Severus Snape and Harry Potter

Chapter 27

Harry shifted slightly, relieving the pressure on his smarting bottom as he sat on his bed, picking at the scrambled eggs, bacon, crumpets with butter and jelly, and pumpkin juice the house elf Bartleby had brought him. He was too upset to eat, even though his stomach was gurgling. He did drink the Nutrient Potion that accompanied the meal, knowing he couldn't skip that. His guardian would know and probably make him drink extra. He forced himself to eat half a crumpet, a few spoonfuls of egg, and one strip of bacon. That was all he could tolerate right then.

He pushed the tray away and lay down on his stomach with a heavy sigh. Shame and guilt poked and prodded his conscience, and he wondered how his friends were faring. He could only imagine the reaction of the rest of Gryffindor when they learned that the House had lost two hundred points last night. He also wondered if McGonagall had informed the Weasleys or Neville's Gran Augusta or the Grangers about what had gone on. Or if Severus had informed Narcissa. He didn't want his friends to get in any more trouble. Despite what Draco had said about them all knowingly disobeying the rules of the school and the Ministry, Harry couldn't help feeling guilty. He was the one who had told Hermione about finding the egg and dragooned her into doing research. He should have just left the egg where it was, or not allowed Ron, Draco, or Neville to become involved with raising the dragon. How would you have stopped them? asked a small voice in the back of his head. It should have been him who brought Viv to the Astronomy Tower. Then only he would have been in trouble. The way it usually was.

He brooded some more on his foolishness, recalling how angry Skull had been. You scared both him—and me—to death! Not only that, Harry thought regretfully, but he had also risked the familiar's life and Severus' too. The enraged mother Pendragon could have easily flamed Skull to death, or attacked Severus and torn him to shreds. Just recalling those gigantic claws and wicked teeth made Harry shiver. Imagining them tearing into his guardian or the raven caused him to tear up.

Severus was right. He hadn't thought about the consequences of his actions, at least not beyond getting caught. But now he realized just how insane they all had been, trying to fight a dragon that way. Or raising one. He recalled the fact that for some reason the dragon tamers hadn't met them atop the tower, and he prayed it didn't have anything to do with the mother Pendragon. Of course, Harry couldn't have known that the female Pendragon would come searching for her baby. Harry prayed the dragon tamers remained unhurt and had just been late for the rendezvous.

He absently rubbed his backside, the sting was leaving it, though he felt a hot flush of embarrassment when he recalled the spanking and how he had bawled like a baby during it. Did Draco cry when his mother or Snape had spanked him? Did he feel the same hot rush of embarrassment at getting punished like a little kid? Even though he had deserved it, Harry hoped Severus never punished him that way again.

And he still had McGonagall's session with the dunce cap to endure, plus whatever detention she handed out. Not to mention the censure of the rest of his House.

But the absolute worst part of this whole fiasco was that he had broken Severus' trust. The look of disappointment and even . . . hurt in the professor's eyes caused Harry's heart to ache even worse than his backside had moments before. He bit his lip, trying to think about ways in which he could gain Severus' trust back. He knew the professor valued honesty and obedience in children, so he resolved to try and do as he was told from now on, and not lie to his guardian. He figured that maybe he could volunteer to help Severus clean his classroom after lessons, or gather ingredients, shine the man's boots, scrub the apartment, anything to show his repentance and remorse.

He wouldn't even complain about Skullduggery following him around the school like a shadow, even though he detested being watched like a criminal. Or the fact that he could no longer fly in the afternoons after class with Ron and Draco or even pick a book from the library without having Snape escort him like a bleeding toddler. Then maybe . . . just maybe . . . Severus would see that he could take his punishment like a man and trust him again.