Snapped

Chapter 13: All Good Things (Must Come To An End)

"You killed Professor Snape!" Malfoy bellowed as Harry walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. The whole room fell silent, and expectant eyes turned upon him.

"I have an alibi for the last 24 hours," Harry said quickly, but then he smirked at Malfoy. "But please, elaborate."

The morning post arrived before Malfoy could continue, and Hedwig swooped down with a letter, landing on his shoulder.

It was a howler. Harry nudged it open with the tip of his wand.

"I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" Sirius' voice boomed. "SNAPE'S IN THE HOSPITAL WING AND YOU LOST MORE POINTS IN A DAY THAN I MANAGED IN A YEAR. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, KIDDO." It burnt itself to pieces.

A great cheer erupted around the room, and Fred and George set off some fireworks that exploded in red and gold sparks. People ran over to him, clapping him on the back; Oliver Wood and another sixth year boosted Harry up onto their shoulders. Harry accepted their tributes, as was his due.

There was a loud bang, and all the fireworks vanished; the Weasley twins booed their dismay. Dumbledore was standing at the podium in front of the teachers table.

"If I may have your attention." Reluctantly the room fell silent, and Harry jumped back down to the floor.

"Professor Snape is merely suffering from a brief illness. He will be back to teaching classes in no time, as I'm glad you will be happy to hear."

"What a let-down!" someone from Hufflepuff yelled, and sniggers echoed around the room.

"Now, if you could please return to your breakfast in an orderly and well-mannered fashion, that would be much appreciated."

Despite their disappointment in discovering that Snape was still alive, all the Houses bar Slytherin were celebrating, and Gryffindor didn't even care that Harry had lost over five hundred points for keeping a basilisk in the school (amongst other things). He was being treated like a hero, and while he felt vaguely guilty he was also smug that he'd finally gotten to Snape.

In fact, he felt like a true son of a Marauder. Following the Howler, Sirius had written him a long and flowery letter singing Harry's praises. So, of course, that meant it was time for another prank.

"Harry, they're saying Snape's in the hospital wing because of you! He had an aneurysm," Hermione exclaimed. She'd been late to breakfast, and had missed the announcement.

"I know, isn't it great!" Harry replied. Hermione recoiled, and Harry thought back on his last sentence.

"What, no!" she cried.

"I know, isn't it awful!" Harry corrected, crossing his fingers behind his back. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything. "So... I've been thinking..."

"Oh no," Hermione groaned.

Harry huffed. "Rude," he muttered. "Anyway, I've been thinking, that with a little help from Fred and George..." He wiggled his eyebrows at Hermione, who sighed.

"Prank time," she said, sounding about as unenthusiastic as Ron faced with homework.

"Prank time?" one twin said, popping up next to Harry.

"Sound like our kind of thing," the other twin said, from next to Hermione. They grinned, and Harry grinned back.

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Severus had been out of the hospital wing for two days, with instructions to keep his blood pressure down. He fumed at the utterly useless advice, stalking back and forth within his quarters. At least it gave him an excellent reason to quit his job as a teacher once the Dark Lord was finally dead.