Harry stared at the bandage swathed figure in the hospital bed, unable to believe that it was his father, but unable to ignore the trademark greasy black hair. ~What happened to him? Had a potion exploded all over him?~ Harry absently scratched the back of his neck as he considered the possibility. ~No, surely not, the man is a potions master, he wouldn't have been working on something this dangerous without protections of some kind. It was much more likely that Voldemort had gotten to him.~ Harry scratched the back of his neck again.
He leaned back in his chair, wondering what to do next. Should he wait by Professor Snape's bed and risk being discovered by Madam Pomphrey, or should he just go to his next class. There didn't seem to have been any side effects from the potion exploding. Harry looked at his watch, thinking to see what class he was supposed to be in, and nearly shouted in shock! There were little, green, viney plants growing on the back of his hand! He quickly looked at his other hand, and pulled back the sleeves on both arms to find that they too were covered in small vines!
"Oh no," Harry moaned quietly, staring at his green hands.
"Harry, what are you doing up here?"
Harry leaped to his feet staring in disbelief at the body on the bed. Surely he hadn't imagined that voice..it certainly sounded like Snape, but the figure wasn't moving! He slowly approached it, reaching out a hand to touch it, when he was interrupted by the same voice saying "Harry, I'm over here."
Harry whirled around to find the potions master standing in front of him. The world wavered for a moment, and when his head cleared, he found himself sitting in the same chair as before, his head being held firmly between his knees.
"All right now, Harry?" the same voice asked as the hand on his back let up pressure. Harry looked up into his father's face, still shocked to see him standing before him.
"But, I don't understand." Harry muttered looking back at the bed.
"You've stirred that potion counterclockwise, haven't you." Snape shook his head in mild irritation. "Surely Professor Dumbledore wrote it correctly on the board, were you not paying attention?"
"He wouldn't let me come up to see you, sir, it was the only thing I could think of to get myself sent here." Harry explained rather sheepishly.
Snape settled himself into the chair across the body from Harry, seemingly very comfortable with its presence. "You did it on purpose?" He said softly, staring at Harry in disbelief.
"Well, uhm, yes." Harry looked down at his hands. The vines were growing longer, and seemed to be forming flowers.
"Hmmm. We will discuss your behavior after we take care of your vines. Come along." Snape turned and strode off quickly toward the infirmary storeroom, Harry following in his wake.
Harry stood quietly watching his father deftly select and measure items from the shelves, marveling at the sureness and swiftness of his movements. Snape briskly stirred the resultant potion and watched intently as it started to smoke and boil. He reached for a cup and ladled some it, handing it to Harry.
"Give it a moment to cool and then drink it down. I advise you to drink it in one swallow, I'm afraid it's rather nasty tasting. Flavorings improve the taste but ruin the effectiveness of it." Snape watched with some satisfaction as his son choked down the nasty brew.
Harry managed to swallow the lot as directed, but his face expressed his opinion of the taste!
"That's worse than Polyjuice!" Harry grimaced, holding on to the counter so he didn't fall as the world whirled around him.
"Give it a second, things should settle down." Snape guided Harry to a chair and watched him carefully. He moved an empty bowl nearer to Harry just in case the potion didn't stay down.
Harry looked at his hands as he felt his stomach returning to normal. "They're gone!"
"Did you think I gave you that potion for my entertainment?" Snape glared at Harry, making him feel as though he were pinned to the wall by those eyes.
"Um, no sir." Harry looked back at his hands, unwilling to meet Snape's eyes.
"Come with me." Snape turned and walked off without another word, leaving Harry to catch up to him.
Snape led them out of the infirmary and down several back hallways, finally pausing before a plain wooden door with a large, brass knob. He extracted a small, ornate key from his robe pocket. Harry watched with interest as he inserted it in a very small keyhole under the knob. Wizards rarely used muggle locking devices. It was odd that Snape, who seemed as though he would share the Malfoy's opinion of muggles, would use such a mundane device.
Harry looked around curiously as they entered the room behind the door. It was a small, but very comfortable looking apartment with a bed to one side, a small table for eating or writing in a corner, and two armchairs before the fireplace. Bookshelves covered the walls, and everything was precise and neat. Snape went to the table, wrote some lines on parchment that was stacked to one side, and strode over to the fireplace. Pointing his wand and murmuring a quick spell under his breath, he ignited the wood laid there. Harry watched as Snape calmly took a handful of sparkling red powder out of a jar on the mantle and tossed it on the fire. As the fire flared, he put in the parchment saying "Dumbledore". The parchment promptly disappeared in a shower of red sparkles, rather reminiscent of floo powder.
Snape slowly turned to look at Harry, his hands tightly knotted at his side. One fist relaxed enough to point at one of the chairs. "Sit" he commanded through gritted teeth.
Harry promptly sat down in the chair nearest the door, wondering what he was in trouble for now. He looked down at his feet, not wanting to meet the irascible professor's eyes.
Snape stared down at his son, silently wishing that Dumbledore were here to coach him through this meeting. Nothing for it but to start, he decided.
"Why did you knowingly destroy your potion?" Snape growled menacingly at Harry.
"I already told you, sir, I wanted to see what was wrong with you, and Dumbledore wouldn't let me in to the infirmary. It was the only think I could think of on short notice, and it did work." Harry stumbled to a stop, wondering if he'd gone too far in his justification.
"Did you have any idea what that potion could do if it was assembled incorrectly?" Snape loomed over Harry as he watched him.
"Well, I did ask Hermione what it would take for it to explode.." Harry explained miserably.
"Of course, I should have known Miss Granger would be a party to this." Severus mused out loud. "And Mr. Weasley?"
"Uhm, he convinced Hermione to help me." Harry said, continuing to look at his feet.
"So you're telling me you had no idea what would happen to you, just that the mixture would explode?" Snape asked incredulously.
Harry nodded his head slowly, realizing in retrospect that his actions had been rather careless. There was complete silence in the little room. Harry slowly looked up toward Snape, not sure what to expect. What he saw was more than daunting, it was terrifying! Snape's mouth was clamped shut so tightly that the lips were nearly white, his nostrils were flaring, and his hooded black eyes were boring into Harry's, making it quite impossible for him to look away.
"What the bloody hell were you thinking to be so careless?" Severus spoke intensely, yet softly. Harry instantly decided that this was much worse than Snape yelling at him. "You didn't know what the solution could do, yet you played with it, endangering your friends and your classmates so that you could leave class early and lark up to the infirmary. Have you no brains? I would expect something of this magnitude from Longbottom, but from you Potter? I was under the impression that you actually felt something for your friends." Snape continued on in this vein for several more minutes as Harry listened numbly, barely taking in what was said to him.
He gradually became aware that Snape was no longer talking to him, but staring at him, obviously waiting for an answer. But what was the question? "Sir?"
Snape shook his head in disbelief. "Have you heard a word that I've said? I asked you why on earth you didn't do as the headmaster asked and stay away from the infirmary."
"Oh, well sir, I was worried about you." Harry said softly, looking at his feet. "Professor Dumbledore wouldn't tell me if you were ill, or if you'd had an accident, or if Voldemort had gotten you. I just needed to know,."
Snape considered those words as he slowly sat down in the other chair. How much should he tell Harry? Suddenly the implied meaning of Harry's words struck him. He was actually concerned about what happened to Snape! No one had cared what happened to him since Lily left.
"Harry, do you trust Dumbledore?"
"Yes sir." Harry answered promptly without reservation.
"There are going to be times when I will need to be gone, or busy at things other than teaching. During those times you are going to need to trust that Professor Dumbledore knows what he is doing, even if what he is asking you to do makes no sense." Snape looked at the fireplace, wondering if that explanation was clear enough for Harry to follow.
"I don't understand sir." Harry looked confusedly at the figure next to him.
Snape sighed. "Professor Dumbledore told you not to go to the infirmary because I needed to be away from the castle for awhile. The reason is not important, at this time, so do not ask me for a more detailed explanation." Snape paused, staring at Harry, whose mouth was open, ready to ask the next question. "The mannequin you saw in the infirmary provides me with the perfect excuse should any suspicious person go looking for me."
Harry obviously didn't understand much of what was being said, but he nodded his head anyway. He didn't need any more lectures from this Professor today.
"The next time Professor Dumbledore tells you that I am unavailable, I want you to promise me that you won't go looking for me." Snape waited for Harry's response.
"No sir."
"I beg your pardon." Snape exclaimed, sitting up straight and staring at his son in surprise.
"No sir. I won't make a promise that I'm not sure I can keep." Harry looked back at his shoes, waiting for the abuse he was sure would follow his words. Silence filled the room, and Harry looked up to see his father staring at the fireplace, chin propped on his steepled hands.
"Very well, Harry." Snape said quietly, not sure what he could say that would dissuade Harry from this path. "I believe you have just enough time to go to your last class before lunch. I will be in the hall for dinner."
"Yes sir." Harry rose from his chair and headed for the door. "Uh, sir, how do I get back to the main hallways from here?"
"Turn right, and then right again at the end of the hallway. Once you reach the end of the second corridor you should recognize where you are." Snape rose and unlocked the door for Harry, holding it open as he went through. Harry heard the lock clicking into place as the door shut behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione glanced at the door as the last class before lunch began. Defense against the Dark Arts was normally their most exciting class, but neither she nor Ron could keep their minds on class today. Harry had been gone for almost three hours, much longer than they had expected. Ron turned and looked toward the door as Professor Lupin took roll, hoping to see Harry hurry in. The Professor paused as he reached Harry's name, looking toward Hermione and Ron with raised eyebrows.
"Sir," Neville raised his hand in class, a very unusual occurrence.
"Yes, Neville." Professor Lupin looked mildly surprised as he called on Neville.
"Harry's cauldron exploded in Potions and he went to the infirmary." Neville explained.
"I see." Lupin looked thoughtful for a moment, and glanced quickly over at Hermione and Ron before continuing with roll.
The professor had just finished taking attendance when the door quickly opened and Harry hurried through.
"Sorry Professor Lupin" he gasped as he sat down next to Ron.
"Yes, Harry, Neville told me about your cauldron. Everything all right?"
"Yes sir." Harry said, not meeting the professor's eyes. Lupin nodded and began with the day's lesson, how to counteract mid-level curses.
"Well?" Ron whispered as Lupin turned toward the black board.
"I'll tell you later, it's complicated."
For once class dragged by as the three waited anxiously for lunch and time during which they could talk freely. When the bell rang they were off like shots for the Great Hall.
Hermione managed to contain herself until they were seated at the Gryffindor table to ask a question that had been preying on her mind all morning.
"What did the potion do to you?"
"Oh nothing much," Harry tried to downplay.
Hermione leaned forward, obviously intrigued.
"You mean it did nothing at all? I've been reviewing in my mind all morning, and I thought at the very least it would have made your skin itchy!"
Ginny sat herself next to Hermione and grinned at Harry, who was seated across from her. "You look a lot better than you did earlier, Harry."
Hermione looked at Ginny, waiting for her to continue.
"What do you mean, Gin?" Ron asked, forking chicken pie toward his mouth.
"Colin and I saw him in the hallway earlier and he had the most adorable little green vines all over him!"
Hermione and Ron just stared at Harry while he tried to ignore them and concentrate on eating lunch as fast as possible. He had a lot to tell them afterward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Severus seated himself in one of the armchairs after Harry left. He propped his chin on his hands and contemplated Harry's actions, and his parting words. This could be a problem. Things had been much simpler before Lily's letter had found him. Yet he couldn't regret its appearance. The knock at the locked door surprised him, although it shouldn't have. Only one other person knew where he really was, and that person knew that he and Harry had talked. Snape opened the door, allowing Dumbledore to enter.
"What happened Severus?" Dumbledore asked as he settled himself comfortable in a chair.
"Albus, he did it on purpose."
"I did figure that out," Albus said gently, surveying the man in front of him. "It was rather inventive of him, and reminded me of another inventive young man many years ago."
"I was never that heedless of the consequences to those around me!" Severus exclaimed, staring in surprise at Dumbledore.
"I seem to remember several times that very, shall we say, unexpected things happened to certain young Gryffindors." Albus chuckled softly as Severus' brow furled thinking back to his school days. "Something is bothering you, out with it."
Severus threw himself into the chair. "I gave him a stern lecture about safety you may be sure. But what bothers me is that he won't promise not to go looking for me again. Albus, he could ruin all we've set up here if he goes investigating at the wrong time. I don't know where to go with this," he concluded gloomily.
"I suggest we bring this situation up for discussion at the next counsel meeting. Did he say why he wouldn't promise you?"
"No, just that he wouldn't make a promise he wasn't sure he could keep. He looked just like Lily used to when she was being stubborn and refused to be shifted, so I let it drop for now."
"We'll discuss it tonight Severus, I've moved the council meeting up due to what you reported when you returned this morning. Are you ready to 'return' tonight?"
"Do I have a classroom left?" Snape queried sardonically.
"Of course you do, my dear professor!" Dumbledore chuckled merrily as he left the room.