Dunderhead - A Harry Potter story: Snape becomes Harry's mentor

Chapter 27: UNDER BEDS

The hospital wing was neither clean, nor quiet. A large and round table, made from the sort of cheap plastic that produces a high pitched shriek if dragged across a floor, stood in the centre of the room. At this table sat three children with varying amounts of food on their faces and hands. One, in a rather contemporary modern-art fashion, had managed to plaster the front of their fringe in red sauce. Why the House Elves could not have chosen a less messy meal was beyond Severus Snape.

Madame Pomfrey was cooing over all three children and it was making Severus feel more nauseous than their appalling display of table manners. Although, he conceded, Granger did admittedly have some idea of what to do with a fork and spoon to a reasonable extent, and it was probably quite impressive for her age, although Severus would never acknowledge that when, as far as he was concerned, Granger was no less irritating in child form than teenager.

It was somewhat surprising to Severus that Draco Malfoy was not adept with cutlery when the boy was from a noble, high standing, pure-blood family. Surely his parents had implemented the usual rigorous regime of pride in all things, including the manner in which one consumes his food? Severus looked at the young Draco and had to remind himself that the boy was a year old, and it was unlikely that Lucius would have cared to show off his son when he was at that embarrassing, sloppy age of restricted speech, crude gestures and babbling. The Malfoys had not presented their son to the company of others until he was at least three and had learnt how to politely shake hands without the urge to stick a finger up his nose. It was also impossible to say whether the boy recognised Severus, or not. He had certainly made his demands to his head of House clear. The imperative, 'up', though rude, was to the point. Severus found that he could appreciate this more than Longbottom's glottal stops.

"I wan' tha'." Neville shouted enthusiastically as Madame Pomfrey gently wiped his face with a cloth.

Poppy heard a contemptuous sniff and looked over to her colleague. "Severus don't roll your eyes so much, they'll get stuck looking in one direction." She said cheerfully.

"If that boy continues to speak," Severus growled, "I might have to-"

"-What, Severus? Put a silencing charm on him?" She challenged. "They're children now and speech has not yet been developed to the point of always being comprehensive."

Severus did not deign to reply.

"Why don't you sit down and help Miss Granger to eat her meal?" Poppy suggested hopefully.

Severus had been standing stoically behind an empty chair, on the other side of the round table up to this point. He looked down his nose at the girl whose whole upper body seemed to be consumed by thick, brown, bushy hair. The girl still had that irritating air of self importance that Severus loathed so much in the Golden Trio group. He watched as the girl deftly cut up her meatballs into tiny pieces with a fork.

"I think that Miss Granger is doing a remarkable job all by herself." He said silkily.

Madame Pomfrey looked over and sighed. "Oh, Miss Granger," she coaxed, "I think you've cut your food into small enough pieces, your mouth isn't that large." She said with a smile, and flicked her wand to vanish the girl's fork, leaving her with a blunt spoon for scooping.

"I disagree, Granger never shuts up in my class." Severus muttered, though not loud enough for Poppy to hear him. Severus stayed standing, adamant that he was not going to be roped into helping his students eat, for Merlin's sake!

Severus frowned though as he focussed on the scene before him: Longbottom, Malfoy, and Granger. Three children. Three de-aged students sitting at a plastic table in the hospital wing. There was a thought niggling at him, like he was missing something but could not remember, and the sensation became more obvious the longer he thought about it. Severus looked at Madame Pomfrey, who was frowning too. She looked at Severus in a way that reflected Severus' own confusion.

"Severus," she said hesitantly, "were there not four children?" She asked, somewhat indecisively.

Severus opened his mouth and, with a snarl, turned on his heel as though expecting to see the little brat standing behind him with a smirk on his face.
"Potter!" He shouted, making
Madame Pomfrey gasp.

"How could I have missed him?" She cried. "Where is he?" She said fretfully.

Severus had already begun to prowl the edge of the hospital with a stalk like a predator. "He'll be hiding. Just to make the whole thing more difficult!" He snapped, bending over to look under each bed. Severus felt furious. How had the memory of Potter's very existence been wiped from his mind? Was there some dark magic going on behind the scenes? Severus' suspicions made him angrier.

"He's only small, he might be scared!" Poppy said reproachfully. She had a hint of disapproval in her voice which was likely in response to the almost violent way in which Severus was lifting up each bed and letting it drop with an angry clatter when it did not reveal the boy.

Severus got to the end row of hospital beds and bore down upon the final bed frame. He saw the small shadow of a shape underneath the bed and smiled unpleasantly.

"Found you." He muttered triumphantly. Severus dropped to his knees and peered under the bed, reaching out a hand to grab Potter. He was stopped by a pair of luminous, green eyes that met his black ones. Severus' reaching hand hovered in the air.

Potter was sat on his bottom with his knees drawn up to his chin. His arms were wrapped around his legs, and Severus was unnerved by the boy's stare. It did not imply recognition of Severus Snape, his least liked teacher. In fact, the boy's stare did not really suggest an acknowledgment of anything at all.

"Potter, come out from under here, now." Severus ordered in a low voice, no longer shouting despite not consciously deciding to even out his tone.

The boy merely stared at Severus. It was not a fearful look but neither was it arrogant or smug and, if Severus had stopped to analyse Potter's face, he might have labelled the look with something that would have disturbed him greatly.

Potter did not move an inch, and Severus was starting to wonder if he was going to have to crawl under the bed to grab the little sod. After all, Poppy would not allow Severus to use his wand on any of the children, but if Severus had to use physical force to encourage Potter, then so be it. "Potter, if you do not come out, you will be extremely sorry!" Severus said to him, reaching out a hand this time for the boy to take.

Severus offering his hand in what an onlooker might ignorantly describe as having been a friendly gesture was not something that Severus wanted to dwell too heavily on, and Severus was somewhat alarmed (he could not lie) when Potter began to rock backwards and forwards. The boy's eyes remind open, staring and unblinking, and Severus was beginning to feel a bit out of his depth.

Where was the loud and obnoxious spawn of Potter? Surely the boy should be exhibiting the same childish behaviour as Draco Malfoy, at the very least.

Poppy walked over to Severus with light, tentative footsteps. "Severus, have you got him?" She asked.

"No." Severus replied shortly, and he extricated himself from his partial position under the bed and stood up to face Poppy.

He looked down at the bed from his new viewpoint. He could tell that Potter had not moved from the way his shadow remained the same. "Something's wrong with the boy." He said in a bored tone: Severus did not have the time or patience for Potter's theatrics. "You might as well try and coax him out with gold or goblin riches, that boy is not going to move." Severus told Poppy before she could offer to have a go at encouraging Potter herself.

"What do you mean?" Poppy asked.

She looked anxious and Severus curled his lip distastefully at her open display of worry for the boy. Severus did not reply. It was not in his nature to over analyse his own emotions, and Severus' feeling towards Harry Potter went as far as irritation, loathing and detest. Dumbledore had made Severus admit not too long ago that he did not, could not, hate the boy, but that still left a lot of room for other negative feelings.