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Emancipation	By : BadGirlgoesworse Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 14093 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Anything recognisable does not belong to me. Story is based on the books by JKR and inspired by other writers of this genre. I do not make any money with this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
WAYS AND MEANS
Tuesday they had their first lesson with the new Potions Professor and Harry was not sure what to make of him. He seemed to be a competent and experienced teacher and more or less fair towards all houses. But the way he was looking at him, made him feel quite uncomfortable to be honest, and not only him, Hermione and Zabini were on the receiving end of his beaming smile and copious compliments as well. That was until he had expressed his concerns to Hermione during lunch and was informed about the existence of the infamous Slug Club, which he was not sure what to make of either.
On the one hand it sounded like an excellent networking basis, on the other there was no telling if it was going to include the right people to be worth his time. Future Quidditch stars and shop owners were not something he was looking for to include into his own ranks. In the end he decided to simply wait and see, Zabini would be definitely a welcome addition at least.
Wednesday brought DADA with Snape, which was a mixed bag too. Gryffindor had lost twenty points for no reason at all, but the lecture had been absolutely fascinating. His hand was cramped up from excessive note-taking. He had believed Snape was passionate about Potions, that was nothing in comparison to how he spoke about the Dark Arts. By the end of lesson he was ordered to stay back, so he waved his friends off to lunch and stepped closer to the teacher’s desk. Snape secured the room with a wave of his wand before addressing him.
“My godson has informed me that he doesn’t wish to serve the Dark Lord. As a matter of fact, he has made plans to escape his father’s influence already.”
“Then I’m glad for him and you as well, but how does it concern us? Somehow I can’t imagine him wanting to work actively against them.”
“Indeed,” Snape seemed pleased with his observation skills, “but you are forgetting that he has a weakness. His mother is at her husband’s and sister’s mercy this very moment, which is understandably unacceptable for him as a concerned, if not loving son. I have recommended him to approach you as the future Lord of the House Black in this matter officially. You could include him into your ranks in exchange for protection.”
“No,” Harry’s eyes hardened suddenly.
“I beg your pardon?” Snape blinked taken aback.
“I said no, Snape,” he repeated coldly. “This is exactly how both Voldemort and Dumbledore are operating, blackmail, real and emotional, threats and all sorts of pressure, not to mention lies and subterfuge. This is NOT what I am going to do! This is NOT what the New Order has been established for, do you get it? Things are going to be done properly or not at all! I’m going to provide help to anyone who asks sincerely with no strings attached. If they want to pledge loyalty to me, they are welcome to do so, if not I’m not going to force them.”
“You are a foolish Gryffindor,” Snape whispered after a moment of pregnant silence, the look in his eyes was betraying him though, a mixture of admiration and fear he had seen only once before. It was the way Bellatrix looked at Voldemort. More unsettling was however the realisation that it was also horrifyingly arousing. Trying to hide his discomfort Harry crossed his arms with a sneer.
“Well, if you want a Slytherin reason so badly, then call it weak point prevention. An unwilling servant is always a liability, no one should know that better than you. Binding magic is all well and good, but Dobby and Kreacher are evidence enough that even the strongest ones can be circumvented. Traitors in my ranks are the last thing I need!”
Bloody hell, stop looking at me like that or I’m going to jump you here and now!
As if hearing the unspoken order, Snape straightened his face blank again and nodded his agreement.
“There is something else I wanted to talk to you about. The funds you have promised me, I will need them as soon as possible.”
“Oh, well,” Harry relaxed uncrossing his arms again. “I’ve pressed seven thousand Galleons out of the Daily Prophet in case you didn’t know, but there is another source of money I’ve never considered before and remembered only recently.” He smiled slyly. “Has Dumbledore ever mentioned what the Slytherin’s Monster was?”
Snape face brightened in an almost childish excitement, an expression Harry doubted anyone alive had ever seen on him before, and decided he’d do better not to comment.
“The basilisk... it is still there?”
“I’d say so. Who was going to get rid of it anyway? And even though it’s likely to be all rotten at this point, I’ve looked up the prices for powdered basilisk bone and according to them we can still make several fortunes on the skeleton alone, not to mention the teeth.”
“Indeed,” Snape had gained control again, though a slight embarrassment still managed to seep through his shields.
“Are you free this weekend?” Harry asked hiding his amusement carefully, getting a stiff nod from Snape. “Then meet me in the Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom this Friday an hour after curfew and bring a broom and proper harvesting equipment and containers and such.”
xxxoooxxx
The rest of the week flew by uneventfully, if you don’t count the chimeras Hagrid had dragged before their Friday morning Care of Magical Creatures class. Merlin, they should consider themselves lucky to have all limbs still intact when lunch finally arrived. He did love Hagrid, but sometimes it was just too much!
The afternoon was spent in the library finishing the last of his homework for the next week in the circle of the New Order. They had chosen an out of the way corner to hide in to be able to accommodate Theodore Nott, whom Hermione had finally managed to convince to join their study sessions. He was an alright bloke Harry supposed, still a bit jumpy and obviously incredulous about the fact that he was actually welcome. But it would wear off in time no doubt, Hermione would see to that.
He sighed and opened the history book Neville had insisted that he absolutely must read. It was unanimously decided that history, politics, law and the Ministry should be the first topics for him to gain proficiency in, since he would probably need them the most in the near future. And it was interesting, it really was, but he simply wasn’t the type to sit and read all day, preferring hands-on experience to anything else. The expedition he had planned with Snape later that night would be definitely a welcome break.
When the time was finally upon him, Harry crept along the halls under his invisibility cloak and reached the bathroom half an hour too early, yet considered it still better than waiting in the common room. Myrtle was somewhere else tonight fortunately, so he put his cloak away and sat down on a toilet seat to pursue the map at leisure. Snape was in his office, as were most of the other teachers, Mrs. Norris was patrolling the dungeons together with Filch already, though the first prefects wouldn’t be out for at least another hour. A sudden movement in an empty storage room on the third floor caught his eye, two spots so close together that they were almost overlapping, the names read Theodore Nott and Hermione Granger.
Harry blushed and looked away immediately, that was definitely something he’d rather not know, thank you very much. Snape’s spot was now on its way to the second floor, so he cleared the map and put it in his pocket. Remus had promised to make several more, though he doubted the first one would be ready before Christmas, a complicated piece of charms-work like that simply took its time.
The door opened and closed seemingly on its own before Snape cancelled the Disillusionment Charm and stepped forward looking around curiously. Harry left his stall and gestured towards the sinks.
“There is an engraving of a snake on this tap over there. With a password in Parseltongue the sinks open to a huge pipe. Last time Ron and I pushed Lockhart in first to test if it was safe to simply slide down to the tunnels below the school, which it obviously was. We got back up holding Fawkes’ tail, that’s why I told you to bring a broom.”
He concentrated on the snake and hissed ‘open’. They watched the sinks glide aside revealing a dark hole.
“Well, after you, Mr. Potter,” Snape drawled silkily.
“Hang on... I just realised... Ginny, you know when possessed by young Tom, has been down there several times. How did she get up without a broom?”
“There might be another entrance?”
“I don’t think so,” Harry cast a Lumos and looked down the pipe. On the inside just below the rim was another engraving. Well, Slytherin’s passwords were rather simple, were they not? He hissed ‘stairs’ to it and watched the pipe twist and transform into a spiral staircase. “Ha!” he grinned at Snape in triumph, who simply rolled his eyes.
They secured the bathroom door and began descending into the bowels of the castle. The journey turned out to be shorter than they had expected, four or five floors at most. Finally reaching the bottom they saw the debris blocking the tunnel straight ahead.
“The ceiling caved in when Lockhart’s spell backfired throwing him into the wall,” Harry informed him without being asked. “Ron landed on this side and I on the other. He began digging an opening while I went on to the Chamber.”
“How heroic of you, Potter,” came the expectedly sarcastic comment.
“Yep, and just think, I was only twelve at the time,” he grinned unfazed. “Can you imagine the size of my complex now?”
Snape rolled his eyes again, but Harry could have sworn to have seen the corners of his lips twitch just a little. They widened the existing opening and climbed through. The shed snake skin shined vividly green in their wandlight and Snape went over to inspect it immediately.
“You haven’t mentioned this,” he levitated it of the floor and cleaned it thoroughly, before rolling it up and putting it under his arm.
“It has slipped my mind to be honest. It’s worth something then I assume?”
Snape snorted in derision. “Potter, your ignorance knows no bounds.”
“Well, thank Dumbledore for that, will you!” Harry spat out angrily and looked away feeling somewhat hurt. What the hell was up with him? He had been able to brush off Snape’s insults so easily in the past, where did that go?
Raising his Occlumency shields he pushed everything away and turned to face him.
“Let’s go,” he started down the tunnel without looking back.
Snape was regarding him oddly, but didn’t say anything, simply following him.
They reached the wall with the two intertwined serpents and Harry hissed ‘open’ preparing himself for overwhelming stench, only to be met with a whiff of cold air when they slid apart. A glance at Snape showed that he was surprised as well. They entered the Chamber and saw immediately why, the basilisk lay on the floor completely intact, looking like it had been slain a mere hour ago.
“There must be preservation charms or something on this place,” Harry speculated aloud, “all the better though.”
Not receiving any answer he turned to Snape, who seemed to be engrossed in beholding his surroundings with a mien of restrained reverence, and had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing. This must be a monumental moment in the life of any true Slytherin after all. He cleared his throat loudly to remind him of his presence and gestured towards the basilisk, not even trying to hide his amusement.
“I know this must be very exciting, but we have work to do. You can bring a camera next time if you want, seeing as we won’t be able to take care of the whole beast all at once tonight.”
The glare sent his way must have been a personal record, but didn’t lessen Harry’s mirth in the least.
Taking the control of the situation back in hand Snape put the rolled up skin on the floor and started outlining their workload. They would need to harvest blood, venom, scales, teeth, skin, innards and bones. The meat was entirely useless and should be disposed of safely, since it was highly poisonous if consumed.
“The whole beast is worth approximately two million, likely three, considering that the last confirmed sighting of a basilisk has been about two hundred years ago,” Snape informed him enlarging an old but well kept multi-compartment trunk and opening the lid.
Harry whistled impressed. “Then I have to seriously ask myself why Dumbledore hadn’t tried to recover it three years ago. Slytherin’s or not, gold is gold, and wars usually don’t pay themselves on their own.”
Snape straightened frowning. “I must admit it is a good question.” He thought it over for a moment then brightened in sudden realisation.
“It is yours, Potter,” seeing Harry’s confusion he continued. “The beast is yours by law, since you have been the one who has slain it. He would have to put all the gains acquired from the sell-off into your trust vault, or the goblins would have accused him of embezzlement.”
“Ah,” Harry commented hiding his anger behind his shields. “So, he has simply decided to let a source of priceless potions ingredients rot away would be a lesser evil than a twelve-year-old with three million in his hands.”
“It would seem so,” Snape concurred drily taking out a nondescript piece of cloth and gesturing for him to come closer. “I need you to levitate the body while I scale it.”
The procedure turned out to be quite simple. Harry levitated the snake about four feet in the air, while Snape cleaned it and spread the enlarged cloth underneath before casting a Fish-Scaling Charm as gently as possible, letting the iridescent, emerald green platelets fall down on it in a beautifully sparkling shower. After they were done Harry let the body down on the second piece of cloth Snape had spread further away. He had time to think a bit, while Snape was transferring the yield into specifically charmed boxes, which counted, sorted and stacked the scales on their own.
Dumbledore had gone too far in his meddling yet again and there had to be a way to retaliate for it somehow. There just had to! Three million, it was the equivalent of the entire Potter fortune, how could one allow that to simply rot away? And it would have, if not for the preservation charms luckily still working after a thousand years!
Then, a brilliant idea struck him spreading an awfully gleeful smile over his face. Snape had finished and glanced briefly in his direction, only to do a double take with his eyebrow raised.
“Why do I have the notion that someone is going to end up in pain?” he deadpanned being all too familiar with that facial expression.
“Ah, Professor,” Harry was till grinning like a maniac. “In how high a dudgeon do you think our dear Headmaster is going to be when he finds out that I got something he has gone to great length to keep from me, hm? So, why don’t we simply make the sale public and let the goblins handle it?”
Snape regarded him for a couple of moments with both eyebrows in his hairline. “You are evil, Potter,” he smirked finally, getting only a deep cackle in response. “You truly are.”
xxxoooxxx
Late at night on Saturday Severus was on the way to his usual apparition point in the Forbidden Forrest, under the pretence of answering summons. Once he had reached the glen, he hid his appearance under Glamour Charms and apparated to Diagon Alley, making his way through the nearly empty street towards Gringotts. Goblins did not have such a thing as business hours, so he slipped into the bank feeling relieved despite himself. Carrying three million worth of potions ingredients on his person tended to make one slightly jumpy after all.
He and Potter had attended breakfast this morning to avert suspicion and returned to the Chamber afterwards to finish gutting the remains. And yes, he had brought a camera with him, it had been definitely worth any embarrassment involved. After burning the waste they had taken a look into the snake’s lair in the mouth of the statue and had actually found two dozen more shed skins, each smaller than the other, but nonetheless precious. And now he was waiting before the counter, while the goblin read Potter’s letter, giving him full authority to manage the matter at hand in his name.
Severus could honestly say that he had never been in a situation like that before. None of his former Masters had ever entrusted him with anything of value beyond information. And here was Potter, who had shoved more or less three million into his hands seemingly uninterested what he was going to do with them, as long as it was for the good. In the face of that, generosity had received an entirely new definition in his books.
Confirming his identity he opened a vault specially fitted for ingredients storage and took a cart to make his deposit. It was an interesting experience he had to admit. Who would have thought that a goblin’s eyes could get that huge? Back on the surface he requested to see Potter’s account manager and was led into his office to wait. Believe it or not, the goblin in question appeared less than ten minutes later. Knowing firsthand that goblin elders usually did not do that, he could only assume that Silvertooth had received the inventory list of the new vault already.
The business was concluded in short order, for a fee of three per cent the goblins would sell two thirds of any type of basilisk parts in the storage for the best prices available and deposit the gains in the yet another vault he had opened there and then.
Returning to Hogwarts with two golden keys in his pocket he was met in the Entrance Hall by the Headmaster, who enquired if he had managed to gain something new.
“No, Albus, nothing of importance,” he grumbled ruefully accepting Dumbledore’s pitying smile with all due grace. The Monday morning Prophet could not arrive too soon in his opinion.
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Emancipation