Love Potion No. 13

Chapter 11

“Hey, students aren’t permitted to enter faculty….” Harry rolled his eyes and flicked his wand at the portrait of Salazar Slytherin freezing the man’s tongue and his echoing words. The last thing Harry needed was to be caught sneaking into Snape’s chambers by another teacher, it was bad enough Snape would know. Admittedly Harry had Dumbledore’s permission but Harry couldn’t help wonder what Snape would do to him when he entered the rooms unannounced. Steeling himself beside the empty picture frame which marked Snape’s private quarters, Harry closed his eyes and with his voice as steady as he could managed whispered the password.

“Gillyweed.” Harry watched as a snake slithered into the blank frame and looked Harry up and down with a hiss of disgust.

“He’ssss not going to like thisssss.” The snake hissed before the door to the room creaked open and Harry tentatively stepped inside. Harry stood aside from the closing door and took in the small cozy living room. Harry had never been into the private chambers of a professor before and found it rather homely. There was the requisite fireplace; an plush arm chair and a table cluttered with used tea cups, crumbed plates, student homework and potion text books. A considerable sized set of bookshelves lined the far wall and ancient tomes filled every space, in no particular order. The place was very un-Snape like, with it’s rich fabrics, and mismatched colors and styles. Harry was drawn quickly from his gaze around the room by Snape’s voice coming from an adjoining room.

“Draco Malfoy, I do not give you my password so that you can come and go like a stray cat.” Harry froze rigid as Snape appeared from the other room, wrapped in an emerald green silk bathrobe and carrying a tub of muggle ice cream and packet of chocolate biscuits. “And just because you have my permission it is no excuse for not announcing…” Harry braced himself to be hexed to death as Snape finally looked up pausing mid step as he realized his intruder wasn’t who he’d assumed he was.

“Potter.” Snape growled his gaze narrowing angrily and his face contorting into a sneer.

“Professor.” Harry whispered not really knowing what to do, or what to say. After all it had been Dumbledore’s idea that he come down here, and up until now Harry hadn’t really thought about what he was going to say when he got there.

“What in Merlin’s name are you doing in my chamber?” Snape spat out sharply his gaze boring into Harry’s making the boy shiver all over. Harry had quite forgotten how frightful Snape could be when angry, especially when he’d had an entire day to stew on what Harry had done the previous day.

“I, I…I have…..apologise.” Harry stammered as the words caught in his throat. Snape scoffed loudly before swiftly moving around the coffee table to collapse ungraciously in the armchair by the fire.

“Save your breath Potter, and do us both a favor and fuck off.” Snape spat over his shoulder as he tore the lid off the tub of ice cream and began spooning the chocolate mint flavored goo into his mouth, his icy stare focus on the fire. Harry wasn’t surprised by Snape’s retort, after all he’d let the elder wizard have it yesterday; it was only fair he received the same treatment in return.

“Dumbledore told me about your animagus.” Harry whispered still standing staring at Snape who was still spooning chocolate mint ice cream into his mouth, not acknowledging Harry’s presence.

“That old man takes great delight in conveying private stories that are not his to confess.” Snape muttered darkly as he licked his spoon and reached across for the packet of biscuits, to crumble the cookies into the ice cream.

“Why didn’t you just tell me, when I messed up that potion and I changed?” Harry whispered accusingly as he watched Snape lick his spoon clean again, biscuit crumbs hanging to the front of his silk robe.

“Because I couldn’t believe this shit was happening to me, that I, self sufficient as I’ve been for so many years had to wait for a brat like you to come along in order for my magic to finally mature.” Snape snapped slamming the tub of ice cream down on the table in anger and rising up from his chair to pace over to the fireplace.

“You’ve been such a bastard to me.” Harry snapped equally annoyed and frustrated.

”And would you have preferred that I pander to your every whimper like the five year old child that everyone else treats you as? No I treated you as an adult Potter, I gave you respect and helped you when you asked. Never once did I say no to you Potter, and in truth I didn’t realize why until now. I can’t help myself the bat in me seeks you out. That’s why I spent the better part of the two weeks camped outside your bedroom window at Privet Drive because I couldn’t sleep not knowing whether you were safe and knowing what old Tom Riddle was up to. This is killing me Potter, knowing that it’s you I have to come to rely on, that where ever you go in life what ever you do I’m forever entwined with you whether I like it or not! This sucks Potter, and if you think that an apology is going to fix that then you’re a very, very stupid little boy…” Snape was angry and Harry instinctively took a step back away from the potion professor who looked like he was ready to pop at any moment. Then in the blink of an eye Snape had transformed into a bat almost on instinct. Harry smiled weakly as he watched the chubby little bat flick around the room in irritation before flapping off into the bedroom. With a sigh Harry followed and found the bat hanging upside down on the curtain rail of the four-poster bed.

“Thank-you.” Harry whispered as he sat down on the dusty trunk at the end of the bed and stared up at the bat hanging above him, hardly registering that he was in Snape’s bedroom. “I was glad of your company those two weeks, life at Privet Drive is….” Harry trailed off wondering if Snape had heard the arguments and the beatings he’d received from his Uncle while he’d been hung outside the bedroom window. “It’s not pleasant, it was nice being able to have something to do, to collect crickets for you…do you actually like them?” Harry didn’t expect a reply as he crossed his legs and leant against the left upright of the bed. “Probably not. I’m sorry I’ve been such a little shit, but you just didn’t back off this time and I’ve been having these dreams….” Harry heard the whoosh of air before the creak of the bed springs as Snape came to sit down on his bed. Harry twisted his fingers nervously in his lap as Snape’s onyx eyes stared at him coolly but with mild interest.

“Dreams?” Snape inquired his voice not betraying any of his inner thoughts.

“Yeah, well nightmares really about falling from the tree.” Harry trailed off wondering where he’d plucked up the courage to talk to Snape about his private dreams. Snape’s expression remained passive the elder wizard not pushing for continuance. “It’s the look that gets me, the way you stared at me when you let me go. I can’t get that look out of my mind, and I don’t know what it meant.”

“I thought you’d established the look was sick pleasure at watching you fall to your death?” Snape muttered bitterly making Harry lower his head in guilt at what he’d said the other day.

“Sorry, I lost it you really do piss me off sometimes.” Harry whispered causing a smile to twitch at the corner of Snape’s lips in mild amusement.

”The feelings mutual Potter.” Snape replied coolly before continuing. “It was fear.” Harry looked up from his lap to stare at Snape in shock, surprised the man had admitted it so freely. “I was afraid that I’d just let the savior of the wizarding world fall to his death having spent the better part of 6 years trying to keep him alive. Afraid that I’d let my only hope of achieving my full potential slip through my fingers and afraid that if you didn’t survive I rather than Voldemort would be named nastiest bastard 1998.” Harry smiled at the last comment Snape’s dry wit amusing despite its serious nature.

“Fear.” Harry muttered in agreement as Snape got up from the bed and wandered out back into the living room. Like an obedient puppy Harry followed Snape back into the larger room, where Snape was poking at his rapidly melting ice cream tub with disgust.

“We need to learn to get along Harry.” Snape muttered as he offered the ice cream to Harry who politely declined.

”We need to do more than that.” Harry snorted in amusement having remembered how long he’d spent in the shower that very morning thinking about Snape and no one else. Snape raised a smooth eyebrow in Harry’s direction surprised the boy had become so forth right.

“And that insinuation is meant to mean what Potter?” Snape trod carefully making sure he hadn’t read too much into Harry’s comment regarding their situation. After all there was no possible way the boy could know about the various intricacies of soul mates.

“Oh come on professor, that bullshit about me not being affected by the potion because I was more mature than my peers, what a load of bull. It was because you were there, I didn’t react because subconsciously I knew you were already my soul mate and therefore didn’t need to flaunt my sexual prowess. The bat in me reacted because until then it hadn’t been aware of you. The potion simply made it sit up and pay attention more quickly than it would have normally…” Snape nodded mildly impressed that the boy had worked it out for himself. Despite his eluding to it constantly in class, Harry was not as stupid as he made out to be.

“Then you understand what that means?” Snape continued still cautiously assessing how much Harry knew for himself. The last thing Snape wanted to do was scar the boy out of his wits by suggesting such a thing.

“Yeah, you weren’t exactly my first choice with which to lose my virginity but then again I suppose we were meant for each other.” Harry muttered blushing a little hardly believing he was discussing this with Snape.

“Cut the clichés Potter, I’m past all that crap. Having meaningless unfulling sex for the past 25 years of my life has hardly been something to write poetry about.” Harry smiled sideways at Snape a little shocked his professor would talk so freely about his sex life with a student. Not an hour or so before they’d been sworn enemies and now they were flippantly discussing having sex with one another. “I’m assuming Dumbledore gave you to password to my rooms, so I suppose in his own perverted way he’s given his consent to this.” Snape sighed and stared at the fire lost in his own thoughts for a moment before the clock above the mantelpiece broke the silence, striking twelve like a muggle timepiece should. “You should return to your dorm Potter, it’s late.”

“Will we talk about this again?” Harry whispered as he moved towards the door as Snape flicked his hand dismissively.

”Undoubtedly so Potter, I think the subject is unavoidable don’t you. Now get lost.” Snape stared at Harry pointedly who got the message loud and clear. It was as Harry was stepping outside that he remembered something and paused to glance back at Snape who was leaning against the fire surround muttering to himself.

“Oh and Professor…” Harry paused ensuring the man looked up at him. “Nice pajamas.” With a knowing smirk Harry turned on his heel and disappeared leaving Snape to scowl to himself in private. Harry Potter was definitely the bane of Snape’s life…

TBC>>>>>>>>>>