As Potter is to Snape

Chapter 29

"You're awfully quiet this morning," said Snape the next morning at the breakfast table. Harry nodded. He hadn't slept very well. He had had nightmares most of the night about Uncle Vernon and he had woken up to feel more exhausted than he had before he'd gone to bed. His head hurt and his mouth was sore from where he had ground his teeth in the night.

"My head hurts," he replied, knowing that it would do no good to pretend in front of Snape. A moment later, a potion landed with a soft clink on the table by his plate. "Snape-"

"Take it," Snape interrupted, "and no whining."

Harry rolled his eyes and brought the potion to his lips without argument, noting at once that it tasted like strawberries.

"You don't always have to flavor them for me, you know," he said as he set the vial back down on the table, "I'm not a little kid."

Snape took a sip of his coffee. "I'll remember that the next time you're fighting me on taking one." He pointed then to the nutrient potion that Harry had so far been ignoring. "Drink that too. I know you haven't been taking them in the mornings like you're supposed to."

"How do you know?"

"I asked Jenka. She said it has been untouched every day this week. You know that if you don't take it, Madam Pomfrey will have quite a bit to say about it."

Harry didn't reply but he did take a drink of the vanilla-flavored potion before returning his attention back to his eggs. They were quiet for another long moment before Harry spoke again.

"Snape?"

"Hmm?" Snape was reading the paper again and Harry noticed that the front page still had Sirius Black's picture there. He looked away as he asked,

"What's your boggart turn into?"

Snape turned the page of the paper with enough force that it made a snapping sound. "Not Neville Longbottom if that's what this is about."

Harry coughed in an attempt to hide the laugh that escaped him. He schooled his features quickly though when Snape eyed him above the paper. "It's not that. I knew you'd be mad about that though. Professor Lupin was really good about helping everyone learn how to turn their fears into something funny."

"Yes," Snape said drily, "He's always been such a bundle of laughs."

Harry smirked again. "Did you know him well before he came here? You said he knows about Dumbledore and McGonagall. He sort of acts like he knew you, and he says you went to Hogwarts together, but when I asked him, he said he didn't know you as well as he would have liked."

"I imagine he did," Snape replied without looking back up from his paper. When Harry didn't say anything else though, he put the paper down with a sigh. "Yes, I knew Professor Lupin in school. But no, not very well. He learned about the adoption sometime during our fifth year and after that, we became- I don't know, less than enemies." He cut himself off with another sigh. "It's all very complicated, Harry, and it's really not my story to tell."

Harry pushed his food around on his plate until finally, Snape made everything except his nutrient potion and his own coffee disappear.

"I guess I'm not very hungry," Harry admitted as he ran his finger over the rim of his glass before taking another drink.

"Obviously," Snape replied. "I thought we were talking about Boggarts? What did yours turn into?"

"I asked you first," Harry said quickly.

Snape inclined his head and said, "Mine takes the form of the Dark Lord, as I'm sure it does for many wizards." Harry didn't comment, but he hadn't been expecting that answer. For some reason, he had had this idea that Snape wasn't afraid of anything and therefore, would see the boggart as it truly was. "Your turn," Snape said softly.