The first Quidditch match of the season, things were not going well for Gryffindor, and Severus usually would have enjoyed that – unfortunately, though, the thing that was not going well was a rogue bludger which was pursuing Harry relentlessly.

Oh, he would have words with the Slytherin team later on. But for the moment, Severus could not do much more but silently seethe.

Oliver Wood, the idiot, decided to continue playing in spite of the clear tampering.

Severus attempted to lift the jinx on the bludger, but a moving object was difficult at the best of times, and there was something unfamiliar about the magic that had been used for tampering with it.

Just when he thought he might be able to untangle the jinx, the bludger hit Harry’s head.

Severus didn’t even notice, at first, that Harry had also caught the snitch.

He walked onto the Quidditch field as fast as possible without his haste being apparent, meaning that he arrived shortly after Lockhart.

“I will have that fixed in no time!” the imbecile boasted, already lifting his wand.

Severus caught his hand and shoved it aside. “Oh no, Gilderoy. You would not want to run afoul of the school rules, would you? They are quite clear. No teacher may heal a student except in a dire emergency. This is not an emergency. Clearly, Potter is still conscious. Is that not so, Potter?”

“Not him, please, don’t let him near me”, Potter begged, quite sensibly.

“He’s hallucinating!” Lockhart claimed.

“As long as he is not dying, he can wait for Madam Pomfrey like any other student.”

Severus stepped between Lockhart and Harry and conjured a stretcher. “There. Wood, make yourself useful and put Potter on that.”

Harry closed his eyes halfway to the castle, and Severus found it hard to hide his worry. The boy had seemed coherent enough, and the bludgers were spelled so they wouldn’t hit too hard ... usually. A bludger that had been tampered with ...

Finally, they arrived at the hospital wing.

“Severus? You here?”

He did avoid the hospital wing usually, and for good reason – his lack of sleep, lack of weight and overall poor health were nothing he could, or even much wanted to change, but the healer just wouldn’t see his point of view.

“Lockhart was tempted to try and heal him – famous Potter always needs special treatment, apparently”, Severus scoffed, ignoring the angry murmurs from the Quidditch team plus Granger who had trailed after him. “I had to make sure the school rules were obeyed.”

“Thank you”, Poppy said, already examining Potter. “You may well have saved his life.” She frowned. “Not just his life, actually.”

Because she would have felt tempted to murder Lockhart if he had managed to kill a student with his incompetence, Severus supposed.

He nodded, turned and left, feeling the stares of some students in his back. Hopefully, they wouldn’t talk too much about his saving Harry Potter.

**

After Madam Pomfrey had healed his concussion and shooed the Quidditch team away, Harry had plenty time to ponder what had happened.

Snape had saved him.

Probably not his life – he was pretty sure Madam Pomfrey was exaggerating – but he would likely have needed a lot more healing if Lockhart had gotten to put a spell on him.


It was weird, feeling grateful to Snape.

He didn’t even like the man. Not really. Snape still was extremely nasty whenever there was the tiniest mistake in Harry’s work in potions, and he had made it all about Harry’s alleged celebrity status even while saving him from Lockhart, but ...

Well, he had saved him.

And this time, Harry had a pretty good idea what might have happened if he hadn’t.

**

Severus’ inquiries yielded no results. No one on the Slytherin Quidditch team admitted to having cursed the bludger, even though he had carefully framed his inquiry in a hint that he might know more subtle methods to achieve such goals.

No one of his prime suspects admitted to it, either, and the prefects claimed to have no idea.

Harry had appeared at breakfast in the morning, so there seemed to be no lasting damage, but things could easily have been different. He needed to find the culprit.

Severus sat in his office, a cup of tea on his desk, and was pondering the possibility of Lockhart having cursed the bludger, when there was a knock at his door.

Some late confession?

But no, it was Harry.

“It’s Malfoy!”, he blurted out.

Severus raised an eyebrow, keeping his surprise well hidden. “Take a seat, and speak in full sentences.”

Harry obediently sat down. “Dobby visited in the night and I did what you told me to, and he told me what Mr. Malfoy is up to.”

“Dobby visited you? Why? And how could he reveal his master’s secret?” It would be much more convenient if the boy recounted what had happened in more detail, but Severus supposed that was probably too much to ask for from a child.

“Turns out he enchanted the bludger – he wanted me to be sent home so I’d be safe.”

Severus nodded. “Highly questionable logic. Continue.”

“I asked him if he could tell the nightstand about it, and he was really happy and said yes, and now I know Lucius Malfoy sent something to the school that he thinks will somehow open the chamber of secrets. He must have given it to some student, but not Malfoy, he didn’t want his son to be involved.”

“Calm down. Yes, that is very useful information. I will tell the headmaster about it. Did the house elf seem regretful about hurting you?”

“I guess. He said he only wanted to break my arm, nothing worse.”

Severus nodded. “He could be lying, of course, but let’s assume for the moment he is speaking the truth ... did he tell you something else about the Malfoy family?”

“They don’t treat him well, but that’s to be expected.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Well, Malfoy is an – a bully, so ...”

“Being a bully does not mean he is incapable of kindness towards anyone. Your father was a bully, too, and yet people claim he gave his life for you.” Severus regretted saying it when he saw Harry’s eyes widen.

There would be questions.

“Be that as it may, I have reason to assume that Lucius Malfoy does, indeed, not treat his house elf well. Which makes it more likely the elf would act against his master’s wishes.” Severus got up. “Rest assured, I will take action. Considering what happened to Mr. Creevey, it is safer that I take you back to your common room now.”


**

His father a bully? Harry’s mind reeled. Surely Snape must be lying? Dumbledore had said they had had a rivalry, but Harry had thought Snape had been the Malfoy in that rivalry.

It would have been easy to tell himself it was just Snape being Snape not so long ago, but now ... now Snape had been so helpful and was walking beside him, looking at him every so often as if to make sure he was still there ...

“What did you mean about my father being a bully?”

“Just that. If it is any comfort, he mostly just bullied me and some other boys in Slytherin”, Snape replied in a monotone voice, as if it had nothing to do with him at all.

“That’s no comfort at all! I thought ... I thought he was better than my uncle!” Dreaming about his wonderful parents had been his only escape all those years, and now ...

“Oh, don’t worry. Your father no doubt spoiled you rotten, and would have continued to do so if given the chance. No need to give up your daydreams of what it would have been like.”

How had Snape guessed? How could he know what Harry was thinking about? “Mr. Malfoy also spoils his son rotten, and see how Malfoy turned out.” He didn’t want to be like Malfoy. If growing up with his father would have meant he would have turned out like him ... “I don’t want to be like that.”

“Then don’t be.”

“Yes but ... I ... do you think I would have been a bully if I had grown up with my parents?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Your mother was ... alright.”

From anyone else, that would have been a rather disappointing answer, but Snape made it sound like the highest praise.