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Practicing Liars	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 63258 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
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Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Three�Snape�s
Revelation

�� Severus
absently rubbed his arm, where the Dark Mark had been burning as late as last
night. Then he turned and took another dose of his Refreshment Draught, which
he had needed more and more often lately. He made an absent note to experiment
with some less addictive ingredients than the dragongrass that currently drove
it. It would not be good to have his eyes suddenly break out into blood when he
was in the middle of a class because he had gone too long without a dose.

�� So far, the
Dark Lord appeared to accept the ridiculous rumors that Albus wanted to spread.
He had smiled when Severus first explained the wound to him, and spent some
time rubbing his fingers up and down his own arm as if he could feel the pain
from a distance and rejoiced in the weakness of his enemy. Then he had abruptly
ordered Severus back to the school so that he could speak in private with
�other trusted followers.�

�� When the Dark Lord trusts someone, Severus
thought as he placed the empty vial with the others that the house-elves would
clean that day, it will be time to leave
Britain as fast as I can, because it will mean he has gone mad and will try to
blow up the world next.

�� But the
signs were good enough right now that he was cautiously optimistic.

�� On that
front, at least. On the front of the other task that Albus had assigned him�

�� Severus
shut his eyes and let his mouth work through a final, harsh grimace of
distaste. He would not, of course, demonstrate these emotions in front of
anyone else. Too many of the other professors were Potter�s fans and thought
his reasonable objections to the brat mere prejudice. Albus would peer at him
through those half-glasses and speak a few devastating words. Severus Snape did
not enjoy suffering, and he had long ago learned to choose the lesser pain of
doing what Albus asked over the greater pain of insults from him.

�� He did not
have to like the boy. He did not have to cherish him in the way that Minerva
did and which his colleagues thought him inexplicable for not eagerly
employing. He simply had to train him.

�� In the
training, Severus would break down Potter�s bad habits and rebuild him as
someone more obedient, a true student who would do as he was told and follow
directions. Severus had no idea why such things were so hard for students,
especially when the instructions for a potion were clearly written out on the
board. Severus knew he had the clearest handwriting of any professor at
Hogwarts. If the little imbeciles could reason out the sprawling tangle of
Filius�s hand, they should have little trouble with his.

�� He would
build him, and bend him into the pattern that their survival of this war
required.

�� Or he would
break him, and show Albus the impossibility of building something worthwhile
out of the chaos of shattered pieces that resulted.

�� Severus
smiled tightly and turned to cast several cleaning charms on his robes. Tonight
was the Sorting Feast, and he did not wish his newest Slytherins to see him
with dust or drops and dibs of ingredients on him.

�� Tonight was
also the point at which Albus would make the announcement that Horace was
taking over the Potions classes and Severus succeeding to the Defense position.
Severus could at least anticipate the students� immediate reactions with a
faint smirk, if not the hard work that would follow during the year.

�� Potter�s
reaction in particular.

�� When
Severus left his quarters and strode up to the Great Hall, no one from Albus to
Minerva could have faulted the cold neutrality of his face or the swiftness of
his stride.

�� Nor could
any of them have fathomed the private, intense glee that he carried in his
heart.

*

�� Draco
leaned his chin on his hand as he sat at the Slytherin table and tried to
relax. He knew how he was going to accomplish the task the Dark Lord had set
him, though he didn�t know how long it might take. He wouldn�t allow himself to
worry about that for right now. He deserved internal applause for his good
idea.

�� Meanwhile,
he could watch the new professor at the High Table. The fat, nodding, smiling
professor who would probably squeal if you poked him and who hadn�t bothered to
invite Draco to the meeting of his �Slug Club,� though he had invited Potter.

�� Draco
smiled. He couldn�t even be irritated about that,
not when he remembered how he had stepped on Potter�s face and broken his nose.
He shot a glance across the Hall at the Gryffindor table and made out Potter
just now stumbling in, under the guidance of Professor Vector, who�d apparently
been assigned to watch for stragglers tonight�and fix broken noses. He laughed
quietly, but shook his head when Blaise elbowed him. He would share his source
of amusement later, when he had decided whether he wanted to tell his friends
that Potter had spied on a private conversation.

�� Potter gave
him a single, hate-filled glance. Draco straightened his back, some of his
worry washing away. There was the reason he had to succeed, right there. The
�Light� side hated him and would never accept him. They were far worse than the
Dark Lord, who would at least give Draco proper credit for his efforts.

�� Then Potter
peered more closely at him, frowned, and shook his head. Draco had no idea what
he had seen, but it made his shoulders stiffen. If Potter suspected the
existence of the Dark Mark he now carried, then things would become worse than
insupportable.

�� Luckily,
Potter�s friends pulled him down into his seat then, and Headmaster Dumbledore
stood up and cleared his throat. Draco reluctantly turned to face the ancient
idiot, and noticed that Professor Slughorn and Professor Snape were both
standing up.

�� May I
introduce our new Potions professor,� Dumbledore said, �Professor Horace
Slughorn. Though perhaps new isn�t
quite the right adjective, as he has taught here before. Some of you might have
parents whom he educated.�

�� The fat man
bobbed his head up and down, his mouth distended and his eyes so bright that
Draco suddenly wanted to see what he would look like disappointed, just for the
contrast. At least most of the Slytherin table seemed as disgusted as Draco
did. The rest of the Great Hall looked relieved, of course. They probably
dreamed that they had a chance at good Potions marks now. Draco sniffed.
Professor Snape had performed a valuable service as long as he taught Potions.
He kept people who had no business learning such a difficult subject from
becoming Potions masters and killing someone.

�� And
Professor Snape will be serving as our new Defense Against the Dark Arts
teacher.�

�� Draco had
suspected this, and managed to incline his head and look wise as gasps sounded
from around him. Potter, meanwhile, was on his feet, his face red, his eyes
bulging and fixed on Professor Snape.

�� Draco
looked eagerly at his Head of House to see how he would respond.

�� Professor
Snape simply inclined his head slowly so that it looked like the polite nod one
duelist would give another, his eyes locked on Potter�s. Potter shook his head
furiously and slumped back into his chair, staring at his plate. Dumbledore spoke
more words, probably patient and blindly hopeful, but Draco didn�t listen, too
busy drinking in Potter�s pain.

�� Let�s see him earn those artificially inflated
marks in Defense now, with a real and competent professor teaching the class.

�� But
thoughts of Potter could not occupy him long as his sleeve shifted and he felt
the cloth rubbing against the Dark Mark. Draco grimaced and reached for a glass
of pumpkin juice that had just appeared. Perhaps he should approach Professor
Snape for some help of his own. Not because he wanted to let the man in on his
task, of course�the Dark Lord wouldn�t like that�but because what Professor
Snape knew about handling Dark magic might prove useful for Draco�s repairing of
the Vanishing Cabinet.

*

�� Can you believe that we�ll still have the greasy
git for a teacher?�

�� Harry shook
his head in disgust at Ron�s remark. �Why couldn�t Dumbledore hire Professor
Lupin again, if he couldn�t find anyone else?� he asked, and flopped back on
the couch in the Gryffindor common room with his arm over his eyes.

�� He hated
the feelings churning up and down in his gut. He�d counted on a year that was
already going to be hard enough, because he had to make so many changes and
live up to so many expectations and take care that his secrets didn�t escape.
And now Snape was going to teach the one class Harry had always been
comfortable in and make his life that much more difficult.

�� It�s not
the end of the world.� Hermione sniffed as she sat on the couch beside them.
�Professor Snape probably knows a lot more about Dark magic than Professor
Lupin does, to be honest. He could be a brilliant teacher.�

�� Could be, but he won�t,� Ron said. He picked up a pillow and threw it across the
room, nearly hitting a first-year. �He�ll sabotage all our efforts and take
points from Gryffindor, just you wait and see. And then we�ll fall further
behind in learning about Dark magic. And that could be disastrous because we
need to fight You-Know-Who.� He lowered his voice on those last words and
glanced at Harry�s scar. Harry rolled his eyes. He wondered idly what Ron would
say if Harry told him he was less worried about the scar on his forehead than
the lower parts of his face, the ones the glamour was covering.

�� Oh, say
the name, Ron, for God�s sake.� Hermione tapped her wand against her hand and
glared at Ron.

�� Ron opened
his mouth, and it seemed another argument was going to start, so Harry jumped
in. �We�ll have to make sure that he can�t sabotage us too badly,� he said.
�What do you say to starting up Dumbledore�s Army again? Unofficially, until we
find out how rubbish Snape�s teaching is.� Harry didn�t think he would mind
seeing Luna and the other friends he�d made from other Houses at the meetings.
Besides, it would give him more time to practice the spells that had been
theory only all summer.

�� That�s a
wonderful idea, mate!� Ron clapped him on the back. �But don�t worry, his
teaching will be rubbish, so we won�t
have to wait long.�

�� Even
Hermione was smiling, though she tried to hide it by hunting for dust on her
already clean robes. �That is a good idea, Harry,� she said. �I�ve done some
reading about how Transfiguration can be used in battling the Dark Arts, and��

�� Harry
relaxed as she chattered on. He was going to survive this. It wasn�t as
terrible as it had looked at first.

�� Like my stupid heritage. I hate it, but I
got used to hiding it, and now it doesn�t bother me as much as it did.

�� Mostly,
Harry wished his mum was alive so he could talk to her about the story of how
she�d�slept with Snape. It made him blush to think about, but it had happened,
and it seemed stupid to deny it.

�� I can put up with it because no one knows
about it. And I can put up with Snape teaching Defense because our real learning
is going to happen outside the classroom.

�� Not for the
first time, Harry smiled at Ron and Hermione and thought how lucky he was to
have such great friends.

*

�� Severus
wore no smile as he watched his sixth-year students enter the classroom, but he
had a hard time fighting one back when he saw the way Potter walked in:
striding like a king, his lackeys on either side of him, his head tilted so far
back that it was a wonder he could smell anything.

�� As expected. His father down to the bones.
Anything else is an illusion. Including that fabled skill at Defense.

�� Potter took
a seat towards the front of the classroom, all the while glaring at Severus
without blinking. Severus took exquisite pleasure in returning the stare until
such time as Potter finally shuddered and looked down at the desk. Even then, of
course, the brat couldn�t admit he�d been beaten and pretended he had only
turned his glance away because he needed to find his book.

�� Perhaps I shall teach him humility, if
nothing else, Severus decided. He looked swiftly over the class and
concluded his count of the students. An unusually large number of them had
managed to gain high marks on their Defense OWLS. Of course, that was because they
hadn�t had a proper teacher in years, and the exam proctors themselves could
stand a thorough replacement.

�� I shall break them soon enough, he
thought, as his gaze settled on Weasley and he watched the red-headed blunderer
swallow uneasily.

�� You will
learn true spells in class this year,�
he announced. The persona he used when he wanted to demonstrate the nature of
Potions to students was subtle, insinuating, intriguing; this one he had
deliberately chosen to be blunt. He would scrape the withered dreams of several
students from the sides of this classroom before the week was out, or know the
reason why not. �The nature of Dark magic, and how to counteract it. The nature
of Dark creatures, and how to hunt them. The minor hexes and jinxes that you
have wielded so far will slide so far down the list of your priorities that you
will wonder how you managed to exist knowing only them.�

�� He curled
his lip and glanced hard at Longbottom, who had managed to earn the necessary
mark, perhaps through his grandmother�s bribery of the proctors. At least he
had the sense to look intimidated, unlike Potter.

�� I have to
remedy the effects of five years� neglect of this post,� he said coldly, �and I
have to do it beginning with you, who have gone through those five years and
doubtless are used to thinking of this as a class without work. I would ask
pity for my position if I imagined any of you capable of understanding me, and
if I needed pity.�

�� Longbottom
now looked ready to faint. Weasley stared down at his desk, moving his quill
back and forth. Granger looked half in awe. In truth, if Granger had not been
in Gryffindor, Severus might not have found her so insufferable; he had dealt
well enough with several Ravenclaws who expressed a proper admiration for his
teaching ability.

�� Potter had
returned to his glare.

�� Why wait? Severus thought suddenly. He
had planned to hold off on his demonstration of superiority over Potter, to heighten
the class�s fear. But now he saw that that would be counterproductive. Potter
had enough of a swagger already, because his previous professors� incompetence
and the dazzled eyes of celebrity-worshippers had permitted him to get away
with so much for so long. A delay would only increase his misplaced confidence.

�� Mister
Potter,� he said. �You will asset me in a duel.�

�� Potter�s
glare grew more intense. He rose to his feet without a word and drew his wand. Severus
sent him to the far end of the room; the tables, unlike most of those in the
Hogwarts classrooms, were arranged in a circle along the walls so as to give an
open space suitable for dodging and darting. At least, they were now. Severus wondered in disgust how the
others had taught with the classroom as crowded as it had been. He�d had a better
opinion of Lupin�s sense than that.

�� Severus
held his wand high and studied the class slowly. In the middle of appearing as
if he would say something to them, he whipped towards Potter and cast his first
spell. �Retinnio!�

�� The curse
whirled towards Potter like a blazing white arrowhead turning end over end. When
it hit him, it would make his bones ring as if he were a gong struck with a
heavy paddle. Severus knew well enough that none of the Defense books mentioned
the counter to this one. He waited contentedly.

�� Potter
stuck his wand out in front of him like the reaching fingers of a baby and
cried, �Protego!�

�� Severus
would have laughed aloud if his astonishment had permitted him to do so. To use
the Shield Charm against the Resounding Curse when it would simply be shivered
to shreds�

�� The familiar
silvery shield appeared in front of Potter and the arrowhead crashed into it. A
heavy vibration traveled through the classroom, accompanied by a noise like
three dozen cymbals that made Severus�s back teeth ache. The shield dissolved
like the still surface of a shaken glass of water.

�� But the
Resounding Curse was gone, dealt with. And as Potter sprinted to the side and
took aim again, Severus realized that that was all Potter had wanted. It didn�t
matter to him that he could not create a permanent shield to shelter behind
when faced with a spell like that. In fact, perhaps he had even planned on it.

�� From a new
position, half-crouched under a table where a terrified-looking Hufflepuff girl
sat, Potter snarled, �Compes!�

�� Severus
didn�t see the little snake of light that ran along the floor towards him, so
quickly did it move. He knew that was a trait of the spell and not the wizard
who cast it, but it was still not pleasant
to feel the suddenly conjured shackles appear between his ankles, the chain
automatically shortening and jerking him from his feet.

�� He did not
fall, of course. He could not do such a thing in front of his class and expect
to retain any authority. He aimed his wand at the shackles as they formed and,
after a non-verbal Balancing Charm that brought him abruptly back upright, cast
�Finite Incantatem� aloud, so that he
might show his contempt of Potter�s supposed �mastery.�

�� The
shackles crumbled, but Potter had already scurried to another part of the room�Severus
had never realized that he so enjoyed imitating an insect�and chanted another
hex. Severus did not hear the incantation this time, but he recognized the
effect as it boiled towards him, visible only as a heat shimmer. Potter meant
to turn his breath against him, making it into steam that would blind Severus.

�� It was a
charm that was in the Defense Against the Dark Arts books that had been chosen
in the past. Severus knew that. Why he should have been so surprised that Potter
had studied it already, he did not know.

�� Again, his
quick Finite dismissed the hex, and
then he moved back on the offensive with a Line of Fire Curse that made dancing
flames race across the floor towards Potter. They would not hurt him badly even
if they reached him�no more than the hotfoot that Granger had given him in
these students� first year�but they would force him to move constantly and
disrupt his concentration.

�� Potter
yelled two words without pausing for breath. �Aguamenti! Corycus!�

�� A blow from
an invisible fist hit Severus low in the middle of the back, staggering him.
The Line of Fire Curse vanished. Potter ran to a new position, his eyes bright
and his hair flapping around him. Severus had seen the same enthusiastic
expression before, when Lily was staring into a complicated potion that she had
managed to brew right.

�� He hated
the sudden return of that memory as much as he did the reluctant acknowledgment
rising up inside his mind.

�� Potter is good at Defense after all.

�� Of course,
that revelation simply sparked another and more indignant one as he stepped
back and said coldly aloud, �That will do for now, Mister Potter.�

�� If he can apply this brilliance in one area,
then he could apply it in another. Learning complicated spells is not more
difficult than following complicated potions instructions. He should have been
doing much better in Potions than he did. That he did not implies that he did
not wish to concentrate enough.

�� Severus
considered that a personal insult. It was one thing for Potter to simply be
miserable at Potions; it was another thing for Lily Evans�s son to have
inherited her talent and refuse to exercise it because he was lazy or busy with
other things he considered �more important.� Suddenly Horace�s excited comments
the other night about Potter�s performance in his class, which Severus had listened
to with half an ear, had taken on a new significance.

�� He could do it. He did not wish to.

�� He will pay for that.

�� He turned
away from Potter, because he did not trust his fragile hold on his temper if he
had to confront the boy right now, and noticed that the other students were
watching with their mouths open and their eyes round. Severus waved his wand,
and the air shuddered with the sound of thunder. The watching students jumped and,
in the case of Longbottom, squeaked.

�� That was a
true duel,� Severus said coldly, �though less deadly than the kind you will fight
if you ever deal with a Dark wizard. Now, who can tell me what spells I used in
this display? You, Longbottom?�

�� That moron�s cowering and spluttering
were sweet honey to Severus�s taste after Potter�s confident spells and the
flushed, defiant look that Potter threw him before he walked to his seat.

�� As was the
tiny bit of flavor to be gleaned out of all of this, the fact that he would not
have to mentor an utter incompetent. Severus told himself that he could live
with his bitterness at having been mistaken because it would mean being spared
the worse bitterness of long evenings in the company of someone he could not teach.

*

�� Potter.
Stay behind.�

�� Harry
lifted his head and waved to Ron and Hermione, who were lingering behind and
giving him concerned looks, to go ahead. He knew that Snape was going to assign
him a detention or take points for the duel earlier in the class. That was only
obvious. Harry had done brilliantly against him, had shown that he wasn�t
afraid of him, and that had made Snape�s mouth twist up like he�d swallowed an
earwax-flavored bean.

�� Snape stood
next to his desk now, watching Harry approach. Harry stared at him coolly. It
was kind of exhilarating to stand here like this in front of Snape, no matter
how much he�d been looking forwards to getting away from him in Potions at
last, and know that he was basking in the glow of a successful defeat and
hiding an even bigger secret.

�� He�d probably claim it�s all down to his
genes if he knew about it.

�� That made
Harry more determined than ever to keep the secret private. He didn�t want to
give Snape any pleasure.

�� Snape
twisted his wand the moment the last student was out the door, and Harry heard
the noises from the corridor diminish. He immediately knew it was a variation on
a Silencing Charm and wanted to know how it worked, but Snape turned to him and
Harry snapped his mouth shut. He was damned if he would ask.

�� You may
have heard by now,� Snape said, picking his way through the words like they
were shards of glass, �that the Headmaster has been wounded in the fight
against the Dark Lord. He will not be able to complete some of the training in
Defense that he had intended to complete with you.� His voice grated on the
last words and his eyes shifted away from Harry. Probably hates to think about anyone being nice to me, Harry
thought cynically. He�d get along great
with Uncle Vernon. They could compare notes. �He has asked me to take over
that training.�

�� Harry
stared at him, and waited, and waited. When it became clear this wasn�t a joke,
he shook his head and snorted. �Because that worked so well with the Occlumency lessons.�

�� Are you
saying that you disrespect the Headmaster�s judgment?� Snape�s voice was soft
and eager.

�� When it
comes to you and me and you teaching me, Dumbledore doesn�t know what he�s talking
about,� Harry said.

�� It was the
first thing that came to mind, and he knew he should have restrained himself
when Snape�s mouth curdled into a smug smile. �Detention tonight at eight-o�clock,
Potter,� he said. �Be sure that you bring your wand.� And he turned to gather
up papers as if that simple motion could dismiss Harry from existence.

�� Harry
walked slowly out of the room, taking deep breaths so that he would subdue his
inclination to shout and storm about the unfairness of it all.

�� When I act on impulse, I get in trouble. It
was true in the Department of Mysteries, and it�s true this time. It�s better
to practice my lies and prepare for trouble, because that way, I can actually
handle it.

�� So Snape wants to �train� me? So what? It�ll
take up some time, that�s all. My real training
is going to come with Dumbledore�s Army. I know that. I�ll make time for that.
I�ll work hard at that.

��

�� Harry
grinned, then, as a new thought struck him.

�� And if he spends the detentions trying to
train me instead of making me scrub cauldrons or write lines, I can really frustrate him by just not cooperating. I can
show him that there�s no way I�ll accept him as a teacher, and there�s not a
bloody thing he can do about it.

�� He practically
bounced down the corridor to join Ron and Hermione, the thought of how much
Snape was going to hate him making him chuckle with glee.

�� There�s another advantage, too. The more he
hates me, the more he can�t stand the sight of me, the less incentive he has to
ask me questions or try and pry into my secrets.

�� I can�t wait for tonight.

*

�� paigeey07:
None, really. That was just one of Lily�s reasons for telling Harry about his
heritage. ;)

�� k lave
demo: Harry might agree that Snape would be a good father for someone other than him. Snape has hated him
since day one. Harry can�t imagine him overcoming that. And you see even here
how he twists his thinking so he can go on thinking the worst of Harry.

�� On the
other hand, Harry would be surprised as hell to know that Snape did admire him
for his talent.

�� SP777: The
scene with Snape and Albus was added, but we do know that Snape helped Albus
with his wound from Slytherin�s ring, so it�s a reasonable inference.

�� I don�t
think anyone could answer that question at this point.

�� And you�re
welcome.

�� Alliandre:
Harry himself does not know how he did that. However, it�s going to be hinted
in later chapters that because he so didn�t wish Snape to see that, he managed
to hide the knowledge the same way that he hid the worse images of how the
Dursleys abused him. There�s no hint in canon that Snape ever knew about the
cupboard Harry lived in, either.

�� Tree802:
Yes, fairly long.

�� callistianstar:
Thank you! The pre-slash relationship will be like the one in Soldier�s Welcome
where they become friends with sexual tension on the side, but that�s not going
to be openly slash.

�� And
Voldemort does not give the command to kill Dumbledore because he believes
Dumbledore is already dying, thanks to those rumors.

�� Inugrl2004:
Thanks!

�� Ros:
Creepily enough, I was indeed typing this next chapter when I got your review.
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Practicing Liars