kbinnz - Harry's New Home

He smiled at her. "I'm fine, Professor. Hey, Neville тАУ maybe you want to come along too?"

Longbottom choked and paled. "What? Why?"

"You can see my room тАУ it's brilliant тАУ and I'm going to ask Professor Snape to let me brew with him. Maybe if you come, you'll get some tips to help you in class."

McGonagall was staring at him with her mouth agape. "You тАУ what тАУ but тАУ Severus тАУ eh?"

She stared after the boys as they climbed through the portrait, Harry still enthusiastically trying to convince Neville. She had started the conversation feeling quite anxious about how Harry was faring with Severus. But now, witnessing Harry's behavior, she found herself rather more worried about how this new situation was going to affect Snape. Poor Severus! She suspected he had no idea what he was in forтАж

TBCтАж

*Chapter 11*: Chapter 11

Breakfast the next morning began as the usual Saturday morning meal, early in the new school term. The Gryffindor table was unusually quiet, thanks to the absence of the Weasley clan, but the excited buzzing at the Slytherin table more than made up for it. As Snape had predicted, the school Owlry had seen a great deal of use over the last few days, as the revelation over Harry Potter's new guardianship made its way through the Slytherin parents' grapevine. Dumbledore had been slightly surprised that the news had not yet been blazoned across the Daily Prophet (or even the Quibbler) but Snape had expected no less. Slytherin parents тАУ like their offspring тАУ tended to think long and hard about the effects of their actions, rather than leaping before they looked. Those who (like the Malfoys) had been Voldemort supporters were doubtless wondering if Snape's actions were part of some elaborate Death Eater plot, carried out under the Headmaster's nose. Those who had opposed the Dark Lord, openly or otherwise, were equally unlikely to speak up and betray their allegiances until and unless it would be to their advantage.

Snape was under no illusion that if the news had been leaked to Gryffindors, he, Dumbledore, and McGonagall would doubtless have been submerged in Howlers and reporters as an apoplectic Wizarding world demanded to know how a Slytherin, let alone a former Death Eater, could be entrusted with the welfare of The Boy Who Lived. While he was certain that that day would come, until then, Snape was determined to enjoy a peaceful breakfast.

At least that had been his plan.

He was a trifle late that morning, thanks to two sixth year Hufflepuffs who had mistaken the quiet corridor near his quarters (his quarters! Really!) for a good place for an early morning snog. Having decidedly disabused them of that notion, Snape was in an unexpectedly good mood. He wondered idly if he had been likely to cause them long-termтАж performance... issues, having interrupted them at a particularly awkward moment, but decided anything that acted as a check on rampaging adolescent hormones could only be a good thing.

He noted that the rest of the staff had already taken their seats and were passing around the food platters as he claimed the sole remaining chair. It happened to be by Albus, and he greeted the headmaster with his usual formality. He then turned to his right to wish Minerva a good morning, only to find her staring at him with an expression of utter shock.

"What?" he asked, instantly assuming that one of the little monsters had managed to hit him with an appearance-altering hex, though with the Weasley twins back at the Burrow, he'd be hard pressed to name the next most likely suspect.

"You тАУ you тАУ " The elderly witch seemed incapable of speech.

Snape looked past her, hoping the other faculty would be more coherent. Pomona Sprout had frozen in the act of spooning scrambled eggs on her plate, and the contents of the serving spoon had ended up in her lap. She had yet to notice, her eyes being fixed on Severus' countenance.

"Filius тАУ" Snape began hopefully. Flitwick looked up from his omelet with a smile, lost both his smile and his balance as his eyes met Snape's, and fell off his elevated chair with a squeak.

Now more unnerved than he cared to admit, Snape turned to his left. Albus continued to eat calmly, but he was twinkling madly at his plate. Beyond him, Hagrid had missed his mouth entirely and stuck a forkful of bacon into his beard. He too stared at Snape in astonishment, as did Madame Hooch beside him. Quirrell for once appeared to be too surprised even to twitch and stammer, while beyond him Trelawney let out a shriek. "It's a sign! A sign of the apocalypse!"

Naturally, this captured the students' attention, and they all looked at the staff table to see what had unhinged their loony Divination teacher even more than usual. One by one, conversations around the Hall petered out, as all eyes turned to Snape and widened.

"Albus!" Snape hissed, fighting down an almost overwhelming urge to flee. "What on earth is going on?"

"I have no idea, my dear boy," the elderly wizard said politely, clearly lying through his teeth. "Would you like some marmalade?"

"Minerva!" Snape was ready to slap the witch if that's what it took to get the dazed expression off her face. "What in Merlin's name is the matter with you?"

"Severus," she tried to speak, failed, swallowed hard, and tried again. "You тАУ you lookтАж"

"What?" he demanded, clenching his hands into fists to prevent himself from trying to feel his own face.

"Your hair тАУ" Filius gasped, clambering to his feet, "it's тАУ I mean тАУ it's тАУ"

"Gorgeous!" blurted Pomona Sprout.

"What?" Of all the adjectives Snape was expecting, that wasn't one of them.

"What did you do? It's soтАж long. And s-silky," Pomona gasped. Snape stared at her. Were they all under some odd form of Imperius?

"Severus, you look quiteтАж different," Minerva finally gulped. "Rather тАУ erm тАУ "

"Sexy!" one of the fifth year Ravenclaws squealed to her neighbor. "I never realized he's so hot!"

Snape paled as this seemed to open the floodgates. To his intense horror, in the ensuing babble, he even overheard some fifth year Gryffindors arguing over whether his "tall, dark, and handsome" look proved that he was actually "intense and brooding" rather than "unfair and malevolent". Most of the boys in the Hall were looking either bewildered or furious, though Snape did spot more than one (including several he had not expected) eyeing him with frank speculation.

"Severus, have you been under a disillusionment charm all this time?" Filius demanded, still gaping at him.

"All that lovely, lovely hair and heightтАжWhy, you look rather like Sirius Black did in his last year here!" Hooch squawked with тАУ unsurprisingly тАУ a complete lack of tact. Even worse, she trailed off dreamily, "Makes a girl just want to climb up your body and run her hands down your..."

Panicked, Snape hissed at the flying instructor (who was his senior by more than three decades), "Sweet Merlin, woman! Get a hold of yourself!"

"Oh, I think I'll have to," Hooch replied meaningfully.

Snape blushed тАУ something he would have sworn he had forgotten how to do тАУ and sputtered incoherently. Finally deciding that his youngest faculty member had been tortured enough, the Headmaster cleared his throat. "If a mere change in shampoo can cause such an uproar, I shudder to think what all of you will do if Severus ever decides to augment his wardrobe," he said reprovingly.

"Just a change in shampoo?" Minerva said wonderingly. She absently raised a hand and would have stroked Severus' locks if he hadn't jerked his head away with a wordless growl.

"McGonagall! You're making a fool of yourself!" he snarled, feeling as hunted as the time the Marauders had trapped him in a fifth floor lavatory. Between the students and his colleagues, Snape was beginning to feel like a Snitch at the Quidditch World Cup.