Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Blood Quill Consequences	By : EarthandWater Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 31171 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: We have no claim on Harry Potter nor any characters or locations thereof. We make no money from the writing of this.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
WARNING: More expressed dislike of Dumbledore's methodology. Snape and Harry acting civil with each other. Golden Trio niceness, Draco and Pansy friendship and plotting of defection. Implications of Crabbe and Goyle being sick bastards.
Disclaimer: We have no claim on Harry Potter nor any characters or locations thereof. We gain only amusement from writing this.
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Harry washed his face in lukewarm water and looked at the blurry image in the mirror before he dried himself off with a towel and felt around for his old wire framed glasses, placing them on his nose. It was just about time to make his way down to the dungeons again and Harry was trying to compose himself before the meeting.
The potion Snape had given him had really helped. Harry'd had ten hours of uninterrupted, dreamless sleep and he felt like a new person for it. Now he only needed to find a way to keep Snape out of his mind, he did not want a repeat performance of yesterday's show. The thing that made him go back now more than anything, above, duty and responsibility was the thing he'd seen in Snape's eyes as he had pushed him out. It hadn't been pity thank the fates, Harry couldn't have dealt with pity from Snape of all people. No it had been shock, understanding and a knowing. For some reason it felt that Snape had a first time understanding in what Harry's life outside of Hogwarts was and as terrible as that was, Harry was kind of glad that he wasn't alone. He didn't think that he would ever be able to talk to Snape about it, they weren't close and never would be but just knowing made things a bit easier.
Harry looked into the mirror again the image crystal sharp now that he had his glasses on. He looked at his pale face, straight nose, messy hair and slightly pointed chin and not for the first time he wondered what his father had done that made Snape hate him so much. That made the hate carry on to his image. Harry desperately wanted his dad to have been a good person and the thought that he might not have been made his stomach knot. He couldn't talk to Sirius about his worries either, in his Godfather's eyes James' couldn't do anything wrong.
Ah well Harry supposed it didn't really matter anymore. Harry looked away from the mirror, grabbed his supplies and walked out of the bathroom and down the now familiar steps to Snape's office where after knocking on the door he squared his shoulders and stepped inside.
The professor was scowling down at a parchment and making notes on another. He didn't bother to look up as Harry entered but he spoke to him, revealing that he was aware of who it was. "Potter make yourself comfortable, I'll be with you in a moment. Draco won't be joining us as I believe he is with your Miss Granger learning to operate a video cassette recorder." Snape only hoped his godson wouldn't blow the contraption up. Draco had never been the most patient with anything but potions and when his temper flared things had a habit of self-destructing. Turning his mind from that back to the formula he was working on he made another note on the probable affect of various ingredients on the wolfsbane potion. It was something he'd been working at on and off since he'd been seventeen, how to make it more effective and perhaps more palatable though that was a minor goal. Perhaps one day, with enough research, he might find a cure.
He made a quick note about going to Hagrid for some unicorn hair or perhaps horn shavings then set his quill aside.
"A VCR huh, I would have liked to see that." Harry smiled and tried his best not to tense up when he thought about what was to come. He placed his bag on the floor by his feet and sat down on one of the chairs opposite Snape's workdesk.
"I sincerely doubt that you'd enjoy the experience. Your friend is very likely ducking flying bits of plastic." Snape looked up at the teen and brought his ink and potion stained fingers up to link together in a bridge, elbows resting on his desk. "Did you find some time to meditate on how you forced me out last night?"
"I tried Sir, mostly though I just slept." Harry looked a bit sheepish. "Honestly last night I didn't feel anything other then desperation to get you out of my head...I really don't want to experience that feeling again." He pushed his glasses up his nose. "There has to be a trick to this and I'm just so frustrated that I don't get it."
"Hm." Snape studied the youth in front of him. "Desperation or anger is what causes bursts of accidental magic, you come here to learn how to better direct the magic that flows through you. From what I've seen and hear from the other professors you do actually do well when you have a medium to focus your energies through," he cast a swift glance at Harry's wand, "but inside you mind there is nothing physical to do that with. Spells work with intent and visualization, that is why wizards can perform wandless magic. When you were desperate to get me out, what did you think?"
Harry thought about it, what his thoughts had been in all the chaos and jumbled up emotions. "Um it's kind of difficult to explain but when my walls couldn't hold you out I thought that I had to pick you up and throw you out...With my mind. It doesn't make sense, I know." Harry grew silent and waited for Snape to give a scathing remark about not even be able to explain the simplest thing.
A very nearly satisfied smile tugged at the corners of Snape's mouth. "Good. Today then I want you to do the same. Visualize yourself pushing me back and put power and intent behind it."
Harry's eyes grew wide behind the lenses of his glasses at Snape's smile, it wasn't even an evil one. He nodded that he understood what Snape wanted him to do and tried to get ready for what would come next. He really wanted to be able to do it this time, he didn't want to be a disappointment. "I'll try my best Sir."
Snape nodded. "I will go slowly through the 'layers' of your mind, I've no desire to poke too deeply but if you don't push me out I will. I have yet to fail at teaching even the most impossible students and I certainly will not start with you Potter."
Steeling himself Harry nodded once again. Instead of the wall he used to picture he imagined a loose net, like a spiders web. Hopefully the net would allow him to discover where Snape tried to breach his mind and toss him out. He knew that Snape wouldn't give him warning before it happened so Harry just sat there trying to be ready.
The professor continued to study the teenager intensely for a few more moments then he entered Harry's mind. An intrigued mental brow lifted at the cobweb like veil before he continued on slowly pushing through the youth's mind. He passed through the happier memories into ones that, while not traumatizing, were of a darker nature. Here was where the memories of things that had angered or otherwise aggrieved Harry lurked. There was a light shove that felt like Potter but it wasn't enough to get him out of the boy's mind. Images flew by of things that had riled the teen up, a great many of those had featured himself much to Snape's amusement, or been an incredibly trying nuisance. Severus was surprised to notice that some of the most unpleasant annoyances to the Golden Boy were when his fame had people flocking around him like the hyenas Snape knew they were, hungry to take advantage of the 'savior' and steal what they could from him. It dispelled yet another misconception he'd always held about Potter. The boy was not a glory hound basking in the attention he received but rather he very nearly despised it.
The web was working, at least in one aspect. Harry could clearly feel where Snape entered his mind and how he was pushing deeper but he still couldn't find the strength to push him out. He had tried to several times but so far he had only managed to 'nudge' Snape, noting more. Harry squirmed in his chair, so far the memories were more uncomfortable than horrible but he didn't want Snape any further inside his head. He had shared more than enough trauma with the other.
Letting the web tighten around the intruder Harry hoped that it would slow Snape down and then he made another attempt at pushing the Potion's Master out.
Snape's mental self got tangled in the fine strong threads of the net Harry had created and was picking at them to free himself when a stronger push slid him back into the happier memories. He smirked and poked back at the push, trying to prompt a stronger shove from the boy.
Strengthened by the fact that the net seemed to work Harry concentrated and gave Snape a harder shove, putting all his mental weight behind it as he tried to push the other all the way out of his mind. Sweat was beading on his forehead but he didn't let up. Harry didn't want to give Snape the chance to wiggle free of the threads binding him and give him a chance to push back into his darker memories.
The professor pushed lightly back against Harry's mental force, in a way trying to strengthen the teen's mind as you would muscles except the mind tended to strengthen faster than the body, but didn't put up too much resistance as he was pushed back into his own mind and the web released him. He looked at Harry, the teen's face was strained with effort and shiny with sweat whereas Snape didn't appear to be at all affected. "A not entirely pathetic effort Mr. Potter."
Green eyes opened to look at Snape intently before a small smile quirked the corners of his mouth upwards. "Coming from you that's high praise indeed...Sir." Harry ran a hand through his dark hair, making it stand even more on end than before. He wasn't kidding himself, he knew that Snape could have pushed harder and broken further into his mind but this was still a victory. It let Harry know that maybe there was a chance for him to learn.
Snape moved a few quills from one container on his desk to another. "I must say your 'web' was a unique approach."
Harry's smile widened. "Well the walls weren't working so I figured it was time for a new approach." Harry had gotten the web idea from the time he and Ron had followed the spiders in their second year. He was happy that at least something useful had come out of his meeting with Aragog and his children. "It worked rather nicely if I can say so myself."
"It is certainly a start. Someone can still get in but you know when it happens and can respond accordingly. It may also hold an application to tell if the intruder is planting any information." The Slytherin Head pondered the possible uses for Potter's little mental innovation. "Either way it is farther than we've managed to get since beginning the lessons."
"Thank Merlin for that." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "I was beginning to despair, thought I'd be stuck here with you until I was old and grey." He smiled to take the edge of the harsh words, this was the first time ever he felt even remotely comfortable being in the same room as Snape.
"A fate worse than death to be sure." You could have cut the sarcasm in the professor's voice with a knife. "I want you to continue meditating at least once a day, even if it is only for a few minutes. Calming your mind once a day should give it an opportunity to 'organize' and make it easier to focus your energies where they need to go when Occluding rather then scattering to twenty different things at once. The more focus you put behind a 'push' the stronger it is." Snape picked up a small book and threw it to Harry. "It's not Salazar Slytherin's journal on Occlumency and Legilimency but I convinced an acquaintance to send me that. Read it."
Harry managed to catch the book just before it hit him in the face and looked at it. That book might just help him understand Occlumency and Legilimency a bit more and he was grateful for it. "Thank you, I'll read it." Harry bent down and placed the book in his bag. He wanted a chance to read it himself first before Hermione caught sight of it. The girl never passed up a chance to read and learn more. "I... know I don't show it much but I am thankful for your help. The dreams have lessened."
Harry's eyes met his and Snape felt the familiar gut punch that always came with seeing Lily's eyes in a male face but more there was an odd flitter this time that had nothing to do with Harry's mother. It was something in those eyes, they were still the exact shade and shape of Lily's but they were deeper, holding more experience and old pain than his one-time friend's had ever had and somehow Snape knew he'd never again see Lily in Harry's eyes. He wasn't sure how he felt about that but he nodded at the teenager. "Good." He tapped a finger on his desk. "Mr. Potter may I ask why you still wear those muggle spectacles?"
Blinking in suprise Harry pulled off his worn, round, wire framed glasses and looked at them with blurry sight. "I don't really know. Out of habit most likely. After Mione fixed them they work so I guess I haven't seen a reason to change them." He looked up at the shadowy blob he knew to be Snape before he placed the glasses back on and let the world come into focus again.
"You would do better to replace them with wizard spectacles. A number of charms can be and are placed on wizard glasses depending on the wizard or witch they are created for. For example Professor McGonagall's spectacles are charmed to spot cheating that might slip past the quills and the Headmaster's are charmed to see behind him in the event someone is attempting to sneak up on him."
Harry perked up with interest, all that sounded great, though he thought he would get dizzy seeing both in front and behind him at the same time. "That sounds great, I didn't know wizard glasses could do that." It would be nice to have a pair of spectacles like that, to charm them to see something useful. Sometimes Harry was embarrassed about how little he still knew about the wizarding world even after several years spent in it.
Snape shook his head and muttered. "I keep telling the Headmaster that we need a Wizarding Culture class for muggleborns and the rare orphan who's raised by muggles, not every child is as proactive as Miss Granger in reading history." He bridged his fingers again. "Madam Pomfrey and Professor Flitwick could easily arrange new glasses for you if you'd like to dispose of those." He wagged a derisive finger at the shabby round frames that sat on Harry's face. They really were rather hideous.
"I will talk to one of them...And for what it's worth I think it's a really good idea, the Wizarding Culture class I mean. I think it would be just as useful as Muggle Studies. The muggle born students increase in numbers each year along with a decrease in purebloods. Maybe the school needs to change a little too." Even though Harry had been an extreme case at being kept from all things magic a lot of new students were as lost as he was when they first came to Hogwarts. "Why is Professor Dumbledore reluctant to put it on the schedule?" Harry thought it was a brilliant idea and he couldn't see why Dumbledore didn't jump at the chance to make the transaction easier for his new students.
The potions master's lip curled. "Because he's old." When he saw the confusion that passed over Harry's face he elaborated. "Potter the wizarding culture is one of the most stubborn, unchanging, intractable cultures in existence. The old guard like the Headmaster believe there is no need for change as we've existed much the same since the Founders' time aside from a few new laws forbidding this or that. They think that if it is not broken they shouldn't fix it. They fail to understand that it is broken. Like a pane of autoglass, cracks have riddled the wizarding world and all it will take for the whole thing to come crashing down is one well aimed pebble."
Harry nodded, thinking that Snape had captured and summed up the problem perfectly. "Then maybe it's time to change out that whole pane of glass before anyone has the chance to throw that pebble. With the times as they are I think the closer the Wizarding society can get the better. Voldemort strives to tear this community...this world apart. If both muggleborns and purebloods knew more about each other I think he would have a harder time to do so." Harry caught himself when he realized who it was he was speaking to. For some reason though he was certain that Snape wasn't a spy for old snake bastard, he didn't know why but he was simply sure.
"It would be, much more difficult." An old sorrow flit through the deep black eyes. "Misunderstandings have made enemies of friends and caused even the best intentioned men and women to assist evil. A promise for a better world is what the Dark Lord uses to coax others into his service, many Death Eaters joined because they found the world too cold and unwelcoming and he offered a 'family' of sorts only one with a deadly catch."
Swallowing Harry looked up at Snape thinking about what to say. "Then we need to offer them a better family, an accepting family without any strings attached. As powerful and knowing as Professor Dumbledore is, he's not always right." Harry looked down, he couldn't help it, he was still somewhat bitter that Dumbledore forced him back to Privet Drive each summer. He understood the reasoning behind it but that didn't make it hurt any less. It was even more difficult now that he knew Sirius was out there, willing to take him in.
Snape lifted a brow, a part of him was pleased to see that Potter saw that Albus was more than capable of mistakes but he wondered if Harry really knew what offering a family to the outcasts would mean. "Tell me Potter, if a Slytherin were to approach you and the other two members of your trio seeking friendship, would you accept them?"
Harry thought about it long and hard. He had no delusions that it wouldn't be hard, not everyone would play nice but every chance was worth taking. "Yes...yes I would. I'm in no way perfect and I imagine there would be friction from both sides but yes, I would accept them. I know what it's like to be alone, to have no one and I don't wish that on anyone."
The man nodded, satisfied with that answer though the rarely stirred imp in him prompted him to say. "Even if it were to be Draco, honestly seeking friendship?"
"Yes, even Draco." Harry grinned but then grew serious. "I do regret turning my back on his friendship first year...I just don't take ultimatums well and I refuse to choose between one friend and another. If he had asked me for himself and not for his father to find a way keep me under his thumb I would never have refused." He cast a sideways glance at Snape. "I'm not as stupid as some think you know."
Snape inclined his head. "Admittedly, I was wrong." That was as close to an apology as Harry would get from him for his assumptions. He debated for a moment then met Potter's gaze steadily. "If you find yourself accorded of an opportunity to do so Mr. Potter, I would be...grateful if you, or one of your friends if you think they might have better luck, would attempt to convince Draco that he does not have to follow Lucius." Snape normally wouldn't ask something like this of another, most especially not one who he'd previously held nothing but animosity for, but Potter was at the forefront of those who opposed the dark and the best to convince Draco to veer from that path.
"I promise that I will Sir, I'll try my best and I'll speak to Hermione too, as she's working close to him at the moment." Harry held Snape's gaze so that the other would know he was serious. "Now I should probably get going before Ron bursts in here wondering what's happened to me...He's a bit overprotective that one." Harry lifted his bag up and hung it over his shoulder. "Thank you again for tonight Sir."
A sharp nod came from the man in acknowledgment. "You're welcome. Now out, I do not need a clumsy Weasley barging in here and flinging things about."
Harry nodded and waved goodbye with a grin, feeling better than he had in a long time. His steps up to the tower were light. He even stopped to pet Mrs. Norris before she hissed at him and walked away with her tail swishing behind her.
In the common room Hermione sat listening to Ron making cracks against Malfoy as she was still picking bits of plastic from her hair. She still didn't know how Draco had managed to actually blow the VCR up but it had been an impressive explosion that had sent bits of plastic and metal flying. The boy had shocked her speechless by grabbing her as soon as things went south and shielding her from the sharp flying bits with his body. Plenty had still landed in her hair but not a single piece of plastic or bit of metal had so much as touched her. Draco hadn't been quite so lucky. A bit of metal had sliced his temple and once Hermione had recovered from her surprise, and the odd tingle she'd felt being so close to him, she'd begun mother henning him and pulled out her wand to conjure a small first aid kit to tend the cut.
Afterwards she'd proposed they leave the lesson off for the day and return to their common rooms to unwind. She really didn't blame Draco for getting frustrated with the VCR, her own father still couldn't get theirs at home to work right, and she hadn't gotten hurt in the least little bit so no harm to her, no foul. Of course Ron wasn't quite so blase about it.
"I'm telling you Mione, I think the git did it on purpose. Some sort of Slytherin way to get rid of you without drawing suspicion...You can't trust him, he's pure evil, you know that!" Ron had worked himself up and his face was almost as red as his hair, none of his freckles were visible.
Harry rolled his eyes as he made his way over to them, he kicked Ron's legs to get him to fold them in and make room for harry on the couch he was sitting on. "What's gotten your pants in a twist this time?" He asked with a sigh.
"Ask Hermione, she's the one who was almost murdered while tutoring." Ron hissed out still trying to get Hermione to see the seriousness of consorting with the enemy like that. Never mind that she had been ordered to tutor the Slytherin.
The girl rolled her eyes and flicked another plastic bit from her hair. "Ron honestly, it was just a VCR. It's not as though he made me step on a land mine and he even got hurt so I wouldn't. If he wanted me impaled by a VHS tape he could have easily just shielded himself and left me to my own devices. It was an accident, nothing more so would you please stop acting like Malfoy is the devil incarnate."
"It wouldn't surprise me if he was." Ron grumbled.
Harry was surprised by the way Draco had acted, shielding Hermione but then he thought about what Snape had asked of him. "Listen Ron, I've got a couple of bottles of butterbeer hidden away in my trunk, why don't you go get them...I think we could use them tonight don't you?"
Ron's blue eyes lit up and he made his way up the stairs to the dorm as quickly as his lanky frame could carry him.
"So Hermione, I had a very interesting conversation with Snape tonight. He asked us to try and convince Malfoy that his father's way is not the only one to follow. Do you think there's hope for him?" Harry had to admit that although still snarky and full of himself Draco hadn't been a complete arse during the evenings they spent together studying and making lesson plans.
Hermione blinked at him before her lips curved up in a beaming smile. "I do actually. He's...well he's Slytherin to the bone but I don't think he's bad, not really. It's more that he's clawing at everyone before they can attack him I think. He hasn't made a single mudblood comment or spoken against muggles since the first lesson and well...he's fascinated by all the objects and why they work as they do, why they were made, what they do. I think he's just been living down to his father's expectations out of fear but not fear for himself I don't think. I sent a letter off to Sirius a few days ago, asking him about Malfoy's mother and what he might know about her relationship with her husband. I'm still waiting on a reply."
"You know how Sirius is, he will answer when he can. Listen so talk to Draco, don't pressure him but let him know that he has a place with us, both he and his mother." Harry fell silent as he heard Ron's footsteps echoing in the stairs. As much as he loved his pseudo brother he knew that Ron wasn't ready to welcome Draco, or any Slytherin for that matter, into their group.
The girl nodded and whispered before Ron came back into view. "That's what I planned on." She looked back up at Ron and sighed. She adored Ron like family but just like family he could irritate her like few others with just how hostile and prejudiced he could be. She gave him a sisterly smile nonetheless and accepted the butterbeer bottle he handed her. "So did you finish your transfiguration homework Ron?"
"Um, no, not quite." Ron flushed again though with embarrassment this time. "I thought maybe you could point me in the right direction." He looked at her with huge puppydog eyes.
Harry chuckled and took a swig of his own butterbeer, glad that he had actually finished his homework on time for once.
The girl scolded Ron briefly before telling him to bring his book and materials over.
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In the Slytherin common room Pansy was peering closely at the the cut that Hermione had treated and hated that the mudblood had done a better job without magic than she'd have done with it. "You should have let her fend for herself."
Draco pulled his head away from Pansy, feeling annoyed with her pawing. In all honesty it had been instinct to shield Granger, he had done it without thinking, he didn't want her hurt and that thought alone was more than worrying. When had he started to notice how shiny her hair was and how soft she felt in his arms? He was Draco Malfoy, Lucius' heir, he was definitely not suppose to feel this way about Hermione Granger of all people. "It's no big deal Pans, just a scratch. And you know that in this point of time it is better to play nice than to draw suspicion to oneself." Draco wished he could believe those words himself.
She nodded, her brows still drawn down in worry. "Right, right...Draco?"
"It's what we should do Pansy." He agreed but it sounded hollow. He'd been doubting his father's way more and more as of late but he didn't know of a way out and he wouldn't put anyone else in danger. Least of all someone like Pansy who he actually cared about, despite all her faults, he had plenty of his own after all.
She looked around the common room, nibbling on her bottom lip before leaning her head on his shoulder and whispering. "But...is it what you want to do?" She was beginning to doubt that the dark path of the Death Eaters was the way to go lately. It wasn't because she'd become convinced of the 'goodness' in the light, from what she could see the light was just as twisted as the dark only they were sanctioned. No, it was because Crabbe and Goyle were beginning to scare her the way they eyed the first year Slytherin girls and in the thoughtless cruelty they perpetuated on the animals that strayed from their owner's sides. It scared her because if they could turn on the younger Slytherins and defenseless animals then they could easily turn on her and Draco.
"No Pansy...It's not what I want." Draco clenched his fists and leaned his head on top of hers so that it would look like a normal cuddle between them. "I don't believe that the path of our fathers will lead to glory or power. I believe it will lead to us shackled and stripped of our free will. We will be nothing but puppets to be played with and disposed of at a whim." He laced his fingers together with hers. "The one they serve does not share power."
She nodded. "Then...let's not serve him." She lifted her head and bumped her nose against his chin. "We are Slytherins after all. We'll use any means to achieve our ends and personally my ends are not being a little yes woman with little or no power. I have higher aims than that and I know you do as well."
"That is very, very true Pansy. I will not be anyone's puppet, if anything I will be the one pulling the strings." He kissed her forehead. "Has anyone told you that you're brilliant Pans? You make it all sound so easy."
She held her head high and gave him a smirk. "Of course I'm brilliant. It goes with the house. Not easy though, we'll just have to do our best to sneak and slither our way around the dangers." She reached up to brush his hair away from his eyes. "Did I tell you that I like the new way you're wearing your hair? It's even more striking this way."
"Hn, I was told I looked like a crystal ball with it slicked back...Thought it was time for a change." Draco allowed himself to relax into Pansy's touch. Talking to her and finding out he wasn't alone with his doubts made things feel better, made him believe that there might be a way out after all. "Maybe I should try to get closer to Granger." He tried to sound nonchalant about it. "She is a part of the golden trio after all. If anyone knows about a way out of this whole mess it should be them."
She wrinkled her nose. "Ugh Gryffindors. Well I suppose you are right, considering that Potter has managed to wriggle away from him so many times already. I'll look into other escapes and," she cast a look at a trio of first years entering the common room, "look after the snaklings." She refused to let the little ones get hurt by members of their own house, they had enough issues already.
"Okay." Draco followed her line of sight to the first years. "Be careful though, things are changing quickly and not for the better...I don't want you hurt Pans." He brought their joint hands up to his lips and kissed them before he untangled himself and got up from his seat. "I need to get a letter to mother, to prepare her."
She nodded. "Tell Lady Narcissa that I send my best and if she needs it I'll back her up with my worst." The Slytherin girl got to her own feet and moved towards the first years, she was going to talk to them and tell them not to go anywhere in less than groups of four of their own year. She wasn't a soft, sweet little Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, she was a hard as nails, cunning and sneaky Slytherin and she'd be damned if she let Goyle or Crabbe harm any of her housemates on her watch.
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Ooooh things are a-changin ain't they?
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Blood Quill Consequences