Differences {Snarry}

Reluctant

Severus Snape was not a patient man. Nor did he like taking orders. So when one day, a day he'd been quite enjoying, the Order decided to test his patience when being hesitant when requesting him of something, he was not pleased.

Since the fall of Voldemort, the Order were more sparce then they once were but decided to stay unified for reasons Severus would simply call boredom. They claim to still be together to protect the Potter boy from any residing threats. Yes, they believe the boy who defeated one of the strongest wizards of their time, needed protecting. The boy still stayed with his muggle family when not attending Hogwarts despite being 19. His year being asked to come back for a repeat year due to the lackluster education they received during the war. A lot of things could be said about Death Eaters but saying they excelled in teaching wasn't one of them (with the exception of Severus of course). Because Potter was staying in the same house over the holidays, the Order took it upon themselves to continue their 'duty' of guarding the place. They kept the strict, round-the-clock regimen to allegedly keep Potter safe, which again Severus would call, in a less formal way, absolute nonsense that was just self-fulfillment to satiate the boredom the Order members found themselves with after the war. A way to say they are continuing to help the Boy-Who-Lived, their hero who's image is slated and honored simultaneously as if he didn't complete the task no one else in the wizarding world wanted to help him complete let alone complete themselves. The hero who was thrust into an unknown world at the age of 11, faced near-death experiences annually and was expected to murder an extremely powerful wizard who had 50 years experience in the wizarding world and magic training on his side. Severus found himself feeling bad for the boy often, not that he'd admit it. That's why despite his obvious distain for him, he continued to fulfill his promise to Lily even to the point of nearly dying to Nagini's Venom. If it hadn't been for Potter's quick thinking to call upon Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes, he would have died that night. For that event he did not know whether or not to be thankful to the boy but he did decide to ease the unfounded unpleasant treatment towards him.

So here Severus finds himself, in the summer holidays, summoned to Order Headquarters, with an unsure Kingsley Shacklebolt in front of him.

"So, Professor Snape, I am sure you are curious as to why you have been summoned despite not being a member of the Order anymore?"

"No, just wished to come and relive the great memories." He had been enjoying his day, it was a slow, quiet one when he was brewing some of the more time-consuming medicinal potions in preparation for the influx of students at the beginning of the new school year. Poppy was very grateful that whenever he did this as the time-consuming potions are usually the very important ones that are harder to order due to the complexity of some of the steps.

"No need to be so cold Snape, we did fight a war together." This feeble attempt to lighten the mood came from Alastor Moody who was sat at the table behind Shacklebolt. The pair clearly wanted something from him, not many people chose to spend any amount of time with one Severus Snape unless they were looking for something from him. A fact he had long accepted and took pleasure in.

"Just get to the point, I have potions simmering that I must attend to." His faced clearly portrayed his annoyance in the situation.

"Ok fine. You know how we have continued our duties in guarding Mr Potter?" He rolled his eyes at this Potter had long since accepted his title as Lord Potter-Black. "We have recently found that there is no member free to take tomorrow's shift," ah he could see where this was going, "we were wondering if you could fill the role?" At the unimpressed look on Severus's face, he continued to rectify his previous words, "it would only be for tomorrow, we will not ask you again. We realise you are a very busy man but we really need the help." He thought about this. He didn't have anything particularly important to do tomorrow, it was a rest day for the potions. He was looking forward to a day of reading, though the thought of not being bothered by the Order in the future was a very attractive offer.