Out Of The Storm - (2 Parts)

[simply_me]

(Heyyyy

Another fic. I think this might be continued. My writing has gotten a bit better...er...sort of. No sneezing in this part...sorry. Don't worry, there will be some alot later. Sorry I was inactive for a period of time. I've been busy with school and all.

Anyway...

I hope you enjoy this.)

Name: Out Of The Storm

Fandom: HP duh

Warnings: Bleh, none

Spoilers: None

Info: I believe this is during Harry's fifth year, for I'm dying to use Umbridge in this. If it is, it's fairly early in the year.

But I really don't know, I don't know myself. We'll just have to see won't we?

This might be continued...

~~~

Out of all the classes Harry disliked, Potions had to be the worst. Snape seemed to be brewing an even bigger amount of injustice towards the poor Gryffindors this lesson, and it made Harry’s blood boil. Even today, as his knuckles turned white from gripping the table too tightly in frustration, he recognized that Snape was in an even more horrid mood than usual.

Even the comfort of having Ron and Hermione on either side of him didn’t help his raging mood. They had already been assigned double Potions, double Divination, and History of Magic. Things were looking grim, and Harry sincerely believed his spirits couldn’t drop any lower.

“Today you will be attempting to conjure antidotes to various poisons.” Snape began with his usual drawl as he slowly and menacingly paced the classroom. “Don’t take this lesson lightly, especially those who have been known to mess…things…up…” Snape’s cold, black eyes lingered on Neville Longbottom, who let out a squeak of fright, before turning upward at the rest of the class. “The ingredients are on the board.” Snape said tonelessly, and flicked his wand at the blackboard. Instantly, words were scrawled upon its surface. “Begin.”

Harry knew Snape never informed them completely on the lesson, but today it seemed to get on his nerves a bit more than usual. Was it fair to give students a few information-lacking directions and send them on their way? But then Harry remembered angrily, Snape wasn’t fair. He never would be.

“Taking our time are we Potter?” Harry looked up into the pale face of Snape looming over him, a small scowl pronounced on his placid features. Harry stared defiantly into those eyes for a few moments, but said nothing. Anger was already boiling inside him. “Unfortunately for you, your fame does not exempt you from normal class lessons. Get going.” Snape growled, turning on his heels and stalking away. On the other side of the classroom, Malfoy sniggered nastily.

Harry’s grip on the table loosened, and his clenching fists moved over to his cauldron. Hermione and Ron, who had been almost non-existent until now, gave him sympathetic looks. He didn’t need their sympathy, he just wanted to finish potions and get out of here.

But that wouldn’t be the case.

Mandrake Draught, the antidote to Petrification, was the first antidote they needed to make. Harry remembered making this once before, and assumed it was a review. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until something came to Harry’s attention. Snape was hissing something to Malfoy, all the while the horrid, Slyhterin boy was giving looks of glee at Harry. Harry, now utterly confused, stared back into those malicious eyes. Ron tapped him on the back. “Oy mate, you might want to start on your antidote.” Harry looked down at his cauldron and wasn’t surprised to see it empty. Immediately he began to pour the correct ingredients into it. But try as he might he couldn’t concentrate, over in the other side of the room Malfoy’s voice droned on and he could just catch a few words.

“Potter…stupid…what a git.”

Now normally Harry would have ignored Malfoy’s words, but today seemed never-ending and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became. Malfoy’s insults were just a bonus. He knew these days his temper was hard to control…

“HARRY! Your antidote!” Hermione screeched, pointing one finger at his cauldron. Harry, now out of his daze, was staring in horror at his cauldron which was now fizzing and bubbling. Harry was panicking now, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Snape strolling toward him menacingly. Honestly, he would have rather faced a dementor.

“Ah, Potter, what a delightful explosive.” Snape grinned horribly, his beady eyes flickering from Harry, to Harry’s potion, and then back at Harry. “Unfortunately that’s not the requirement for today’s lesson. Ten points from Gryffindor! Oh and Potter, this is your third mess-up this week. Detention.” If Snape could dance, it seemed that he would have. He turned swiftly, walking away slowly while Harry fumed at his back.

“Homework…” Snape muttered coolly, “I want a twelve-inch essay on the uses of the Mandrake Draught, when it was first created, and why. Due tomorrow.”

The class didn’t dare groan.

At the end of class, the rest of the students bottled their antidotes. A miserable Harry bottled his mess as well, definitely sure it’d receive a failing grade.

“Oh Potty, that looks wonderful.” Came a cold voice from over his shoulder, and who should it be but Draco Malfoy. The Slytherin boy clicked his tongue at Harry’s potion. “You would think just one time you’d mess up during a lesson but oh no, not ‘the boy who lived’. Certainly not the famous Harry Potter.” A disgusting laugh tailed his words, and Harry clenched his fists to his side. He felt Ron and Hermione come to his aid. “Shut up Malfoy.” Ron sneered while Crabbe and Goyle took their regular positions beside Malfoy. Ron gripped Harry’s shoulder, steering him away.

“Well you should have paid attention while mixing ingredients.” Hermione sniffed. Usually that was her way of showing sympathy, Harry paid no mind to her as the three walked down the hall. “Come off it Hermione, he’s sad enough as it is.” Ron snapped, glancing at Harry sympathetically. “Sorry you have detention mate. With Snape too…”

“Yeah I know.” Harry who had been silent till now, was still fuming, hands balled into fists. It seemed to him that he should be used to this by now, but he wasn’t. “That should be fun.”

“Again, if you would have paid attention…”

“Shut-UP Hermione!”

The two began to bicker behind Harry, and he had the inclination to increase his speed. He looked out of the first window he came past, and saw dreary, gray clouds swirling outside. Things couldn’t be worse.

The day continued as any day should, and Harry’s spirits didn’t lift in the slightest. Divination was frighteningly pathetic as usual, and History of Magic left him as empty as it usually did. All the while, the detention with Snape lingered like poison in his mind.

Finally, the potions master approached him after supper that day. Harry really wished he could disappear, or perhaps apparate to some other place. As Snape neared him, a cold sensation in his stomach began to chill him to the core. A detention with Snape...how lovely.

“Potter…” Snape grunted, his eyes just visible above his large, beak-like nose. “Get moving. I’ll tell you what your punishment is when we get there.”

With that he turned on his heels, and Harry groaned softly as he stumbled after him. Hermione and Ron gave him worried glances until the dining hall slowly disappeared from view.

“Fluxweed is a type of plant used in Polyjuice Potion. However, it must be picked during a full moon in order for it to be effective in a Polyjuice Potion. That’s why you’re out at this time of night Potter.” Snape didn’t bother with preamble as soon as they got outside Hogwarts. He continued to growl about fluxweed, but Harry didn’t entirely care. His attention was now on the clouds that continued to swirl and clump together in a mass of dark gray. Surely rain would be coming soon. Besides the thick blanket of clouds, Harry could just barely see a round, sphere of light and instantly thought of Remus. Where was he now? He’d almost forgotten tonight was a full moon.

“Look at me Potter.” Snape snarled and Harry unwillingly turned his thoughts and attention back to Snape.

“As I was saying, you are required to gather some for me.”

What? In this weather?

Harry almost yelled out in protest.

“And I don’t rather care if you get a little wet Potter. You deserve this punishment. There should be some fluxweed around the lake, get going. Don’t come back until you think you have enough.” With that, Snape flicked his pale hand dismissively, and stood back to watch, hatred etched into every line on his face.

Harry stumbled along miserably, teeth clenched so violently he felt they might shatter. The injustice of it all made his head steam with anger. All the while he felt Snape’s black eyes boring holes into the back of his head. Oh how he whished he could turn around and slap the smirk of amusement right off the man’s face. The thought satisfied the urge as he made his way to the lake.

Fluxweed wasn’t particularly hard to find, it was the weather that was bothering him. A bitter wind began to scratch its icy fingernails along the landscape, whipping Harry fiercely. He turned his back to it, concentrating on finding more fluxweed. The faster he found it, the sooner he’d get back to the common room for some rest.

His eyes began to sting as the cold wind battered at him. He allowed himself to look up a few times, finding Snape standing there as still as stone. He would not allow himself to break down in front of Snape. Determination burned fiercely in his chest as he spotted a bit of fluxweed in a particularly bright patch of moonlight.

He watched the light disappear as yet another cloud crossed the moon. A loud bang of thunder resembling that of a gun sounded suddenly. Harry, now startled, felt icy knives fall from the sky in giant drops. Rain…

Harry yanked the plant from the ground with frozen fingers, cursing bitterly as he did so. Rain! Of all times! He turned quickly, sloshing through the mud and muck on his way back to the castle.

Thoroughly soaked and shivering, Harry stood in front of Snape. Snape’s comfortable and non-shivering posture deemed itself tantalizing to Harry. He wanted nothing more than to dry off.

Snape’s taunting eyes scanned Harry, his expression resembling that of a sour apple. “Come now Potter, only a bit of fluxweed? Oh dear, I’m afraid that won’t do.” Snape licked his lips as if tasting something delicious. The man opened his mouth to say something else vile but was cut off by another boom of thunder. It startled him and he stumbled backward, only to regain himself as quickly as he’d stumbled. Harry would have laughed, had he not been shivering so violently.

Snape snarled nastily, as if daring Harry to mock him. “Very well Potter, you’re off the hook for now. But because you haven’t fulfilled your detention time, I expect to see you around this time tomorrow night for a different chore. Don’t be late.”

Harry couldn’t believe it, and he stood there shivering even though Snape had left moments before. Another detention time…

There was no denying it, Harry was in hell.

The walk up to Gryffindor tower seemed endless. Every flight of stairs seemed to laugh at Harry, mocking him. Harry, still shivering, kept telling his cold and sore muscles to push him forward. Only a few more steps to the warm common room…

When he reached the portrait of the fat lady he realized he’d been crossing his arms to his chest to keep warm. He allowed them to fall to his side, then attempted to warm his hands by rubbing them together.

“Passwor- oh my dear boy, what happened to you?” The fat lady chirped, eying Harry with a suspicious stare. Harry shook his head, droplets of water scattering in all directions. “Nothing, Balderdash.” Harry stammered the password quickly, feeling a particularly cold sensation run up his spine.

As soon as he was in the common room he knew things would be worse. Hermione was glaring malevolently at Ron from across the room, while Ron was scribbling away at a piece of parchment. Both looked up at the sound of Harry’s footsteps.

Ron was the first to react. “Harry! What the bloody hell happened to you?” He asked, eyes flickering from Harry’s muddy clothes to his pale face. Hermione rose from the armchair, her hair more frizzy than it normally was. “Were you out in that?” She screeched, pointing one finger at the dark window, which was dripping with streams of water. A flash of lightning illuminated the room for a second before plunging it into darkness once more.

Harry didn’t know how to explain, to answer, to sum Snape’s horrible ways briefly. All he did was nod, dripping mud and water onto the floor.

Hermione began to pace, Harry hated when she did that. Ron was eying her like she was a ticking time bomb, and took a few steps toward Harry. “You might want to make an excuse to leave.” He whispered, giving Harry’s shoulder a light pat. “Go on now.”

Harry swallowed thickly trying to get his frozen mouth to form words. “I-I’m going to take a shower.” He stammered as Hermione turned to face him. He quickly departed, leaving a trail of mud and water in his wake.

Edited October 7, 2007 by simply_me

[The Sneezster]

A tantalizing start. I look forward to the rest.

[stargazer]

Great set up. Can't wait for the rest.

[silentdreamer789]

Oh, more more more! He HAS to catch a cold after that...if he wasn't already getting one...and imagine what Umbridge will be like...

silentdreamer789

[Guest No More Lies]

That was the longest teaser EVER. Long, but wonderfully well written. Alliteration is for everyone!

[simply_me]

Bleh, I'm almost done with part 2.

If I can be patient with it, it just might be good.

OH WOW

~Simply_me

[stargazer]

Yeah, part 2 is coming in the future. I'll be patient since your patient.

[Guest blah]

This is such a great start!! I'm hoping for more soon!!

[simply_me]

((Feh, a rather pathetic continuation of this story. I don't what I'm going to do with this. Ah well.))

“And then he told me to come back at the same time tomorrow to gather MORE fluxweed.” Harry groaned miserably. The three were sitting on the common room couch, Ron and Hermione facing Harry who was telling them of his miserable experience with Snape. Hermione kept biting her lip and Harry could only guess she was desperately trying to control an outburst of “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d paid attention in class!” If Ron hadn’t kept looking back at her apprehensively, she might have woken the whole house by now.

“I’m really looking forward to it.” Harry finished with a sarcastic smirk, leaning back against the couch with a deep sigh. Ron was fixating him with a deep stare of concentration and after a long period of silence he finally spoke. “Snape’s evil, there’s no denying it.”

“Oh come off it.” Hermione growled, obviously trying to satisfying her urge to fuss by picking on Ron. “Dumbledore trusts him as I’ve reminded you before.” The fierce edge to her voice died, and she gave Harry a reproachful glance. “So you go back? Same time tomorrow?”

Harry clarified with a weak nod, rubbing the tip of his nose, absent- mindedly with an index finger. “Yup.” He sniffed softly.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Harry felt cold and shivery. It was subtle though, just a slight prickling on his skin. He sat up as nonchalant as possible, ignoring the icy chill crawling up his spine. The feeling was gone as soon as it’d come, and Harry soon forgot about it. “I wonder why Dumbledore trusts Snape.” He wondered aloud desperately trying to break the silence by any means possible. His eyebrows narrowed as he stared into the fire dying before them.

Hermione sighed, fretting silently to herself. Harry caught Ron and Hermione staring at each other out of the corner of his eye. What were they doing? Harry sniffed softly, running a hand quickly beneath his nose.

“I’m ok guys.” He grinned, leaning back against the couch once again. “Stop worrying.” Hermione opened her mouth as if itching to say something, but quickly halted. Ron smiled weakly, giving Harry a pat on the shoulder. “Alright Harry.”

The night was then filled with relaxed conversation filled with a broad range of topics. Ron, Harry and Hermione laughed together as they recalled the day’s events. It was during a story which Hermione had decided to tell that Harry realized he felt quite odd.

His head felt hollow, and he could feel pressure residing on his temples in the small beginnings of a head-ache. His throat felt a bit tickly, and he occasionally cleared his throat in an attempt to get rid of it. No succession followed. He felt a subtle tickle in the back of his nose, and scrubbed at it with his wrist. Hermione and Ron didn’t seem to notice, and he preferred it that way.

But all too soon, during a story Ron was sharing about an encounter with Malfoy, Harry’s nose gave a sharp twinge. He turned sharply to the side, trying to muffle the sound as best he could. “hahChmph!” His head bobbed and he sighed weakly, giving a few light sniffles that followed the sneeze. Ron instantly stopped talking, and both him and Hermione gave Harry confused stares.

Harry blinked up at them, the itchy feeling in his nose persisted and he desperately tried to fight it. It died down a bit which allowed him to give them a hard stare. “I’m fine.” He said, nodding. Hermione bit her lip, eyebrows raised. “Then why do you look…”

The tickle sharpened intensely, and Harry turned away once more, breath hitching. “heh'Ehhshhhh!!” He sneezed, feeling immensely better. The tickle was no more, and he stared at them defiantly, sniffling constantly.

But Ron and Hermione weren’t satisfied. “Harry…” Hermione began.

“It’s nothing.” Harry interrupted, desperately trying to get their attention off of him. But he couldn’t help but sniffle thickly, giving his nose a hard rub with the back of his hand.

“But Harry.” Hermione pressed on, clearly not buying anything he was saying. “You don’t look well. You’re pale-”

“Not to mention you look bloody tired.” Ron cut in, giving Harry a worried stare, all the while the raven-haired boy clenched his teeth together, fuming silently.

“Look, I’m just going to go to bed ok?” Harry sniffed, stifling a yawn behind his hand. Ron was right about one thing, he was rather tired, and was growing annoyed at their fussing. Harry shivered slightly as he stood up, giving them a slight nod. “Goodnight.”

Hermione stood, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Yes, rest is what you need I suppose.” She sighed, and Harry felt a bit more irritated. He wasn’t going to bed because she wanted him to…He wasn’t succumbing to her worrisome ways.

Suddenly he turned, walking quietly up the stairs. All that was heard then was a soft “Ihhshh!” from Harry and mumbled blessings from Ron and Hermione. Then all was silent as Harry fell into a quiet slumber upstairs.

[silentdreamer789]

Well, I loved it. Hope Harry gives his cold to Snape in detention...he so deserves it! Or at least Madame Pomfrey could have a go at him for making an already ill student go out in the rain.

silentdreamer789

[stargazer]

I knew if I wanted patiently, I'd be rewarded. Great second part. Poor Harry, just getting sick and now he has to have another detention with Snape the next night. Can't wait to see what happens next. I hope you continue on with it.

[simply_me]

Thanks for reading it.

I should have time to work on the third part after the thanksgiving craziness dies down.

Unfortunately we're hosting thanksgiving at my house this year.

Ah well.

I'll start writing soon enough.

[stargazer]

Just wondering if this story is going to be continued. I really hope it will be.

[simply_me]

Just wondering if this story is going to be continued. I really hope it will be.

Sadly I've had little time to continue this. My stories seem to have the same plot over and over again anyway. Doesn't mean I won't write more fics, trust me. But I don't think I can continue this one without severely disappointing everyone.

Pfft

I know I'm horrid.

Or who knows, I might pick it up again. We'll see.

-simply_me

[stargazer]

I'm disappointed that you more than likely won't continue with it , but I can fully understand your reasoning.