Severus Snape was in a foul mood to say the least. He had spent his day teaching two of the most volatile houses; Gryffindors and Slytherins. The first years had exploded multiple cauldrons, the third years had produced their potions incorrectly, and the seventh years (in particular a one Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy) had been caught passing notes in class; earning them both zero.

What completely incensed the Potions Master was the brawl that happened in the dungeons after the last potions class. He was in his office marking an essay when he first heard raised voices. Bursting forth from his chair, Severus Snape tore open the door and descended upon the madness. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were having a fist fight, with about 10 students from Gryffindor and Slytherin cheering on.

Severus Snape grabbed the Potter boy by the collar of his shirt, hauling him aside. Both boys stood apart, heavily panting.

"What is the meaning of this" the potions master bellowed.

"I had expected more from you Mr Malfoy. You're father will not be happy to learn that you were caught brawling out in the open. If you do not want me to call on him tonight to discuss your disgusting behaviour. You will go directly to your common room and stay put.

As for you Potter, straight to my office, and 50 points from Gryffindor". Pulling the boy from the crowd, he propelled the boy into his office, and pushed him into the vacant seat which was positioned in front of his office desk. Brandishing his wand he locked the door, and strode to sit in his chair.

"Nothing, and I mean nothing excuses this behaviour Potte…"

"Oi, why am I the one getting punished, this is Malfoy's fault…."

"SILENCE! You dare interrupt me Potter. Another 50 points from Gryffindor. I am at my breaking point boy. Year after year, you are always caught up in some sort of mischief. First it was the philosophers stone, then the basilisk in the chamber of secrets; then your third year and almost being killed by a dementor all because of Black.

Fourth year… well that was Barty Crouch Jr's fault, but this year. Week after week I have heard that you have been serving detention with Professor Umbridge. I am not going to even bother to discuss your appalling or should I say lack of Oclumency Skills. When will you for once, stop and control your emotions..". The professor had now risen from his chair, and was looming over the trembling young Gryffindor. Breathing heavily the professor did not say another word, merely continued staring at the boy. His eyebrows rose to his hairline when Potter pushed his chair back, and was trying to stand tall whilst glaring at his professor. It was then that Harry began to rant, whilst pacing about the room.

"What was I supposed to do… First year, I thought you were out to steal the stone; I was only trying to protect Hogwarts. Then it was the same in my second year…if I hadn't gone into the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny would be dead. Third year, I got caught up in it, but who cares, I free'd my Godfather….much to your displeasure I'm sure. We can skip fourth year totally, and this year, well, this year has been an absolute train wreck.

Firstly, we have another incompetent Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, who is refusing to believe that Voldemort is back. And is refusing to teach us any real defensive magic. And as for you 'Professor', you have been in a more foul mood. And I get it alright, you hate me, you are forced to teach me in class, and now also Occlumency. I'm sorry I'm so stupid, and reckless..and that I can't control my emotions. But what do you expect?! With the amount of bullshit I've had to deal with, I can't take it! And alright I'll admit that I threw the first punch at Malfoy but that's only because he called mum a Mudblood…I won't have anyone disrespect her, NO ONE!"

Harry strode to the door and tried yanking it open. He kept twisting the handle, and bumping the door with his shoulder however it was magically locked. All of a sudden it was too much for the young boy, he slid to the ground and burst into tears.

Curling in on himself, Harry put his face in his hands and continued sobbing. A myriad of emotions were going through Professor Snape's face. When Harry had started ranting, Severus had wanted to throttle the boy, however this stopped once he heard the boy mention his mother..Lily. His mind was transported back to when he too had called her a Mudblood, which ultimately lead to their friendships demise. Swallowing back his emotion, he peered down on this boy. He was at the end of the day, just that, a boy, Lily's son. Who had to deal with too much hardship in the short span of 15 years. If Severus Snape was being honest with himself, he couldn't blame the boy for punching Malfoy, he found that his respect for Potter had slightly increased. Looking down at the boy, he wondered what he was going to do with him. Potter was still blubbering, and Severus was never really the consoling type of man.

Withdrawing a handkerchief from his robes, he tapped the boy on the shoulder and offered him the handkerchief. What the boy did next, startled the potions master.

Harry Potter had flinched as if he was expecting Professor Snape to strike him. He was on his feet in an instant and had backed himself into the corner of the room.

"What are you doing? Don't be stupid boy, I was hardly going to strike you" Severus said frowning.

"Sorry…old habits…" Harry muttered, staring at his feet.

'What did the boy mean by that?' Severus silently wondered.

"I will refrain from deducting more points from you Potter, as I won't be blamed for sabotaging Gryffindor's chance at winning the house cup.." The professor went to continue with something snarky; however refrained from doing so.

"Potter, sit down" Severus said slowly, whilst walking back around his desk and sitting down.

Harry slowly inched forward, deciding to listen to the professor. He had noticed that his voice no longer held any of his previous malice.

"This is the last time you will speak out of turn; do I make myself clear Potter? I will make something quite clear, this behaviour ends now. I have been a teacher at this school for many years now, and have had the pleasure of teaching select students who had a penchant for trouble making. But never, have I ever had a child in my class who was quite as petulant as yourself. I do not think you are actually stupid Potter, your behaviour however it just that; stupid.

You need to learn to control your emotions, this is the only way that you will stand a chance against the Dark Lord. Do not forget, that he has access to your mind, no one is safe. You may have no disregard for your wellbeing however, think of all your friends, Lupin..Black. The Dark Lord will use you in a flash to hurt everyone around you. I would think that you would not want to squander your mother and fathers sacrifice so carelessly." Severus Snape stopped talking, and looked away from Harry, who had decided to stare up into his professors face.

The only noise that could be heard was sniffling and the professors heavy breathing. Harry looked away and started to talk.

"I know…I'm a bad person".

"I never said you were bad Potter. The Lucius Malfoy's of the world are bad, Bellatrix Lestrange etcetera. Do not flatter yourself by thinking that you are on their level." Snape said rolling his eyes.

The professor opened the drawer to his desk, and retrieved two books.

"Potter, this book is an in-depth beginners guide into Occlumency. I would suggest you read a chapter every night, to assist in familiarising yourself with the topic. Clearly whatever I am telling you is not going through your brain, I have some faith however that this will help you…as it did with me a long time ago. Now the next book Potter is a potions textbook"

The Professor passed the Occlumency book to the young boy, as well as the potions textbook.

"News around the castle is that you wish to become an Auror, is that correct? Yes? Well, you may have already been informed that a NEWT in potions is pre-requisite in getting admitted into the auror training programme. I however, will not accept any sub-par students in my class. In all honesty Potter, you have an extremely low chance in getting into my NEWT class; based on your current marks of course.

"What I propose Potter, is that, you will attend Occlumency lessons for one hour every Thursday and Monday. However prior to your lessons, you will have remedial potions with me."

"WHAT?!.."

"Do not interrupt me Mr Potter, or I may well take back what I am about to say".

"You say, that you struggle to clear your head, well..I find brewing to be quite calming; something of which you may gain great benefit. The headmaster has told me time and time again that Occlumency lessons with you are of the upmost importance to us winning the war. You must learn to occlude as soon as possible, to avoid any casualties in the order.

"What I propose, I have only done with a fair few student who possess inexplicable talents in potions. For you however, this is a sort of trade. I will teach you/train you to become an adept potioner, in order for you to make my NEWT potions class. Even though I am loath to train a student that genuinely hates the subject… And in return, you WILL put every ounce of spare time into Occlumency.

"I have not come so far in my career as a spy, to be outed because you let something slip about my true stance in this war to the dark lord."

Harry had the good sense to look bewildered.

"So, ultimately you are blackmailing me…how positively Slytherin of you sir" Harry muttered.

"Obviously.." Severus Snape sneered.

"So Potter, what do you say? And mind you, my offer only stands for another 20 seconds, should you wish to decline; we will go about this the h…"

"I ACCEPT" Harry blurted. Face flushing, he composed himself, and spoke with conviction.

"Thank you sir, I accept. And by the way, I've never hated potions. I hate that you jump to conclusions and are mean towards others" Severus at hearing this started to get angry, Harry sensing this however, continued to talk in a voice that showed that he was trying to calm the professor.

"What I meant by that is that in my first lesson, you called me out if you can remember; for not paying attention. Well..I was actually writing down what you were saying. I know you don't have to do this, but…thank you. I do really want to become an"

Harry was halted mid sentence by the professors hand, which was held up in the air.

"Enough Potter, or I may regret ever offering this 'blackmail', as you so eloquently put it.

"Now, you will start with brewing a dreamless sleep potion. This, you should be able to do quite easily. Take that book and go to the classroom, I will be there in 5 minutes to supervise"

"I didn't know that you wanted to start now!" Harry stopped talking when he saw the pointed look that professor Snape was giving him. Gulping, Harry grabbed the book at left the room in silence.

'And people say blackmail doesn't work' Severus thought, smirking to himself. Taking a deep breath he walked out of the room and strode down the hallway.

Severus was surprised to see that the boy had already started collecting his ingredients. As he sat to the side, he observed the boys chopping skills, noting that he really was quite sloppy. He would certainly have to rid him of this bad habit. A challenge, that is what the professor thought about this situation…an impossible challenge.

As time went on, it was 5 minutes before the dreamless sleep would be finished. Severus Snape got up out of his seat and walked towards the boy, who he noticed stiffened as he walked closer to him. Putting the last touches into his potion, Harry stirred his potion one last time before extinguishing the fire beneath the cauldron.

Placing the potion into 20 empty vials, Harry sat back looking pleased at the work he had done. He looked to his professor, who had taken one of the vials and opened its stopper. He seemed to be inspecting the potion, smelling it and checking its consistency. Putting the vial down, he turned to Harry and spoke.

"Not a bad first start." At hearing this, Harry looked surprised, and felt a warmth in his stomach. This was instantly extinguished with the professors next words.

"Your cutting skills could definitely use improvement, and you forgot to stir your potion the required number of times. Your potion is acceptable, it will work, however looking at this consistency there may be a few side effects if you were to drink this batch."

"Side effects sir?" Harry inquired.

"Yes. If you had bothered to read your textbook, you would know that some drinkers of poorly made potions may have the following side effects: Increased appetite, flushed skin, itchy scalp and/or sleep walking".

"It's a potion for dreamless sleep, and the side effect is sleepwalking. Has this ever happened to you sir?" Harry asked, sounded slightly amused.

"Of course not Potter. Didn't you hear what I said. Side effects only come from a poorly made potion. Something which I have never done" The professor stated, sniffing in disdain.

"Clean up your area and take those vials of dreamless sleep with you. Take care to only use half a vial a night. You will only need to take this first batch…any excessive use can be lead to an addiction".

With that being said, Severus Snape left the classroom, only coming back 30 minutes later to see his classroom clear of mess and a meddlesome Gryffindor youngster. Running his hands through his hair, he sighed. What a way to spend a Friday afternoon he thought.

Later than night, Harry Potter took his dreamless sleep potion. Little did he know that the continues use of those 20 vials would change his life forever.