Since he wasn’t spending as much time around his friends, Harry often walked the halls alone between classes. He wasn’t concentrating well or paying attention, and was caught off guard when Draco Malfoy ran into him, literally, with Crabbe and Goyle at his side.

“Watch it, Potter,” Malfoy spat. He gave Harry a shove and moved to walk past him.     

“Piss off, Malfoy,” Harry said with eyes full of anger. “Don’t touch me.”

“Or what?” Malfoy sneered at him. “You have no friends, Potter. You think you can take me on by yourself? Not bloody likely, runt.”

Harry gave Malfoy a shove into the wall and kept advancing on him. Goyle grabbed Harry by the elbow and Harry swung around and punched him in the face.

“I’m not afraid of any of you!” He screamed.

“Harry Potter!” Professor McGonagall was suddenly pulling Harry and Goyle apart. “What do you think you’re doing? Follow me, all four of you!”

The four boys walked with Professor McGonagall into her office, where she proceeded to lay into them. She assigned detentions to Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle for their part and then dismissed them to speak with Harry alone.

“I realize you’re having problems, Mr. Potter, but that does not excuse your behavior. You can’t keep this up and you definitely cannot strike another student. I’m not sure what to do with you at this point. I think it’s best to discuss this with the Headmaster.”

“Why, Professor? Can’t you just take points, or give me detention?” Harry didn’t think that there was much reason to go to Dumbledore. He already knew that Harry was a nutter.

“I loathe taking points from my own House, but yes, ten points from Gryffindor for fighting does seem appropriate. I will hold back on assigning detention since you already have three weeks of detention with Professor Snape. Professor Dumbledore will hear about this incident, you can count on that.” She looked angry and disappointed.

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you,” he said.

“You may go,” said McGonagall. “Please try to behave for the rest of the day, Mr. Potter.”

Harry nodded. “I will, Professor.”

***

Harry sat with Ron and Hermione at dinner, and things were awkward at first, but improved as the meal went on. He didn’t want to lose his friends completely, he just wanted space. They seemed to understand where he was coming from, finally, and he was hopeful that things might work out. He wasn’t ready to talk to them about the things he was learning about himself from the journal, but he also didn’t feel quite as angry with them anymore. He no longer felt like pushing his luck with Snape tonight, especially after the fighting incident earlier that day. Dreading his detention, Harry could hardly bring himself to walk down to the dungeons that evening. He ended up being nearly five minutes late, which was completely unacceptable to Snape.

“I see that you have finally decided to show up, Potter,” he snapped. He couldn’t imagine how he and Potter would ever be able to connect and talk about anything in a civil manner. However, as a head of house, he had extensive experience dealing with troubled children.

“Sorry, sir,” Harry said, placing his school bag on a table.

Severus was surprised to hear an apology from Potter, especially with “sir” added to it. Harry had been so cheeky lately, causing trouble seemingly for fun, that he was caught off guard by the boy’s words.

“Sit, Potter.” Harry complied and took a seat at the table and Severus looked at him, thoughtfully. “I heard about your incident with Mr. Malfoy and his friends. Striking Mr. Goyle was ill-advised. You’re quite fortunate that Professor McGonagall was able to prevent him from thrashing you.”

“I can hold my own, sir,” Harry replied evenly. “It’s not the first time I’ve had to defend myself from bullies.”

Standing in front of Harry, Severus cocked his head. “Do you fight often when you’re at home with your relatives?”

Why was Snape talking to him like he cared? He shook his head. “No sir, not often.”

Waving his wand toward the corner, Severus conjured a bucket of soapy water and a brush. “This evening you will scrub the floor of this classroom on your hands and knees. Ensure you are thorough, as you will repeat the job if necessary.”

Harry stood heavily and trudged over to the corner to scrub. He started scraping the brush back and forth, and waited for Snape to walk away. Snape was watching him work, and it felt like his eyes were burning into Harry. A sudden wave of anger washed over him and he threw the brush against the wall with all his might.

“What?” Harry snarled at Snape. “Why are you watching me?”

Severus narrowed his eyes at Harry and spoke in a smooth, slow tone. “If you ever throw anything in my classroom, or speak to me in that tone again, you will be a very sorry young man, Potter. Pick up that brush and get back to work. You will have no more chances.”

Harry took a deep breath and stared at the floor. He wasn’t sure he could stay in the room with Snape. He felt like he was going to explode. In fact, the feeling was so overpowering that he balled up his fist and punched the stone floor, twice. A sharp pain shot through his hand and he clenched his teeth.

“Potter! Get yourself under control, now.” Severus was concerned, but gave no visible reaction. Only a few students had ever behaved like this in front of him. It simply didn’t happen, and the fact that Potter was this angry led him to believe that Dumbledore was correct. The boy truly was losing control, and pain was causing this behavior.

Harry’s breathing was rough, and he had braced himself for Snape to go off on him, but it hadn’t happened. Slowly, he got up, walked over to the brush and picked it up. He returned to the spot he’d been cleaning and started again. Relief washed over him as Snape turned and walked over to his desk. As he scrubbed the floor he concentrated on the back and forth motion of the brush and began to calm down. In fact, the work was hypnotic, and Harry found himself lost in thought. Why was Snape giving him a break? He’d yelled at the man and thrown a scrub brush at the wall!

Sitting at his desk, Severus watched Harry get control over his emotions and calm down. It was good to see that the boy was able to do so, as it showed he had some level of awareness that he needed to regain his composure. Severus decided he would make an attempt to help Potter, even though it would no doubt be irritating and time-consuming. At twelve, Potter was young for this type of behavior, especially his angry outbursts. He’d always assumed Potter had enjoyed a good life with his family, as well as at Hogwarts, but something in the way the boy currently carried himself was alarming. Severus had been able to keep his own troubled emotions in check at age twelve, but Potter was a different type of child, hotheaded and foolish. This lack of emotional regulation might actually make it easier to get the boy talking, and the sooner this task was handled, the better.