Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

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Appearances Are Usually Deceiving

Severus looked up from his breakfast as Minerva tapped his shoulder. “Did you hear anything I just said?”

“No, I do apologize, but my coffee is particularly fascinating this morning.”

“First year essays? You have both the younger Goyle and that Hufflepuff Ponget girl in one class if I recall.” She smirked. He glared.

“ I think you-” The toast fell from his hand, and he blinked hard, then looked back at the Gryffindor head of house, to see his expression mirrored on her face. She was staring with shock, or perhaps something akin to horror, at his hair.

Her hair was green. Actually, green and silver. In spikes almost 25 cm high. He looked down the head table to see Flitwick’s hair and beard were plaited with alternating yellow and black stripes. Sprout’s normally mousy brown hair was arranged into an afro, which was impressively patterned with blue and white plaid.

“Se… Severus… Your hair!” Minerva was still staring at him, and he could hear the whispers and laughter in the hall growing louder as the students noticed the professors’ states. He conjured a small mirror and groaned as he took in his appearance. He had curls. Golden ringlets with red highlights. He tugged on one, and it bounced. He could almost hear the “boing”. He took a deep breath, forcing an outward calm.

“I don’t think it suits my complexion…” He handed the mirror to Minerva as he surveyed the uproariously laughing students. He barely registered her shriek and the shattering of the mirror. Potter? Maybe… Potter was staring openmouthed at the teachers, before laughing and turning to Granger. When she looked up to see the cause of the commotion she covered her mouth with her hands in shock, which turned quickly to amusement. Soon she dissolved into helpless giggles while Potter struggled to control his own laughter. They did not look particularly guilty. What caught his eye was the smug expression on the face of the youngest Weasley. His eyes narrowed. She and the Creevy brothers and Lovegood were… Wait, why is Lovegood at the Gryffindor table? Never mind… Those four…He groaned. This was going to be a long year.

Finite!” Next to him, Minerva practically hissed the spell. There was a loud pop, and suddenly her hair had the yellow and black plaits. Glancing down the other two heads of house, Sprout now had the Gryffindor colored curls, and Flitwick was sporting Slytherin spikes. Which meant… Sure enough, when Severus reached up, he felt an afro. He looked back down and caught Ginny Weasley’s amused eyes, and glared. She just smiled and waved.

Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall swung open and Albus Dumbledore strode in, to a fresh wave of laughter. His long beard was green and morphed into a hissing snake, coiling around his neck. It changed to a bright yellow, and the hair rearranged itself to the image of a badger, which briefly hung from his chin before scrambling up his robes to sit on his shoulder. His eyes were twinkling madly as he surveyed the head table. Trust the headmaster to find the situation amusing.

“Would the heads of house accompany me to my office please? Oh, and Mr. Potter?” His beard morphed into a blue eagle and was valiantly attempting to fly away from his face as he walked from the hall.

In the headmaster’s office, Severus took his seat against one wall. He noticed Potter glance at him before sitting at the opposite side of the room.

“Harry, I must ask if you had anything to do with this…” Albus looked at Potter over steepled fingers, trying to maintain a calm demeanor while his beard, in the form of a red lion, leaped from his shoulder to the top of his head, obscuring his vision. Severus expected the boy to jump up and vehemently deny his guilt, but he just stared at the headmaster.

“Have I given you any indication that I am responsible?” Potter’s voice was calm, but his eyes were burning with anger. Strangely, Severus found himself sympathizing with the boy. Being wrongly accused with no evidence would raise any man’s ire. Expecting Minerva to jump to her student’s defense, he was surprised to see her peering suspiciously at the angry teenager, though her colorful braids made her a more amusing than intimidating sight.

“You seem to have a tendency for trouble Mr. Potter.” She tapped her fingers against her arm, waiting, perhaps, for a confession. “And this seems suspiciously like something devised with either the help of the Weasley twins or inspiration from your father and his friends.” Harry looked from her to Dumbledore, to the two other professors for support, not even glancing at Severus. The room remained silent.

“I will say this once, because I think every member of the present company needs to hear it. My name is Harry. I am not James Potter. As amusing, and frankly quite ingenious as this prank was, I had neither foreknowledge of its execution, nor any hand in its design. None of you,” he paused to look pointedly at Dumbledore, “are omniscient, and accusing someone of an act simply because his friends or family may have committed similar acts is narrow-minded and inexcusable. I would prefer not to be the victim of any other such misunderstandings in the future. Excuse me if that came across rudely, but it needed to be said.” Potter finished speaking and stood. “May I go please?”

“You may, Harry. I do apologize that you feel we were accusatory with no reason. Though you could, I suppose, take it as a compliment… ” Albus gave him a small smile, which faltered with a green-eyed glare. Obviously still angry, but controlled, Potter pulled open the office door and vanished down the stairs.

“Do you think he did it?” Minerva asked, looking to Dumbledore, but it was Severus who spoke.

“No. He did not. It was the Weasley girl, Miss Lovegood, and the Creevey boys. But we have no way of proving that either. The girls are both intelligent enough to cover their tracks.” He smirked as Minerva paled.

“That combination could be worse than the twins. We won’t live through the year!”

The DA was making rapid progress. The older students could almost all produce patroni, and some could even charm them to carry messages. They all knew more shield spells than were taught in the Hogwarts curriculum. Harry had little doubt that the first years could pass a third or fourth year practical exam in DADA. In mock battles, speed and accuracy were improving, as was the unprecedented level of inter-House cooperation. Now, everyone was just practicing various spells, and Harry couldn’t help but smile, until he caught sight of Hermione.

Harry glared as Patrick reached around Hermione to adjust her wand movement. He couldn’t hear what was said, but Hermione giggled and went back to practicing the stunning hex. It was a complex variation of the simple spell, moving erratically until it reached its target, actually homing in on the person at whom it was aimed. Difficult to master, but infinitely useful in battle. Hermione executed it perfectly as Harry looked on. She turned excitedly to Patrick and gave him a quick, one-armed hug, and Harry had to stop himself from hexing the older boy. She shouldn’t be hugging him! Why is he smiling like that? Does he fancy her? Hermione then scanned the room of DA members until she caught Harry’s eyes. He gave her a thumbs up, jealousy fading somewhat with her smile. Glancing at his watch, Harry cast a Sonorus charm on himself.

“Okay everyone, listen up! We’ve got five minutes ‘till curfew, so I’ll be quick. This is our last meeting until after the holidays. I think we’ve accomplished a whole lot since we started, and I’m really glad we continued the club this year. Keep practicing, because we’re going to have a mock battle with everything we’ve done when we get back. Have a great Christmas!” He ended the spell on his voice, and everyone filed out, exhausted, to head for their common rooms, calling goodbyes as they left. Patrick waved on his way out, but Harry, somewhat childishly, ignored him.

“Very inspiring Potter. Anyway, have a good holiday, in case I don’t see you before we leave. You too Hermione.” Draco gave them a small grin before he headed out the door.

“Bye Draco…” Hermione called after him. “But in case you’ve forgotten, we’re all meeting up Friday night for a party!”

“Oh yeah…” the Slytherin’s voice came floating back to them. Harry shook his head.

“C’mon Maya. We’re already late getting back.” He pulled out the Marauders’ Map, and tapped it with his wand. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

“Oh no…” Hermione breathed. She pointed at a spot on the second floor, where five dots were gathered. Harry only watched them a moment before reaching the same conclusion she had.

“Shit. Okay, Hermione, go get McGonagall. I’ll stop it.” She nodded, and they both set off jogging in opposite directions.

Harry slowed as he reached his destination. Turning a corner, what he saw filled him with fury and not a small helping of pride. Two of his younger DA members were defending themselves against three older attackers in Ravenclaw and Slytherin robes. Gregory Goyle was laying unconscious on the ground, still being attacked by bat-bogeys. The other two attackers were dueling and hurling insults at their victims. An older Ravenclaw girl leaned against a wall while she kept firing nasty hexes that Harry knew were in a grey area of legality, and boy from Ravenclaw stood next to her, relatively unharmed, shielding them both. On the other side Alyssa Bolton, a third year Slytherin from the DA, was sitting against the wall, cradling an obviously broken right arm, rapidly firing spells with her left, while her younger brother, Timothy, who was in Ravenclaw, crouched next to her alternating offensive and defensive spells.

“Stop.” Harry’s voice was frightening in its anger. Both the Boltons ceased firing and raised shields, while the older Ravenclaw boy was surprised into dropping his. The girl turned and began firing on Harry. He blocked her stinging hex and threw three stunners in quick succession. One of them must have hit, because she crumpled to the floor. Harry conjured ropes to bind the three older students.

“Hey Harry. Never been so glad to see you before…” Timothy said. “though I think we were winning.”

“What happened Tim?” Harry asked, kneeling to check him for injuries. Taking one look at Alyssa’s arm, he produced his panther patronus. Muttering a charm under his breath, he sent it bounding off around the corner, headed for the infirmary.

“When do we get to try that?” Alyssa asked, watching it go, awed. She shook herself out of it. “Never mind. Anyway, we were heading back to the dorms. I was walking Tim to his portrait to be safe, when these thugs appear out of nowhere, start calling us blood traitors and the like, and the big ugly one,” She pointed at Goyle, “threw me against the wall. Then the girl pointed her wand at Tim, and he threw a stunner at her. She blocked it, but that’s how the fight began. I’m pretty sure I got the troll. Have to thank Ginny for teaching me that hex…”

“I got the girl with a jelly-legs spell at some point,” Timothy added. Harry nodded and turned to the bound students, only one of whom was conscious. “Evenerate,” he incanted, waking the other two. “Do you confirm or deny that you three, a seventh year and two sixth years, attacked two innocent children?” He ignored the indignant snort from behind him.

“Innocent my ass! Those two are traitors. Pureblooded, and they throw it away on some muggle-loving group of fools. A Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Supposed to have cunning and brains…” The seventh year boy spat on the ground.

“I suppose you two agree?” He asked Goyle and the girl mildly. They both sneered at him. “I see. So it must fill you with so much pride that you perfect, pureblooded, lowlife bullies, that three of you, could take on such a frightening pair of blood traitors who are half your size. Except you couldn’t, could you? If I had shown up five minutes later, I think they would have taken you down on their own. Perhaps not an adventure to write home to Mommy about. Ah well, what a shame. I don’t think either of your Heads of House will approve either. All of you were picking on your own housemates. No, probably a stupid decision all around. Tut tut…” With that, he conjured two more patroni and sent them off in different directions.

“Now we wait.” Harry sat next to the Boltons, holding the wands of their attackers in one fist, still brimming with anger. He hated bullies. His thoughts, however, were with one patronus he wished he could call back. Harry didn’t want to deal with Snape tonight. It was bad enough sitting with him in the headmaster’s office, torn between questioning the man at wandpoint and just breaking down into tears and chucking things at his head. Harry thought he showed remarkable self-restraint by doing neither. So why did he send for Snape?

Hermione and McGonagall arrived first, followed closely by a flustered Madame Pomfrey. The mediwitch shook her head at yet another duel in the corridors, and began conjuring stretchers. Hermione quickly checked Harry for injury before moving to help the Alyssa and Timothy. McGonagall sighed and turned to Harry.

“An explanation, if you would, Mr. Potter.” Her voice was weary, he noted, and he wondered when she had last gotten a decent night’s rest. At least her hair was back to normal.

“Could it wait until Professors Snape and Flitwick arrive ma’am? I’d like to only go through it once.”

“No need, Mr. Potter! We are both here. And I must say, I was most impressed by your patronus. Most adult wizards cannot cast one, let alone charm it to speak.” At Flitwick’s voice, Harry turned around to find both of the other professors he had summoned standing behind him.

“I was more interested in what could be so important that would require us to drop what we were doing and immediately heed your call.” Snape looked down at him with unconcealed contempt, and anger flared in Harry’s chest. Strange, I thought I had given up getting angry over what he says…

“It wasn’t his fault, Professor.” Alyssa appeared by his side, her arm in a sling, which Hermione was still attempting to adjust.

“Would you stay still for two seconds, ‘Lyssa?” Hermione hissed at her. The younger girl stood still, but continued talking.

“When those three apes attacked me and Tim,” she gestured to the three students Madame Pomfrey was levitating onto stretchers, “Harry came and ended the fight. Don’t know how it would have ended if he hadn’t shown up.” She finished her speech, but Snape wasn’t looking at her. He was glaring at Goyle. Then his eyes flicked to Timothy and back to Alyssa. Is that concern on his face?

“Actually, I’m pretty sure Alyssa and Tim would have ended the fight admirably if I hadn’t shown up. It would just have been messier. I-”

“Miss Bolton! Mr. Bolton! You’re both coming with me. Now, please.” Both siblings cringed as they turned and followed the mediwitch, and three floating stretchers out of sight. Harry was suddenly very tired. He didn’t want to do anything more tonight. Especially not explain the events of the evening to three angry teachers. Even Flitwick looked ready to kill.

“I don’t suppose any of you could teach me to use a Pensieve, could you?” He looked up hopefully.

“Harry, Pensieves are tricky things to master. That’s why they aren’t used more often in court cases and such. Not even you could learn to use one properly in one night,” Hermione answered him. Then he had a stupid, reckless idea.

“Professor Snape! Could you take the memory? Then you could decide punishments and such?” The man looked slightly shocked, but he recovered quickly. Probably deciding it would be less painful than listening to Harry’s account of the event, he nodded.

“Very well Mr. Potter. Legilimens!” Harry had walls up around his mind now, and had been practicing Occlumency since the end of fifth year. Snape could force through them, he knew, but that would be painful for both of them. Forcing down the instinct that told him to shove Snape out of his head, he dropped his walls. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea…

*Most likely, Mr. Potter, but as we have begun already, would you stop wasting time and direct me to the memory you wish me to view?* Harry sighed mentally and called forth the memory at the beginning, at checking the Marauders’ Map and running to the scene of the attack. He felt the anger boil anew as he rounded the corner to see three almost-adult wizards attacking two children. He ended the memory as Alyssa concluded her initial explanation, and quickly shoved Snape out of his brain. Certain things did not need to be shared. As he opened his eyes, he saw the tall man actually stagger backwards a step. Once again, the feared Potions Master seemed shocked, but again he recovered quickly.

“Go back to your dormitory, Mr. Potter. And you, Miss Granger. It is far past curfew. Rest assured we will handle this from here.” Snape’s voice lacked its usual malice. Hermione was the one who looked as if she might argue, but Harry didn’t want to spend another moment in Snape’s presence, and strangely enough, he trusted the man to dole out fair punishments in this instance. Grabbing Hermione’s hand, he bade a hasty good night to the professors and literally dragged her away.

“What was that?” Hermione demanded once in the common room.

“What?”

“That. The whole, legilimency thing, and the leaving in such a hurry.” She put her hands on her hips and stared up at him, for the first time noting how tired he looked. “But we’ll sit down while you explain.” He shot her a grateful look as he sank into a nearby armchair.

“It isn’t that complicated Hermione. I didn’t want to be interrogated, so I allowed Snape to access the memory. And I think that in this case his punishments will be as fair as possible. It leaves us out of it, which is precisely where I want to be.”

“Funny, I thought you wanted to be in the middle of everything…” She grinned at him and he smiled sarcastically back at her. “One more question… Why do you look so tired? I thought you were still maintaining those stupid glamours?” She looked at him worriedly. She hadn’t been surprised that he hid his resemblance to the potions professor. That could be dangerous. And honestly, the fact that Harry hid the dark circles under his eyes wasn’t shocking. Usually Harry balked at shows of weakness and did his best to hide any cause for pity. That he was letting them show now seemed a cause for concern.

“The glamours… They’re tiring. I dropped the ones covering for my skin tone and covering how little sleep I get. It takes too much energy to maintain. I think I’m going to stop hiding the way my hair looks and let the glamour there fade naturally and gradually, so nobody will notice. I want to minimalize what I’m hiding to just face shape, eyes and eyebrows. I’m letting some of my mom show through now. See? I have freckles.” Sure enough, as she leaned in closer, she saw a smattering of very light brown dots over his nose. She was impressed with the charms work of selectively dropping aspects of his glamour.

Impulsively, perhaps stupidly, she leaned forward slightly and brushed his lips with her own. It could barely be called a kiss. “G’night,” she mumbled coloring brilliantly before turning and scampering up the staircase to the girls’ dorms.

Chapter End Notes:
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