Snape had finished marking the stack of essays on his desk. His students' lack of understanding for potion brewing never ceased to irritate him. Supressing a sigh, he put his quill down and glanced over at Potter. The boy hadn't uttered a word since starting on his essay; although his facial expression was rather revealing. Sometimes Potter would frown, biting on his thumb, before scribbling a paragraph, at other times the boy grinned briefly for unknown reasons. At any rate, he seemed rather concentrated. Snape smiled grimly when he saw the boy's left hand reach back to absent-mindedly rub his backside.

Wondering how many unknown, foolish actions of Potter's he would learn about by reading the boy's essay, Snape eventually picked up a book that the headmaster had lent him. Yes, he told himself for the umpteenth time, being a teacher at Hogwarts I have to bear the stupidity of the pupils, but I gain the privilege of working alongside the greatest wizard of our time, who does not restrict his enthusiasm of passing on his knowledge only to the students. It didn't take long until he was completely absorbed.

 ‘Erm...sir?'

Potter's voice startled him. He looked up from his book and frowned. ‘What is it, Potter?'

‘I've finished my essay, sir.'

Already? Snape looked disapprovingly at two blank pieces of parchment on Potter's table that were obviously still unused. He wasn't really surprised, though, since Potter's homework essays never contained more than the absolute minimum.

‘It seems to me that you have written less than I assumed you could have, given your history,' he remarked dryly as he glared at the boy. ‘I do hope, for your sake, Potter, that you did a good job and I won't have to punish you again, this time for laziness.'

Potter gulped. ‘I've written everything relevant I could think of at the moment, sir.'

Snape smirked. ‘An interesting night's read, no doubt,' he remarked sarcastically. He peered at his student. It was easy to tell that the boy was rather exhausted, so he just nodded. ‘Dismissed.'

Obviously relieved, Potter headed for the door, awkwardly wished him a good night and left.

Snape sighed and walked over to the desk Potter had vacated. Curious, he picked up Potter's essay and read its headline:  The Consequences of Losing my Temper, but then he hesitated and put the rolls of parchment into a drawer in his desk. He would read it another day, as he felt he'd had enough of Potter for one day. Instead, he picked up his book again, deciding he had definitely earned the right to retire.

.......

Snape helped himself to some porridge and looked toward the Slytherin table. Draco was eating with a ravenous appetite, and Snape was pleased to see that he seemed well-rested.  It appeared the shock he had suffered the day before hadn't kept him from sleeping. Glancing over toward the Gryffindors, the professor noted that Potter was also eating well while chatting with his fanclub.

‘Severus?'

Snape turned his head to peer into the blue eyes of the headmaster.

‘How did the detention with Harry go?'

Feeling slightly irritated by the constant concern Dumbledore showed toward his Golden Boy, Snape took his time as he finished chewing his mouthful of food. However, he did want to talk to Albus about Potter, so he eventually swallowed.  Aware that McGonagall, who sat on his other side, was listening attentively, he raised his eyebrows, unable to resist a sarcastic retort.

‘It went surprisingly well, Albus. I hardly recognized the boy, he was so respectful.'

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with their usual gleam as he said, ‘Would you mind giving me the details?'

Snape became serious again. ‘No, of course not, Albus.  To be honest, Potter wasn't very respectful...at first. To begin with, he arrived late and said it was because he had met Mr. Malfoy and wanted to apologize. But it turned out that Potter was unable to do so without shouting at him.When I berated him, he shouted at me about knowing he'd deserved his punishment, so I checked his hands. Although he wasn't aware of the charm on the cane, he had not tried to heal himself.  Surprisingly, he actually behaved himself for the rest of the detention.'

Snape took a sip of his tea. Dumbledore still didn't say anything, neither did McGonagall. Placing his mug on the table, Snape sighed.

‘Albus, I know that you are not happy with me for caning the boy. However, I am convinced it was the right thing to do, and not only for Draco Malfoy's sake.  I believe both boys think it was a fair punishment... not that I would have expected Potter to feel that way, I have to admit, he held no grudge,' Snape added a little uncomfortably. He wasn't sure if it was merely his imagination or if Dumbledore had nodded slightly in agreement. Regardless, he continued.

‘And I also know you think I punished him too harshly. Well I certainly wasn't easy on him, and I am glad that I wasn't, as it caused the boy to treat me with respect for once.' This time he was suere it was not his imagination, Dumbledore was shaking his head. ‘You disagree, Albus?'

‘I do, Severus.' Snape raised his eyebrows and raised his mug to his mouth once more, without lifting his eyes from the headmaster's face.

The elderly man continued:

‘I do not question your observations, Severus, only the conclusions you have drawn. I am pleased to hear that you find Harry has treated you respectfully; it is a pleasant change from your usual complaints in that matter. But I doubt that you were able to cane that respect into him. You see, I can tell you from my own experience from being on the receiving end of the cane," he began, offering Snape a tiny smile to counter his questioning look, ‘that an overly harsh punishment or intentional humiliation does not promote respect but rather defiance. So if you truly believe that Harry behaved respectfully, I would say it was not because you punished him harshly, but merely because you weren't too harsh.'

‘Ah,' Snape said triumphantly, ‘yesterday I got the impression that you weren't pleased because you thought I overdid it. So you now admit that I didn't give Potter any more than he deserved?'

Dumbledore inclined his head and spoke slowly. ‘Only provided that Harry showed true respect rather than the wrong sort...' Upon seeing Snape's raised eyebrows he added, ‘You know Severus, nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.'

Feeling slightly irritated again, Snape remarked, ‘You would say that, wouldn't you, Albus?'

The headmaster chuckled and said, ‘To be honest, those words aren't mine, but Camus'.'

Snape blinked, bewildered, as he had never heard of that wizard.

‘Albert Camus was a famous French Muggle,' Dumbledore informed him upon seeing his confusion. ‘He died a while ago; however, he had some very interesting ideas.'

Snape snorted. Judging from the quote, he could bet that Dumbledore would find that man's ideas interesting! But right now he felt that he had more pressing matters to discuss with the headmaster than some crazy French Muggle, deceased or not.

‘Coming back to Potter, Albus, no matter how you would classify the sort of respect he showed, I am not so much of an optimist to assume it would last. How am I supposed to punish him in the future with the amount of detention he already has? He still needs time to study.... though I doubt he uses it effectively in the first place,' he added sarcastically. ‘Deducting housepoints may work for smaller offences, but I have found that with Potter, such a penalty doesn't affect him in the least. That said, would you allow me to cane him again, if I deem it necessary?'

He looked over to McGonagall. She still didn't say anything; she merely raised her eyebrows and looked at Dumbledore. Snape thought, not for the first time, that he and the Head of Gryffindor had more in common than the pupils would ever suspect. He turned his head back to Dumbledore.

The headmaster peered at him over the rims of his spectacles. After a while, he spoke: ‘I have known for years that the relationship between you and Harry is not at all how it should be between teacher and student. Nevertheless I am surprised, though somewhat grieved that you now seem to consider corporal punishment your preferred method of dealing with him. Simply send him to me if you think that more than a deduction of housepoints is needed.'

Snape couldn't resist it. He smirked. ‘Well Albus, don't you think that Potter deserves a choice in that matter? It appeared to me yesterday that he is more frightened of your discipline then he is of mine.'

He could tell from Dumbledore's face that his sarcasm didn't go over well with the old wizard. I am obviously not the only one who was surprised by the boy's choice yesterday, he thought.

Dumbledore looked as if he wanted to reply sharply but changed his mind. Instead he addressed the witch. ‘Minerva, what is your opinion?  After all, you are his head of house.'

She didn't hesitate. ‘I think Severus has a point, Albus. More detentions don't make sense, and if Severus feels he needs to punish Mr Potter - though I must say that in my class he doesn't cause any problems - it seems only fair to me that the boy should decide for himself if he'd prefer Severus' dealing with him over being sent to you ... or to me. Just make it clear to him that it is his decision.'

Defeated, Dumbledore shook his head. ‘Very well...so be it.  Until the end of Harry's detentions...  I will talk to him about it this evening. Oh, and one more thing, Severus. Horace is ill, nothing serious, but he would rather not teach. Could you teach his Sixth Year NEWT class today?'

Snape nodded. ‘Of course, Albus.'

He and McGonagall rose and left Dumbledore to his thoughts. On their way to the exit Snape said, ‘I have to admit I was surprised you shared my opinion, Minerva.'

She gave him a hint of a smile. ‘Don't forget Severus, that, like Albus, I am from the old generation, and unlike him I am not generally opposed to corporal punishment, though as I said, I can easily handle the students without the use of it. But I warn you, do not abuse your power, or I will make sure that you feel like the chastened student when I am finished with you!'

Snape snorted. ‘Do not worry Minerva. Have a pleasant day.'

He gave her a final nod before trudging down to his office. Settling behind his desk, Snape thought about the next lesson he was going to present while he waited for Potter to turn up to be healed. However, the boy didn't come. Irritated, Snape looked at his watch. He needed to leave shortly for his lesson, and here he was, waiting for Potter to turn up! Although Potter hadn't explicitly promised to come, Snape hadn't been doubtful about it. After all, the boy had said that he would see how he felt the next morning, and Snape knew that Potter's backside still had to hurt considerably. The boy had to be acting out of pure defiance and arrogance. And he had just told the headmaster that Potter had been repentant and held no grudge! Feeling angry, he headed for the classroom.

The door to the classroom stood open. Approaching, he could hear Draco's voice.

‘Care for a soft cushion for your chair, Potter?'

The Slytherins roared with laughter and Snape also smirked. Last night he would not have been so amused, but any pity he may have felt for the boy directly after the obvious ordeal had disappeared in the last quarter of an hour. He entered the room, and the class fell silent.

‘Quills out and wands away.'

He had decided on lecturing them about the theory of healing spells. Potter's obvious ignorance and helplesssness from the day before had unsettled him more than he would admit, due to the troubled state of things. It was a subject that was handled a little hesitatly at Hogwarts, as the staff wanted the pupils to go to the hospital wing instead of experimenting around after any mishaps from hexing each other. Therefore Snape decided to proceed with great care. He gave a casual flick of his wand, and the word ‘Healing' appeared on the blackboard.

‘What you always have to keep in mind," he began, "before you even think about healing, is to assess a situation correctly. If you don't, you can easily do more harm than good.'

His gaze lingered for a moment on Potter who blushed. The boy was probably thinking about the charm on the cane, Snape thought, and although this hadn't been on his mind at that particular moment, he felt grim satisfaction. The Professor continued his lecture:

‘Is healing urgent or can you wait for a more qualified healer? Are you dealing with an ordinary wound or a wound caused by Dark magic? How can you tell?'

He looked around the class while he spoke slowly, pleased to see his students listening attentively. Draco was hanging on his every word. After all, his professor's healing had saved his life. Granger was absorbing his lecture as well.  But that was nothing new.

However, Weasley had a concentrated look on his face, and that was definitely something new. And Potter ... Snape froze as anger rose inside him again. Potter, of all students, was sittting on his chair, his head hanging down with his eyes closed.

‘Potter!'

Potter's head jumped up and the boy looked at him with a sheepish expression on his face.

‘Do you find what I have to say on healing spells so boring that you fall asleep in my class?'

‘I didn't ...'

Snape was livid.

‘Your arrogance is overwhelming, Potter. Ten points from Gryffindor.'

Potter closed his mouth and glared at him before quickly looking down at his desk. Snape resumed his lecture, and ignored him for the rest of the lesson. The boy busied himself by taking notes and didn't look up again, not even as he left in haste as soon as Snape had dismissed the class.

A sardonic smile appeared on the man's face after the students had left. Potter was in for a great surprise in the Potions classroom. Last night he would have expected the boy to come clean and hand the Potions book over to him. But given Potter's present behaviour, he wasn't so sure any more. One way or the other, he would take possession of his old textbook again.

At any rate, the following Potions lesson promised to be anything but dull.