September 1
Severus did not even make it to his bed after the feast before Harry's uncontainable chaos began.
"Professor! Professor!" Theodore was calling for him at the door to his private quarters. "Please! Wake up! It's Trent!"
Severus got to his feet and made it to his door in three long strides. As soon as he opened the door, Ronald and Theodore pulled Trent Bailey in to his quarters and deposited him on a sofa.
"He's hurt and we didn't want to use the Slytherin healers," Theodore said as a rushed explanation for why a bloody and injured boy was sitting on Severus' sofa. "We figured either we'd bring him here now, or Harry would drag him here anyway."
"I'm fine," Bailey was protesting weakly. Severus ignored him in favor of casting a diagnostic spell and ordering Ronald to explain what happened.
Unlike Theodore, Ronald was an appalling liar, which made him Severus' first choice for all explanations.
"Crabbe and Goyle challenged him, sir," Ronald said immediately. "Broke his ribs and got him with a Crucio for over a minute."
"Why?" Severus asked curiously as the boy's diagnostic report matched Ronald's story. It was not unheard of for older students to challenge younger ones on Slytherin's dueling night, yet he could hardly imagine how anyone could find offense with Bailey. He summoned a nerve regeneration potion and a pain reliever and gave them to Bailey. "Drink these, then I will heal your breaks."
"Thanks," Bailey murmured, his cheeks red and his eyes wet.
"They wanted to mess with Harry," Theodore said with a scowl twisting his features. "They called Trent a mudblood. Harry told them that he was going to kill them if they hurt Trent, but since Trent wouldn't turn it down and they didn't back down either..." Theodore shrugged, "Harry's probably killing them right now."
"Probably," Severus agreed. He rolled the agitation out of his shoulders as he quickly debated with himself. He had a rule to not intervene in inner-house duels, as they were a right of passage of a sort to Slytherin's, yet he could hardly allow Harry to start the school year off with a double homicide either.
"Mister Bailey, I am going to heal your breaks now," Severus said, prioritizing quickly. "On your exhale, very good, brackium emendo."
Bailey let out a quiet yelp as his bones shifted back together, then sighed in relief. "Thank you, Professor," he said politely. Bailey got to his feet and stretched his arms over his head. "I feel right as rain now," he smiled. "Sorry for bothering you."
"It is no bother," Severus said as he summoned his medical kit. "Come, I will walk you all back to your dorm."
The boys obediently followed behind Severus, though they were stopped halfway there by Harry's appearance.
Harry's blood soaked appearance.
"Did you kill them?" Severus asked briskly.
"Dunno. I hope so." Harry glanced around the empty corridor before he flicked his wrist and erected a privacy charm. "I definitely did remove a couple fuckin tattoos though. Thought you might wanna know."
Tattoos.
Crabbe and Goyle.
Severus ground his teeth in anger.
It was not unheard of, Severus himself took the mark in his seventh year, Regulus in his sixth.
The Dark Lord was a fan of recruiting young.
And now Severus had two death eaters in his house. In his house with Harry Potter.
"Delightful," Severus grit out. "Come along, I presume they are rather severely injured?"
"They better be," Harry snarled as he turned back around and kept stride with Severus. "I told everyone not to heal them, didn't I?"
Severus snorted. If Harry told the other Slytherin's not to heal them, they likely did not.
"Are they all aware of the mark on the boys?" Severus asked as they approached the common room entrance.
"Yup. I cut their fuckin arms open in front of everyone."
Severus was mentally creating Harry's legal defense as they intoned the password and led the way in to the common room.
'You see, Harry did not intentionally murder two boys, he was merely trying to remove their unfortunate dark marks that rested atop several veins and arteries.'
Severus glanced at his ward and nodded his head slightly to himself.
This was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Never-Seemed-To-Have-Consequences-For-His-Actions.
It could work.
Severus was unsure if it was relief of not that he felt when he entered the common room and saw that Daphne Greengrass was seated on the floor in front of the lumps of bodies that the bloody puddle indicated was Crabbe and Goyle with a wand in her hand and a look of concentration on her face.
"Move," Severus told Greengrass immediately. He knelt on the ground and flipped the boys so they were face-up and he could assess the damage.
Severus heard Harry hissing at Greengrass in Parsletongue behind him, an amusing outburst, though he ignored their spat as he diagnosed the boys.
He nearly laughed when he pulled Crabbe's arm towards him and saw the neat rows of thick black stitches up and down his left forearm. "What did you cut him open with?" Severus called over his shoulder to Harry. Muggle stitches were such a rarity in the wixen world, he could not imagine why the typically intelligent Greengrass girl thought they were necessary. Severus summoned a blood replenisher from his medical kit and spelled it in Crabbe's unconscious body.
"The same fuckin knife I'm going to cut Daphne open with," Harry sneered quite hatefully.
"Don't you threaten me, Harry Potter! I was keeping your impulsive Gryffindor arse from Azkaban! You should be thanking me!" Greengrass yelled at Harry.
"Why on earth did you use muggle stitches to treat their wounds?" Severus asked the girl as he looked Crabbe over for any other immediate threats to his life.
A few broken bones and stab wounds would not kill him and could possibly teach him the error of the path he has chosen. Either the idiot child could explain his injuries to Poppy, or he could suffer as they slowly healed. Either option was acceptable to Severus.
"So that disgusting mark couldn't be fixed," Greengrass said primly. "I didn't want them to die, but I didn't want them to be fully healed either. I used a spell to apply the stitches, it should scar terribly."
"Good," Harry and Severus said.
Severus had no room for impartiality when his child was actually being housed with marked death eaters.
...previously marked death eaters.
Harry did an admirable job at disfiguring the mark. Along with the stitches Greengrass applied, Severus could barely make out the ink on either of the two boys.
"Excellent work Miss Greengrass," Severus said after he finished checking both boys over. "Ten points to Slytherin for not allowing Harry to go to prison tonight."
"ONE HUNDRED POINTS FROM SLYTHERIN FOR NOT LETTING TWO PIECES OF GARBAGE DIE!" Harry yelled with a furious glare. "Whose next, Sev? Huh? Are they gonna try and kill Trent in the fuckin loo? What about Mione? Who knows what they've been ordered to do! DO YOU EVEN CARE?"
How dare he?
Severus stalked over to Harry, ignoring the way he quickly backed up to the wall, until they were essentially nose to nose. "You will remember that we are at school," Severus hissed in his face, "where you are meant to show an iota of respect, Potter. I will handle this, and you will go to bed without adding another count of attempted murder to your ridiculously long list of crimes. Is that understood?"
"That's b-bullshit," Harry said in a hoarse whisper. "They'll kill them."
Severus took a swift step backwards, leaving a little over an arms length of distance between himself and Harry.
It was fortuitous that Harry's long since overcome stutter returned in moments he was feeling incredibly fearful, nothing outside of those repeated syllables could have snapped Severus out of his anger so quickly.
Severus recently wondered if he was still Harry's boggart, an idle thought he had at the end of the last school year after Harry faced the Dark Lord and was possessed before nearly being murdered by Albus.
Clearly he was.
Harry did not stutter when he fought the Dark Lord.
Severus flicked his wand at his side, driving a small flinch from Harry who was still defensively posed against the wall, and cast muffliato to ensure their privacy from the others still lingering in the room.
"I apologize," Severus said, using the gentle tone he saves for atoning his mistakes to Harry. "I am furious, though not necessarily entirely at you. I should not have gotten in your face. You are, as you have always been, quite safe in my presence."
"I know that," Harry spat. Severus could see that Harry's shoulders were still incredibly tense though, so he was unsure if he did know that or not.
And considering Severus just pinned him against a wall and hissed at him right in his face, it was not entirely unwarranted.
Even if Harry oftentimes brought out Severus' worst anger.
"I care quite a bit about the safety of you and your fellow students," Severus said calmly. "I am going to show you a ward, one that you will never show with any else due to its technical illegality. This will prevent anyone with a dark mark from entering your dorm. Then I am going straight to the Headmaster to inform him about Crabbe and Goyle and I will be lobbying to have them expelled. I cannot keep you from being legally punished for your attack if the boys are dead, hence why I rewarded Miss Greengrass the points. Do you understand?"
Harry's jaw clenched from side to side as he stared Severus down. Severus held his gaze, waiting for him to understand that no matter what, the safety of his students was one of his top concerns as a professor.
At a bare minimum, keeping Harry and his misfits from being attacked in their sleep by death eaters was his second highest current concern.
The first, obviously, was finding a way for Harry to live to see thirty.
"I shouldn't have screamed at you," Harry finally said after several silent minutes. "That wasn't on."
"It was not," Severus agreed, amused at Harry's admission of wrongdoing without showing remorse for his actions. "We do seem capable of enraging each other quite frequently though, don't we?"
"Yeah," Harry agreed slowly with a small frown. "That's kind of fucked up, when you think about it. I trust you the most, but I also yell and fight with you the most, don't I?"
Severus' lips curled up on one side of his mouth. "I choose to believe that it means in some part of your brain, you recognize that I am a person you can scream, curse, and hiss at without any true fear that I will sever our relationship."
Harry's eyes flickered over Severus' shoulder to the students waiting for him and he bit his lower lip before shrugging briefly. "I'm not scared of you," he said stoutly.
"Of course not," Severus said with a teasing smirk. "Perhaps I should fear you, as I prefer to keep my arm intact."
Harry glanced at Severus quickly and gave him a brief grin. "If we ward my dorm, you can't get in it," he said. "So... so what if we need you in the middle of the night?"
"Idiot," Severus scoffed. "I am quite capable of removing the wards. Though, I assure you, I believe that I alone, and soon you as well, have the sole knowledge on placing and removing them. They are a creation from my own mind when I changed sides in the first war."
Harry nodded slowly while he inched out of his defensive pose. "I'm moving Trent in to my dorm," he said with a quick and stubborn glance at Severus from beneath his fringe. "'Mudblood', they called him."
Severus looked behind himself towards the Bailey boy. He had likely been targeted more due to his age and size, rather than his blood status, but Severus had long since stopped caring where Harry's friends slept.
"Acceptable," Severus said evenly. "It is not as if you and your posse of misfits sleep in your assigned beds regardless. Come, let us finish up here quickly so I can go speak with the headmaster before he retires for the night."
"'Kay."
Severus removed the muffling charm and turned to address the other students. "Greengrass, bed. Theodore, Ronald, assist Mister Bailey in moving his belongings to your dorm. He can take Crabbe or Goyle's bed. Harry, with me."
"What about them?" Ronald asked, jerking his thumb at the boys on the floor.
Severus barely hesitated before he stunned them, ensuring they did not wake soon, and levitated them to the sofas.
Better to act with an abundance of caution in a situation such as this.
"Albus will ultimately decide their fate," Severus said.
And Albus did.
After Severus taught Harry how to erect the translucent ward for the sixth year dormitory doorway, Severus left the children in their dungeon dormitories and went to speak with Albus.
Who, perhaps he should have expected, did not react as Severus hoped he would.
Albus' face was drawn and grave as Severus carefully told him how there was a fight between Crabbe, Goyle, and Bailey, regarding Bailey's blood-status, and in the midst of the fight, Ronald Weasley discovered the marks on the boys' arms and immediately informed Severus about them.
The less he mentioned Harry around Albus, the better for all of them.
Severus was not unaware that Albus' offer to let him teach first through third years on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday had less to do with respecting Severus' time and more to do with ensuring Harry remained at Hogwarts. Severus had bitten his tongue at the time and allowed Albus to apologize for his 'brash actions' last May and accepted the part-time teaching position gratefully as he was sure Harry would be quite pleased.
It did not hurt that although Severus would only teach three days a week, he was able to retain his full salary.
Once Severus finished his highly edited tale, Albus steepled his fingers together and appeared every bit of his 115 years.
"That is troubling," Albus eventually sighed. "I'm not shocked that Voldemort marked children, but it is still disturbing."
"Quite," Severus agreed tersely. "What will you do?"
"What will I do?" Albus looked up from the trinket he had been studying on his desk and shook his head slightly. "I'm afraid there is nothing I can do. Bearing the mark itself is not a crime, as we both know," he nodded slightly towards Severus' left arm. "And I cannot expel children for being bigoted and using foul language, or else we would be rather short on students, wouldn't we?"
Severus actually thought they wouldn't be.
Harry had made quite a few public showings on his opinion of the word 'mudblood' and it had been years since Severus heard it from any of his students.
"We cannot just allow them to remain in the dorms," Severus argued. "For God's sake Albus, they'll try and kill Harry."
"Severus," Albus spread his hands and appeared sorrowful, "what would you have me do? Expel them on the basis that they may attempt to harm the boy or allow them to stay and hope that they choose a different path? As I once did for another group of young and easily impressionable Slytherin boys."
Severus bit his tongue at the unfair (yet, not inaccurate) jab and focused on the current underaged Slytherin death eaters. "Albus, surely you know they must be here for either Harry or yourself. The Dark Lord would not have marked them if they were not given a specific task to accomplish this year."
"You are undoubtedly correct," Albus said solemnly. "That does not mean I can expel them on pure speculation."
Unlike when he expelled Harry in his second year.
"I see," Severus said acidly. "So when you assured me that I had nothing to fear by allowing Harry to return this year, I suppose that was a lie?"
"Severus, no," Albus' eyes were genuine as he leaned forward and Severus could see a brief flash of the man that Severus once so admired. "I truly believe that as the boys attacked Mister Bailey, instead of Potter, that they are under orders to not hurt him. Due to the prophecy, Voldemort undoubtedly wants to do that himself. The boys were likely tasked with a smaller target; myself, Horace, or perhaps even you."
That...
That was actually relieving to hear.
Severus would much rather be the target assigned to the boys than Harry.
Horace was also a likely target. Severus knew that Horace had been the only person to know that the Dark Lord aspired to split his soul in to seven pieces. Pity that Severus also knew the man's memory had been swiped after Barty drained him on information on the teenaged Dark Lord he once taught. Although...
How does Albus know that Horace could be a potential target?
Albus must have seen Severus' minute relaxation at the realization that Harry was not the only target within their walls, because he offered him a small smile. "I wouldn't fear for the boy, Severus, between you and I, I am certain he can handle himself against the two of them if it comes down to it."
Which Severus was well aware of.
Harry could end their lives with a flick of his hand and then go to breakfast as usual the next morning.
However, Severus knew that the moment Harry did, that would be when Albus stepped in.
"If that is your decision, then so be it," Severus said coolly as he got to his feet. "I pray that none of the students are harmed due to your decision."
Albus lost his smile at that.
And Severus strode out of his office and went straight to Minerva's to inform her of the situation.
"Dear Lord," Minerva gasped the next morning beside Severus at the breakfast table. "I take it that accepting the dark mark is hazardous to your health in Slytherin?" she murmured as they watched Crabbe and Goyle limp in to the Great Hall and sit. The moment the boys sat down, the other Slytherin students immediately scampered away, leaving the boys to appear as lepers, alone and friendless.
"It certainly appears so," Severus agreed, sending the other students at the table a look of approval.
"Where do you think they slept?" Minerva asked over the top of her tea cup. "I doubt Harry let them in the sixth year dormitory."
Severus snorted quietly. He had not told Minerva that he assisted the boys in evicting their roommates, yet it seemed as if the clever witch had deduced it on her own.
"I never renneverated them last night," he said with a casual shrug, "so I presume on the sofa's."
Minerva chuckled lightly and then checked her wristwatch. "I should go start handing out schedules," she sighed. "Every year there's always at least one problem student."
Severus eyed his problem student, the temperamental brat sitting in the same corner seat of the Slytherin table that he sat in since his first morning, surrounded by his friends who were shooting vigilant and disgusted looks at Crabbe and Goyle.
"There is always one," Severus agreed. He drained the last of his coffee and got to his feet to go hand out the Slytherin schedules. A job that could have been Horace's, had Severus not wanted to retain that part of his position in order to stay on top of his (frequently) chaotically scheming students.
Severus gave his seventh year prefect, Rogers, the schedules for the first, second, fourth, fifth, and seventh year students, then made his rounds with the third and sixth years.
Most of the third years were relatively simple, they had all decided their electives during last February and only two of them made any alterations to their prior choices. Severus was amused to see that Care of Magical Creatures had reached an all-time high for sign ups, likely due to the magical creatures that were consistently being set loose in the castle around the same time as signups.
Severus gave Mister Bailey his schedule then faced Harry's group. "Bones, Granger, Longbottom, Lovegood, you will need to be at your tables to receive your schedules," he sighed. He flicked his hand irritably at them, "Shoo."
Bones laughed and gave Severus a cheeky wink as she got to her feet. "Are you so happy to finally have a real excuse to kick us out of our seats, sir?"
"I am," Severus said drily. "My only regret is not having the authority to keep you away longer."
Granger and Bones laughed as they cheerfully led Longbottom and Lovegood to their own house tables. Once Severus was left with Harry, Draco, Ronald, and Theodore, he began with the simplest one.
"Theodore, your marks qualify you to continue all ten of your previous courses if you would like," Severus said as he checked his parchment of the sixth year students OWLS scores. "Which would you like to continue with?"
"All of them, sir," Theodore said politely, as Severus knew he would. Severus tapped his parchment and created the schedule for him.
"Draco, you are unable to continue with Runes, the rest are open for you."
Draco contemplated for a moment before nodding decisively, "I'd like to take the rest then, please. Oh, not astronomy though."
Severus created his schedule and gave it to him.
"Ronald- you are unable to continue with History of Magic and Divination, would you like to continue all of the others?"
Ronald looked up and was blatantly surprised. "I thought I couldn't take potions?"
"You could not if I were teaching," Severus said with a slight sneer. "Professor Slughorn is more than willing to accept any student with an exceeds expectations in his NEWT courses."
Because Horace was an idiot who would ruin Severus' perfect fourteen year streak of not having any serious accidents in his classroom.
"Oh." Ronald peeked down the Slytherin table for a moment before grinning up at Severus sheepishly. "Can I just take potions, transfiguration, charms, herbology, and defense then?"
"You may."
"Oh, er... I don't have any potions supplies though," Ronald mumbled.
"Professor Slughorn should have supplies you may use until you are able to order some." Severus gave Ronald his schedule and then turned to Blaise.
"Divination, arithmancy, defense, charms, and astronomy," Blaise said immediately.
Severus checked his scores and nodded, "Done."
Severus quirked a brow at his problem child, "Harry?"
"Defense, transfiguration, and charms," Harry said with a careless wave of his hand.
Severus tapped Harry's parchment then stared at it in minute horror for a moment.
There were entirely too many large blocks of time that would leave this tornado of chaos free to pursue other activities.
"And potions," Severus said as he tapped the parchment again.
Harry's jaw dropped as he took his schedule. "I don't want potions," he scowled with a subtle glance up towards Horace. "I told you I'm not taking it if you aren't teaching it."
"And I will not risk the lives of every student within the castle if you are allowed to run amok with only three classes," Severus drawled. "Take potions. Professor Slughorn is an acceptable professor."
Harry hissed something under his breath, an insult undoubtedly.
"Brat," Severus said with a small smile. He glanced at Harry's schedule and raised his brows mockingly. "You better hurry along, potions starts soon."
"I'm going to get even," Harry said darkly as he got to his feet and snatched his bag off the floor. "When you least expect it, sir."
"I look forward to it," Severus smirked.
He moved along to Parkinson and Greengrass, both girls were easily sorted out. Parkinson due to her low scores, and Greengrass due to her high ones. Severus glanced up and down the table for a moment with a frown, "Miss Greengrass, is Miss Davis still in the dorm?"
Greengrass frowned as well, "No, sir. She didn't come back this year. She was worried about being a muggleborn in Slytherin after the attacks this summer. I think- I think she's going to try and reintegrate in the muggle world."
Severus sighed and rubbed a weary hand across his eyes. Davis was not the only student to refuse to return this year, although any student losing on their rightful education due to fear was a travesty. "That is more than understandable," he said empathetically. "If you and Davis are still in contact, kindly inform her to write to me if she would like to explore options to continue her magical education."
"Yes sir," Greengrass said solemnly. "I'll tell her. Thank you."
Severus nodded and watched as the girls left before he turned to Crabbe and Goyle.
He approached them slowly, allowing them plenty of time to see the cold mask of displeasure he wore.
"The only classes you insufferable morons qualify for are Defense Against Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, and Herbology," he said in a cold whisper. "Though, I will personally be reaching out to Professor Black to see if he will accept students of your status," Severus sneered at their covered left arms, "because I highly doubt he will."
"We don't want defense and we don't care what you think," Goyle said with a defiant glare. "We got more important things to do now, don't we?"
"So it seems," Severus sneered sardonically. "I am sure the Dark Lord trusted two boys with three OWLS a piece with an incredibly important task."
"We aren't telling you anything," Crabbe sniped. "You don't matter at all."
Severus tapped two parchments with his wand and bent down to put his face directly in theirs as he placed the schedules on the table. "If you attempt to harm a single student within this castle, the Dark Lord will be the least of your worries," he hissed. "Do not test me on this or you will see precisely why death is a mercy that I will not show you."
Severus stood up and smoothed the front of his robes with an air of casual grace. "Good luck, gentlemen."
As he strode away, Severus had an incredibly unhelpful thought...
Incompetence was just as dangerous as competence, and whatever task Crabbe and Goyle had been assigned made them particularly dangerous.
And, undoubtedly, in one way or another, Severus could be certain that Harry would be a part in their assignment. Which made Severus exceedingly grateful to have returned to the castle this year.
Even if he now had to go face a day filled with wide-eyed, eager, incompetent first year students.
***
"Sev!" Harry came bursting through Severus' office door with a book clutched to his chest and mischief swimming in his eyes shortly after the final bell of the day rang. "Sev, I swear to God... Sev..."
Severus was taken aback by Harry's laughter— he was in hysterics about something as he clutched his book and was bent over at the waist laughing.
"Sev..." Harry took a deep breath and grabbed his chair to steady himself. "When I said I'd get even, I had no idea how easy it would be. Your mum- her name was Eileen Prince, yeah?"
"Yes?" Severus said slowly, unsure of how his question was of any importance. Also uneasy at whatever joy Harry was experiencing over his petty argument that he would 'get even' with Severus at breakfast that morning.
"And your dad was a muggle, so you're a half-blood, aren't you?"
"You know that I am."
"Sev." Harry flipped the chair around so he could sit on it backwards, an irritating gesture Severus has seen Black do on occasion. Harry propped his chin on the back of the chair and grinned impishly. "Please, fuckin please, please tell me that you didn't give yourself a stupid nickname when you were a student."
Severus felt a fissure of unease rush through him, accompanied by the painful, yet reassuring, reminder that anyone who knew of that phase of his adolescence was dead.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Severus said with a small bite to his tone.
Harry was not cowed by his tone though, his smile merely grew as he raised a brow at Severus. "So you aren't the... Half-Blood Prince?"
"Son of a bitch," Severus scowled. "Who told you that?"
He would cut their tongue from their mouth.
'The Half-Blood Prince'.
He had been so singularly idiotic.
Even Potter Senior had never given himself such an outrageously haughty title.
Harry howled with laughter until tears pooled in his eyes. "And- and you call me arrogant!" he laughed. "Wait, wait, I promised I'd ask..." Harry tilted the chair forward until the back two legs were off the floor. "Did it have anything to do with the singer?"
It did not.
Though teenaged Severus who had heard 'Baby' and could still remember the lyrics to this date had been quite pleased at the similarity.
A secret he had never told anyone and would take to the grave.
Along with whoever told Harry of his ridiculous self-appointed moniker.
"Tell me who told you this," Severus growled. "NOW, POTTER!"
Harry's chair fell backwards with enough force to knock the stupid boy right out of it and Harry laid on the stone dungeon floor and continued shrieking with laughs.
Damn Albus and the Dark Lord both, Severus would kill Harry himself.
Severus got up and stalked around his desk to glare down at the brat laughing on his floor.
Have you ever seen him so terribly amused?
No.
Did it have to be at Severus' expense?
Apparently.
Severus glared down at the child until Harry's laughter finally receded to the occasional snicker and he made his way back to his feet.
"Don't 'Potter' me because you gave yourself a dumb nickname," Harry said. He bent down and picked up the book he had been holding and offered it to Severus. "You were a genius, Sev. But a bit stupid too, weren't you?"
"I am still a genius and I was never stupid," Severus scowled. He carried Harry's book back to his seat and groaned when he saw the title.
"My old potions book." Severus kneaded his forehead as he recalled his habit of scrawling in the margins of his books. "Delightful. Where did you find this?"
"Slughorn," Harry said with a smug smile. "Thanks to your little hints, I won this." Harry pulled a vial of golden Felix Felicis from his robe pocket and held it up triumphantly.
"You are a shameless cheat," Severus muttered without any heat as he flicked through the book and grimaced at the many notes he had made. "I may have to end my own life to escape the shame of some of these notes."
"Susan thought they were charming."
Severus' head snapped up so quickly he felt a muscle twinge. "Who all has seen this?"
Harry's smile grew until it was clear across his face, "The whole gang."
"And did you inform them who you believed the author was?"
"Yup."
Severus actually hissed through his teeth while his eyelid twitched.
If he ended his own life, it would only be after ending Harry's first.
"You are a traitorous brat," Severus scowled. "I will never forgive you."
"I told you I'd get even," Harry smirked. "You aren't even really mad at me."
No, he was not.
"I am incredibly angry," he muttered while Harry continued to smirk knowingly. He closed the book and retrieved a pain reliever from the crate beneath his desk. He had to quickly slap his hand on the book to prevent Harry from slyly retrieving it while he took the potion though.
"No," he said sternly. "These are the thoughts of an angry, bitter, dark, and troubled teen. You hardly need to scour them for amusement. I will purchase you a new textbook."
"But, sir..." Harry blinked across the desk at Severus for a moment before smirking wickedly, "I wanted to see if teenage Sev had any ideas for a nickname for me. I was thinking General Half-Blood, wasn't I?"
"Get out," Severus said firmly, with only a slight twitch of his lips.
"Alright, alright." Harry held his hands up placatingly. "May I have the book back?"
"No."
Harry chewed on his lower lip for a moment before grinning. "I'll say please?"
"Why would you want it?" Severus asked curiously. "You are an adequate brewer without my notes."
"I'm gonna add it to my collection," Harry shrugged. "I've got a book of pranks from my dad, that textbook filled with notes from my mum, and now your potions book."
"Take it," he said with a roll of his eyes as he slid the book across the desk. "Brat."
Harry snagged the book with a playful smile and joyful eyes. "Bastard."
Later, as Severus considered it, he was uncertain if Harry had purposefully manipulated him or not, but it was quite effective nonetheless.