize givings тАУ one at the end of this term and the other at the end of the year. The Aurors can come to one and the Healers to the other," Snape declared. "That will make it hard for them to decline outright."

Dumbledore sighed. Once Severus got an idea, he was like a crup with a bone. "I will do my best, but тАУ"

"Since Madame Bones kindly pointed out that the return of Voldemort is 'nothing to worry about,'" Snape sneered, "I am sure her Aurors are in need of things to do. They can come to this term's prize giving, while the healers at St Mungo's will receive notice as to their expected attendance next term."

Hmmm. That might be best, Albus mused. The head of pediatric injuries at St Mungo's was still rather disgruntled from his tussle with Snape after the Quirrell incident. Allowing additional time before bringing the two into contact again did make sense, Albus decided. And with his old Order connections, the chances were good that he could get at least one or two Aurors to the school, even on short notice. "Very well, Severus, I will contact Madame Bones and issue the invitation, and I will use all of my charm to try to entice her to come," he said, twinkling. "I quite agree that you deserve some recognition for your dedicated service. Shall we have Ms Skeeter back as well?" Perhaps some publicity would soothe the man's injured ego.