Better Be Slytherin!

lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. Five points to Slytherin for each of you.'

He shot Minerva a sly smile as all three of his students gaped at him.

'I shall leave you to it, Professor,' she said with a huff, obviously annoyed with having the wind removed from her sails. 'But I shall be informing the Headmaster of this, you can be certain.'

'Good evening, Professor,' he said, agreeably.

'I will return to help remove the troll,' she added. Once she had left, dragging a still faint Quirrell with her, Severus turned his glare on the three students. 'Now. Tell me what happened.' He stared each of them down. 'And I want the truth.'

Of the three, Potter was the first to reply, lifting his head. A spark of defiance glowed in his eyes. 'It was just like Hermione said. We heard the troll in here, and her screaming, and so tried to get her out, first, by distracting it. Teddy threw some pipe or something, and I was just yelling at it, but Millie couldn't get her to leave, so then I . . .'

'Then you what?' Severus said in a dangerous tone. He was gratified to see Harry swallow hard.

'I, er . . . I jumped on its back.' He stared at the troll at their feet and swallowed again. 'My, er, wand went up its nose. Then Teddy levitated its club up and hit it on the head. . . .'

Severus closed his eyes briefly.

'I know it sounds bad, Severus Snape--' came the cool voice of the Bloody Baron.

'Of course it sounds bad,' Severus snarled. 'Because it is. You all could have been killed, and for what?'

'For a friend,' Potter said softly. 'I couldn't just let her get hurt.'

With a long suffering sigh, Severus said, 'Why were you not in your common room?'

'We hadn't heard about the troll,' Potter said.

'None of you were at the feast?'

'No, sir,' the Nott boy said.

Potter smiled shyly at them. 'They wanted to stay with me. And I . . . I didn't want to go.'

'Very well,' Severus intoned. 'Go to the common room now, all of you. We will discuss this more later.'

A chorus of, 'Yes, sirs,' and they were gone.

'Well?' Severus snapped at the Bloody Baron once the door had closed. 'You could not have told me what was happening?'

The Baron did not rise to the bait, but merely gave Severus a long look. 'I sent a message to the Headmaster. Did he not find you?'

'He did.'

'Well, there you are. Potter is fine, albeit having shown a remarkable lack of self-preservation instinct, and your Slytherins obviously have a loyal friend in Miss Granger.'

'Bully for them.'

'Perhaps you should get that leg looked at.'

'Perhaps you should mind your o--' Severus stopped. 'Very well.' He sighed. 'Keep an eye on him, will you?'

'Always, Severus. Always.'

The ghost faded out of the room, and Severus traipsed off to the dungeons himself, wondering how to keep that boy safe, when he seemed determined to throw himself headlong into danger.

He only hoped both of them would survive the year.

TBC . . .

A/N: Some of the scene in the bathroom is quoted directly from the source material, McGonagall and Hermione's dialogue, specifically. I didn't put all of what I took from there into italics as I felt that would make it hard to read. Mocha Frappachinos for all!

*Chapter 29*: Chapter 29

Better Be Slytherin! – Chapter 29

By jharad17

Disclaimer: Not mine. I imagine I'll get over it.

Author's Note: Been trying for a couple days to get this posted; I could upload the document, but not add it to my story. Anyway, sorry for the delay.

Previously:

'Very well,' Severus intoned. 'Go to the common room now, all of you. We will discuss this more later.'

A chorus of, 'Yes, sirs,' and they were gone.