Dark Union

“Stop gaping at me and enter. We have little time before class starts.” Severus sneers at Mr. Potter who started to walk in. The brat’s face is cold and impassive, this makes Severus even angrier at the boy. ‘He’s clearly as arrogant as his father, how do my colleagues not see it?’ Severus thinks to himself as he puts his head down and starts reading the assignments again.

“My apologies sir. What would you like me to do, professor?” Mr. Potter asks, breaking the sweet silence Severus was relishing in. Giving a small growl Severus flicks his head over at the boy, for the first time he actually looked at Potter. His eyes were dark and dull though, you could see the defined darkness under his eyes from lack of sleep, and he was small and skinny for his age. He looked almost exactly like James, but something was clearly off… He wonders if this is what Filius meant by something was off about him. Shaking himself out of his thoughts he said,

“I know you wear glasses but are you blind completely? I want you to scrub those caldrons clean before your class starts. It seems you have thirty minutes better hurry, oh and no magic.” He could see the boy’s eyes widen at the impossible task. Now this was something Severus was used to; he was expecting a snarky reply but only got a nod, it made him feel slightly uneasy. Smirking he continued his work, but secretly watching the brat walking over to the potion caked cauldron's.

When it became time for class Severus decided it was time to excuse the brat to his seat. When he looked at the boy he was cleaning his fourth cauldron out of the nine, he smirked because he now has another reason to give detention he said smugly, "Mr. Potter, it seems you haven't completed your detention, come here later tonight."

The boy's eyes widened considerably before going back to impassive. He gave a simple, "Yes sir." And walked to his seat giving the cauldrons one last glare before turning back. Severus smirked at the boy's disappointed face, ' Probably has never cleaned in his life!" Severus thinks as he goes to finish cleaning the cauldrons with a flick of his wand, just to see it already clean. His smirked deadpanned as he rushed to Potter to yell at him for disobeying his orders.

Kids were already flooding into the room but Severus didn't care. 'This would be a good example to show other students not to disobey him.' Severus thinks as he approaches the young wizard who seems to be silently talking to his Godson, Draco. Their attention immediately flicked over to him, he gave a slight smirk and said a bit too loud,

"Mr. Potter, I believe I told you to not use magic during this detention. Did I not?" At this a few kids' attention snapped over to them.

"Yes sir, you did tell me to use magic. I don't even have my wand on my sir, how could I have used magic?" The brat said flatly, causing a few kids to giggle at the potions master. 'Could this have been some kind of accidental magic?' Severus thought before shaking his head and saying,

"Detention Mr. Potter, tonight at 7 PM." Severus said flatly before walking up to the front of the class to begin teaching. The class went normal, the Potter brats potion was a shade off but perfect otherwise. Severus reluctantly gave him a passing grade.

----

When class ended Draco walked over to Harry with a bright smile. Harry inwardly groaned at his new found friend, as much as he tolerated Draco he could not get over how emotional the man was.

"Hey Harry, I'm sorry my Godfather was so hard on you. Honestly he's a bit of a git when he teaches but he is never usually that bad. He treated you like a filthy Gryffindork." Draco shuddered at the mention of the Gryffindor house. Harry only smiled and nodded before going to charms. He was excited for his charms lesson as he heard his mother specialized in the class. Mr. Flitwick has proven to be competent enough.

Sadly this is another class where he would have to work with the Gryffindors. He did not particularly mind as he was teamed up with Neville Longbottome who was a nice kid. He hates how the pudgy boy was bullied for not being Gryffindor enough, ironically enough Ronald Weasley was the main perpetrator.

When Harry entered charms with Draco he could feel the room shift. Harry could see Weasley and Granger glaring at him. Ignoring the change he walked over to Neville, his partner, and calmly sat next to him. The glares intensified but the glare shifted from him to the Gryffindor.

Sighing he looked over and started to read ahead in the charms book. Longbottom looked interested and he wordlessly shifted his book to where Longbottom could read as well. He could tell the boy smiled and read with him. Soon Professor Flitwick entered the class with a bright smile on his face.

The class went as expected, they were practicing their leviosa spell again. He got it first try last class but Longbottom seems to be having trouble and his feather exploded. All the Gryffindors and Slytherins laughed and Harry and Longbottom slightly at both houses. Shaking his head he walked Longbottom to the hospital wing as his hand was burnt quite badly.

"Sorry about that, Potter." Longbottom said sheepishly as they walked through the corridor.

"Whatever for, Longbottom? It's not like you meant to do that. Plus at least you got it a little bit in the air before it exploded." Harry said, glancing slightly at the boy. Longbottom's eyes widened but a slight smile spread across his face.

"I'm kind of surprised to see a Slytherin being nice to me, not even my own house likes me. They think I should be a Hufflepuff. Call me Neville…. Please." Neville said quietly. Harry frowned at the Gryffindor's insecurity and the boy nodded.

"Meet Draco and I in the Library tomorrow. Some studying may do you good, don't worry about Draco I'll make sure he's nice to you." Neville only nodded and Harry noticed that they arrived at the hospital wing. They only glanced at each other before they parted ways.

Soon they had Transfigursiton then lunch. Harry grabbed some steamed vegetables and some chicken, opting for a lighter lunch then the greasy alternatives Draco seems to enjoy. Soon all the posts started flying down and that's when he saw a beautiful black owl with red crimson eyes down some down toward him carrying a box and a note. Harry immediately knew what it is. Smiling, he opened the note.

'Dear Mr. Potter.

When you're finished reading this, come to my office. I may personally teach you some of the spells if I am impressed.

Do not inform anyone.'

Draco gave Harry a questioning look but did not comment much to Harry's relief. Looking over at Professor Quirrell he noticed the small smile that was placed on the older wizard's face. Harry was excited.

-------

After this day the rest of the weeks passed in a blur. Between Professor Snape's growing hatred for him, and the private lessons he had with Professor Quirrell he rarely had time for dramatics. He quickly learned that his new friend Neville Longbottom was quite powerful, he was just gifted with the wrong wand. Neville's Grandmother had given him his Dad's wand, and not deemed it necessary for Neville to get his own wand. Harry insisted that he buy Neville a new wand for an early birthday present. They'll ask the headmistress of Gryffindor for passes to go to Diagon Alley. The bullying got worse for poor Neville but now he had the majority of the Slytherins on his side at least. Neville was just accepted as the weird and quirky member of the House.

What surprised him the most however was the fact he and Draco had become friends fairly fast. His public image also grew, he was now respected in the Slytherin house and the Gryffndors left him alone other than Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger bothering them occasionally. Harry also realized that the friend group Draco hangs out with isn't so bad either.

Pansy Parkinson is a pureblood elitist but she has come to have redeemable qualities. He noticed she will do her best to make sure her friends don't fail, she is emotionally intelligent, and does not seem to have the same hatred for other houses like Draco. Though he's noticed with slight displeasure that she and Draco already have a marriage contract, Harry hates that they have to live like adults at the age of eleven. As a witch however she seems to lack power. She understands the theory of everything but her magical core is too small that it takes great effort to complete the simplest of spells. Harry didn't see her as a friend, but she was a sweet girl overall. She could be useful in the future.

Daphne Greengrass is the fashionista of the group, you cannot be around her without her 'critiquing' your clothes. Harry doesn't mind as she does actually give good advice, just that it's unwanted the majority of the time. Besides that however she has a cold exterior to most people, but if you somehow managed to make her your friend she is nice but still fairly secretive. Harry noticed that she is intelligent as well, she never has made a decision without thinking about it beforehand. Daphne tends to be a great strategist and always thinks on the logical side of things.

Theodore Nott is a mystery to Harry. He can never quite get a read on him like he can on the others. Harry has noticed that people tend to overshare around Blaise because he is so quiet. Harry almost did that once but caught himself before admitting that he was raised in an orphanage. Harry could tell Blaise has taken a liking to him, and vice versa. He may not be as powerful as Harry magically, but they are equal in the sense that they have perfect masks to shield themselves from the world. Harry found Blaise was the only person other than Draco and Neville that managed to become a true friend.

Blaise Zabini seems to be Theodore Nott's right hand man. Blaise seems to follow Theodore like a shadow, while Blaise follows Harry's shadow. Personality wise he could tell the boy is quite open with his opinions, he is average intelligence but almost as arrogant as Draco. His magic capabilities are average as well, he is however the top of charms beating Harry by a couple of points. Harry stays his distance from Blaise but keeps him at arms length in case he needs him.

Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle are one of the stupidest and rudest people Harry has ever met. They have no backbone and blindly agree to whatever Draco says, not that he doesn't like the loyalty but the fact they just agree to it without question. Harry only keeps them around because they have been proven to be slightly better than average wizards. The others seem to know this too and just use them as bodyguards, especially Parkinson and Draco. Parkinson because she lacks basic power, and Draco because he likes to feel superior.

----

Today has proven to be different then all those average days, for starters it was Holloween so Harry was in a bad mood. Draco, and Theo were casually eating dinner in the great hall in their usual silence. Harry noticed throughout the day that Neville has been acting oddly, he seemed more withdrawn then all the other days. Harry assumed it was a bad day for Neville as well. Before the Halloween feast started Neville told them that he needed to go to the dungeons for detention with Professor Snape.

Harry thought nothing of it until he noticed Ronald Weasley and Dean Thomas followed him. Harry made sure to put a mental note down incase Neville showed up with some bruises. Harry didn't really care too much if Neville was roughed up a bit, as Harry never really felt too attached to people. That didn't mean he wouldn't get revenge if someone did hurt them badly. He felt a strange possessiveness over his friends, mainly Draco, Theo, and Neville. He knew it wasn't normal, but he could care less. Harry assumed it was his weird way of caring for people.

His heart sank however when Professor Quirrell came in screaming, "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" Before passing out. Harry thought it was strange that the troll obsessed professor passed out because of a troll but he did his best to not question it.

Quickly turning over to Theo and Draco Harry said, "Guys we need to go save Neville! He's in the dungeon with that beast. Theo and Draco only nodded and got up with Harry. They ran to the dungeons, as they got closer, they could both hear crying in the boy's bathroom.

"Neville." They all said in unison and they sprinted to the bathroom. They were greeted by a rather beaten up Neville curled up in the corner crying. Harry stared in fascination as the others helped Neville get situated. All of a sudden Draco moaned,

"Do you guys smell that?" Almost immediately they were greeted with a putrid rotten meat smell. Harry almost grabbed his nose but he was stopped by seeing a big shadow tower over him. Turning around he saw what the source of the smell was, the troll wasted no time and swung his club and Harry but Harry managed to dodge the blow before it hit him. Harry soon screamed,

"GET NEVILLE OUT OF HERE AND THEN COME BACK." Draco and Theo got the memo and they grabbed the shaking boy and started to quietly walk toward the door while Harry distracted the troll.

Harry ran to the wall and pointed his wand toward the massive troll's club and yelled, "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" When the troll began to swing it again it flew out of his hands. This however did not stop the beast from charging him, dropping the club he pointed his wand at the neck of the troll and yelled, "DIFFINDO!" Professor Quirrell taught him this spell saying he's already reached second year perfection.

Almost immediately the troll flung backwards as blood spewed out of the neck of the creature. He was covered in it by the time Theo and Draco arrived with the Professors. Their eyes were wide as they stared at the troll's gaping neck that was still spewing blood and the bloody eleven-year-old. He swore he saw a smirk on Professor Quirrell's face, it was Professor Snape who regained his composure first.

He stepped in front of the other Professors as he was standing in the back, as he said in his cold dark tone, "Explain now Mr. Potter before I take away 200 points and give you a month's detention for this."

---

In all honesty Severus was unnerved by the calm expression on the boy's face, he just brutally murdered a creature and doesn't seem to feel a sliver of empathy. This was not something James Potter would do, all the Professors seemed to have realized this too. Severus stared at the boy who seems to be thinking of a proper answer as he said,

"Yes of course. You see Longbottom is one of my friends, he was down here for a detention with you sir when the troll was announced to be in the dungeon's. I grew worried for our friend. Draco, Theo and I went to go get him in the great hall before he was attacked by a troll. We found Neville in the boy's bathroom rather distraught as he had been physically assaulted by a student. We tried to calm him down, but it was too late. This was a simple case of self-defense."

Severus shook his head and took away one hundred points from his own house much to his disappointment and gave Potter, his godson, and Nott two months of detention. Severus then dismissed them and screamed at all of them to take a shower. He'll have to have a serious talk with Draco to stay away from potter. The only useful thing he learned tonight was that Quirrell was trying to steal the stone and used the troll as a distraction. He swore to get to the bottom of this before Albus found out and put crazy restrictions on them

Laying down in bed Severus was plagued with nightmares of the boy but standing there in a pool of blood and bodies with the same cold dreary eyes.