“You aren’t dumb,” a voice says from behind him. Harry doesn’t turn around, instead focusing on the lake. It’s so hard to sit still even now, but there’s nowhere else he can go that no one will look for him.

“Look at me Mr. Potter,” the voice says again, and Harry sighs. Why won’t they just go away?

“What?” he asks, turning to look at the Potions Master. The man seemed out of place in his heavy black robes, but he didn’t seem as angry as earlier. Earlier when Harry had lost five points for nearly blowing up the classroom because he didn’t pay attention to the directions. Why can’t he ever focus?

“I said,” Snape repeated, moving closer and sitting a little away from Harry, “You aren’t dumb. You are rather intelligent from what I can tell, but you have a marked lack of focus.”

“I can’t help it,” Harry sighed, fiddling with the laces on his trainers. Snape hadn’t yelled at him yet, so that must mean something, right? Looking at the man in black, he saw him absently fiddling with a quill. Where’d that come from?

“I know it’s not your fault Mr. Potter,” Snape said, his voice jolting Harry’s thoughts back on track, “When was the last time you went to the doctor’s? Magical or muggle.”

“Um,” Harry said, biting his bottom lip as he thought. When had he gone last? Had he ever gone? Dudley went to the doctor’s office lots of times, for shots or check-ups or whatever, but freaks don’t need that. Then again, his freakishness was magic, so maybe he’s not a freak, or rather all magical people are freaks.

“Have you ever heard of a muggle disorder called ADHD?” Severus asked, shifting slightly where he sat, turning so he could see Harry better.

“I think,” Harry said, thinking back to when he had hidden from Dudley and his gang in the library, reading to pass the time until it was safe to leave. Reading was the only way he was able to sit still for longer than a few seconds. If the book was interesting, then he’d have trouble tearing himself away.

“ADHD is another name for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” Severus explained, “It’s categorized by…”

“People who can’t focus or sit still,” Harry said, recalling what he had read in one of the books.

“Yes,” said Severus, seemingly ignoring the fact that Harry had talked over him, “They are more impulsive, speak incessantly, and are easily distracted or forgetful.”

“What’s that have to do with me?” Harry asked, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning back against the tree. Can’t sit still…impulsive…can’t focus…”You think I have that don’t you,” Harry said, cutting off what Severus had been planning on saying.

“Yes, I do, however I have no concrete proof,” Severus said, still twirling his quill between his fingers, “You would need to go to a muggle doctor and explain to them, and have an adult explain as well, why you believe that you have this disorder. There are tests to verify this.”

“Why’d you notice?” Harry asked, bringing his legs up to his chest once more. “I only had potions once so far, but I’ve had charms and transfiguration twice, and Professor Flitwick and Professor Mcgonagall didn’t notice.”

“They’re not as familiar with the muggle world as I am,” Severus said, “And they don’t know what to look for; I do.”

“How would you know?” Harry asked. Professor Snape actually did seem to understand him, but how? None of his other teachers had seemed to think there was anything special about him, besides being the boy-who-lived, and that’s supposed to be a good thing. He’s gotten in trouble a bunch of times for fidgeting or not paying attention and talking out of turn. Why’d Snape notice it wasn’t his fault?

“I know because I deal with the same thing myself,” Severus quietly admitted, ignoring the dumbstruck look on Harry’s face, “When I was a child I was diagnosed with ADHD. It explained so much…”

“But you don’t act like that,” Harry blurted out before Snape could finish. He couldn’t believe it; the strict Potions Master had as much trouble as Harry did?

“I don’t?” Severus asked, arching one eyebrow, “Did you not notice that I am never still in class? I’m always sweeping from one end of the class to the other, instructing yes, but also because I simply cannot seem to keep still. I usually have the last word in any conversation, cutting off another before they finish speaking. It’s not to be rude, but I simply think of something I must say. I have a notebook that I use to keep track of all of the assignments that I need to check or that need to be handed in. I think I check my lesson plans more frequently than any other teacher here.”

Harry simply stared. Thinking about it, what Professor Snape was saying did make sense. Even sitting out here now, he’s fidgeting and playing with that quill. He had noticed the black leather-bound notebook on the man’s desk, but hadn’t had the time to ask what it was for. He had heard an argument between Snape and Mcgonagall, and he had seemed to cut her off an awful lot, just like he usually did.

“Seriously?”

“Yes, Mr. Potter, seriously,” said Severus, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth momentarily.

“But how did you get so good with potions? Do the other teachers know? Can you help me stop getting in trouble with them? I try to be good, honest, but I can’t seem to focus on what they want me to. It doesn’t help that the stuff is so easy…”

“I can only answer one question at a time Harry,” Severus said, unconsciously using the boy’s given name and smirking when he blushed at the mild reproach.

“Will you answer?” Harry asked, fixing interested green eyes on equally interested onyx ones. He hadn’t had a conversation with someone for this long in forever. Usually people would get tired of him interrupting or changing the subject and leave.

“None of the others know, this is something I’ve kept to myself. Occlumency helps somewhat, as does the sleeping potions I’ve invented for this purpose, otherwise I would never get to sleep because my mind would never want to rest. And yes, I can try to help you. As I said, occlumency helps, so I would teach you that if you were interested.”

“What’s occlumency? How does it help? Is it hard to learn? Do you know if anyone else has ADHD here? Does anyone know that you have it? Can…”

“Slow down child,” Severus said, actually laughing at the eager expression on Harry’s face. And Minerva was wondering if he was slow? No, Mr. Potter is anything but. If he sets his mind to something, I can tell he will excel at whatever it is he sets his mind to. He’s intelligent, markedly so, but it is hard to see unless you know what to look for. “It is nearly time for dinner. Afterwards, come down to my office and I will attempt to answer all of your questions, and maybe get an answer to a few of my own.”

“Ok Professor,” Harry agreed, watching as his teacher stood and brushed grass off of his robes, tucking the quill into his pocket has he did so. He really had so many questions; he couldn’t wait until after dinner. Snape understands, Harry thought, following his teacher back into the school, he understands that I’m not dumb. Maybe he can make the others see that too.