Harry Potter and the Potions Apprentice

Harry Potter and the Potions Apprentice

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything or make a prophet off of J. K. Rowling’s masterpiece Harry Potter except my own original characters and locations. Thank you for your time and patience. No doubt you skipped over this completely…good for you.

Pairings: Draco (dom)/Harry (sub). These are only in sexual situations as I abhor when a character is without a backbone. They will both be equals in their relationship so don’t worry about a sniveling Harry and a whip wielding Malfoy…although that does sound nice. Maybe a brief interest in these pairings: Ron/Hermione, Lucius/Narcissa, mention of Lucius/James Potter, mention of Snape/Lily Evans, Snape/Remus, mention of Sirius/Remus and mention of Neville/Ginny.

Warnings: I highly hate this part because it is so straightforward but those who are not inclined to understanding what slash means it is the love/lust between two males/females. This story will include slash, violence, crude humor, strong language, etc… I try my best to channel the original story line of Harry Potter, which means that hope most of JK Rowlings characters stay in character… Let us hope. By the by, I have made two small changes for my own personal reasons. Both Snape and Lupin are alive and somewhat well because this is an AU and they suit my purposes.

Summary: Draco/Harry, slash, takes place when both Draco and Harry are both about 22 years old. The boy who lived has finally moved on with his life. No longer is the wizarding world under the peril of Lord Voldemort and his infamous Death Eaters. This fragile peace therefore allowed young Harry Potter the chance of a lifetime in the form of a letter of invitation to the most prestigious wizarding college in Inverness Scotland. Four years later our reluctant young hero is finally returning to his home and life as the Golden Boy of Hogwarts at the request of the new Headmaster, to confront the life he had left behind happily in the pursuit of another. What he doesn’t realize is that quite a few changes have taken place at Hogwarts since he was last there. One of those changes concerns a newly appointed apprentice to Severus Snape…

~*~
Chapter 1: Welcome Back Golden Boy

Harry Potter was no longer a young boy anymore. No, the Boy Who Lived and Savior of the Wizarding world was now a blossoming young man. A man with a future and a dream. A dream that he had thought would never come to fruitation, but was now possible all due to the letter he had received four long years ago. This letter, so like the one that had begun his wizarding life, was not to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but instead to the prestigious witch and wizarding finishing college in Inverness Scotland, Moning Moons School of the Gifted.

Now, standing on British soil, inhaling the clean air from the cool mountains and warm forests, Harry Potter truly felt at peace. With the defeat of Voldemort four years ago he had all but felt drained…as if he was but a shell of the boy he once was. Magic felt cold and sterile to him during his last year at Hogwarts, such a drastic change from the mysterious intoxicating feeling it had given him during his youth.

When the war was finally declared over, Harry had a choice. Either begin his strict auror training under the guidance of someone besides his inspiration Allistor Moody and fighting for the rest of his life or go in search of that feeling again. The feeling of being alive, of being magical and young. He didn’t think it was a difficult choice. During his time at Hogwarts being an auror just seemed to make sense. But with the defeat of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, nothing seemed more important then finding himself again. Finding his purpose. He didn’t want to hunt down the scum of the wizarding world all his life. He had been forced into that position when he should have been doing what any young wizard did at Hogwarts. Collecting chocolate frog cards, flying on his broom, absorbing himself into playing quiditch, dating, and finishing school work all without the threat looming over him in the form of a green skull. Wizards and witches all over the world could call him selfish all they wanted but he had turned a deaf ear to the wants of others over his own as soon as Voldemort had cast his final killing curse.

But the decision to leave Britain in search of that illusive feeling was not one he could refuse at the time but the present was a different story. Moning Moons School of the Gifted in Inverness was just the place for him to regain some perspective on where he wanted his life to go. He was done sobbing and sulking over what could have or should have been. Now was the time to create for himself the life he wanted. Anything he wanted. Once he was able to explain his reasons to friends and family it was all too easy to cut ties, for the moment, at least. They had understood, Ron and Hermione most of all, his reasons. For they too had accompanied him on that traitorous journey in order to find and destroy Voldemort’s Horocruxes.

Sure, Harry acted like any other hot blooded college wizard at first. Enjoying the parties and trivial trappings that he thought were too mundane and too out of reach for someone like him while at Hogwarts. He drank, he partied with the best of them, was spotted by the usual hungry reporters doing scandalous things but none of it mattered. He did what he wanted and loved it. Rita Skeeter be damned but he was tired of their view on matters and decided they only had power over him if he read their twisted views…so he didn’t.

One such scandalous moment still trailed him everywhere he went and even though he wasn’t particularly proud of it he wouldn’t go back in time and change it, even if he had Hermione’s Time Turner. Sure he probably would have been more discrete but would definitely not change that moment in any significant way. It was about three months or so into his first semester when his new found friends invited him to a new wizards club nearby and thought nothing of refusing their offer. Once there he realized it wasn’t just any normal wizard club it was a gay club for the hot up and coming wizard.

At first Harry did as little as possible to make himself seen, staying at their booth drinking deeply and keeping his head down while his friends gyrated on the dance floor shamefully but someone was bound to notice the infamous Harry Potter sitting alone and that they did. With about two butterbeers and seven shots of firewhisky down his gullet, snogging with a complete stranger didn’t seem like such a bad idea, even though said stranger was one of the hottest ‘guys’ there.

Harry still had the tabloid picture of him and what’s his name tucked away in an album. It was damn hot the way the wizarding photo showed an inebriated Harry Potter writhing in the lap of some playboy wizard playing tonsil hockey while said playboy’s hands obviously delved down under the table, towards his backside. It was the first time in his life that he felt satisfied with a choice 100%. He was gay and the whole world found out at the exact same time he did…and that was okay. The reason he had left Britain had nothing to do with the press and had everything to do with finding out who he was. Being gay wasn’t something to be shameful of because it was a part of him that made him happy. Happier then he had ever been before.

All those times when he had lusted after Cho and Ginny or any other girl he knew he had never truly put his heart and time into developing any sort of relationship. Cho and he never would have worked out for she had truly loved Cedric with all of her heart. As for Ginny…after the initial heat of desire had worn out all that had been left was the strong love of a close friend and sister. They had tried to make a go of it after Voldemorts defeat but after a few weeks nothing was left of their once passionate affair that had so consumed them not months before.

After that first year at Moning’s, his lust for that kind of showy life of dance clubs and almost one night stands in dark corridors, dripped to a slow trickle. He found happiness in more simple pleasures, such as being on the Defense Against the Dark Arts squad, which had yet to be beaten in the yearly contests between colleges ever since he had joined. Although there was some dispute on whether those wins counted since he had defeated the once great and powerful Voldemort. People thought that he had an unfair advantage over other wizards but such debate only got so far, for his talent though undisputed was not always the best.

Once again he had joined as Seeker for the Moning’s Schools Quidditch team for he knew he could never give up the part of himself that he and his father shared and also receiving an outstanding on a paper regarding a subject he actually cared about, ‘Societal Trappings on Young Gay Wizards and Witches,’ unlike the many papers at Hogwarts on potions and boring historical events this allowed him to really get his point of equality across to the general masses. The paper was featured in the school’s monthly newspaper and he also received an award only given out to a select few students who went above and beyond to show that world change is possible. Hermione had greatly approved and sent him plenty of books on how to perfect his arguments over the subject even further. Obviously she couldn’t help putting her two cents in on how important it was to include other magical creatures such elves and goblins into the mix as well.

It wasn’t that the wizarding world was against gays in particular but it wasn’t exactly considered ‘normal’, especially by purebloods and those higher up the proverbial latter. As far as they were concerned you could have any amount of fun you want outside the tabloids clutches, but obedience, marriage and offspring were expected in the end. No matter how much suffering had been wrought throughout the war, not many purebloods could admit that their way of thinking was wrong.

Harry also found happiness in a select few relationships that always ended amicably, considering. They started out wonderfully but after awhile it was obvious that they were going no where. He even still kept in contact with one of them, a Grayson Thaynel.

By the end it felt as if he had squeezed a lifetime into those four short years. So many good memories outweighing the bad. He had a degree in Defense Against the Dark Arts, which Harry finished without batting an eye, a degree in Wizard and Muggle communal relations as well as a minor in writing. The obvious and probably the smartest choice, after graduation, would have been to pursue a simple desk job in the ministry and continue his writing but after a few interviews at the ministry in Scotland during his last semester at Moning Moons School of the Gifted he knew it wasn’t a life he would be happy in. For it was the Ministry of Magic, which had caused him so much trouble in his youth and therefore nothing could wipe away the memory of the corruption that was caused so easily by Voldemort.

So it was with much surprise and astonishment when he received a letter that fateful day asking for an audience on July the 5th at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the new Headmaster for a possible staff position.

~*~

“I still cannot believe you did this Headmaster. It is exceptionally…what’s the word? So exceptionally…mature of you.” A matronly voice stated humorously.

“I don’t see what the fuss is about. I made a logical and well thought out decision which will be best for the school in the end. Harry Potter was the best choice. We shall see if he also thinks so.” Papers rustled on the large wooden desk in frustration. He hadn’t realized how many documents needed filing, or signed and sent off to the ministry. It was tedious and annoying work.

“When will he be arriving? I’m sure the staff are still trying to wrap their heads around this decision especially a certain potions apprentice.”

“In about an hour.” The stiff voice mumbled behind another dusty stack of papers.

“What! An hour! Severus how could you?” Minerva stood up and scowled down at her new headmaster. “I haven’t even informed the castle elves yet. He has no room. Now I’m going to have to scramble to get everything ready.”

“That’s why I leave all the little details to you Minerva.” Severus grumbled around his paperwork. It wasn’t that he was trying to cause more problems for the transfiguration professor; it was just that the details on Potters rooms simply…escaped him.

Electing Potter as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had indeed not been a light decision. Since the last professor, who had lasted a good three solid years in the position, decided to pursue a career at an American Wizarding school, left (although he believed it had more to do with an affair with a student) he was given very little in choices. The ministry had stepped forward almost immediately like werewolves on the hunt and offered one of their very own aurors but the thought of another ministry official teaching at Hogwarts sent shivers down his spine. There were also a handful of hopefuls who deemed themselves satisfactory in the knowledge of Defense but none of them could best Severus in the practical. In his opinion if a Defense professor could not win against him then they were not worthy…but this presented a problem. No one ever said he wasn’t picky.

So when he heard of Harry Potter’s graduation from Moning Moons School he knew his hands were tied. If Potter rejected his offer then he would have to hand it over to the ministry or ask one of those bumbling buffoons and neither seemed likable. Plus Potters achievements spoke for themselves. The only issue he would have to deal with was the old animosity between the boy-who-lived and his potions apprentice, Draco Malfoy. Sighing deeply, which he seemed to be doing more often then he cared for, Severus swiftly signed his name to another document and watched it fold itself up into an airplane and make its way out the window.

~*~

Harry Potter felt like dancing. He was finally back home. Being away for four years never felt long enough until that moment when he walked back through the doors of his childhood. The entrance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry hadn’t changed one bit. Not even his old transfiguration professor McGonagall had changed.

“Well, professor I feel like I just fell back in time. It’s been awhile.” Harry smiled brightly before charging forward and giving her a hug. She sputtered but patted his back none-the-less.

“Harry James Potter you have grown. But still as rash as ever I see.” She pushed him back and took a long look at the boy. Well he was no longer a boy for one. She blushed and took another step back. She had seen plenty of tabloids about her old pupil, many of which she would never agree to seeing, but Harry Potter in the flesh was astounding. He had filled out and left behind his awkward boyish faze. At 5’8 he wasn’t intimidating but what he lacked in height he made up for in looks and in power. She could feel the tightly constrained energy in him. McGonagall wished she had an excuse for provoking it, so as to see what would emerge but no such excuse existed.

As far as looks went he took after his parents in the most unique of ways. Dark disheveled hair, very reminiscent of his old unruly mop of hair but with a grace of style that appeared carelessly tousled as if he had just hopped off a broom. It fell in pieces around his forehead just barely falling into his eyes. Gone were the broken and crooked glasses but in their place were scholarly wire frames, which did wonders for his ever bright green eyes. His skin had paled ever so slightly, most likely from being inside studying but there was still a glow about him that took her breath away. He was happy and it showed in every little move he took. She also couldn’t help but notice the way his simple but stylish clothing accentuated a trim and wiry body. Yes Harry Potter was ever the heartthrob his fans made him out to be. He even took an old lady’s breath away.

“I am here to bring you to the headmaster now. The elves will take care of your things.”

McGonagall watched from the corner of her eye, as they walked towards the professor’s office, the way Potter couldn’t stop looking from left to right. He looked just like a first year. It brought an involuntary smile to her face. When he had left their school four years ago he was a shell of a person, broken and jaded. She knew that his decision was probably for the best but it still hurt to see him leave looking the way he did. But here he was appearing for all the world like a bright beautiful man, untouched by his troubled past. He had what he was looking for and that made McGonagall want to throw decorum out the window and return Harry’s hug with a mighty one of her own.

“I didn’t catch who the new Headmaster was in the letter and I didn’t have time to research. I’m afraid I haven’t kept up with much news in Britain.” McGonagall shook her head, refusing to smile again. She wasn’t used to it.

“You shall see soon enough. Aractidus Latura.” McGonagall spoke the intricate password to the gargoyles, secretly still yearning to yell out goody gumdrops or lemon tarts. Severus had no inkling of doing any such thing as it were.

“You mean you’re not going to tell me? Professor I hardly think that’s fair.” Harry trailed after her up the winding stairs.

“Harry please. If you are going to accept the position then call me Minerva or McGonagall. A professor calling another professor, ‘professor’ sounds too formal.”

“You’re evading my question.” He pointed out as they reached the top.

“Well now I don’t have to tell you because we’re here.” She opened the door and let Harry through. She didn’t want to tell Harry that his new prospective boss was actually a man he had disliked and maybe even hated all throughout his childhood. A man who Harry Potter had believed dead. No she would let Severus take the brunt of that punishment. He should have told the boy in the letter.

“Mr. Potter it’s good to see you made it.” Severus gestured to the two plush chairs in front of the desk, ignoring the look of bland shock on the young mans face. When both Minerva and Potter took their seats he put down his papers and looked the young man over properly. He must have stared slightly longer then he meant too because Minerva grunted slightly in her throat. “Well Mr. Potter you seem in good health.”

“Yes sir I am.” Potter too looked down, a light red tinge dusting the bridge of his nose. You’d think the boy would have been used to such bold looks…not that he noticed anything remarkable. He looked like his father…just more polished, with maybe a touch more of his mother shining through then ever before. “Um, excuse me for being blunt but, how are you alive…and why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Mr. Potter if you had deemed it necessary to open up a newspaper while you were away you would have known as such, however now is not the time to dwell on that. If you want to know more I suggest asking at a future date.” Snape paused, once again searching through his stack of papers before pulling out a specific green folder.

“Hm, since you’re here I am going to assume that the position interests you. I offered it because you are the only one at the present time qualified to teach Defense the way it should be taught. I have set up a meeting with your prospective colleagues who will be here shortly. Until then you can ask me any questions you have.” He wanted to congratulate himself on the restraint it took to be perfectly cordial and reserved to the boy. Especially knowing the mixed feelings he currently had at the present for Potter. True what was in the past was in the past but he didn’t want to make the same mistakes or create new ones. It hurt to say it but he needed Potter so he would do what it took.

“I’m sorry I hadn’t realized that you were the new Headmaster…congratulations. Yes, I do believe I have one question. If I do accept will I be refrained from teaching these children the necessary knowledge even though there is no imminent threat at the time? If I am going to be curtailed into following what the…ministry or yourself…wants and not what I think is best then I will not accept.” Harry looked his old potions professor squarely in the eyes, giving no ground. On this he would win or he would leave. There was still a small part of him that resented the ministry from keeping the students of Hogwarts in the dark for far too long and an even larger part of him that loathed the man before him. It was hard to wrap his mind around the once dead but now alive again potions professor sitting in the headmasters chair as he had during Voldemort’s reign. This Snape however had no ulterior motive, that he knew…but trust was a hard thing to come by even when he knew the truth about Snape’s life of servitude.

Severus looked away, smiling inspite of himself. Yes he had known this might come up. The boy wonder himself was nothing if not predictable. “The reason I wanted you was because if you didn’t accept then I would be forced to give the position to an official member of the ministry. So yes you can teach whatever you think is best…within reason of course. You will run your curriculum by me and we will negotiate on what should be taught.”

Severus watched the boy think over what he had said and almost grinned in triumph when the boy looked towards the portrait of Dumbledore, situated right next to his desk. The old headmaster was smiling down on his old pupil clearly waiting patiently for the meeting to end before he interrupted. “I’ll do it.” Potter whispered, smiling slightly at the old man.

“Very good. Ah, and here is the rest of the staff now.” Severus stood up and greeted his colleagues respectfully. He never knew how the effect of being Headmaster would change him so much. Sure he was still prickly and disagreeable but there was a new found lightness that he didn’t hate altogether. “I would like everyone to meet our newest faculty member for the Defense Against the Dark Arts. Mr. Potter I’m sure you remember Madame Pomfrey and Hooch and Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Trelawney.” Harry nodded to them, a bright smile once again fixed in place.

“Our newest staff members are Professor Roland Caft who teaches Care of Magical Creatures and Professor Marie Artreavia Sweeney who teaches Arithmancy.” Harry nodded towards the kindly older wizard Roland, whose hair was so thin it was almost nonexistent and the younger witch who appeared more supermodel in appearance then an Arithmancy Professor. She winked and Harry couldn’t stop the blush from spreading to his ears.

“Who teaches Potions now that you’re Headmaster?” Harry glanced around the room, not noticing the tense atmosphere when he brought up the subject of potions.

“Well, I still teach the class when I can but I have an apprentice who will be taking over for me shortly.” Severus gritted out, angry that one of his soon to be staff members was acting like a child. He had told Draco to be there at 3 sharp. Knowing him he was either sulking somewhere in the castle or planning a grand entrance.

“Oh, I never heard of an apprentice professor before.” Potter stuffed his hands into his pockets, attention almost completely diverted as he glanced around the office. Severus hadn’t changed much if anything at all. Dumbledore’s phoenix, who had still never returned after Dumbledore’s death, seemed to still have a home waiting for him. The same wooden perch stood like a sentinel behind the headmaster’s desk, and every portrait except for Dumbledore’s was the same. Sure he added a few of his own books and potion supplies but it was still the same warm inviting office he remembered. He liked it that way.

“Yes well, I wanted to train him personally. Apparently I’ll have to work on timeliness.” Snape sat back down. “Now Minerva will provide for you past Defense curriculum and I expect a finished semester curriculum from you in about three weeks so that I may have a chance to look through it. School starts August 18th and I expect you to be completely ready. Will that be a problem?”

Potter shook his head, sitting back down in his chair. “Very good, since there is nothing more to add Minerva can you show him to his rooms?”

“Actually I’d be glad to do that. It’s on my way.” A voice at the door proclaimed haughtily, a voice that Harry knew by heart. It was Draco Malfoy in all his glory.

~*~