kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Snape eyed the brat narrowly. That was more like it. He looked anxious now, and he was biting his lip nervously. Obviously Snape's outburst had frightened the little menace. His relatives probably shouted at him quite a lot.

Snape shifted uncomfortably as an unfamiliar feeling of guilt settled in his chest. Harry was much more fragile than the average horrible Hogwarts student. He had to remember that and not be his usual snarky self, lest the brat be reminded of those unnatural Muggles.

"I'm glad to hear that, Mr Potter," he said, his voice still stern but more quiet. "Your welfare is too important for you to treat it casually or place yourself at unnecessary risk. I will not relax my position on this, so unless you wish to spend more afternoons copying lines, writing essays, and nursing a sore backside, I suggest you demonstrate more caution in your daily activities."

It took Harry a few moments to puzzle out all the big words, but once he had, his face lit up with a beaming smile. Professor Snape had just said Harry mattered! He'd said that Harry's health and safety were important. That Harry couldn't just do any old silly thing that might get him hurt, because he was important. That was almost like saying Snape cared. Better almost, because lots of times people said they cared, but they didn't do anything to back it up.

But Snape did more than that. He'd said that if Harry put himself at risk, he, Snape, would stop him. He'd even threatened him with another smacking - not that his light taps actually left Harry with a sore backside, but it was obvious that Professor Snape believed they did. Still, his threat showed how serious he was, because he only used smackings for the most serious misbehavior. Wow тАУ that was almost like saying that nothing was more important than Harry.

Harry blinked. This was a thought so revolutionary that he had to test it.

"Sir?"

"What?" Snape frowned. The boy was still looking pinched around the mouth. What was upsetting him so much? The threat of more swats? The scolding? Had Snape's tone still been too harsh?

"Would you smack me for talking back to you?" Harry asked cautiously. Back talk had always been a major sin in the Dursley household. For Harry, anyway. Dudley was of course permitted to say anything he wanted and to throw tantrums over trivialities.

Snape blinked. What an odd question. What could Potter be up to? He gave the brat his "since you are obviously finding life as a human too challenging, let's see if you are more useful to society as potion ingredients" glare and growled, "No, Mr Potter, though I will ensure through other methods that you are unlikely to engage in that behavior more than once."

Harry thought about that. Maybe talking back wasn't such a big deal here. He'd heard some of the other kids тАУ like Ron тАУ say things to the professors that he would never have said to Uncle Vernon, not unless he wanted his backside to be bruised in all the colors of the rainbow. Maybe he should ask about something else.

"Would you smack me for punching someone? Like Draco, say?" Harry guessed that getting in a fight with a member of Snape's House would be sure to land Harry with the most severe punishment possible.

Snape eyed the boy narrowly. On the one hand he was encouraged that the boy would contemplate striking someone, rather than always being the passive victim that the Dursleys had trained him to be. On the other hand, he wasn't pleased at this sign of pre-adolescent male aggression. And why was the little idiot even asking such a question? Was he actually stupid enough to inform Snape of his plans for future mischief, albeit in this roundabout way? "No, Potter, because the resulting loss of House points and numerous detentions you would receive would adequately demonstrate the folly of your actions."

Harry blinked. Wow. So the professor did think that punching Draco was a lesser sin than putting himself in jeopardy. That was amazing. He knew he should stop, but he felt compelled to push his luck and try one more thing. Surely this would outweigh all other crimes, at least here at a school.

"Wouldn't you smack me forтАж cheating?" Harry barely breathed the last word. He figured that to a teacher, cheating had to be the ultimate sin. After all, besides fighting and cheekiness, what else did students do that made teachers furious beyond words?

The little monster! What was he plotting? Snape reached out and, seizing Harry by the shoulder, dragged him close. "Potter," he said, glaring at the brat, "cheating at Hogwarts is one of the few actions which are dealt with by Professor Dumbledore himself. Do you really want him upset with you?" Harry paled and shook his head violently. "Good." Snape paused. "But to answer your question, no. I would not smack you for that. I have told you repeatedly that you will only be struck for violating my two most important rules, both of which have to do with preserving your safety." He scowled menacingly. "Do you need to copy this statement a few hundred times in order for it to sink into your thick skull?"

"No, sir!" Harry said quickly. His fingers were already sore from gripping the quill for the 200 lines, and he still had another 500 to do. But despite Snape's threat, he couldn't restrain the blinding happiness surging through him. He was right, incredible though it might seem. Snape was in fact saying that Harry's health and welfare were more important to him than anything else.

Considering how often Harry had burnt himself preparing the Dursley's food or hurt himself working in their garden, it was downright strange that Snape put so much emphasis on his wellbeing. The Dursleys had always insisted that everything about Harry, including his health, took a distant second place to their slightest whim. They wouldn't inconvenience themselves even for something of critical importance to Harry, and for most of his life, Harry had just had to accept that Dudley's most trivial desire outweighed his own deepest need. Until now.

Now Professor Snape was standing the world on its head, and saying that the MOST important thing to him was Harry. Harry's health. Harry's safety. And he was willing to back up his words with actions, up to and including a swatting тАУ which he obviously considered a Very Severe Punishment Indeed. The warm feeling inside Harry intensified. Professor Snape very clearly had no idea how to spank a kid. But the fact that he was still willing to give it a try, just to make sure Harry understood how serious Snape was about his staying safe, meant the man was willing to go to a lot of trouble on Harry's behalf тАУ something no one else had ever done for as long as Harry could remember.

Harry wished there was something he could do for Professor Snape to show him how much he appreciated what the professor was doing for him. "Sir?" he said tentatively.

"What is it now, Potter?" Snape demanded in irritation. Why was the brat just standing there, frowning in thought?

And suddenly the little monster had him in a stranglehold. Snape nearly drew his wand before he realized Harry wasn't attacking him. It was a hug тАУ completely incomprehensible given the circumstances. The wretch was in detention; he'd just had to copy the same lengthy sentence 200 mind-numbing times; he'd been threatened with additional punishments, up to and including physical chastisement; and it had been made explicitly clear to him that Snape would cut him no slack, show him no favoritism should he get into trouble. He'd quickly destroyed any hopes the brat might have had that his misdemeanors would be overlooked.

He had finally deduced that Harry was bringing up some typical school-based misbehavior in the hopes that his guardian would promise to use his faculty status to let him off with a warning. Instead Snape had made it clear that Harry would be punished most unpleasantly for even minor transgressions. Why on earth had this prompted a grateful hug?