Harry stood idly in an unused classroom, staring out the window at the overcast sky. It was only an hour or so past noon, but one would have thought it much later, judging by the lack of light passing through the clouds. It was Saturday, and, as Lily had enthusiastically reminded him at breakfast, it was the day she had convinced Snape to come in for his first "tutoring" session. Harry had reluctantly agreed, although he was quite sure that even at this point, Snape was more than capable of taking care of himself.
"Professor Ashworth."
Harry schooled his features into neutrality before turning around casually to look at the speaker, not really needing to see him. That kind of cool, even arrogant, tone could only belong to Severus Snape.
"Mr. Snape," Harry replied formally.
Said teenager was standing in the open door of the classroom, looking every bit the annoying potions professor that Harry knew he would one day become. He wore black robes and a faint sneer. His expression was one of annoyance, probably at having to spend the day with Harry, when he could be out doing other things. Harry didn't even want to think about what Snape did in his spare time. For some reason, it annoyed Harry. If Snape was going to be here, couldn't he at least pretend to be civil? Harry didn't really expect him to be grateful, or anything, but… Harry shook his head at the thought that he may just be annoyed at the fact that he was agreeing with Snape in his annoyance to be here.
"Come in," Harry finally instructed. "Do you know where Miss Evans is?"
"I am sure she'll show up sooner or later," Snape replied evenly, taking a single step into the room.
"I see. I guess we should wait for her before getting started," Harry said crisply, and Snape inclined his head in a silent agreement that this was more for Lily's sake than either of theirs. Harry turned back to resume staring out the window in silence. The least Lily could have done was to not leave Harry alone with Snape. How was he supposed to make small talk with one of his least favorite people in the world? As it was, he couldn't, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Harry merely took comfort in the fact that Snape didn't seem any happier at being shanghaied into this impromptu tutoring session.
Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, Snape broke the silence. "Professor," he began, "I would like to state for the record that I am perfectly capable of defending myself. You could even say that Defense Against the Dark is my strongest subject."
Apparently, Snape had already begun his affair with the dark arts. It was annoying, but relieving at the same time. Harry doubted that his mother would escalate her friendship with Snape into a relationship if she became aware of his dabbling. Harry's outward reaction to Snape's statement consisted of a shrug and glance over his shoulder. "I have no doubt that you're quite able in Defense. However, Miss Evans seems to disagree with both of our assessments." He noticed that Snape wasn't meeting his eyes. It was a pleasant change, for once. "Let's humor her, then, shall we?"
"Very well," Snape said, finally met Harry's eyes, as if daring him to disagree, causing Harry to heave an internal sigh.
Harry maintained eye contact for a little bit longer, wondering if Snape was already adept at Legilimency. He felt no mental probes, though, so he shrugged and turned his head away. For some reason, Harry was unable to resist jibing Snape about the dark arts. "Mastering dark spells doesn't protect you from them," he commented idly.
Snape seemed to bristle at that. "With all due respect, I don't see you teaching Defense."
Harry didn't see it, but he could tell from the change in tone that Snape seemed surprised and perhaps a little shaken over the fact that Harry had been able to read the correct meaning into his previous cryptic statement.
With some difficulty, Harry managed to suppress a bout of laughter. The situation was pure irony - after all, Snape had always considered himself an expert in Defense, although he was stuck teaching Potions, and he had made no secret of the fact that he wanted the Defense job. Admittedly, Snape had never actually been given a chance to teach Defense, as far as Harry knew, but Harry still found Snape's comments amusing. Or maybe Snape had taught Defense once, and been promptly relegated to Potions, because his students had either summarily quit the course, failed it, or came away with horrible psychological scars. Much like everyone in NEWT Potions, Harry mused. He allowed the irony to pass, but couldn't resist having the last word. "In my travels, I've met the darkness face to face, Mr. Snape. I think I know a few things about it."
He could feel Snape's eyes boring into the back of his head, and could almost see the mental cogwheels turning as Snape began to reevaluate him in light of this new information. Was Snape now wondering if he was more than a mere Potions instructor? If Snape had been about to say anything in reply, it never amounted to anything because Lily chose that moment to burst into the room, already making apologies for being late.
"I'm sorry! Madam Pince was talking to Professor Sprout, and I had to wait for her to check out my book."
"Don't worry about it," Harry said, relieved that he was no longer alone with Snape. Merlin's beard! I'm the adult here, and he still manages to make me uncomfortable. "Let's get started. I'm sure you don't want to spend your entire Saturday with me."
"We're ready!" Lily exclaimed, with a little too much enthusiasm in her voice. Harry suppressed a small sigh. He had a feeling this was going to be a long day.
"All right," he replied, reaching for his wand. "First, a basic shield spell, with a slight modification…"
.....
Bellatrix was annoyed. Harry was neither in his office nor in his private quarters. She had finally finished compiling the list of students with influential parents and wanted to see his reaction to her initiative; her eagerness was spurred on by the feeling that she needed to be productive and no small amount of interest in what might happen. It was a strange feeling, really, something she had never really before encountered in her life. Everything else had been handed to her on a silver platter, and she had never had any motivation to work for anything, except her own fleeting interest in the subject. At the very least, it might be taken by him as a sign of good faith and that she was willing to cooperate with him. He might even let slip some more information about what he was up to.
Eventually, she ended up stalking down the right corridor and heard his voice coming from a classroom that was supposed to be empty. She came to an abrupt halt when she heard a female voice shouting an incantation she vaguely remembered as a low-level shield spell. Anger briefly rose in her as she realized that he was dueling or coaching someone - someone female, no less - and that he had not told her about it. The rational part of her argued that it might be something completely innocent, but she quickly overrode it and marched up to the door, ready to barge in and announce her presence with a slam of the door.
By the time she reached the door knob, however, she had collected herself again and cautiously cracked the door open to take a look - better to err on the side of caution, after all. With something between a scowl and a smirk she realized that Harry was in the middle of trying to teach a shield charm to an obviously bored Snape and an overly enthusiastic Lily Evans.
Bellatrix suppressed a sigh of relief at the scene, though she wasn't really sure why. She continued to smirk as Evans obviously failed to grasp even this simple charm. With some amusement, she watched as Harry groaned in frustration as the shield bubble came out as a bubbling surface.
"All right, all right, stop." Harry rubbed his temples. "Relax, don't force the spell. You're too tense. Let the motion come to you, instead of trying to force it."
"Okay," Lily said, beaming at him.
"Now try again."
Lily did, and Bellatrix had the odd feeling that the Gryffindor girl was enjoying the lesson far more than she should be. It took her a few more tries until she finally managed to succeed, the beam on her face disgustingly bright to Bellatrix's eyes.
"Now," Harry continued, "I'll fire a hex at Mr. Snape here, and I want you to protect him."
Bellatrix grinned evilly, hoping that Lily was going to fail and she was going to see Snape hit with whatever Harry planned on sending at him. Unfortunately for her, Lily actually did perform the spell well enough to save Snape from whatever hex Harry had cast. It didn't escape Bellatrix's notice that he had cast it silently, with barely a flick of his wand. She took it as her cue to interrupt the session and fully opened the door, clearing her throat.
....
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