Understandings (M) - (3 Parts)

[Aljana]

At long last I finally finished it! As promised, I present you with my Snape fic.

Title: Understandings

Author: Aljana

Fandom: Harry Potter

Rating: G-PG

Pairings: Not really, an allusion to Harry/Oliver Wood

Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were. I just like to torment them.

Summary: Summarizing would give away the whole plot so let’s just say there is some serious Snape-age going on. (ie. I like to torment poor Snape)

Feedback: I’d love some.

Notes: Please excuse any inaccuracies and inconsistencies from the real books. I tried but I know there are some. In particular I completely changed how Snape finds out Lupin’s secret. I apologize in advance for any errors but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Hermione and Ron sat in Potions class just before it was to start and looked around anxiously for Harry. “If he doesn’t get here now he’ll be late and Snape will have his head. Where could he be?” Hermione asked Ron worriedly. “He had Quidditch practice before class, but he should be here by now,” Ron answered with a frown.

At that moment Harry hurried in and quietly slid into his seat between Ron and Hermione. He looked around and sighed in relief when he didn’t see Snape. Hermione leaned over and whispered, “Where have you been? We thought you’d be late!” Harry opened his mouth to answer but before he could say a word a dark shadow fell over their table. “You’re late, Potter.” Harry looked up to see Professor Snape looming above him. “I’m sorry Professor, I had Quidditch practice,” Harry said meekly. As usual, his response, rather than mollifying the man, seemed only to inflame him further. “50 points from Griffyndor for Potter’s mistaken belief that a game is more important than his lessons,” Snape sneered. “As for you, Potter, I’ll expect you here in the dungeon after dinner,” He said this glaring down his long nose at Harry. Finally tearing his eyes away from Harry to address the entire class he continued, “Now then, if any of you has managed to follow along correctly so far, we’ll be finishing the ExeloGrowth Potion today.”

As Snape focused his attention away from their group Ron leaned over and hissed, “I can’t believe he gave you detention! What a wanker!” Hermione rolled her eyes but agreed, “Yeah, I almost thought you made it. I hate how he can just appear out of nowhere.” “Like a bloody snake ready to strike!” Ron cut in. Hermione nodded and then asked Harry, “What happened anyway?” Harry cleared his throat, “Err, Wood sort of got distracted and got knocked off his broom by a bludger. He broke his arm so we took him up to the hospital wing. I came straight here after,” he finished defensively. “Is he alright?” Hermione asked, concerned. “Oh sure, you know Madame Pomfrey. She’ll have him fixed up in no time,” He answered, blushing a little. Hermione, with her feminine intuition sensed there was more to the story. “What did you mean he got ‘sort of distracted’?” she pressed him. “Well he just, I mean, uh, it was nothing really. His allergies were bothering him. They just trimmed the Quidditch Pitch this morning. So, umm, he wasn’t really at his best when the bludger caught him. I mean he never would have fallen off his broom otherwise.” Figuring they’d bother him until they had all the details and seeing as he’d already spilled half of it he continued, “Anyway, he landed on his arm and we all heard it snap.” Hermione cringed as Harry went on. “And, well, of course landing on the field really didn’t help the situation since it started him sneezing again. So we all hauled him straight off to Madame Pomfrey.” He finished the story with relief. Unfortunately, by this time Ron had caught on to what Hermione was trying to get at and he asked in a teasing tone, “And then you came straight here to class, huh?” Harry fidgeted in his seat and wished they’d drop it. “Well, I did stay to make sure he was going to be alright,” he said irritably, remembering the moment.

“Oh dear, Mr. Wood. You do seem to be in a state. Let me get my supplies. We’ll mend that bone and do something about that sneezing as well,” Madame Pomfrey set a box of tissues on the bed and hurried into the other room. The rest of the team offered Wood their best wishes and hurried off to class. Harry lingered until they had all gone then sat down next to Oliver. “Oh Olli. Does it hurt?” Oliver smiled, “I’ve had worse. Oh, hang on!” He grabbed a couple tissues from the box and turned away from Harry to sneeze softly into them, “Iiishh! Hiishh! Heh iisshh!” “Bless,” Harry said sympathetically as Oliver turned back. “Really, Harry, I’ll be fine. Madame Pomfrey will have me fixed up in no time. Don’t worry. Now, shouldn’t you be getting to class?” “Oh, Yikes! I’m supposed to be in Potions!” Harry exclaimed snapping back to reality. Oliver laughed, “Better run or he’ll ha Heh iiish! have a total fit!” Harry hesitated a moment longer then got up. “Alright, but feel better ok?” Oliver grinned, “Go!”

Hermione and Ron grinned at each other, “Sure,” they both said at once but let it go, and with that the group got back to the business of trying to finish an acceptable potion. The rest of the class period passed fairly uneventfully other than Neville blowing up his cauldron. Though that happened so frequently it could hardly be called eventful. They were all thrilled to escape the dungeon when Snape finally released them and they fairly ran from the room. They were able to catch Snape’s parting shot though, “Don’t forget, I’ll be waiting for you after dinner Mr. Potter.” Harry groaned.

Their last class of the day was Herbology. After all the students had trooped into the greenhouse Professor Sprout began the day’s lecture.

“Today we will be working with two plants that have similar traits and applications. The first of these, Agrimony, in it’s positive state infuses the user with a feeling of steadfast peace. It is used to soothe those who are tormented in mind or body. The restless, the anxious, the tortured. It is especially effective for those who hide their torment behind a façade. However, in it’s negative aspect, Agrimony can heighten the torture. The second plant, Cerasifera, envelopes it’s user in a state of calmness and sanity when used in it’s positive form. In it’s negative form though, it can cause a sense of desperation, uncontrollable impulses, and loss of control. Allowed to build up, symptoms can include pallor, agitation, and nervousness. Left untreated it can even lead to paranoia and insanity. Alright, now I want you all to tend to your plants carefully as we will eventually be making calming drafts.”

With that Professor Sprout dismissed the students to their work.

The students all worked quietly for awhile, pruning, repotting, watering their plants. Halfway through the period there was a commotion at the back of the greenhouse. Professor Sprout hurried over as all the students near that end of the room started yelping and backing towards the other end of the room. The plants were rapidly growing, sending out tendrils in the direction of the students, sprouting buds, bursting into bloom. Professor Sprout took in the situation and quickly sent the students to the front of the greenhouse. Recognizing the effects of ExeloGrowth Potion she barked at Draco Malfoy, “Mr. Malfoy, go fetch Professor Snape at once.”

Draco hurried into the dungeons to find his Head of House. Not finding him in the classroom he knocked on the professor’s office door. “What is it?” Snape snapped from within. “Professor, there’s a situation in the greenhouse. I was asked to bring you to assist,” answered Draco. Professor Snape emerged from his office and with a flourish of his wand locked it behind him and started towards the greenhouse with Draco. “What exactly is the ‘situation’ Mr. Malfoy?” Snape asked the handsome blonde boy at his side. “Well Sir, it seems someone smuggled out some of the ExeloGrowth Potion from class and applied it to some of the plants in the greenhouse,” Draco replied innocently.

[Geist]

Wonderful writing! I didn't know you had such talent! I'm a big Harry Potter fan myself, and I'm esp. fond of Snape and/or Lucius. As far as staying with the book.....PBBBTT! That is why it is called fanFICTION!!! Do as you like!!

Please do continue to tortue Snape!!!

~Frack

[Aljana]

They had reached the greenhouse and Draco went over to join his cohorts, Crabbe and Goyle. The plants had continued to grow and were looming towards the students at the near end of the room. Snape pulled out his wand and pointing it at the mutating plants exclaimed, “Decelo!” The plants immediately halted their progress across the greenhouse. This accomplished, Snape turned on the students. “Alright, Who is responsible for this?” he snapped at them. No one said a word. Usually Snape would have been perfectly content to stand glaring at them until someone broke down, or failing that terrorize them into giving up. However, just at this moment he became aware of a sharp tickle in his sinuses. He realized with a growing panic that the rapid growth and blooming of the plants had meant that a massive amount of pollen had been expelled into the confined space of the greenhouse. He could practically see the microscopic particles hanging in the air. Not only that, but as he glanced back at the mutated plants he became aware that these were not just any plants, they were Agrimony and Cerasifera. He was jolted back to the present moment by another sharp tickle. “I must go collect supplies to remedy this situation. I will find out who is responsible and there will be consequences.” With an abrupt swish of his robes he fled the room.

As soon as he was sure he was out of earshot of the greenhouse and no one was in the halls to see him Severus Snape stopped, leaned against the wall and stifled four sneezes into his sleeve. “Hhssmph! Sshhmph! Hhsmmph! Hhppssh!” Regaining momentary control he hurried on until he had reached the dungeons, unlocked his office door, slipped inside and relocked it behind himself (though this took two tries before he could say the spell clearly enough through his hitching breath that it worked). He sank into his chair and let the barrage of sneezes that had been building overtake him. "Huhhhh....Tcschooo! Eschoooo! Haaaaahetchhhh! Hatschhhhhhhh! Hetschooo! Hitschhhh! Ehhhh...Etschoo!” As the spasm ended Snape dug around in his desk drawer and finally came up with a handkerchief. He held it to his face for a long, wet sounding blow. When he could breathe relatively clearly again he used a dry spot of the cloth to wipe at his streaming eyes. “It had to be those blasted Gryffindors. Probably Potter and his gang. They will pay for this!” he thought darkly to himself before succumbing to another loud fit of sneezes.

Professor Sprout dismissed the class for the day and the Gryffindors headed to the library to do some homework before dinner. “Oh man, was he ever pissed!” Ron grinned at the others. “Did you see the way his face was twitching and his eyes were bugging out?” Hermione asked with amusement. Harry, on the other hand, was not quite so gleeful about Snape’s obvious distress. “I bet he’ll be even worse in detention than usual. And I’m sure he’ll try and pin it on me.” “Oh, but Harry, we know you didn’t do it!” Hermione exclaimed. Ron had sobered a little as well, “Do you really think Snape would believe us?”

“Hetxchhhhhaaaah! Tisscccchhhh! Hatschhhhhhhhaaah!” Although the sneezes had slowed down and seemed to be tapering off, they seemed if possible to be even wetter and harsher than when they had first started. Snape now sat with elbows resting on his desk, large hooked nose pressed into a by now thoroughly soggy handkerchief. His watery eyes were red rimmed and his breathing was ragged. “Bloody Hell!” he cursed out loud to himself. Just then he heard a knock on his office door. At this moment he was infinitely grateful for the silencing charm protecting his office, he could hear those outside his office but no one outside the office could hear what was going on inside. Despite this knowledge he stifled the next couple of sneezes as he heard Professor McGonagal’s voice call out, “Severus, are you there? I was wondering if you needed a hand in setting the greenhouse to rights?” Not getting any reply from within, Snape heard her retreat back out of the dungeons. He sighed. There wasn’t anything he would have liked more at the moment then letting someone else take care of fixing the disaster left in the greenhouse while he lay down with a cool cloth on his itchy, puffy face. The only problem with that scenario was that it meant admitting his weakness to another person and there was absolutely no way he was about to do that.

So, now that the sneezes at least seemed to have passed he got up from his desk and went over to one of the many shelves stacked with vials and jars of powders and liquid potions that lined his office. He took down a medium size jar containing a ruby red liquid. He measured out a spoonful of the watery substance and swallowed it with a grimace. Like most healing type potions it tasted horrendous, but this particular potion should help take some down some of the puffy, redness around his eyes and nose. After a few minutes he looked nearly like himself again. He wished he could take an anti-allergy potion but unfortunately those he had tried in the past only seemed to make things worse. “Well, best to get the nightmare over with,” he thought, gathering the potions and powders he would need to take care of the mishap in the greenhouse.

In the Library Hermione was studiously working on her essay for Herbology while Harry and Ron were somewhat less than focused, as usual. “Do you think Madame Pomfrey will have Wood fixed up in time for Quidditch tomorrow?” Ron asked Harry, looking up from the short bit of the essay he had finished. Harry blushed, wishing they’d lay off the whole Oliver topic. Hermione gave the boys a stern look, “If you two were actually doing any work you might find this interesting. In fact, Agrimony and Cerasifera are used in loads of anti-stress type potions as well as the calming draft Madame Pomfrey is having us make. I wonder why we haven‘t done any of them in Potions class?” Harry and Ron roll their eyes but Ron grins, “Speaking of potions, this calming draft sounds like something Snape could use. Might improve his mood!” Harry laughed, “Good luck with that. I’ll let you make the suggestion to him, I’m already in enough trouble.” Harry frowned thinking of his detention later that evening with Professor Snape.

As Snape passed through the hallways on his way to the greenhouse he was particularly glad that the majority of Hogwarts’ students were more or less terrified of him because it meant they left him alone and didn’t study him too closely as he passed. He reached the greenhouse and paused for a moment before entering. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, thought to himself, “Go in, reverse the mutation as quickly as possible, get out and back to the dungeons. Simple.” Rolling his eyes he marched into the greenhouse. He headed straight for the back rows and got to work, first sprinkling a coarse dark brown powder into the affected pots then adding a few drops of a milky green potion. As he did this, the plants slowly began to shrink back to their original sizes. Snape continued to work his way down the row treating the plants. He thought his reaction earlier had been dreadful, and that had occurred while standing at the other end of the room for a brief time. Now, here in among the Agrimony and Cerasifera, his nemeses, he knew the true meaning of torment. His eyes were itching and watering. His sinuses were burning. His nose was tickling like mad. His breathing was becoming ragged. He swiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his robe and went on to the next pot. As he added the powder he determinedly fought back the sneezes that threatened to erupt. He added the potion and momentarily losing the battle turned away and stifled a powerful sneeze into his sleeve, “Hxshhht!” Ears ringing, he hurried to finish the task at hand. A moment later and he had dosed the last plant. Snape hurried towards the door of the greenhouse as the plants behind him quietly rustled, shrinking back to normal size. Nearly to the door he again lost his tenuous grasp on self control and was bent double by the force of the explosion, “Hetxchhhhhaaaah! Heh ehhhh Ughh!” He stood panting for a moment trying to regain control, if not composure. Then he fled the greenhouse. Fortunately he didn’t meet anyone in the hallways until he reached the dungeons. Just as Snape approached his rooms he passed Draco Malfoy. “Professor?” Draco asked in a concerned tone, somewhat taken aback by the man’s appearance. “Lat..ehh Later, Malfoy!” growled Snape and pushed past into his classroom and from there into his office.

Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way from the Library towards Gryffindor Tower to deposit their school supplies before dinner. As they made their way down a hallway they caught sight of Professor Snape hurrying in their direction and they ducked into an alcove to avoid him. Fortunately for them he seemed preoccupied and didn’t notice the three students. They watched him retreat down the hall and then stepped back out. “Blimey!” Ron exclaimed, “What happened to him?” Harry shrugged and looked in the direction from which Snape had come. “I think he was coming from the greenhouse.” Out of curiosity the three friends made their way to the greenhouse to see what could account for their Professor’s disheveled appearance. They wandered in among the plants and Ron said in a low tone, “Weird. Everything looks normal.” Harry looked up from the plant he was examining, “Yeah. Snape must have fixed Malfoy’s little prank.” He looked around befuddled, “So what happened to him?” Ron shrugged. Hermione thoughtfully fingered the leaves of the Cerasifera plant she was standing near and then followed the boys out of the greenhouse.

They were nearly back to the Gryffindor Tower when Hermione made an exclamation and started leafing through her notebook furiously. As soon as they were seated in the common room she said excitedly, “Listen to this ‘In it’s negative aspect, Agrimony can heighten the torture. Cerasifera, in it’s negative form can cause a sense of desperation, uncontrollable impulses, and loss of control. Allowed to build up, symptoms can include pallor, agitation, and nervousness.’” Ron and Harry looked at her blankly. “Yeah, so what?” asked Ron. “So, it explains everything.” Hermione said impatiently. “Why do you think he left so abruptly this morning after halting the progress of the plants? And remember how he looked so twitchy? And just now, he was pale and agitated. Not to mention his eyes were all swollen and red and his nose.” Harry seemed to have caught on to where Hermione was going with her line of thinking. “You mean you think he’s allergic to those plants and was having a reaction?” “Blimey!” Ron exclaimed for the second time. “Well, it makes sense.” Hermione said. The group was quiet for a moment contemplating the theory.

[Geist]

Okay, that is ALL ABOUT some MEOWZA!!!

Um, more?

[Garnet]

Hoo 8) I'll second that. It's been quite a while since I've read a good Snapefic, and this one is deliciously written

[aggedy_ann]

Yummy. It's been awhile since I've read a snapefic, and a long time since I've felt like writing one. Keep it up, pretty please.

[Aljana]

You asked for it!

Snape had barely made it into his office before the first wave of sneezes crashed through him. As he didn’t have a chance to lock the door or indeed even to sit down he chose instead to lean heavily against the back of the closed door as he sneezed violently and repeatedly. “Hetxchhhhhaaaah! Hatschhhhhhhhaah! Tisscccchhhh! Haaaaahetchhhh! Hatschhhhhhhh! Hitschhhh! Hetschooo!” Seizing a moment between spasms, he resorted to the old fashioned method of securing his door and slid a chair under the door handle. Then he collapsed into his own chair and immediately doubled over in another fit of sneezes. "Huhhhh....Tcschooo! Eschoooo! Haaaaahetchhhh! Hatschhhhhhhh! Hetschooo! Ehhhh...Etschoo!” Snape grabbed a handkerchief from a stack he had set out on the desk as a foresight and blew his nose wetly. Then he grabbed another and wiped at his still streaming eyes. “Oh bloody hell! Hetxchhhhhaaaah! Tisscccchhhh! Hatschhhhhhhhaaah!”

At the Gryffindor table at dinner that evening Harry, Ron, and Hermione were unusually subdued. “I don’t suppose he’d call off detention,” Harry said wistfully. Ron snorted, “Don’t count on it, mate.” “He’ll probably be especially dreadful. I wonder what hideous things he’ll come up with for me to do for him?” Harry mused. “I’m sure he’s fine by now. He must have loads of different allergy potions. And if he is a bit moodier than normal, well, you can’t really blame him, can you? So, do try to be civil to him just this once,” Hermione urged. “Oh Hermione, you’re such a softy. It is Snape we’re talking about,” Ron said shaking his head at her.

In his office Snape blew his nose wetly in his last dry handkerchief. Why had he chosen today to pick on the insufferable Harry Potter? No one had seen him arrive in the doorway, he could have strode in and started class, pretending he hadn’t been witness to the boy’s late arrival. But no, he just couldn’t pass up the chance to torment Potter, just as Potter’s father and his friends had never passed up a chance to torment him while they were at school. Snape briefly wondered if there were some sort of cosmic karma at work. Now he felt bloody awful and he was stuck supervising Potter’s detention when all he really wanted to do was lie down alone.

Harry made his way tentatively into the potions classroom. He didn’t see Snape and briefly wondered if he might not get out of this detention after all. Then Snape strode briskly into the room from his office. “Potter, you’ll be scrubbing out those cauldrons on the shelves. No magic. And I expect them to be spotless,” he barked. Then he made his way to his own desk and began marking papers. Harry groaned inwardly as he took the first cauldron down and peered in at some indiscernible goo that encrusted the interior. Then he picked up the rag and brush and poured some of the soapy water from the bucket that had been provided into the cauldron and got to work scrubbing.

Harry had been working on the cauldrons for about a half hour when a sound from the front of the room caught his attention and he looked up to see Snape stifle a pair of sneezes into a handkerchief. He debated whether to say anything but a menacing glare made up his mind and he quickly bent back to his scrubbing. A few minutes later, however, he heard three more stifled explosions. Before he could think better of it Harry glanced up and said tentatively, “Um, bless you, Professor.”

Snape was rather taken aback at being blessed. Not sure how to respond he chose to ignore it and continued reading the fifth year essays he was grading. He was amazed any of the students had gotten to the fifth year based on the quality of work he was witnessing in these essays. He hadn’t gotten far in his reading when another sharp tickle in his sinuses made him catch his breath. Merlin, he was tired of this. It was getting to be embarrassing. He was normally in such tight control of himself, but now he couldn’t manage to get through an hour of detention. He carefully set down his quill, picked up his handkerchief, and stifled two powerful sneezes into it. “Hhssmph! Sshhmph!” He started to set the handkerchief down but quickly brought it back up as he was struck with another onslaught of sneezes, “Hhsmmph! Hhppssh! Hxshhht!”

Looking back later, Harry wasn’t sure what prompted his next actions. If he had thought about what he was doing he surely would have recognized the risk he was taking and probably would have kept on scrubbing cauldrons. As it was, Harry didn’t think as he set down the brush and looked up at his most challenging Professor. “Sir, uh, are you quite all right?”

Again, Snape was taken by surprise that a student would dare to address him when he so obviously wished to be left alone. That was the thing about Potter that irked him the most, the boy wasn’t afraid of him as most of his classmates were. Snape was never quite sure how to deal with that other than trying harder to terrorize the boy. And now along with catching him off guard, he had to try and answer the impertinent question in an appropriately scathing manner while trying to keep his nose from running. He sniffed lightly so as not to renew the tickle in his sinuses. “I’m fine. Are you finished with those cauldrons already that you feel a need to chat?”

With that pronouncement and another icy glare Snape went back to his papers. The boy may not have taken the hints before but he would have to be seriously masochistic to proceed any further. He was therefore shocked to hear quiet feet approaching the front of the room.

Harry had no idea what he hoped to accomplish with this confrontation. He knew he should just finish scrubbing the cauldrons and go back to Gryffindor Tower and forget any of it had ever happened. He knew he was asking for serious consequences by pushing Snape any further. So why was he now walking to the front row of worktables and leaning against the one nearest Snape’s desk? What was he thinking? All he knew was he was inexplicably drawn to this unknown and certainly unseen side of his professor. It was curious to see this man one might normally compare to stone or ice be broken down in such a human display.

Harry started talking before he could think better of it, “It’s alright Professor, we, I mean I figured out about your allergy.” Harry did have sense enough to think better of implicating his friends in the discovery. That didn’t seem to lesson the impact of his statement.

Snape couldn’t believe what he had just heard. How had he been found out? How many other people knew about it? At a loss of how else to handle the situation he quickly settled on his typical stubborn defiance. “Excuse me? I don’t have the faintest idea what you are talking about but if you don’t get back to those cauldrons at once,” Unfortunately it was this moment the lingering tickle at the back of his sinuses chose to flare up, “You’ll be spending the…ehh rehh..rest of the…ehh Hxshhht!” He stifled a harsh sneeze into his handkerchief when it became apparent he wouldn’t be able to hold it back any longer. Merlin, he was getting a headache. If he could just lie down with a cool cloth on his eyes, alone, in the darkness of his private quarters, he thought. He swiped at his large and by this time rather sore nose with the soggy cloth before turning his attention back to his perplexing pupil.

Harry was quite fascinated by seeing such a struggle for and eventual loss of control in someone usually so self-possessed. He quite forgot himself and told Snape what he always told Oliver when he tried stifling his sneezes, “Bless. You know you really shouldn’t hold them back like that. It won’t really help and it’ll give you a killer headache.”

Snape felt his ears go red with embarrassment. The boy was right though. He did have a horrible headache. The boy obviously wasn’t going to let up and Snape was too tired to keep on. “Bloody hell, Potter. You remind me of Lupin, always fussing. Let’s make a deal - I let you out of detention early and you leave me alone. AND, we both forget this evening ever happened. After all, I’m sure you want people knowing you were concerned about me as much as I want people knowing, well…” He made this offer with a sardonic quirk of his eyebrow.

A number of thoughts and questions raced through Harry’s mind at this point. What was he doing? He was lucky Snape hadn’t completely lost his temper. Snape was offering him a way out. He really didn’t want to tell anyone about what had happened here. What really made Snape compare him to Professor Lupin? He quickly decided to take Snape up on his offer and get out of there before anything stranger happened or Snape changed his mind and gave him detention for a month. “Yes, sir. I’ll just go then. And I won’t say anything to anyone.” Snape didn’t respond as Harry turned and hurried towards the door at the back of the classroom. As he made his way up the hall out of the dungeons he heard the echoes of a wet sneeze let loose.

[happysparkleprincess]

what a fantastic story. it makes my insides all jumpy when I read it. wonderful job!!!!

[Neesan]

Ok, um... HOT and YUMM and OMG!!!

Verrrrry nice!!! Harry blessed him. *GIGGLES INSANLY!* Hopefully there will be more? And I eat Draco's head. For I love him.

[ithinksneezesaresexy]

Really enjoyed it! Keep it up!