"You should eat, sir," Hermione advised.
Severus turned on her, ready to snap her head off. Her expression told him that that was precisely the reaction she was expecting. Potter looked like he was holding his breath as well.
For what felt like an eternity, they stared at each other. Well, he glared, while his two former students sat there looking like snared rabbits waiting for the hunter to wring their necks.
Severus really didn't know how to handle this situation. He hated the hypocrisy and civility that convention forced upon people. He'd much rather someone who hated him snarl at him than smile and offer a pleasantry. But . . . Potter and Granger's actions had demonstrated that, despite his best efforts over the years, they really didn't hate him.
Severus was irritated to feel his heart start pounding faster, almost as if in fear. It made no sense. There was every possibility he would still lose his job over the article, yet it was this insignificant event that was causing him the most discomfort. He didn't know why, but their kindness made him feel more . . . vulnerable. There was a part of him that feared the moment he gave in to their offered concern, that they'd turn around and mock him for his weakness. It didn't help that it had happened before. His school days were filled with such incidents, many of which had transpired in this very hall.
But not with these people, Severus reminded himself. They might be Gryffindors, and one of them might be wearing James Potter's accursed face, but that man wasn't James, and the woman beside him rivalled Minerva for her sense of honour and fair play. There were many things either of the two could do to hurt him, but Severus was fairly certain that they would never publicly humiliate him for fun.
Taking a deep breath, Severus met Hermione Weasley's wide, almost frightened eyes and gave a short nod.
The tension deflated like a released bellows.
Hermione's face broke into a grin. Without another word, she loaded a nearby plate with the crisp bacon Severus preferred, added a heaping helping of scrambled eggs, and buttered toast, then passed it across Potter to him.
Severus could feel almost every gaze in the hall, including the teachers at the other end of the table, focused upon him as he accepted the plate with a murmured thanks. Although he was no longer hungry, he understood how important it was to keep up a normal front at such moments. So, he ate the eggs and toast as best he could, while trying to ignore the dozens of eyes watching him.
He'd taken his first nibble of bacon, when several dozen post owls burst into the Hall, spreading envelopes, packages, and down throughout the place.
It was with no great surprise that Severus watched numerous owls approach Minerva and his seats to dump their ominous red howler burdens in front of them before fluttering away. Even the owls knew better than to expect a treat after delivering a howler.
When the last envelope had been deposited on the considerable pile in front of his plate, Severus gathered them together.
Giving Potter and the Weasleys a quick glance, Severus said, "Excuse me while I deal with these."
Severus made damn certain that his pace was unrushed as he left the hall, for all he wanted to flee it.
*~*~*
The rest of the day and following morning went better than Severus expected. After safely disposing of the howlers, he spent the remainder of the day in his lab working on a new batch of Cold Ease for the Infirmary. He avoided the Great Hall and kept to himself. To his immense relief, no one from the board of Governors came calling to give him his walking papers. In fact, if it weren't for the nervous stares of his students when he emerged from his solitude to teach class the following morning, he would have thought Monday just another day at Hogwarts. That was, until mid-afternoon drove home to him just how much things had changed in the last few days.
Severus was on his way to the infirmary to deliver Cold Ease potion to Madam Pomfrey when a horrified shriek on the second floor brought him off the stairs into the corridor.
He'd taught in this school for nearly thirty years. Normally, he was unflappable when it came to the dunderheads' antics. But Severus eyes bulged in shock when he turned into the crowded corridor and saw three seemingly naked female students walking away from him, and another robed, blonde young lady backed up against the wall screaming. A fourth year Ravenclaw, William Jodfries, was sniggering in the front of the crowd of students as he watched the naked girls.
The three sixth year girls turned at the commotion behind them, causing a stir from their other side as students beyond them did likewise and saw the girls' revealed rear views.
Severus was startled to see that all three girls appeared clothed from the front.
One of the oblivious three, a striking blonde named Allison Conwell, rushed to the screaming brunette and asked, "Nellie, what's wrong?"
The distraught Nellie gestured over Allison's shoulder, but it was too late, for Allison's two friends were now yelling something along the line of, "Allison, the back of your robe is invisible!" while behind them another joker informed them that their robes were missing as well.
In the seconds it took Severus to appraise the situation, bedlam ensued.
"What is the meaning of this?" Severus demanded in a loud voice and stalked over to where all four female students were now backed up against the wall in various stages of emotional distress.
Absolute silence fell over the crowded hallway as everyone froze at his unexpected interruption. Even the near-hysterical Nellie muffled her sobs.
One of the four affected girls, Filomena Anderson, a plump, dark haired Slytherin, answered, "Someone charmed our robes so that the backs are see-through, sir. I just tried to remove the charm, but it's warded so that only the person who threw the charm can remove it."
Under other circumstances, Severus would have been impressed by the skill displayed. Most full-grown wizards couldn't cast a locking spell on a charm like that. However, in this instance, he was only further annoyed. Also, the public humiliation of the four girls was too akin to the indignities he'd suffered under the Marauders attacks for him to have anything like objectivity when dealing with this situation. He swung around towards where William Jodfries was attempting to blend into the crowd. Since Jodfries classmates kept stepping further away from him, it was crystal clear they all knew who the culprit was.
"Mr. Jodfries, over here. Now," Severus snapped.
The sandy blond Ravenclaw reluctantly joined them.
"You have ten seconds to restore their robes before you find yourself expelled," Severus snapped.
"But -" the boy protested.
"Seven seconds. Six . . . ." Severus said.
Jodfries quickly fumbled his wand out of his robe, pointed it at the girls, and muttered, "Finite Incantatem."
Allison Conwell cautiously peered behind Nellie Tapson before announcing, "It's okay. The robes are back."
Apparently recognizing the danger he was in as the four attractive witches glared at him with open hatred, the red-faced Jodfries quickly muttered, "I'm sorry. It was stupid. I shouldn't have done it. I know that now. I'm . . . really sorry."
There was silence for a moment, then Filomena Anderson responded in the tone of a Slytherin promise, "You're not sorry now, but you will be. Mark my words. Can we go, Professor Snape?"
Severus nodded and the four girls who'd been the butt of Jodfries cruel jest hurried off with as much dignity as they could muster.
Once the girls were gone, Severus glowered down at Jodfries. "Were you a Slytherin, you would be expelled right now. Since I'm not your head of house, I will do what I can to properly discipline you. Your Hogsmede liberties are cancelled for the rest of the year and you will spend the next six months in detention every day for two hours. I will expect you in the Potions classroom after supper today."
It was at this point that most students would plead quidditch or music practice. Severus knew that Jodfries was the Ravenclaws' newest beater, so he was expecting an outraged protest. What he wasn't anticipating was for the fourth year student to turn corpse white and burst into tears like a four year old.
"Please, no . . . . I'll never do it again. I promise. Don't . . . I can't . . . ." sheer terror was visible in the boy's face and hazel eyes.
Severus was so confounded by the reaction that he could only stare as his student sobbed louder than the girl he'd embarrassed a few minutes ago. He had no clue how to even address this turn of events, nor did he initially comprehend why Jodfries was reacting this way. Even Neville Longbottom had never broken into hysterics like this.
Severus had opened his mouth to demand that the boy stop that infernal caterwauling when he realized what the cause of Jodfries' ridiculous reaction had to be. The biting comment he'd been about to voice died stillborn.
Severus was accustomed to being an object of terror to his students. It gave him a perverse delight to watch their faces drain of colour and see the fear in their eyes as they anticipated the house points he'd deduct and the detentions he'd assign whenever he caught one of them breaking the rules. It was especially fun to be lenient with his Slytherins, while punishing only the students of the other Houses for infractions in which both Houses had been involved. He shamelessly revelled in that type of petty cruelty. However, he was not comfortable with the idea of the dunderheads fearing for their physical safety in his presence. That was a different matter entirely. Fear of the consequences of their own stupidity was one thing, but fear for their safety was intolerable.
Close as he'd come with Potter in the boy's fifth year when Potter had snuck a peek into his pensieve, he'd never yet laid hands in anger on a student. As for touching them sexually, the very idea made him nauseous. They were repulsive children with less intelligence and common sense than some of the specimens floating in jars in his lab. Even the seventh years were despicable – all they cared about were quidditch and sex, usually in that order. What grown man would find that appealing?
How anyone could think he'd have interest in these disgusting adolescents was beyond him. Even as a Death Eater, he'd never sunk to those depths. Pimpled faces, rampant hormones, and teenage angst might appeal to some men, but he wasn't amongst their ranks. His tastes had always run towards powerful wizards, not undisciplined children. Severus prided himself on the fact that while he might be bent, he wasn't twisted. The very accusation insulted him.
But it wasn't the insult that was the hardest thing to handle. It was the terror in their eyes. All his life he'd been accused of being a monster, but it was only facing Jodfries' mindless fear that made Severus actually feel like one.
For the first time in his career, he had no idea how to handle a discipline problem. He was floundering, unsure how to proceed when a calm, male, adult tenor asked from behind him, "What's going on?"
Feeling almost guilty to be caught in the presence of a sobbing student, Severus turned as Harry Potter stepped up beside him. Completely at a loss, he stared into the deep green eyes behind those ridiculous round spectacles Potter had worn his whole life here at Hogwarts.
With his dark, dishevelled hair and clean-cut, attractive features, Potter perfectly fit the super-hero role that had been thrust on him. While it was true that Potter wasn't very tall, beneath his loose robes, he had the sleek, athletic form of a professional athlete. The feline, fluid grace of his movement bespoke his confidence. Of course, with a power that rivalled Lord Voldemort's at his apex, there was little wonder Potter was confident. Not even Albus, the greatest wizard of their age, had possessed this kind of presence. To those who were sensitive to such things, Potter's power played along the skin like the energy in the air before a lightning storm. And Severus had always been sensitive to this kind of power.
Normally, Severus would have been mortified to have Potter interrupt him at a moment like this. The students all worshipped the bloody Boy Who'd Lived to the point where Severus was almost envious of his popularity with the dunderheads. Beyond that, he hated ever seeming at a loss in front of his former student. But today he was almost grateful for the interruption. Having no idea how to deal with Jodfries' terror, he explained in a low tone that was almost intimate, "Mr. Jodfries just charmed four female students' robes to be invisible from behind. I gave him detention and . . . ."
"Please, Professor Potter," Jodfries begged. "Don't make me go to detention alone with him! You know what he did to Carl Westfield! Please -"
Severus tried to control his features, but he could feel the heat in his face at the accusation. It seemed he'd been fighting a losing battle against these types of false accusations his entire life. He waited for his Gryffindor colleague to fly to their student's defence. Experience warned him that this scene could only go from bad to worse.
Severus watched as the habitually easygoing Potter's eyes darkened. At that moment, Potter's long attractive face looked less like James, whom he usually resembled, and more like Lily at her most self-righteous. With the avenging angel light in those eerie green eyes, it was like being under the stare of an enraged tiger.
Severus knew he was in for it. He was standing here with a near-hysterical boy. There were at least forty students gaping at them. He knew how bad this looked.
Potter might have been willing to clear his name on Saturday for the sake of their shared adversity, but this was a different scenario altogether. Even if he hadn't done anything malicious, Severus knew it looked as though he were presently menacing a child. Potter was always harping on about how ruthlessly he treated the students, how unfair he was in handing out so many detentions. The day after that horrible Prophet child molestation article aired was hardly the time to be caught with a crying student in the hall.
In retrospect, Severus realized that he should probably have brought the miscreant to Minerva to be disciplined and stayed out of the situation. But he hadn't, and now he was about to reap the consequences of his mistake.
Even if Potter didn't jump to the conclusion that he'd mistreated Jodfries, this was the perfect opportunity for Potter to avenge himself for all the lost house points, the detentions he'd suffered in school, and all the be-kind-to-the-dunderheads arguments the younger professor had lost at staff meetings. At that moment, Severus was intensely aware of every time he had publicly slighted Potter, both in his schooldays and as a co-worker.
