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Severus Snape sat in the dungeons wrapped in his robes; he sat pondering his feelings. He sneered slightly to himself thinking of The-Boy-Who-Lived. He had always awaited the day that the famous Harry Potter was shunned by the world, and now that that day had come he wasn't sure if he really wanted it.The Potions Master hurt somewhere deep inside when he saw the young Potter looking so vulnerable. He sighed and put his head in his hands**What am I going to do with myself?**
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Harry's heart sank even lower as he read the note posted in the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione and Ron had both signed up to go home for Christmas. This would be the first Christmas since their Second Year that they had not spent it together. Sighing he walked up the staircase to his dormitory, and plopped down on the bed and watched half heartedly as the other four boys in his dormitory packed. When Ron was finished he walked towards the door, and then turned back to look at Harry , " Well .. I guess I'll see you later then." With that the red-head carried his trunk down the stairs and out of the Common Room. Not long after Seamus, Dean, and Neville followed. Harry looked rejectedly around the room and then spotted his Firebolt. He looked outside to where it was starting to lightly snow. Well he had flown in rough conditions before, and he just had to get away from it all. Putting on warm clothing, his cloak, and a thick scarf he grabbed his Firebolt and headed down to the Quidditch pitch.
Once there he looked around at the hoops, and stands .. he couldn't wait until spring, when they would have a match against Ravenclaw. He mounted his broom and kicked off, rising immediately high in the air. He circled the stadium slowly a few times thinking of the Ravenclaw team. They had a good team this year, but he hadn't let the Gryffindors down yet.
Harry decided to try a few of his favorite quidditch moves while he was out there, and promptly rose high in the air. Once ready he pointed his broomstick towards the ground, performing a Wonski Flint, as he was nearing the ground snow started to whip across his face, blinding him ... Harry panicked .. he couldn't see !!
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Severus had finally decided that the dungeous were cold! He went by the kitchens and took a butterbeer from the house-elves. He took a deep drink and sighed. Now that was good on a cold winter day! He decided that he wanted to go out and watch the snow fall .. something he hadn't done since he was a child. The Potions Master wrapped a thick cloak around his thin, but muscular frame and went outside.Just as he was getting comfortable snowballs started flying. He sighed and glared at the students, and then decided to change his position. **Nobody should be on the Quidditch pitch so I'll go down there and sit in the stands.**
When he arrived at the pitch he noticed a figure on a broomstick. There was only one person who had a broom stick that fast . Potter. He watched as the boy zoomed around, easily performing ariel stunts. However, when the boy started plummeting towards the earth Severus's heart started to pound. ** Well is he bloody going to pull up?!** The Potions Master's heart skipped a beat when the saw the figure crash into the ground, and go skidding across the snow. He dropped his butterbeer and ran over to the sprawled figure. " Potter !"
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Harry gasped as the broom collided with the ground, jamming itself into the young man's chest. As he rolled across the snow he picked up a mouthful of snow. He lay there face down in the snow, and breathed deeply. **Well that was certainly interesting!** His head shot up as he heard a firmilar voice ," Potter!"
He recognized the voice as that of Professor Snape, but he couldn't seem to find his glasses. He fumbled around in the snow for a while looking for them and then sighed in frustration. Severus ran towards the student and stopped and watched as the boy gropped for his glasses. He smiled softly to himself and picked up the black spectekles. He put on a stern voice while he helped the boy up ," Potter, what_were_you doing?" He handed the glasses back to the boy. Harry put his glasses back on and looked at the Professor," I was practicing a Quidditch move, but the snow blocked my vision, Sir." Severus nodded," Well ," and here he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder," be more careful, Harry." And with a swish of his black cloak the Potions Master was heading back to up the castle. **He called me Harry ... he called me Harry !** These words kept resounding in the boy's mind as he walked back up to the castle, with his Firebolt over his shoulder. Professor Snape had_never_called him Harry before. It had always been 'Potter'. Besides, that he had actually_touched_him! He had placed one of his slender hands on his shoulder.. And what a touch that had been! Hot fire had seemed to sweep through Harry at the touch of the Potions Master.The boy shook his head, of his thoughts and then tromped back up to the Gryffindor Common room to change clothes before Dinner in the Great Hall.
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**I touched him . what was I thinking ?!** Severus had done it again. He had let his emotions, and desires get the best of him. He had to admit that it had given him quite a scare when the boy collided with the ground at break neck speed, but when he had laid a hand on his shoulder his body and received a delightful set of chills.The Potions Master also noted that Hermione and Ron seemed to have gone home for Christimas... Leaving Harry all alone. The Professor smiled softly to himself.
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Harry hissed as he pulled his sweater up over his head. He looked down at his chest to see a dark purple bruise, from where his broomstick had rammed into his chest. He slowly put on a dry sweater, and after he had changed the rest of his clothes and slipped on his school robes, he walked down to the Great Hall for some lunch. He sat down at the Gryffindor table. His depression grew as he ate by himself. He still wasn't sure what he had done to Hermione and Ron to have them both leave him. He quickly finished his meal, and walked from the Great Hall. As he was turning a corner he ran into something, knocking him to his feet, and once again bruising his chest. He hissed and placed a hand on the sore spot.
Severus sat down in his dungeons brewing some Pepper-Up potion. Around this time of year Madam Pomfrey always came asking for some, and this year he was going to beat her to the punch. He looked happily down at the simmering liquid, and decided to head up to the Great Hall for a bite to eat. He hadn't had anything since his butterbeer earlier in the morning, and he hadn't even gotten to finish it. He was thinking of his next Potions Lessons when he turned a corner and ran into something, that knocked him to the ground. He shook his head and stood up. He gasped as he saw Harry lying on the ground, obviously in pain. He took the boy's arm and helped him up," Sorry, Potter I didn't know you were there." Harry replied," It's alright, nobody knows I'm here." Severus winced at the boy's words, and looked at the hand that was lingering on his chest," You know you might want to go up to Madam Pomfrey for that .. it would only take her a second to fix a bruise." Harry shook his head," I'm fine .. I'll just be going back to my House now." The boy avoided looking up at his Professor and hurriedly made his way back to the safety of the Gryffindor Common Room.
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Severus sighed as the boy walked away and back up to the Gryffindor Common Room. His black eyes followed him up the staircase and down the Hall. He sighed, and went into the Great Hall. He might as well eat, because he wasn't getting anything from Harry. Well the fact was he didn't know_how_to get anything from Harry !
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Harry pulled once of the large squashy armchairs in front of the Common Room fire and sighed as the heat washed over him, and warmed his body. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day ... thoughts of how he would spend it went through Harry's mind. In the past he had woken up with a small horde of presents at the foot of his bed. He had then promptly thrown a pillow over at Ron, telling him to 'Get up !' Ron had always thrown the pillow back with a grin, and then the two of them had started to open presents. Harry sighed dejectedly and walked up the spiral staircase to his dormitory. He plopped down on his four poster bed, and almost immediately dreams took him away.