Another Kind Of Magic

The next morning during breakfast Neville approached Harry and Hermione.

"I was wondering if it would be a good idea to study some subjects together and I wanted to know if you would be interested in getting into Potions with me?" The only reason Neville had picked potions was his dream of becoming a healer. He guessed that Herbology on it's own wouldn't make him happy in the long run. The war had had quite an effect on Neville since he was much more confident now.

Harry thought about it for a minute and then looked at Hermione. "That might actually be a good idea. What do you think?"

The young witch nodded. "We can give it a try. Working together has worked well with the DA practice."

"Great!" Neville grinned and pulled a book out of his bag to show it to Harry and Hermione. "I've already gotten one of those. You know there are only four of them."

Harry looked at the cover. It was a book with a collection of questions that had been asked in exams before. "Smart move, Neville. So when do you guys have time?"

They agreed on Wednesdays after dinner.

Ron had watched them all without saying a word. But later that day he asked Harry and Hermione if they would be interested in learning together for Transfiguration. Both of them agreed and they even thought about getting together with others for DADA (Defence Against Dark Arts) practice. They would just need to find a teacher that would have an eye on them in case something happened.


Harry, Hermione and Neville sat together in the common. They were going over the questions one after the other, reading them out loud and then scribbling the answer down if they knew it or they looked in the piles of books that were scattered around them.


"Wow, I didn't know that. Did you guys realise that there are two potions that have the exact same ingredients?"

Harry looked from Neville to Hermione but even she didn't seem to know it. She reached for the book. "I'm not going to compare reams of potions. We'll just look it up."

She read out loud to them that the only difference between the two potions in question was the way they were stirred. "With counter clock stirring you will get 'Dreamless Draught' and with clockwise stirring (adding a counter clock stir after every forth stir) you will get a healing potion," she ended, looking up from the book.

"Now I really start to believe that Potions is an art," Neville stated.

Harry nodded and then took his quill to write the answer down.

~

Severus looked over his class. "The last question for today is rather advanced but it does come up every other year in the exams. It shows how complex the making of potions is. There are two fairly different potions-"

Snape stopped as Granger's hand shot up. He was just about to say something as Harry lifted his hand as well. This was a surprise since Harry usually only talked in his class when asked. But even stranger was the fact that Longbottom's hand slowly went up after he had looked at Harry with a grin.

"You do realise that I haven't even finished the question yet?" Severus mockingly asked.

The Gryffindors nodded and kept their arms up.

"Very well then. Take a piece of parchment and write the answer down." Severus watched them and summoned the parchments after they were finished.

"Now let's see if any of the others know the answer. There is a curiosity about two different potions, which have the same ingredients." Severus saw Harry, Granger and Longbottom grin at each other and knew that they had the answer right. "Which potion am I talking about and in which way do they differ?"

Severus looked over his class but almost everyone was just staring at their desk. Apparently nobody besides the Gryffindors knew the answer, not even a Slytherin.

"Merlin's beard!" His gaze swept once more over his students. With a sigh he sat down at his desk. "Mr Longbottom if you would please let your classmates know what the answer is."

Longbottom only stuttered once at the beginning but answered the question correctly.

Severus nodded. "Class dismissed. Potter, Granger and Longbottom, you stay here for a minute. And the rest," Severus said with a glare over the hurriedly packing students. "Will hopefully be better prepared the next time."

Severus checked the three rolls of parchment and wasn't surprised to find the right answers written there. He looked at the three Gryffindors. "That was rather impressive even though I really hate to admit it. However, I do think it's quite curious that all three of you knew what I was talking about. Is there a reason for it?"

Harry and Longbottom only nodded but at least the Granger girl cared to answer and told him that they were studying together.

Severus looked them over. "It seems to work quite nicely."

"It was Neville's idea, sir," Harry provided.

Severus' gaze shifted to said boy who blushed furiously but didn't turn his eyes away from his teacher. Severus was still not sure how he had managed to get into his class but his grades had been good enough even though barely. Severus released Longbottom from his piercing look.

"Ten points to Gryffindor, for each of you. But-" Severus gave each of them a glare. "If it comes to my ears that you have been bragging about it I will take double points from all of you. Now get out of my eyesight. I want to be depressed about Gryffindors being better then my Slytherins." Severus gestured them away impatiently and watched how they hurried out trying to hide their grins.

*

In between studying for the exams, Quidditch practice and the normal lessons, Harry hadn't much time left to do anything else. Only after hours when he was alone in his bed, he had the peace and time to think about what he was going to find out about BDSM from Snape. Tomorrow would be the next lesson and Harry looked forward to it. He had not only grown to respect him but also to like him. Especially since their first lesson were had seen a very different man. Not only had he not been looking like he had eaten something sour, no he had even smiled and laughed. Harry had found that very appealing. Snape was actually wickedly attractive.

Harry imagined Snape standing in front of him with that smirk in his face (the one that made his toes curl with the promises Harry's fantasy put into it). Snape reached out and caught his naked nipples between his fingers.

Harry groaned softly and quickly sat up to cast a silencing charm around his bed. Then he fell back into the pillows and closed his eyes again, getting back to his fantasy as he spread his legs as far as he could. Lifting his hands he started to rub his nipples with his palms causing his cock to twitch and another moan slipped out between Harry's lips. He took his erect nubs between thumbs and index finger and rolled them before he pinched them, making them even harder. His nipples were so sensitive that he had a full grown hard on in no time. Blood was pounding in his prick and Harry resisted the urge to grab it. Instead he squeezed his nipples harder and felt the pain rushing through his body. Each pinch made his cock quiver. Harry felt the pre cum leaking, coating his skin. Not quite there, not quite the time to touch yet. Harry couldn't lie still anymore. His hips started to push upwards with every pinch. Biting his lips he tried to keep himself from groaning too loud despite the silencing charm around him.

Images of Snape teasing his nipples flooded Harry's mind and he couldn't hold back anymore. He reached underneath the blanket and wrapped his fingers firmly around his hard on. With his thumb he spread the fluid around the head of his cock that was oozing out of the slit. Then his hand started to move up and down on it with hard and fast strokes. He could feel the orgasm creep up on him already. His breath was getting heavier and heavier and his balls tightened. And sure enough he shot his cum into the blanket after a few more strokes.

He quickly let go of his cock and grabbed for the wand, casting a cleaning spell. Sometimes when he used fantasies like this one, a part of him felt like a perverted freak and he was disgusted with himself. Today was on of these days. He rolled onto his side and tried to think about something else.

*

Severus handed a cup of tea to Harry before he sat down on his chair across from the young wizard. "Before we continue, I want to check something. I don't want to make the mistake of assuming something just to get proved wrong later (call that perfectionism if you like)." He gazed at Harry over the brim of his mug as he sipped carefully. Then he lowered his hand again. "Which part is it that you are intrigued by? Top or bottom?"

"Top or bottom, sir?" Harry looked rather confused. "As in who is…"

Severus smirked. "No, not as in who is fucking who. If a male submissive is tied to the bed and gets used as a sex toy by the Top, there is still no doubt about who is in charge even if he or she gets penetrated. Top in this case would be the dominant part and bottom the submissive one. I tend to disagree with the terms 'active' or 'passive' as the Top can be quite passive and still be in control whereas a bottom can be very active and still be the bottom."

Severus took another sip from his cup. "Back to my question, Potter. Which one is your interest?"

Severus watched Harry blush before he answered that he would be interested in the submissive part.

Severus nodded. "As I have thought."

"Can I ask a question, sir?"

"I have witnessed on many occasions that you have mastered the ability to form a question, however, yes you may," Severus countered mockingly.

Harry frowned at him for a moment but then his curiosity took over. "Are you… what are you, sir? I never actually asked but I always ho-" Harry looked up with wide eyes and swallowed. "I assumed that you are a Top," he added quickly.

Severus smirked. Of course he had noticed that nearly slip. "You have hoped right." His smirk deepened as Harry's blush increased but didn't get into it. "I started my training as a bottom though."

~

Harry perked up. "You did?" He could hardly believe that. He couldn't imagine Snape submitting to anyone.

Snape's gaze rested on Harry for quite a while, almost making Harry feel uncomfortable in its intensity.

"Don't think I don't know about the deep craving of not having to be in control for a change. And at the same time struggling to really let go."

Harry's chin dropped. That sounded exactly like he felt sometimes.

"It has been a long time though since I submitted to anyone. And I don't count the time when I was playing the role of being a devoted servant of Voldemort."

Harry watched Snape taking another sip of tea still puzzled about the confession he had heard. But his mentor kept talking.

"However, that is not what I wanted to talk about today. I just wanted to make sure that my assumption was right."

Harry nodded.

"Do you remember what I told you the last time? The three things, which are very important in relation to BDSM?" Snape wanted to know.

Of course Harry knew. He had repeated them over and over again. "Trust, honesty and communication."

Snape nodded. "Right. Those three are the one pole of the construction of BDSM as I see it. The other three for the second pole are safe, sane and consensual. Actually all three of them explain themselves quite clearly but I want to say a few things however."

Harry hung on every word Snape said and waited impatiently while his teacher put his mug aside. He himself had forgotten all about the tea that he had in his hand.

"Consensual." Snape said and looked at Harry. "Why did I pick this one first?"

Harry thought about an answer. "Because it's important that both have agreed to play with one another?"

Snape nodded. "You are right. If it's not consensual it's abuse. Remember that, Harry. As you have said, both or more partner involved have agreed to play with one another. They have probably talked about a certain setting and about limits or things that don't go at all. That's where the communication comes in. They trust that the other one will respect their boundaries and not mean them any harm. Use your common sense and your gut feeling before you play with someone. If something inside of you tells you that this might not be a good partner or not a scene that you want to be a part of, then listen to yourself. You might just need to get to know the person better or learn more about what's involved in the setting. Or you might decide that you don't want to play with the person at all. For whatever reason it might be. A good and sensitive Top will accept that. You might be questioned, but should not be pushed or forced into something that you don't want – as far as the negotiation goes." Snape added with a smirk. "Testing boundaries in a play is something different. But that's for later."

Harry watched Snape refilling his mug and his mind wandered of to think about limits that could be pushed in a play. But Snape had his attention back with asking him if he had any questions so far.

And even though Harry's mind was racing with all the information he had gotten, he couldn't grasp a certain thought to form a question.

"Not for now, sir."

Snape nodded. "As you might have noticed, you can't really explain safe, sane and consensual without mentioning trust, honesty and communication."

Harry nodded thoughtfully thinking back to what Snape had said before. "It's like they're all determine each other somehow. Like they are connected. You know what I mean?"

~

Severus looked at Harry and smiled lightly. "Exactly." He was pleased that Harry not only seemed to be ingenuously interested but also really thought about the things Severus was telling him. And it was actually pleasant to talk with Harry about a topic that both of them were interested in even though Harry had no experience with it.

"Let's move to the next one, which would be 'sane'. Well, obviously sane is the opposite from insane." Severus chuckled and Harry grinned.

"And it plainly translates into: use your brain before you get into situations that you can't handle anymore. Of course sane is linked to safe. As I said before, get to know the people you are playing with. Talk, talk and talk some more. Don't jump at someone just because you are needy or think you might not get someone else to play with." Severus made it a point to stop here and fix Harry with his eyes. He certainly wouldn't tell Harry right now that there were also other possibilities, like for example 'risk aware' plays. That was advanced knowledge for people who had more experience and he saw no point in confusing Harry in this state of his education. "That's insane and not safe. But safe does also mean something else. Don't try stuff like flogging, caning or even more so cutting if you don't have experience with it. Let someone show it to you. You can seriously harm people if you don't know what you do. This is of course more for the new Tops out there or the ones trying something new. Safe also means that the bottom has to inform the Top if they have some kind of physical limitations, like for example low blood pressure, a slipped disk or if they know that there is something that will surely trigger bad memories. The Top needs to know such things to keep the bottom safe. It is the responsibility of a Top to keep the bottom and him or herself as safe (and sane) as possible."

Severus leaned back in his chair after his lecture. He looked over to the clock on the mantelpiece and was surprised to see that their time was already over again. He was just about to tell Harry that it was time to leave when the young wizard spoke.

"You take this responsibility very serious."

Severus returned Harry's gaze. "Yes, I do. Does that surprise you?"

Harry shook his head. "I might not have realised that there is so much responsibility involved but I am not surprised about you taking it serious. It was actually not a question, I was just saying it."

Severus nodded. "We will speak more the next time. It is time for you to leave. If you have any questions you might want to write them down."

Harry got up and nodded. "Good night, sir. And thank you. I'm really grateful that you agreed to be my mentor."

"You are welcome." Severus watched Harry head towards the door and then remembered something. "One more thing, Harry. I've heard that you want to take up DADA again?"

The young wizard turned back to face Severus. "Yes, sir. There are quite a few people who would really appreciate the get some extra lessons before the exams."

"You mean all the others who haven't been a part of the DA?" Severus asked with a smirk.

Harry laughed. "No, actually not, sir. At least I haven't heard from any Slytherins who wanted to join us."

"They would rather fail their exams then being instructed by you. However, the Headmistress told me about this and I was wondering if you would be interested in doing the class with me?"

"That would be excellent!" Harry replied his face beaming with excitement. Then he laughed. "And this way it wouldn't be my fault if they get lousy grades for their shield-charms."

Severus arched his eyebrow in a questioning manner. "You are not telling me that you still haven't got it under control, are you?"

Harry shrugged his shoulder. "I haven't been practising it anymore since the war is over."

Severus other eyebrow shot up as well. "Don't you think that's a little careless?"

It was the first time that Severus saw Harry actually smirk. "Nobody came even close to hexing me seriously since we don't duel anymore."

Severus smirked right back. "Is that a challenge, Mr Potter?"

Harry bowed lightly. "I would be honoured to duel with you again, sir."

"We'll see about it. There will be practice every Sunday afternoon. I will make sure that there will be notes in all the common rooms."

"Great!"

"It will also give you an excuse to be here since we will have to prepare lessons together." Severus slyly added.

Harry grinned. "Good night, sir," the young Gryffindor said and was gone.

tbc