Unlikely Beginnings

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Chapter Fourteen

Snape leaned forward in his chair, one arm lying on the desk and the other
swirling the contents of a small bottle. He had added the finishing touches
this morning to his potion to find out who had been with Potter, and he had
set things aside for Monday. This was the one interesting thing about having
him dragged back to teaching his afternoon classes. It had taken him time to
find the exact spells and enchantments to use on his potion to find out who
Potter\'s accomplice was in desecrating his desk.

It was a complicated spell, since it had to be used in conjunction with a
potion, and not surprisingly, the \'recipe\' for it was needed to be found
under lock and key in the restricted section of the library. When he found
out abruptly this morning he\'d be working this afternoon, he found a small
amount of joy in seeing his potion in work when Potter walked through the
door to his lab.

Snape had rushed to apply the potion to his doorway before any students came
down after lunch. He needed a continual ring of the potion for the person to
walk through, so he\'d brushed it around the stones and left it to dry,
hoping the red would fade and not look too suspicious. He\'d had a class
before the Seventh Years were due in the dungeons, but he wouldn\'t be shown
anyone\'s ungodly insides until he\'d downed some of the potion himself.

He looked up to the doorway when he heard distant voices; students were
making their way closer to the lab. Quickly, Snape pulled the stopper out of
the bottle in his hands and, bringing the neck to his lips, tipped it up and
downed some of the potion. He pursed his lips as the sour taste coated his
mouth and began to slide down his throat as he swallowed. He shook his head,
trying to focus on something other than the foul taste of the concoction.

He managed not to stick his tongue out in disgust, settling for scraping it
along his teeth inside of his mouth. Snape stood and crossed to the cabinet
to the side of his desk and unlocked one of the doors. He reached inside and
pulled out a bottle of Ogded\'s Old Firewhiskey, and summoning his coffee mug
he poured a generous amount into the mug. It wouldn\'t do to have his nosy
students seeing what he was really drinking, now would it?

Taking a good swig of the whiskey, he swallowed and moved back to his desk,
setting the cup down. He sat back in his seat and awaited the effects of the
potion. It didn\'t take long, and he jerked a hand up to cover his eyes
suddenly as a sharp stab of pain washed behind them. He squeezed his eyes
shut for a moment before opening them, bearing the pain. If he missed Potter
walking through the door, he\'d have to make an excuse for the little urchin
to stand up during class so Snape could have a good view.

Snape grit his teeth at the dull thumping pain at his temples, and he was
glad the potion would only be in effect for a short while, as he\'d not taken
a large amount of it himself. It would be about fifteen minutes, give or
take, before the effects on him would begin to wear off. Ah, Snape thought
as he tried to smirk to himself with his teeth together so tightly, my
students are here.

He did manage that smirk, and added a dark look to them when they began to
backlog his doorway upon seeing their Potions Master already seated at his
desk. More often than not, Snape was the last person to class before it
began, waiting until all of his charges were safely seated behind their
desks. They took a moment to recover, but soon were walking briskly to their
seats. Snape would have bet they\'d tried to run the ridiculously short
distance if they didn\'t think they\'d be punished for running in a classroom.

The rest of the students hurried through, some not even noticing Snape\'s
early presence, the others wondering why on earth he was there. Meanwhile,
Snape was gazing curiously at each bunch of students who came through the
door. It took a moment, but soon there was a glow about each person\'s
stomach, and it spread to glow in a large ring, the inside of the circle
having given the illusion of their skin having faded to reveal their
insides. Snape grimaced at the grotesque inner body scenery, and he tried to
focus on the smaller, slightly glowing orbs inside of a person\'s body.

He could see the normal appearance of each student, aside from their
stomach, and he tried not to stare in disbelief at some that his eyes landed
on. Snape had no idea that the potion would allow him to see *every*
student. He\'d assumed it would be only Potter, since that\'s whose DNA was in
the potion. Come to think of it, the potion hadn\'t actually specified that
itld old only show one person... None the less, it seemed to be working
quite well, and the pain was beginning to subside.

Dear, Merlin, Snape thought, who would have thought one could do that with a
goat? He cast a wary glance at Seamus Finnigan, who had taken his seat
beside his friend and room mate, Dean Thomas. Snape looked back to the door
way to see a more familiar face; that of Pansy Parkinson. She seemed too
busy chatting with Millicent Bulstrode to notice that Snape was already in
the room. Snape had brought a hand up to cover his eyes, having been flashed
with a bright spot of pain behind them.

\"Good lord,\" he mumbled to himself. Pansy turned to glance at her friend
before she caught sight of Snape. She blinked, wondering if he was actually
there, or she was just seeing things in the dark. Pansy watched as Snape
shook his head in his hand and the young Slytherin turned back to Millicent
and shrugged, following the other girl to their table near the far wall.

Sweet Morgana, how can the body stand the induction of that much semen?
Snape spared a glance, rising his head from his hand and looking in the
direction of the Slytherin girls. He gave a small sigh of relief when he
found that the table blocked her innards when she was seated. He blinked his
eyes to clear away the small sun spots he was still seeing from the bright
flash.

The potion allowed him to see the sexual auras of not only the person he was
looking at, but also those of who had been intimate with said person. And,
not only did it let him see the different swirls of glowing color of each
person, it also identified who each color swirl belonged to. It showed the
first initial and last name of the originator, and Snape shook his head
again. Pansy had not just her own aura showing, but those of at least
fifteen others as well. Snape was undoubtedly happy that the potion only
showed the last two weeks, or he\'d have gone permanently blind on sight of
the pretty girl.

He made a mental note to tell Madam Pomfrey to speak to Ms. Parkinson on the
pros of safe sex. He really didn\'t think he could deal with miniature
Pansies running around under foot. At least, not while the mother was still
in school. Snape took a drink from his coffee mug and decided to look in
another direction. Through the doorway cameamilamiliar face, and Snape felt
like groaning in irritation for a moment before his eyes were drawn to the
glowing insides of the student. Snape took another drink, and quickly ended
up spitting the liquor back into his cup. His mouth gaped open slightly,
though behind the mug, as he watched Neville Longbottom make his way to his
seat.

Snape had to admit the boy had began to look better as he grew older, and he
never doubted that someone would eventually sleep with the boy, but the one
person who seemingly had was entirely unexpected. It was none other then
someone from his own House, actually: Zabini, B. His head automatically
turned to regard Blaise, sitting with Pucey on the Slytherin side of the
room. He pursed his lips, a thoughtful look on his face and thought perhaps
he might have underestimated the clumsy Gryffindor.

As he watched Neville walk down the aisle to his seat, Neville stumbled over
Dean\'s bag, and landed close to flat on his face. \"Well, maybe not,\" Snape
said to himself, taking another drink. Snape was starting to grow anxious
and almost bored as he waited for the one person he actually had stock in
learning the slightest about their sexual escapades to come walking into his
room. He\'d given up on being surprised, amused or disgusted at the other
students who\'d already settled into their seats.

After the first few shocking revelations, he\'d just rolled his eyes to
himself. It was becoming a drag just sitting there waiting for his students
and he remembered why he was usually the last to enter the classroom.
Although this was much more than he ever wanted to know about his students,
thank heaven it didn\'t provide him with all the sickening details. If that
had been the case, Severus might have been forced to take his own life.

It was almost another three minutes before the one person he wanted to see
came ambling into his room. With his two tag-alongs bringing up the rear,
Snape zeroed his attention on Potter, all but dying to find out who had
dared to shag the boy over his desk. He frowned as someone walked in front
of Harry, obscuring his view, but he soon couldn\'t believe his eyes when he
saw the labeled pale green glow: Malfoy, D. As much as Snape had almost
prepared himself for the most unlikely pair, his jaw still dropped open, and
without his knowledge, at that.

He had been partially thinking it would have been Weasley, since they\'d been
friends for seven years, but not that of his supposed enemy. Snape stared, ost ost angrily, at the two boys making their way to their table at the front
of the class. Ron caught sight of their professor staring at them oddly, and
elbowed Harry lightly in the ribs to get his attention. \"Oi, what\'s with
Snape?\" he whispered.

Harry winced as Ron gave him a sharp jab, and he brought up a hand to rub
his abused rib. \"I\'m not sure, Ron, but he\'s staring at us.\" Ron risked
another glance at Snape, who was still watching them with a frown. The boys
took their seats, Hermione sitting at the table behind them with Neville,
and waited for their class to start.

\"Catching flies, Professor Snape?\" came an amused drawl, which indeed drew
Severus out of his thoughts to glare at the student who had dared to mock
him. He shut his mouth casually before raising an eyebrow at Draco, daring
him to say anything else.

\"Malfoy,\" Severus acknowledged in a warning tone, as he stood from his desk,
still in too much of a surprised state to really reprimand the Slytherin.
Harry looked over to the other side of the room, straight at Draco, but the
blond was too busy chuckling with Goyle to pay any attention to Harry. He
felt a bit left out, but he started to undo the strings holding his bag
closed.

Snape stepped down from the raised area his office was situated in, and made
his way to stand in front of the center aisle between the Slytherins\' and
Gryffindors\' tables. Most of stu students\' abdomens were still obscured by
the desks, which Snape was thankful for. He wasn\'t sure if he could manage
to teach a very good class with all the bright, shiny, disgusting
distractions.

Severus grimaced and looked around his classroom, hands clasped behind his
back. He looked back to Potter, who was merely three feet away from him, and
couldn\'t help but tilt his head slightly to get a better look. What he saw
almost amazed him, but he\'d spent many years training himself not to be
surprised about even the most spectacular things. Not only were there two
auras inside the boy, one belonging to himself, and the other that of
Malfoy, but there was a third. It seemed attached to both of the boys\', and
its color was a blur between the pale green of Malfoy\'s, and the vibrant red
of Potter\'s.

It looked rather sickening, like a glowing ball of vomit lodged in the
center of blood and guts inside of Potter, but that wasn\'t what was so odd
about it. Normally, the aura of a person would disappear after a few days,
unless their semen was continuously deposited on an almost daily basis.
But... no. It couldn\'t be.

The third aura was not only intertwined with the other two, but also, the
name showing read \'Unknown\'. That couldn\'t be possible. The spell mixed with
the potion he had used was able to name anyone or anything in the world,
Muggle or Wizard, animal or magical creature. The only reason it would say
unknown is if it was something with no name, too new of a being to have one.
A brand new creature. The frown faded from Snape\'s features as he stared at
Harry\'s body.

\"Sir?\" Harry asked timidly. He really didn\'t like the look on Snape\'s face,
and he didn\'t want to find out why he was being held under such a
scrutinizing gaze.

\"Stand up, Potter,\" the professor snapped, recovering as quickly as he
could. Snape had no idea how long he\'d been staring, though it must have
only been a few moments. Harry did as he was told, and hoped he wasn\'t in
trouble for something he probably didn\'t even do. \"Goyle, trade places with
Mr. Potter,\" Snape turned to say to the rather confused and rather large
Slytherin boy. \"Now!\"

Goyle stood up and gathered his books in a hurry, almost dropping his
cauldron on his foot, and made his way around the Slytherin table he shared
with Draco, and over to Ron and Harry. Snape gestured haughtily at the empty
seat Harry had stood from, and Goyle sat down. Ron looked disgusted at
having to sit with the other boy, but he knew if he said anything, it\'d be
detention for Mr. Weasley. Needless to say, Ron kept his mouth shut.

\"I\'ve decided that, for today, we will be switching partners. No, you may
not pick your own,\" he said preemptively, before any students could be the
slightest bit happy at the small change. \"I will be placing you with a
member of the opposite House. One Slytherin, one Gryffindor. Any
objections?\" Snape raised his eyebrows, looking misleadingly like he cared
to hear any of their suggestions or complaints. \"No one?\"

Silence.

\"Very well, then,\" he continued. \"Potter, take Goyle\'s seat beside Mr.
Malfoy.\" Harry gaped at his professor for a moment, not believing his ears.
He hadn\'t been able to get Draco\'s attention from his fellow house mates,
and here he was, being sat down right beside the boy. God, he wondered what
would happen. Would Draco pretend nothing had happened, would he be even
more malicious than he ever was before towards him?

Harry gathered his books and made his way to the other side of the room,
looking back at his friends to catch a sympathetic glance from Hermione. Ron
just looked like he was in full sulk mode beside Goyle, who, frankly, looked
constipated.

\"Pucey, Longbottom,\" Snape made a gesture with his hands, meaning for them
to switch seats, seating Adrian beside Hermione. And Neville beside Blaise.
Snape smirked as he watched the two quiet boys look at each other with
slight trepidation before Blaise looked straight up at Severus, almost
warningly. Snape looked away slowly, with a slightly raised eyebrow. Oh,
this was fun, he thought to himself. It was worth the dull throbbing
headache behind his eyes to see the looks on the faces of those who were
clearly having a private relationship.

He wouldn\'t expose the two boys, because he quite liked the quiet
intelligence of Zabini, the mettle he clearly could exude when he chose, and
he could only hope some of the talent the Slytherin showed would rub off on
Longbottom. Well, something would be rubbed off either way, but that was
something Snape really didn\'t want to think about at the moment. He watched
as Malfoy sat, studiously ignoring Potter, his arms crossed his his chest
lazily. He did look very calm, and not that unhappy with the new seating
arrangement.

Snape continued to switch his students around in their seats until everyone
was partnered with a member of their rival House. He kept an eye on Potter
the entire time, though, and he seemed to want to say something, presumably
to Draco. Snape began his class, telling them to open their texts to page
four thousand two hundred thirty eight and begin making one of the potions
listed on that page. There were four to choose from, so Snape would have
something more interesting to grade than going over the exact same potion
twenty times.

It would cut the assignments in half, as well, because they were working in
pairs. Said pairs had also been put together in the hopes that nothing would
possibly go wrong with each potion, giving them all good marks, and giving
Snape an easy night of amusing himself by testing each potion on a toad.
When all the students had started into their work, Snape returned to his
desk to watch them. Malfoy and Potter didn\'t seem to know how to work with
each other, and seemed most often to be doing solitary things, and talking
when it was absolutely needed.

Clearly, they were a bit uncomfortable about being together in public.
Zabini and Longbottom seemed to be doing better, though. Blaise was being
careful about how much he touched Longbottom\'s hands, which made it seem
more obvious as he guided the Gryffindor\'s hands to properly chop up some
roots. They seemed to have a more well versed relationship, and Snape had to
wonder how on earth Harry and Draco had gotten together. As much as Severus
didn\'t like the boy, he didn\'t want Potter to have been forced against his
will.

He knew the boy\'s father well, and Draco was nothing if not following
vaguely in Lucius\' faded footsteps. Snape wouldn\'t put it past the young
Malfoy to do something of that caliber. Though, he thought, Potter would
have put up a stronger fight, and he didn\'t seem scared to be sitting next
to Malfoy, if the blond had forced himself on the slightly smaller boy.
Snape closed his eyes as he took a drink of his firewhiskey, blinking to
clear his eyes from a blur of dark colors as the potion began to wear off.

Throughout the remainder of the class, there were only a few questions Snape
had to answer, and he was relieved not to see the glowing spheres any
longer. He had to wipe down his doorway after class before Dumbledore or
McGonagall could determine where exactly this potion, bordering on Dark
Arts, was coming from. Most students, after finishing their potions, had
taken out their textbooks and began to read.

This almost caught Snape off guard; he\'d never seen many students, save Ms.
Granger, voluntarily pick up a text and begin to read it at random. He
supposed with them being separated from their friends, they had nothing to
do but avert their eyes and keep from starting into an argument with their
unwilling table partners. Snape smirked as he stood to gather their potions,
and gave them the rest of the class off, to either sit and continue reading,
or to join their friends. He also made a mental note to catch Potter
sometime away from his friends, just to have a little chat.

@>*~