A Terrible Temptation

A/N - This chapter is a little longer, they vary depending on the needs of the story, so it will fluctuate, sorry. All Hail Kate, Great Beta!

Gwenavierre, Zephyr, Kiristeen, ancientgirl,
Droxy - The depths of my twisted mind.
MsPixie - Yup, poor Snape! LOL
deblovesdragon - Very yummy, I would go for him! LOL
Rilla - Awww, thank you, it means so much to hear that from you. LOL
Helen - She can\'t figure it out till after the switchback as per the rules of teh challange, sorry.
Deb - she doesn\'t know about the switch so as far as she is concerned it\'s all kinda Harry now.
Gwen - Sorry about the lengths, see my A/N
vicki - not to worry
Deeble - heh heh
PiperS - Thank you, I am working hard to spoil you all! LOL


Chapter 7 – Changing Patterns

Severus sat in the window, looking out at the lush sloping hills of Scotland. He had had the opportunity to set up a light flirtation with Lavender and he had passed it up. In the end, the fact that she was a seventeen-year-old girl had proven to be a rather larger obstacle than he had thought it would be; that and the look of disappointment on Hermione’s face.

He missed his dungeons; he missed the quiet and the solitude. It was impossible to really work or think when surrounded by people. Ron was prattling on about Quidditch, needing only Severus’ occasional grunt to be contented with listening to the sound of his own voice.

So far, the best thing about the switch was the ability to lay out Draco Malfoy -- he would pay for that later. Albus had been amused by Severus’ actions but could not be seen to go easy on Harry, and receiving detention had been just. It was also well worth it.

Hermione had looked so hurt when Draco had called her a Mudblood. Severus had risen to her defense in an instant, combining what he had wanted to do for ages with the righteous indignation that Draco’s insulting comment had stirred in him.

Seamus and Dean were arguing over some fool girl and which of them she fancied and all he wanted was a bloody moment of quiet in which to ponder his inability to disappoint Hermione Granger.

It had to be something ingrained into Potter’s cerebral cortex; a reflex imprinted so deep in the pcal cal mass of his brain that, like a knee jerking when it’s been hit, the body just obeyed without reference to the conscious mind. The whole thing with Lavender Brown was also easily explained: the look in Hermione’s eyes of derision and contempt when he had responded to Lavender’s obvious invitation had caused the reflexive response to change tactics.

Thirty years of self-reflection raised a hand in the back row. Just whom do you think you are fooling, it queried. The first person in twenty years to treat you like an equal, to call you friend, and you think that sacrificing a moment’s enjoyment to maintain her respect was a reflex? It bloody well was a reflex, but it wasn’t Potter’s.

The one thing he had envied the Marauders was their friendship; he had reveled in Sirius’ betrayal of that friendship. Not just because he hated them all but because he had wanted friends so badly and never had any. Seeing the destruction of that friendship had proven that he had been better off without it. Lupin’s willingness to believe Sirius, after everything Black had done and been accused of doing, had been one of the worst pains of his life. In the end, Lupin had twisted the knife and proven that friendship was something that Severus did want and that he had lived without for too long.

Albus was his friend, but he was also his employer and the Head of the Order; behind the friendship, that was always there. Minerva was his friend, but she was almost fifty years his senior and technically his superior in rank here, even if she didn’t act that way towards him. She had also been his teacher and it colored the dynamic.

Technically, Hermione was his student. However, biologically -- for the limited amount of time he inhabited Potter’s body -- they were the same age, the same station; in short, they were equals. He could be a friend to her without the delicate games of adulthood. He could just hug her and it wouldn’t mean anything but a hug.

“…anyway, he used the Wronski feint in ‘79 and then Greer used it again in ‘81…” Ron was saying and with half his mind on Hermione, Severus interrupted.

“’82”

“What?” Ron looked at him in surprise.

“Greer used it in ‘82 against the Magpies in game three of the finals.” Severus looked up at the sudden silence.

Dean ran to a book and began flipping through it.

“Harry’s right, Ron. Wow!” Ron was looking at him with an expression of amazement. The other two wandered off continuing their other conversation and Ron came over and sat in the window.

“Does Professor Snape know a lot about Quidditch?” Ron asked him and Severus looked up in surprise.

“Why do you ask?” He replied, realizing he should have just said he didn’t know or something, because Ron had a satisfied look on his face.

“’Mione and I have it figured out, what happened in the Owlery.” Severus must have been doing his own best impression of a fish, because Ron was practically alight with suppressed triumph. He felt a flutter of panic in his heart at the thought that they knew; it would endanger him no end if they stopped treating him like Harry Potter.

“I’m not allowed to talk about it.” He answered, hoping to get Ron off the subject.

“You don’t have to; see, we know what Snape did.” Severus had to backpedal a bit to make sense of that. Obviously Ron couldn’t know or he wouldn’t be referring to him in the third person. “Snape used Legilimency on you to save you and now you are stuck with some of Snape in you.” Ron was so proud of himself for figuring that out. Severus managed not to laugh, but it was a close thing.

“You really are amazing, Ron.” Which could be construed in so many different ways, he thought. It was interesting, being a Slytherin in a Gryffindor’s body; no one expected subtlety from you. Sarcasm passed them by completel
“S
“See, you didn’t have to tell me anything, so your promise to Dumbledore is still intact.” Ron added and Severus had to appreciate the rather crude cunning of it. There was an attempt at deeper thought being made here, regardless of the outcome.

He looked around at the boys and wondered how Minerva would feel if she found out that a snake was teaching her precious cubs to think in a twistier manner. He had the opportunity to subvert from within here; to change Gryffindor House from a bunch of arrogant strutting bullies to a House with … here his imagination failed him.

He looked up at earnest and eager Ron and then over to the pleasantly unimaginative Seamus and finally at Dean, who was artistic but very much a linear thinker. Despite the temptation to remake Gryffindor over in his own terrible image, he paused. If they had the potential they would have been sorted elsewhere.

“Ron, you are a good friend.” Severus finally said, realizing that the silence was dragging a bit. Ron smiled at him, both trusting and honest, and Severus felt suddenly very, very old. “And to answer your earlier question, Snape was Beater on the Slytherin House team for four years and he loves Quidditch.” Ron’s wink and contented expression made Severus feel like a terrible old fraud.


The next morning he ran downstairs and almost ran over Hermione, she stumbled and only his quick reflexes kept her from tumbling down. He grabbed her firmly around the waist and held her upright until she regained her balance.

He observed her flush bright red with a certain amount of clinical interest. He had rummaged through Potter’s memories sufficiently enough to know that there had been nothing between her and the boy. So either she was either easily embarrassed or perhaps Potter was simply too unobservant to have figured out the girl’s interest in him. It wasn’t unlikely; the boy seemed to be pretty thick.

“Morning, Hermione.” He said as he released her.

“Morning, Harry.” She replied breathlessly. She moved off very quickly and Severus wondered if perhaps he had been mistaken; she might simply have been upset by the near tumble. She did seem to work hard on her Little Miss Perfect image for whatever reason. He shrugged and joined Ron and the others as they trooped down to breakfast.


Albus called a staff meeting to inform the more trusted members of the staff as to what had occurred in the Owlery, by ‘more trusted’ that meant all of them except Hagrid and Filch. Hagrid was excluded on the grounds that he could not keep a secret and Filch because he could not be counted on to be sufficiently cruel to Severus. Minerva already knew of course; Albus kept little from her.

The teaching staff was shocked by the news but adjusted quickly since their only option was to continue on as usual. It took Severus only a few choice remarks to convince them that this was not a prank by the Headmaster and the looks of shock and bemusement on their faces was almost worth the annoyance of being in Pots bos body.

Over the next week he began to slowly adjust to his new residence and worked hard to iron out the wrinkles in his performance. Hermione and Ron seemed relieved that he was “getting back to normal” and Severus was relieved that he was soothing any suspicions they might have.

As for the students, if Harry Potter was suddenly far superior academically then he had been, well, they simply blamed it on Hermione nagging him to study more.

Severus was rather offended by this because he did not need Hermione Granger to instruct him in study habits, thank you very much. Flitwick and Binns were the only ones of the teachers who seemed unfazed by the changes in Harry Potter. But then Filius had always been a trifle flighty -- the Pixie blood, no doubt, and how that union came about truly did not bear thinking on – so perhaps he had simply forgotten that he was dealing with Severus.

As for Binns, well, he never seemed to care about anything but the correct translations of the texts on the Goblin Wars he was studying. How one translated Goblin into English without the whole mess sounding like a fistfight was beyond Severus, but then Binns was…eccentric. (Goblin is a combination of actual words and sound effects in notational form, for those who do not read it, which is most sane people.)

Minerva was annoyingly watchful in her class, frowning at him when he got too snarky or fell too far out of character. Trelawney just stared at him; she had always been a little frightened of Professor Snape and he could play that up rather well. Hooch thought it was all too damn funny and kept grinning whenever she saw him, asking how he liked his classes and then busting up laughing -- most aggravating.

Sprout had decided that treating him as Harry involved patting him a great deal and it was all Severus could do not to snarl at the woman, though perhaps that was how she treated Potter, in which case the boy had his sympathies. Everyone else gave him rather strained smiles and made sure they called him Harry very carefully to be absolutely sure they didn’t slip up.

Friday evening he slipped into his private lab in the dungeons, helped along by Potter’s invisibility cloak, and began the process of analyzing the potion and portkey that had gotten him into this predicament in the first place. His progress was far too slow for his liking. There were so many elements that he could only guess at that he was not hopeful for a speedy resolution.

He was walking back to the Common Room when Albus fell into step beside him.

“How are you progressing?” Albus asked in a thoughtful voice.

“Slowly.” He replied with a glance up at his old friend. “It’s frustrating, Albus, I am working in the dark here and I cannot even contact any of my usual information sources to find out what Voldemort might have done.”

“I know, Severus. I have set the Order to trying to find out what they can.” Albus nodded sagely as they walked, trying to look as though they were discussing nothing of importance.

“Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have noticed the difnce nce in their friend.” Severus muttered and Albus looked at him sharply, alarm in his eyes. “They do not know the real cause, but they came uncomfortably close in their guess.” Severus ran a tired hand across his head; it was strange to feel the shortness of Harry’s hair beneath his fingers.

“I hope they will do nothing to give you away. There are many spies in this school.” Albus’ voice was tired and his gaze rested uneasily upon Severus.

“I am being careful, Albus, truly, but this isn’t easy. Potter is well known and popular; there is no way to go un-remarked through the day.” Severus found Potter’s fame to be quite burdensome. How did the boy manage to get up to so much trouble when he was being constantly watched?

“I gather that you are finding Harry’s life to be more difficult than you had imagined.” Albus had a slightly smug tone that irritated him no end.

“Even were it ten times worse it is still infinitely superior to my own.” Severus snapped back. Albus’ expression of dismay and hurt made Severus feel a twinge of guilt.

“Severus, I truly have failed you in so many ways.” Albus didn’t deserve to have his pique taken out in him.

“Nonsense, I just grow maudlin and these damn hormones are driving me mad!” Severus shook his head in annoyance.

“Harry!” Hermione came bounding down the steps towards them. “Professor Dumbledore!” she smiled at them both and Severus knew that he had told the truth. This life was infinitely preferable.