A Boys Tail by RiddikuLiss

Harry Potter had been thouroughly enjoying his time at Hogwarts thus far.

He still couldn't quite believe his luck, as he sat himself down on the damp grass under the old Beech tree, staring out at the Black Lake.

He was a wizard.

He must've pinched himself at least fifty times since arriving at the school; still not entirely sure whether this was all just an elaborate dream made up from his over-active imagination, and he would wake up in his cupboard under the stairs any minute now.

Dream or not, Harry wasn't going to waste it. He was soaking up the most of everything, and right now- he was relishing in the fresh autumn air. Alone.

He had a free hour this afternoon. Well, not intentionally. He'd been in the middle of his Defense lesson when a searing red hot pain had flared up behind his eyes. His scar had been causing him some trouble lately.

At one point the headache became so painful that he had to excuse himself from the classroom, and, rather embarrassingly- run all the way to the infirmary. The Matron, Madam Pomfrey, had scanned him over, before brushing him off fairly quickly and telling him to go get some fresh air.

"That's the best sort of medicine for headaches, Mr potter" she'd said, as she shuffled him out of the hospital wing doors. "Don't you worry, I'll let your professor know of your whereabouts"

With that said, the Healer handed him what looked to be an absence slip- a pink note containing the Madam's nimble signature in the bottom left hand corner- and told him to be on his way.

Which brought him to now, sitting at the mouth of the lake with his back resting up against the old tree. He watched as the cool wind blew through the branches above his head, before skimming over the waters surface- disturbing the lake and causing ripples to appear in the shallows.

Harry winced at the imprudent throb of pain that still remained behind his left eye. He'd been experiencing these awful migraines quite often since joining Hogwarts. It was a very sudden pain, brought on randomly, which only appeared to intensify with each occurrence.

He just wished it hadn't of happened during Defense this time. They'd been learning about some very interesting blocking spells.

'Pity', Harry thought with a wry smile. It was just his luck he'd be forced to sit out his favourite class. He'd much rather have to excuse himself from one of his more unfavourable lessons. 'Like Potions'.

So, with a sigh, and a rub to his aching scar- Harry tried to tune out his discomfort and focused on the view before him. The polished surface of the lake winked back at him, glowing in the sun and lapping at his feet.

He picked up a fallen beechnut beside him, and tossed it into the Lake. It dived into the water with a small "plonk". He smiled, tossing another nutshell, this one landing further than the last. He watched as it too was swallowed up by the water in its descent- mesmerised.

Regardless of the crisp late-September air- the water looked incredibly inviting. Maybe if he-

'No thanks' Harry thought at once, stopping himself before he could be encouraged any further. He had no desire whatsoever to give the water a try. No matter how good it looked.

He wasn't exactly the strongest swimmer, not to mention his experiences with water had never been "brilliant", per say- and so, he thought it best to keep clear of any deep waters for now.

'Or for the rest of my life'.

So Harry sat back against the tree, and continued throwing as many beechnuts he could find into the Lake, smiling in content.

Within minutes he had completely forgotten about his strange and sudden urge to jump head first into the lake. His headache was feeling much better too, and all was quiet-

"Shouldn't you be in a lesson, Potter?"

Harry started, jumping out of his skin at the voice. He whirled round to face the speaker and upon doing so, felt his expression drop, as well as his heart- all the way to his stomach.

Professor Snape stood a few paces from the boy, watching him with a look of pure contempt.

Whatever Harry had done- which he didnt think was anything at all- Snape was not happy about it.

"Professor" the boy gasped, trying to recover from his initial shock.

The potions master looked down at him from where he stood, and crossed his arms over his chest, slowly.

"Well? Out with your excuses, Potter"

Harry spluttered, "What?"

Snape's dour expression didn't waver. "Why. are. you. here?"

Harry flinched at each punctuated word, before scrambling to his feet and dusting stray bits of grass from his robes. "I have a free period" he explained, not quite looking the man in the eye as he spoke. Instead he focused on a particular spot just behind his professors left shoulder.

He saw the potions master raise a brow at him. "A free period?" He asked in a low voice.

Harry nodded vehemently.

If it were possible, Snape's expression grew darker, and Harry felt himself visibly shrink.

"Mr potter, regardless of what you may believe- Teachers don't just give out free periods" His tone was icy, before turning dry as he said, "Even if it is to the famous boy who lived"

Harry frowned, meeting his teachers gaze head on. He opened his mouth to object but Snape gave him a piercing look, making him think better of it. He stood silent, jaw locked, as the man continued.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Potter, but First year Gryffindors have Defense Against the Dark Arts during this hour" This was true, of course. Snape knew this, and Harry hated that he couldn't otherwise protest to his words. "And I don't recall Professor Quirrel making a cancellation on any of his afternoon lessons". Again, this was true.

"He didn't, but-"

"But" His teacher parroted, cutting him off. The boy breathed sharply out of his nose in frustration, but remained quiet whilst Snape spoke.

"You thought you could play truancy and go skip rocks by the Lake all afternoon, yes?"

"They're Beechnuts, actually" Harry muttered before he could stop himself. Uh oh.

He winced, and -trying not to take notice of the piercing look his teacher was giving him-fished the pink slip out of his pocket. His last ticket to freedom.

Not trusting himself to speak, he wordlessly brandished the form, watching with bated breath as the man snatched it from him and read it out loud.

"Please allow Mr potter to be excused from his lesson..." he began loudly, before his words quieted into a barely audible murmur the further he read. Harry watched as his eyes scanned down the paper, swallowing hard when the man suddenly paused.

Snape looked up at him, brows raised high into his hairline.

"A Headache, Potter?"

Harry said nothing. He just stared up at him, nervously wringing out his hands as they gathered sweat under the mans gaze.

"You've been excused from lessons because of a headache?"

The boy nodded, biting his lip. "Yes, sir".

Snape narrowed his eyes at the boy, looking long and hard at him for several moments, before appearing conceded.

Harry, feeling as though their interaction had come to a close, reached out for his form. He recoiled immediately when, with a flare of his nostrils, The potions master folded the slip up and tucked it away into his robes.

"Absences aren't permitted to students who complain about silly little headaches" he said. And that was that.

Harry bristled at the unfairness of it all, and chirped, "Your not a healer! how would you know?"

In a moment, Snape had leant in exceedingly close- almost a breath away, and spoke in a hushed, threatening tone that made Harry shiver;

"I suggest you head back into the castle, and continue with your lessons like every other student, or you'll find yourself scrubbing cauldrons on Saturday morning. Are we clear, Mr potter?"

His words left no space for argument, neither his expression- which had long grown heavy with impatience. And so, Harry gave into his teachers demand.

Defeated, he grabbed his discarded book bag, shouldering it; and trudged his way past Snape, heading back up to the castle entrance. He felt his teachers eyes on him the entire way.

Just before he reached the doors, He turned, checking to see if Snape was still watching him like a hawk-

Only to find that he was no longer there.

'What?!'

The space where he stood not thirty seconds ago was now empty, and Harry did a quick scan of the rest of the grounds, unable to see any sign of his potions professor anywhere.

He was gone.

'That's odd' Harry thought, scrunching his face up. He shook his head, massaging his sore temple- before checking the spot next to the beech tree again. He half expected Snape to jump out from behind the tree, but nothing moved except for the soft blowing of the tree leaves and the lightly disturbed water in the lake.

'Huh'

Harry gave the beech tree next to the black lake another long, hard stare- waiting a moment just incase his teacher popped back into existence again. But after a good minute, resulting in nothing happening, he gave in. This school was magic after all, so it's not like teachers disappearing on the spot was anything unusual.

"Maybe the greasy git decided he needed a wash in the Lake" he said to himself as he made his way inside, laughing at the ridiculous image it gave him.

Snape, paddling about the black Lake in the cold September air.

Very ridiculous indeed.