Dear Mr. Potter

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The two young men woke just in time for Potions class. Neither one of them hurried to get there. Harry, dressed in one of Draco's robes with a transfigured Gryffindor insignia, slipped into class and made his way to his seat and his friends. He did not begrudge Draco for having to sit up front. Snape burst in before Harry had a chance to say a word to Hermione or Ron. His face was more austere than ever and he sneered at all of them before slamming open his book and barking out orders to turn to the correct page. Thus began one of the worst Potions classes ever known in Hogwarts history. Even the Slytherins were watching the clock and begging for it to end. Snape yelled at and snarled at and ridiculed and down right insulted everyone. Everyone except Draco and Harry. They he merely glared at and then promptly ignored. More than a few students, boys and girls, were in tears by the time the bell rang. There was a fight to get out of there and Harry and his friends could not push hard enough to get through the crowded doorway.

"Well, I'd say that Snape is clearly not happy with you two," Hermione observed needlessly, straitening herself from the crush.

"What gave you a clue?" Ron scoffed. They turned down the hall as they made their way to the library for their free period. "Why'd he have to take it out on the rest of us? Thirty points! We lost thirty points!"

"Slytherin lost forty," Harry pointed out.

"Yes, that is certainly telling, isn't it? Shows exactly who he is angriest with." Hermione steered them towards a table in the back near the restricted section.

"Wouldn't want to be in Draco's shoes, that's for sure." Ron dropped into a chair and dug around in his bag for a piece of parchment for his newest aerodynamic project.

"Harry," Hermione said as she opened her Transfiguration book, "did you find Draco? It looked like the two of you came in to class together."

Harry stopped rummaging in his own bag and pulled out his bag of sweets. "Um," he blushed, "yeah, I did."

"Ugh, guess we don't have to ask what happened," Ron groused.

"Are you alright? Was he still angry?" Hermione asked.

Harry swallowed the sweet he had popped into his mouth and shook his head. "No. Well, sort of. More like he just wanted to prove who the bigger man was."

"What do you mean?" Hermione's brow was furrowed in confusion.

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry explained as best he could. "Well, it was just that he wanted to make sure that I knew who could, er, keep me happy. You know, like who would always be there to, um, give me what I want. Guess he wanted to prove who the top dog was." A blushing Harry reached into his bag of sweets again.

"Hmm, that is interesting. So you think that the encounter with Snape may have shaken his self-assuredness? His sense of dominance?" Hermione tapped a finger to her lip. "That does make sense after being made to be submissive like that. But he didn't hurt you?"

Harry shook his head. "No."

"What's with the bruise then, mate?" Ron pointed towards Harry's neck. Harry brought a hand up to touch gingerly at the bite mark Draco had left.

"Oh, well, it just got a bit... intense." Hermione and Ron's eyebrows climbed towards their hair. "I'm alright. Promise."

"Well, I for one am happy that Snape finally choked some sense into Draco. Now, if only he'll listen to it," Hermione said as she picked up her quill. "He's needed a push off his high horse for most of his life and if anyone could have done it, it would have been Snape." Ron nodded agreement and Harry happily chewed on a licorice wand. The three were busy with their own pursuits for a few moments until Ron looked up from his paper phoenix and spoke.