Bound by Soul

A Mystery Afoot

I know it hasn't been long since last update, but today is my favorite fictional character's birthday! So consider this a present. Happy birthday Bakugou!

Severus Snape had a headache.

They were barely past the second week of term, and already his house had started fighting. At least the little idiots had their confrontation in the common room away from the rest of the school. The last thing he needed on top of this was the biased idiots in the other houses to make matters worse.

Severus sat down at his desk, glad to be back in the comfort of his office. 

And Potter. He was once again disproving all of Severus' admittedly skewed expectations. Though the circumstances made it worrying in its own right.

After the four main offenders had gone to bed, Snape had questioned the other students. Even the group who started it knew better then to lie to him, and within an hour he had a pretty good idea of what actually happened.

Apparently, Potter had been doing homework with his yearmates, and Spenninger had approached with his cronies. Although Nott had thrown the first punch, it was in reaction to whatever Rakip had said. He would need to speak to Nott about that. And Potter... he had tried to take sole blame for it. That had very worrying connotations. Severus had been teaching brats for nearly a decade, and children, especially first years, were hard pressed to own up to their mistakes.

They certainly didn't take blame for someone they quarreled with.

And why had Nott been the one to punch Rakip, when the boy had been speaking to Potter?

It might have simply been a child standing up for his friend, but if it was something worth throwing hands over, surely Harry would have done so. The boy couldn't be so timid as to not stand up for himself. Could he?

Memories of years long past resurfaced, and Severus stood, pushing his chair back, and walked around his desk, using the larger open space in front of it to pace.

Those memories had nothing to do with Potter. Whatever had made Potter so... self sacrificing, had nothing to do with...

Severus rubbed his left fore arm reflexively. Beneath his sleeve lay the barely visible Dark Mark, that had once burned jet black. Before the Dark Lord's downfall, the mark had served two purposes for Severus Snape; the first, was to symbolize his allegiance to the Dark Lord, though those days were long gone, even before his fall. And second, to hide a shame from Severus own school days.

Somehow, coming to Hogwarts had turned into the worst thing that happened to Severus, all those years ago.

Snape massaged his temples, trying to dispel the memories. They made his arms itch in a way that he had long since learned to ignore.

This wasn't about him. It was about the Potter gremlin. No matter how much the bad feeling in his gut disagreed.

}-{|>

Harry was glad when his third week at Hogwarts finally came to an end. He and the two fifth years who had started the fight in the common room, had separate detentions for the whole week.

Harry's detentions had him cleaning cauldrons for an hour, then talking with his head of house for another hour. Apparently he only had detention because he had lied to Snape. The Potions master tried futilely to get Harry to explain why he hadn't just told him what had happened. After two days, he simply gave up trying to get him to talk, and instead lectured him on standing up for himself.

Harry didn't need to be lectured on standing up for himself, he could protect himself just fine. It was easier to take all of the blame rather then try to figure out who played a bigger part in it. Because it always came back to Harry. The world might not revolve around him, but the trouble he caused did, and he had to own up to it.

It was hard to believe it had only been three weeks since he first came to Hogwarts. So much had happened, it felt like ages already.

Currently, Harry was trying to find his way back to the dungeons after returning a Charms book to the library. It was only because of Peeves that he was lost, wandering the third floor trying to find a staircase. The poltergeist had nearly dropped an armful of swords on his head, then tried to pelt him with ink pots, until he'd noticed another student.

Now Harry was lost, hopelessly trying to get un-lost.

"Harry?"

Harry turned around. Theo was walking toward him, hugging a large book to his chest.

"Hey Theo."

Theo came up beside Harry, and they fell into step heading down the corridor.

"I thought you would have been in the common room already. Did you get lost?" Theo asked, as they walked together.

Harry nodded, twisting the strap of his bag in his fingers.

"Peeves chased me."

Theo made an 'oh' face, and they both fell silent.

Harry found the brickwork in the walls to be very interesting. The thick, even lines of cement and magic holding the ancient castle together was much more attention grabbing then anything Harry had seen before. Definitely. The well kept, but aged and faded gray bricks were the most interesting thing in the world. Nothing could possibly compare.

Theo broke Harry out of his strange musings when he grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.

"Where's Professor Quirrell going?" Theo asked softly, frowning.

Harry looked up, and sure enough, the turbin wearing teacher was striding down the hall, moving more swiftly then Harry had ever seen him move.

Harry and Theo carefully walked after Quirrell, doing their best not to be spotted. They peaked around the corner and saw the DADA teacher stop at a door, glance around, then tap the handle with his wand, muttering something. They watched him open the door and step inside, closing it behind him.

While Harry was puzzled, Theo decided to investigate. He walked quietly up to the door, and pressed his ear against it. On the other side was what sounded like growling, making whatever Quirrell might be doing illegible.

With no way to know what was going on behind the door, short of opening it and being discovered, Theo hurried back to Harry, and the two Slytherins headed for the staircase, and made it back to their dormitory without further incident.