kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Harry rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't!"

"Hmf," Snape gave him a skeptical look, but said no more on the subject.

"Pr'fessor?" Harry ventured a moment later.

"Yes?" he replied forbiddingly.

"Are you going to be brewing tonight?" Harry asked over-casually.

Snape sternly suppressed the twitching in his lips. So that's what the brat was after. "Perhaps," he said noncommittally.

Harry trailed one finger against the wall as they walked. "So maybe you'll need some help getting ingredients ready?" he offered, in the same noncommittal tone.

Snape rolled his eyes at the boy's transparency. And worse yet, the brat actually felt that preparing potion ingredients was fun! He liked spending time in the dungeons, and he had gotten into the appalling habit of bringing various Gryffindors down with him. What was Snape supposed to use as punishment if the new first years all wanted to spend time squishing bubotubers and pickling newt eyes? He had been appalled the first time Harry had squealed in delighted horror and awarded the previously onerous task the ultimate pre-teen accolade of "GROSS!"

Now he and Weasley, and even the previously petrified Longbottom, had taken to "dropping by" his lab in the hopes of being able to gut, skin, squish, or mince something. Snape knew gloomily that it was only a question of time before the little know-it-all got wind of it, and once she started insisting on coming, the Ravenclaws would be close behind. Then his snakes would start complaining that he was leaving them out, and the Hufflepuffs would look sad and mope around at their exclusion and then what was he supposed to do to make his detentions the most hated and feared punishment at Hogwarts? He would lose his Evil Bat of the Dungeon reputation, and it was all this brat's fault.

He glared at the little monster. "I'm not sure yet," he snapped.

"Oh." Harry looked disappointed, but he wasn't squelched for long. "Well, maybe we'll come by just to check."

"I will not write you excuses if you miss curfew," Snape threatened, "and if Filch catches you, you'll be scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush."

Harry shrugged dismissively. "Like I haven't done that before. At my relatives, Dudley used to try to make me use the toothbrush afterwards," he remembered, shuddering, and Snape silently vowed that when Harry did get a detention with Filch, he would give the squib very clear instructions on exactly how Harry was to be treated and what he was not to be expected to do.

"You may come by this evening, after you have completed all your homework. I expect you to show me your essays if you appear, so do not waste my time by turning up without them."

Harry sighed. Professor Snape had made good on his threat to tutor him, and he insisted on reviewing Harry's homework at least three days a week. Harry had to admit that the professor had been invaluable in helping him learn how to structure and research an essay, not to mention present his ideas clearly, but he wasn't all that happy having to rewrite his homework several times when Ron and the other kids seemed able to turn in any old thing. He glanced at the professor, wondering if he could risk lodging a protest, but a glance at the stern visage vetoed that idea.

He understood that the extra work now would pay off in the long run, and he had been delighted to learn that the professor considered him clever and had high expectations of him, but he was practically spending as much time with his nose in his books as Granger! Only his classmates' knowledge that Snape was double-checking all his assignments ensured that he had their sympathy, rather than being scorned as a bookworm. Harry had made one muted protest when Snape had insisted he rewrite a Transfiguration essay for the third time, and his professor had given him such an evil look that Harry half-expected to have earned 500 lines of "I will not try to be a dunderhead" тАУ which he'd overheard Snape assigning to one of his Slytherins whose Potions essay had apparently shown signs of insufficient effort. Instead, Snape had done something much, much worse.

He had gotten up, opened the door, and gestured that Harry should leave. "Out, Potter," he had snapped when the boy had merely sat and stared. "If you have the ingratitude to resent the investment of my time, then you are more than welcome to be responsible for your own scholastic endeavors. But Merlin help you if you do not achieve the grades I expect from my ward."

"But тАУ but тАУ " Harry had protested incoherently. A wave of panic surged over him. How could the professor think about kicking him out like this?

Snape's face had softened somewhat at Harry's obvious terror. "I am not evicting you from these quarters, you foolish brat, but I have better ways of spending my time than trying to pound first year concepts into a stubborn skull. If you are uninterested in my help, you may leave my sight. Go study by yourself or with your little friends."

Harry had started to sniffle. "But you said you'd help me," he argued, ignoring the fact that he had, bare moments ago, been longing to escape Snape's study.

Snape had hidden his smirk. Gryffindors тАУ easier to play than a tambourine. "And did you not just indicate you no longer desired my help?" he demanded.

"I didn' mean it," Harry mumbled. "I want to stay."

Snape exhaled gustily. "And here I was looking forward to working on my research." Harry peered up at him pleadingly. "Oh, all right then. Get to work on that essay," Snape grudgingly consented, finding it hard not to snicker as Harry's doleful face was instantly transformed into a beaming smile.

After Harry had finally finished the essay (again), Professor Snape had reluctantly approved it, and then he'd spent nearly an hour showing Harry a totally cool protection spell, "since you have demonstrated that you do тАУ after all тАУ have the necessary maturity to concentrate on such studies." Harry might be a Gryffindor, but even he could identify a reward when one was handed to him, and he had relaxed, knowing that his professor wasn't angry with him any longer. He also had to admit that the thrice-revised essay had gotten an excellent grade and won Harry a rare compliment from Professor McGonagall.

Harry frowned as he thought of that encounter. It hadn't turned out nearly the way he'd expected, but that was how a lot of things went with his Professor. Something he thought was going to be awful turned out to be good for him. He sighed тАУ the professor was probably even right about stuff like vegetables and sweets, as annoying as that might be. "Pr'fessor?" he asked, a thought striking him.

"Mm?" Snape was distracted from thoughts of the day's lesson plan. "What?"

"Are those boys тАУ Jeffreys and the others тАУ going to be at breakfast?"

"No. They have been expelled from the school for their actions and were collected by Aurors last night. Aurors are wizard policemen," he explained, at Harry's blank look.

Harry's eyes grew big. "What? Why?" he asked incredulously. After having each and every school year blighted by the attacks of his cousin and his goons, Harry had never imagined that the four Ravenclaws would be held accountable for their actions.

"They were all too eager to leave, rather than face my wrath," Snape replied dryly. "And I had already made it clear to the Headmaster that I will not tolerate any threats to your safety. If he had not expelled those boys, I would have transferred you to another school, rather than give your attackers another chance at you."

Harry stared at him. He'd never in his life had anyone stand up for him like that. His aunt and uncle naturally assumed that Harry had been the instigator in any conflict with Dudley, and even the teachers quickly came around to their point of view, since Dudley always loudly and tearfully protested his innocence while Harry knew better than to say a word in his own defense. Harry had been rather surprised that the older boys had been whisked away by the Headmaster, but in the post-Battle excitement, he hadn't paid that much attention. But he had never, ever assumed that they would be expelled тАУ and on his account!