Penny Potter may be the twin of Harry Potter but she does not share his proclivity for a hatred of the Potions Master, Severus Snape. Likewise, Snape finds, despite his better efforts that Penny has become dangerously intertwined in his life. Given...
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"I'm sorry Professor! I--" Penny started, bursting into Transfiguration ten minutes late.
"Do not worry about it Ms. Potter, Professor Snape sent word to me. I am glad you are well enough to join us, take a seat, we are working on some birds today," Professor McGonagall cut in, gesturing to a free space beside Hermione, who looked eager for today's lesson.
Penny always liked sitting with Hermione, who never disturbed her learning with bored sighs and often had interesting things to say on the topic at hand.
"What's wrong with him?" Penny asked, looking back at Harry, he was clearly irritated about something.
"Snape gave him a 0 again," Hermione whispered, taking the cage of birds offered to her.
Penny groaned, she had not noticed Snape's make-Harry-miserable escapades that day. If she had she may have been able to do something. The mornings class was a loud one due to the squawking and fluttering of all the birds. Hermione turned her bird on the first try, while many others in the class struggled with their efforts. Professor McGonagall ended up in an ethics debate with Penny after Penny said she could not transfigure the bird because "it did not want to be a teacup."
"How is it alright for me to force the bird? Because I have magic I get to do whatever I want? The bird doesn't like it, doesn't having a life give it a right? Or, is magic might?" Penny demanded.
"Don't be ridiculous, what are you going to do, ask it?" McGonagall replied severely.
"I did, and it wants to be a toucan vase."
"And how did it tell you that?" McGonagall asked, eyes narrowed.
"Through its magic, Professor, can't you feel that?" Penny said incredulously.
"In this school we use our wands, not our feelings, Ms.Potter. And today we are transfiguring birds into teacups, but you can feel free to submit an opinion piece on the topic of your dispute to the prophet."
Setting her jaw, Penny reached out with her magic and turned the bird into a toucan vase. To cement her point, she pulled out three more birds, declared their wishes, and then promptly turned one into a pair of earmuffs, the second to a cat, and the last into a bobble head Dalmatian. Professor McGonagall gave an angry sigh, her face red.
"While that is brilliant wand work Potter, I hope you will remember that during your OWLS they will not allow you to debate ethics and you WILL receive marks according to how well you perform the task set before you," she said, her voice unnaturally high, "However, I might add, you remind me very much of your father," she finished, a sad expression behind her eyes.
Penny glanced at Harry, who responded by shaking his head at her.
"You're mental, you know that," Harry said an hour later as they were walking to lunch in the Great Hall.
"I just don't think it's right, and this is a school, is this not precisely the place for those discussions?"
"If you say so. Anyways, did Snape poison you after we left, what took you so long?" Harry asked, his eyes full of suspicion.
"Snape was not technically the one who poisoned me. He was trying to give Neville a 0 so I offered myself up," Penny said with a shrug, seating herself between Ron and Harry when they reached the Gryffindor table.
"Poor Neville, I bet Snape loved that," Harry said in a tone of disgust.
"The man is a sadist, of course he did," Ron interjected.
"Hardly, he's a professor," Penny said, dumping collard greens onto her plate.
"You and Hermione are way too trusting of titles," Ron said through a mouthful of chicken.
"Neville's antidote was awful though, it was true agony, I still feel weird," Penny sighed, trying to find her appetite.
"Are you sure Snape actually cured you?" Harry said, eyeing her while he filled his plate with the various offerings strewn about the table.
"Of course he did, he'd lose his job if he were just trying to kill students!" Hermione said in a shocked voice, taking a seat beside Ron and looking at him with disgust.
"I think perhaps it'll just take the day to feel myself, my nerves just feel on fire, and my head hurts a bit," Penny said, rubbing her head rigorously, as though hoping to beat the sensation away.
"I know the feeling, my scar has been bothering me the last few hours," Harry whispered to her.
"Another dream?"
"No, just pain, wonder what it means."
Penny frowned at him, "I wish I had an answer for you, Voldemort is nowhere near you."
He looked worried, his green eyes, so much like her own, stared fiercely at her through the jet black hair. She reached up and moved it tenderly, touching his scar like she always did. Her twin, the boy with the lightning bolt scar, who looked so much like their father, except for the eyes. Harry squeezed her hand and they returned to their meal.
The rest of the afternoon was a long one, Penny's headache persisted, and she felt exhausted by the time her classes finished. She decided to return to the common room and take a long nap before dinner. She woke up groggy when Hermione prodded her several hours later, asking if she wanted something to eat. On their way down, Penny decided to stop at the Hospital Wing and see if Madam Pomfrey had anything to help her head, but immediately regretted the decision. The woman was shocked Penny had not paid a visit to her sooner, and ranted about "poisoning children" and all the things that could have gone wrong. Then she took a complete tally of Penny's symptoms, calling her a "frail child." Since Penny flat out refused to stay the night, Madam Pomfrey gave her a couple of potions, and forced her to agree to return the next morning.
Penny entered the emptying Great Hall at a brisk walk. Instinctively she looked toward the staff table where Snape's dark eyes followed her across the room. For whatever reason they always did this, their eyes gravitating to the other whenever either of them entered a room. On her way to the Gryffindor table several Slytherins called out to her, asking when quidditch and theater would be starting again. It was Penny's pet project, bringing extra-curricular activities to life at Hogwarts. She had been given the O-K to coordinate for-fun quidditch games for the student body who wanted to play but were not on a house team. The endeavor proved a huge hit, and students from all the houses participated, not even bickering along house lines. Professor McGonagall had commented on Penny's "unique ability to unite her peers," and agreed to supervise. Dumbledore had even given her an award for "Services to Improve the School" for it. Professor Flitwick had jumped at the chance to help Penny organize the Hogwarts choir and drama club, which was a byproduct of the reading group Penny had begun in her first year. She loved to perform, and reading out loud to Harry was how she had started. When she arrived at Hogwarts she had convinced many of her friends to listen to her narrate many muggle stories. This led to the more formal performances that she and several other classmates organized. They now gave a Christmas and Spring show, which was as beloved as quidditch matches.
Penny took the seat Malfoy offered her, her scarlet robes very out of place among the emerald ones.
"Do you think we'll be able to?" she said to Draco.
"Dumbledore just announced the Triwizard Tournament before you walked in," he said to her and the group of Slytherin boys who gathered in beside them, "the quidditch cup is postponed, but I don't see why we can't continue recreationally."
She nodded her agreement with the blonde boy.
"I'll ask the head of houses tomorrow, and try to pitch it as a way to bond with our guests. Maybe if someone from each house could accompany me, to show how we all support this, they'll be more likely to make accommodations"
Marcus, a broad, handsome 6th year nodded, "Especially since they're only letting those of age enter the tournament, the rest of us need something to do."
"Are you kidding me?" Penny exclaimed, her hopes crushed.
"Yeah, we'll have to find a way around that. . ." Draco said with a determined expression.
"Alright, I better be off before they refuse to serve me dinner," Penny said after a few more minutes of conversation.
She glanced towards the staff table, finding Snape again, who seemed to be watching her liaisons with the Slytherins intently, Dumbledore was speaking beside him. Following Snape's gaze, Dumbledore's kind blue eyes landed on Penny. He gave her an amused smile, the twinkle in his eye as present as ever. She flushed, turned her head down and marched onwards, being hailed by the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables consecutively. She had the same conversation with each of them, and they agreed to send someone with her the next morning. Then they asked her if she really had refused to transfigure a bird that day. After that they returned to their chatter about the upcoming tournament.
It was 15 to eight when Penny finally took her seat, the Great Hall almost deserted. Snape was dimming the lights and clearing empty tables, getting ever nearer her. Penny quickly filled her plate with food, hoping against all odds the man would not be cruel enough to send her to bed without dinner. She ate slower than she wanted because of her tender stomach. The room was silent except for Snape's steps, which were headed in her direction. She did not dare meet his eyes until he stopped right in front of her.
"Evening Professor, fancy meeting you here," Penny said casually.
He stared at her incredulously, folding his arms and tapping his wand against his upper arm.
"Professor, I just sat down, and really what else do you have to do? Isn't this what you signed up for being an educator and all, never letting the kids go hungry?"
"Ms. Potter, you spent a good thirty minutes socializing before you even began eating, I have a great many better things to do than entertain such entitlement."
"Penny," she replied in a dangerously low voice.
He rolled his eyes.
'Well, Penny, do you disagree?"
"I do! I cannot help that the Gryffindor table is placed all the way over here and that I must walk past all the other houses. Are you suggesting that because I am popular, I should not be allowed to eat? If you had paid attention you would have noted they hailed me," she said lamely, knowing her argument would not work on the potions master.
His face darkened, and she knew she had annoyed the man, hitting some hidden nerve.
"An excuse befitting your father," he said furiously.
"You say that like it's an insult," she replied with narrowed eyes.
"It is," he snarled.
Refusing to take his bait, Penny stood. "If that is your opinion of him, I am sorry for you. I did not get the chance to know him, but considering he DIED for me, I feel obliged to defend his character. Sorry to inconvenience you," she said shortly, making to climb over the benches and return to the common room.
"Sit!" spat Snape, unable to form any other words. "Why!" "You--ten minutes," he continued in angry, shaking, half sentences.
They stared at each other, daggers flying between them. Then, slowly, they both took a seat, red coloring his pale features. He looked decidedly away from her, his expression severe. Penny ate in silence feeling worse than she had all day. The man perplexed her, she never could understand his seeming hatred for her father, or why he used it against her when he was angry. She put her fork down, courage welling in her chest.
"I don't care about your past with my father, but it's crap, the way you use something I know nothing about to hurt me. I look up to you--so why do you have to be such a git!" she burst out before she was able to stop herself.
He turned slowly, dangerously, towards her, ensnaring her with his icy stare. Immediately regretting her choice of words, she flushed. She didn't know why she said it, but his unfair anger just pushed her too far after feeling so crumby all day. The way he picked at the pieces he didn't like about her just because it reminded him of her dad felt unusually cruel. There were many things she didn't like about his attitude, but it had never mattered to her. His grumpy days, his seemingly sadistic tendencies, she took the man as he was, looking to him to explain a great many things she just wanted to understand. Penny knew he felt it too, knew she had not imagined the last three years of endless hours spent in each other's company, each of them always looking for ways to provoke the other. If Severus Snape liked anyone's company, she had to believe he liked hers. Or maybe he didn't, and her one sided admiration was now coming to realize the rejection written all over his features.
"What did you say," Snape said, in barely more than a whisper.
It was a more terrifying sound than any yelling of Uncle Vernon's that Penny had ever endured. A vein throbbed along his temple much like her Uncle's and she could see his hands shaking with his rage.
"I-I won't apologize Professor," she stuttered, sitting up a little straighter as though to muster what was left of her courage. "You don't even pay attention to what I'm saying, you just get offended because I called you a git, like you're on some ego trip."
Penny should have stopped while she was ahead, at this point she was simply digging her own grave. What was left of Snape's thin lips disappeared, he stood, his chest heaving.
"You are as insolent as he! He had no respect for rules and authority either. You want me to listen to you, then say something that isn't laced with self absorption!" he spat.
"I am not my father, I am not Lily, I am Penny! And I refuse to let you force me to pay for the sins of my parents! Maybe one day you'll open your eyes and stop being so afraid," she shouted at him, standing as well
"Afraid?" he snarled.
"Of admitting you care about me as much as I care about you, that you're invested. It's scary, isn't it, Professor, emotions," she replied callously.
"Detention! My office for the next two days," he spluttered, clearly taken aback by her admonition.
"Fine, I look forward to spending the quality time with you, hopefully by then you can pull yourself together enough and we can finish this conversation like emotionally capable adults," Penny said, marching away from the Gryffindor table.
The hall ahead was dark, but Penny only saw red. Out of the side of her eye she saw Snape move a violently in her direction, as though to hex her, but with an enormous amount of effort he seemed to stop himself with a long slow breath. With her nose in the air, Penny marched past the furious man, asking herself why it mattered so much. Why did what Professor Snape thought about her matter so much? Why the hell did she want Severus Snape to like her--he never liked anything.
