Corrupting The Lion

Chapter 3

Severus woke up to an empty bed. He reached to make sure no one was beside him, sighing when his hand didn't touch flesh. He wasn't sure if it was a sigh of relief or if he was sad that Harry had left. Grunting, he ran a hand down his face before he threw his covers off and sat up on the side of his bed, head in his hands. "Why did I do something stupid like that?" He asked out loud. After a moment, he shook his head trying to refocus as he got up to start getting ready for the day.

Harry had bolted because he was nervous. He wanted Severus, he'd told the man that, but he was afraid that Severus only did it because of the firewhiskey the other had drank. The next couple of weeks was horrible. If anything, it was worse than ever before. House points were taken off almost just for breathing. It was driving him insane and made his chest ache fiercely.

Severus had resorted back to a level of coldness he hadn't been since the war ended. He hated this. Hated that Harry had made him feel like a fool at all. Most of all he hated that he didn't have control of his emotions like he usually did. He caught himself taking points from Potter more than he ever had, but he can't stop, he was too upset to stop. He was lost in thought, walking toward the Great Hall for lunch when he came upon a scene that made his stomach lurch. One of his own house had Harry pinned to the wall.

Harry had finally had enough, marching down to the dungeons before dinner. Not making it far before he froze in terror as a Slytherin suddenly pushed him into the wall. Before he could make a sound, the other boy had kissed him, causing his eyes to widen. His terror, however, had made him unable to even move. He was just about to shove the Slytherin back when a sound made the other pull away.

Severus growled so low only he could really hear it. Before he could stop himself, he yanked the Slytherin back by his cloak. "Mr. Anderson." Snape drawled, trying and failing to hold a monotone.

Harry was looking up at Severus in shock. Was he helping? He was shaky, sliding along the wall until he could get on the other side of Severus from Anderson, his hands trembling.

Severus just watched as Harry scoot around him out of the corner of his eye, curious. He let go of the Slytherin in his grasp as he pursed his lips. "20 points from Slytherin." He said, eyeing Harry up and down before drawlinge "For terrible taste in men." He watched as the Slytherin nodded before turning tail and bolting down the hall. Severus straightened up, nodding to Harry. "Potter." He turned to make his way toward the great hall as if nothing had happened.

Harry had frozen where he stood, his eyes wide in shock, face still pale from the attack and what Severus had said.

Severus noticed Harry had not moved. Pausing, he turned around and raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter, Potter? Slytherin got your tongue?" He snarked.

Harry frowned, his voice trembling as he popped back with a "Yeah, not the one I want though." Before he turned, aiming to run back to his room and just call Dobby for food. He wasn't even really hungry, so maybe he'd just go to bed and hide from the world. Severus hated him, for what he did not know. And dramatic or not, it hurt like hell.

The response caught Severus off guard, Harry's behavior only angering him more. He wasn't going to get away that easily. Severus reached out and grabbed Harry's forearm, firmly but not harshly, not wanting to hurt him regardless of his anger. "What is wrong with you, Potter?" He asked, forcing himself to sound bored instead of the concern and frustration he was feeling.

Harry froze, his breathing panicked as images and sounds flew through his mind of the beatings he had gotten from Vernon whenever he had grabbed Harry as the boy tried to run. He turned, shaking hard, panic and fear clouding his eyes as he was lost in the flashbacks.