The Headmaster

Chapter 19 The Headmaster

Alvin and Minerva managed to get a groggy Severus back to Malfoy’s manor without much difficulty. All the way home, he was muttering about how good his hair felt being stroked. He didn’t wake again until the morning when the smell of an exotic brand of coffee whiffed throughout his room.

He opened one eye only to see Harry standing there with a tray of food.

“Go away, I don’t feel like being terrorized this morning… but leave the coffee.”

“Coffee’s mine. All you have is some toast, fruit, and the weakest looking tea I have ever seen.”

“Want coffee.” Severus sounded like a petulant child.

“Coffee mine, tea yours.” He spoke to Severus as if he were a child. He sat the tray down on the end table and turned to help Snape to sit up, suddenly he stopped. “Do you want some help sitting up?”

“No, I do not want help sitting up. I want to be able to do it myself but since I am unable to do so, it seems that I am in need of your help,” Severus grumped.

“I don’t remember. Were you always this obnoxious in the morning?”

“The reason you don’t remember is because you never had the reason to see me first thing in the morning and yes, I am always obnoxious...”

“No need to bite my head off. I was only curious. Since I am bound by a wizard’s oath to attend to you I thought I might as well try to be pleasant.”

Severus glared at Harry. “What has changed since our last meeting?”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Harry slipped his hands under Severus’ shoulders and lifted him easily to a sitting position.

“The last time we spoke you gave me the impression that your only task in this world is to make my life as miserable as possible. At the moment you are being… pleasant. What has brought on this amazing turn about?”

Harry sat the tray of food crosswise over Snape’s lap and before he could reach for his coffee Snape had taken a large gulp.

“AWWWWWWWW!”

“Give that back before we both get into trouble.”

“We are adults, Mr. Potter, and not subjected to the whims of others.” Severus took another swallow. He closed his eyes in appreciation of the taste.

“Severus Bartholomew Snape, what do you think you’re doing?” Minerva stood at the door. Her hands were on her hips and the look of death in her eyes.

“Told you,” Harry said as he took a step back out of Minerva’s line of fire.

“Enjoying a wonderfully, brewed, cup of coffee.” Severus smirked.

“Harry, you had an express order not to let him have any coffee.”

“Don’t look at me. I told him it was mine,” Harry defended himself.

“Severus you will put down that cup of coffee, immediately.”

Snape took one last swallow before setting it down on the tray of food. “I don’t see the harm in one cup of coffee,” he whined

“Young man, if I didn’t know you better I would swear you were about to pout.”

Severus pulled in his lower lip.

“After you are done eating breakfast, Mr. Potter here will start you physical therapy. You will not give him a hard time and you’ll do exactly what he asks of you,” Minerva lectured. She pulled a vial from beneath her robe and handed it to the Potions Master. “Drink this,” she ordered.

Cautiously Severus uncorked the bottle and sniffed the content.

“For Merlin sakes, after months of tirelessly work on getting you out of Azkaban, I am not about to poison you. Now drink it.”

“Yes ma’am.” With a finger pressed against each side of his nose, the Potions Master downed the horrid drink in one long gulped.

“For crying out loud, you are, at times, such a baby Severus Snape.” She snatched the vial from his hand. She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. “You two have a good morning and do try to get along.” She turned on her heal and left.

“When did she become your mother?” Harry asked as he watched the witch leave.

“When I started to attend Hogwarts there were many a time I needed looking after. My home life was deplorable and Minerva took it upon herself to become my surrogate mother. I will always be grateful that she is a part of my life. She and Albus are the reasons that I did not remain a Death Eater.” Severus chuckled. “I shouldn’t tell you this, not with the way you feel about me, but when the two of them found out I had taken the mark Albus looked at me with disappointment. Minerva whaled on me. I wasn’t able to sit for a solid week. I was lucky they cared enough, not to give up on me.”

“Okay… let’s get this done so I can get out of here and back to Hogwarts. I have a school to run.”

Severus felt as if he was slapped across the face. “Yes, the boy genius. And how are my ideas working out for you?”

Harry pulled the blankets back off of Snape’s legs and started to give him a deep message. There would be bruises where Potter’s fingers dug into the flesh of his legs.

Growling he replied to his ex-professor. “They may have been your ideas but, because of me, they were implemented. What good were your ideas stuck in the drawer of you desk?”

“If I had become headmaster I would have done it myself.”

“Don’t be delusional. The board of trustees would have never let you become Headmaster of Hogwarts much less listen to anything ‘you’ had to say.”

That hurt. Severus had no doubt that he was considered a pariah by most of the wizard population. Harry saw the hurt flash in Snape’s dark eyes.

“Sorry… I had made up my mind that I would at least try to get along with you.” He ran his fingers through his messy hair. “I guess it’s harder than I thought.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why would you ‘try’ to get along? There is no benefit for you to make an effort, as long as you show up you have fulfilled your oath. So, why try?”

“I remembered…”

“What, pray tell, did you remember?”

“I remembered, as I sat in front of the fire in your old room, how deeply I loved you and…”

“And?”

“And, how much you cared for me. I cannot ignore how I feel about you now but I no longer can deny that I was hopelessly in love with you.”

Tears welled in Severus eyes. “Please leave.”

“But I’m not done…”

“You may come back this evening but for now I wish to be left alone.”

Harry covered Severus’ useless legs and started out the door. He stopped and turned to Snape. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t feel the way I use too.”

“I know. I’ll see you this evening.” Severus had turned to look out at the garden outside his window.

“At six,” Harry stated.

“Until then…”

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Minerva stepped out of the floo into Hermione’s living room. As she dusted her clothes off she couldn’t help but see the grin on both of her hosts’ faces. “Have I soot on my nose?” She started to rub her nose clean.

“No… You received a delivery a few moments ago.” Remus nodded over towards a vase filled with two dozen roses, not any roses but rare, triple colored, hybrid roses. Each petal was a single color, each overlaying another different color petal.

Minerva blushed as she read the card that was attached. ‘Red is the passion I feel for you. White is the purity of my intensions. The deep black petals are how profound my feelings are for you. I am hard put to think of an evening I enjoyed more than that merely being in your presence. Your humble servant, Alvin.’

“Is there something you wish to tell us?” questioned Hermione.

“No, I don’t think there is.” She leaned over the bouquet and sniffed the delicate aroma.

“Should we assume you are seeing someone?” Remus asked.

“You may ‘assume’ anything you please.” She slipped the card down the front of her blouse. “This,” she patted the note through her clothes, “will remain none of your business until I deem otherwise. Please children, let an old lady have a few moments to cherish alone. Once it has ended, and I have no doubt that it will end, I will tell you all you want to know.”

“Minerva, whoever has caught your fancy would be a fool to leave you,” Hermione said.

“My dear Hermione, what makes you think it shall be him that will break up with me and not the other way around?” Her back straightened and she looked over the rim of her glasses as she spoke. There was no humor in her face except, if you looked carefully, the tiniest of grins.

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Headmaster Potter had to evacuate Hogwarts. It seemed a third year decide to experiment in Potions causing a toxic substance that almost killed a classroom of students. An exasperated Potions Master didn’t even hand in his resignation before he left.

“How many is that?” Hooch teased Harry. “Five, no six Potions Professors since the beginning of the year.”

“Seven, if you count the one that didn’t last his first day.”

“Wonder how Severus managed to teach for so many years, without blowing up Hogwarts?”

“If I don’t find someone to teach these… idiots, their whole year of potions will be wasted.”

“Why don’t you ask Severus for help?”

“If you haven’t heard, he’s incapacitated,” he snipped.

“Harry Potter, don’t you dare use that tone of voice with me. Albus would never think of talking to me such.”

“Sorry. It has already been a long day. I have absolutely no idea how Dumbledore handled it for so many years.”

“Patience.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Albus had endless patience.”

“Which, I don’t seem to possess, is what you are trying to say.”

“You’re young and the young do tend to be rather impatient.”

“Why does everyone treat me as a child? I am an adult. I have a degree in education. I’m the Headmaster of Hogwarts.”

“Harry, you’re not about to stamp your foot, are you?”

Closing his eyes, Harry counted to ten before he spoke. “Is there something you wish to say Madam Hooch?”

“I know that Severus is incapable of teaching but he is quite capable of teaching you how to teach your dunderheads.”

“Somehow, I am not sure why, that makes sense.”

“We older teachers do have brains, no matter what you younger generations may think.”

“I am to see him tonight at six. I’ll ask him then if he could give me some pointers on how to run his… the class.”

“Don’t be surprised if he says he terrorizes them.”

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“I terrorized them. If they fear you they will listen, and no other class in all of Hogwarts, is the need to listen more important, than in Potions.”

Harry was massaging the long boneless legs of Snape. It would take weeks for the bones to grow completely back. Until then, Harry’s job was to keep the muscles from becoming useless.

“Since I am destined to spend so much time with you can you give me some pointers on teaching your class?”

“You are not thinking of teaching Potions, are you?” Severus sounded terrified.

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“You were horrid.”

“Did you ever think it may have been the professor’s fault I was so bad at Potions?”

Severus thought for a moment. “No, wasn’t the professor’s fault. You were just bad.”

“Snape, I am trying to be civil here.” Harry spoke between clenched teeth. “I am trying not to despise you, do you think that you could meet me halfway and not make this difficult?”

“You use to enjoy our banter.”

“Well, I don’t any more. So stop it.”

“Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Fine, I’ll teach you how to teach Potions.”

“Thank you.”