Severus closed his eyes angrily and made a huff of denial. His behaviour was not comparable or equal to the years of abuse the muggles had heaped on the Potter; it was not. He had a role to play, and someone needed to keep the boy's ego in check.
But he was finding it harder to justify to himself why he had been so insistent on treating Potter with scorn. Lily would have been furious with Severus for treating any child that way least of all her son. And she would have chosen his side, Severus considered bitterly. After all, she had died to save her son, it followed that she would have wanted to protect him from the smaller hurts of stern treatment at the hands of a teacher.
If she had lived, she would have marched into the school and taken him to task and…Severus wouldn't have blamed her. He wondered if the fact that he had tried his best to ensure her son's safety would have mitigated the rest of his behaviour. He feared not. Truthfully, he hadn't done a great deal to help keep him safe beyond watching Quirrell, and while he had managed to counter the hex on the broom enough that Potter hadn't fallen, he had failed to keep Quirrell from Potter in the end. The enormous basilisk corpse was another reminder of his failure. Not that Potter made keeping him safe easy; the brat seemed to have no sense of self-preservation.
Why would he, Severus reminded himself. The report had made it clear that the Dursleys had raised a child who would have little sense of self-worth. Mix in Albus's manipulations and the wizarding world's expectations of their hero and it was no wonder that the result was a child that constantly risked his life without regard for his own safety. He had no doubt that the need to instil some self-esteem in Potter would be at the heart of the discussion when the staff met to discuss the at-risk children at Hogwarts.
Well, Albus had ordered him to be civil to Potter and he would be.
He would not, however, be civil to Black.
He shook his head. How Albus had thought springing a meeting between the two of them the day of the basilisk recovery was a good idea was beyond his understanding. Black was as hateful as always and Severus would not stand for it. He might have to work with the cretin to defeat the Dark Lord but he refused to pretend that their relationship would ever be anything other than it was: a mutual hatred.
Severus cast thoughts of Black away as he was reminded why he had walked out to the lake in the first place. He breathed in deeply.
The scent of gillyflowers filled his nostrils; the gillyweed would soon be ready for harvesting. He let his mind wander, letting the irritation and frustration flow out of him until his body relaxed and his thoughts were of nothing but the scenic view that filled his vision.
His ears caught the faint crunch of the grass behind him and he shot a look over his shoulder. There was nothing visible. Still, his senses were on full alert and he could faintly smell sweat, soap and damp clothing; someone was disillusioned.
An intruder on Hogwarts grounds would be unusual, especially as Alastor Moody had improved the security since he'd come to stay in the school in mid-July. The holes in the wards had been identified and patched; the weaknesses of the surrounding secret passageways eliminated, and additional security had been added in key areas including the Infirmary and the Potion Stores.
Severus drew his wand. "Show yourself!"
Moody appeared in a waterfall of magic as the disillusionment spell ended. "Snape."
"Moody." Severus replied tersely. He and the former Auror did not get along well although since Moody's arrival at Hogwarts they had formed something of a détente by the simple means of ignoring each other.
For a long tense moment they glared at each other, wands drawn and ready.
Finally, Severus holstered his wand again and bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Your stealth skills need some work."
"You have very good ears and a good nose, Snape." Moody responded gruffly, his magical eye whirling. "I still got close enough to you before you realised I was there that I could have decapitated you. You should be more vigilant!"
Severus sneered at him but it was actually good advice with the Dark Lord on the path to regaining a form and his fellow Death Eaters back in business. He had become too comfortable within the grounds; too complacent. "You may have a point." He conceded grudgingly.
Moody grunted. "Why are you out here anyway?"
One eyebrow arched at the insinuation. "Am I to assume from that statement that the staff are subject to some kind of curfew now?"
"Actually that isn't a bad idea." Moody said before he broke into guffaws of laughter at Severus's horrified expression.
Severus huffed out an exasperated snort.
Moody sobered but he gestured out towards the lake. "The question was purely a casual one, Snape. Albus has lectured me on the necessity of maintaining positive and friendly working relationships with my colleagues."
Severus could probably have recited the lecture that Moody had received; he received it yearly himself from Albus. "My advice is to ignore it. I do."
"So I can see." Moody said evenly. "Well, I should get back inside. Nobody on the grounds but us Professors, and Hagrid's menagerie."
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