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Core Pursuit	By : GryffindorToy Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 10501 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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- 3
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Disclaimer: I do not own anything HP related. It all belongs
to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Inc., Warner Bros., and any other
entities involved.

A/N: I was ecstatic to find out
that my story �Latent� was featured in the Top Ten Favorite Stories at number
FOUR, and that I, myself, was number four in the Top Ten Most Favorite Authors!
Thank you all so much for all of your support and praise. To
many people, my excitement over these things would seem unnecessary and
trivial, but I truly feel honored. Thank you, my readers! ^_^ Now� on with the
story!!!

Chapter Three

~III~

When they arrived at Hagrid�s hut, the half-giant was nowhere to be seen. By the
time that the rest of the class had assembled, they were beginning to get a bit
restless. Finally, Hagrid showed up and smiled, silently motioning for them to
follow him.

They came to a halt when they
reached a large fenced area. Inside, three creatures stood, grazing peacefully:
a winged horse, like the ones that had pulled the Beauxbaton
carriage, a thestral, and a unicorn. Many students
still hadn�t seen death, and therefore could not see the thestral,
but those who could informed them of its presence.

�We�ll be studying these beau�iful creatures �til the Winter Hols,�
Hagrid said, �Yeh�ll be splittin� inta three groups, on
account o� the fact that only some of yeh cas see the thestral, and
unicorns are fair persnickety abou� who can be near �em. They really only take ta
girls an� er� virgins. Every couple o� weeks, each group�ll give a short presentation on their findings.�

�Wow�� Harry said, �It certainly is� something, isn�t it?�

�Yeah.
It�s beautiful�� Hermione breathed.

�Well! Get on in there, you lot,
and group up! Mind� if yeh ain�t
what I said, keep clear o� the unicorn. She gets a bi� jumpy,� Hagrid said.

They all climbed over the fence,
the majority immediately going to stand by the winged horse. Harry had already
planned on working with the thestral, but he hadn�t
taken more than two steps into the enclosure when all three animals raised their
heads and sniffed the air, before simultaneously turning their gazes on him.

He froze mid-step, debating on
whether to play dead or run like the wind. He didn�t get to debate for long,
though, because the creatures began walking toward him. Sensing no aggression
or hostility in them, he merely stood and waited. They stopped directly in
front of him and bowed low, bending their front legs until their necks and
heads were lain on the ground at his feet. He heard gasping and whispering and
looked at Hagrid for help.

The half-giant bent and spoke low,
so only Harry would hear him. �Yours is of the nobles� races, Harry. And purest. They sense that, an� yer
power, and are showin� you their respect, humility,
an� submission,� he said, �Jes� put yer hand on each o� their heads in turn, firs� the unicorn,
then the thestral, then the winged horse. In order of
magical rank, yeh see� Then bow, jes�
a tilt o� yer head really, and they�ll go their own
ways.�

When Hagrid
straightened, he did as he�d been instructed, touching their heads lightly and
giving the smallest nod of acknowledgement. They stood, nickering slightly and
pushing their noses into his arms and sides. They pranced around him once
before going back to their grazing spots.

Harry shook his head, sighing as
he was stared at even more by his peers. No doubt the event would be all over
school by the time classes ended for the day. He walked to where Draco, Ron, and Hermione were gathered near the thestral.

�What was that about?� Ron asked.

He shrugged, grinning. �Oh, just
showing their humility in the face of my awesome power.� �Who cares? Their going to talk either way� the least I can do is give them something worth talking about.� Lowering his
voice, he told them what had really happened.

Draco
smirked. �At least they weren�t dragons. Now that would have caused a riot.�

Harry laughed. �I could be the
world�s first real dragon tamer! That�d look good on my resume.�

Hermione chuckled, smiling. Being
the only one with experience in muggle affairs, she
was also the only one who got the joke.

�What�s a- res-a-may?�
Ron asked, confused.

Harry and Hermione laughed. �Never
mind�� Harry said.

�Alrigh�! Now yeh�re in yer groups, I�ll tell yeh the
firs� assignment,� Hagrid said, beaming, �Get
familiar with yer new friends, there. The winged
horse�s name is Swiftfoot, an� he�s a boy. The thestral- he�s a boy, too, mind yeh-
�is name is Darkmoon. An� the unicorn, who�s female,
is Silverdust.� He paused a moment before adding,
with a shrug, �The centaurs named �em.�

�How does one �get to know� a wild
beast?� a Slytherin asked rudely.

Swiftfoot
stomped and snorted angrily.

�Firs� of all, don�t be callin� �em beasts� they hate
that. An�� jes� pet �em a
bit. Talk to �em an� watch �em.
Let �em get used ta yer scent and voice. Get acquain�ed
with their personalities,� Hagrid said, �They�re
really jes� like people, yeh
know.�

Harry smiled, thinking that Hagrid had gotten rather good at his job since he started
in their third year. He turned his attention back to Darkmoon,
who was playfully lipping at Hermione�s shoulder.

�I think he likes you, �Mione,� he said.

Ron grinned. �Sorry,
Darkmoon. She�s spoken for.�

�Oh, Ron� that�s sweet, but it
wouldn�t make any difference if I wasn�t.
I don�t believe in inter-species relationships�� she said, making them laugh
loudly.

Before they knew it, class was
over and they were heading back up to the school. Potions was,
as usual, abysmally boring. Even more so with Slughorn as their professor. There was one incident where a Slythering
attempted to throw some particularly unstable ingredient into Draco�s cauldron. However, a rather powerful, and convenient, draft of wind blew it back
into the offender�s potion.

Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson
were sent to the infirmary with a nasty case of boils and various oozing
lesions on their face and arms. The also received a zero for the day and were
told to write an essay each, no shorter than two feet in length, on the dangers
of handling volatile substances around open cauldrons without permission or supervision.
When Draco cast a questioning look at Harry, he only
smirked wickedly, which was all the answer the blonde needed.

Then it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they were all fair bursting with
anticipation. A small part of Harry was hoping that it would be Severus in his clever disguise, but his annoying voice of
reason was quickly stamping out that glimmer of hope. After all, Severus had clearly stated that he�d see him on the
weekends. And surely if he were going to be teaching, he�d have told his mate,
at least. The only reason he�d disguised himself with that spell was to bring
Madame Pomfrey some potions without any students
catching him in the school and raising a fuss about it.

He sighed when they entered the
classroom and there was no trace of Severus� scent in
the air. There was a new scent,
though. It reminded Harry of burnt gunpowder and� he felt a wave of nausea� blood. He shook his head, highly
disturbed by this new presence, and tuned the scent out quickly. He took a few
deep, cleansing breaths, inhaling the familiar scents of his three closest
friends. Draco, with his fresh cut grass and
sunshine- an odd scent for such a pristine person- Ron, whose scent reminded
him of a strange, yet pleasant, mixture of earth and various sweets, and
Hermione, who smelled of the ocean with an undertone of crisp paper and fresh
ink. Each was a unique combination belonging only to them, and each was
phenomenally comforting to Harry.

Whoever their new professor was,
they were- dangerous. Not necessarily evil, he didn�t think, but certainly
unpleasant, with a hunger� a desire for power and a penchant for death. The air
in the room was thick and oppressive and Harry didn�t need to be able to read
minds to know that something was afoot. Something that most
probably spelled trouble for him.

�Careful, guys,� he whispered to
his friends, �This person�s bad news.�

�How can you tell?� Ron asked
quietly as they sat toward the back of the room.

He explained, as succinctly as
possible, what he�d experienced and they exchanged a look before glancing
around for the professor. What they saw was a man with golden blonde hair and
tawny eyes smiling brightly at the students as they filed into the room. The
man was tall with an athletic, dancer�s build and
couldn�t be older than� twenty-five, at the very most. They looked incredulously at Harry.

�Are you sure?� Hermione asked, �I mean- look at him! He looks so- nice��

�Keep in mind that Voldemort was very handsome in his younger days, as well as
a model student,� Harry whispered
back, �You can�t smell what I smell or feel what I feel, so you�re just going
to have to trust me on this. He may not be evil, but he�s bad. Real bad.�

She sighed. �You�re right, Harry.
I�m sorry.�

He smiled at her. �No need to
apologize. If I was in your position, I�d likely be dazzled by his good looks,
too. Fortunately, I can see that which lies beneath the surface.�

�Welcome, students, to seventh
year N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts! I�m
your new professor, Kyle Shanks,� he said, beaming at them, �Before you ask, I
am thirty-four years old. I work as an auror and an
investigative officer in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the
Ministry of Magic. However, when this opportunity came along, I decided to take
a year off and try my hand at teaching.�

�He�s lying�� Harry said quietly,
�That last bit� it�s a lie.�

�How do you know?� Draco asked.

�There�s a delicate shift in a
person�s magical aura when they lie,� he whispered, �It�s hard to detect-
unless you�re looking for it.�

�Is there something you�d like to
share, Mr. Potter?� Shanks said loudly.

Harry arched an eyebrow at the
man. �Not really. I was just saying that I�m pretty sure you were lying.�

This caught the man off guard. His
eyes widened almost imperceptibly and his mouth hung open dumbly for a moment
before he narrowed his gaze and tightened his lips into a thin line, suspicion
and anger rolling off of him in waves.

�About your age, Sir?� Harry added with a
smug little smirk.

Shanks relaxed immediately, laughing,
if a little bit nervously. �Right� yes, it is
hard to believe, isn�t it? Yet, it�s entirely true, I assure you. Now, if there
will be no more interruptions?�

Harry waved in that little way
that said, simply, �the floor is yours�, smiling.

�Right�� he cleared his throat,
�This year, I will be teaching you all of the most useful defensive and
offensive spells for battle, as well as several defensive maneuvers, many of
which have, in fact, saved my life. After all, we are in the midst of a war and each of you should be prepared for
anything and any time��

As they were packing their things
into their bags, Harry grinned and said, �Well, I�ve found one good quality in
Professor Kyle Shanks.�

�Yeah?
What�s that?� Hermione asked.

�He seems like he�s going to do a
great job teaching Defense,� Harry said.

They smiled.

�And as long as he can teach, we
can forgive him for whatever awful things he�s plotting, right?� Draco said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

�Of course not.
I�m still going to keep my eyes and ears open,� Harry said.

�Gonna
follow him around the whole bloody
school this year?� Ron asked.

Draco
laughed.

�Excuse me,� Shanks said as they
were leaving, �I�d like a quick word. Weasley,
Granger� would you please stay?�

�Want us to wait?� Harry asked
them.

�No, we�ll meet you at Hagrid�s,� Ron said with a wink, �Keep Gin waiting long and
she�ll skin you alive. No patience, that girl��

Harry chuckled. �Alright.
See you in a bit.�

When they entered Hagrid�s hut, Harry smiled. Both Hagrid
and Ginny were inside, their scents filling his senses before he filtered them
out. Hagrid smelled like a warm fire and tea leaves,
and Ginny�s scent was� something spicy. He couldn�t tell what, exactly, but it
was- exciting, somehow.

He�d noticed earlier that day that
each person had a distinct scent that invoked something special in him. Draco�s seemed to energize him. It made him want to get up and do
something. Ron�s was exactly the opposite. Ron�s scent made
him want to lie down in the grass and watch the clouds move all day, or
something else just as soothing. Hermione�s was refreshing, making him feel cleansed and awake. Hagrid�s
made him feel safe and warm. It made him want to curl up somewhere and take a
nap and bask in that feeling. And Ginny�s� Ginny�s made him want to experience
new things and go to new places and scream just for the pure joy of life. And
being around all of these scents at once was� well, it was almost as good as having Severus near. Almost.

�Harry? You had something to tell
me?� Ginny said, smiling.

He blushed, realizing he must�ve
been standing in the doorway grinning like an idiot for several minutes. �Er� yeah�� he said, sitting down at the table, �I�m
assuming you read the letter with Hermione and Ron?�

She nodded.

�Well, my mate is� it�s��

�Severus
Snape, right?� Ginny said, �Or� Sev, you called him?�

Harry chuckled. �Yeah.
It�s Sev. You�re okay with that?�

She shrugged, smiling. �I�m fine
with whatever you choose, Harry. And you don�t seem unhappy, so it�s fine with
me. But if he ever hurts you��

�I know. You�ll tear him to
ribbons,� Harry said, grinning, �Thanks, Gin.�

Hagrid,
meanwhile, was staring at him as if he�d gone mad. �S-Severus Snape?�

Harry flinched at the force of the
whisper. �Yes, Hagrid. Severus Snape is my mate.�

�Dumbledore�s
killer?!� Hagrid exclaimed, �That Severus Snape?!�

Harry sighed. �Yes,
Hagrid. That Severus Snape. Didn�t the
Order tell you that he was acquitted?�

�He was WHAT?!� Hagrid bellowed.

�Hagrid�
please� if you calm down, I�ll explain everything,� Harry said.

The large man took a few deep
breaths and then nodded at Harry to continue.

Harry explained the happenings of
the summer. He had to pause several times to answer Hagrid�s
questions, and it took nearly an hour, but by the end of his explanation Hagrid was in tears, and entirely convinced that Dumbledore
was an even greater man than he�d ever been aware of, and that Severus Snape was nearly as great
a man as Dumbledore.

�Poor man�� he sobbed, �Must�ve
torn �im up to �ave to do
such a thing� But Dumbledore� he knew bes�,
didn� he?�

Harry smiled. �Yeah� he did. And Severus� he truly would rather have died himself, but-
Dumbledore wouldn�t hear of it��

Hagrid
calmed himself down and in the next few minutes they had tea and biscuits set
out in front of them. Naturally, the biscuits went practically untouched, but
the tea was welcome.

�What did we miss?� Ron asked, as
he and Hermione stepped in, shutting the door behind them.

�Nothing much,� Draco said, �Just a couple emotional breakdowns� the
usual��

Ron laughed. �Yes, well� what can
you do?�

�Harry, you were absolutely
right!� Hermione exclaimed, sitting down and grabbing a cup of tea for herself, �That man is horrid! He�s planning something, and
I�d bet all the books I own that the Ministry is behind it and it�s got everything
to do with you!�

Harry�s eyes widened. Hermione was
betting her books? That was like Ron betting� his broom! �Wow. What on earth
did he say to you?�

�He sat us down and started asking
all sorts of questions about you,
mate,� Ron said, scowling a bit, �Like, if we�d noticed anything strange about
you and if you�d been disappearing without explanation recently.�

�Oh! And then it got personal!�
Hermione growled, �He asked how your childhood was, and what type of family you
grew up with! He asked where you lived and how long we�d been friends with you,
and if you�d shown any darker
qualities in the last year. And why you�d suddenly become friends with Draco Malfoy, a �known Death
Eater�s son�!�

�And then it got really aggravating,� Ron said, dropping several
spoonfuls of sugar into his tea, �He asked if we�d ever been afraid of you� and
if we felt that you were �too powerful for your age�� bloody git.�

�What did you tell him?� Harry
asked, curious.

�We wouldn�t tell him anything,�
Ron said, grinning, �We just kept saying that it wasn�t for us to tell and that
if he wanted to know, then he should ask you.�

�And we told him that you had
always been a good friend and that of course
we�d never been afraid of you,� Hermione added, �And that if you were too powerful for your age, then
wouldn�t it be a good thing? It just means that you�re that much more able to
defeat Voldemort.�

Ron laughed. �You should have seen
his face when �Mione said that name! Looked like he
was going to faint, he did!�

Harry smirked. �Serves
him right. Fuckwit��

�Harry!� Hagrid
said reproachfully, �There are ladies about. Watch yer
language, mister!�

�Sorry, Hagrid,�
he said, �I suppose you�d all better keep an eye out. He�s likely to start
interrogating anybody who�s close to me. Including professors. And if he doesn�t start getting some
satisfactory answers, he�ll probably try more drastic means, so watch what you
eat and drink. I don�t want any of you to fall prey to Veritaserum.
The last thing I need is the Ministry to broadcast to all of wizarding Britain
that I�m some rare magical being��

�Oh yes� wouldn�t that be fun?�
Ginny said, �Reporters at every door, around every corner. Not to mention that
whatever advantage we had over You-Know� Voldemort� would be out the
window.�

Harry smiled at her, proud of her
for using his name.

�Bloody hell!�
Ron sighed, �I suppose I can�t let my little sister show me up� I�ll have to
start using� V-V-Voldemort�s name now, too.�

�Fear of a name only increases
fear of the thing itself,� Hermione quoted, smirking.

�Yes, dear� we know,� Ron said, grinning.

Suddenly, there was a loud, rapid
knocking at the door. When Hagrid pulled it open,
Neville stumbled through, looking around wildly before his gaze landed on
Harry. �Thank Merlin! I�ve found you!�

�Neville?
What�s wrong?� Harry asked quickly, standing up as the boy hurried over to him,
looking pale and frightened.

�There�s been� it was� Seamus and
Dean� they�re�� Neville stuttered.

�What? Nev, what happened?� Harry asked.

�There were chocolates for you� on
your bed�� Neville choked, tears now streaming down his face, �In a heart
shaped box. Seamus and Dean� they ate a couple��

�And?�
Harry urged, fearing the worst.

�Poison.
They�re dying��

~III~

Bwah hahaha! Am I evil, or what? Two attempted murders in two
days! It�s shaping up to be an eventful year, isn�t it? Review or I shall KILL
them! Lol.
Seriously, though� Review please! I can only go so long on pure inspiration
before my plot bunnies run out of fuel, and then where will we be? FEED THE
BUNNIES!!!!

�
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Core Pursuit