Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

New Duties
The other boys in his dorm seemed to have made it their mission to ensure Harry didn't feel alone. As promised, Ron, Seamus and Hermione were at his door the next morning before he was even properly dressed and ready to go down to the Great Hall. Seamus looked like he was still feeling guilty for playing a part in Harry having to move out of Gryffindor and Harry wondered how long it would last. He wanted his friend back, if for no other reason than he didn't want to feel like he had to avoid him any more.

Harry was grateful to see them, but surprised. It wasn't even seven yet and they didn't usually leave the common room to head to the Great Hall until seven fifteen.

"Erm, come in," Harry said, hair a mess. He was still wearing his pajamas. "Except you," he told Hermione. "You can't, there's a spell on the door. I can leave it open though."

Ron and Seamus stepped inside and Hermione waited by the door in the corridor awkwardly. "I don't think you can leave it open," she said, "or else every student passing by on their way to the Great Hall will look in and see you changing."

"I'll be quick. My wardrobe is in the bathroom so I'll change in there. Be right back." He hurried into the bathroom and changed with the bathroom door closed while Ron and Seamus sat by the fire. Hermione looked irritated to have to wait outside, but didn't say anything. They must have relayed to her how upset he had been the night before.

Harry was done and ready to leave in five minutes. He noted that Hermione was looking around from the doorway as best as she could.

"Sorry," Harry told her. "I'd let you in if I could."

"It'd be best if I didn't come in. Professor Umbridge could accuse you of doing something inappropriate. It's better this way for now."

Harry gave a nod as they left and he closed his bedroom door and noted that there was an audible click of a lock on the inside as he walked away from it.

He felt nervous as they walked down to the Great Hall. McGonagall had said he was still a Gryffindor, but he didn't know if the rest of the house would want him to sit at Gryffindor table or be in the common room now that he wasn't technically living there anymore. His social anxiety eased a little when they reached Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and Fred and George called out to him and waved him over. He and his friends took the seats that it appeared had been saved for them.

"It's brilliant really," George told him. "If we would have realized we could have our own rooms we would have applied for apprenticeships ages ago!"

"Can you imagine the trouble we could get into with our own quarters?" Fred asked. "The perfect place to experiment and come up with things for the joke shop!" Both boys turned to Harry and Fred said, "We couldn't use your room could we?"

"Erm-" the hairs on the back of his neck raised then, as if he was certain Umbridge was standing right behind him at that moment.

"Whoa, what's that look for?" George asked. All of his friends were staring at him now and Harry turned to look behind him just to be sure Umbridge or Filch weren't there. They were both up at the staff table. Filch was talking to Hagrid and Umbridge was writing something down in a notebook with a horridly pink quill.

"Just making sure Umbridge wasn't behind me while you conspired to use my room to get into trouble."

"You'd best not," Hermione said. "He's already in trouble enough and he hasn't even done anything. I'm sure she'll find some way to twist this turn of events to her favor."

When the twins didn't protest, Harry visibly relaxed.

"Nah, we don't want to get you in trouble," Fred told him. "Mum'd have a fit if she found out we got you expelled or something."

"Mum will have a fit if you're expelled," Ginny reminded them. "Do I want to know what you're planning?" Recently the twins had begun to hand out candy to younger students to test it on them. Some of the candies did harmless things like change your hair colors for a short period of time, but others made you throw up or have a fever. The twins had started to call the candy ‘skivs' and Hermione had gotten on to them several times for peddling them as a way to get out of class.

Umbridge appeared to be ignoring him again that day, refusing to call on him if he raised his hand in class, though at the same time she was keeping a closer than usual eye on him. She kept looking at him in class and then going to her desk to write down something in the notebook he'd seen her with at breakfast.

After dinner, Harry told his friends he had to meet McGonagall in her office to learn the rules about being a Prefect, and was surprised when Hermione went with him.

"Why are you going?" Harry asked, thinking she must have a question for their Head of House.

"She'll be going over rules and responsibilities for Prefects with you. She'll assign you a Prefect mentor for your first month. I was hoping if I went she'd assign the two of us to work together. It would mean we'd patrol together."

"Oh," Harry said with a frown. Ron and Hermione sometimes talked about their Prefect duties, but Harry knew little of what being a Prefect actually entailed. He'd been told off by various Prefects over the years, or helped by them, but he hadn't been disappointed to find out he wasn't one when Ron and Hermione had received their Prefect badges.

"Ron was assigned to a seventh year boy in our first month, and I was working with a sixth year girl. It only lasts for a month. It's just to be sure you aren't abusing the system and can learn everything you need to."

"Is it a lot of extra work?" Harry asked warily. He'd barely had time the last two weeks to study his apprentice books, and worried that Snape would want to quiz him on what he was learning again soon.

"Well, Prefects are sort of the eyes and ears for the staff. So you just need to keep an eye out for wrong doing or students that need help. You're sort of always on duty. Then two nights a week you patrol the corridors for one hour before curfew and one hour after. There's Prefect meetings once a month that you have to attend as well. They only last an hour. And then because you're a Prefect staff will start asking you to do things. Like last week when Professor Flitwick gave me the password to his office and asked me to go get the stack of parchments he'd forgotten to bring to class. It's not a terrible amount of extra work, not really," she said. Harry supposed she was right, that it wasn't a lot of work for a regular student. For Harry though it felt like it was a mountain of extra things he had to worry about.

McGonagall seemed pleased to see Hermione with Harry when she let them into her office a few minutes later.

"Miss Granger, good, you're just who I had in mind to mentor Mr. Potter. Have you already begun explaining things to him?"

"Some," she said, telling their head of house what they'd already gone over.

McGonagall pulled a Prefect badge out of her top desk drawer and handed it to Harry. It was silver around the edges and deep red in the center. Harry noted that it was different than the ones Ron and Hermione wore. Theirs, like Prefects from other houses, had gold around the edges. Harry's also said APPRENTICE under the word PREFECT.

 

"Harry," McGonagall said as Hermione took the badge from him and began to pin it on the chest of his robes on the left side. "You already have special privileges as an apprentice, as we've been over before. Not only in having apprentice quarters, but also being able to leave school grounds during the term and doing other things as Professor Snape gives you permission to do. Now you'll have the added role and privileges of being a Prefect."

Hermione stepped back when she was done with Harry's badge and sat down in one of the student desks, and then Harry did the same.

"You'll have access to the Prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor. Hermione can show you where it is. You'll also be allowed out after curfew if given permission by a Professor or to carry out Prefect duties. This will be in effect not only if you are on patrol, but if you should need to fetch a Professor for a problem in the common room or anywhere in the castle. You're still not allowed in sections of the school or grounds that are out of bounds such as the Forbidden Forest."

"Yes maam."

"You have the ability to take points from students for infractions, but it needs to be something worth taking points over. Every point taken by a Prefect is reviewed at the end of the week by me, and any time you take a point, the student you took points off of can dispute the point loss. As a Prefect you need to ensure you're above reproach. This means making sure you are absolutely in the right when you take points from a student or tell a student to do something. As a Prefect students will not only look up to you, but they must listen to you if you tell them to do something, just as they must listen to staff. Students will be looking to you for answers if there is an emergency. This badge signifies that you have been given authority over them by the staff. You must use that authority wisely."

Harry nodded. "I will," he promised.

She gave him a soft look and then smiled. "I know you will do Gryffindor proud Harry. Your parents would be very proud of you. They were both Prefects you know. They were Head Boy and Head Girl in their seventh year."

In his first and second year Harry had spent a lot of time in the trophy corridor on the third floor staring at the photo of his parents in the Head Boy and Head Girl showcase. Their badges were there along with their photos, and he had spent countless hours imagining going to school while they were Head Boy and Girl and what that must have been like.

"Miss Granger, would you please take Harry to the Prefect's meeting this evening and see that he gets on the patrol schedule? It starts in ten minutes. You have just enough time to get down there if you hurry. I have already informed the Head Boy and Girl of Harry's addition to the roster."

"Yes maam."


Harry stood up, looking confused. "The Prefect meeting is tonight?"

"The second Monday of every month," Hermione said, motioning with her hands for Harry to hurry up so they wouldn't be late. Harry thanked Professor McGonagall and then let Hermione hurry him down through the castle. Apparently the Prefects met in a room just down the Hufflepuff corridor off of the Great Hall. Harry wasn't keen on stepping foot down the Hufflepuff corridor, but reasoned that he was with Hermione and that there would be other Prefects around so it shouldn't be too bad. The Hufflepuff Prefects had left him alone for the most part, though it hadn't stopped them from giving him dark or wary looks.

As Hermione pushed the door open to the Prefect meeting room, 22 pairs of eyes came around to them. Ron was already there and seemed to have saved them both a seat on a couch against the far wall. There were couches and squashy chairs around the walls of the room facing in and a large rug on the floor depicting all four house crests. It looked like a comfortable place to meet. There was even a small fireplace which was crackling away merrily. Harry looked at his feet as he crossed the room to sit with Ron, feeling out of place.

The Head Boy and Girl stood up at the front of the room by the fire and the boy called the meeting to order. He was a Ravenclaw named Darius. The Head Girl this year was a Slytherin named Aoife and she had flowing locks of long black hair.

"As everyone can see," Darius said, "we have a new Prefect. Welcome Potter. We'll get you on the schedule tonight before you leave." That was the only attention that was paid to Harry for the rest of the meeting, and Harry was relieved. Draco and Pansy were watching him closely from across the room, but Harry ignored them, hoping Draco didn't want to start anything up there in front of the others.

The Head Boy and Girl went over house password changes, and Harry was surprised he was being given the passwords to all of the houses. He'd had no idea other people knew how to get into Gryfindor.

There were mundane things to go over like students who had been causing issues in certain houses, (Harry's ears perked as they talked about the skivving candy from Ron's brothers), as well as information about decorating the castle in the next few days for the holidays. Before the meeting ended a warning went around to all of them to keep students out of Umbridge's hair and to be wary of her, and Harry was perturbed to hear his name come up again.

"As you all know, Potter here has been harassed by Professor Umbridge throughout the term despite not having done anything wrong. Just recently she wanted him to be expelled for carrying out a project that had been assigned to him by Professor Snape. It's important we make sure everyone's on the up and up to keep them out of trouble."

Darius gave a worried look to Aoife and she cleared her throat and said, "There's a rumor that's been going around. We've already reported it to Professor McGonagall. A student from Hufflepuff came back from detention with her and was injured. We're not exactly sure how he was injured, other than that he had cuts on his hand. It's important we keep everyone out of trouble right now."

Goosebumps rose up on Harry's skin again like they had that morning. She'd hurt someone in detention? He shuddered and noted that a lot of the other Prefects in the room seemed to have gone pale at the thought that a teacher was hurting students.

"What are they doing about her?" a seventh year boy Harry didn't know from Ravenclaw asked.

"They're doing what they can," Darius said. "Which isn't a whole lot. Right now it's on us to keep kids out of her way. That can be difficult if she's set her sights on someone." Darius looked in Harry's direction again but didn't say anything to him. "Everyone just do the best you can."

The meeting ended but no one left yet. Some people stood up to talk with each other, and others lined up at the front of the room where Aoife had a clipboard with a piece of parchment.

"C'mon, we need to get you on the schedule," Hermione told him, and he went to stand in line with her. Ron cut the line and so did Draco and a few others, and when Harry gave Hermione a questioning look, she said, "Quidditch players can't patrol on practice nights, so they get to go on the patrol schedule first."

"Potter, up front," Darius said when he walked down the line.

"Me?" Harry asked.

"You have prior activities that have to be worked around. Front of the line with the Quidditch players."

Feeling embarrassed to cut the queue, Harry moved to the front and Hermione went with him. No one in line seemed to mind, though it didn't do much to ease Harry's anxiety or make his ears stop being red.

When Draco was done getting his name on the schedule, he left the room. Ron left a minute later, and when the other Quidditch players were gone, Aoife looked up at Harry with a smile and said, "Now then, what nights does Professor Snape have you occupied already?" She turned the clipboard around so Harry could see that it was a monthly schedule.

"Erm... none right now," Harry said.

"Well that works out then."

"Do you want me to go to the back of the line?"

"No, you're here now. Let's get you on the schedule." She looked up to Hermione and asked, "Are you his mentor for the month?"

She nodded and Aoife asked, "Are there nights you have prior engagements?"

"I have a study group on Friday and Saturday nights, but if those are the only nights we can have I understand."

"How about we give you Friday's this month and give you Saturdays off. That'll give others a chance to have Fridays off. Then we'll put the two of you on for Mondays, that way you can show Harry the ropes tonight since it's almost curfew anyway."

"Great Hermione said."

Harry watched as some of his time was signed away for two hours on Friday nights for the next two weeks and two hours Monday nights.

"Are either of you going to be here this year for Christmas?" she asked.

"Both of us," Harry said.

"You'll have extra patrols that week then since there won't be too many Prefects staying. It'll be more relaxed than during the term though."

When they were done a moment later, Hermione led Harry out, and looking at her watch said, "Ok, normally we'd be out from eight to ten, but it's already eight thirty so we're starting half an hour late, which is ok on meeting nights."

"What do we do?" Harry knew Ron and Hermione sometimes went out to ‘patrol' but didn't know what all that entailed.

"We walk around the school until ten pm and make sure students get in before curfew. That's about it. We have to stay inside the castle. Everyone has their own route they like to take. It doesn't matter which route we take so long as we get all the main areas of the castle and check all the nooks and crannies where people like to hide and snog."

Harry gaped at her and she giggled. "We don't find people too often. Last week Ron had to have an awkward conversation with two seventh year Ravenclaws though."

They went down the Hufflepuff corridor to the end, which made Harry uncomfortable, but it was a quick trip and they turned around and went through the Entrance Hall and then down into the Dungeons.

"The Slytherins and Hufflepuffs usually start in the upper castle so they can make their way down to their common rooms by the end of their shifts. I like to start at the bottom and make my way up. It works out well this way since I know none of the Prefects from Slytherin and Hufflepuff are down here right now."

They went down the Slytherin corridor where Hermione reminded a pair of first years that they were out half an hour past their curfew, but she didn't take points and told them not to let it happen again.

"No point loss?" Harry asked.

"If I take points from the Sltyherins they'll do extra patrols around Gryffindor. Ron found that out the hard way our first week back. I'd rather they just learn their lesson anyhow and get into their common rooms instead of being afraid of me taking points. The younger year Slytherins are already afraid of other houses as it is."

"They are?"

"They get picked on a lot for being in Slytherin."

"Huh."

After patrolling the dungeon classroom corridors and the corridor with Snape's office and quarters and not finding any more students, they made their way up through the castle. At nine all of the students were supposed to be in their houses, and Harry found it exciting to be out after curfew when no one else was allowed to be. They went into the library to make sure it was clear of students, and Harry stopped to talk with Madam Pince for a few minutes. As her quarters were through a door just by the library entrance, she usually stayed in the library late in case any staff members wanted to come in to chat or check something out.

By ten pm they'd been up to the Astronomy tower, to the Hospital Wing, and down all of the classroom corridors. They'd passed a pair of Ravenclaw Prefects and stopped to chat, and then made their way back towards Gryffindor. They were all the way back to the portrait hole when Harry remembered he no longer lived in the tower and couldn't go in with Hermione. It made him sad because they sometimes stayed in the common room until late and didn't go to bed until midnight or later. He couldn't do that now since he didn't have permission to be out after ten pm tonight to get back to his room.

"I'm sorry," Hermione told him with a wince.

"It's ok. I'll see you tomorrow."

Harry went back to his room and tapped the door with his wand, giving it the password, "ink cap." The door opened and when he went in he was disappointed to find the room cold and the fire lifeless.

Harry used his wand to wave the flames up in the fireplace and went into the bathroom to change, thankful when he came back out that the room was warm. As he lay in bed staring at the canopy of his four-poster that night going over everything he'd learned that day, his mind kept returning to the upcoming holidays and Hermione's promise that she was staying this year so he wouldn't be alone. At least he had one thing to look forward to. Classes would be over so he'd have less to do, and he'd be able to relax in the common room with his friend and not have to worry about anything. Harry only wished things could be that simple, and that Snape didn't have the power to interfere with his plans.

* * *

Seamus and Neville came to hang out with Harry several nights that week in his room. Ron came on the nights he didn't have Quidditch practice, and Dean spent most of Saturday in Harry's room with him studying, though Harry insisted they spend some of Saturday and all of Sunday in the common room by the fire. Harry was growing used to having his own quarters, but he missed the presence of the others in the common room.

The common room was decorated for Christmas now with red garlands and an enormous tree near the fire. The elves had brought in a smaller tree for Harry to decorate in his quarters, and Seamus had come with a box of ornaments and two garlands from the common room to help him.

When they were done decorating Harry's tree, which was about as tall as Harry was, he turned to Seamus and said, "I'm not complaining about having you around all the time, but-"

"But what?" Seamus asked, picking up bits of garland that had left tinsel across Harry's floor and putting them in the empty cardboard box.

"I know you feel guilty. I don't want you to have to spend time with me just because of that."

Seamus shrugged. "You're gonna be here for Christmas. So am I. We might as well spend time together yeah? Can't neither one of us go home."

"You're staying?"

He nodded. "If I go back I think mum may kidnap me and send me to some Muggle boarding school. Da' was never too sure about Hogwarts anyway since he's a Muggle. Last week mum said something about a school called Smeltings."

"Oh no," Harry laughed. "My cousin goes there. If he found out you were a wizard he'd chase you down and hit you with his Smeltings stick."

"See," Seamus said, sounding miserable. "Best if I stay here."

"Yeah," Harry said. He had no desire to go home to be hit with Dudley's Smelting's stick either. He was glad he'd have two friends spending the holiday at the castle.

"I thought- when you were angry with me before-," Harry said. "I didn't know it was because of your mum and dad. I thought it was because of Cedric."

Seamus paled. "I would never- that wasn't your fault."

Harry looked away.

"Don't believe them," Seamus finished, voice angry. "The Hufflepuffs are upset. It's not your fault though and you blaming yourself won't make them happy."

Harry sighed. The Hufflepuffs hadn't let up in their taunts at all, especially once they'd seen that Harry wasn't going to chastise them or take points from them now that he was a Prefect. Harry had kept up with his previous plans to avoid the Hufflepuffs at all costs, so when they said things to him about Cedric he looked away, or passed them without a word. Snape must have noticed the Hufflepuffs were still giving him a hard time, because he called Harry into his office two days before the Christmas break.

"We need to discuss travel arrangements for the holidays."

Harry raised his brows. "Sir? I'm staying here for Christmas. Hermione and Seamus are staying back as well."

"You are speaking to Mr. Finnegan again?"

"He apologized."

"I see. That does not negate the fact that you will not be staying."

Harry frowned. "Are we going to a gathering to get ingredients?"

"We are not. I must stay at the castle this year as it is my year to supervise students. You will be returning home to your relatives. I am sure they are eager to see you."

Harry paled. He felt dizzy suddenly and felt behind him for one of the two visitor chairs in Snape's office, and then sat in one of them.

"But sir, I always stay at the castle for Christmas. My relatives make other plans. Sometimes they go on holiday somewhere." When they did it was to see aunt Marge and Harry definitely didn't want to see her. That would be the worst Christmas ever.

"I sent an owl off this morning informing them you would be returning. After school lets out Friday I will apparate you to Privet Drive. Your relatives will need to drive you to the train station on January 5th so you can return on the Hogwarts Express."

Harry didn't know what to say to him. The man had already made plans and informed his relatives, but Harry had to make him understand somehow that this was a bad idea.

"Sir, they really won't want me home for the holidays this year."

Snape's dark eyes came up to meet Harrys. "Why not?"

Harry's mind scrambled for anything that would make sense to the man. "We fought the last time I saw them. They were glad they weren't going to see me again until summer." The best lies were always ones rooted in truth. Snape didn't seem to think it was a good excuse however.

"They are your family. They will not remain mad at you through the holidays. The plans have already been made."

"But Hermione's staying back this year because of me."

"Then I suggest you tell her now so she can make plans with her own family." He seemed frustrated and looked up at Harry again. Harry thought his next words would be harsh but they seemed tired... wary maybe. "You've had a rough term Potter. It would be best if you weren't here over the holidays where Umbridge will have free time to find things to punish you for."

"I could stay in my room and study."

"You can study in Surrey. The decision has been made. See that you are packed and ready to leave by five on Friday evening."

"Yes sir." His voice was shaky and so was he as he rose to leave his office.

Harry found Ron and Hermione in the common room right away and told them the terrible news.

"That's bonkers," Ron said with a scowl. "He shouldn't have this much control over you. It's the holidays. There's got to be a law against him scheduling out your free time."

"There is a law, but only for apprentices over 17," Harry said miserably. He looked up at Hermione and said, "I'm sorry. I wrecked your plans too."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "My parents will be thrilled to see me. They were going to visit my aunt and uncle and wanted me to come."

Harry turned to see if he could find Seamus and went up to the boys dorms to see if he was there. Seamus looked unhappy to be spending Christmas alone, but couldn't fault Harry for wanting to return to his relatives over the break. Harry didn't correct his notion of Harry wanting to go home.

Once again alone in his room later that evening, he looked at his little tree twinkling with fairy lights by the fire.

 

He wished he could just disappear. He wanted to throw his invisibility cloak over himself and hide somewhere until Snape forgot about sending him away for Christmas. That could work if Snape wasn't going to stick around the castle for the next few weeks. Feeling resigned to be miserable over Christmas, Harry climbed under the covers on his bed and tried to calm his anxiety. Uncle Vernon was going to be so mad.

Chapter End Notes:
Not that it matters, but the Head Girl’s name Aoife is pronounced Ee-fah. The pic of Harry by the tree is two AI images from the Magix app that I put together and then modified in Photoshop.

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