The World Keeps Its Own Secrets - Chapter 2
Title: The World Keeps Its Own Secrets
Author: neddiheht
Rating: A possibly racey R in places
Pairing: Snarry (Severus Snape/Harry Potter)
Word count: 1940
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Severus Snape and all other characters, places, etc. from the Harry Potter universe are the property of J.K. Rowling. No claim of ownership is intended by this piece of fan fiction.
Summary: When Harry is sent back in time to avoid the killing curse, he finds himself in a mask of his own creation, faceless, voiceless, friendless, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for his sole confidante, Albus Dumbledore. But one of the professors is suspicious, and won't let the secrecy of the new Defense professor go.
---
Harry watched the students boarding the Hogwarts Express. They stepped away from him as he came close. Shivered and looked away. He watched them from beneath his deep cowl and stepped onto the train, finding a compartment where he could be alone. No one disturbed him, leastwise not at first. Ice formed against the compartment door windows as he sat, preventing students from peering in from the corridor. He ignored the whispers of "Dementor!", the occasional small scream. He ignored them and just sat. He knew what it was to be alone. He'd spent much of the year before he'd been displaced in time at Grimmauld Place with only Kreacher for company. But even Kreacher was company - and rather better company than most would ever have expected. But that was a choice. Even he had to admit that. His friends would have been delighted to give him company, if he would have let them. Here he was alone and must stay alone. An impossible task.
He wiped the beginnings of a tear aside and adjusted his glasses. They were new and rectangular and had rather bolder frames than he was used to. The others had been broken in a flying incident, procuring his robes, and while there was a potion to correct sight, he neither knew the proper recipe nor had the casual competence at potions to make it. And people seeing his eyes... those too recognizable eyes. That could never be a good thing. Especially not the one man who could help him brew that potion.
The door to the compartment opened and another man dressed in black robes stepped into the compartment and sat down across from him. Speak of the devil. Harry didn't glance up. He didn't need to.
"Theatrical, I see," said the voice.
Harry's breath caught and he renewed the defenses of his mind. He'd missed that voice, but just now... just now it was dangerous to be near this man.
"Not going to speak, are we?" said the man, peering at him. "Dementor's robes," he paused as a finger ran down the fabric of the cloak, "and genuine at that. I suppose you'd have me believe you collected them yourself?"
Harry still said nothing, just taking in the voice. He'd never allowed himself to look up to this man in school. To really see anything other than the dark wizard he had once thought was there. How wrong he'd been. This man had never been his enemy, and yet he'd always been meant to think so. Without the defense of those lies to ward the man from him, he felt an uncomfortable stirring at the sound of that voice. It was uncommonly powerful and, he was surprised to note, sexy.
"Listen, Evans," said the man. "I've looked you up. You don't exist. Anywhere. Do I need to feed you this to learn who you really are," he pulled out a small but elegant vial of clear liquid - Veritaserum, the most potent truth potion in the world. "There are policies to keep me from using it on students, but you..."
"Form the intent to do it then," said Harry, his voice wrapped with spells that made it lower and followed it with a sibilant hissing echo.
"Very theatrical," said Snape, his eyebrow raising slightly as he moved to hold Harry against the wall and readied the vial. It shattered then, as Harry had known it would... small things the world might let him reveal, let him tease with a glimpse of the future, but it wasn't going to yield the secrets of what was to come to just any question. Snape backed away and clutched his hand, bleeding from shards of glass as he shot Harry a furious look.
"Hold still," said Harry quietly, his voice still low and sibilant as he pulled his wand. "Episkey!" he said firmly, deftly flicking his wand at Snape's hand and speaking the spell that would clean the wound and stitch the skin together.
"You knew that would happen.. and yet... You did not do it yourself," Snape whispered thoughtfully, glancing to the remains of the bottle on the floor.
"The world keeps its own secrets, Professor Snape," said Harry. "It does not need my help to do so. Though I am sorry for your loss. Veritaserum is not an easy potion to brew, even for a master."
"Potions master," hissed Snape bitterly. "Again I'm potions master, because of you. There is no one better suited than I to teach those children to protect themselves. And they will need it. Do you understand that, Evans!"
Harry shook his head. "You ignore the fact that you're the youngest potions master in a century, and focus on Albus keeping you away from the arts that came so close to making you fall?" Harry seized the man's forearm pressing on the Dark Mark he knew lay beneath the robes. Snape shuddered in momentary pain. "It's still there for a reason, Snape. These children need to know how to protect themselves. You know what they will be up against, better than any other. Next time will be worse. Will you do it? You who cannot bear for anyone to see his Patronus? You who none of them dare trust?"
"Who are you?" said Snape, wrenching his hand away. The mention of his Patronus charm had him shaken... there was no way for this man to know that. Not even Albus knew. "You have no history. No OWLs, No NEWTs on record. You don't exist!"
"You had to check... I should have guessed that you would," said Harry quietly. Inside his heart swelled a little. This quiet solitary man had given his entire life to protect him, and he was still doing it. "Albus has my credentials and he trusts them. Won't you trust him? As he trusts you?"
"He does not trust me," said Snape. "If he did I would have your job."
"He is giving you Slytherin House. Do you think he would have you watch that house if he did not trust you?"
"Not all Slytherins are dark wizards, Evans!"
"Nor are all Gryffindors good wizards. The Potters were betrayed by their secret keeper, after all."
Snape's eyes narrowed at him again. "You know too much."
"Enough to cause me sadness I can't describe," said Harry.
Snape looked at him again, this time doing a more honest assessment. "You did collect them yourself," he said nodding at Harry's robes.
"I did."
Snape looked at him with a sort of grudging respect. Dementors were feared for all the best of reasons. "You may call me Severus, if you wish."
"Thank you, Severus. I am Jamie, Jamie Evans. Your courage in the war was..."
"Greatly exaggerated by Dumbledore, Evans," said Snape bitterly. "To protect me, though I'll never understand why."
Harry nodded. "I'm sure that's what you would prefer people to think, Severus. And I will pretend it, if you wish. My whole life is a mask, as you know."
"It's not your real name, is it?" asked the potions master, staring at him intently.
"Does it matter?" came the casual reply, the sibilant echoes whispering as he returned to his seat.
"Of course it matters. You will not put the children in danger?"
Harry hesitated. "Only as much as is necessary to teach them how to be safe. But the illusion of threat is often as potent as the reality for my purposes."
"Hmm" Snape nodded, "then perhaps our head master has chosen wisely."
There was a hesitant knock upon the door. "Come," said Harry and Snape at once.
The door opened and the boy'd eyes widened at the sight of Harry in his robes, and at the formidable presence exuded by Snape. "There's a duel in the back car sirs!" he stammered.
Harry was up like a shot. "I'll deal with it." The boy backed away as he heard the hissing voice.
"As you wish, Evans," said Snape with a little smirk in his smile.
Harry strode past the shocked student, moving with purpose to the rear car. Students shrank back from him as the windows of the compartments frosted when he passed by them. He reached the rear car. Third years, he'd guess, based on the curses affecting them. "Expelliarmus!" he said quickly, twice in succession, artfully catching the wands of the students as they flew from their hands. His voice still echoed in the car, the students moved away from him, pressing themselves against the wall.
"Dementor!" several shouted.
"I am not a dementor," said Harry. "And you should know, the worst of the dark wizards think nothing of wearing such garments. You should know that already in your third year," he said glaring at the students who had been dueling. "By rumor alone if it's not been taught."
He glared at the students. "Well. And what if I had been a dementor. What would you have done?"
"There's nothing... I mean..." said a nervous student near the back.
A fifth year student came from behind and whispered, "Patronus charm. But they don't teach that at Hogwarts... it's very high level magic."
"I see," said Harry turning to face the student, a Gryffindor. He should have known, it would take bravery to face a man in a dementor's cloak at that age. "Then it is a good thing I've come to Hogwarts. You will find, I think, that my timetables for learning such defenses are not what you are used to." He turned back to the rear of the car. "You two," he said, pointing his wand at each of the students who had been dueling. "You will come with me to the headmaster's office when we arrive."
"But the feast!"
"I have no intention of missing the feast. There should be time to get you to the headmaster's office. And then get to the feast. I can pretty much guarantee that you, however will go without. With luck he'll just throw you in the dungeon and forget about you."
He turned around to see Snape watching him as he returned to his compartment. He could feel Snape fall into place, following him, but he said nothing until they were back in the compartment and the door closed.
"You handled that better than I expected," said Snape.
"I was the subject of much discipline in school, Severus."
"But not as Jamie Evans."
"No."
"At Hogwarts?"
"Yes."
"Who are you?"
"I cannot tell you that. And I ask that you not try to discover it."
Snape shook his head. "I must protect my students, Evans."
"It's Jamie," said Harry, setting a hand on Snape's shoulder. "Please..."
"I will need to tell the headmaster about this..."
"That I am not Jamie Evans? You think he does not know?"
"But does he know who... It's not safe!"
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time, Severus. Even Voldemort knew it. Do you think if he was worried about me, that he would not have taken steps?"
"I think he trusts me," said Snape simply, "and that alone is enough to cause me to question his judgement."
"Why? Because our headmaster believes in redemption?"
Snape turned away, brushing Harry's hand from his shoulder.
Harry sat down. "You are the voice of caution that Albus needs to hear, Severus. He values your counsel. Give it to him and trust him to use it. But also remember this... he trusts me for a reason too. Would you have others know why it is that he trusts you?"
Snape glared at him then, but did not speak for the rest of the journey.
Prev Chapter Master Post Next Chapter
Author: neddiheht
Rating: A possibly racey R in places
Pairing: Snarry (Severus Snape/Harry Potter)
Word count: 1940
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Severus Snape and all other characters, places, etc. from the Harry Potter universe are the property of J.K. Rowling. No claim of ownership is intended by this piece of fan fiction.
Summary: When Harry is sent back in time to avoid the killing curse, he finds himself in a mask of his own creation, faceless, voiceless, friendless, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for his sole confidante, Albus Dumbledore. But one of the professors is suspicious, and won't let the secrecy of the new Defense professor go.
---
Harry watched the students boarding the Hogwarts Express. They stepped away from him as he came close. Shivered and looked away. He watched them from beneath his deep cowl and stepped onto the train, finding a compartment where he could be alone. No one disturbed him, leastwise not at first. Ice formed against the compartment door windows as he sat, preventing students from peering in from the corridor. He ignored the whispers of "Dementor!", the occasional small scream. He ignored them and just sat. He knew what it was to be alone. He'd spent much of the year before he'd been displaced in time at Grimmauld Place with only Kreacher for company. But even Kreacher was company - and rather better company than most would ever have expected. But that was a choice. Even he had to admit that. His friends would have been delighted to give him company, if he would have let them. Here he was alone and must stay alone. An impossible task.
He wiped the beginnings of a tear aside and adjusted his glasses. They were new and rectangular and had rather bolder frames than he was used to. The others had been broken in a flying incident, procuring his robes, and while there was a potion to correct sight, he neither knew the proper recipe nor had the casual competence at potions to make it. And people seeing his eyes... those too recognizable eyes. That could never be a good thing. Especially not the one man who could help him brew that potion.
The door to the compartment opened and another man dressed in black robes stepped into the compartment and sat down across from him. Speak of the devil. Harry didn't glance up. He didn't need to.
"Theatrical, I see," said the voice.
Harry's breath caught and he renewed the defenses of his mind. He'd missed that voice, but just now... just now it was dangerous to be near this man.
"Not going to speak, are we?" said the man, peering at him. "Dementor's robes," he paused as a finger ran down the fabric of the cloak, "and genuine at that. I suppose you'd have me believe you collected them yourself?"
Harry still said nothing, just taking in the voice. He'd never allowed himself to look up to this man in school. To really see anything other than the dark wizard he had once thought was there. How wrong he'd been. This man had never been his enemy, and yet he'd always been meant to think so. Without the defense of those lies to ward the man from him, he felt an uncomfortable stirring at the sound of that voice. It was uncommonly powerful and, he was surprised to note, sexy.
"Listen, Evans," said the man. "I've looked you up. You don't exist. Anywhere. Do I need to feed you this to learn who you really are," he pulled out a small but elegant vial of clear liquid - Veritaserum, the most potent truth potion in the world. "There are policies to keep me from using it on students, but you..."
"Form the intent to do it then," said Harry, his voice wrapped with spells that made it lower and followed it with a sibilant hissing echo.
"Very theatrical," said Snape, his eyebrow raising slightly as he moved to hold Harry against the wall and readied the vial. It shattered then, as Harry had known it would... small things the world might let him reveal, let him tease with a glimpse of the future, but it wasn't going to yield the secrets of what was to come to just any question. Snape backed away and clutched his hand, bleeding from shards of glass as he shot Harry a furious look.
"Hold still," said Harry quietly, his voice still low and sibilant as he pulled his wand. "Episkey!" he said firmly, deftly flicking his wand at Snape's hand and speaking the spell that would clean the wound and stitch the skin together.
"You knew that would happen.. and yet... You did not do it yourself," Snape whispered thoughtfully, glancing to the remains of the bottle on the floor.
"The world keeps its own secrets, Professor Snape," said Harry. "It does not need my help to do so. Though I am sorry for your loss. Veritaserum is not an easy potion to brew, even for a master."
"Potions master," hissed Snape bitterly. "Again I'm potions master, because of you. There is no one better suited than I to teach those children to protect themselves. And they will need it. Do you understand that, Evans!"
Harry shook his head. "You ignore the fact that you're the youngest potions master in a century, and focus on Albus keeping you away from the arts that came so close to making you fall?" Harry seized the man's forearm pressing on the Dark Mark he knew lay beneath the robes. Snape shuddered in momentary pain. "It's still there for a reason, Snape. These children need to know how to protect themselves. You know what they will be up against, better than any other. Next time will be worse. Will you do it? You who cannot bear for anyone to see his Patronus? You who none of them dare trust?"
"Who are you?" said Snape, wrenching his hand away. The mention of his Patronus charm had him shaken... there was no way for this man to know that. Not even Albus knew. "You have no history. No OWLs, No NEWTs on record. You don't exist!"
"You had to check... I should have guessed that you would," said Harry quietly. Inside his heart swelled a little. This quiet solitary man had given his entire life to protect him, and he was still doing it. "Albus has my credentials and he trusts them. Won't you trust him? As he trusts you?"
"He does not trust me," said Snape. "If he did I would have your job."
"He is giving you Slytherin House. Do you think he would have you watch that house if he did not trust you?"
"Not all Slytherins are dark wizards, Evans!"
"Nor are all Gryffindors good wizards. The Potters were betrayed by their secret keeper, after all."
Snape's eyes narrowed at him again. "You know too much."
"Enough to cause me sadness I can't describe," said Harry.
Snape looked at him again, this time doing a more honest assessment. "You did collect them yourself," he said nodding at Harry's robes.
"I did."
Snape looked at him with a sort of grudging respect. Dementors were feared for all the best of reasons. "You may call me Severus, if you wish."
"Thank you, Severus. I am Jamie, Jamie Evans. Your courage in the war was..."
"Greatly exaggerated by Dumbledore, Evans," said Snape bitterly. "To protect me, though I'll never understand why."
Harry nodded. "I'm sure that's what you would prefer people to think, Severus. And I will pretend it, if you wish. My whole life is a mask, as you know."
"It's not your real name, is it?" asked the potions master, staring at him intently.
"Does it matter?" came the casual reply, the sibilant echoes whispering as he returned to his seat.
"Of course it matters. You will not put the children in danger?"
Harry hesitated. "Only as much as is necessary to teach them how to be safe. But the illusion of threat is often as potent as the reality for my purposes."
"Hmm" Snape nodded, "then perhaps our head master has chosen wisely."
There was a hesitant knock upon the door. "Come," said Harry and Snape at once.
The door opened and the boy'd eyes widened at the sight of Harry in his robes, and at the formidable presence exuded by Snape. "There's a duel in the back car sirs!" he stammered.
Harry was up like a shot. "I'll deal with it." The boy backed away as he heard the hissing voice.
"As you wish, Evans," said Snape with a little smirk in his smile.
Harry strode past the shocked student, moving with purpose to the rear car. Students shrank back from him as the windows of the compartments frosted when he passed by them. He reached the rear car. Third years, he'd guess, based on the curses affecting them. "Expelliarmus!" he said quickly, twice in succession, artfully catching the wands of the students as they flew from their hands. His voice still echoed in the car, the students moved away from him, pressing themselves against the wall.
"Dementor!" several shouted.
"I am not a dementor," said Harry. "And you should know, the worst of the dark wizards think nothing of wearing such garments. You should know that already in your third year," he said glaring at the students who had been dueling. "By rumor alone if it's not been taught."
He glared at the students. "Well. And what if I had been a dementor. What would you have done?"
"There's nothing... I mean..." said a nervous student near the back.
A fifth year student came from behind and whispered, "Patronus charm. But they don't teach that at Hogwarts... it's very high level magic."
"I see," said Harry turning to face the student, a Gryffindor. He should have known, it would take bravery to face a man in a dementor's cloak at that age. "Then it is a good thing I've come to Hogwarts. You will find, I think, that my timetables for learning such defenses are not what you are used to." He turned back to the rear of the car. "You two," he said, pointing his wand at each of the students who had been dueling. "You will come with me to the headmaster's office when we arrive."
"But the feast!"
"I have no intention of missing the feast. There should be time to get you to the headmaster's office. And then get to the feast. I can pretty much guarantee that you, however will go without. With luck he'll just throw you in the dungeon and forget about you."
He turned around to see Snape watching him as he returned to his compartment. He could feel Snape fall into place, following him, but he said nothing until they were back in the compartment and the door closed.
"You handled that better than I expected," said Snape.
"I was the subject of much discipline in school, Severus."
"But not as Jamie Evans."
"No."
"At Hogwarts?"
"Yes."
"Who are you?"
"I cannot tell you that. And I ask that you not try to discover it."
Snape shook his head. "I must protect my students, Evans."
"It's Jamie," said Harry, setting a hand on Snape's shoulder. "Please..."
"I will need to tell the headmaster about this..."
"That I am not Jamie Evans? You think he does not know?"
"But does he know who... It's not safe!"
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time, Severus. Even Voldemort knew it. Do you think if he was worried about me, that he would not have taken steps?"
"I think he trusts me," said Snape simply, "and that alone is enough to cause me to question his judgement."
"Why? Because our headmaster believes in redemption?"
Snape turned away, brushing Harry's hand from his shoulder.
Harry sat down. "You are the voice of caution that Albus needs to hear, Severus. He values your counsel. Give it to him and trust him to use it. But also remember this... he trusts me for a reason too. Would you have others know why it is that he trusts you?"
Snape glared at him then, but did not speak for the rest of the journey.
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