Harry scratched his head. He glanced around the dimly lit classroom, his eyes staying on nothing for more than a few seconds. His leg bounced; his fingers tapped against his knees. And it was still ten minutes before class. The minutes were passing painfully slow now. Harry wasn’t sure if he could handle the silence much longer. He just wanted it to start, to do something, instead of this constant waiting and wondering and worrying about the near future – mainly Potions class.

Today had been a school day unlike any other. It’d been strange to be woken up by an adult, besides the noisy rapping and shrilling voice of his Aunt Petunia. Instead, Snape had opened the bedroom door, knocked on the doorframe, and told him to get up. While such an event should’ve been a normal daily occurrence, it had been something Harry had taken note of. Thus, he’d gotten up far earlier than he ever had on a Monday. Breakfast had been quick, inside Snape’s quarters. Then, together – obviously – they came to the Potions classroom a half hour before Snape’s first class.

The first ten minutes had been interesting, since Harry simply sat down at a table in the back of the classroom – the man declined any offers of help. Then, Harry watched as Snape set everything up in preparation for the lesson, his eyes taking in every detail. But there hadn’t been too much to see and, afterwards, the man sat behind his desk and began grading, what looked like, some essays.

Thus, with nothing to watch, the minutes began to crawl.

Harry’s mind had nothing to think on but the talk he had with Snape the previous day. One very important thing came to mind: Snape had been closer to his mother than anyone else.

He knew more about Lily Potter née Evans than Sirius or Remus or any of the other professors.

This made Snape the man to go to – if Harry wanted to learn anything about her, he would have to go to Snape. Unfortunately, the man was more possessive of such information than house elves with their cleaning. The key was trying to pry that information out of Snape in the first place. If the man wasn’t receptive or in the mood, it would be nigh impossible.

But, luckily, Snape seemed to respond to good behavior. If Harry could just keep his mouth shut and act like the perfect teenager – yes, that was an oxymoron – then, maybe, just maybe, Snape might tell him a few things about her.

Harry was going to have to pull on his knowledge from the Dursleys for this. If he could keep his mouth shut with Uncle Vernon, he could definitely do it with Snape – Snape wasn’t anywhere near as bad as his uncle.

Today’s class were the fourth years, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and it would be the first time Harry attended a class without his friends, either Ron or Hermione. He wasn’t sure what to expect, to be honest. In the end, he felt rather strange and alone, sitting here in the back of the class. He knew the younger students would give him weird looks and, by lunchtime, the rumors of him being in a class younger than his year would be across the school at the speed of wildfire. His biggest worry, however, was more on how Snape would treat him during the class.

Harry was bracing himself for the worse, though. If he could take the man’s snark during the weekend, he could take it here.

“Hello, Harry Potter,” said a gentle, ethereal voice. “I hope you are well this morning.”

Harry jerked up, surprised to hear someone talking. Luna Lovegood was standing next to his desk. She had a vague, yet nearly cheery smile on her features. Bright red radishes hung at her ears and she was still wearing that bottle cap necklace he’d seen her wearing on the train.

“Uh, good morning, Luna.”

“It is, isn’t it?” said Luna, now smiling more. She motioned to the seat next to him. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“Uh, not at all,” said Harry, quickly moving his bag to the floor. As Luna sat down, Harry let out a low sigh. Maybe class wouldn’t be so bad now. The pair of them fell into silence.

“How was your weekend?” asked Luna.

“It was…” Eventful… “All right, it was all right. Nothing big, you know…”

There was a soft snort at the desk. Harry glanced up, his mouth slowly dropping. Snape didn’t look up, but still continued writing at his desk, the feather quill flicking back and forth. At a tap on his arm, Harry glanced back at Luna.

“The Blibbering Humdingers say otherwise, Harry Potter,” whispered Luna, her bright silver grey eyes glittering with some strange knowledge. Harry repeated the name in his head, going over the words and trying to figure out what on earth a Blibbering Humdinger could be. For some reason, Minster Fudge came to mind. “They say you need to stay close to Professor Snape or else all will be lost.”

That definitely sounded a bit dramatic – oi, hang on, how did she know that?

“Don’t worry, though. With Professor Snape on your side, you can’t go wrong. He always has his students in mind.”

She had to be in her own little world. That was the only explanation for the strange behavior and for the strange things this girl was saying. Somehow, though, Harry didn’t find it too weird. Yeah, she was an odd one, but her presence was enjoyable. She was, after all, one of the few students who didn’t look at him with calculated expressions, as if trying to figure out whether or not he was what the Daily Prophet said he was.

“I believe you, by the way,” said Luna, as afterthought.

“A–about what?” asked Harry.

“About He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and that he killed Cedric Diggory, and that you fought him, and that he’s back – I believe you. So does Father. We support you and Dumbledore.”

Those words seemed to take Harry’s breath away. It took him a long moment to inhale. To hear someone, other than Ron and Hermione, so openly say they supported him was the most heartening thing he could receive. With so many people against him, just one person believing him made all the difference in the world. He fumbled for a moment, his mouth opening and closing, as he tried to find the right words.

“Thanks,” murmured Harry; this was the best he could do. Luna nodded. There were a few, soft moments of silence. Harry couldn’t decide if they were awkward or not.

“How is living with Professor Snape?” asked Luna, finally.

“Uh…” Harry chanced another glance at Snape. The man didn’t act as if he had heard. Harry lowered his voice, whispering, “It’s all right. He’s decent… at least.”

“Why are you whispering?” said Luna, her voice at an even volume. Harry winced, his eyes flicking back to the man’s desk.

“Uh… So, Snape can’t hear us. You were whispering, too.”

“Oh, but Professor Snape has supersonic hearing,” said Luna, as if she were informing him of already known knowledge. “Whispering is useless.”

Harry blinked. “What?”

“It’s the bat ancestry,” said Luna, even more conspiratorially.

Whoa, she did not just say that.

Did she just say that?!

“And there’s something more,” whispered Luna, her voice taking on an element of secrecy. Harry could only figure she was whispering for effect and not for functionality. She smiled. “Very few know this and Father wrote an article about it. But in respect for Professor Snape, he decided not to print it.”

Harry honestly had no idea what this girl was talking about, but he decided to let her keep talking. She seemed to be enjoying it, in the very least.

“Professor Severus Snape is really an alias.”

For who, Batman?

“He’s really Alan Rickman in disguise.”

Harry opened his mouth, then closed it, feeling completely off guard once again. After a moment, he said, dumbfounded, “Who?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” said Luna, her silver grey eyes lighting with gentle amusement. “Alan Rickman is that decidedly handsome Muggle actor. Haven’t you seen him before?”

“I, uh, don’t see many movies…”

“Oh, well, he’s very famous in the Muggle world,” said Luna, her voice ever so airy and light. She continued to smile and nod. “For some reason he prefers to teach Potions every year, even when he is so well off. He’s just so dedicated to his students and to his true passion. He must have some very busy summers.” Luna sighed softly. “He’s such a nice man.”

Well, that was that: Harry was one hundred and fifty percent lost.

“Uh… Right…” said Harry, barely managing that.

Was she really talking about the same man? Harry couldn’t tell if she were joking or not. But she had such a serious expression on her face. It was just as ridiculous as that Quibbler article about Sirius being Stubby Boardman.

And the most shocking thing about it all was Snape didn’t say a single word! He sat at his desk, never moving an inch or giving the slightest reaction whatsoever to Luna’s wild imaginations – although Harry could’ve sworn he saw a tug on the man’s lips. Oh, there was no doubt in Harry’s mind, the man could hear every word she was saying. And he still did nothing about it!

Now the silence that fell between him and Luna felt awkward – at least to Harry. Luna was smiling evermore.

After a moment, Snape stood from his desk. Harry watched warily as the man put his papers aside, took a glance at an old clock on the wall, and then walked through the line of tables before coming to stand in front of them. Harry gulped.

“Good morning, Professor Snape,” said Luna, her airy voice bright and cheerful, as if seeing the professor made her day. “Did you have a good weekend?”

“It was interesting, thank you, Miss Lovegood,” said Snape, nodding to her. “I hope yours was good as well.”

“Oh, it was, thank you for asking.”

Snape and Luna exchanging pleasantries? What, in Merlin’s name, is going on here? Did I miss something?

“Good, good. Do you have your essay this morning?”

“I did,” said Luna, her smile fading faintly. “I finished it last night. I am very proud of that essay. But I’m afraid when I woke this morning, the Nargles had stolen it away. They are rather mischievous little thieves. I’m sure they wouldn’t have stolen it if they had only known how important it was to me.”

Harry stilled, petrified, waiting for the explosion that was sure to follow. He was positive Snape would yell at the girl. Heck, even he thought her tale was a poor excuse to say ‘I forgot’ or ‘I didn’t do it.’

However, Harry nearly bowled over to the floor in shock when no such reaction came from Snape.

Snape inhaled, letting out a soft breath. “This is the third time since the beginning of the school year. Have you tried some protections amongst your things?”

Luna nodded slowly. “Oh, yes. But they’re exceptionally pesky this year.”

It was a side to Snape that Harry hadn’t ever imagined could exist. The man seemed to soften, if only a margin – but for Snape, it made all the difference in the world.

“Stay after class, please. If you can write a decent essay within the ten minutes before your next class, I’ll give you a full grade.”

Luna nodded again, her face bright with her smile. “Thank you, Professor. I shall do my best.”

Snape inclined his head in response. Harry had no time to recover from his shock: the door of the classroom opened and students began to enter. Some spoke with their friends, their voices in low murmurs – but, unlike the Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth year class, Snape didn’t yell at them to be silent.

Harry wasn’t sure if his heart could take any more – the stress of absolute shock was getting to him. He had never seen Snape interact with a student as he had with Luna. It been so… normal, something a teacher and student relationship should be. So, was it because Luna was a Ravenclaw or was it just Luna herself – something, after experiencing a few conversation with her, Harry could understand.

However, Harry quickly found that such treatment extended to both Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, at least within this class. And thus, Harry participated in a completely different class experience. This fourth year class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had a different atmosphere than Harry’s class. He didn’t talk or attempt to answer questions, but watched everything silently. All throughout the first part of the lesson, Snape was more laid back. The students were more attentive, save a few, and those few were the only ones to be scolded sharply by Snape.

Then, they began brewing the lesson’s potion, a Girding Potion. For once in his life, Harry was enjoying a Potions class and felt that he was learning something. He could actually think about doing the assignment and not worry about Snape breathing down his neck or Malfoy sabotaging his work. Working beside Luna made all the difference in the world as well.

Everything was so calm. Harry honestly wished all his years of Potions classes had been like this. If it had been like this, then there might’ve been a chance. Maybe Harry could’ve done well enough…

In the end, Harry managed to brew a successful Girding Potion, something he had failed to do in his own fourth year. At his side, Luna smiled at him. He returned her smile with a soft one of his own.

Maybe this whole thing with Snape won’t be so bad after all…

Ron would’ve dubbed him insane if he knew Harry was actually happy about more Potions classes.

But that wasn’t the best part of it all.

As Snape passed by their table, he glanced at Harry’s simmering cauldron. Harry stilled with bated breath, waiting for that moment where Snape would ridicule his work in front of the entire class, before finally vanishing it completely and giving him a zero.

But that didn’t happen.

Snape gave him a sharp nod before moving onto Luna’s potion. Harry stood frozen, his mind still trying to grasp everything. Then, as Snape continued along the other tables, Harry couldn’t stop staring at the black cloaked back of the Professor.

Then, a delighted grin spread through his face.

Best. Class. Ever!