Someone dared to hex the boy's broom! Severus was furious as he stormed away from the Quidditch pitch. He had a pretty good suspicion of who may have been the culprit – attempting to attack Harry midflight – but he could not act on mere suspicions. He would need hard evidence and that would not be easy to gather. It would have to wait until he could prove to the Headmaster that his suspect was the perpetrator.

Until then, he would keep a closer eye on the Potter whelp.

Then there were his robes. His expensive teaching robes burned at the end, fraying the silky thread to ruins. When he discovers whoever burned his robes he would throttle that person. Unless it was a student. Then he'd take a hundred points and handout a year's worth of detentions.

Severus angrily swept through the halls back to the dungeons to wait for the boy's detention time. He entered his quarters and went to his study, deciding to work on grading homework assignments until he had to leave for the potions classroom. He wasn't in much of a mood to grade, his day just couldn't have started worse. Sitting at his large desk, he pulled a hefty stack of parchment towards him and picked up the first third-year paper on the ingredients needed for a Confusing Concoction. Within the first paragraph, Severus spotted several mistakes. The first paragraph was drowning in red ink from all his corrections.

Idiots! Severus thought, sighing irritably. All of them – just idiots!

He couldn't be that severe, there were a few brilliant students in different years. Very few. And that brilliance tended to border on know-it-all behavior, which annoyed him but at least not as much as plain stupidity. He could deal with a know-it-all; at least they were less likely to blow something up.

Lily Evans (he refused to think of her as a Potter) had been a know-it-all, Severus's mind began to wander. A good know-it-all, not the bratty kind. She had been a brilliant student, especially in her charms. Potions had never been a favorite of hers, but she still managed to excel with high grades.

Unlike her son.

Severus's mind thought about Harry's poor performance in his class. The boy was nearly careless with the ingredients, chopping at odd angles and wasting unnecessary amounts of good material. He read the instructions too hastily in Severus's opinion. There was no way one could comprehend what was needed with a quick glance at the words in the book. The boy needed to learn discipline, patience, and better prepping skills. The detention later that evening should provide some practice for him.

Discipline, patience, prepping.

Severus thought back to last night's events. He had actually tipped Harry over his knees and smacked him. Thinking back to it made it all seem surreal. Had it been a dream?

No, the detention had been documented magically in the record-keeping book. Seven o'clock – Potter, Harry. No mistaking that he had handed out a detention last night. So the smacking had definitely taken place as well.

Then that left the question: why?

Why had he smacked the boy-who-lived? His hand twinged in remembrance and he rubbed at his palm absently, his grading abandoned. Not that it mattered – the students will receive their papers back when he wanted to hand them back. Anyway, thinking about last night brought about many questions.

Since the day Harry Potter arrived at Hogwarts, Severus felt a kind of . . . obligation to keep an eye on the boy, to protect and to watch over. And Severus knew that it wasn't just because he had promised Albus Dumbledore that he would help protect Lily's son. Was it that? That Harry was Lily's son? That he wanted to keep what remained of Lily alive and well even if that meant imprinting a harder lesson on the boy?

But what bit of Lily remained in Harry Potter?

Severus glared at the parchment in front of him, the misspelling of "Jabberknoll" screaming up at him where the student at least correctly mentioned the addition of a Jabberknoll feather into the potion, possibly the only correct sentence in the essay. Honestly, didn't children have any sense to look at the spelling in the book before writing it down?

The Potter boy certainly never did. His essays were always a mess, the paragraphs always tilting sideways and the words near illegible. His writing was just like his attitude, spoiled and careless, not taking anything seriously, even his own safety. He was nothing like his mother but all too much like his spoiled father. Severus ground his teeth as he thought about both Potters and how near identical they were. Save for the eyes.

Lily's green eyes. Harry just had to have those eyes.

They were a reminder of his debt to Lily, and the price he had paid for eavesdropping on some ruddy prophesy. Lily's death was his fault – he didn't care what the Headmaster said – he was responsible for his part in Lily's murder.

And to redeem his sins, he would watch over Lily's child to the best of his ability, keeping him safe and alive.

And if that meant smacking the insolent boy, he would do so. That had to have been the reason he had acted as so last night.

Not that any of it mattered anymore, Severus thought, pushing the pile away. He really didn't feel like correcting poor excuses for essays. He sat back in his seat and summoned an elf to brew some tea for him. He rubbed wearily at his face, thinking back to the events of the game. He should cast an anti-hex charm on that broom. Without anyone knowing of course. He would see to it later, after he proctored his detention.

After his tea arrived, Severus decided to read a potions journal, analyzing the experimental ideas for shortcuts to brewing different potions and wondering about their effectiveness.

As seven o'clock neared, Severus, after eating dinner alone, left to the Potions classroom to wait for Harry. He set up a table for Harry, pulling out a mini barrel of dead billywigs. He would have Harry prep this ingredient for him, removing the stinger for potion use. It hardly required much to do so, just one barrel to drop the bodies in, another barrel to collect the stingers, and the child's hands. Nothing more.

6:50pm.

The boy had not arrived, but it was rather earlier. No one ever arrived early to a detention, especially not one with Severus Snape. Severus walked to his desk and sat down, prepared to wait the next ten minutes. He pulled a potions journal close and pulled out the quill feather where it marked his place, resuming where he had left off.

6:55pm.

Severus tore his eyes away from the antique clock and looked at the journal once more. Still plenty of time. No need to concern himself yet. The boy was probably on his way down at that moment, taking his sweet time because that was just like the Golden Boy. He was probably used to making people wait on him. Severus sneered. If the boy arrived a minute after his detention starting time, he would lecture that boy's ears off.

6:58pm.

Severus set his journal down and glared at the door where Harry should be entering any minute. He fiddled with the quill he used as a bookmark, rolling it in his fingers.

6:59pm.

Still no brat.

Severus glared at the clock now, its incessant ticking growing bothersome. His eyes darted from the clock to the door and back. Of course, the boy would decide to be late for his first detention. He hoped Harry did show at all for it would be signing a death wish to not come period.

7:00pm.

Severus gripped the quill tightly as he stared at the door that remained closed. He glanced back at the clock, counting down the seconds until 7:01pm. That insolent brat would receive another detention if he walked through the door after 7:01pm.

Thirty seconds later, the door flew open and Harry rushed into the room, quickly halting to a stop in the center, the door slamming closed.

Lucky him.

Severus scowled at Harry as he placed the quill in his place and stood to his feet, the clock now changing to 7:01pm. Harry visibly gulped and placed his hands behind his back as he watched Severus warily, his hands interlocking. He lowered his head, though his eyes still watched Severus's movements.

"Cutting it a bit close, are we, Potter?" Severus growled.

"Sorry, sir," Harry started, "I was just . . . my friends didn't . . . they . . ."

"Articulate, as well, hmm? Your friends what? They didn't want you to attend detention, perhaps."

Severus wasn't really expecting an answer. It was a rhetorical question. He was surprised when Harry nodded his head, but his face showed no expression as he merely inclined his head slighty.

“Is that so? And why might that be? Do they wish for you to lose more points for your house?"

"No, sir. It's just that . . . after the game . . . it's nothing. They just didn't want me to come."

"And if you hadn't, you would have suffered severe consequences. Not only for disobeying your professor and skipping a legal detention, but for wasting my time as well. It doesn't matter how much your friends want you to stay to celebrate Gryffindor's win at the game where you gracefully fell off your broom and swallowed the snitch, when you have a detention or a scheduled appointment with a professor, you should be wise to arrive on time, if not a couple minutes early."

"Yes, sir. I'll remember that."

"You'll remember that?" Severus rounded the desk and stood in front of Harry, glaring down at the boy who hunched his shoulders slightly. "Do you plan on receiving more detentions, Potter?"

"No, sir."

Severus watched as Harry began to squirm anxiously, or nervously, in front of him. He decided he had enough berating the boy and led him over to the table he had set up.

"For tonight," Severus began, picking up a dead billywig. "You will be removing the stingers from the body of these billywigs. It's a simple pull and twist." Severus demonstrated quickly, dropping the body into one barrel and the stinger into the other. "Make sure you put the appropriate parts into the correct barrel. Can you handle that, Potter?"

"Yes, sir."

"Show me."

Harry didn't seem to expect that command but he quickly stepped forward, taking Severus's place as the man stepped back. Severus watched as Harry tugged on the billywig, a surprised look overtaking his face as he tugged even harder and then twisted with equal amount of effort. The stinger separated, but it also broke in Harry's hand, greenish slime dripping down the boy's arm. Severus watched with dull interest as Harry dropped the billywig and stinger on the table, gasping at his slime covered hand, wide-eyed and hovering his other hand near it as if afraid to touch the slime.

"It . . . it broke on me!" Harry exclaimed.

"How observant, Potter," Severus rolled his eyes.

"Is it poisonous? Is my hand going to fall off?"

"No, Potter. The billywig is dead and the slime is relatively harmless. It would have to be injected into you to cause any giddiness or levitation."

Severus moved around Harry and reached summoned a towel.

"Giddiness?" Harry asked. "Levitation? Like floating?"

"That would be levitation, yes, Potter."

Severus held out the towel to Harry who didn't seem to realize he was being handed something, too busy staring at his hand.

"Well, take it, Potter."

Harry suddenly looked at Severus and then tilted his head and squinted even through his glasses at the towel. Severus frowned as Harry accepted the towel and wiped his hand off with it. Severus watched Harry closely. The child did seem to squint a lot even with his glasses on. Could the child see at all? It was curious, though would explain the messy, illegible handwriting. But so would never using a quill.

Severus walked over to the bookshelf behind his desk and grabbed a book he knew would have the excerpt he wanted. Harry finished wiping off his hand and looked curiously at Severus, holding on to the towel. Severus flipped through the book until he was nearly halfway through. He kept it opened to that page and handed it to Harry.

"Read that, Potter."

Harry accepted the book, handing over the towel that Severus banished away. Severus watched as Harry brought the book closer and closer to his face, his nose nearly touching the page, before he started reading.

"The billywig stinger produces a slime that contains cu-cur-ative properties, making it a valuable ingredient –"

Severus reached out and palmed the page Harry was reading, pushing the book down and away from Harry's face.

"From here, Potter. You should be able to read the book from here like most people."

Harry blushed before squinting down at the book, his hands lifting it slightly before he forced them to stop. He stared hard down at the book.

"A valuable ingredient . . ." Harry started up again, reciting what he had just said. "f-for ex- . . . ex- . . . I don't know."

Potter's face couldn't possibly turn any redder without burning off, Severus thought amusedly. But He also realized that Harry couldn't see the book from a normal distance away – even with the glasses he wore. Perhaps he needed new prescriptions.

"When were your eyes last checked?"

"What do you mean?"

Severus rolled his eyes.

"When did you last have them looked at, Potter? By your ophthalmologist?"

"By my what?"

"Your eye doctor," Severus spelled out. He was annoyed now. Clearly the by had no respect for the medical practitioners who took great care in making sure the boy had the appropriate eye lenses. Spoiled, Severus couldn't help but think.

"Eye doctor?" Harry frowned, looking very confused. "I've never seen one."

"You've never . . ." Severus frowned down at the boy. "What are you talking about? Then who prescribed the glasses to you?"

Harry shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "No one prescribed them to me . . ."

"Do not mumble," Severus glared. "Where did you get those glasses?"

"Why does it matter?"

The boy sounded defensive, Severus took note. His glare deepened.

"Watch your tone, boy," Severus warned. "It matters because your glasses may be out of date. Of course, unless you like not being able to see a foot in front of you . . ."

"It's not my fault I can't see! Lay off!"

"Do not think I won't smack you again," Severus threatened, though he wasn't sure why. He couldn't possibly be able to follow through.

It had an immediate effect though. Harry's eyes grew wide and he seemed to withdraw his temper, hunching his shoulders and looking down at his feet, his cheeks burning again.

"Would you, Severus?"

Time seemed to freeze as the Headmaster's voice filled the room. Severus snapped his head to the doorway where Albus stood pensively. Harry looked back and forth between them.

"A word with you, Severus," Albus said, stepping out into the hall.

Severus suppressed a sigh and glared at Harry. "Do not move."

Harry nodded but added a quick "yes, sir," when Severus's glare deepened.

Severus stepped out into the hall where Albus was waiting, shutting the classroom door behind him.

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"I came down to talk to you about the events at today's Quidditch game and couldn't help but overhear the last part of your conversation with young Harry Potter."

"Headmaster, I . . . apologize for stepping over boundaries last night and –"

"I believe apologies may be pointless at this point. What's happened is in the past. I believe that while you may have acted unacceptably to the situation last night, I do think that you and the lad have come to an agreement. I trust that you will not abuse this arrangement and you will work harder to keep the boy safe and his impulsive behavior in check."

Severus blinked. Was the headmaster actually giving him . . . permission to deal with the boy?

"After what happened on the field today, Harry's safety is my number one priority. And Harry doesn't make keeping him safe easy. I fear he may put himself in danger and if a firm hand is what must be done, then so be it."

"I . . ." Severus began. He what? He what!? He probably looked like a baffled muggleborn seeing magic for the first time. What was it he wanted to say?

Severus was completely lost. He expected a scolding, a tongue lashing, the harshest berating one could receive on this planet and instead the Headmaster was giving him permission to continue with this . . . relationship. What if he didn't want this relationship? He hated the boy – he wanted nothing to do with him. This power he was suddenly being granted was rather overwhelming.

"Are you sure, Headmaster?" Severus asked.

"I trust you, Severus. I always have."

That wasn't comforting at all. Severus simply gave a nod. "Very well. I will keep a closer watch on the boy."

"Thank you, Severus. What happened on the Quidditch field cannot happen again. We cannot have the students at risk here. Did you see anything? Anyone?"

"I did not," Severus admitted, keeping his suspect to himself. "I was busy stopping Harry's broom hex. I didn't get the chance to see who may have been casting the hex. I have a suspicion, but I will let you know if I uncover any substantial evidence."

"Very well, Severus. Have a good evening."

The headmaster left with that, leaving a rather shocked Severus Snape behind to contemplate what he had just been told. Severus quickly shook himself from his stupor and went back inside the classroom, where Harry was sitting on a stool, his feet swinging carelessly, though he looked guiltily at Severus.

Severus glared at him.

"I believe I told you not to move."

"I only sat down," Harry argued, standing up though. "Did you get in trouble?"

"That is none of your concern," Severus's glare deepened. "However, I have just been informed by the headmaster that due to recent events I am to keep a close eye and . . . a firm hand if need be on one Harry Potter."

Harry seemed to pale at those words.

"Dumbledore wouldn't . . ."

"Professor Dumbledore," Severus corrected. "And if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to see him tomorrow during his visiting hours. I'm sure he would gladly indulge you."

Harry said nothing but his cheeks turned red as he stared down at his feet, shuffling them.

"You never answered my question. Where did you get those glasses? And the truth would be appreciated."

Harry was quiet a moment longer before he sighed and said, "In primary school, my teacher noticed me squinting a lot. He told Aunt Petunia when she came to pick Dudley and me up and she took us to some store and had me try on glasses. I found these ones and they helped a little and she bought them."

"Non-prescription glasses," Severus commented. "I believe your eyes need to be examined. You will visit Madam Pomfrey tomorrow so that you have appropriate lenses by the time classes resume. You will see her in the morning and I will check with Madam Pomfrey in the afternoon to make sure you did visit her. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir. Sir?"

"Yes?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"On the Quidditch field, when my broom started acting weird, you said you were trying to stop it. Were you really trying to save me?"

Severus's eyes flashed angrily. He remembered the guilty look Harry had given him when he had entered the classroom, though he had thought it was because the boy had disobeyed his order to not move.

"You eavesdropped on my conversation with the Headmaster."

"I didn't hear much!" Harry defended, his face suddenly going pale as if realizing his stupid mistake. "It was hard to hear through the door and I only caught the very last part . . ."

Severus's nostrils flared and he stepped forward, grabbed Harry by the arm and turned him. He swatted him hard across the rear.

"Ow! Professor!"

Severus released Harry and continued to glare down at the boy. Harry's eyes were glassy and he looked up at Severus with indignation. Severus figured he might as well as put his newfound control over the boy to good use.

"If I ever catch you or hear of you eavesdropping on any conversation, you will find yourself over my knees. Your lack of respect for others' privacy will desist."

"Yes, sir."

Severus stared down at the contrite boy. He sighed and decided the boy deserved some kind of explanation.

"You are correct. I did try to stop your broom from throwing you off. The main concern is finding out who may have targeted you. Someone in this school clearly has every intention in harming you and that is why your safety is imperative. Your disregard for the rules could put you in danger and you will see to it that you follow them by the book from this point forward."

"Yes, sir. And thank you."

"Hmph," Severus stared down at Harry. "Your welcome."

Harry shuffled his feet more, looking back down at them. A thought hit Severus and he wasn't sure if he should be amused by it or offended.

"Your friends, Potter," Severus began, watching the boy snap his head up at him. "Did they believe that I hexed your broom? Is that why they didn't want you to come to detention?"

Harry nodded.

"Your friends aren't the ones who burned my robes are they?"

Harry's face went pale and he shook his head. Severus glowered at Harry, effectively changing the shake of the head to a nod. Severus smirked inwardly. The boy learns fast, he thought. Severus snorted and looked up at the clock.

"Now that we have wasted thirty minutes of your detention, you will spend the next forty minutes removing the stingers from the billywigs. And this time, try to avoid crushing the stinger in your hand. Not only does it waste slime that I can extract, you risk stabbing yourself with the stinger. Show me the task again."

Harry seemed to take a relieved breath and stepped up to the table and tried to use less force to remove the stinger. Pull, twist and . . . crush. Harry looked nervously at Severus. Severus resisted rolling his eyes at the timid look Harry gave him.

"Try again."

Harry pulled, twisted, and managed to save a usable stinger. Severus nodded and motioned for Harry to throw it in the barrel. He summoned another mini barrel and set it next to the one for the stingers.

"Throw any crushed stingers into this one, properly removed stingers here, and the billywigs in that one. Keep going."

Harry began his work and Severus returned to his desk, returning to his journal.

"And Potter," Severus called to the boy.

Harry looked over his shoulder at him.

"You can tell your friends that if they ever direct their wand at a teacher again, they will be serving several detentions if they are not expelled."

"Yes, sir."

With that, Severus allowed the boy to work quietly. He occasionally looked up at Harry to check on his progress. After the forty minutes were up, Severus stood and studied Harry's work with a critical eye, the boy next to him fidgeting all the while. The original barrel of billywigs was almost empty. The one for crushed stingers was as full as the one for properly removed stingers. Not perfect, hardly great, but it would do, Severus decided.

"Very well," Severus looked down at Harry. "I hope you have learned your lesson."

"Didn't I learn my lesson last night?" Harry mumbled.

Severus frowned down at Harry. He may have said those same words last night, but a simple "yes, sir" would have sufficed from the boy.

"Your insolence will not be tolerated unless you'd like to spend another detention here tomorrow. I'll have you fillet fish all night."

Harry grimaced at the idea, his face scrunching up.

"Sorry, sir. I've learned my lesson."

"Good. Head back to your tower. Straight there, it's near curfew. I do not want a reapeat of last night and I'm sure you don't either."

"No, sir. I'll head straight to the common room."

Harry turned for the door and just as he opened it, he turned back around.

"Thanks again, Professor. For saving me."

Severus inclined his head. "Go to your tower before the bell rings for curfew."

Harry quickly left the room while Severus put away the billywigs and stingers. He didn't even have fish to fillet at the moment. He really needed to think his threats through. At least now he could use the smacking as a legitimate threat. He was surprised that Harry bothered with thanking him - twice, too. It was too much in Severus's opinion.

This would be an interesting year, Severus couldn't help but think.